Tag Archives: crime

Fukushima

Japan says it will take at least 40 years to scrap the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant!

The Japanese government released details of their plan to tear down the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

From 2012 to 2015 they hope to remove the hundreds of spent fuel rods stored in the facility’s spent fuel pools.

Then from 2015 to 2021 they will work to repair and fill up the highly radioactive reactor containment vessels with the melted fuel rods inside.  That plan involves using water to fill the containment vessels on four reactors.

Then by 2022 they hope they can figure out a way to safely remove the melted fuel rods from the containment vessels.  The ultimate goal is to tear down the reactor buildings.

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Former U.S. National Security adviser says War with Iran would be Armageddon, says American people are being driven by fear

“We think we are going to avoid war by moving toward compulsion. But the more you lean toward compulsion, the more the choice becomes war if it doesn’t work.”-Zbignew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Adviser

Brzezinski worked for President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. At a meeting of the Atlantic Council, on December 14, he, along with former NSA officials Brent Scowcroft, Jim Jones and Henry Kissinger, said the United States is facing the most significant world changes since the end of the Cold War.

Brzezinski also said the people, and leadership of the United States are not handling it very well:  “Our public is driven by fear, ignorance, demagogy to a very high degree and that I think has a paralyzing effect in intelligent management.”

He added that if there was war with Iran it would be devastating for the U.S.: “If we slide into a conflict with Iran, in this or that fashion, the consequences for us will be disastrous, disastrous on a massive scale and also globally at the same time.”

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

NAZI-land & United Police States of America: Congress passes final version of National Defense Authorization Act. Obama says he approves

“This is a giant step, this should be the biggest news going right now, literally legalizing martial law…This is big. This step where they can literally arrest American citizens and put them away without trial….is arrogant and bold and dangerous.”–Ron Paul, U.S. Representative for Texas

On the evening of December 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the final version of the controversial National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012.  It passed with 283 representatives voting for, and 136 against.  It will cost U.S. taxpayers $662 billion!

Officials claim they changed some provisions regarding the use of the military as police within the United States, and the detention of U.S. citizens, but still included a loophole for the President to do so by using “national security” as an excuse!

President Obama’s advisers say they’re fine with that: “…language does not challenge or constrain the president’s ability to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists, and protect the American people, and the president’s senior advisors will not recommend a veto.”–Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary

The bill also continues huge spending on operations in Iraq, even though the U.S. is officially getting out of Iraq.  Many of the U.S. forces leaving Iraq are still being based in the Middle East, like in Kuwait.  Also, most military troops in Iraq will be replaced by mercenaries, I mean private security contractors.  Did you know the murderous security contractor formerly known as Blackwater, formerly known as Xe Services, and now known as Academi, is about to get a big chunk of that money to continue operations in Iraq?

The spending bill shows that the United States, under Obama, has no intention of reducing military operations that drain precious tax dollars with no return on investment for the average person in the U.S.!

“Those troops stationed overseas aggravate our enemies, motivate our enemies. I think it’s a danger to our national defense, and we could save a lot of money cutting out the military expenditures that contribute nothing to our defense.”-Ron Paul, U.S. Representative for Texas

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Bank Incompetence: As many as 28 million people in the U.S. refuse to open a bank account

“The bottomline is that about 7.7% of U.S. households have no account in an insured financial institution and an additional 17.9% are underbanked, meaning they have an account but they utilize high cost financial service providers.”– Martin Gruenberg, FDIC

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 17 million people in the United States do not have bank accounts.  According to Tom Putnam with the Idaho non-profit group, Partners for Prosperity, that number could actually be as high as 28 million!

The reasons vary from just not understanding the concept of bank accounts to people who’re fed up with getting ripped off by the banks.  The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) says at least half of the people who’ve stopped using banks have done so because of a bad experience.

Another factor is that with all the fees banks charge, and with declining incomes, many people say it just not worth it to put their hard earned money into a bank.

According to Tom Putnam, the percentage of people who don’t use banks here in Idaho is bout 7%.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Construction companies say Idaho city driving down the economy with their outrageous construction fees. Is Pocatello violating state law?

“It’s gone up in a period of ten years from about $300 connection fees to about $5,000!”-Al Tetz, BCASE

The Building Contractors Association of Southeast Idaho (BCASE) says the city of Pocatello is charging outrageous, and illegal hook up fees.  And they believe it’s one of the main reasons for the drop in local construction jobs and home sales.

BCASE members also say the huge jump from $300 to $5,000 could be an attempt by city officials to try and make up for lost tax revenues, and millions of dollars generated from those fees have been placed in Pocatello’s general fund, which violates Idaho state law.

The construction organization is suing the city.

Officials with the city of Pocatello have no comment, because they haven’t been served with any notification of a lawsuit (as of December 13).

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? It’s an official record, 6.3 million U.S. citizens left the United States. 40% of young adults want to leave!

“I don’t regret leaving the States one bit!”-Matt Landau, left the U.S. six years ago

The U.S. State Department is admitting that at least 6.3 million U.S. citizens have left the Untied States, officially to find jobs or go to cheaper universities!

“There’s a feeling among more entrepreneurial Americans that if you really want to get anything done, you have to get out of country and away from the depressing atmosphere. There’s a sense of lost direction, so more people are looking for locations that offer more hope about the future.”–Bob Adams, America Wave

Blame it on a bad economy, caused by outsourcing jobs: “We’ve pretty much outsourced everything else.”-Giovanni Pinzon, laidoff aerospace technician

The U.S. State Department said Russia, China and Latin American countries are the recipients of the brain drain from the United States.

“I connected the dots and decided that I should go somewhere different and learn something new, like Mandarin, to challenge myself. I picked China because it was growing so fast.”-Derek Capo, left Florida for China

According to Bob Adams, who’s been doing surveys of U.S. citizens leaving the country, 40% of 18 to 24 year olds now want to leave the U.S.! Adams says he’s been doing the surveys for the past nine years and said the latest numbers “…have shot through the ceiling…not something I anticipated.”

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. Congress refuses Japan’s demand to get U.S. Marines off Okinawa

The U.S. Senate and House have rejected funding for moving the USMC off Okinawa and onto Guam.

For decades the people on Okinawa have complained of criminal activity by U.S. Marines, including rape and murder. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012 does not include the needed $150 million for the move.

U.S. and Japanese officials tried to convince Okinawans to allow the U.S. Marines to move from Futenma, Okinawa, to Nago, Okinawa.  Okinawans basically said Hell No!  They want the USMC off Okinawa, no more compromise.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

World War 3 & United Police States of America: Obama to sign into law the very National Defense Authorization Act he said he would veto. People of the U.S. you are now enemies of your own state, welcome to NAZI-land.

“…the [Obama] administration asked us to remove the language which says that U.S. citizens and lawful residents would not be subject to this section.”-Carl Levin, U.S. Senator from Michigan

There is now speculation that President Barack Obama will sign into law S.1253.RS, a bill he said he would veto. The reasoning behind that is based on statements from Senator Carl Levin, who stressed many times that it was the Obama administration that cut any language from the bill, that would protect U.S. citizens from being detained indefinitely.

Watch Senator Levin’s statements from cspan2 here.

President Obama could sign the bill into law as soon as December 13. Happy Holidays!

 

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3 & United Police States of America: Farming Family in North Dakota first in the U.S. to be arrested after being hunted down by Predator UAV. It happened months ago. U.S. Congresswoman resigns, warns the U.S. is becoming NAZI-land

“…in many areas around the country, not only for federal operators, but also for state and local law enforcement and emergency responders in times of crisis.”-Michael C. Kostelnik, retired Air Force general who heads the office that supervises the use of UAVs

It has been revealed that police in North Dakota have been using Predator UAVs since June 2011.  Now three men, who are accused of threatening a sheriff’s life, have become the first U.S. arrest victims of the drone.

It’s already been reported that the FBI and Border Patrol are using drones, but now local police!  Law enforcement officials in North Dakota admit they use them at least twice per month.

The men, supposedly from the same family, that were arrested are suspected of stealing cows.  The Nelson County Sheriff says his life was threatened by the family when he went on their property looking for the cows.  The sheriff responded by calling in an army of police and a Predator drone based at Grand Forks air base (the UAV officially being used by the Border Patrol).

It’s now December 12, the event is just now being reported in the U.S. media. It took place at the end of June!  I wonder if the family has also been accused of being terrorists.  Sure seems like a lot of taxpayer money was spent to arrest suspected cattle rustlers.

The use of UAVs against U.S. citizens caused one member of Congress to resign back in February.  Jane Harman, of California, who sat on the House Homeland Security Intelligence subcommittee from 2007 until she resigned, said no one ever discussed using Predators to help local police.

She also gave a dire warning: “There is no question that this could become something that people will regret.”

Harman’s father is a survivor of the NAZI concentration camps in World War 2.  Harman should know from her father’s first hand accounts what NAZI-land looks like!

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Still no decontamination efforts in Fukushima!

Just days after the the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunamis, several Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors went critical, melted down, and some even exploded.  But to date (11 December 2011) no decontamination efforts have been carried out by the prefectural or national governments!

A couple of cities, and even neighborhood committees have attempted decontamination of their immediate surroundings, but nothing on the large scale that’s needed.  This is because no one in higher authority thought such a nuclear disaster would ever happen.

Testimony by many Japanese officials (and Tokyo Electric Power Company officials) say representatives from General Electric (and other U.S. nuclear power companies), and the U.S. government, had claimed the U.S. designed disaster reactors were the safest in the world.  Japanese officials thought there was no justification for such preparations as the U.S. designed nuke plants were so safe.

As a result of the March nuclear disaster (which is still ongoing) officials in the national and prefectural governments have been scrambling to learn everything they can about how to deal with the situation (that included a trip to Chernobyl, albeit very late in the game).

But learning everything they could in a short time wasn’t enough.  The Japanese national government had to pass a law ordering the large scale decontamination!

The Japanese Environment Ministry says they will begin decontamination of roads and other infrastructure in late January 2012.  They do not expect to be able to start decontaminating residences until March 2012!  And that’s for areas contaminated with less than 20 millisieverts of radiation. Japanese officials admit they still don’t know how to deal with areas contaminated with more than 20 millisieverts of radiation!

The Environment Ministry says they are conducting new studies to see how best to handle decontamination in areas with more than 20 millisieverts of radiation, with a focus on protecting the workers.