[ RadSafe ] Proliferation

[Roy Parker]

Bravo!  Bravo!! Bravo!!!

Roy A. Parker, Ph.D.
Radiation Physicist

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <BLHamrick at aol.com>
To: <BLHamrick at aol.com>; <garyi at trinityphysics.com>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RE: Proliferation


> Correcting the Franklin quote:
>
> "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little  temporary
> safety,
> deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
>
>
> In a message dated 7/11/2008 6:41:37 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> BLHamrick at aol.com writes:
>
> Gary,
>
> I don't think the choices you outline below are the  only  choices.  I 
> think
> that this generation perceives the  suicide attacks of the  last 10 or so
> years
> to be something unique in  the history of mankind.  I  think this is a
> misperception. I  think the  Kamikaze pilots of World War II were regarded
> with similar
> fear  and disbelief.  I expect one would find a repetition of  these type 
> of
> attacks throughout history, if one were inclined to  look.
>
> I think we need to be more realistic in our threat  assessment.   Whoever 
> has
> an advantage in this world will always  be a  target.  Whether it's the
> threat
> of suicide bombers, or  rogue nuclear  weapons, and whether from a
> predominantly Muslim  community, or  Japanese community, or the 
> Communists,
> or the  Timothy
> McVeigh's of our own country, we will always be at risk, so  long as we 
> have
> something of value.  The question for us, in my  opinion, is not how we
> ensure
> we are all safe for all time (which is  not possible), but how, in  the 
> face
> of so many people's fears, do we  maintain those things which made  this
> country
> great to begin with  (our freedom, our rule of law, our checks and 
> balances,
> and our  tolerance of difference).
>
> To bring this back around to radiation  safety, I think that this country
> has
> spent a ridiculous amount of  money looking for an ineffective weapon 
> (i.e.,
> an RDD), while  failing to adequately address planning for the aftermath 
> of a
>
> potentially significant event (i.e., an IND).  I believe we have done 
> this,
> because finding radioactive material in any form is easy,  while finding 
> an
> actual IND or planning for it's potential  detonation is difficult.  One 
> of
> the
> reasons we keep chasing  our tails in this manner is because it is
> politically
> expedient to  act as though one is protecting the public by "picking  the
> low-hanging fruit" (i.e., the RDDs).  By doing this, in the end,  we 
> aren't
> really
> adding anything to the public health and safety; in  fact, we  are 
> diverting
> resources from issues that do have a health  and safety  impact.  We are
> hurting
> ourselves in the name of  protecting ourselves, and  apparently hoping the
> public never knows  the difference.  That's insulting  to the profession 
> of
> health
> physics and insulting to the public, in my  opinion.
>
> I think  this country is destroying its greatest value by succumbing to
> fear,
> and I'm terribly sorry to see that happening.
>
> Barbara L.  Hamrick
>
> "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a  little  temporary
> safety,
> deserve neither liberty." - Benjamin  Franklin
>
> "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -  Franklin  Roosevelt
>
>
>
>
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