Fukushima Radiation Nears California Coast

Yes, I saw this two days ago:

Fukushima radiation nears California coast, judged harmless

It immediately reminded me of this:



Have a nice day, y'all. Keep warm.

Quote of the day

"The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five." --Carl Sagan

The biggest and most under- or un-reported story of the year?

Have you seen anything on or about this story?:

Israel accused of air strike on Sudan munitions factory

1,000-mile air raid on Khartoum seen as signal to Iran of ability to attack nuclear facilities

Sudan has complained to the UN security council that Israeli planes bombed a munitions plant in Khartoum, an attack that has been widely interpreted as a warning to Iran over its nuclear programme.

Israeli military commentators said that the Yarmouk facility in the Sudanese capital was owned by Iran and had been used to supply weapons to Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. The "impressive" reach of the secret operation was said to have demonstrated an ability to hit Iran's nuclear facilities — a similar distance from Israel.

As reverberations continued from Tuesday's 1,000-mile attack, Israel would neither confirm nor deny it was involved. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, said : "There is nothing I can say about this subject." But one of his most senior officials praised the country's air force and called Sudan a "terrorist state".



Get that?

Israel--or someone--flew in, blew up a nation's nuclear facilities LAST TUESDAY, flew out and there has been precious little news coverage of it here in the States.

I was told about it earlier in the week by a friend but hadn't seen or heard anything of it and I'm a rabid news hound. I had to do a Google search to find these links and stories.

This has got to be one of the biggest stories of the year, to date, and simultaneously, one of the most unreported or under-reported of the year, I believe. It has huge implications and potential ramifications for the world, really, since it deals so much with the Middle East.

The scary part--the really scary part--is that naturally Sudan has already said they will "retaliate," of course. Naturally.

Oh, boy.

It's a huge, huge story with incredible international implications but I--a newshound--haven't heard a thing about it. That is freaking weird. It's also grossly irresponsible on the part of the American news media, I think, unless I've only just missed it.

"Hang on to your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

Links: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/25/israel-accused-sudan-munitions-air-strike

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/25/israeli-sudanese-factory-secret-war

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/24/world/la-fg-sudan-airstrike-20121025

Our own government sprayed St. Louis with radioactive particles--and for years

Wow.

Is it any wonder people don't think our government is or can be against us? I just saw this article online:

Revealed: Army scientists secretly sprayed St Louis with 'radioactive' particles for YEARS to test chemical warfare technology

The United States Military conducted top secret experiments on the citizens of St. Louis, Missouri, for years, exposing them to radioactive compounds, a researcher has claimed.

While it was known that the government sprayed 'harmless' zinc cadmium silfide particles over the general population in St Louis, Professor Lisa Martino-Taylor, a sociologist at St. Louis Community College, claims that a radioactive additive was also mixed with the compound.

She has accrued detailed descriptions as well as photographs of the spraying which exposed the unwitting public, predominantly in low-income and minority communities, to radioactive particles.

It's bad enough the government did it, period, but then to also do it to "low-income and minority communities"?

What the hell are we supposed to think about our own government?

And who's to say what causes cancer in the US?

This is just stunning and extremely disappointing to me. Not completely surprising but still a bit of a shock.

So what are they doing to us now? Nothing? Hopefully? And are we supposed to believe that?

Is it any wonder people think the contrails of jet planes are poisoning us, even now? I just hope the ones who believe that are mistaken.

And then, to add yet more indignation to this whole mess, look where it's coming from. The story here is reported from the UK, not a media source here in the States. That's not to say some national or local news source didn't report it but this is the first I've seen of it.

Check out just this one bit of information from the article:

"...the greatest concentration of spraying in St Louis was at the Pruit-Igoe public housing complex, which was home to 10,000 low income residents. She said that 70 per cent of those residents were children under the age of 12."

How disgusting, how revolting is that?

With a bit of further digging, I found the military and government did this over not just St. Louis, either, but over Corpus Christi, Texas, too. (See 2nd link, below).

What are we to think or trust of our government?

Links to original article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210415/Revealed-Army-scientists-secretly-sprayed-St-Louis-radioactive-particles-YEARS-test-chemical-warfare-technology.html

http://rt.com/usa/news/us-radioactive-louis-martino-taylor-443/

Some video from the original article, above:

On this day...

On this date in 1945, the first atomic bomb was successfully tested near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Another thing to worry about?

While I'm trying to search out and pay attention to information about radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and I'm still glad I saw this, this seems of questionable origin both professionally and scientifically.

Anyway, for what it' worth, there it is. I'll see what else is out there.

It's not like there's a lot we could do about the rain anyway, is there?

Yet another brilliant move by Missouri Legislators (not)

I could hardly believe the title of the article:

Missouri lawmakers vote to lower fees on radioactive shipments

You have to be kidding me.

Would that this were a horrible, belated April Fool's joke.

Uh, Legislators?

Questions.

First---Why?

I mean, come on.

Do we want MORE of these things? Do we want to make sure we get more radioactive shipments in and across the state so we're going to reward corporations for these things? Do you think that's what we really want?

And then here's a good question--did you think we have too much state tax revenue so we can give this away? We have THAT much money coming in?

We know that's not the case.

Republican Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph (my hometown I am, in this case, proud to say) said it best when he asked: "Why would I want to help a Canadian company while potentially putting public safety at risk? I just think this is wrong."

This is the same question I have about the Transcanada--very Canadian--Keystone XL pipeline. Why are we busting our chops to give a Canadian company big benefits to run THEIR OIL over our country so they can then sell it to world markets, period? But it's especially outright stupid when we threaten our own environment, given that oil spills would eventually be all but assured? It makes no sense.

This, likely, is yet another development created by the fact that in this case State legislators need campaign money. Someone--or a group of someones--in Jefferson City needed "campaign contributions" so the nuclear industry lobby ponied up a bit of money and bought themselves some cheap, wonderful legislation they wanted anyway.

Corporations and the wealthy, buying our legislators, their legislation and so, our laws and government.

We have got to kill campaign contributions.

Link to article: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/missouri-lawmakers-vote-lower-fees-radioactive-shipments/

Dr. Helen Caldicott on Fukushima and you, Part 4

More on Dr. Caldicott here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Helen_Caldicott

If you don't think Fukushima affects you, us...

Part 3: Seriously, each of these 4 14 minute talks are full of fascinating, though alarming, pertinent information for the entire nation. She's a wonderful speaker and extremely informative. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Helen_Caldicott

What we don't know about Chernobyl--and now Fukushima--and radioactivity

From the video information: "Dr Helen Caldicott spoke to a standing room only crowd at the Faulkner Gallery in Santa Barbara on Friday evening March 23, 2012 on 'The Medical Implications of Fukushima, Nuclear Power and Nuclear Proliferation'". This is so worth the fourteen minutes and 43 seconds it takes to watch this, it's stunning. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Helen_Caldicott

Finally: News about the radiation on the US from Fukushima

Ever since the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan blew, I've wondered how much radiation hit the US. And since then, I've seen nothing, nothing about it from media or our government. That surprised me a bit--I'm very naive about far too much--and disappointed me. Finally, today, an article on the internets: California Slammed With Fukushima Radiation "The Journal Environmental Science and Technology reports in a new study that the Fukushima radiation plume contacted North America at California 'with greatest exposure in central and southern California', and that Southern California's seaweed tested over 500% higher for radioactive iodine-131 than anywhere else in the U.S. and Canada: Projected paths of the radioactive atmospheric plume emanating from the Fukushima reactors, best described as airborne particles or aerosols for 131I, 137Cs, and 35S, and subsequent atmospheric monitoring showed it coming in contact with the North American continent at California, with greatest exposure in central and southern California. Government monitoring sites in Anaheim (southern California) recorded peak airborne concentrations of 131I at 1.9 pCi m−3." As the post then so wisely and succinctly says: "Anaheim is where Disneyland is located." Just in case you're thinking no one's out there or effected.

But wait! There's more! There's much, much more! (Naturally) In addition, radioactive debris is starting to wash up on the Pacific Coast. And because the Japanese are burning radioactive materials instead of disposing of them, radioactive rain-outs will continue for some time … even on the Pacific Coast. Nice, huh? So what are our respective governments doing about it, if anything, you might ask? Your answers: Instead of doing much to try to protect their citizens from Fukushima, Japan, the U.S. and the EU all just raised the radiation levels they deem “safe”.

Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says that high-level friends in the State Department told him that Hillary Clinton signed a pact with her counterpart in Japan agreeing that the U.S. will continue buying seafood from Japan, despite that food not being tested for radioactive materials.

And the Department of Energy is trying to replace the scientifically accepted model of the dangers of low dose radiation based on voodoo science. Specifically, DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Labs used a mutant line of human cells in a petri dish which was able to repair damage from low doses of radiation, and extrapolated to the unsupported conclusion that everyone is immune to low doses of radiation… Isn't that all just lovely? So, finally, what is our government's response to information and data going foward? Great question: American and Canadian authorities have virtually stopped monitoring airborne radiation, and are not testing fish for radiation. If you weren't sick before, you probably should be now. (If after all that, you really are nauseous--not surprisingly--the comments at the links below have some magnificent, very dry and ascerbic wit to them, if that helps). Links: http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-13-30/california-slammed-fukushima-radiation; http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/update-fukushima-0; http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/fukushima-radiation-highest-ever-exceeding-capacity-measuring-device-fuel-likely-leaking; http://www.zerohedge.com/article/no-amount-radiation-released-japanese-nuclear-reactors-not-safe; http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/radioactive-iodine-blankets-much-europe-everyone-points-fingers

Yet another well done and important story from Frontline on PBS

Last evening, PBS ran another "Frontline" story, this one on Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant disaster after the tsunami they experienced last March 11. Besides telling an important story and getting the details of what happened to all these people, it also struck me how their Prime Minister Naoto Kan seemed to take charge of the situation, along with taking responsibility. I also respected and appreciated the honor he seemed to take in what became his job. I would love to see that from our elected officials, of course, at all times, but especially in times of these national emergencies and catastrophies. It would have been really nice to have seen when Hurrican Katrina hit the Gulf states here. What strikes me now, however, is that I'd like to hear the truth about what radioactive fallout hit the US and in what amounts, from the West Coast to East. Anyone? News media? Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/japans-nuclear-meltdown/

Kim Jong-Un already rumored today to be dead

Sure, right now it's an unconfirmed rumor but this is HUGE. If true, and the military did kill him, the world is in for one heck of a wild ride, I'd guess. We'll see. Yikes. Hold your breath, folks. Here's hoping it's an absurd untruth. Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/10/kim-jong-un-assassination-rumours-flood-twitter-weibo/

Think you understand how many earthquakes Japan had last year?

What would you think? 2? 6? Well, check this out. This guy--StoryMonoroch, whoever that is, over in Japan, apparently--put together this graphic to show just how many earthquakes the island nation of Japan suffered through last year. You truly won't believe it. Have your sound on, too, because he added that to the graphics as well. And please be patient. Yes, it's in Japanese but just wait. When they start hitting, you'll know it. January alone is a surprise, sure. But just wait until March 10. Then stay tuned, too. Don't quit. It's fascinating, if a bit disturbing. Yikes. What those poor people have been through. Links: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-january-3/blog/38925/; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16795329; http://gma.yahoo.com/japans-nuclear-exclusion-zone-shows-few-signs-life-131155854--abc-news.html

Guess we are gonna' study war some more...

"So Britain has closed its Iranian embassy and Germany and France recalled their ambassadors to Iran. So I guess we'll be havin' another war." --Eric Bowers, photographer and friend, today, on Facebook. I fear he's right.

On outlawing war

Here's a thought: let's outlaw war. It's been thought of, down through history, yet to date, it hasn't held. The Romans, I believe, considered it, in their Senate, all those centuries ago. There's a terrific, brief article on doing just this right now at Alternet. It tells of the history in this country of pushing for it, back in 1928 with the Kellog-Briand pact in our own government. It had been pushed for by the people as these things usually have to be, and passed in our government. It's still on the books, for that matter. There is a new book out about it (When the World Outlawed War by David Swanson). I've thought for a long time that this is what President Obama needs to come out for. Coming from him--a Constitutional lawyer, and both the president of the United States AND the first black president of the nation--I think it could and would carry a lot of extra weight and extra strength. Given the way the world economies are going and the fact that we're all so intertwined, at least economically and ecologically, it makes so much sense. With our own national economy at least down drastically (the worst recession in 80 years, since the last, "Great Depression") and the European nations and economy imperiled and China's economy at least questionable, I think the beginning of President Obama's second term would be an excellent time for him to call on the leaders of all others nations to declare war as, hopefully illegal, if not just "not an option" so we don't fall into the same human trap we seem to repeatedly find ourselves in. That is, sending our young people off to kill each other, all because our economies fail. Now is the time. It seems like a brilliant, if obvious, thing to do and call for. Again and again, it seems far too many people assume the world is going to war soon, all because our economies are failing. Even with conventional weapons, war makes no sense and is just far too stupid, let alone destructive. When you consider some people and nations think the use of nuclear weapons are at least a viable option, if not also that they're a "good" option, it makes outlawing war internationally that much more logical, reasonable and sensible. As people on this planet, again, all intertwined in so many ways, it seems to make sense to make a pact, once and for all, for all our futures and all of humankind so we don't fall back on the one ignorant, destructive "option" that is war. Because it really isn't an option. Not anymore. Links: http://www.alternet.org/story/153153/when_the_world_outlawed_war%3A_an_interview_with_david_swanson/; http://davidswanson.org/outlawry; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg_briand_pact

That nearby, Nebraska Nuclear Power Station

Check out what the media is reporting about the nearby Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station and it's possible flooding: "As Ketv reported in March: Fort Calhoun’s nuclear power plant is one of three reactors across the country that federal regulators said they are most concerned about. Last year, federal regulators questioned the station’s flood protection protocol. NRC officials said they felt the Omaha Public Power District should do more than sandbagging in the event of major flooding along the Missouri river." Then there's this from Sunday's New York Times: "Last year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited the Fort Calhoun plant for not being adequately prepared for floods and rated the safety violation in the “yellow” category, the second most serious...Earlier this month, the plant briefly lost power needed to cool the spent fuel pool after a fire that remains under investigation." Then, lest you think that's all there is to be concerned about, you need to know that the Ft. Calhoun plant isn't alone. There is also the Cooper Nuclear Reactor and it's also in Nebraska and it, too, is subject to flooding and flood waters right now: "The Lincoln Journal Star notes: Nebraska Public Power District officials are concerned rising flood waters could force them to shut down the nuclear power plant if the river reaches a level of 902 feet above sea level…The highest reading at Cooper on Sunday was 900.6 feet above sea level, [Nebraska Public Power District] spokesman Mark Becker] said." And more water has been released up North, by the Corps of Engineers, as we know. Finally, check out this little comparison: "[T]he federal government’s own Sandia National Laboratories has concluded that similarities between the Dai-Ichi plant and reactors like Cooper pose a significant problem: specifically that a lengthy loss of electrical power could cause a nuclear meltdown...the Cooper plant near Brownville is still producing power, though Sunday it put out a 'notification of unusual event' on Sunday." Yikes. As I've said before, the sky isn't falling but these situations are at least a bit of a concern, for sure. Links: http://projectpangaia.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/nebraska-nuclear-threat-as-unpredictable-as-fukushima/; http://missouri-news.org/midwest-news/nebraska/nppd-nuke-plant-could-be-shut-down-in-three-seconds-critics-still-worry/6173; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/us/21flood.html?_r=1

Nuclear plants: fires and floods

First we had the nearby Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station at risk of flooding and then flooding and the concerns that created, at least regionally, if not nationally. Now, news out today tells that the Los Alamos National Laboratory--the nation's nuclear weapons laboratory--is under threat from the New Mexico wildfires and that they had to evacuate the plant. Makes you feel safe and secure all over, doesn't it? Links: http://beta.news.yahoo.com/wildfire-triggers-evacuations-near-los-alamos-002006674.html; http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/us/evacuation-issue-threatening-nuclear-plants.html?scp=1&sq=Ft.+Calhoun+nuclear+power+station&st=nyt

"US orders news blackout over crippled Nebraska nuclear plant"??

There is a fascinating article out right now--I saw on a friend's Facebook page, actually--that says, well, you read it: A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a “total and complete” news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska. According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a “catastrophic loss of cooling” to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a “no-fly ban” over the area. Located about 20 minutes outside downtown Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant is owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) who on their website denies their plant is at a “Level 4” emergency by stating: “This terminology is not accurate, and is not how emergencies at nuclear power plants are classified.” Russian atomic scientists in this FAAE report, however, say that this OPPD statement is an “outright falsehood” as all nuclear plants in the world operate under the guidelines of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) which clearly states the “events” occurring at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant do, indeed, put it in the “Level 4” emergency category of an “accident with local consequences” thus making this one of the worst nuclear accidents in US history. Though this report confirms independent readings in the United States of “negligible release of nuclear gasses” related to this accident it warns that by the Obama regimes censoring of this event for “political purposes” it risks a “serious blowback” from the American public should they gain knowledge of this being hidden from them. So I'm thinking this would be a fantastic, important article for our own Kansas City Star should follow up on, report fully and thoroughly on and see if it's truth or nonsense. Star?? Link to complete, original article here: http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/18-Jun-2011/US-orders-news-blackout-over-crippled-Nebraska-Nuclear-Plant-report

Quote of the day

"Until we know how to safely dispose of the radioactive materials generated by nuclear plants, we should postpone these activities so as not to cause further harm to future generations. To do otherwise is simply an immoral act, and that is my belief, both as a scientist and as a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing." --Dr Shoji Sawada, theoretical particle physicist and Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University in Japan Link to original post: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/201161664828302638.html