Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Fact-Checking Myself (The Terrorists have won)


Okay, this might not be interesting to anyone but me... Therefore, I am adding silly pictures to this article, which is excerpted from the McMaster University newspaper, The Silhouette. It's not online yet, so I can't link to it. I'll point out the facts that I got wrong. But I think I got most things right.

'Mac Reactor Under Fire Again'

By Giselle Chin

McMaster's nuclear reactor has been the epicentre of ongoing and fierce debate as it battles terrorist allegations while seeking a license renewal for the 47 year old facility.

[Not sure I'd use the word 'epicentre' in this context.]

The largest research reactor in Canada, the McMaster nuclear reactor first began operating in 1959. Over the years, the facility has weathered its fare share of storms. The most recent issue, however, has the university up in arms. An American author, Paul L. Williams, in his latest book Dunces of Doomsday: 10 Blunders That Gave Rise to Radical Islam, Terrorist Regimes, And the Threat of an American Hiroshima and in various media interviews in Ontario, has accused McMaster of lax security measures and having lost its license to operate. Also, in his book, Williams writes ''Following the success of 9/11, Adnan el-Shukrijumah received his commission to serve as the field commander for the next attack on U.S. soil- the so-called ''American Hiroshima.'' In preparation for this mission, he was sent to McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, a facility that housed a five megawatt nuclear research reactor.''


These al-Qaeda agents, Mr. Williams claims, stole 180 pounds of nuclear material to make a radiological or ''dirty'' bomb. McMaster has answered these accusations with a lawsuit, suing Mr. Williams for over two million dollars in damages. ''These are malicious falsehoods that are being perpetuated,'' said Andrea Farqhar, Director of Public and Government Relations at McMaster.


[So far, so good.]

''We can't allow that kind of misinformation to go unchallenged. It wouldn't be fair to the university, certainly not to our students, the faculty and staff who work really hard to make this one of the premier institutions.'' Dave Tucker, the Radiation and Safety Manager at McMaster also commented, ''Nothing has gone missing from the facility. There is no basis for these allegations and absolutely no cause for concern.''

[Again, this is basically what I said.]

[The article then tells us that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission- whose name I slightly mangled- has issued a statement clarifying that Williams' statements are false, as has the publisher, whose full name is actually WND Books/ Cumberland House Publishing.]

Cages were first rattled in 2003 when the Washington Times published an article accusing an Adnan el-Shukrijumah of being an al-Qaeda terrorist suspect, sought by the FBI and CIA, and spotted at McMaster, Hamilton with the intention of obtaining radioactive material to create a dirty bomb. But obtaining radioactive material is not nearly as simple as it sounds. Aside from all the security measures on campus, even ''if you did manage to take one of the fuel assemblies, the health impact would be severe, so you wouldn't be able to just put it in your backpack and walk home,'' said Chris Heysel, McMaster's Director of Nuclear Operations.

[Which is what I was getting at yesterday. Anyway, as I said, their five-year license renewal is coming up and the public is scared because McMaster allows Muslims to study there, or some other such paranoid shit. So, aside from a few name issues, I was right. And I fixed those promptly. Which makes me overqualified to write for WND Books, apparently.]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know not of what you say. Just wait.