Posts from — March 2011

TEPCO Director Weeps After Disclosing Truth About Fukushima Disaster
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/18/2011 14:13 -0400

The Daily Mail has released a dramatic picture showing the emotional exhaustion of TEPCO managing director Akoi Komiri who is openly weeping as he leaves a conference to brief journalists on the true situation at Fukushima, following his acknowledgment that the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens. “A senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis. He said officials should have admitted earlier how serious the radiation leaks were. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said: ‘The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans.” This is precisely as Zero Hedge had expected would happen all along, following our recurring allegations of a massive cover up by the Japanese government. And furthermore as we predicted a week ago when we said that continued government lies and subversions would make the situation untenable once the population loses faith in the government, this is precisely what has happened. …more main article

Omaha Two story: An explanation

The Omaha Two are Edward Poindexter and Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice). Both men are imprisoned at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln where they are serving life sentences for the August 17, 1970 bombing murder of an Omaha police officer.

Both Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa deny any involvement in the death of patrolman Larry Minard, Sr. Minard, a 29 year-old father of five young children, was killed instantly when he handled a booby-trapped suitcase in a vacant house.

Minard had been lured with seven other officers to the vacant house on Ohio Street in Omaha by a false 911 emergency call reporting a woman screaming at the residence. Police immediately suspected the local Black Panther chapter, called the National Committee to Combat Fascism, of the crime and focused their attention on the Panthers.

Poindexter was Chairman of the chapter and Mondo was the Minister of Information. Both men had been targets of COINTELPRO, an illegal counter-intelligence operation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover.

Hoover had been personally monitoring the COINTELPRO actions against Black Panther chapters across the United States. In December 1969 Hoover chastised the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Omaha office, Paul Young, for not getting the Panther leadership off the streets. …more

Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.

On the evening of May 13, 2008, Jenny Synan waited for a phone call from her husband, Daniel McGowan. An inmate at Sandstone, a federal prison in Minnesota, McGowan was serving a seven-year sentence for participating in two ecologically motivated arsons. It was their second wedding anniversary, their first with him behind bars. So far his incarceration hadn’t stopped him from calling her daily or surprising her with gifts for her birthday, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. But Jenny never got a call from Daniel that night—or the next day, or the next.

It was only days later that Jenny heard from a friend that Daniel was in transit, his destination Marion, Illinois. She quickly researched Marion and learned that it housed both a minimum- and a medium-security facility. Daniel, however, was classified as a low-security prisoner, a designation between minimum and medium. Even though he had a perfect record at Sandstone and had been recommended for a transfer to a prison closer to home, Jenny still didn’t think it was likely that Daniel would be stepped down to minimum security. But it made no sense that he would be moved up to medium security.

By May 16 the inmate locator on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website showed Daniel in a variety of places, including a federal correctional facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. After speaking with several people at the BOP, Sandstone and Terre Haute to no avail, Jenny e-mailed friends, “This is seriously like pulling fucking teeth.”

Finally on June 12, one month after their missed call, Daniel telephoned Jenny. He was still in transit and had only a few moments to speak. He was definitely going to Marion, where he heard he would be housed in something called a Communications Management Unit (CMU). He had no idea why he was being transferred. He simply had been told he was moving, given thirty minutes to pack and thrown into “the hole” until he was moved. All he knew was that the CMUs were supposedly run out of Washington and placed severe restrictions on phone calls, mail and visits. He was anxious about his new placement and asked Jenny to find out all she could about Marion. …more

Statement re the Nuclear and Earthquake Disaster Unfolding in Japan

The Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) is deeply concerned for the health and safety of the people affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis that have struck Japan over the last two days. We are particularly concerned for the people in the vicinity of nuclear power plants, including workers who are trying to minimize the scope of the disaster.

Unit 1 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is in a state of meltdown. A nuclear disaster which the promoters of nuclear power in Japan said wouldn’t happen is in progress. It is occurring as a result of an earthquake that they said would not happen.

This could and should have been predicted. It was predicted by scientists and NGOs such as CNIC. We warned that Japan’s nuclear power plants could be subjected to much stronger earthquakes and much bigger tsunamis than they were designed to withstand.

Besides the question about how this accident will unfold, the big question now is, will the government and the nuclear industry acknowledge its mistakes and change track?

Last December the Japanese government began a review of its nuclear energy policy. The review was commenced in the spirit of essentially confirming the existing policy. That approach is no longer viable. The direction of the policy review must be completely reversed. It must be redirected towards developing a policy of phasing out nuclear energy as smoothly and swiftly as possible.

Philip White
International Liaison Officer
Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center
Phone: 81-3-3357-3800 (office)

source…

Corn, the world’s second-most- widely grown grain, may be more vulnerable to global warming than previously thought, based on a study led by Stanford University that examined data from field trials.

The study found that a gain of 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in temperatures would lower yields for 65 percent of Africa’s corn fields assuming optimal rainfall, Stanford said in an online statement. The same warming under drought conditions would cut corn yields for all of Africa, with declines of 20 percent or more in 75 percent of growing areas, the study showed.

“The pronounced effect of heat on maize was surprising because we assumed maize to be among the more heat-tolerant crops,” Marianne Banziger, co-author of the study and deputy head of research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, or Cimmyt, said in a statement.

Global food output will have to rise 70 percent between 2010 and 2050 as the world population swells to 9 billion people and rising incomes boost meat and dairy consumption, the United Nations estimates. Crop failures are likely to become more common this century as climate change causes more extreme weather, a study led by the U.K.’s University of Leeds has shown. …more

Trade group offers $7,500 reward for information in sabotage at multiple farms

Police have reported a rash of sabotage actions against pig and turkey farms across northeastern Iowa. Damage is described as “considerable”. Neither the Animal Liberation Front nor other clandestine animal liberation group has yet claimed responsibility.

The actions are described as occurring at “multiple” farms in three counties. Three pig factory farms were vandalized in Chickasaw and Fayette Counties. One turkey factory farm in Bremer County was also targeted. One of the sabotaged farms was 5 miles northwest of New Hampton, site of the largest Animal Liberation Front mink liberation in U.S. history.

The sabotage included damaged office equipment and broken windows. Police have not ruled out the actions could be merely apolitical vandalism. However if there was no danger of animal’s being harmed in the action, factory farms would be a likely A.L.F. target and these attacks would fit the model of an Animal Liberation Front action.

Police are advising farms to be vigilant in monitoring their farms, and call police if they notice suspicious vehicles.

– Peter Young …source

A launch malfunction sent the Glory satellite crashing into the ocean, almost exactly mimicking the 2009 loss of NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory By John Matson | March 4, 2011 | 23

In the last few years NASA has built and launched two world-class climate satellites, both of which promised invaluable new data on the natural and human influences on Earth’s changing climate. Neither of them, however, will ever deliver the data that climate scientists so eagerly expected from them. Both spacecraft, in fact, are at the bottom of the ocean, having succumbed to nearly identical rocket mishaps that prevented them from reaching orbit.

The latest incident occurred in the wee morning hours of March 4, just after the Glory spacecraft lifted off atop a Taurus XL rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. About three minutes into the flight the protective nose cone, or fairing, enshrouding Glory failed to separate from the rocket as commanded, and the entire assembly came tumbling back to Earth. That is just what happened in February 2009, when NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) blasted off on board another Taurus XL rocket and came crashing down in the waters off Antarctica.

“All indications are that the satellite and rocket are in the southern Pacific ocean somewhere,” NASA launch director Omar Baez said of Glory in a somber March 4 news conference following the liftoff. Given the comparable launch weights of Glory and the OCO and the similarity of the malfunction, Glory may have ended up in close proximity to its fellow climate satellite. “Physics says it’s likely in the same spot or close to it,” Baez said. …more

Forecasting what the Earth’s climate might look like a century from now has long presented a huge challenge to climate scientists. But better understanding of the climate system, improved observations of the current climate, and rapidly improving computing power are slowly leading to more reliable methods.
by michael d. lemonick

A chart appears on page 45 of the 2007 Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), laying out projections for what global temperature and sea level should look like by the end of this century. Both are projected to rise, which will come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying even the slightest attention to the headlines over the past decade or so. In both cases, however, the projections span a wide range of possibilities. The temperature, for example, is likely to rise anywhere from 1.8 C to 6.4 C (3.2 F to 11.5 F), while sea level could increase by as little as 7 inches or by as much as 23 — or anywhere in between.

It all sounds appallingly vague, and the fact that it’s all based on computer models probably doesn’t reassure the general public all that much. For many people, “model” is just another way of saying “not the real world.” In fairness, the wide range of possibilities in part reflects uncertainty about human behavior: The chart lays out different possible scenarios based on how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases humans might emit over the coming century. Whether the world adopts strict emissions controls or decides to ignore the climate problem entirely will make a huge difference to how much warming is likely to happen. ..more

Senate includes wolf delisting bill in must-pass funding package
Provision would strip ESA protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana

Washington, D.C. (March 4, 2011) – In the latest effort to strip federal endangered species protections from gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, a Continuing Budget Resolution to fund federal government operations for the remainder of the fiscal year was unveiled in the Senate today. The provision directs the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the 2009 delisting rule, which was struck down in 2010 by a federal district court, and would insulate the reissued rule from further judicial review. If enacted, wolf management authority would be returned to all states in the region other than Wyoming. Idaho and Montana have made clear that wolf numbers will be drastically reduced in those states, and Wyoming has thus far refused to produce a wolf management plan that passes muster under the Endangered Species Act.

The following is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife:

“What do wolves have to do with critical funding for our federal government? Absolutely nothing. Congress should be focused on keeping our nation’s essential services up and running, not going back on America’s commitment to restore wolves to Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

“This provision would hand over responsibility for wolves to the states when their approach of late has been anything but responsible. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has repeatedly stated his intent to kill as many wolves as possible in Idaho, and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer recently encouraged ranchers to take the law into their own hands and kill wolves on sight. We should not be rewarding these states for thumbing their noses at the conservation of wolves, wildlife that belongs to all Americans. ..more

Bahrain: Hundreds of prisoners suffering from appalling conditions in Jaw Central Prison
Overcrowding, harsh punishments, and deprivation of contact with the outside world or complain
05 Nov 2011 – BCHR

Bahrain Centre for human rights (BCHR) is following up with great concern the deterioration of the situation of prisoners detained in the Jaw Central Prison of Bahrain, including being subjected to mistreatment and arbitrary punishments, especially solitary confinement which are sometimes associated with physical abuse. Moreover, this includes the General poor conditions caused by overcrowding the prison of large numbers of convicts that exceed its capacity, where 17 prisoners being crammed in one cell that could not accommodate more than four beds (with 2-floors). Those prisoners are being kept in the cell for at least twenty hours a day where they have only one health facility for shower, toilet and washing, and the room itself is being used to eat, sleep, rest and worship.

One cell is gathering different ages, where a large number of prisoners held on security and political issues are adolescents and young people who are rounded up with people convicted in criminal cases of various nationalities and some with criminal records. Prisoners find considerable difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of Quran, religious books associated with worship daily, and the biggest difficulty is the ability of getting any cultural or general books. Although daily newspapers provided by the prison administration are only those which support the Government’s policies, these newspapers are subject to censorship, and often are blocked because they contain news or information about the situation outside the prison.

Add to all that the complete denial of access to daily news through television channels. Despite the availability of televisions in the places that prisoners go to for few hours a day, but it display movies only to make the prisoners in almost total blackout from what’s happening in the country or abroad. Since there is tight control to communicate with families and that is once a week for half an hour, as well as family visit with a very limited number of them twice a month, the prisoner cannot convey their suffering in prison via communication with family, and if so, it is liable to penalties of imprisonment in solitary confinement, mistreatment and sometimes physically abused.

Beginning of mistreatment starts since the first reception of the prisoner where they are humiliated, offended and threatened. However, the Proper or bad treatment later depends on those in charge of the Prisoners Affairs Department where many of them seem to be part of political or sectarian mobilization, especially against prisoners with cases of political background. The prison lacks an effective inspection system to detect the abuses carried out by those or by the prison administration. Prisoners also do not have the opportunity to speak to the top freely and safely, thereby reducing their ability to fully improve conditions or protesting mistreatment. Indeed, the only tool left for prisoners to improve their situation is the hunger strike where any prisoner on hunger strike is being treated so cruelly exposing any paddle to solitary confinement and mistreatment and sometimes being beaten as a warning to other prisoners, as was the case July 2010 when the prison used the riot police to stop the prisoners on hunger strike by attacking and injuring them [1].

Prisoners are subjected to degrading treatment each time they are taken outside the prison or to meet their relatives as well as upon return. Where they are forced to take off all their clothes and wearing wrapper only, then sit in a certain way on the grounds that such a procedure to “prevent the smuggling of narcotic substances” as they claim, while that in itself is reason enough for separating prisoners according to their quality and nature of the charges against them. …more

Call to Action! Primero de Mayo Unido–Llamada a Accion!
Feb 19, 2011

This is a call to join a network of worker centers, community organizations, and labor unions to increase national participation and power on May Day 2011 to win good jobs, legalization, and equality for every worker. As we all know, Congress and state governments across the nation have begun to wage a relentless attack against all workers this year and in years to come, especially immigrant workers and workers of color. At the same time, the remarkable energy, turnout, and spirit seen five years ago on May 1, 2006 has yet to be duplicated.

Stagnant and falling wages, lingering unemployment, and escalating attacks on immigrants workers and the right of all workers to organize call for an outpouring of energy and action in the United States on May 1, 2011. A powerful grassroots movement can win fair-paying jobs and equality while defending against the expansion of Arizona-style racial-profiling laws, rampant firings, workplace raids, deportations, and the downward economic spiral confronting U.S. working families. To that end, we invite you to support and participate in the May Day United network along the following principles of unity:

1) Supporting increased participation in May Day 2011 actions and supporting local groups in organizing May Day actions where they do not yet exist.

2) Encouraging workers to request May 1st off, or for workers interested in striking, providing organizing and legal support in advance of May Day as well as comprehensive solidarity in the event of retaliation.

3) Calling for:
a) Jobs for all and legalization for all
b) The right to organize and true equality for every worker

To embrace this call, please e-mail or call Jen Waller at 510-326-3652 or info @ maydayunited.org.

by Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D.

This is a critical time for ocean ecosystems in general, but especially for coral reefs. Mounting pressures on land, along the coast and in the water converge in a perfect storm of threats to reefs. Since the last ‘Reefs at Risk’ report a decade ago, threats have gone from worrisome to dire. Reef ecosystems are changing rapidly and radically, with profound consequences for humanity.

But what’s really at stake?

Preserving coral reefs is about protecting coastal communities:

* Coastlines protected by reefs are more stable, more resistant to erosion, than those without. Up to 90 percent of the energy from wind-generated waves is absorbed by reef ecosystems. In Belize alone, coastal protection afforded by reefs and mangroves provides an estimated $231 to $347 million dollars in avoided damages per year.

Preserving coral reefs is about preserving cultures:

* As an example, the most linguistically diverse place on earth, Papua New Guinea, is home to approximately 820 different languages and to many people who are dependent on coral reefs. If we lose these reefs, we risk losing the communities and cultures that gave rise to such diversity.

Preserving coral reefs is about food security:

* We need to expand the way we think about food security far beyond just grains and livestock on land to include fisheries, given that vast numbers of people in developing countries rely on their coastal waters for essential protein.
* 500 million people worldwide depend daily upon coral reefs for their food and livelihoods. That’s 200 million more people than live in the U.S. alone.

Preserving coral reefs is about ensuring thriving economies:

* It is difficult to put a precise dollar value on many of the benefits provided by coral reef ecosystems, but by any estimate they are globally and locally valuable. Tourism, reef fisheries and shoreline protection are particularly noteworthy.

But most of all, preserving coral reefs is about our collective commitment to one another, to the rest of life on the planet and to our future.

A deadly combination of local and global threats are putting these important ecosystems and their services at risk. …more