By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed. These photos from 1951 and 1952 show what the final atom bombtests looked like in Los Angeles, about 300 miles away from the Yucca Flat proving grounds in Nevada. You can see the false 'aurora borealis' lighting up the dark.
A caption, dated February 2, 1951, reads, "Today's atomic explosion, largest yet set off on the Nevada test range, was clearly visible in Los Angeles, as remarkable photo shows. Staff photographer Perry Folwer was ready with his camera on a tripod on the roof of the Herald-Express building when the blast occurred at 5:48 a.m. Reporter Jack Smith, who also saw yesterday's explosion, points towards the great white flash that clearly silhouetted mountains to the east."
This is a mind f***er of all mindf***ers. Like some of you, I grew up in the duck and cover era. We practiced dodging the effects of a nuclear bomb. Watch this video to get an idea of the national obsession with nuclear attack, as well as our laughable solutions for surviving a direct atomic bomb attack. As it turns out, not only are we under-prepared, but the air force may even be part of the problem, and not the solution, and safety-net, we've been led to believe in.
This week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired (rather, he asked for the resignations of...) two top Air Force officials Thursday, saying an investigation into the mistaken shipment of missile parts from Hill Air Force Base to Taiwan exposed a systemic "lack of focus" on nuclear accountability. In addition to the resignation of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, Gates said a "substantial" number of other officials - presumably including some from Hill - might be fired or reprimanded.
Our handling of nukes seems just about on the order of those of the breakaway 'Stans and former Soviet Republics. We are about as casual in handling these deadly weapons as the guys who stock the shelves at your grocery store. In short, whatever they found was so scary it even spooked the Bush Administration. And those boys are not easily spooked. If Bush is spooked, the rest of us should be racing for the Pampers and shoveling out a bomb shelter in the back yard. ---o0o---
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