Written by Ben Purden Once every twelve months, usually in springtime, residents of towns in Massachusetts meet to discuss and vote on issues of town importance. This year in seven towns across western Massachusetts, residents considered something of global, existential importance: the abolition of nuclear weapons. The residents of Chesterfield voted on May 13,…
Written by Ben Purden On May 4th, 2019, residents of Conway gathered at their annual town meeting as they do every year, to vote on issues such as the town budget, town laws, articles put forward by town boards, and citizen petitions. This year was no different, except that residents weighed in on a…
Written by Ben Purden Annual town meetings are a New England tradition dating back to colonial times. In what Henry David Thoreau called “the true Congress,” residents engage in direct democracy on matters affecting them all. Residents in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, made their May 4th, 2019 meeting a forum about an issue of global importance:…
Written by Ben Purden On April 10th, 2019, residents of the town of Montague, Massachusetts, weighed in on a matter of great national and international significance: the abolition of nuclear weapons. At the annual town meeting, a tradition of direct democracy called “the true Congress” by Henry David Thoreau, Article 38 was passed, creating…
September 23, 2019: A NuclearBan.US poll, conducted on its behalf this week[1] by YouGov, reveals that 49% of Americans think that the US should work with the other nuclear armed countries to eliminate all nuclear weapons from all countries, in line with the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (“Nuclear Ban Treaty”). Only 32% think that the US should continue…
September 20, 2019: On a day that millions of people across the globe are out on strike to raise awareness about the climate crisis, a major milestone has been achieved in the race to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. As of today, the US now has more installed wind power than nuclear power, as measured…
Frances Crowe with David Narkewicz, Mayor of Northampton, showing her his Executive Order to align the city with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Quaker peace activist Frances Crowe (1919-2019) spent her whole life fighting for peace, justice and the environment, and of all the causes she fought for, the one she…
Soviet inspectors and their American escorts stand among several dismantled Pershing II missiles as they view the destruction of other missile components. The missiles are being destroyed in accordance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. 14 January 1989. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / US Department of Defense / MSGT Jose Lopez Jr. President Trump…
An open letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren: Dear Elizabeth, At the Presidential Candidates Debate last night (July 30, 2019), you looked shocked and incredulous when Governor Steve Bullock said he wasn’t willing to take America’s option to start a nuclear war “off the table.” But when he went on to describe “all those crazy…
Left to right: Danny Hall of Soka Gokkai International, Paki Wieland of CodePink, Rep. Jim McGovern, Timmon Wallis, NuclearBan.US, Vicki Elson of NuclearBan.US, Rep. Barbara Lee, Anthony Donovan, Sister Carol Gilbert, Medea Benjamin of CodePink, Sister Ardeth Platte. Photo: Diala Jadalla Warheads to Windmills: How to Pay for a Green New Deal was officially launched in Congress…