Society's ChildS


Nuke

Dominion investigates shutdown of North Anna nuclear reactor

Image
© Dean Hoffmeyer/Times-DispatchNorth Anna's Unit 1 was unaffected by the automatic Unit 2 shutdown and continues to operate at full power, the NRC said.
Dominion Virginia Power is investigating what caused one of the two nuclear reactors at its North Anna power station to automatically shut down today. The shutdown came less than a week after the unit had been restarted following repairs.

A preliminary report filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Unit 2 at North Anna, in Louisa County some 45 miles northwest of Richmond, tripped automatically at 1:47 a.m. today.

"The unit is in a normal post-trip electrical configuration. All systems functioned as required," the NRC report said.

The commission's report, filed one hour after the event, said Richmond-based Dominion was focusing on turbine intercept valves or reheat valves that malfunctioned "for reasons unknown at this time."

North Anna's Unit 1 was unaffected by the automatic Unit 2 shutdown and continues to operate at full power, the NRC said.

Dominion spokesman Richard Zuercher said the utility had been able to trace the shutdown of Unit 2 _ which is more than three decades old _ to four valves that govern the flow of steam in the turbine system for spinning the unit's generator.

Cult

Bombshell! Historic paedophile ring linked to 10 Downing Street, at least one former prime minister implicated

Image
From left to right: Cameron, Major, Blair and Brown.
There is "clear intelligence" suggesting a historic paedophile ring may be linked to Downing Street and a former prime minister, MPs have been told.

Labour MP Tom Watson alleged a member of a notorious group was connected to a former No 10 aide.

He said: "The evidence file used to convict Peter Righton, if it still exists, contains clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring.

"One of its members boasts of his links to a senior aide of a former prime minister, who says he could smuggle indecent images of children from abroad.

Comment: What British Prime Minister David Cameron really means is that he will do everything he can to try to put the lid back on... but is it too late? Is the cat already out of the bag? For more information on paedophile networks in high places, check out Dutroux Cover-up Protected Pedophile Networks.


Eye 2

Man accused of murdering vicar 'a psychopath', British court told

Image
Stephen Farrow
Stephen Farrow, a homeless drifter accused of the murders of Rev John Suddards and retired teacher Betty Yates scored 31 out of 40 on a test to identify psychopaths and is '88 per cent anti-social' but is not insane, a court heard today.

Dr Tim Rogers, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, told Bristol Crown Court that Stephen Farrow, 48, demonstrated many of the characteristics of a psychopath.

Farrow has admitted killing the Reverend John Suddards, 59, at his vicarage in Thornbury, Glos., but denies murdering the vicar and pensioner Betty Yates, 77.

He said it was not possible to be sure when Farrow was telling the truth and when he was lying.

The psychiatrist said there are 20 traits of a psychopath - when each is given a score of up to two, Farrow scored 31 out of 40.

But he said that after assessing Farrow on two separate occasions in recent months and reading compiled reports spanning several years, he passed the threshold of psychopathy.

Heart - Black

Cyclopath: Is Lance Armstrong a corporate psychopath?

Image
A leading Australian expert on emotional intelligence believes Lance Armstrong is a classic "corporate psychopath" who has hustled and bullied his way to the top his whole life.

According to Sydney-based lecturer and author Chris Golis, the characteristics of a corporate psychopath are their charm, their lack of natural empathy, their ability to deceive and their view that life is a game with winners and losers - and that they are winners.

"Typically they are manipulative, lack ethics, desire power and are very active players in corporate politics," Mr Golis explains.

"They meet someone and they say, 'what's in it for me? How can I make money from this person?'"

Mr Golis says well known examples of the character type in the corporate sphere include businessman Alan Bond and the late Sydney stockbroker Rene Rivkin. But he says top sportsmen often exhibit the characteristics too, and Lance Armstrong appears to fall smack bang into the category.

Comment: Golis clearly isn't a reliable source on psychopathy if he thinks they're capable of developing remorse.


Eye 1

She made it up! Police reveal woman who claimed race attack set HERSELF on fire and scrawled KKK on her own car

Image
Horrified: The community of Winnsboro, Louisiana is in shock after 20-year-old Sharmeka Moffitt was set on fire in an attack on Sunday night at a community park
A stunning race attack alleged by a 20-year-old Louisiana woman appears to be a fabrication as police revealed she set herself on fire.

Sharmeka Moffitt, who is black, claimed she was doused in lighter fluid and then severely burned by three men wearing white hooded sweatshirts while walking through a park on Sunday night. She also told police that the men wrote 'KKK' on her car.

However, police in Shreveport revealed on Tuesday that they found Ms Moffitt's DNA on the can of lighter fluid used to burn her and her fingerprints on the cigarette lighter that was used to start the fire.

Investigators also believe she was the one who wrote 'KKK' on her car.

It is not known why she self-immolated or reported that her injuries were the work of apparent white supremacists, police said.

Ms Moffitt remains in critical condition at the hospital, with burns on 60 percent of her body.

Her family issued a statement apologizing for the turn of events.

'Our family is devastated to learn the circumstances surrounding our daughter's injuries. While this was not the resolution we had expected, it's a resolution,' they said.

Che Guevara

Supreme Court refuses to block Montana campaign contribution limits

Another victory for Montana, "ground zero" for the battle against Citizens United

Image
© Jonathan Ernst / REUTERS
In the latest battle in Montana's war against Citizens United, the Supreme Court refused to block a Montana law "limiting campaign contributions to candidates for state office, leaving the caps in place at least through the November general election," reports Reuters.

On Tuesday afternoon, the high court upheld a ruling - handed down earlier this month - by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of appeals that temporarily reinstated Montana's right to regulate campaign contributions. Previously, a lower court had struck down the restrictions labeling them "unconstitutional."

According to the Associated Press:
Montana law caps contributions by individuals and political committees at $630 for gubernatorial candidates, $310 for other statewide offices and at $160 for all other public offices. Total limits for political parties are $22,600 for governor, $8,150 for other statewide candidates, $1,300 for state senators and $800 for all other public offices. Donations by political action committees to candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are capped at $2,650 and $1,600 respectively.

Bizarro Earth

Woman gets set on fire and has 'KKK' written on her car


A Louisiana woman was the victim of a horrific attack during which she was reportedly set on fire and had her car defiled with the letters "KKK," police reported Monday.

Blue Planet

SOTT Focus: Voting, Cognitive Dissonance and Fear of the Unknown

"One phenomenon all ponerogenic groups and associations have in common is the fact that their members lose (or have already lost) the capacity to perceive pathological individuals as such, interpreting their behavior in fascinated, heroic, or melodramatic ways. When the habits of subconscious selection and substitution of thought-data spread to the macrosocial level, a society tends to develop contempt for factual criticism and to humiliate anyone sounding an alarm."

- Andrew M. Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology
Stockholm Syndrome
The presidential elections in the US are coming up soon. Many people argue for their chosen candidate to vote for. As usual it is Republicans vs. Democrats. Romney vs. Obama. I've written before about the futility of engaging in this circus side show that is designed to give the illusion of choice and simply re-enforces the prison without bars where people get distracted by the shadows on the wall in a global Stockholm Syndrome. It doesn't speak much for a "shift in consciousness" or "global awakening", especially if many self-proclaimed "spiritual" and "aware" folks still ignore the facts and are driven by identification and wishful thinking, participating in a system that is deeply ponerized.

Che Guevara

What if we adopted a system where the banks did not create our money?

Image
Union Interest-Bearing Note, 1864: To finance the Civil War, the Union authorized the first issue of paper money by the government since the Continentals. These 'demand notes' were printed for about a year in $5, $10, and $20 denominations, redeemable in coins on demand, and green in color — (which is where the phrase "greenbacks" comes from). About $10 million in notes were issued. These notes, and all paper money issued since 1861, are still valid and redeemable in current cash at face value. No interest was charged and, most importantly, private banking institutions were out of the loop.
What if there was a financial system that would eliminate the need for the federal government to go into debt, that would eliminate the need for the Federal Reserve, that would end the practice of fractional reserve banking and that would dethrone the big banks? Would you be in favor of such a system? A surprising new IMF research paper entitled "The Chicago Plan Revisited" by Jaromir Benes and Michael Kumhof is making waves in economic circles all over the globe. The paper suggests that the world would be much better off if we adopted a system where the banks did not create our money. So instead of a system where more money is only created when more debt is created, we would have a system of debt-free money that is created directly by national governments. There have been others that have suggested such a system before, but to have an IMF research paper actually recommend that such a system be adopted is a very big deal. At the moment, the world is experiencing the biggest debt crisis in human history, and this proposal is being described as a "radical solution" that could potentially remedy some of our largest financial problems. Unfortunately, apologists for the current system are already viciously attacking this new IMF paper, and of course the big banks would throw a major fit if such a system was ever to be seriously contemplated. That is why it is imperative that we educate people about how money really works. Our current system is in the process of collapsing and we desperately need to transition to a new one.

One of the fundamental problems with our current financial system is that it is based on debt. Just take a look at the United States. The way our system works today, the vast majority of all money is "created" either when we borrow money or the government borrows money. Therefore, the creation of more money creates more debt. Under such a system, it should not be surprising that the total amount of debt in the United States is more than 30 times larger than it was just 40 years ago.

Comment: A great educational resource on banking systems and banking reform is Web of Debt by Ellen Brown of the Public Banking Institute


Handcuffs

Scientists Are the New Witches: Italy jails six seismologists for failing to predict earthquake

italy earthquake
© AP Photo/Sandro Perozzi
Italy, the country that earlier this year declared it a fineable offense to tell a man he has no balls, convicted seven seismologists of manslaughter on Monday, for failing to adequately assess the risk of a 2009 Earthquake that ended up killing 309 people.

The scientists were sentenced to six years in prison.

According to the BBC, prosecutors argued that the defendants "gave a falsely reassuring statement" before the 6.3 earthquake occurred on April 6, 2009. That statement came from a meeting held in the city of L'Aquila on March 31, in which the seismologists declared it "improbable" (though not impossible) that a major earthquake would strike the town.

The meeting was held in an effort to quell public panic inspired by a researcher from Italy's National Insitute of Nuclear Physics, who claimed to have deduced that a major earthquake would occur on March 29. (NewScientist reports that that man, Giampaolo Giuliani, "drove around the town with a megaphone encouraging people to evacuate.")