Tag Archives: u.s.

U.S.

U.S. on its way to Tornado record

At least 300 people have been reported killed from Wednesday’s (April 27) tornado strikes that hit the south east.

The latest tornadic outburst hit six states, the unofficial number is 151 tornadoes.  TV news weathermen are saying it could be the most devastating one day tornado event in U.S. history.

They also think when the official numbers come in, it will reveal record numbers of tornadoes for the month of April.  Officially the worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history occurred in April 1974.  148 twisters hit 13 states in one day, according to the National Weather Service.

So far, unofficially it looks like April 2011 might have a record of 300 tornadoes.

International, Opinion, U.S.

U.S. to violate sanctions against Libya, will sell Libyan oil

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is going to use a loophole in the sanctions against Libya, to oversee oil sales by the rebels.

That means the U.S. will be directly involved in all oil deals will the Libyan rebels.

This is on top of the $25 million in aid Obama is sending, and on top of another $45 million Obama already sent.  Just remember that Obama, and Congress, wants to cut your taxpayer funded domestic programs, while sending your money to Libya.

International, U.S.

Former Ronald Reagan official says this is all about World War 3

“Washington is all for invading Libya and is putting more and more pressure to intervene in Syria because we want to… clear China and Russia out of the Mediterranean.”

“Those two countries are just in the way of American hegemony in the Mediterranean and certainly the Americans do not want a powerful Russian fleet stationed there and they certainly don’t want China drawing energy resources.”

“Once Russia and China come to the conclusion that the Americans simply cannot be dealt with in any rational way and are determined to somehow subdue them and do them damage, all kinds of escalations can result. This is the real danger and we’re risking a major war.” Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan, and former editor of the Wall Street Journal

International, U.S.

Afghan pilot kills U.S. troops, financial troubles might be the cause

“Suddenly, in the middle of the meeting, shooting started. After the shooting started, we saw a number of Afghan army officers and soldiers running out of the building. Some were even throwing themselves out of the windows to get away.”-Colonel Bahader, Afghan Air Corps spokesman

An Afghan pilot shot and killed eight U.S. troops and one U.S. contractor.   Witnesses say the shooting happened after an argument between the pilot and the troops.  The pilot was also killed. Five Afghan soldiers were wounded.

The pilot was a 20 year veteran of the Afghan government forces, and part of a unit that undergoes strict screening for loyalty.  So far no word on what the argument was about.  The brother of the pilot thinks the shooting was a result of stress aggravated by financial problems: “He was 48 years old. He served his country for years. He loved his people and his country. He had no link with Taliban or al-Qaeda. He was under economic pressures and recently he sold his house. He was going through a very difficult period of time in his life.”-Dr. Mohammad Hassan Sahibi, brother of the shooter

 

Fukushima

School 50km from Nuke Plant must remove top soil!

The city of Koriyama is 50km (31 miles) away from Fukushima Daiichi, well out of the evac zones, yet the soil at their schools are so contaminated they have get rid it.

Starting this weekend, they will remove the top 2 centimeters (.78 inches) of soil from 28 schools.  Even after the soil removal, school officials say they will not allow the children to play in the yards for more than one hour per day.

 

 

 

Fukushima

Female TEPCo employee contaminated 3 times safe limit!

A female employee, working at the Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant, is contaminated with three times the safe limits for women.  She was working at the damaged plant, directing emergency crews.

Tokyo Electric Power Company thinks she was contaminated when taking off the protective suit.  They say most of her contamination is internal, so they think she inhaled the radiation. TEPCo is now testing all female employees at the nuke plant.  Safe exposure limits for women are set lower than men.

International, U.S.

Gates says still no plans regarding troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

At a press conference in United Kingdom, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates admitted there were no set plans for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“I expect that (the recommendations) will be coming in the not-too-distant-future.”-Robert Gates

Gates said he was still waiting for recommendations from General David Petraeus.  President Obama had announced that troops would start coming home in July, 2011.  But in February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made statements that the U.S. would be in Afghanistan “beyond 2014“.

International, U.S.

Iraqi PM wavers on claims that Iraq no loger needs U.S. forces

Iraqi Prime minster Nuri al-Maliki, made several statements in the recent past, saying Iraq does not need U.S. troops.  Now it seems Maliki is caving into demands from the Obama administration.

His latest statements are that Iraq does not need U.S. help for “internal” security, but help is still needed for training, weapons and financing.  “If we talk about the internal need, our security forces are capable now to maintain the situation. But regarding the external challenge, yes, the Iraqi military still needs weapons to defend its sovereignty, especially for the air force.”-Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

Maliki also added that the Iraqi government must be unified in wanting the U.S. to stay: “No deal will happen unless there is a national unified stand. Otherwise everything will remain as it is and this pact will be terminated by the end of this year. A deal of any military cooperation with the United States, Britain, France or any other country will not happen unless everyone agrees.”

Fukushima

Japan still issuing confusing radiation reports!

Reports are being issued saying emitted radiation levels, from Fukushima Daiichi, are going down.  At the same time reports are being made about increasing radiation levels in water.

Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission estimates the amount of radioactive emissions are down at around 1 terabecquerels per hour as of Sunday.  They compare that to 154 terabecquerels per day on 05 April.  But they are talking about emissions into the air.

Tokyo Electric Power Company is reporting skyrocketing radiation levels in water coming from Fukushima Daiichi’s damaged reactors.  A survey done on 21 April,  found an increase of radioactive substances in the flooded basement of Reactor 4’s turbine building.

TEPCo says the levels of cesium-134 and 137 increased about 250 times, compared to last month.  Radioactive iodine has also increased.

A possible reason for the decrease in air borne radiation, and an increase in water born radiation, could be due to the amount of water being pumped into the reactors.  However, the over all result is not a decrease in radioactive  emissions, it’s just shifted from the air to the water.