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Vol. 14 No. 41…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…October 10, 2011
Bit of History
Carrie Barefoot
Dickerson (1917-2006)
Born May 24, 1917 in
On
an Oklahoma Farmers' Union-sponsored trip to
In 1943, Barefoot Dickerson began teaching at the Mennonite Pleasant View
community school. She taught in several Rogers and
In 1957, Dickerson resigned as home economics teacher at
On May 8, 1973, Dickerson read a news article entitled "$450 M N-Plant
Planned for Inola." Concerned, Dickerson conducted research on the hazards
of atomic reactors. She attended the first public hearing held by the Public
Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) on the proposed Black Fox nuclear power plant
Like most people, Dickerson assumed the government would protect her safety.
Outraged to learn the government would allow the construction of a nuclear
reactor, even though it knew a meltdown could render an area the size of
Dickerson
threw herself -- and most of her worldly goods -- into the effort to stop
construction of the Black Fox nuclear power plant. She founded CASE (Citizens'
Action for Safe Energy) to teach the public about the dangers posed by nuclear
power. To raise money for a legal challenge to the reactor's construction, she
sold her nursing home. When those funds were depleted, she mortgaged the family
farm. When even more money was needed, she stitched quilts and raffled them
off, all the while devoting hundreds of hours to learning all she could about
nuclear energy.
On October 6, 1978, 346 protestors were arrested at the proposed Black Fox
Nuclear Power Plant site. In 1981, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which
regulates utilities in the state, held hearings on the high electric rates
consumers would have to pay, if the nuclear plant was built. After hearing
testimony from Dickerson and others, the Commission declared that Black Fox was
no longer economically viable. In February 1982, the Corporation Commission
officially announced the Black Fox nuclear plant would not be built.
She wrote "Aunt Carrie's War Against Black Fox Nuclear Power
Plant," an inspirational tale of her efforts to protect her community.
Dickerson is featured in the book Women of Spirit: Stories of Courage from the
Women Who Lived Them by Katherine Martin. The Carrie Dickerson Lifetime
Achievement Award, presented by the Oklahoma Sustainability Network, is named
in her honor. There is no nuclear plant in the state of
Despite Concerns Children Allowed to Return
According to a study conducted by the Japan Chernobyl Foundation in cooperation
with the 
showed
hormonal and other irregularities in their thyroid glands.
Despite the study's findings, as well as the detection of plutonium at six
locations in Fukushima Prefecture, including in the village of Iitate which is
located about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant, the government of Japan has lifted its evacuation advisory
in certain areas within a 20 to 30 kilometer (12.4 to 18.6 mile) radius from
the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
A Japanese science ministry official confirmed the plutonium detected was a
result of the nuclear crisis at
At the end of September, the Japanese trade minister announced the government's
decision to allow children and pregnant women to return to certain areas near
the
Local governments and volunteers have worked to reduce radioactivity by
removing radioactive top soil. However, residents continue to worry about the
long-term health effects of radiation exposure. (Sources:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/idINIndia-59638020110930 and
http://wireupdate.com/news/japan-thyroid-gland-irregularities-found-in-evacuated-youths-from-fukushima.html)
Doctors and Nurses Flee
According to a survey conducted by an association of 
services.
There are 139 hospitals
in the
As for nurses, 407
have quit from 42 hospitals in the prefecture, representing 5 percent of the
nursing staff.
The highest rate of
doctor departures occurred in Minami-Soma. Of the four institutions' total
staff of doctors, 13 or 46 percent have resigned from four hospitals in the
city. At
As for nurses in
Minami-Soma, which is located within the areas designated as emergency
evacuation preparation zones, 44 or 16 percent of the total nursing staff left
their jobs at four hospitals. At
The association
assumes most of the doctors and nurses who resigned did so due to their desire
to leave the area amid concern about radiation exposure. Moreover, the actual
number of doctors and nurses who have resigned could be much higher if the hospitals
that did not respond to the survey and non-association member hospitals are
included.
The
association said most of the departing doctors and nurses cited evacuation from
the nuclear disaster as their reason. However, doctors who quit the hospital's
obstetrics and gynecology department and pediatrics department said they were
doing so because their patients had already left the city.
At Yotsukura Byoin,
a psychiatric hospital in
One of them said,
"I'm concerned about radiation because I've got a small child."
The two doctors have
since found new jobs in
In late August, the
hospital asked one of the doctors via e-mail to return, saying radiation levels
in the city had fallen. The hospital received no reply. (Source:
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/intrnational/2011/10/06/984.html)
4 Generator Failures Hit Us Nuclear Plants (Excerpts)
By Ray Henry
Four generators that power emergency systems at nuclear plants have failed when
needed since April, an unusual cluster that has attracted 
the
attention of federal inspectors and could prompt the industry to re-examine its
maintenance plans.
None of these
failures has threatened the public. But the diesel generators serve the crucial
function of supplying electricity to cooling systems that prevent a nuclear
plant's hot, radioactive fuel from overheating, melting and potentially
releasing radiation into the environment. That worst-case scenario happened
this year when the
Three diesel
generators failed after tornadoes ripped across
Another generator
failed at the North Anna plant in
"To me it's not
an alarming thing," said Michael Golay, a professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology who studies risk at nuclear plants. "But if this
trend were to continue, you'd certainly want to look into it."
At a minimum, the
failures have prompted NRC inspectors to increase their scrutiny at plants
where the problems happened. Beyond that, industry officials and academics say
the incidents could lead the NRC to formally warn nuclear plant operators about
the recent failures and prompt utilities to reevaluate what can disable a
generator. Some think these experiences may factor into upcoming rules the NRC
will issue in response to the crisis in
A single generator
failure is not a calamity. All reactors have at least one backup generator and
sometimes more. If the diesel generators fail, nuclear plants can run safety
gear off batteries for hours or use steam-driven pumps to keep cooling water
flowing.
But the loss of all
emergency power -- including the diesels -- is a crisis. That happened on March
11 when an earthquake and tsunami disabled all the diesel generators at the
Japanese plant. Three of its six reactors suffered meltdowns. The facility was
rocked by explosions and released radiation requiring the evacuation of roughly
100,000 people.
In
the
Failure rates have
decreased considering they once hovered above 10 percent in the early days of
the nuclear power industry, according to NRC reports.
About Me: Henry works for The Associated Press
in
The Case Against
Fluoride
Fluoridation is the practice of adding a fluoride compound to the public
drinking water supply ostensibly for the purpose of fighting tooth decay. The
levels used range from 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams of fluoride ion per liter (or parts
per million, ppm). The practice began in the
Very
few countries have adopted this practice to any significant extent. Only eight
countries in the world have more than 50% of their populations drinking
artificially fluoridated water (
In Europe, only
Some countries have
areas with high natural fluoride levels in the water. These include
Recently, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a report admitting that 2 in 5
children in
This ends over five
decades of the
Dr. Paul Connett and
other members of the Fluoride Action Network have compiled a compelling case
against fluoridation. Their list of 50 reasons to oppose fluoridation includes
the fact that fluoride is the only chemical added to water for the purpose of
medical treatment. Yet, it treats no medical ailment and is, therefore, bad
medical practice.
Other reasons
include the fact that the dosage of fluoride is uncontrolled. Everyone,
regardless of age, health or vulnerability, receive fluoride in municipalities
that fluoridate the water supply. Fluoride is not an essential nutrient. No
disease has ever been linked to a fluoride deficiency. Because fluoride
accumulates in the body, there are no benefits, only risks, for infants
ingesting this heightened level of fluoride at such an early age.
Despite the fact
that fluoride has been added to community water supplies for over 60 years, no
health agency monitors fluoride exposure or side effects. No regular
measurements are being made of the levels of fluoride in urine, blood, bones,
hair, or nails of either the general population or sensitive subparts of the
population (e.g., individuals with kidney disease). There has never been a
single randomized clinical trial to demonstrate fluoridation's effectiveness or
safety.
We know fluoride is
a poison that may damage the brain, lower IQ, cause non-IQ neurotoxic effects
and reproductive problems. Fluoride damages bone, which may cause hip fractures
in the elderly. And, fluoride may cause bone cancer. Yet, the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) continues to classify fluoride as an "unapproved
new drug."
For more on the case
against fluoride, see www.fluoridealert.org/50-reasons.htm#. And, view the video
of the fluoridation process in
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_KmB9_fao&feature=player_embedded#!.
By Rick Jervis
A decision this week
by a
Commissioner Norm
Roche voted to end the fluoride treatment, saying it was a "social sort of
program" the county should avoid, the St. PetersburgTimes
reported
Opponents such as
the Fluoride Action Network say the fluoride could harm children and should not
be administered by the government. "Fluoride is a toxic substance,"
said Tea Party activist Tony Caso, the Times reported. "This is
all part of an agenda that's being pushed forth by the so-called globalists in
our government … to keep the people stupid so they don't realize what's going
on."
Fluoride advocates,
including the American Dental Association, insist the practice reduces
cavities, especially among poorer residents who can't afford dental care.
Welch says a few
people at Tuesday's meeting identifying themselves as Tea Party activists
"hijacked" the issue, calling the practice a government attempt to
"dumb down" residents and likening it to Soviet and Nazi practices.
The ban was passed despite testimony of more than a dozen dentists and others
advocating the practice, he says. "We're going to pay a price for this for
generations to come," Welch says.
Judson Phillips, a
founder of the Tea Party Nation, says the issue has not been widely discussed
at the national level and he doesn't know the activists who pushed for the ban
in
Cities across the
The CDC named adding
fluoride to public water one of the "Ten Great Public Health
Achievements" of the 20th century.
Critics say fluoride
can harm the enamel on the teeth of young children. More than 200 communities
have stopped adding fluoride to water supplies in the past 10 years, according
to a count by the Fluoride Action Network. During the same period, however,
more than 300 communities began adding fluoride, says Edmond Hewlett, a
professor at UCLA's
Fluoride
"reduces the risk of getting cavities. It's highly available to everyone
who drinks that water," Hewlett says. "It benefits everyone." (Source:
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-05/pinellas-county-florida-votes-no-fluoride-in-drinking-water/50673318/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29)
Disgruntled feels: Bought! With a narrator
sounding and looking like the masked character from the movie 
V
for Vendetta, the group Anonymous posted the following video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5xRaQnHGA0&feature=share.
As one might expect, the Guy Fawkes or harlequin mask and the mysterious voice
of the narrator make for great theater. However, beyond the theatrics, the
video contains enough morsels of truth worthy of sharing. Like many of the
protestors across the country that have joined the Occupy Wall Street Movement,
I believe bankers and the multinational enterprises they finance are a
significant part of socioeconomic and political problems plaguing the world.
Historically, bankers have financed the most heinous enterprises ever devised
by men to the detriment of other men from war and slavery to environmental
degradation. And, they have used their ill-gotten gains to shield them from
public ire. In the banksters' playbook, everyone and everything is for hire.
There is nothing that cannot be brought, including our government, the
president, Congress and federal agencies funded with our tax dollars. Drowning
in cash, the one-percent can buy police forces to act as private security to
protect their personal property. Recently, these thieves bought the
Disgruntled wants to know: The most recent
information from 
advised
the evacuees that it is safe to return to some areas, since the radiation
levels are low. Scientists and apparently the doctors and nurses that have
chosen to vacate the premises know that even low levels of radiation over time
can be harmful to human health. As far as some of us are concerned, there is no
"safe" level of radiation. With that said, we, meaning people of the
world, have no earthly notion of what is transpiring in
Disgruntled feels: American fall!
Recently, President Obama called for members of the Congressional Black Caucus
to take off their bedroom slippers and put on their marching 
shoes.
Apparently, folks beyond that black-tie audience heard him and have taken their
concerns to the streets of
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Telephone Calls
Email
www.care2.com...GM Salmon Secretly Filled With Eel DNA? Anyone For Dinner?...By
Judy...I demand the right to know what I am eating. Why should that be such a 
problem?
For a decade, Monsanto has been selling genetically engineered corn and soybean
seeds to farmers. Some has already made its way into processed food and is sold
to consumers without any labeling. Shockingly, according to the Grocery
Manufacturers Association, an estimated 80% of processed food sold in the
Email
www.federalnewsradio.com...EPA rolls back air rule, Texas gets most leeway...By
Ramit Plushnick-Masti...The 
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is planning to ease new pollution rules that
angered several states and infuriated GOP presidential contender Texas Gov.
Rick Perry. The proposed fix to the cross-state pollution rule published
Thursday will allow nine states, including
Email
www.khou.com...It's the water you drink, clean in and pay for. It's the water
you rely on, because you have to have it. For the past year the KHOU 11 News
I-Team has been 
investigating
the quality of the tap water in