Australians don’t need to worry about corporations controlling what we can see or hear on the Internet. Well, not yet, anyway.
Overseas, governments in totalitarian countries, Russia, China, do control the media, even including the Internet to a large extent.
But now, in a democracy – the United States of America, comes the first move to control the Internet. Donald Trump’s Republican-dominated Federal Communications Commission (the US equivalent to the Australian Communications and Media Authority) has just voted to end the 2015 Open Internet Order which protects net neutrality.
Australia’s mainstream media is already largely controlled by the Murdochracy, anyway. From the point of view of nuclear information, there’s a strong government influence, as we see in the handouts from Australian Nuclear Science and Technology, religiously regurgitated by the South Australian media.
For nuclear information Australians do depend on independent media, and on a few brave investigative journalists, like the ABC’s Mark Willacy.
I think that, in 2018, all of us who care about our country, and especially about the nuclear threats, will need to foster, support, and follow, the independent media that we still do have, and the social media outlets that spread the information that the nuclear lobby does not want us to know.
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Christina themes, media |
Leave a comment
I am working on a challenge for ANSTO/ARPANSA and Chief Scientist Finkel.
Finkel says nuclear reactors are “zero emissions” … ANSTO admits to “controlled emissions” which include Iodine131 and other radioactive poisons.
ANSTO/ARPANSA employee Solomon has published assurances of safety in the event of a Lucas Heights “accident”, with no consideration of health effects other than cancer.
Australian women experience 100,000 miscarriages per year – most of these are unexplained and some could be the result of Iodine131 poisoning.
ANSTO/ARPANSA rely on the unproven hypothesis that there is no impact on any of the pregnant women who are unknowingly exposed to the “controlled emissions” from Lucas Heights.
The unproven hypothesis is supported by dodgy data from a dodgy 70 year old military operation in occupied Japan at the start of the Cold War, and a set of techniques to average and minimise predicted impacts … plus an avoidance of real world data.
Real science would not avoid the question, real science would seek a way to measure real things and test the hypothesis.
I am proposing a small budget rapid research exercise to look at
(a) dates and locations of miscarriages in Australia
(b) dates and wind conditions for Lucas Heights emissions.
Can anyone help me improve or progress this new idea?
https://www.facebook.com/brett.b.stokes/posts/1678136868883912
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, health |
Leave a comment
Poison gas leak from Sydney nuclear reactor spark cover up claims http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/poison-gas-leak-from-sydney-nuclear-reactor-spark-cover-up-claims/news-story/7a2bea7f047cf87f997ad7aff5646213PUBLIC not told about potentially dangerous gases spread over hundreds of kilometres for fear of causing alarm. By Linda Silmalis The Sunday Telegraph AUGUST 29, 2010
POTENTIALLY dangerous radioactive gases have been secretly pumped into the atmosphere from Lucas Heights and have spread hundreds of kilometres from the nuclear reactor – but the public have never been told.
The release of the highly volatile radioxenon over several months last year was so concentrated that the plumes were detected in Melbourne up to two days later. Other plumes were dragged out to sea by winds before drifting back over Sydney.
The Sunday Telegraph understands the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) decided against releasing a public statement at the time to avoid causing alarm.
Scientists at a nuclear testing station in Melbourne traced the source of the radioactive gases to Sydney after the The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation International Monitoring System site in Melbourne contacted Lucas Heights after detecting the radioxenon isotope Xe-133.
They were told that 36 hours earlier the first “hot commissioning trials” at ANSTO’s Lucas Heights radioisotope facility for Molybdenum-99 had taken place.
Molybdenum-99 is produced by the fission technique – the intense neutron-bombardment of a highly purified uranium-235 – and is used in nuclear medicine.
While the nuclear reactor – and the government body that oversees it – insists the release of the radioxenon by-product were no threat to public safety, no one, including neighbours of the suburban Sydney plant, were informed.
“Xenon gases are highly volatile and, being inert, they are not susceptible to wet or dry atmospheric removal mechanisms,” a scientific report obtained by The Sunday Telegraph says.
“Consequently, once released to the atmosphere they are simply transported down-wind while radioactively decaying away.”
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, secrets and lies |
Leave a comment
Financial Tribune (Iran) 26th Dec 2017 A lawmaker denounced the prospect of a US uranium enrichment deal with Saudi Arabia, predicting a “global catastrophe” should the oil kingdom mix
nuclear technology with its takfiri ideology.
In a recent talk with ICANA, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of Majlis National Security and
Foreign Policy Commission, said, “Unfortunately, even human rights and international laws have not stopped the Saudi crimes in Yemen. Now, if Saudi Arabia is allowed the uranium technology, it would certainly use it in its military.” Takfiris are hardliners who accuse anyone, including Muslims, not following their extreme interpretation of Islam as infidels and apostates punishable by death.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/78650/us-nuclear-deal-with-saudis-could-lead-to-catastrophe
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
Ed. note. Incidentally, this is the period when Professor Ernest Titterton managed to cancel testing of of radioactive fallout to the East coast of Australia
France to study nuclear test 
veterans, https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/347025/france-to-study-nuclear-test-veterans Reports from French Polynesia say the French government will launch an epidemiological study of 21,000 nuclear test veterans. According to Radio1 in Tahiti, the defence ministry will test all those whose exposure to radiation was measured between 1966 and 1996 – the period during which France tested 193 atomic bombs.
The study is to update the findings of two previous studies into mortality and morbidity.
The first found that by the end of 2008 more than 5,500 had died.
The study of the remaining 21,000 veterans is to help improve assessing their health care risks.
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
General News |
Leave a comment
Ipsos poll: Only 18 per cent think Turnbull government is doing a good job on climate change, SMH, Matt Wade, 26 Dec 17, One in two Australians believe climate change is already damaging the Great Barrier Reef and causing more extreme storms, floods and droughts.
But only 18 per cent think the Turnbull government is doing a good job tackling global warming, a new poll has found.
An annual survey by Ipsos, which has probed public opinion on climate change for the past 12 years, shows eight in 10 agree human activity is contributing to climate change – 42 per cent say humans are mainly or entirely responsible while 38 per cent believe climate change is caused partly by humans and partly by natural processes.
Just 3 per cent of respondents think there is no such thing as climate change, a share that has hardly shifted during the past decade. ………
Those aged less than 50 are much more likely to think climate change is mostly or entirely caused by human activity than those aged over 50.
Australians are sceptical about letting market forces alone determine how much power is generated from renewable sources. Only 27 per cent supported a deregulated, “market only” approach with no national target for the uptake of renewable energy.
Seven in 10 were in favour of the federal government setting a national target for renewable energy use (32 per cent strongly support this) with just 15 per cent opposed…..http://www.smh.com.au/national/ipsos-poll-only-18-per-cent-think-turnbull-government-is-doing-a-good-job-on-climate-change-20171222-h09e5t.html
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics |
Leave a comment
Climate Change Is Happening Faster Than Expected, and It’s More Extreme
New research suggests human-caused emissions will lead to bigger impacts on heat and extreme weather, and sooner than the IPCC warned just three years ago.BY BOB BERWYN, INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS DEC 26, 2017 IN THE PAST YEAR, THE SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS SHIFTED TOWARD A GRIMMER AND LESS UNCERTAIN PICTURE OF THE RISKS POSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE.
When the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its 5th Climate Assessment in 2014, it formally declared that observed warming was “extremely likely” to be mostly caused by human activity.
This year, a major scientific update from the United States Global Change Research Program put it more bluntly: “There is no convincing alternative explanation.”
Other scientific authorities have issued similar assessments:
- The Royal Society published a compendium of how the science has advanced, warning that it seems likelier that we’ve been underestimating the risks of warming than overestimating them.
- The American Meteorological Society issued its annual study of extreme weather events and said that many of those it studied this year would not have been possible without the influence of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)said recent melting of the Arctic was not moderating and was more intense than at any time in recorded history.
While 2017 may not have hit a global temperature record, it is running in second or third place, and on the heels of records set in 2015 and 2016. Talk of some kind of “hiatus” seems as old as disco music.
‘A Deadly Tragedy in the Making’
Some of the strongest warnings in the Royal Society update came from health researchers, who said there hasn’t been nearly enough done to protect millions of vulnerable people worldwide from the expected increase in heat waves……..
One of the starkest conclusions of the Royal Society update is that up to 350 million people in places like Karachi, Kolkota, Lagos and Shanghai are likely to face deadly heat waves every year by 2050—even if nations are able to rein in greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as per the Paris climate agreement.
There’s also an increasing chance global warming will affect a key North Atlantic current that carries ocean heat from the tropics toward western Europe, according to a 2016 study. It shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current weakening by 37 percent by 2100, which could have big effects on European climate and food production.
Melting Ice and Risks to Oceans and Ecosystems
The Royal Society report also notes:
- An increasing risk that ocean acidification will rapidly and significantly alter many ecosystems and food webs;
- A concern that crops grown in high-CO2 conditions could be less nutritious, leading to mineral deficiencies;
- That the commonly accepted wet-areas-wetter and dry-areas-drier scenario has regional nuances with important implications for local water management and food production planning; and,
- That scientists are finding more links between melting Arctic sea ice and weather extremes like heat waves, droughts and blizzards.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program, an interagency group whose work went through exhaustive peer review and emerged from the Trump administration’s political review mostly unscathed, also cited several emerging conclusions that are much clearer today than five years ago…..https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26122017/climate-change-science-2017-year-review-evidence-impact-faster-more-extreme
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
General News |
Leave a comment
Will January 26th 2018 be the last Australia Day ever? http://www.welcometocountry.org/will-2018-be-the-last-australia-day-ever/ September 13, 2017 There are now almost 20 different councils across 7 different states and territories who are considering or have already made arrangements to move Australia Day to a more respectable date.
Many of the councils that have already made changes to January 26th have done so out of pressure and advice from their local Indigenous communities. Now that we sense our voices are finally being heard; 2018 is shaping up to be the year that we deliver the knockout blow to Australia Day. You can be certain that come January 26th next year, you will see the largest nation wide Invasion day protests.
Calls for protests are not a new thing either. Way back in 1938, Indigenous protests were held by marking the day as a day of mourning, not a day of celebration. Recently a Queensland Mayor compared celebrating January 26th with celebrating the Jewish Holocaust, however news of this has been suppressed by the Australian media.
Welcome to Country is an independent Indigenous news/media website. If you would like to have your voice heard with your very own published article, contact us via our Facebook page or Contact page.
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL |
Leave a comment
California Wildfires: What Happens When Trump’s EPA Ignores Climate Change Science? By Jonathan Samet On 12/23/17 at 7:00 AM Record-setting wildfires burn uncontrolled in California, and with them comes a need to reckon with the Trump administration’s disastrous climate policies. At this moment, a few days before Christmas, firefighters have finally started bringing the Thomas Fire […]
via What happens when you ignore #ClimateChange Science? #auspol #StopAdani — jpratt27
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
(Source: http://www.vox.com) This one’s for the energy nerds out there. The University of Texas Austin’s Energy Institute has put out an incredibly useful interactive map showing what types of power plants are cheapest to build in every county in the continental United States. (No, really, it’s fascinating.) Playing around with the map, you can see […]
via This neat interactive map shows why renewables and natural gas are taking over the US — Kopitiam Bot
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
It is an article five years ago. But very important so I will post again.
—”Why are children and pregnant women, who are not inside nuclear power plants, wearing these badges? The proposal came from the National Cancer Center of Japan, which suggested to both central and Fukushima regional governments the use of dosimeters “to calm the anxiety of the children and their guardians.”
by TOMOE NAGANO
Today, children in Fukushima are mandated to wear radiation dosimeters called ‘glass badges.’ Some of the regional governments also require pregnant women to wear them. They are a durable, modified version of film badges, one of three main types of radiation monitors: -alarm meters, film badges, and pocket dosimeters – all used by the workers in nuclear power plants.
Why are children and pregnant women, who are not inside nuclear power plants, wearing these badges? The proposal came from…
View original post 1,164 more words
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Highlights
- •
90Sr in cattle teeth was determined after the Fukushima accident.
- •
90Sr was efficiently incorporated into the teeth at development stages.
- •
90Sr specific activity of aqueous extract was higher than that of soil.
- •
Water soluble 90Sr was incorporated into the cattle and accumulated.
- •
Sr transfer is eliminated compared to Ca in the migration route.
Abstract
90Sr specific activity in the teeth of young cattle that were abandoned in Kawauchi village and Okuma town located in the former evacuation areas of the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident were measured. Additionally, specific activity in contaminated surface soils sampled from the same area was measured. (1) All cattle teeth examined were contaminated with 90Sr. The specific activity, however, varied depending on the developmental stage of the teeth during the FNPP accident; teeth that had started development before the accident exhibited comparatively…
View original post 121 more words
December 27, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Uncategorized |
Leave a comment
Antinuclear 