It appears Kansas City voters will not be allowed to exercise democracy on the question of whether their city should host and help build a plant that produces components for nuclear weapons. Its a bit unclear about what happened, but it appears KC Peace Planters were shown some ‘sensitive’ government documents, and thus decided they could not win their battle without a long legal fight. Read between the lines of the statement below. And this is after a local judge had granted them a favorable preliminary ruler a few days before.

From KCNukesWatch website.

Nuclear Parts Ballot Access Court Case
By kcnukeswatch
Kansas City Peace Planters

August 31, 2011

Contact:

Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. (Plaintiff in the lawsuit),

Phone: (816) 753-2057

Ann Suellentrop, (913) 271-7925

KC Peace Planters would like to thank all the parties involved in its pending suit on ballot access for the courteous manner in which they have handled a difficult situation and issue.

According to Rachel MacNair, petition coordinator and Plaintiff in the legal case: “Our differences of opinion about the issue of nuclear weapons are great, but in a rare display of civility in our seemingly ever-too-contentious society, we were able to dialogue candidly with the parties and share important information.”

The group has reviewed certain documents provided to it by the interested parties today. The documents are classified as “sensitive” by the Federal Government, and are, therefore, subject to dissemination restrictions.

Based on a review of the documents, KC Peace Planters has concluded that even if they were to prevail in the action currently pending in the Jackson County Circuit Court, all parties involved would necessarily be embroiled in litigation for the foreseeable future.

MacNair explained: “Of course, litigation is not the group’s intent. Our intent is to be active in the legislative process in a constructive way. We believe we can impact society more positively in the months and years ahead if we are able to focus our energy and resources on peace initiatives, rather than litigation that may be framed by pre-existing contracts.”

To that end, the Committee of Petitioners is dismissing the Petition for Writ it filed in the Jackson County Circuit Court August 26, 2011. Future plans are still in preparation and will be announced when they are ready.

From the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) website …

August 26, 2011 (after 4:30 PM)

Press Release
Kansas City Peace Planters

Contact:
Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. (Plaintiff in the lawsuit), Phone: (816)753-2057
Ann Suellentrop, (913)271-7925

On the petition for “Production of Nuclear Weapons Components Prohibited,” Judge Edith Messina has granted us an order to put our measure on the ballot — a “Preliminary Writ of Mandamus.” Being preliminary means that the hearing already scheduled for next Monday will determine whether it will become permanent, but it also means that the City Council has to defend its actions because the default position is with the petitioners. It is not simply a two-sided matter where each side presents its case and gets equal consideration.

The hearing is scheduled for Monday, August 29, 2011, at 9:30 am, Division 12, 5th Floor, Jackson County Courthouse

The final paragraph of the judge’s order states: “NOW THEREFORE, we being willing that justice be done in this behalf . . . do command and enjoin you, City of Kansas City, Missouri and City Clerk of Kansas City, Missouri, Defendants, that immediately upon receipt of this Writ, you shall submit [the proposed ordinance] to the electors at the next available municipal or state election, or that you appear before the Jackson County Circuit Court in Kansas City, Missouri on the 29th day of August, 2011, at 9:30 o’clock am to show for your refusal to do so.”

Kansas City isn’t that far away. Perhaps some Coloradans might like to go over some time and join a protest some time? It appears that it will be mainly by protest that residents of Kansas City will be allowed to express themselves on whether they should be building and hosting a nuclear weapons production plant.

Y12 Resisters Found Guilty; Eight Taken Into Custody Awaiting Sentencing

The outcome was never in doubt—the scales of justice were tipped against the defendants long before the trial began. But the prosecution had to work harder than they imagined, as the twelve Y12 Resisters mounted a vigorous defense, successfully putting US nuclear policy on trial at several points, and challenging plans for a new bomb plant in Tennessee.
In the end, the jury found them all guilty. Seven of the defendants refused to continue under the terms of their pre-trial supervised release; they were taken into custody at the close of the trial, joining Bill Bichsel who was already in custody from a Plowshares Action in Washington. We will post mailing addresses when it become clear where they are. All twelve of the defendants will be sentenced at a date to be determined.
The verdict came at the end of a long day in court; the proceedings began at 9:15a.m, but the day started a little earlier for some. In response to the court’s refusal to allow Mary Dennis Lentsch to submit as evidence the sign she carried over the line on July 5 (which pointed out that continued weapons production at Y12 violated international law, US Nonproliferation Treaty obligations and, by virtue of the Supremacy clause of the Constitution, US law as well), Mary Dennis, Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert arrived at the courthouse an hour before court and stood gagged before the front door for forty-five minutes. Behind them, David Dwyer held a sign that read simply: The Truth, The WHOLE TRUTH?
Brad Lyttle led off the testimony and began with his life story. Despite the judge’s repeated urgings that he move with haste to something “relevant,” Brad calmly spoke of his amazing life of resistance; of rooming with a Japanese American who had been interned in the second world war, of playing tennis with Enrico Fermi (a better physicist than tennis player, according to Brad), of going into medical equipment manufacturing with a veteran of the Danish resistance. From Gandhi, Brad said, he learned civil disobedience and the responsibility to oppose injustice. His trip around the world brought him to Verdun, where more than 2,000,000 died—his voice breaking he described a visit to the cemetery there for US war dead, row upon row of crosses, and the cemetery guard who said he was the first American visitor in more than a year. He told of anti-nuclear demonstrations, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, walking from San Francisco to Moscow and leafletting the streets of Russia, Poland and Germany. He said his participation in a racially integrated march that passed through Albany, Georgia led to a two month stint in jail—but today the C B King federal courthouse is named after the African American lawyer who represented the Freedom Riders. “Our demonstration may have helped change things,” he noted.
Brad spoke of studying political science and attempted three times to get papers he wrote on the probability of a nuclear cataclysm; each time the papers were declared irrelevant by the judge. Still, Brad told the jury nuclear weapons were almost certain to be used, and used catastrophically. Finally the judge silenced Brad by eliminating his arguments. Do you have anything else you’d like to say, Mr. Lyttle? Brad answered: I have all kinds of things I’d like to say, but I can’t. I went to Afghanistan a month ago… The prosecution’s objection was sustained.
In cross-examination, the prosecutor managed to give Brad one more chance to talk about the danger of nuclear weapons. Attempting to get Brad to agree that Y12 needed tight security, Jeff Theodore asked Brad if the materials Y12 houses were dangerous. “That’s an understatement!” Brad declared. “They are catastrophicallly dangerous!” But, argued the prosecutor, they have to keep them secure. “Get rid of them!” Brad suggested, “then we’ll really be secure!” In his closing Brad said he had a responsibility as a citizen to bring the danger of nuclear weapons to the attention of all Americans. “They can destroy us totally at any moment,” he said. When he got to, “Society can be improved with certainty if all injustice is opposed calmly,” the judge shut sustained another objection. “Is there anything else, Mr. Lyttle?” asked Judge Guyton. “Why I can think of all kinds of things,” said Brad, relishing the thought. “I didn’t mean it that way,” Guyton said quickly. “Well, all right,” said Brad, and he stepped down.
Beth Rosdatter was next on the stand. Her attorney, Wayne Stanbaugh, presented her and she raised her hand for the oath. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?” asked the court officer. “I promise I’ll tell nothing but the truth,” said Beth, “but I can’t swear it will be the whole truth.”
Then she told the jury her story and her goal as a philosophy and ethics instructor. “I think we’ve lost the ability to talk about things that really matter like the moral or political direction of our country,” she said.
In cross examining Beth, the prosecutor asked her if she taught Aquinas, which Beth noted she had used in her classes. Asked if Beth taught her students to break the law, she said, “No, but I do teach about necessity, the idea that if someone is strangling their wife, whether it is trespass or not to go in to stop him.” Asked if the protesters who did not get arrested were ineffective, Beth said, “It’s part of what citizen’s do, but not because of the first amendment but the sixth, the citizens’ duty when the government is breaking the law.
With that, the judge admonished all parties about violating his order. The prosecutor then began questioning Beth about whether or not she could pick which laws she wanted to follow. “No,” Beth said. “This law did not apply?” asked the prosecutor. Beth looked at the judge, aware of his admonishment. “You’re asking me a question you don’t want me to answer,” she said. Seconds later she was off the stand.
Steve Baggarly followed; he spoke of 25 years of service as a Catholic Worker and his two boys. He launched into two brief stories and began telling the story of a hibakusha (survivor of the atomic bombings). As the first sentence ended, the prosecutor was on his feet. “Objection,” he said and then, revealing his secret gift of clairvoyance, he said, “I believe I can see where this is going.” The judge decided to defer his ruling, and Steve continued, describing the inferno of Hiroshima—and the objection was sustained.
Steve said he might proffer the stories and the judge said he could accept them as a proposed exhibit, disallowed. “Doesn’t mean anyone would get to read them?” asked Steve. “Not likely,” said the judge. Steve went on to note Y12’s bomb would turn the world to hell, noting the root word of terror is the same as deterrence. “We keep fear alive as long as we keep nuclear weapons.” Steve urged people to read Martin Luther King, Jr and Gandhi, and then he recounted Jesus’ unlawful acts—healing a man on the Sabbath—“and they went out immediately to counsel to put him to death.”
“The no trespass law at Y12 is one of a web of laws used to protect Weapons of Mass Destruction,” Steve said. “The laws and the courts defend weapons for doomsday. The law is in the service of death. My action at Y12 was to willfully do good in the service of life.
And the defense rested. On cross examination, the prosecutor attempted to spar with Steve, asking him if he planned to go to China to protest their nuclear weapons. “Disarmament begins at home,” noted Steve. Asked if it was unlikely that nuclear weapons would be abolished Steve said, “People in Egypt didn’t think it was likely they would overthrow the leadership of their country.”
Dennis DuVall was last on the stand, and Robert Kurtz put him through the paces. Prompted by his lawyer’s questions Dennis told of traveling to New York for the Nonproliferation Review and hearing nations say they wanted to limit nuclear weapons but said they couldn’t do it.
Unlike Mary Dennis, Dennis’ sign was returned to him and put into evidence. The sign has a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr and the words Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now. Dennis then went on to speak of his respect for King as one of the reasons he went onto Y12 property.
Closing arguments started with the government’s display of disjointed reasoning, “When it comes to nuclear weapons, it doesn’t matter which side of the fence you are on—“ said Melissa Milliken at one point.
Francis Lloyd made initial closing argument for the defendants. “History is not begin famous,” said Lloyd, “You are participating in history right now. History is made moment to moment.”
He argued the legal case for willful and closed with a graphic description of Yosemite Sam who, enraged by a fly in his house, pulls his pistols and shoots the house down.
Mike Whalen quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech about seeing the promised land. Did Bix think crossing the line would end nuclear weapons? No, but it’s a start. He recited the facts about the cost of the new Oak Ridge bomb plant and the line of contractors at the federal trough. “Bix saw it, “ Mike said. “He said, ‘Enough!’”
Brad Lyttle closing was concise—the danger is imminent and total, so demonstration is warranted.
John Eldridge began his closing and ended it with a poem, “One woman up, with dawn in her eyes, multiplies.” If you’ve been awakened, he said, even a little bit, by her honesty, go to your jury room and find her not guilty.
Erik Lutton laid out a legal argument about evidence on the fence surrounding Y12, and Brad Henry read a passage from a Martin Luther King sermon: “I come to this magnificent house because of my conscience,” and noted that King called for a revolution of values which will say ‘War is not just.’” My client and the others were not doing this for themselves, he said, his voice dropping. They did it for me. And for you. And for humankind. Jackie Hudson’s action, said Brad, was the ultimate expression of her wisdom, her justice, and her love.
Wayne Stanbaugh chided the government for suggesting the protesters were playing a game. “This is no game. This is serious. Look at these defendants. This is about their lives, and they took it very seriously, and they exercised their civic duty to be at Y12 and to do what they did.”
Steve Baggarly asked what it means to be human in a world of extreme poverty where the military spends more than $3 million per minute. “Every minute is important,” Steve said, “every minute we move toward or away from the kingdom of God.” It is time to put up the sword and share bread,” Steve concluded.
Robert Kurtz asked the jury to use its common sense and invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. who acted intentionally, he said, but not with bad purpose. “I work up this morning and looked in the mirror,” said Robert, “and I remembered something Mary Dennis had said. ‘I put my life on the line,’ she said. I have to admire that.”
And it was over. The prosecutor attempted to cast aspersions on witnesses which did not testify, suggesting they were hiding. And she attempted to lump them with terrorists—“What territory are we getting into here?” she asked, “Do you believe there are people out there who want to harm America? How do you know their intentions?”

The jury was instructed, deliberated a little more than an hour, and returned a verdict of guilty for each of the twelve defendants. Seven of them: Bonnie Urfer, Ardeth Platte, Mike Walli, Carol Gilbert, Steve Baggarly, Jackie Hudson, and Jean Gump declared they had no intention of continuing to accept supervised release pending a sentencing hearing. They asked to report on Thursday morning but were taken into custody by the federal marshals.
Sentencing was not scheduled.
Outside the courthouse that evening, a circle of voices raised in song—Hold on, Bill Bichsel, hold on—keep your eyes on the prize; hold on.

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/68608054/

Fukushima nuke plant out of control? RT talks to nuclear expert from Hiroshima, Japan

Fukushima nuclear plant blast puts Japan on high alert
• Warnings of possible meltdown amid radiation leaks
• Tens of thousands evacuated after plant explosion
• Up to 1,300 killed in earthquake and tsunami

Follow the latest updates on our live blog

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Ian Sample and Tania Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 12 March 2011 11.40 GMT
Article history
Smoke rises from Fukushima Daiichi No 1 nuclear reactor after an explosion following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Photograph: Staff/Reuters
Japan is battling to stave off a nuclear disaster after an explosion at a north-eastern nuclear plant in the wake of the enormous earthquake and tsunami.

Authorities are evacuating tens of thousands of residents living within a 12 mile (20km) radius of the Fukushima Daiichi plant and those within 6 miles of a second installation in Futuba, 150 miles north of Tokyo.

The explosion followed warnings of a possible meltdown after problems with the cooling system and confirmation of a radiation leak at Fukushima No 1 plant. But nuclear safety officials said it was unlikely the reactor had suffered serious damage, according to the Kyodo news agency.

It is feared that 1,300 people died in Friday’s double disaster, most being killed as the wall of mud and water engulfed buildings, roads and vehicles, Japanese media reported. But the priority now is to tackle the crisis at the power plant.

Kyodo cited an official who said that the rate of hourly radiation leaking from Fukushima was equal to the amount usually permitted in a year.

Authorities had previously heralded a successful release of radioactive gases to reduce pressure inside the reactor, which might account for the high levels.

“We are now trying to analyse what is behind the explosion,” said the chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano. “We ask everyone to take action to secure safety.”

Television footage showed the walls of one building had crumbled, leaving only its metal frame, but it was not clear whether it housed the reactor.

The Tokyo Power Electric Company, which runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said four workers were injured in the explosion.

Hours after the blast, officials widened a 6-mile evacuation zone around the plant and around Fukushima No 2 plant.

The Tokyo fire department has dispatched an elite Hyper rescue team to the nuclear plant.

An uncontrolled temperature rise at the plant could lead to a meltdown of the uranium reactor core. This could burn through the walls of the vessel and release radiation into a containment building that surrounds the reactor. Some fuel is already thought to have melted in the reactor.

Japanese media said officials had detected iodine and caesium, elements released when overheating causes core damage.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it was urgently seeking information.

An explosion of the pressure vessel at the Chernobyl reactor in 1986 led to a vast release of radiation.

But experts and authorities urged people to remain calm, suggesting the chances of a major disaster were slight.

The crisis began when the 8.9 magnitude earthquake cut out power, turning off the water supply needed to cool the system. The tsunami is thought to have cut off the backup diesel generator an hour later, leading to pressure rising rapidly within the reactor.

Earlier in the day a Japanese nuclear safety panel said radiation levels were 1,000 times higher than normal in a control room and eight times higher than normal just outside the plant.

Speaking before the blast, Naoto Sekimura, a professor at the University of Tokyo, told the Associated Press a major radioactive disaster was unlikely.

“No Chernobyl is possible at a light water reactor. Loss of coolant means a temperature rise, but it also will stop the reaction,” he said.

“Even in the worst-case scenario, that would mean some radioactive leakage and equipment damage, but not an explosion. If venting is done carefully, there will be little leakage. Certainly not beyond the 3km radius.”

A partial meltdown in one of the light water reactors at Three Mile Island in 1979 resulted in the release of radioactive gases in the most serious incident in the history of the US nuclear power industry. The reactor was eventually brought under control despite a series of errors.

The blast has compounded the fears of survivors in the worst hit region, north-eastern Tohoku, where aftershocks continue to rock the ground.

@DavidHalton in Sendai city tweeted: “Constant sirens and aircraft that I hope are military that on top of worrying about nuclear fallout and tremors.”

Residents woke up after a freezing night on rooftops and in emergency shelters to a sea of mud, water and debris. Earthquakes continued to rock the north-east coast overnight, although some said the worst tremors appeared to be subsiding.

Kyodo said rail operators had yet to find four trains after losing contact with them as they operated on coastal lines on Friday.

East Japan Railway Company said it did not know how many people were on board the trains.

Japan downgraded tsunami warnings in most areas but Tohoku remained on high alert for waves of up to 10 metres high.

The tsunami has reached countries across the Pacific region but there were no reports of major damage outside Japan.

The country has mobilised 50,000 rescuers, and footage showed some winching people to safety from rooftops.

Witnesses said the tsunami had swept inland by up to six miles in Sendai, which has around 1 million inhabitants and is 80 miles from the epicentre.

“The flood came in from behind the store and swept around both sides. Cars were flowing right by,” said Wakio Fushima, who owns a grocery shop.

“The tsunami was unbelievably fast. Smaller cars were being swept around me and all I could do was sit in my truck,” said driver Koichi Takairin, who was trapped in his four-tonne vehicle by the torrent.

Supporting Prompt US Senate Ratification

For full flier, please click here: Resolution Fact Sheet

In April 2010, President Medvedev of Russia and President Obama took the next step toward elimination of the threat of nuclear war by signing the New START or strategic arms reduction treaty. The treaty awaits final approval from the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma. The U.S. Senate has held Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings, and with bipartisan 14-4 vote recommended ratifi-cation to the full Senate.