Recent Past Events

Hiroshima Memorial: Reflection and Action
No Nukes! No Wars! No Profiteers!

What: In the Shadow of the Bomb, a memorial ceremony and nonviolent direct action at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab will mark the 62 nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Through poetry, music and spoken word, we will recall the history of that terrible day and the ongoing effects of nuclear weapons use, production and testing. We will commemorate the victims of nuclear weapons and war at the gate of the government laboratory that is designing the next U.S. nuclear weapon, the so-called "Reliable Replacement Warhead".

When: Monday, August 6, 2007 beginning promptly at 7:30 AM. The commemoration will culminate with an air raid siren and a moment of silence and reflection at 8:15 AM , the exact time of day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. An "open mike" rally and nonviolent direct action at the Livermore Lab West Gate entrance will follow.

Where: Participants will gather near the West Gate of the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, on Vasco Road in Livermore, California. Driving directions: Take I-580, exit south at Vasco Road. The West Gate is approximately 0.3 mile south of the intersection with Patterson Pass Road. For public transportation, click here.

Who: Keynote speaker, Chizu Iiyama, a former chair of the department of early childhood education at Contra Costa College, co-authored Teacher's Guide: Making Peace: The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She currently serves as a Board member and writer for Nikkei Heritage, a publication of the National Japanese American Historical Society, and is active with the Asian Pacific Islander Resist! Watada Support Committee. Musicians robert temple and soul singer-songwriter Kaylah Marin will perform. Community leaders and activists are invited to speak at the "open mike" rally.

Why: Livermore Lab, managed by the University of California and a consortium of corporations, including Bechtel, is one of two labs that have designed every nuclear weapon in the U.S. stockpile. At present, Livermore Lab is developing a new "replacement" warhead, designed to be launched from submarines, designated as the "Reliable Replacement Warhead-1." The RRW-1 is first new H-bomb in the Bush Administration "Complex 2030" plan, to re-design and rebuild every nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal. The Livermore Lab action is among dozens of Hiroshima-Nagasaki commemorations, rallies, film screenings, and vigils being held around the country at nuclear facilities and corporate war profiteers under the umbrella, "No Nukes! No Wars! No Profiteers!" and coordinated by United for Peace and Justice, the largest anti-war coalition in the country. See www.august6.org for a growing list of actions and downloadable tools.

Sponsors: Tri-Valley CAREs; Western States Legal Foundation; Livermore Conversion Project; American Friends Service Committee; First Congregational Church of Oakland; Ecumenical Peace Institute; Physicians for Social Responsibility-SF Bay Area; Berkeley Friends Church; Communist Party USA, N. Calif. District; Declaration of Peace San Mateo County; Fr. Bill O'Donnell Social Justice Committee; Friends of the People's Weekly World; Global Action to Prevent War; Grandmothers for Peace International; Northern CA 9/11 Truth Alliance; Orange County Friends; Santa Cruz Weapons Inspection Team, Fresno Center for Nonviolence, Monterey Peace and Justice Center, Grandmothers for Peace, Hayward Chapter, Marin Peace and Justice Coalition, Social Justice Center of Marin, Bay Area United for Peace and Justice.

More Information: Jedidjah de Vries, Tri-Valley CAREs: 925-443-7148; cell 805-698-3577
Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation: 510-839-5877; cell: 510-306-0119

A downloadable flier is available at: www.trivalleycares.org/aug6/aug6livermore.pdf

Free Public Showing and Discussion

Why We Fight
Thursday, March 22, 2007
7:30 pm

Beck Hall, Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo
300 East Santa Inez, San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 342-5946

Named for a series of WW-II propaganda films, this documentary by Eugene Jarecki examines the rising role of the military industrial complex in US policies.  Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

"It's impossible to imagine anyone, right-leaning or left, coming away from this hugely important documentary unshaken by its representation of the United States and its military establishment." — Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Sponsored by:

Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo Social Action Committee
www.uusm.net

Peace Action of San Mateo County
www.sanmateopeaceaction.org

San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility
www.sfbaypsr.org

Free Admission and Popcorn!

Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit Training

October 14, 2006
8:30am - 1pm
Kaiser Oakland Medical Center
280 W. MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland, California

This half-day training program will introduce participants to a new clinical resource for practitioners, the Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit.  The Toolkit, which has received official endorsement from the AAP, was developed partially in response to the frequent requests by pediatricians for practical, clinical tools that enable providers to incorporate environmental health guidance into everyday practice.  It includes materials for both providers and patients on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that may affect child health.

Attendees will receive a complete Pediatric Toolkit to test in their practices. This resource is not yet available publicly, and contains provider reference materials and guidance cards, attractive patient “Prescription for Prevention” slips and magnets.  Attendees will commit to introducing several colleagues to the Toolkit and using it in their practices for 3 mos.

Sessions presented by physician experts in environmental health will include:

• The identification of routes of exposure to common toxic chemicals and substances including metals (mercury, lead, arsenic), solvents, pesticides, and other persistent organic compounds such PCBs.;
• Health effects linkages;
• Anticipatory guidance keyed to well-child visits;
• Patient communications on environmental health issues;
• Key concepts on the unique vulnerabilities of children, susceptible populations, the “built” and “food” environments, and other important issues.

This training, co-sponsored by the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at University of California San Francisco, Kaiser Permanente, and the Greater Boston and San Francisco Chapters of Physicians for Social Responsibility, is supported by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and is FREE.

Contact Lucia Sayre at San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility for registration information: 510 559 8777 or luciasayre@sbcglobal.net

Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and nurses in pediatric and family practices are welcome to register. 4 CME credits available through Kaiser Permanente for your participation. Space is limited, so register today! 

Can the United Nations Heal the World?

The UNA-USA Mid-Pacific Region, Northern California Division is presenting an all day series of talks and panels by nationally and internationally known experts. The event is co-sponsored, in part, by SF Bay PSR. Topics to be discussed include the UN Millennium Development Goals: Infant mortality, maternal health, infectious diseases; Conflict and Consequences of Global Warfare; Role of the UN and What We Can Do.

Saturday October 7, 2006  • 9:30 am to 6:00 pm
Stanford University School of Medicine
Fairchild Auditorium, Campus Drive West & Panama Avenue

General Public: $35
Students: $15

Tickets cannot be purchased through PSR, they can be purchased the day of the event at the door. For further ticket information, or to check availability please call Astrid Stromberg at (831) 227-1722.

Visit www.una-sf.org for more information.

Ceremony and Nonviolent Action at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab
Sunday, August 6 gather at 8 AM; march at 9 AM
Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, Vasco Rd & Patterson Pass Rd, Livermore, CA. Take 580, exit south at Vasco.

A morning of protest and action, featuring a Japanese Hibakusha—an atomic bomb survivor—at one of the principal nuclear weapons design labs in the world, a mere 50 miles from San Francisco.

It has been 61 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and another nuclear tragedy looms dangerously close. With the Bush Administration’s policy of creating lower yield, more “usable” nuclear weapons, now is a more important time than ever in calling for the abolition of all weapons of mass destruction and war.

Peace Camp
Come join us on August 5 in Del Valle Regional Park for the
Livermore Peace Camp! Space is limited, e-mail Butterfly@Lacy.com to reserve a spot.

Ceremony and Nonviolent Action at Bechtel Corporate Headquarters in San Francisco
Wednesday, August 9 at 10 AM
Bechtel, 50 Beale St, San Francisco. Half a block from Embarcadero BART.

Join us for a morning of protest and a ceremony led by Western Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney at Bechtel’s Corporate Headquarters. Bechtel is one of the top profiteers of the war in Iraq, manages nearly every aspect of the nuclear weapons cycle, and is known by communities worldwide for its habitual violations of indigenous and human rights.

The anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, is also the UN declared International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Since their earliest stages, nuclear weapons and the people who profit from them have caused untold suffering to indigenous peoples around the world. Come and act with us to voice our support for the sovereignty and dignity of indigenous peoples and call for an end to nuclear weapons and war!

To sponsor either of these events, or to volunteer, contact:

Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148 http://www.trivalleycares.org

Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877 http://www.wslfweb.org

International Indian Treaty Council (415) 641-4482 http://www.treatycouncil.org

Livermore Conversion Project (510) 639-9095

For more information, go to http://www.august6.org/bay_area

The California Pacific Medical Center Program in Medicine & Human Values and SFMS present:

Steven Miles, MD “Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror”
Thursday, July 27 at 5:30PM
CPMC Conference Center Level A
2333 Buchanan Street, San Francisco
Information: (415) 600-1647 or www.cpmc.org/ethics

Steven H. Miles, MD, is professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a faculty member of its Center for Bioethics, and a practicing physician. He has served as the chief medical officer for a Cambodian refugee camp and worked on AIDS prevention in Sudan and on tsunami relief in Indonesia with the American Refugee Committee. He has also worked with the research committee of the Center for Victims of Torture. The recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, Miles is widely published on a wide range of health- and health-care-related topics. He is the author of “The Hippocratic Oath and the Ethics of Medicine” and the new book “Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity and the War on Terror”.

“Steven Miles has written exactly the book we require on medical complicity in torture. His admirable combination of scholarship and moral passion does great service to the medical profession and to our country.” –Robert Jay Lifton, MD, author of The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, and co-editor of Crimes of War: Iraq

“The Cost of War: The Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq & the Health Effects of War”

Thursday, May 11, 2006, from 7:30–9:00 PM
Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center
1414 Walnut Street (between Rose & Vine), Berkeley 94709

Cost: $5 donation

Speaker: Jeff Ritterman, MD
Dr. Ritterman is Chief of Cardiology at Kaiser Richmond, member of the SF Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility Steering Committee, California Physicians Alliance member.

Co-Sponsored by California Physicians Alliance and SF Bay Area PSR

For more information, contact Ruth Phillips at 510-848-0237, ext. 127, or ruthp@brjcc.org.

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere of Nobelity

The film is a look at the world’s most pressing problems through the eyes of Nobel laureates. Filmed across the U.S., and in France, England, India and Africa, Nobelity combines the insights of nine distinguished Nobelists with a first-person view of world problems and the children who are most affected by them.

The Distinguished Laureates of Nobelity include: Desmond Tutu, (Nobel Peace Prize, 1984.); Sir Joseph Rotblat, (Nuclear Physicist/Disarmament Activist Nobel Peace Prize, 1995), a contemporary of Einstein; Wangari Maathai, (Nobel Peace Prize, 2004), founder of the Pan-African Green Belt Movement; and Jody Williams from the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines (Nobel Peace Prize, 1997); and five others.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006, at 7:30 PM

Cost: $10 to $20 suggested donation per ticket

Letterman Digital Arts Center, One Letterman Drive, Presidio of San Francisco

Proceeds from this premiere are tax deductible and benefit SF Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility and Amnesty International.

For more information or to view the trailer, please visit: www.nobelitythemovie.com

To purchase tickets please visit: www.nobelitythemovie.com/invite

For public transportation information please visit: www.presidio.gov/Visiting/Directions/PublicTransit/sf.htm

Directions:

• Enter the Presidio at the Lombard Gate
• Make your first RIGHT at Letterman Drive
• Make your first RIGHT at the stop sign
• Please stop where the security officer is stationed for directions into the visitor parking garage. There will be a $5 dollar charge for parking
• Once you park your car, follow the white dots on the ground to the B Lobby (purple signage)
• Take the elevator to the M Level for event check-in

Co-Sponsored by SF Bay Area PSR and Amnesty International.

In Harms Way: Toxic Threats

Wednesday, May 24, 2006, at 7:30pm

Cost: $5 donation

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center
1414 Walnut Street (between Rose & Vine), Berkeley 94709

Join Dr. Brian Linde of Kaiser Oakland and SF Bay Area Physicians
for Social Responsibility for a timely overview of environmental toxins and their relationship to children’s health and development.

For more information, contact Ruth Phillips at 510-848-0237, ext. 127, or ruthp@brjcc.org.

SF Bay Area PSR’s 2nd Annual Lucheon

This August marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, please join PSR in bearing witness to these tragedies, honoring the survivors, and supporting the efforts for a peaceful future and a world without nuclear weapons.

Global Fund for Nuclear Disarmament Event

Almost 60 years ago a flame was kindled from the embers of the City of Hiroshima after the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on a civilian population. Three days later, a second Atomic Bomb was dropped on the civilian population of Nagasaki. The flame still burns today and has become a symbol of hope for peace and a reminder that nuclear weapons must never again be used on civilian populations.

For decades Zen Monks have walked endlessly between Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the belief that their selfless sacrifice and prayers for peace will make Nagasaki the last city in the world ever to know the horrors of Nuclear War. Now, they will be joined by Native Americans, Veterans, and peace groups of all faiths for their final 1600 mile journey as they walk from San Francisco to the Trinity Test Site in Alamogordo, New Mexico, location of the first Atomic Bomb detonation. Once returned to its origin, the flame that has been kept for 60 years will be extinguished during a global television broadcast calling for an end to the threat and fear that we have lived with for four generations.

Rally and March to the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab

Location: William Payne Park, 5800 Patterson Pass Rd., Livermore, CA.

When: August 6th, 5:00 p.m.

This Seeds of Change event reminds us that our actions now are laying the foundation for peace in the future. Like a pyramid built through generations of labor, the movement is planting the seeds that will one day abolish nuclear weapons and heal global wounds caused by the nuclear legacy. Join others in planting the Seeds of Change and enjoy music, children's activities, and a candlelight march to the gates of the Lab. Bring an item to share at the picnic (potluck) dinner.