Radioactive tissue holders found at Bed, Bath & Beyond

The Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores have been discovered to be radioactive. Made with the extremely dangerous material used to blast cancer tumors with radiation -- cobalt-60 -- they emit gamma rays that are known to cause both cancer and infertility. They were manufactured in India, shipped on a commercial container to New Jersey, and then distributed to Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in 20 states.

How much radiation do these tissue holders emit, exactly? Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman David McIntyre said, on the record, that standing near one of these tissue holders for 30 minutes a day would expose you to the equivalent of "a couple of chest X-Rays" each year. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency went even further, issuing a release stating that every 10 hours spent near the product would expose you to the equivalent of one chest X-Ray

In case you were wondering, a chest X-Ray is not a small dose of radiation.

Ever since Fukushima, the corporate-run media has downplayed the risks of radiation exposure, and now they're claiming that these radioactive products are "no big deal" because they "only" expose you to the equivalent of multiple chest X-Rays each year.

What if a customer has this on their nightstand, near their head, and they're sleeping next to it for 8 hours a night? That means they'd be getting nearly the equivalent radiation of a chest X-Ray each night for 365 nights a year!

How is this not an immediate threat to public health? The corporate-run media has once again dropped the ball on this, downplaying the severity of this discovery by orders of magnitude. "Federal authorities say the tissue holder contains trace amounts of radioactive cobalt but it is not dangerous," reported the Daily Mail

That's a contradiction. If it contains radioactive cobalt, it is inherently dangerous.

The conspiracy to downplay dangers of radioactive products

If cobalt-60 is "not dangerous" as claimed by the corporate-run media, then why is cobalt-60 the exact same radioactive material used in cancer centers to irradiate cancer tumors and burn them to death? Funny how cobalt-60 kills cancer tumors with gamma radiation, but then when it's contaminating household products, government officials pronounce it to be perfectly safe.

Everywhere across government and the media, there is now a conspiracy to downplay risks of radiation in order to protect the nuclear power industry in a time when people are dying every day from Fukushima fallout. Remember: 14,000 Americans have already died from Fukushima radiation, and in response to that, the EPA raised the allowable level of radiation exposure in America by thousands of times (for some isotopes).

There is also historical evidence that casual exposure to cobalt-60 can be fatal. As reported in Wikipedia:

"In 2000, a disused radiotherapy head containing a cobalt-60 source was stored at an unsecured location in Bangkok, Thailand and then accidentally was sold to scrap collectors. Unaware of the dangers, a junkyard employee dismantled the head and extracted the source, which remained unprotected for a period of days at the junkyard. Ten people, including the scrap collectors and workers at the junkyard, were exposed to high levels of radiation and became ill. Three of the junkyard workers subsequently died as a result of their exposure..."

But of course, in America, there's "nothing to worry about." Magically, cobalt-60 ceases to be dangerous for your health merely because the lying corporate media tells you so. It's just another example of how the discredited mainstream media tries to twist reality and lie about real dangers to your health and safety while exaggerating public fear about things that aren't genuinely dangerous.

For example, the media has half the population in the U.S. running around scared half to death about "terrorism," which is a purely fictional illusion invented by the government to destroy freedom  But when a real, legitimate health threat comes along like these radioactive consumer products, the government acts like radiation is imaginary. Don't worry about aspartame, mercury or radiation, folks, as those are all imaginary. The REAL threat is all the terrorists hiding in your underwear, didn't you know? (Just ask any TSA agent. They know...)

How does a container full of radioactive metal make its way to New Jersey without being detected?

But there's a bigger story in all this, and it's the story the U.S. government doesn't want you to really think about. Despite all the police state tyranny being directed at American citizens, with random ID checkpoints in front of government buildings, the TSA reaching down your pants, and now TSA "VIPER" teams running highway checkpoints, apparently nobody is checking the ports for radioactive materials.

And that means if India, China or some other nation wanted to ship in a 50-ton dirty bomb, they could easily accomplish that. After all, this container of radioactive cobalt-60 made its way to New Jersey without being detected. And nobody was even trying to shield that radiation from detection! Imagine what a group of committed, well-funded terrorists (or even a false-flag government operation) could accomplish. Just load up a container with masses of dirty radioactive materials tied to a conventional bomb, have it shipped to Manhattan, and wait for the timer to go off.

So while Janet Napolitano and her band of criminal TSA thugs are checking your underwear for terrorists, they apparently aren't checking the ports!

And I don't know about you, but I'm willing to bet there's a much greater chance of a bomb being found at a port than in your grandma's underwear. (But don't tell this to the TSA, as they have abandoned all logic and are now run by perverts and morons who are incapable of intelligent thought.)

If you bought a radioactive tissue holder, you could be prosecuted under the Patriot Act

Now, at the same time officials all over the country are announcing there is "no immediate threat" from the radioactive tissue boxes, they fail to mention one inconvenient fact: If you possess one of these, you could be arrested as a terrorist!

Yep, the very same radioactive cobalt-60 that they're saying is nothing to worry about could get you arrested and detained as a terrorist in possession of a "weapon of mass destruction." Look it up: The Patriot Act speaks directly about "radiological devices" regardless of whether you intend to use them as weapons. Merely possessing one of these tissue boxes could make you an "enemy of the state."

So what happens if you bought one of these radioactive tissue holders and you try to return it to the store but get stopped by a highway checkpoint running a radiation detector? You could be arrested and prosecuted as a terrorist! Say hello to Gitmo!

Don't think that could happen to you? Think again: Gregg Revell is known as the "accidental traveler." He was flying from Salt Lake City to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and had a firearm legally checked and declared in his luggage. His flight was diverted to New Jersey, where he was forced to deplane and claim his checked luggage. When he tried to check back in the next day to continue his flight, he declared the firearm at the airline check-in, and they called the police. He was then arrested for illegal firearms possession even though he did not intend to land in New Jersey and had no way to avoid doing so.

This is yet another great example of how the police state system criminalizes innocent people who are no threat to society and who have been innocently entrapped in situations that are merely technical violations of the law. Exactly the same is true for people who bought these tissue holders at Bed, Bath & Beyond: Even though they didn't mean to violate the Patriot Act, they have inadvertently done so and can now be arrested, detained, interrogated and even shipped off to Guantanamo Bay while being stripped of all their due process rights. This is thanks to presidents Bush and Obama, both of which have signed laws stripping Americans of their due process rights when they are "believed" to be associated with terrorists.

The joke goes like this:

• What do you call an elderly white woman with a radioactive tissue holder? A Bed, Bath and Beyond customer.

• What do you call a Middle Eastern-looking man with a radioactive tissue holder? A threat to national security, of course!

So what should you do with your radioactive tissue holder from Bed, Bath & Beyond? You're already an accidental criminal for merely possessing it. And if you try to bury it, you'll violate EPA regulations. If you try to return it to the store, you might be arrested at a TSA checkpoint and fondled by mind-numbed TSA goons who are incapable of following rational explanations about anything. If you call the police to come retrieve it, they might accuse you of plotting to build a dirty bomb and could arrest you for possessing weapons of mass destruction in your own home.

Basically, you're screwed. So you're the criminal even though security is so lax at the ports that rogue nations can ship in entire containers full of radioactive material and no one notices. That's how security really works in a police state, by the way: The real threats to the nation are left wide open while the tyranny is turned inward, towards the People, to terrorize and criminalize them!

By the way, Bed, Bath & Beyond has actually given out a phone number to call if you think you may be in possession of one of their radioactive tissue holders: (800) 462-3966.

Fukushima radiation detected 400 miles away in Pacific Ocean at levels 1,000 times higher than previous readings

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is far from over, as new reports explains that water samples taken nearly 400 miles off the coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean are showing radiation levels of up to 1,000 times higher than previous readings. Presenting their findings at the recent Ocean Sciences Meeting in Salt Lake City, Ut., scientists continued to claim these severely elevated radiation levels are not a significant health or environmental threat.

Back in June 2011, a ship carrying scientists traveled off the eastern coast of Japan collecting water samples at distances of roughly 20 miles to 400 miles from the coast. Upon analysis, these samples were found to contain elevated levels of cesium-137 at ten to 1,000 times higher than levels detected before the Fukushima disaster, which is highly alarming.

Included in the detections was the presence of radioactive silver, which is an obvious product of melted control rods at the nuclear facility. The mainstream media is claiming that this silver is simply a result of nuclear fission, but the reality of the situation is that this silver is evidence of a complete core meltdown at the facility, which is obviously having widespread repercussions.

Meanwhile, Hartmut Nies, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), insists that all this radiation is not that big of a deal. He even went so far at the recent meeting to claim that "if it was not seawater, you could drink it without any problems," a completely absurd position that has no grounding in science.

As part of their misinformation campaign, IAEA officials and others compared the radioactive cesium and silver to the naturally-occurring, elemental potassium-40 found in seawater. This natural potassium, of course, is much different than the radioactive elements being emitted from Fukushima, as sea creatures have developed a natural tolerance for potassium-40.

Even those falsely claiming that all this radiation is completely harmless to humans are at least admitting that the findings are indicative that the Fukushima nuclear facility is still leaking radiation into the environment. Marine chemist Ken Buesseler, for instance, who recently said radioactive seafood is safe and that he would eat it, told Fish Info & Services that the reactor "still seems to be leaking," and that it "hasn't shut off completely."News)The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is far from over, as new reports explains that water samples taken nearly 400 miles off the coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean are showing radiation levels of up to 1,000 times higher than previous readings. Presenting their findings at the recent Ocean Sciences Meeting in Salt Lake City, Ut., scientists continued to claim these severely elevated radiation levels are not a significant health or environmental threat.

Back in June 2011, a ship carrying scientists traveled off the eastern coast of Japan collecting water samples at distances of roughly 20 miles to 400 miles from the coast. Upon analysis, these samples were found to contain elevated levels of cesium-137 at ten to 1,000 times higher than levels detected before the Fukushima disaster, which is highly alarming.

Included in the detections was the presence of radioactive silver, which is an obvious product of melted control rods at the nuclear facility. The mainstream media is claiming that this silver is simply a result of nuclear fission, but the reality of the situation is that this silver is evidence of a complete core meltdown at the facility, which is obviously having widespread repercussions.

Meanwhile, Hartmut Nies, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), insists that all this radiation is not that big of a deal. He even went so far at the recent meeting to claim that "if it was not seawater, you could drink it without any problems," a completely absurd position that has no grounding in science.

As part of their misinformation campaign, IAEA officials and others compared the radioactive cesium and silver to the naturally-occurring, elemental potassium-40 found in seawater. This natural potassium, of course, is much different than the radioactive elements being emitted from Fukushima, as sea creatures have developed a natural tolerance for potassium-40.

Even those falsely claiming that all this radiation is completely harmless to humans are at least admitting that the findings are indicative that the Fukushima nuclear facility is still leaking radiation into the environment. Marine chemist Ken Buesseler, for instance, who recently said radioactive seafood is safe and that he would eat it, told Fish Info & Services that the reactor "still seems to be leaking," and that it "hasn't shut off completely."

G.E. Ends Bid to Create Supply of Technetium-99

For years, scientists and policy makers have been trying to address two improbably linked problems that hinge on a single radioactive isotope: how to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation, and how to assure supplies of a material used in thousands of heart, kidney and breast procedures a year.




LAST LEGS A warning at the 54-year-old Chalk River reactor in Ontario, whose license expires in four years.

They seemed to be getting close to a solution. But now General Electric, the company that developed a technology for carrying it out, has quietly dropped work on the project, saying it is not commercially viable.

The isotope is technetium 99m, or tech 99 for short. It is useful in diagnostic tests because it throws off an easy-to-detect gamma ray; also, because it breaks down very quickly, it gives only a small dose of radiation to the patient.

But the recipe for tech 99 requires another isotope, molybdenum 99, that is now made in nuclear reactors using weapon-grade uranium. In May 2009, a Canadian reactor that makes most of the North American supply of moly 99 was shut because of a safety problem. A second reactor, in the Netherlands, was simultaneously closed for repairs.

The 54-year-old Canadian reactor, Chalk River in Ontario, is running now, but its license expires in four years. Canada built two replacement reactors, but even though they turned out to be unusable, their construction discouraged potential competitors.

So the United States Energy Department, which regulates nuclear weapons, has been trying to find a way to make the molybdenum isotope without relying on leaky reactors that use bomb fuel. And in 2010 General Electric, which designs power reactors, came up with an innovative solution.

The commercial reactors have a big flow of neutrons, and if an atom of natural molybdenum absorbs one, it becomes moly 99.

G.E.’s reactors have an opening at the bottom for an instrument that measures the neutron density. The company said it could replace that monitor with a “target” made of molybdenum and pull it back out after about seven days, so it could be sent to a chemical processing plant for recovery of the moly 99.

The company even picked out a reactor, Exelon’s Clinton plant in DeWitt County, Ill. And it lined up industrial partners for the parts of the process it would not do itself, and tested the concept in research reactors.

There is a drawback, though. Only about 24 percent of natural molybdenum is moly 98, the kind that can be converted to moly 99. To produce a given volume of tech 99, the volume of molybdenum in the generator has to be far larger.

Enter another player: Perma-Fix, a company based in Atlanta that makes a resin for treating contaminants at polluted industrial sites.

The company came up with a resin that will hold the atom when it is molybdenum but release it when it decomposes into technetium. Perma-Fix executives say this is a good complement to the G.E. system.

But G.E. has given up. When the Canadian reactor was restarted, it said, it decided that its technology was not financially competitive. In a statement, G.E. said that while it and Exelon were confident “that large quantities of molybdenum 99 could safely be produced” in one of their reactors, financial projections “do not support the remaining cost.”

Kevin Walsh, a nuclear-fuel executive at General Electric, said that the company would finish developing the system if the economics improved but that for now, “we’ve put all the engineering aside.”

Louis Centofanti, chairman and chief executive of Perma-Fix, said his company was trying to line up other reactors to process the molybdenum. Federal officials say Perma-Fix may have a time advantage, because it is not using government money and thus does not have to file an environmental impact statement.

But experts say it may be nearly impossible to develop an alternative supply while highly enriched uranium is still in use, even though the reactors that do that work have an uncertain lifetime. Chalk River’s license expired last year, but it was given a single five-year extension; the Dutch reactor’s lifetime is less certain but also limited.

“The economics is key,” said Parrish Staples, director of European and African threat reduction at the National Nuclear Security Administration, who has been meeting with European officials looking for ways to stop using highly enriched uranium. The old, unreliable reactors now in use are subsidized by government, he said.

His agency backed G.E. but also a number of other companies. One, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, uses an accelerator to create gamma rays that bombard yet another type of molybdenum, moly 100; the bombardment causes the substance to eject a neutron and become moly 99.

Another organization, the Morgridge Institute for Research in Wisconsin, uses an accelerator to bombard uranium in a liquid solution, but it uses uranium with a much lower content of uranium 235, the kind that is useful in bombs.

And the Energy Department is helping finance a research program at Babcock & Wilcox to develop a new kind of reactor, in which uranium will be circulated in a liquid, and split; fission products, including the desired type of molybdenum, will be filtered out of the liquid for medical use.

Dr. Andrew J. Einstein, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who testified before a Senate committee in 2008 about the isotope shortage, said supplies were adequate at the moment.

But he drew a biblical analogy. “This is the seven years of plenty,” he said. “It certainly is time to be preparing for supply beyond Chalk River.”

Dr. Einstein said that when tech 99 was not available, doctors could use substitutes, but that these gave the patient larger radiation doses or provided poorer image quality to the doctor.

And for some uses, doctors can substitute PET scans, he said. But the equipment is in high demand for other procedures, and many medical facilities do not have it.