Will North Korea Test Affect Doomsday Clock?

[RestoreGore]

http://www.thebulletin.org/doomsday_clock/timeline.htm

http://www.thebulletin.org/press_center/20061011.htm

The board is waiting to meet. It is already seven minutes to midnight.

[Greeby]

1. I'm suprised it's still only seven minutes to midnight

With Shrubco at the head of world affairs :scared:

[RestoreGore]

5. He still has to 2009

Not a comforting thought.

[Hugin]

2. Not as much as one might think...

As I understand it the clock represents the time until total nuclear annihilation.

NK's half dozen semi-working nukes don't pose that kind of threat... yet.

Maybe if someone were to actually perform some-sort of *diplomacy* with NK it
wouldn't become a large threat.

[RestoreGore]

4. I think that is what the board is waiting for...

Although, sanctions have already been imposed, so I suppose we now need to wait for NK's response.

[Hugin]

6. It'll be interesting to see how the Bulletin treats this Administration's

confusion between 'sanctions' and 'diplomacy'.

Sanctions are the worst course of options... They only work if there
is active diplomacy. Which there isn't.

[RestoreGore]

7. Yes, and without diplomacy in the mix...

It only leads to the very actions the "sanctions" hoped to stop.

[Hugin]

8. No amount of 'wall pounding', 'intimidation', or 'screeching about fallen

chads' is going to change the actions of NK. Bolton is an idiot.

This is the real world with real problems. Contrary to the opinions of
the 1% wealthy population of the U.S. this is *not* a game and that's
why traditionally, before this gang of thieves took over, internal politics
in the U.S. has stopped at the borders.

That's no longer true.

[Greeby]

3. The history of the Doomsday Clock

1. 1949 - The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. Clock changed to three minutes to midnight (four minutes closer to midnight).
2. 1953 - The United States and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another. Clock changed to two minutes to midnight (one minute closer, its closest approach to midnight to date).
3. 1960 - In response to a perception of increased scientific cooperation and public understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons, clock is changed to seven minutes to midnight (five minutes farther from midnight).
4. 1963 - The United States and Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty, limiting atmospheric nuclear testing. Clock changed to twelve minutes to midnight (another five minutes farther).
5. 1968 - France and China acquire and test nuclear weapons (1960 and 1964 respectively), wars rage on in the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and Vietnam. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (five minutes closer to midnight).
6. 1969 - The U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Clock changed to ten minutes to midnight (three minutes farther from midnight).
7. 1972 - The United States and the Soviet Union sign the SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Clock changed to twelve minutes to midnight (two minutes farther).
8. 1974 - India tests a nuclear device (Smiling Buddha), SALT II talks stall. Clock changed to nine minutes to midnight (three minutes closer to midnight).
9. 1980 - Further deadlock in US-USSR talks, increase in nationalist wars and terrorist actions. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (two minutes closer).
10. 1981 - Arms race escalates, conflicts in Afghanistan, South Africa, and Poland add to world tension. Clock changed to four minutes to midnight (three minutes closer).
11. 1984 - Further escalation of the arms race under the U.S. policies of Ronald Reagan. Clock changed to three minutes to midnight (one more minute closer).
12. 1988 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union sign treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces, relations improve. Clock changed to six minutes to midnight (three minutes farther from midnight).
13. 1990 - Fall of the Berlin Wall, success of anti-communist movements in Eastern Europe, Cold War nearing an end. Clock changed to ten minutes to midnight (four minutes farther).
14. 1991 - United States and Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Clock changed to seventeen minutes to midnight (seven minutes farther, its greatest distance from midnight so far).
15. 1995 - Global military spending continues at Cold War levels; concerns about post-Soviet nuclear proliferation of weapons and brainpower. Clock changed to fourteen minutes to midnight (three minutes closer to midnight).
16. 1998 - Both India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons in a tit-for-tat show of aggression; the United States and Russia run into difficulties in further reducing stockpiles. Clock changed to nine minutes to midnight (five minutes closer).
17. 2002 - Little progress on global nuclear disarmament; United States rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces its intentions to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; terrorists seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (two minutes closer).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock