Bring Back The Air Raid Sirens In The U.S.

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!

"The Atomic Cafe" Revisited

Above, a replica of the first atomic bomb, unofficially called "The Gadget". Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While waiting for Hibachi One to open (as I got there over an hour before it opened), I relaxed and watched The Atomic Cafe on YouTube to kill time.

Since I visited The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History earlier in the day, it appeared appropriate to revisit the tongue-in-cheek documentary of atomic and hydrogen bombs.

In case one hasn't ever viewed The Atomic Cafe, here it is:

"The Atomic Cafe" On DVD

Back in the early 1980s, my parents had a limited subscription movie channel called OnTV. Around about that time, our neighborhood in the county area of Hawthorne, California was wired for cable television. The cable company with the contract for our area was Jack Barry Cable.

Since I had a good job in insurance claims, I signed up for cable. Two of the channels I subscribed to were HBO and its sister channel, Cinemax.

These were the days when there were things on HBO and Cinemax worth watching. Around 1982 or 1983, Cinemax began showing The Atomic Cafe (1982), described as a "comic horror film" about the atomic and hydrogen bombs and the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

The Atomic Cafe contained a lot of archival footage of explosions of both the A-Bomb and H-Bomb as well life in the United States during those years, propaganda films, some familiar politicians (in their somewhat younger years) and news reports of the era. The movie begins with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It is presented in a dark humor fashion that is both hilarious and horrifying.

I taped the movie with my VHS recorder (I still have the tape), but my current VHS player is disconnected and will remain so until I get my entertainment center moved (it is heavy oak). I saw The Atomic Cafe for sale at Amazon.com and decided to buy it.

I just screened it and the movie hasn't lost any of its punch. It is well worth getting.

My grade: A.

Video: "The Atomic Cafe"

In case you've never seen it, here's The Atomic Cafe (1982):

Little Tokyo's Atomic Cafe

Above, The Atomic Cafe at its original location.

Back in the 1980s, I watched a movie on Cinemax called, The Atomic Cafe. It was a documentary of the atomic (and hydrogen) bombs with loads of footage of bomb tests and the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, plus old propaganda films. I still have the movie on tape, but it is available for viewing on YouTube (I recommend it).

When I saw the title of an article on the local L.A. public television station KCET, "Atomic Cafe and the Old Brick Building in Little Tokyo," I just had to take a look.

A century-old building in Little Tokyo is meeting up with the wrecking ball to make way for a new Metro station. The building houses The Atomic Cafe.

According to the article:

When news spread about the demolition of the old brick building at First and Alameda Streets in Little Tokyo, it was a sign that the city had committed itself to the future. The century-old building will be replaced by a new Metro subway stop, slated to become a major transportation hub that will transform the way we travel through downtown. This may be good news from an urbanist perspective -- but what about the history? Should we be paving over a precious link to the past in the name of progress? 

Last February a large crowd gathered inside the building (now a branch of local chain Senor Fish) to honor its legacy. Much of the conversation centered around the Atomic Cafe, which occupied the building for almost three decades and best known as an after-hours hangout for the local punks and weirdos in the '80s.

 It is an interesting article and it shows, once again, that another piece of Los Angeles history won't be around.

To read the article, go here.