Mailbag: Did Midwest Dodge Nuclear Bullet?

“I wanted to give you a little information concerning the derecho,” wrotes Frank Swiderski in Cedar Rapids of the recent windstorm. “In the past, I wrote you a short paper regarding durations of time (and distance) having potential scriptural significance, and you had addressed the topic in a lead article on your website. It appears that such a duration is associated with this event.

“The time between the height of the flood crest of Cedar Rapids IA 6/12/2008 to 8/10/2020 the date of the derecho, is 555 weeks 555 days exactly, where 5 indicates strength, especially military strength and is noted in the spiritual battle of David who carried 5 stones, and the 5 decades of the Rosary.

“Each event caused local devastation. The latest National Weather Service estimates being scattered 100 and 120 MPH centered on downtown, with winds peak of 140MPH in SW Cedar Rapids. Linn (CR) and the northern 2/3 of Johnson county (Iowa City, University of Ia) bore the peak strength of the system across the midwest. This area has 350K to 400K people. There were 20 minutes warning, with the brunt of the storm lasting 40+ minutes, unheard of for non-tropical systems. 30” strong oaks cleanly snapped 20 ft off the ground. Power out for over a week, with the last restored today. As you can appreciate, inland areas are not prepared to respond to something this large and this strong.

“Cell service ended when the battery backup in the cell towers ran out. Internet was also out. It was completely dark and dead quiet the first night. For the first time in 23 years (comet Hale-Bopp) I could go out on my driveway and see the Milky Way.

“While I do not wish to be a distraction to you in having written several times recently, I believe it is best you know about these things to privately ascertain present circumstances. Hopefully this is worth the read.

“About 8 miles NW of Cedar Rapids is the Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC) on the Cedar River, commonly referred to locally as Palo, for the small town nearby. It was producing 575MW (86% of rating) with its’ single BWR reactor as the storm hit. It is scheduled for decommissioning October 30th of this year given age and associated non-competitive costs. The reactor is of ‘similar design’ to those at Fukushima, Japan, per Wikipedia. Also, a note in the same article referred to a regulatory finding requiring a modification to Palo following the Fukushima event.

“When the storm hit, all power to Palo went dark, and (per news articles) the cooling towers were damaged. The reactor building, but not the reactor containment structure, sustained wind damage. The reactor SCRAMed (per an Iowa Sierra Club report online). A level 4 (lowest) incident was declared, with no radioactive emission. The SCRAM was successful and on-site backup diesel generators kicked in. Due to the damage and the near-term decommissioning date, the reactor is not going to be restarted, with last power produced August 10th.

“Had the emergency systems not performed, the event could have made everything that has happened so far this year in this country a discussion of trivia. 100MPH+ winds picking up contamination, sending it who knows where and how far. It becomes a brief story of what didn’t happen, which is not always easy to become aware of.

“I believe this is evidence that in this time of heightening spiritual battle, we are being protected amidst the attacks that are being permitted. And the attacks are obviously occurring, increasing in numbers and intensity.

“I do not know why this area has been the focus of two major events since 2008. However, per Our Lady’s last message at Medjugorje, we are in a time of grace. I suspect this is what protected from the possibility of something much worse. While this happens to regions and countries, it also happens individually. I started praying for two people over the last several months, and each time I started, I was nearly hit in several auto accidents. Thankfully, none occurred. It can be taken as a good reminder to not only observe, but to be on guard. Our guardian angels are probably putting in a great deal of overtime these days.

“A last note. The things mentioned in this email were spotted because of local familiarity. There may be other, and perhaps many other events occurring worldwide that are similarly tied together but not recognized as such.”

From the mail:

“Several years ago we had a Catholic running for the Senate who was pro-abortion, Senator Mary Landrieu,” writes a viewer in Louisiana. “The retired Archbishop of N.O., Phillip Hannan, had a press conference giving the teaching of the Church regarding abortion and how as Catholics we could not support a pro-abortion candidate. The Left was in an uproar, they called for revocation of the tax-exempt status of the Church and the current Archbishop went on the air stating that Archbishop Hannan was speaking as a private citizen and not for the Church. What hollow proclamation of the Gospel!

“Judge for yourself after reading this letter to the editor:”

Priest: Biden more pro-life than Trump

“The article by Kathryn Jean Lopez in Saturday’s newspaper claimed that Joe Biden has widened gaps on life issues. This is not true.

“She bases her article on the fact that Biden no longer supports the Hyde Amendment.

“The problem with her approach is that she confines her view of life issues to the life of the unborn. Unfortunately, that is the view of many so-called pro-life voters. The reality is that there is much more to being truly pro-life than advocating for the life of the unborn.

“Despite the fact that these same so-called pro-life voters declare that one is either pro-life or pro-abortion is a gross oversimplification. There are many pro-choice people who oppose abortion and do what they can to urge people to choose life, whether the life of the unborn or the life of the newly born, homeless, undocumented, elderly or death-row person.

“To make this issue very practical and relevant to the upcoming election of president, I think it is easy to make a compelling case that Biden is much more pro-life than Donald Trump. Biden has not forced anyone to have an abortion. Trump’s failure to establish a national plan to work to end the novel coronavirus has caused the deaths of many thousands.

“His placement of children in cages at the border and his refusal to allow people seeking asylum to wait on this side of the border are simply a couple of examples of a failure to be pro-life in the true sense of the phrase.

“If anyone has widened gaps on life issues, it is not Biden. It is Trump. No Catholic or pro-life person need be concerned about voting for Biden. I certainly won’t be concerned and I am a Roman Catholic priest.”

THE REV. LOUIS ARCENEAUX, C.M.

priest New Orleans

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