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Sample Program and Script for a Public Showing of the Video Read To Audience Before Showing The Video: We will now be hearing first from (speaker #2), who will be reading the powerful letter to President Bush signed by Robert Musil, Executive Director and CEO of Physicians for Social Responsibility together with Roy Farrell, MD, President of PSR. This statement sets the tone of how serious PSR believes President Bush's actions have been. After the video we will have some political work to do, but we will make those announcements at that time. (speaker #2) reads the “Open Letter to President Bush.” (Speaker #1) Thank you. We received this OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH from PSR stating their profound concern about the Bush Administration's pronouncement and policies regarding nuclear weapons. They were referring to the formerly secret plans for developing, deploying, and using a new breed of “small” tactical nuclear weapons against seven countries, which included Iraq, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Libya, and Syria. PSR'S comment that “this could lead to a global nuclear arms race” we thought was responsible, thoughtful, and clearly needed to be heard by President Bush and his administration. This new concept of developing smaller tactical nuclear weapons is so dangerous that we decided to show this updated half hour version of “The Last Epidemic” to demonstrate what is meant by small and large nuclear weapons, so people can oppose their development and work toward abolishing nuclear weapons entirely. The original video was produced in 1981 after videotaping the two day conference in San Francisco on the medical consequences of nuclear war. Physicians for Social Responsibility in the U.S (PSR) together with physicians in Europe and the Soviet Union worked together to stop the nuclear armaments race. They were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. Their websites can be found at www.psr.org for their U.S. work and www.ippnw.org for international work. Normally this video sells for $50.00, but the Producer felt it was so important to get the message out that he's selling them at cost: $5 for one, and $3 each in packs of 10. We hope everyone here will want to share this video with friends, relatives, libraries, churches, etc. The price is so low that many national groups are buying them at the wholesale price and reselling them for $5.00 or more, thus helping get them out and making additional money available for their work.With each copy goes this excellent pamphlet by PSR called Nuclear Abolition --The Time is NOW. We also have developed a website www.LastEpidemic.org where one can order the tapes, make copies of the open letter to President Bush, and receive information on organizing and conducting meetings and showing the video. We are planning to send this message to everyone who is a nuclear activist or peacemaker around the world. We'd love to hear from any of you who will give us email addresses for this purpose. We know that the present generation of men and women know little or nothing about nuclear weapon and the dangers which are still here. We want everyone to know the power of large nuclear weapons together with those “smaller nuclear weapons” videotaped at the Nevada Test Site which includes the nuclear weapon being fired from a cannon. You will see damage to freight trains and buildings but there is no indication of the radioactive fallout which killed many animals and people who lived downwind of the Test Site in Nevada or our soldiers who were irradiated at the Test Site after the artillery shell burst, and of course those thousands of Japanese who died of radiation after the blast in and around Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And this was all from “small” nuclear weapons. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 kilotons. Their proposed "small" Bunker Buster Bombs are a number of kilotons larger than that. But first we want to bring you up to date on the danger that nuclear weapons still present. After the national movement during the 1980's, called the Freeze to stop further production of nuclear weapons, both the United States and Russia together with the other nuclear nations actually agreed to stop producing and testing any more weapons and they signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Agreement was made to reduce the total number of weapons, and both the United States and Russia at this time have in the neighborhood of 8000 nuclear weapons each. But there has been no agreement on the part of the US or Russia to de-alert the weapons they have now pointing at each other's missile silos and cities. These weapons remain on a seven day per week, 24 hours per day alert status. This is particularly serious since in 1979 the United States high command situated under the mountains in Colorado almost fired our missiles at Russia as a result of seeing on their radar screens a misplaced training tape representing an all out attack. They were at the point of asking the President permission to fire, when they discovered the mistake. Then in 1995 President Yeltsin was within 5 minutes of firing the Russian Nuclear missiles aimed at the United States. This occurred as a result of misreading weather satellites which had been sent up by Norway and the U.S., and considering them as incoming nuclear bombs. The Norwegians had explicitly informed the Russian Ambassador in Norway that these satellites could be mistaken as incoming nuclear bombs and asked him to inform the Russian High Command when they were going to be sent up. The Russian high command was never informed, but before Yeltsin could order the firing of their missiles, the satellites changed formation and the Russian High Command recognized their error. Besides being appalled at the prospect of an all out nuclear catastrophe, one wonders who was in charge of making such egregious mistakes. If either firing had taken place, both the Russians and all the countries surrounding them together with the United States and countries surrounding us would have been annihilated or affected by death-dealing radiation because both the Russians and the U.S. would have had time to retaliate and in a nuclear war they each would be using megaton weapons. In the video you will see a hydrogen bomb exploding in the Pacific and the tidal wave which swept over the naval boats left there for the test. But no agreement for de-alerting all weapons has yet been made by either the U.S. or Russia and during the past 20 years Republicans and reactionary Democrats have effectively prevented any final treaties from being approved. The recent agreement between President Putin and President Bush that each will reduce the number of nuclear missiles on alert status to 2200 over the next ten years is not comforting. There is no agreement for mutual inspection and both sides with 2200 nuclear weapons would have more than enough weapons to destroy every city in the United States and Russia with populations over 10,000. Because of the current economic and military disarray in Russia, there is additional concern that terrorists might actually acquire nuclear bombs or materials to make them. Nuclear weapons must be eliminated; yet Bush and the Pentagon want to build more. This brings us up to date and we will now present The Last Epidemic: The Medical Consequences of Nuclear War. It will be followed with a presentation of various things we can do to eliminate nuclear weapons everywhere in the world. Read to Audience After Showing the Video: This is a devastating experience and we ask that we take just one minute to pray that this power never will be used again. (After one minute) So what can we do? The PSR pamphlet spells it out clearly: 1. We are selling the video at cost. $3.00 EACH in quantities of 10 FOR $30, plus $8.95 for shipping and handling. Each copy should have PSR literature and directions on how to use the video. See the Shipping costs on our website--www.LastEpidemic.org. Send it to churches, synagogues, community service clubs, colleges, high schools and your friends. BUT BEFORE YOU LEAVE ACT NOW. 2. ( We are passing out postcards now) Please take four of them. I hope that each of you will take the time to write a protest note to the President, your two Senators, and your Congress person. Make it brief. WE DON'T WANT A WAR WITH IRAQ NOR THE USE OF ANY NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Say it any way you wish, but say it now. We've learned that sending a postcard is the fastest way to communicate, since all letters in envelopes are specially checked for anthrax which delays the message. Phone calls may get through, but you may be thoroughly frustrated waiting for an answer. Getting four postcards written now can make you feel a little better. And Urge all of them to work towards abolition OF ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS..Have Addresses printed on slips of paper so that each person who is writing will have all the addresses in front of them (fill in your own representatives and senators.) 3. (READ) We are going to pass the hat now, not only for the cost of the cards but also to keep this effort going. We highly recommend Physicians for Social Responsibility who have a staff specifically working on this issue and you can get excellent, last minute information by going to their website at www.PSR.ORG. The Friends Committee on National Legislation www.FCNL.org also has excellent information on the latest bills in Congress and what to do about them. 4. Urge your group to pass a resolution endorsing abolition, then forward it to your newspaper and elected officials, city council, and Board of Supervisors. Get them to see the video. Most of them have never seen it. 5. You have heard what PSR wrote to the President. We have copies of that here and you may sign your approval of that letter. We will be sending the signatures to PSR who will send them on to the President. You do not have to be a physician to sign it. 6. PSR suggests that you join any peace organization and support it. They have a list of organizations, action ideas, or more copies of the brochure. Contact them at (202)667-4260 or www.psr.org. THANK YOU FOR COMING AND PARTICIPATING. |