Monthly Archives: December 2011

The Hiroshima-Fukushima Connection – Anthony Hall

Anthony J. Hall - EON photo


The Hiroshima-Fukushima Connection
Lessons of Fukushima Conference San Francisco State University
Keynote

On Dec. 3, 2011, a ‘Lessons of Fukushima’ Conference was held at San Francisco State University.

The keynote speaker, was Dr. Anthony J. Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. He is the author of the recent article From Hiroshima to Fukushima, 1945-2011: A Nuclear Narrative of Hubris and Tragedy, Mr. Hall describes how the US introduced nuclear power into Japan and manipulates the media message. Hall’s book called Earth into Property (McGill/Queens University Press, 2010) describes the disastrous effects of capitalism on indigenous peoples.

He was introduced by conference organizer Steve Zeltzer, Director of the Labor Video Project and a producer and host on KPFA Radio, Steve is on the steering committee of the annual month long SF Labor Fest and is a member of the No Nukes Action Committee. He recently spent 3 weeks in Japan working on a documentary on the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Also included below are excerpts from and links to Hall’s seminal article, plus two more articles by Yoichi Shimatsu, Former Editor of The Japan Times Weekly, on the history of the U.S. role in nuclearizing Japan. [ Thanks to Barbara George of Womens Energy Matters.org.]

To view on YouTube click here.


From Hiroshima to Fukushima, 1945-2011: A Nuclear Narrative of Hubris and Tragedy
by Anthony J. Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies University of Lethbridge

(28 March, 2011, Version 2, Running Draft)
The Nuclear Disaster at Fukushima Nuclear Plant Number One

From Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the witches brew of melting, spewing and exploding nuclear matter at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Number One, the history of humanity’s first decades of encounter with energy’s atomic sources is unfolding as a poetic saga of hubris and tragedy.

In 2011 as in 1945, the people of Japan have been put at the centre of a dark science experiment testing the limits of human capacities to absorb new frontiers of nuclear devastation.

The tsunami of annihilation and then slow, radiation-induced sicknesses and deformities was introduced to the world with the terrible blasts of the two American Atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fate Man and Little Boy were the codenames bestowed by the US Air Force on the two original atomic bombs that were dropped on the two defenseless Japanese cities from the Boeing B-29 Superfortress named the Enola Gay.

Hundreds of thousands of tons of highly-radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods are stored at nuclear power stations in Japan, USA and most other nuclearized countries. This form of nuclear waste remains highly toxic for hundreds of thousands of years

The devastation wrought at Hiroshima and Nagasaki may prove limited compared to the catastrophe now set in motion at the maimed power station just north of Tokyo. The devastation underway has such enormous destructive potential because the site of Fukushima Daiichi (which translates from Japanese as “Fukushima Power Plant Number One”) has long been made to double as a massive storage facility for spent nuclear fuel rods, the most deadly and volatile form of nuclear waste. Read more.


Is Japan’s Elite Hiding a Weapons Program Inside Nuclear Plants?

New America Media, News Analysis,
Yoichi Shimatsu, Former Editor of The Japan Times Weekly
Posted: Apr 06, 2011

…The Manchurian Deal

The chain of events behind this vast fabrication goes back many decades.

During the Japanese militarist occupation of northeast China in the 1930s, the puppet state of Manchukuo was carved out as a fully modern economic powerhouse to support overpopulated Japan and its military machine. A high-ranking economic planner named Nobusuke Kishi worked closely with then commander of the occupying Kanto division, known to the Chinese as the Kwantung Army, General Hideki Tojo.

Close ties between the military and colonial economists led to stunning technological achievements, including the prototype of a bullet train (or Shinkansen) and inception of Japan’s atomic bomb project in northern Korea. When Tojo became Japan’s wartime prime minister, Kishi served as his minister of commerce and economy, planning for total war on a global scale.

After Japan’s defeat in 1945, both Tojo and Kishi were found guilty as Class-A war criminals, but Kishi evaded the gallows for reasons unknown—probably his usefulness to a war-ravaged nation. The scrawny economist’s conception of a centrally managed economy provided the blueprint for MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry), the predecessor of METI, which created the economic miracle that transformed postwar Japan into an economic superpower.

After clawing his way into the good graces of Cold Warrior John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s secretary of state, Kishi was elected prime minister in 1957. His protégé Yasuhiro Nakasone, the former naval officer and future prime minister, spearheaded Japan’s campaign to become a nuclear power under the cover of the Atomic Energy Basic Law.

American Complicity

Kishi secretly negotiated a deal with the White House to permit the U.S. military to store atomic bombs in Okinawa and Atsugi naval air station outside Tokyo. (Marine corporal Lee Harvey Oswald served as a guard inside Atsugi’s underground warhead armory.) In exchange, the U.S. gave the nod for Japan to pursue a “civilian” nuclear program.

Secret diplomacy was required due to the overwhelming sentiment of the Japanese public against nuclear power in the wake of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. Two years ago, a text of the secret agreement was unearthed by Katsuya Okada, foreign minister in the cabinet of the first Democratic Party prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama (who served for nine months from 2009-10).

Many key details were missing from this document, which had been locked inside the Foreign Ministry archives. Retired veteran diplomat Kazuhiko Togo disclosed that the more sensitive matters were contained in brief side letters, some of which were kept in a mansion frequented by Kishi’s half-brother, the late Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (who served from 1964-72). Those most important diplomatic notes, Togo added, were removed and subsequently disappeared.

These revelations were considered a major issue in Japan, yet were largely ignored by the Western media. With the Fukushima nuclear plant going up in smoke, the world is now paying the price of that journalistic neglect. Read more.

The Next Nagasaki – Nuclear Fears Stalk The World
Threat to the American Public
by Yoichi Shimatsu

A second Hiroshima is happening with the partial meltdowns at Fukushima 1 nuclear reactors. We can only hope the eventual toll in lives comes nowhere near close to that of the world’s first atomic catastrophe.

The international community is now asking: Where will be the next Nagasaki?

In the US with its 23 aging reactors of identical design as Fukushima’s GE Mark 1 reactors, along with another dozen more of slightly modified design?

In France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent country?

Probably not in Germany or Venezuela, which are cutting back their nuclear programs, nor Britain, the world leader in conversion to offshore wind power. Or even China, a solar-energy paragon now scaling back plans for new nuclear plants.

Many people are also wondering: How can the only nation that ever experienced atomic bombings become so trusting in nuclear energy? The answer is both simple and complicated. In the modern economy, the energy to run machines is intertwined with national security, foreign policy and warfare. Read more.

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Breaking – PG&E to Issue Radio-Off Digital Meters? as Police Enforce SCE SMeter Installation

Resistance IS Fertile
According to this KTVU video report, PG&E is apparently now saying that instead of turning off the power of the people who had ‘smart’ meters replaced with analog meters, the company will now install digital meters with the radio function turned off.

PG&E is obviously trying to avoid another public relations nightmare from widespread outrage that people who’ve unsuccessfully tried to get PG&E to remove the meter that was making them sick and who’ve paid a licensed electrician to remove it and replace it with an analog meter, and who’ve paid their bills regularly, would have their electricity turned off two weeks before Christmas in cold weather.

But this puts the people who’ve experienced health problems from the regular ‘smart’ meters into being forced to choose another digital meter rather than being able to have their analog meter or to go without power altogether.

Radio-off meters will still have the problems caused by the RF emissions from the SMPS function, however, which have been measured to be extremely high frequencies in millisecond pulses that not only penetrate the air but get into the wiring. Additionally, PG&E would then be in a position at any moment to activate the radio, with no recourse by the customer.

[ Click here to view video. ]

Meanwhile in Southern California Edison Country…
Press Release:
Police and Utility Forces SmartMeters on Residences in Violation of Federal Law, U.S. and California Constitution
by Orlean Koehle and Deborah Tavares
Deborah Tavares (707) 824-9850

On Monday morning, December 12, 2011 two separate Southern California Edison SmartMeter deployment teams, escorted by police, violated property rights on apartment buildings in Covina and San Gabrial by cutting through steel protective grid enclosures, yanking off the safe analog meters and installing nineteen wireless SmartMeters in their place.

The owners and builders of the apartment buildings, Lou and Deborah Tavares, believe what was done to their property was a violation of their rights and those of the tenants, done in spite of visible no trespassing signs that had been posted refusing the installation of SmartMeters.

Having done research on the Federal Energy Act and the U.S. and California Constitution, Deborah Tavares states, “The Federal Energy Act of 2005 does not mandate installation of SmartMeters, but uses the words to be installed upon ‘customer’s request.’”

“Furthermore, the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that we are to be ‘secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects.’ The police and So. Calif. Edison had no search warrant to come onto and vandalize our private property that did not belong to them. The California Constitution, Article 1, states that we are ‘free and independent and have unalienable rights,’ among these are ‘enjoying and defending life and property, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.’ What the police and So. Calif. Edison did was a violation of this article.”

Despite widespread problems with SmartMeters nationwide, including: overbilling, interference with electronics, reports of fires, hacking, security issues, privacy violations, frequent reports of health impacts, such as heart arrhythmias, tachycardia, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, ringing, buzzing, and pain in the ears, sleep problems, increased blood pressure, seizures, headaches, pressure or pulsing sensations, and pacemaker defibrillation, the California Public Utilities Commission and the California State Legislature have refused to halt the Smart Meter program or call for a state investigation on these issues.

Deborah Tavares states, “Many people are asking why smart meters are continuing to be deployed by the utilities when they emit dangerous pulsed radiation that are making many people sick? The power companies know this. They have the facts, the science and clinical evidence. How could this possibly be a mistake or an oversight? Something is very wrong. Why are they continuing to deploy the smart meters?”

Smart Meters had been previously installed on the Tavares apartment complexes in the spring of 2010 without any notification to the owners. Tavares became concerned and spoke to SCE, PG&E and the CPUC asking for the studies to show that the meters were safe. They subsequently found out that all studies had been waived and only outdated FCC studies were given as justification for the safety of the meters, which excluded the hazardous affects of accumulative EMF/RF radiation from multiple meters within the smart grid mesh network. Consequently, the owners asked for the utilities to give them a statement on their letterhead that would “indemnify, hold harmless or defend them” against any consequences of injury to their tenants. The utilities refused.

After hearing from several of their tenants of the bad health effects that they were experiencing from the SmartMeters on their homes and after repeatedly asking the CPUC and SCE to remove the meters to no avail, the Tavares believed they have a responsibility to help their tenants and do the right thing. On November 11, 2011, they removed the SmartMeters themselves and re-installed the safe analog meters, which they had purchased at their own expense. They also enclosed the meters in steel framed enclosures to prevent any further tampering and vandalism of the meters. They then had the smart meters returned to the So. California Edison office.

However, SCE and city police then trespassed and vandalized the Tavares property and forced reinstallation of the SmartMeters back upon their apartment units.

The owners attempt to protect their own tenants against the harm of the SmartMeters has been thwarted. “We are now the victims, ourselves, of theft, trespassing, vandalism, and loss of ability to protect our tenants,” says Deborah Tavares.

A limited “delay of installation” list has been recently instituted by the CPUC and utilities in response to public outcry, but SCE has refused to accommodate those with Smart Meters already installed, even when they have submitted statements by their doctors about the serious health effects the customers are suffering from the SmartMeters. Many believe the installation delay list is just a way to distract and placate customers until the grid is more fully complete and Smart Meters will then be “forced” upon everyone that still has a safe analog meter…

More people across the nation, who are suffering from the ill effects of the SmartMeters on their homes, and have repeatedly contacted local and state officials for help without success, are also doing what the Tavares did, purchasing analog meters and hiring licensed electricians to install them.

PG&E customers have also begun removing Smart Meters and replacing with safe analog meters in Northern California. December 13, 2011, twelve customers returned their Smart Meters to a PG&E office in Capitola, only to be ordered to leave by police. PG&E has now begun disconnecting power to those families.”

“This is outrageous!” Deborah states. “We have had the authority of making safe decisions for ourselves, our families and our own residents taken away from us. What a way to treat faithful customers who are just standing up for their own safety and their own rights, to have their power shut down, especially in the middle of the winter and just before Christmas. Imposing dangeorus, radiating, surveillance devises against our will is unimaginable in what was once a free country.”

For further information about Smart Meters, contact www.refusesmartmeters.com, www.burbankaction.com, www.emfsafetynetwork.org,

Deborah Tavares (707) 824-9850

Orlean Koehle, State President
Eagle Forum of California

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SMeter Showdown Mounts – Opt-Outs, Cop Outs, Lights Out – Public Comments & Updates

SMeter War Heats Up – Just in Time for the Holidays
This edition features several reports from the front lines of the escalating conflict between PG&E and its customers, as ‘smart’ meter radiation victims picket the chairman of the board’s home, people have ‘smart’ meters removed by licensed electricians, and the utility shows its Christmas spirit by cutting their power in retaliation.


Peevey Prevaricates
On Nov. 22, 2011, California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey issued a proposed ruling on ‘smart’ meter opt-out options, which turns its back on people’s concerns, scientific facts and democratic choice.
His proposal would prohibit cities or counties opting out collectively.
It would eliminate analog meters.
It would cancel and eliminate the ‘delay list’ for ‘smart’ meter installation.
It would charge customers a $90 up-front fee and a monthly fee of $15 for turning off the radio transmitter in the ‘smart’ meter.

The proposed ruling ignores many issues; among them:
– RF radiation exposure caused by the neighborhood ‘mesh network’
– The intense RF radiation from the SMPS that transmits constantly despite the ‘radio off,’ propagating dirty electricity throughout the residential electrical wires.
– That there could be many other ways to keep analog meters at no extra cost.
– That there are critical unresolved security, privacy, health and environmental problems

You can download a PDF of Mr. Peevey’s autocratic Proposed Decision here.

EON, together with other parties in the CPUC proceeding, has submitted comments on the proposed Peevey ruling. Here are the links to PDFs of those filings:
EON; EMF Safety Network ; Aglet; ACRCASM; San Francisco; TURN; Lake County; PG&E; S. Cal. Edison; David Wilner Associates; and Fairfax.

Below is the video of the outraged public comments on Peevey’s proposed ruling heard Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, plus related reports and updates.

Angry Customers Return SmartMeters – KION TV

The Great Smart Meter Return

SmartMeter Opponents Protest Outside PG&E Board Member’s Home
By Katelyn Sykes – KION
CARMEL, Calif–

SmartMeter opponents are at it again, except this time, they’re targeting PG&E board members.

Earlier this week, about a dozen SmartMeter opponents gave their meters back to PG&E in Capitola. On Saturday, they protested at the home of Lee Cox, non-executive Chairman of the Board of Pacific Gas and Electric Company. They want the SmartMeter program stopped, and the return of analog meters.

“We’ve been sort of forced to say we want action on this issue,” said Nina Beety, SmartMeter opponent. “We want it now. It’s an urgent issue.”

The issue this group says is urgent has to do with SmartMeters. Protesters want the SmartMeter program banned, so they’re going straight to Lee Cox, who serves as the non-executive Chairman of the Board of PG&E.

“We want him to convene the board and discuss the issues that maybe they’re not aware of,” said Beety. “We want them to look at the problems with SmartMeters and declare their own moratorium on the program.”

“We want him to feel what we feel,” said Sudi Scull, SmartMeter opponent. “PG&E is basically taken away our privacy, the sanctity of our homes so I want him to sort of get that same feeling when we come here.” read more

Group protests smart meters outside Carmel home of PG&E director
By DENNIS TAYLOR
Herald Staff Writer

The chairman of the board of directors for the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. listened to complaints from a small gaggle of protesters who gathered outside his Carmel home Saturday and attempted to address some of their criticisms of smart meters.

Lee Cox heard from a group of eight people that the devices, which now monitor electricity use in about 8million American homes, represent a health hazard, an invasion of privacy, and are more costly to consumers than the 50-year-old analog technology.

“This is about money, power and control,” said Ellen Cecil of Marina. “I call it the DIE Effect, because they are dangerous, invasive and expensive.”

Cox, a 70-year-old retiree from the wireless industry, maintained a cordial demeanor during the hourlong conversation, occasionally debating some of the charges, but always under the umbrella of a disclaimer: “I’m not the CEO,” he told them. “I don’t direct the company. I don’t set policies, I don’t hire and fire anybody. I’m the chairman of the board.”
read more

Protesters threatened with loss of electricity
Bay City News Service report

SANTA CRUZ — Protesters who removed their SmartMeters and returned them to a PG&E office in Capitola this week are now faced with having their service cut off.

About a dozen protesters hired a professional electrician to remove their SmartMeters this week and replace them with analog meters, according to Josh Hart, director of the group Stop Smart Meters. The group attempted to return the meters to a PG&E office in Capitola on Wednesday, but police were called and the office shut down in response to the protest.

Now Live Oak resident Bianca Carn and several others have received phone calls warning that they will have their power shut off if they do not allow PG&E to reinstall the SmartMeters.

Carn said she had the meter removed because she is convinced the radio frequencies it emits are responsible for recent headaches suffered by her two children. She said she had first tried to get PG&E to remove the meter, but the utility had refused. read more

PG&E’s new boss pledges improvements in safety and service
By George Avalos
Contra Costa Times

PG&E Chairman, CEO and President Anthony Earley Jr., speaks during a news... ( Paul Sakuma )

Conceding that customers are justified in not trusting PG&E, the utility’s new boss marked his first 90 days at the helm Monday by vowing major changes in the coming year to upgrade its safety and reliability in the wake of the 2010 gas explosion in San Bruno.

“The public has good reason not to trust PG&E,” CEO Tony Earley said during a news conference at the company’s San Francisco headquarters. “I understand that.” read more

New Troubles With Smart Meters – KSBW TV video
PG&E is shutting off the power to customers who have removed their Smart Meters.

Click here to view video.

PG&E cuts power to three SmartMeter opponents
By JASON HOPPIN — Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 12/13/2011 06:49:26 PM PST

SANTA CRUZ – Less than two weeks before Christmas, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has shut off power to no fewer that three county residents who removed SmartMeters from their homes.

The move reduced one customer to tears, left a mother of two without electricity and had others fearing they were next. And with PG&E representatives present at Tuesday’s county board meeting for a SmartMeter-related issue, incredulous board members grilled a company executive.

“It’s hard for me to believe that PG&E, given all the public-relations nightmares it’s been involved in lately, is willing to add another one,” said Supervisor Ellen Pirie, leading a contingent of board members who seemed genuinely befuddled by the utility’s actions.

“We’re having a Dickensian moment here,” Supervisor John Leopold said. “I would urge you to say, ‘Let’s get in the spirit of the holidays.'” read more

From Jeff Nordahl – SmartMeterHelp.com Launched!

Jeff Nordahl delivers complaints to CAB's Harold Williams

FYI – On Friday Dec 9, I hand delivered the first 260 California SmartMeter
complaints to Harold Williams at the CPUC Consumer Affairs Branch. He
promised to handle each complaint as a unique individual complaint, and he said his office would generate response letters to each customer. He was well informed that these complaints had come in only in the first 10 days of the website www.SmartMeterHelp.com going live.

I would like to hand deliver THOUSANDS – so please make sure to get everyone you can to fill out the online form. I promise to hand deliver all
complaints to Harold Williams. He was very nice, and encouraged more
complaints – that is the purpose of CAB – to process complaints!

Also from Jeff Nordahl
Santa Cruz Board Questions PG&E – SmartMeter ShutOffs

Problems with Smart Meters, Nevada – KNVD

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