"Anscombe saw that many of her Oxford colleagues were prepared to accept a conclusion that she and Daniel had presented as a reductio ad absurdum. These philosophers endorsed a doctrine that Anscombe came to call consequentialism, according to which there are no kinds of action—such as murder, rape, torture, and adultery, for example—that any person is prohibited from doing regardless of the situation he or she is in."
"According to this doctrine it can be right to “attack any one anywhere,” as long as the balance of the consequences speaks strongly enough in favor of it. Faced with a group that found this conclusion acceptable, Anscombe needed to try a different tack."
Oppenheimer finally premiered Friday in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers' reactions were understandably mixed and highly emotional....
I was interviewed along with other scholars and activists about the film “#Oppenheimer" in today's edition of the Chugoku Shimbun, our local newspaper here in Hiroshima.
My general take as reported here is that the film essentially repeats the decades old American narrative of the #nuclear attacks on #Hiroshima & #Nagasaki. It tells a story about Americans and not Japanese people. It is a story about great scientists, great technology and great industrial capacity. It is a story about American exceptionalism, and not about the use of weapons of mass destruction against a civilian population.
5 Feb 1597: St Felipe de Jesús, Franciscan, executed at #Nagasaki#otd becoming the first Mexican-born martyr, and so went on to be the patron of #Mexico City (ALGarcia)
"THERE is an abundance of reasons why it is folly to continue with building nuclear reactors.
"There is the cost which is huge compared with investing in more genuine sustainable energy. There is the problem with #RadioactiveWaste, for which there is no solution yet for the legacy waste, let alone producing more.
"There is the potential for attack: if wind turbines were attacked it would make for a difficult situation, but if a #NuclearReactor were to be sabotaged it would be the equivalent of a #NuclearBomb going off.
"And the latter also goes for a breakdown at a plant. We need to remember the effects of Chernobyl and Fukushima which continue to this day.
"Looking at #Britain, many of the nuclear reactors are sited on the coast and the proposed #SizewellC on the east coast. With #GlobalWarming, the sea level will rise and there is the chance of tidal surges with a threat to these reactors.
"But there is another factor which is never mentioned by the proponents of nuclear energy — the fuel used is uranium, and it will be in the future.
"This is mined mainly on the lands of indigenous people across the world. Countries and regions where uranium is mined include the land of the #FirstNations in Canada, the lands of the Navajo (Dine) in the southern United States, the land of the indigenous people of #Australia, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC), Niger, Greenland and #Kazakhstan.
"The miners and their families have suffered over the years from mining this dangerous radioactive mineral in poor conditions, with illness and early death.
"In a recent statement printed in the Morning Star, the people of Niger (note this is not Nigeria but Niger, a former French colony) said that they were fed up, 'because for over 50 years, #France has relied on uranium from #Niger for its energy security. We know that French farmers were generously compensated when their land was requisitioned in the 1970s to build nuclear reactors. But for our people the mines have only meant dangerous working conditions, ill health, and historically poor remuneration.'
"From the #DRC, a former Belgian colony, Joe-Yves Salankang Sa Ngol, of the Congolese Civil society in South Africa, said: “Before the uranium would destroy life in #Japan referring to the nuclear bombs the US dropped on [#Hiroshima and #Nagasaki] it first started by destroying life in Shinkolobwe.'
"The #Shinkolobwe mine in the DRC was owned by a Belgian company which sold its first 4,200 metric tons of uranium to the US for the #ManhattanProject.
"Here is what #JoshuaFrank said in his book, #AtomicDays, about the conditions. “Paid very little, at times less than the minimum wage, these miners would enter deep uranium shafts and chip away at the walls, often 1,500 feet below the earth’s crust.
“They filled their wheelbarrows with the uranium ore, all the while choking on soot and dust particles. It was dark. There was no ventilation. It was tremendously difficult, perilous work. They ate in the mines and drank water that dripped from the walls. The water contained high quantities of radon — a radioactive gas emanating from the ore.”
"He continued: '#Radon exposure causes lung diseases, the dangers of which were well known to scientists and the medical community prior to World War II. But the Dine the [#Navajo] were deemed expendable.'
"And Frank also said: 'In addition to the impact on #Dine health, their land too was ravaged. Upwards of three billion metric tons of waste was created as a result of extraction on Dine lands, a dizzying amount to poison native communities throughout the south-west [of the US] to this day.'
"These, and many more stories of the same situation across the globe, show how supporters of nuclear power have turned a blind eye to the suffering of the miners and their families, not to mention the devastation done to their land.
"However, in different regions the local people are fighting back. For example, in #Greenland, in 2021, a ban on uranium came into force after the Inuit government’s successful election campaign.
"There had been a ban earlier, but this was then overturned in 2013. But with the indigenous #Inuit now in control of the government, the ban will probably hold.
"If we turn to Britain, there is no significant amount of uranium to be found and there is no commercial mining. So, Britain must import uranium from #Canada and #Namibia.
"No thought seems to have been given by the two main political parties which support new nuclear build, or the trade unions, or the media proponents of nuclear power, to the shameful history of uranium mining which will continue if new reactors are built. It has been called nuclear colonialism.
"Several recent reports show that there is no need for nuclear; 100 per cent genuine #renewables can provide Britain with enough energy.
"Supporters of nuclear power should think hard about their positions. Surely, for example, workers in Britain would want to act in solidarity with their mining comrades across the world?"
A sad chapter in the history of Oceania are the hundreds of nuclear tests that have been conducted by the #UnitedStates 🇺🇸, the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧, and #France 🇫🇷. This map shows the locations in #Australia 🇦🇺, the #MarshallIslands 🇲🇭, #Kiribati 🇰🇮, and #FrenchPolynesia 🇵🇫 where these three nations have detonated nuclear devices along with estimated yields in kilotons of TNT equivalent. #Hiroshima and #Nagasaki are also shown for comparison.
What.A.Day!
Great day at #Nagasaki Univ. Q&A after seminar went in for 40mins - maybe because you can encourage even college students to speak up if you offer stickers (hot tip, let the shy kids at the back who stay on, come & get stickers after anyway)
Then a most fabulous shabu shabu dinner with Kagoshima pork (+ sake) in an amazing environ
Sorry no more details now - going to bed - I have to wake up for a 6am zoom panel (4pm US) 😳
Oh gulp wow
Quick couple of pics now (will AltText later)
View of #Nagasaki from top of steps at #Suwa Temple and quick pano just inside main gate #DasInKyushu#Japan#Travel
What Japanese moviegoers have to say about Oppenheimer as it debuts on Hiroshima, Nagasaki screens | CBC News (www.cbc.ca)
Oppenheimer finally premiered Friday in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers' reactions were understandably mixed and highly emotional....