In Amherst, organizers say they expect hundreds of people to attend an October 5 rally to protest the USA's support of Israel's wars on Gaza and Lebanon. The rally starts at 1 p.m. at the Amherst town common. Organizer Hoang Phan said, “Israel has expanded its nearly 12-month genocide and war of aggression in Palestine to Lebanon. The weapons and planes used in Israel’s military assaults on civilian populations have been supplied and funded by the United States government. Israel receives a minimum of $3.8 billion annually in unconditional military aid from the U.S.” The organizers have a web page at:

www.instagram.com/westernmasscoalition4pal

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In Northampton about 50 people were at a rally to protest nuclear weapons, Patricia Hynes told the Valley Post. She is on the board of a group that has a web site at www.traprock.org. The rally was on September 17.

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Critical Mass bicycle rides started in 1992 in California and have since spread around the world. Big groups of people ride together on roads, forcing cars to go at bicycle speed. On October 4 there will be a Critical Mass bike ride in Brattleboro. The ride starts at 5:30 p.m. at the town common. The goal is to get politicians to make more bicycle paths that are safe from cars. Details about the ride are at:

www.facebook.com/events/3823428407935453

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In 2014, the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor closed permanently because
thousands of people marched in Brattleboro, and because hundreds of
people were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience in Brattleboro
and outside the reactor three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's
throw from New Hampshire. Deb Katz was one of the main organizers of
these protests. She lives in the Pioneer Valley and runs a group that has a web site at www.NukeBusters.org.

On September 30, 2024 Katz told the Valley Post her reaction to an article in the previous day's edition of the Brattleboro Reformer daily newspaper. The article was written by unnamed employees of billionaire Michael Bloomberg. The article says nuclear power is good for the environment.

Katz said, “The resurrection of nuclear power as a solution for anything is a travesty. For all its claims, nuclear power is neither clean nor green. It is a dirty toxic technology. It relies on its invisibility to keep its lies going while communities suffer the burden of its broken promises. High level nuclear waste is stranded at reactor sites across the country with no solution.The government and industry abdicated their responsibility to develop a scientifically sound and environmentally just solution to its monstrous waste problem.... The communities targeted for this waste, like the communities targeted for reactors, are working poor, people of color and Indigenous. This is environmental racism.”

She continued, “The resurrection of nuclear to power AI adds insult to injury. AI uses massive amounts of energy to run and, like nuclear power, massive amounts of water to cool its systems. It is a potential blight on the environment-- all for instant gratification. We need real solutions, not worn out propaganda from a failed industry and a willing regulator.”