THE SANDBOX ~ Petty Gripes, and Cat Fights
Issue #130 ~ 08/29/01
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2 entries today:

KC Hammill (63) and Kathy Hodgson (76)

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>>From: KC Hammill (63)

To: Ralph Myrick (51)
    Don't know if any of you are aware of the "Breast
Cancer" stamps that are available through the US Postal
Service.
    Basically you pay .40 cents per stamp with the
difference from the normal rate of .34 being dedicated
to Breat Cancer research.
    The first of the following links explains the
program http://www.debsfunpages.com/brst.htm 
    Second: Buy online at the US Postal Service site:
http://shop.usps.com 
From the left menu click "Stamps"
From the left menu under "Stamps", click "Special"
It's Item No: 503040 - pane of 20
OR You can also go to the Search box on the lower left
side and type in "Breast Cancer Research"
    Third: go to any post office and buy them (only
sold by the book @ $8.00). If all stamps are sold the
potential "payback" is in the millions!!!

-KC Hammill (63) 
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>>From: Kathy Hodgson Lucas (76)
mailto:KATHLUC@aol.com

If I may change the subject slightly? I marvel at the
vast and impassioned response to the Bomber Crisis and
I wonder if the Mighty Bombers would like to throw
their considerable combined weight behind a very
important and equally embattled project that is a
direct descendent of the very atomic power that spawned
(presumedly) the great Bomber name. 

The FFTF, the Fast Flux Test Reactor, is in a fight for
it's life and we have until October 1, or thereabouts,
to persuade the Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham,
not to follow the previous administration's decision to
condemn it to the scrap pile. 

Every single day, about 1500 people die of cancer. That
is three full 747's crashing to earth and killing all
aboard daily. Unfortunately, most of those actually die
of the effects of chemotherapy rather than the cancer
itself. Chemotherapy is poisoning the body and bringing
it back again. Everyone knows the visual side effects,
nausea, vomiting, weight loss, hair loss. It also
poisons internal organs and shuts them down. A
patient's only hope is that the cancer dies before he
does. 

Medical isotopes are achieving unbelievable efficacy
rates on previously declared terminal patients when
combined with "smart bullets," immune system cells that
seek out and deliver the isotopes directly to the
cancer cells with no collateral damage. No nausea, no
pain, and in many cases, only one treatment. 

Medical isotopes are also used in tens of thousands of
diagnostic procedures daily, and other uses are
continually being found. 

We presently obtain our medical isotopes from Canada
and Europe. Some of these have only a 3-day half-life,
so time wasted in shipping severely limits
availability. The prices of some have increased tenfold
in a matter of a few years and often the purity is not
up to the standards that can be produced right in our
back yard, at the FFTF. Restarting the FFTF will assure
the continuous production of a wide range of isotopes,
purely, cheaply and reliably. 

The shutdown and cleanup of the FFTF will cost as much
as the restart and will permanently destroy one of the
safest, most efficient and valuable reactors ever
built. Meanwhile, our dependence on foreign sources
will increase as we are finding innumerable uses for
isotopes daily. 

If anyone is interested in finding out more or wants to
get involved, please contact the Citizens for Medical
Isotopes, 737-8463. We need to get the word to our
Senators, Secretary Abraham, the President and Vice
President, and anyone else who could have an impact on
the decision. Doc Hastings is involved, and KTCR
(1340AM) radio station has been guesting Dr. Robert
Schenter every Thursday morning at 8am to discuss the
facts, answer questions and spotlight cancer survivors. 

The power of the Bomber Machine behind this cause would
certainly help immensely. Thank you for your
consideration.

-Kathy Hodgson Lucas (76)
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                   ~130~