Dear Subscribers,

Perhaps all optimists are naïve but here is what I presently see from my little window on the world.

Japan has its hands full and will probably have to take very decisive measures before the options that remain disappear. The aftermath is going to impact all aspects of life in Japan, but the country and its people will survive this just as they did the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They will reinvent from new philosophical and technological perspectives and the power of innovative thinking will prevail over the mindlessness and irresponsibility of the nuclear era. In situations in which blame is assumed, often by someone who was not charged with operational responsibility but rather oversight, apologies are often tendered by a sword ripping through one's gut. I hope this does not happen, but it is a cultural tradition that fails to solve the bigger problem of what to do next. I really hope there are no suicides!

So while the politicians assure us that there is no danger and others tell us there is no escaping, it seems like time to be realistic about what is at stake here. Most likely, ground zero is toast. Moreover, a zone surrounding this will probably be very dangerous for eons to come, that is eons, not years. Most likely some valiant workers will sacrifice themselves for others. We owe them our gratitude and pray for rewards in Heaven.

For the rest of us, there will be relatively few acute exposures but there will be places where the levels of exposure are considerably higher than elsewhere. According to some of the material I was reading very late last night, some fallout has indeed been detected in California. Lest everyone in California panic, keep in mind that this was also the case with Chernobyl. Air does not respect borders between countries and fallout from Chernobyl also reached California as well as countless other places. What has been reported in California are tiny, tiny amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium, barium, and krypton. What this means is that we are all in this together and what the politicians are saying to control pandemonium represents the queerest of political behavior. If you consider how urgent it was for everyone to be vaccinated for a relatively harmless flu and how no preparations are necessary for a nuclear disaster, we really have to ask these birds to get their heads out of the sand. Since official news isn't believable, we have to rely on what we "know" and what might come from more reliable sources.

I have taken some heat for downplaying radioactive iodine. Of course, we knew it would escape but it has a half life of eight days. It is a by-product of nuclear fission (uranium-235) and is only present when created in this manner. To explain radioactive decay in user friendly language, let's just try to visualize something very tiny that is losing power. What it loses are radioactive emissions in the form of alpha, beta, and gamma rays. It is these rays that penetrate tissue and cause damage in accordance with their propensities. What is still in the process of decay is gradually becoming something else through loss of energy. In the case of iodine-131, it emits beta and gamma rays and becomes xenon-131.

With such a short half life, radioactive iodine emissions will cease within a month after fission ceases. A half-life is just that, a half life. It means that half of the material will decay in eight days and another half (25%) in eight more days and so on and so forth which is why the risk of exposure to radioactive iodine is short-term whereas the risk of exposure to radioactive cesium is significantly longer. There are a lot of fission by-products but some have very short half lives, seconds or minutes, but some have extremely long half lives which is why building a nuclear power plant with a useful life expectancy of 40-50 years is completely irresponsible. The reason is that all the waste has to be disposed of properly.

Now, I want to flash back to the fires at Los Alamos. Then, as now, officials were assuring the public that there was no risk but what journalists and environmental proponents saw was beyond a nightmare. It seems that for years and years and years, decades, nuclear waste had been put in 55 gallon drums or simply poured on the ground. Many of the drums were rusted and others were missing lids. As the fires approached the lab, the risk was that all this would go up in flames but if it rained hard enough to stop the fires, the waste would wash down into the Rio Grande and eventually end up in the Gulf of Mexico and from thence travel elsewhere throughout the world. In short, what is dumped in the lab's backyard is of international concern and the cover ups are a ploy used to defend a technology that has no reason to exist in a sane world.

This is the parallel I have been trying to draw. Of course, if you want to stay healthy, it is important to avoid inhaling particulates. This is why staying indoors makes sense when the first contaminated winds arrive. The slower the winds, the more likely it is that most of radioactive iodine and barium as well as a few other contaminants will be spent. So, while I am not in denial as to the risk of radioactive iodine exposure in Japan, I am simply questioning whether those at significant distances need to be as concerned about radioactive iodine as those in closer proximity to the releases. There are, however, some ironies worth noting. One is that a very high exposure is sometimes less harmful than a lesser exposure, but the risk is still that thyroid cancer may develop years down the road. This also means that people have many years to shift the odds so one reason I am not hysterical is that time works for us.

	The new Pacifi Ka is a rich source of natural potassium iodide, mainly through its reliance on Irish moss. This is a much safer way to assimilate the iodine needed by the thyroid because loading can be a rough road and could, as mentioned previously, cause a loss of the potassium needed to block the cesium.
Image: http://www.cybercolloids.net/picslibrary/carrageenan/chondrus-crispus.jpg

So, speaking of Pacifi Ka, my own first taste was a few hours ago. Now, I will confess that despite my aversion to beets, I did include them in the formula. So, I was just a little apprehensive when tasting, especially when I saw that the extract is reddish in color. However, while not the fine culinary delight of Whale's Tears or Potent Protection, it passes. Moreover, I found the taste "interesting" despite the beets. This is actually saying a lot because I really hate beets. As the days unfold, I will explain the formula in more detail. People usually bail if there are too many herbs in one discussion. Thus, for the moment, suffice it to say that I masked some of the taste with fennel and cinnamon. This will also help with nausea in case people want to take the formula in preparation for radiological medical tests.

Blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2011

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