Welcome to Sott.net
Mon, 11 Dec 2023
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Nuke

Japan - Damage to reactor called severe

David E. Sanger and David Jolly
boston.com
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:49 UTC
Image
© Atsushi Taketazu/Yomiuri Shimbun via Associated Press
An evacuation center in Onagawa, northeastern Japan, housed displaced victims yesterday, three weeks after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. About 16,000 remain missing.
Washington - Energy Secretary Steven Chu said yesterday that roughly 70 percent of the core of one reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan had sustained severe damage.

His assessment of the damage to Reactor No. 1 was the most specific yet from a US official on how close the plant came to a full meltdown after it was hit by a severe earthquake and massive tsunami March 11.

Japanese officials have spoken of a "partial meltdown'' at some of the stricken reactors. But they have been less than specific, especially on the question of how close No. 1 - the most badly damaged reactor - came to a full meltdown.
      Read More...
Nuke

This isn't going to get any better: Radioactive water leaks from Japan nuclear plant


boston.com
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:40 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center at right, bows with other officials for the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami-destroyed town of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Saturday, April 2, 2011.
Tokyo - Japanese nuclear official says highly radioactive water is leaking from a damaged nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Nuclear safety spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama says the air above the leak contains 1,000 millisiverts of radioactivity. Exposure to 500 millisiverts over a short period of time can increase the risk of cancer.

The water was seeping Saturday from a crack in the containment for a maintenance pit on the edge of the nuclear site.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has been spewing radioactivity since it was hit by a tsunami three weeks ago.

This is a breaking news update. AP's earlier story is below.
      Read More...
Dollar

Slash and Burn capitalism: Big Business Stock Buyback Plan - Guess Who's Winning?

Mike Whitney
OpedNews
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
This has gotta be a joke. According to a new report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased by $69-billion (7-percent), while personal income rose by only $38-billion (3-percent) in February. So consumers are back to their old ways again -- spending more than they earn?

Er, not exactly. The truth is, consumer spending is slowing down because food and energy are taking a bigger chunk out of the old paycheck. After factoring in inflation, personal consumption is up just 3-percent while real income fell to 1-percent. So, inflation makes the numbers look a lot different.

The reason all this matters, is because consumption is 70-percent of GDP, so if the consumer is on the ropes and getting pummeled by stagnant wages and inflation at the same time, then you can bet the economy is headed for the dumpster. Of course, a good portion of the blame for this mess goes to Ben Bernanke, whose miracle QE2 elixir has kept the stock market bubbly while commodities and food prices have skyrocketed. That's the real source of the problem -- an uneven policy that rewards the investment class while leaving the worker-bees (you and me) fending off soaring prices.

Bernanke says we shouldn't worry about the higher prices because core inflation is still low (roughly 1%). That's easy to say for a guy who's never filled his gas tank in his life, but for everyone else inflation is a killer that forces them to cut their spending or shed more debt, neither of which is easy to do.
      Read More...
Brick Wall

American Hypocrisy at it's Best: Obama Receives Transparency Award at Secret Meeting

Raven Clabough
New American
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00 UTC
coburnobama-t.001
© Unknown
Senate bill sponsors Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill discussing the Coburn–Obama Transparency Act, 2006
On Monday President Obama received an award for transparency, which ironically was given to him during a closed, unannounced meeting. Bestowed upon the President from a group of transparency advocates, the ceremony took place in secret, even though - as of two weeks ago - it was supposed to be open to the press.

According to Politico, the meeting was "inexplicably postponed" and rescheduled without notice for Monday "without disclosing the meeting on [the President's] public schedule or letting photographers or print reporters into the room."

Those present at the ceremony, which took place in the Oval Office, included Gary Bass of OMB Watch, Tom Blanton of the National Security Archive, Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight, Lucy Dalgish of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Patrice McDermott of OpenTheGovernment.org.

Gary Bass commented:
Our understanding going into the meeting was that it would have a pool photographer and a print reporter, and it turned out to be a private meeting." He adds, "He was so on point, so on target in the conversation with us, it is baffling why he would not want that message to be more broadly heard by reporters and the public interest community and the public generally.
      Read More...
Dollar

While the Rich Get Richer, the Rest of Us Pay More for Less at the Supermarket

Tom Laskawy
Grist
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:31 UTC
Image
© rightardia.blogspot.com
The New York Times reports that food companies are embarked on a "stealth" strategy to hike prices by significantly shrinking packages without changing the price. For example, canned vegetables are down to thirteen from sixteen ounces (one shopper observed that she found an eleven ounce can of corn recently). Sugar is now sometimes sold in four pound bags instead of five.

This is nothing new - food companies have repeatedly responded to weak economies and rising commodity prices in this way - although this is perhaps the first time that some companies are greenwashing their shrinkage. Proctor & Gamble, for one, is trumpeting its new smaller packages (priced about the same as the old, of course) as "'Future Friendly' products, which it promotes as using at least 15 percent less energy, water or packaging than the standard ones."

And don't forget the health claims! Fewer crackers in a package means fewer calories - you may pay more per cracker, but it's better for you!
      Read More...
MIB

Former MI6 chief on Mossad's ruthless and cunning ways: 'U.K. didn't always feel safe sharing intelligence with Israel'


Haaretz
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:43 UTC
Image
© Cate Gillon/Getty Images
Sir Richard Dearlove
Speaking at conference marking 60 years of U.K.-Israel ties, former MI6 chief says he has no doubt Israeli intelligence 'plays by a different set of rules' than those observed in London.

British intelligence wasn't always forthcoming with sharing information with its Israeli counterpart, former MI6 director Sir Richard Dearlove said in a conference Wednesday, adding that he felt Israeli intelligence played by a different set of rules than the U.K. agency.

Dearlove, the British spy chief from 1999 to 2004, said in a conference marking 60 years of British-Israeli diplomatic relations that he had "no doubt that Israel plays by a different set of rules than the rules that we observe in the UK."
      Read More...
MIB

Libyan FM defects to Britain, collaborated with US since the 1980s


Press TV
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:24 UTC
Image

Moussa Koussa, long-time agent of the Axis of Evil
Defected Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa has reportedly been in contact with American authorities over counterterrorism issues.

The former senior official developed a close working relationship with Washington when he was the head of Libya's intelligence service a few years ago, former CIA official Vince Cannistraro told the prominent US radio broadcaster NPR.

On Wednesday, Koussa resigned as Libya's foreign minister and defected to Britain as troops loyal to ruler Muammar Gaddafi and opposition forces clashed in the North African country.

The CIA official was stationed in Italy in the late 1980s when Koussa was leading Libya's intelligence service.
      Read More...
Pistol

Ivory Coast: Bloodbath Fear as Gbagbo Forces Prepare for Last Stand

Daniel Howden
The Independent, UK
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
Pro-Gbagbo militiamen
© Getty Images
Pro-Gbagbo militiamen patrol in the empty streets of Abidjan
Fears were mounting of major atrocities in Ivory Coast last night as forces loyal to the Laurent Gbagbo prepared for a last stand in Abidjan.

After days of increasingly virulent anti-colonialist rhetoric from the state-controlled broadcasters, France deployed its troops to rescue French nationals from attack by young and violent supporters of Mr Gbagbo.

The news that the 1,000 strong French force had intervened underlined fears that the four-month crisis in the world's leading cocoa producer, sparked by the sitting president Mr Gbagbo's refusal to accept his defeat in landmark elections, had entered its critical phase.

Troops under the command of president-elect Allasane Ouattara were said to be "at the gates" of Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital, which has descended into chaotic violence in recent days. Supporters of the presidential rivals have carved up the city into warring neighbourhoods with armed militia controlling the streets. Witnesses spoke of people being pulled from cars and burnt alive and residents complained of being marooned in their homes by the fighting.
      Read More...
Attention

Libya's Gadhafi Defiant After 2 Allies Resign


CBC News
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:43 UTC
Image
© Chris Helgren/Reuters
Scottish prosecutors say they've asked Britain's Foreign office to speak with Moussa Koussa about the Lockerbie bombing.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has issued a defiant statement after two high-profile departures from his regime, and is calling on leaders of countries attacking his forces to resign.

The Libyan news agency said Thursday Gadhafi accused Western leaders of being "affected by power madness" and wanting to create another war between Muslims and Christians.

The Libyan government earlier confirmed the resignation of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who had defected a day earlier. Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, also announced his resignation on Thursday.

Libya said that Koussa had resigned due to health problems, and was not a sign the embattled regime is cracking at the highest levels. Koussa flew to England from Tunisia on Wednesday and the British government said he had resigned.

Koussa, a trusted Gadhafi adviser who has been blamed for some of Libya's brutality and credited for some of its diplomatic successes, has been privy to all the inner workings of the regime. His departure could open the door for some hard intelligence, though Britain refused to offer him immunity from prosecution.
      Read More...
Eye 2

Israel may build artificial island off Gaza Strip coast

Conal Urquhart
The Guardian
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:52 UTC
netanyahu
© Getty Images
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu is said to approve of the £6.2bn proposals.
Environmentalists says plans, which also include hotels and a marina, are 'complete madness' and warn public to be sceptical

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu is said to approve of the £6.2bn proposals.

Israel is considering plans to build an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip to house a sea and airport, and encourage tourism in the area.

Yisrael Katz, the Israeli minister for transport, said the plan had been under consideration for many months and had been encouraged by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. He said it would also relieve Israel of the obligation to be the transit point for goods into the enclave.

The Gaza Strip has no sea port and its airport was destroyed. The area is the sixth most crowded place in the world. Since 2007, Israel, which controls the majority of Gaza's borders has only allowed limited kinds of goods into Gaza and allowed very few exports out. Gazans have got round restrictions by smuggling goods from Egypt through tunnels.

Katz said he expected the island would be under international control for at least 100 years to ensure Israel's security. "We have built models and there are many entrepreneurs who are interested and prepared to invest billions and make money," he told Israel Army Radio
      Read More...
Revolt! T-shirts