Anyone else catch the Oppenheimer trial essay on PBS?

Post #306,021 by Ashton 3/23/09 1:59:46 AM Reply	Anyone else catch the Oppenheimer trial essay on PBS? (Along with his story.. well told) a massive dose of 20/20 hindsight on just how it was that: we embarked upon a course of building three orders-of-magnitude more city-annihilating devices than 'we' (or anyone) might 'need' as any sort of military deterrent. Genocide was in the alternate-Planning for that embarkation, even before the word was coined. Chilling and all ... but we're inured now (bet not 1:100 is aware that Russia/US maintain Launch-In-Minutes postures. Today.) Thank Edward Teller -- a Hungarian, traumatized in childhood; subsequently an obsessive of the illusion of Unlimited Power) -- for the 1000:1 mindset, though it was an easy Fear-sell to McCarthy-orchestrated Muricans. He couldn't have done it alone. Have a nice Sixth Anniversary of the Invasion, now 2.25 years longer than WW-II and counting. ..secure in the belief that we can ever be Secure-enough to satisfy a single DOD contracting Corporation, et al: even with hundreds of GigaTons, ever-ready for Defense.
Post #306,025 by Another Scott 3/23/09 7:36:56 AM Reply	It was a good show.
Post #306,143 by mhuber 3/24/09 10:32:00 PM Reply	It was always about being serious Military considerations then as now are for the drones. What really matters is who gets to sit at the grown-up table. And at that point, the game was warhead count, and, as always, spending money. What the warheads could be used for, and whether there was a better use for the money, are not topics that are discussed at the grown-up table.
Post #306,188 by Ashton 3/25/09 4:56:32 PM Reply	The very-Best metaphor for this damnable affliction of a monstrously-retarded species (that I've encountered) is: The Green Table Kurt Jooss's '32 ballet [1932! the Cat was already Out of the Suited-Bag] http://www.nytimes.c...tiwar-ballet.html Also: http://www.nytimes.c...-green-table.html (For those alive, alert and breathing in 1981) If you are planning to see just one ballet this year, make sure it is the Joffrey Ballet's revival of Kurt Jooss's ''The Green Table.'' Thursday night at the City Center, this powerful and humanist work was seen for the first time this season and with an absolutely splendid debut by Philip Jerry in the leading role of Death. Mr. Jooss's 1932 Expressionist masterpiece about the horrors of war is so perfectly structured and so rich in imagery built into its very movement that nearly any of its performances will be foolproof. Yet now the Joffrey has come up with a slightly different production and what is almost a totally brand-new cast. The impact is fantastic. There is new energy flowing through the entire ballet and nowhere is this more evident than in the allegorical figure of Death, as portrayed by Mr. Jerry. Unlike others in the role, he is not merely sinister. This is a young Death bristling with vitality and therefore all the more dangerous. The suddenness of his movements is terrifying, every flexing of a muscle seems to have a snap. There is a driving and proper weight to his stamping march in place that makes his metaphorical pursuit of humankind seem relentless. [. . .] And So it Goes. [This Death was no lovable, wry, poetical Terry Pratchett DEATH -- no, Indeed.] Saw a performance eons ago with the SF Ballet; done to perfection (with suitably 'revealing'-masks, that alone: a visual oxymoron?) and white gloves around the green-felt-topped Table. Interspersed at pregnant moments -- artfully-hideous war ~dioramas. Then back to the Suits with cigars. No words needed; (even Bman could get this ballet.) But for 77 years, apparently only us effete balletomanes Got It; Cold. How do I get out of this chicken outfit? The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. -- H.L. Mencken
Post #306,208 by mhuber 3/26/09 12:53:26 AM Reply	How do I get out of this chicken outfit? Well, Kim's Costumes sells chicken suits that are easy to get on and off. Oh, wrong kind of outfit. Well, the exit is probably closer than you might like. Certainly closer than I like. Although I would prefer that the kids let Dad go first...
Post #306,213 by Ashton 3/26/09 3:44:34 AM Reply	Roger, and out.

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