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Obama Increasing Funding for Nuclear Weapons
More is Less? 'This budget is implementing the president's nuclear vision'
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - President Barack Obama is seeking increased funding for nuclear weapons research and security programs next year, even as his administration promotes nonproliferation and has pledged to reduce the world's stockpile of nuclear arms.
The administration on Monday asked Congress for more than $7 billion for activities related to nuclear weapons in the budget of the National Nuclear Security Administration, an increase of $624 million from the 2010 fiscal year.
NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino defended putting more money into the programs, saying the U.S. needs the best nuclear weapons facilities, scientists, technicians and engineers as it moves toward eventual disarmament.
"This budget is implementing the president's nuclear vision," he said.
The total Department of Energy request for New Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory totals $2.21 billion, up from $1.82 billion in 2010. The request for weapons-related activities is $1.6 billion, up from $1.3 billion, while nonproliferation activities would get $233 million, up from $188 million.
The total request for Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque is $1.49 billion, an increase from $1.3 billion. Weapons activities would get $1.14 billion, compared with the 2010 total of $953 million, while nonproliferation would increase to $187 million from the current $171 million.
The investment would ensure a smaller stockpile will take care of the nation's needs; the stockpile is safe and secure; and other nations aren't cheating as the U.S. moves "from a Cold War nuclear weapons complex ... into a 21st century, nuclear security enterprise," D'Agostino said.
Greg Mello, director of the nuclear watchdog Los Alamos Study Group, said budgets for NNSA and DOE have increased in recent years, but the nation "hasn't seen any increase in weapons activities like this since the early years of Ronald Reagan."
He called the budget "a complete surrender to Senate Republicans," who have argued that stockpile reductions must be accompanied by a modernized nuclear weapons complex.
NNSA wants a 4.7 percent overall increase for infrastructure to more than $2.3 billion, including money for major long-term projects to replace aging buildings for plutonium work at Los Alamos and uranium work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Los Alamos' budget includes about $225 million for design work for a chemical and metallurgy research replacement building, known as CMRR, to replace a 58-year-old lab where scientists analyze samples of plutonium and other radioactive materials.
Watchdog groups contend CMRR positions the U.S. to build more nuclear weapons by giving Los Alamos the capacity to make large numbers of new plutonium pit designs - the triggers of nuclear weapons.
Los Alamos lab officials have said the facility would replace existing capabilities and would be needed for other science, even if Los Alamos didn't do pit production.
There's no exact cost figure for CMRR, but a 2008 Senate report estimated it at $2.6 billion - more than five times the initial estimate. The price tag awaits a final design for the facility, which cannot be done until a national nuclear posture review is completed this year.
NNSA's budget request includes more than $2 billion for stockpile support activities, a 25 percent increase, and $1.6 billion for science, technology and engineering, an increase of more than 10 percent.
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Show AllTalk about double-speak!
Matthew 6:21. Oh heck, all of Matthew. All the stuff about peacemakers, hypocrites, moneylenders. By citing the Christian Bible, I mean no offense to non-Christians. It's just that the obligatory sanctimonious speech-ender "God Bless America" would make one think that these church-going people may have read their own Bible, given it some thought and tried to live accordingly.
In the State of the Union address, I thought I heard him talk about reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles. This is the message that will linger in people's memories, and they will be lulled.
We need a large chart. Left hand column is Obama's pronouncements. Right hand column is budget allocations. I believe the use of the treasure is a more accurate indicator than cheap words of where the heart is.
And the rest of the Bible citers, especially the Republicans, are just as hypocritical, or worse.
Joe
Your memory wasn't tricking you. Here is the direct quote from Obama's speech:-
"I have embraced the vision of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan through a strategy that reverses the spread of these weapons and seeks a world without them. And seek to reduce our stockpiles and launchers."
Also, there is nothing in Obama's speech about increasing them. It has not been long since the State of the Union address. Obama has been tell us that he is REDUCING his nuclear stockpiles, while simultaneously INCREASING them. Oh, the left hand does know what the right hand is doing, Obama just lied. Oh, is the L word a little strong? Then he misspoke.
as this is revealing itself as a definite unchanging pattern, it looks like there is a psychotic in the w.h., a real one...
Oops. Forgot those parts. I don't go around intoning "God Bless America", so I haven't brushed up on the Bible recently. The sword is probably not the metal kind, but a symbol of a combatitive righteous attitude. And of course God's top priority is to be top priority. But most of Matthew would still be good advice for the winner of the Peace Prize.
Joe
Dear hahaha, who would write that kind of stuff? I thought all the Xtians were nice folks. You know 'do unto others' and so on.
those are Christ's own words, according to the bible. that's what makes it so contradictory.
and that's a problem i always had with "jesus" . ..despite the other many good "teachings". there is something cruel and punishing and authoritarian and simply put - tyrannical..about "HIM".
i mean -- what's all that talk about "MY FATHER?"...all that talk about "thrones" - how come jesus never really addressed that his "father" gave ABILITIES to humans - such as "free choice" and then PUNISH them for exercising it, such as with adam and eve?....and all that sadistic "godness?" and "i am a jealous god?"
what's with that JEALOUSY, anyway?
how is a "god" PERFECT GOODNESS , as christians like to claim - if he is some jealous bastard after all?
what happens to all the BILLIONS that have been born and lived and died in continents that did "not receive the Word" YET? CONDEMNED automatically to Hell?
why did this "god" create "all life" if "he" would just condemn people to hell simply because HE created them and then they died without "receiving the Word".
what a bunch of baloney
plenty of contradictions.
It is a metaphor for those who wish to break free from the conditioned mold of respectability that their parents are trapped in, and who want their children follow in their footsteps, or according to what they think is the best path for them--a 'spiritual' rebellion, if you will. Rather than follow what some corrupt 'code of respectability' dictates, live your life with integrity, which often means standing alone or doing what is unpopular.
what i really find most hypocritical of the american "christians" is this:
any visit to just about any church ...especially of the "protestant" variety (but catholics are not immune although some seem to be more against wars) ...
they ALWAYS, invariably , sprinkle their prayers with the obligatory "support the troops"...
"Lord, protect our president, our governor, our mayor, and all who serve abroad for our freedom".......
and say so - without a thought whatsoever for the VICTIMS of america's "christian" wars upon other lands.
I always tell myself:
"what kind of people are these? walking around in this world in their best sunday clothes and actually praying to protect their MUDERERS in UNIFORM...and act as if other people in their own countries never existed or are just the equivalent of pests to be eradicated ...'for our freedom?'....."
i often wonder what these :"christians" would say to their hero -- jesus christ - if he came and reminded them that the GREATEST thing HE detested was "HYPOCRISY?"
screaming to people:
"YOU HYPOCRITES - for you are reserved the greatest suffering in Hell".
I don't usually cross-post, but I put this on the last article on this subject just before it went into the black hole.
I am a nuclear veteran (Operation Redwing, Bikini, 1956) who has seen, and felt, at first hand the horror of nuclear weapons. I’ve had radiation poisoning and (so far) have survived. There are not many of us left.
I have been working for world peace and nuclear disarmament for a half century. For a while, during Glasnost, the "Mutual Arms Reduction Treaty," the "Peaceful Uses of Space Treaty," the "Non Proliferation Treaty" made me think that we might finally have reached that plateau. It didn’t get rid of all nukes, but it at least lowered the threat.
Under the United States Constitution (remember the Constitution?) Those treaties, once ratified, became part of the “Law of the Land,” Which all, including the POTUS, are expected to obey.
Over the past decade, I’ve watched the US government unilaterally tear up these treaties, along with the "Geneva Conventions on the Treatment of Prisoners," The US endorsed "Nuremberg Principles" and the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
As to nuclear power, that is a megadisaster waiting to happen. We cannot dispose of nuclear waste safely. It is accumulating at an enormous rate. We have missed nuclear plant catastrophes by a hair's breadth several times. We almost lost Detroit when the Fermi Breeder Reactor started to go critical. TMI, with the attendant rise in cancers and birth defects in the area.
Now we are facing the specter of Depleted Uranium, which is turning up in atmospheric filters around the world. Depleted Uranium is a nuclear byproduct of the nuclear industry. It is a low level radioactive material of extreme density. The half life of DU is 4.5 billion years. Workers in DU have to wear full protective equipment and respirators. DU ammunition is extremely hard and dense. It penetrates armor like tissue paper, vaporizing and burning, leaving dust and particles as shrapnel to be ingested or breathed. DU is not what the public thinks of as a radioactive material. It only emits alpha and beta radiation. A piece of paper will stop it. However, when it is in the lungs or elsewhere in the body, it is in contact with living tissue, bombarding that tissue with low level radiation for the rest of your life and beyond. That radiation can lead to cancers, genetic damage and eventual death.
Independent laboratories like Johns Hopkins have studied this and made predictions of the harm it can do. The government says, as it did with Agent Orange, “There is nothing to it, it is all in your head.” Meanwhile, people continue to sicken and die and will for generations.
Chernobyl was not a nuclear explosion. It was just a very hot, stubborn fire in nuclear fuel. Chernobyl and a huge surrounding area is uninhabitable for an estimated three to six hundred years. The fallout from Chernobyl contaminated food and livestock around Europe and Scandinavia for many years, and the radiation is still traceable in the earth and some living things.
The government blithely speaks of attacking nuclear plants and reactors around the world if they don’t belong our toadies. Even hitting a nuclear facility with conventional weapons could destroy the control systems, allowing a reactor to go out of control to meltdown (the so-called China- Syndrome).
As Ed Grothus used to say, “There is only one safe nuclear reactor in the solar system, delivering adequate energy for all, if we just learn to use it, and at ninety-three million miles, it is far enough away to be safe.”
We do need to learn to use it!
We don’t need more bombs, more reactors (that just feeds the MIC’s Greed Machine). What we need is to dust off and reactivate those treaties (along with the Constitution of the United States) and start working for peace again.
Einstein once said, “I don’t know what the weapons of World War Three will be, but World War Four will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Remember, “No nukes is good nukes.”
minitrue
Thank you for your post. It brought tears to my eyes becasue you reminded me of how I remember what America stood for. You're sentiments reflect what being American used to mean. Not any more. An evil virus is upon us.
The only explanation I have for our transformation into a brutal, bloodthirsty, lawless, sadisitic, imperialist state is we've been sold off. We've seen about twenty years of self serving politicians, gleefully handing us over to the interests of paranoid fanatic's. Year after year, they have slowly taken us over, bribing their way into powerful positions. Presently, they've destroyed everything we are from the inside out, now they're destroying the world.
Minitrue....thank you for your post . it also brought tears to my eyes.
Albert Einstein reportedly said near the end of his life:
"had I known that my discoveries in physics would be used for war and the nuclear bomb...I would rather have never been a scientist but a laborer".
I think you mean watchmaker, teddy, but yes.
minitrue: Thanks for your post. Like freepressmyass, tears stream down my face. I think of all of the work and commonality that went into the movement against nuclear energy/weapons, etc. Your personal experiences add to the urgency of the issues.
"We don’t need more bombs, more reactors (that just feeds the MIC’s Greed Machine). What we need is to dust off and reactivate those treaties (along with the Constitution of the United States) and start working for peace again.
Einstein once said, “I don’t know what the weapons of World War Three will be, but World War Four will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Remember, “No nukes is good nukes.” -- minitrue
I agree with you!
"NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino defended putting more money into the programs, saying the U.S. needs the best nuclear weapons facilities, scientists, technicians and engineers as it moves toward eventual disarmament."
Gee, if I read that right, let's give them ALL our money and maybe they'll get rid of all the nukes!
That is about on a par with Bush's comment about the more of us they kill, the closer they'll be to to freeing their country. (Followed by "Bring 'em on!)
A real use for those labs, which might be worth the money, would be to use them to figure out more efficient ways to harness the sun's energy. That includes direct (solar radiation) and indirect (wind, waves, etc.)
Billions for more Hell-Bombs? Uh,uh.
If you can't bounce the rubble 97 extra times, the rubble wins!
..... hypocrit. I am so disillusioned by the man who played us for the fools we probably are.
... that, or someone has a gun to his childrens' head.
not impossible; i.e. m.l.k., malcolm x, fred hampton, george jackson and others, all the photographed lynched and the celebrating crowds made into popular postcards...
Do you think that MLK or Malcom would pander to the Mastah because they feared for their lives?
Obama is out of his league.
absolutely. o is more in a league with c. powell, c. rice, c. thomas etc. etc.,...but it seems to me possible that the knowledge of what happens to real black heros...helped him to go in the direction he has taken...though now i am more and more convinced that what is in play is psycho-pathology, hie left/right movements when he talks are not simply due to the teleprompters, his saying one thing and doing the opposite is not just politics,,,i think there is a psychotic in the w.h.....
Stick a fort in us, we're done.
This is what happens when we go without SALT.
I would like to ask you all to read the Wikipedia on Ron Paul, all of it. If you have an issue with a couple things, so be it, but he is, along with Kucinich, the place to start to fix this God awful mess.
Damn!I'm getting tired of using Asshole and Obama in the same sentence like first and last name.Tony
"This budget is implementing the president's nuclear vision," he said.
Yes. The eerily beautiful accompanying photo of a hydrogen bomb detonation is Obama's real vision.
Nukes made war obsolete: Mutually assured Destruction - MAD:
These are the sardonic paradoxes of eternity! How does it profit greedy people to destroy all life on earth?
The people who support building/replacing Nukes have had their minds ravaged by CNBC. The Amerikan TV station of perpetual greed.
I happened to watch CNBC for about a hour today while stuck in a bank waiting cash a check.
I returned home and felt sick for several hours. The constant babble for more and more greedy profit just may destroy the world.
Is this TV programing what's driving the Amerikan madness? Does Obomber watch this trance poison coming from a TV?
Tell me please!
Have you ever heard the old saw, "He who dies with the most toys, wins"? That seems to be the code of these guys who are running everything. They don't even care about their own children. Me! Me! Mine! And that's all.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Most of those born in the usa still believe it was neccesary to bomb them, until that changes its just a matter of time....
I hope Iran doesn't impose sanctions on us for violating the NNPT.
I guess we can expect the IAEA inspectors rummaging through our most secretive nuclear labs and installations any day now!
Minitrue:
Thank you for the Nuke information, it helped me recover from a bout with CNBC.
". . . He called the budget 'a complete surrender to Senate Republicans,' who have argued that stockpile reductions must be accompanied by a modernized nuclear weapons complex. . . ."
Yet another surrender to Senate Republicans. A two-party system? No longer. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans deserve our votes any more. A boycott of elections is appealing, but I suspect too many Americans would fail to notice.
Please give us the Gourd of Ashes prophecy. I believe the Hopi has some special insight.
Some are worried that Pakistan might have some Nukes stolen, will only happen if the ISI gets angered enough by the USA to give Nukes to a third party.
BUT look at Los Alamos's security record, they loose or have go missing classified information on a yearly basis.
Some of this information has been designs for the new generation small Nukes.
Who is most likely getting the info?
China and israel.
Who needs to invest in a Nuke program when it is easily stolen from Los Alamos?
He learned from Reagan and Bush, also Clinton, to just say you're going to do one thing and then immediately do the very opposite. Do this consistently, and when called on it simply deny that you did it, even with the evidence right there in black and white or on video/audio tape. Keep denying that by increasing nuclear spending and stockpiling you are doing anything but promoting world peace, and so deserve the Nobel Prize. Threaten "rogue" states with nuclear annihilation the day after you declare you are working tirelessly to reduce all nuclear weapons on the planet. Never stop lying with a confident expression and keep the public dumbfounded. These are the most important lessons Obama learned from Reagan, Clinton and especially Bush. It's also a great way to prove to Republicans that you fully intend to do every last thing they want, even as they defy you every single step of the way. The more they obstruct, the more Republican Obama becomes. Not that being more "Democratic" would make any real difference.
As I've said before, those guys wrote the playbook. These guys are running the plays.
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“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over,”
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda for Nazi Germany
1897-1945
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"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same for any country."
Herman Goering to Gustave Gilbert at Nuremberg, 18 April, 1946
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This morning, I watched "Triumph of the Will," just to remind myself again how this sort of thing works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPAxaFxjiDk
Slightly different MO, but the idea is the same. We all know what that turned into before it was over. Of course, with two or three thousand nuclear weapons on high alert, there probably won't be a second chance.
I guess one can remove the label Bush Light as a metaphor for Obama. In his budget Obama has eclipsed Bush in military spending including Nuclear Arms. More change we can believe in.
Allow me to be one of the first to say,
Fuck Obama!.
Kucinich 2012
I second the motion. However, unless Kucinich leaves the Democratic party, I won't support him. After the Great Obama Betrayal it has become utterly impossible to believe anything anyone who remains in the Democratic party has to say on any subject whatsoever.
The power in a hydrogen bomb explosion cannot annihilate thoughts and it cannot obliterate our spirits, which are immortal.
Jesus of Nazareth killed no one.
Every Christian who kills is an anti-Christ.
Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they answered. He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: `And he was numbered with the transgressors' ; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That is enough," he replied. (Luke 22:35-38, NIV)