Tag Archives: tea party

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Mountains of Eastern Japan now Radioactive!

Japan’s science ministry conducted helicopter surveys of radiation, covering 22 prefectures in eastern and central Japan.  They found that long lasting cesium is contaminating a large area.

The highest level of cesium contamination is around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, with some areas hitting more than one million becquerels per square meter!

The scientists also found that the mountain ranges nearby have been blocking a lot of cesium from spreading further south.  As a result, geographic regions about 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the north, and about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest, are contaminated with more than 30,000 becquerels per square meter.

They say the cesium contamination will last decades.  And remember, the Fukushima Daiichi disaster reactors are still emitting lots of radiation!

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Pacific Cod & Tuna contaminated with Cesium!

Greenpeace Japan has been monitoring radiation levels in sea food for the past several months.  They say Pacific cod and tuna are proving to be very susceptible to cesium contamination.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is not only spewing radiation into the air, but pouring it into the Pacific Ocean.

Greenpeace Japan tested seafood in just five supermarkets in Japan, from October through the beginning of November.  Out of 75 samples, 27 were positive for radioactive cesium 134 and 137.

They found that Pacific cod was the most contaminated, along with Bigeye and Skipjack tuna.  The fish had been caught off the coasts of Hokkaido, Iwate and Miyagi.  These are areas directly affected by the radiation pouring into the Pacific Ocean.

The researchers discovered that canned fish could potentially be more contaminated, because in Japan regulations for canned fish are less strict than fresh fish.  Greenpeace Japan says they did find a small level of radiation in a can of mackerel.

Fukushima

Farmer Incompetence: Japanese fruit farmers to strip the bark off their trees, hope to prevent radiation contamination, more proof of a coming global food crisis!

Fruit farmers in Fukushima Prefecture (home of the radiation spewing Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant) say radiation is coating their trees and fruit. They’ve come up with a plan to stop the absorption of radiation; use power washers to strip top layers of bark.

The Japanese Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives believes that by stripping the bark off the fruit trees, they can halve the amount of radiation contamination.  Major problem: Fukushima Daiichi is still spewing radiation!

By stripping the bark, in an ongoing radioactive contamination environment, they will actually increase the chances of contamination!

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Radioactive Strontium found in Tokyo & Yokohama, for the second time!

A citizens group tested soil from three location in Tokyo and Yokohama, and found radioactive strontium, as much as 51 becquerels per kilogram.

The samples were taken at the end of October.  This is not the first time strontium 90 has been found.  At the beginning of October it was confirmed that samples taken on a building’s roof top, in Yokohama, was contaminated with 195 becquerels of strontium 90.

Strontium 90 has a half life of 28.8 years. It can cause bone cancer.

The citizens group believes the strontium 90 came from the disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, which is about 170 miles from Yokohama.  However, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is claiming that it could not have come from Fukushima Daiichi.

The government officials say it would be more likely that strontium 89 would be coming from the failed nuke plant.  This doesn’t make sense, because strontium 89 is used medically, to treat bone cancer, and in rare cases to treat pain.  In my quick research I could not find anything that said strontium 89 is a by product of nuclear reactors.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web site only said that it could be found around nuclear plants.

I can only conclude that the Japanese government officials don’t know what they’re talking about.  When you look up strontium 90 you’ll find that it is specifically a creation of nuclear fission, and found in nuclear fallout, so the citizens group is right!

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Global Economic War: Apple now takes the Chinese Yuan, over the U.S. Dollar. Chinese buyers dominate the internet!

“The service has been there since last Friday. It’s really good news for our customers and local application developers.”-Apple China statement

California based Apple Incorporated decided to accept the Chinese yuan (aka Renminbi, or RMB) in an unannounced move last week. One reason is that China is now the world’s biggest internet market!!!

The App Store will now accept yuan credit and debit cards issued by more than 20 Chinese banks.  Another reason for the move is that many Chinese customers using credit and debit cards issued from outside China, were getting their info ripped off.

Apple’s fiscal 4th quarter revenues from China hit $4.5 billion. Their U.S. operations had more revenue, but revenue from China is growing so fast it will soon pass up the revenues made in the U.S.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Republican & Media Incompetence: California Republican Darrell Issa, and some mainstream media sources, say the Postal Service gets money from tax payers. Idiots!!!

“The Postal Service still seems to hold the misguided belief that accounting gimmicks and an increased reliance on taxpayer support will give it flexibility to push back insolvency for a few more years.”-Darrel Issa, Republican Representative from California

California Republican Darrel Issa has just revealed himself to be a liar or an idiot!

First off: Postal officials have been straight forward with their financial mess.  And most of that mess has been caused by Congress!!!  Read my September posting of the PBS interview with the Postmaster General, and the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers union.

Secondly: The United States Postal Service does not make money off taxpayers, they are solely funded by the postage they charge (prices are controlled by U.S. Congress, not the USPS), and other products they sell.  The cuts being made to the USPS will have no affect on U.S. government debt!!!

Darrel Issa is a California Republican, yet he doesn’t know that two other California Republicans pushed for the USPS to become self supporting?  Yeah, those guys were Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan!!!

In 1970, under Nixon the Postal Reorganization Act was passed and signed into law.  This act ceased tax payer funding for the USPS (prior to the Reorganization Act it was known as the Postal Department), and forced it to become self supporting (although it does not have to make a profit).

In 1982, under Reagan, another act was passed and signed that added U.S. postage stamps to the “postal products” that the USPS could support itself with (until then the Government took all the money from sales of stamps).

Perhaps Darrel Issa is talking about the “Postal Service Fund”?  This is a fund set up by Congress, paid for with taxes, to cover the postage free mailing for all legally blind persons, and for mail in election ballots sent from U.S. citizens living overseas, and, for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies.  It does not cover any other operations of the USPS!

Perhaps Darrel Issa wants to end the free mailings for blind people, for absentee election ballots, and for providing addresses to state and local child support agencies?

Whatever the reason, this is a clear case of politicians, and the media, of being incompetent, or intentionally misleading the general public.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Postmaster General says Draconian cuts needed for self supporting U.S. Postal Service

“Both bills have elements that delay tough decisions and impose greater constraints on our business model.”-Patrick Donahoe, Postmaster General of the United States

The Postmaster General was referring to bills proposed by the U.S. Congress.  He’s still pushing for the more drastic changes he wants, like ended Saturday deliveries, and laying off more employees than proposed by the Congressional bills.

The biggest postal union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, says it’s close to a cost cutting deal with the Postmaster General.

The USPS is dealing with a 20% drop in letter business, just for this year.  Also, Congress created rules that forced the self supporting USPS to pay into Federal retirement programs.  The payments stolen by Congress, I mean, paid in advance, amounted to a decade’s worth of retirement fund payments.  So far Congress has refused to refund the over payments, although their proposed bills would give some money back, but only for use to buy out thousands of Postal workers.

When Postmaster General Donahoe talks about a “business model” he’s referring to the fact that in the 1980s Congress forced the USPS to become self supporting, meaning no more tax payer support.  The plan meant for the USPS to operate as a private business, so far Congress has actually interfered with that.

Whether Congress gets its way, or the Postmaster General, the result will be thousands more people unemployed.

The United States Postal Service does not make money off taxpayers, they are solely funded by the postage they charge (prices are controlled by U.S. Congress, not the USPS), and other products they sell.  The cuts being made to the USPS will have no affect on U.S. government debt!

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Ron Paul says Iran has no nukes! CBS News reveals its ignorance, or its intentional covering up of issues involving U.S. foreign policy

“Iran doesn’t have a bomb. There’s no proof. There’s no new information regardless of this new report [IAEA report], and for us to overreact and to talk about bombing Iran, that’s much more dangerous.”-Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Texas

Presidential candidate Ron Paul made that statement on CBS’s Face the Nation.  But the interviewer, Bob Schieffer, tried his darnedest to make Ron Paul look unAmerican, and the interview really came across as Ron Paul bashing.

Schieffer stated: “No one has suggested, in the U.S. government, that we are going to bomb Iran. What they have said is we’re going to impose very tough sanctions. You have said you’re against sanctions.”

Paul replied: “Yeah, because sanctions are the initial steps to war…”

If you take political science courses on war then you’ll learn that sanctions are the first step towards war.

Ron Paul then questioned Schieffer’s statment that “no one” in our government wants to bomb Iran: “…if your saying that nobodies suggesting it why don’t you listen to the debates, I mean listen to some of the other candidates…” At that point Schieffer cuts Paul off, claiming that he is listening to the debates.

A great example is another Republican candidate, Newt Gingrich, who, on November 12, called for the assassination of Iranian scientists (something the Israeli Mossad has already done).

Schieffer admits that candidates, including Mitt Romney, has made such suggestions, but he says “the government” hasn’t made such statements.

Paul then blasts Schieffer: “Obviously they [U.S. government] haven’t said that, but the implication is that nothing is off the table.  You’ve heard them say that!”

Schieffer replies: “Well yes, alright, lets move on then.”

Yes, people of the Untied States, lets move on away from the mainstream, entrenched, warmongering, working class enslaving Elites!  Vote against any candidate that sounds mainstream, and Ron Paul sure isn’t mainstream!

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International

United Police Kingdom: Privatization plans, disgused as austerity measures, backfires. Prison Guards threaten to join protestors, after government cuts pension plan, and prisons fill with record number of people

Thousands of British prison officers say they might join the planned nationwide strikes on November 30.

The Prison Officers Association has 35,000 members, and at least 15,000 will go on strike.  That’s enough to shut down the operations of British prisons.  To make matters worse, the number of people now in British prisons hit a record 87,945 last week.  The prisons are nearly maxed out.

The U.K. government wants to cut retirement plans, and that seems to be the straw that is breaking the prison guards’ back: “We are hoping that we can come to a settlement on pensions, but if we can’t, then we will support the November 30 day of action.”-Steve Gillan, Prison Officers Association

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America! Corporate Lobbyists present plan to shut down OWS & Tea Party, more proof that the elites want turn the U.S. into a Prison Planet

MSNBC revealed a memo, written by former employees of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, which basically asks for money to research ways to shut down the OWS and Tea Party movements.

Part of its goal is to prevent Democrats from joining the OWS movement, because that would threaten Corporate America: “This would mean more than just short term political discomfort for Wall Street…It has the potential to have very long lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to the American Bankers Association. It asks for more than $850,000 to conduct a 60 day study, which would include identifying Democratic candidates that are anti-Corporate America.

The Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford proposal also suggests that members of the Tea Party are close to joining forces with the OWS movement, and that upcoming end of year bonuses for corporate officials could result in Tea Party and OWS becoming one powerful movement: “Well known Wall Street companies stand at the nexus of where OWS protestors and the Tea Party overlap on angered populism…This combination has the potential to be explosive later in the year when media reports cover the next round of bonuses and contrast it with stories of millions of Americans making do with less this holiday season.”

The Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford proposal strongly suggest making examples of anyone who goes against Corporate America: “A big challenge is to demonstrate that these companies still have political strength and that making them a political target will carry a severe political cost.”

You need any more proof that Wall Street/Corporate America runs this country?