http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71331.html
'Doomsday Clock' ticks toward 12 a.m. By: Tim Mak January 11, 2012 12:06 PM EST The Doomsday Clock signifying global apocalypse moved one minute to closer midnight Tuesday, said atomic scientists, citing the failure of the United States to act on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and increasing nuclear tensions around the world. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the hands of the clock had been moved from six minutes until midnight to five minutes until midnight, which represents annihilation. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by University of Chicago scientists who helped in the development of the Manhattan Project. The decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists boards, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates. It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed, said the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in a statement. The clock is ticking. The decision of the worlds nuclear powers not to make progress on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was a major reason for the change. Failure to act on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by leaders in the United States, China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, and North Korea and on a treaty to cut off production of nuclear weapons material continues to leave the world at risk from continued development of nuclear weapons, said the organization. Also troubling to the scientists was the uncertainty of Irans nuclear program and increasing tensions in Northeast Asia and South Asia. Ongoing efforts to ease tensions, deal with extremism and terrorist acts, and reduce the role of nuclear weapons in international relations have had only halting success, they wrote. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists added that climate change and questions arising from the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster contributed to their decision to move the minute hand forward. The Doomsday Clocks minute hand last moved in Jan. 2010, when it was pushed back from five to six minutes before midnight. -- There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:345245 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
