NUCLEAR INSANITY & THE LAST DAYS OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY . . . ~ LLAW
Dec 13, 2024
Lonesome Land and how nuclear war is the Trail’s End . . .
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY AND THEIR RISKS & CONSEQUENCES TOMORROW
Today’s blog post is not from a news article, but rather it is a poem written by my uncle Albert Pendergraft who came home from World War I with a serious case of “shell-shock”, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as it’s called today.
It was that war, mainly a ground war fought with rifles, grenades, and bayonets that took thousands upon thousands of unnecessary lives and ruined more thousands of survivors’ lives to the point of mental anguish, including suicide, that told the horrid story of war even before World War II that eventually ended with the first and only nuclear bombs ever used in an actual war. But the point is that the very act of war is a travesty that mankind has invented from our caveman days all the way up until now that the next world war will only be fought with nuclear weapons that will, if such a war happens, kill us all, soldiers and civilians — men, women, children, and other life — in a matter of hours, including the few survivors over time.
Such a war is a crisis that must never happen, yet humanity is at the doorstep of facing extinction by, for, and caused solely among ourselves. All it will take is one bad Actor with a nuclear bomb at his disposal . . . ~llaw
My uncle, Albert Pendergraft, committed suicide in 1944, apparently from a longtime overdose of alcohol and depression from serving in the travesty of World War I. He shot himself in the head with an S&W .38-Special revolver. Born just three years before his death, I have no recall of the suicide event, but Albert, no doubt unintentionally, left a life-long gift for me – or for anyone else who cared to partake of it for what it was and still is. So far as I know, though, I am the only one who did partake of the deep humanitarian meaning of the poem, though my older brother may have.
The gift was what I believe was his suicide note – a poem of love for the land he roamed that depicted a key part of the philosophy of his lonesome life. For several years late in his life he was a ditch rider. No doubt he was a reluctant recluse; he had great love for the world of Earth Goddess Gaia and Her planet, but little love for his fellow man or their gods.
Albert was born on a remote ranch in Johnson County, Wyoming, in 1894, just four years after Territorial Wyoming became an admitted member of the United States. The son of a Texas Trail cowboy, he spoke so seldom that he became known as ‘Silent Al’, though I believe his thoughts ran deeper than most men could have understood, which probably contributed to his quiet disposition as well as to his death.
He loved the land he knew – Wyoming’s rugged ranges and fertile basins – and his poem explicitly expresses that deep love. But it also expresses something much more profound: the futility of men’s efforts (or “follies” in his words) as they clamor along together. He surely understood the futility of clamor, had little use for it, and his silence perhaps succeeded in some small way toward not adding to the chaos of it all. Or maybe his silence was simply his protest against the futility of war.
All my mindful life I have somehow kept his poem scribed and always in my mind, and close to my heart. I’ve spent countless hours caught up in its quiet, silent, expression of the comfort and solace of solitude. Over the years, especially during my senior years, I’ve edited and carefully revised Albert’s poem, taking great care to ensure that its gentle, quiet, allegorical yet meaningful beauty and the integrity of its poetic cadence and phrases remain true to his writing and his meaning. Albert may have meant for the poem to be a campfire song rather than sheer poetry, for in the original work he used the words ‘Lonesome Land’ in every verse as a secondary rhyme, perhaps for alliteration or a musical beat, at the end of every couplet – or 24 times in the 12 verses of the original poem.
The poem has never been published before except as an eight verse poem by one of his brother Ray’s publications titled “Seven Sections off the Beaten Trail” in 1990, and in a July 1, 2000, preview issue of the reborn “Territorial Enterprise” (Nevada’s oldest newspaper of Mark Twain fame) that I had purchased (leased) the rights and trademark to in a short-lived effort to bring the famous publication back to life as a semi-monthly western news and review newspaper-like magazine, primarily directed at tourists to Nevada’s Virginia City. Ironically, though, it was this effort that contributed to the writing and eventual publication of my first novel. Some of the verses are used in this two-volume historical novel’s manuscript The Sweetwater Conspiracy: the Legend of Cattle Kate.
Lonesome Land
a poem by Albert Pendergraft (1894 – 1944)
(edited by Lloyd Albert Williams – Pendergraft
You’re a lonesome land, an empty land;
You’re a land that is rugged and bare;
You’re a hard and untamed lonesome land —
A wild land that’s demanding but fair.
When I pause on some sun-blistered hill
And gaze far o’er your broad boundless range,
Where the brisk restless winds never still,
And swift sunlight and cloud shadows change,
There’s a song in my heart and an ache,
And a longing, indefinite, sad;
There’s contentment that sorrow can’t take,
And my troubles seem gone, and I’m glad.
In the night while the hours slowly pass,
And a wolf sounds her long mournful cry,
When the wind whispers low in the grass,
And the stars circle silently by,
Then the spirit of you holds me fast
In a spell that cannot be undone.
While the days of my lifetime shall last,
You have blessed me and made me your son.
Then softly to me comes your low voice
When I’m so weary and far away;
Faintly, I hear you, with warm rejoice,
For you are calling me home to stay.
Again and again I hear your call
While I so long and wearily roam,
And my eyes fill with tears that would fall
Were it not that you’re calling me home.
Your voice promises comfort and peace
When I rest on your nurturing breast;
Then all my cares and sorrows shall cease
And my somnolent soul shall find rest.
Give me strength till my battles are won
While along life’s lonely trails I plod;
Then at last when my journey is done
Let me rest for all time ‘neath your sod.
Let my spirit roam free in your hills
And keep watch as the ages pass by –
Till the clamor of human-kind stills
And mere men and their follies shall die –
Till the heavens and earth have grown old
And the endless dark night has drawn on –
When the sun in your path has grown cold –
And the days of creation are gone.
– by Albert Pendergraft, 1944
vvv
Copyright (©2008) L A Williams-Pendergraft
Albert’s poem will always ring true to me and comfort me when I am cold, lonely, weary, and worried for it echoes my love for the Earth Goddess Gaia as well as my concerns that men’s abysmal follies are not in the best interests of the earth, mankind, or the cosmos nor even creation:
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TODAY’s NUCLEAR WORLD’s NEWS, Friday, (12/13/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
News Roundup: Study tracks potential nuclear discharge in Cape Cod Bay – WCAI
WCAI
This week: That million gallons of radioactive water that could be released from the Pilgrim nuclear … All Things Considered · Podcasts …more …
Never mind the fact the Coalition’s nuclear proposal is a fantasy – it doesn’t even claim to …
The Guardian
That’s not because nuclear energy is necessarily a terrible idea, in a global sense. While waste is an issue, nuclear plants offer zero-emissions …
Nuclear Science Week returns to Idaho – Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
… Nuclear Science Week, which takes place the third week of October every year … “It exposes children to things they might not … View All News.
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Peter Dutton says nuclear ‘will make electricity cheaper’ but critics say Coalition costings a ‘fantasy’
The Guardian
It also assumes that locating nuclear power plants at retiring coal-plant sites reduces the new transmission infrastructure required and that laws …
The Coalition reveals the cost of its nuclear power plan – but the devil is in the missing detail
The Conversation
A successful transition to clean energy is vital to Australia’s prosperity. But the Coalition’s latest nuclear salvo leaves many unanswered …
The glaring gaps and unanswered questions in the Coalition’s nuclear plan and costings
The Guardian
The Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) looks at three scenarios for the electricity grid and Frontier based its modelling on two of them – …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Russia launches massive attack on Ukraine’s energy sector, minister says – CNN
CNN
Russia launched a new widespread attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, forcing the country to implement emergency power outages, …
UPDATE 1 – Moldova declares state of emergency over expected halt in Russian gas supplies
SeeNews
… energy minister Sebastian Burduja said. Romania’s nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica [BSE:SNN] and hydro power supplier and producer …
Dutton’s nuclear plan a ‘heroic’, cherrypicked ‘recipe for higher energy bills’, experts say
ABC
Energy analysts say the Coalition’s nuclear plan will be more expensive, burn more carbon, result in a smaller economy, and be more disruptive …
Nuclear War
NEWS
Does Putin’s New ‘Oreshnik’ Missile Transform Rules of Nuclear Warfare?
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Newsweek spoke to John Erath, senior policy director for the Center for Arms Control and Proliferation, about whether Russia’s use of the Oreshnik …
Wargaming Nuclear Deterrence and Its Failures in a U.S.–China Conflict over Taiwan – CSIS
CSIS
A CSIS-MIT team ran a wargame 15 times to simulate a Chinese invasion of Taiwan when both sides could use nuclear weapons.
Switzerland plans revamp of Cold War-era nuclear bunker network | Reuters
Reuters
Switzerland wants to update its network of ageing nuclear shelters, which are increasingly seen as an asset at a time of greater global …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Vladimir Putin chillingly boasts new horror weapon ‘will make nukes virtually redundant’
Daily Express
… attack on Belarus or any critical threat to Russia’s sovereignty. Putin has often threatened or hinted at the prospect of a nuclear confrontation …
Ukraine has documented over a hundred attacks by Russia near nuclear facilities
Odessa Journal
“There have been over 120 cases of Russian missiles or drones flying over or near nuclear plants. Initially, the primary threat came from drones, but …
AI ‘godfather’ Geoffrey Hinton says AI will one day unite nations against a common existential threat
Business Insider
… nuclear war. Citing similar concerns … The United States and China are already beginning to collaborate on existential threats related to AI
IAEA Weekly News
13 December 2024
Read the top news and updates published on IAEA.org this week.
13 December 2024
IAEA Task Force Confirms Japan’s ALPS Treated Water Release Continues to Comply with International Safety Standards
The discharge of the ALPS treated water from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) is progressing in line with international safety standards, the Task Force set up by the IAEA confirmed this week following its latest four-day mission to Japan. Read more →
12 December 2024
Discovery Channel to Launch Educational Series on Nuclear Science with IAEA
The Discovery Channel is to air a series of short films about nuclear science and technology, made together with the IAEA, as part of a new strategic partnership to educate the public on nuclear-based solutions to global issues. Read more →
11 December 2024
IAEA Director General Calls for Diplomacy and Dialogue to Reduce Nuclear Tensions at Nobel Peace Prize Forum
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi delivered the keynote address at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024, calling for diplomacy and dialogue to reduce nuclear tensions and prevent proliferation. Read more →
10 December 2024
Indonesia Launches New National Cancer Control Plan Building on Review Mission Recommendations
Indonesia has used conclusions and recommendations gathered during two recent IAEA missions to inform the development of its new National Cancer Control Plan. Read more →
9 December 2024
Dominican Republic Successfully Eradicate Mediterranean Fruit Fly Infestation in Record Time
In record time, the Dominican Republic was able to successfully contain a new incursion of the Mediterranean fruit fly, a highly destructive pest threatening agricultural production worldwide in 2024. Read more →