STOP CASSINI Newsletter #243 -- December 17, 1999 (last edition of day)
Copyright (c) 1999
STOP CASSINI Newsletters Index
To: Subscribers, government officials, members of the press
From: Russell David Hoffman, saddened that so little is being done
Re: Doomsday report: STOP CASSINI #243
Date: December 17th, 1999 (last edition of the day)
This issue's subjects:
*** (1) Cancer rates expected to rise among vets exposed to D.U.
*** (2) Soviet-built nuclear plants not ready for Y2K
*** (3) Nyquist wants out -- since his only other choice is to correct his lies
*** (4) Tell Clinton how you feel -- Official government contact points
*** (5) Newsletter subscription information
*** (6) Newsletter Authorship notes and additional URLs
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*** (1) Cancer rates expected to rise among vets exposed to D.U.:
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----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM BILL SMIRNOW: -----
To: scifri@npr.org
To: radio@thenation.com
To: pnn@pacifica.org
To: nightly@nbc.com
To: Natnews@nyt.com
Subject: TERRIFYING Cancer Rates To Affect UK Gulf War Vets According To Radiologist, MOD Refuses To Test For DU Exposure
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 13:16:04 EST
Subject: Fwd: [DOEWatch] Troops' cancer timebomb fear
To: NUKENET@envirolink.org
Reply-To: Magnu96196@AOL.COM
Sender: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org
======================================================
Troops' cancer timebomb fear
BY GREG SWIFT
TERRIFYING cancer death rates will affect British troops exposed to radiation
poisoning during the Gulf War, an expert warned the Government yesterday.
Professor Hari Sharma, a radiologist who researched illnesses among
ex-soldiers, told MPs that as many as 12 per cent of the veterans could die
from the disease.
Despite the Ministry of Defence's insistence that British servicemen were not
exposed to potentially lethal amounts of depleted uranium, Professor Sharma
said he had irrefutable evidence that veterans inhaled the radioactive
substance.
He told a Commons defence select committee: "The authorities keep telling us
it is pointless to test for DU because it is not there - but it is.
"I have done a lot of soul-searching before making this statement so that I
did not mislead anyone. There is no cause to say my results are wrong. I am
convinced DU is present."
Despite the overwhelming evidence, the MoD has persistently refused to test
Gulf veterans for DU exposure.
Last month The Express revealed that the ministry had lied when it claimed to
have tested between one and five people and that the results were negative.
The truth was that only one person, civilian Paul Connolly, was tested - and
he was put through a Government-approved procedure which could not detect DU.
Thirty British veterans have paid for their own tests. They have been found
to be still excreting high levels of DU nine years after the end of the war.
As a result the MoD has offered new testing to those 30 ex-servicemen. But
yesterday the ministry was subjected to stinging attacks from veterans'
representatives and eminent scientists - including one of the Government's
own advisers - concerning its handling of Gulf veterans.
Professor Malcolm Hooper, who is on the independent panel advising the MoD,
said: "There has been a policy of denial that beggars belief.
"I am concerned about the spin being put on things which means there is
denial after denial about DU. We need the truth and we need the facts. We
cannot have the constant denial that these things never happened."
The health care provided for sick veterans was described as "woefully
inadequate".
The Government's medical assessment programme, which monitors their health,
was labelled ineffective and was said to have lost the trust of former
soldiers. Dr Doug Rokke, who suffered massive DU poisoning when he headed the
US Army's clearing-up team at the end of the war, also criticised the lack of
care for the veterans.
Now one of the world's leading experts on radiation hazards, Dr Rokke said:
"We have seen absolute failure to provide care.
"Individuals are still being denied medical care. They have asked for help
but it has still not been provided. There has been complete failure of the
system."
Shaun Rusling, head of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association,
told the committee his members have cut off contact with the MoD because they
no longer had faith that it was interested in the truth.
He said: "When a serviceman goes to war he has a right to expect that should
he be injured, he will receive proper care."
Prof. Sharma said that even at the lower levels of DU excretion, 24 in 1,000
vets exposed to depleted uranium and found to still have it in their bodies
years later, would die from cancer.
More than 53,000 British personnel served in the Gulf but the number exposed
to DU would only be revealed by extensive testing.
The Allies fired 700,000 DU-tipped rounds during the Gulf War - the first
time the ammunition had been used in combat.
It was used so extensively because its extraordinary hardness gives it
powerful armour-piercing capabilities.
Upon impact, however, DU dust particles were baked onto the sand which was
then inhaled by the troops.The subsequent radiation poisoning leaves them at
risk of developing cancer and even passing on genetic defects to their
children.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOEWatch List ----A Magnum-Opus Project --- The real Natl. Sec. Directive
Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com
-based near the cryptic named X-10 [god and ten commandments] and Y-12 [yahweh and disciples] nuke weapons plants of the
nuclear tabernacle of Oak Ridge.
"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky
That would be like the splendor of the Mighty one...
I am become Death, The shatterer of Worlds."
-Oppenheimer July 16, 45 at Trinity from 5,000 year old Bhagavad-Gita
"We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesized in the
Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we think we have found the way to cause the disintegration of the atom."
-Quote from Truman's diary July 25, 45 after Pottsdam and the "baby was born" and grew into "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" and the hydrogen bomb delivered by bomber named "Dave's Dream." Enola Gay's pilot, after Hiroshima, enters "My God' in the log.
"The Doctor of the future will give No Medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."
-Attributed to Thomas Alva Edison
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"
-George Orwell
DOEWatch page: http://members.aol.com/doewatch
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM BILL SMIRNOW -----
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*** (2) Soviet-built nuclear plants not ready for Y2K:
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----- INCOMING EMAIL ITEM SENT BY JOHN HALLAM: -----
Soviet-built nuclear plants not ready for Y2K
By Reuters
Special to CNET News.com
December 16, 1999, 12:45 p.m. PT
URL: http://news.cnet.com/category/0-1009-200-1498385.html
WASHINGTON--Many Soviet-designed nuclear power plants are unprepared for the
year 2000, but no systems with immediate impact on safety are in danger of
failing because of the Y2K computer glitch, a United Nations-backed
international clearinghouse for Y2K data said today.
Of the 68 reactor units in the nine countries of the former Soviet Union,
"many ... contain non-safety related systems that are not yet Y2K
compliant," the International Y2K Cooperation Center, or IY2KCC, said.
Bruce McConnell, the center's director, cited the Vienna-based International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as saying 14 of the plants of greatest concern
are in Ukraine and one is in Armenia.
The report did not spell out exactly how many were lagging, nor their
locations, but referred to "the urgent need for [upgrade] work to continue
and for adequate funds to be made available."
"Contingency plans are in place," said the report on the readiness of
nuclear plants worldwide for the century rollover.
At issue are possible automated system mix-ups when 1999 ticks into 2000 on
Jan. 1. Many computers were engineered to handle only two digits for the
year in date fields and could err or crash when they try to read "00".
Soviet-designed nuclear power plants have been a constant focus of
international Y2K concern, partly because of the 1986 accident at
Chernobyl's No. 4 reactor. The world's worst nuclear disaster, it spewed
radiation over large parts of Europe.
In advanced nuclear power plants, digital systems control operations and
monitor temperature and possible leaks. Soviet-designed models involve "very
few" date-sensitive components, the IY2KCC said.
The center, which is based in Washington and funded by the World Bank, said
Y2K-related errors could "reduce the ability of operators to analyze and
respond" to equipment problems and "degrade overall plant performance in the
weeks following the date change."
"Over time, such a degradation in performance would reduce the margins of
safety and efficiency in these plants," it said.
The report--which billed itself as having been reviewed by nuclear experts
around the world--described grassroots calls for a general Y2K shutdown as
"understandable."
But, it said, "We do not believe this step is generally necessary."
"Shutdowns create their own risks. In
addition, we note that keeping plants online
increases the stability of the electrical distribution grid.
"Because of the extensive Y2K work that has been done and the increased
staffing and monitoring of nuclear power plant operations over the date
change period, we do not believe there is a net safety benefit to a general
shutdown ... during the period," the report said.
Overall, it said nuclear power plants worldwide "will operate as safely as
they normally do" during the date change and the days following.
The IAEA, the world's nuclear watchdog, will enhance its normal warning and
emergency notification system during the date change. It will poll its
contacts in member states shortly after each country enters the new year.
In addition, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have developed a Y2K Early Warning
System, dubbed YEWS.
YEWS is designed to let nuclear regulators share information on the status
of nuclear facility operations, local grid stability and telecommunications
during the date transition.
Story Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited.
----- END OF ITEM SENT BY JOHN HALLAM, FOE SYDNEY -----
----- MY RESPONSE: -----
At 01:17 PM 12/18/99 +1000, the article [shown above] stated:
Overall, it said nuclear power plants worldwide "will operate as safely as
they normally do" during the date change and the days following.
For some of us, that's not nearly safe enough!
The report is correct when it states that there are additional risks caused by shutting the nukes down. But if we shut them down ONCE and don't reopen them, from that day forward the overall risks will subside day after day after day.
That said, even a few hours of shut-down before Y2K is better than nothing. Usage at that time is not likely to be very high anyway, since so many things are going to be closed, so in most, if not all, parts of the world, the energy is NOT needed! Plus, if the stability of the grid is indeed in question, then that is another reason to shut DOWN the nukes, not leave them operating! Nukes rely on the grid being UP.
If the nuclear industry really knew what they were doing, they would have at least announced that if, God forbid, there should be problems in other time zones, the later time zones are preparing to shut down in a matter of minutes, etc. etc. (That's where I live -- New Years' starts for someone somewhere at around 3:00 am in my time zone -- we're among the last one's "hit".)
Instead of doing the prudent thing, the nuclear power industry keeps telling us they've spent so many yada yada yada billions of dollars on Y2K fixes, probably half of which actually went into Y2K PR. The other half, if it's like every other billion dollars worth of computer code ever written, has bugs.
The nuke industry operates on dumb luck, and I hope that Y2K is not the end of the line for them, but I do hope it -- or something else, anything else -- somehow proves the bull-headed nature of the nuclear industry's attitude. Were they for safety, they would have lead the way with being shut down and worry-free for Y2K.
Instead, every attack on their integrity -- however legitimate -- is taken as an affront to the very idea that anything they do is dangerous. Whether it's Cassini's 400,000 Curies of Pu 238 and Pu 239, or Chernobyl's supposed "30" deaths instead of 300,000, which is what it's probably closer to (and will some day reach), or the idea the Three Mile Island and 1000 other major (and a million other minor) spills and accidents together all caused ZERO deaths around the world -- after these and a million other lies, the nuclear industry is now nothing more than a lie built on a lie built on a lie.
They do, however, have a lot of money, and can buy powerful allies, including the media, the politicians, and white-collar workers in related dirty industries, like coal and oil who misunderstand their roles in society, thinking that they are "next" on every environmentalists' anti-nuclear agenda.
In fact, coal and oil are precious commodities, from which come billions of dollars worth of the most wondrous plastics and other things which do in fact, benefit society greatly. We would NEVER get rid of those industries.
However, it would be nice, and it would certainly be possible, to stop BURNING these precious commodities -- coal and oil -- and start using them in a more reasonable and recyclable format!
For example, the space industry needs plastics because they make much lighter components that steel. Cars are safer, stronger, and more fuel efficient because of plastics. Hospitals rely on plastics to protect things, and of course virtually all hospital equipment is made of, or contains large quantities of, plastic. Computers have a lot of plastic in them too! This stuff is far to precious to burn (as people have been saying for more than 100 years!)
Plastic -- it's what they wrapped those poor unfortunate workers in, who were irradiated in Tokaimura, Japan.
There are many, many big changes society should make, and the switch from fuel-inefficient cars and airplanes to far cleaner, ground-based public transportation systems is one of them. Closing the nuclear power plants is another. Using coal and oil for their proper purposes are other changes that need to be made. Tide, wave, geothermal, solar, wind, hydroelectric, and other vastly safer forms of energy production need to be established all around the world.
The nuclear "demon hot atom" needs to be stamped out.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Peace Activist
Carlsbad, CA
(add'l contact information appears below)
[Attachment: Reuters article the above quote is from was attached (shown above).]
----- END OF MY RESPONSE -----
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*** (3) Nyquist wants out -- since his only other choice is to correct his lies:
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Lest it be said I don't publish people's parting shots (I do), here's Jeff Nyquists final(?) attempt to defend the lies he has been spreading:
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM A SCOUNDREL: ----
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 17:33:18 -0800
From: Jeffrey Nyquist <jnyquist@northcoast.com>
Reply-To: jnyquist@northcoast.com
Organization: SOLPAC
To: "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Re: FYI (you said we intentionally bombed these things)
Hoffman,
Since you do not respect my request to stop sending emails, since
you continue to misrepresent my statements, my opinions, etc., I can
only say that you are not a gentleman. Anything you send will be
deleted without being read.
JRN
----- END OF LETTER FROM JEFF NYQUIST, WORLD NET DAILY -----
It's too bad Mr. Nyquist hasn't got the guts to defend those statements his can properly defend, retract those statements which were lies, and admit that (as is clear from his outrageous behavior), his opinion of me was formed not from my actions, nor even from my fair and defensible REACTIONS to his own insults, but rather from nothing I have actually done. Instead, it comes from how he hopes others will perceive me, thanks to his statements -- in other words, his opinion is baseless. His cries that I am not a gentleman are made simply because it is the only hope he has left, that someone will believe his rubbish. If he can get people to believe it was I who broke society's norms first and/or foremost in our "debates", and not him with his twisted logic, his imprecise terminology, and his completely jumping from one position to the opposite one as the occasion suited him, then he will have won a victory, even despite all the facts and truths which are against him. Both cream
and scum float to the top. Nyquist's goal is to denounce those whom he disagrees with, rather than debate them or -- horrors -- actually learn a thing or two from them. So be it. -- rdh
(4) Tell Clinton how you feel -- Official government contact points:
To contact the top government officials:
President Bill Clinton
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20500
Phone -- (202) 456-1111 Fax -- (202) 456-2461
e-mail -- president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Albert Gore (same address)
Phone -- (202) 456-1414 Fax -- (202) 456-2461
e-mail -- vicepresident@whitehouse.gov
Secretary William Cohen
1000 Defense
The Pentagon
Washington D.C. 20301
Phone -- (703) 695-6352 Fax -- (703) 695-1149
Secretary Bill Richardson
Department of Energy (DoE)
1000 Independence Avenue SW
Washington D.C. 20585
Phone -- (202) 586-6210 Fax -- (202) 586-4403
To learn about the absurd excuses NASA used to launch Cassini and its 72.3 pounds of plutonium in 1997, ask them for the 1995 Environmental Impact Statement for the Cassini mission, and all subsequent documentation. At the same time, be sure to ask them for ANY and ALL documentation available on future uses of plutonium in space, including MILITARY, CIVILIAN, or "OTHER" (just in case they make a new category somehow!). To get this information, contact:
Cassini Public Information
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena CA 91109
(818) 354-5011 or (818) 354-6478
Here's NASA's "comments" email address:
comments@www.hq.nasa.gov
Daniel Goldin is the head of NASA. Here's his email address:
daniel.goldin@hq.nasa.gov
or
dgoldin@mail.hq.nasa.gov
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.
NASA should never have been allowed to launch monstrosities like Cassini and Galileo, but the next breed -- such as Europa Orbiter and Pluto-Kuiper Express are not much better and the policy is being set for greatly increased rates of missions! The danger continues! To complain to NASA about their future nuclear space probes, here are two addresses you can use:
For Europa Orbiter:
"Europa Orbiter comments" osseuropa@hq.nasa.gov
For Pluto-Kuiper Express:
"Pluto-Kuiper Express comments" osspluto@hq.nasa.gov
Be sure to "cc" the president and VP and your senators and congresspeople, too.
Always include your full name and postal address in all correspondence to any Government official of any country, because otherwise they will throw it out unread, or hand it directly to their police force to try to identify the author. (Thus, nothing good will come of it.) Also, ALWAYS include a personal message of some sort, indicating YOUR OWN VIEWS, even if you include a lot of material written by other people (me, for instance).
(5) Newsletter subscription information:
Thanks for reading! Welcome new subscribers!
To subscribe, simply email the editor at
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
and state:
SUBSCRIBE STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER
Please include a personal message of any
length and subject matter. Thank you!
To unsubscribe email me and say
UNSUBSCRIBE STOP CASSINI NEWSLETTER
Published by Russell D. Hoffman electronically.
This newsletter is free and is not distributed for profit.
The opinions expressed are those of the individual authors.
Please distribute these newsletters EVERYWHERE!
Written in the United States of America.
(6) Newsletter Authorship notes and additional URLs:
Russell D. Hoffman, Carlsbad, California, Peace Activist, Environmentalist, High Tech Guru:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/whoisrdh.htm
Hoffman's Y2K Preparedness Information:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/y2k/index.htm
Learn about The Effects of Nuclear War here:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm
************************************************************
** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** Carlsbad CA
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
** http://www.animatedsoftware.com
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First placed online December 29th, 1999.
Last modified December 29th, 1999.
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Copyright (c) Russell D. Hoffman