Month: January 2012

Report: Woman Speaks Out on Her Health Problems in Post-Accident Fukushima

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– Report from Fukushima (2) Minami Soma: A Woman Speaks Out on Her Health Problems in Post-Accident Fukushima (EX-SKF, Jan. 2, 2012):

Teeth and toenails falling off and clumps of hair coming off, she reports in her blog. She doesn’t seem to care any more if people dismiss her as fabricating the story, and just tells as a matter of fact what’s been happening to her and her husband, probably both in their early 40s. They live in Minami Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture, within 25 kilometers from the wrecked plant. The district she and husband live have somehow escaped the designation of any “evacuation zone”, even though she says the radiation is just as high or higher. She was a high school teacher until 2 years ago, and now she teaches children at her home.

Read moreReport: Woman Speaks Out on Her Health Problems in Post-Accident Fukushima

Yomiuri: Japan Government Knew It Would Be 170-Km Radius Forced Evacuation if Fukushima Had Another Explosion

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– Yomiuri: The Government Knew It Would Be 170-Km Radius Forced Evacuation if Fukushima Had Another Explosion (EX-SKF, Jan. 2, 2012):

Old news that Yomiuri Shinbun snuck in on December 31, 2011 says it would have been a forced evacuation in the areas within the 170-kilometer radius from the plant if another hydrogen explosion had taken place at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

It was in the report submitted by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission under the Cabinet Office on March 25, 2011. And what did the PM and his ministers do? They sat on it, lest the information might cause panic.

The explosion didn’t happen. Is it OK therefore? No. A tiny group of politicians and government experts gambled the lives of people living in the entire Tohoku and Kanto areas in exchange for appearing as if they were in control and the situation was under control. They weren’t, and it wasn’t’.

But at that time, there was a full-on media campaign to discredit any and everyone in any country who dare reported things were not going well in Japan on the Fukushima accident. The Japanese government particularly attacked the foreign press, alleging the foreigners were spreading “baseless rumors” on the accident.

(Ah, those bad old days, when the first trolls started to appear on my little blog telling me I was lying about the accident and radiation contamination.)

From Yomiuri Shinbun (12/31/2011):

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It has been revealed that the Japan Atomic Energy Commission under the Cabinet Office compiled a report titled “A rough sketch (outline) of an unforseen accident scenario at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant” right after the accident started in March 2011, and submitted the report on March 25, two weeks after the start of the accident, to the then-prime minister Kan.

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According to the report, if another explosion, such as hydrogen explosion, happened, the worst-case scenario would require: (1) forcibly moving the residents within the 170-kilometer radius areas; (2) evacuation within the 250-kilometer radius. The 170-kilometer radius would include southern Tohoku, part of Niigata Prefecture and part of northern Kanto. The 250-kilometer radius would include most of Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, and part of Yokohama City.

Read moreYomiuri: Japan Government Knew It Would Be 170-Km Radius Forced Evacuation if Fukushima Had Another Explosion

2011 Worst Police Misconduct Video of the Year Reader’s Poll

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Be warned, many of these videos are very graphic and should be disturbing to watch, viewer discretion is advised… with that said, here is the list of final candidates:

– 2011 Worst Police Misconduct Video of the Year Reader’s Poll (Injustice Everywhere)

Results from the previous Worst Police Misconduct Video Reader’s Polls can be found at the following locations:
Worst Police Misconduct Videos of 2010
Worst Police Misconduct Videos of 2009

President Obama Signs ‘Toughest Yet’ (= Warlike) Iran Sanctions (Which Are Part Of The NDAA) Into Law

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And so it begins.

Got gold and silver?

– Obama signs ‘toughest yet’ Iran sanctions (Deutsche Welle, Jan. 1, 2012):

Mounting tensions between the United States and Iran are likely to flare even further after US President Barack Obama has signed new sanctions against Iran’s financial and oil sectors.

US President Barack Obama has signed into law tough new sanctions targeting Iran’s banking and oil sectors. Effectively, the measures will force companies and financial institutions throughout the world to choose between the United States and Iran as their business partner.

The sanctions, conceived to punish Iran for its nuclear program, are part of a $662 billion (511 billion-euro) defense spending bill Obama signed on Saturday, December 31, during his vacation to Hawaii.

Firms and financial institutions, including foreign central banks, could be barred from trading on US financial markets if they continue ties with Iran’s central bank or oil industry. Iran’s central bank is essential to processing income from Iranian oil exports.

Read morePresident Obama Signs ‘Toughest Yet’ (= Warlike) Iran Sanctions (Which Are Part Of The NDAA) Into Law

Rick Santorum Wants To Bomb Iran’s Nuclear Facilities (= WW III) (NBC Video)

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See also:

– China To Protect Iran Even If It Means World War III

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

– Santorum proposes bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities (The Raw Story, Jan. 1, 2012):

???Rick Santorum continued the tough rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates on Iran Sunday morning.

When asked by Meet The Press host David Gregory what he would do differently than President Barack Obama towards Tehran, Santorum was adamant in how aggressive he would be.

“I would be saying to the Iranians, you either open those facilities, begin to dismantle them and make them available to inspectors or we will degrade those facilities though air strikes,” he said. “And make it very public that we are doing that.”

Gregory replied: “So you lay out a red line and if they passed it, air strikes by President Santorum?”

“Iran would not get a nuclear weapon under my watch,” he said.

Read moreRick Santorum Wants To Bomb Iran’s Nuclear Facilities (= WW III) (NBC Video)

CNN Presstitute Dana Bash Worried That Ron Paul’s Candidacy Will Continue (Video)

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Wikipedia:

Dana Bash (born Dana Ruth Schwartz June 15, 1971) is a Jewish-American reporter and anchorwoman for CNN who currently covers the Capitol Hill beat alongside Jessica Yellin and her husband John King. Previous to this assignment, she was a White House correspondent for the network.

America needs this money at home:

Wikipedia:

Israel–United States relations are an important factor in the United States government’s overall policy in the Middle East, and Congress has placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship. The main expression of Congressional support for Israel has been foreign aid.[1] Since 1985, it has provided nearly $3 billion in grants annually to Israel, with Israel being the largest annual recipient of American aid from 1976 to 2004 and the largest cumulative recipient of aid since World War II.[2] Congress has monitored the aid issue closely along with other issues in bilateral relations, and its concerns have affected Administration’s policies.[1] Almost all U.S. aid to Israel is now in the form of military assistance, while in the past it also received significant economic assistance. Strong congressional support for Israel has resulted in Israel’s receiving benefits not available to other countries.[2]

Compare Barack Obama …

– President Obama: ‘I’m proud that even in these difficult times we’ve fought for and secured the most funding for Israel in history’ – ‘I am proud to say that no US administration has done more in support of Israel’s security than ours. None. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. It is a fact.’

… to Ron Paul …

– Ron Paul Opposes US Support For Israel (Press TV Interview With James Morris Editor Of America-Hijacked.Com – Video)

– Ron Paul Nevada GOP Debate On CNN: All Questions And Answers – ‘I Would Cut All Foreign Aid’ – ‘We are On A Bankruptcy Course’ (Video – Oct. 18, 2011)


YouTube Added: 02.01.2012

CNN Correspondant says she is worried Ron Paul’s candidacy will continue. CNN, John King Live, Jan. 2, 2012

Fukushima News

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– Former plant engineer talks Tepco is taking a chance for reactor 4

– Breaking News: M7 hits Japan and water leakage at reactor 4

– Emergency mail from Tepco to Mass media about reactor 4

– Fukushima women are losing their hair

– ICRP underestimated the low dose symptom risk by 85%

– Western Japanese meat distributer buys bunch of cheap Fukushima cattle

– 20 Bq/kg from Iwate milk

 

Myth Busted: Yes, The NDAA Does Apply To Americans, And Here’s The Text That Says So

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– Myth busted: Yes, the NDAA does apply to Americans, and here’s the text that says so (Natural News, Jan. 01, 2012):

In the aftermath of the signing of the NDAA by the traitorous President Obama, some citizens remain completely hoodwinked by the language of the bill, running around the internet screaming that the law “does not apply to American citizens.”

This is, naturally, part of the side effect of having such a dumbed-down education system where people can’t even parse the English language anymore. If you read the bill and understand what it says, it clearly offers absolutely no protections of U.S. citizens. In fact, it affirms that Americans are subjected to indefinite detainment under “existing authorities.”

Let’s parse it intelligently, shall we?

First off, the offending section of the bill that used to be called 1031 was moved to 1021. Here is the title:

Read moreMyth Busted: Yes, The NDAA Does Apply To Americans, And Here’s The Text That Says So

Scientists Detect Plutonium From Fukushima In Lithuania

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– Plutonium From Fukushima Detected in Lithuania (EX-SKF, Jan. 1, 2012):

Not to show that the amounts were significant (they weren’t) but to note that plutonium out of the Fukushima reactors did indeed travel far and wide, contrary to many nuclear experts (particularly the kind that live in Japan) have said.

What’s more, the authors of the paper seem to think that plutonium came from the spent fuel.

Interesting. Does anyone have access to the full paper?

From PubMed.gov (US National Library of Medicine), emphasis is mine:

J Environ Radioact. 2011 Dec 27. [Epub ahead of print]
Radionuclides from the Fukushima accident in the air over Lithuania: measurement and modelling approaches.
Lujanien? G, By?enkien? S, Povinec PP, Gera M.
Source

Environmental Research Department, SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Savanoriu 231, 02300 Vilnius, Lithuania.

Abstract

Analyses of (131)I, (137)Cs and (134)Cs in airborne aerosols were carried out in daily samples in Vilnius, Lithuania after the Fukushima accident during the period of March-April, 2011. The activity concentrations of (131)I and (137)Cs ranged from 12 ?Bq/m(3) and 1.4 ?Bq/m(3) to 3700 ?Bq/m(3) and 1040 ?Bq/m(3), respectively. The activity concentration of (239,240)Pu in one aerosol sample collected from 23 March to 15 April, 2011 was found to be 44.5 nBq/m(3). The two maxima found in radionuclide concentrations were related to complicated long-range air mass transport from Japan across the Pacific, the North America and the Atlantic Ocean to Central Europe as indicated by modelling. HYSPLIT backward trajectories and meteorological data were applied for interpretation of activity variations of measured radionuclides observed at the site of investigation. (7)Be and (212)Pb activity concentrations and their ratios were used as tracers of vertical transport of air masses. Fukushima data were compared with the data obtained during the Chernobyl accident and in the post Chernobyl period. The activity concentrations of (131)I and (137)Cs were found to be by 4 orders of magnitude lower as compared to the Chernobyl accident. The activity ratio of (134)Cs/(137)Cs was around 1 with small variations only. The activity ratio of (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu in the aerosol sample was 1.2, indicating a presence of the spent fuel of different origin than that of the Chernobyl accident.

President Obama Signs Martial Law Bill: NDAA Now Law (Video)

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See also:

– R.I.P. Bill of Rights 1789 – 2011: The Most Traitorous U.S. President In History Quietly Signed The NDAA Into Law On New Year’s Eve

In the making:

– Oppose The US Government Lose Your CITIZENSHIP: S. 1698/H.R. 3166: Enemy Expatriation Act

Flashback:

– Senator Carl Levin: Obama Required US Citizens To Be Included In Indefinite Detention!

More hope and change from elite puppet President OBAMA BIN BUSH, TRAITOR IN CHIEF:


YouTube Added: 31.12.2011

Description:

President Obama who pledged to veto the National Defense Authorization Act has signed it. Of course his promise was only for public consumption. After all lying to your enemy is what invading corporate takeover army’s do. It was the Obama administration all along that demanded the indefinite detention provisions be added while at the same time telling the America people he was fighting to protect their rights. This is treason on parade,in your face all out despotism!

(AP Story)
Obama signs defense bill despite ‘reservations’

HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging defense bill into law Saturday despite having “serious reservations” about provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_DEFENSE_BILL?SITE=AP&SECT…

modified bill
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-1540&version=enr&a…

The US is now officially a fascist military police state:

Read morePresident Obama Signs Martial Law Bill: NDAA Now Law (Video)

US: As ’11 Just Ended Here Are 11 Charts Of 11 Disturbing 11 Year Trends

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– As ’11 Ends, 11 Charts Of 11 Disturbing 11 Year Trends (ZeroHedge, Dec. 30, 2011):

As we pop the corks of our proverbial champagne this weekend with an eye to a better year ahead, perhaps it is worth thinking about these 11 incredible trends that have evolved in a rather disturbing manner over the last 11 years. As John Lohman points out, the 21st century has not been pretty for ongoing centrally planned attempts to defer the 30 year overdue mean reversion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TrimTabs President & CEO Charles Biderman: The Best Investment Ideas for 2012: Long Gold, Short EUR And Stop Praying For A Miracle

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– Biderman On 2012: Long Gold, Short EUR And Stop Praying For A Miracle (ZeroHedge,Dec. 31, 2011):

Wearing a shirt that only a mother could love, Charles Biderman of TrimTabs offers his insightful perspective on the year ahead. Against the backdrop of a fog-bound Sausalito, Biderman sees only one path over the medium-term for Gold (up) as developed market central bankers print their respective fiat currencies and emerging market central bankers horde the one true sound money alternative. Just as we have been pointing out, he notes that the ECB has been QE-ing in all but name and the region faces at best a recession and at worst a depressionary breakup. Cost averaging into a Long Gold, Short EUR position is among his favorite ideas for 2012. Furthermore, he likes non-USD commodity producers in local currencies – implicitly long commodities and short the USD but it is his epiphany that a ‘Miracle on Main Street’ is hoped for by any and every market observer and media hack that rings truest. The hoped-for miracle that explosive growth (just as has always been the case post WWII) is just around the corner and will rescue us from the doldrums-like state we are meandering through is simply our heuristic biases run wild (together with an entire industry of asset managers and strategists who always see 10-15% appreciation ahead in broad equity markets over the next year). Until there is a total restructuring of developed market economies to the point where entrepreneurs are encouraged to act and where government spending is ‘closer’ to government income and not to ‘wish fulfillment’, there can be no jump-start to growth. Political will remains bereft of desire to do anything but kick the can down the road – and unfortunately, that can is getting bigger and heavier by the minute.


YouTube

Description:

TrimTabs President & CEO Charles Biderman gives some advice for 2012 and explains why the past has conditioned Wall Street professionals to believe that economic miracles always Occur. Follow Charles on Twitter, @CharlesBiderman and log on to TrimTabs Money Blog www.trimtabs.com/blog

Nuclear Expert: ‘These Reactors Produce 50 Years Of Electricity And Half A Million Years Of Waste. It’s Not A Particularly Good Deal’ – NUCLEAR RUSSIAN ROULETTE (Video)

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“Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water!”
– Albert Einstein

Watch at 28:30 into the video.


YouTube Added: 22.12.2011

Description:

Close Down California’s Nukes?

Read moreNuclear Expert: ‘These Reactors Produce 50 Years Of Electricity And Half A Million Years Of Waste. It’s Not A Particularly Good Deal’ – NUCLEAR RUSSIAN ROULETTE (Video)

Fukushima Workers: Fukushima Reactor Buildings Of Reactors 1, 3, 4 Blew Up Because Blowout Panels Were Welded Shut

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– #Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Reactor Bldgs of Reactors 1, 3, 4 Blew Up Because Blowout Panels Were Welded Shut, Fuku-I Workers Say (EX-SKF, Dec. 31, 2011):

This information is not confirmed, meaning it is not officially admitted by the national government’s agencies and commissions or by TEPCO.

The worker who’s been tweeting from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, after watching the late night/early morning TV program on New Year’s Day (that I mentioned in my post here) about the plant accident, tweets, as a matter of fact, that:

If the blowout panels in the reactor buildings at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant had opened as designed, there would have been no hydrogen explosion, as one expert on the TV program said.

But at Fukushima, they didn’t open except for the one on Reactor 2. Why?

Because all the other blowout panels in other reactor buildings had been welded shut by the order of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency after the earthquake in Niigata Prefecture in 2007, when the blowout panels of the reactor at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant opened.

What’s wrong with the blowout panels opening?

From a blogpost and the comment to the post in August, I learn that:

In the Niigata earthquake in 2007, the blowout panels for the Kashiwazaki reactor opened, and that was unacceptable to the government’s nuclear regulatory agency NISA. So NISA ordered TEPCO to alter the blowout panels so that they would not open. After the earthquake of 2007 (Chuetsu earthquake), all the blowout panels at nuclear power plants that TEPCO operated were welded shut.

After the March 11 accident, the workers at the plant tried to open the holes to serve as blowout panes that didn’t open any more, taking on great risks, but their effort was too late, and the reactors exploded.

Read moreFukushima Workers: Fukushima Reactor Buildings Of Reactors 1, 3, 4 Blew Up Because Blowout Panels Were Welded Shut

CFR’s Foreign Affairs: ‘Time To Attack Iran’ (= WW III)

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“I am delighted to be here in these new [Council on Foreign Relations] headquarters. I have been often to, I guess, the mother ship in New York City, but it’s good to have an outpost of the Council right here down the street from the State Department. We get a lot of advice from the Council, so this will mean I won’t have as far to go to be told what we should be doing and how we should think about the future.”
– Hillary Clinton

– CFR Membership List (2009)

– Time to Attack Iran (Foreign Affairs, Published by The Council on Foreign Relations):

Why a Strike Is the Least Bad Option

?In early October, U.S. officials accused Iranian operatives of planning to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States on American soil. Iran denied the charges, but the episode has already managed to increase tensions between Washington and Tehran. Although the Obama administration has not publicly threatened to retaliate with military force, the allegations have underscored the real and growing risk that the two sides could go to war sometime soon — particularly over Iran’s advancing nuclear program.

For several years now, starting long before this episode, American pundits and policymakers have been debating whether the United States should attack Iran and attempt to eliminate its nuclear facilities. Proponents of a strike have argued that the only thing worse than military action against Iran would be an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. Critics, meanwhile, have warned that such a raid would likely fail and, even if it succeeded, would spark a full-fledged war and a global economic crisis. They have urged the United States to rely on nonmilitary options, such as diplomacy, sanctions, and covert operations, to prevent Iran from acquiring a bomb. Fearing the costs of a bombing campaign, most critics maintain that if these other tactics fail to impede Tehran’s progress, the United States should simply learn to live with a nuclear Iran.

But skeptics of military action fail to appreciate the true danger that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to U.S. interests in the Middle East and beyond. And their grim forecasts assume that the cure would be worse than the disease — that is, that the consequences of a U.S. assault on Iran would be as bad as or worse than those of Iran achieving its nuclear ambitions. But that is a faulty assumption. The truth is that a military strike intended to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, if managed carefully, could spare the region and the world a very real threat and dramatically improve the long-term national security of the United States.

Flashback:

– Heads Of Mossad And Shin Bet May Have Leaked Plans For Attack On Iran, PM Netanyahu Orders An Investigation (Guardian, Nov. 3, 2011):

… the main suspects are the former heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet, respectively Israel’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.Netanyahu is said to believe that the two, Meir Dagan and Yuval Diskin, wanted to torpedo plans being drawn up by him and Ehud Barak, the defence minister, to hit Iranian nuclear sites.

In January the recently retired Dagan, a hawk when he was running the Mossad, called an attack on Iran “the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard“.

“The stupidest idea I’ve ever heard“ = WW III:

– Adrian Salbuchi: Imperial Overdrive: Red Alert Over Iran

– China To Protect Iran Even If It Means World War III

– US Drone Lost Over Iran Was On CIA Operation – Rep. Dennis Kucinich: ‘The Events Have Been Confirmed, So When You Start To Connect The Dots, Those Dots Start To Spell The Word WAR’ (Video)

– Russian Military Chief Warns NATO: ‘Under Certain Conditions Local And Regional Conflicts May Develop Into A Full-Scale War Involving Nuclear Weapons’

– RT: Russia Warns ‘Grave Consequences’ Would Follow Any Strike On Iran – Adrian Salbuchi: IAEA ‘Evidence’ Provided By US,UK, France And Maybe Even Israel Itself, ‘The Proof Is Very Vaque’, Evidence ‘Not Properly Substantiated – History Lession

– Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Calls Head Of IAEA A US ‘Puppet’ (Video – Guardian, Nov. 8 2011) … And He Is Correct … Nuclear Wikileaks: Cables Show Cosy US Relationship With IAEA Chief (Guardian, Nov. 30, 2010)

R.I.P. Bill of Rights 1789 – 2011: The Most Traitorous U.S. President In History Quietly Signed The NDAA Into Law On New Year’s Eve

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See also:  Myth Busted: Yes, The NDAA Does Apply To Americans, And Here’s The Text That Says So

Mike Adams, Natural News:

“While America was out partying last night, drinking it up and celebrating the end of 2011, Obama quietly signed the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, which nullifies the Bill of Rights and declares America to be a “battleground” in which all American citizens can be arrested, imprisoned, tortured and even killed with no due process.

You don’t even have to be charged with a crime. Now, thanks to Obama, the military can simply “disappear” you.

“President Obama’s action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

With this signing, Obama has cemented his position as the most traitorous U.S. President in history, not merely violating his promise to close Guantanamo Bay and end the military’s secret prisons, but actually expanding the power of those secret prisons over ALL Americans!

It is time to impeach this President and all those who voted for this freedom-crushing legislation. Read my urgent story today on the NDAA and the nullification of the Bill of Rights:”

– R.I.P. Bill of Rights 1789 – 2011 (NaturalNews, Jan. 1, 2011):

One of the most extraordinary documents in human history — the Bill of Rights — has come to an end under President Barack Obama. Derived from sacred principles of natural law, the Bill of Rights has come to a sudden and catastrophic end with the President’s signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a law that grants the U.S. military the “legal” right to conduct secret kidnappings of U.S. citizens, followed by indefinite detention, interrogation, torture and even murder. This is all conducted completely outside the protection of law, with no jury, no trial, no legal representation and not even any requirement that the government produce evidence against the accused. It is a system of outright government tyranny against the American people, and it effectively nullifies the Bill of Rights.

In what will be remembered as the most traitorous executive signing ever committed against the American people, President Obama signed the bill on New Year’s Eve, a time when most Americans were engaged in the consumption of alcohol. It seems appropriate, of course, since no intelligent American could accept the tyranny of this bill if they were sober.

This is the law that will cement Obama’s legacy in the history books as the traitor who nullified the Bill of Rights and paved America’s pathway down a road of tyranny that will make Nazi Germany’s war crimes look like child’s play. If Bush had signed a law like this, liberals would have been screaming “impeachment!”

Read moreR.I.P. Bill of Rights 1789 – 2011: The Most Traitorous U.S. President In History Quietly Signed The NDAA Into Law On New Year’s Eve

New Report: ‘Recording Everything’ … Details How Governments Can Shape the Dynamics of Dissent

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– New Report: “Recording Everything” Details How Governments Can Shape the Dynamics of Dissent (Activist Post, Dec.29, 2011):

A recent Brookings Institution report has now confirmed what many have suspected for some time – that the United States government (and virtually every other government in the world) has the capability to monitor and record nearly every interaction that occurs within its national borders.

For years, those individuals who have tried to warn others of the creeping surveillance state were met with denials and catcalls of “conspiracy theory,” as well as the famous claims that it was not physically possible to monitor everyone.

This new report, however, shatters the delusional rationalities of the uninformed into a million pieces.

The Brookings Institution report entitled, “Recording Everything: Digital Storage as an Enabler of Authoritarian Governments” (.pdf) discusses the increasing capacities for surveillance due to the improvement in technology and the sinking costs of its procurement, along with the implications for human rights and authoritarianism that come along with it.

The report begins by stating:

Read moreNew Report: ‘Recording Everything’ … Details How Governments Can Shape the Dynamics of Dissent

The Billion-Dollar Pest: Rootworm Beetle Develops Resistance To Monsanto GM Corn

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– The billion-dollar pest: U.S. beetle is developing resistance to one of the most widely used genetically modified crops, say scientists (Daily Mail, Dec. 29, 2012):

Crop pests appear to have developed resistance to an insect toxin inserted into GM corn plants.

As a result, these ‘superbugs’ are surviving efforts by farmers to kill them and so are damaging food crops on farms in the U.S.

Read moreThe Billion-Dollar Pest: Rootworm Beetle Develops Resistance To Monsanto GM Corn

The 40,000 New Laws For 2012

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– Golf cart horns, efficient light bulbs and the end of happy hour: The 40,000 new laws set to go into effect at midnight (Daily Mail, Dec. 31, 2011):

As the ball drops this New Year’s Day, tens of thousands of new laws are set to be rolled out across the country.

A total of 40,000 state laws, encompassing minimum wages to light bulbs and golf carts, will take effect at the start of 2012.

Read moreThe 40,000 New Laws For 2012

FDA Withdraws Plan To Limit Antibiotics Use in Healthy Livestock Intended For Human Consumption

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– FDA draws criticism after U-turn on antibiotics in animal feed (Guardian, Dec. 29, 2011):

Environmental groups dismayed after agency drops long-held plan to regulate use of human antibiotics fed to healthy animals

Environmental and consumer groups have condemned the US Food and Drug Administration’s move to renege on its long-held policy to regulate the use of human antibiotics in animal feed.

Last week, the agency quietly announced it was withdrawing its plan to limit the use of antibiotics fed to healthy livestock intended for human consumption.

Critics say the U-turn, which comes amid the FDA’s own stated concerns over food safety, is at odds with its obligations to protect the public.

Read moreFDA Withdraws Plan To Limit Antibiotics Use in Healthy Livestock Intended For Human Consumption

New CIA Drone Bases in Afghanistan And Central Asia

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– New CIA Drone Bases in Afghanistan and Central Asia (Global Research, Dec. 31, 2011):

US looking for new drone bases after Pakistan’s refusal

-Including the covert base in Khost, the US has seven operational military bases located in Kandahar, Herat, Parwan, Helmand and Nimroz provinces.
With the exception of the Khost base that is under the operational command of CIA, the US Army, Air Force and Navy jointly administer the remaining six bases.

-According to officials at a diplomatic mission, the US was actively considering establishing covert military bases in Central Asia for continuing drone-hits in Pakistan but the Central Asian Republics (CARs) refused to provide launching pads owing to Russia’s pressure.

-78 drone attacks in the ongoing year have killed 607 persons including militants and civilians in the Pakistan’s tribal region while 306 drone strikes claimed 3659 lives in this region since 2004.

ISLAMABAD – The CIA-sponsored drone campaign in Pakistan‘s Northwestern Tribal region is likely to remain stalled amid the reports that the US may not find a feasible alternative venue to target Pak-Afghan borderlands after having become entangled in a deadlock with Pakistan over the Mohmand attack row.

Read moreNew CIA Drone Bases in Afghanistan And Central Asia