PROPOSED LEDE: THIS PAST MONDAY AUGUST 6 WAS THE 67TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA, JAPAN.
ALONG WITH THE BOMBING OF NAGASAKI, THREE DAYS LATER, THIS FIRST AND LAST USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAUSED THE DEATH OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AND USHERED THE COLD WAR WITH A FOUR DECADES ARMS RACE, WHICH HAS SHAPED THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.
THE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER, A YEAR AN A HALF AGO, WHICH HAS CREATED GRAVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DISRUPTIONS IN JAPANESE SOCIETY AND RAISED FEARS OF SPREADING NUCLEAR CONTAMINATION, WAS ALSO IN THE MINDS OF THE "OCCUPY NUKES" PROTESTERS, WHO CAME TO ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, IN MANHATTAN, ON MONDAY TO DENOUNCE GENERAL ELECTRICS ROLE IN NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION AND DEMAND AN END TO BOTH THE CIVILIAN AND MILITARY USE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY.