Radiation in Hawaii

reply to post by akalepos


Rem, Rad, Millirem, etc are all units of measure just like foot, and meter are. The only difference is that they measure radiation, instead of length or width, or something you can see. The words aren't being used to downplay exposure at all, they're being used to bring to light the truth of the levels (which have been blown so out of proportion it isn't funny).

reply to post by signalfire

gulfwarvets.com...

I have found something interesting about some Gulf War vets...

A group of Gulf War veterans who have DU fragments still in their bodies continue to be medically followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Depleted Uranium Follow-up Program to determine whether there will be long
-term health effects. As of early 2007, only subtle but clinically insignificant changes in kidney function have been observed. One common observation is a persistent elevation in the amount of uranium measured in the urine more than 16 years after exposure. This reflects the continued presence of embedded DU in wound sites and its ongoing low-level mobilization and absorption to blood.

www.hps.org...

Seems you can live a pretty good life even with DU fragments in you....

Interesting...

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by signalfire

 

That was within the last 7 years. The military has been firing into Barking Sands for decades. Radiation levels don't just suddenly go from 0.002 to "suicide" levels overnight. Even a massive release such as Fukushima doesn't drive levels up to dangerous levels immediately. As you said "radiation is cumulative".

I've sent a request to my friend that still lives and works there that will put an end to this once and for all. He will take background levels for me by early in the week and send me the numbers. Or isn't that going to be good enough? Let me guess, there's no way to prove that he is really there, right? I'll have him take pics of the rad meter sitting there getting a reading with something that proves that he's in Hawaii as well.

I'd personally be quite interested in seeing the results of your friend's readings. This issue is something I've wondered about for a while.

In April of 2011 I posted a short thread regarding levels of cesium found in milk on the Big Island, which were said to be over 600 times the acceptable limit, if I recall. The data was taken from this site: opendata.socrata.com...

I've heard rumors and talk on the island of radiation risks, but have not seen much evidence. Again, would be very interested in seeing the results of your friend's testing.

For the record, as a long time resident, I'm in great shape and feel just fine, and do not know anyone that seems to be suffering from the effects of radiation, at least at this time.

reply to post by signalfire


Many of those pictures have just been attached and aren't actually due to radiation. The severely deformed babies with red eyes (actually their eyelids swollen and flipped insidw out) are babies with icthyosis.

Those deformed pineapples in the video don't look that great. Perhaps this is the real reason Del Monte left Hawaii to grow pineapples elsewhere. The reason given at the time (in 2008) was that elsewhere was cheaper. I remember thinking then that perhaps rainfall totals had changed. And there seemed to be some evidence for that although it was during a statistics transition of some kind (rainfall totals became a national security issue around then) and accurate figures were hard to come by unless you saw a local paper every day.

Forecasters predict less rain for Hawaii in the future

The latest Hawaii rainfall study shows that our island's annual rainfall totals have dropped between 5-to-8 percent per decade over the past 30 years.

The winds changed too.

Where have the trade winds gone?

The effects can be seen from the relatively minor, such as residents unaccustomed to the humidity complaining about the weather and having to use their fans and air conditioning more often, to the more consequential, including winds being too weak to blow away volcanic smog.

GMO's expanded their Hawaii operations.

King Corn Takes Root in Hawaii

Over the past decade, the five major companies that dominate the world seed industry have starkly increased their operations in Hawaii, where they have long tested experimental biotech crops. Rushing into a void created by the collapse of the islands' sugar cane and pineapple plantations, the firms are buying and leasing prime farmland to, in large part, grow corn seed.

Radioactive Strontium Found in Hilo, Hawaii Milk

The government here is saying how safe it all is while a physician, also quoted in the article, says that there are no safe levels.

Perhaps the military just took the question very literally. They could be using depleted uranium - just not in those particular weapons or they could be using some other radioactive substance. Or the source could be somewhere else.

Interesting thread - guess it's the new security issue. Now we don't get to know how radioactive anything is unless we do our own measuring.

reply to post by luxordelphi


Everything is cheaper than in Hawaii. Everything has to be either imported or exported, which means high costs. It's either got to go by ship, which is bad enough, or by air, which is about twice as expensive or more. Most other places it can be trucked around after processing, which is much cheaper, and faster.

As for weather changes, talking to all my friends the weather isn't radically different from when I left a few years ago. There are more Kona Wind days during winter, but that the time frame the winds were always pretty light, and the days were hotter because of it. But the average temperature doesn't seem to be much different if at all.

reply to post by Zaphod58


It's not cost effective to continue to grow pineapples in an area where rainfall is dramatically decreasing. But in today's world unless we actually spend a year on Kauii and measure that rain inch by inch ourselves - who we gonna trust?

Same with the radioactivity. We know from the article I linked that the winds are no longer blowing it away because they're not blowing away volcanic dust. So it's collecting. OP presented the military as a culprit. Could be...but there are other factors like wind and rain and biotech experiments to consider before judging.

reply to post by luxordelphi


The majority of pineapples that are sold in the US are grown in central America. At one time pineapples were far more expensive until one of the Rothschilds researched a faster way to grow them. It used to take 6 years for a plant to bear fruit it now takes 5 to 6 months. I remember growing up where the only way to purchase pineapple was to buy it in cans(del monte) now every grocery has them o natural.

The trick was to release a gas onto the plant that fooled it into maturity.

Basically it then became profitable for farmers to then cultivate them in central America mostly costa rica from what I have seen.

reply to post by luxordelphi

It's not cost effective to continue to grow pineapples in an area where rainfall is dramatically decreasing.

It's not cost effective to grow pineapples when the foreign market supplies them for a much lower cost. Material and labor (union) costs are much higher in Hawaii than other places where pineapple is produced.

Hawaii does produce higher quality fruit though, and continues to produce pineapple for a specialty market.

Same with the radioactivity. We know from the article I linked that the winds are no longer blowing it away because they're not blowing away volcanic dust.

No.

As been pointed out the southerly and light winds are a seasonal and regular occurrence in a tradewind weather regime. But there are indications that there is a more easterly trend over the past 30 years or so. onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

reply to post by luxordelphi


There is no proof that radioactivity levels are rising in Hawaii. Random readings taken once, over the course of a few minutes doesn't prove anything.

My friend just got back with me, and luckily they're doing Annuals right now. Background levels on Oahu at the airport have been 1 microrem/hr. On the neighbor islands it's up to 2 microrem/hr. He about dropped his phone he laughed so hard when I told him the details of this story. He said he'll take more measurements on Tuesday when he goes back to work.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Thankyou for that information. I think one of the articles I linked said that it's mostly gmo corn grown in Hawaii now. I'm not sure if they're gassing it. There is another kind of pineapple, a gmo kind of thing, but that is not from Hawaii. It was developed in other countries - probably as you say S. A. The pineapple still grown in Hawaii is, supposedly, a hybrid and not gmo. Those are the pictures of the distorted pineapples in the video. The non-gmo hybrid - I'm assuming.

reply to post by Phage

Hawaii does produce higher quality fruit though, and continues to produce pineapple for a specialty market.

Do you mean the market that wants non-gmo pineapple? Is that the specialty market?

As been pointed out the southerly and light winds are a seasonal and regular occurrence in a tradewind weather regime. But there are indications that there is a more easterly trend over the past 30 years or so.

Without reading the whole pdf, I'm not knowing what the percentage of increase compared to decrease is. Frankly, the abstract seems rather vague. This may be because it is alarming for northern hemisphere winds to change direction from west to east. Are you saying then that if we consider wind as a factor, the radioactivity is coming from out in the pacific itself?

reply to post by Zaphod58

Background levels on Oahu at the airport have been 1 microrem/hr. On the neighbor islands it's up to 2 microrem/hr.

Would be helpful if you could explain this in terms of how far your friend was from this base mentioned in the OP and which way the wind was blowing and who manufactured the geiger counter. Or...is this the measurement that the airport hands out?

are you all done discussing pineapples?
the truth is that yes..the ocean currents will bring the radiation to the islands
its coming..no way around it...sorry

reply to post by luxordelphi


Well, according to the video it's all of Hawaii, because Schofield Barracks on Oahu has a trace amount of DU on it as well, from 15 tail fins found to date. But he's taken readings on all the neighbor islands, including the Kona airport, which is the area that was claimed to have almost a 70 cpm reading, that started this whole thing off.

You know what else gives off radioactive particles, and is near Kona? Volcanoes. Kilauea on the Big Island is the most active volcano in the world. That could account for the readings on the Big Island that were reported.

As for the winds, he doesn't record that data normally, but I'll have him record them on Tuesday, as well as the type of counter used. The airport doesn't give out any information on radioactivity, this was his measurements and his coworkers that were doing the Annuals.

Here's the US Department of Defense briefing document on depleted uranium.

Oddly, they seem to find it dangerous. It completely contradicts whatshisname's contention that DU is safe...of course, his information seems to be anonymous and second or third-hand so it's hardly anything I'd want to bet my life or the life of the entire planet on...

Since none of you seem to have been interested in the entire DU website with ACTUAL INFORMATION and instead we've gone from listening to someone who thinks the depleted uranium babies are hoaxes (the mind boggles at that level of mental illness) to pineapple issues, maybe this will be informative. Big print, easy to read. I also wish to bring to your attention the use of the term 'peacekeepers' in relation to the very nice people, paid for with your tax dollars, who are spreading this stuff all over the planet. It's kinda down the page a bit towards the bottom. Our leaders are insane and so apparently, are the military personnel who believe what they are told by sociopaths and psychopaths.

gulfwarvets.com...

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by akalepos

 

Rem, Rad, Millirem, etc are all units of measure just like foot, and meter are. The only difference is that they measure radiation, instead of length or width, or something you can see. The words aren't being used to downplay exposure at all, they're being used to bring to light the truth of the levels (which have been blown so out of proportion it isn't funny).

Ok.. I didn't see any reports or news articles. I was just expressing my reservations about eating Pacific Tuna, Alaskan King Crab and the like.

The other thing people were talking about was about contamination due to ordinance. Has there been any evidence that the radiation is having effect outside the impact area? No civilian will get access to the impact area, they have to sneak out there, just like around here.

Ok so, it's 4 minutes later,. I have been watching and listening to that video. It's possible, I can admit that. Isn't it amazing how small amounts of radioactive substances can affect a wide area? They will never get it deconned.


Still this is but one report. At this juncture it can rationally be called anecdotal evidence with out more and different people checking this out who do not have any associations with the original reporter.

See that #ty picture in my avatar? That is out my front deck in Hana Bay. Now, unless by some miracle Maui has been skipped this story is a complete and total fabrication.

Learn something before posting crap with no firsthand experience.

reply to post by akalepos


The last survey I know of done at Pohakaloa, done by helicopter, couldn't tell how much DU was on the ground because the growth was so thick they couldn't see the ground. There is zero evidence based on plant and animal life in the area the DU was found that radiation is causing any problems with the plant or animal life around it.

reply to post by Zaphod58



Thanks you for this. You are completely, 100% correct.

What island were you on. I am on Maui. Hana bay. Middle of nowhere, even on a small island.