From: Kieran Clifford (clifford@citizen.org)
Subject: Write the FDA - re: Irradiated Food Labeling
Sender: Kieran Clifford
==================================
Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
==================================
ACTION ALERT!
A VICTORY! BUT, MORE ACTION IS NEEDED
THE COMMENT PERIOD TO THE FDA ON FOOD IRRADIATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JULY 18, 1999!
WRITE THE FDA AND CONGRESS TODAY!!
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL TO THE STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER WORLD HEADQUARTERS -----
In America, honesty is STILL considered (by most) to be the best policy. Labels can and should tell more, not less than they do today! Indeed, I have long suggested that Internet web sites be required to post full ingredients lists, even including the names of suppliers of the ingredients which are used in the final product. (Likewise, car manufacturers should be required to post (at open web sites) mechanical reference books on all vehicles they sell (permanently!) so that shade-tree mechanics do not need to go out and buy shop manuals to fix their cars properly. The Internet is a wonderful thing, but only if it's used properly.)
It is high time for American citizens to take back the right to know the truth about what they eat, the air they breath, the water they drink and all the other things they need to know. We have a right to know the names and addresses of any persons who feed us. We have a right to know who threatens us, and what they are threatening us with. We have a right to know EVERYTHING about the dangers we face.
Please contact the FDA to voice your opinions! Hold on to this right, America, or the others will disappear while you are being told that you still have them! (Actually, that's already happening.) -- rdh
URL for our newsletter on Food Irradiation Labeling: http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0126.htm
Emails are discouraged, OF COURSE, because the government can so easily pretend that the emails (and their writers) don't exist (like NASA does with Cassini emails such as this newsletter.)
Here is the address to send a letter to:
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, Maryland 20852
A activist contact for more information is:
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel: (212) 726-9161
fax: (212) 726-9160
email: aslater@gracelinks.org
GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons.
(3) Cassini spacecraft and solar flares:
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM ELIZABETH PICARD -----
From: Q-runner@webtv.net (Elizabeth Picard)
Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 17:53:03 -0700 (PDT)
To: rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Subject: Solar Flares
this article mentions the solar flare 'seahorse' could have been dangerous to astronauts on a moon mission therefore; cassini in a 'predicted' high flare period is a global danger!
with.active.care,.your.friend,.bets
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/flares.htm
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM ELIZABETH PICARD -----
(4) Venus: Has an atmosphere, but is indeed, deader than a doornail:
So what do I know about Venus? Not quite enough, but enough to know it's a dead planet. The following email is from a Berkeley astrophysicist who works on NASA deep space projects:
----- EMAIL FROM "K" -----
At 12:47 PM 6/15/99 +0100, "K" wrote:
Hi Russell,
since our debates earlier this year were getting nowhere, I've been staying quiet. However, I found your response about Venus somewhat amusing:
>However, note that if Cassini were smashed into Venus, it would create a relatively small "dead >zone" for a few thousand years (for the Pu >238, much longer of course for the Pu 239), but with no atmosphere to spread the plutonium >around, it would remain in a limited area which >could be well marked or at least well indicated on maps of the (rather inhospitable) planet. So >smashing it into Venus, while not a very good >plan, seems better to me than any alternative.
First off, Venus does indeed have an atmosphere, and a very thick one at that (93% carbon dioxide). The surface pressure is something like 90 atmospheres.
Second, concerns about "polluting" Venus (the original person's email mentioned this) for future settlements are rather moot. Venus has a mean surface temp of 726 Kelvin (847 F), which is hot enough to melt lead. I would think the moon, Mars, and even some of the moons of Jupiter would be much better candidates for human settlement.
You might want to correct yourself here, but it does reinforce your argument that putting Cassini into Venus would be the "safest" thing to do.
Take care
-K
----- END OF EMAIL FROM "K" -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
Hi!
Thanks for the information, which is of course quite relevant. BTW, I have no idea why you say our earlier debates were "getting nowhere".
-- Russell
----- END OF MY RESPONSE -----
----- SECOND INCOMING EMAIL FROM "K" AT BERKELEY -----
At 01:37 PM 6/15/99 +0100, "K" at Berkeley wrote:
You have your opinion, I have mine, and nothing that one of us says will sway the opinion of the other. Sort of like arguing over religion.
-K
----- END OF LETTER FROM "K" AT BERKELEY -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
Dear K,
I don't think that's true at all. If your arguments are persuasive my mind will be changed (as shown in this very instance, as a matter of fact).
I wish you could express the same optimism for openness, as I believe it to be the thing that allowed civilization to progress this far (such as it has).
We can't all be right all the time and sometimes it is wisest to reconsider the council of those we previously disagreed with.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
----- END OF MY SECOND RESPONSE -----
(5) Venus has an atmosphere (correspondence with Larry Klaes)
We sincerely believe that this newsletter is substantially correct and we don't make many mistakes, but this one was pretty glaring. Here's some more input regarding the atmosphere around Venus:
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM LARRY KLAES -----
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 15:42:01 -0400
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
Hello Russell,
I would like to make some corrections and comments
to your newsletter 135:
At 02:35 AM 06/15/1999 -0700, Russell D. Hoffman wrote:
***********************************************
See this article for images and details:
http://www.skypub.com/news/special/whypanic.html
There will be a total solar eclipse this August 11
across Europe, but it will have no effect on Cassini
whatsoever. Not even if the probe were in the Moon's
shadow at that time, which it will not be.
For more information on the August 11 eclipse:
http://www.skypub.com/sights/eclipses/solar/9908solarpreview.html
Add the facts that Venus' surface temperature averages 900 degrees Fahrenheit *everywhere* - this includes the night side and the poles, due to the greenhouse effect of its atmosphere - and the fact that the air is composed of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid, and one smashed probe is not going to make a big difference if it spreads some radiation there - not that I want it to do such a thing, mind you.
A radioactive probe could be a problem if we ever terraform Venus someday to make it more livable for Earth life, but that is not something for the immediate future.
And to comment on one more item you wrote elsewhere: Venus has no detectable magnetic field, so the solar wind pushes right into the ionosphere. So this is even one less thing that Cassini could do at Venus. You are much better off designing a probe just for Venus.
Since little can be done to stop Cassini now, I say leave it alone so it can pass by Earth safely and head out to Saturn forever. If you try tampering with it now, you could create the very problem you wish to avoid.
Some Venus facts:
http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/venus.html
Regards,
Larry
Hi!
Thanks, I'll post this in #136, later today.
I'm not too worried about some day terraforming Venus, what with its 900-degree temperatures and phenomenal pressures; I'd like to keep Earth safe, where 6 billion people already are. Besides, we could far more easily "terraform" vast areas underneath our own Earth's surface and under/within our seas, prior to wanting to expand out to inhospitable Venus.
I don't see how you can say that pushing Cassini into Venus increases the risk to EARTH, though! There are a series of "unbiasing" maneuvers coming up after the Venus flyby and before the Earth flyby which are the exact same type of small trajectory correction that could, if done today, eliminate all risk to today's or tomorrow's earthings. Whenever they are done, today, or prior to the Earth flyby, they represent a danger that the maneuver will not go as planned, and the resultant trajectory will not be correct. I'd rather that happen now as we aim towards Venus than later as we aim towards Earth. Besides, IF anything went wrong we would have two months to try to right things to keep the probe away from Earth.
Thanks again for writing. I have already added a corrective statement to the online version of #135. As to printing the letter about the Grand Fixed Cross and the solar eclipse and their potential effects on Cassini, I certainly never meant to imply I was concerned about that in any way, shape or form. I'm no more scared of moonshadow than I am of my own.
Russ
We still feel utterly convinced that the smashing Cassini into Venus is the best policy to protect humans and other Earthings. -- rdh
To stop NASA's dangerous upcoming August 17th (note new date!), 1999 flyby of Earth by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, with its deadly cargo of 72.3 pounds of plutonium 238 dioxide, arrogantly launched in 1997 amidst strong protests, please start by contacting NASA/JPL immediately and tell them you oppose Cassini:
Cassini Public Information
NASA states that they do not have the resources anymore to answer most emails they receive. Liars! They have $13 billion dollars to play with. They can answer the public's questions!
Here's NASA's "comments" email address:
Daniel Goldin is the head of NASA. Here's his email address:
Here's the NASA URL to find additional addresses to submit written questions to:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-002-HQ.html
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT NASA IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH.
Be sure to "cc" the president and VP and your senators and congresspeople, too.
president@whitehouse.gov
Always include your full name and postal address in all correspondence to any Government official of any country.
After you have acquainted yourself with what NASA is doing, please:
READ OUR RESOLUTION AGAINST CASSINI!
SIGN OUR PETITION!
CANCEL CASSINI by JUNE 24th, 1999!
Thanks for reading! Welcome new subscribers!
Home page of our STOP CASSINI movement:
This newsletter is free and is not distributed for profit.
Published by Russell D. Hoffman electronically.
*** Astrology-related links to the STOP CASSINI web site:
***********************************************
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM BARBARA EDWARDS -----
At 09:20 PM 6/8/99 -0700, "Webmistress"
From: "Webmistress"
To:
Subject: SUBSCRIBE STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 21:20:46 -0700
Dear Mr. Hoffman:
I found out about your site from http://www.realastrology.com/ (Rob
Brezsny's site). There is an article there at
http://www.realastrology.com/oracle/alli-jun.html
which looks at this crisis
from an astrological point of view - factoring in the Grand Fixed Cross (a
very rare planetary alignment) and solar eclipse which both occur on August
11th.
The "Grand Fixed Cross" of the planets is probably the
event of May 5, 2000 (not August of 1999) that she is
referring to. If you or anyone else can make a cross
out of that alignment, then you are more imaginative
than I. Not to mention that the planets will have zero
effect on us, just as they did not during another so-
called alignment in 1982.
*************************************************************
*** Is there a safe alternative to smashing Cassini into Venus?
*************************************************************
----- INCOMING EMAIL TO STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER WORLD HEADQUARTERS FROM
JONATHAN MARK HABER: -----
At 08:25 AM 6/9/99 -0400, Jonathan Mark wrote:
At 09:44 AM 6/8/99 -0700, you wrote:
To: Subscribers, Press, Government Officials
Subject: Cassini protest schedule? STOP CASSINI #133
Date: June 7th, 1999
Time Frame: There are 17 days left to demand that NASA smash Cassini into
Venus.
russell, why promote smashing cassini into venus rather than michio's
suggestion for destroying cassini by heading it toward the sun? we may be
going to venus in the future and that radioactivity would not be too
condusive for a visit for a long long time.
jonathan
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM JONATHAN MARK (HABER) -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
Hi Jonathan!
Thank you for your email (shown below). It's good to hear from you again.
My understanding is that Cassini cannot be aimed towards the sun without
having it in an elliptical orbit that would actually go out past our own
(very circular) orbit over and over, where it might be subject to various
chaotic forces (especially if it becomes disabled at some point) which
could cause it to cross our path some time in the future.
If you have a quote I could use from Dr. Kaku which indicates that useful
work could be done without threatening Earth OR Venus, do please forward it
to me, because I hate to see ~four billion dollars wasted.
However, note that if Cassini were smashed into Venus, it would create a
relatively small "dead zone" for a few thousand years (for the Pu 238, much
longer of course for the Pu 239), but with no atmosphere to spread the
plutonium around, it would remain in a limited area which could be well
marked or at least well indicated on maps of the (rather inhospitable)
planet. So smashing it into Venus, while not a very good plan, seems
better to me than any alternative.
Venus has *plenty* of atmosphere to spread things around. The cloud cover alone is 40 miles thick! Indeed, the air pressure at the surface is 90 times that of Earth's at sea level, or the equivalent of being 3,300 feet under the oceans. This is why the first few Soviet Venus probes trying to land on the planet in the 1960s were crushed like eggs, because the space engineers did not realize just how dense the air is.
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM LARRY KLAES -----
----- MY RESPONSE -----
----- END OF MY RESPONSE -----
(6) What you can do today to stop the Cassini flyby of Earth:
What you can do today to stop the Cassini flyby of Earth:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena CA 91109
(818) 354-5011
comments@www.hq.nasa.gov
daniel.goldin@hq.nasa.gov
or
dgoldin@mail.hq.nasa.gov
vice.president@whitehouse.gov
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/petition/reso1999.htm
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/petition/cass1999.htm
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WHAT YOU DO NEXT MATTERS MOST OF ALL!
*** CANCEL CASSINI BY JUNE 24TH, 1999! ***
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CASSINI TABLE OF CONTENTS
This article has been presented on the World Wide Web by:
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rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
First placed online June 17th, 1999.
Last modified June 17th, 1999.
Webwiz: Russell D. Hoffman
Copyright (c) Russell D. Hoffman