"The Galactic Butterflyis said to represent all ofthe consciousness that has ever existed in this galaxy. This is all of our physical ancestorsboth human, animal, reptile, fish, shell fish, plants as wellas the consciousness which organized all of the raw material froma whirling disk into stars then planets and solar systems. Big Meaning. Sobig that the original Maya had no symbol for this. In their civilization it was likehaving no name for God. Just knowing the concept was good enough. Later this patternwas devised by Toltec or Zapatec weavers as a pattern for blankets and this is where Jose Arguellescame across it. He called it Hunab Ku. The indigenous peoples call it "The Galactic Butterfly". Butterflies are seenas ancestors returning for a visit to physicality. Wearing one of these symbols is very powerful as it broadcasts yourreaching to actively join the consciousness of our galaxy."
~Ian Xel Lungold
"Butterflies are important in mythology from all over the world: Greek mythology connects butterflies to the soul. In ancient Greek the word for butterfly is "Psyche", which translated means "soul", and also considered butterflies as reincarnations of souls. This was also the name for Eros' human lover and when the two figures are depicted they are often surrounded by butterflies. The Egyptian Butterfly is connected to Osiris’s resurrection. The Mayan Galactic Butterfly is connected to resurrection also. But more importantly the Galactic Butterfly is said to represent the Galactic Center from where all consciousness that has ever taken form in this galaxy originated. This concept was so vast to the original Mayas that they had no way to symbolize it until they chose the Butterfly.
Astronomers say the Galactic Center emanates one hundred times the energy of our sun, and as Paul Hewit says, the Galactic Center is the Sun of our Sun. All centers are pivotal in metaphysics representing primal origins or heavens. Galaxies are vast organisms of energy/matter which have a basic self-organizing pattern. Mayan cosmology is an extremely accurate calendar based on the existence and location of the Galactic Core The Mayas knew exactly where this center was located in the Milky Way and named it "The Galactic Butterfly” (Hunab Ku). It represented the gateway to other Galaxies beyond our Sun as well as all of the Consciousness that has ever existed in this Galaxy. They were certain that the Galactic Center of the Milky Way is a whirling disk constantly giving birth to stars, planets, solar systems and galaxies. They also believed that the "Creator" directs everything that happens in our Galaxy from its ‘Center’ through periodic cycles of "Consciousness Energy" bursts. Modern astronomers, like the ancient Mayas, wonder what may exist at the center of our Galaxy for they believe that our future depends on what happens there." www.crosscircle.com/butterfly_40.html
"The Galactic Core is like a boiling cauldron of raw creation, where all components such as stars, cold and hot gas, magnetic fields and the central black hole show an intimate interplay,…It's almost as if the Galactic Center were a living organism," ~Dr. Heino Falcke
The following video was recorded by me on Wednesday 14th October 2009 in Trafalgar Square London.
It shows the permanent injuries sustained by a victim of Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Torture perpetrated by a department of the UK Military and Security Services, who are torturing thousands of UK citizens with these weapons.
The victim in question is English and has been tortured with these weapons for 13 years.
During the night whilst in bed he recieved third and fourth degree burns to his hand and arm from a DEW attack. The tendon damage has permanently disfigured his hand as can be seen in the video. The burn damage on his arm is also permanent.
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me." ~Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) _____________________________________________________
Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.
In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.
As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.
In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person
How it all started:
I'd been living in London when my world turned upside down and I'd had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.
Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me.
So I got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. I found the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city and held that sign aloft, with the words "Free Hugs" on both sides.
And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me. The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.
Everyone has problems and for sure mine haven't compared. But to see someone who was once frowning, smile even for a moment, is worth it every time."
When the late Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky, was 85 years old, she was asked what she would do if she had her life to live over again. She said :
"I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day.
Oh, I've had my moments, And if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.
I've been one of those people who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."
"I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you." ~Neo, The Matrix-
"They must find it difficult ... those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority." ~Gerald Massey
"I believe in everything -- a little bit." ~Marilyn Monroe
"I know that most men...can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabrics of their lives." ~Tolstoy
"Generals gathered in their masses Just like witches at black masses Evil minds that plot destruction Sorcerers of deaths construction In the fields the bodies burning As the war machine keeps turning Death and hatred to mankind Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!
Now in darkness, world stops turning As the war machine keeps burning No more war pigs of the power Hand of God has struck the hour Day of judgement, God is calling On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging mercy for their sins Satan, laughing, spreads his wings All right now!" ~War Pigs, Black Sabbath
What amazes me is that the US has imposed sanctions on Iran since 1979. So for 30 years they have crippled Iran's economy for what reason ? Because they refuse to be a little US puppet and have the temerity to decide their own future. Why, oh why is the US and its lackeys so god damn cruel ? Seriously, what has Iran, who hasn't attacked anyone else in 271 years, done to deserve the hatred and wicked actions of the US against them ?
You may find some of this information about the sanctions regime against Iran interesting :
The first U.S. economic sanctions against Iran after the Iranian Revolution were in 1979. In response to the permitting of the exiled Shah to enter the United States and rumors of another U.S. backed coup and re-installation of the Shah, a group of radical students seized the American Embassy in Tehran. The United States responded by freezing about $12 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits, gold and other properties. Some assets —Iranian officials say $10 billion, U.S. officials say much less— still remain frozen pending resolution of legal claims arising from the revolution.
After invasion of Iran by Iraq, the United States intensified Iran's sanctions. In 1984, sanctions were approved to oppose all loans to Iran from international financial institutions, prohibit weapons sales, and prohibit all assistance to Iran. In 1987, the U.S. further prohibited the importation and exportation of any goods or services from Iran.
Pragmatist President Rafsanjani, a critic of President Ahmadinejad, says that he had tried to reduce tensions between Iran and the West, although his term was marked by some of the toughest sanctions against Iran. In April 1995, President Bill Clinton issued a total embargo on dealings with Iran, prohibiting all commercial and financial transactions with Iran. Trade with the U.S., which had been growing following the end of the Iran–Iraq War ended abruptly. One exception is that US-made goods can be supplied to Iran under certain circumstances as long as they are shipped to Iran from another country. This exception was a result of the original Executive Order restricting trade with Iran.
The next year, the United States Congress passed the Iran–Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) which threatened even non-U.S. countries making certain investments in Iran. Under ILSA, all foreign companies that provide investments over $20 million for the development of petroleum resources in Iran will be imposed two out of seven possible sanctions, by the U.S.
* denial of Export-Import Bank assistance; * denial of export licenses for exports to the violating company; * prohibition on loans or credits from U.S. financial institutions of over $10 million in any 12-month period; * prohibition on designation as a primary dealer for U.S. government debt instruments; * prohibition on serving as an agent of the United States or as a repository for U.S. government funds; * denial of U.S. government procurement opportunities (consistent with WTO obligations); and * a ban on all or some imports of the violating company.
In response to the election of Iranian reformist President Mohammad Khatami, President Clinton eased sanctions on Iran. A debate in the US Congress on whether to allow the expiration of ILSA, which some legislators argued hindered bilateral relations, and others argued would be seen as a concession on an effective program, ended on August 5, 2001, with its renewal by the Congress and signing into law by President George W. Bush. Furthermore, in January 2002, IEEE stripped Iranian members from full membership privileges and support of activities, and without notice, blocked Iranian members from accessing their e-mail accounts. In February 2004, during the final year of the reformist era, the U.S. Department of the Treasury ruled against editing or publishing scientific manuscripts from Iran, and stated that U.S. scientists collaborating with Iranians could be prosecuted. Khatami government could only manage to reduce the sanctions for some items like pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, caviar or Persian rugs, in 2000.
After being elected president in 2005 Ahmadinejad reversed the retroactive nuclear policy and lifted the suspension of uranium enrichment, that had been put in place by the reformists.
The U.S. government imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank on September 8, 2006, barring it from dealing with U.S. financial institutions, even indirectly. The move against Bank Saderat Iran was announced by Stuart Levey, the undersecretary for treasury, who accused the major state-owned bank in Iran of transferring funds for certain groups, including Hezbollah. While Iranian financial institutions are barred from directly accessing the U.S. financial system, they are permitted to do so indirectly through banks in other countries. But the latest move severs that access for Bank Saderat and Levey said the action does not apply to other Iranian banks.
Levey said the U.S. government will also persuade European banks and financial institutions not to deal with Iran. Florida enacted a boycott on companies trading with Iran and Sudan in June 2007, while New Jersey's state legislature was considering similar action.
As of November, 2007, the following Iranian banks are prohibited from transferring money to or from United States banks:
* Bank Sepah * Bank Saderat Iran * Bank Melli Iran * Bank Kargoshaee (aka Kargosa’i Bank) * Arian Bank (aka Aryan Bank) * Bank Mellat * Persia International Bank PLC
The total assets frozen in Britain under the EU (European Union) and UN sanctions against Iran are approximately 976,110,000 pounds ($1.64 billion).
According to an Iranian journalist using the name "Sara Shams", one of the effects of sanctions in Iran is expensive basic goods, another is an aging and increasingly unsafe aircraft fleet. "According to reports from Iranian news agencies, 17 planes have crashed over the past 25 years, killing approximately 1,500 people."
The U.S. denies aircraft manufacturer Boeing the freedom to sell aircraft to Iranian aviation companies. The International Civil Aviation Organization warned that U.S. sanctions against Iran were placing civilian lives in danger by denying Iranian aviation necessary spare parts for aircraft repair.
According to the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council, in the medium-term, lifting US sanctions and liberalizing Iran’s economic regime would increase Iran's total trade annually by as much as $61 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl), adding 32 percent to Iran’s GDP. In the oil-and-gas sector, output and exports would expand by 25-to-50 percent (adding 3 percent to world crude oil production).
Iran could reduce the world price of crude petroleum by 10 percent, saving the United States annually between $38 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl) and $76 billion (at the proximate 2008 world oil price of $100/bbl). Opening Iran’s market place to foreign investment could also be a boon to competitive US multinational firms operating in a variety of manufacturing and service sectors.
In 2009, talk in the U.S. of implementing "crippling sanctions" (such as the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009) against Iran "if diplomatic overture did not show signs of success by the autumn" was attacked by Prof. Hamid Dabashi as likely to bring "catastrophic humanitarian consequences". _________________________________________
Let's call sanctions what they really are - a siege. They are no different to a medieval siege.
"By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower." ~Rabindrath Tagore
"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." ~Kahlil Gibran
"That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful." ~Ninon de L'Enclos
"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." ~Chinese Proverb
"I hope you have lost your good looks, for while they last any fool can adore you, and the adoration of fools is bad for the soul. No, give me a ruined complexion and a lost figure and sixteen chins on a farmyard of Crow's feet and an obvious wig. Then you shall see me coming out strong." ~George Bernard Shaw, to Mrs. Patrick Campbell
"Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head." ~Garrison Keillor
"Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old." ~ Franz Kafka
"The most natural beauty in the world is honesty and moral truth. For all beauty is truth." ~ Lord Shaftesbury
"When your inner eyes open, you can find immense beauty hidden within the inconsequential details of daily life. When your inner ears open, you can hear the subtle, lovely music of the universe everywhere you go." ~ Timothy Ray Miller
"Over recent years, more than a million martyrs have fallen by the bullets of the occupation and Iraq is now filled with more than five million orphans, a million widows and hundreds of thousands of maimed. Many millions are homeless inside and outside the country.
We used to be a nation in which the Arab would share with the Turkman and the Kurd and the Assyrian and the Sabean and the Yazid his daily bread. And the Shia would pray with the Sunni in one line. And the Muslim would celebrate with the Christian the birthday of Christ. This despite the fact that we shared hunger under sanctions for more than a decade.
I am not a hero. But I have a point of view. I have a stance. It humiliated me to see my country humiliated; and to see my Baghdad burned, my people killed. Thousands of tragic pictures remained in my head, pushing me towards the path of confrontation. The scandal of Abu Ghraib. The massacre of Falluja, Najaf, Haditha, Sadr City, Basra, Diyala, Mosul, Tal Afar, and every inch of our wounded land. I travelled through my burning land and saw with my own eyes the pain of the victims, and heard with my own ears the screams of the orphans and the bereaved. And a feeling of shame haunted me like an ugly name because I was powerless.
As soon as I finished my professional duties in reporting the daily tragedies, while I washed away the remains of the debris of the ruined Iraqi houses, or the blood that stained my clothes, I would clench my teeth and make a pledge to our victims, a pledge of vengeance.
When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, George Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people. My rejection of his plundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastructure. And casting out its sons into a diaspora." ~Muntader Al-Zaidi
"There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution." ~Aldous Huxley, 1961
______________________________________________
A recorded speech by Aldous Huxley at Berkeley, March 20, 1962 :
"Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love. " ~Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"In the manifestation of these evolutionary waves we may now as we approach the Ninth level notice an amazing synchronicity. This is that the upcoming date 9.9.9 (September 9, 2009 in the Gregorian calendar) happens to coincide with the beginning of a Mayan Sacred Calendar count of 260 days. Hence, in this calendar, in use since 3000 years, the modern date 9.9.9 has the energy of Hun Imix, or 1 Alligator as its English translation reads, which happens to be the first of its energetic combinations. If we ponder what this synchronicity may be telling us the most natural conclusion to draw is that on this particular date we are called to focus on the number nine and especially the Ninth level of the Mayan calendar system, whose coming into existence we are soon about to witness."
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice."
"Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated."
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. ... Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
"The tough mind is sharp and penetrating, breaking through the crust of legends and myths and sifting the true from the false. The tough-minded individual is astute and discerning. He has a strong austere quality that makes for firmness of purpose and solidness of commitment. Who doubts that this toughness is one of man's greatest needs? Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."
"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."
"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time — the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression....If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
"The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold."
"This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind....When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality."
"We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation."
"As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery."
"When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
"It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence."
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
"In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
"Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper."
"Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac."
"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."
"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
" The claim that Saddam Hussein's government did not keep records of the health and deformaties of Iraqi children represents the usual complete and utter deliberate misinformation one would expect from "Sky News"investigation team..
In fact, very detailed records have existed since 1991 of the health of Iraqi children and the unborn who were effected by 800 tons of depleted uranium dust that saturated Iraq from the most toxic war in history carried out by the US in the Gulf.
In conjunction to this depleted uranium, there was also massive amounts of assorted deadly toxic chemicals released into the environment of Iraq by the US's bombing of Iraq's industrial and manufacturing plants.
Iraq's Ministry of Health kept very precise records of Iraqi children who had been born deformed through the effects of depleted uranium and these toxic chemicals, as well as the children whose health had been effected by no clean water to drink,US led enforced starvation which caused many diseases, and US's denial of medicines to alleviate the children's ongoing pain and suffering.
The 'investigative team' obviously needs to inform themselves further on this subject, For instance,for starters they could research Iraq's submission to the United Nations' Centre for Human Rights, Geneva - 16th January, 1995."Rights of the Child" etc.
Pictures of Iraq's babies such as these,can be viewed from as far back as 1992.These pictures represent the ongoing stream of Iraqi childrens' suffering that has been endured for the past 19 years. The US genocide on the Iraqi people of Fallujah is merely another addition. And the US ensures that they still suffer.
Under Bill Clinton 750,000 Iraq children 5 years and under died from US-led UN genocide carried out against them. Well,after all,the US does boast it is the biggest and best at everything.
And from this, interestingly, few Americans appear to see Bill Clinton as being guilty of crimes against humanity. Bearing in mind 750,000 Iraqi child deaths equals approx 250 September the 11ths.
Sadly,the overwhelming majority of the people of the US know very little of the real truth of Iraq. Nor are they aware of the detail of continuing crimes that have been carried out against the Iraqi people by their government for a record 19 years and still going.
Perhaps the readers should question why "Sky News" whom have been lying down on the truth of this matter for the past 19 years, now only in the past 15 months takes up this issue.
Yet again,their hypocrisy knows no bounds." anne | 09.02.09 - 6:21 am | # _____________________________________________________
" Geologist Leuren Moret is an independent scientist and internationally recognized expert on radiation, D.U., and public health. She estimates that "one millionth of a gram [of depleted uranium] accumulating in a person's body would be fatal. There are no known methods of treatment."
Leuren Moret states, "In a cubic meter of air there are one billion particles a tenth of a micron in diameter. An ordinary man breathes twenty-eight cubic meters of air a day and for that reason our soldiers internally contaminated to depleted uranium have billions of particles of depleted uranium distributed throughout their bodies." Re | 09.02.09 - 6:56 am | # _______________________________________________________
Depleted Uranium remains radioactive for 4.5 Billion years
Depleted Uranium itself is a chemically toxic and radioactive compound, which is used in armour piercing munitions because of its very high density. It is 1.7 times denser than lead, giving DU weapons increased range and penetrative power. They belong to a class of weapons called kinetic energy penetrators.
It is now clear that DU was used on a large scale by the US and the UK in the Gulf War in 1991, then in Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo, and again in the war in Iraq by the US and the UK in 2003. It is suspected that the US also used DU in Afghanistan in 2001, although both the US and UK governments have denied using it there. However, leaked transport documents suggest that US forces in Afghanistan have DU weapons The DU oxide dust produced when DU munitions burn has no natural or historical analogue. This toxic and radioactive dust is composed of two oxides: one insoluble, the other sparingly soluble. The distribution of particle sizes includes sub-micron particles that are readily inhaled into and retained by the lungs.
From the lungs uranium compounds are deposited in the lymph nodes, bones, brain and testes. Hard targets hit by DU penetrators are surrounded by this dust and surveys suggest that it can travel many kilometres when re-suspended, as is likely in arid climates. The dust can then be inhaled or ingested by civilians and the military alike.
It is thought that DU is the cause of a sharp increase in the incidence rates of some cancers, such as breast cancer and lymphoma, in areas of Iraq following 1991 and 2003. It has also been implicated in a rise in birth defects from areas adjacent to the main Gulf War battlefields.
Soft target impacts, typical of aircraft strikes, tend to leave the penetrators partially intact as the vast majority miss their targets. In the Balkans more than 31,000 30mm penetrators were fired; UNEP reported that these corroding penetrators were likely to contaminate groundwater and drinking water supplies and should be removed.
While we have a reasonable idea how much DU was used in the Balkans (12,700kg) and the 1991 Gulf War (290,300kg), there is little data on the extent of its use following the 2003 invasion in Iraq. One estimate put the total at 140,000kg by early 2004; with far more being used in urban areas than in 1991. This was chiefly a product of a move towards asymmetric warfare but also an increasingly casual approach to DU’s use.
The US consistently refused to release data on the locations of DU strikes to UNEP and post-conflict instability has made assessing the true extent of contamination virtually impossible.
The chief radiological hazard from uranium 238 is alpha radiation. When inhaled or ingested, alpha radiation is the most damaging form of ionising radiation. However, as U238 decays into its daughter products thorium and protactinium, both beta and gamma radiation are released, increasing the radiation burden further. Therefore DU particles must be considered as a dynamic mixture of radioactive isotopes.
Inside the body alpha radiation is incredibly disruptive. The heavy, highly charged particles leave a trail of ionised free radicals in their wake, disrupting finely tuned cellular processes. In one day, one microgram, (one millionth of a gram), of pure DU can release 1000 alpha particles. Each particle is charged with more than four million electron volts of energy; this goes directly into whichever organ or tissue it is lodged in. It only requires 6 to 10 electron volts to break a DNA strand in a cell and these emissions cover a sphere with a radius of 6 cells.
Novel effects from internal emitters are highlighting the hazards posed by exposure to internal alpha radiation. This includes the Bystander Effect - whereby cells adjacent to those struck by alpha particles also exhibit signs of radiation damage, and Genomic Instability, where the descendants of radiation damaged cells show increased rates of mutations: the precursor to cancer growth.
Ionizing radiation is a human carcinogen at every dose-level, not just at high doses; there is no threshold dose and any alpha particle can cause irreparable genetic damage."
1991 Gulf War - 400,000 dead Iraqis 1991 - 2003 Sanctions against Iraq - 1 million dead Iraqis 2003 - 2009 Invasion and Occupation of Iraq - 1.4 million dead Iraqis
Iraq's society, infrastructure, economy destroyed Iraq's Land, Earth, Water and Air permanently until the end of time contaminated with Depleted Uranium causing cancer, death and horrific birth deformities. _____________________________________________________
"The family of humanity has at last come to an understanding.
Never before in the history of humankind have we had the opportunity to sit and listen to one another, to hear each others voice across the world, to reach a common understanding between us. A common understanding outside of the control and influence of the evil elite.
At this very moment and for the first time mankind is collectively arriving at this understanding. This understanding comes from the discovery of the Truth.
The truth that mankind has been inculcated with the belief that we are not ONE.
Sold the lie that we need to hate one another, fear one another, kill or starve or maim one another for our own individual survival.
This lie withers when exposed to the bright light of truth. It is dying now." ~Olive Farmer
