"Strange Reprise about Nuclear Love"

Oh, for Heaven's sake, we were giving it away...

And for Heaven's sake, frightening.

We at Peace Engineering are frightened, and rightly so. Even without knowledge of the nuclear arsenal, many components of which are decaying, and of the potential for disaster if even a tiny number of the the 17,000 weapons were used -- even without all that, we humans consider the world a scary place.

However, though frightened, we at Peace Engineering are still filled with optimism and resolve, and still recommend that in spite of the inherent dangers, Citizens employ critical thinking, and then move through that frightened stage to the activist stage during which we deactivate all those pesky nuclear weapons. Perhaps we ought term it the "deactivist" stage.

Last year, International Physicians for Social Responsibility reported that 2 billion people risk death from the catastrophic climate change following a nuclear exchange using only ½ of 1 percent of all weapons available. Worse, a full-scale nuclear war among the nuclear powers using all 17,000 nuclear weapons would end life as we know it.

"It's worse, Jim, Life is over."

From April 17th through April 19th, our director, John Miller, will be in St. Louis, Missouri, and Belleville, Illinois, to reprise a demonstration of what happens when one of those devices, particularly a weapon much larger than those used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, detonates over a city.

As they say in movies and on TV, "Stay tuned for further details."

"When, in the which?"

From William Blake's Illustration of the Book of Job

Recently I wrote this to a media person who dwells in the realm of radio:

As they say in the South, "This mornin' Ah heard tell" that your program airing today features people sharing stories about how they became Democrats or Republicans -- kinda' like how they grew into their dresses and slacks.
During the program, I hope there will be discussion of thinking processes outside the traditional DemRep Box, especially now that my friend's Great Grandfather's sentiment, "Not a dime's worth of difference," is echoing more powerfully than ever, especially now that we, ten years later, review both parties' complicity in launching our little adventure in Iraq.
When I mention that I am running for president as an independent, Folks are overjoyed to hear that there is another alternative. However, recognizing the MSM's inability to pronounce any other party name more complicated than "demm-crat" or "pub-lickin", and considering Those Two are both fiercely attached to the Creature -- deserving of both less pronounceable names, Leviathan & Behemoth [1] -- about which President Eisenhower warned us, initially intending to use the phrase "military, industrial, congressional complex" (Italics mine.) -- in light of that, as the deluge of propaganda continues, there's little likelihood that Folks will soon eagerly announce, "Ah heard tell there's another political party!"
The man who saved my life in Vietnam goes further, heartily believing that Those Two are minor subsidiaries of that Creature; indeed, preferring the Behemoth, he metaphorically, most vehemently relegates the Republicrats and Demicans to hind teat. 

Note 1. Great site: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behemoth >

And so, Boys and Girls, "Where are we? How far from the Apocalypse; how near to Armageddon; how soon shall we be on the Road?"

"Dad, tell me again what 'cannibal' means..."

Traveling that Road made more difficult by ravenous survivors? Who knows how soon the legendary words will be given the sardonic culinary twist: "When in the event of human courses..."

Bon appetit.

"Mencken, Montaigne & Twain, Oh My..."

Lewis Lapham's writing gives me pause, conceptual headaches, and now prompts me to examine my own inner zoo. As Mr. Lapham shares his tale of meeting a koala, which Homo Superiorus has always designated "furry, cute, and loveable", we learn that this particular exceptional creature will have none of the author's hubris and promptly gives him paws.

Edwina Pickles is the Australian photographer who shares with us the image of this beautiful, rightfully territorial, creature, which Pliny, writing long ago, considered far more exceptional than Homo Inferiorus. Mr. Lapham writes:

The studies of Pliny the Elder in the first century demonstrated to his satisfaction that so exceptional were the wonders of the animal kingdom that man by comparison “is the only animal that knows nothing and can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak, nor walk, nor eat, nor do anything without the prompting of nature, but only weep.”

I would suggest the tears of Homo Conqueratus are indeed crocodile, but that would be unkind to another wondrous creature.

Complete article here: < http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/03/12-8 >

"Uh oh."

Uh oh, those pesky 99 per-centers have their hats and hands out again for those pesky entitlements.

Incredibly powerful art from another excellent Common Dreams article about income disparity:

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/03/06-0

"Brother, can ya' spare some cake?"

"Please stay."

To All who are considering suicide, please do not leave us. Please reconsider, and then stay with us. Stay with us, please.

"Most Prolific?"

Uh oh: "China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States and Iran are the most prolific executioners in the world."
 
That statement appears here: < http://www.derechos.org/dp >
 
Sounding like a line from a dark operetta, perhaps we should sing, "We are the Very Model of Prolific Executioners."
 
Here is another site that focuses on Georgia's execution of Troy Davis, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 21st: < http://nodeathpenalty.org >
 
Actually, we could say Georgia's "governmental" execution of Troy Davis, but perhaps we should go further and mention that if, as we hope is the case in other states of the union, the citizens are the government, then humans, that is to say, real flesh and blood people just like Troy Davis, are responsible for the execution.

Mercy, either god or the devil is in the details.

Here is the number for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole: 404-656-5651. The person answering the phone will log your call and share the number of calls received with the Board members, who have the power to grant clemency. After several minutes of recordings, I spoke with a real person, and she said that constitutionally the governor has no power to intervene, and when I asked if Mr. Obama has that power, she said that phone calls to the White House are referred to the number for the Georgia Board!
 
Uh oh, it appears the devil may have more control over the details than we thought.
 
The White House comment line number is 202-456-1111, and when I talked with Operator 18, she said that she not been given information about referring people to the Georgia number, but did say that she had successfully recorded my urging Mr. Obama to intervene and grant clemency.
 
Ah, details again.

During the coming days, especially as the presidential election (which we might term Hadean) proceeds, we shall see who has power over the details of this and other critical issues.

"Wars, Films & Top Billing?"

Ah, Nagasaki.

Dateline August 9th, 1945. BBC report [1]:

Atom bomb hits Nagasaki. American forces have dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki - the second such attack on Japan in three days. The bomb was dropped by parachute from an American B29 Bomber at 1102 local time. It exploded about 1,625 ft (500m) above the ground and is believed to have completely destroyed the city, which is situated on the western side of the Japanese island of Kyushu.

Such a dry, matter-of-fact report combining war and geography, missing only weather, which, except for a single cloud mushrooming over the city, was CAVU, the U. S. Army Air Forces acronym for clear and visibility unlimited.

Report continues:

In a statement issued from Guam, General Carl A Spaatz, Commander of the US Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, said, “The second use of the atomic bomb occurred at noon, August 9, at Nagasaki. Crew members report good results. No further details will be available until the mission returns.”

The bomb was named Fat Man, referring either to Winston Churchill, a character in England, or to Kasper Gutman, a character in The Maltese Falcon.

Ah, Hiroshima.

Although the Man was fatter by about five kilotons, Hiroshima always gets top billing, perhaps because, though slighter in stature, the Boy had more “good results” than the Man, the former tallying 90,000 to 166,000, with the latter trailing far behind, tallying a mere 60,000 to 80,000 [2].

Also, the first city with good weather seemed to have more press; indeed, the New Yorker devoted the full August 31, 1945, issue to the event, the text of which became John Hersey’s book Hiroshima [3].
 
Ah, Kyoto.

Good results for them, but bad results for the Air Force, because Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, had honeymooned there, had fond memories of the city, and successfully persuaded the Target Committee to remove Kyoto from the list.

Apparently no member of that Committee, including Robert Oppenheimer, had fond memories of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

So it goes.

References:

1. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/9/newsid_3580000/3580143.stm >

2. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki >

3. <  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_book) >