From: Russell David Hoffman, deeply concerned citizen
Re: There's a pearl in here!: Stop Cassini #209
Date: October 17th, 1999 -- 75 days before Y2K
This issue's subjects:
Boston Red Sox fans were rightly outraged by the double-play that clearly wasn't, and then the Yankee bats started stinging and the fat lady started singing. Silence befell the crowd. Down just a run, then two, it quickly turned into a rout. And just when the fans thought it couldn't get any worse, what happens but another questionable call? Normally, a tie goes to the runner, but this one went to the Yankees, who were already ahead 9 to 2. But in the end, it wasn't the bad calls the ruined the game for Boston, unless you believe that stuff about morale. The fans started throwing things onto the field after the Red Sox manager got himself ejected for shaking his finger at the umpire (he might of said something offensive, too). The umpires had to clear the field and get the place cleaned up. The Yankee bullpen never did go back out. Mariano Rivera closed it out when things finally were restarted.
A guy with a STAFF jacket started to get in a scuffle with a Yankee player! The camera focused in on the back of a guy we were led to believe was the STAFF member involved so evidently, he hadn't been ejected.
Steinbrenner was his usual class act in an interview after the game. None of the players were interviewed. The Yankees didn't want to stick around and gloat and the Red Sox, who lost 9 to 2, didn't want to talk about it. So Steinbrenner got to say something. He said that before tonight, he had been planning on voting for Jimy Williams for manager of the year. As to the crowd, he said it could have happened at any ballpark but it's unfortunate that it happened in Boston, where everyone had treated them so well so far.
The Yankees lead the best-of-seven series, three to one.
Oh yeah, the curse. I forgot to mention The Curse of the Bambino. It's pretty clear now that if the Yankees go on to win another game out of the next three and take the league championship and go on to face whoever wins in the National League, many will blame it on "The Curse". Others will consider themselves scientific and blame it on the umpires, who didn't actually score a single run for the Yankees. Still others will blame the players for letting the morale-busting botched call indeed, bust their morale. And some will blame Jimmy Williams, the manager.
But Yankee fans everywhere couldn't care less! We loved every minute of it. Shame on Boston! Shame on Boston's fans! Long Live George Steinbrenner, Joe Torre, Mel Stodtlmeyer, Willie Randolph and all the other coaches, players and staff!
I love baseball, because it's still exciting enough to take my mind off of the moral void that may lead us to a nuclear wasteland, just 75 days from now. I love baseball because the best players and managers play the odds and do what winning the game demands, not what the player's stat book or personal pride demands. I loved Billy Martin, rest his soul, and I love anyone who would hire him back five times. Billy was #1.
The Mets and Brave's game went way too long -- umpteen innings. Longest playoff game ever. Finally, my picture-in-picture television had a purpose! And sure enough, if you waited around long enough, it was dramatic, too. I'm not a Mets fan, obviously, but I'm all for a "Subway Series" so I'm rooting for the Mets against the Braves. Besides, miracles are always more fun to watch that mow-downs. The Met batter won the game with a grand slam, but later, had several runs that would have been credited to him taken away -- although the Mets still got the win -- because after touching first base (which made the winning run count) the guy that hit the home run got swamped by other players and never completed the circuit around the bases.
In an interview after the game, he didn't care. After touching first base, he knew they had won the game. The rest was irrelevant. That's focus.
There are 75 days left until Y2K. I hope we can all stay focused.
There is no curse. No unalterable plan. No alien guidance. Nothing but what can be devised and implemented by humans. What we do now matters for all eternity. We can pray that God will help us, but the only sure miracle is the one we cause to happen though our own actions. Yes, I watched baseball today. I also wrote a letter to my local paper (shown below), published this newsletter, and cleaned the kitchen, and read some stuff. I learned in the paper that certain words are now being uttered on television that were previously taboo. Perhaps I should start using them too, BEFORE they lose their effectiveness!
-- Russell Hoffman
This next letter arrived after newsletter #208 went out.
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 15:46:11 +0100
From: savage savage@easynet.co.uk
Organization:
http://www.eco-action.org/
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Subject: Re: May God Save Britain -- STOP CASSINI #208, October 15th, 1999
Hello Mr. Hoffman.
I am confident that RTGs will be
superseeded (sic) by something more acceptable
to the public. But unlike you, I don't believe
that planetary science should wait.
Exploration of space is wonderful, interesting and can have some practical uses back home too, though that shouldn't be a major reason for doing it. But...
This is incredible! The guy is actually proud of the fact that he has a "screw public opinion" attitude! His opinion is more important than that of everyone else!
I would go further than you in reply to him, to tell him that if he thinks his desire to find out things about objects beyond the asteroid belt (a purely hobby-type thing, idle interest with no benefit to the rest of us) should override all our combined will to survive, he is wrong.
Also how does he imagine RTG's will be available for use on his pet project if he achieves his stated aim of abolishing all other nukes? Does he really think that all the enslaved uranium workers around the world, and all those 'relocated' indigenous people who currently can't get justice because of the sheer power of the nuclear industry, will continue to allow themselves to be crapped on by a relatively insignificant branch of research? All these uses of nukes depend totally on the military obsession with mass destruction. If we eliminate that there will be no use of nukes anywhere on the planet. Does he really think that he and his cronies will be able to hold out without the support of the military state against the millions of tribal people the nuclear waste is being dumped on? Their precious research depends directly on the brutal military suppression of people like the Dineh in Big Mountain. But then I suppose exploration beyond the asteroid belt is more important than the lives of a few thousand pesky injuns. Or Siberian natives, or Australian, or whatever.
What's beyond the asteroid belt may be interesting. I care about the greater dangers right here on earth epitomized by the wooly thinking and compliance of people like this, and the arrogant attitude that leads to untold suffering.
If he lived in a proper small community with good internal communications and a strong will to survive he would be cast out into the forest to die.
All for now,
Andy
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 15:51:35 +0100
From: savage
savage@easynet.co.uk
Organization:
http://www.eco-action.org/
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Subject: Re: May God Save Britain -- STOP CASSINI #208, October 15th, 1999
Sorry Russell, what's this about the asteroid belt anyway, is there some kind of semi-permeable membrane there? Or is it that if they get through it without being smashed to bits, its unlikely they will get back again?
He makes out like he's a scientist. I was just wondering what rational basis makes the asteroid belt the place to start having nukes (disregarding the problem of getting them there of course). Is he into mining perhaps? That would explain how the safety line would be there.
Andy
The asteroid belt is exactly like you describe it -- a place to get smashed to bits or not, as the case may be. Depending on the roundness of your trajectory, if you're that far out, you won't be coming back for a while.
In other words, it's a useless line in the cosmic dust storm.
He fired off another letter already! I haven't read it yet. Here it is -- any comments will be welcome --
Russell
The third letter from Sergey Borovik was included. That letter appears in the next item (#3), below. Andy's poignant response appears below it. -- rdh
Previous correspondence with this person was published in the previous newsletter (#208):
From: "Sergey Borovik"
sergey@bigwig.net
To:
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Subject: Alternatives to RTGs
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 21:51:38 -0000
Dear Mr Hoffman.
It will be many years before solar cells
efficient enough to work out to Jupiter's
orbit are developed, many years before
the new ion engines are powerful enough
to do the trip in a reasonable amount of
time, and a decade before the plasma
drive is even test flown in the vicinity of
the Earth. Besides these technologies,
I haven't heard of any alternatives from
the industry. Besides, not even ion engines
and the plasma drive currently under
development will work without electricity
beyond the orbit of Jupiter. If RTGs are
abandoned, what alternatives do you
propose to power outer solar system
space probes?
Everything seems to depend on a
breakthrough in solar cell technology or the
invention of a new type of chemical battery.
I can't see this happening for a while yet,
irrespective of how much money is thrown
at the problem. Until then, I don't see an
alternative to the use of RTGs in space.
You are right about the threat from Britain's
navy - there are dozens of nuclear subs out
there. But, unlike the Russian navy, they always
pay their bills on time! Dounreay is going to
be shut down as soon as it finishes the
current batch of fuel, which should take 10
years or so. As for what measures protect
us, recently a research centre and a nearby
school had to be evacuated because of "a
build-up of unstable silver compounds in a
flask". The authorities acted within minutes,
and the danger passed with no leaks of any
sort. Of course, there is the occasional leak
from Sellafield, and the Irish Sea is the most
radioactive stretch of open water in the world,
but the nuclear industry isn't what it was and
there are measures in place to protect the
public. It is a shame that these situations
arose in the first place, but contingency plans
exist and have been successful so far.
You'll almost certainly make the point that no
response would protect us from the effects of
another Chernobyl, but until the plants are shut
down, that's the risk we run. Oh, and is there
any evidence to suggest that politicians ever
read protest letters? Do world leaders actually
have e-mail addresses? Have they ever replied
to anyone? I'm pretty sure they have people
who screen out this sort of thing, ensuring that
only official communications get through.
Regarding your wish for real-time internet
publication of Geiger-Muller counter readings,
this would be very difficult to apply in Britain
because many areas (particularly Cornwall
and Devon) contain naturally radioactive
bedrock. The gas that seeps out is radioactive
enough to cause higher incidences of
radiation-related illnesses than the rest of the
country. So the radiation in a field near Torquay
could be similar to that in a similar field near
Sellafield.
Sergey Borovik
___________________________________
http://www.bigwig.net/sergey/index.htm
PAX SCIENTIA
Well, what a surprise! The guy does not believe in democracy! He says politicians do not read our letters! He talks about "the risks we run" from nuclear power to get our energy, but it is not US who runs the risk and pays the dues if it fails, it is our children, and their children. He says real-time data would be worthless because background radiation exists above normal levels in some places! Hah! Local baselines are not alien concepts! It's pure science! Raw numbers! He asks if any world leader has ever replied to an email. I believe that's how they get nearly all their information these days.
I don't want to believe we live in the dark ages this fellow describes. If you don't think emails are read, then use an envelope if you think it will work better! Go knock on doors if you think that's what works, or if you think that is what you do best. No effort is wasted, but to make no effort is suicidal. I think Tony Blair is capable of understanding what is going on; I just don't know if he is capable of acting on what he finds out.
-- rdh
At 10:55 PM 10/16/99 +0100, Andy wrote:
There isn't much to be said about that really is there? He's right.
There isn't a currently available alternative.
At the moment the only way I can travel through town at 100mph is in a car. There is no currently available alternative, so all those whiging mothers with kids on pushchairs can just shut up. I'm off to town now. Of course if anyone can think of an alternative way I can get through town at 100mph I'll be glad to kill fewer people on the way. I'm a reasonable chap, after all!
Andy
Hi Andy!
You are one of the most eloquent [writers] on the planet! Your words are priceless and I'm glad that what little there is to say, you're around to say it.
I will be adding that actually, in 1981 the D. E. Rockey report indicated that solar could have been used even back then for the Galileo mission (the one that went haywire earlier this week as it approached Io, as discussed in newsletter #207). So 20 years ago we could have switched! It's total B.S. and just about everything else he says is too -- he feels his (your) Navy is foolproof because they've been paid?
Mercenaries.
Besides, half the stuff he claims is just a "10 year wait" away. So wait the 10 years, and we'll see. After all, I have called for a 100-year moratorium, precisely so that technology can be perfected OR the real damages that would be caused by accidents can be assessed, explained to people, and accepted by a ruling majority of suicidal maniacs.
Of course, I'm hoping that in 100 years, compassion will come to the planet.
Worse though, is his attack on democracy itself, saying the politicians won't read anything we send, it will be filtered out, etc. etc. etc. Perhaps they will try. That is why I begged my readers from Britain to send letters themselves. They cannot turn back a flood! They cannot even turn back a trickle, if it lasts long enough. 208 newsletters might be approaching the breaking point for some politician somewhere. Someone might have a revelation or two, and come to realize who really is in charge here -- not the nuclear demon, the nuclear mafia, the "demon hot atom", or whatever a reasonable person wants to call it.
The world shall be a democracy. That is the only goal any reasonable person wants. We each want a fair voice in what happens, if only to save our own necks, or the necks of our loved ones, our descendants, our friends, co-workers, etc. in an ever-expanding circle. That is the key--the circle expands forever, and whoever else is on this Earth, or has ever been or shall ever be, is my brother, my sister. As you indicate so eloquently, Borovik is out of place is a civilized den. He would be stripped of his powers, denounced all around, were it not that his cult currently holds the hostages (including truth), as well as the guns, and his guards control the media, and they open the doors only as they see fit. His letter ignores most of the points I make. It is a boilerplate response. Not really very detailed. Robotic.
By the way, I've come to realize that the big wheels turn in many directions. Strange things happen.
It really seems, for example, that the loss of the Mars Climate Observer was supposed to be my 15 minutes of television fame, that Friday in Los Angeles, as Jim Spellman pointed out so furiously, but I didn't show up.
Hah! That's my choice!
I knew it might be a set-up. [. . .] I think the letters like Borovik's prove we crossed a turning point in the discussion. I have a whole other set of them from someone else I'm working on. They started out excellent and he floundered utterly. I've been toning my response down prior to sending it, or it would already have been published. Anyway, instead, this Sergey guy shows up to keep the circus rolling.
When MCO was launched 18 months earlier or whatever, possibly, it was just some military bird or other -- nothing ever went to Mars. It was all a bloody setup. Because some people at NASA know I'm right, and some people in the U. S. Government know that many billions have been spent by government because of things I have done. Including, they've learned a lot about how to screw up someone on the Internet, how to smother activists on the search engines, and so forth. I suppose I've helped our side too, but remember -- they are organized and we are not, and the Internet is used best in a very organized fashion!
I know a thing or two about publishing, and the number of emails I get is astounding. Wonderful, enthusiastic emails from people thanking me for my efforts. It's all a show, of course, each issue is a show. The truth is presented in spectacular, living color!
The Greatest Show On Earth!
Do you know I'm from Bridgeport, Connecticut, home of the great Phineous T. Barnum? Sure, I can claim a dozen other cities as my home, but I lived there longer than anywhere else, and grew up almost entirely in the greater Bridgeport area, under the Sikorsky test helicopter flight paths.
I think it is safe to assume that the STOP CASSINI newsletters will be long remembered after I am long gone, God (and stupid humans) willing that there is a world to remember them in. It touches a lot of hearts, and people have told me so hundreds of times (despite only about 200 subscribers, and most of them are spy -- oh, who knows? Who cares?). The newsletter has gotten a lot of famous writers to write for it, sometimes much to their displeasure. High crimes and misdemeanors have been exposed for all to see.
My only "ace in the hole" was the honor of my enemy, and sometimes, as with Dr. Planarian, it was waning, but so far, so good. I have stripped myself and said, "come attack me. I will defend myself with words only, written as if our lives depended on it". So far, people like Borovik are the best they have been able to throw back, and their lines are weak and absurd. I wonder if they don't PRAY that the politicians will not read such trash?
Your contributions, on the other hand, have been among the best of any I have ever received.
Sergey Borovik has no idea of what democracy is, but he knows a good fight when his side needs one, and so here he is. Believe me, his excuses sound very, very plausible to some people, besides himself.
Oh, to finish talking about MCO: The guest of honor did not show up. There I was, supposed to talk to Dan Goldin, and what would that moment do, this polished robotic senseless dummy (I mean Goldin, thank you!) talking to a peasant who had screwed the system a little and won a small victory in a sea of battles?
What was that dance supposed to look like? Maybe God had set the plate. But maybe it was the CIA. But since I couldn't tell, the only move left was to screw the plan. That is what makes me human, isn't it? I determined that with all those people still denying the obvious, there wasn't much sense in showing up. The idea that it was actually a set-up from start to finish, grew when I remembered that -- what a coincidence -- that spook from the sunshine state was going to trek all the way across the nuclear wasteland formerly known as the United States to do a gig at Vandenberg AFB the very next day, Saturday. Why, a month after Cassini, would he, Goldin, Spellman, and countless others suddenly appear in Los Angeles, and then MCO fails, which would make them all (except the spook) look silly -- what was the plan? Discredit the spook? Discredit themselves? I doubt any of that!
I dunno what the plan was, but I did know it wasn't MY party! I hadn't planned this apparently fortuitous -- perhaps even cosmic -- confluence of power aligned against me all in one place, and with media to boot! And none of them were under oath, of course!
I might have been invited, I might even have been the guest of honor, but it simply wasn't my party. It wasn't a proper response to the treachery which was and is Cassini. It was playing their game.
Actually, activists have been doing this more and more lately. Walking out of meetings. Not showing up. Refusing to continue the useless dialogues. I haven't heard a word about what the spook said to the media that day. I don't even know if he was there, really -- that could have been decided minute-to-minute.
But Andy, this sort of thing is exactly why the only way the world will win is if the world unites against ALL the warriors and takes out all these weapons, rewrites the laws to protect the environment, and to allow democracy, for which our forefathers have died time and time again, to flourish.
Otherwise, they will beat the free thinker down and then we will not have a world based on science, based on human reason, based on thought AND compassion, but rather, one based on crass emotion, power, greed, and worse -- the world of today, as it heads down its spiral, soon to pass a far greater point of confluence of power and events, than a couple of space cadets in La La Land -- namely, Y2K.
I fear we've already lost. Like Cassini, it's coming, and the vast majority of people have NO IDEA why they should even be concerned.
Borovik is a waste of time right now, really. Y2K is a million times more important.
Russell
Science is hundreds of thousands of new theories each year, which are added to the sum total of millions and millions of previously published theories. Science knows nukes are nuts. What passes for science in support of nuclear power is a fraud perpetrated by a seriously confused but very powerful minority of humans in an otherwise sane world. -- rdh
This next article arrived today, and it clearly indicates that England is at risk. Well, duh, but it needed to be pointed out with something timely because otherwise they always say, "but that was before!". Aside from the philosophical objections to nuclear power discussed in item #3 (above), this item completely invalidates Sergey Borovik's basic assumptions about what he thinks he knows about the dangers England faces. -- rdh
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 22:20:45 +0000
To:
y2k-nuclear@egroups.com
From: Paul Swann
pswann@easynet.co.uk
Subject: [y2k-nuclear] Re: Uranium Enrichment Plant in Derbyshire, UK
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/99/10/17/stinwenws01051.html?2146252
Sunday Times
October 17 1999
Revealed: Britain's secret nuclear plant
Jon Ungoed-Thomas
A secret nuclear fuel plant processing radioactive material a mile from the centre of a British city has been revealed to have serious safety flaws.
Nuclear fuel more volatile than the uranium which caused the recent radioactive leak at a Japanese facility is being secretly manufactured in the Rolls-Royce plant in Derby.
Highly enriched uranium fuel is processed at the factory for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) - although this has never before been disclosed and the local population has not been told because the work is classified. They are only aware that the factory makes engines for Trident nuclear submarines.
Leaked company documents reveal that there is a risk of a "criticality accident" - the chain reaction which caused the nuclear disaster at a fuel manufacturing plant in Tokaimura last month. It has also emerged that after a safety exercise at the plant this year, inspectors concluded that it was "unable to demonstrate adequate contamination control arrangements". There is still no public emergency plan in case of disaster.
"I can't believe that they make nuclear fuel in Derby and don't have an off-site public emergency plan," said a nuclear safety expert who has visited the plant. "Even in Plymouth where they [the MoD] load the uranium fuel into the submarines, they have a publicised plan for the local population."
In the Tokaimura disaster two weeks ago, clouds of deadly radiation poured out from a nuclear fuel plant after a nuclear fission chain reaction. Most nuclear plants in Britain use fuel containing about 3% uranium 235, but in the Tokaimura incident it was about 20% which was a contributory factor for the chain reaction.
In Derby the fuel is potentially even more unstable, containing more than 90% uranium 235. Rolls-Royce has always said that its marine power division at Raynesway, Derby, makes propulsion systems for nuclear submarines. It has never previously admitted processing the uranium fuel. A leaked document, however, confirms the "manufacture of submarine fuel". It adds: "The essence of the manufacturing process involves incorporating enriched uranium with zircaloy . . . to form elements which are then assembled into core modules. The nature of the fuel demands working practices which minimise the risk of criticality accidents, the control of dose uptake by the workforce and releases to the external environment."
The plant, which is surrounded by razor wire-topped fences and security cameras, is near two housing estates and half a mile from Derby County football club's new ground.
Local residents regularly see lorries entering the site under armed escort but have been unaware of the processing of bomb-grade uranium. "Nobody here has been told they've been handling this kind of material," said Jim Cole, chairman of Waterford Links Residents Association.
The plant, which employs about 1,900 people, has not lodged a public emergency plan with the county council and residents have not been given information about action in the event of a nuclear incident.
However, after the Tokaimura incident, Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) officials visited the Rolls-Royce
Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd.
--------------------------------------------
eGroups.com home:
http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear
http://www.egroups.com
- Simplifying group communications
At 08:02 AM 10/17/99 +0100, Jan wrote:
It seems that US intelligence sources agree with our analysis, but do not predict any problems. Is this another case of psychological dis-connection? Jan
http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/pr101399.html
NIO for Science and Technology Statement
October 13, 1999
-----------------------------------------------
Statement for the Record
Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000
Technology Problem
Foreign Preparedness for Y2K
Lawrence K. Gershwin
National Intelligence Officer
for Science and Technology
Y2K failures affecting nuclear power plants:
fall into two categories: problems that occur outside the nuclear plant (for example, voltage and frequency fluctuations or the collapse of the electricity grid) or, less likely, problems that occur inside the nuclear plant that affect generation capability. Of these two, the first is by far the more serious because nuclear plants depend on off-site electricity to operate. Loss of off-site power or large fluctuations of voltage frequency on the grid would lead to an automatic shutdown. In the event that a prolonged outage occurs, this would require, among other things, that backup systems supply power to pump coolant through the reactor core for about a week until the reactor is below fuel melting temperatures. Therefore, Y2K problems impacting generation capability in conventional plants can affect nuclear plants by causing frequency or voltage fluctuations leading to a possible collapse of the electrical grid. Similarly, Y2K problems within equipment on the grid itself might cause problems leading to the disconnection and shutdown of nuclear power plants.
We judge that those Y2K problems occurring within nuclear power plants probably will pose no direct safety problem because almost all plants have analog, electro-mechanical safety systems that will shut down the reactors if anomalies are detected. Y2K problems in digital non-safety-related systems within the nuclear plants, if they occur, would most likely lead to a reduction in generation capacity or shutdowns.
These Y2K-initiated shutdowns presumably could be conducted in a safe manner, but digital systems experiencing Y2K problems could produce false data that would then be displayed to operators, increasing the chance for operator error and, potentially, accidents. Internally-generated Y2K problems that caused a shutdown could also contribute to instability of the electricity grid by removing generation capacity from the grid. Therefore, Y2K problems at one nuclear power plant could contribute to problems at surrounding power plants.
Soviet-Designed Reactors. We are most concerned about the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear plants, including Chernobyl-type reactors in Russia and Ukraine, due both to inherent design problems of these plants-for example, lack of total containment systems-and to the lack of detailed data on Y2K remediation plans and contingency plans.
The combined effects of possible Y2K-generated internal failures and external power problems (loss of offsite power) increase the risk of a nuclear incident, particularly if operators believe they can compensate for Y2K malfunctions or for power supply reductions in the grid by overriding plant safety systems. Similar operator actions led to the accident at Chernobyl.
At this late date, remediating and testing all Soviet-designed nuclear power plant systems before yearend is not feasible, particularly given the age of the computer systems and the fact that many of the original manufacturers have gone out of business. However, countries possessing these systems have made significant efforts to identify their Y2K-related problems and are working hard to minimize the effects. Moreover, significant international attention and assistance has been beneficial.
The chance of a nuclear incident in Russia, Ukraine, or another state with Soviet-designed reactors during the Y2K rollover is low. It is, however, higher than normal because of the likelihood that the power grid could experience failures, leading to a reliance on emergency power supplies of questionable reliability, because of the possibility that auxiliary generators are inoperable due to maintenance problems or a lack of sufficient fuel, and the potential for erroneous data leading to operator error. In the worst case, this could cause a meltdown and in some cases, an accompanying release of radioactive fission gases causing localized contamination.
Gazprom Gas Deliveries. The dependence of Russian and European markets on gas deliveries from Russia's Gazprom is of particular concern. We know that several countries in Europe have extensive facilities to store natural gas and, in some cases, are preparing to increase their stored reserves in anticipation of possible disruptions in gas supplies at yearend. We cannot, however, estimate the sufficiency of these reserves should Gazprom deliveries be reduced due to Y2K failures. This would depend, in part, on the successful operation of the local pipeline distribution system. Locally severe gas shortages may occur in Russia, Ukraine, and in parts of Central and Eastern Europe due to reduced pipeline efficiency resulting from Y2K problems. Western Europe is at less risk due to greater attention to storage, contingency plans, and remediation of other infrastructure on which gas supply depends.
************************************************
Jan Wyllie
Trend Monitor "The Information Refinery"
3 Tower Street, Portsmouth
Hants. PO1 2JR, UK
Tel: 44 (0)1363 881017
Email:
jan@trendmonitor.com
Web:
www.trendmonitor.com
"only what you need to know"
-----------------------------------------------
Power, 3D graphics, and fun! Experience for yourself why Sega Dreamcast
is the most talked about video game system of the year. Order yours
today! Visit KBkids.com at:
http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/1178
eGroups.com home:
http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear
http://www.egroups.com
- Simplifying group communications
Talk of "chances" is foolish, if there is a safe alternative. And compared to nuclear power, there are 1,000 safe alternatives! It is time to let them fourish! Turn off the nukes and turn on Tide Power! Wave Power! Wind Power! Geothermal Power! Clean Power! Renewable Power! Distributed Power! Free Power! Safe alternatives to the nuclear demons exist! -- rdh
Echelon may or may not exist, but probably does. It reads your email for certain "keywords" and even (they say) listens to your voice on the phone and if it's certain people talking, they turn on certain listening devices. That sounds like a Commie plot, but it's actually the CIA who are said to be using this equipment. The letter shown in the next item (#7, below) discusses this particular rip-off of our human rights and dignity, along with various others. -- rdh
Hi Jan, all!
Re your comments [shown in item #5, above] it's probably not "psychological disconnection" so much as a refusal to investigate the details of the case whatsoever, intentionally. Or as one ex-Navy Seal put it to me a couple of years ago, "It wouldn't matter to me WHY it was my job to slit your throat. If that's what they told me to do, that's what I'd do." I replied, "Yeah, but I'm an American. You wouldn't slit MY throat, would you?" "It wouldn't matter who you were" he replied. "Even an elected official?" I asked. "Anybody." came the chilling reply.
And now I'm supposed to worry about Echelon? Gimme a break! You're killing me, guys, you're killing me!
One person's job is to provide the data. Another person's job is to decide what to do with it "for the good of the country". (Mustn't panic the populace!!) Another one watches over you and me and what we are doing. If they start to crack -- to think maybe we are making sense, they reassign the person. It's as simple as that, which is why we need so many of us doing so many different things -- to overwhelm the system!
So what's going on is probably more like, whenever an intelligence source gets an understanding of the problems we face and what we the people are trying to prevent, they reassign him to a different detail. Maybe drug interdiction if the person isn't sensible enough to see the illogic of that fraud, for instance, or at worst, they assign them to do murders and such -- real stuff. Heart-wrenching stuff. Small potatoes for these guys. A demotion.
In the meantime, in this morning's paper on the front page is a big, big article about our recent nearby 7.0 earthquake, which did little damage and killed no one. It caused an Amtrak train to derail, but that's about it. The picture on the cover centered on 6 passengers, one fireman holding one of them (a child, of course), and two news photographers. The train, upright but off the track, was in the background. It is already light out.
(I felt the quake myself, probably because I was awake at 3:00 a.m. when it happened, sending out emails.)
Next to today's big news about the big quake that didn't do much more than rattle some desert snakes, on the last column on the left of the front half of the paper, was an article titled "Spy in the sky? That could be Echelon." The subtitle is, "Some fear snoops target e-mail, calls".
The article was written by "Kathryn Balint, staff writer". It starts out as follows:
"Is the government listening in on your phone calls? Reading your e-mail for words like 'plutonium,' 'Clinton' or 'terrorism'?"
It continues that there is supposedly a software surveillance system and phone listening system which watches for words like "Davidian" and so forth -- and these are filtered up to eventually be read by humans, if necessary.
Here is what I wrote in response:
To: Editor, Union-Tribune
[fax] (619) 293-1440
Oct. 17th, 1999
To The Editor:
I am far more scared of YOUR CENSORSHIP than I am of the CIA's prying eyes. I don't worry that the CIA might have read some of the 208 issues of my STOP CASSINI newsletter. I expect it. I welcome it. I hope they learn something. I figure they do, and so they have to keep assigning new people to "my case".
I also send my newsletter to hundreds of subscribers, hundreds of elected officials all around the world, and several hundred media outlets -- including you. Many 10s of thousands of additional copies are read online where each issue is posted after publication.
Yet none of my letters, and very few of the topics, appear in your paper. For example: Where is your 5-page spread on the Y2K-nuclear debate? Where is your condemnation of NASA's lies about Cassini, now that Mars Climate Observer (MCO) has proven NASA incapable of doing the things they have claimed they were "perfect" at? Where is your own apology to those who opposed Cassini, whom you have silenced? Where are your warnings to the public about Y2K? Where are your calls for free and immediate testing of people's thyroids, along with immediate distribution of potassium iodine? BEFORE Y2K!
No, I'm not worried about the CIA listening to me. I'm far more worried because YOU DON'T.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
I hope others will take every opportunity that presents itself to tell their own local papers about the true dangers of Y2K. But I doubt anyone on this forum needs to worry particularly much about Echelon or the CIA or any of that stuff. I'm sure we've all assumed its existence, or something like it, or at least have assumed that one of us is a "hall monitor", right from the start.
On October 21st the article says, there is to be a protest, where everyone is supposed to use all these "keywords". But since they are the language of our everyday conversation here, I don't expect anyone to care particularly much about what other people say on October 21st. I don't know why David Koresh and his Branch Davidians had a whole bunch of weapons. They say he was dangerous but the only pictures I've ever seen of him, he's reading from a bible to mostly woman and children -- that doesn't look very dangerous to me! I don't know why the FBI lit David's house on fire either. But these are not topics I think most of us need to be discussing right now, although they are important. Janet Reno should instead be concerning herself primarily with Y2K and the FACT that not nearly enough is being done to protect the planet -- our home. It is her duty to prevent another fire at another "compound" at another Waco, but it is also her responsibility to stop the clear and present threat to society posed by nukes and Y2K. No one below her is likely to put two and two together. It's their job to compartmentalize their knowledge and not ask the big questions. So that's what they do, even if it's their own throats they are slitting, and those of their children's and their children's children, through cancers, leukemias, and birth defects, brought to us by the "Demon Hot Atom" and those who support its many insidious attacks on our health.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Peace Activist
Carlsbad CA
In a subsequent email, Marvin Lewis explained about the guns: Evidently, four of the Branch Davidians were licensed gun dealers. -- rdh
NASA needs to be told in no uncertain terms they have lied too often to the public and we want a SEA CHANGE away from their nuclear policies!
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 (which recently suffered a nine-hour "lost in space" anomoly (NASA calls it "safe mode" which is the opposite of what it really is) just before it did a flyby of Io), 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.
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
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20500
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
Secretary Bill Richardson
Department of Energy (DoE)
1000 Independence Avenue SW
Washington D.C. 20585
Phone -- (202) 586-6210
fax -- (202) 586-4403
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).
Thanks for reading! Welcome new subscribers!
Home page of our STOP CASSINI movement:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/cassini.htm
(Accept NO imitations!)
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.
Written in U.S.A.
This newsletter is free and is not distributed for profit.
Please distribute these newsletters EVERYWHERE!
"There can be no democracy without truth, no justice without mercy, and no nuclear dispersals without ill consequences."
**************************************************************
Many of the issues presented by Russell Hoffman in this letter are based on conversations with Dr. John W. Gofman (who isolated the first working quantities of plutonium), the late Dr. Karl Z. Morgan (who was known as the "father of health physics"), Dr. Ernest Sternglass (who has done statistical studies about LLR), Dr. Jay Gould (ditto), Dr. Horst Poehler, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. Ross Wilcock and dozens of activists, as well as many others on both sides of the nuclear debates, including ex military nuke expert Jack Shannon (responsible for the design of the D2G Navy reactor, the most widely used reactor in the U. S. navy), award-winning investigative reporter Karl Grossman, ecologist and human rights advocate Pamela Blockey-O'Brien, etc. Also, I've read a few dozen books on the various subjects. And scads of government documents purporting to explain how something so dangerous can be safe. Professionally, my pump training software is used throughout the pump industry and even in some nuclear power plants around the world to train their staff about mechanical pumps. Any errors herein are regrettably my own, but I believe it would take an extremely unlikely preponderance of errors to invalidate my basic position on these issues.
*************************************************************
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
************************************************************
Next issue (#210)
Previous issue (#208)
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com