Gordon Prather

Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.

Deck the Malls With Dirty Nukes

Ho-Ho-Ho. Halloween has now ushered in the year-end shopping season (formerly known as Christmas). We’re supposed to deck the malls with boughs of holly. So it’s a bit surprising that ABC News has picked-up (uncritically) a Associated Press "report" that Slovakian First Police Vice President Michal Kopcik has thwarted the black-market sale of what Kopcik … Continue reading “Deck the Malls With Dirty Nukes”

It’s Still Pakistan, Stupid

On May 28, 1998, in response to unscheduled underground tests, weeks earlier, of several nukes by the Indians, the Pakistanis somehow managed to prepare for and test, underground, up to six "Islamic" nukes, most of them based on almost-pure Uranium-235, but at least one of them probably based on almost-pure Plutonium-239 and – according to … Continue reading “It’s Still Pakistan, Stupid”

IAEA Again Verifies Iranian Compliance

Hallelujah! The International Atomic Energy Agency has, once again, verified "the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran." It seems the Iranians continue to provide the IAEA access to all "special nuclear materials" – as proscribed by the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – and all relevant nuclear material accountancy reports, as well as … Continue reading “IAEA Again Verifies Iranian Compliance”

Nukes, Nuclear Power and Global Warming

To the horror of Jason Leopold, Senior Editor at Truthout, Dick Cheney and Clay Sell, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy, have been regularly visiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ever since Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [.pdf], which, inter alia, changed the start and end dates of daylight saving time. Why … Continue reading “Nukes, Nuclear Power and Global Warming”

Go Ahead On – Start WWIII

A couple of weeks ago, Russian President Putin made a historic visit to Iran, nominally to attend a summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states – Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran. The summit, itself, resulted in a number of “milestone” agreements, including one prohibiting other countries (such as the United States) from using – … Continue reading “Go Ahead On – Start WWIII”

Yet More Condi Rice Diplomacy

In announcing her latest “steps” in the Bush-Cheney campaign to effect regime change in Iran, Condi Rice claimed they were necessary because Iran had again rejected the offer originally made “on our behalf” back in May, 2006, by Javier Solana – the European Union Minister of Foreign Affairs – “to support a civil nuclear program … Continue reading “Yet More Condi Rice Diplomacy”

WWIII – Bring It On

Five years ago, in a new National Security Statement, President Bush announced that; “The United States has long maintained the option of preemptive actions to counter a sufficient threat to our national security. “The greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction – and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action … Continue reading “WWIII – Bring It On”

Lessons Learned – or Not

On March 5, 1970, the United States became a party to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which declared, in Article IV, that "Parties to the Treaty in a position to do so shall also cooperate in contributing alone or together with other States or international organizations to the further development of the applications … Continue reading “Lessons Learned – or Not”

Bush-Rice Enduring Victory

Well, according to the New York Times editorialists, the "good news" is that President Bush and Condi Rice are apparently "so eager for an enduring foreign policy victory, in hopes of offsetting their failures in Iraq" that they have agreed to be a party – along with China, Russia and Japan – to essentially a … Continue reading “Bush-Rice Enduring Victory”

Stranger Than Strangelove

According to a seemingly authoritative report in the Washington Post, it came to pass that, on or about 2045 hours, August 30th 2007, as the cruise missiles that had been mounted on one pylon of an Air Force B-52 – flown from Minot AFB and parked, unattended, for more than eight hours on a ramp … Continue reading “Stranger Than Strangelove”