thumping the tub
Tub-Thumper - 1. A speaker or preacher who for emphasis thumps the pulpit; a violent or declamatory preacher or orator; a ranter. (from oed.com). This blog will be a combination of reasoned posting somedays and an occasional rant.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
REPOST - NUCLEAR WAR
These people who are saying they are supporting the soldiers are at the pinnacle of ignorance because our soldiers are walking along contaminated ground...We dropped depleted uranium over there and its radiological and we have 160,000 of us that get a cheque every month for $201 for undiagnosed illnesses because if they diagnosed it that means that they would have to admit that they used radiological fucking weapons over there. -

US soldier at anti-war demonstration (in the film We Interrupt This Empire - Free download)

In case you didn't know it, we are already in a Nuclear WarTake a look over at Snowshoe Films and watch the interview with the Deputy Director of the Uranium Medical Research Centre, Tedd Weyman (it is the second one down).

He makes some startling allegations.- Depleted and non-depleted uranium conventional weapons used by the USA, the UK and Canada have put more nuclear material in the environment than all of the nuclear weapons testing programmes put together

- Although some people classify these weapons as battlefield weapons the UN classifies them as weapons of indiscriminate effect because they remain in the environment for so long that they obviously affect civilians

- There is no instruction in any medical school anywhere in the western world researching into the effects of uranium contamination and its effects. This is because it is not allowed to be taught in any universities anywhere

- Troops are misinformed (or not informed enough) about the possible harmful effects of these weapons. The military does not acknowledge the full dangers of these weapons so why, on its terms, should it warn them?

- The methodologies used in the government testing and decontamination programmes are "not accurate, they are not correct, they are improper and they don't use the right chemistry and the right physics therefore they cannot say one way or the other whether the people they have allegedly examined have been exposed or not. It is just not possible"

- The normal masks given out do not protect against 'aerosoled' DU- The private research groups have got in line with the governments to say that there is not that much of a problem

- One of the odd properties of uranium is that it begins to replace the calcium in your bones. From there it is released back into the blood and begins destroying other cells somewhere else in your body until more cells are eliminated or mutated. This cycle continues to your death

- There has been a clampdown on any reporting of Gulf war syndrome

- The official quantities are about the DU fired from a few different military vehicles. This does not account for the Uranium used in the bunker busters and the high altitude bombs. He estimates around 2000 tonnes of uranium was used in operation Iraqi freedom. This is four times the amount used in Gulf war 1

- There could be quadrillions of particles loose in the bombed areas and beyond (they get lifted and moved by the wind). These particles can remain airborne for months

He also says that even if you have no objection to any of this on environmental or humanitarian grounds then you should consider that the bill will have to be picked up somewhere by those who have been dropping these weapons.

The media's coverage of the use of DU has been deplorable. Danny Schechter's excellent film 'Weapons of Mass Deception' shows a UK army office and on the board behind the soldier is a list of subjects they are not to mention in the media. One of them was DU. It also shows an exceptional piece of footage where a German reporter is standing next to a tank with a Geiger counter which is buzzing away merrily. When he questions the US soldier the soldier point blank denies the information in front of him and keeps saying "this tank is not radioactive" before walking away. Make an attempt to see this film.

There is a wonderful short about it called Your tax dollars at work but be warned, it is not for those with a weak stomach.
posted by michael the tubthumper @ 8:15 am  
2 Comments:
  • At 8:34 am, Blogger sumo said…

    Thanks for that load of information... I wasn't aware of some of that. Every day we learn something new that turns out to be terrible...and I wonder if it will ever end.

     
  • At 1:48 pm, Blogger Lew Scannon said…

    DU was also responsible for a lot of birth defects in Iraqi babies following the first Gulf War. Also, soldiers returning home are able to pass it along to their spouses during sexual relations. But if the military put their fingers in their ears, cover their eyes and begin chanting "I don't hear you!" repeatedly, then it's still a good thing.

     
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What is Tubthumping and who is doing it?

Name: michael the tubthumper
Home: Glasgow, Scotland
About Me: Tub-Thumper - 1. A speaker or preacher who for emphasis thumps the pulpit; a violent or declamatory preacher or orator; a ranter. This blog will be a combination of reasoned posting somedays and an occasional rant. 28 years old, I write and research for a couple of websites and also do my own stuff.
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Thumping The Tub Video

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I have made a few short movies. Here are links to free downloads for them all in the order that I made them (as far as I can remember). Please feel free to use, distribute, disagree with, shout at etc etc

  • Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition
  • This was a REAL song from World War 2. I was so stunned by it I had to make a movie

  • How Far Is It From Here to Nuremberg
  • This is my attempt at a video for the excellent, if worrying, David Rovics (see links) song

  • What You Like
  • I believe the word for this is "splenetic". Only 20 seconds long.

  • Imperial Measures
  • What is going on in Iraq? Some things you knew, some you didn't. A couple of bits of info are out of date now.

  • Wish You Were Here
  • Wish You Were Here is a 6 minute film about the unprecendted rate of animal extinction we are currently experiencing

  • Gorillas and us
  • I don't like creationism, neither did Douglas Adams

    Recent Thumping
    Older Thumping
    Links

  • spinwatch
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  • internet archive
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  • blairwatch
  • bushflash
  • camcorder guerillas
  • corporate watch
  • campaign for press freedom
  • noam chomsky
  • common dreams
  • counterpunch
  • cost of war
  • david rovics
  • democracy now
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  • the dossier
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  • sourcewatch
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  • howard zinn
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    some of the blogs I look at
    Arse of the month

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    The inaugural 'Arse of the month' award goes to our very own Scottish First Minister Jack (Joke) McConnell. He seems to spend a lot of his time sucking up to english politicians and yet it appears they don't even know his name. Follow the link to see..

    NODOBY KNOWS ME
    It's All Gone Scottish

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    A list of some other Scottish sites and blogs most of which, if not all, are pro-independence. I don't agree with content on all of them obviously. Some are Scots at home, others abroad.

  • The Scottish Patient
  • Kim Ayres
  • Our Scotland
  • average tosser
  • 1820
  • big stick small carrot
  • J. Arthur MacNumpty
  • World of Jack McConnell
  • The Firefox Chronicles
  • Independence 1st
  • Radio Free Scotland
  • Scots and independent
  • Scottish Independence Guide
  • TCOAW
  • Small Nation
  • Inveresk Street Ingrate
  • Radical Glasgow
  • Want to Swot?

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    If you like this site and think it is time to start getting informed here are a few real favourites of mine that will help you blow away the corporate and government propaganda you are constantly bombarded with. It is added to every so often.

  • politics and the english language
  • Beyond Hope
  • the gore exception
  • your tax dollars at work
  • a cultural chernobyl
  • choose life (not trainspotting)
  • shooting an elephant
  • a war crime within a war crime...
  • the menace of liberal scholarship
  • the modern era of law
  • naming the problem
  • the four ages of sand
  • a news revolution has begun
  • come september
  • money is the cause of poverty
  • countering corporate power
  • Other Stuff

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