Salmon Farm ,Radiation & HST Myths July 21/11

Mother Earth Beautiful and Worth Protecting  4 min

http://youtu.be/nGeXdv-uPaw

"Shoddy Science" Outed by DFO Colleague's Memo

Written by Rafe Mair

Blockbuster” hardly describes an internal DFO memo unearthed by Don Staniford, the doughty fighter against Atlantic Salmon fish farmers, which battle has included a lawsuit by the shameless bastards.

The 2003 memo (download here) - recently made public via the Cohen Commission on collapsing Fraser sockeye stocks - contains some truly shocking passages for their candour and for how clearly they vindicate those who have been critical of DFO's salmon farm science.   Written by a respected DFO scientist, Dr. Brent Hargreaves, the memo severely attacks the credibility of a colleague, key salmon farm apologist Dr. Dick Beamish, whose science Hargreaves labels as "shoddy" and "unethical", among other pejoratives.   Here are a couple of choice passages:

"The research on sea lice that has been conducted by Beamish has been strongly and widely criticized in both the scientific community and the public media...  I think to a large degree it was the inadequacies of Beamish's research and conclusions that led to the lack of public confidence in DFO science...

...I also do not want to be directly associated, either professionally or personally, with either Beamish or his research...  He always does exactly as he pleases, regardless of the (often negative) impacts on DFO staff and research programs."

First, a bit of background.

For nearly a decade we who were fighting Atlantic Salmon fish farms, led by the intrepid Alexandra Morton, were told by the provincial government that the “science” was on the side of the fish farms and that they would continue to permit the industry to expand.

The international scientific community familiar with the issue of sea lice from fish farms killing migrating Pacific Salmon supported her fight against.   Her findings were published and peer-reviewed; several fish biologists also published papers condemning fish farms and Dr. Daniel Pauly of UBC, one of the most distinguished scientists in the world according to Scientific American, said flatly “the debate is over."

Still, the Campbell government had the “science on their side."

At the request of Premier Campbell, I presented him with an analysis of the scientific evidence which he ignored. He had the “science on his side."

On it went – study begat study, all of which endorsed Alexandra Morton’s findings.

Nuclear and Mining Damage in Canada! Mar 19/11

The nuclear industry as a serious political issue has gone viral on the internet, in the wake of the Japanese meltdown. Globally, the anti-war/anti-nuke movements have a mature and strong, well-established infrastructure. Together as a coalition, they have the potential to exert a mighty pressure at this time, given public preoccupation with the immediate hazards of airborne radiation products. We’ve already seen the great impact on public consciousness, of the global profiteering in food and other commodities, and the diffuse anger in response – ranging from the middle-eastern rebellions, to the emerging “99% movement” in the USA.

There is a possibility that the Japanese government may be an early victim to the lack of natural disaster and nuclear safety preparedness, and cover up of the current crisis. If that occurs, it’s entirely possible that a right-wing replacement government will fill the political void: a result which might be welcomed by a bumbling Obama administration, given its failed policies of containing China’s rising influence in Asia. With the significant news blackout in mainstream media, many “alternative” commentators now expect the worst-case scenario may quickly affect North America, with considerable public anger directed at governments who hide the facts. In Germany, for example, the Merkel government, facing an election in a week or two has quickly suspended all nuclear electric plans pending further investigation.

There has perhaps never been a better opportunity for the consolidated peace/anti-nuclear/green movements worldwide to exert a very significant influence on public policy; re-opening a substantive non-proliferation debate, and even asserting widespread popular opposition to the current status quo. A responsible but firm advocacy of public health and safety responses downwind of the nucleotide stream would go a long way to establish credibility; and a rational linkage to the military geopolitical nexus could produce an unprecedented opportunity for the world to re-think some of our basic ethical precepts about the nuclear genie which has been released.

Canada, as one of the world’s strongest proponents of nuclear “development” will do its utmost to deep-six any real critical discussion of the issue, due to its obvious economic self-interest. As a nation with considerable experience in and promotion of an industry inimical to public health we have a humanitarian obligation to play an active, assertive role in the debate. That means confronting both government and industry, and disseminating factual rebuttals to Orwellian double-speak whenever and wherever it happens, in an effort to expose the contradictions and educate an already wary public. The basic premises are really very simple and understandable. Those who obfuscate the facts through complex scientific data and scenarios, or celebrity status as “experts” must be quickly debunked. The anti-nuclear/anti-war infrastructure has the capacity to do this but it must act immediately if it is to seize the initiative.

This link connects to a powerful 45 minute film worth watching if you haven’t seen it before. It was produced by a former associate of mine at the National Film Board and documents the Canadian uranium industry in the Elliot Lake region of Ontario. I lived and worked there in 1956-59, in the isolated town site of “Pronto Uranium Mine”, the very first developed by Rio Tinto on the shores of Lake Lauzon in Algoma Mills, Ontario before Elliot Lake was even built. I’ve seen the environmental abuses first hand and early on, and was aware of the premature deaths of almost all our neighbours, before the mine was cleverly “disappeared” from most historical records. On Google Earth you can still see the vestiges of “yellowcake” and other by-products in the tailings ponds and lakes, long after the mines were de-commissioned. The film tells the rest of the story, and there are many articulate Canadian scientists in the vanguard of the opposition movement today.

I urge you to watch the film and talk to your colleagues about “upping the ante” on government and industry in the wake of the unfolding human catastrophe in Japan. It is not the first such catastrophe. It may very well affect us and our grand-children directly and, unless we are able to do something about it, it will certainly not be the last. With apologies for my truncated editorialization and best regards,

Jay Spark

jspark@telus.net

Uranium Magnus Isacsson, 1990, 47 min 59 s

This documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Aboriginal people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.

http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium

Scientist Leuren Moret - Japan earthquake and nuclear "accident" are tectonic nuclear warfare.m4v

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WxmeOqYtB0 1 hour 6 minutes

Ontario Radioactive Leak in Water & Herbal Remedies Mar 21/11

With all the focus placed on the Japanese radiation leak as well as the toxic plume of radioactive particles (possibly containing uranium and plutonium) heading for the United States, another potential disaster is receiving virtually no attention. Of course, attention should be paid to the Japanese situation. Especially since the mainstream media is doing everything it can to cover up the scale of the disaster. Nevertheless, it seems the continent of North America is being hit from two sides in terms of radiation danger.

On March 16, a report was released by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) stating that Canada’s Ontario Power Generation has released radioactive water into Lake Ontario via a leak in the Pickering A nuclear generating station.

As a result of what appears to be a pump seal failure, tens of thousands of litres of radioactive water escaped the generating station on Monday and ended up in Lake Ontario. This is concerning for a number of reasons, but it is especially concerning considering the fact that Lake Ontario is the main source of drinking water for millions of people.

Bioneers Environmental Global Presentation to Stimulate global understanding of our collective power Weither we know each other or not each country is involved in making our world a better place. Know this and please connect and support each other! It will be the people making change not governments as they operate now! Cheers Tami  Canadian Groups www.charityvillage.com and wiseearth.org

Folks the whales and dolphins are sacred wise beings who do important energy work for mother earth and all of humanity. To be slaughtered in this fashion shows ignorance that is of the charts. I beseach all of you around the world and in particular in Japan to request wiser choices that honour your children , country and the cetaceans. Help where you can please! cheers Tami

The Talji Dolphin Capture and Slaughter in Japan

There are mixed reports coming out of Talji with regard to the persistent murder and torture of dolphins by the local fisherman. Just days ago, we were elated to hear that protests from animal activists who had come to Japan at the onset of the kill season had seemed to block the kill. Then we heard that there were now eighty dolphins in the Talji marina, awaiting to be slaughtered or sold off to some innane seaworld zoo for human entertainment. There is no verification of that count anywhere in the reliable alternative media sources.

For starters, let us celebrate the fact that dolphin lovers from around the world have started migrating to Talji to protest the coming season. Sea Shepherds, forever vigilant for the Cetaceans, are very possibly planning to cut the fishermans’ nets, as they did in 2003, in the event the fisherman bring in the dolphins to be massacred. The human voice is rising! And we WILL stop this.

The latest reports are that ten dolphins have been captured at the Cove, made famous in the movie of the same. Sea Shepherds are calling for people to come to Talji to help them protect the dolphins.. “The dolphins need defenders at the Cove today and tomorrow,” said Michael Dalton of Sea Shepherd Brisbane, who is leading the Sea Shepherd team on the ground at Taiji. “If you came to Japan to save dolphins, the place to be is Taiji and the time to be here is now.”

Meanwhile, for those of you who often ask me “what can we do?” Please listen carefully. I am calling on everyone imaginable – everyone listening and all of your contacts, listening to YOU – to get the Japanese Embassy’s telephone and email numbers in the city closest to you and call, write, and email the Ambassador of the Embassy with your protest and disdain for the Talji dolphin slaughters. (we will get to the whales in a second breath). Bombard them, please, with your condemnation. It is absolutely unthinkable that the government has yet to intervene and stop the senseless killing of more than twenty-three thousand (yes, you heard that right) dolphins and pilot whales in Japan alone. 23,000 dolphins a year.

Remember: the dolphins and whales and other sea mammals are under attack from every direction: toxic pollution, killing and slaughter, abduction into human water zoos, hunting, oil spills, navy sonar attacks. ONLY WE HUMAN BEINGS can save them. It’s up to us NOW. PLEASE CARE enough to send an email as a conscious, determined spirit warrior.

Some important links where you can keep abreast of what is going on:

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/sea-shepherd-news.html

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/

Corporations are being given permission to turn the planet into a toxic dump.

Cdsapi’s Added Comment: Apparently the planet is being rapidly transformed into a commercial enterprise in which ONLY CORPORATIONS have RIGHTS – usurping the right, through a hijacked government, to pillage, rape, pollute and destroy with impunity.

We cannot survive without clean water. Destroying and polluting water resources is a price that we cannot pay - for any irresponsible corporate operations, be it for oil, minerals or chemicals - most of which are consumed and wasted in the destructive engagements of the military and an extremely wasteful “throw-away” commercialism that we and the planet’s ecology can not afford.

We have arrived at this point because, by default, WE, as an apathetic and gullible population, has allowed the government to be totally hijacked by corporate vested interests, so that corporate interests and government have become one and the same. The welfare of citizens and the preservation of the environment and ecology be damned, while the profits of corporations take precedence over all other concerns and precautions, and are granted the license to operate criminally, with impunity, without accountability, oversight or controls. .

Governance has been hijacked. Only WE can take it back. And WE MUST take it back! The public pressure that is needed does not permit any of us to sit on our backsides as observers. It is absolutely essential that every citizen become politically active and an outspoken “active” activist. Since our survival is at stake, WE have no other choice. We have to restore governance of the people, by the people and for the people, with the determination to preserve and restore the environmental/ecological foundation upon which we all depend for survival.

Corporate power has been defeated before – when enough people stood up with an unequivocal “NO WAY” to the demands of reckless corporatization of life’s essentials for profit and exploitation.

The planet is depending on your participation. Welcome to the team!

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Q: When is a lake not a lake?

A: When the Canadian Government says it should be a dump for mine waste.

Lakes across Canada are being destroyed by mining waste. Lakes that would normally be protected as fish habitat by the Fisheries Act are now being redefined as “tailings impoundment areas” according to a 2002 “schedule” added to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations of the Act. Once added to Schedule 2, healthy freshwater lakes lose all protection and become dump sites for mining waste. Mining companies have the go-ahead to dump their tailings into perfectly healthy bodies of water, such as Sandy Pond in Newfoundland, Fish Lake in British Columbia, and Bamoos Lake in Ontario. Twelve pristine water bodies are currently slated for destruction under this law.

Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Ltd is proposing to drain Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) in B.C. in order to stockpile solid waste and use Fish Creek and Little Fish Lake as tailings impoundment areas for a gold-copper mining project called Prosperity Mine. Read more about Teztan Biny, recent public hearings and find out what you can do to help save this lake here.

Click here for Environment Canada’s list of 12 lakes proposed for destruction.

http://www.canadians.org/water/issues/TIAs/lakeslist.html

Mining Projects in Canada for Which Companies have Proposed the Use of Healthy Natural Water Bodies for Mine Waste Disposal

Adapted from Environment Canada (2007) by Mining Watch Canada

hanle@shaw.ca