Society's ChildS


Nuke

Obvious pollution coming from Indian Point nuclear plant

indian point leak
US Coast Gaurd officials have cordoned off a portion of Lake Ontario this week, after aerial spotters found a visible "sheen" that is coming from a nuclear power plant in upstate New York.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary aircrew first noticed the sheen on Sunday. Shortly after, a boat crew from the Oswego station tested the sheen and a "temporary safety zone" was put in place.

The Free Thought Project spoke to the Coast Guard Sector Buffalo Command Center on Tuesday and confirmed that the zone was still closed off, and there is no information as to when it will reopen.

The oil sheen is said to be coming from the vent for the hydrogen seal system of the Fitzpatrick plant is in Scriba, New York, approximately 10 miles northeast of Oswego.

Comment: More on the Indian Point disaster:


Mars

Always wanted to work on Mars? Here's your chance

NASA recruitment
The word is out and people are already talking about the new NASA program designed to recruit people to move to Mars and build a new society. According to reports, NASA is looking for "farmers, teachers, technicians, surveyors and explorers". Anyone handy enough, healthy enough and physically capable enough to participate in building a sustainable habitat for humans of the future. It should be noted that none of the experiments are set to launch until after 2030.

Despite the fact that humanity has not even been back to the moon since 1969, scientists have been planning theoretical trips to Mars like this for decades. Remember that time Newt Gingrich said if he was elected President in 2012 "that there would be a space colony on the moon by 2020"? Didn't work out so well for good ole Newt, but it looks like his pioneer spirit didn't die.

Mad scientists, I mean geniuses like Elon Musk, who just happens to want to drop thermo-nuclear bombs on the ice caps of Mars to stimulate water flow therefor life, warns that inevitably the first trips to Mars will most likely result in large causalities. I do not think it takes a true genius to understand why.

USA

Texit: Nationalist group wants Texas to break away from the US

united states of texas
Britain has voted to exit the European Union. This has been abbreviated simply as Brexit. Since the vote, many things have happened. The pound is falling against the dollar. There have been reports of some businesses wanting to move from the country. The stock market has been affected. The country seems to be in a state of confusion. Currently, some people are backing an online petition for a second vote.

But as the chaos is going on in Britain; in the United States, some citizens of a particular state in the country are determined to also test the waters in order to break away just like Britain has done.

In the state of Texas, the pro-secessionist movement, known as the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), has asked state governor Greg Abbott to answer an appeal. The appeal will ensure that the state goes to the ballot box in 2018, to determine whether to break away from the rest of the United States, or not.

Snakes in Suits

Selective empathy: Stanford rape judge hands down far harsher sentence to immigrant for similar offense

protests stanford rape judge, aaron perskey protests
© Stephen Lam / Reuters Activists hold signs calling for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky from the bench after his controversial sentencing in the Stanford rape case, in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 10, 2016.
The California judge who sentenced Brock Turner to just six months' jail time for sexual assault is about to hand down a far harsher sentence of three years to an El Salvadorian immigrant for a similar offense.

The case involves Raul Ramirez, who pleaded guilty in March to felony sexual penetration by force when he penetrated his female roommate with his fingers for five to 10 minutes in November 2014, only stopping when the woman broke down crying.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky is about to hand down a three-year prison sentence to Ramirez, according to documents obtained by The Guardian.

Comment:


Fire

Stephen Hawking: Greed, stupidity, AI, world population - all rising out of control

Larry King Stephen Hawking
© www.youtube.comInterview with Stephen Hawking on Larry King NOW
Global warming, mass shootings, global instability and overpopulation are all concerns humanity faces, but what is the greatest risk to all of us? Larry King asked scientific genius Stephen Hawking, who explained that there is a lot to be worried about.

King last spoke to Hawking six years ago, when Hawking said: "Mankind is in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity." On Monday, King checked in with him to see what has changed in the past six years."We have certainly not become less greedy or less stupid," Hawking replied.

Hawking gave a quick recap of what the world looks like in 2016, saying: "Six years ago, I was warning about pollution and overcrowding, they have gotten worse since then. The population has grown by half a billion since our last interview, with no end in sight. At this rate, it will be eleven billion by 2100. Air pollution has increased by 8 percent over the past five years. More than 80 percent of inhabitants of urban areas are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution," he said.


Comment: No one has the big picture, just points of observation. On these topics, Hawking offers a perspective not necessarily more or less informed.


Extinguisher

Mississippi gas plant explodes, vibrations from blast felt up to 10 miles away

explosion amoco gas plant mississippi
© Briauna Brown / Facebook
An explosion has occurred at the Amoco BP Gas Plant in Jackson County, Mississippi, local News5 channel reports. Witnesses say the blast occurred around 11:40 pm local time and reported a large plume of fire rising from the area around the plant.

There have been no reports of casualties so far. The blaze has since been brought under control. Police say that an evacuation has not been ordered.

Fire crews reported feeling vibrations from the strong blast as far away as 10 miles from their base.

Airplane

Singapore Airlines plane catches fire after emergency landing

A Singapore Airlines plane burst into flames Monday after an emergency landing at the city-state's Changi Airport.


Images posted to social media show flames leaping from the plane's wing."We were so close to death!! I am still in the plane with all passengers. But I think we are safe for now..." passenger Lee Bee Yee posted on Facebook.From her seat, Yee could see the fire from inside the plane, and the aftermath as firefighters doused it with foam.

Quenelle

Iceland's new president isn't a politician or businessman, he's a professor of history

Iceland’s new President
With admiration, many have been observing Iceland's handling of the banking crisis that jolted the entire world in recent years. Now experiencing a unique economic recovery, the Icelandic public became aware in 2008 that the nation's private banks had borrowed some $120 billion dollars, ten times the size of Iceland's economy, creating an economic bubble which forced housing prices to double, and saddled the nation's people with debt.

While other Western nations initiated bank bailouts in 2008, a popular uprising in Iceland led to a peaceful revolution against corrupt government and banks, and has since become the example for the global movement for liberation from central banking and unaccountable government.
In the duration of five months, the main bank of Iceland was nationalized, government officials were forced to resign, the old government was liquidated, and a new government was put in its place. [Source]
The resolve of Iceland's people to correct the systemic problems in their government and economy was again demonstrated in 2015 when dozens of high-level financial executives were jailed for their involvement in manipulating Iceland's financial markets after financial deregulation in 2001.

Comment: Good luck, Mr. Jóhannesson! Show the world it doesn't need political hacks or famous businesspeople to lead - but rather, individuals with an understanding of the law, history and healthy sense of outrage over the types of people who've been running the show for far too long!


Quenelle - Golden

Biggest sporting upset ever? Iceland beats England 2-1 to reach Euro 2016 football quarter-finals

iceland england match
© Peter Powell/EPA Iceland’s players celebrate in front of their supporters after eliminating England from Euro 2016 in their last-16 match at the Stade de Nice.
Iceland produced a stunning result against England in the 2016 UEFA European Championship, winning 2-1 in their last-16 clash in Nice and setting up a quarter-final against the host-nation France.

Playing in their first major tournament finals, the Icelanders shocked England by coming from behind to claim a historic win.

Iceland's population is around 330,000 - compared to over 53 million for England - but they defied their status as minnows to claim the most momentous victory in their history.

England took an early lead on four minutes through a Wayne Rooney penalty after Raheem Sterling was brought down in the box.

Iceland, however, evened the score less than 60 seconds later when Ragnar Sigurdsson - who plays club football for Russian side FC Krasnodar - swept in at the back post following a flick-on from a long pass.



Bomb

Lebanon attacked: Coordinated bombings kill 6, injure 19

lebanon
© Anwar Amro / AFP
At least six people have been killed in a series of suicide bombings that targeted the Lebanese village of Qaa, local media reports. Another 19 people were wounded in the coordinated attack, which reportedly involved up to four assailants.

Multiple blasts rocked the northeastern village near the Syrian border, Lebanese private LBCI TV reports. The explosions allegedly happened some 10 minutes apart from each other.

At least three soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber's initial attack was reportedly followed by a series of at least three others.

All those killed were civilians, the mayor of Qaa told the Voice of Lebanon.

Comment: The attacks are still ongoing:
An new explosion hit on Monday the village of al-Qaa in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria, Lebanese state-run NNA news agency reported.

"A bomb blast hit the central square of al-Qaa near the building of the mayor's office," NNA said.

According to the agency, several people were killed or wounded.
Context: Hezbollah's existential war in Syria.