Friday, April 26, 2024

UK

‘Conspiracy’ school teaching pupils ‘we’ll be eating bugs after the Great Reset’


Gergana Krasteva
Published Apr 26, 2024, 
METRO UK
Universallkidz has been described as a ‘conspiracy theory’ school

Dinosaurs never existed; viruses are not real; vapour from planes in the sky causes dementia and crystals could cure serious illness – these are just some of the conspiracy theories staff at a school in Manchester allegedly believe.

Universallkidz was set up in October 2020 to ‘de-indoctrinate’ children from ‘the lies’ that they are taught by ‘the system’.

Ladan Ratcliffe, who worked as a teacher in Greater Manchester for more than 20 years, got the idea during an anti-lockdown rally.

Her team – made up of other former teachers and even a cryptocurrency trader – are now teaching pupils, aged between eight and 14, about homeopathy and moon cycles.

An undercover investigation by The Times shows what Universallkidz considers curriculum.

Classes were held in a tumble-down Victorian mansion, which had until recently been a nightclub.

In the hallway, leaflets were left lying around that stated that Covid-19 vaccines, climate science and 5G were all means by which the government is trying to subjugate the population.

The leaflets concluded: ‘Resist! Defy! Do not comply!’

Another conspiracy theory being embraced by staff – perhaps the most concerning of all – is that the government is in a league with organisations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and wealthy businessmen, who are covertly working to depopulate and enslave the world.

It is a conspiracy known as the ‘great reset theory’, which gained great popularity during the pandemic.

One teacher allegedly told children that they would one day be eating cockroaches if ‘Klaus [Schwab, head of the WEF] and [Bill] Gates have their way’.

It is reported that Universallkidz goes to great lengths to conceal its activities. On its website, it describes itself as a provider of ‘holistic alternative education’ that seeks to raise ‘autonomous’ and ‘sovereign’ young people.

To education officials who might come asking questions, it presents as a support for home schooling parents.

It is understood that parents pay £30 a day for tuition.

Ms Ratcliffe helps them to remove their children from mainstream state education and then encourages them to lie to local authorities by claiming that they are now home educated, the newspaper warned.

The school operates four days a week from 10am to 3.30pm. Not all the children go every day, but most go at least three days a week.

One of the incidents that The Times detailed during the investigation is how one of the teachers allegedly tried to dupe the students – but some of them did not buy it.

During one of the lessons, a teacher told the children that human energy is linked to the subconscious and that when we lie our energy stops flowing.

To demonstrate this, she asked the reporter working undercover as a teacher to say ‘I am Tom; while she applied downward force on his hand.

His arm dropped an inch. But then sheasked him to say ‘I am Maggie’, pressing down again.

This time though, she pushed much harder and his arm dropped much lower. But the students were not fooled.

In response to the Times findings, Ofsted has started an urgent investigation into Universallkidz.

Metro.co.uk has contacted the institution for a comment.
CCTV OVERKILL
UK Secondary schools told to turn off CCTV in toilets

Ashlea Tracey,
BBC Isle of Man
BBC
Some cameras in two schools have now been switched off

Two secondary schools have been told to turn surveillance cameras that had been operating inside toilets for 18 months off by the Isle of Man's information commissioner.

Ballakermeen and Castle Rushen High Schools were sent enforcement notices on 18 March stating they had failed to comply with data protection legislation prior to putting the CCTV in place.

A Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc) spokesman said cameras had not been "pointing at the actual toilets" and confirmed both schools were complying with the instruction.

Desc Minister Daphne Caine previously raised concerns about the cost of repairing damage being done to toilet facilities in the island's secondary schools.

As personal data was being processed through the surveillance systems "inside the toilets" a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) should have been conducted, the commissioner found.

The schools had also failed to "provide any transparency information" as the system had not been signposted on their respective websites.

In a statement, the Desc said both schools had worked with the department to "promptly complete and return all necessary documentation" once the matter had been raised.

The CCTV had been installed to "improve site security and also to serve as a deterrent against vandalism and inappropriate behaviour", it said.

"A proportion of the cameras have been switched off and will not be back in use until approval has been received," it added.
'Vandalism'

In a recent evidence session with the Social Affairs and Policy Review Committee, Ms Caine said one school had confirmed they were spending between £600 and £1,000 a week on repairs after equipment was smashed, doors broken, toilets were blocked and graffiti was left behind.

She said the "serious amounts of vandalism" were costing the schools money she would "rather that money was being spent on education and other support".

In early March, head teacher of Ballakermeen Graeme Corrin defended the school's decision to restrict toilet breaks during lessons as "too many students" were "missing large chunks of learning".

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk
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UK

Undocumented steelworks unearthed at Sheffield Castle site

By Alex Moss,
BBC News
Wessex ArchaeologyThe crucible furnace was uncovered during the first few weeks of a 10-week dig by archaeologists at the site

Archaeologists have uncovered new evidence of Sheffield's industrial heritage during recent excavations at the site of the city's castle.

Undocumented remnants of a 19th Century steelworks were found during work in the area once home to Sheffield Castle.

Experts at Wessex Archaeology said the findings highlighted the role steel had played in the city's development.

The team is carrying out a 10-week dig at the site as part of the council's plans to redevelop the Castlegate area.

Their work has revealed the remains of the steelworks' crucible furnace, which is not recorded on contemporary maps.

Wessex Archaeology
Wessex ArchaeologyThe furnace cellar was reached via a set of curving stairs also unearthed during the dig

As well as helping the archaeologists to better understand the layout and workings of the furnace - which would have been used to refine blister steel into higher quality crucible steel - the team said they had uncovered several clues about the people who operated it, and the working conditions at the steelworks.

With temperatures reaching 1200C, the firing process was "unpleasant and challenging", say experts.

The team said they had found the letter 'H' scratched into the brickwork on the walls of the crucible cellar and posited whether it was "the initial of someone who toiled in the cellar day in and day out".

Wessex ArchaeologyThe initial H carved into the brickwork may be a reference to someone who worked in the cellar
Wessex ArchaeologyArchaeologists believe a concealed hole in the brickwork was used as a secret hiding place

The archaeologists also uncovered a hole in the wall which had been dug out and then concealed with another brick.

They said they believed this to be "someone's secret hiding place".

Ashley Tuck, the archaeologist leading the dig, said: "These remnants of Sheffield's industrial past not only remind us of the role steel working played in the growth and identity of this city, but also encourage us to consider the people behind it - who would, by modern standards at least, have worked in an unpleasant and challenging environment."

Picture sheffieldSheffield Castle once dominated the city, but was demolished during the Civil War

Castlegate is the oldest part of Sheffield and has been inhabited since at least the 11th Century.

Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned for 14 years at the castle and at Manor Lodge in the 1500s, under the care of the Earl of Shrewsbury.

The castle complex was destroyed in 1648 during the English Civil War. The remains were covered by Castle Market in the 1960s, with the only visible evidence of the original castle found in basements of the complex.

The indoor market was demolished in 2015, allowing excavation work to begin.


Members of the public have been joining in with the current dig with further opportunities for people to get involved in May.
Unique ‘Excalibur’ Sword Found Upright in Ground Unearthed in Spain Holds Islamic Origins


Researchers have finally unraveled the mysteries of the historical sword discovered in Spain 30 years ago, which they named ‘Excalibur’ because of its location, which evokes similarities with the legendary sword of King Arthur.

The iron sword was first discovered stuck in the ground upright in 1994 at an archaeological site in Valencia’s old town, a city on the eastern coast of Spain. This location, which is north of the old Roman Forum, has seen the rise and fall of many cultures over Valencia’s turbulent history.

For the past 30 years, the sword’s origin and age have remained a point of confusion — until now.

Valencia’s archaeology department decided to catalog and review the artifacts in its collection ahead of its 75th anniversary, the City Council of Valencia said in an April 22 news release. One of those artifacts was the Excalibur sword.

Since its unearthing, the sword’s true age has eluded scholars. However, recent efforts by the Archaeology Service (SIAM) of the Valencia City Council have shed light on its origins, reports Horta Noticias. Through meticulous dating techniques, they have determined that the sword hails from the 10th century, firmly establishing its antiquity at over a millennium old.
A close-up shot of the hilt Warrior Sword from Valencia. 
Photo: SERVICI D’ARQUEOLOGIA DE L’AJUNTAMENT DE VALÈNCIA SIAM

SIAM’s analysis indicates that this sword represents the first discovery of its kind from the Islamic era in Valencia. Swords from this period are generally scarce in Spain, particularly in Valencia, where the soil’s composition poses challenges to preservation efforts.

Archeologist José Miguel Osuna, who led the research project on “Excalibur” earlier this year, found that the 18 inch-blade was from the Islamic period because of its hilt, decorated with bronze plates and notches for handling. The sword’s curved metal tip caused confusion among researchers, who thought it might have belonged to the Visigoths, but Osuna later disproved this idea.

An expert is measuring the Islamic-era sword discovered in Valencia in 1994, known as Excalibur, has been dated back to the 10th century. 
Photo: SERVICI D’ARQUEOLOGIA DE L’AJUNTAMENT DE VALÈNCIA SIAM

The sword’s size and the fact that it doesn’t have a hand guard suggest that a mounted warrior may have used it in the Andalusian caliphal era. Municipal technicians are clear that its origins are in the Islamic era of Balansiya, even though it may display evolutionary traits from Visigothic models. Only one comparable specimen has surfaced thus far, unearthed amidst the excavations of Medina Azahara, the illustrious caliphal city commissioned by Abderramán III in Córdoba. The Islamic period in Spain began in A.D. 711 and ended in A.D. 1492.

“Thanks to the archaeology scholarship convened by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed study of analysis of metallic objects that go from Roman times to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional find has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur de Roc Chabàs to be very similar to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” José Luis Moreno, Valencia councilor for cultural action, heritage, and cultural resources, said in a press release.




City council cultural representative José Luis Moreno noted in the release that the sword was just one of many artifacts — from the Roman era to the late medieval period — being studied in the city’s archeological collection for the department’s 75th anniversary.

Valencia City Council

Tucker Carlson: President Theodore Roosevelt Embodied What America's Highest Office Is Supposed To Represent 



Pederson: Syria Treated by Many as a Space for Settling Scores

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (Reuters/File)

Washington: Ali Barada


07:57-26 April 2024 AD ـ 17 Shawwal 1445 AH

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said on Thursday that Syria has become a "sort of free-for-all space for settling scores," warning that each month, trends are moving further in the wrong direction.
In a briefing to the Security Council, the UN envoy noted that this last month, the grim specter of regional conflict loomed over Syria once again after the April 1 strikes on Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus, Iran’s 13 April strikes on Israel, attacks in Iran, Iraq and Syria, and others on US bases in northeast Syria.

“I remain extremely alarmed at this dangerous and escalatory spiral. I have long warned that Syria is treated by many as a sort of free-for-all space for settling scores,” Pedersen told the Security Council.
Also, the UN envoy said he is not only worried about these regional spillover effects and the grave dangers of miscalculation and escalation. “I am also deeply worried about the conflict in Syria itself, which continues to blight the lives of the long-suffering Syrian people,” he said. “Any temptation to ignore or merely contain the Syrian conflict itself would be a mistake.”

Pedersen then spoke about the situation in the northwest of Syria, where Security Council-listed terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched multiple crossline attacks.

In the northeast, he said there were reports of Turkish drone-strikes, exchanges of fire between armed opposition groups and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), alongside a growing insurgency by some tribal elements against the SDF.

Pedersen then said that in the southwest, security incidents remain at elevated levels with reports of open clashes between former armed opposition groups and Syrian government forces, as well as incidents related to criminal activities on the border.

“We need regional de-escalation, starting with an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza,” he said, adding that all players must work towards a nationwide ceasefire in Syria too.

Tackling the humanitarian situation, Pedersen said, “it is as bleak as ever.”

As for the economic situation, the UN envoy said it remains perilous. “The WFP says that the cost of a food basket doubled within a year, while the cost of living increased by 104%. The Syrian pound has reached around 15,000 per US dollar on the parallel market,” he noted.

Pedersen stressed the need to move forward on the safe, calm and neutral environment that is necessary for a political process to unfold, and also for safe, dignified and voluntary returns.

He then noted that “a mix of de-escalation, containment and humanitarian assistance – brokered through partial arrangements and piecemeal formats – is what we are seeing in practice.”

Without this the situation would be even worse, Pedersen stressed.

TURKEY INVADED SYRIAN KURDISTAN

PKK/YPG has no place in Syria's future, says Türkiye's representative at UN

'Syria remains alarmingly exposed to be a battlefield for other hostilities in the Middle East,' says Ahmet Yildiz at Security Council

01:12 - 26/04/2024 Friday
AA


Türkiye delivered a stern warning Thursday against the persistent threat posed by the PKK/YPG terrorist organization in Syria.

Saying that “the PKK/YPG/SDF terrorist organization continues its efforts to advance a separatist and disruptive agenda in northeast Syria," Ahmet Yildiz, Türkiye's permanent representative to the UN, emphasized at a UN Security Council session that the terror group represents the "biggest threat to Syria's territorial integrity and political unity."

In a resolute declaration, Yildiz reiterated Türkiye's firm position, saying "the PKK/YPG and its separatist terrorist agenda have no place in Syria's future."

He further condemned the terror group's exploitation of civilian facilities and its oppressive practices against the local population.

Underscoring the urgent need for concerted international efforts to address the multifaceted crisis gripping Syria, Yildiz said, "We cannot lose sight of the precarious situation in Syria in the 14th year of the conflict."

He noted the interconnected deterioration in security, economic and humanitarian dimensions, compounded by recent dangerous escalations in the region.

"Syria remains alarmingly exposed to be a battlefield for other hostilities in the Middle East," he added.

Urging all relevant parties to refrain from actions that could exacerbate tensions, Yildiz also stressed the need to revitalize the political process in line with Security Council Resolution 2254, calling for national reconciliation to address the root causes of the conflict.

He expressed support for the Constitutional Committee as a crucial platform for negotiations between the Bashar Al-Assad regime and opposition, urging its prompt convening without delays over venue issues.

He also reiterated Türkiye's support for UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen's efforts towards a political solution.


"Given the necessity to coordinate a humanitarian response to a staggering level of needs as well as according to the situation on the ground, it is important to preserve the ‘Whole of Syria' approach," he said.

Following Yildiz's speech, Syria's representative at the UN, Qusay al-Dahhak, criticized Türkiye and the Turkish envoy for referring to the Syrian government as a "regime."

In response, Yildiz reminded that Türkiye is not the reason for this conflict to start.

Noting the necessity of moving ahead with the political process, he urged the representative of Syria to also "focus on the way forward."
Trump II and US Nuclear Assurances to NATO

Policy Options Instead of Alarmism

SWP 25.04.2024, 
7 Pages
doi:10.18449/2024C17

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While a second Trump Presidency would be challenging for transatlantic ties, US nuclear assurances to its NATO allies in Europe would likely be the last casualty – not the first – of a fraying relationship. There is an intrinsic incompatibility between the United States completely abandoning its role as global actor, which would be the prerequisite for the withdrawal of such assurances, and Trump’s domestic interests. It cannot be denied that the worst-case scenario – namely, the end of extended nu­clear deterrence – is possible and requires careful contingency planning on the part of the allies; but it is highly unlikely and should not distract from addressing the more prob­able outcome. Even in the best-case scenario of a Trump II administration resembling his first term, US nuclear assurances are likely to become less credible. To allay con­cerns, German and European policymakers should work with their US counterparts before and after the November 2024 election to strengthen transatlantic diplomatic coordination, conventional deterrence and defence, as well as nuclear options.

As Donald Trump told his supporters recently, if re-elected he would encourage the Russians to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member that did not comply with defence spending guidelines. The former US president may win the November 2024 election – a prospect that has triggered frantic waves of media com­mentary and policy proposals throughout Europe. Some politicians and analysts fear that Trump would take the United States out of NATO – something he had threatened repeatedly during his first term – thereby destroying the institutional basis for nuclear assurance. Others suggest that he would refrain from giving US forces the order to defend an ally under attack and would refuse to use nuclear weapons in an escalating regional conflict with Russia. Still others contend that American extended deterrence, both conventional and nuclear, is on the verge of collapse not least because of public statements like the one quoted above. And many point out that such reck­less rhetoric emboldens adversaries and makes allies anxious.

The dire predictions have reinforced calls for European alternatives or complements to US extended nuclear deterrence. Essen­tially, the importance of nuclear deterrence for European security is not in question: most analysts agree that without Western conventional and nuclear deterrence, Russia’s ambitious and risk-prone leadership would likely attempt to leverage its military power in order to expand its in­fluence across Europe. Some contend that given the prospect of a second Trump Presidency, either one or both of the Euro­pean nuclear powers – France and the United Kingdom – should take over US commitments. Others suggest that a pan-European nuclear arsenal should be devel­oped or that other major European nations should acquire nuclear weapons. For their part, the more moderate voices propose that Paris and London should supplement Washington’s nuclear assurances with their own commitments.

But at the same time, many note – correctly – that a rapid alternative to US nuclear assurances is not feasible owing to technical, legal, political and strategic factors. Moreover, there would be few addi­tional nuclear-related steps that France or the United Kingdom could take to underpin US commitments.

Although risks loom large and unpredict­ability is Trump’s trademark, a systematic analysis not only indicates that the worst-case scenario of nuclear assurances being abandoned is unlikely; it also highlights which outcomes would be more probable during a potential Trump second term and which timely policy options could mitigate many of the concerns related to the dimin­ished credibility of extended nuclear deterrence.

US Nuclear Weapons in Europe Violate Treaty Law


 
 APRIL 26, 2024
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Image bu Maria Oswalt.

The US Air Force practice of deploying nuclear weapons on military bases in other countries — and training foreign pilots to attack third countries with H-bombs — is called ‘nuclear sharing’ or ‘forward basing.’ The system has been repeatedly condemned in recent years by lawyer’s groups, international law experts, UN delegates, civil society, and foreign affairs offices from around the world.

The US currently stations around 100 of its B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland and Turkey. It may soon station more in England. All six plus the US have ratified the 1970 Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). International criticism was directed at Russia when it moved some of its H-bombs into Belarus in 2023. Little attention has been paid to the clear and authoritative condemnation of the transfer of US to Europe that has only increased in recent years.

Critiques of US nukes stationed in Europe are based on the nonproliferation treaty’s first two articles. The Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, explained the violation in a July 25, 2023 working paper, submitted to the UN’s 11th Review Conference for NPT:

“The incompatibility of nuclear sharing with the NPT is based on a straightforward application of NPT Articles I and II. Article I requires NPT nuclear-armed states ‘not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons … or control over such weapons directly, or indirectly.’ It further requires the nuclear-armed states ‘not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State to … acquire nuclear weapons or control over such weapons.’ (emphasis added) Article II imposes the corollary obligation on NPT non-nuclear weapon states not to be the recipient of any such transfer or assistance.

“These provisions should be read in light of NPT Review Conference commitments made subsequent to the 1995 decision to indefinitely extend the NPT. … The 2000 Final Document, ‘reaffirms that the strict observance of the provisions of the Treaty remains central to achieving the shared objectives of preventing, under any circumstances, the further proliferation of nuclear weapons and preserving the Treaty’s vital contribution to peace and security.”

The International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (German section) in an April 5, 2023 submission to the UN Human Rights Council said: “…the components of technical nuclear sharing together with Germany’s participation in operational planning in NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group under Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, constitute a violation of the spirit and purpose of the NPT.”

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), in an August 2, 2023 statement to the United Nations in Geneva, said nuclear sharing: “[R]uns counter to the fundamental tenets of the treaty and is a threat to the entire regime.”

In its July 28, 2023 edition, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ article on nuclear sharing, by Moritz Kütt, Pavel Podvig, Zia Mian, reported: “The NPT prohibits both the acquisition of nuclear weapons by non-weapon states and the transfer of nuclear weapons to such countries by the five nuclear weapon states who are parties (Russia, China, the US, the UK, and France).” (emphasis added)

China explicitly condemned U.S. nuclear sharing on August 2, 2022, when the head of its United Nations delegation, Fu Cong, addressing the United Nations NPT Review Conference, said: “The so-called nuclear sharing arrangements run counter to the provisions of the NPT and increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear conflicts. The United States should withdraw all its nuclear weapons from Europe and refrain from deploying nuclear weapons in any other region.”

Indonesia, speaking on behalf of all 120 countries of the Non-Aligned Movement at the August 2022 NPT Review Conference, said: “… nuclear weapon-sharing by States Parties constitutes a clear violation of non-proliferation obligations undertaken by those Nuclear Weapon States under Article I and by those Non-Nuclear Weapon States under Article II.”

The US H-bombs’ threatening nearness to Russian territory did not deter President Putin’s military incursion into Ukraine. The invasion has proved that nuclear deterrence is a fraud, that the weapons are useless and can be eliminated, and that nuclear de-escalation in Europe can be accomplished simultaneously with the US coming into compliance with the NPT. Only weapons profiteering and imperial military hubris keeps it from happening. ###

PS. The attached image is a photo of the official patch, complete with a US B61 H-bomb, of the USAF 701st Munitions Support Squadron (MUNNS) stationed at Belgium’s Kleine Brogel Air Base.

John LaForge is a Co-director of Nukewatch, a peace and environmental justice group in Wisconsin, and edits its newsletter.


The Oppenheimer Omission


 
 APRIL 26, 2024
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Oppenheimer and Lawrence at the 184-inch cyclotron, University of California (Berkeley) Radiation Laboratory. Photo: US Department of Energy.

University of California administration swelled with pride after producer Christopher Nolan shot scenes for his Academy Award-winning blockbuster Oppenheimer on the Berkeley campus, but that was not always the case.  In doing so Nolan gave the campus star billing in the epochal drive to build the atomic bomb before the film’s main action moved on to Los Alamos.

As an undergraduate at UC in the late 60s, I wondered why the name of one of the world’s greatest physicists who had worked there was absent, whereas that of his colleague, Ernest O. Lawrence, had been affixed to the sprawling Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and the Lawrence Hall of Science on the hill above campus as well as to the Lawrence National Laboratory in Livermore south of Berkeley.  A prestigious award and endowed lectureship also bore his name which features prominently in The Centennial Record of the University of California in contrast with that of Oppenheimer who gets scant mention. My U.C. dissertation and bookImperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin, suggests that the omission of Oppenheimer was not accidental, for the “Father of the Atomic Bomb” was once an embarrassment to a university so intimately tied to its production and promotion as well as to subsequent generations of omnicidal weapons.

Nordically tall, blond, and Midwestern, Ernest Lawrence (played in the movie by Josh Hartnett) won the University’s first Nobel Prize for his co-invention with graduate student M. Stanley Livingston of the cyclotron which would lead to the Bomb. Unlike his leftish and cerebral Jewish colleague Oppenheimer — whom the brilliant physicist Hans Bethe said could make anyone, including himself, feel a fool — Lawrence put at ease the Regents and wealthy businessmen whom he needed to finance his and Livingston’s ever-larger atom-smashers. After his early death in 1958, the Regents commissioned a hagiography of Lawrence titled An American Genius and raised funds for the namesake Hall of Science adjacent to his 184-inch cyclotron where Lawrence’s team began the separation of Uranium-235 needed for “The Gadget.” When the hall was completed, curators placed the illuminated portraits of twenty-six Great Men of Science near the entrance that began with Hippocrates and culminated with Berkeley’s Nobel Laureate.

The absence of Oppenheimer from the Gallery of Greats and the shrine-like Memorial Hall once at its center was only one of several holes in the building’s historical record, for Lawrence’s work on the atomic bomb was given little mention and none was given to his enthusiasm for the hydrogen bomb for which the national laboratory at Livermore was built, while Oppenheimer appeared with him in only one photograph. Such omissions were likely not accidental, for the university’s close involvement with superweapons gave it adverse publicity at a time when indiscriminate fallout from nuclear tests and the prospect of fiery annihilation tarnished its reputation for disinterested research.

Lawrence’s declassified papers reveal that a top-secret Committee on Planning for Army and Navy Research met more than a year before the first atomic explosion to plan the university’s continued involvement in weapons work. After years of stringency, Dr. Lawrence was keenly interested in finding ways by which nuclear research and the funding necessary for it could continue after the war. His friend Dr. Merle Tuve submitted notes on how to assure that funding. Those present at the meeting understood that an appearance of civilian control would have to be given to the program to deflect public criticism of “Big Navy” or “Big Army,” so good public relations was essential. Tuve wrote that “If the attitudes are right, the funds will be forthcoming with little difficulty. The continuity of funds for research is far more important than the magnitude of the funds” A gusher, however, would not be unwelcome.

When the Atomic Energy Commission’s first chairman, David E. Lilienthal wrote that “The doors of the treasury swung open and the money poured out,” he foresaw what President Eisenhower would later call the Military-Industrial Complex, but Eisenhower neglected to add academia to the Complex for its eager acceptance of available funds. Those on the ground floor and with the inside track stood to profit handsomely as a little-known archipelago of mining, research, and production sites devoted to nuclear weapons development sprang up across the nation and beyond. Professor Lawrence himself advised or sat on the boards of corporations heavily invested in weapons and reactor production while advising top government officials about the nation’s needs. Having known him well, Lilienthal was unimpressed by the objectivity of U.C.’s star physicist. He called Lawrence “the salesman” or “Madison Avenue-type” of scientist in his diary and bemoaned the institutionalized legacy of his promotional skills.

The Brookings Institution in 1998 attempted for the first time to determine how much the nuclear arms race had cost U.S. taxpayers. Its Atomic Audit estimated the 70,000 nuclear weapons manufactured to that point had cost more than $5 trillion of which only a small fraction was ever made public. The biological and psychic cost of the bombs was incalculable as were the public benefits that had to be sacrificed to its voracious demands. Proud as the University of California may now be of Oppenheimer’s presence on the Berkeley campus thanks to Nolan’s film, its official history should be amended to explain its own role in the aftermath of the work that he and Lawrence once did here.

Gray Brechin, Ph.D, is a geographer and the author of Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin (University of California Press 1999 and 2006.) The audiobook is now available.