Countdown to Zero IQ
I finally got around to seeing Countdown to Zero, the recent documentary about nuclear disarmament. This was two or three weeks ago, if I remember correctly. I rented the DVD, and although I was distracted through parts of it, I gave most of it my full attention. It wasn't as bad as I dreaded it might be, but it did have its fair share of American exceptionalism injected into it. The implication throughout much of it was that if the U.S. caused any kind of nuclear catastrophe, it would be because of the inevitable bit of chaos that can never seem to be engineered out of complex technology. Worse yet, it would be because of negligence--or worse still because of an overreaction to a false alarm, like a flock of geese that's mistaken for a military offensive. It would be some other nation that causes a nuclear catastrophe by failing to keep its nuclear goods under adequate security. And it would certainly not be the U.S. that uses nuclear weapons in an act of belligerence. Only Third World barbarians do those things.
Somewhere, in one of the many books I've read in recent months or recent years, was a bit of information about the many times the U.S. has considered using nuclear weapons since World War II. I wish I could remember exactly where I read it, so that I could quote it here. But I read too much and remember too little.
Of course, those are the times we know about. Perhaps WikiLeaks or some other activists or researchers will someday make us aware of more.
A good antidote to Countdown to Zero would be an Italian documentary I've been wanting to see since the moment I first learned about it: Standing Army. It explores the U.S.'s militarism and its empire of military bases.
On a different note, I've added the books I listed earlier today to a comprehensive list of the books I've read this year. The list is below for my later reference.
1. Challenging the New Orientalism: Dissenting Essays on the "War Against Islam" by M. Shahid Alam
2. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
3. The Idea of Communism by Tariq Ali
4. The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad by Tariq Ali
5. The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer by Dean Baker
6. Taking Economics Seriously by Dean Baker
7. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
8. Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israel/Palestine Conflict by Moustafa Bayoumi (ed.)
9. Racism Explained to My Daughter by Tahar Ben Jelloun
10. The Plan: How to Rescue Society When the Oil Stops--or the Day Before by Edwin Black
11. Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War by Jean Bricmont
12. The No-Nonsense Guide to the Arms Trade by Gideon Burrows
13. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
14. 101 Spanish Idioms: Understanding Spanish Language and Culture Through Popular Phrases by Jean-Marie Cassagne and Luc Nisset
15. Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky
16. The Culture of Terrorism by Noam Chomsky
17. Deterring Democracy by Noam Chomsky
18. Hopes and Prospects by Noam Chomsky
19. Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies by Noam Chomsky
20. The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism: The Political Economy of Human Rights: Volume I by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman
21. Gaza in Crisis: Reflection's on Israel's War Against the Palestinians by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé
22. The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings
23. Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran, and Syria by Bruce Cumings, Ervand Abrahamian, and Moshe Ma'oz
24. Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within by Uri Davis
25. Two Underdogs and a Cat: Three Reflections on Communism by Slavenka Drakulic
26. Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America by Barbara Ehrenreich
27. "This Time We Went Too Far": Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion by Norman G. Finkelstein
28. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
29. The American Discovery of Europe by Jack D. Forbes
30. Columbus and Other Cannibals: The Wétiko Disease of Exploitation, Imperialism, and Terrorism by Jack D. Forbes
31. Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert
32. Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano
33. Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington: The Brit Who Set Congress Straight About Iraq by George Galloway
34. The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex by Henry A. Giroux
35. The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
36. Foucault: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Gutting
37. Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian
38. Once in a Promised Land by Laila Halaby
39. West of the Jordan: A Novel by Laila Halaby
40. 100 Myths About the Middle East by Fred Halliday
41. Death of the Liberal Class by Chris Hedges
42. Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges
43. War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges
44. What Every Person Should Know About War by Chris Hedges
45. Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian
46. 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance by Gord Hill
47. Climate Cover Up: The Campaign to Deny Global Warming by James Hoggan
48. The Fifteen Biggest Lies About the Economy: And Everything Else the Right Doesn't Want You to Know About Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America by Joshua Holland
49. Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope by Chalmers Johnson
50. From Wonso Pond: A Novel by Kang Kyong-ae
51. The Other by Ryszard Kapuscinski
52. Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish by Joseph J. Keenan
53. Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East by Rashid Khalidi
54. Speaking Spanish Like a Native by Brad Kim and Erika Domínguez
55. Speaking Spanish Like a Native: The Sequel by Brad Kim and Erika Domínguez
56. Political Awakenings: Conversations with History by Harry Kreisler
57. Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy by Lewis H. Lapham
58. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
59. Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA by R.C. Lewontin
60. Black Liberation in Conservative America by Manning Marable
61. The Great Wells of Democracy: The Meaning of Race in American Life by Manning Marable
62. The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence by Victor Marchetti and John D. Marks
63. Perfect Phrases for the Perfect Interview: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases That Succinctly Demonstrate Your Skills, Your Experiences, and Your Value in Any Interview Situation by Carole Martin
64. Letterati: An Unauthorized Look at Scrabble and the People Who Play It by Paul McCarthy
65. Target North Korea: Pushing North Korea to the Brink of Nuclear Catastrophe by Gavan McCormack
66. The Cult of Impotence: Selling the Myth of Powerlessness in the Global Economy by linda_mcquaig
67. Shooting the Hippo: Death by Deficit and Other Canadian Myths by linda_mcquaig
68. I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú
69. New World of Indigenous Resistance: Noam Chomsky and Voices from North, South, and Central America by Lois Meyer and Benjamín Maldonado Alvarado (eds.)
70. Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain by George Monbiot
71. Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson
72. Class War? What Americans Really Think About Economic Inequality by Benjamin I. Page and Lawrence R. Jacobs
73. The Anti-Communist Impulse by Michael Parenti
74. Dirty Truths: Reflections on Politics, Media, Ideology, Conspiracy, Ethnic Life and Class Power by Michael Parenti
75. God and His Demons by Michael Parenti
76. History as Mystery by Michael Parenti
77. Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media by Michael Parenti
78. Make-Believe Media: The Politics of Entertainment by Michael Parenti
79. Power and the Powerless by Michael Parenti
80. Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel
81. The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy by Raj Patel
82. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up by John Allen Paulos
83. Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America by Nomi Prins
84. People First Economics by David Ransom and Vanessa Baird (eds.)
85. The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands by Margaret Regan
86. A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America by Peter Richardson
87. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
88. Walter Rodney Speaks: The Making of an African Intellectual by Walter Rodney
89. North Korea: Toward a Better Understanding by Sonia Ryang (ed.)
90. The Invention of the Jewish People by Shlomo Sand
91. The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism by Barry Sanders
92. The TV Arab by Jack G. Shaheen
93. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet
94. The Trouble with Dilbert: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh by Norman Solomon
95. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
96. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
97. Muhammad by Eliot Weinberger
98. Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity by tim_wise
99. My War Diary: Lebanon, June 5-July 1, 1982 by Dov Yermiya
100. The Bomb by Howard Zinn
Somewhere, in one of the many books I've read in recent months or recent years, was a bit of information about the many times the U.S. has considered using nuclear weapons since World War II. I wish I could remember exactly where I read it, so that I could quote it here. But I read too much and remember too little.
Of course, those are the times we know about. Perhaps WikiLeaks or some other activists or researchers will someday make us aware of more.
A good antidote to Countdown to Zero would be an Italian documentary I've been wanting to see since the moment I first learned about it: Standing Army. It explores the U.S.'s militarism and its empire of military bases.
On a different note, I've added the books I listed earlier today to a comprehensive list of the books I've read this year. The list is below for my later reference.
1. Challenging the New Orientalism: Dissenting Essays on the "War Against Islam" by M. Shahid Alam
2. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
3. The Idea of Communism by Tariq Ali
4. The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad by Tariq Ali
5. The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer by Dean Baker
6. Taking Economics Seriously by Dean Baker
7. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
8. Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israel/Palestine Conflict by Moustafa Bayoumi (ed.)
9. Racism Explained to My Daughter by Tahar Ben Jelloun
10. The Plan: How to Rescue Society When the Oil Stops--or the Day Before by Edwin Black
11. Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War by Jean Bricmont
12. The No-Nonsense Guide to the Arms Trade by Gideon Burrows
13. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
14. 101 Spanish Idioms: Understanding Spanish Language and Culture Through Popular Phrases by Jean-Marie Cassagne and Luc Nisset
15. Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky
16. The Culture of Terrorism by Noam Chomsky
17. Deterring Democracy by Noam Chomsky
18. Hopes and Prospects by Noam Chomsky
19. Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies by Noam Chomsky
20. The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism: The Political Economy of Human Rights: Volume I by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman
21. Gaza in Crisis: Reflection's on Israel's War Against the Palestinians by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé
22. The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings
23. Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran, and Syria by Bruce Cumings, Ervand Abrahamian, and Moshe Ma'oz
24. Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within by Uri Davis
25. Two Underdogs and a Cat: Three Reflections on Communism by Slavenka Drakulic
26. Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America by Barbara Ehrenreich
27. "This Time We Went Too Far": Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion by Norman G. Finkelstein
28. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
29. The American Discovery of Europe by Jack D. Forbes
30. Columbus and Other Cannibals: The Wétiko Disease of Exploitation, Imperialism, and Terrorism by Jack D. Forbes
31. Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert
32. Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano
33. Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington: The Brit Who Set Congress Straight About Iraq by George Galloway
34. The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex by Henry A. Giroux
35. The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
36. Foucault: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Gutting
37. Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian
38. Once in a Promised Land by Laila Halaby
39. West of the Jordan: A Novel by Laila Halaby
40. 100 Myths About the Middle East by Fred Halliday
41. Death of the Liberal Class by Chris Hedges
42. Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges
43. War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges
44. What Every Person Should Know About War by Chris Hedges
45. Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian
46. 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance by Gord Hill
47. Climate Cover Up: The Campaign to Deny Global Warming by James Hoggan
48. The Fifteen Biggest Lies About the Economy: And Everything Else the Right Doesn't Want You to Know About Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America by Joshua Holland
49. Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope by Chalmers Johnson
50. From Wonso Pond: A Novel by Kang Kyong-ae
51. The Other by Ryszard Kapuscinski
52. Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish by Joseph J. Keenan
53. Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East by Rashid Khalidi
54. Speaking Spanish Like a Native by Brad Kim and Erika Domínguez
55. Speaking Spanish Like a Native: The Sequel by Brad Kim and Erika Domínguez
56. Political Awakenings: Conversations with History by Harry Kreisler
57. Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy by Lewis H. Lapham
58. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
59. Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA by R.C. Lewontin
60. Black Liberation in Conservative America by Manning Marable
61. The Great Wells of Democracy: The Meaning of Race in American Life by Manning Marable
62. The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence by Victor Marchetti and John D. Marks
63. Perfect Phrases for the Perfect Interview: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases That Succinctly Demonstrate Your Skills, Your Experiences, and Your Value in Any Interview Situation by Carole Martin
64. Letterati: An Unauthorized Look at Scrabble and the People Who Play It by Paul McCarthy
65. Target North Korea: Pushing North Korea to the Brink of Nuclear Catastrophe by Gavan McCormack
66. The Cult of Impotence: Selling the Myth of Powerlessness in the Global Economy by linda_mcquaig
67. Shooting the Hippo: Death by Deficit and Other Canadian Myths by linda_mcquaig
68. I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú
69. New World of Indigenous Resistance: Noam Chomsky and Voices from North, South, and Central America by Lois Meyer and Benjamín Maldonado Alvarado (eds.)
70. Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain by George Monbiot
71. Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson
72. Class War? What Americans Really Think About Economic Inequality by Benjamin I. Page and Lawrence R. Jacobs
73. The Anti-Communist Impulse by Michael Parenti
74. Dirty Truths: Reflections on Politics, Media, Ideology, Conspiracy, Ethnic Life and Class Power by Michael Parenti
75. God and His Demons by Michael Parenti
76. History as Mystery by Michael Parenti
77. Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media by Michael Parenti
78. Make-Believe Media: The Politics of Entertainment by Michael Parenti
79. Power and the Powerless by Michael Parenti
80. Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel
81. The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy by Raj Patel
82. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up by John Allen Paulos
83. Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America by Nomi Prins
84. People First Economics by David Ransom and Vanessa Baird (eds.)
85. The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands by Margaret Regan
86. A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America by Peter Richardson
87. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
88. Walter Rodney Speaks: The Making of an African Intellectual by Walter Rodney
89. North Korea: Toward a Better Understanding by Sonia Ryang (ed.)
90. The Invention of the Jewish People by Shlomo Sand
91. The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism by Barry Sanders
92. The TV Arab by Jack G. Shaheen
93. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet
94. The Trouble with Dilbert: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh by Norman Solomon
95. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
96. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
97. Muhammad by Eliot Weinberger
98. Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity by tim_wise
99. My War Diary: Lebanon, June 5-July 1, 1982 by Dov Yermiya
100. The Bomb by Howard Zinn