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'Nuclear Free' Maryland City Grants Waiver For HP

Posted by timothy on from the pollyanna-buys-a-gun dept.

dcblogs writes "The City of Takoma Park, Md. this week granted a waiver to its public library to allow it to use some new HP hardware, whose products are otherwise banned under its 'nuclear free zone' ordinance. That law, adopted in 1983 one month after the Cold War-era movie 'The Day After' was aired, prohibits the city from buying equipment from any company connected to U.S. nuclear weapons production. The library bought new Linux-based, x86 systems from a Canadian vendor and didn't realize the vendor was using HP hardware. The hardware arrived in April and was unused until the Takoma Park city council granted it a waiver this week. The city's list of banned contractors was developed in 2004 by a now inactive group, Nuclear Free America, and hasn't been updated since."

9 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Movies by AkaKaryuu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Movies, not reason, dictates their city policy.

    1. Re:Movies by jeffmeden · · Score: 5, Funny

      Movies, not reason, dictates their city policy.

      You should see the stockpile of shotguns and Patrick Swayze clones they have on hand just in case Red Dawn comes true...

    2. Re:Movies by BackwardPawn · · Score: 5, Funny

      In an ironic twist, they stockpiled plutonium in case someone's DeLorean got stuck 30 years in the past. They did get a waiver for it, though.

    3. Re:Movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Apparently arming the shit out of your populace (with automatic rifles) is a far greater deterrent to being attacked than stockpiling nuclear weapons.

      Cool. Then we (US Americans) are covered on both counts.

    4. Re:Movies by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, the law called them Indians.

      Our largest local Indian confederation refers to itself as "Indians". The Indians I've known all call themselves Indians.

      The people I've known that get worked up about using "Native American" tend to be white and middle-to-upper class.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    5. Re:Movies by Bootsy+Collins · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Huh? Is this a troll?

      The reason it isn't surprising that such a law was passed in Takoma Park is because since the early-60s, Takoma Park has been famous for being a very-left-leaning home for granola-munching ex-hippies who have become financially stable boomers. For decades it was referred to as the Berkeley of the East; people in DC still often call it "the People's Republic of Takoma Park." I can't think of a time when Takoma Park was a town of "dumb rednecks"; and even now, when it's less leftist than it used to be, it's still far more that way than any place else anywhere near DC.

  2. Try to keep up, people. by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Nuclear free" is sooo 1980s. It's all about "greenness" now. You need to update your pc checklists monthly.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  3. Seventh-day Adventist Church by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

    Takoma Park has long been a center for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and 7DAs tend to be pacifists.

  4. Takoma Park Kid by sampson7 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Takoma Park has long been a center for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and 7DAs tend to be pacifists.

    Just FYI, Takoma Park's liberalness (which includes a bead store, vegan restaurants and the rest) has little to do with the Adventists, who aren't really a force in town. Instead, Takoma Park has a long hippy tradition and is filled with aging boomers who moved to the community because of its reputation as a liberal enclave. It's often referred to as the "Berkely of the East" and other such monickers.

    My favorite nuclear free story growing up was that the police department looked for a while like it was going to have to buy Volvo squad cars, because every other major manufacturer had some toe hold in nuclear weapons. Not sure how they managed to avoid that, but they did. Similarly, when the transit authority wanted to build a major highway right through the middle of Takoma Park (which at that point was a sleepy middle class suburb full of WWII bungallos), the local community rallied together and killed the massive highway plan on the Maryland side of Washington, DC. Those techies in Northern Virginia who enjoy the Mixed Bowl during their morning commute see what could have happened to Maryland. Of course, nothing's that simple -- but it's refreshing that there's still a place that combates global warming by banning gasoline-powered lawn mowers.....

    Takoma Park was a great place to grow up. Crazy as they are, it's refreshing to have such a community of idealists. Even though it seems like the whole community has gentrified over the last few years, I still love it, even as I've transitioned to the Dark Side (business! Eeek!)