Fukushima's Radioactive Ocean Water Arrives at West Coast, How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations et al

News Updates from CLG27 Feb 2014

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Previous edition: U.S. examines Afghanistan option that would leave behind 3,000 troops (which Google relegated to the spam bin. Reminder for Google subscribers: Google Filter Instructions for CLG Newsletter.)

Canada Water Tests Positive for Fukushima Cesium-134 --Radiation will flow south then circle back to Hawaii 25 Feb 2014 Researchers from the annual American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu announced today that radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear disaster have finally reached the West Coast. John Smith, a research scientist at Canada's Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, told the AGU meeting that since 2011 he and colleagues had measured a radioactive plume from a nuclear complex at ocean monitoring stations west of Vancouver. Fukushima's radiation reached Canada before the US on the powerful Kuroshio Current. It's predicted to flow south and then circle back to Hawaii.

Fukushima's Radioactive Ocean Water Arrives at West Coast 25 Feb 2014 Radiation from Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached waters offshore Canada, researchers said today at the annual American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu. Two radioactive cesium isotopes, cesium-134 and cesium-137, have been detected offshore of Vancouver, British Columbia, researchers said at a news conference.

Tepco Says Fukushima Radiation 'Significantly' Undercounted 25 Feb 2014 Tokyo Electric Power Co. is re-analyzing 164 water samples collected last year at the wrecked Fukushima atomic plant because previous readings "significantly undercounted" radiation levels. The utility known as Tepco said the levels were undercounted due to errors in its testing of beta radiation, which includes strontium-90, an isotope linked to bone cancer. None of the samples were taken from seawater, the company said today in an e-mailed statement... Earlier today, Tepco suspended the removal of spent nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima plant after a cooling system failed due to a damaged power cable, the company said in a separate e-mailed statement.

Feds move to keep NSA call data indefinitely 26 Feb 2014 Citing the need to preserve evidence related to pending lawsuits, the Obama administration is asking for permission to keep data on billions of U.S. phone calls indefinitely instead of destroying it after five years. In a motion filed Tuesday with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the Justice Department says the series of lawsuits over the program create a duty for the government to hang on to the so-called metadata currently in the National Security Agency's computer systems. The motion was released Wednesday on the court's public web page.

How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations 24 Feb 2014 One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction. Over the last several weeks, I [Glenn Greenwald] worked with NBC News to publish a series of articles about "dirty trick" tactics used by GCHQ's previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group). These were based on four classified GCHQ documents presented to the NSA and the other three partners in the English-speaking "Five Eyes" alliance. Today, we are publishing another new JTRIG document, in full, entitled "The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations".

Break-in at Major D.C. Whistleblowers Office 23 Feb 2014 A major Washington, D.C. national-security whistleblowers organization says it's bolstering security after a suspicious break-in last week. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, which specializes in exposing waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon, says it's taking new measures to protect its confidential sources after a Feb. 11-12 overnight break-in, in which the main door and a file cabinet were jimmied open but dozens of computers and other valuable office equipment were left untouched. POGO, as its generally known, is a private organization that has conducted several sensitive investigations in recent months, including a critical report on a controversial Pentagon leak investigation.

Israeli jets hit targets on Lebanon-Syria border 25 Feb 2014 Israeli warplanes have launched airstrikes on targets near the border between Lebanon and Syria, reports say. There were contradictory reports on the targets of Monday’s attacks, with sources in Lebanon saying the airstrikes hit inside Syrian territory. Israeli sources, however, claimed that the warplanes bombed a target in Lebanon.

Pentagon plans work on new 'missile defense' interceptor 25 Feb 2014 The next U.S. military budget will include funds to overhaul Boeing Co's ground-based missile defense system and develop a replacement for an interceptor built by Raytheon Co, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer said Tuesday, citing "bad engineering" on the existing system. Reuters reported earlier this month that the Pentagon planned to ask Congress for 4.5 billion in additional funding for missile defense over the next five years, including 560 million for work on a new interceptor after several failed flight tests in recent years. [Oh, but there's no money for food stamps, though, right? Start reading.]

Rights Group 'Outraged' After Director Arrested on Suspicion of Terrorism 25 Feb 2014 A British human rights group expressed "outrage" today after one of its high-profile directors, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, was arrested in London on suspicion of terrorist activity in Syria. "We are disgusted that Moazzam Begg is being re-traumatized with the same guilt by association accusations that resulted in his unlawful incarceration in Guantanamo Bay. We fully support our colleague and see his arrest as politically motivated and as part of a campaign to criminalize legitimate activism," Asim Qureshi, a senior official at CAGE, said in a statement.

Ex-Guantanamo Prisoner Arrested on Suspicion of Terrorism 25 Feb 2014 A former Guantanamo Bay detainee who has written a book about his time in Gitmo and campaigned for the rights of terrorism suspects was arrested today on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp and involvement in terrorism in Syria, British police told ABC News. Moazzam Begg was arrested by specialist counter-terrorism police in the city of Birmingham, England, in an operation stemming from unspecified intelligence. Two other men and a woman were arrested in the operation and suspected of "facilitating terrorism overseas," according to police who say there was no immediate risk to public safety. None of the four have been charged.

Government set to make payments to former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg 25 Feb 2014 Birmingham Guantanamo Bay detainee prisoner Moazzam Begg is set to receive a compensation payout totalling millions of pounds from the British government. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said details of the out-of-court settlement to around a dozen UK citizens would remain confidential. Among those expected to receive p-yments, thought to run into millions of pounds, is father-of-four Moazzam Begg, from Sparkhill, who was accused of being a member of al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] and held at Guantanamo Bay for almost two years before begin released without charge. Several former detainees have complained of mistreatment during their detention, including allegations the Government knew they were being illegally transferred to Guantanamo Bay but failed to prevent it, and that British security and intelligence officials colluded in their torture while they were held abroad.

Richland deputies, U.S. military carry out secretive - and noisy - joint exercise Monday and Tuesday --Reporters will not be allowed to 'view or participate' in the exercise. 19 Jan 2014 (SC) Richland County sheriff’s deputies on Monday and Tuesday will conduct a secretive joint exercise around the county with unidentified units from Ft. Bragg, according to the sheriff's department...Ft. Bragg is home to some of the U.S. Army's elite fighting groups, including Special Forces, aviation support and airborne units. The Army's Delta Force is also at Ft. Bragg. A sheriff's department spokesman Sunday declined to say which Ft. Bragg units will be involved.

Protesters target Duke Energy's coal ash 26 Feb 2014 (NC) Dozens of protesters chanting "Shame!" outside the Duke Energy Center on Tuesday afternoon demanded that Duke remove the ash stored at its coal-fired power plants. Leaders of several environmental groups attempted to deliver anti-ash petitions they said were signed by 9,000 people. The petitions asked that Duke pay cleanup costs of its Feb. 2 ash spill into the Dan River without billing customers.

Arizona governor vetoes controversial bill allowing denial of service to gays 26 Feb 2014 Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) announced Wednesday night that she has vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians if they felt it violated their religious rights. Gay rights advocates have denounced the legislation, labeling it a form of legalized discrimination, and Arizona's two GOP senators and leading Republican candidates for governor urged Brewer to veto the bill. [Make no mistake about it: If big business supported the bill, Brewer would have signed SB-1062 into law in five picoseconds and the GOP would be backing the bill until the ends of time.]

Judge rules Texas same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional 26 Feb 2014 The Texas state ban on same-sex marriage was ruled unconstitutional on Wednesday by a U.S. federal judge, who declared a stay on the decision, meaning that the ban stays in effect. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia said the law excludes the two couples who brought the suit from the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. The matter has been deferred to Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the judge said.

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