2012 NDE & Solidarity Events & Actions Archive

JANUARY

January 16 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade: Join the “Peace People” Contingent in Las Vegas and one of the subsequent "Monday Evenings with Martin."

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s prophetic voice is as relevant today as when he preached 44 years ago about the power of nonviolence.
In loving memory, let us pray that everyone be inspired to read his words, reflect on his radical vision, and walk in the service of justice and peace. King, a true hero of nonviolence, lived from January 15, 1929 to April 4, 1968, assassinated the day after his famous "I've Been to the Mountain top" speech.

For word on the official Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebrations in Las Vegas, visit kingweeklasvegas.com.

The parade begins at 10 am at 4th St. & Hoover in Downtown Las Vegas. We are #71 out of 135 entries, so people should plan to show up between 10 am and 11 am to allow us time to be sure they can find our group. Some of us will be arriving between 8:30 and 9:00 am to get our car and truck in position and to decorate them with banners and signs and to set up the sound system. We'll have water and some snacks to share too. Other contributions would be welcome too. For the precise meeting spot and step-off time of the Peace People contingent, or for details about Monday Evenings with Martin discussion series (see below), Contact Jim Haber at 702.646.4814 (NDE office) or by e-mail at jim @ nevadadesertexperience.org.

PDF Files:
Quarter-fold hand-out (2 per page)
MLK Hero Sign

Sponsored by Nevada Desert Experience, The Catholic Worker, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and The Sekhmet Temple.

January 23 - Monday Evenings with Martin: The Drum Major Instinct ...We hear, read, and discuss MLK’s sermons and writings. Printed copies will be available. Refreshments too. Donations welcome though the event is FREE.

1420 W. Bartlett Ave, 89106
(at the NDE/Pace e Bene Home/Office, also known as Francis & Clare House, North of Lake Mead at MLK Blvd.)

Sponsored by Nevada Desert Experience, The Catholic Worker, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and The Sekhmet Temple.

January 24 - Test Site Tourist Outreach, 7-7:30 a.m.
Atomic Testing Museum Map

January 30 - Monday Evenings with Martin:: I've Been to the Mountain Top ...We hear, read, and discuss MLK’s sermons and writings. Printed copies will be available. Refreshments too. Donations welcome though the event is FREE.

1420 W. Bartlett Ave, 89106
(at the NDE/Pace e Bene Home/Office, also known as Francis & Clare House, North of Lake Mead at MLK Blvd.)

Sponsored by Nevada Desert Experience, The Catholic Worker, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and The Sekhmet Temple.

FEBRUARY

February 6 - Monday Evenings with Martin, 7 p.m.
Letter from Birmingham Jail ...We hear, read, and discuss MLK’s sermons and writings. Printed copies will be available. Refreshments too. Donations welcome though the event is FREE.

1420 W. Bartlett Ave, 89106
(at the NDE/Pace e Bene Home/Office, also known as Francis & Clare House, North of Lake Mead at MLK Blvd.)

Sponsored by Nevada Desert Experience, The Catholic Worker, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and The Sekhmet Temple.

February 15 - Test Site Tourist Outreach,7-7:30 a.m.
Atomic Testing Museum Map

February 21, 4 p.m. - Peter Ediger's Memorial Service
Peter J. Ediger, poet, prophet and peacemaker, died peacefully in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 16 after a brief illness. Peter was a co-founder of NDE. Memorial page.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
601 West Lake Mead Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV - Map

February 24, - Scheduled ICBM Test Launch at Vandenberg AFB. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom has chartered a bus that will leave for Vandenberg from Oakland, CA at 5 pm, Feb. 24, returning by 7 am the next day, picking up people in Palo Alto, Salinas and Santa Cruz. Plan to get on the bus! $40 requested; no one turned away. Contact: macgregoreddy @ gmail.com
Protest Event Flyer
Largest Demonstration and Civil Resistance against U.S. Missile Test in almost 30 years

MARCH

March 1 - Scheduled ICBM Missile Test Launch at Vandenberg AFB. This test launch has been cancelled as of 2/28! Vandenberg Witness.

March 9-12 - Occupy Vandenberg - Pacific Life Community. Action at Vandenberg AFB on Monday, March 12, 11 a.m.
Flyer / Online Registration

March 10 - Las Vegas Catholic Worker Empty Bowl Benefit Fundraiser, Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

March 29 - Test Site Tourist Outreach, Thursday, 7-7:45 a.m. Bring a message of peace to test site-bound tourists. Atomic Testing Museum Map

APRIL

April 1-6 Sacred Peace Walk 2012- NDE's 63-mile, annual pilgrimage to the Nevada National Security Site (the NNSS, formerly called the Nevada Test Site)... Info

April 4 Indictment of Creech AFB - including arrests... news release

April 7-9 Peace Camp Reunion - Across from the NNSS entrance at the US-95 Mercury exit, NV. FB Info

April 24 - Test Site Tourist Outreach, Tuesday, 7-7:45 a.m.
Bring a message of peace to test site-bound tourists. Atomic Testing Museum Map

MAY

May 6 - 13 - Shoshone Walk and Run Across Mother Earth, From Tonopah (actually 5 miles away--starting at US6 and NV376) the Walk/Run heads south on US 95 south, ending at Peace Camp @ Mercury, Nevada. Be sure to have camping supplies, running or walking shoes, water, light clothing for warm/hot weather, heavy clothing for cold nights and mornings. See John Amidon's Commercial. For current information contact Jeremiah Jones at 775-34-zero-6329. (NO ALCOHOL OR DRUGS ALLOWED!)

May 16 - Scheduled ICBM Missile Test Launch at Vandenberg AFB. This test launch has been cancelled
May 17 - Federal Arraignment, 8:30 a.m. 1415 State Street, Santa Barbara, California
Daniel Ellsberg, David Krieger, Cynthia Papermaster, John Amidon, Lynn Hamilton and the other co-defendants will be arraigned in federal court at for their arrests at the 2/25 Vandenberg ICBM test launch.

May 23 - Test Site Tourist Outreach, Wednesday, 7-7:45 a.m.
Bring a message of peace to test site-bound tourists. Atomic Testing Museum Map

JUNE

June 14 - Test Site Tourist Outreach, Thursday, 7-7:45 a.m.
Bring a message of peace to test site-bound tourists. Atomic Testing Museum Map

JULY

July 24, 7:00 - 8:00 a.m.
Test Site Tourist Outreach
Greet nuclear tourists before they embark by bus, bound for the Nevada National Security Site on one of their monthly public tours. We provide historical context and pose ethical questions for people to consider, as a supplement to the matter-of-fact, technological focus of the standard tour. 
National Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road.

AUGUST

August Desert Witness 

August 5, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Book Reading and Signing with Medea Benjamin
Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control
Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont Street (NW Corner of 6th and Fremont)

Come hear Medea Benjamin,co-Founder of the organization CODEPINK: Women for Peace, read from her new book, Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. This is an excellent conversation starter and well-rounded introduction to the subject. Benjamin is great at connecting the dots, raising ethical questions and speaking passionately. The Beat Cafe will be open, and the event will be in the Common Gallery on the first floor.

Parking available: Valet at El Cortez on 6th and Ogden
Free Parking Garage entrance on 7th between Ogden and Fremont
Metered street parking on 6th or 7th street, bring some quarters!
Parking along Jackie Gaughn Parkway metered credit card or coins!

August 6 - 9
Protests Against the Largest Drone Trade Show in the World
Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Meets at Mandalay Bay Convention Center
8000 People from 40 Countries
If you want to help be a fly in the ointment of this new killing machine's smooth running, check in with NDE as plans develop further with other allies.

August 8, 6:00 pm
Breaking Bread in the Name of Peace
Sekhmet Temple, Cactus Springs
Dinner and discussion in synch with the 67th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki
Spend the night in the guest house or your tent if you want to be near the Nevada Test Site for the Sunrise Ceremony in the morning.

August 9, 5:00 to 8:00 a.m.: Nagasaki Day Vigil of Resistance and Sunrise Ceremony at Nevada National Security Site (Mercury exit on US-95) Join Johnnie Bobb, friars Louis Vitale and Jerry Zawada, and friends for sunrise in memory of all victims of nuclearism. Take offramp for Mercury; make U-turn before you cross the line to the NNSS; demonstrator parking are is off the road on the right almost all the way back to the freeway overpass. It takes about 65 minutes to drive to the NNSS from Las Vegas.

August 9, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Educational Picket at the National Atomic Testing Museum
Greet visitors to this museum that is devoted to remembering the Cold War in all its nuclear glory...and not much of the horror. We will informally supplement the discourse and remind people of the ongoing fallout of the nuclear arms race since 1945 as we memorialize the victims in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. National Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road.

August 14
Anti-Militarism Picket at a Town Hall Meeting with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
College of Southern Nevada’s North Las Vegas campus
NDE decries militarism as GOP senators sound alarm on defense cuts: Sun | RJ | CBS | Huff Post | WA Post

August 29, 7:00 - 8:00 a.m.
Test Site Tourist Outreach
Greet nuclear tourists before they embark by bus, bound for the Nevada National Security Site on one of their monthly public tours. We provide historical context and pose ethical questions for people to consider, as a supplement to the matter-of-fact, technological focus of the standard tour. 
National Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road.

SEPTEMBER

September 23, Sunday, 3:00 - 8:30 p.m.: The Ediger Memorial Interfaith Celebration of Active Nonviolence, organized by NDE, Pace e Bene, and the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada.

September 27, 7:00 - 8:00 a.m.
Test Site Tourist Outreach
Greet nuclear tourists before they embark by bus, bound for the Nevada National Security Site on one of their monthly public tours. We provide historical context and pose ethical questions for people to consider, as a supplement to the matter-of-fact, technological focus of the standard tour. 
National Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road.

OCTOBER

October 11, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. We will focus signs on Keep Space for Peace during our weekly peace vigil outside the Lloyd George Federal Courthouse, 333 S. Las Vegas Blvd. at Clark. From 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. we will vigil on the pedestrian overpass over Las Vegas Blvd. on the north side of Tropicana Blvd. (connecting New York New York to the MGM Grand) with large "Keep Space for Peace" signs and other banners and will have handouts for passers by. For more information contact Jim Haber at 415-828-2506.

October 23, 7:00 - 8:00 a.m.
Test Site Tourist Outreach
Greet nuclear tourists before they embark by bus, bound for the Nevada National Security Site on one of their monthly public tours. We provide historical context and pose ethical questions for people to consider, as a supplement to the matter-of-fact, technological focus of the standard tour. 
National Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road.

PEACE PARTNER HAPPENINGS

August 12 - September 12: Caravan for Peace with Justice & Dignity <mexico@globalexchange.org>. Special congratulations to Hakim, Afghan Peace Volunteer mentor and friend of NDE’s for receiving his US visa to join this march and also receive an award from FOR. Unfortunately neither Ali or Abdulai were granted visas. There is a petition asking the US State Department to review this decision.

August 19 - 22: Walk for Nuclear Disarmament: From Lockheed to Lock-Up Members of the Pacific Life Community, along with other peace activists, will accompany a Plowshares activist on a peace walk from a major nuclear weapons system maker to the Federal prison where she has been ordered to return. (Jim Haber, NDE Coordinator, will be walking) Schedule
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
All Updates
Image Gallery

August 21: Global Days of Listening, Afghan Peace Volunteers reconnecting with Afghans, Iraqis, and others. Occurs the 21st of every month.

October 6 - 13: Keep Space for Peace Week. International Days of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space.

October 17: Trial of Vandenberg 15 in Santa Barbara

November 13, 11:55 p.m.: Peaceful protest at the gates of Vandenberg Air Force Base on the evening of a scheduled ICBM launch to the Marshall Islands.

December 10: “2 Million Friends” for a better world
The Afghan Peace Volunteers (APV) call on the world community to join the people of Afghanistan in sending 2 million messages and letters of friendship, symbolizing our collective grief for the 2 million victims of war in Afghanistan and our determination to work together for peace in Afghanistan and a life without wars. 2 million Afghans have lost their lives to war since the Soviet invasion in the late 1970s. We can’t bring back the dead, but we can heed this call from important friends. Who says you have to join the military to risk your life for justice and freedom? From Kabul, the APV ask, “Is it possible to find 2 Million Friends? War is constantly closing in on us and our open mountains. There is a global awakening though….We ask to be friends, to meet every human being’s basic needs, and we ask for no more killing!

We'll remember the 2 million killed on the 10th of December 2012, the International Day of Human Rights.We’ll also remember the 95 million souls lost in two World Wars, and the countless souls in Iraq, Palestine, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and other forgotten lands. War, politics, money and power can jail, destroy and kill the people, but it can’t jail, destroy or kill love. We ask to be friends, to meet every human being’s basic needs, and we ask for no more killing! Surely, every hand of friendship will be an act for freedom.

2 Million Friends is supported by Dr Sima Simar, Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and will be attended by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Army Colonel, Ann Wright. We will request the United Nations and all armed groups involved in the conflict to negotiate for a multilateral ceasefire, and to redirect their war funds to reconstructing the socio-economic, humanitarian and educational services in Afghanistan. See our page From Creech to Afghanistan for more information on NDE's support of APV.

Afghan Peace Volunteer sites
ourjourneytosmile.com
globaldaysoflistening.org and especially until Dec. 10, 2millionfriends.org and be sure to read their collected “Love Letters from Kabul.” And support their Duvet Project!

See additional Blog Posts from 2012 (scroll down to find them).