What's New Robert L. Park 3 December 2010

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 2 Dec 2010   Washington, DC=09

1. NEW START: THE GHOST OF EDWARD TELLER HOVERS OVER THE SENATE.
Arizona senator Jon Kyl, the number-two Republican in the Senate, said on=
=20
NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that he believes a debate on the merits of=
=20
New Start would take at least two weeks. That pushes a vote on the treaty=
=20
into 2011, putting it before a new Senate with more Republicans, making i=
t=20
less likely to be approved. The debate Kyl hungers for is less about New=20
Start than it is about the state of our nuclear complex. How will decades=
-
old nuclear weapons behave if they are ever used?  Plutonium suffers from=
=20
self-irradiation and tritium has only a 12.3 year half-life.  Kyl implies=
=20
that weapons scientists are ill-equipped to analyse and diagnose such=20
problems in the nuclear arsenal, but these are exactly the problems that=20
the Stockpile Stewardship program, including the $1.2 billion National=20
Ignition Facility, was designed to handle.  Kyl seems to align himself wi=
th=20
ultraconservative Strangeloves who call for return to underground testing=
=20
and development of a new "reliable warhead," even as we demand that Korea=
=20
and Iran give up their nuclear ambitions. =20

2. FISH STORY: THE WORLD HAS RUN OUT OF NEW FISHING AREAS.
Most endangered species owe their precarious existence to the destruction=
=20
of their habitat by the spread of a single invasive species, Homo sapiens=
,=20
which now numbers about 7.0 billion.  Aided by technology, Homo sapiens=20
thrives in almost any habitat, and has spread to almost every region of=20
Earth, including the surface of the ocean which has been a particularly=20
rich source of protein. A story in today's Washington Post by Juliet=20
Eilperin, however, say the globe has run out of new fishing areas and tha=
t=20
current fishing methods are not sustainable. We have destroyed the great=20
cod fisheries  This is why farmed fish now account for about half of the=20
world's seafood production.  An article in today's Science says the FDA i=
s=20
now considering approval of a genetically modified Atlantic salmon that=20
contains an inserted growth gene from Pacific Chinook salmon.

3. LEAKED CABLES: YOU CAN=92T CLEAN UP A SEWER.
Pres. Obama is in Afghanistan today. I think we can guess why he's there:=
=20
Leaked US diplomatic cables covering recent years of Afghan corruption=20
which goes to the very top, are disheartening to Americans who have borne=
=20
the cost. "Leak" does not do it justice; it was a tsunami. No one, howeve=
r,=20
has been arrested for leaking information and in spite of demands by=20
members of Congress who should know better, I don=92t believe anyone will=
 be.=20
We do not have an official-secrets act in this country. Government=20
employees willing to risk their careers by leaking classified documents m=
ay=20
be the only check on government excesses carried out in the name of=20
national security.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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