DDP Newsletter Vol. XXXIX, No. 1
A successor to the 1984 nuclear apocalypse, The Day After, was released in 2020—interesting timing? Night into Day (https://tinyurl.com/4ck9xuv8) is a fairly realistic depiction of the beliefs and probable reactions of most Americans.
Many do not believe the radio warnings of an imminent attack but intend to proceed with their planned activities, in this case filing for divorce the next day. The soon-to-be-ex visits his estranged wife to sign papers but doesn’t leave because of jammed freeways. The couple are stuck in a tiny apartment. When the flash comes, he drops to the floor—she is standing at the window and is knocked down. The power goes out; there is no TV or cell phone service. The first thought is to leave. They find an old paper map and gather all their canned food and water, but have nowhere to go. Anyway, cars don’t work.
Katie ventures outside to search for some potassium iodide to save them from radiation, thinking that someone in the building might have a thyroid problem, or there might be some at the corner pharmacy. None is found. The only plan is to await rescue. Based on past experience with hurricanes, they expect FEMA to arrive in 48 hours. Soon, they begin to suffer radiation sickness from the initial release.
None of the people commenting on the film appear to have read even the first 35 pages of Nuclear War Survival Skills. There is nothing about fire hazards, initial radiation vs. fallout, radiation monitoring, radiation protection factors, expedient shelter, or the actual purpose of potassium iodide.
Stephen Jones writes: “The whole movie is worth watching as it gives a sense of what most people will be facing, both their ignorance and denial. Psychologically it was well done. It’s a movie about what not to do.” He points out that more than 100 civil defense films are available on www.youtube.com. Just search “civil defense.” While some are outdated and no longer relevant, others are excellent.
He says: “Many people would embrace the truth if they knew where to find it.”
“Nukes are in the news, every day 24/7! Fighting in Ukraine is said to be on par with World War II battles. In each month more soldiers are killed than in ten years of the Vietnam war. Talk of using nuclear weapons by both sides grows each day.”
“Biblically we are in the time of apocalypse, meaning ‘that which is hidden is now being revealed.’”
Compared to decades ago, Jones writes, “our current inventory of civil defense meters is massive. Very likely we have the largest inventory of rad monitors for the public and emergency response in the country, and our rad monitors are the only ones designed specifically for nuclear fallout that are reliable and simple to use.”
The Kearny Fallout Meter, which was originally considered to be the meter of last resort, is the meter of only resort for the current crisis. “The best we can do with our current inventory of some 160,000 meters is to encourage the public at large to make their own.” Unfortunately, the digital age has dumbed down most of the public. The KFM was designed to be built by children born before 1968. Due to the digital age, those born later did not develop gadgeteering skills. Still, there are many millions of seniors alive today with the skills to make the simple KFM from the instructions in Nuclear War Survival Skills, with materials found in the average kitchen. The unwaxed dental floss originally specified is no longer available, but the plastic bag strips and clean human hair work. Alcohol on a Q-tip works to clean meter stop threads if contaminated with hand oil.
The breakthrough SIRAD (self-indicating radiation alert dosemeter) technology (https://tinyurl.com/4ttwfdrt), the basis for the Oh Shucks! Meter, has not been widely adopted. Jones attributes this to the Semmelweis reflex and to interagency rivalry in federal and state governments. NWSS was created by the U.S. Department of Energy (the agency that handles nuclear weapons). SIRAD was created by the Department of Defense. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was formed, it could not even be persuaded to add the Oak Ridge National Laboratory website (www.ornl.gov) to DHS’s site, www.ready.gov.
Searching ready.gov for any type of radiation monitoring device turned up nothing. Entering “Geiger” turned up three links to “gender.”
An additional problem is the collusion or corruption in the incestuous relationships between bankers, developers, and politicians that are making our cities tinderboxes, firestorms waiting to be lit by nukes. Instead of blast-resistant construction at a cost of only ten percent, modern buildings are built of “straw” like Hollywood sets, or sheathed in glass that would be shattered by a blast wave.
There has been massive opposition to civil defense work and to related new technology. Most importantly, enemy propaganda has been successful in convincing Americans that nuclear war is not survivable. This began with books/movies like On The Beach and Level 7, but we still hear it constantly, even from “patriotic” sources. So far, the new technology has not been a commercial success. If panic sales hit, we must charge enough to take the technology worldwide—and to distribute it to first responders.
Doctors for Disaster Preparedness was founded 40 years ago by the fathers of the atomic age to keep civil defense alive. Some of those founders were also responsible for the creation of the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear War Survival Skills and Kearny Fallout Meter project.
So far, our accomplishments have included groundwork towards science education nationally. We are responsible for the fact that science teachers nationwide wide now use common smoke detectors for their radioactive sources instead of expensive sources “approved” by educational sales companies. We saved more than 20,000 Geiger counters headed for landfills and got them into classrooms instead. Shane Connor (www.ki4u.com) has salvaged an additional 100,000 from the scrap heap.
Our people may have a second chance to get prepared before an all-out nuclear attack occurs. Though the situation of our country looks dismal indeed, recall that the Bible is explicit about times in which “evil shall slay the wicked” (Psalms 34:21).
PREPAREDNESS TIPS
- Your life could be saved by wearing white cotton undergarments. One soldier’s life was thus saved in Hiroshima when his outer clothing instantly burned off.
- If there is warning, fill every available container with water.
- Do not try to outrun fallout. Shelter in place is generally better.
- Have small LED flashlights and headlamps.
- Have a portable radio and plenty of batteries.
See http://www.ki4u.com/guide.htm for what to do if an attack is imminent.