Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Sept 6, 1979: the massive concrete dome on Runit Island at Enewetak Atoll was completed, entombing 4,700 cubic meters of radioactive debris and more than 83,000 cubic meters of contaminated soil scraped off neighboring islands—the residue of 43 US nuclear tests from 1948-58.


Under the dome: Fears Pacific nuclear 'coffin' is leaking  | Atomic Atolls


The radioactive debris and soil were collected and the dome built by 4,000 Army, Navy, and Air Force servicemen working for the Defense Nuclear Agency (now the Defense Threat Reduction Agency). The unprecedented project took three years and cost some $400 million (FY23 dollars).



DTRA, the same agency that funds DOD bio-labs in 25 countries, including the Ukraine.

Atomic Cleanup Vets

The 2020-23 PACT Act (Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act) the largest expansion of health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances since 1991, also covers exposure to radioactive materials, including, for the first time, for these veterans.



Updating Presumptive Radiation Locations Based on the PACT Act


Veterans like Paul Laird, Tim Snider, and David Roach, who have suffered for years from multiple serious health problems linked to their work on the Enewetak Radiological Support Project but who have long been denied government-supported medical care.

Tim Snider was a 20-year-old radiation technician. On arrival, officers ordered him to wear a hazmat suit and respirator so a military film crew could document him working (below), then took back all the equipment. “I never saw one of those suits again. It was just propaganda.”


Paul Laird was a 20-year-old bulldozer driver at the atoll in 1977: “That dust was like baby powder. We were covered in it .... When the job was done, they threw my bulldozer in the ocean because it was so hot. If it got that much radiation, how the hell did it miss me?”

Unfortunately, thousands of the veterans the new law was intended to help are seeing their claims denied by the Department of Veterans Affairs. “They’re waiting for us to die,” said Kenneth Brownell, 66, one of the first soldiers sent to clean up the atoll.

Troops Who Cleaned Up Radioactive Islands Can’t Get Medical Care


Runit Dome and the unlined crater below it are threatened by rising sea levels (or the atoll sinking). Cracks and spalling of the concrete were observed in 2018. A 2020 DOE report to congress claimed the radioactive contents were not a significant exposure hazard relative to residual fallout already in the lagoon. Nothing to see here.


DOE Report on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands (PDF)



Nuclear 'tomb' in the Marshall Islands starting to crack



Sept 6, 1901: Leon Czolgosz, an an American laborer and anarchist, armed with a concealed .32-caliber Iver Johnson "Safety Automatic" revolver he had purchased four days earlier, shoots and fatally wounds US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley later died from his injuries on September 14 which led to Theodore Roosevelt taking over as president. Afterward he said, "I killed the President because he was an enemy of the good people – of the working people." Czolgosz was quickly tried and executed on October 29, 1901.




Sept 6, 1916: Clarence Saunders opened Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, TN, the first true self-service grocery store.

When Clarence Saunders opened the first Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee on September 6th, 1916, he revolutionized the grocery shopping experience. Prior to Piggly Wiggly, customers would provide store clerks with handwritten shopping lists, and clerks would gather the requested items.

Saunders introduced a novel concept - allowing customers to personally select their own products from the shelves. This self-service model empowered shoppers while reducing labor costs for stores. Piggly Wiggly also featured innovative designs like shopping baskets to aid customers.

Another key innovation was centralized checkout stands. Rather than paying for items at individual counters throughout the store, Saunders created a streamlined process where customers could pay for all purchases in one location.

Saunders promoted Piggly Wiggly extensively through eye-catching signage and advertising circulars, differentiating his stores from the competition. The success of Piggly Wiggly's supermarket prototype was immense, and similar self-service markets spread rapidly across the United States, transforming grocery shopping.

In 1922, Saunders established the Piggly Wiggly Corporation, becoming the first self-service grocery chain to issue public stock and solidifying its industry leadership. While financial struggles later caused Saunders to lose control of the company, he remained determined. He founded another chain called "Clarence Saunders Sole Owner Stores" with further advances like electric doors and frozen food sections.

Saunders received numerous patents related to retail innovations over his career. His concepts of self-service, centralized checkout, and promotional strategies remain fundamental to the modern supermarket experience today. Though Saunders faced personal challenges, his impact on the grocery industry through Piggly Wiggly is immense and long-lasting.

History Depends on the Historian | Piggly Wiggly History






"Cemesto is a sturdy, light-weight, waterproof and fire-resistant composite building material made from a core of sugar cane fiber insulating board surfaced on both sides with asbestos and cement ... A prototype cemesto house was displayed at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. The Pierce system was first used in 1941 for building employee housing at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company near Baltimore, Maryland." Glenn L. Martin Aircraft later became Lockheed Martin.

To Be Continued.