On January 24, 2023, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that they have moved the Doomsday Clock even closer to midnight. Now it’s at 90 seconds. This is the closest it has EVER been – closer than the peak of the Cold War and closer than 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis.
See their announcement here: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
I’m providing more information below about the Doomsday Clock. But FIRST WE MUST RECOGNIZE that the world needs us to strengthen our organizing to ABOLISH nuclear weapons! Here are two resources:
(1) I’m attaching a list I created of excellent sources of information about nuclear weapons: Nuclear Weapons Information Sources — UPDATED to Dec. 2022 Please connect with some of the good organizations, attend the events I’ve sent publicity about, and find lots of ways to educate the public and push the government.
(2) There is still time for you to sign up for my series of 6 FREE online workshops to strengthen your skills and strategies for organizing a savvy, powerful grassroots movement to abolish nuclear weapons. The series runs 6 Wednesday afternoons (3:00-5:00 pm Pacific Time) from FEBRUARY 1 through March 8.I’ve posted information here: https://parallaxperspectives.org/free-online-workshops-will-strengthen-your-skills-for-abolishing-nuclear-weapons
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK’S ESCALATION announced on January 24, 2023:
Here is another news announcement about the escalation announced on January 24, 2023: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/doomsday-clock-the-world-is-closer-to-oblivion-than-ever-before-scientists-say-as-they-change-time/ar-AA16IeoN?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=44d356292ddc4271a78b8542a6192762
Here is another news report about this: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/world/doomsday-clock-2023-climate-scn/index.html
A few years ago The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists started recognizing the climate crisis as a factor in setting their “Doomsday Clock.” A source of environmental information reported this about the newest escalation toward midnight: https://www.ecowatch.com/doomsday-clock-2023.html It has this headline: “Doomsday Clock Moves to 90 Seconds Before Midnight Following ‘Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and the Increased Risk of Nuclear Escalation’”
A source of peace information noted that The Bulletin’s announcement of the Doomsday Clock escalation blamed Russia (and not the U.S. or NATO for provoking Russia after the Cold War ended). This source of peace information said that “before, during, and after the Cuban missile crisis, the clock remained at 7 minutes to midnight.” Other sources have explained the provocations by the U.S. and NATO, so I’m not repeating them here. Over the centuries, Russia has been invaded many times, so they are very much afraid of invasions and build-ups of weapons near their borders. NATO has escalated horribly and caused Russia to fear for their own “national security.”
A great peace organization — Win Without War — https://winwithoutwar.org/ — issued a statement that said, in part: “Even during the height of the Cold War, the Doomsday Clock never reached this close to midnight.”
The American voters should recognize that ALMOST CONTINUOUSLY since the 1940s, BOTH BIG POLITICAL PARTIES have aggressively promoted nuclear weapons and reckless policies for using them. I’ve posted information elsewhere in this blog’s “Nuclear Weapons” category, so I don’t need to repeat it here. The crisis is SYSTEMIC and includes extreme nationalism, arrogance, “American exceptionalism,” a refusal to understand other nations’ needs or concerns, and the Big Money that finances our elections.
We need to address those SYSTEMIC problems head-on with a strategically savvy grassroots movement. Also, we need to join with the 68 nations that have already ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which went into effect for ratifying nations on January 22, 2021. See information at the website of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN): https://icanw.org and https://www.icanw.org/doomsday_clock_no_more_excuses_the_plan Indeed, ICAN urges people to take actions: https://www.icanw.org/take_action_now?
