Posts Tagged ‘nuclear weapons’
Asia
This Friday, August 6, is the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which killed around 140,000 people. For the first time, the US is going to attend the memorial in Japan to show respect to all the innocent people who died in the bombing. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, is also going to attend the ceremony and join Japan in calling for global nuclear disarmament.
Europe
Spain might have won the 2010 World Cup, but their behavior on the field is going to cost them. FIFA fined Spain and Netherlands for their players’ actions during the final, which was deemed the “worst behaved match” during the World Cup. We’re guessing that’s a title Spain doesn’t want to own.
Middle East
There are a lot of people in embassies in Kuwait and not for the usual reasons. Many immigrant maids are seeking refuge in embassies, as they face harsh work conditions, including physical and sexual abuse. The embassies are expecting even more domestic workers to come in the next few weeks, due to the start of Ramadan, but some Kuwaiti officials dismiss the complaints that the holiday creates an even more taxing work environment for the maids.
North America
Canada’s newest pop sensation, Justin Bieber, is writing a picture book an illustrated memoir. We’re excited… it gives us material for new jokes!
Thanks to Wikicommons.
Deadly storms hit Southeast. More than 27 are dead after thunderstorms and flooding.
A global threat? Potential international leads about attempted NYC car bomb.
She said, he said. US Secretary of State Clinton and Iranian President Ahmadinejad trade words at UN meeting on Nuclear Weapons.
You know, just some warheads. Courtesy of Wikicommons.
Have you had a drill in school where you curl up under your desk and hope that the Soviets don’t drop a nuke on you?
Believe it or not this was a standard practice in US schools not long ago. Clearly American school desks were once quite robust if they could protect children from nuclear annihilation.
With poorer school desks available today, we were relieved to learn that the Russians and the Americans have agreed to reduce their arsenals of nuclear weapons. (Check the link for our explanation.)
Today, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev are set to sign the “new START” (START = Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) in Prague, signaling a new wave for American nuclear policy. To go along with this big meeting, the Obama administration just released the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).
So how ticked off do you think these guys were? Image Courtesy of WikiCommons
Newsflash! If you’re going to fly, you have to have a pulse! Two women were arrested at a British airport on suspicion of trying to smuggle a dead relative onto a flight bound for Germany.
New Nuclear News… Obama releases new nuclear policy.
Rescue Efforts Suspended at West Virginia Mine… Worst Mining Accident in 25 Years.
We here at USDemocrazy are not exactly history experts (too short of an attention span), but we were pretty sure that the Cold War was over. But then yesterday there was all of this news circling around about Russia and nuclear weapons and treaties and stuff.
So, we began to wonder — did we get sucked into some kind of “Back to the Future” plot?
Turns out no. (Would have been fun.) Actually, as we know, nuclear weapons are still a huge deal in foreign policy post-Cold War, and so the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear relations are getting more lip service over the past few days.
Basically, the United States and Russia have reached an agreement that would reduce their nuclear arsenals and would replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 (START), which expired last year. Exciting! …read more.
Image Courtesy of Daniella Zalcman at WikiCommons.
Does not play well with others… Iranian nuclear move upsets U.S., France, and Russia.
Wounded but deadly… U.S. counterterrorism experts offer both caution and optimism on the Al-Qaeda threat.
So this guy isn’t exactly Danny Ocean…
Riverton police say the 26-year-old ran out of the store after grabbing the bottle of booze and a package of cough drops Wednesday and hid in a nearby building, which happened to be the police station.
By the standard of contemporary films like Avatar, some old fashioned Hollywood flicks can look completely laughable.
The only thing weirder and goofier than old Hollywood movies are old US GOVERNMENT movies.
Some of these movies may have been well-intentioned at the time but now some smack of awkward propaganda.
The film above is one of the most famous government-issued pieces of all time. “Duck and Cover” teaches children how to stay safe, even with the looming threat of a nuclear bomb. The concept seems a bit silly to us now, but was taken seriously to the point of duck-and-cover methods being practiced in schools.
Cartoons are supposed to be fun and lighthearted, but this animation depicts a disheveled Donald Duck learning the importance of his income taxes.
The Cold War Era of American history included a lot of anti-Communist sentiment. Lucky for us, the US government created this video so that we could learn how to easily identify a communist and get rid of the internal threat.
Veering a bit from the wartime track, the video above is an educational video by the US government on the effects of LSD, a popular drug in the 1960s. Wow, drug education has surely changed in the past fifty years!
These old government films and propaganda pieces may seem corny, but don’t think that similar tactics aren’t being tried today!
Have you seen anything on television or on the news that you think is propaganda? Do you find it to be an effective tool for the government to use to change attitudes? Leave us a comment and get the discussion started!
Among one of the biggest challenges in 2010 for the world is dealing with a grouchy Iran. The government in Iran claims it is pursuing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The cartoon above is a little more skeptical. Is this a fair comment? (cartoon by KAL)
Courtesy of WikiCommons
Yea, but… Iran Hints at Changes to Uranium Plan Backed By U.N.
I smell a fight comin’…“a quiet revolt is brewing against a different public insurance program — a plan to create government insurance for long-term care.”
This man could be a genius…“An Illinois man has admitted banking more than $470,000 in paychecks from a New Jersey company he never worked for.”
The Obama Administration has used its Presidential sharpie to drawa big oval around the ‘October 1′ on the White House calendar.
That’s the day U.S. plans to sit down (with 4 other nations) and talk with longtime arch enemy Iran.
“Death to America” Iran? “Axis of Evil” Iran”?
That’s the one. …read more.
This is just begging for a good caption.
North Korea has really got the USDemocrazy team in a foreign policy funk. The nuclear nastiness in the North is not going away…
You might remember our posts on North Korea’s nuclear tests (but if not, read one here, and the other here).
Because of North Korea’s testiness, members of the United Nations Security Council are up in arms (nuclear arms). They have agreed on a consensus on a draft resolution that would further sanction the North Korean nuclear knuckleheads. (Yes, a draft… Not the real deal… yet.)
As for what the US thinks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came out as a hard-liner on Sunday. On “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” she said that North Korea could go back on the list of card-carrying members of the terrorism-supporting club. She also warned if things don’t change soon, the world could face some dire consequences, namely:
an arms race in Northeast Asia.
It’s been said before, and it’ll keep being said (as in here, by the LA Times) that sanctions against the rogue state is sticky territory. (Maybe Kim Jong-Il spilled liquor everywhere?).
The “dear leader” of North Korea is so crafty, he gets his away around sanctions – at least when it comes to his personal goodies (caviar, Cognac, and good ol’ DVDs from the West ). However the already-impoverished population of the state suffer terribly under these same sanctions.
So, what to do? Well, it seems the US has already ruled out invading the DPRK, according to special envoy Stephen Bosworth. (It would appear the US has got its hands tied in invasions elsewhere.)
To further complicate things, current leader Kim Jong-Il seems to ready to pass the torch (and keys to the nuclear weapons stockpile, one would presume) to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. Not surprisingly, no one really knows too much about this guy, other than his adoration of Michael Jordan when he was in boarding school. (Cutting off supplies of re-run Chicago Bulls games to North Korea could be the next sanction)
In response, the eldest son of Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-nam, has appeared on Japanese television saying he’s apathetic when is comes to politics. Sure.
Right now, Mark Thompson wrote for Time that there could be a new Korean War (or a resumption of the old one, as the case may be) as a result of all this, and particularly because on May 27 the DPRK removed itself from the armistice signed in June of 1953, and no longer guaranteeing the safety of ships sailing off its west coast.
Basically, North Korea is all kinds of crazy right now.
What’s the solution, guys and gals?
Is this happy face familiar?
China’s chastising… And the US is glad!
Nine years later, no more fighting! Bush v. Gore lawyers join together for an important battle!
Is the economy staging a comeback? We surely hope so…
Pondering your freshman year? President Obama and the rest of the nation relive his!
Thanks to the Guardian
North Korea shocked the world yesterday by testing a nuclear weapon!!! (well, not everyone was surprised, but it sure surprised us at US Democrazy)
That’s right, on May 25 North Korea exploded a nuclear bomb underground. Now don’t worry… the world is not going to take this lying down (or sitting down). In fact, President Obama has already stood up and condemned the test.
Much of the globe has followed suit . Even neighboring China, the closest thing North Korea has to a friend, has condemned the test. It seems nobody likes nuclear bombs being exploded near their border.
One nation that has been surprisingly disinterested about this hibbub is South Korea. Although South Korea did officially condemn the test, many Koreans are still mourning the suicide of former South Korean President, Roh Moo-Hyun, and have paid little attention to the North’s actions.
So why the test?
It may be a sign of transition within the North Korean government. Kim Jong-il’s health has been quite bad recently and perhaps before he steps down he wants to be remembered as the man who brought nuclear power to North Korea. (Sure beats being remembered as the bad guy in the movie Team America: World Police.)
What ever the reason North Korea’s actions, this is going to be a test for the Obama Administration. So how should President Obama handle this delicate and dangerous scenario (darned if we know)?
Spring has finally sprung.
This weekend, North Korea sprung a long-range rocket into the air, and in response President Obama and the press sprung into action!
When we at USDemocrazy first saw this news we’ll admit: we were concerned. (Hey, it’s not everyday that a rogue state launches a missile!) However, within a few hours, we got the real story.
Apparently, North Korea’s big shot into the sky was a little disappointing (which we read here).
In fact, we weren’t the only ones who were a little iffy on the news; “North Korea missile test” gets over 18,000 news hits on Google, showing that pretty much everyone who works at a newspaper, radio station, website, blog, et cetera, wanted to figure out what on earth those unpredictable North Koreans were doing.
Our jitters were calmed after reading Joseph Cirincione’s commentary. He thinks we all need to just chill out. He very kindly sets out three very specific objectives that the North Koreans need to achieve in order to make a successful missile (Wait! Let’s hope they don’t read CNN.com!).
Naturally, there’s been a lot of criticism and talk from the international community, especially from President Obama, addressing the loose cannon that is North Korea (pun semi-intended).
An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council was called, but not much happened there. Why?!? you might ask… Well, let’s not forget that Russia and China sit on the Security Council. Those two feel less threatened by cranky rogue North Korea… They just want everyone to relax and sort this test out with level heads. Therefore, there’s been no official Security Council action on the matter.
As we know, President Obama is out galavanting around Europe, making important decisions and stuff… so everyone wanted to know what he thought about the subject.
This he made clear: He will not tread lightly on this subject. Even as the world overreacts, Obama plans to take charge and lay out a plan for dealing with nuclear proliferation.
One thing is clear, North Korea is not going away. (Thank you, thank you, it took us all day to come up with that conclusion!) The debate on what to do about the North Korea and their nuclear ambitions has re-emerged as a center stage news item.
Is the international community overreacting to the news of the missile test? Or are we not panicking enough? What are your thoughts?
