'Doomsday Clock' Moves Closer to Midnight; Guess Why?
By Tom Blumer | January 14, 2012 | 11:19
The "Doomsday Clock" has been with us since 1947. It is a symbolic construct of the now left-leaning Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group which "was established in 1945 by scientists, engineers, and other experts who had created the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. They knew about the horrible effects of these new weapons and devoted themselves to warning the public about the consequences of using them."
Most people who know of it probably think that the clock's intent is to symbolize how close the world is to the disaster of nuclear war; that was indeed its sole focus for decades. However, the group just moved the clock from six minutes before midnight to five. Wait until you see why, as sympathetically reported on Tuesday by Doyle Rice at USA Today's Science Fair blog:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Doomsday clock moved closer to midnight
Citing ongoing threats from nuclear proliferation, climate change, and the need to find sustainable and safe sources of energy, scientists moved the "Doomsday Clock" one minute closer to midnight on Tuesday.
The clock was moved from six to five minutes to midnight.
The clock is symbolic and has been maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since 1947. The closer to a setting of midnight it gets, the closer it is estimated that a global disaster will occur.
The group's press release seems to put "climate change" on an equal footing with nukes (bolds are mine; the original release bolded the entire passage):
Faced with clear and present dangers of nuclear proliferation and climate change, and the need to find sustainable and safe sources of energy, world lead(er)s are failing to change business as usual. Inaction on key issues including climate change, and rising international tensions motivate the movement of the clock. As we see it, the major challenge at the heart of humanity's survival in the 21st century is how to meet energy needs for economic growth in developing and industrial countries without further damaging the climate, exposing people to loss of health and community, and without risking further spread of nuclear weapons, and in fact setting the stage for global reductions."
Apparently these alleged scientists are unconcerned about the data-cooking, politicization, collusion, disclosure-dodging, fundamental intellectual dishonesty, and (what should be the most important problem from their perspective) lack of scientific rigor undergirding "climate science," as revealed in the original Climategate emails of 2009 and the Climategate 2.0 emails two years later.
As happens all too often, what once may arguably have a legitimate enterprise was corrupted decades ago. A look at the graph of the clock's movements during the past 60-plus years indicates that the clock got closest to midnight during the administrations of Eisenhower and Reagan and moved further away during the 1960s and 1990s in administrations mostly controlled by Democrats.
In 2007, the group, apparently in search of further relevance, threw its credibility entirely out the window by adding "climate change" as a potentially dire threat to humanity's continuation. Now they're just another bunch of leftist hacks with pretend legitimacy. It ought to rename itself the Bulletin of Co-opted Scientists. USA Today, the Associated Press and others dutifully carry their water.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
Climate Blame?
Submitted by mememine69 on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 11:39am.
Nobody is denying that pollution is real and we all want the same thing but the CO2 mistake was taking us backwards in stewardship with insane attempts at climate control. That's what climate change was, an attempt at climate control by stopping the supposed heating of the planet by regulating it with our Human CO2. What century was this again? It’s like we thought we were the immortal gods who had the powers to destroy planets. Nature doesn’t like competition.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Submitted by donabernathy on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 11:46am.
The Government has two instruments for keeping the people dependent, in fear and obedience: a coarser, the army; and a more refined, the school.
roflmao
So what happens at midnight?
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 11:47am.
I always laugh at the "doomsday clock.' It's the most foolish imagery they could possibly use! What happens to a clock at Midnight? Nothing, nothing at all, for then a new day starts and the clock is "reset." That's supposed to instill us all with fear?
A better imagery would be a burning fuse. At least then there would be a feeling of impending doom.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I think midnight is when Bill
Submitted by ant on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:11pm.
I think midnight is when Bill Mahrer's show airs, they may be on to something. Either that or doomsday begins when Skinemax starts running the 'adult' movies.
So what happens at
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:54pm.
So what happens at midnight?
Christ comes and the world is saved from liberals..
In the vacuous liberal mind, at midnight,
Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 5:59pm.
Al Franken becomes President and appoints North Korea, Iran and China to oversee our "societal reconstruction".
Of course, this is followed by unicorns and rainbows flying simultaneously out of his rectum.
It's like the National Debt Limit . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 6:52pm.
. . . When you're about to exceed it, you raise it.
The Doomsday Clock is a old icon of the Cold War that's struggling to remain relevent. Like NATO, it was orphaned almost 20 years ago, but its keepers haven't killed it because it's been their reason for being.
I saw this, a warming earth has been a boon for humanity......
Submitted by merly1 on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 11:56am.
1925--1 billion
2010--7 billion
2100 (UN prediction)--10 billion--just increased from 9 billion prediction.
I am telling you, these "scientists" are truly morons. They really, really are.
It is akin to giving Owebama a Nobel peace prize as he surges Afghanistan and drones in
many sovereign nations.
Clearly, the earth has warmed tremendously in recent millenia, even if there is some element
of AGW, shouldnt we be giving those responsible Nobel Prizes? If any part of AGW is true, they have done more for expanding humanity, and humanity's life expectancy, than a Salk or Sabin.......
That presupposes ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:20pm.
... a belief that a lot of humans is a good thing, a sentiment definitely not shared by the enviro movement, many of whom think we need to go back to about 2 billion -- sparing them, of course.
"Of course" ;o)
Submitted by merly1 on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:36pm.
love your ending sarcasm!
Still the "doomsday" clock ticking forward while mankind is booming is as oxymoronic
as it gets. How do educated people not understand this?
liberals are a contrasting
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:32pm.
liberals are a contrasting breed, they kill unborns with only a glimpse of thought, but attempt to spare the death of serial killers by using all means and methods. no reason to kill innocence but all reasons to save those whom have killed who are guilty.
rather unwittingly, they give all the reasons for their own demise, because they have no rational left to defend themselves.
now that's a big hole they have placed themselves in.
And the blindness of those in the Ivory Tower gets worse.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:19pm.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has always been a very left-leaning organization, but now they are completely off the track. The group is far more interested in protecting the funding, tenure and perks (such as low-paid lab technicians and graduate assistants who do the actual teaching) of academia than they are in actually fulfilling their self-deified mission. Any graduate or medical student who ever had to work for a academic tyrant could tell you they will close ranks as soon as anyone questions their research, for fear of it affecting the rest of them. With the climate research cooked books, it means many are questioning why we are dumping so much money down this rat hole, and that means we will start to question other dubious research as well.
My reaction...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:21pm.
...when I first saw this was exactly that of Tom's... Too bad the language of the article I read on the subject didn't quite project that kind of context. Wonder why.
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Its All a form of
Submitted by Bliggie on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:38pm.
Control, from the bogus "global warming" to the BS "climate change" they have to call it after nature started sending blizzards to the UN meetings on global warming, to obamacare. It's all lies and propaganda in order to control, plain and simple. The earth was hotter in the 1300s than it is now and wow, no SUVs, these so called scientists are a joke, and what does it say about scientists, politicians, and an entire political movement when they have to lie in order to push their agenda?
I would have thought our
Submitted by ant on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:13pm.
I would have thought our enormous debt and continued over-spending...hell, I'll just simplify it...the Obama Presidency should have been mentioned as a factor in closing in on doomsday.
They messed up and set the clock
Submitted by Calypso Jones on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:38pm.
at a 'dangerous' setting early on so now they're stuck with this 'chicken little' countdown. What they've actually done is to make themselves irrelevant. So what's gonna happen when the clock strikes midnite. Start again? overtime? They're idiots.
Worthless.
Submitted by GregE on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:46pm.
You're right. They only have 4 minutes to work with before the "doom" minute, unless they turn the minutes back, and who thinks anything great is going to occur which would provide ample reason do that? To give themselves space, they're going to have to turn it back on minor "good" occurrences, or not move it closer to midnight during times that are supposedly bad enough that they normally would.
Regardless, the "doomsday clock" is stupid anyway, and what's moreso is the fact that it's taken so seriously and that any time and money is wasted making the decision to move it.
Maybe if Obama is re-elected they can take the batteries out of it and declare Utopia.
How telling
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 1:43pm.
Ummmm, no mention of Iran and Islam??
Says it all I guess.
My doomsday clock
Submitted by Dave the mailman on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 3:50pm.
...is digital, and keeps flashing 88:88
I think because of the power surge when Obama took office. Guess I'll reset it when he's gone.
Mine keeps flashing <12:00>
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 5:41pm.
Sort of like the old VCR's, this outdated Cold War relic has no place in our society. Besides, if O'Bozo has his way, we'll be living in a post-apocalyptic world soon!
I know! I know!
Submitted by Michigeezer on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 3:25pm.
"The Bulliten of Atomic Scientists" is a subsidiary of the "Journal of Rocket Scientists"!
The best thing about dating a homeless person is that at the end of the date, you can drop them off anywhere.
I see the Liberal pack of climate Scientist's have polluted
Submitted by snowshooze on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 3:27pm.
rest of the pack.
Liberal Proliferation.
Ok... we can rule these guys out now.
More like a "Boobsday Clock".
Submitted by big.league.slider on Sun, 01/15/2012 - 12:39am.
More like a "Boobsday Clock". The closest the world came to all-out nuclear war was October 1962, and the clock was set at 8 minutes to midnight. And now it's set at 5 minutes to midnight?
Let's consider their press release:
"Faced with clear and present dangers of nuclear proliferation and climate change, and the need to find sustainable and safe sources of energy, world lead(er)s are failing to change business as usual. Inaction on key issues including climate change, and rising international tensions motivate the movement of the clock. As we see it, the major challenge at the heart of humanity's survival in the 21st century is how to meet energy needs for economic growth in developing and industrial countries without further damaging the climate, exposing people to loss of health and community, and without risking further spread of nuclear weapons, and in fact setting the stage for global reductions."
The principle of mutually assured destruction has saved millions of lives, since it has prevented large scale armed conflict between superpowers. As for "climate change", there has effectively been no appreciable net change in global temperatures since the clock started in 1947. Finally, while developing renewable energy technologies is a worthwhile endeavor, to ignore the significant improvements in the world population's standard of living and quality of life resulting from access to cheap energy, mostly in the form of oil, gas and coal, would be to ignore reality.
What would be more relevant is a global economic "doomsday clock". The world faces a far greater threat from economic collapse than any other problem. And the root of the economic problem is socialism.