Wednesday, December 22, 2010

News and a little background behind it

New S.T.A.R.T. deal nearly done.
The treaty would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would establish a system for monitoring and verification. U.S. weapons inspections ended last year with the expiration of a 1991 treaty.
Scientist back in the late 80s calculated that it would take just 24 of the current warheads to eliminate life on this planet.
So I have to ask why do we need thousands of these things when a couple of dozen would do the trick?
This program is considered the black hole of a military career. It's where military officers go to be forgotten.

Oil over $90 a barrel
Merry Christmas everyone now fork over the cash. And what happened to the $12 a barrel Bush promised? Remember he was going to go over to Saudi Arabia and give those guys a good talking to. Ah such short memories we have. Any wagers as to how high prices at the pump will go?

Don't ask don't tell signed into law
I think the military wasn't actually expecting this to become a reality. Now they need to figure out living arrangements and a code of conduct. And nobody thought about what to do with bisexuals. Gad this could get real complicated. Also a certain Monty Python bit comes to mind. I'll see if I can pull that one up later.
Hope this works. Tres funny.

Senators press EPA on carcinogens in tap water.
There's 31 cities with high levels of the cancer causing chemical hexavalent chromium. If you remember the movie Erin Brockovich this was the chemical we're talking about here. And if republicans had their way the standards would be all but eliminated because after all that'd be getting in the way of corporate profits and we can't have that now can we?
I'd love to hold a republican banquet and use their safety standards for the meal. Dirty water contaminated food and plenty of chemicals would make for an interesting evening especially when I told them at the end what they'd just consumed. And when they asked exactly what that was I'd tell them "sorry boys that's proprietary information I can't tell you".

10 comments:

harry said...

Since when does anyone, especially Gods Own Country honor any sort of treaty?

Dr. Strangelove laughs along with 'Orwell'.

jmsjoin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jmsjoin said...

Finding out about the countrywide chromium problem caught me off guard.

My take on the nukes is active or waste they are here forever and the nukes of today dwarf in kill ratio those in the 1940s.

You know I am personal friends with the Gentleman who started our nuclear nonproliferation movement in the 1940's.

We always butt heads on this but I just told him last night I want him to write on this because I want his take though it is predictably upbeat from the eyes of a 93 year old.

BBC said...

I was listening to a radio show today, financial expert, Dave Ramsey is the name I think.

He told a caller that they should sell their condo for whatever they could get for it as long as it was enough to get out from under the mortgage. If you get more than that it's just a bonus.

If you stay stubborn until they foreclose on you and they sell it for less than than what you own they can sue you for the balance.

Well, I need those warheads so I can kill every fucking idiot I don't like.

S.W. Anderson said...

How many nukes we actually need is probably unknowable in any absolute sense. I doubt the number we have is made public, but if it is 2,200, that seems excessive. For one thing, they are expensive to create, maintain and dispose of. Efforts to reduce the inventory make sense.

I like your idea for a GOP banquet. Top the salad with 10W-40 and vinegar, and be sure Rep. Joe Barton, R-Big Oil, gets a heaping helping.

Demeur said...

Harry this treaty actually is honored because it's verified. And I don't think the Russians like spending money on nukes anymore than we do.

Jim I'd agree with him. I think smarter heads know that none of the superpowers will use them.

Billy as I said on your blog the TICS have bankrupted us. No bank will lend a buyer the money. The guy upstairs from me has had his unit for sale for over two years and lowered the price five times. There's four in foreclosure at present. You can't give these places away.

SW scientists had calculated that just 24 of our present nukes would eliminate life on this planet. Remember they are several hundred times the power of the ones we dropped on Japan.

BBC said...

I guess if you are going to take up the fine art of killing people that nukes are as good a way as any.

I'd favor smaller nukes though.

I suppose that state laws won't let you raffle the condo off but if you could find a cash buyer that would be okay.

As long as you didn't do something stupid with the money, like buy another condo.

Randal Graves said...

Nukes are fine because of those pretty mushroom clouds, but a bioweapon might lead to zany, earthbound mutants, thus the potential for more sequels in the theatre.

harry said...

Demeur said...
Harry this treaty actually is honored because it's verified. And I don't think the Russians like spending money on nukes anymore than we do.

December 22, 2010 10:59 PM


...But we love spending money on shit we don't need. No?

..."Verified"?
By Ernst & Young perhaps?

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