Today's story is short, but the topic is huge! In fact, if used the right way (or probably better called the WRONG way) nuclear bombs could kill everyone on earth in just one day ... how is that for huge? But the real danger is not total global destruction. The danger today is so called "small" nukes.

  Now that there is only one Superpower, warns scholar Noam Chomsky, the US will be less hesitant to use mininukes in a scuffle against, say, Iraq. And the Star Wars program may be one day useful for knocking a flurry of ICBMs out the sky, but what will keep the world's wierdos from stuffing a surprise into a shipment of plush toys?

   Those of us who were children at the height of the Cold War remember the terror well. Who could forget hiding under a rickety school desk and hoping it would protect you from all those flying shards of window?

  It may seem like those days of Mutually Assured Destruction are over, but it is more likely that the dangers of E=MC² are closer than ever. The USA seems poised to poison somplace soon with radiactive fallout. To clear the way for such a tactical first use of atom bombs the warhungry leaders must first shake hands and agree to play together in this new nuke madness.

  There was a lot of media hype last week about the agreement between Putin of the former USSR and Baby Bush. Other than fanfare this agreement does very little. It's akin to putting the arsenal of bombs on stand by. Little more. Just because I unplug my toaster and iron before leaving the house does not mean they will never burn anything again!

   But the bomb is just one nuclear threat. We have handily built power plants that explode quite nicely and placed them very near to urban areas. The group PRN suggests that there is a very real risk of something like this happening. They aim to "get Anti-Radiation pills in the hands of every Nuclear Power Plant Down-Winder, so they can have the means to protect themselves and their children."

   Obviously, sticking your head in the sand will do nothing to protect you from a nuke that goes boom near you. It will also do nothing to prevent it. So check out the links to the left, map a blast at your local target and read what will happen to your house if the unthinkable happens. Then, when the shockwaves in your nerves subside, try a few more links to see what you can do to keep the bombs away.