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| Above, an air raid siren in the San Fernando Valley in 2017. Photo by Armand Vaquer |
My viewing of The Atomic Cafe movie today and an opinion piece got me thinking about air raid sirens.
It isn't known to me if the authors of an opinion piece in the April 1 New York Times was quackery or an April Fool's joke, but it is something to think about.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made (what the authors say) an "implicit threat" of using nuclear weapons over Ukraine when his invasion started.
Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson began with:
The Biden administration has done an admirable job checking Russian disinformation efforts by disclosing U.S. intelligence assessments of Moscow’s intentions and marshaling unified political support for Ukrainian sovereignty and indirect military support for its defense.
But the administration has spoken out when it might have kept silent about Russia’s implicit threat to use nuclear weapons. In President Vladimir Putin’s speech announcing the invasion, he stated that anyone who “tries to stand in our way” will face consequences “such as you have never seen in your entire history.” He ordered his defense minister to put Russia’s nuclear forces on alert. It may have been implicit, but the threat was clear.
Air raid sirens were installed in U.S. cities during World War II and were used during the Cold War. Monthly tests of them (at least in Los Angeles) were made on the last Friday of the month at 10:00 in the morning. The tests ended in 1985.
Some sirens have been deactivated and some are still in use (for tornadoes, etc.). They vary by state.
In view of Putin's nuclear threat, perhaps it's time to restore and reactivate the sirens in areas where they were deactivated, just in case?
Don't forget, DUCK AND COVER!
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