On writing about nuclear weapons

I have a long column on nuclear weapons on Global Sisters Report. I think part of my motivation in writing was that if I told people how bad things are I wouldn’t be so scared myself. My editor, Jan Cebula, held me to writing in English, not tech speak. And toward the end, the two of us felt confounded by the sheer dollar amounts.

For example, I only mentioned the F-35 once in the article, as a forthcoming trillion-dollar nuclear weapon system. I linked to my own blog back in 2011 to explain the F-35's problems and give a source for its cost. Jan asked me to find a more current costing source and I discovered that, while my back was turned, the F-35's projected cost has risen from a trillion to a trillion and a half dollars.

My conclusion to the article is understated. I simply do not have the words to say how evil it is to walk this path of nuclear arms research, development and deployment. I may be less scared by sharing this bad news with my dear readers, but I'm more angry when I lay it out clearly. You should be too.