Other people's posts that leave me humbled.

At present in Rio de Janeiro, The Second International Uranium  Film Festival is taking place. It's on until July 14th and if you visit their website, , the breadth and depth of coverage may surprise you.  This independent  film festival is, amongst  its other virtues, a rich source of the often unheard and certainly unseen history of people caught up in the nuclear legacy. http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/programme
When I was looking for some more background information about uranium mining, I came across an article written in 2009 by Winona LaDuke in Orion Magazine,  She begins by telling one of the Dine creation stories.... the people were gven the choice of two yellow powders.  They wisely chose the yellow dust of corn pollen and were told to leave the other yellow powder, uranium, in the soil and to never dig it up.  If it were to be taken from the ground, they were told, a great evil would come   http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4248/   This is someone writing who knows what they re talking about and has been involved in the outcome of uranium mining.
On Thursday, The return of Navajo Boy will be screened, in Rio de Janeiro, this film is already an acclaimed documentary, and there is a long list of others you can read about, some of which are world premieres. http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/programme  It is an exceptional list and I certainly had no idea of the range of issues covered, including uranium mining across the world.
What can I do about it all? Only what I can.  At the moment, the world waits while our future is being decided in one of the most consequential games of "Pick a sticks"  imaginable as the engineers face the problems with damaged reactors and the highly radioactive fuel rods in the spent fuel pools in Japan...
I can sign a couple of petitions.  One is for everyone to sign,  to the EPA: Don't Sacrifice Navajo Water for Uranium Mining   https://www.change.org/petitions/epa-don-t-sacrifice-navajo-water-for-uranium-mining  and the other one is for British citizens or a resident in the U.K. against nuclear power in the UK
It's the E petition  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1035

And I can leave you with the final question.. How many atom bombs have been dropped on the planet earth between 1945and 1989?  Is is 22...220...1212... or 2201?
The answer is in Peter Greenaway's film, nominated for a yellow Oscar, http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/programme/53-en/films/46-atomic-bombs-on-the-planet-earth

The Second International Uranium Film Festival

If you ever wonder what the good guys have been up to... well some of them have been making films, brilliant films, courageous films and some of those films are going to be seen at the second International Uranium Film Festival at the Cinema of the Modern Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro from June 28th to July 14th. To get a taste and to read about them, this is the link to their programme. http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/programme

58% increase in female breast cancer and 50% increase in lung cancer in men downwind of two Magnox reactors in Wales. Report and TV program

On Monday 19th December, the Welsh-language TV channel S4C published new evidence of a cancer cluster near the nuclear power stations at Wylfa in Wales. Commissioned by S4C, Professor Chris Busby analysed official data for cancer deaths, showing a 58% increase in female breast cancer and 50% increased lung cancer in men downwind of the two Magnox reactors, which began production in 1971. The findings are statistically significant.

    This information was derived from llrc, the Low Level Radiation Campaign.

From the historical events in Where The Fox Goes".The people stand up for their rights at the time of the enclosures.. Some of the best people were sent to Australia.

An extract from "Where The Fox Goes" 
       “Rose saved your life, too.” said Edwin. “If she hadn’t shouted, Harry wouldn’t have reached you in time.”     
       “Do you know who I am?” Michael asked her.
       “Yes. You’re the bad man who wants to take the wastelands away.” said Rose bravely.
       “But you shouted to your father to save me! ”
       “Yes.” said Rose.
       “It’s in the family.” said Edwin, dryly.
       “Would you do that for my child? ”  Michael asked Rose, who was looking up at him, unflinchingly, with her clear blue eyes.
       “Would there be man traps in the field? ”
 He looked down at his feet and shook his head.  
       “No.”
       “Would  we be hung or sent to Australia?”
       “No.”
       “If the field was hedged in, you wouldn’t be able to get there in time, anyway.” said her father.

To find out more go to  http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk    Christian family fiction with a difference.

Singing a favourite hymn in the mist.

Singing a favourite hymn when things were tough was what Alan did,  if he thought no one could hear him.
In "Where The Fox Goes" Alan does just that, but he had no idea where it would lead him and how it would help them all.
You can read more at http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk/where_the_fox_goes.html
 This is a basic, drm free, low download pdf and Epub ebook which you can print out.   It's about caring for each other and the doors that open. You won't find it anywhere but my website at the moment, it costs £1.00 and you can download it and pay with Paypal..

Why now?

     Several years ago, when I wrote Everyone Can be a herO, (fiction from the future) I didn't know what was going to happen at Fukushima.  In my book I guessed that the English government would be sparing when it came to the truth about the amount of radioactive contamination left and that there would still be people around wanting to make money out of nuclear power. There would also be a majority of people who didn't want it and just wanted a healthy and fairer life for the future generations, although they knew that, because of the accident, their future would be blighted by increased disease and mutations.  In my book, however, no one speaks about it. The kids don't know much about nuclear waste, because they boycotted nuclear power lessons on principle.
     Society has learned to cope without oil and it hasn't been as hard as people expected, but when a nuclear accident happens, this is something that can't just be a forgotten event. The aftermath is there for millions of years.
     It takes people power and a deal of bravery to protest and stand up against the hidden lobby who want to make money out of the situation and whereas the good guys play clean, the bad guys play dirty.  Plus ca change...

Find out more at Inside Outsider Publications  http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk

A cat, the snow, and a kind heart.

   Sometimes it takes a cat or another animal to melt a frozen heart, sometimes it's the cold snowy weather that brings out the hidden kindness in people, and sometimes a sprinkling of kindness can melt a path through a frozen landscape.
    But the thing is....that it doesn't stop there.
To find out more, read Where The Fox Goes, a tale of kindness at a time of hardship, of people sharing and of people standing up for their rights in a time of recession and oppression. This is Christian family fiction with a difference, non judgmental, compassionate and inclusive. 
    From Inside Outsider Publications,
  http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk/where_the_fox_goes.html
    ...to read about the cat...