Hotter than the Sun: Finally, a Book Worth Reading

Review by Joseph Solis-Mullen | Mises Institute | July 15, 2022

The top seller on Amazon for books devoted to war and peace as of this writing, Scott Horton’s newest offering, Hotter than the Sun: Time to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, is a timely must read. As Washington barrels heedlessly along into Cold War II, the American public badly needs educating on the current risks, past close calls, and the utter insanity of an entire for-profit industry built on the flawed concept of thousands of thermonuclear bombs as “weapons” that keep us safe.

Hotter than the Sun: Finally, a Book Worth Reading

The Fed’s Inspector General Clears Jerome Powell of Wrongdoing in the Trading Scandal, One Day After Five Senators Accuse Him of Hampering the Investigation

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens, July 15, 2022

Yesterday afternoon, Mark Bialek, the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve, released a memorandum clearing Fed Chair Jerome Powell and former Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida of wrongdoing in the trading scandal that has engulfed multiple officials of the Federal Reserve.

The Fed’s Inspector General Clears Jerome Powell of Wrongdoing in the Trading Scandal, One Day After Five Senators Accuse Him of Hampering the Investigation

Related:

Senators on Senate Banking Committee Accuse Fed Chair Powell of Hampering Trading Scandal Investigation

Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation

Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation

The Pentagon is not ready for a war on China. Iran is too strong and would respond to an attack by launching its huge missile arsenal on Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf. This leaves Syria*. It is unlikely by chance that the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. is coordinating Israeli airstrikes in that country:

Related:

*Report: Russia warns to strike US-allied militants in Syria’s al-Tanf region

Transcript of Vladimir Putin’s speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum Plenary session

[2009] EU report states Georgia started 2008 war with Russia

When is military aggression not military aggression? For the powers that be in Washington and their media lackeys, the foreign policy interests of US imperialism dictate the answer. Hence, in the August 2008 war between US-ally Georgia and Russia, the former was portrayed as the helpless victim and the latter the aggressive bully.

EU report states Georgia started 2008 war with Russia

Related:

Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia, Report, Volume I-III, 2009

Speaker at DSA panel: “War creates the possibility for a push of socialists ideas” + “Democratic Socialism” in the Service of U.S. Imperialism

At a recent panel event hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) chapter for the state of Maine, Vladyslav Starodubstev, a leader of the Ukrainian pseudo-left Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement), put forward the chilling perspective that “the war creates the possibility for a push of socialist ideas in Ukraine.” The panelists and DSA moderators stated their agreement with the speaker and demanded the US government deploy more tanks, missiles, and howitzers to wage war against Russia, regardless of the risk of nuclear holocaust.

Speaker at DSA panel: “War creates the possibility for a push of socialists ideas”

Related:

“Democratic Socialism” in the Service of U.S. Imperialism:

In “The Real Heritage of Harrington’s DSA,” we show where the reformist “democratic socialism” of 2018 came from, and what it actually stands for. Today’s Democratic Socialists of America hails the “tradition” of Michael Harrington and Norman Thomas, long-time leaders of the Socialist Party (SP) that gave rise to what is now the DSA. In that article (see p. x), we explain that this tradition has often, and accurately, been described as “State Department socialism.” Those unfamiliar with the left may think the term is a polemical excess or empty epithet. Not at all. In fact, intimate ties to the Department of State are only the beginning of the intertwining of the official social democrats with the agencies of U.S. imperialism. Activists who want to devote themselves to genuine socialism need to know what’s what. So here’s the story

Ukraine’s military nuclear program

According to Laurence Norman, journalist for the Wall Street Journal, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi told the Davos Forum that 30 tons of plutonium and 40 tons of enriched uranium are stockpiled at the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporijjia [Zaporizhzhya].

The enrichment rate of the uranium is not specified. Uranium enriched to 5% can only be used for civil purposes; weapons manufacturing requires a threshold of 80%.

Ukraine’s military nuclear program

H/T: THE NEW DARK AGE

Related:

The amount of enriched uranium and plutonium found on the territory of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine’s Energodar was more than enough. Such volumes could be used for the production of nuclear weapons, Sergey Kondratiev, deputy head of the department at the Institute of Energy and Finance told lenta. ru publication. The discovery calls into question the viability of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community).

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant uranium reserves enough to build nuclear arms

Majority of Americans Fear Nuclear Weapons Use After Russia’s Ukraine Invasion + What You Need to Know About the Threat of Nuclear War

Poll: Majority of Americans Fear Nuclear Weapons Use After Russia’s Ukraine Invasion

Related:

What You Need to Know About the Threat of Nuclear War – Robert Scheer Interviews Ted Postol

TP: We’re talking about a wall of fire that encompasses everything around us at the temperature of the center of the sun. That will literally turn us to less than ash, if this thing gets going. I can’t emphasize how powerful these weapons are. When they detonate, they’re actually four or five times hotter than the center of the sun, which is 20 million degrees Kelvin. They’re 100 million degrees Kelvin at the center of these weapons.

H/T: Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia

The NATO-Russia conflict threatens nuclear war

The NATO-Russia conflict threatens nuclear war

The mad drive to nuclear war must be stopped! In this extremely dangerous situation, it is urgent that the working class intervene independently, through protests, demonstrations and industrial action, fusing the fight against war with the fight against inequality, exploitation, the criminal pandemic policy and, underlying everything, the capitalist profit system.