Monday, August 6, 2012

Fixing UN Secretary-General's Hiroshima A-Bombing Speech



Message from U.N. Secretary-General on 67th anniversary of Hiroshima A-bombing

[excerpted] The following is the text of a message from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, delivered by Angela Kane, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, at a ceremony on Aug. 6, 2012 to mark the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
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....On this day, in this city, let me proclaim again: There must never be another nuclear attack -- never.

MAJIA'S SUBSTITUTION: There must never be another nuclear accident or attack –never.

The elimination of such weapons is not just a visionary goal, but the most reliable way to prevent their future use.

SUBSTITUTION: The elimination of nuclear energy and weapons is not just a visionary goal, but the only way to enable our survival in the future.

People understand that nuclear weapons cannot be used without indiscriminate effects on civilian populations.

SUBSTITUION: People understand that nuclear cannot be used without indiscriminate effects on civilian populations.

Security experts and defense analysts have come to understand that nuclear weapons, far from ensuring a balance of power, are inherently destabilizing.

SUBSTITUTION: Security experts and defense analysts have come to understand that nuclear, far from ensuring a balance of power or energy, is inherently destabilizing and species threatening.

Such weapons have no legitimate place in our world. Their elimination is both morally right and a practical necessity in protecting humanity.

SUBSTITUTION: Nuclear has no legitimate place in our world; it is destroying our world.




2 comments:

  1. Majia,

    Knowing what I do now, I'm much less afraid of the nuclear weapons than I am afraid of the nuclear power plants.

    The reason is knowledge and ignorance.

    I once spent a few weeks working in a steel mini-mill. It was a noisy, dirty and supremely dangerous place. I was suprised when they tapped the furnace. I expected to see red-hot molten steel, and instead what I saw was clear like water - but so hot you had to shield your eyes from 200 feet away.

    When I reviewed the safety log of the plant, I expected to see many gruesome injuries - but the injuries seemed very low for that size of heavy industrial business. "That has to be wrong", I thought; they must be hiding something.

    They weren't. It seems a steel mill is such an obviously dangerous place to work that people cannot help but be attentive, and accidents happen much less frequently when people are being attentive.

    Same thing with nuclear bombs. Everyone knows how dangerous they are - they've seen the videos. You've been trained to be afraid of them since you were a child.

    When you are in the vicinity of one, it never leaves the back of your mind.

    To the contrary, we've been brought up to think NPP's are safe. They are clean. When you drive by one you don't think - "that thing could melt down and destroy our city and our economy and kill thousands or even millions of people".

    No, what you think is:" wow, isn't the puffy white steam cloud billowing out of the cooling tower majestic?"

    The reality is the one which you have been trained to feel "safe" around is much more likely to kill you than the one which is deemed extremely unsafe.

    James

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  2. James, extremely well put on that accident / on guard comment.

    I have done "very dangerous" construction work and never have gotten hurt while doing that. I have occasionally received an injury whilst completely off guard, on non-dangerous tasks.

    Although most people know nuke plants aren't safe, most people think "it won't happen to me"

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