Hutchison (R-TX) Sponsors Weather Modification Bill (S.517)
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-517Mar 3, 2005: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2025-2026)
A BILL To establish the Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, and for other purposes. It is the purpose of this Act to develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated national weather modification policy and a national cooperative Federal and state program of weather modification research and development.
The term ``weather modification'' means changing or controlling, or attempting to change or control, by artificial methods the natural development of atmospheric cloud forms or precipitation forms which occur in the troposphere.
At least 1 (member of the board) shall be a representative of a State that is currently supporting operational weather modification projects. (Note that there seems to be no mention of a representative from the National Weather Service on this board.)
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Board for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2014. Any sums appropriated under this subsection shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation, until expended.
This Act shall take effect on October 1, 2005.
Interesting possibilities here, eh? Think about this bill in light of Santorum's efforts to dismantle the National Weather Service.
Then, go back to that part about changing or controlling by artificial methods the natural developments of atmospheric cloud forms. Some of us have been pointing out how this is already going on--and that it has been going on since roughly 1999!
British scientist mysteriously deported from Belarus
Authorities of Belarus made a decision to deport a British scientist. The Belarussian Interior Affairs Ministry rescinded the visa of the British citizen Alan Flowers. The scientist has been analyzing the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe for more than ten years. Spokespeople for the ministry refused to comment the reasons of such a measure.
The scientist, who specializes in radiology studies, believes his deportation is tied with his contacts with non-state organizations. The British Foreign Ministry confirmed the fact of deportation, although there were no comments released on the matter either.
Alan Flowers has probably come to conclusions, which could have provoked a negative reaction in the governments of the former Soviet Union. The British scientist particularly proposed USSR"s special services arranged artificial rains in Belarus after the nuclear disaster in 1986 not to let the wind blow the contaminated air towards Moscow.
The British scientist says many of his colleagues in Belarus support his theory, although they prefer not to talk about it in public. The reasons of such radioactive rains are not known yet, which does not allow estimating the capacity and nature of radioactive contamination.
http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/370/13618_brttscientist.htmlBelarus deports Chernobyl expert
Vladimir Kuzura, an official from the Belarusian Interior Ministry, refused to explain the reasons behind the withdrawal of Dr Flowers' visa and the deportation order.
But Dr Flowers is said to have made a claim that, if proved right, would cause great embarrassment to former top Soviet officials.
According to Vera Rich, who was the Soviet correspondent of the scientific journal Nature at the time of the tragedy, many believe the then Soviet Union seeded clouds to make them rain on Belarus.
The move was aimed at preventing winds from blowing contaminated material towards Moscow, theorists say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3943013.stm The British scientist particularly proposed USSR"s special services arranged artificial rains in Belarus after the nuclear disaster in 1986 not to let the wind blow the contaminated air towards Moscow.
Chornobyl Fallout Brought Down on Belarus To Spare Russia?
To date, none have been willing to "go public," arguing that -- in the political climate of today's Belarus -- to give their names would not only endanger their visas (and their continuing research) but also put their informants at risk. However, the following emerged in informal discussions on the sidelines of a recent scientific conference:
One researcher, whose official brief is to monitor whether the soil of these areas can be safely brought back into cultivation, has begun collecting the reminiscences of local inhabitants as to what they remember of the days immediately after the accident. He made no attempt to "lead" his "witnesses." Amid the many purely personal incidents (weddings, May Day celebrations, etc), there were repeated reports of unusual activity of aircraft and/or rockets being fired in the vicinity. One man, the chief administrative officer of his locality, stated categorically that he had seen an aircraft with "stuff coming out of the back." Many people remembered that the rain showers that followed were "unusually heavy" and that -- unlike "normal" rainstorms in early May, were not accompanied by thunder. Challenged by colleagues that such reports were "subjective," the researcher pointed out, "These people are farmers and know about rain!" When further asked why such claims had never been made before, he pointed out that, to date "no one had bothered to ask the locals!"
A senior scientist who had been working mainly in Russia stated that what he termed an unimpeachable Moscow source who, at the time of the accident "had been in a position to know," admitted that the clouds were, indeed, brought down. People like his informant, this scientist said, "are prepared to talk in cars -- particularly Western cars!" (i.e., where there is little likelihood of "bugging").
In fact, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, one scientific paper was published in the West that reported -- on the basis of local claims -- that the soil had been tested for traces of silver iodide, the chemical most widely used for seeding. No such traces were found, the report said. But this is at best negative evidence. The soil samples in question were taken more than six years after the accident -- and the small amounts of silver left by seeding could well have leached out of the soil during that time. Alternatively, the Soviets might have used a different chemical for seeding.
One scientist who has worked on the Chernobyl contamination since 1992 is Dr. Alan Flowers of Kingston University (U.K.). Many of his colleagues in Belarus, he says, seem to accept as established fact that the clouds were seeded -- but again, they have never publicly admitted this. When asked -- 16 years after the event and with the Soviet officials who would have taken the decision to "seed" the cloud presumably out of office, retired, or dead -- he replied that "for a full understanding of the distribution and effects of the Chernobyl fallout, we need as much evidence as possible. What caused the rain is still an uncertainty in our knowledge about the intensity and nature of the contamination."
more
http://greennature.com/article1346.html The population of these areas has always maintained that the rain was artificial - "seeded" on orders from the Kremlin. Soviet authorities dismissed these reports as "radiophobia" fomented by "anti-socialist elements," and said they did not have the technology to "bring down clouds" in that way (although for years, the Soviet media had claimed exactly the opposite, with circumstantial accounts of crops saved from storm damage by prophylactic "cloud seeding").
Western scientists tacitly accepted the Soviet denials - partly in the belief that no government would act so callously and also because they considered the Chornobyl-polluted area a unique "laboratory" for studying the migration of radioactive contamination in the soil and did not want to provoke the authorities into denying them visas. However, the bulk of circumstantial evidence is now causing them to think again.
To date, none have been willing to "go public," arguing that - in the political climate of today's Belarus - to give their names would not only endanger their visas (and their continuing research) but also put their informants at risk. However, the following information emerged in informal discussions on the sidelines of a recent scientific conference.
One researcher, whose official task is to monitor whether the soil of these areas can be safely brought back into cultivation, has begun collecting the reminiscences of local inhabitants as to what they remember of the days immediately after the accident. He made no attempt to lead his witnesses. Amid the many purely personal incidents (weddings, May Day celebrations, etc), there were repeated reports of unusual activity of aircraft and/or rockets being fired in the vicinity. One man, the chief administrative officer of his locality, stated categorically that he had seen an aircraft with "stuff coming out of the back." Many people remembered that the rain showers that followed were "unusually heavy" and that - unlike "normal" rainstorms in early May, were not accompanied by thunder.
more
http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2002/300206.shtml The Belarusian government has consistently tried to play down the impact of the disaster and outspoken researchers have been gagged in the past.
President Alexander Lukashenko has imposed strict controls on freedom of speech and is increasingly isolated by the west.
The deportation of Dr Flowers comes days after the closure of the country’s only non-government university.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3280282