"Oh my, what a nice map!" said Johnny's second grade teacher. "But where's Utah?" she inquired.***
No, no, this isn't something drawn by a frustrated elementary student unable to locate the Beehive State during a geography lesson. It's a map of the path radioactive dusts will take from a "Divine Strake" detonation test later this spring. The US program to develop a nuclear bunker buster weapon will inject radioactive soils of Nevada's previous nuclear tests from the 50's and 60's into the atmosphere . Think of breathing this shit as your contribution/sacrifice in America's preparation to nuke Iran--save for most the west coast.(Oh, but wait, just where the hell is Utah anyway?)
***
As Gen. James E. Cartwright, head of our Strategic Command, said recently in the context of the new nuclear arms weapons about to be developed, "if you are going to have these weapons, they should be safe..."
(Thanks to "Downwinder" D.K. Raed for the link to this beautiful map. My apologies I don't know how to link herein to the excellent goddamned PDF file it was a part of.)
14 comments:
Dada, the more I stare at that map, the angrier I become. By the time of our big public meeting here tonight, my brain will probably be smoking. Thank you for helping to tip off america that we are all downwinders now, thanks to bush's push to bunker bust iran. So far, only Utah & Nevada are actively fighting it. We are considered a "low use segment of the population". If that isn't ego-shortening, I don't know what is.
I can't directly link the NYT article either, but here is how to get to it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/
washington/07nuke.html
you have to watch a 10-sec commercial before the article appears.
another excellent resource is
downwinders.org
they link all the latest news briefings.
"Where's Utah?" Indeed. And yet, Bush still has a stunning 40% approval rating here in UT! ~~ D.K.
thanks for the map -- amazing and i'm ashamed to say i looked at it ans said - whew -- i'm out of harms way...
we need to stop this madness - NOW!!
Thank you for posting on this- I am going to blog on it this weekend....darn you took the Map angle- oh well, I guess I will just have to focus on the Fallout part...done.
Low use segment- welll that sucks. In the NW they sent teams through and wrote reports about which was worth more the home where people lived ( with residents) or the "cow" land...you can guess which recieved the higher "score"...yeah. nice eh.
Bush is Fucking nuts- after last night he is indeed certifiable..for sure. DK we will do what we can...and spread the Word. May I recommend Vancouver, it is lovely at all times of year...( I would invite you here- but apparently that is in the path- so screw that..)
Hang in there- please try not to explode...
oh....Dada...put a little present up for you....hehe....
( after your.... ahem...comment about our dear leader and his well....parts...I had to put a little post up for our enjoyment...)
E, isn't it galling to find out homes with people in them are of less concern to the fallout monitors than cow fields? I mean I love cows, don't get me wrong, but it's just amazing to think that their conclusion is: we need to reduce human population & the rest of us need to eat more cows. I know you will do a good fallout post & will look forward to it.
AZ, don't feel bad. I wish I could've seen a bit of white on that map for my area. But remember fallout patterns change with the wind & jet stream. What looks fine at the start of a nuke test can look very bad at the end. Dirty Harry (May 1953) proved that. Guys in white lab coats appeared just north of Vegas saying "all's well, just keep on driving, roll up your windows & don't get out of your car, even if it breaks down."
hmm, Vancouver, there's an idea. The city, or the Island? I love Victoria, high tea at The Empress Hotel. ~~ D.K.
raed: Thanks for the link, but the one I really wanted was the PDF focusing on Divine Strake. And I hate f*cking PDF bullsh*t.
Alright, who the hell sneezed on the map?
Bush still at 40% approval in Utah? That would be an interesting study, wouldn't it? To see which state has the greatest number of fu*kin' idiots!
ferrying to Port Angeles from Victoria was one of those moments in life when I truly felt extremely vulnerable and insignificant.
Gliding across the water just a few thousand feet above the Juan de Fuca plate, my platter was truly full.
E--thanks for alerting me to your new post(s) over at the cafe. So afraid we're all sunk by this nutso whacko just daring the world to 'bring it on'.
So, today they're trying to muster a little bigger protest downtown for their friday vigil. I guess I will make a sign and an appearance.
Trying to limit the number of letters on the sign, have decided to just go with BUSH IS NUTS
My mom and little brother were supposed to go to a big area protest meeting for Divine Strake last night, but they both were having a shitty day and decided they need an Alcoholics Annonymous meeting more than a nuclear protest, so I didn't even find out how it went. I didn't get to go because I'm doing a show right now, but otherwise I would've. I feel like I don't know enough about this whole situation.
I live right down in the southwest corner of Utah, horrifying close, as it were, to the blast site. I'm panicking slightly at the stupidity of these Mormon/republican/white/racist sheep.
I'm also a little worried about the toys young George is being allowed to play with these days. When the nuclear fallout starts spreading, St. George will be one of the first to be hit. I'm not even seventeen yet, so there's no hope of skippping the country or anything before hand.
Oh, Nina- I am sorry...well, stay inside...no barefeet....and no swimming in local ponds or lakes this summer...But judging from the map - everyone , or most folks are in the path....DK; Victoria is lovely and so is Vancouver - actually I think there are Ferry trips available from Seattle- and are very reasonable in Price. ( and just for added Confusion yes, Vancouver is a giant island= but also a city...the South part is the most lovely...parks etc....)
High Tea at the Hotel- now you're talking....
Now about Approval Rates- Idaho and Utah have supported Bush all along- above 50% Until Katrina- and then after Katrina both fell.....NO states are over 50 anymore...NONE....
Actually Utah at 40 might be the highest..
Support for the "war" and the Pres plan tanking more and more daily- 24-29% according to most polls..11% for his new plan...at this point Nixon was packing...
dada, I didn't notice any feelings of "insignificance" on the ferry to Vancouver Island. EK & I were too busy reading HST's "Fear and Loathing in LV", aloud to ea other, sitting on the outside deck bench, laughing so loud all other passengers moved far away!
Nina, go online and read today's The Spectrum article on the meeting last night. It's in the headlines. You'll have one more chance for a local public hearing Jan 18th at Dixie State College. You are right to be worried. We all should be worried. But listen, at your age, I was seeing & feeling actual atomic blasts at the NV Test Site & I'm still around to tell the tale. Do what you can to protect your exposure.
About that map, giant sneeze? Well, that is more polite than my first thought of what one might find on an outhouse wall.
E, I wish he was packing already. Instead he appears to be hunkering down for the onslaught. I was thinking yesterday would I give up the chance to bring him to justice if he & his whole gang would just clear out of town? You bet! ~~ D.K.
Nina! Great to see you lurking ever so near. Sometimes we wonder what became of you, of how you're doing, and it's always shortly thereafter we are graced with your omnipresence.
Sounds like you are staying busy. Hope your "show" is going well.
Yeh, looks like you're fated to "breathe deep the gathering doom" with the rest of us. As we "watch lights fade from every room," it's good to know we're in such kindred company.
enigma: two of my most memorable moments on the island: one was a butterfly garden advertised alongside the highway we stopped to visit on a whim. Exotic butterflies from all over the world flitting all about, often dangerously close, was truly enchanting.
And the little town of Chemainus with all of its delightful murals showed how a community, after plundering the Earth, can resurrect itself with aesthetics and tourists desirous of experiencing them, it, theirs, whatever.
raed: Of course you didn't experience those same feelings of overwhelming insignificance as I whilst crossing the Strait. You were going the opposite direction! (Whereas, I was heading BACK to Amerika.)
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