[Pen-l] North Korea's Real Crime

[michael perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't like nuclear weapons, but for all the outrage regarding North 
Korea's nuclear explosion, nobody seems to have noticed that this week 
the U.S. celebrated the opening of the $3.5 billion National Ignition 
Facility. The New York Times described project without mentioning its 
military purpose, except quoting the project director who "compared the 
project to feats like going to the Moon, building the atom bomb and 
inventing the airplane."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/science/26fusi.html?_r=1&ref=science

The NIF is supposed to simulate weapons tests without having to do 
anything as crude as exploding a bomb underground. Presumably North 
Korea should be condemned for being too poor to produce this cathedral 
of death near Berkeley, California.

p.s. I know that the authorities also wish NIF to create fusion power, 
but I doubt that it would have funding without its military "benefits."

--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929

530 898 5321
fax 530 898 5901
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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