(Courtesy of Susanne)
Lab officials excited by new H-bomb project
By Ian Hoffman
Inside Bay Area
For the first time in more than 20 years, U.S. nuclear-weapons scientists are designing a new
H-bomb, the first of probably several new nuclear explosives on the drawing boards.
If they succeed, in perhaps 20 or 25 more years, the United States would have an entirely new nuclear arsenal, and a highly automated fac- tory capable of turning out more warheads as needed, as well as new kinds of warheads.
"We are on the verge of an exciting time," the nation's top nuclear weapons executive, Linton Brooks, said last week at Lawrence Livermore weapons design laboratory.
Teams of roughly
20 scientists and engineers at the nation's two laboratories for nuclear-explosive design — Livermore and Los Alamos in New Mexico — are in a head-to-head competition to offer designs for the first of the new thermonuclear explosives, termed "reliable replacement warheads" or RRWs.
Designers are aiming for bombs that will be simpler, easier to maintain over decades and, if they fell into terrorists' hands, able to be remotely destroyed or rendered useless. Once the designs are unveiled in September, the Bush administration and Congress could face a major choice in the future of the U.S. arsenal: Do they keep maintaining the existing, tested weapons or begin diverting money and manpower to developing the newly designed but untested weapons?
Administration officials see the new weapons and the plant to make them as "truly transformative," allowing the dismantlement of thousands of reserve weapons.
But within the community of nuclear weapons experts, the notion of fielding untested weapons is controversial and turns heavily on how much the new bombs would be like the well-tested weapons that the United States already has.
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4 comments:
I can't believe this isn't in all the mainstream press myself.
I just went to read Ratboy's Anvil blog and his latest post reminded me of one of the conversations we recently had on Islam and its views toward other religions. Sam Harris of Truthdig posted quotes from the Koran. Ratboy also links Sam's article and a link to the verses. Thought you might like to take a look because of the question you had asked me about the Koran's verses.
http://www.deeperwants.com/cul1/homeworlds/journal/
Well my only reasoning is that many of the corporations that profit from war also have their hands in the mainstream media corporations... its not in their interest to expose what they will profit from?
As for the post you supplied, thanks, but I have read the Koran, as well as many other world religious texts. I systematically studied many of the major texts when I became disillusioned with Christianity as a teen. This desire to know as much as i could about religious belief is probably the most influential thing in my later becoming an academic, teacher, lifelong student and radical. It taught me about the wide diversity of beliefs in the world, how our culture blinds us to other realities, and the need for critical thought (especially the reflective sort).
Of course it has been a long time, but the Koran, like the other monotheistic (is that the right term) texts are very unforgiving and vicious towards the unbelieving (just like the Jewish/Christian texts).
Probably why, like you, I am antitheist... or better yet some weird kind of pagan pantheist.
While I agree with some of the ideas Ratboy has posted there (including bits of David Brooks piece) we need to be aware of how we have long been tied to the exploitation of colonized places and our role in the continuing alienated dissent that feeds these fundamental movements.
But then we have 40 million desperately poor people in our own country, so its obvious we don't give a fuck. Just give me my piece of the pie ;)
Peace Susanne
I totally hear ya. I try not to be sucked into the propaganda machine, but of course, I live in this world. It's funny, when my husband came home from work yesterday I said I was amazed at the silly coverage of how Bush says the LA terrorist act was thwarted. Diversion so obvious. He said he was amazed it was being covered as news on NPR as well (he listens to it during his drive).
I'm currently reading Cornel Wests' book "Democracy Matters" and I'm on the part where he's discussing Israel/Palestine and he also heavily focuses on the misinformation presented. Interesting read if you haven't read it yet.
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