From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #429 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Tuesday, March 13 2001 Volume 01 : Number 429 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 11:18:04 -0500 From: John Burroughs Subject: (abolition-usa) Resolution on complete nuclear disarmament In the new Congress, Representative Lynn Woolsey has introduced the resolution calling for multilateral negotiation of a nuclear weapons convention that she also sponsored in the last Congress. The wording appears to be identical. It is now House Resolution 17. The text can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c107:./temp/~c107x99qZE The cosponsors follow. You may wish to ask your representative to cosponsor. This can be an opportunity to make the case for abolition to your representative and his or her staff. COSPONSORS(17), ALPHABETICAL: Rep DeFazio, Peter A. - 1/31/2001 Rep Filner, Bob - 1/3/2001 Rep Frank, Barney - 1/31/2001 Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. - 1/3/2001 Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. - 1/3/2001 Rep Lee, Barbara - 1/3/2001 Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. - 2/14/2001 Rep Markey, Edward J. - 2/14/2001 Rep McGovern, James P. - 1/3/2001 Rep McKinney, Cynthia A. - 1/31/2001 Rep Mink, Patsy T. - 2/14/2001 Rep Nadler, Jerrold - 2/14/2001 Rep Olver, John W. - 2/14/2001 Rep Pelosi, Nancy - 1/3/2001 Rep Rush, Bobby L. - 2/14/2001 Rep Sanders, Bernard - 2/14/2001 Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh - 2/8/2001 - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 12:48:45 EST From: LANLaction@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) LOS ALAMOS GROUP ATTEMPTS TO STOP ANTI-NUKE RALLY Dear Abolitionists, Please plan to attend the Peace Action Conference on=20 weapons of mass destruction, July 14 &15 and the rally in Los Alamos July=20 16th. The article below is of particular importance. Thank you Saturday, March 10, 2001=20 Anti-Nuke Rally Is Blocked=20 By Jennifer McKee Journal Staff Writer =A0=A0=A0 A Los Alamos group that defends the atomic bombing of Japan has=20 apparently blocked the annual anti-nuke rally held in the center of the city= =20 on the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. =A0=A0=A0 For the past decade or so, anti-nuclear activists have held the ra= lly and=20 march in Los Alamos every Aug. 9, the day American forces dropped an atomic=20 bomb on Nagasaki in 1945, killing about 74,000 Japanese civilians. Peace=20 Action New Mexico has organized the rally since 1998, said Peggy Prince,=20 director of Peace Action. =A0=A0=A0 The marchers rally in Los Alamos because it was there that scienti= sts=20 invented and built the bombs dropped on Japan. =A0=A0=A0 Peace Action intended to hold a similar rally this August, but whe= n=20 Prince tried to reserve Ashley Pond, a park in the center of town where the=20 rally is traditionally held, and the nearby Fuller Lodge, she discovered tha= t=20 another group, the Los Alamos Education Group, had already reserved them for= =20 that date. =A0=A0=A0 The Los Alamos group also has reserved the sites for Aug. 6, the d= ay in=20 1945 that American forces dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which killed=20 about 140,000 civilians. =A0=A0=A0 Bernie Storm, a Los Alamos resident and secretary of the Los Alamo= s=20 Education Group, said she reserved the sites last Aug. 9 =97 when Prince's=20 group was still marching. Although Storm said she didn't know what exactly=20 her group has planned for the park that day, it will not include much mentio= n=20 of the survivors of the bombings. =A0=A0=A0 "This is a memorial to the (American) veterans," she said. Storm s= aid=20 she's hoping to have survivors of Pearl Harbor and the Bataan Death March, a= s=20 well as Navajo Code Talkers at the memorial. She said it also would include=20 members of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the U.S. Air=20 Force's ROTC doing sword demonstrations. =A0=A0=A0 The group has nothing planned for Aug. 6, but because it has reser= ved the=20 park, Prince's group cannot hold its rally at the park that day. =A0=A0=A0 The Los Alamos Education Group has set up a small tent across the=20= street=20 from the main anti-nuke rally for the past several years. =A0=A0=A0 "The activists wouldn't let us have Ashley Pond," Storm said. "Wel= l this=20 year, we have it. We're going to recognize the veterans." =A0=A0=A0 Storm said she's not inviting any atomic bomb survivors because sh= e=20 doesn't know any. =A0=A0=A0 The group formed several years ago to promote the view that the us= e of=20 the atomic bomb quickened the ending of World War II and likely saved both=20 American and Japanese lives. =A0=A0=A0 Steve Stoddard, a World War II veteran, Los Alamos resident and de= facto=20 chairman of the education group until recently, said he might not be around=20 today if the United States hadn't dropped both bombs. =A0=A0=A0 Prince said the situation has proven ironically fortuitous for the= =20 anti-nuke activists. The group still intends to have a rally in Los Alamos=20 with a march to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. =A0=A0=A0 The group has reserved the park and lodge for July 16, the anniver= sary of=20 the 1945 Trinity test, when Manhattan Project scientists from Los Alamos=20 exploded a prototype of the plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki. =A0=A0=A0 Because many communities host their own rallies on the August=20 anniversaries, Prince said, having the Los Alamos rally in July actually=20 frees up more out-of-state and international activists to attend. =A0=A0=A0 "We anticipate there will be a much larger turnout," Prince said. =A0=A0=A0 The group doesn't have its rally entirely planned yet, either, but= Prince=20 said it will likely include speeches from A-bomb survivors and what she=20 called "high-profile" speakers. =A0=A0=A0 The rally previously has attracted Hollywood stars. Actor Martin S= heen=20 was taken into custody during the march two years ago. =A0=A0=A0 The weapons lab has no role in either rally, although Citizens for= LANL=20 Employee Rights, a group of lab employees, says it opposes the usurpation of= =20 the peace rally. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 06:46:50 -0500 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) Please publish 20th Anniversary announcement? We surely would appreciate it if you include in your organization's next newsletter the following announcement. Thanks! Ellen Thomas - prop1@prop1.org - - http://prop1.org - ----- Come to the Antinuclear Vigil's 20th anniversary; surround the White House Sunday, June 3rd, 2001! There is still time to get ready for the 20th anniversary event in Lafayette Park on June 3rd, 2001, celebrating the continuing existence of the antinuclear vigil outside the White House, 24 hours a day since June 3, 1981. We hope you will help fill the park with people calling for global abolition of nuclear weapons, a stop to Star Wars, conversion of arms industries to clean energy systems, etc. Spread the word, please? Phone, email, write, invite every thinking person you know! Please let us know if you or others are planning to come, and to recommend speaker(s). The event will be from noon to dark; bring drums, banners and signs, literature, petitions, letters to President Bush, puppets, etc. Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil Proposition One Committee PO Box 27217, Washington DC 20038 202-462-0757 - fax 202-265-5389 http://prop1@prop1.org - http://prop1.org *** BAN ALL RADIOACTIVE BOMBS * depleted uranium, fission, neutron * Online Petition! - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html Write Letter to Congress - http://prop1.org/prop1/letter.htm Depleted uranium keeps on killing! - http://prop1@prop1.org/2000/du/dulv.htm NucNews - http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 13:23:44 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Making the links: globalization and military Dear Friends, Local planning for the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in Quebec is taking place around the country. (see below) We need to build on the work begun to make the connections between globalization and the military which works to enforce corporate power around the world. See if there's a planning group in your area and try to link up. Bring your literature about nuclear abolition, arms spending, budget priorities, space warfare to dominate the heavens in order to protect US interests and investments, etc. This is our chance to join a movement with energy and power and make the important links. Regards, Alice Slater a20: Quebec, April 20 2001 - 36 days until the next International Day of Action! http://www.a20.org - ---------------------------------------- April 18-22 Corporate leaders and heads of state are headed to Quebec to discuss the FTAA, the Free Trade Area of the Americas: "think NAFTA on steroids." This trade pact extends the impact of NAFTA to the rest of Central and South America, in a hemispheric "race to the bottom...." From the AFL-CIO "...the trade bureaucrats and corporate lobbyists will have company. Trade unionists, environmentalists, students, family farmers, women, people of faith, and representatives from indigenous communities will be gathering in the streets, convention halls, churches, and schools of Quebec City to make their voices heard." http://www.stopftaa.org/organize/org_aflcio.html 50 events listed in 40 cities http://www.a20.org/calendar.cfm International Contact List http://www.a20.org/network.cfm Add your events: http://www.a20.org/form_calendar.cfm http://www.a20.org http://www.stopftaa.org http://www.quebec2001.net http://www.alternatives-action.org/salami http://www.oqp2001.org Ten Reasons to Oppose the FTAA - http://www.globalexchange.org/ftaa/topten.html The FTAA and AIDS - http://www.a20.org/feature.cfm?ID=45 FTAA Factsheet - http://www.tradewatch.org/FTAA/factsheet.htm Citing the case of US-based waste disposal company Metalclad, which used NAFTA to sue a small Mexican town for prohibiting construction of a toxic waste processing plant, the city of Vancouver has unanimously passed a resolution requesting the Canadian government not sign the FTAA. http://www.canadianliberty.bc.ca In an assault on democratic principles the draft documents are being kept secret. A coalition of US organizations led by the Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund has sued US trade representatives for release of the text http://www.earthjustice.org/news/pr030701.htm Responding to the Globe and Mail (2/24) Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew defends the secrecy: "there is nothing better than transparency, and nothing to fear from those texts, I hope very much that they will be made public but I cannot do it unilaterally. You have to understand that they belong to 34 countries..." Liberate the text campaign http://www.art-us.org/ Dispatches from Quebec - ---------------------------------------- Ending its comical three-week life, a bylaw passed by a Quebec City suburb to bar people from concealing their faces with scarves or masks at the Summit of the Americas has been scrapped, according to the Toronto Star (3/7). Ste-Foy Mayor Andree Boucher said she "listened to her conscience" and decided to respect individual rights and the presumption of innocence. http://www.torontostar.com Housing in Quebec has been unavailable at public institutions or recreation facilities as a result of official pressure. The shortage is so extreme that OQP2001 and CASA have issued a press release stating "thousands to be without shelter during the Summit of the Americas" and requesting the cooperation of public authorities. http://www.oqp2001.org Transportation info http://www.geocities.com/ericsquire/transprt.htm The northern border: The Vermont Mobilization for Global Justice is planning crucial support on the Vermont side of the US-Canadian border including housing, an independent media center, and other events http://www.vermontactionnetwork.org Community activists in Kingston ON are inviting all FTAA opponents to take part in a border action caravan to "fight against international capital every inch of the way." Contact Smash FTAA http://www.tao.ca/~kdawg/smashftaa.html , ON/NY regional listserve: send an email with "Smash FTAA' in the subject line to msilburn@kingston.net The southern border: The Mexico-US Mass Mobilization to Liberate the Border is planning an April 21 multinational day of protest in support of worker's rights, immigrant rights, indigenous rights and the environment. 626-403-2530 borderactions@aol.com List Serve: send e-mail to border01-subscribe@yahoogroups.com http://www.actionla.org/border On the road: - ---------------------------------------- Trash Dragons and the System along with the Insurrection Landscapers are touring the US and Canada with their zany puppet show. http://www.hozomeen.org/insurrection In February and March 2001 the Turning Point Road Show will be touring the American southeast (FL, GA, SC, NC, VI, KT, AL, MS, TN). Focusing on corporate globalization as well as the secret negotiations currently to construct the FTAA. Info, or to schedule a stop in your town: solilawrence@yahoo.com Call To Action (CtA) Spring 2001 tour - Skills and issues workshops focusing on the FTAA and its poster-child: Citigroup. If your group is interested in tackling the prison industrial complex, third world debt, forest destruction and predatory lending as well as expanding your organizing skills, then bring us to your town. Contact: campaigns@calltoaction.org 503-804-9378 http://www.calltoaction.org Through March and April, ending in Quebec City April 15-21, Rights Action will be traveling with community human rights and development activists from Honduras, Guatemala and Chiapas through the US and Canada, speaking in public educational forums. Info, or to schedule a stop: Rights Action, formerly Guatemala Partners, Grahame Russell 416-654-2074 info@rightsaction.org http://www.rightsaction.org Coming Events: - ---------------------------------------- 3/13 Washington DC Commemorating the 13th anniversary of the massacre of student activists in Burma, there will be a rally at the Burmese embassy in Washington DC to pressure the military regime to end all human rights abuses. 2300 S Street NW 7pm. Info: Jeremy Woodrum 202-547-5985 jeremy@freeburmacoalition.org Sign the on-line petition to ban the Burmese regime's membership in the United Nations - www.freeburmacoalition.org 3/16-3/18 Vancouver FTAA Teach-In: social, economic and ecological impacts of the FTAA on the populations of its participants and beyond, with a specific focus on available alternatives. $5-$20 sliding. 604-623-5333 http://mobglobvan.tao.ca 3/17th Buffalo NY will be hosting a regional planning meeting to discuss April's FTAA action here. Activists from NY to PA to Ohio to Toronto to anywhere and everywhere in a days drive are welcome and encouraged to join us to plan a massive non-violent rally, concerts, teach-ins and more http://www.a22buffalo.org 4/5-4/7 After the strong backing which they received at the World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre, Argentina's popular organizations are preparing the first ever global resistance demonstration in the Buenos Aires area. Contact Adrian Ruiz - ATTAC Argentina argentina@attac.org International Calendar http://www.a20.org/calendar.cfm International Contact List http://www.a20.org/network.cfm http://www.indymedia.org http://www.directactionnetwork.org http://www.earthfirstjournal.org http://www.protest.net Would you like to help with http://www.a20.org - we need layout, translation, and graphics support: e-mail info@a20.org - --Steven Doll steven@a20.org - ---------------------------------------- From the combined e-mail lists of http://www.a16.org | http://www.d2kla.org Unsubscribe: http://www.a16.org/postmaster.cfm?ID=1190&token=796445&action=unsubscribe Update your listing: http://www.a16.org/postmaster.cfm?ID=1190&token=796445&action=edit 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 http://www.gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network for the elimination nuclear weapons. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 15:25:03 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: (Radfood list) Action Alert: Beware of these Brands! >Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 13:29:09 -0500 >Subject: (Radfood list) Action Alert: Beware of these Brands! >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >From: "npetrie@citizen.org" > >Action Alert: Beware of these Brands! > >Apologies for cross-postings. > >The following is a list of the brand names under which companies are >selling irradiated food. If you see any of these brands on the shelves of >your local grocery store and see the phrase "treated by [or with] >irradiation" and the radura , tell the manager you will not buy it, and >let us know. The irradiation labeling will be very small. > > >Brand Names of Irradiated Beef and Chicken Products > >-Colorado Boxed Beef > "New Generation" > >-Huisken Meats > "Huisken Beef Patties" > "RG's Beef Patties" > >-Emmpak Foods > "Our Own Kitchen" > >-Excel > "Fairview Farms" > >If you get your meat delivered to your home, ask the driver if the food is >irradiated. If it is, refuse to take it and cancel your subscription >noting that you will no longer purchase the company's products until they >stop irradiating. > > >Home Delivery Services Selling Irradiated Food > >-Omaha Steaks > all ground beef products > >-Schwan's > "Quarter Pound Beef Burgers" > "Thick & Juicy Beef Burgers" > "Cracked Peppercorn Beef Burgers" > "Ground Chuck Beef Burgers" > "Introductory Sampler" (includes Quarter Pound Beef Burgers) > > >Fresh Fruit That May Appear In The Produce Section > >-Hawaii Pride > papaya, rambutan, star fruit, lychee and atemoya > > > >If your local grocery store is selling irradiated food, please contact us >at: > >Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, 215 >Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003 >Phone: 202-546-4996, Fax: 202-547-7392 >Email: cmep@citizen.org > >If you would like to be removed from the radfood list, send an email to >npetrie@citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe radfood" in the subject. > >To learn more about food irradiation, visit our website at >www.citizen.org/cmep . > >Questions about the radfood list can be directed to npetrie@citizen.org . > >In addition to the radfood email list we have a stopirradiation email >list. The stopirradiation list is our irradiated food discussion group >list. This list allows participants discuss food irradiation through >their postings to other subscribers to the list. It is moderated so there >will be no excess of non-irradiated food related material. Subscribers >to this list can expect frequent postings. To subscribe to the >stopirradiation list send and email to cmep@citizen.org with the words >"subscribe stopirradiation" in the subject. To unsubscribe send an email >to cmep@citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe stopirradiation" in the >subject. > - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 17:33:33 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Radioactive Tumbleweeds Redux >Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 13:00:46 -0500 >Subject: Radioactive Tumbleweeds Redux >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: bananas@lists.speakeasy.org, nuke-waste@igc.topica.com >From: "bobschaeffer@earthlink.net" > > This story resurfaces every couple years. If you ignore the insipid >attempt at humor by the reporter, there's actualy a significant >underlying problem being described here. > > HANFORD BATTLES RUSSIAN INVADERS:=20 > RADIOACTIVE PLANTS COST PLENTY TO SNAG AS TUMBLEWEEDS=20 > The Associated Press- March 10, 2001 > By Linda Ashton > > RICHLAND - The Cold War may be over, but the Hanford nuclear >reservation continues to battle Russian invaders - radioactive tumblin' >tumbleweeds.=20 > Russian thistle is a dead menace here on the windswept desert of >south-central Washington. Each winter, the deep taproot on the plant >decays, and the spiny brown skeleton above ground breaks off and rolls >away.=20 > "Our dream is that we have this place tumbleweed-free," says Ray >Johnson, a biological-control manager for radiation protection at Fluor >Hanford, the contractor managing the U.S. Department of Energy site.=20 > But that's about as likely as a Soviet reunion.=20 > Less than 1 percent of the tumbleweeds corralled and compacted at >Hanford are radioactive, but the ones that are cost a bundle to clean >up.=20 > Hanford is the most-contaminated nuclear site in the country, built >in 1943 for the top-secret Manhattan Project. For 40 years, Hanford made >plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the atomic bomb >that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.=20 > Russian thistle, a nonnative or invader species, is a particular >problem at burial sites for radioactive waste, where their taproots >reach down as far as 20 feet and suck up such nasty elements as >strontium and cesium.=20 > A stiff winter wind can send the tumbleweed as far away as four >miles, and then "we've lost control of our contamination," Johnson says. >But most get hung up within a few hundred yards, usually on sagebrush, >fences or in stairwells at the buildings scattered across the site.=20 > Two years ago, uncontrolled contamination spread by fruit flies at >the site made Hanford a national laughingstock, spoofed by humor >columnist Dave Barry and in the syndicated comic strip "Sylvia."=20 > The flies had been attracted to a soil fixative with saccharin in >the base that was being sprayed on a contaminated site. They flew to a >lunchroom and spread the taint to nearby trash bins, which wound up at >the Richland municipal landfill.=20 > Johnson can laugh - a little bit - about it now, recalling attempts >to find the source of the contamination. As crews ran radiation >detectors around the lunchroom and passed over a fruit fly, "the >contamination flew away," he recalls.=20 > The journeys of a few thousand fruit flies cost $2.5 million to >clean up.=20 > Riding herd on Hanford's tumbleweeds and its flying insects is part >of an annual $4 million integrated soil, vegetation and animal control >(ISVAC) program, run by DynCorp. for Fluor.=20 > Radiation-control specialists survey the tumbleweeds on the >560-square-mile reservation, using Geiger-M=FCller counters that click >when radioactivity is present. If contaminated tumbleweeds are found, a >crew is called in for disposal duty.=20 > "The weeds are fairly low danger," says Todd Ponczoch, a >radiation-control technician, scanning tumbleweeds along a fenceline >with a Geiger-M=FCller counter. None was registering as radioactive on a >recent trip.=20 > A large, 3-pound radioactive tumbleweed might measure out at 150 >millirads, or about a hundreth of the allowable annual dose of radiation >per person at Hanford.=20 > Radioactive tumbleweeds are pitchforked by specially trained and >clothed workers into a regulated garbage truck, compacted and disposed >of at an on-site, low-level waste dump. A trail of paperwork is required >as well.=20 > The sites must be satisfactorily cleaned up and covered with 6 >inches of good fill material.=20 > Nonradioactive tumbleweeds are territory for the Teamsters.=20 > "It's an easy job. It gets us outside," says Joe Aldridge, a >Teamster from Richland, as he pitchforks a plant into the garbage truck, >which can hold about 1,800 pounds of tumbleweeds. "Digging ditches is a >lot worse."=20 > The uncontaminated tumbleweeds are dumped in an open pit. Up until >five or six years ago, the "clean" tumbleweeds were burned, and the ash >was buried. But the state Department of Health put a halt to that >practice for fear that some radioactive tumbleweeds might find their way >into the mix and disperse contamination into the air.=20 > Preventive measures are also part of the control program and include >backpack, roadside and aerial spraying with herbicide to kill the >thistle. Sometimes a bio-barrier - a costly engineered textile - is laid >down to block the formation of thistle roots.=20 > "What you've got to do is make sure your contaminated areas are >tumbleweed-free," Johnson says.=20 > Clearly, this isn't Kansas, where at least two enterprising souls >are raising Russian thistles, turning them into tumbleweeds and selling >them for home d=E9cor. But in the vast, open and uncontaminated portions >of the reservation, some areas are simply left to nature.=20 > Even Johnson acknowledges their rightful place in the world: "If we >didn't have them, the West wouldn't be the West, and we couldn't sing >`Tumblin' Tumbleweeds.' " > =20 - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 15:24:06 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: (CMEP-list) The Domenici Deception: Nuclear Energy Bill Is an Atomic Waste We have to ask out Senators to stop this!! Alice Slater >Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 15:48:28 -0500 >Subject: (CMEP-list) The Domenici Deception: Nuclear Energy Bill Is an Atomic Waste >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >From: "npetrie@citizen.org" > >Apologies for cross postings. > > >March 9, 2001 > >The Domenici Deception: Nuclear Energy Bill Is an Atomic Waste > >WASHINGTON, D.C. - A sweeping nuclear energy bill introduced this week in >the Senate would promote an increased reliance on nuclear power under the >guise of environmentalism and would improperly give the nuclear industry a >$100 million subsidy, according to Public Citizen's analysis of the bill. > >Promoting nuclear power is risky because questions about its safety still >abound and we still cannot guarantee safe storage of nuclear waste for the >duration of its hazardous life. > >The bill, introduced by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and entitled "The >Nuclear Energy Electricity Supply Assurance Act of 2001," would encourage >the construction of new nuclear plants, subsidize the completion of >unfinished reactors that have lain fallow for years and promote the >development of reactor designs that lack containment structures to prevent >the release of radiation into the environment and surrounding communities. > >"Senator Domenici's nuclear energy bill is yet another misguided attempt >to subsidize this most dangerous and unforgiving technology," said Wenonah >Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment >Program. "It is thoroughly irresponsible to promote the use of nuclear >power when there is still no technically feasible means of assuring that >long-lived radioactive wastes can be isolated from the environment. >Further, this will do nothing to solve the current predicament we have >with rising electricity costs." > >The Domenici bill also would approve a shift from formal hearings - which >give the public the right to obtain documents through discovery and to >cross-examine hearing participants - to informal hearings, in which the >public can do neither. This would curtail the ability of citizens to >adequately participate in the licensing hearings on a proposed >"high-level" waste repository at Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, and on safety >issues at more than 100 U.S. nuclear reactors. > >"Senator Domenici wants to turn Americans into second-class citizens by >limiting our public hearing and participation rights," said James Riccio, >senior analyst for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment >Program. >"Shielding the nuclear industry from public scrutiny will further >undermine confidence in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the >industry. If the nuclear industry cannot withstand the rigors of formal >hearings, their reactors and nuclear waste dumps should not be built," >added Riccio. > >The Domenici bill would extend the Price Anderson Act, which indemnifies >the nuclear industry against the financial consequences of a nuclear >accident. The bill also would encourage the construction of more reactors >while limiting the liability of the nuclear industry in the event of an >accident. The bill would allow foreign corporations to own and operate >nuclear reactors in the United States, which would mean that U.S. >taxpayers would be subsidizing foreign corporations while exercising >limited controls over their operations. > >"I fail to see why the American taxpayer should indemnify foreign >corporations whose nuclear reactors threaten the lives and livelihoods of >American citizens," Hauter said. "Foreign and domestic corporations that >expose the public to the risk of a nuclear disaster should be held >financially accountable for their actions. Shielding nuclear corporations >from the consequences of their actions will only result in more dangerous >nuclear plants and waste dumps." > >The Domenici bill also would create an Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel >Research to promote dangerous and discredited technologies such as the >reprocessing of radioactive waste, which would cost $10 million alone in >2002. > >"This does nothing to solve the nuclear waste problem but instead >introduces a host of new environmental and safety problems," Hauter said. >"It merely serves as a smokescreen to mask the problems that would be >exacerbated by the increased reliance on nuclear power that this bill >promotes." > >The bill's proposed remedy for the failure of electricity deregulation - >taxpayer subsidizing of the operation of more nuclear reactors - simply >would complicate this country's self-inflicted power crisis, Hauter said. >By propping up a dangerous and failed technology, the legislation ignores >proven alternatives such as wind, solar and energy conservation, she said. > >"The massive subsidies and radioactive waste clean-up costs are so >staggering that nuclear power will only increase already sky-high >wholesale electricity prices," Hauter said. "The prescription for the >failure of electricity deregulation is to re-establish public authority >over profiteering power producers." > >Finally, the overarching problem with the bill is that nuclear reactors >are neither clean nor safe, Riccio said. For Senate Republicans to >promote nuclear power as environmentally friendly is at best deceptive and >constitutes the worst kind of corporate welfare, he said. > > >If you would like to be removed from the cmep-list, send an email to >cmep@citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe cmep" in the subject. > >Questions about the CMEP-list can be directed to cmep@citizen.org > >To learn more about this and other issues Critical Mass Energy Project >works on, visit our website at www.citizen.org . > >Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project > > >Questions about the CMEP-list can be directed to cmep@citizen.org > - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 18:52:09 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) GREENPEACE Star Wars Action &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Greenpeace Activist News Vol. 1, No. 3 8 March 2001 ACT NOW TO STOP THE US "STAR WARS" PROGRAM ************************************************ The Rainbow Warrior is approaching the remote Pacific atoll of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands where we will confront the US military and oppose a scheduled Star Wars test. Incoming US President George W. Bush is moving rapidly ahead with a "Star Wars" program to spend billions of dollars building a system to shoot down missiles with yet more missiles. If this program continues, it will violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and may start a new nuclear arms race. So far, 1291 people have sent letters to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 1052 people have sent letters to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and 960 people have sent letters to Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. This is a good start, but not nearly enough to send a strong message to these leaders. We need your help. If you have not yet sent letters to all three of these leaders, please do it now, by visiting our Cyberactivist Centre at - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:53:33 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: DR Jay Gould On Cancer, Disease & Nuclear Power >Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 21:08:59 -0500 >Subject: DR Jay Gould On Cancer, Disease & Nuclear Power >To: nci@nci.org, nrdcaction@nrdc.org, japan@nonukesasiaforum.org, westcan@egroups.com, du-list@egroups.com, earthisland@igc.apc.org, earthfirst@igc.org, worldwatch@igc.apc.org, talia@dir.tsu.ru, jaume.morron@retemail.es, choe@jinbo.net, secretariat@wise-paris.org, ecodefense@ecodefense.kaliningrad.ru, hduha@ecn.cz, nucnews@egroups.com, nukenet@envirolink.org, doewatch@egroups.com, downwinders@egroups.com >From: "smirnowb@ix.netcom.com" > > > > Any journalists wanting to contact Dr Gould can reach him at: >JayMGould@aol.com > > > > > Jay M. >Gould, Director >Radiation and Public Health Project >PO Box 330, Unionville NY 10988 > > 2001 > Dear Friend > > I enclose an exchange of letters carried in a recent issue of The Nation > magazine, which describes the remarkable success of our Tooth Fairy >study. > We have to date analyzed the radioactive strontium levels (called Sr90) in > 2500 baby teeth of children, mainly born in recent years near nuclear > reactors, and have found that about half have levels far above the >expected > trace levels, in some cases 30 or 40 times higher! When we have about > 10,000 baby teeth we hope then to collect medical histories of each child >to > ascertain the degree to which children with high levels have had such > childhood illnesses as asthma, learning disabilities, infections etc. We > already know that a disproportionate number have cancer, extremely rare >for > children. > > We think that our findings may eventually replicate the success of the >first > baby teeth study started by Dr. Barry Commoner in St. Louis in 1958, >which > found , after collecting 60,000 teeth ,that Sr90 levels rose one-hundred >fold > from 1948 to 1963. In that year President Kennedy asked Dr. Ernest >Sternglass > to testify to Congress on radiation-induced childhood cancer, to >accelerate > the ratification of the ban on above-ground nuclear bomb tests. Dr. > Sternglass is the scientific director of our current baby teeth study. > > We are however now facing an embarrassment of riches. The number of baby > teeth that we are now collecting from our web site (www.radiation.org) and > from appeals by Alec Baldwin and Christie Brinkley as concerned parents, >is > rising so rapidly that we may reach our goal of 10,000 teeth within the >next > year or two. But since the cost of testing each tooth cannot fall below >$50 >, > we will need to raise far more funds for testing than the one million > dollars raised so far from a small number of family foundation and > individuals. > > So we are turning to all our friends and teeth donors, who generally >cannot > afford more than $50--the cost of testing one tooth.. If you feel that >our > study merits support, please send a check for $50, (or more) to the >above > address as a tax-deductible contribution . At the same time copy this >letter > and enclosure to send to all your friends who you believe may also respond > positively, by again copying this letter for their friends. (This letter >will >also be available on our web site). We believe in this way we will have > enough small donations to move the big foundations to help complete our > study. > > The enclosed letter exchange illustrates the irony that our study is >opposed > by the federal government which has been measuring Sr90 levels in adult > vertebra each year since 1954 but inexplicably terminated these efforts in > 1982. Passionate appeals from Baldwin and Brinkley moved the New Jersey > Legislature to approve a grant of $ 75,000 to analyze baby teeth from > children living near the notoriously malfunctioning Oyster Creek reactor, > but Governor Christie Whitman (now EPA administrator) vetoed this tiny >grant > from a multi- billion dollar state budget. Similar grants of $60,000 from > the legislatures of Suffolk and Westchester counties have been blocked by >the > New York State Department of Health, so that it is clear that our only > resource is the potential support of the millions of persons who are > learning that our health is threatened by nuclear reactor emissions, the > only possible source of the ominous Sr90 levels we are finding in baby >teeth. > > Sincerely > > Jay M. Gould > Letters to the Nation March 26,2001 > NUCLEAR POWER &US > New York City > I would like to provide an update on some remarkable events that >followed > Joseph Mangano's epidemiological discovery that closing the Rancho Seco > reactor in 1989 was followed by an enormous improvement in infant >mortality > and childhood cancer (Harvey Wasserman, "No Nukes--Better Health" Jan.29). > Mangano has now found that mortality rates for all age groups in these >areas > have, since 1989, improved for all diseases mediated by the immune >response. > San Francisco, for example (only 70 miles from Rancho Seco) had in 1998 >the > lowest age-adjusted mortality rate of any large US county, with >extraordinary > declines since 1990 in all cancers, including breast and prostate, and in >all > infectious diseases. Even AIDS death rates by1998 have declined to the >level > of 1979 . > As a result of local grassroots dissemination of these facts and a > generous grant from the CEO of a large San Francisco company, Mangano may > soon be able to offer clinical as well as epidemiological proof of the > benefits of closing reactors. As national coordinator of our Tooth Fairy > Project, which has been finding ominously high levels of bone-seeking > radioactive strontium (Sr90) in the baby teeth of about 2000 children born >in > recent years that could not be the result of past superpower above-ground > nuclear bomb tests, he may soon be able to ascertain the change, if any, >in > the ratios of Sr90 to calcium in the baby teeth of children born before >and > after reactor closings. > Nation readers can give us invaluable support by collecting baby teeth > from anyone born in recent years, or even from baby boomers born as far >back > as the bomb test years of the 1950s, for we > have found that they have the same incredibly high levels, after >correction > for the 29 year half life of Sr90, that prompted President Kennedy to > terminate such above-ground tests in 1963. Please visit our website, > www.radiation.org, and/or call 800 582 3716 for envelopes for baby teeth. >JAY > M. G0ULD > Radiation > and Public HealthProject Inc > > Oak Ridge,Tenn > Harvey Wasserman has shown again how adept he is at picking out a >tidbit > of bad science to support his views ,while ignoring the vast storehouse of > real science. He claims nuclear power is causing cancers and other health > effects, based on a largely debunked study sponsored by an anti-nuclear > group. Not mentioned is the National Cancer Institute study that examined > 90,000 cancer deaths near nuclear plants spanning 34 years and found no > connection between the operation of reactors and cancer. This is only one >of > several highly reputable studies that have come to the same conclusion. > Ironically. The Nation recently published Ross Gelbspan's editorial on > the seriousness of global warming. Any plan to deal effectively with this > potentially devastating problem must contain signifiacnt levels of nuclear > energy, which produces no greenhouse gases. Even the Clinton >Administration's > strategy to meet the Kyoto goals required substantial electricity >production > from nuclear plants. > The fair-minded observer must agree that US nuclear plants have been a > safe source of electricity. And as we try to find our way out of the > increasingly frequent power crisis, it will probably be an important > component for the foreseeable future. Dr. THEODORE M. > BRESMANN > Oak >Ridge > National Laboratory > Wasserman replies > Columbus Ohio > > It's great fun when pro-nukers confirm the realities of global warming > even while denying the devastating health and environmental impacts of >their > brand of radiation poisoning. No government or industry-funded will admit >to > the connection between nuclear power and cancer. But hidden in virtually >all > of them is damning hard evidence to the contrary. The cure for global >warming > lies in wind, solar and efficiency, not in an economically catastrophic > technology that kills people and the planet. > And kudos as always to Jay Gould and the vital work done by him and his > colleagues in searching out the health impacts of this failed technology. > See-no-evil doesn't cut it when radiation is being dumped into our > bodies--and those of our children. HARVY >WASSERNAN > > Gould rejoinder to Besmann (to be published later) > As explained in my book The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near > Nuclear Reactors, reviewed by Blanche Cook in the Dec.7, 1997 issue of The > Nation, the National Cancer Institute study that found no connection >between > reactor emissions and cancer, compared cancer deaths in counties with > reactors with cancer deaths in adjoining counties with the bizarre >assumption > that reactor emissions would stop at the county border! JAY M. >GOULD > > >As an aside, please read this to see why the concept of nuclear power as a >"solution" to global warming is a pathetic joke: >http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/globalwarming2.html > > -Bill Smirnow > - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #429 *********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.