Mom & Dad would eat lunch and stare at it.
What did that mean?
“At times,
Hughes was a study in contradiction. Although he had clearance to view
top-secret government information because of multimillion-dollar defense
contracts with Hughes Tool Co., he did not agree with all government policies.
Most notable was his opposition to nuclear weapons explosions at the Nevada
Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
While living at
the Desert Inn, Hughes tried to stop the explosions at the Test Site, but never
persuaded the government to halt them. Hughes was concerned tourists would
become frightened of the atomic blasts and stop coming to Las Vegas. He also
feared the rumbles felt in the valley from the tests might damage his numerous
properties.”
18 March 2016 Las Vegas Sun
“Hughes was a
war hawk. After all, he was a defense contractor.
But there was
one defense project Hughes despised: the atomic tests.
It wasn’t
general opposition to the tests. Detonate bombs in the Pacific? Fine. In
Alaska? Great. In Las Vegas? Not in Hughes’ backyard.
From his Desert
Inn penthouse, Hughes watched preparations for atomic testing play out on TV,
his only window to the outside world.
‘I have been
thinking about this bomb deal,’ Hughes wrote to Maheu two days before the
1.3-megaton Boxcar nuclear test was scheduled to be conducted north of Las
Vegas. ‘We are making a hell of a case, but I am afraid we are not even close
to a cancellation. Now I heard on Ch. 3 that the A.E.C. (Atomic Energy
Commission) claims we were invited to a briefing a month ago, at which time we
would have had an opportunity to object.’
Hughes, through
Maheu, fought hard to stop the test. He hired teams of scientists to sound
warning bells about the dangers of nuclear testing, tried to persuade a
competitor to join forces with him and personally appealed to the White House.
In a last-ditch effort, Hughes asked Maheu to negotiate with the AEC and
threaten a public relations campaign against atomic testing if the commission
went forward with Boxcar.
Hughes wanted a
90-day moratorium on any tests bigger than 1 megaton. Hughes hoped that during
that time period, the AEC would further evaluate the potential adverse effects
of testing, including impact on water supply, radioactive contamination and
earthquakes.”
28 December,
2015 Las Vegas Sun
“It will only
require a leader. I could easily be that leader.”
-
Howard Hughes Jr.
Q:
Why did a Chinese woman pick me up and bounce me off a wall?
A:
That’s her way of saying she likes me.
It
is a different kind of diplomacy, don’t you agree?
Always,
William
C. Hughes
No comments:
Post a Comment