Monday, January 26, 2004

The Alpha Issue = Nuclear Winter FEATURED ARTICLES - Nuclear Winter:  The Forgotten Danger, Mothers Alert.org - ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR WAR, Mothers Alert.org - Nuclear Notebook: Global nuclear stockpiles, 1945-2002, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 12/02 - Power Over the Ultimate Evil, by Jonathan Granoff, Tikkun Magazine, 12/03 QUOTE OF THE DAY "Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." - - James Madison - 4th President of the US - 1793 KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JANUARY 26th 2001 --  Samuel H. Day Jr. dies, age 74. Self- proclaimed "Old Codger for Peace" & author of Prisoners On Purpose: A peacemaker's guide to jails & prisons, Day was a journalist, civil libertarian & militant opponent of nuclear weapons who led a landmark 1st Amendment battle over publication of an article on the hydrogen bomb. in 1973, Day became managing editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, then became managing editor of The Progressive where, in 1979 when the magazine printed "The H-Bomb Secret: How We Got It, Why We're Telling It," The US government tried to halt its publication, which ultimately resulted in a victory for free speech advocates & journalists. Day, a Korean vet, went to prison innumerable times for his advocacy of international peace, & in 2000 wrote in an article published in newspapers across the country on Memorial Day weekend that, "if it is right to honor those who served in the cause of war, then it is equally right to honor those who served in the cause of resistance to war." A very nice tribute page at: http://no-nukes.org/samday RHINO HERE: So much trouble in trouble in the world. So many struggles that if addressed appropriately, could ease the suffering of countless human beings. This past Sunday at The Golden Globe awards, Meryle Streep closed her acceptance speech for best actress in a TV mini-series (HBO's powerful, "Angels In America") by saying she didn't believe that 2 people wanting to pledge their love to each other & steroids in sports, were the most important problems needing attention, obviously referring to shrub's SOTU address. Last week I received a note from Peter Coyote calling attention to the ultimate problem - the dangers of nuclear winter; what Peter calls, "...the Alpha issue as far as I'm concerned, trumping all others. Without human culture, there's no need to worry about politics. This should be number one on our lists.   Pete" Today's blog offers as clear thinking & on point analysis as I've seen on the subject. RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is by Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute. His piece, entitled, "Power Over the Ultimate Evil" was published in the December '03 issue of Tikkun Magazine. For more on the work of the Global Security Institute , GO TO:   http://www.gsinstitute.org Nuclear Winter: The Forgotten Danger by Steven Starr, Posted on Mothers Alert.org You would think that the destruction of the Northern Hemisphere should be a topic that humanity might want to talk about. Yet, for the last ten years, the subject of nuclear winter has been virtually absent from public discussion. The end of the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, and a highly publicized attempt to discredit the "theory" of nuclear winter by groups with a vested interest in preserving nuclear weapons: these events led to a decade of silence on the subject of nuclear winter. It is imperative that this silence be broken... http://www.mothersalert.org/nuclearwinter.html ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR WAR by Ross McCluney, Ph. D.,  Posted on Mothers Alert.org ...A number of scientific studies were carried out from the beginning of this decade until recently, on the environmental consequences of nuclear war. The major physical effect of massive thermonuclear explosions, which leads to severe ecological and other environmental effects, is a lessening of the quantity of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface. Because of this fact, and my particular scientific background, I believe that I am well qualified to report on the results of the environmental consequence studies that have been carried out for the last several years.... http://www.mothersalert.org/nuclearwinter2.html The following article was published in The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists & contains a summary of the history & scope of nuke bomb building & wielding by not only the 2 most infamous nuke powers; the U.S. & U.S.S.R., but also Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan & Israel. An excellent resource for stats & talking points. Nuclear Notebook: Global nuclear stockpiles, 1945-2002 by Robert S. Norris (Natural Resources Defense Council) & Hans M. Kristensen (Nautilus Institute) The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, November/December 2002 ...As detailed in the Bush administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the plan is to reduce the number of "operationally deployed strategic warheads" to 1,700- 2,200 by the end of 2012. With the possible exception of the Minuteman III W62, there will be no further dismantlement of warheads beyond those specified in the 1994 NPR. The reduction of operationally deployed warheads will be accomplished by transferring warheads from active delivery vehicles to either a "responsive force" or to "inactive reserve." An example of inactive reserve warheads are those that do not have limited life components, such as tritium. Any additional disassembly before 2014, according to the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration, would compete with planned refurbishments of the nine warhead types in the enduring stockpile. If current plans are fulfilled, by 2012 we estimate that the United States will have approximately 10,000 intact warheads-essentially the same number as today... CHECK IT ALL OUT AT: http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/nukenotes/nd02nukenote.html 7:53:51 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Power Over the Ultimate Evil Power Over the Ultimate Evil by Jonathan Granoff, Tikkun Magazine, 12/03 There are approximately 30,000 nuclear weapons in the world, 90 percent of which are possessed by Russia and the United States. The United States has about 11,000 nuclear weapons, and the Russians have about 19,500 nuclear weapons. Thousands of these are Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles; they are armed, targeted and poised, waiting for three short computer signals to fire. These hair trigger devices represent the devastation of approximately 100,000 Hiroshimas and pose a horrific threat to life. From the moment the early-warning systems cry danger (real or cyber-glitch), the U.S. government allows itself less than twenty five minutes before launch keys are turned in retaliation; experts believe that the Russian government allows itself less than ten. The nuclear weapons which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the equivalent of 15,000 and 12,000 tons of TNT (trinitrotoluene) respectively. Bombs in the megaton (equivalent to a million tons of TNT) and multiple megaton range are now in the arsenals, and some are even in excess of twenty megatons (20,000,000 tons of TNT). A five-megaton weapon would represent more explosive power than all the bombs used in World War II, and a twenty-megaton bomb more than all the explosives used in all wars in the history of the world. Over time, through accident or design, human fallibility will cause the unacceptable use of these weapons. Additionally, the possession by some states is the strongest stimulant to others to acquire them . In a stunning assertion of militarism and U.S. unilateralism over international cooperation and the rule of law, the Senate voted on September 17, 2003, mostly along party lines, to fund steps toward the development of new nuclear weapons... (RHINO GIVES SPECIAL URGING TODAY TO READ THE REST OF THIS ESSAY) Power "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:22:19 AM    comment

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