GOOD READING

2) If the superstitious do not believe that a millirem received from TMI has the same health effects as a millirem received from nature, or that simply living in Colorado will give you an additional annual dose equal to 80 TMI doses, they can look at the figures released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The latest such release (20 Mar 80) is available from AIF (7101 Wisconsin Ave., Washington, DC 20014) and gives 8 pages of data on infant mortality since 1977, statewide, for Harrisburg, within 10 miles of TMI including Harrisburg, and within 10 miles excluding Harrisburg. In the last two quarters of 1979, which would have been the critical ones for fetuses exposed in late March, the infant mortality rate within 10 miles of TMI dropped (from 19.3 to 13.1 per 1,000 live births), and one must be grateful that Sternglass is not pro-nuclear, or he would recommend more radioactivity for pregnant women. In fact, such random fluctations are always present and are insignificant in either direction unless they are large enough to fulfill certain well researched statistical criteria. Sternglass's long-used method of cooking up false correlations is described in The Radiation Bogey, $2 from Golem Press, Box 1342, Boulder, CO 80306.

3) Two other publications from AIF: a reprint of An Interview with Dr Cohen: Q-and-A on Wastes, which we strongly recommended last month, and a 27-minute videotape (free loan or $50 purchase) in which Prof. R. Brent, M.D., and Prof. R. Gorson, M.D., discuss an antinuclear lecture by Helen Caldicott.

4) The technique of repeatedly interrupting a TV-liar on videotape to insert the refutation was pioneered by Illinois Power [AtE Feb. and Sep. 80]. Its great success has now become the subject of a 60 Minutes vs. Illinois Power Co.,$5.50 from the Media Institute, 3017 M Street, Washington, DC 20007.

5) A straightforward 'show and tell' educational 20-minute videotape on the radioactivity of ordinary things people have in their homes and offices has been produced by Lynn Wallis, General Electric Co., 195 Curtner St., San Jose, CA 95125. To get a copy, send in a blank ¾" tape.

6) The Midnight Economist, alias Prof. Wm. R. Allen of the UCLA Economics Dept., broadcasts brief economic commentaries. Selections of his witty and informative commentaries are printed on sheets published by IIER, 1100 Glendon Ave, #1625, Los Angeles, CA 90024. The February issue has a commentary on energy; but all of his commentaries are excellent.

7) This writer's statement to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is still available for a self-addressed envelope (but now stamped, please). One of its points is the proposed EPA standards regulating a pollutant (radon) not by its health impact, but by its point of origin. Protests against this unfair discrimination should be sent to US EPA, Docket A-79-25, 401 M ST.SW, Wash. DC 20460, before May 11.

8) Antinuclear cant in the press can be very effectively countered by letters to the editor. For help with scientific facts in your letter, write Scientists for Accuracy in the Media, 1034 LaBrea, Pocatello, ID 83201 -- a dogged, diligent and distinguished group.

9) There is a slight difference between Sternglass' hoaxes and those promoted by psychic maharishis. If you believe swinging a dead cat by the tail will cure you of warts, keep on swinging; but if you believe Kheldikott's antinuclear gibberish, you will help deprive others of health and energy. Even so, Prometheus Books deserve support for their fight against fraudulent pseudoscience; for book list, write 1203 Kensington Ave, Buffalo, NY 14215.

10) Getting Started is a manual with instructions for organizing a pro-energy advocacy group. To get a copy, contact Christina Worsham (San Diego Voice of Energy) at (714) 272-171 1, or J. Hellman (SAFE, Monroeville, Pa.) at (412) 373-53431.

11) One year old and doing well: The Chicken Little Club, its newsletter The Squawk, and its annual award to the Cluck of the Year. Information from Box 174, Cardiff by the Sea, CA 920078.