VOICES FROM THE INTERNET Still, 6 minutes to midnight The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that it would push the doomsday clock back one minute, to six minutes to midnight, in recognition of President Obama's efforts to combat nuclear proliferation and climate change. The clock was first introduced in 1947 by scientists concerned that the world was spiraling toward nuclear disaster. It has only been adjusted 18 times in the last 63 years and it is no doubt a useful device intended to indicate how close humanity is to annihilating itself. Reuters explains the Bulletin's decision: The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the “new era of cooperation is a change in the US government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of (US President Barack) Obama. Progress has definitely been made, but before we pat ourselves on the back it is worth noting that in 1947 the clock was set at 7 minutes to midnight, therefore, according to the clock, the times we live in now are more dangerous than they were 60 years ago. On the face of it this doesn't make much sense. In 1947 nuclear weapons had been used just two years earlier, norms against their use did not exist, the Soviets were determined to develop nukes, the US was determined to build more, and tensions between the Soviet Union and the West were escalating. In other words, things were pretty scary. While today there is no superpower arms race (in fact the US and Russia are on the cusp of further nuclear cuts), tensions between superpowers are minimal by comparison, and strong norms have developed against the use of nuclear weapons, the depressing reality is that a nuclear incident is perhaps more likely today. As President Obama explained in Prague last spring: Today, the Cold War has disappeared but thousands of those weapons have not. In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. Today we are confronted by new nuclear dangers, stemming from the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the dangers of illicit terrorist groups gaining access to nuclear materials. — wonkroom.thinkprogress.org Public enemy No. 1 Scott's tip of the day: Who is the biggest threat to America? Osama Bin Laden? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? No. It's Mikey Hicks. Eight-year-old Mikey Hicks. What diabolical plot is he planning? What international crime syndicate or terrorist group is he working for? THE CUB SCOUTS. Watch out America. This kid can tie a knot. Hell, he has probably even used a knife before ... and not with his dinner! He's obviously more dangerous than the Nigerian who tried to blow up a plane over the holidays. OK, OK. Mikey Hicks is not on the no-fly list. Well, technically he is, but it isn't the eight-year-old Mikey Hicks. It's another dude named Michael Hicks. But because the no-fly list is merely a list, America's brightest AKA the people who do security checks in the airport, have to do invasive searches on this poor eight-year-old every time he flies, merely because he has the same name as someone else. This is despite the fact the Transport Security Administration claims that no children are on the No-Fly list. America needs to do a better job with their airport security. This doesn't necessarily mean they have to spend hundreds of millions buying full body scanners. How about sharing security intelligence seamlessly and effectively between government agencies so these mistakes don't happen anymore? Naw. That would make too much sense. — scottstipoftheday.blogspot.com Tea Party and media Ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's keynote speech at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville will now be open to the press at her urging, according to the event organizer. Tea Party Nation, the group hosting the sold-out convention at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center on Feb. 4-6, had initially announced it would close most of the event to media outlets. But in a departure from Palin's pattern of avoiding the press, TPN founder Judson Phillips said she was the impetus behind reconsidering the restrictions. “Our primary problem with media access is not ideological. It is physical,” Phillips said. “We have a limited amount of space and this is a working convention.” The only media outlets currently credentialed, according to a statement released today by TPN, are Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and three conservative websites: Breitbart.com, Townhall.com and WorldNetDaily.com. The press restrictions had raised eyebrows among some commentators and stoked suspicion over its $549 registration price. Reports that Palin would be accepting up to $100,000 for speaking at the National Tea Party Convention fanned the flames (though since she said that she may not keep the fee). The decision to lift some press restrictions follows the loss of one of the convention's key sponsors. American Liberty Alliance backed out Wednesday after a blog post by a former TPN member claimed that the group running the Nashville gathering is exploiting the cause. In his blog post, activist Kevin Smith wrote on Tuesday that Phillips went against the wishes of other activists when forming Tea Party Nation into a for-profit enterprise. Smith said Phillips used his wife's PayPal account to collect contributions. On Wednesday, ALA said it would no longer sponsor the event. “To be clear, the for-profit model has its place in the movement,” executive director Eric Odum wrote. “But these groups should always have boards and oversight, and should never, ever process donations through personal paypal accounts.” In a conversation with NationalJournal.com, Phillips, a Nashville attorney, called Smith a “liar” and defended the legitimacy of the organization. He said that ticket sales for the convention are going to a PayPal account owned by Tea Party Nation corporation.
