Article: Bombs Away!

Imagine sitting quietly in your RV, resting after a long night of slots and craps. The fuzz of excess play time makes you wonder if you've lost your senses. Was that a nuclear bomb blast?

Nope, it was more akin to the terrorist bomb built by Timothy McVeigh. But you're not far off target with your thoughts of nuclear weapons. It would seem that this is exactly the motive behind the Divine Strake bombing

Don't ask me what Divine Strake means, but I'll gladly tell you why this bomb blast is a bad idea.

First off, the plan is to build a 700 ton fertilizer/diesel fuel bomb and detonate it at Divine Strake, near Las Vegas.

The explosion is going to give armament designers and builders information they believe will be important in their planning for new "mini-nukes" or "bunker buster" bombs. This area, a scant 75 miles from Lost Wages (sorry, couldn't help myself) has been subjected to repeated nuclear weapons tests, and the radioactive dust kicked up by this blast may well cause untold damage, including cancers and birth defects that may take years to show up.

The good people of the Green Party have joined a number of other organizations to stop this travesty.

Members of the green blogosphere are fighting the good fight. Between Dee's Dotes, the collective at chlorophyll, Green writers like Juniper and podcasters like Mikeypod the message is getting out.

Rob Miller includes a link to a statement by Congressman Jim Matheson on the issue. He's agin' it.

Cliff suggests that we give the space for the proposed blast over to KilBot, a band willing to play weddings and baby showers, but not Defense Department gigs. Sounds like a plan to me!

Of course, these are not really light weight issues. The fact of the matter is that the government has done nothing to protect the health and well being of nearby residents and visitors. The nuclear material kicked up by this proposed blast could spread radioactivity far and wide. Steve covers this problem pretty well, and leaves me wondering why no Environmental Impact Statement has been done.

The Green Party believes this is a critical issue. In an Action Alert the Greens call on their members to write Letters to the Editor on the topic.

The Stop the Divine Strake Coalition has planned an event to take place from May 27th to May 29th. This event will be held at the Nevada Test Site Peace Camp, located across Highway 95 from Divine Strake. If the DTRA continues with its test vigil activities will be held at U.S. Federal Buildings and Bechtel Corporation offices on June 1st and 2nd.

Won't you consider taking action to protect the people of Utah and Nevada? Won't you consider asking questions and demanding real answers? Won't you join us as we struggle to make the planet safer for ourselves and generations comming? It's the Green thing to do. It's the right thing to do.