Los Altos Voices for PeaceLos Altos Voices for PeaceLos Altos Voices for Peace

The full 55-minute movie "Nuclear Tipping Point" is available free of charge as a DVD. For an 8-minute preview, see the YouTube video below:

Paul Chappell at Los Altos Library February 27, 2013

Los Altos Voices for Peace and the Los Altos Library are organizing a talk by Paul Chappell Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 7PM at the Los Altos Library. Paul is an Iraq war veteran, West Point Graduate, and peace activist. Currently he is the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Foundation. He will talk about to achieve world peace.

Download and print your own copy of the flier!

A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Our Vision

LAVP believes we have an unprecedented opportunity to free the world from the catastrophe that nuclear weapons threaten to bring down upon us, our children, and our grandchildren. The journey to a nuclear-free world is not easy, but it is well worth our efforts.

What we have been doing

Scenes from a talk by Dr. Lynn Eden at the Los Altos Library on November 10, 2009

LAVP has been sponsoring or co-sponsoring public events to inform the local community.  To date, six events have been held:

On November 18, 2008, we sponsored a panel discussion at which Dr. Siegfried Hecker, Ms. Jacqueline Cabasso, and Dr. Robert Gauntt helped to enlighten the community on the current situation.

On April 22, 2009, we co-sponsored a second panel discussion at which Rev. Diana Gibson, Rev. Amy Morgenstern, Rev. Rick Mixon and Dr. Robert Gauntt focused on the moral issues surrounding the whole concept of nuclear deterrence.

On May 27, 2009, we sponsored a talk about the risks of nuclear weapons and ways to defuse those risks. The presentation was given by Dr. Martin Hellman, who is an Emeritus Professor at Stanford University, an experienced glider pilot, and an expert on the analysis of the nuclear risk. He summarized his presentation as follows: "Nuclear weapons are the elephant in the room that most people would prefer to ignore. This talk approaches the subject from the much more appealing perspective of soaring. While flying gliders and nuclear weapons may seem to have nothing in common, this talk draws on the speaker's knowledge in both areas to unmask complacency as a fundamental risk in both endeavors. The talk then adds a hopeful dimension, with efforts to defuse the nuclear threat creating a more peaceful world."

On July 16, 2009, we co-sponsored a talk by former Secretary of Defense Dr. William J. Perry. He spoke both about his own experiences with reducing the world's nuclear arsenal, and about the critical nature of the problems and opportunities that are now before us.

On July 16, 2009, we co-sponsored a talk by Dr. Pavel Podvig from the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He reviewed the current status and prospects of the Russian nuclear forces, attitudes toward nuclear disarmament, and the issues that are on the agenda of the U.S.-Russian disarmament dialog -- a new arms control treaty, missile defense, and nuclear nonproliferation.

On November 10, 2009, we sponsored a talk by Dr. Lynn Eden from the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. She drew upon her extensive experience interviewing the people who develop our plans for fighting a nuclear war to reveal how much sense and how much nonsense they perceive in the very plans they helped to formulate.

Co-sponsors for several events:

• Action Council, Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
• American Association of University Women, Los Altos/Mountain View Branch
• American Muslim Voice
• Arab American Cultural Center of Silicon Valley
• Board of Directors, Humanist Community in Silicon Valley
• Council of Churches of Santa Clara County
• Los Altos Public Library
• Mountain View Voices for Peace
• Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice
• Peninsula Branch, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
• Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
• Silicon Valley Chapter of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

What we are doing

We are also working on other ways to promote this goal. Check back here for more information on LAVP activities related to this cause. There are things you can do too. We all need to be involved!

What you can do

Since 1945, nuclear weapons have posed the threat of a horrendous war between superpowers. Now we face the possibility of terrorists gaining possession of nukes. On April 6 in Prague, President Obama announced the U.S. goal of completely eliminating all nuclear weapons. This has been met with both high praise and deep skepticism – though perhaps the most typical response has been a yawn.

Will this chance of a lifetime be missed?

What (if anything) can you do about it?

1. Get informed

• Read the Wall Street Journal op-ed by that persuaded Obama: George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn, “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons,” Wall Street Journal, 1/4/2007.
• Read the response of respected skeptics: Harold Brown and J. Deutch, “The Nuclear Disarmament Fantasy,” Wall Street Journal, 11/19/2007.
• Become aware of the momentous treaty decisions coming up by the end of 2009: (a) renegotiating the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), (b) ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and (c) reviving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• Become aware of the key problems of securing fissile materials and the critical importance of the end-of-year Nuclear Posture Review.

2. Sign petitions

Several concerned organizations have are promoting thoughtful petitions. Investigate the following:

• Friends Committee on National Legislation
• Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
• Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
• Global Zero

3. Let your government know that you care

Pick the topic that means the most to you and write:

• President Barack Obama: Email: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/contact
• Senator Dianne Feinstein: Email: http://Feinstein.senate.gov/email.html
• Senator Barbara Boxer: Email: http://Boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm
• Congresswoman Anna Eshoo Email: https://forms.house.gov/Eshoo/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

4. Let your neighborhood know that you care

Write an article or letter to the editor of the newspapers that you read:

• Los Altos Town Crier: Send email to Bruce Barton (editor): bruceb@latc.com
• San Jose Mercury News

5. Let your friends and neighbors know that you care

Almost no one talks about nuclear weapons. As a result, the media rarely covers the issue, and most of our elected representatives don't pay it much attention. To break that vicious circle, Marty Hellman notes: “Individuals with courage and foresight are needed to start the process of demanding that this issue be given the attention it deserves.”

• Read Section 5 of Hellman’s primer for suggestions on how to approach such a daunting subject.
• Use Hellman’s emailing friends link (in the paragraph on “What role can you play”) to get others to become involved

Ridding the world of nuclear weapons will be no harder than ending slavery or getting women the vote. Both of those seemingly impossible goals were realized. This one can too -- provided that enough of us participate.

To Learn More

Books

Hans Blix, Why Nuclear Disarmament Matters (MIT Press, 2008).

Jonathan Schell, The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger (Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt, 2008).

Joseph Cirincione, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons (Columbia University Press, 2007).

Internet

George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn, "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons," Wall Street Journal, 1/4/2007.
The first of the celebrated op-eds.

George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn, "Toward a Nuclear-Free World," Wall Street Journal, 1/15/2008.
The second of the celebrated op-eds.

George P. Shultz and William J. Perry, "Toward a Nuclear-Free World," presentation at the Commonwealth Club of California, 4/2/2008.
Hear Shultz and Perry speak.

Sarah J. Diehl, "Four Statesmen Promote Revitalized Interest in Nuclear Disarmament Efforts," WMD Insights, October, 2008.
The impact of the celebrated op-eds.

Sam Nunn, "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons: An Interview With Nuclear Threat Initiative Co-Chairman Sam Nunn," Arms Control Today, March 2008.
An insightful interview.

David Cortright, "Overcoming Nuclear Dangers," The Stanley Foundation, 11/2007.
A thoughtful, serious overview.

Merav Datan, Felicity Hill, Jürgen Scheffran, Alyn Ware, et al., "Securing Our Survival (SOS): The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Cambridge, MA, 2007.
Builds the case for a nuclear weapons convention; highly recommended.

John Burroughs et al., "Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security?," Civil Society Review of the Report of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, May 2007.
Response to Hans Blix's Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission report.

Robert Gates, "Nuclear Weapons and Deterrence in the 21st Century," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 28, 2008.
The hard-line view.

End the War!

Just say no to escalation!

Just say no to occupation!

Just say no to Bush!

Leave my child alone!

Protect your high-school age child from military recruiters by opting out. If you don't, your child's school will give the military recruiters contact information for your child. Read about and get the opt-out forms here.

The Doomsday Clock was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947 to provide an easily understood way of conveying how close we are to an unimaginable nuclear catastrophe. If you point your mouse to the various dates, you can see the events that led to the change.