Month: February 2014

NYTimes: Widespread public distrust of NHK over Fukushima radiation cover-up — Reports: President’s resignation last month related to coverage of nuclear issues — Former NHK employees speak out: “Gross political interference”

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– NYTimes: Widespread public distrust of NHK over Fukushima radiation cover-up — Reports: President’s resignation last month related to coverage of nuclear issues — Former NHK employees speak out: “Gross political interference” (ENENews, Jan 31, 2014):

New York Times, Jan. 31, 2014: […] there was the abrupt resignation of [NHK’s] president accused by governing party politicians of allowing an overly liberal tone to news coverage. [Thursday a] longtime commentator on economic affairs angrily announced that he had resigned after being told not to criticize nuclear power […] On Friday, [new NHK head] Mr. Momii was summoned by a parliamentary committee  […] [there’s] deep suspicion shared by many in the opposition that Mr. Abe’s governing Liberal Democratic Party is stocking NHK’s governing board with political appointees who will stifle criticism of his conservative government’s agenda [like] restarting idled nuclear power plants […] The broadcaster has also faced widespread public distrust for coverage of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident that was later criticized for meekly complying with government efforts to cover up the extent of radiation releases. […] Masayuki Matsumoto, suddenly announced in December that he would step down [as chairman] […] major news media at the time said he was driven out by criticism from the Abe administration that he had let NHK become too critical in its coverage of nuclear energy […] Jun Hori, a popular NHK television news announcer, quit last year after he was questioned by superiors for more than six hours about a documentary that he had made describing nuclear accidents in the United States.

Read moreNYTimes: Widespread public distrust of NHK over Fukushima radiation cover-up — Reports: President’s resignation last month related to coverage of nuclear issues — Former NHK employees speak out: “Gross political interference”

Thailand: Explosions And Heavy Gunfire In Bangkok Ahead Of Elections

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– Explosions And Heavy Gunfire In Bangkok Ahead Of Elections (ZeroHedge, Feb 1,2014):

17 years ago, the first major Emerging Market crisis started in Thailand, leading to the Russian default and the collapse of LTCM ushering in the era of Too Big To Fail. This time, all the world needed for the second major EM crisis, was for Ben Bernanke to announce he is giving global central planning a break (because one can be certain the Untaper will be right back on the agenda as soon as the S&P enters a bear market). Ironically, Thailand has largely been insulated from the EM decimation, even through it is now in as bad a political shape as it ever was, and one day ahead of the February 2 general elections things are getting from bad to worse. AFP reports that explosions and heavy gunfire rattled Bangkok Saturday as pro- and anti-government protesters clashed on the eve of controversial Thai elections seen as unlikely to end a cycle of violence in the kingdom after months of opposition rallies.

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Read moreThailand: Explosions And Heavy Gunfire In Bangkok Ahead Of Elections

Even More Damage Discovered At Fukushima Reactor No. 1 – Tons Of Water Draining From Unknown Cracks And Holes

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– NHK: More damage being discovered in Fukushima Reactor No. 1 — “Destruction” at containment vessel — Concerned about tons of water draining from unknown cracks and holes (VIDEO) (ENENews, Jan 31, 2014):

NHK, Jan. 31, 2014: TEPCO to look for more leaks at Fukushima reactor — The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is slowly finding out more about the damage at one of the reactor containment vessels. The destruction was caused by 2011 accident. […] The engineers are investigating leaks in a number of places in the containment vessel that houses the core at the No.1 reactor [and] estimate that up to 3.3 tons of water per hour is leaking from the 2 leaks. The operator is pouring 4.5 tons of cooling water an hour into the reactor. This means more than one ton of water may be leaking from unknown holes or cracks, as the water does not stay in the containment vessel.

Read moreEven More Damage Discovered At Fukushima Reactor No. 1 – Tons Of Water Draining From Unknown Cracks And Holes

Why This Harvard Economist Is Pulling All His Money From Bank Of America

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Your money in the bank isn’t really your money.

You have given the bank your money as credit and ‘believe’ that the bank will be able to pay it back to you in the future.

Good luck when the entire financial system finally collapses.

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– Why This Harvard Economist Is Pulling All His Money From Bank Of America (ZeroHedge, Jan 31, 2014):

A classicial economist… and Harvard professor… preaching to the world that one’s money is not safe in the US banking system due to Ben Bernanke’s actions? And putting his withdrawal slip where his mouth is and pulling $1 million out of Bank America? Say it isn’t so…

From Terry Burnham, former Harvard economics professor, author of “Mean Genes” and “Mean Markets and Lizard Brains,” provocative poster on this page and long-time critic of the Federal Reserve, argues that the Fed’s efforts to strengthen America’s banks have perversely weakened them. First posted in PBS.

Is your money safe at the bank? An economist says ‘no’ and withdraws his

Last week I had over $1,000,000 in a checking account at Bank of America. Next week, I will have $10,000.

Read moreWhy This Harvard Economist Is Pulling All His Money From Bank Of America

Over 300 U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan Since 2006 – Leaked Official Data

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Winning more hearts and minds …

Supporters of Difa-e-Pakistan Council, an Islamic organization, burn U.S. flag during protest against U.S. drone attacks in Pakistani tribal region, in Karachi

– Over 300 US drone strikes in Pakistan since 2006 – leaked official data (RT, Jan 30, 2014):

Top-secret documentation collected by Pakistani field officers gives detailed information on 330 US drone strikes that have occurred in Pakistan since 2006. The CIA-run program is estimated to have killed 2,371 people.

From solitary individuals riding on horseback to mountain hideouts crammed with people, the CIA drone program has had no shortage of targets in the Islamic Republic, according to newly released information obtained by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).

Read moreOver 300 U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan Since 2006 – Leaked Official Data

Unprecedented: Amid Severe Drought, California Says It Won’t Allot Water To Local Agencies

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– Amid drought, California says it won’t allot water to local agencies (Al Jazeera, Jan 31, 2014):

State agency makes unprecedented announcement as California faces its worst drought in modern history

Amid severe drought conditions, California officials announced Friday they won’t send any water from the state’s vast reservoir system to local agencies beginning this spring, an unprecedented move that affects drinking water supplies for 25 million people and irrigation for 1 million acres of farmland.

The announcement marks the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project — a water storage and delivery system of reservoirs, aqueducts, powerplants and pumping plants — that such an action has been taken.

Read moreUnprecedented: Amid Severe Drought, California Says It Won’t Allot Water To Local Agencies

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 (Video)

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YouTube

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23
Elisabeth Leonskaja (pf)
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Kurt Masur

Alternative recordings:

Read moreTchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 (Video)

Wall St. Journal: ‘Potentially lethal’ Strontium-90 moving deeper into groundwater at Fukushima, levels rising — Asahi: Radioactive material spreading below underground wall next to ocean — Record high on other side of final barrier by Unit 3

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– Wall St. Journal: ‘Potentially lethal’ Strontium-90 moving deeper into groundwater at Fukushima, levels rising — Asahi: Radioactive material spreading below underground wall next to ocean — Record high on other side of final barrier by Unit 3 (ENENews, Jan 31, 2014):

Detailed Analysis Results in the Port of Fukushima Daiichi NPS, around Discharge Channel and Bank Protection, Jan.30, 2014:
“The highest dose among the results previously announced in the ‘Detailed Analysis Results in the Port of Fukushima Daiichi NPS, around Discharge Channel and Bank Protection’”

Wall St. Journal, Jan. 31, 2014: Among the radioactive materials that were dispersed at the site, the potentially lethal alkaline earth metal [strontium] poses the biggest immediate concern, because, unlike cesium, it doesn’t get trapped in soil and tends to accumulate in bones of fish and animals if ingested. […] strontium has been slowly moving to deeper into ground water, which could be moving toward the ocean. […] Radiation levels in groundwater sampled from several monitoring wells have been very slowly rising since last summer and radioactive strontium has been detected since October, according to data from Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Read moreWall St. Journal: ‘Potentially lethal’ Strontium-90 moving deeper into groundwater at Fukushima, levels rising — Asahi: Radioactive material spreading below underground wall next to ocean — Record high on other side of final barrier by Unit 3