AGAIN – THE POWER OF THE ZIONIST LOBBY
I was banned from Mastodon because I posted a link to an article supporting humanitarian aid to Gaza.Now I have been banned from one part of Reddit ( r/worldnews) for posting this link https://www.unz.com/…/over-a-million-palestinians-are…/
I can still post to other parts of Reddit.
TODAY. Israel, USA, the “West” can’t hide their atrocious guilt any more
Look – it was sort of OK in the 1930s – for Western political leaders, and their people, to sort of “didn’t know” what was going on in Germany. Hell, they had the lovely 1936 Olympics, and workers were getting a good deal, and Hitler was lovely to dogs.
If there were atrocities going on, – like millions of Jews, homosexuals, dissidents, mentally ill…. getting tortured and murdered – well, we “found out” about it only years later, didn’t we?
BUT. It’s different now. There is ample evidence – first hand real photography, real videos and film, real firsthand aural and written accounts of the mass cruelties being inflicted by Israel on the people of Gaza.
“War against Hamas” – what nonsense ! It’s massacre of Palestinians, and everybody knows it.
President Joe Biden and co. can bleat all they like about “urging Israel to be humanitarian to the Gazan people”, AT THE SAME TIME AS BIDEN AND CO ARE SUPPLYING WEAPONS TO ISRAEL TO DO THE KILLING!
US officials told POLITICO that the Biden administration was not planning any consequences for Israel if it went ahead with a major assault on Rafah, which would inevitably kill a huge number of civilians. “No reprimand plans are in the works, meaning Israeli forces could enter the city and harm civilians without facing American consequences,” the report reads.
“We’re going to continue to support Israel … And we’re going to continue to make sure they have the tools and the capabilities to do that.”
Of course the only thing that Biden really cares about is himself getting elected again in November. That might make him, and USA’s sycophantic allies, care a little bit about the miseries in Gaza.
But the world is appalled. We are not taken in by pious bleatings about “humanitarian aid” – while the Genocide finding of the International Court of Justice is ignored by the powerful, and while the one agency of support to the Gazans is closed down by the powerful.
Perhaps they’ll try to pretend that all the mass of evidence of genocide is “fake news”, and produced by artificial intelligence, and critics are just “tools of Russia” – or some other rubbish that the CIA and nuclear-military-industrial complex think up.
Their hypocrisy is boundless. Now they’re all alarmed because Iran might make a nuclear bomb. Israel has about 90 nuclear bombs, according to some experts. Israel has had nuclear bombs for decades, and the “Western powers” just pretend that they don’t know this. Israel is OK, safe to manage its nuclear weapons. Really?
This week in nuclear news
A bit of good news. Illegal to marry below 18 – Zambia passes the landmark Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2023
TOP STORIES.
Mary Kostakidis: Assange’s Very Life Is at Stake.
‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 127: Growing international alarm over Israeli plans to invade Rafah.
Full Speed Ahead on the Global Titanic -Going Along with the Utter Madness of Nuclear Weapons.
Small Modular Reactors do not solve the many problems of nuclear, NGOs say.
Rich men with the wrong answers – nuclear power has no future and yet they persist.
From the archives. Nuclear expert Mycle Schneider on the COP28 pledge to triple nuclear energy production: ‘Trumpism enters energy policy”
Climate. Atlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point, study finds. Hottest January on record sees the world reach 1.7°C warming mark.
Nuclear. Very hard to exclude all the Israel-Gaza news – which could bring on nuclear war anyway!
Noel’s notes. Why we get distorted, unreliable, news about Ukraine and Israel. Against all the evidence – nuclear industry propaganda blunders on – and the media regurgitates its nonsense!
NUCLEAR ISSUES
| CLIMATE. European Union now promoting the lie that nuclear power is “green”. REVIEW CONFERENCE: CLIMATE CRISIS – WHY NUCLEAR IS NOT HELPING - also at | CIVIL LIBERTIES. UK steps up war on whistleblower journalism with new National Security Act. | ECONOMICS. The clock is ticking on the nuclear renaissance. – also at Rolls-Royce snubbed for UK’s first private small nuclear reactor plant. EDF’s nuclear struggles dampen EU nuclear prospects – the industry “on a slow descent to hell”. |
| EMPLOYMENT France: EDF Faces Unprecedented Nuclear Workload in France, | ETHICS and RELIGION. All is fair in A.I. warfare. But what do Christian ethics have to say? The West: guilty of genocide. | EVENTS. 19 February - Webinar with Dr Helen Caldicott and Martin Sheen |
| INDIGENOUS ISSUES. Tribes condemn start of uranium mining at Pinyon Plain Mine south of Grand Canyon | LEGAL. 100 Jewish Cease-Fire Supporters Arrested Blocking Biden’s NYC Motorcade Route. Canada citizens challenge environmental safety of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission waste facility near Ottawa River. | MEDIA. CNN’s CEO Is Making Staff Churn Out Israel Propaganda. CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’. “In The War Of Propaganda, It Is Very Difficult To Defeat The United States”. Study Finds Media Giants NY Times, CNN and Fox News Pushing for US War in Yemen. Chicago Tribune needs reality check on Russo Ukraine war. |
| OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . History repeats — and radiation radiates. Campaigners deeply concerned at Dr Thérèse Coffey’s support for Bradwell new nuclear power . | POLITICS. Nuclearization is underway. Or not.. (also at The future of nuclear: France’s nuclear dreams or nightmares? The folly of Ontario’s nuclear power play. Iran Plans More Nuclear Reactors Despite Serious Hurdles. Do the Right Thing: Put the South African Government’s Nuclear Plans to a Popular Referendum. Call to withdrawal from Holderness nuclear waste site talks amid tourism and farming ‘fears’. | POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. Report: Egypt warns Israel Rafah offensive may lead to suspension of peace treaty. Western officials in protest over Israel Gaza policy Israel Aid Bill Fails in House as Progressives Slam ‘Blank Check for Netanyahu’. Walt Zlotow: Biden seeks $14 more billion to complete destruction of Palestinians in Gaza. EU Policy. Commission invites industry to join support platform for mini nuclear. Menaced by five Omnicides – Ralph Nader. Putin ‘tried everything possible’ to make peace – Ukrainian diplomat. |
SAFETY. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is falling apart, and the world is ignoring the danger . The dangerous craze for SMRs – also at IAEA watchdog to visit nuclear plant in occupied Ukraine to assess safety of ageing fuel and low staffing.
France’s Flamanville EPR has numerous technical problems which mean that its safety issues are not “now closed”.
| SECRETS and LIES. Absence of Evidence: Israel’s Case Against UNRWA. | SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Nuclear secret: India’s space program uses plutonium pellets to power missions |
| WAR and CONFLICT. Escalating to de-escalate with nuclear weapons: Research shows it’s a particularly bad idea. The pragmatist’s guide to nuclear disarmament. NATO-Russia confrontation ‘could last decades’ – Stoltenberg. Israeli PM orders evacuation of last Gaza ‘safe zone’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l59LjI4XoA Worst places in Australia to be if World War Three hits. | WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Noetic Continental | Part I: How CIA Foists Military Equipment Through Private War Companies. Over $1 Billion in Weapons Missing In Ukraine. Why Biden’s $61 billion in weapons for Ukraine won’t prevent inevitable defeat. Citing World Court, Japan Firm Cuts Ties With Israel Arms Maker. |
TODAY. Against all the evidence – nuclear industry propaganda blunders on – and the media regurgitates its nonsense!
It would be funny, if it were not so serious.
Promoting the nuclear industry is not just serious, but dangerous. The industry’s only real purpose is nuclear weapons.
Everybody knows that big nuclear reactors are a no-no. They’re astronomically expensive to build, and even more obscenely expensive to demolish and dispose of. (that latter cost to be paid by our great-grandchildren).
So what is needed now by this insane industry – is a fairy-tale window-dressing. And hey presto! There are the non existent magical small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) .
Today – I see heaps of enthusiastic articles, especially from the UK. Wow! Westinghouse Electric Company doing a deal with Community Nuclear Power, privately funded, - “The companies will work together to develop plans for the plants, with the aim of getting backing from the Government.” - to set up SMRs - Business Wire, Teesside Gazette, Northern Echo, Proactive Investor, ………..
They don’t mention the spectacular failure of the USA’s one and only SMR business, as NuScale heads towards bankruptcy.
What else the mainstream media does not say about SMRs:
- Problems of massive cost blowouts and multi-year delays.
- Unproven technology: Even the simplest designs used today in submarines will not be available at scale until late next decade, if at all. Taking into account the learning curve of the nuclear industry, an average of 3,000 SMRs would have to be constructed in order to be financially viable.
- Ineffective climate solution: According to the latest IPCC report published in March 2023, nuclear power is one of the two least effective mitigation options (alongside Carbon Capture and Storage).
- Waste problem: Current SMR designs would create 2-30 times more radioactive waste in need of management and disposal than conventional nuclear plants.
And there’s that other intriguing little problem. The proudly British company Rolls Royce has been counting on government backing to start off its SMR project. Now shock horror – an American company looks like winning this foolish SMR sack race. Bill Gates’ Terra Power, GE-Hitachi, Mitsubishi – all these companies will be peeved, too. An international political fracas?
TODAY . Why we get distorted, unreliable, news about Ukraine and Israel
Israel
Every now and then, some journalist steps out of the accepted line, and spills the beans on what is going on in critical news.
This week, the Guardian’s Guardian’s Chris McGreal did just that. He exposed the journalistic turmoil in CNN, over its very biased coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza
It’s got particularly important right now. Most of us are probably still believing in the Hamas massacre story of, “bodies of babies with their heads cut off” – despite not one shred of evidence of this. With the whole Middle East now a tinderbox, the media is still pushing the Israel storyline that goes like this:
The Israelis suffered the brutal massacre of 1200 citizens on October 7, 2023. That justifies the massacre of 27,365 Palestinians in Gaza. In the continuing massacre of Palestinians, the Israelis are the victims. To allow humanitarian aid to the desperate , hungry, Gazan survivors is to support terrorism.
Chris McGeal explains the long, complicated, and disgraceful background of media succumbing to pressure – “the CNN network repeatedly aired inflammatory rhetoric and propaganda from Israeli officials and American supporters, often without challenge in interviews.”
He also notes the restrictions on journalists, with the Israeli block on foreign journalists, and with all CNN’s copy on the Israel-Palestine situation having be first approved by the Jerusalem bureau.
And it’s not new – this subservience - it was the same thing with the coverage of the post 9/11 time, and the unbalanced and ultra-negative coverage of the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and the killing of Afghan civilians by US forces.
Caitlin Johnstone, the not-so-mainstream, and intrepid, excavator of the truth, has also dug up the troubling realities on the biased news that we are fed.
She aims her blowtorch on the careers of media executives moving through corporate media – New York Times – BBC – CNN – “ The corporate media are owned and controlled by plutocrats who have a vested interest in preserving the status quo power structure upon which their kingdoms are built, and state broadcasters like the BBC have the same interest for the same reason. They decide who the executives of those outlets will be, and those executives make policy and hiring decisions which cause the outlet to function in a way that is indistinguishable from state propaganda.”
UKRAINE
Caitlin Johnstone is also one of the few writers (apart from Russian journalists) who also shine a light on the media coverage of the Ukraine war. She has examined ”the brazen propaganda push to normalize war profiteering in Ukraine “, quoting CNN anchor Erin Burnett ………. pausing to explain to her audience that this funding is actually good for Americans, because it goes straight into the US arms industry.“
She points out not only the advantages to American weapons companies of continuing the Ukraine war indefinitely, but the way in which the media report this – with approval! “western officials are now going out of their way to communicate to the public that this war will stretch on for many more years to come.”
She quotes the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNN - all positively gushing over how good this war is for America - jobs, share prices, company profits - all good!
When it comes to coverage of the actual war and its battles - well, we hear a lot about the dedicated President Zelensky. We hear about the Ukrainian counter-offensive (though it did not seem to work). We get genuinely sad stories about victims of Russian strikes, and rather more dubious stories about Russian atrocities. On the whole, we really don’t hear much about the actual progress of the war, and get a stunning silence about the Ukrainian troop casualties. And there’s little attempt to explain the background to this war. As with the Gaza story, it’s as though the hostilities were new and unprovoked, and the grievances are solely on the side that the USA supports
Mostly the Ukraine coverage is about how world democracy requires more weapons to be bought (by Western tax-payers) and given to Ukraine.
The media – journalists hanging on to their jobs, companies hanging on to their advertisers, and their profits – dance to the corporate line. Are we all dancing along with them, to World War 3 ?
Nuclear news – week to 6th February
Some bits of good news . Heroes in pink: Lao midwives supporting rights and saving lives Zimbabwe launches cholera vaccination to curb the spread. Wild panda population nearly doubles as China steps up conservation efforts.
TOP STORIES.
- EDF’s Hinkley Point woes pile pressure on global nuclear push. also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/02/04/2-a-edfs-hinkley-point-woes-pile-pressure-on-global-nuclear-push/
- Nuclear Waste: Changing Conditions May Affect Future Management of Contamination Deposited Abroad During U.S. Cold War Activities.
- The new space race Is Causing New Pollution Problems. also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/02/03/1-a-the-new-space-race-is-causing-new-pollution-problems/
- AI chatbots tend to choose violence and nuclear strikes in wargames
Climate. Greta Thunberg’s public order charge dropped as judge criticises police action. Greta Thunberg was given ‘final warning’ before London arrest.
Nuclear. I’m still trying to stay off the Israel-Gaza topic. But it is all bringing us closer to nuclear war.
Noel’s notes. Goodbye Mastodon! The power of the Zionist lobby. Mastodon has closed me down again – this time for supporting United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). WHAT’S GOING ON? How very unfashionable! Scottish MP is worrying about health aspects of nuclear power, (instead of the finances!) What’s the connection between the UK Post Office scandal and Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov?
NUCLEAR ISSUES
| CLIMATE. COP28 pledge to expand nuclear capacity is out of touch with reality. | CIVIL LIBERTIES. A Radically Different World Since Assange’s Indictment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egLJ3-jF1Uo | ECONOMICS. UK’s Nuclear “money pit” tops $59 billion. EDF, France’s state-owned nuclear company now in a fatal trap, as Hinkley Point C costs soar. Is this the World’s Most Expensive and Most Delayed Power Project? Are the French going cold on UK nuclear? France limits its investment in Britain’s Sizewell C, as the global nuclear industry requires massive government subsidies. Many challenges [? big problems] [? big problems] stand in the way of a ‘nuclear power renaissance’ Czech Republic / Government Seeks Binding Tenders For Four Nuclear Reactors From EDF And KHNP. |
| ENERGY. German energy companies reject nuclear energy proposals – citing high risks and toxic waste problem . Tripling nuclear energy by 2050 will take a miracle, and miracles don’t happen. | ENVIRONMENT. ‘Odd’ Hinkley Point C salt marsh plan has Somerset locals up in arms. | HEALTH. Man suffered most painful death imaginable after horror accident made him ‘cry blood’ and ‘skin melted’. Sellafield nuclear plant: Cancer fears raised by Scottish MP. |
| INDIGENOUS ISSUES. Tell it to the Chieftain: Nuclear power plants, and Is advanced nuclear a pipe dream? | LEGAL. Holtec International avoids criminal prosecution related to false documents, pays $5m fine. US Court Hears Case Alleging Biden Complicit in Israel’s Genocide in Gaza. The provisional measures of the International Court of Justice. What Happens Now That the ICJ Has Ordered Israel Not to Engage in Genocide? | MEDIA. Neck Deep in the Big Media Mudd |
| OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . MP calls for vote on Holderness nuclear site which local petition brands ‘hazardous waste dumping ground’. It’s not a done deal and you are not alone’: anti-GDF campaigners pledge solidarity with South Holderness over nuclear waste dump plan. South Holderness nuclear waste plan not safe – residents. Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) firmly contradicts Therese Coffey, MP on Bradwell as a nuclear site. Campaigners Warn Return of US Nukes to UK Would ‘Make Britain a Guaranteed Target’. | POLITICS. Nancy Pelosi’s attack on Gaza ceasefire advocates is a disgrace. Holtec to get $1.5 bln loan to re-open Michigan nuclear power plant -source, The Future of Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and Its Impacts on Ontario. Ford Government Issues Blank Cheque for Nuclear Power, Shows Reckless Disregard for Nuclear Waste Generation . How not to go nuclear: Hinkley and Sizewell. Hinkley C – don’t say I didn’t warn you!- (a pro-nuclear view!) UK govt awards Hitachi £33.6 m to design small nuclear reactors. UK govt designates British Nuclear Fuels Ltd as Great British Nuclear (…..whatever this means). Hinkley Point shambles shows why UK must scrap disastrous nuclear strategy. Cracks appear in Labour-Green alliance over claims that Heysham power stations letter was ‘reckless’. |
| POLITICS INTERNATIONAL and DIPLOMACY. France seeks loan guarantees from UK over Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. The feckless four – hypocrisy of the nuclear weapons nations. French firm EDF shows its power over the UK govt – no judicial review now required over fish protection from Hinkley nuclear cooling system | SAFETY. Safety concerns persist at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant . France’s ASN nuclear safety authority warns of fraud risk in nuclear industry.Britain plans ‘robocop’ force to protect nuclear sites with paint bombs. Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) Disappointed in Province’s Decision on Pickering Nuclear Plant. Residents ask for full examination of damage to nuclear plant caused by quake. Magnitude-4.8 earthquake jolts Tokyo and the Kanto region. | SECRETS and LIES. Military-Intelligence Corruption Information Center. As Ukraine begs for more weapons, corruption in its Defense Ministry is revealed. Chinese nuclear fuel engineer Li Guangchang caught in anti-corruption net targeting ‘high-risk’ areas. |
| SPACE. EXPLORATION, WEAPONS. Nuclear industry takes control of NASA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRZnSkC-nXg Nuclear power on the moon: NASA wraps up 1st phase of ambitious reactor project. | SPINBUSTER. Ontario counts nuclear power as “Green”. | TECHNOLOGY. Advanced nuclear power is costly and tech is still developing: Is a Pueblo plant realistic:? Will AI Warfare Usher in a Massive Expansion of the Surveillance State? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLBrP084X5Y Blade hub idea for old n-plant site. |
| WASTES. USA’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant to increase its space for nuclear trash. VINCI wins contract to dismantle nuclear reactors in Sweden. Strong opposition on plans to store nuclear waste in East Yorkshire | WAR and CONFLICT. US unleashes strikes across Middle East. The U.S. Quest for Nuclear Primacy Australian Conservation Foundation is seriously concerned about the AUKUS nuclear submarine project, its costs and consequences and the way this initiative is being advanced. | WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. US reportedly planning to station nuclear weapons in Britain for first time in 15 years. Documents unambiguously state ‘incoming nuclear mission’ to Britain. RAF Lakenheath: Plans progress to bring US nuclear weapons to Suffolk – a risky target? Britain will test fire Trident nuclear missile for the first time since 2016 as fears of World War Three grow.Russia has no plans to deploy nuclear arms beyond Belarus, says deputy minister. NATO chief says more war, more weapons, are the way to secure lasting peace in Ukraine. Democrats press Blinken on arms sales to Israel without congressional approval. U.S. Congress about to weaken its oversight of weapons sales to foreign countries. Could a Rogue Billionaire Make and Sell a Nuclear Weapon?. |
Goodbye Mastodon! The power of the Zionist lobby
“ mastodon.social
Appeal rejected
Your appeal has been rejected.
The appeal of the strike against your account on Feb 04, 2024, 21:48 UTC that you submitted on Feb 04, 2024, 22:06 UTC has been rejected.”
Well – to say that this is a disappointment to me – would be an understatement.
I thought that Mastodon was really good – as I abandoned my Twitter account, with Twitter taken over by the dangerous, unpredictable, and possibly unhinged Elon Musk.
Here was I, thinking that people that first got me closed down on Mastodon were the nuclear lobby.
Now it’s clear that the Zionist lobby is behind it .
I have been expelled from Mastodon because I posted a link to an article supporting humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Zionist doctrine is that returning humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza is “incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies”
When is the world going to wake up to this absurdity?
The extreme Jews see any kindness to the desperate people of Gaza as anti-semitism.
They can get away with murder – because they’re always the victim?
Intelligent, thinking, compassionate, Jews must be in turmoil over this perversion of their religion and culture.
Meanwhile Christians, others, and secular people are buying into this charade that compassion = anti-semitism. The Western world is in a horrible ethical crisis – worse that in the 1930s, when it was not clearly apparent that the genocide of the Holocaust was happening. Now, everybody knows that Netanyahu and co are massacring Palestinians.
How long are these killers going to be able to hide behind the Holocaust, and pretend that they are victims as they kill?
Mastodon has closed me down again – this time for supporting United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). WHAT’S GOING ON?
NOEL WAUCHOPE, FEB 5, 2024
I appealed to Mastodon last time they shut me down, and they promptly restored me. Here’s hoping that they do this again!
Mastodon shut down my account , and sent me this message:
Your account @NoelWauchope@mastodon.social has been suspendedYou can no longer use your account, and your profile and other data are no longer accessible. You can still login to request a backup of your data until the data is fully removed in about 30 days, but we will retain some basic data to prevent you from evading the suspension.
Reason: Content violates the following community guidelines
- No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies
Posts cited:
The West: guilty of genocide
Doing Goebbels proud #Israel #Palestine
I am a little bit amused, but more disturbed, that gmail also regards “The West: guilty of genocide” as a suspicious link.
I am finding that a lot of Substacks are “suspicious links”, according to gmail. Especially when anyone shows a bit of compassion for the Palestinians. What is going on?
And here is my appeal to Mastodon (They let you have only a couple of lines)
NoelWauchope Today at 08:06
The article that I posted was NOT an incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies. Quite the opposite, really. The theme of the article is that humanitarian aid should be returned to the people of Gaza. The writer claims that stopping United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a breach of the Genocide Convention, quoting this point “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destr ( here’s where I was cut off - it would have continued – physical destruction in whole or in part)
TODAY. How very unfashionable! Scottish MP is worrying about health aspects of nuclear power, (instead of the finances!).
Really and truly ! Doesn’t he understand what the zeitgeist Is? (OK – I’m not really sure what zeitgeist means, anyway).
But the thing is. If you want to talk seriously about the nuclear industry, then you must just focus on the costs and the (supposed) financial benefits.
Nobody’s that interested in public health these days. it’s all about the money. Perhaps we should be grateful for this global obsession about money and profits. It’s the one thing that might stop this toxic industry.
MP Allan Dorans of Scotland has had the temerity to suggest that disturbance of the seabed on the Cumbrian coast might cause radioactivity from nuclear wastes to be transmitted up the food chain - increasing cancer risks.
Last year, the British Medical Journal aired a similar warning, about the cancer risks from low level ionising radiation – Cancer mortality after low dose exposure to ionising radiation in workers in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
But that story didn’t really catch on. And after all, with the increasing numbers of cancer cases, we’re all gonna need increased nuclear electricity for the medical technology - and nuclear power is supposed to be cheaper, isn’t it?
TODAY. What’s the connection between the UK Post Office scandal and Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov?
Well, nothing really. But we need to remember what Stanislav Petrov did. On September 26, 1983, Petrov, in charge of the Soviet Union’s nuclear missile system, received the computer screen order to “Launch”. The system reported that a total of five Minuteman ICBMs had been launched by the USA. Soviet nuclear doctrine called for a full nuclear retaliation. Petrov had to make an instant decision. But he feared that it was a false alarm. He disobeyed the order.
The outcome proved that Petrov was correct, and nuclear armageddon was avoided.
So, faulty technology caused a terrible danger – and one man had the integrity to doubt the digital message, and to act on his doubt.
Contrast this with the actions of Post Office and Fujitsu authorities who covered up and lied about the faulty Horizon IT system. That resulted in 900 false convictions, 4 suicides, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives ruined.
In both cases, it was a failure of digital technology.
Now, as we plunge in to the Age of Artificial Intelligence, there is the frightening potential for more digital failures, – and worse, for human error, or even malevolence, in setting up AI programmes.
We need, as never before, people like Stanislav Petrov – people with the scepticism and the integrity - to not blindly comply with technocratic wizardry. The very recent, and still ongoing British Post Office scandal is a worrying reminder of the prevailing view about “not rocking the boat”. The boat may be sinking.
Nuclear news – week to 29 January
A bit of good news. Pre-Pesticides, Pro-Farmer: The Rise of Agroecology
One part ancient practices, one part worker justice, a new-old way of farming is adapting agriculture for an uncertain world.
TOP STORIES.
NOWHERE TO HIDE – How a nuclear war would kill you — and almost everyone else.
Nuclear lobby “kills” nomination of regulator whocares too much about safety . also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/01/23/3-a-nuclear-lobby-kills-nomination-of-regulator-who-cares-too-much-about-safety/
Nuclear hype in meltdown.
International Court of Justice Rules That Israel Must Stop Killing Palestinians.
Growing mountain of wasted money is a radioactive prospect. also at https://nuclear-news.net/2024/01/28/2-a-growing-mountain-of-wasted-money-is-a-radioactive-prospect/
Hinkley Point C woes threaten to break UK and France’s nuclear fusion.
Climate: Towards an unliveable planet: Climate’s 2023 annus horribilis
Nuclear. Lots about UK’s nuclear mess
Noel’s notes. A new Waterloo defeat for France – a nuclear economic one.
NUCLEAR ISSUES
| CLIMATE. Small modular reactors may have climate benefits, but they can also be climate-vulnerable EMPLOYMENT. Berkshire nuclear defence workers strike. | CIVIL LIBERTIES. In Assange’s Darkest Hour, Committee To Protect Journalists Yet Again Excludes Him From Jailed Journalist Index ENERGY. Microsoft Looks to Nuclear to Fuel AI Plans. | ECONOMICS. EDF a total basket case, weighed down by its 50 Billion pound nuclear turkey at Hinkley Point. Sorry, France, you’re on the hook at Hinkley Point. Hinkley Point is glowing on my doorstep, but that won’t help us get a bus into town. France to push UK government for additional support for faltering nuclear projects. US nuclear agency isn’t consistent in tracking costs for some construction projects, report says. NuScale / Countries Likely To ‘Double Down On Scrutiny’ Following SMR Project Cancellation. |
LEGAL. The ICJ’s Provisional Orders: The Genocide Convention Applies to Gaza.
Two Men Sentenced for Falsifying Documents Related to Testing of Equipment at Nuclear Power Plants.
MEDIA. The War On Journalism In Belmarsh, The War On Journalism In Gaza.As ‘Oppenheimer’ leads Oscar nominees, Sentor Hawley wants spotlight on nuclear testing victims. URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL MARATHON ACROSS THE USA.
OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Fijian youths condemn Japan’s discharge of radioactive water.
CAMPAIGNERS opposing the development of nuclear power inBradwell-on-Sea say they believe ‘new nuclear’ in the area “remains dead in the water”. UK government pours good money after bad, into failing Hinkley Point C nuclear boondoggle .
| SPINBUSTER. Tripling nuclear power: public relations fairy dust . What is wrong with UK nuclear power? Too much “Hopium”? Detailed response to a barrage of nuclear nonsense from Zion Lights.. | WASTES. Plutonium NNSA Issues Final Surplus Plutonium Environmental Impact Statement. Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant: further delays for removal of melted fuel debris. Still no end in sight for Fukushima nuke plant decommissioning work. Plan to store nuclear waste under Holderness for 175 years. MP wants public vote on nuclear waste disposal |
| WAR and CONFLICT. ”Doomsday Clock” Kept at 90 Seconds to Midnight for 2024. Doomsday clock stays at 90 seconds to midnight: What we know. The Doomsday Clock is still at 90 seconds to midnight. But what does that mean? Israel minister renews call for striking Gaza with ‘nuclear bomb’. It May be Genocide, But it Won’t Be Stopped | WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Nuclear-armed Israel is at war: What might this mean? Italy’s FM reveals country ceased arms shipments to Israel starting October 7 over ‘war crime’ concerns As Trump looms, top EU politician calls for European nuclear deterrent. Finland is a focal point of Nato’s largest exercise since the Cold War, and looks to siting nuclear weapons. US plans to store nuclear weapons in UK: report. US will station nukes in Britain for the first time in 15 years, as West escalates conflicts on multiple fronts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZcg409HYIc Ukraine uncovers another $40 Million in weapons fraud. |
Giving Mastodon another go. They approved my appeal
Now, to add to my confusion – Mastodon sent me a message “My appeal has been approved. My account is back again” . My appeal was just “I don’t understand why my account has been suspended. No reason was given” . So, now I am going to give Mastodon another go
Bitterly disappointed in Mastodon
Like many others, I left Twitter- X, because of Elon Musk and the whole weird setup developing there.
Today, on Mastodon, I find “Suspension of account from Jan 27, 2024”.
No warning, no notice, nothing.
My posts are almost always references to: my opposition to the nuclear industry, and to my condemnation of the genocide that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza.
Not personal attacks, not criminal accusations, not sexual content. No reason given for my suspension.
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MASTODON?
I have done a little research, on Reddit. It turns out that many others have had the same experience. Apparently you can appeal, but your Mastodon account will be permanently deleted. Hard to know how to appeal, as you have no idea what prompted them to cut you off. It seems that all that is need is for one person to make an objection to you – and you’re out! But of course, not knowing what their objection was, it’s hard to answer it. My lame appeal was:
“I don’t understand why my account is suspended. I think that I deserve an explanation.”
Where to, from here?
I have a Facebook account. It doesn’t get anything like the same volume of traffic that Mastodon does. With Facebook, I feel that we enthusiasts for a particular cause (a nuclear-free world) are just talking to each other.
And by the way, the nuclear industry has a huge presence on Mastodon.
Is there any open-source, non-profit, alternative to Twitter?
Can anyone help me?,
TODAY. A new Waterloo defeat for France – a nuclear economic one,
Almost 200 years before Electricite de France (EDF) signed a nuclear contract with Britain, France got decisively beaten by England, in the battle of Waterloo. That defeat ended France’s attempts to dominate Europe.
Now in 2024, France is suffering a humiliating blow, because of that 2016 contract. In essence, EDF agreed to be solely responsible for cost overruns during construction of Britain’s Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
To make matters worse, in 2022, the debt-laden EDF was fully nationalised by the French government, – which paid 9.7 billion euros to take on this burden. Back in 2016, the plant was meant to cost £18bn; it’s now headed to cost. £46bn .
Sacre bleu indeed!
France’s President Macron aims to make the nation the dominating nuclear industry power. Delusions of grandeur indeed. Apart from his grandiose plans for new fleets of big and little reactors, - around his neck is – as The Guardian puts it – a financial albatross that has only become heavier.
TODAY. Time that Israel stopped being a religious dictatorship
What is so badly needed right now ? The truth. Facts. A bit of logic.
Israel has no official religion. Yet the declaration of independence in 1948 made it clear that Israel is “The Jewish State”.
And now – all the Western powers seem to agree with Benjamin Netanyahu - yes Israel IS the Jewish State.
And why does that matter?
Well, look at the past , and the present. What does a theocracy mean for its people?
Well, for hundreds of years up to around the 500 BC time, the Israel lands, especially Judah, were controlled by a state ideology of “Zion theology,” the idea that Yahweh, the god of Israel, had chosen Jerusalem for his dwelling-place and that the Davidic dynasty would reign there forever. Then the Babylonian conquest happened, and the Hebrew Bible developed in the exiled community. The exiles saw themselves as a people distinct from other peoples.
Oppressed by the Romans, the Jews later became persecuted for centuries by the Christians. In theocratic Europe, the Inquisition developed, culminating in the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, torturing and killing non-Christians.
So, we see what religiously controlled States did to people, in the past.
And today.
Iran’s Islamic Republic says it all – enforcement of sharia law, oppression of women, oppression of religious minorities, the Supreme Leader exerts ideological and political control over a system dominated by clerics who shadow every major function of the state.
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocracy and the government has declared the Qur’an and the Sunnah (tradition) of Muhammad to be the country’s Constitution. Laws are enforced against religious minorities. It has the Committee for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, which carries out religious policing, including control over women’s clothing and their lives. There are severe punishments for blasphemy. Education is dominated by a religious focus.
How does Israel get away with pretending not to be a theocracy?
There’s a worldwide pretence that Jews are an ethnic minority. But Jews are all over the world, and do not have distinctive physical traits or genetic markers.
From the Balfour Declaration of 1917, to the Declaration of Independence in 1948, the world powers seemed to agree that the Palestine communities didn’t matter, and the land could be claimed by Jews who had previously bought properties there, and by the European Jews who survived the Holocaust.
This was grossly unfair to the Palestinians, – and to the Jews, who had little other choice.
But they’re there now. And can’t realistically be moved elsewhere. And Palestinians exist too.
So – everybody has to live with this. It would be a good start if everybody, especially Israeli citizens, recognised the humanity of all people, stopped banging on about “God’s chosen people”, and clearly stated Israel as a secular state.
1 This Month
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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