<div dir="ltr"><div><font size="2"><font size="2"><div><span><span><span><span><span>Vision2020 Post: <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Ted</span> <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Moffett</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span><span><div>***** Original material contained herein is <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-il">Copyright</span> 2000 through life plus 70 years, <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Ted</span> <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Moffett</span>. Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the <a href="http://vision2020.moscow.com/" target="_blank">Vision2020.Moscow.com</a> forum without the express written permission of the author.*****</div><div>------------------------------<wbr>-----</div></span></span></font></font></div><div><span><span><br></span></span></div><div>I meant to respond to the PHD Comic on nuclear weapons that was presented to Vision2020 on 12-11-17. Thankfully in the interim we have not had nuclear war, even with threats of "fire and fury like the world has never seen." What madman would talk like this?</div><div><br></div><div>I think the probability that nuclear weapons will eventually be used should not be described, as this "PHD Comic" Mr. Force referred to, phrases it: "small but non-zero." Rather, the language employed in the following article, which expresses a higher probability than implied by "non-zero," should be employed, to inspire more action to rid the world of the insanity that these weapons even exist!</div><div><br></div><div>I pasted in an excerpt from the article below that contains the sort of language I am referencing.</div><div>---------------------------</div><div><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2017.1325300">http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2017.1325300</a><span></span></div><div><h1><span class="gmail-NLM_article-title gmail-hlFld-title">Nuclear Weapons in a Changing Climate: Probability, Increasing Risks, and Perception</span></h1><span class="gmail-sub-title"><h2><div class="gmail-literatumAuthors"><div class="gmail-publicationContentAuthors"><div class="gmail-hlFld-ContribAuthor"><span class="gmail-NLM_contrib-group"><span class="gmail-contribDegrees"><a class="entryAuthor" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Liska%2C+Adam+J"><font color="#0066cc" size="2">Adam J. Liska</font><span class="gmail-overlay"><font color="#0066cc" size="2"> Departments of Biological Systems Engineering and Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska.</font><div tabindex="0" class="gmail-author-extra-info"><font size="2">View further author information</font></div></span></a><font color="#000000" size="2">, </font></span><span class="gmail-contribDegrees"><a class="entryAuthor" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/author/White%2C+Tyler+R"><font size="2">Tyler R. White</font><span class="gmail-overlay"><font size="2"> Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska.</font><div tabindex="0" class="gmail-author-extra-info"><font size="2">View further author information</font></div></span></a><font color="#000000" size="2">, </font></span><span class="gmail-contribDegrees"><a class="entryAuthor" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Holley%2C+Eric+R"><font size="2">Eric R. Holley</font><span class="gmail-overlay"><font size="2"> School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska.</font><div tabindex="0" class="gmail-author-extra-info"><font size="2">View further author information</font></div></span></a><font color="#000000" size="2"> & </font></span><span class="gmail-contribDegrees"><a class="entryAuthor" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Oglesby%2C+Robert+J"><font size="2">Robert J. Oglesby</font><span class="gmail-overlay"><font size="2"> University of Nebraska.</font><div tabindex="0" class="gmail-author-extra-info"><font size="2">View further author information</font></div></span></a></span></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-widget gmail-responsive-layout gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-5f562208-b1d5-4e5a-81c7-356431240f04"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory">Pages 22-33 | Published online: 06 Jul 2017<br></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><p>Due to probabilistic realities, Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking recently concluded that future use of nuclear weapons is highly probable, perhaps even inevitable, given the passage of enough time.<span class="gmail-ref-lnk gmail-fn-ref-lnk"><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2017.1325300#"><sup><font color="#0066cc" size="2">3</font></sup></a><span class="gmail-ref-overlay gmail-scrollable-ref"><span class="gmail-ref-close"><span class="gmail-ref-fn-p">3 S. Knapton, “Prof Stephen Hawking: Disaster on Planet Earth is a Near Certainty,” <i>The Telegraph</i>, 19 January 2016. If there is a small probability of an event occurring each day, then over time these probabilities increase due to multiplication of the individual daily probabilities and opportunities: see D. J. Hand, <i>The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day</i> (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014).</span><a class="gmail-frontnotes">View all notes</a></span></span> Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry also recently warned, “Today, the danger of some sort of nuclear catastrophe is greater than it was during the Cold War.”<span class="gmail-ref-lnk gmail-fn-ref-lnk"><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2017.1325300#"><sup><font color="#0066cc" size="2">4</font></sup></a><span class="gmail-ref-overlay gmail-scrollable-ref"><span class="gmail-ref-close"><span class="gmail-ref-fn-p">4 J. F. Harris and B. Bender, “Bill Perry is Terrified. Why Aren't You?” <i>Politico</i>, 6 January 2017.</span><a class="gmail-frontnotes">View all notes</a></span></span> Secretary Perry, speaking about the implications of even a limited nuclear exchange, said, “The political, economic and social consequences are beyond what people understand.” Two other former U.S. Secretaries of Defense, Robert McNamara and Graham Allison, and numerous nuclear weapons specialists have also suggested that future use is probable.<span class="gmail-ref-lnk gmail-fn-ref-lnk"><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2017.1325300#"><sup><font color="#0066cc" size="2">5</font></sup></a><span class="gmail-ref-overlay gmail-scrollable-ref"><span class="gmail-ref-close"><span class="gmail-ref-fn-p">5 L. Eden et al., </span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><br></span></span></p></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></h2><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-responsive-layout gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-5f562208-b1d5-4e5a-81c7-356431240f04"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-responsive-layout gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-5f562208-b1d5-4e5a-81c7-356431240f04"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><h2><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-widget gmail-responsive-layout gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-5f562208-b1d5-4e5a-81c7-356431240f04"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-container-fluid"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-container-fluid"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-row gmail-row-md gmail-gutterless"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-contents"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-col-md-1-1"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-contents"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all"><div class="gmail-wrapped"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-widget gmail-layout-inline-content gmail-none gmail-widget-none gmail-widget-compact-all" id="gmail-87ac5840-18fa-4a14-8eca-065b90ede3d7"><div class="gmail-itemPageRangeHistory"><div class="gmail-inline-dropzone"><div class="gmail-widget-body gmail-body gmail-body-none gmail-body-compact-all">On Mon, Dec 11, 2017 at 3:14 PM, Ron Force <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ronforce@gmail.com" target="_blank">ronforce@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></h2></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div dir="ltr"><div><a href="http://phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1988" target="_blank">http://phdcomics.com/comics.<wbr>php?f=1988</a><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font size="2">Ron Force<br>Moscow Idaho USA</font></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="gmail-h5">On Sun, Dec 10, 2017 at 10:15 PM, Ted Moffett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com" target="_blank">starbliss@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div><div class="gmail-h5"><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="2"><font size="2"><div><span><span><span><span><span>Vision2020 Post: <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Ted</span> <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Moffett</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span><span><div>***** Original material contained herein is <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-il">Copyright</span> 2000 through life plus 70 years, <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Ted</span> <span class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-m_7562487715325556713gmail-m_2303765594966729603gmail-m_5185407423560277491gmail-m_-7339551805261331343gmail-m_6608179617401443927gmail-m_1851098523129406012gmail-m_-3667973666522737725gmail-m_7150806634314455654gmail-m_7272584660306685438gmail-m_-279399555980630466gmail-il">Moffett</span>. Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the <a href="http://vision2020.moscow.com/" target="_blank">Vision2020.Moscow.com</a> forum without the express written permission of the author.*****</div><div>------------------------------<wbr>-----</div></span></span></font></font><div><span><span><br></span></span></div></div><div>I listened/watched to this speech live at about 5 AM this Sunday morning. Words fail to capture the impact.</div><div><br></div><div>Assuming humanity survives the barbaric age we are living through, future generations will be aghast at the horrors we have and continue to inflict on each other, and the living planet as a whole.<br></div><div>------------------------------<wbr>----</div><div><h1>Nobel Peace Prize speech by ICAN campaigner, Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow</h1> <div class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-article-infoBox"> <div class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-article-info"><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-post"><time>December 11, 2017</time> (Mainichi Japan)<br></p></div></div></div><div><a href="http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20171211/p2a/00m/0na/005000c" target="_blank">http://mainichi.jp/english/art<wbr>icles/20171211/p2a/00m/0na/005<wbr>000c</a></div><div><br></div><div><span><span>International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), activist and Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow speaks in Oslo City Hall, Norway, Sunday Dec. 10, 2017, after ICAN officially received the Nobel Peace Prize 2017. (Terje Bendiksby/ NTB scanpix via AP)<span><span><br></span></span></span></span></div><div><br></div><div>The following is a speech delivered by Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the August 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, as released by the Nobel Foundation. </div><div><br></div><div><span><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt">Your Majesties, </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> My fellow campaigners, here and throughout the world, </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Ladies and gentlemen, </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> It is a great privilege to accept this award, together with Beatrice, on behalf of all the remarkable human beings who form the ICAN movement. You each give me such tremendous hope that we can -- and will -- bring the era of nuclear weapons to an end. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> I speak as a member of the family of hibakusha -- those of us who, by some miraculous chance, survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For more than seven decades, we have worked for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> We have stood in solidarity with those harmed by the production and testing of these horrific weapons around the world. People from places with long-forgotten names, like Moruroa, Ekker, Semipalatinsk, Maralinga, Bikini. People whose lands and seas were irradiated, whose bodies were experimented upon, whose cultures were forever disrupted. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> We were not content to be victims. We refused to wait for an immediate fiery end or the slow poisoning of our world. We refused to sit idly in terror as the so-called great powers took us past nuclear dusk and brought us recklessly close to nuclear midnight. We rose up. We shared our stories of survival. We said: humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Today, I want you to feel in this hall the presence of all those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I want you to feel, above and around us, a great cloud of a quarter million souls. Each person had a name. Each person was loved by someone. Let us ensure that their deaths were not in vain. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> I was just 13 years old when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, on my city Hiroshima. I still vividly remember that morning. At 8:15, I saw a blinding bluish-white flash from the window. I remember having the sensation of floating in the air. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> As I regained consciousness in the silence and darkness, I found myself pinned by the collapsed building. I began to hear my classmates' faint cries: "Mother, help me. God, help me." </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Then, suddenly, I felt hands touching my left shoulder, and heard a man saying: "Don't give up! Keep pushing! I am trying to free you. See the light coming through that opening? Crawl towards it as quickly as you can." As I crawled out, the ruins were on fire. Most of my classmates in that building were burned to death alive. I saw all around me utter, unimaginable devastation. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Processions of ghostly figures shuffled by. Grotesquely wounded people, they were bleeding, burnt, blackened and swollen. Parts of their bodies were missing. Flesh and skin hung from their bones. Some with their eyeballs hanging in their hands. Some with their bellies burst open, their intestines hanging out. The foul stench of burnt human flesh filled the air. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Thus, with one bomb my beloved city was obliterated. Most of its residents were civilians who were incinerated, vaporized, carbonized -- among them, members of my own family and 351 of my schoolmates. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> In the weeks, months and years that followed, many thousands more would die, often in random and mysterious ways, from the delayed effects of radiation. Still to this day, radiation is killing survivors. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Whenever I remember Hiroshima, the first image that comes to mind is of my four-year-old nephew, Eiji - his little body transformed into an unrecognizable melted chunk of flesh. He kept begging for water in a faint voice until his death released him from agony. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> To me, he came to represent all the innocent children of the world, threatened as they are at this very moment by nuclear weapons. Every second of every day, nuclear weapons endanger everyone we love and everything we hold dear. We must not tolerate this insanity any longer. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Through our agony and the sheer struggle to survive -- and to rebuild our lives from the ashes -- we hibakusha became convinced that we must warn the world about these apocalyptic weapons. Time and again, we shared our testimonies. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> But still some refused to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki as atrocities -- as war crimes. They accepted the propaganda that these were "good bombs" that had ended a "just war". It was this myth that led to the disastrous nuclear arms race -- a race that continues to this day. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Nine nations still threaten to incinerate entire cities, to destroy life on earth, to make our beautiful world uninhabitable for future generations. The development of nuclear weapons signifies not a country's elevation to greatness, but its descent to the darkest depths of depravity. These weapons are not a necessary evil; they are the ultimate evil. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> On the seventh of July this year, I was overwhelmed with joy when a great majority of the world's nations voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Having witnessed humanity at its worst, I witnessed, that day, humanity at its best. We hibakusha had been waiting for the ban for seventy-two years. Let this be the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> All responsible leaders will sign this treaty. And history will judge harshly those who reject it. No longer shall their abstract theories mask the genocidal reality of their practices. No longer shall "deterrence" be viewed as anything but a deterrent to disarmament. No longer shall we live under a mushroom cloud of fear. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> To the officials of nuclear-armed nations -- and to their accomplices under the so-called "nuclear umbrella" -- I say this: Listen to our testimony. Heed our warning. And know that your actions are consequential. You are each an integral part of a system of violence that is endangering humankind. Let us all be alert to the banality of evil. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> To every president and prime minister of every nation of the world, I beseech you: Join this treaty; forever eradicate the threat of nuclear annihilation. </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> When I was a 13-year-old girl, trapped in the smouldering rubble, I kept pushing. I kept moving toward the light. And I survived. Our light now is the ban treaty. To all in this hall and all listening around the world, I repeat those words that I heard called to me in the ruins of Hiroshima: "Don't give up! Keep pushing! See the light? Crawl towards it." </p><p class="gmail-m_-4008164814403966307m_-147587488405962747gmail-txt"> Tonight, as we march through the streets of Oslo with torches aflame, let us follow each other out of the dark night of nuclear terror. No matter what obstacles we face, we will keep moving and keep pushing and keep sharing this light with others. This is our passion and commitment for our one precious world to survive. <span></span></p></span></div></div>
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