May 5th, 2006
Dear Readers,
The North County Times' editorial today in support of nuclear power is vicious. Cruel to children and other living things. But it does offer an explanation for why they censor virtually every word I write, and act like they don't even read any of it for their own edification.
This morning, they have come out with an editorial which could practically have been written by any one of half a dozen or so "greenies" who have chosen to ignore the overwhelming scientific data and throw their support behind nuclear power, after perhaps decades of opposition, because of a sudden “enlightenment” on “global warming,” which, in fact, has been a known and serious concern of ALL real environmentalists, including anti-nukers, for decades, because we've been AWARE of these issues.
I, for one, saw NASA’s Dr. Jim Hansen speak on the subject more than 20 years ago. He is considered the father of scientific research on global warming. I didn't doubt the quality of his research then, or his message, and I don't doubt it now. Global warming was a serious problem THEN which should have been worked on globally, and it is a serious problem now. But a need to jump out of the frying pan is no reason to jump into the fire. There really ARE other choices -- in fact, renewable energy solutions are plentiful and adequate for our needs.
But it is the ignorant, arrogant few, such as ex-founders of "Greenpeace" and so forth, who now get a lot of press and, OF COURSE, they get a lot of funding from the nuclear industry to spout their in-your-face change-of-heart.
Similarly, the NC Times has always pretended to be walking some sort of fine line, not coming down specifically for or against nuclear power, but supposedly analyzing the issues fairly. In reality, they have ignored issues like TRITIUM LEAKS, STOCKPILES of WASTE (which they now compare FAVORABLY to fossil fuel waste), THREATS FROM TERRORISM, ENGINEERING FAULTS, MALICIOUS WORKER BEHAVIOR (an especially frightening aspect when / if the workers know the plants are being shut down forever!), and of course, MOTHER NATURE.
The NC Times ignores the deaths from Chernobyl, going with the current debate, which is among three red herrings, rather than acknowledging the scientific credentials of those who are speaking the truth.
The three red herrings?
The worst is the Nuclear industry, which still claims that only about 39 people died from Chernobyl. KTLA, the major television news station in Los Angeles, California, used this figure when presenting a report on the “20th anniversary memorial to the world’s worst nuclear accident” a few weeks ago.
The second-worst red herring is the IAEA / WHO figures of about 4,000 deaths so far from Chernobyl. It’s undoubtedly far higher than that.
The third red herring? Greenpeace, which claims that WHO and the IAEA are off by an order of magnitude or more! Their figure is about 60,000, but even that is probably wrong.
After more diligent research, the European Committee on Radiation Risk, a team of more than 50 experts led by Dr. Chris Busby, has shown that the true figure is likely to be much higher already, and will continue to rise sharply.
Many of these red herrings further their lie by claiming the worst from Chernobyl is over because the short-lived isotopes have all mostly decayed.
But the truth is far, far worse. The long-lived isotopes are spreading around the globe, poisoning everything and every one. Every breath you take contains not just a few atoms of Caesar’s last breath, but more than a few from Chernobyl’s last burp.
In addition to their ongoing censorship on nuclear issues, the NC Times, although they were the FIRST paper I called after it happened, also has completely censored my allegation that Randall "Duke" Cunningham tried to commit suicide the night of November 25th, 2005 by ramming his Chevy Tracker at high speed head-on in to the car I was driving in with my wife. That was, in a word, an egregious crime against me, because I have a RIGHT to make that allegation, and I have made that allegation, and such an allegation IS NEWS. And the police cover-up which has followed is NEWS, too. “Innocent until proven guilty” does not mean he cannot be accused. He IS accused, and that’s news. But not to the Congressman’s local paper.
The North County Times chose not to follow up the leads, nor find and talk to the witnesses, nor analyze the police cover-up for its obvious flaws, and nor have they published even one word about it.
The North County Times is a work of fiction. This is almost 900 words, so the North County Times would never print it, but it’s still probably less ink than their awful editorial this morning.
Between the censorship and the propaganda, it was time to cancel my subscription to the NC Times. Continuing to subscribe is a waste of trees. Besides, fortunately, we still have two local papers, and I can simply subscribe to the other (the San Diego Union-Tribune has North County editions), which I had canceled about 10 years ago after similar censorship and propaganda issues.
So, la de da, back again, a change of scenery might do me good.
Sincerely,
Ace Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA
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From RADBULL: Chernobyl is expensive today, 20 years after the accident. An accident at San Onofre will bankrupt California (maybe the whole USA)):
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51 RIA Novosti: Kiev rally demands pension raise for Chernobyl survivors
29/ 04/ 2006
KIEV, April 29 (RIA Nobosti) - More than five thousand Chernobyl
survivors took to the streets in the Ukrainian capital to demand
pension raise just three days after the world marked an
anniversary of the worst civilian nuclear disaster to date.
The participants, many of whom had taken part in cleanup
operations following the April 26, 1986 explosion at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant, gathered Saturday outside the
government headquarters in downtown Kiev to protest a resolution
cutting their compensation payments 15-fold.
"Government welfare programs for Chernobyl survivors are being
implemented very poorly," said Yury Andreyev, leader of the
Chernobyl Union of Ukraine, an advocacy group.
In March, Ukraine's parliament passed a bill raising pensions
for those worst affected by the Chernobyl accident, but the
President refused to sign it into law.
The Ukrainian government pledged to increase budget allocations
for Chernobyl programs to $600 million this year. The amount is
1.5 times as much as in 2005, yet covers only 14% of the actual
needs.
As many as 2,246,000 people in Ukraine have developed serious
health problems as a result of the Chernobyl fallout, and
105,000 of them have become disabled.
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Ordering information for ECRR report:
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From:
ECRR Chernobyl 20 Years On: Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident
European Committee on Radiation Risk
Documents of the ECRR 2006 No1
Edited by C.C.Busby and A.V. Yablokov Published on behalf of
the European Committee on Radiation Risk
Comité Européen sur le Risque de l’Irradiation, Brussels
by Green Audit, 2006.
ISBN: 1-897761-25-2
Price £UK 55 (EU 90, USD 90) at your bookshop.
or direct from the publishers who will supply copies with invoices. To order by this method please
email the Office Manager: admin@euradcom.org
or write to European Committee on Radiation Risk/Comité Européen sur le Risque de l’Irradiation,
Avenue de la Fauconnerie 73,
B-1170 Bruxelles,
BELGIUM.
Please ensure that you include a delivery address.
ECRR cannot accept payment by credit or debit cards.
Concession price
The committee is anxious to make this volume widely available and therefore has decided to set aside copies to be sold at a concession price for individuals, students and others who may find the full price beyond their means. The concession price is £UK20 (EU 32, USD 32).
You are invited to apply for this concession with a very brief note of why you should qualify. Please ensure that you include a delivery address. If your application succeeds the publishers will supply and invoice you.
To apply email the Office Manager: admin@euradcom.org
or write to European Committee on Radiation Risk/Comité Européen sur le Risque de l’Irradiation,
Avenue de la Fauconnerie 73,
B-1170 Bruxelles,
BELGIUM.
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Ace Hoffman Contact Info:
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