15 May 2002

Detecting the Plume at Lusk   When man was landing on the moon, my downwind neighbours were getting cancerous growths and brain tumours. From their well water. When it was happening, we thought it was just one of those things. But it happened to two successive families living in the same house. Whatever caused the maladies was in the well water. The Goldbach Family drew its water from a different vein, so I grew up with healthy brothers, strong enough to etch scars on each other. Today, there's a problem brewing in Lusk, County Dublin. It relates to potentially contaminated well water too. The problem stems from an oversaturated dump. The area may now get an incinerator, bringing with it dioxins for the generations to come. That means my godson is more likely to suffer from cancer than someone living in the rural hills of Kilkenny, next to me. I'm bothered by the way some Irish planners relegate certain communities to the unhealthy zones of life. We should treat our waste problem as a health issue, not an issue of convenience. ++++++++++ Sent from Athy aboard Irish Rail over Vodafone HSD from an IBM TransNote. Get a Lusk People Press Kit for more info.

Increasing Number of SMS Messages More than 140bn messages will be sent in 2002. This is simply the most extensive, yet accidental, non-intrusive technology of the early post-Y2K era. ++++++++++ Semt by Tim Kirby from Outlook to Weblog.

Dave Stewart Takes on Corrupt Music Industry While sitting in the Kilkenny train station, I'm amazed to see two backpackers reading the Financial Times because students know you can get two Page Three spreads for the price of one FT. Looking closer, I can see they're reading the Creative Business insert about Dave Stewart taking on the corrupt music industry. I wish him well in his endeavours and wonder if he might consider an affiliation with Kilkenny. After all, the medieval Irish city has Cartoon Saloon and the Young Irish Film Makers, both suitable for rounding out Dave Stewart's newly-emerging Artists' Network. ++++++++++ Sent over Vodafone HSD with Nokia CardPhone from IBM TransNote.