The End is Near!

      By: Anne Keenan  |  December 9, 2008

      The end of nuclear weapons, that is. For yesterday, leaders around the world launched a new campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons: Global Zero. Does this sound starry eyed or hippy or unrealistic? Let me assure you, it is not. The leaders behind this effort are anything but long-haired dreamers. In fact, during our first meeting, one of the organizers assured us that he was prepared to make all decisions related to the website in the time it took for a nuclear weapon launched from Russia to reach New York City. (As an aside, how’s that trivia fact for recalibrating your understanding of a half hour?)

      To be honest, I’d never thought too much about nuclear weapons. Besides being abstractly terrified of them, I’d managed to push them to the edges of my mind, somewhere out there with “where is the end of the universe” and “I live in a city that will probably be the site of a giant disaster.” Unfortunately, the issue of nuclear weapons is the rare case that, as you learn more, you get more terrified, not less. And I became more convinced that we need to eliminate nuclear weapons. (Get convinced here: http://www.globalzero.org/node/3)

      EchoDitto’s part in all of this in their shiny new website: globalzero.org. Not just beautifully designed by Biro Creative, the site has some pretty great functionality under the hood:

      1. It’s in 6 languages! Ethan can probably say more about this, but we leveraged the Drupal Translate functionality to implement versions of all pages in all languages. Read more about how we did it here: http://labs.echoditto.com/drupal-i18n-L10n-part-1
      2. It integrates with DiA! Chris can say more about this, but he built a new module to use the DiA API to submit user data, tagged in different languages.
      3. It uses Delicious! Administrators can use Delicious to tag press items, and then they are added automagically to their press coverage page!

      So take a few minutes today to poke around, sign the declaration, and tell us your thoughts!

       

      Legacy Comments

      The key to eliminating the nuclear threat is reflective and resolute dialogue amongst all nations. We continue to live with this absurd, grotesque, and self-incurred threat because information about nuclear weapons, and about those most responsible for their proliferation is oppressed and ignored. As the only nation to have used a nuclear weapon, and as the nation who possesses the largest nuclear stockpile, the United States should lead in the massive diplomatic effort to reduce and then end the nuclear threat. It sounds straightforward and simple, but the suppression of information and responsibility is our biggest hurdle. Several years ago The Smithsonian attempted to display an exhibit on the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima) for the sake of educating the public about the reasons to drop the bomb, and more importantly to stimulate debate about the use and existence of nuclear weapons. The exhibit was comprehensive and accurate, including photos, a brief history of the war in Japan, and several reasons affecting the decision to drop the bomb. Despite the historical authenticity of the exhibit, the U.S. Congress and a number of veterans' groups fought to alter and even close the exhibit. At the behest of congress, Smithsonian curators and historians altered the "historical infomation" and removed photos of the destruction, and when the distortion was not enough for Congress the museum scrapped the exhibit all together. What the congress and numerous veterans' groups chiefly objected was the historically proven fact that the bomb was not dropped as an absolute necessity to ending the war; thus there were political reasons for dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. The unwillingness of our government and veterans' institutions to be honest about the history of nuclear weapons (because they believe their credibility is on the line) stands in the way of a catharsis 64 years past its due. Whatever your affiliation or stance, the nuclear attacks on Japan were the two most devastating and tragic moments in human history. Rather than cowardly seeking to protect the perceived integrity of an institution, our nation should be collectively engaged in a conversation that acknowledges our leading role in the nuclear threat, and our rightful role as the leader to ending this threat to human history.

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      Well, I do not think South Korea and India will be the approval examples for your opinion, nuclear weapon, well, I just know, peace end in ambition.

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