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Showing posts with label Being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Being. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

The High Costs of Being Overweight


Do you know that the high costs of being overweight are affecting your pocketbook and health? If you do not lower your body fat, not only will the extra weight continue to cost you more, but your life may in danger. It is estimated that six out of ten Americans are overweight, and the numbers continue to grow. Even the number of overweight children is growing. In children ages six to ten, 19% are overweight.

The weight loss industry thrives as people go from one diet program to another. This yo-yo effect of weight loss and weight gain is not only unhealthy, but costly as well. The diet industry takes in over $160 billion a year. Life expectancy is also being affected. Premature deaths, due to obesity, are on the rise.

High Costs

The direct medical costs to this nation are estimated by the Centers for Disease Control to be $147 billion a year. As Americans consume more calories, costs rise. Medical costs associated with rising obesity have nearly doubled in the last decade.

Being overweight is costly to the individual and the nation. Overweight leads to:


Higher life insurance costs
Higer health insurance premiums
Airlines charging more for those they determine are obese, because added weight leads to higher fuel costs
Ambulance services now charge extra for those weighing over 350 pounds

Research at the University of Alabama revealed that people who are overweight are less like to be hired for jobs, wait longer at restaurants for service and are less likely to be able to rent an apartment. Overweight people tend to miss more work which is costly to employers.

Health Problems

One of the biggest problems of being overweight is the impact on health. Not only is diabetes on the rise among adults who do not lower body fat, it is a growing problem among children. Type 2 diabetes, which has been known as "adult onset diabetes" is now affecting children and teenagers. Forerunners of heart disease are showing up in children as young as twelve.

In addition to an increase in diabetes.being overweight can lead to:


High blood pressure
Strokes
Depression
certain forms of cancer

These increases cross all ethnic and social groups. The hugh increase in prescription drugs to control these diseases has also contributed to the increase in medical costs.

Gain Control

It is easy to blame TV and fast food restaurants. In fact, it is personal behavior. No one forces anyone to order double cheese burgers, large fries and milkshakes. Buffets are popular because you can go back and pile on a second portion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that American do not eat enough produce because of temptations of fast food. Eating more fruits and vegetables will lower health care costs and obesity according to the Center. Except where a medical condition is present, people are responsible for their own weight gain.

Now is the time to look at how the high costs of being overweight are affecting you. Gain control of your eating habits and health. You have nothing to lose except the excess weight. Not only will you save money, but more importantly, you will save your health and your life. The longer you wait, the more you are at risk. Start today to improve your health and lower your costs.




Lois Bernstein is a former master teacher, adjunct professor, student teacher supervisor, curriculum developer and researcher. She is currently tutoring in reading, writing, study skills and math.




Thursday, July 19, 2012

Positive People Power - Taking Control By Being Proactive NOT Reactive!


WE MUST PUT A STOP TO THE EVER-INCREASING PRICE OF OIL!

In the last few months the price of many necessities has markedly increased. Sure, we can call it 'inflation' and say it's just a part of life - but it's a component which is slowly but surely strangling all of us, financially. The situation is now so bad that it is spiralling out of control, leaving most of the world's population without money for anything other than the bare essentials. Some of us can't even afford those!

Does it have to be this way? We say "no!"

For too long now, the corporate world stuck it to us. Their quest for ever-increasing profits, along with their crazy system, which actively encouraged speculation of all commodities, including oil and other energy sources, food and water, meant that prices were continuously going upwards. Since the price of oil is now escalating so rapidly, this will have a flow-on effect to all other aspects of our life. This can't be allowed to continue - but where can we turn to get help?

Surely our governments will put a stop to this. They could rule that speculation is illegal and could unanimously cap the cost of a barrel of oil. But will they do this? No.

They could stop taxing the people at the pumps and in this way, bring the price down. But have they done this? No.

There may be other ways to halt this greedy manipulation of prices - but have our governments done anything to address this issue? Absolutely not! Speculation and profits for large corporations are all part of their ideology. They don't care who it hurts. They don't consider the average family. They're only interested in supporting big business and large investors.

Fact: BP made Six and a Half Billion Dollars in twelve weeks in early 2005 and the other oil companies made equally as much, if not more, profit during that time.

Fuel costs are sky rocketing. We're at the mercy of oil producing nations, the oil cartels, the oil companies, our governments (in the form of extra fuel taxes and levies) and finally the gas station. (See how far down the 'food chain' we regular people really are?) As the end consumers, we're hit with the ultimate final cost. We're the suckers who are slugged the highest price after all the governments and 'middle men' have stuck their snouts in the trough. The whole system is designed to make massive profits for a few while we, the majority, are given no choice but to fork over more of our hard earned cash each week, if we want this product.

The price of oil is governed by greed and speculation. If the oil nations think we'll pay more, they reduce production and the cost goes up. If they then find that, when the price is too high we're buying less fuel, they'll increase oil production and reduce the cost per barrel. During the summer, the speculators think demand will go up and this pushes the price of a barrel of oil skywards. During the winter, they think we'll need oil for heating and again they use the stock market to push shares higher. When there's the threat of war near an oil producing country, again the price fluctuates. There doesn't have to be an actual war - just a rumour will do it. Not long ago the weather forecast indicated that a hurricane might cross the path of an oil well. This information drove investors into a frenzy. That particular hurricane came and went, and did absolutely no damage, but the prices stayed high.

The whole system is crazy. These corporate guys are pulling the strings and we're their puppets. Why do we put up with this? Are we such gluttons for punishment? The oil price is a world-wide problem. It affects anyone who drives a vehicle, takes a bus or travels by plane - and that's most of us. Why do we, the majority, put up with this form of dictatorship from a minority?

There are a few reasons.

1. We were brainwashed into believing that cars could only run on gasoline.

2. Oil companies made huge profits - so they were happy to perpetuate this myth.

3. Car manufacturers also liked the status-quo. They didn't want to put big bucks into research and development of vehicles which ran on alternate sources of energy.

Now that we have our new powers of reasoning, we can taking a step back from the problem and clearly see what issues are involved. Then we can begin to find effective, progressive resolutions.

SO, IS THERE A PLAN? ABSOLUTELY!

Now it's time for a change. This system is hurting us - the over six billion people who also have to live on Planet Earth. Now it's time for us to unite and say "Enough is enough." We need to exist here too. We have rights. We demand fairness. We won't put up with this any more.

SOLUTIONS TO THE OIL PROBLEM:

o There are millions - maybe billions - of us, the consumers, who ought to take a combined stand. We're the ones who pay the most - therefore we've got the most to gain. We need to unite and make it known that we've had enough and we're not going to take it any more.

o We can boycott those companies which collude and force prices to be high.

o We can threaten to vote out governments which allow speculation and put taxes on the necessities of life.

o We can demand the production of cars, or other rapid transit systems, which run on solar energy, hydrogen, water, sugar cane derivatives, electricity, oxygen or a hybrid engine which can use a combination of energy sources. The technology already exists but it's not readily available to the mass market.

o We've got to find ways of heating our homes which do not rely on oil.

o Those of us who are scientifically, mechanically or engineering-minded must work together to discover new methods for clean, 'green' transport and heating.

We need to find renewable sources of energy which do not pollute, are freely available and do not get manipulated solely for profit. Nikola Tesla, inventor and engineer, believed that there were supplies of energy which could be tapped into and utilized by everyone but the authorities at the time suppressed his findings.

Tesla said, "Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited quantities and can drive the world's machinery without the need of coal, oil, gas, or any other of the common fuels."

If Mr Tesla was able to find this source, the information must still exist. Like all knowledge which has been given to humanity, one day it will be found again and used for the benefit of all. Those who seek to suppress information which is meant for our world will ultimately fail in their attempts to hide the truth.

'The choices you make today, determine your tomorrow.'

"The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice." George Eliot

We must choose to unite and solve this problem. If our politicians can't find answers, we must seek the solutions ourselves and here's how:

POSITIVE PEOPLE POWER.

Positive People Power isn't about protesting. People Power is having a say in the way things are and it's about making positive change.

If enough of us get together, we will be able to focus on finding new concepts and better ideas to make our lives, our community, and our world a much nicer place to live.

We can no longer leave it up to governments, or others, to solve our problems. Politicians are still looking at the world from the same perspective they've done for centuries and it's now obvious, that this isn't the answer.

If we ever want to progress, we're going to have to use new methods to find long-term answers - there isn't any other way.

Positive People Power is being pro-active not re-active.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of waiting for someone to find the answers for life today. I want to stop living this way and start working towards a new world. I want to shape the present and the future with others who are like me, and I already know how to do this. If I wait for circumstances to change or for that 'right moment', it might never come. Maybe today is the day!

I'm sure I have a way - a really practical way - to change society and make life more positive. I can give hope to millions of people, if only they will listen to what I'm trying to say.

The AlterQuest Organization has been formed so that people, in communities, town and cities all over the globe, can come together and work on new ways to solve old problems. If we work on the adage that for every problem there is a solution, we should be able to make the most wonderful changes in our world - as soon as we put our minds to the task.

AlterQuest is here to co-ordinate the charge for Positive People Power. This is a power we have grossly underestimated until now.

PEOPLE WHO JOIN FORCES HAVE TREMENDOUS POWER.

o We have the ability to change things which are wrong and are not in our best interests.

o We have the power to use all manner of concepts, which lead to the establishment of a better world.

o We have the power to say "There are over 6 billion of us on this planet and only a handful of you, who are having any say.

o We don't want your biased media with its vested interests in swaying our opinions. People have the power to make their own media - one which encourages positive ideas, progressive concepts and future growth of our civilization.

o We don't want your radio and TV, if it's only going to show the same old programs which inhibit our minds and stifle our creativity. We can make our own programs which will stimulate us and enthuse us to take positive action to make life better.

o We don't want your corporations. These multi-national conglomerates have amalgamated to quash their smaller competitors, steal their ideas, stomp on any new concepts, cut costs, downsize, cause billions of us to be unemployed or under-employed, keep us poor, manipulate our governments, pay virtually no dues and taxes - and generally suppress billions of individuals - all in aid of ever greater profits for the corporation and their stockholders. THIS IS WRONG! SO VERY WRONG!

o We'll teach those industries which try to screw us for every last cent that they can no longer do this. They may think they run the show, but they rely on our hard earned money to keep their companies afloat. Without our money, they'd soon find out who's really got the power. In the bible it said 'The meek shall inherit the Earth.' Well, we're the meek and we're claiming our inheritance!

o Positive People Power means all of us will have a vessel for change.

o It means regular people will have a say.

o We can make our own small businesses and employ others again. We can build and run small to medium sized businesses for all our essentials such as bakeries, grocery stores, butchers' shops, computer companies and more....

o We can even form our own power/utility companies, water management, newspapers, magazines and TV stations. We surely can't do a worse job than those who run these things now. We won't continuously put prices up, just to appease our stockholders. Heck, we'll all be the stockholders - every last one of us. So we sure don't want to hurt ourselves, do we?

o We can use our natural talents and the skills for which we studied or trained.

o We can establish good social welfare (but if I'm right, we won't need much - because with this system everyone will have the opportunity to have a job.)

o We'll bring the best health care to everyone and not just to those who can pay and we'll abolish the cruel and unfair system of private health insurance which exists in so many countries today.

o We can give every single person or family on this planet a way to move forward. A way to have some hope. A way out of poverty and a way to live in dignity.

"The point in history at which we stand is full of promise and danger. The world will either move forward toward unity and widely shared prosperity - or it will move apart." Franklin D. Roosevelt

WHAT CHANGES WOULD WE HAVE TO MAKE?

o Democracy was meant to be about people having a say - but in reality, we've had very little influence over our world. This is about to change! Now we must learn from our mistakes.

o It's time to stop sitting on the fence. We don't have to take this nonsense any more. If you think something is wrong, say so. Don't put up with it, otherwise those wielding the power will think it's OK to continue doing the same thing to us.

o Money should not come before people. Civilization is not supposed to be about the economy - it's meant to represent the people who live in it. While we allow 'the economy' to be more important than the population, there will never be real and lasting progress.

o There are many possibilities for change - all we have to do is focus on the desire for progress and tap into the universe to find the many diverse answers.

o If we want to have a better world, we must address the fundamental issues which have, for so long, blocked our advancement. We must examine these problems, utilize all the methods possible to solve them, and put the resulting knowledge into action.

o The answers AlterQuest offers your communities are the same solutions which people in other towns, cities and countries are using in order to regain their sense of dignity.

o Happy people make for a happier world.

There are many countries where the conditions of the population are intolerable. No food, no income, no schools, no hospitals.

Who can these people turn to?

Do you think this is only happening in third world countries?

It's happening all over the planet! If you're a low income family anywhere in the world; if you have to work long hours for little pay; if your income does not cover your expenses; if you see wealthy people who have become this way by trampling on the rights of others - then, no matter which country you live in, the system is insufferable.

We all need to be empowered.

We need to have more say.

We should be able to have some control over our lives.

We must change destiny - before it's too late.

We have the power to alter our circumstances, if only we seize the chance.

We have the right to say "We're not going to take it any more!"

Don't get angry... get even.

Take affirmative action.

Mahatma Gandhi (ex Prime Minister of India) said, "I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she will make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. What is faith worth if it is not translated into action?"

MONEY SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS.

Do you know what the majority of us are, as far as the corporate world is concerned? We're 'consumers'! Fancy that. They've given us a label. Oh how I hate that word........ Consumers indeed!

The word 'consumers' is bandied about in reference to the billions of us who, in the eyes of the corporate world, have become nothing more than spending machines - Beings with available funds who are willing (and able) to purchase their products.

How often have you heard this used lately - on the news, in the financial report or used by politicians. They have made us into a sub-class of purchasers. As long as we're there with our 'consumer dollars' they think we are happy and content.

To a certain extent, we've allowed ourselves to be manipulated by these mega corporations. We've bought their products, eaten their food, worn their clothing, used their fuels, driven their cars and flown on their airlines.

What have they done for us in return? They've manipulated the cost of all our goods and services so we're constantly paying higher prices while they make ever-increasing profits. They've amalgamated until they owned practically everything. They've forced the closure of smaller businesses, which tried to compete. They sacked billions of us and forced billions more to work long hours for virtually no pay, until we were all in debt.

Well, money speaks louder than words so, if we all work together, these 'consumers' can turn around and bite these corporate types where it hurts!

If nothing else, we, the six billion people of the Earth have spending power and we have the right to withhold this, en masse, until we get our demands met.

Fact: Australians spent Eight billion dollars in the first two weeks of the Christmas period in 2004.

Wow. Eight billion dollars equates to a lot of bargaining power. We have the option to spend it where and when we choose. We also have a choice to bank anywhere we wish. So, all your corporations who think you can hog all the money you make in profit; not pay an equal share of taxes; not give back to our communities; pay the lowest wages and offer only part-time or casual positions with bad working conditions and lay off thousands of honest, loyal workers.... Think again!

Now, I'm going to reiterate my previous comments because they are so important.....

Until we make ourselves heard, we will always be relegated to the level of 'voters' or 'consumers'.

The only time we're really considered is when there's an election and our governments want our vote or when corporations realize we're not spending as much on their products.

We need to exploit this situation and turn it to our advantage. We are the majority. Those who wield all the power are, in actuality, the minority and it's time we tipped the balance back in our favour.

OK. I'm done convincing you. If you're sick of the way things are, there is NEVER going to be a better time to put Positive People Power into action.

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person," Mother Teresa, winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

The following email came into my inbox a short while ago. It points out just how effective the combined power of people could be:

THE EMAIL.

It has been calculated that if everyone in the United States did not purchase a drop of gasoline for one day, the oil companies would choke on their stockpiles. At the same time it would hit the entire industry with a net loss of over 4.6 Billion Dollars which would affect the bottom lines of the oil companies. Therefore May 19th has been formally declared "Stick It To Them" Day and the people of this Nation should not buy a single drop of gasoline on that day. The only way this can be done is if you forward this email to as many people as you can and as quickly as you can to get the word out.

Waiting on this Administration to step in and control the prices is not going to happen. What happened to the reduction and control in prices that the Arab Nations promised?

Remember one thing, not only is the price of gasoline going up but at the same time airlines are forced to raise their prices, trucking companies are forced to raise their prices, which affects prices on everything that is shipped. Things like food, clothing, building materials, medical supplies etc. Who pays in the end? WE DO! We can make a difference. If they don't get the message after one day, we will do it again and again. So, do your part and spread the word. Forward this email to everyone you know. Mark your calendars and make May 19th a day that the Citizens of the Unites States say "Enough is Enough!"

I think that says it all......

"Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings." John F. Kennedy

If you think this is a plan - then please, join with us to make it a reality.

Take a look at the AlterQuest website: http://www.alterquest.org Join the Network. It's free - and it will probably be the best money you (n)ever spent!

We guarantee that with people-power, we can turn this world around and WE CAN SHAPE THE FUTURE!

Karen Fiala N.D. Email: network@alterquest.org




KAREN FIALA N.D. & GEORGE W. FIALA have a strong passion to help people to help themselves. They think the only way for humanity to move forward, is if people take control and stop blaming everyone else. Sure the planet is in a mess and most of mankind didn't do it, but man CAN change the way things are, and it's our life's work to show you how. A dream? Maybe. A passion? Definitely! A sense of purpose? Absolutely! We hope you agree. We are the founders of Alterquest.org which is developing in to a global think tank for regular people to unite and find useful ways to move forward. Please visit us at: http://www.alterquest.org




Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Is the Navajo Nation President Being a Hypocrite about Uranium Mining


According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 80 percent of the electricity in New Mexico is generated each year by burning coal. The irony is that the dominant anti-nuclear group in New Mexico, Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC), has shown no evidence of denouncing coal consumption. According to Don Hancock, an SRIC Administrator who directs the non-profit organization's Nuclear Waste Safety Program, the group's "spiritual mentor" is John W. Gofman. The former nuclear physicist is an aging, eccentric author who was discredited by the Atomic Energy Commission and was branded by the nuclear power industry as "beyond the pale of reasonable communication." As a kind gesture, Hancock gave us a copy of a Gofman "cartoon book," whose theme revolves around Thoreau's essay, "Civil Disobedience." Another cosmic ally is Amory B. Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a favorite Don Hancock icon.

While Gofman championed solar energy in his hey day, Lovins presently espouses hydrogen as a primary solution for transportation, wind, and increasing efficiency through natural gas. However, neither wind power nor solar energy is a relevant energy source in New Mexico. Hydroelectricity supplies about 0.7 percent of New Mexico's electricity generation. Despite the hoopla and hyperbole, all of other renewable energy sources combined supply New Mexico with a mere 0.6 percent of its electricity. Coal is, in a very big way, the overwhelming reason why New Mexicans are not living in darkness and without heat or air conditioning.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, about 2400 people die every year from the air pollution caused from each million tons of sulfur dioxide emitted. In 1999, it is estimated that over 1.05 billion tons were produced, releasing 11.856 million tons of sulfur oxides and more than 5 million tons of nitrous oxides. Having personally inspected the first floor library of SRIC headquarters, no anti-coal mining literature was discovered. There appears to be scant fund-raising interest from these environmental activists to close down New Mexico's large coal mines. In fact, more U.S. coal mining deaths were reported in 2005 than deaths from uranium mining (zero). StockInterview.com heard no worries at SRIC over the blackening of coal miner's lungs, but the staff appeared very concerned over the radon gas emitted from uranium mining. Uranium mining in New Mexico came to a standstill about twenty years ago. Coal mining continues as it has for seven decades.

Don't expect the coal mines of New Mexico to be closed any time soon, though. No matter how deadly coal mines are, coal production is irreplaceable at this time. According to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, tax revenues from coal in 2001 exceeded $30 million. Nearly one-half of the state's energy needs are met through coal-generated power. The coal industry employed 1,800 people in 2001. New Mexico is the country's leader for methane gas production from coal beds. Coal is the state's third largest source of revenues.

An EPA Toxic Release Inventory report published in 2000 reported that two power plants and their coal mines in New Mexico's San Juan County released 13 million pounds of chemical toxins into the Four Corner's area (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado). It was also reported that 6.5 million tons of solid waste was buried by the two San Juan County power plants on their sites or at nearby coal mines. Those airborne toxins were miniscule compared to over 300 million pounds of other emissions, such as particulates and nitrogen dioxide released into the air, and which can travel for hundreds of miles. Reports confirm those power plants were among the worst polluters in the United States. The eighth worst emitter was Giant Refining, about 17 miles from Gallup, New Mexico, which emitted 608,000 pounds according to the EPA report. Any visitor to the Gallup area can readily smell the stench circulating in the air.

Does Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr Have Double Standards?

Why haven't the Navajo banned coal mining on the reservation as they have uranium mining? According to Anna Frazier, a Navajo affiliated with a local environmental group, "Our Navajo Nation is certainly not going to do that. They would rather have the revenues coming in from the coal companies and the power plants." According to a news report published in Indian Country newspaper, "The Navajo Nation receives the bulk of its annual $100 million operating expenses from royalties, leases and taxes from its coal, oil and gas. These revenues provide operational expenses for the tribal government, including the salaries of the 88-member Navajo Nation Council, the tribe's annual budgets show."

For more than 35 years, Peabody Energy has operated massive mines on Navajo territory. The closure of one such coal mine, the Black Mesa, sent the Navajos rushing for their Maalox. Ironically, it was environmental activists that forced Southern California Edison to close their Mojave Generating Station nearly 300 miles away in Laughlin, Nevada. The utility was given a choice: cough up $1 billion to stop polluting the Grand Canyon or shut it down. It had been called "one of the dirtiest coal plants in the West," and air emissions from that plant reportedly polluted half a dozen other national parks in the Southwest. But, that coal mine provided about 15 percent of the Navajo's annual budget. George Hardeen, the Navajo president's media voice, complained about the mine closing last October, "This is going to have a terrible effect on this entire region because the Navajo economy is so fragile."

John Dougherty complained about the Navajo Nation's tactics in the Phoenix New Times newspaper in March 2005, observing, "Environmental groups have long exploited the Native American tradition of sacred places to fight their battles to preserve wilderness areas...It's always the soulful Native American who steps forward as the high priest of sacred geography. In the background lurks the environmentalist equipped with charts and data on tree-trunk diameters and spotted-owl nesting sites." Dougherty concluded, "The cries of environmental destruction and cultural murder from Navajo and Hopi leaders ring hollow."

What are not going to be ringing at all will be the cash registers at Albertsons supermarket in Bullhead City, near Laughlin (Nevada), which closed down this week. That's because the Mojave power station closed as advertised because of the dirty Black Mesa coal. Mike Conner, president of the Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce, said, "The community will be devastated." Across the river in Laughlin, Buddy Borden of the University of Nevada at Reno told a group of community leaders the area "will take an almost $21 million hit" in lost power plant payrolls. The facility will lay off 375 employees, who had an average annual wage of $87,000. Like dominoes falling, jobs in Nevada, Arizona and in the Navajo Nation were lost.

Recently, Navajo president Joe Shirley Jr. considered replacing budget shortfalls with casinos, four in Nevada and two in New Mexico. Last March, Senator John McCain forecast the Navajo casinos would fail because of their remote locations. Shirley quipped back in the Arizona Republic newspaper, "I beg to differ with him." One coal mine that won't be on the Navajo reservation is the first to receive an operating permit in six years. Peabody Energy announced a coal mine on Lee Ranch, one of New Mexico's largest landowners. It is projected to produce 102 million tons of coal over the next thirty years.

For the time being, the Navajos hope to solve their economic quagmire by just putting up more casinos across a New Mexico landscape, already replete with "truck stop casinos." One can soon get bored guessing when the next casino will surface while driving across either Interstate 40 or I-25, the state's main arteries. First you see a sign announcing which tribal land you are entering, then the ubiquitous billboard describing which has-been musical act is "now appearing," and then finally the combination truck stop, casino, restaurant(s) and discount smoke shop whizzes by. One aging Navajo told us, "It's bad for the families, and it sets a bad example for the younger ones."

On Navajo reservation land and just in New Mexico alone, Joe Shirley Jr may control more than 75 million pounds of uranium, with a gross value presently exceeding $2.7 billion. Some say the number could run much higher, into the hundreds of millions of pounds. Don't expect Mr. Shirley to over turn his ban on uranium any time soon. Dr. Fred Begay, a Navajo and nuclear physicist at Los Alamos, whose career has been featured on BBC Television and in the pages of National Geographic and celebrated by the New York Academy of Science, explained the problem, "The Navajo don't get it. They think that they'll have miners. They have illiteracy on mining and uranium." Dr. Begay clarified that the Navajo have failed to differentiate between conventional uranium mining and ISL operations, which he considers safe, "They think that miners are going in there and digging it out."

Perhaps the illiteracy about mining extends to geochemistry. Coal is big money in New Mexico, and a little-known fact about the composition of coal may enlighten more than just environmentalists. Former Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers J. P. McBride, R. E. Moore, J. P. Witherspoon, and R. E. Blanco reported in Science magazine (Dec 8, 1978: "Radiological Impact of Airborne Effluents of Coal and Nuclear Plants") the shocking conclusion that "Americans living near coal-fired power plants are exposed to higher radiation doses than those living near nuclear power plants that meet government regulations."

In an article entitled "Coal Combusion: Nuclear Resource or Danger," researcher Alex Gabbard, explained, "Coal is one of the most impure of fuels. Its impurities range from trace quantities of many metals, including uranium and thorium, to much larger quantities of aluminum and iron to still larger quantities of impurities such as sulfur. Products of coal combustion include the oxides of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur; carcinogenic and mutagenic substances; and recoverable minerals of commercial value, including nuclear fuels naturally occurring in coal."

Did you know that the amount of radioactive thorium contained in coal is about 2.5 times greater than the amount of uranium? For a large number of coal samples, according to Environmental Protection Agency figures released in 1984, average values of uranium and thorium content have been determined to be 1.3 ppm and 3.2 ppm, respectively. Uranium and thorium are IN coal.

For the year 1982, assuming coal contains those same uranium and thorium concentrations, each typical plant released 5.2 tons of uranium (containing 74 pounds of uranium-235) and 12.8 tons of thorium that year. Total U.S. releases in 1982 (from 154 typical plants) amounted to 801 tons of uranium (containing 11,371 pounds of uranium-235) and 1971 tons of thorium. These figures account for only 74% of releases from combustion of coal from all sources. Releases in 1982 from worldwide combustion of 2800 million tons of coal totaled 3640 tons of uranium (containing 51,700 pounds of uranium-235) and 8960 tons of thorium. Coal consumption has jumped dramatically since 1982 - by more than double!

Gabbard calculated the net impact of the release of uranium and thorium from coal burning by the year 2040:

Based on the predicted combustion of 2516 million tons of coal in the United States and 12,580 million tons worldwide during the year 2040, cumulative releases for the 100 years of coal combustion following 1937 are predicted to be:

U.S. release (from combustion of 111,716 million tons):

Uranium: 145,230 tons (containing 1031 tons of uranium-235)

Thorium: 357,491 tons

Worldwide release (from combustion of 637,409 million tons):

Uranium: 828,632 tons (containing 5883 tons of uranium-235)

Thorium: 2,039,709 tons

The population effective dose equivalent from coal plants is 100 times that from nuclear plants. According to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), the average radioactivity per short ton of coal is 17,100 millicuries/4,000,000 tons, or 0.00427 millicuries/ton. This figure can be used to calculate the average expected radioactivity release from coal combustion. For 1982 the total release of radioactivity from 154 typical coal plants in the United States was, therefore, 2,630,230 millicuries.

Gabbard explained further: "Thus, by combining U.S. coal combustion from 1937 (440 million tons) through 1987 (661 million tons) with an estimated total in the year 2040 (2516 million tons), the total expected U.S. radioactivity release to the environment by 2040 can be determined. That total comes from the expected combustion of 111,716 million tons of coal with the release of 477,027,320 millicuries in the United States. Global releases of radioactivity from the predicted combustion of 637,409 million tons of coal would be 2,721,736,430 millicuries."

Uranium and the entire nuclear fuel cycle are blamed for a host of ills by the anti-nuclear crowd, but little is reported on the subject of radioactivity released from burning coal. Gabbard writes, "Large quantities of uranium and thorium and other radioactive species in coal ash are not being treated as radioactive waste. These products emit low-level radiation, but because of regulatory differences, coal-fired power plants are allowed to release quantities of radioactive material that would provoke enormous public outcry if such amounts were released from nuclear facilities. Nuclear waste products from coal combustion are allowed to be dispersed throughout the biosphere in an unregulated manner. Collected nuclear wastes that accumulate on electric utility sites are not protected from weathering, thus exposing people to increasing quantities of radioactive isotopes through air and water movement and the food chain."

While environmental groups hold fund raisers to stop uranium mining, protest the nuclear fuel cycle, and lobby to have vested interest groups, such as the Navajo Nation, ban uranium mining on the reservation, little data or statistics can be found about the daily tragedies found through coal production. There is no vocal outcry from Southwest Research and Information Center about coal mining, let alone the radioactive dangers found in releasing toxic coal fumes into the atmosphere.

It was a difficult task to locate the data illustrating, as Mr. Gabbard has done, that the radioactivity IN coal, from thorium and uranium, is far more deadly than the world's fleet of nuclear reactors. Will Joe Shirley, Jr. now ban coal mining on the Navajo reservation lands? After all, a greater amount of radioactivity is released among the Navajo from coal consumption than uranium mining ever would have achieved. Or will Mr. Shirley let that slide because his budget committee wouldn't stand for it?

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James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. StockInterview’s “Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market” has become the most popular book ever published for uranium mining stock investors. Visit [http://www.stockinterview.com]