Posted on 01/25/2018 12:59:43 PM PST by The Pack Knight
Growing concerns about a possible nuclear war and other global threats have pushed forward the symbolic Doomsday Clock by 30 seconds - to just two minutes before midnight.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) said it had acted because the world was becoming "more dangerous".
The clock, created by the journal in 1947, is a metaphor for how close the mankind is to destroying the Earth.
It is now the closest to the apocalypse it has been since 1953.
That was the year when the US and the Soviet Union tested hydrogen bombs.
Last year, the clock was also moved forward by 30 seconds.
What was behind the decision?
Announcing the move in Washington DC on Thursday, the BAS said the decision "wasn't easy" and said it was not based on a single factor.
However BAS President and CEO Rachel Bronson said that "in this year's discussions, nuclear issues took centre stage once again".
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Wait a minute. So it is closer to the apocalypse than it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis? During the 1973 war? The Pueblo incident? The 1983 false alarm? September 11?
The idea that large-scale nuclear war is even close to as likely today as it was at any time during the Cold War is ludicrous.
And how can 1991 have been the safest year since World War II? I seem to recall a coup happening in Moscow that year. And fears that the Soviets would intervene in the Gulf War. And fears about unaccounted-for Soviet nuclear warheads, or that they could be used in a Russian civil war.
They must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel for "Atomic Scientists" these days.
I’ll give you the honors.
It’s only apocalyptic when the US prepares to defend itself.
This move is probably in response to the story that the B-2s on Guam look like they’re getting ready for something.
I’ve seen the clock, as it was in the neighborhood where I went to college. There’s several of them, and it is constructed one level above the Playskool variety. What makes it ridiculous is that it can go backwards as well forwards, which makes it not a clock at all, but more of an abacus. Finally it only shows the hours from 9-12, so even going back to the stone age will bring it no farther back than three hours.
At the time, we were thinking of stealing the clock and take a picture of us moving the hands to midnight to see what would happen. With multiple clocks, there wasn’t much point.
What counts as an apocalypse, however?
North Korea getting glassed over?
You mean you don’t remember when the world ended in 1953??!!!???
The Doomsday Clock is very precise. It always advances under a Republican administration and recedes during a Democrat administration. Like... well, clockwork.
>>They must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel for “Atomic Scientists” these days.
Look at the three in the video of the unveiling. Definitely not the types who could develop a a Polaris missile using paper, pencil, and slide rule.
It has been near the end for a long time. They get a lot of mileage out of this.
Suppose the USA were to destroy ALL of its nuclear weaponry. These idiots would declare that the world is in no danger of nuclear war, when in reality it would be in grave danger.
Suppose iran declares that it has a nuclear bomb. These insane fools would not think the world was in any danger.
All this is is their hatred for this country and the wish that the USA would disappear.
Finally-—It’s about time. Hopefully it happens soon before it’s my turn to do the laundry.
Dr. Manhattan will step in, then president nixon will interact with the other nuclear (not nucular) powers and all will be well......
“...a comedian died tonight...”
KYPD
I’m surprised they didn’t put it at (1 year + 5 days) after midnight.
Tick-Tock...
“The team of scientists singled out a series of nuclear tests by North Korea. They dramatically escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula and led to a war of words between North Korea and the US.”
___________________________
Nobody is going to war over that little sh%t in NK.
That thing has always kept lousy time.
Tax Cuts, according to Nancy Pelosi
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