According to the Doomsday Clock, the End Is Near (VIDEO)

The hypothetical “Doomsday Clock” is closer to midnight – the hour of doom – than it has been since 1953, the year that the US and the USSR both tested hydrogen bombs at the beginning of the global nuclear arms race.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) announced on Tuesday that the time on the clock was now two minutes to midnight. The BAS is a group of science and policy experts who assess human advancement…and risk…say that we’re getting alarmingly close to the Zero Hour. Their statement said:

To: Leaders and citizens of the worldRe: Two minutes to midnightDate: January 25, 2018

In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago—and as dangerous as it has been since World War II.

The greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program made remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks to North Korea itself, other countries in the region, and the United States.Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions by both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.

But the dangers brewing on the Korean Peninsula were not the only nuclear risks evident in 2017: The United States and Russia remained at odds, continuing military exercises along the borders of NATO, undermining the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), upgrading their nuclear arsenals, and eschewing arms control negotiations.

In the Asia-Pacific region, tensions over the South China Sea have increased, with relations between the United States and China insufficient to re-establish a stable security situation.

In South Asia, Pakistan and India have continued to build ever-larger arsenals of nuclear weapons.

And in the Middle East, uncertainty about continued US support for the landmark Iranian nuclear deal adds to a bleak overall picture.

To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger—and its immediacy. (source)

The statement goes on to discuss climate change and technological campaigns.

But the change of the clock goes even deeper.

It is not any one of those factors, but a combination of all of them — and the weakening of public faith in knowledgeable expert voices — that prompted the change to the clock, Lawrence Krauss, chair of the BAS Board of Sponsors and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, told reporters.

“The danger of nuclear conflagration is not the only reason the clock has been moved forward, as my colleagues have described. This danger looms at a time when there’s been a loss of trust in political institutions, in the media, in science, and in facts themselves, all of which exacerbate the difficulty in dealing with the real problems the world faces, and which threaten to undermine the ability of governments to effectively deal with these problems,” Krauss said. (source)

Here’s a timeline of the Doomsday Clock and an illustration.

(source)

This video has more information about the Doomsday Clock. (The video is from last year but gives a good rundown of the history of the clock.)

The world is on an alarming trajectory.

While you may not agree that all the threats are actually legitimate, it’s difficult to deny an ugly trend in the world today.

• The flu this year is deadly.


• We’ve been on the verge of both Ebola and plague outbreaks in recent years.


• The entire world is prepping for nuclear war.


• Young people are eating laundry detergent for “fun.”


• Scientists are experimenting with things that sound like the plot-lines of science fictiondisaster books.


• Bees are dying.


• Monsanto is still striving to take over the world’s agriculture with sterile, genetically modified seeds.


• Our country has never been more politically and ideologically divided.


• Artificial intelligence is becoming so much more widely accepted that even experts fear we’re on the verge of a robot apocalypse.


• Economic woes are circling the globe.


• People are happily lining up to get themselves microchipped.

Honestly, is the advent of Doomsday really that far-fetched?

Preppers have been saying this for ages.

Of course, none of us actually WANT to be right. But many are feeling the urge to prepare even more strongly of late as we watch the disturbing headlines. (Go here to learn more if you’re new to preparedness.)

What would you add to the list of doomsday concerns?

(Thank you to Guy for the tip!)

The post According to the Doomsday Clock, the End Is Near (VIDEO) appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight

 

The Bureau of the Atomic Scientists maintained its Doomsday Clock since 1947 – the closer to midnight, the greater the risk of catastrophe from nuclear war or environmental disaster.

Its original setting was seven minutes during a more peaceful time than what preceded or followed the clock’s launching.

It’s been set forward and backward numerous times, once to 17 minutes to midnight, two minutes to midnight the closest to what the Atomic Scientists perceive as a potential doomsday scenario.

It’s been there only twice – in 1953 during the height of Cold War fears, and as of January 25, 2018 – over fear of Trump’s hostility toward North Korea, Iran and other sovereign independent countries.

Days after his January 20, 2017 inauguration, the Doomsday Clock was advanced to two-and-a-half minutes to midnight, the move attributed to “the words of a single person: Donald Trump, the new President of the United States.”

The clock was moved less than a full minute for the first time because he’d only been president a few days.

The Atomic Scientists expressed concern over his announced nuclear arsenal expansion and questionable appointments, potentially “ma(king) a bad international security situation worse.”

His actions during his early days in office were cause for concern – far more worrisome after a year as president, his administration infested with hawkish generals and neocon extremists.

His and their rage for war and hostility toward sovereign independent states risk unthinkable nuclear war on his watch – perhaps confrontation with Russia and/or China going nuclear by accident or design.

In announcing today’s move, Atomic Scientists (AC) president Rachel Bronson said “(i)t with considerable concern that we set the Doomsday Clock, as of today. It is two minutes to midnight.”

AC board members, including 15 Nobel laureates, believe “the world is not only more dangerous now than it was a year ago. It is as threatening as it has been since World War II.”

Nuclear history expert Alex Wellerstein explained today’s heightened fear, saying “(w)e have members of Congress, White House advisers, and even the president implying that they think war with a nuclear state is not only likely, but potentially desirable. That’s unusual and disturbing.”

Proliferation of nuclear weapons and Washington’s willingness to use them perhaps threatens humanity like never before.

A single detonation can turn major cities into smoldering rubble, their populations annihilated, their landscape and surrounding areas irradiated.

In response to the Doomsday Clock’s advance toward midnight, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) executive director Beatrice Fihn issued a statement, saying:

“The actions and policies of the nuclear-armed states are winding the Doomsday Clock towards midnight.”

“We have been lucky to avoid conflict through intentional or accidental means, but recent posturing and the false alarms in Hawaii and Japan show our luck is about to run out if we don’t move quickly.”

“(S)ecurity based on luck is reckless and foolish. It’s exactly what the nuclear states have now. 122 nations voted for the nuclear ban Treaty and other nations need to join the process so we can stop flirting with our own destruction and destroy the Doomsday Clock once and for all.”

Because of US rage for global dominance, today is the most perilous time in world history.

Humanity destroying nuclear war could happen by accident or design. US imperial madness could doom us all.

A Final Comment

On January 25, a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the following:

“In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago – and as dangerous as it has been since World War II.”

“The greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program appeared to make remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks for itself, other countries in the region, and the United States.”

“Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions on both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.”

“On the climate change front, the danger may seem less immediate, but avoiding catastrophic temperature increases in the long run requires urgent attention now…The nations of the world will have to significantly decrease their greenhouse gas emissions to keep climate risks manageable, and so far, the global response has fallen far short of meeting this challenge.”

“(T)here has also been a breakdown in the international order that has been dangerously exacerbated by recent US actions. In 2017, the United States backed away from its longstanding leadership role in the world, reducing its commitment to seek common ground and undermining the overall effort toward solving pressing global governance challenges.”

“Neither allies nor adversaries have been able to reliably predict US actions or understand when US pronouncements are real, and when they are mere rhetoric. International diplomacy has been reduced to name-calling, giving it a surrealistic sense of unreality that makes the world security situation ever more threatening.”

Atomic Scientists made levelheaded recommendations for stepping back from the brink – ways of saving humanity from possible annihilation.

Bipartisan lunatics in Washington reject peace and ecosanity. Their agenda poses a greater threat to humanity than during the second war to end all future ones.

They rage dangerously out-of-control today. New conflicts loom – risking destruction of life on planet earth if a way isn’t found to stop them.

The post Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

Famed Doomsday Clock Moves Closer To Midnight; ‘Nuclear Situation Dire’

The world is only two and a half minutes away from doomsday. The editors of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on Thursday moved the hands of their famed Doomsday Clock 30 seconds closer to Armageddon.

“It is two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global danger looms,” a Bulletin press release reads.

The Doomsday Clock is intended to reflect how far the members of the Bulletin’s Science & Security Board think the world is from total catastrophe.

“In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago—and as dangerous as it has been since World War II,” a statement from the Board reads.

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“To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger—and its immediacy,” the Board members wrote.

The board cited North Korea’s nuclear weapons program; tensions between Pakistan and India, disputes between the United States and China, and tensions between the U.S. and Russia as reasons for the increased danger. It also singled out statements made by President Trump, although he wasn’t mentioned by name.

Danger of Technological Change

The Atomic Scientists assert that technological change is as great a threat as nuclear weapons or climate change.

“Technological change is disrupting democracies around the world as states seek and exploit opportunities to use information technologies as weapons, among them internet-based deception campaigns aimed at undermining elections and popular confidence in institutions essential to free thought and global security,” the Board warned.

It was moved 30 seconds closer to midnight, to two and a half minutes, last year.

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 to express the dangers from nuclear war.

The Clock has been maintained and updated every year by The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board. The Board’s membership includes 15 winners of the Nobel Prize. You can see the Doomsday Clock in the upper left-hand corner of The Bulletin’s webpage.

What is your reaction? Share it in the section below:

Paul Craig Roberts Warns "Armageddon Is Two-And-A-Half Minutes Away"

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

Are you ready to die? You and I are going to die and not from old age, because our fellow Americans are so stupid, ignorant, and brainwashed that they believe the lies that are leading us to our certain destruction. This is what the Atomic Scientists tell us...

Each year “the decision to move (or to leave in place) the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 15 Nobel laureates”.

In 1953 the Clock was at two minutes to midnight. In the worst years of the cold war it was at 3 minutes to midnight when, in 1984 it was recorded that “US-Soviet relations reach their iciest point in decades. Dialogue between the two superpowers virtually stops. Every channel of communications has been constricted or shut down; every form of contact has been attenuated or cut off…”

And now, in 2017, it is apparent that channels of communication with Russia are being deliberately cut off - and the hands of the Doomsday Clock have been placed at just two-and-a-half minutes from midnight.

And they are right.

Can you comprehend the absurdity?

President Trump is under full-scale attack from the military/security complex, the US presstitute media, the Democratic Party, and from many Republicans, such as Republican Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham and Republican Senator from Arizona John McCain simply because President Trump wants to reduce the dangerous tensions between the two major nuclear powers.

What explains the total lack of concern for their own lives on the part of the populations in South Carolina and Arizona who send to the Senate and keep sending to the Senate two morons determined to provoke war between the US and Russia?

It should send shivers up your spine that you can ask this same question about all 50 states, and almost all congressional districts.

You can ask the same question about the bordello known as “the American media.” There will be no one alive to post or to read the headlines of the war that they are helping to promote.

The United States and the rest of the world with it along with all life on earth are being sent to their graves by the total failure of American leadership.

What is wrong with Americans that they cannot understand that any “leader” who provokes war with a major nuclear power should be instantly institutionalized as criminally insane?

Why do Americans sit night after night in front of the TV absorbing lies that commit them beyond all doubt to their deaths?

America has failed itself and the world.

Ever Closer To War

Authored by Brian Cloughley via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has warned that the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear war is closer than since 1953. As explained by the Bulletin, in 1947 it devised the Doomsday Clock «using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero) to convey threats to humanity and the planet».

Each year «the decision to move (or to leave in place) the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 15 Nobel laureates». In 1953 the Clock was at two minutes to midnight. In the worst years of the cold war it was at 3 minutes to midnight when, in 1984 it was recorded that «US-Soviet relations reach their iciest point in decades. Dialogue between the two superpowers virtually stops. Every channel of communications has been constricted or shut down; every form of contact has been attenuated or cut off...»

And now, in 2017, it is apparent that channels of communication with Russia are being deliberately cut off — and the hands of the Doomsday Clock have been placed at just two-and-a-half minutes from midnight.

Disaster looms.

And as it looms, the United States Senate is heightening its global confrontational approach and announced that it intends to penalise Russia for a number of supposed misdemeanours.

Senator Lindsey Graham told CBS News that the Senate will «punish Russia for interfering in our elections» — concerning which allegation there has not been one shred of proof provided by anyone. All-embracing inquiries are under way, of course, but be assured that if there were the slightest, tiniest, most microscopic morsel of actual proof of any interference, it would by now have been leaked to the media and made headline news.

Senator Graham excelled himself by telling President Trump, via CBS News, that «You’re the commander in chief. You need to stand up to Russia. We’re never going to reset our relationship with Russia until we punish them for trying to destroy democracy. And that starts with more sanctions».

Then the CBS interviewer brought up the subject of the many inquiries into allegations of Trump-Russia plotting and mentioned that a Democrat had said the investigations were a «fishing expedition... What’s your response to that?»

The Senator replied «That’s not your, none of your business. We’re going to do what we think is best. The Russians interfered in our election. They’re doing it all over the world. No evidence yet that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. I don’t believe the president colluded with the Russians, just because of the way he behaves. There"s zero evidence that President Trump did anything wrong with the Russians. There’s overwhelming evidence that Russia is trying to destroy democracy here and abroad. And if you forgive and forget with Putin, you’re going to get more of the same and you’re going to entice Iran and China to come in 2018 and 2020».

The US Senate believes there is «zero evidence» that President Trump had help from Russia in his election campaign — which is true — but also thinks there is «overwhelming evidence» that Russia is trying to influence voting in America, although there is not a shred of proof to that effect.

The Senator spoke with the authority, force and majesty of the US Senate, and the world has to accept that his pronouncements represent the wishes of the legislators of his mighty nation which is intent on imposing harsher sanctions on Russia. As observed by Forbes, the new Bill «punishes Russian oil and gas firms even more than the current sanctions regime... Russia has no friends on Capitol Hill».

It is intriguing that the sanctions focus on oil and gas production, and Bloomberg reported that Germany and Austria consider «the measures sought to bolster US economic interests and included an unacceptable intervention in the region’s energy sector». In an unprecedented expression — indeed, explosion — of disapproval, Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Austria’s Chancellor Christian Kern said in a joint statement that «Europe’s energy supply is a matter for Europe, not the United States of America... instruments for political sanctions should not be tied to economic interests» and that the Senate’s amendment heralded a »new and very negative quality in European-American relations».

As London’s Financial Times reported, «the Russia sanctions outline opposition to Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that will double capacity for Gazprom... to supply gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea. The measures could affect European energy companies, including Shell, Engie and OMV, which are financing the pipeline. Shares in all four companies tumbled on Thursday».

Washington’s mission of lucrative destruction was partly achieved, but that’s where we come to the essence of the matter. The part of the Sanctions Bill involving Russia was an add-on to a series of vindictive measures against Iran, but it seemed a good idea to also sanction Russia’s oil and gas production, because nobody would benefit more than the oil and gas companies of the United States.

Bloomberg explained that the Nord Stream pipeline «would compete with US exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe». And the Senate made it plain that the US government «should prioritize the export of United States energy resources in order to create American jobs, help United States allies and partners, and strengthen United States foreign policy».

It’s difficult to see how the Senate’s arrogant dabbling might «help allies and partners,» but those in America who own energy resources and want to continue making vast profits continue to help their allies and partners in the Senate and the House. Without their financial support, many legislators would never have got to Washington.

As recorded by Open Secrets, companies closely associated with oil and gas production gave US politicians over fifty million dollars in 2015-2016 to help their democratic election:

Top Contributors, 2015-2016

Source: By kind permission of the Center for Responsive Politics

And Senator Lindsay Graham was given a bundle by many commercial organisations, headed by Nelson, Mullins, whose $254,247 in 1993-2016 no doubt helped him along the way. Nelson Mullins, incidentally, has attorneys who «have experience in advising electrical and pipeline providers on legal matters». Then he got $175,605 from SCANA, which is «a $9 billion energy-based holding company, based in Cayce, South Carolina... Its businesses include... natural gas utility operations and other energy-related businesses». Another of Senator Graham’s generous sponsors is the Fluor Corporation ($94,801) which «understands the critical success factors driving onshore oil and gas production and terminal businesses, providing practical solutions to maximize project investment».

It doesn’t matter to these people, or to the legislators they’ve bought with their donations, that the Doomsday Clock has ticked closer to the midnight of Armageddon, and that the hostile approach of the United States is alienating a proud nation that can take only so much before it reacts against Washington’s aggressive confrontation. The sleazy hypocrisy of US legislators is legendary, but it is their ignorance greed and arrogance that are worrying.

While Senator Graham was dancing to the tune of his oil angels, the Washington Post reported that seven percent of American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. That is «16.4 million misinformed, milk-drinking people». The representative of FoodCorps which encourages sensible nourishment said this was unfortunate, and «We still get kids who are surprised that a French fry comes from a potato, or that a pickle is a cucumber. Knowledge is power. Without it, we can’t make informed decisions».

Just like the US Senate.

Not Since 1953 Has The Doomsday Clock Been This Close To Midnight

WASHINGTON — The world is 30 seconds closer to doomsday, according to a new report by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Scientists moved the hands of the famous Doomsday Clock ahead by half a minute Thursday, asserting the world is “more dangerous today than it was last year.” I

That means the world is just two and half minutes away from Armageddon and as close to midnight as it has been since 1953 at the height of the Cold War, when it was two minutes until midnight. Since ’53, the clock has varied between three minutes and 17 minutes until midnight.

This is the 70^th anniversary of the Doomsday Clock.

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“The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon,” a statement from the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board reads. “In 2017, we find the danger to be even greater, the need for action more urgent. It is two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global danger looms.

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 as an indicator of how close the planet was to nuclear war. Today it gauges a variety of threats, including climate change, biological weapons and cyber weapons.

“Over the course of 2016, the global security landscape darkened as the international community failed to come effectively to grips with humanity’s most pressing existential threats, nuclear weapons and climate change,” the scientists said in the report.

The board was critical of President Trump, asserting in its report that even though he just took office, “the president’s intemperate statements, lack of openness to expert advice, and questionable cabinet nominations have already made a bad international security situation worse.

Physicist Lawrence Krauss said much of the world’s security depends on Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin getting along.

“President Trump and President Putin, who claim great respect for each other, can choose to act together as statesmen, or act as petulant children, risking our future,” Krauss said.

Do you believe the world is closer to doomsday than it has been since 1953?

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