Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho Silver Mine Collapse, Miner Trapped

“We are doing every effort possible to expedite this in a safe manner. It is a rescue mission.”-Melanie Hennessey, Hecla Mining Compnay

The Lucky Friday Mine, in northern Idaho, collapsed Friday afternoon, trapping  one employee.  News of the collapse didn’t hit the media until Saturday.

There were two miners in the area when the tunnel caved in, one got out, the other is trapped.  The trapped miner’s condition is not known. Equipment is being flown in to help with rescue efforts.

The collapse happened near the end of a 1,874 meter (6,150 feet) deep tunnel.

“This is something people are used to feeling, because when the rock burst happens, you can feel it all over town.”-Glen Gotcher, veteran miner

The mine is located near Mullan, Idaho, a town of about 840 residents.  Hecla Mining is expanding its silver mining operation, thanks to the higher prices for silver.  They have a good safety record at the mine, but did get fined for water contamination in 2009.

International, U.S.

Iran building border fence, to stop drug trafficking and terrorists

Iran is building a fence along its Pakistani border.  They say since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan drug trafficking has increased, along with anti-Iranian terrorists.

Iran has spent U.S.$700 million, in the last two years,  fighting drug trafficking and U.S. supported terrorist.  They also claim that a Pakistani based group known as Jundollah, has been conducting terrorist operations against Iran for years.

The new fence will be built in the mountainous regions, where it is difficult to maintain a sizable border patrol force.

 

International, U.S.

Iraq says Gates lied about Iraq asking U.S. to stay

“Mr. Maliki rejected Gates’ demand, saying that Iraq will deal with the issue based on the security pact (signed between Washington and Baghdad).”-Ali al-Dabbagh, Iraqi Government Spokesman

Iraqi officials say they did not ask the United States to keep troops past the 2011 withdraw date, in fact they say U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates “demanded” that U.S. troops stay.  According to Iraqis Gates made the demand directly to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

On April 7, Gates went to Iraq and made comments to U.S. troops that made it sound like the Iraqis wanted U.S. forces to stay.  Gates even made it sound like the Iraqis needed to hurry up and decide: “If folks here are going to want us to have a presence, we’re going to need to get on with it pretty quickly in terms of our planning.”

Iraqi officials now say that Gates’ visit was solely to push them to ask for the U.S. troops to stay.  There are reports that Kurds in northern Iraq asked U.S. forces to stay, but under the current U.S. security pact with Iraq, only the Iraqi parliament can ask U.S. forces to stay.  Even Kurdish officials agree with that: “It is not related to Iraq’s Kurdish officials and they have no role in the US forces’ stay or exit. It is up to the central government to decide on the issue.”-Sabah Barzandi, member of the parliament of Iraq’s Kurdistan region

Since Robert Gates made his statements, Iraqis have been demonstrating against the U.S., and direct attacks on U.S. bases have increased.  Today, April 16, thousands of Iraqis protested in Baghdad.  There were so many that officials had to open up sports stadiums to the protesters: “We have specified Al-Shaab, Kashafa and Zawraa stadiums as permitted sites for demonstrations in Baghdad…”-Major General Qassim Atta

Idaho, U.S.

Yellowstone Magma expanding?

In a National Geographic article, researchers say the magma under Yellow National Park, is even bigger than before.

The latest scans of the super volcanic plume under Yellowstone, measured electrical conductivity, and is described as being like a giant medical CT scan.

Scientists now say the super volcanic plume extends 643km (400 miles), that’s increased from the 241km (150 miles) detected in 2009.  Back then scientist predicted that the plume was actually larger, and the new scanning technique proved them correct.

They also discovered that hot, salty water surrounds and is mixed in with the plume.

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

NATO and Coalition members will openly fund Libyan Rebels

Despite the fact that UNSCR 1973 doesn’t say anything about taking sides, and supporting a militant group (it’s supposed to be about protecting civilians), NATO, and other UN coalition members say they are now going to give money to the Libyan rebels (where’s the money coming from? taxpayers?).

They’re calling the funds a “temporary financial mechanism”.

The coalition has already recognized the non-elected rebel council as the new government of Libya.

Rebels say they want more weapons as well, but coalition members still say, officially, they are not supplying weapons.  Here’s what one rebel leader said publicly: “We’re discussing weapons deals with countries that officially recognised the council; we’ve been getting positive replies.” They also said: “…participants in the contact group agreed to continue to provide support to the opposition, including material support.”

Sounds to me like the rebels are trying to tell the truth and the coalition members (including the U.S.) are flat out lying.  It makes you question the motive of the coalition for supporting the rebels.   It wouldn’t be the first time western powers supported one group, only to put another group into power once the dirty work was done. 

Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister,  was most honest when he demanded: “…either we make it possible for these people to defend themselves, or we withdraw from our obligation to support defending the population of Libya.” Many analysts say the UNSCR 1973 includes an arms embargo, but Frattini doesn’t interpret the resolution that way.  This is an example of the continued division within the UN coalition, which is proof of the lack of coalition building by Sarkozy and Obama.  Which, again, is another reason to question this whole adventure into North Africa.  Where’s Erwin Rommel?


Fukushima, U.S.

Subaru halts production in United States

Subaru (also called Fuji in Japan) is stopping production in Louisiana.  Just like other car makers, it’s because of lack of parts.  The production shut down will take place on April 15, April 18 and April 25.

Subaru says the employees will be given other work on those days, so they can still be paid.

International, U.S.

Israeli officer says he was ordered to kill U.S. citizen

More than eight years ago U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie was bulldozed to death by Israeli troops.

In court testimony, on April 4, 2011, the Israeli captain in charge of the demolition operation, of Palestinian homes, says he questioned his orders to bulldoze while civilians stood in the way.  He said he was ordered to continue the operation anyway.

“Today’s testimonies provide further strong evidence regarding the Israeli military failure to take necessary and reasonable measures to protect Rachel’s life and prevent her avoidable tragic death. They also underscore the systemic inadequacy of the military investigation system which in this case, was nothing but a whitewash.”-Hussein Abu Hussein, attorney for the Corrie family.

The Israeli captain, as well as the driver of the bulldozer, both contradicted the official report by the Israeli army.  They both said it was clear Corrie was run over by the bulldozer, which the official Army report denies.

The Israeli captain also testified that the order to continue bulldozing, with civilians present, violated the Army’s own policies.  Standard practice on the ground was to stop if someone was within five meters of the bulldozer.  He also confirmed that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) had video of the incident.

International, U.S.

War in Iraq not over, U.S. forces attacked 3rd time in a week

After Defense Secretary Roberts Gates announced that the United States would NOT be leaving Iraq, as planned, U.S. troops have come under fire.

April 13, a U.S. base in southern Iraq was hit with mortar fire.  Photos show the base burning after the attack.  No word on casualties. This is the third attack in a week.

The U.S. was supposed to get combat troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. But last week secretary Gates announced to troops that we will be staying.  Many Iraqis began protesting.  Gates claims the Iraqi government asked the United States to keep troops in Iraq, but foreign media say many Iraqi politicians want the U.S. out.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Iran strikes back at Europe, refuses to fuel European airlines

“In a retaliatory move, we have stopped providing fuel to European aircraft.”-Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi

For some time several European countries have refused to fuel up Iranian passenger planes that land at their airports.  After repeated requests by Iran, countries like Germany and United Kingdom, still refuse on the grounds that they are following the latest sanctions placed against Iran by President Obama.

Iran now says it will not fuel passenger planes from those countries, that land in Iran.

Germany’s Lufthansa says they will have to come up with a plan, because they can no longer get fuel in Tehran.  Netherland’s KLM says they’re not worried because they fuel up in Greece on their way back from Iran.

The sanctions placed on Iran by Obama do not specifically say that Iranian airlines can not be fueled.

International, U.S.

Military government detains Mubarak & Sons

After weeks of protests, the military leaders of Egypt have detained Hosni Mubarak, and his sons, for questioning.

Mubarak is in a hospital after he suffered a heart attack. Protesters were demanding that the former Egyptian ruler be arrested for corruption.

On April 12 the pro-U.S. military rulers cleared protesters from Tharir Square.  But Egyptians promised an even bigger protest on Friday, if Mubarak was not arrested.

With the detention of Mubarak and his sons, Egyptians say they can now focus on pushing the military leaders to hold elections for a new government.