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Since the subject matter is really heavy, I'm taking it light, tonight.. Be back tomorrow.
Want to read it for yourself? Find it at HalfPastHuman.com. The download cost is ten dollars.
Fukushima - The End of the West as We Know It Jeff Rense and Tim Rifat via Alien Earth.
Magnitude 5.4 quake hits central Japan, 7 injured
Radiation in Our Food Fucking Fox News via Rense. Ugh..
Even as thousands of Japanese workers struggle to contain the ongoing nuclear disaster, low levels of radiation from those power plants have been detected in foods in the United States. Milk, fruits and vegetables show trace amounts of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daichi power plants, and the media appears to be paying scant attention, if any attention at all. (Really? Poor little Number One Fox News is incapable of getting this story out.. It's as if Fox was only able to Critique other media, and had no power of Dissemination of their own. Poor, poor Rupert..) It is as if the problem only involves Japan, not the vast Pacific Ocean, into which highly radioactive water has poured by the dozens of tons, and not into air currents and rainwater that carry radiation to U.S. soil and to the rest of the world. And while both Switzerland and Germany have come out against any further nuclear development, the U.S. the nuclear power industry continues as usual, with aging and crumbling power plants receiving extended operating licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as though it can’t happen here. But it is happening here, on your dinner plate.
Troubling radiation measurement results for residents near Fukushima From IO9. Excerpts:
Recent measurements on dosimeters and urine tests have indicated that it may be time for certain residents to make some difficult decisions about leaving the area.
Fifteen residents near Fukushima have had urine tests that have revealed traces of radioactive Iodine-131. This isotope of Iodine has a half-life of 8 days, so it does not pose a long-term threat as long as it is not ingested. Inside the body, the isotope accumulates in the thyroid. After Chernobyl, many nearby victims developed thyroid cancer as a result of drinking contaminated milk. Just after the emergency at Fukushima, the Japanese government distributed iodine tablets. The tablets were of a non-radioactive isotope of iodine that was meant to saturate the thyroid and prevent any more uptake of radioactive elements. It seems that, at least in a few cases, the radioactive isotopes were not entirely blocked.
Pacific concern over radiation spread Australia Network News. This and previous via Godlike Productions.
The Pacific Disaster Centre says the revelation that the contamination from Japan's earthquake crippled nuclear power plant will be more widespread than previously thought is a big concern.
It says nuclear monitoring should be set up across the region to assess the risk.
Japan's Atomic Energy Agency says radioactive caesium leaking from the Fukushima nuclear plant will spread 4,000 kilometres through the Pacific Ocean in the next year and reach Hawaii in three years.
And finally, some good news: Just kidding! Another reactor at another plant is still in serious trouble.. Japan's 'most dangerous reactor' severely damaged, could become worse than Fukushima Natural News via Before It's News. Excerpts:
The Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor, located directly over an earthquake fault line near Tsuruga, Japan, lies on the opposite coast of Japan's crippled Fukushima plant. Last August, a 3.3-ton fuel relay device broke and fell off into the reactor's inner core, which severed access to its plutonium and uranium fuel rods. Experts have repeatedly tried to remove the device and fix the damage, but all efforts thus far have failed.
The Monju plant had also been shut down for 14 years following a massive fire in 1995, a nuclear accident that was considered to be the worst one Japan had ever seen, that is until the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Fukushima back in March. Monju has basically been plagued with problems since it was first built, and because it is "fast-breeder" design, it has the potential to become far worse than Fukushima in the event of another major disaster.
According to Hideyuki Ban, co-director of the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), a Japanese nuclear public interest group, the Monju reactor uses highly deadly plutonium fuel, and even if officials do even up effectively removing the lodged fuel device and fixing the damage, restarting the plant could be catastrophic.
"Let's say they make this fix, which is very complicated," said Ban to the NYT. "The rest of the reactor remains highly dangerous. And an accident at Monju would have catastrophic consequences beyond what we are seeing at Fukushima." The plant is also located right on a major fault line, which makes the situation even more precarious.
Greece passes steep cuts as riots seize capital AOL News. Day One of Everything's Different Now. Excerpts:
The cuts and tax increases passed 155-138, with five voting "present" and backing neither side. During the vote, stun grenades echoed across a square outside Parliament. Acrid clouds of tear gas and orange and green smoke-bomb mist hung in the air.
Several banks and storefronts were smashed, while a Socialist dissenter who backed the government at the last minute, Alexandros Athanassiadis, was briefly assaulted by protesters after leaving Parliament on foot.
Violence continued throughout the afternoon, and smoke billowed from a post office beneath the finance ministry before a fire was put out. Rioters set up burning barricades along Syntagma Square, where demonstrators have staged a sit-in for the past month. Nearby streets were littered with chunks of smashed marble and ripped-up paving stones that had been thrown at police.
A general strike that began Tuesday paralyzed the country, grounding planes, leaving ferries docked and stranding tourists during the busy summer season.
Greece Implodes and War Declared…over 5,000 Police overwhelmed This was the day before the Austerity Budget was approved. The Ante is now Upped.
Violent Scenes In Athens As Bloody Greek Riots Keep On Raging Video from the 29th courtesy of Russia Today, the most trusted name for American News..
And yeah Riot Dog IS Fucking Awesome. Riot Dog stands with The People. Riot Dog is coming for ya..
The Real Deal begins later today. My gut says Austerity measures pass, and Athens begins to ROCK shortly afterward.. If Austerity fails.. The Greek economy goes into collapse, and Athens begins to ROCK shortly afterward. Maybe, maybe not. But the Greeks do like to riot, and they're really good at it.. (By no means is this an insult, either. The No Bullshit political will of the Greek people is inspiring to others living in more complacent regions of the world. It's good to see that spirit alive and well.. Somewhere..)
Greece and Europe brace for austerity measures vote The Sofia Echo. Excerpts:
Greek lawmakers, under the watchful eyes of the rest of the world, are due to vote on a second round of austerity measures that sparked nationwide strikes and violent riots on June 28.
The vote will be held later on June 29.
The outcome of the vote will be vital for the stability of the European economy and for the future stability of Greece which is facing bankruptcy. Resembling a typical Greek drama, the voting process itself has become rife with accusations of betrayal and treachery following revelations in Greek media that there are mavericks in both camps who could sway the result unexpectedly.
..
If the government fails to pass the austerity measures, Greece will go bankrupt. The proposed measures will affect the public sector and will consist of the sale of assets as well as higher taxes and more spending cuts.
Massive protests are expected on the streets of central Athens and outside Syntagma Square in front of the parliament building, protests which have the potential to turn violent judging from the past.
WRAPUP 2-Greek lawmakers seen backing austerity, future unsure Reuters.
Greece's parliament looked increasingly likely to approve unpopular austerity measures on Wednesday, despite violent protests, to secure international funds to prevent the euro zone's first sovereign default.
But with the country on the brink of bankruptcy, it remains uncertain whether a weakened Socialist government can push through laws to implement structural reforms and privatisations in a second series of votes on Thursday, and then stick to a tight EU/IMF-imposed schedule for implementation.
Many economists and investors still expect Greece to default in the medium-term.
Greek leader 'dead man walking', Greek bailout 'collective punishment' Video courtesy Russia Today, via You Tube.
Special report: Japan's "throwaway" nuclear workers Reuters. Excerpts:
A decade and a half before it blew apart in a hydrogen blast that punctuated the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was the scene of an earlier safety crisis. Then, as now, a small army of transient workers was put to work to try to stem the damage at the oldest nuclear reactor run by Japan's largest utility.
At the time, workers were racing to finish an unprecedented repair to address a dangerous defect: cracks in the drum-like steel assembly known as the "shroud" surrounding the radioactive core of the reactor.
But in 1997, the effort to save the 21-year-old reactor from being scrapped at a large loss to its operator, Tokyo Electric, also included a quiet effort to skirt Japan's safety rules: foreign workers were brought in for the most dangerous jobs, a manager of the project said.
"It's not well known, but I know what happened," Kazunori Fujii, who managed part of the shroud replacement in 1997, told Reuters. "What we did would not have been allowed under Japanese safety standards."
Aww shit: Radioactive water leaks from Japan's damaged plant Reuters: Excerpts:
About 15 metric tons of water with a low level of radiation (How much radiation? "A. Low. Level.")leaked from a storage tank at the plant on the Pacific coast, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said it was investigating the cause of the leak which was later repaired. (Feel better now?)
Vast amounts of water contaminated with varying levels of radiation have accumulated in storage tanks at the plant after being used to cool reactors damaged when their original cooling systems were knocked out by the March 11 disaster.
Dealing with that radioactive water has been a major problem for Tepco..
#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: New and Improved Reactor Cooling System Using Treated Water Shuts Down After 1.5 Hour of Operation From Ex-SKF, via Rense.
Yes, yes it is a big system, which should have been carefully prepared and tested for at least one or two years and they did it in 2 months.
A leak was found on a joint of PVC pipes that transport the treated water.In earlier Yomiuri article, 4 kilometer long PVC pipes feed the treated water to the reactors, and TEPCO people were worried about the leak all along.
I guess they were too preoccupied with Kurion's zeolite vessels (which require frequent change and system downtime) and didn't have time to test the 4 kilometer long network of PVC pipes.
#Radiation in Japan: Government Wants to Offer Japan's Seafood to Developing Nations Ex-SKF.
As part of the ODA (Official Development Assistance) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a host of aid programs for developing nations around the world, the Japanese national government is going to buy up processed seafood [canned fish, for example?] from the earthquake-affected areas and offered them to developing nations.
And:
Please keep in mind that this is what the national government (and probably the prefectural governments in Tohoku) wants, and not the fishermen themselves. I'm sure some fishermen will be all for it, but others won't be, as I've read about them who simply stopped fishing when they become aware that the fish were contaminated with radioactive materials.
Boric acid being added to No.3 reactor fuel pool Video/Article courtesy of NHKa via Rense. Excerpts:
Tokyo Electric Power Company has begun adding boric acid to the spent fuel storage pool of the No.3 reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to prevent fuel racks from being corroded by alkaline water.
..
Last month, TEPCO found that the water in the pool had turned strongly alkaline, with its PH level reaching 11.2. The leaching of calcium hydrate from the debris is believed to be the cause.
I'm guessing that if more people were involved in the Fukushima cleanup operation, this project would have started last month sometime. It really is amazing(in the worst sort of way) that so few people, no matter their level of dedication, are charged with such a large, life-in-the-balance task, don't you think? Our collective personal, environmental, and planetary health and safety rests in the hands of less than 2000 people, working day and night, with no guarantee of success. To reiterate, there are no guarantees of success, and global catastrophe waits behind the Other Door..
Fire Threatens Plutonium and Uranium Release at Los Alamos National Laboratory From Washington's Blog. Excerpts:
A raging wildfire is threatening to engulf the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Los Alamos has likely tested more nuclear weapons than any other facility in the world.
As if that weren't bad enough, AP notes:
The anti-nuclear watchdog group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, however, said the fire appeared to be about 3 1/2 miles from a dumpsite where as many as 30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium-contaminated waste were stored in fabric tents above ground. The group said the drums were awaiting transport to a low-level radiation dump site in southern New Mexico.
Lab spokesman Steve Sandoval declined to confirm that there were any such drums currently on the property.
And:
The Wall Street Journal notes that the surrounding canyons also contain radioactivity from past bomb tests:
Authorities also are worried about potential radiation releases from nearby canyons. Radioactive material from nuclear tests was deposited in the canyons decades ago, and if trees in those canyons go up in flames, they could release radiation into the air, said Rita Bates, an air-quality official with the New Mexico Environment Department. That could raise the "potential for that smoke to affect people's health," she added.
If we're lucky, we'll get both kinds!
Meanwhile, at Fort Calhoun..
TEPCO - Disaster in Slow Motion From Rense. Excerpts:
Earlier this week, TEPCO tried to fill the reactor 2 containment with water. That didn't work. So, they OPENED the containment and released BILLIONS of lethal doses of radiation. Now they are wondering whether there is any water left in the bottom of the containment. Let's help them. Since the bottom of the reactor is hot enough to melt concrete, and IS melting concrete, and no steam is coming out of the reactor, here's why:
The core of Reactor 2 is still in at least intermittent fission and has melted through the bottom of the containment. . So there is no water in the bottom of the reactor.
Now they are going to pump liquid nitrogen into the core of reactor 2.
Click the link. This would be funny if it weren't horrifying..
Coming to a Store Near You: Radioactive Fish?
Fukushima Prefecture Starts Long-Term Health Monitoring From Before It's News. Excerpts:
Ten residents from a town considered a radiation hot-spot were given internal body exams to see how much radiation they had absorbed, according to the Japan Times.
The prefecture plans to give the internal exams to a sampling of around 100 people from hot-spots as part of a preliminary study, which will be used to prepare for a wider study of Fukushima residents that could last up to 30 years, according to Asahi newspaper. Roughly 2 million people live in the prefecture.
The data gathered from the health checks is expected to help doctors better understand the long-term effects of radiation exposure on the human body, according to the Times.
Dilution of radioactive materials at sea is no solution to nuke-plant crisis Mainichi Daily News via Godlike Productions. Excerpts:
There is a feeling in the government that it is shoving the handling of the unprecedented nuclear crisis into the hands of TEPCO, a private company. The government therefore has a weak spot that forces it to listen when TEPCO comes crying about measures to prop up its share prices.
Why can the two sides only form a response marked by indecisiveness and reliance on each other as Japan faces this unprecedented crisis? I think it is because the problem is too big, and they can't grasp how far it is spreading and how serious it is..
I'm assuming God's Conduit doesn't feel like she makes mistakes, either. It's funny ha-ha, then peculiar how well this makes sense..
The power of Gacy compels you! The power of Gacy compels you!
To Whom It May Concern at Samsung,
Just a quick note to you stating emphatically that, thanks to your goddamned, screeching, smashing, and generally insufferable commercial for the Samsung Infuse 4G, I'll NEVER buy a phone from you, much less any technology; ever. Yes, I hate it that much. You have succeeded in creating an almost perfect In-Your-Face-For-Your-Ears assault on the senses. The spider as visceral level-repulsion is trumped by shrieking obnoxiousness and multiple poundings, and by the end of the ad(If I can't find the remote), my pulse has increased along with my blood pressure, and the whole experience leaves me physically agitated, and spiritually depleted. Samsung has worked Hard at getting our attention.
Problem is, for me, it didn't work. I had to really pay attention to the commercial (I needed to know where to focus my hate..) for the critical information to sink in. The overall tone for the commercial is way too distracting to be effective. Now, your short term feedback might state otherwise, but I'd wager you lost a segment of people who were Neutral/Positive towards Samsung, but not now, really.. And those people, like me, will simply not consider another Samsung anything, as there's more than enough technologies to choose from. No fuss, but no more: Period.
So, I'm sure a lot of people did laugh. But your commercial also created people like me Awesome job. Samsung worked hard, and they got my attention. Too bad.
I've been a tad bit concerned about developments along the Missouri River in neighboring Nebraska regarding the safety of both Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Plant near Omaha, and Cooper Nuclear Plant, near Brownsville.
Washington's Blog is cautiously optimistic about Fort Calhoun, at least at the moment.
Dr. Tom Burnett has a more pessimistic view..
And then there's Cooper Nuclear Plant's own set of problems..
And then, there's the related Worst Case Scenario that turns these two nuclear plants into Worst Case Scenarios of their(and our) own./ So if Fort Peck Dam collapses, the recipe for Apocalypse involves massive radioactive release/dispersal, and catastrophic flooding of biblical proportions.
Enjoy your summer. Party hard, and don't forget to update your bug out bag..
From Washington's Blog. Excerpts:
It was tempting to believe that China was different.
With its command and control economy with some of the trappings of free market capitalism, trillions in reserves, and abundant natural resources, many thought that China would "decouple" from the Western world's problems and sail into a prosperous future.
However, despite its long history, exotic names and seemingly strong position, China cannot avoid the rules of economics which have applied to all countries throughout history.
And:
The Telegraph noted last June:
China's chief auditor has warned that high levels of local government debt could derail the country's economy, with some observers suggesting that a number of Chinese provinces are even more fiscally-troubled than Greece.
Few countries will come through unscathed when the global economy tanks. And I do think China looks stronger than it actually is..
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