RE: [MbrExchange] Re: NG blast (again)

["Richard L. Hess" <lists@richardhess.com>]

Ted, you have eloquently stated the point.


I'm not sure that I can speak for everyone, so let me speak for myself in

the condition I was in before joining this list.


The simple answer to your somewhat rhetorical question is lack of

education. The broader answer is perhaps answered by a song written by my

good friend, Marie-Lynn Hammond and yes, released on my record (CD)

label, Vignettes Media. 


http://www.richardhess.com/mlh/mlh_635.htm

has the complete lyrics


it was written (and copyright) in 1985 and I think it sums up the fears and concerns. Below is an excerpt with my comments as to the concerns...


it’s sweeping cross the nation

and you don’t stand a chance

with radiation [radiation]

  ...there is no human defense to radiation

  ...the implication is you can't protect yourself


well they dump it in the lake

and they dump it in the sea

it gets into the fish

then the fish get into me

it’s radiation [radiation]

  ...the disposal of radioactive wastes has not

  ...always been as conservative as Yucca Mtn

  ...I recall seeing on "The Twentieth Century"

  ...with Walter Cronkite dumping it into the sea...


Mulroney tells me that the levels are safe

but hell, what does that mean?

   ...politicians are not always trustworthy--

   ...how can you believe "safe"

   ...in recent conversations about Davis-Besse

   ...with an Ohio newspaper editor, he is convinced

   ...that the scariest part is that the administrative

   ...controls failed and "next time" we may not 

   ...be as lucky, so why take the chance?


I woke up this morning

I counted my toes

my God, I had sixteen!

   ...the fears surrounding radiation and mutation

   ...are as great as the big boom. 

   ...obviously we all realize that you don't grow the

   ...toes immediately, but remember this is an anti-nuke

   ...song that needs to be catchy and get the point across


well they give us a choice

as to how we can go

we can either blow up

or we can go real slow

with radiation [radiation]

   ...this is the crux of the matter

   ...to most people radiation=Hiroshima

   ...or cancer (go real slow)


I'll leave the humorous punch line to those who read the lyrics on the Web site.


The point is, the fears coalesced by a clever songwriter into a 2:24 song to be sung mostly at anti-nuclear rallies are the fears of the people. "Folk" music is what folks sing. It's as much a reflection of the culture as anything. 


In fact, this song was aired yesterday in Missouri--yes I track listed airplays.


So why have you (we? no, mostly you--I'm not a radiation professional) failed in the education? I don't know. Where do we go when we follow the money?


I do know that grade school education is painfully green these days. A neighbor discussed her daughter coming home worried that Florida will disappear due to global warming--and she extrapolated that all those people will drown...it's much more a sociological and economic burden if it happens than a drowning event, but that's not what the kid came away with.


There is a general mistrust of scientists and engineers...perhaps starting with the Titanic (unsinkable, eh?) or perhaps going back to the Luddites.


> The idea that nuclear power is uniquely and inescapably more dangerous than almost any other human activity is refuted by both science and history.  


That message is failing to get across, sorry!


Three other singer-songwriters that I like also have nuclear songs. Nancy White, for example, talks about "sure we can evacuate the city//ever try to get out of town on Friday night//when nothing's even wrong?" (my paraphrase, sorry, Nancy). Kristin Lems has written a song "Chernobyl" 


They're all expressing the fears. I chose Marie-Lynn's song as an example because she covers all the bases and it's lyrics are published (and I'm her record label).


Counter this body of "knowledge" that's out there and you'll have something! It took you all a lot of work to convert me--do we all have the time to try and convert everyone else? I know it starts with one person...and thanks for making me see the light. I've yet to change one person's mind.


And, yes, I've never enjoyed the concept of natural gas in the home. I was always much more afraid of "those pipes" in the basement than I ever was of electricity as a child growing up. When I was 14 or so, we had a big gas main explosion that took out a city block ( I don't think anyone was killed) about two miles from my house. It woke up my parents whose window faced that direction. 


And yes, I have a natural gas automatic seismic shutoff valve in front of my house...and KI tablets inside <smile>.


Cheers,


Richard