Thursday, March 31, 2011

Uranium/Nuclear Snake Oil Vendors

This article deserves to be read in it's entirety. According to Chip Ward:

When nuclear reactors blow, the first thing that melts down is the truth. Just as in the Chernobyl catastrophe almost 25 years ago when Soviet authorities denied the extent of radiation and downplayed the dire situation that was spiraling out of control, Japanese authorities spent the first week of the Fukushima crisis issuing conflicting and confusing reports. We were told that radiation levels were up, then down, then up, but nobody aside from those Japanese bureaucrats could verify the levels and few trusted their accuracy. The situation is under control, they told us, but workers are being evacuated. There is no danger of contamination, but stay inside and seal your doors.
The First Atomic Snow Job

The bureaucratization of horror into bland and reassuring pronouncements was to be expected, especially from an industry where misinformation is the rule. Although you might suppose that the nuclear industry’s outstanding characteristic would be its expertise, since it’s loaded with junior Einsteins who grasp the math and physics required to master the most awesomely sophisticated technology humans have ever created, think again. Based on the record, it’s most outstanding characteristic is a fundamental dishonesty. I learned that the hard way as a grassroots activist organizing opposition to a scheme hatched by a consortium of nuclear utilities to park thousands of tons of highly radioactive fuel rods, like the ones now burning at Fukushima, in my Utah backyard.

Here’s what I took away from that experience: the nuclear industry is a snake-oil culture of habitual misrepresentation, pervasive wishful thinking, deep denial, and occasional outright deception. For more than 50 years, it has habitually lied about risks and costs while covering up every violation and failure it could. Whether or not its proponents and spokespeople are dishonest or merely deluded can be debated, but the outcome -- dangerous misinformation and the meltdown of honest civic discourse -- remains the same, as we once again see at Fukushima....

Monday, March 21, 2011

Corporate News Fails US once again....

A ThinkProgress analysis of press coverage by the three major U.S. cable news networks — CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News — from March 14 to March 18 finds that Bahrain received only slightly more than ten percent as many mentions as Libya and that Yemen received only six percent as many mentions as Libya:

Libya: Libya was mentioned 9,524 times by the major cable news networks.
Bahrain: Bahrain was mentioned 1,587 times by the major cable news networks.
Yemen: Yemen was only mentioned 599 times by the major cable news networks.
The lack of coverage of the situation in Bahrain and Yemen isn’t disturbing just because the atrocities being committed there merit coverage. It’s especially alarming because, unlike Libya, both are close U.S. allies and recipients of major U.S. military and economic assistance — meaning that the U.S. actually bears a responsibility to make sure its assistance is not being used in ways that are contrary to American values.
"...if protecting financial consumers — and helping the millions of Americans struggling to hold onto their homes — isn’t worth fighting for, then what is?" Why Elizabeth Warren should be the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Nuclear is the worst investment for jobs

According to this study taxpayer dollars should NOT be diverted to nuclear technology since it has the worst record for jobs creation. Agriculture, water infrastructure, solar, wind, smart grid, roads and bridges repair, livestock, crop agriculture provide more jobs per dollar.

In addition the corporate generated myth of nuclear as clean energy is now being exposed as a big lie with the most recent disaster in Japan.

In this age of terrorism we need safe, clean, sustainable energy--let's invest in the technology of the future and create more jobs per dollar with wind, solar, biomass and let the private investors do nuclear if they so desire but without the taxpayer funded corporate welfare.

Solar energy is CHEAPER than nuclear (and will continue to grow cheaper than nuclear over time) and it creates more jobs.
Contact your state and federal officials and tell them NO taxpayer bailout for nuclear profiteers. We need value for our tax dollars...end the government bailouts for corporate profiteers!

Quote for the Day involves Nuclear Reality

"As a physician, I contend that nuclear technology threatens life on our planet with extinction. If present trends continue, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink will soon be contaminated with enough radioactive pollutants to pose a potential health hazard far greater than any plague humanity has ever experienced." --Dr. Helen Caldicott

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Water Story



Virginia needs more tax money. Our greatest resource is our water.

Why not have a bottle deposit to protect our water and use this money for protecting our water and our environment?

And while you are thinking about water....remember we need to protect our water.

Support Virginia's moratorium on uranium mining.