Japanese monks begin trek across West to remember nuclear bombings

A lantern containing a remnant of the fire from a nuclear attack that destroyed Hiroshima is on its way to New Mexico, the birthplace of atomic weapons.

Buddhist monks will carry the lantern – by foot – south and west during the next three weeks, passing through California, Arizona and part of New Mexico. Their goal is the Trinity Site at White Sands Missile Range, where the world’s first nuclear weapon was detonated on July 16, 1945.

“I’m comforted in knowing someone would walk more than 1,000 miles to make a statement for world peace,” said Mark Weiss, 41, who attended a welcome ceremony in Palo Alto Sunday.

The Japanese monks, dressed in robes and rope sandals, set out from San Francisco on Saturday, the 60th anniversary of the test. They plan to reach the test site on Aug. 9, the day the atomic bomb called “Fat Man” detonated over Nagasaki.

“In the eastern calendar, 60 is the end of a cycle,” said the Rev. Keishi Miyamoto, one of the monks. “I would like to bring the flame back to the place it came from and extinguish it in the hope that there won’t be another use of nuclear weapons ever again.”

The “atomic flame” is a vivid reminder of the day a U.S. bomber dropped the “Little Boy” nuclear bomb on the Japanese city. More than 200,000 Japanese died in the bombing, and thousands died later of radiation illnesses.

ON THE NET

Global Nuclear Disarmament Fund: http://www.gndfund.org

ABQjournal: New-Nuke Design Efforts Expedited By John Fleck, Journal Staff Writer

Pentagon planners and nuclear weapons scientists, working on a shoestring budget, are moving quickly to begin designing a new easy-to-maintain nuclear warhead, according to an internal congressional analysis. …

The United States has not built a new nuclear warhead since 1989, when the Rocky Flats plutonium factory outside Denver was shut down. …

The [Congressional Research Service] report notes that the new warhead design effort has won widespread congressional support. Both the House and Senate have already voted to nearly triple the budget for the work next year to $25 million, well above the Bush administration’s $9.4 million request for the work.

Note that the second story is not about the nuclear bunker busters we are also pursuing. mjh

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. – Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

Either war is obsolete or men are. – R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1983)

I’ve had a few nicknames over the years, most notably Gue, which a few old friends still call me. However, I’ve never represented myself as anyone other than Mark Justice Hinton. That’s probably more driven by pride than ethics.

What’s got me writing is a new anonymous blogger. We’ve all read something written anonymously from time to time. Much loved locally are Pika Brittlebush and Coco, neither of whom I’ve doubted or disliked for hiding something from us all. I used to think Pika was a high school boy having a larf. For all I know, Coco is really John Fleck. Why should I care who they are physically? I know something about their minds.

Perhaps it took one more example to make me fear a trend, but I’m uneasy about Marston Moore who just burst on the scene at Duke City Fix. I’ll admit that I’m jealous of his/her inaugural piece and, especially, the way people are falling all over him/her with praise. Hey, isn’t there enough love to go around? What about those of us who have been writing for you for years? So, maybe I’m not seeing clearly through this green haze, but why write anonymously? What is Marston hiding or who is s/he hiding from? Does mystery enhance his/her/its message?

I’m conflicted over this because I think one of the great things about our virtual relationships is we don’t know much about each other that isn’t revealed as we go. In other words, when we walk into a room full of people, we start categorizing them quickly and easily. It’s harder here in cyberspace. Perhaps we all should be anonymous. Of course, for all you know, I am an old woman, named after my mother, who made up “mjh” one day.

These days a lot of people want you to believe you can’t trust anyone or anything. They say that every word is biased and spun. Of course, some of those same people give the party in power the faith they used to reserve for god — not that there’s any difference anymore. And those with power and money hire people to spin for them and create buzz. It’s not lying — it’s getting your message out there. It’s not tax-funded propaganda, it’s what’s good for the nation. It’s not stifling dissent or pranging the minority, it’s the Constitutional option.

I rather doubt that Marston Moore is Karl “der Grosse” Rove or John Blather Dimdahl. Maybe s/he’s the next Mark Twain or P.D. James. Pseudonyms may be no more a threat to democracy than pseudo-tits. But, if MM decides to come out and take off the mask, I’ll be interested in the truth. Gue