What is Digg?329 Comments
- truthmatters, on 02/14/2008, -17/+103Interesting perspective. I agree that the "rapture" people that believe we're in the last days, and are actually looking forward to the second coming of Christ are a threat to our national security and the international community. That's why the separation of church and state is so important.
- phnx0221, on 02/14/2008, -9/+60You know, it's funny, for a country who displays such concern over the weapons control of other nations, we don't really apply those same standards to ourselves. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised by this at this point, but the knowledge of how many incidents we've had, how many scares, how many fires and explosions with nuclear and hydrogen weapons either on board or in vicinity, is truly frightening. And while we do not abide by the same rules that we pressure other nations to uphold, we are threatening them with sanctions, military actions, or harsh ambiguous language that could be interpreted as any of the above.
I don't know if I feel the same about our government as they do, in regards to the judgment day, religious extremist thing, but then again, I'm not one of any religious persuasion. It is all entirely worrisome to me, to see such extreme ideologies in any government, especially when the motivation of action and will lies with something that happens after we die, some saving grace, or divine redemption. But...since we so easily put forth the same labels on to other governments, with or without regard to how legitimate such a claim really is, I think I'd have to consider this, and consider the motivations behind our actions with regard to that idea. All with a grain of salt of course, as I would with the claim of extreme islamic governments of nations who don't curtail to our expressed desires.
Very interesting read, it gives much food for thought, especially in regards to such an important issue as nuclear weapons control and handling, proliferation, treaties, and the respect of such laws, and handling that we should most certainly impose on our stockpile (which far outnumbers any other nation in the world). - digindrivefast, on 02/14/2008, -9/+47Didn't we have a loose cannon (pilot w/weapons) over Colorado too?
It's all scary stuff!
"In 1980, a Titan II missile in Arkansas exploded during maintenance, sending a nuclear warhead flying 600 feet through the air. In a remark that visibly annoyed a U.S. official present at the briefing, Iqhman described the U.S. nuclear arsenal as "an accident waiting to happen." - Worldviewsblog, on 02/14/2008, -10/+47Gen. Atta M. Iqhman; Col. Bom Zhalot; John G. Libb ; Jay Keuse....
This column by Hugh Gusterson is a parody, although the "Pakistani perspective" is arguably not far from the truth and reflects the outrage with which much of the world views US self-righteousness and hypocrisy on the issue of nuclear weapons.
The historical information and info on US nuke weapons handling procedures are also accurate. - Heysal, on 02/14/2008, -8/+35We can blame our politicians for all of this as long as we want -- but it is WE the PEOPLE who are allowing it to continue, so if you see thruth in the statement made, look in the mirror and see the real hypocrite - then go watch some more TV, shop for the latest greatest products, and get on that cell phone. It's easy to not see our own part in this when all we care about is how much convenience and fun we can have.
- phnx0221, on 02/14/2008, -2/+28B-52 armed missile mishap described in the article - link to Washington Post article September 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic ...
While checking the claim in the newspaper regarding the 24 bomb mishaps, not only did I find that the claim was indeed valid, but I also came across this site that listed out not only aircraft mishaps, but a comprehensive detailing of nearly all nuclear mishaps under several areas of control. Below, I've summarized the list, but reading this site, will give you a much better, more detailed account of what actually happened, and how many thousands of incidents were reported and noted. These are listed by dates, and releases of information.
http://www.lutins.org/nukes.html
12 Research Facility Accidents (meltdowns, radiation releases, explosions, and flushings of nuclear waste)
20 Power Plant Accidents (spills, corrosions, listings of thousands of radiation exposures, ruptures)
24 Bombs and Bomber incidents (aircraft explosions, disappeared aircraft, accidental weapons firing, fires)
12 Sumbarine Accidents and Mishaps ( realeased chemicals into ocean waters, spills, and malfunctions)
8 Nuclear Testing Facility Accidents (illness, chemical release, lost weapons)
26 Processing, Storage, Shipping, and Disposal Accidents (hundreds of noted accidents and reports, fire, explosions, lost materials gone unnoticed for significant amounts of time) - Orderless, on 02/14/2008, -0/+21Many people before you have had the same feeling at the core of their being: that they were living in the last days. For centuries, people have been predicting that the end would come within their lifetimes. Life goes on.
I'll say this much. My faith in humanity is razor thin. As a race, we do everything in our power to destroy ourselves and the planet that made life possible for us. But it is folly to say that you *know* that we are in the last days. You can believe it and you can believe it strongly but it can not be known. - bonerjams2k3, on 02/14/2008, -4/+25you are the most ignorant ***** i have read so far today. congrats for managing to survive as long as you have without falling prey to some darwin award-worthy accident. GO, YOU!
- looselips, on 02/14/2008, -3/+23Agreed, this nuke info is confirmed:
"expressed particular concern about the August 29, 2007, incident in which six nuclear weapons were accidentally loaded under the wing of a B-52"
Religions will make any excuse for their reasons:
"Their leaders lecture us on the sanctity of life, and their president believes that every embryo is sacred, but they are the only country to have used these terrible weapons--not just once, but twice..."
Furthermore it is insane they support the killing of adults (war) but they have a problem killing stem cells, or clumps of cells smaller than what you destroy when you blow your nose, even if it means curing cancer and Alzheimer's, or growing spare parts like the pancreas, liver, and heart. I don't see anyone standing up for the spunk and the eggs which get flushed monthly. But this would cause more concern than cluster bombs and depleted uranium, because the loudest nutbars like to yell, "think of the children!" I wish they would realize what the war will end up cost the young before no one can afford to put them in a home.
"Millions of Americans believe that these are the last days and that they will be raptured to heaven at the end of the world. You have a president who describes Jesus as his favorite philosopher"
There have been a few of these guys thoughout the times with the same old story of doom and gloom. This should have been the hint that the big nice guy isn't so nice if he would kill any other of our friends and family and if he is willing to sacrifice any human then humans must not be on his "to save list". The story is a lie.
We should begin teaching others to grow-up past their juvenile wishes before moving out of elementary school. Or at least begin teaching the entire worlds history of religion throughout the ages as they evolved from others and why different beliefs are no different from what they believe, and ultimately never a reason for war. - pintomp3, on 02/14/2008, -3/+23just last year we lost track of a few nukes for 3 days. if this had happened in pakistan or russia, we would have been up in arms and making a big stink. there hasn't even been a hearing about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Ai ... - pintomp3, on 02/14/2008, -3/+20"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" sounds like it is you who should leave. if you want to live in a theocracy, go live in israel or iran.
- mattyd12466, on 02/14/2008, -4/+20so disapointing, its comments like that that one of the resons most of the world hate the US
- inactive, on 02/14/2008, -1/+16nearly every human ever born believed they were living in the 'last days'. statistically it wasn't true for 100% of them, why would it be for you? people need to remember we're just a happy accident in a vast uncaring universe.
- Worldviewsblog, on 02/14/2008, -14/+29Response to those, such as NonLeftistDiggr, who argue that it was necessary to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing about 250,000, mostly civilian, Japanese within a year of the bombings:
It is quite established that the bombings were unnecessary if their purpose was to end the war. Here are 2 articles:
Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Necessary? (http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0806-25.htm)
Was Hiroshima Necessary? (http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html)
Here are a couple of quotes that reinforce this argument (by the way, these men were not exactly hippie peaceniks):
http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm:
DWIGHT EISENHOWER:
"...in [July] 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent.
"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..."
ADMIRAL WILLIAM D. LEAHY
(Chief of Staff to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman)
"It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons.
"The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."
- William Leahy, I Was There, pg. 441
HERBERT HOOVER
On May 28, 1945, Hoover visited President Truman and suggested a way to end the Pacific war quickly: "I am convinced that if you, as President, will make a shortwave broadcast to the people of Japan - tell them they can have their Emperor if they surrender, that it will not mean unconditional surrender except for the militarists - you'll get a peace in Japan - you'll have both wars over."
Richard Norton Smith, An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover, pg. 347.
On August 8, 1945, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Hoover wrote to Army and Navy Journal publisher Colonel John Callan O'Laughlin, "The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul."
-- quoted from Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, pg. 635.
"...the Japanese were prepared to negotiate all the way from February 1945...up to and before the time the atomic bombs were dropped; ...if such leads had been followed up, there would have been no occasion to drop the [atomic] bombs."
- quoted by Barton Bernstein in Philip Nobile, ed., Judgment at the Smithsonian, pg. 142
"When I asked General MacArthur about the decision to drop the bomb, I was surprised to learn he had not even been consulted. What, I asked, would his advice have been? He replied that he saw no military justification for the dropping of the bomb. The war might have ended weeks earlier, he said, if the United States had agreed, as it later did anyway, to the retention of the institution of the emperor."
Norman Cousins, The Pathology of Power, pg. 65, 70-71. - EarlOfLade, on 02/14/2008, -1/+16The Rapture was invented back int he 1800's and have no basis in religion.
Just like the rest of christianity, it's man made and not real! - Superdemon, on 02/14/2008, -15/+29100,000 is nothing compared to the millions that would have died during an invasion.
- noahhoward, on 02/14/2008, -2/+15What was the justification for Peal Harbor, the US had no interest in going to war with Japan. The Japanese started their war, we ended it for them, had japan got nuclear technology first you can almost bet they would have walked them right out across the ilands then found a way to deliver them to the west coast.
It was a freaking war, there was nothing fair about it for both sides. It wa far better to end it there then have Russia obliterate everyone on the ground or have to fight back a human wave of brainwashed Japanese women and children who were told the Americans were coming to mainland Japan to barbecue their children and rape all the women. - Amric, on 02/14/2008, -3/+16Freedom from religion... now that is a great thought. The world would probably be a better place if it was that way.
- inactive, on 02/14/2008, -7/+19Dont bother, this is digg. Where its only cool if its anti-american. The children sitting here nice and safe behind their computer screens in their parents basements find it nice and easy to bitch and moan about bombing two cities. After all, it wouldnt have been their ass making a beach landing on Japan. So why not play monday morning quarterback with other peoples lives?
They are to stupid to understand that bombing cities is a part of large scale war, because they have never seen it and dont bother to learn about history. They love to ignore that the conventional bombing of Tokyo killed about as many people as both nukes combined.
So dont bother, they will never get it. Just join the rest of us in laughing at them for crying about the things that have allowed us to have the freedom we do. - rooster113, on 02/14/2008, -4/+16when i was around ten i asked my priest "where do the people who have never heard of Jesus or the ten commandments go when they die?" his answer was "hell" that was the last time i went to church. we can't blame the ignorant masses for the things they are ignorant of, we must show/guide them to the truth. insulting people will only make them feel they have to defend their position and further entrench themselves. so start using the honey instead of the vinegar to attract more to our cause, in my experience it works a lot better.
- DrMonkeyLove, on 02/14/2008, -4/+15Correct. I'm sure very few people lost any sleep over what the Japanese did to the Chinese either.
- SpacePoet, on 02/14/2008, -2/+12Dude, how is he rewriting history? All he did was post some quotes by actual military men at that time in that war, that's context. Why don't you post some counter quotes instead of making an....
- cJw314, on 02/14/2008, -1/+11Easy; by not paying for rent, food, or medical.
- Delphium226, on 02/14/2008, -3/+12Wait until you've grown your first pube before asserting what real americans are and aren't.
- waydee, on 02/14/2008, -9/+18And theres the absolute truth, the US has no right to be threatening -anyone- considering their track record when it comes to nuclear weapons.
- Chaoticfist, on 02/14/2008, -8/+17As a Canadian looking down south, i can tell you i am surprised some times, at how you guys have not nuked half the world yet,(kudos to you guys on that) But seriously, how the *****, can there be so many issues with nukes, With like ***** 10,000 nukes lieing around the USA, you would think that the USA would have better safety procedures than Pakistan. I really wish we could seriously develop a 100% fool proof, anti nuke weapons shield, so that when the world goes to hell, at least we will have a little more time, before nucular winter sets in.....
- rooster113, on 02/14/2008, -0/+9hey I'm not saying it was an insult, i agree with you on everything besides the MSM statement and armed struggle being the only way. everything in my experience tells me that if i call you a "spoiled, apathetic, selfish creature" right or wrong you're going to circle the wagons and start calling me names, not a good way to bring people together for our cause. as far as RP, if you don't know a candidate exist how are you going to vote for him? as far as the revolution, lets try Gandhi's way first, it worked!
- NonLeftistDiggr, on 02/14/2008, -32/+41Read a book detailing Japan's actions from 1910-1945 or so, then STFU because you are an uneducated propaganda piece.
I'm 28, I was 45 years removed from WWII at birth, I've seen videos like Faces of Death before, I've been to rotten.com, none of those visuals are 1% as haunting as reading text about the stuff Japan did to people in that era.
Also, an invasion would have killed 10 times the amount of people the bombs did combined.
The only thing this proves, is this person doesn't know history or perspective worth crap. - SpacePoet, on 02/14/2008, -3/+11Christian fear mongering, that is all you have, frighten people with fairy tales of gloom and doom, and offer them a way out, works the same in many arenas, politics, business, and of course religion, all forms of superior control, all disastrous to the true human spirit. Keep your fear, go hide in a corner, and wait for your Judgment, the rest of us are going to try to fix this mess that mostly this type of thinking has caused.
- pegasus25, on 02/14/2008, -4/+12You absolute idiots! This is a sarcasm piece. Can't you even see that much? Atta M. Iqhman (atomic man), Bom Zhalot (bombs a lot), John G. Libb (John Glib)!!! How much more do you NEED? There's no Jay Keuse or John G. Libb. Now I really AM afraid of Americans having a nuke.
- pimpofpixels, on 02/14/2008, -15/+23There's a "usa" in "doUble StandArds"
- LeRenard, on 02/14/2008, -0/+8A plane crash would not result in detonation of the warheads... implying as much means you lack fundamental knowledge of how they work. There is a risk of radioactive material being dispersed, but in general the warheads of the US are over engineered with safety in a crash being a design criteria. Furthermore, B-52 flights have been drastically reduced, as the planes are getting quite old and hard to maintain, bases have been closed, and today there is only a fraction of the funding SAC used to receive. Lastly, B-52 flights spent little time over the United States. They generally maintained strict routes over land out to international border lines (beyond?) and things like the dew-line and polar holding patterns, which makes logical sense considering the least efficient place for a bomber to be is over your own territory. If you are afraid of the scenario you put forward, I'm fairly certain you have little to worry about in the real world.
- inactive, on 02/14/2008, -5/+13@pintomp2,
I agree with you. We try to police other countries, while we ignore our mistakes as they never had happened. - explnx, on 04/27/2009, -6/+14If Japan was so close to surrenduring why did it take TWO bombs days apart to make them do it?
- Barbosa, on 02/14/2008, -3/+11I don't think what Heysal said was an insult. We live in a country where we have lots of options, including the option of organizing and voting to drastically change the direction of the country. Unfortunately, like said above, too many Americans are willing to abdicate their duties as citizens to educate themselves on current events and actually mobilize in their communities and vote, protest, revolt if necessary (was this country not formed through armed revolt?). In the end the blame lies with the masses as much as it lies with those leaders who lead us astray. Why do you think Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul got no traction in the voting population? I'll give you a hint: and it had nothing to do with the MSM or censorship - Answer: because the average American is afraid to risk a drastic change in the direction of this country. We are a country full of largely spoiled, apathetic, selfish creatures who haven't had to deal with any real challenges for generations. Until we are either pushed to the edge of poverty by our failed government and learn how to do for ourselves again or face the tyranny of a police state and we are forced to resort to armed struggle, the status quo will remain.
- blate, on 02/14/2008, -4/+12Real americans don't sleep with their sisters you redneck *****
- Sabretou, on 02/14/2008, -3/+11Oh wait, when did you find out there's a world outside America?
- phnx0221, on 02/14/2008, -3/+10To provide some context, surely all countries and governments operating with nuclear research, weapons development, shipping and transport, are going to have accidents. However, what is worrisome to me, is that we (the US) has one of the largest numbers of nuclear weapons, armed and unarmed, in the world. The Cold War has long been over, and while we always seem to find new versions of red scares, the fact that we are not extremely careful, and in fact deceiving in the numbers of accidents, illnesses caused, and research conducted is quite alarming, especially considering the volatile position the United States has found itself within the middle east, and in the middle of Pakistan/India's arms race. Because we are the largest superpower, and because we also seem to be the country who is most vociferously concerned with its national security, and strategic placement security, it is in the best interest of ALL, that we maintain the up-most security, care, and caution with our own nuclear stockpile.
http://www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/nucweapo ...
http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab12.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_n ... - GhostRidr, on 02/14/2008, -1/+8If you knew anything about Japanese culture at that time, you would know they never surrendered (99% of the time). They fought to the very last man. The Japanese homeland had been training their civilians, including women and children, how to fight hand to hand. The entire country was ready to fight to the bloody end if the US would have invaded with a ground force. The estimations of dead would have made Normandy look like a picnic. Dropping the bomb saved countless lives on both sides of the fight, and instantly put an end to WWII.
- CarzorStelatis, on 02/14/2008, -8/+15They have a point. The possession, let alone the use, of nuclear weapons is an appalling crime regardless of the skin colour of the criminal.
- EarlOfLade, on 02/14/2008, -3/+9Unlike you because you support:
- Affirmative action
- Gay marriage
- Gay adoption
- Banning all forms of torture including waterboarding
- Reduction of the military budget and using those money on the people of USA
- Universal Health Care
- Removal of all forms of censorship, aka the 7 words
- Increase in USA's financial aid to third world countries,
- better and fairer laws in regards to import of goods from the thord world
- Higher minimum wage
Or am I mistaken in your tolerance of other people? - ender7074, on 02/14/2008, -1/+7Amen brother! A great many of us wouldn't be here to debate anything had we not dropped the bombs on Japan. History or logical thought is not somehting I come to Digg for. Its absent from most people here.
- apc3161, on 02/14/2008, -0/+6"Speaking anonymously because of the issue's sensitivity, senior Pentagon officials said it is Washington's role to give, not receive, advice on nuclear weapons safety and surety issues."
such an ***** response... - tekano, on 02/14/2008, -11/+17Splendid article! Sounds to me like the truth hurts...
- bobbknight, on 02/14/2008, -2/+8Oki Dok,i I see no one here knows anything about Thermal Nuclear Weapons.
Or how a Thermal Nuclear Device functions.
Or the difference between an incident at a Nuclear Power Generation Facility, and a Nuclear Device Detonation.
Pollution from coal fired power plants around the world are killing more people in the world today than were killed in the 2 world wars.
Nucrear power generation is clean to the point of the waste fuel that can be reprocessed into more fuel.
People need to wise up and learn about nuclear power and what it can provide, because if you live by a nuclear power plant, you are not living next to a ThermoNuclear Weapon.
As to the statement that children are shaking in the womb, I Am ROFLMAO on that one, I mean if some one made a statement like that in my presence I would burst out in a loud and demonstrative guffaw. - varun1s, on 02/14/2008, -5/+11If you initiate an attack on someone (i.e. Japan in WWII, Islamists in 9/11, we in Iraq) don't expect the someone to hold back. Thats what a war is. Thats my opinion.
- pintomp3, on 02/14/2008, -2/+7your response is basically "well, he's a stupidhead". quite the intellectual retort.
- lolinyerface, on 02/14/2008, -1/+6@didman
Who is 'they'?
What 'things' did they 'change'?
Oh be ghit!!! Do some research, spoon fed moron. :) - inactive, on 02/14/2008, -1/+6Its no shock. If you know anything about modern nukes, you would know that you can do just about any damn thing you want to them and they wont go off until told to.
- inactive, on 02/14/2008, -4/+9***** you.
War is hell. If you dont want to be in a war, dont bomb other peoples Navys. -
Show 51 - 100 of 327 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is