An Open Letter to the US Congress From Members of the British Parliament About Guantanamo

via Invictus

Reposted from Truthout

Thursday 1 December 2011

by: Jeremy Corbyn, John Leech, Caroline Lucas and Michael Meacher

As a group of elected members of Parliament (MP) from all the main parties represented at Westminster, we are outraged by the current position of the US Congress which, apparently, means that Guantanamo Bay prison will never be closed, and, of particular concern to us, that a British resident who was cleared for release more than two years ago, cannot return here...

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:
- U.S. Release Shaker Aamer! (Letter from his attorney to UK Foreign Secretary) - 11/30/2011

- Senate Amendment Calls for a Return to Bush-Era Torture - 11/30/2011

LINK TV: Physician thinks lung cancer from Fukushima will begin in as soon as 2 years (VIDEO, Part I)

Published: October 21st, 2011 at 06:16 PM EDT
By ENENEWS Staff

LINK TV, Oct. 21 — Dr. Helen Caldicott appeared on the LINK TV program Earth Focus to discuss the Fukushima crisis and other nuclear issues.

Caldicott received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School. In 1977 she joined the staff of the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston, and taught pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School from 1977 to 1978. She worked to establish the group International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. -Wikipedia 

At 2:00 in: We’ll start seeing lung cancer, I think, 2-5 years from now

[The original article with video is here]



Related:
- High internal radiation exposure detected in young children — 16 people with internal exposure over 1 millisievert - October 22, 2011

- German Gov’t Study: Children living near nuclear plants have double leukemia rates, high incidence of solid cancers — Reactors cannot prevent radiation from escaping (VIDEO) - October 22, 2011

- Nuclear Expert: Radioactivity increasing in Tokyo air filters — Not from initial blasts — Cesium is being revolitalized into air (VIDEO, Part I) - October 21, 2011

- DPA: Scientists say more areas should be evacuated after finding wider radiation contamination than officially reported – - October 21, 2011

Japan Official: No need to evacuate people in city of 400,000 near Tokyo — Anonymous Local Official: “The numbers we found last week were way above what we could imagine”

Published: October 24th, 2011 at 11:21 AM EDT
By ENENEWS Staff

TOKYO, Oct. 24 — “In the latest sign that radioactive material has spread far beyond the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, officials said the contaminated area in Kashiwa, about 125 miles from the plant, likely resulted from cesium-laced rain that fell soon after the March 11 disaster,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

Regarding the 57.5 microsievert per hour finding in just outside Tokyo in Kashiwa, Hirotaka Oku, an official at Japan’s science ministry said, “It wouldn’t be surprising if we find similar spots elsewhere.”

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:
- “Alarming development”: 7% in temporary housing units have developed blood clots in legs - http://enenews.com/alarming-development-7-temporary-housing-units-developed-blood-clots-legs

- Gov’t confirms 57.7 microsievert/hr near Tokyo is linked to Fukushima meltdowns — “Highly likely” it came from rain tainted with radioactive fallout October 23, 2011

- Local Official: “We are not human guinea pig” — Tells young people to leave Japan October 19, 2011

- Kyodo: 57.7 µSv/hr was at “place where children always played” — Residents “deeply concerned” near Tokyo October 24, 2011

- Gundersen: Clouds of radioactive steam should not be coming from Reactors No. 2 and 3 if in ‘cold shutdown’ (VIDEO, Part II) - October 22, 2011

Radiation spikes in Tokyo neighborhood, officials say

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 7:44 AM EST, Thu October 13, 2011

An extraordinarily high level of radiation was detected in one spot in a central Tokyo residential district Thursday, prompting the local government to cordon off the small area, local officials said.

Radiation levels were higher in Tokyo's Setagaya ward than in the evacuation area around the badly damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, according to ward Mayor Nobuto Hosaka.

"We are shocked to see such high radiation level was detected in our neighborhood. We cannot leave it as is," Hosaka told reporters.

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:
- "TV: “We don’t want to create a panic, but it’s good to know” — Radioactive tsunami debris coming to Hawaii “much earlier” than predicted (VIDEO)" - http://enenews.com/tv-we-dont-want-to-create-a-panic-but-it%E2%80%99s-good-to-know-radioactive-tsunami-debris-coming-to-hawaii-much-earlier-than-predicted-video

U.S. Must Explain Targeted Killings of Its Own Citizens

Posted by Nathan Freed Wessler, National Security Project at 3:41pm
Oct 19th, 2011

...The killing of three American citizens raises serious and troubling questions about whether the U.S. government was acting lawfully when it placed Anwar al-Awlaki's name on a "kill list" and when it ordered the deadly drone strikes. But the government is hiding behind a veil of secrecy and is refusing to publicly release information about its justifications for killing U.S. citizens far from any active battlefield.

...Before the public can determine whether the targeted killings of these U.S. citizens were lawful, the government must come clean and release the OLC memo and other records.

...Jack Goldsmith, who ran the Office of Legal Counsel under President Bush in 2003 and 2004, wrote that the OLC memo must be released because "legal accountability for the practice of targeted killings depends on a thorough public legal explanation by the administration." Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution echoed Goldsmith's call. Even John Yoo, author of the Bush administration's infamous "torture memos," has pointed out the hypocrisy of the Obama administration's refusal to release the targeted killing memo.

...The government must tell the public why it thinks it can order the deaths of U.S. citizens without going to court or otherwise ensuring due process of law. It is unacceptable for the government to hide behind claims of official secrecy when its actions are challenged ...

[The complete article is here]

Surveillance in Post-9/11 America

Posted by Ateqah Khaki, ACLU at 3:40pm
Oct 13th, 2011

Passed amid the climate of fear and uncertainty that followed the 9/11 attacks, the Patriot Act fundamentally altered the relationship Americans have with the government.

...Through the Patriot Act and many other surveillance programs put into effect over the last decade, the government is systematically collecting information on wide swaths of Americans who are not suspected of breaking the law or being involved with terrorism, violating the rights of innocent people and squandering precious security resources.

...As we approach the ten-year mark since the Patriot Act was signed into law, we’ve put together a new timeline that charts shifts in surveillance since 9/11, and unfortunately, it paints a rather troubling picture.

[The complete article is here]

"We Don't Need a Warrant, We're ICE"

Posted by Lindsay Kee, ACLU of Tennessee at 5:46pm
Oct 21st, 2011

On the night of October 20, 2010, Angel Enrique and Jesus Antonio were in bed in their small, two-bedroom apartment in the Clairmont complex in Nashville. The doors and windows were all shut and locked. Suddenly there was a loud banging at the door and voices shouting "Police!" and "Policia!" When no one answered, the agents tried to force the door open. Scared, Jesus hid in a closet. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began hitting objects against the bedroom windows, trying to break in. Without a search warrant and without consent, the ICE agents eventually knocked in the front door and shattered a window, shouting racial slurs and storming into the bedrooms, holding guns to their heads. When asked if they had a warrant, one agent reportedly said, "We don't need a warrant, we're ICE," and, gesturing to his genitals, "the warrant is coming out of my balls."

The Fourth Amendment strictly prohibits warrantless intrusions into private homes and the Constitution's protections apply to both citizens and non-citizens alike. In the absence of a judicially authorized warrant, there must be voluntary and knowing consent; ICE officers forcing themselves into someone's home does not constitute consent...

[The rest of the article is here]

Part III Secretly forced brain implants: Ex-SS FBI agent defends chipped targets

by Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

August 19, 2011

Part III Secretly forced brain implants: Ex-SS, Chief PI defends targets (updated)

Former United States Marine Corps Criminal Investigator, Secret Service and FBI Intelligence contractor, recognized expert with assets in the field of Technical Surveillance and Counter Measures (TSCM), William ("Bill") J. Taylor, private investigator is advocating for secretly forced brain implanted, Targeted Individual, James Walbert, featured in Part 1 and Part II of this series. In an exclusive Examiner 2-part interview this week with Taylor, he revealed the darkest of all the evil 'war on terror" corners, the Phoenix Program come home to roost and resulting civilian casualties in the domestic terror campaign, Targeted Individuals. (See: What are the frequently asked questions and answers about Targeted Individuals?)

Within this Part III of the series, Taylor comments on how “the greatest” American civilians, in their homes and communities, are being remotely neutralized with military grade weaponry under guise of the “war on terror.” (Also see: Dupre, D. Obama targeted individual assassination program includes Americans, Examiner, April 8, 2010) Taylor touches on the Nazi influence of this program now implemented in the U.S. through the related Nazi-CIA non-consensual human experimentation in the U.S.

[The complete article is here]

CIA suspected behind dengue fever outbreak in Pakistan

via GlobalSecurity.org

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Oct 8, IRNA -- Experts in Pakistan feared that some kind of biological experiment or deliberate release of virus by American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has caused spread of dengue fever in the country.

Dengue fever epidemic is growing rapidly in Pakistan and the total number of cases in Punjab province has now crossed over 14,600.

 The fever has also resulted into 198 deaths in Punjab province.
Dengue, an acute febrile disease spread by the bite of a special mosquito, has been endemic in Pakistan for the last few years.

According to a report published in daily ‘Pakistan observer’, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) representatives have called on security agencies to investigate fears of deliberate spread of dengue virus in Pakistan.

[The rest of the article is here]

Face recognition software to be launched by FBI to help police catch wanted criminals

By Kerry Mcqueeney
Last updated at 2:47 PM on 8th October 2011

A nationwide face recognition service is to be activated in some U.S. states by the FBI which will allow local police to identify suspects.

The program, part of a $1 billion overhaul of the FBI's existing fingerprint database, will begin by mid-January and will allow police to pinpoint wanted criminals more quickly and accurately.

Other biometric markers such as iris scans and voice recordings will also be implemented into the revamped database, it has been reported.

[The rest of the article is here]

Targeted 911 rights defenders Paul Krugman, Medea Benjamin need support

Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner
September 16, 2011

Human rights groups urge public to defend Targeted Individuals, 911 Whistleblowers

After New York Times columnist Paul Krugman honored 9/11 victims in the paper's Op-Ed section, writing truth about killing and torture in their names, and CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin defended his statement on Fox News, both of them are being targeted, prompting human rights groups Change.org and CODEPINK to call for the public to petition The New York Times' Arthur S. Brisbane, being pressured to fire Krugman.

"How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?" Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman wrote on September 11 in his "Conscience of a Liberal" Op-Ed column titled, "The Years of Shame."

[The rest of the article is here]

Obama's first admitted Targeted Individual killing 'unconstitutional'

by Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner
October 7, 2011

Drone assassinates hit-listed American Targeted Individual plus another American, Obama claims 'legal'

As President Barack Obama's "targeted killing" executive order declared, it has now been overtly proven that a secret panel of senior government officials can put Americans on a 'kill list,' such as the one American Anwar al-Awlaki was placed, and then inform the president of its decisions even when evidence is "patchy" according to Reuters Thursday. As debate over the U.S. government's targeted killing of al-Awlaki continued this week, ACLU stated Friday that even the president must adhere to the Constitution, but is failing to do so by killing Targeted Individuals.

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:
- "Collateral Damage USA: Extremist cells target 350,000 US civilians" - http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/extremist-stalking-cells-america

Conclusive link now admitted: swine flu vaccine causes chronic nervous system disorders

Saturday, October 08, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)

(NaturalNews) The nation of Finland has now openly admitted that the swine flu vaccine "conclusively" causes narcolepsy, a chronic nervous system disorder that makes people uncontrollably fall asleep. The Finnish government, in acknowledging this link, says it will pay for "lifetime medical care" for 79 children who have been irreparably damaged by the swine flu vaccine. (http://news.yahoo.com/finland-vows-...)

Narcolepsy isn't the only side effect now admitted to be caused by swine flu vaccines: 76 of the 79 children also suffered hallucinations and "paralyzing physical collapses," say Finnish researchers.

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:

- "Mandatory vaccine deadly secret: SV40, AIDS, Polio, Cancer in them" - http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/mandatory-vaccine-deadly-secret-sv40-aids-polio-cancer-them?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Merck vaccine scientist Dr. Maurice Hilleman admitted presence of SV40, AIDS and cancer viruses in vaccines

Thursday, September 15, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)

(NaturalNews) One of the most prominent vaccine scientists in the history of the vaccine industry -- a Merck scientist -- made a recording where he openly admits that vaccines given to Americans were contaminated with leukemia and cancer viruses. In response, his colleagues (who are also recorded here) break out into laughter and seem to think it's hilarious. They then suggest that because these vaccines are first tested in Russia, they will help the U.S. win the Olympics because the Russian athletes will all be "loaded down with tumors." (Thus, they knew these vaccines caused cancer in humans.)

[The rest of the article is here]

Cesium nearly doubles over past month in Bay Area milk — Now well above EPA’s maximum contaminant level

via EneNews.com

UCB Milk Sampling Results, Nuclear Engineering Department At UC Berkeley, September 27, 2011:

Pasteurized, homogenized milk obtained from a San Francisco Bay Area organic dairy

Best By Date of 08/22/2011:

• Cs134 @ 0.047 Becquerels/liter (Bq/L)
• Cs137 @ 0.052 Bq/L

Best By Date of 09/29/2011:

• Cs134 @ 0.080 Bq/L
• Cs137 @ 0.101 Bq/L

Above EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level

“EPA lumps these gamma and beta emitters together under one collective MCL [Maximum Contaminant Level], so if you’re seeing cesium-137 in your milk or water, the MCL is 3.0 picocuries per liter; if you’re seeing iodine-131, the MCL is 3.0; if you’re seeing cesium-137 and iodine-131, the MCL is still 3.0.” -Forbes.com

The 9/29 milk sample contains a total of 0.181 Bq/L of radioactive cesium (4.9 picocuries per liter), or more than 160% of the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level.

[The rest of the article is here]

Fukushima’s Contamination Produces Some Surprises at Sea

via ENENEWS.com

Fukushima’s Contamination Produces Some Surprises at Sea, New York Times, September 27, 2011:
[Emphasis Added]

[... R]ather than being spread through the whole ocean, currents are keeping a lot of the [radioactive] material concentrated. [...]

While [Ken Buesseler, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who in 1986 studied the effects of the Chernobyl disaster on the Black Sea] declined to provide details of the findings before analysis is complete and published, he said the broad results were sobering. [...]

The study also found that the highest cesium values were not necessarily from the samples collected closest to Fukushima, he said, because eddies in the ocean currents keep the material from being diluted in some spots farther offshore. [...]

[The original posting is here]

Related:
- Chernobyl expert: Fukushima is “largest delivery of radiation into the ocean ever seen” — “We still don’t know how much was released” - September 29, 2011 - http://enenews.com/chernobyl-expert-fukushima-largest-delivery-radiation-ocean-dont-released

- Scientists: Radioactivity in sea NOT falling off — Hypothesis says Fukushima groundwater is leaking radiation September 29, 2011

Media reports on radiation release from Michigan nuke plant: “Low-level radioactive steam vented from Palisades” outside Grand Rapids — “It gets diluted” says NRC

via ENENEWS.com

Federal regulators are looking into the circumstances behind a reactor shutdown at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in southwestern Michigan. [...]

NRC Regional Administrator Mark Satorius said the plant was in a safe condition but the agency has more questions about what happened and the plant staff’s response. [...] The NRC says steam containing very low levels of the radioactive isotope tritium was released but posed no safety threat.

[The complete article is here]

Related:
- Emergency declared at Michigan nuke plant: Reactor shut down after leak exceeded plant’s technical specifications — Cooling system spews more than 10 gallons a minute September 19, 2011

300,000 evacuated as typhoon Nesat lands in south China

via English.news.cn   2011-09-29 19:49:21

All flights were canceled at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Thursday, while 143 flights were canceled and 32 delayed in Haikou Meilan Airport.

Passenger ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait have been suspended since Wednesday, while railway services stopped Thursday morning.

As a result, vegetables could not be transported from other parts of the country, causing prices to surge on Thursday. In the provincial capital of Haikou, prices of vegetables, including cabbage, lettuce and tomato, rose by as much as 33 percent.

Hainan has stopped selling bus tickets and encouraged passengers that planned to take buses in the next two days to return their tickets.

To ensure children's safety, all kindergartens, primary and middle schools in Wenchang, Sanya, Qionghai and Haikou, have suspended classes from Thursday to Friday.

Li Hongbo, director of the provincial water resources bureau, said the government has given orders to ensure the safety of all reservoirs and to protect people living in both low-lying regions and areas downstream from dangerous reservoirs.

Typhoon Nesat is expected to linger in Hainan for over 10 hours before moving toward the Beibu Gulf through the Qiongzhou Strait.

The typhoon killed at least 35 in the Philippines.

[The original article and more pictures here]

Related:

- "China issues year's first red alert as Nesat approaches" - http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/29/c_131168011.htm

- "Death toll from typhoon Nesat climbs to 39 in Philippines" - http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-09/29/c_131167979.htm

Petition for a Presidential commission to investigate the covert use of mind control technologies on American citizens

via freedomfchs.com

We petition the obama administration to:

form a presidential commission to investigate the covert use of mind control technologies on American citizens.

The Church Committee's investigation of the FBI, NSA, and CIA in the early 1970s uncovered the existence of the CIA's secret mind control program, MKULTRA. This program non-consensually co-opted men, women, and children into experiments to access and control the human mind. Although officially shut down, in actuality mind control research programs are secretly thriving today among the US military and intelligence agencies. After several decades, these covert programs have achieved a high degree of success at the expense of the lives and livelihoods of many thousands of citizens whose complaints of stalking and intrusions have so far gone unheeded. The complete dissolution of our rights to privacy and other civil liberties as citizens and human beings is imminently at risk.

Created: Sep 26, 2011

Issues: Human Rights

[Sign up for the petition here]

ACLU-NJ Releases Toolkit to Guide Residents in Investigating their Local Police Departments

September 9, 2011

 

Step-by-Step Guide Will Aid New Jerseyans in Assessing and Documenting the Treatment of Citizens by Police in Their Towns 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEWARK – The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) today released a guide that offers citizens tips on how to investigate their local police departments and hold them accountable to the public. The guide, released exactly one year after the ACLU-NJ submitted a petition asking for the Department of Justice to investigate the Newark Police Department, includes many of the same steps the ACLU-NJ took in compiling its petition.

“The ACLU gets police misconduct complaints from all over the state, but we don’t have the resources to help everyone,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs, “This toolkit empowers citizens and give them the tools to hold government accountable.”

The 21-page toolkit teaches citizens where to find public records, how to file open records requests and what to look for in documents, such as lawsuits, settlements and contracts. The guide also provides a primer on analyzing and understanding crime statistics at a local and state level.

[The rest of the article is here]

One killed in blast at French nuclear waste site

via MSNBC
September 12, 2011

4 others injured after oven explodes; no leak of radioactive material, officials say

Associated Press - An explosion at a nuclear waste site in southern France on Monday killed one person, seriously burned another and slightly injured three others, the country's nuclear safety body said.

The Nuclear Safety Authority said no radioactive leaks have been detected in the blast at 12:37 p.m. local time at an oven in the Centraco nuclear site. The accident was under control within the hour, the agency said in a statement.

Centraco is located on the grounds of another nuclear site, Marcoule, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region near the Mediterranean Sea.

"According to initial information, the explosion happened in an oven used to melt radioactive metallic waste of little and very little radioactivity," the statement said. "There have been no leaks outside of the site."

[The rest of the article is here]

EU post-911 U.S. CIA crime complicity, cover-ups: Rights Chief

Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

September 2, 2011

The EU human rights chief on Thursday censured European governments for collaborating with U.S. committing and carefully covering up “countless crimes” in the "so-called war on terror" since 911, naming the CIA and "counterterrorism" involvement. The "blistering attack" on the EU is part of the 911 mass murder tenth anniversary, an occasion to analyze official responses according to The Associated Press, although the post-911 Targeted Individuals crime phenomenon continues to be hidden.

"In attempting to combat crimes attributed to terrorists, countless further crimes have been committed in the course of the US-led 'global war on terror,'" said the Council of Europe's Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg on Thursday....

[The rest of the article is here]

Murdoch Scandal: Lie questioned in Post-911 mind control media hacking

Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

September 6, 2011

 

Hacking, murders and contradicting testimonies in mind control industry, that 'shapes public opinion'

Amid a crime wave targeting innocent people that escalated after 911, today's media baron that has "shaped public opinion," Rupert Murdoch might be learning what "the buck stops here" means and angry citizens globally might be able to celebrate soon since the lawyer representing dozens of News of the World phone-hacking victims, Mark Lewis said former News Corp. (NWSA) executive's testimony to the U.K. Parliament Tuesday might determine if James Murdoch lied about the scandal. This high-level privacy invasion crime is providing further glimpses into lives of millions of politically persecuted Targeted Individuals, 350,000 in the U.S. alone, victims of phone and computer hacking, criminal activity against innocent people that skyrocketed after 911 under the guise of "War om Terror."

[The rest of the article is here]

CIA kidnap-torture of post-911 Targeted Individuals: Corporate profits exposed

Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

September 1, 2011

 

Post 911 'War on Terror' torture business boom at expense of innocent targeted individuals

The international human rights group Reprieve unveiled on Thursday some 1700 documents provided by its investigators about the CIA's unlawful international kidnap-for-torture program, "rendition," the first overview of how the U.S. secret programme was structured, managed and profitable for corporations involved in torturing some of the so-called "terror suspects" as first reported by the Guardian. An analysis of the documents in relation to innocent Targeted Individuals in American communities listed as "terror suspects" since 911, numbering at least 350,000, has yet to be reported....

[The rest of the article is here]

Who's Spying on You? Might Depend on Your Race.

Aug 25th, 2011
Posted by Robyn Greene, Washington Legislative Office at 12:34pm
via the ACLU

Yesterday, two important news stories demonstrated how new unchecked surveillance programs we've highlighted in our Spyfiles campaign are violating the constitutional rights of innocent Americans.

The first, a New York Times article revealed that from March 2009 to March 2011, the FBI opened an eye-popping 82,325 investigations called "assessments," which agents can open against individuals or groups without any evidence of wrongdoing. Not surprisingly, based on the low threshold for opening these inquiries, only 3,315 uncovered any facts to justify further investigation. No doubt far fewer actually resulted in criminal charges. But all of the information about the 79,000 innocent people investigated during this two-year period can be retained by the FBI forever, despite the fact no one engaged in wrongdoing of any kind.

The second article was an Associated Press report that revealed the New York Police Department (NYPD), with training and support provided by the CIA, secretly initiated a domestic intelligence program that used census information to locate and map ethnic neighborhoods so they could be targeted for intrusive surveillance operations by undercover officers and informants. According to the article, over the last decade, the NYPD, with the assistance of current and former CIA officials, created a "Demographic Unit" that uses census data to place undercover NYPD officers into specific ethnic communities. These officers were instructed to "hang out" in plain clothes, conduct surveillance at coffee shops and book stores, and infiltrate mosques to document and report what people say and read in order to identify potential informants and threats—all without any suspicion that any individual in the targeted community is engaged in wrongdoing.

The NYPD's surveillance based on Americans' race and ethnicity isn't just happening in New York — NYPD officers operate in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and even in several foreign cities.

[The rest of the article is here]

Scott Air Force Base: Suspicious Package, Hospitalizations Prompt Evacuation

By JIM SUHR   08/31/11 12:56 PM ET

MASCOUTAH, Ill. -- Three people from Scott Air Force Base in southwestern Illinois were hospitalized with rashes Wednesday and parts of the facility were evacuated after a suspicious package arrived at the base's mail center.

Capt. Kathleen Ferrero said 14 people were decontaminated on site and the three others were treated at a hospital in Belleville, Ill., then released. All were near the area of the base's mail center and may have been exposed, she said.

Air Force Lt. Benjamin Garland said the hospitalized people showed no symptoms other than the rashes.

...The air base is near Mascoutah, Ill., about 25 miles east of St. Louis, and serves as a global mobility and transportation hub for the Defense Department. The base is home to the U.S. Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command, the 618th Air and Space Operations Center and Air Force Network Integration Center. It is also one of four bases in the Air Force to house both a Reserve unit – the 932nd Airlift Wing – and an Air National Guard unit – the 126th Air Refueling Wing.

The base's Web site says its population is 45,749.

[The complete article is here]

Rapidly intensifying Hurricane Irene heading for Brunswick nuclear plant in North Carolina — Could become massive Category 4, up to 155 mph

via ENENews.com
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:25 PM

Irene could become massive Category 4 hurricane, MSNBC, August 23, 2011:
Florida would be first U.S. area to feel it, landfall in Carolinas likely
...By Thursday, as [hurricane Irene] roars toward the U.S. coast over warm open waters, it could become a Category 4, NHC hurricane specialist John Cangialosi said late Monday. Winds in such a storm can blow from 131 to 155 mph.

From Bad Building at Brunswick, Union of Concerned Scientists, July 11, 2011:

The improperly installed bolts and support may have allowed the emergency diesel generator building to collapse had there been an earthquake or a hurricane. The emergency diesel generators probably would have been broken by the building’s collapse. Since the normal power supply for the plant may also have been disabled by the earthquake or hurricane, the building’s collapse may have left the plant without any power except that from batteries. Plants like Brunswick are designed to survive on battery power for only a few hours. It would have taken considerably longer to repair crushed emergency diesel generators.

[The original posting is here]

Emergency diesel generator fails at Virginia nuke plant hit by 5.9 quake

via ENENews.com
August 23rd, 2011 at 05:47 PM

Federal officials say two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va., were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake.

The Dominion-operated power plant is being run off three emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment. The NRC and Dominion are sending people to inspect the plant.

A fourth diesel generator failed, but it wasn’t considered an emergency because the other generators are working, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. [...]

[The original article is here]

Related:
- "Virginia nuke plant has lost offsite power after quake, generators being used to cool reactors — “As far as we know, everything is safe” says NRC" - http://enenews.com/virginia-nuke-plant-has-lost-offsite-power-generators-being-used-to-cool-reactors-as-far-as-we-know-everything-is-safe-says-nrc

Virginia nuclear plant shut down by quake

By the CNN Wire Staff

August 23, 2011 5:09 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Tuesday's Virginia earthquake triggered the shutdown of a nearby nuclear power plant and spurred declarations of "unusual events" at plants as far away as Michigan, U.S. authorities reported.

Dominion Virginia Power said both reactors at its North Anna plant, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude-5.8 quake, shut down after the first tremors. Amanda Reidelbach, an emergency management spokeswoman for Louisa County, said the plant vented steam, but there was no release of radioactive material.

David Heacock, the utility's chief nuclear officer, said the plant was operating on emergency power and the units were safely deactivated...

[The rest of the article is here]

East Coast Earthquake Caught on Cameras

via ABCNews.com
August 23, 2011

Cameras shake as 5.9 earthquake is felt in the nation's capital - http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/dc-earthquake-caught-on-tape-14364688

Earthquake Rattles Eastern Seaboard - Magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Virginia felt as far away as New York City and DC -  http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/earthquake-rattles-eastern-seaboard-14365084



Virginia Earthquake -  http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/virginia-earthquake

Related:
- East Coast Quake: Nuclear Reactors Taken Offline - http://abcnews.go.com/US/earthquake/east-coast-quake-nuclear-reactors-offline/story?id=14365268

5.9 earthquake hits Washington, DC; shocks felt in NYC and Boston

via The New York Post

By BRUCE GOLDING and JOSH MARGOLIN

Last Updated: 2:50 PM, August 23, 2011

Posted: 1:55 PM, August 23, 2011

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake rattled the East Coast this afternoon from North Carolina to Boston, the US Geological Survey said.

The Pentagon and Capitol Building in Washington were evacuated at 1:51 p.m., shortly after a powerful tremble was felt.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep, officials said.

Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, NC.

The quake's epicenter was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County, about 90 miles away from DC.

...The quake zone is within 100 miles of two nuclear power plants.

Washington's Union Station was evacuated and damaged as a result of the quake. Cracks and chunks of plaster fell from the ceiling.

DC police told a Fox News producer that there is concern that the Washington Monument may have tilted during the earthquake.

In New York, City Hall was also evacuated after a tremor was felt. Mayor Bloomberg was escorted from the building along with other city workers soon after the ground shook.

Earthquake Felt in New York City: MyFoxNY.com

The 26-story federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan began swaying as hundreds of people were seen leaving the building.

...NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said he was on the 14th floor at 1 Police Plaza when he felt "a distinct rumbling followed by movement."

..."It felt like waves," he said.

At the start of a news conference conducted by Manhattan DA Cy Vance, staffers and prosecutors could be seen scurrying from the podium shortly after the ground moved.

The control towers at JFK and Newark airports were evacuated, according to NYCAviation, an aerospace news organization.

Cell phone service in and around Washington, DC, was reportedly disrupted after the tremor.

..."Currently, there have been no reports of damage to buildings, bridges, roads, power grids, the Indian Point nuclear power plant or other infrastructure," [NYC Governor] Cuomo said.

[The complete article is here]

Related:
- (Aug 23) Reminder: #earthquake safety tips: http://go.usa.gov/kQ7 & on your phone http://m.fema.gov #DCquake

- FEMA: Entire east coast should prepare for Hurricane Irene (now a Category 2) - http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/08/23/tropical.weather/index.html

NHC updated track of Hurricane Irene: Potential major hurricane threatening Carolinas by Saturday

via stormchaser4850
August 22, 2011

NHC updated track of Hurricane Irene http://t.co/oReJ60H Potential major hurricane threatening Carolinas by Saturday

Large Zone Near Japanese Reactors to Be Off Limits

By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: August 21, 2011

TOKYO — Broad areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could soon be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades, after a government survey found radioactive contamination that far exceeded safe levels, several major media outlets said Monday.

The formal announcement, expected from the government in coming days, would be the first official recognition that the March accident could force the long-term depopulation of communities near the plant, an eventuality that scientists and some officials have been warning about for months.

...The government is expected to tell many of these residents that they will not be permitted to return to their homes for an indefinite period. It will also begin drawing up plans for compensating them by, among other things, renting their now uninhabitable land. While it is unclear if the government would specify how long these living restrictions would remain in place, news reports indicated it could be decades.

...Until now, Tokyo had been saying it would lift the current evacuation orders for most areas around the plant early next year, when workers are expected to stabilize Fukushima Daiichi’s damaged nuclear reactors.

The government was apparently forced to alter its plans after the survey by the Ministry of Science and Education, released over the weekend, which showed even higher than expected radiation levels within the 12-mile evacuation zone around the plant...

[The complete article is here]

Time lapse of Phoenix haboob

via The Weather Channel
August 19, 2011

For the third time in a little over a month the Phoenix area was hit by a dust storm.

Video:
http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/top-stories-169/time-lapse-of-phoenix-haboob-21630

Is your hurricane survival kit ready?

via The Weather Channel
August 20, 2011

The Weather Channel's Dr. Rick Knabb says if you are in a hurricane zone, you should have your hurricane survival kit ready now. He shows just what you should have in your kit.

http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/top-stories-169/is-your-hurricane-survival-kit-ready-21634

[See more here]

A Face in the Clouds

via The Weather Channel
August 6, 2011

Dennis Farmer of New Brunswick, Canada captured video of a cloud that looks like a man's face, and another that could be a pig.

http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/from-our-users-238/wow-a-face-in-the-clouds-21520

[More here]

Fareed's Take: Prime Minister...of America?

From the Standard & Poor's website regarding the downgrade of America's ratings:

"The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed...In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government's ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging..."

-- http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/?assetID=1245316529563

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN - GPS (Global Public Square)
August 20th, 2011, 01:34 PM ET

I wrote a blog post for the Global Public Square website that has gotten a great deal of reaction. So let me talk about it for a moment.

It all started because I read a website that pointed out that after the S&P downgrade of the United States, no country with a presidential system has a AAA rating from all three major ratings agencies.

Only countries with parliamentary systems have that honor (with the possible exception of France, which has a parliament and prime minister as well as an empowered president).

This brought to mind my years in political science grad school and an essay by, a famous Yale scholar, who says that parliamentary systems are superior to presidential systems because they allow for greater stability and purposive action.

[The rest of article is here]

US nuke commission “essentially lied” about one of worst nuclear disasters in history near Los Angeles, up to 240 times Three Mile Island — 13 fuel rods melted with no containment (VIDEO)

via ENENews.com

August 18th, 2011 at 02:53 PM

 

Simi Valley Nuclear Disaster, History Channel:
h/t Nuclear Hotseat Podcast

Simi Valley California was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history in 1959, and the amounts of radiation leaked to the environment and atomosphere were more than 240 times that of the accident at 3-Mile Island. The area is beautiful today, but what still remains from many decades ago?

[See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAHmaEs5cYU&playnext=1&list=PL5D60756CC039ABF3]

Fukushima early stage China Syndrome 'clearly a concern': Expert

By Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner

August 20, 2011

Fukushima 'seriously out of control,' nuclear industry seriously in control of global media blackout

Since Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy plant has reportedly released 20 times the radiation contamination amount of the Hiroshima bomb, and its molten core is sinking through the Earth's crust, it appears to be in early stages of a "total China Syndrome meltdown" according to a Russia Today report Thursday during which Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter answered why media is blacking out the catastrophe, as noted by numerous scientists, and he revealed the increasing threat of a nuclear explosion.

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:

- "Doctor near Tokyo attributes symptoms to radiation exposure: We have begun to see increased nosebleeds, stubborn cases of diarrhea, and flu-like symptoms in children" - Doctors in Japan are already treating patients suffering health effects they attribute to radiation from the ongoing nuclear disaster - http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/08/201181665921711896.html

229 millisieverts/year of cumulative radiation in town outside exclusion zone — Exposure limit for ordinary people is 1 millisievert/year

via The Mainichi Daily News

August 20, 2011

[...] In giving specific estimates for 50 locations in the no-entry zone for the first time, [Japan's science] ministry said cumulative radiation of 278 millisieverts was estimated for a location in the town of Okuma, 3 kilometers southwest of the troubled plant. [...]
Outside the exclusion zone, cumulative radiation in the town of Namie, 22 km northwest of the plant, was estimated at 115 millisieverts over the five-month period, the highest among locations outside the zone and equivalent to 229 millisieverts over a 12-month period. [...]

The annual radiation exposure limit for ordinary people is 1 millisievert.

[The complete article is here]

Related:

- "Fukushima radiation alarms doctors" - Japanese doctors warn of public health problems caused by Fukushima radiation - http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/08/201181665921711896.html

FBI wants businesses watching for customers paying with cash Read more: FBI wants businesses watching for customers paying with cash

By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WND 
Posted: August 12, 2011
11:00 pm Eastern

Just days after the White House announced a community-based approach to combating terrorism in the United States, the FBI and other agencies are asking managers of surplus stores to spy on their customers, watching whether they pay in cash, make "extreme" religious statements or purchase products such as waterproof matches.

[The rest of the article is here]

  

Secret Russian Space Hotel plans unearthed

via RT.com
Published: 17 August, 2011, 16:42
Edited: 17 August, 2011, 20:50

A veil of secrecy has been pulled away to lay bare plans for a space hotel 350 km above Earth to serve wealthy private travelers. The Commercial Space Station is expected to welcome its first guests in 2016.

The company Russian Orbital Technologies announced plans to launch a space hotel almost a year ago, in September 2010 – and now the price-list for the trip has finally been disclosed.

A voyage “to the moon and back” will not be exactly a budget vacation – a five-day stay at the hotel is expected to cost about US$ 160,000. The whole trip, including a two-day transfer to the CSS on the Soyuz space ship will strip your wallet of about US$ 800,000, Dailymail.co.uk reports.

[The rest of the article is here]

Four Sites Where You Can Monitor U.S. Radiation Levels

Jeff McMahon, Contributor
March 28, 2011 @ 10:26AM

UPDATED with a fourth site, EPA’s RadNet Lab Open Data system.

Radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster has been detected in the air in five Western states and in rainwater in at least two so far.

While federal officials continue to assure the public that no harmful levels have reached the United States, some Americans have not been content to take the government at its word. Geiger counters have been selling like popsicles in summer, and traffic has never been higher at websites that display data from radiation monitoring stations.

[The complete article is here]

Unprecedented Spike: 1501 atoms of radioactive sulfur per meter³ was detected in California air

Tiffany Kaiser - August 16, 2011 11:47 AM via DailyTech

UC San Diego researchers concluded that 400 billion neutrons were released per square meter surface of the cooling pools at Fukushima Daiichi

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California on March 28, 2011, [Mark Thiemens, study leader and Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences at UC San Diego] and his team noticed an “unprecedented spike” in radioactive sulfur in the air. [...]

Over the four days that the team took measurements, which ended March 28, Thiemens measured 1501 atoms of radioactive sulfur in sulfate particles per cubic meter of air. They mentioned that this was the highest they had seen in two years of observations and recordings.

According to the researchers, the radioactive sulfur observed was produced by partially melted nuclear fuel in the storage ponds or reactors. [...]

Despite the high levels of radioactive sulfur recorded in California, Thiemens and his team said these levels were not dangerous to human health....

[The complete article is here]

Related:
- "Where's That Radioactive Sulfur Now? Possibly In Your Pants" - http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2011/08/16/wheres-that-radioactive-sulfur-now-possibly-in-your-pants/

- "Four Sites Where You Can Monitor U.S. Radiation Levels" - http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2011/03/28/three-sites-where-you-can-monitor-u-s-radiation-levels/

Workers say ground under Fukushima plant is cracking and radioactive steam is coming up — Melted core may be moving out of building

via RT.com
August 17th, 2011 at 11:34 AM

Cracked Fukushima: Radioactive steam escapes danger zone, RT, August 17, 2011
http://youtu.be/fimRJocH_90



Related:
- Magnitude 6.2 - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 2011 August 17 11:44:07 UTC - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005fj1.php

NRC: ‘Special inspection’ underway at nuclear plant near Miami because of cooling system failure and ‘potential generic concern’

via ENENews
August 16th, 2011 at 10:23 PM

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff began a special inspection at FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear power plant today to assess the circumstances surrounding the brief loss of the intake cooling water function at one of the plant’s two nuclear units.

On Aug. 11, Turkey Point Unit 3 lost the function of the intake cooling water system for about 20 minutes when an open valve closed and then failed in that closed position. The intake cooling water system provides cooling to important plant equipment. The NRC staff determined that because the failure resulted in the loss of a safety system and because there is also a potential generic concern, a special inspection was appropriate.

Related:
- "Loud bang" at FPL nuclear plant near Miami" - http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/08/loud_bang_at_fpl_nuclear_plant_1.html

Experts: Fukushima 'off-scale' lethal radiation level infers millions dying, including people in the United States

By Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner
August 5, 2011

Fukushima nuclear power plant radiation recordings of external gamma radiation have been so high this week, they went off scale said veteran nuclear expert Arnie Gunderson on Thursday after the famous physicist, Dr. Chris Busby told the Japanese people this week that radioactive air contamination there is now 300 times that of Chernobyl and 1000 times the atomic bomb peak in 1963, inferring that hundreds of millions of people are now dying from Fukushima radiation, including people in the United States.

If noticing unusual amounts of hair falling out, confusion, nose bleeds or other odd symptoms typical of radiation sickness, it might be due to the United States record high levels of radiation, now multiple times acceptable safety limits not only on the west coast, but also in other locations around the nation.

...In March, Busby had estimated that Fukushima radiation to be 72,000 times greater than what the United States released at Hiroshima....

[The complete original article is here]

Related:
- Arnie Gundersen on SolarIG podcast:
http://solarimg.org/shows/SolarIMG_podcast_Arnie_Gundersen_130811.mp3

- "Real Time US Radiation Monitoring Of Japan Nuclear Radioactivity Fallout" - http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/03/19/realtime-epa-japan-nuclear-fallout-radiation-graphs-west-coast-cities-9228/

Ex Japanese Nuclear Regulator Blames Radioactive Animal Feed on "Black Rain"

by Fairewinds Associates
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 7:38pm EST (Eastern Standard Time)

Fairewinds Associates Video at Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/26651670

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a secret pact with Japan to continue importing its untested food for radioactive materials

By Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner
August 14, 2011

Government agreed to downplay Fukushima radiation

Fukushima is far from stabilized according to energy advisor veteran with 39 years of nuclear power engineering experience, Arnie Gundersen who told Solar IMG Saturday that Americans, not just in the northwest, are unaware of being rained on with Fukushima nuclear hot particles and eating Fukushima contaminated food because the US government has deliberately minimized the catastrophe, partially due to a pact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed with Japan. Gundersen, with a team of other scientists, intends to prove government statements about Fukushima are false.

"The United States came up with a decision to downplay Fukushima," said Gundersen who is awakening the public with information such as hot particles in rain will continue falling in the U.S., not just in the Pacific Northwest, for another year, and mentioning high-level fallout in Oklahoma a few days ago.

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:

"Experts: Fukushima 'off-scale' lethal radiation level infers millions dying" - http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/experts-fukushima-off-scale-lethal-radiation-level-100s-millions-deaths

New drug could cure nearly any viral infection

by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
August 10, 2011

Researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Lab have developed technology that may someday cure the common cold, influenza and other ailments.

Most bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics such as penicillin, discovered decades ago. However, such drugs are useless against viral infections, including influenza, the common cold, and deadly hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

Now, in a development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.

[The rest of the article is here]

Compensate the Victims! 50th Anniversary of Start of US Chemical Warfare Program in Vietnam

via Invictus

Saturday, August 13, 2011
Also posted at FDL/The Dissenter

As Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor Marjorie Cohn notes at CommonDreams, "Today marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the chemical warfare program in Vietnam without sufficient remedial action by the U.S. government." More than 3 million people, including Vietnamese, Vietnamese-Americans, US veterans, and their children have either died, sickened or been disabled, and their children may, too, as the result of the wide-scale use of chemical agents by US forces during the Vietnam War.

From 1961 to 1971, approximately 19 million gallons [80 million liters] of herbicides, primarily Agent Orange, were sprayed over the southern region of Vietnam. Much of it was contaminated with dioxin, a deadly chemical. Dioxin causes various forms of cancers, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiencies, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage, and physical and developmental disabilities.

NYT Disappointed at Court Decision on CIA Contempt Motion

Aug 12th, 2011
Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 5:47pm

"A Missed Chance for Accountability" is how The New York Times described last week's federal court decision failing to hold the CIA in contempt of the court for destroying the videotapes that documented the agency's torture of prisoners in its custody. The Times editorial states:

Imposing civil contempt would not have interfered with the agency's current operations or required payment of a fine or damages. But it would have provided official acknowledgement that the conduct of C.I.A. officials was grossly improper, which is crucial to preventing a recurrence by successors.

The judge opted for a milder response. He sanctioned the agency by ordering it to reimburse the A.C.L.U.'s legal fees. The judge also directed the agency to publish its new document destruction policies. These are positive steps. But without a contempt citation, they fail to adequately address profoundly troubling behavior by a powerful agency and to deter that conduct in the future.

Last week's ruling was the end of a long road for the contempt motion, which we filed in December 2007 after the CIA revealed that it had destroyed videotapes of "enhanced" interrogations from 2002 (days before the Times was to publish a story revealing the same fact). (Check out our interactive timeline for a breakdown of key events related to the videotapes.)

The videotapes, which depicted the torture — including waterboarding — of CIA detainees Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, were responsive to the ACLU's 2004 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for information regarding the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas.

[The rest of the article is here]

Related:
- "Court Sanctions CIA to Pay Fees Over Torture Tapes" at http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/court-sanctions-cia-pay-fees-over-torture-tapes