Tweet4NucSec New Years Resolution Campaign and Contest
New Years is a time for resolutions. Lose weight. Quit smoking. Spend more time with family. This year, as we reflect on the past and think about things we want to change, I ask you to join me in my resolution to help make the world a safer place by reducing the threat of loose nuclear materials.
As a first step in making this resolution a reality I am sending out a Tweet that raises awareness of this issue: http://twitter.com/hscapcorp. To help, all you need to do is retweet (RT) or copy and tweet this message to all your followers, friends, family…everyone. Ask them to read this message of concern, and to join you in passing it along.
We all tend to be better at making resolutions than following through with them; but in this case, a few small actions can have a lasting, meaningful impact.
To give you an incentive to act on this resolution, if you help us spread the word, you will be entered to win a $2,000 American Express Gift Card. [You can find the contest rules at the end of this post.]
With the exception of the long-term effects of global warming, no other single threat has more capacity to harm us and perhaps even destroy our world than the threat of loose nuclear material. Around the world today there are large amounts of nuclear and radioactive materials that are inadequately secured—or are not secured at all. These materials, which are often called “loose nukes,” are vulnerable and could too easily fall into the hands of people who want to do us harm—terrorists, organized crime syndicates and hostile nations.
A single nuclear weapon would inflict extraordinary destruction and suffering—perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives lost and a vast area of total destruction. The damage from a radioactive weapon, or “dirty bomb,” would be less severe, but it would still be substantial. The psychological and economic impacts of either of these scenarios would be enormous. Additionally any nuclear or radioactive attack threatens a cascading effect of global conflict.
This threat is very real. For example, the five Americans detained last month in Pakistan on terrorism charges were planning to carry out attacks against a Pakistani nuclear site. Between 1993 and 2007, the International Atomic Energy Agency has reported more than 1340 incidents of unauthorized acquisition (e.g. by theft), provision, possession, use, transfer or disposal of nuclear and other radioactive materials. Eighteen of these incidents involved highly enriched uranium or plutonium, two of the most dangerous nuclear materials used in making atomic bombs.
This threat must also be considered in light of the times we live in. The recent attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight is an apt reminder that there are those around the world who wish to do us and our friends harm. As Osama bin Laden himself has made clear, a nuclear attack on the United States is the ultimate goal of these enemies.
To help make our world a safer and more stable place, one of the most important things we as a nation can do is to reduce the amount of loose nukes. The United States has a program called the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, which safeguards and dismantles vulnerable nuclear and radioactive materials in other nations. The program has already made enormous progress. Under the leadership of the Department of Energy, hundreds of sites that hold radiological source materials in more than 40 countries have been secured.
However, much remains to be done and the threat is still far too great. Many of the highest-risk and most dangerous nuclear sources remain unsecured. Additionally, the program’s efforts must continue to expand to focus on new and emerging nuclear areas and concerns. From the Middle East to Asia, more and more nations are turning to nuclear energy as a source of clean, sustainable power and to reduce the threat of global climate change. Nuclear materials are also becoming increasingly important playing a greater role in advanced healthcare treatments. Nuclear advances are helping people around the world live better lives, however these nuclear materials must be secured.
To address this threat the program needs to continue its vital work but must also be expanded in its scope. Expanding the program will require not just a larger charge, but also more resources. Its budget must grow significantly. Colin Powell often remarked “Don’t show me your program, show me your budget.” He was right.
This April, speaking in Prague, President Obama made a pledge to lead “an international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” This pledge is extremely bold and aggressive, but it is possible—particularly if all of us support this vital action.
As I mentioned above, to raise awareness of both the threat and our ability to make the world a safer, more peaceful place, I am sending out a Tweet about this threat today: http://twitter.com/hscapcorp
Please retweet (RT) or copy and tweet this message to all your followers, friends, family and all the Twitter community. Ask them to read this message of concern, but also of hope, and to join you in passing it along.
And, to make it more likely that you will keep this resolution, Homeland Security Capital Corporation will give you an incentive. If you help us by passing this message along between now and January 18, 2010, you will be entered to win a $2,000 American Express Gift Card. And, you can tweet or retweet this message multiple times—up to once an hour—to increase your chances of winning. [You can find the contest rules at the end of this post.] Follow us on Twitter to see the results of the Tweet4NucSec campaign and to hear about the winner.
Once you’ve passed the word, here are two other things you can do to help:
1. Email President Obama and commend him for his bold pledge to secure the world’s nuclear materials and ask him to act on it by expanding the current Global Threat Reduction Initiative program and increasing its budget. If you are wondering what to say, here is an idea:
Dear Mr. President
I write to pledge my support for your pledge to secure all the world’s nuclear materials in four years. As we begin a new decade, there is no single action that can help create a brighter, safer future than addressing the threat of loose nuclear materials. To this end, I write to ask you to swiftly act on this pledge by expanding the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and increasing the budget for this program in the coming years of your Administration.
Respectfully,
[Your Name] |
You can email the President at http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
2. Call or email your Congressional members and ask them to support expanding the Global Threat Reduction Initiative program and increasing its budget. Here is an example of what you can say:
Dear Congressman/Senator [_______]
As we begin a new decade, there is no single action that can help create a brighter, safer future then addressing the threat of loose nuclear materials. To this end, I write to ask for your support to expand the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and increase the program’s funding.
Respectfully,
[Your Name] |
You have one member of the House of Representatives and two Senators who are your elected representatives in Washington. You can find out their names using your zipcode at: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt
You can contact your three representatives via their websites. You can find your House Member’s website listed and linked at: www.house.gov.
And your Senator’s is listed and linked here: www.senate.gov.
As a former Member of Congress, I can assure you that your voice has an impact. If we, together, in chorus, call on the President and the Congress to address the threat of loose nuclear materials, they will act.
This New Year, 2010, marks the start of a new decade. There is no better way to usher in this new decade than to help create a safer, more secure and more peaceful future. It won’t help you lose those holiday pounds or stop smoking, but it is one of the most important resolutions you can make and help keep for yourself and your family and friends.
Sincerely,
Cong. Tom McMillen
Contest Rules
The winner of this contest will be chosen at random from the list of individuals who retweeted or tweeted the specific contest tweet before Midnight January 18, 2010.
Every tweet and retweet constitutes a separate entry; you can tweet/retweet this message to increase your chances of winning. There is a limit of 24 entries, one per hour, per day, per contestant.
This list will be developed by Book Hill Partners for Homeland Security Capital Corporation. We will endeavor to capture all such tweets and retweets using appropriate technologies and searches, however Individuals are free to include twitter.com/hscapcorp as a recipient of any tweet or retweet to ensure that they are entered in the contest.
Homeland Security Capital Corporation and Book Hill Partners are not responsible for and will not consider incomplete or incorrect entries, or tweets sent but not received by us for any reason, as potential contest winners.
Only individuals 18 years or older are eligible to win.
Employees of Homeland Security Capital Corporation and its subsidiary companies, as well as those of the firms involved in managing this contest are not eligible to win.
The winner of the contest will be randomly selected on or about January 22, 2010.
The winner will be contacted within 5 business days of their selection. The winner of the contest will be contacted at the Twitter address used to enter the contest, and the person receiving and replying to the winner announcement tweet will be considered the winner unless they specify another person within the reply email as the winner. Homeland Security Capital Corporation will mail the contest prize to the address supplied by the recipient of the winner announcement tweet.
The winner will be announced via Twitter after the winner has completed the necessary follow on prize requirements.
Only one entry per tweet address will be considered for contest entry.
Any tweets found to have come from automated scripts or bots will be disqualified.
You can also be entered to win by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
1100 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 750W
Washington, DC 20005.
All mail in entries must be postmarked no later than January 7, 2010.
Claiming of prizes requires an email response to Homeland Security Capital Corporation from the winning sender Twitter address within 15 days of being notified of winning at the Twitter address used to enter. Failure to respond shall mean that the winner forfeits the prize. Homeland Security Capital is not required to award elsewhere any prizes forfeited by the chosen winner(s).
By participating in the contest, the winner agrees to have their name, content of their submission and/or likeness used in any advertising or broadcasting material relating to this contest without additional financial or other compensation, and to sign a publicity release prior to acceptance of the prize.
All decisions of Homeland Security Capital with respect to all aspects of the contest are final. Homeland Security Capital reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or cancel the contest at any time if a computer virus or other technical problem corrupts the administration, security, or proper play of the contest.
This contest is invalid in any state or locality where legal requirements prohibit such contests and/or conflict with these contest rules.
Tom McMillen
