MILKSOP or LIMPSY?

US nuclear power plants should all be shutdown, say an expert panel of two former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners, a nuclear engineer, a Cape Cod politician, and Naoto Kan (Japan's Prime Minister at Fukushima Daiichi's Nuclear Disaster).

Meeting in Boston at the Statehouse, the panel criticized Massachusetts combined Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station and Pilgrim Nuclear Waste Stockpile.

There are over 3,000 spent fuel rods at Pilgrim. "Is Pilgrim any different from Fukushima Dai-ichi? The reactor is identical to Dai-ichi's units 2 and 3; in a critical way, it's worse. The Japanese have seven or eight years of spent fuel stored there, we have 35 years of spent fuel sitting in a pool in Pilgrim, and the pool sits on top of a building."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn't properly protected the public.

US nuke licensing is both MILKSOP and LIMPSY:

"milksop"

manipulable

indulgent

lenient

kowtowing

servile

obliging

permissive

"limpsy"

lenient

indulgent

manipulable

permissive

servile

yielding

Vigorous Debate?

Edward Snowden exposed a range of surprising & chilling operations by our overgrown secret police. And the NSA & GCHQ revelations released thus far are just tip of the iceberg. What characterizes subsequent debate?

The UK is somewhat on message in discussing appropriate limits to media debate (link) - "Politics should be about playing the ball, not the man, certainly not the man's family." Commentary included questions about religious faith, persistent foreignness (link), and an immigrant's stake in society.

America's media, in federal shutdown & nine days to government repayment default, continues reviewing Hanna Montana's butt.

Fukushima Cost to You

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster (which is still continuing) people living somewhat near a coastal nuclear plant should be paying much more for insurance - if they're insured at all.

Home insurance, health insurance, the risks are clearly high and much can go wrong.

We foolishly continue to stockpile nuclear waste next to operating nuclear reactors, just off beaches. Crazy.

NYC Madness

Was it a motorcycle gang that swarmed investment banker Alexian Lien, dragged him from his Range Rover, and beat him? Was it a mob enraged by Lien's seeming callousness? Was this an ethnically-fuelled attack? Or a bike vs. car rivalry? Was it a class war skirmish? Was it common road rage?

A daytime drive in upper Manhattan for a young family quickly turned nasty last Sunday (29 Sept) when they collided with a pack of motorcyclists. Plainclothes police were among the motorcyclists, and at least some of the multiple altercations were filmed over the at-least four mile chase & assault(s). Nobody was killed, but a man was crushed under Alexian Lien's SUV Range Rover, and Lien was subsequently dragged from the driver's seat and beaten in the street in front of his wife & toddler.

The bikers were part of a larger annual rally of some 1000 motorcyclists from around the region converging on Times Square (link), in which police reportedly forcefully intervened - making many arrests & confiscating 55 motorcycles.

The incident makes clear that sudden attacks can easily happen - in New York City or elsewhere, by a mob or by the cops.

Mr. Lien seems suddenly to have been confronted with annoyance, then trouble. How to best react? Conditions escalated / deteriorated quickly. While Lien survived with reportedly minor injuries, it is imaginable he & his family might have been killed. Subsequent reports on Lien's background (link) (link) and financial situation (involving Skrill emoney / Moneybookers, Investcorp and the Bahraini royal family) led to Lien seeking withdrawal from LinkedIn and other social media. Confrontation thus continues shaking-up those involved & peripheral. Of course the "live & let live" option seems most appealing in hindsight.

Bugging Your Bookmarks

It's unreasonably invasive when the secret police can legally sort through anyone's bookmarks & web browser history, secretly devising imagined personality profiles.

Curiosity is important for personal and social development. Creativity is stifled when we must lodge a state-sanctioned censor in every home, office & human mind.

Soldiering the Shutdown

Sequestration

Standing armies

Shutdown

Soldiers soldiers soldiers

No money for nothing.
But  MILITARISM  continues grabbing big funds.

Republicans Win !!!!

The Republican quest for smaller government has been successful.

The forced shutdown of the U.S. Federal Government is due to the House of Representatives failing to fund the U.S. Federal budget.

Many Republicans seek to eliminate assorted government operations, especially introduction of the Affordable Care Act (dubbed "ObamaCare").

After failing to strip away health care law, they sought to defund or delay it. Failing that, a hardcore "Tea Party" faction determined to shutdown government.

What happens? National Parks shutdown; the IRS stops tax audits; Small Business Administration Loan processing is halted, as are Veteran's benefits proceedings; the E-Verify system stops authentications (to eliminate illegal employment of foreign workers). It's Law of the Jungle: the biggest & meanest slaughter freely.

Programs monitoring illegality, that hamper big industry from wholly dominating American life, are out of operation. Terminating anything holding them accountable, Republicans thus win.

Dirty Bombs from US Spies

The secret police and spy services of the USA have gathered together a dangerous, even deadly system of intelligence gathering. Spying on so many people leaves huge security flaws. They spy because they can - it's what they do. Problems include misuse of security intelligence for commercial advantage, and blackmail.

It's natural we question the patriotism of those ferreting out the most intimate details of our lives, and challenge the widespread use of private contractors in top secret programs.

Ultimately, even when the secret police can point to multiple successes, consider also their many failures. By gathering & packaging confidential private information, they create dirty bombs. Allowing others to misuse intel about our leaders, neighbors, and perhaps our own family is inexcusable. Arrogantly spying on our allies and on prominent foreigners is odious and rude.

It all stinks. We must limit what the secret police are allowed to do, and greatly improve oversight and proper accountability. 

Pity Iraq

Pity Iraq.

First we supported Saddam Hussein with billions of dollars as he sacrificed his people against Iran. Then we turn and bomb the shit out of the country, tearing away infrastructure and allowing our mercenary-terrorists (Blackwater) to kick ass. Now Iraq is destabilized and wounded.

Surely we're partly at fault for their pain. But we've our own chronic creeping problems.

Now we try to ignore Iraqis. But we've done similar things in Egypt & elsewhere. Is retribution inevitable? Why not pull back our overseas armies, secure & keep our own borders safe, and truly beg forgiveness?  Our deadly militarism isn't amusing.

Political Arson

The Republican Party, USA, promises to burn down government. Without enough votes & support to make policy, they are only destructive. Unable to choose the color of a room, they vow to burn down our house.

They'll horribly wound Americans and the world economy. Irresponsible idiots.

Hello ?!

Who is served by the Surveillance State?

We're told it keeps terrorists from hurting us, and any level of cost is appropriate.

We're told the secret police spies have "public interest"at heart.

But as the government throws their net, and catches everything we think & do, what do they notice? Are they paying attention to our troubles, our pains, the fact so many are hungry and unsatisfied?

Do the watchers care we live carefully, shop cheaply, smile & greet our neighbors? Surely instead they look for activists, anarchists, and those who might fight against the rulers. It's been the same shit for generations:  "the haves" fear the "have nots" -- it's been so for millenia. Our secret police serve the master class. They don't really care what miserable things we do. We are significant only so much as we're any threat. As we fade to illness and death, we're boring and in the way. Our monies simply fund imprisonment.

Corporate interests pay attention to whether we use Crest® or Colgate®, and how often we brush our teeth. When P&G salespersons visit a home, they look beyond furniture and ambiance to the sink and the brand of dishwashing liquid, and at brands used in the bath. Their systems monitor our purchases. No doubt the Federal secret police also fish in such data streams, not only because they can, but with expectation they can better profile enemies of the state ... enemies of the rich.

But our energies can fuel better living and a brighter world. Work on those positive things, and give thanks if the secret police haven't interfered too negatively in your life to date.  Thank you!

Trust Everyone?

Sir David Omand writes in today's Guardian (link) about secret government spying: "we all need to have confidence that in the hands of our authorities these powerful tools of interception are not being abused. We have to have trust..."

Sir David is no doubt an honourable person. He worked many years for GCHQ (a branch of the British secret police) and as a well-connected senior government official is familiar with this topic. But he misses the point.

Abuse of authority & public trust includes not keeping intelligence data completely secure. Clearly the secret police have failed. Information leaks to private companies, to foreign interests, and to the public. Many key people involved should lose their jobs for such foolishness.

This intelligence gathering will continue to fail. Because some of the information they collect is incendiary, disquieting and valuable, outsiders are eager to tap into the details.

We can increase the guard over the periphery, and automate many processes, but the project is inherently unstable and unsustainable.

We can trust that some people will always seek shortcuts to wealth & power.

Political Bribes & Lies

Korean President Park Geun-hye was criticized during her election campaign for repeatedly promising to provide a national pension to all Korean senior citizens. Many observers felt this was a kind of payoff or bribery for votes, as her promises were very specific: 200,000 won monthly to everyone over 65 years old.

After winning election, the right-wing President now breaks her promise. Is it a bribe if it's a lie?

Shouldn't people have recognized Park's promises were too good to be true? Those who feel cheated had best be more careful. It's sad that in Dynamic Korea so many elderly enter this wintertime in grim poverty. Some still hope to receive scaled-back pensions (lesser amounts) next year July at earliest...

Protecting Police

Police officers need to protect themselves, and we can help. Police are not simply on the front line of conflict - these people are the front line of conflict. Because they often deal with riff-raff, lawbreakers & troublemakers, they're on the lookout for troublemakers even when surrounded by friends.

Police are exposed to danger. In the USA, militarization of the police is a major problem. Too many cops carry a military mindset to police work; but the public's very different from a military enemy.

In cases of breakdown, police work hard to preserve community. We can help. Don't allow your community to degenerate into anarchy.

For self-preservation, if not as a vital service, police should meet with local people and listen to their problems. Public outreach can be both with & without elected officials. If common citizenry have much to vent & complain about, it's better to open discussions early - to go without contact until a demonstration or the beginning of rioting is far too late.

It's a failure for police when typical citizens with minor gripes attend a public activity or demonstration and get violently clubbed (or gassed) by aggressive law officers who require instant obedience. The community mainstream becomes radicalized only when brutally abused.

At quiet times, police & their communities must build goodwill. Both sides should understand they are working together. And ultimately the police work for the people. When they don't, of course they feel under threat...

Police Violence

Too much violence stems from police believing they're in charge of our communities. They feel entitled to yell and to attack anything out of line. Peaceful protest is suppressed. Law-abiding citizens are intimidated.

Keeping everything quiet & peaceful can be impossible in conditions of great injustice.

Too many are homeless. Too many are unemployed. And too many people calmly concerned are suddenly abused by police.

The police club people who don't obey. Mayor Bloomberg set the police on the peaceful New York City Occupy encampment - they clubbed, arrested, and ripped everything to shreds. Other politicians in 'their' cities followed after with similar rough tactics, such as Fredrik Reinfeldt in Stockholm.

These are not cases of demonstrators attacking police or buildings - even determined children would cause more damage. "Police success" comes by clubbing non-violent unprepared citizens. So heavy-handed!

Many have complaint. Most of have questions for the powerful.

Have we come to expect any question or complaint justifies a police beating, a violent attack with truncheons or rifle butts by officer-tyrants, summary arrest, or worse?

Keepin' You Slaves

There's one good reason the US Republican elite hate Obamacare.

Their slaves git uppity.

A national health service covers medical problems with no regard to employment. Just now, many people are tied to their jobs - to quit or change employment threatens health coverage, perhaps jeopardizing home and possessions. It's as if we're indentured by threat of health disaster.

The American people should wake up & understand we're being played as schmucks.

Enjoy the Tea Party!

Feel something dribbling on your head?

It's crumbs...

The Rich  enjoy a real Tea Party, as We the People fight for crumbs. We aren't poor because we're lazy -- we're kept poor. Greedy Richie grabs the lion's share (and the jackal & vulture's shares) at protected celebrations; we scavenge rag & bone.

Hired Help Thank Obama

The Obama administration has scheduled closing the domestic help low pay loophole (link). From 1st Jan, 2015, direct care workers will be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act for minimum wage and overtime protections.

Servants and housekeepers are not now automatically protected if they provide care services. The revisions will cover babysitters placed in employment by agencies (link). Wealthy folk argued domestic helpers were part of the family, and didn't need worker protections.

Bullshit.

Disposable hired help is drudge & peon. The family mule ain't family.

These are economic relationships. Boss man holds power, able to sever all contact at will.

Congratulations to the Department of Labor for (finally) protecting two million underclass workers.

Learn from disaster Fukushima?

"Thousands of tons of heavily contaminated water are pouring through the Fukushima site, carrying a devil’s brew of long-lived poisonous isotopes into the Pacific (link). Tuna irradiated with fallout traceable to Fukushima have already been caught off the coast of California."

Similar highly-dangerous nuclear installations exist in assorted places around the world.

The Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in southern California, and the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts -- each are disasters poised to cripple their regions.

Many oppose these operations; Not enough. Enjoy the crap shoot.

Local Fukushima people burn in hell for generations thanks to their power company, TEPCO.

All Right, All Wrong

Below's a video link to 10minutes of NYC police tactics as they dampen & dominate dissent:

http://vimeo.com/74606365#

( Discussion here )

Many people imagine young protestors should be contained, or be shut up. But then comes the day you find your own objections or questions ignored... A nearby nuclear plant? An obvious polluter? A case of official corruption?  Too bad old git.   We need checks & balances, or those in power shit wherever...

Occupy Militarism

Sad Fact USA:  How our tax dollars are spent
Source:  Federal discretionary budget (billions; 2012)

Militarists now Occupy America !

Military jobs

Pollute  everyone  with  fear

We're all enlisted!

Old Man Put Down

Monroe Isadore was killed nine days ago (link) in his home. 

He was 107 years old, shot multiple times by a SWAT assault unit.

Local police and the regional SWAT team believed Isadore was a threat. They reported he had a pistol, and that he'd shot at them.

Now with hundreds of worldwide reports of the killing, and much criticism, no information or details have been released about recovery of a weapon. Did Grandpa Isadore have a gun?

At his funeral, Isadore was compared to a mighty oak which suddenly disappeared, but left behind many acorns - he's survived by 10 children, 27 grandchildren and 66 great-grandchildren.

Now an Arkansas judge has sealed all police records, and forbidden any further release of information to the public.

But among documents still online - including copies of three local police reports, we can find troubling details. In the hours after the shooting, over thirty people were recorded to have entered Isadore's home. One local commentator termed it "contamination" of the crime scene and "a sighseeing tour"

1. Chief Hubanks
2. Lt. Butler
3. Kyle Huter
4. Mozell Gipson
5. Chief Whitfield
6. Pastor T. Smith
7. Lt. Fratesi
8. CPT Hadley
9. SWAT
10. Det. J. Stephens
11. Chad Kelley
12. E. Belcher
13. Tracy Smith
14. Shea Furr
15. Officer Kirkpatrick
16. Crime Scene Tech Ruhl
17. Lt. Richardson
18. Officer Lamb
19. Officer Jerrell Johnson
20. SGT C. Willams
21. Brian Ackron
22. SGT Marcus Smith
23. Kim Phillips
24. Officer Ryan Edwards
25. Officer Joe Anderson
26. Deputy Chief Sergeant
27. Officer Ablondi
28. Chaplin John Smith
29. Det. Casandra McAfee
30. Det. T. Johnson
31. Anthony Craig
32. SGT Lynn Wright
33. Ferddie Lewis
34. Officer Keith Banks

Disposable Heroes

The press system is riddled with corporate interests - they redirection reporting to tales that sell. Our entertainment media readily spikes unwelcome stories that describe their own failings.

Sometimes these include unseemly collusion with officialdom, as with Sen. Joseph McCarthy's witch hunting. Is the crisis of Edward Snowden similar? Did we eagerly follow the hunt for Osama Bin Laden while ignoring the gross failures of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and the inept Bush administration? Are we deflected from fear, or from germane criticism of our officials, by lurid stories?

Remember this case?

'"Jewell saved the lives of many members of the technical staff working on live TV coverage of the Olympics. Richard ran all the way up and down the four stories of the tower and evacuated everybody, it must have been between 40 and 50 people. Seconds later the thing exploded," said Bruce Rodgers, president of Tribe Inc and designer of the AT&T Global Village, where the explosion happened.'

'"My whole corner was completely obliterated - steel shrapnel, pipe material lodged into the decking of the structure and embedded inches into the ceiling. The chairs that we usually sat in were completely sheared and ripped apart. Had he not gotten those people out, I know that at least 20 people on the first two floors of the tower would be dead."'

US news & entertainment media, along with federal law enforcement officials, developed an agenda for the Atlanta bombing that didn't include offering praise or support for a pudgy hero who lived with his mom.

Three months after the bombing, and after officially-sanctioned FBI hanky panky, the U.S. Justice Dept. explicitly exonerated Mr. Jewell.  Ten years later, Georgia's Governor officially commended him as a hero for saving lives. Jewell was quoted at that time as counting himself fortunate not to be in prison or the electric chair, but "Ten years of my life is missing..." 

(A year earlier, domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph had been sentenced to life imprisonment on pleading guilty to assorted attacks including the Olympic Park bombing).

In 2002, CBS 60 Minutes II had highlighted Jewell as a hero who'd never been treated as a hero. Nobody "ever bothered to even say thanks - not the city of Atlanta, not the state of Georgia, not the Olympic Committee in Atlanta, not the International Committee. He's so tainted that even when he was exonerated, no one still wanted to really be identified with him..."

What if this cruel bombing had killed 20 - 50 people, and maimed more? Would the 1996 Atlanta Olympics have been cancelled? Or might terrorism have been more appropriately highlighted - perhaps averting 9/11? Surely at least those dozens of people evacuated by Richard Jewell, and their families, owe Jewell & his family substantial thanks. 

A year after meeting the Governor of Georgia, Jewell was dead from a bevy of health problems. Survived by his wife Dana, and his mother Barbara (Bobbi), Richard A. Jewell was just 44.

Watergate Today

Would the revelations of White House crimes we now know as the Watergate scandal come to light today?

I rather imagine Woodward & Bernstein of the Washington Post would be silenced.

Balance & Joy

It's tough to write of balance, of how to appreciate living.

Sure, I can talk of feeling an active healthy burn at a physical workout, or admire the taste of nice foods. It's easy to speak of laughing with friends, or enjoying family time. But how to relate those experiences and a centered focus with another's more tumultuous lifestyle? 

What of when conditions are not good?

Poor conditions are part of life - often. Yet some people are able to find stability in horribly adverse situations. Aspire to such balance. Yoga & breathing exercise can help. 

We all know the words concentration, meditation, surrender & relaxation. But dynamic balance is not fatalism or ignoring areas of trouble. We necessarily refocus, and give up the unnecessary.

It's good concentrating on sport or games at least part of every day.  
Play !

Spanking Syria

Imagine any self-appointed policeman (think George Zimmerman, the heavily-armed neighborhood watchdog) - clumsily inflaming every situation by eager, misguided, unilateral bullying.

Why's the USA a self-appointed world policeman? Costs too much !

We're an arms-dealing busybody: pushing-in & causing problems.

We spent $16,000+ on Iraq war per American. Many gave their lives.  That's $80,000 for a US family of five. (We've now fewer families of 5... we can't afford the costs - can't afford these wars).

We could have saved lives and used the money to pay each Iraqi $150,000 (forty years their average annual income).

We've yet to pay for Vietnam. US combat boots still trample Afghanistan...

It's more important America invests in its own infrastructure than butt-in on far away sectarian, ethnic, tribal conflicts. Militarism causes trouble. Our militarism kills us.

Where's Whitey?

We're told James "Whitey" Bulger, now 84 years old, is in U.S. federal custody awaiting a sentencing hearing from 13 November. But who knows? An American I saw in Tuscany a few weeks ago looked very much like Bulger, and spoke with a Boston accent.

Bulger worked cozily with the FBI in the past, notwithstanding being a mass-murderer.

Does Bulger even now enjoy R&R (rest & relaxation)?

Uncover Secret Police Crime

The full extent of US secret police spying is yet uncovered, but recent revelations are important.

Knowing the forms of spying, and some types of materials collected (reports range up to "collect it all"), we can begin seeking answers to the most important question:  WHY ?

•  Is the information used for blackmail ?
•  Is competitive intelligence used by private firms for profit?
•  Is data accessed or compromised by hostile forces? 
•  Who will befriend an actively corrupting, admitted spy? 

Our secret police surveillance data is just like a gold mine, with constant guard essential for both wealth & toxic poisons. Typically, these miners corrupted our environment.

Gits wit Guns

Monroe Isadore is a tenant suddenly told to "Move Out" ...
He is 107 years old. Isadore retreats to his room... He'd just arrived in August. He's reportedly got a gun. (link) 

When landlady Pauline Lewis telephoned police, ultimately more than 25 cars of SWAT & other law enforcement officers took over the quiet neighborhood.

A Pine Bluff Arkansas SWAT team managed to end their three-hour standoff with the local man by shooting him dead. Mr. Monroe Isadore, gunned down in his home (link), was 107.

Neighbors criticized the kill.  (link)

Isadore was a regular churchgoer who liked his "Man of Faith" cap

Easier to shoot than to get the old fella workin' on the chain gang? 

Further details of the 7 September incident are still emerging. It's not been revealed if the deceased had a written lease. Police have yet to release details of Monroe's weaponry or if a gun was recovered. Aside from one dead old timer with multiple gunshots, there were no additional injuries.

A subsequent report demands answers (link): "Mr. Isadore was legally blind. Mr. Isadore had hearing impairment. Mr. Isadore was confused..."  Police have thus far continued to suppress details of any recovered weaponry.

The lesson: be very cautious before calling police to your home.

It's this year's 10th shooting death in Pine Pluff, a city in south-central Arkansas pop. 50,000 (minus ten)...

Monroe Isadore when alive (undated)

War-o-the-Week

The militaristic argument for war has become President Obama loudly bellowing "TRUST me"...  U.S. Secretary.of State John Kerry joins him.

The extent they are honorable is not the issue.

We've gone that route before, with Secretary of State Colin Powell urging war on Iraq at the UN. They also claimed then a recording of military villains overheard discussing illegal weaponry. (link)  It's deja vu all over again.

Militarists actively deceive.

Just say NO