At The Tone, The Time WIll Be. . .(2)

(At The Tone, The Time Will Be. . .(2)

Whenever one finds his or herself involved in a great project but a project whose end result would be destructive, certain qualms could arise. That happened with the Manhattan Project, the American attempt to develop the world's atomic bomb. As one might recall, there were many German scientists involved with the endeavor. Their motivation had been to keep a bomb out of the hands of Nazi Germany. But, when the bomb began to be more real, that an actual design was proving feasible, and no real German effort was realized, their continued participation was proving problematic. Many of these wavering physicists were located in Chicago, where Enrico Fermi had first conducted a controlled chain reaction. These were scientists that were advocating for an alternative to using the bomb on the new enemy, Japan. Instead of bombing a Japanese city, causing un-told destruction and loss of life. That prospect can be troubling to anybody, but these scientists felt guilt in their contribution to this horrible weapon. They suggested alternatives such as a demonstration test. They suggested informing the Soviets. Neither idea was embraced and, on the 6th, and 9th of August, 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed with massive destruction and a great loss of life.

Those scientists from Chicago, after the war, began a publication called the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The magazine is famous for its so called Doomsday Clock. Those familiar with it knows that the Clock shows a quarter with hours and minutes with "Midnight" meaning a possible nuclear war.

(picture of Doomsday Clock)

Now, in the years since its inception, the "hands" have been moved back and forth, indicating how close or far Global Armageddon might be. The current "time" is just 90 seconds till Midnight.

 

The Bulletin were critics of the arms race. Over the decades of the Cold War, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R amassed great arsenals with the potential to destroy the planet. So, the superpowers recognized the need to begin to limit and then begin to reduce the massive numbers of warheads. First, there were the SALT (arms limitation) Treaties of the 1970's and then START (arms reductions) of the late '80's and '90's. One more "accord that was negotiated had been the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which prohibited any nuclear test. Atmospheric testing had been dis-continued in the early '60's. The U.S. never ratified the agreement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has himself abrogated the CTBT, in his mind because he needs parity with the West. Whatever that means. In any event and all things being equal maybe the time of 11:58:30 is set just about right. Is that a tone ? Or might it be the old Civil Defense siren ?