Sunday, February 16, 2014

TEPCO reveals record cesium level in Fukushima No. 1 well

FROM CLG:

Breaking News and Commentary from CLG16 Feb 2014



Previous edition: US to pump $300mn into Afghanistan to end 'war economy' - report [which NSAssociate Google relegated to the sp-m bin].


TEPCO reveals record cesium level in Fukushima No. 1 well --Experts: radioactive water could be leaking from underground tunnel, located close to second power unit on seashore 14 Feb 2014 A record high level of radioactive cesium has been found in groundwater beneath the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, operator TEPCO revealed. On February 13, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported 37,000 becquerels of cesium-134 and 93,000 becquerels of cesium-137 were detected per liter of groundwater sampled from a monitoring well earlier that day... These figures (the total reading) are the highest of all the cesium measurements taken previously.


4.1 magnitude earthquake strikes near Georgia Power nuclear plant --Quake strong enough to send tremors into Georgia, Tennessee 15 Feb 2014 An earthquake with an epicenter northeast of Augusta shook metro Atlanta homes Friday night. The quake measured a magnitude of 4.1 and happened at 10:23 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake's epicenter was Edgefield, S.C., about 25 miles from Augusta. Plant Vogtle, which is on the outskirts of Augusta in Waynesboro, [allegedly] suffered no problems from the earthquake, a Georgia Power spokesman said Saturday afternoon.


Agency seeks funding to track Vogtle nuclear plant costs 26 Jan 2014 Badly outnumbered regulators in Georgia want to hire two more employees to keep tabs on the 14 billion project to build a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant. Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power says its share of the project to build Plant Vogtle is projected to go hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. Its 2.4 million customers will pay for the company's building costs unless regulators force the utility to take losses on questionable spending. Regulators are at a disadvantage when contending with Georgia Power, a monopoly that owns a 46 percent stake in the nuclear plant.


Afghanistan releases 65 prisoners against objections from US 13 Feb 2014 The Afghan government has released 65 prisoners who the US says are dangerous fighters with American and Afghan blood on their hands but Kabul argues are innocent men illegally locked up for years by foreign soldiers. The decision to let the men go is the latest blow to a creaking relationship between the Afghan government and its main fin-ncial backer. [That would be the US t-xpayer.] Karzai said then that a government investigation had found there was evidence to potentially try only 16 of the prisoners. It is unclear why 23 have been retained in custody.


Blast Kills NATO Soldier in Afghanistan 15 Feb 2014 An improvised explosive device killed a NATO service member in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the U.S.-led international military coalition said. Saturday's death brings to five the number of coalition troops who have died in Afghanistan so far this month. In a statement commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal, the Taliban drew parallels with American forces in the country and called on Afghans to drive them out.


Listen up, Obusha: There will be no coup in Venezuela: President Maduro 13 Feb 2014 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ruled out the possibility of any coup by the [CIA-backed] opposition, as protests turn deadly in the South American country. "There will be no coup d’état in Venezuela; you can rest assured. Democracy will continue, and the revolution will continue," the president said on a national television broadcast on Wednesday. Maduro has promised to tighten security across the country after clashes between anti-government protesters and police left three people dead in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.


U.S. Army builds fake city to shoot at during training 13 Feb 2014 The U.S. Army has built a fake city designed to be used during combat training [aka martial law implementation] exercises. The 300 acre 'town' includes a five story embassy, a bank, a school, an underground subway and train station, a mosque, a football stadium, and a helicopter landing zone. Located in Virginia, the realistic subway station comes complete with subway carriages and the train station has real train carriages. The U.S. Army's Army Asymmetric Warfare Group opened the 96 million training centre last month.


Snowden-leaked document shows NSA monitored U.S. law firm 15 Feb 2014 The National Security Agency monitored a U.S. law firm representing a foreign government, a document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden reveals. The New York Times reported Saturday the top-secret document provides rare insight into eavesdropping by the U.S. security agency. The newspaper said lawyers in the United States with overseas clients have expressed concern such government snooping.


Three former NSA workers accused of aiding Snowden 14 Feb 2014 Three people at the National Security Agency have been implicated in Edward Snowden's efforts to copy classified material, including a civilian employee who resigned last month after acknowledging he allowed Snowden to use his computer ID, according to an NSA memo sent to Congress. The other two were an active-duty member of the military and a civilian contractor. The memo does not describe their conduct, but says they were barred from the NSA and its systems in August.


N.S.A. Fires Civilian Employee Tied to Snowden Leaks 13 Feb 2014 The National Security Agency has told Congress that it has forced out a civilian employee after a lengthy investigation to "assign accountability" for the disclosure of intelligence secrets by Edward J. Snowden, one of its former contractors. Two others - identified only as an "active-duty military member" and another contractor -- were "removed from access to N.S.A. information" and facilities last August. But because neither worked directly for the N.S.A., the agency told the House Judiciary Committee in a letter, any further action would have to be determined by their employers.


Former German chancellor surprised that NSA continued to spy on Merkel 14 Feb 2014 The former chancellor of Germany now says he was surprised to hear that the United States National Security Agency, or NSA, spied on his country's current head of government after he left office almost a decade ago. Earlier this month, NSA documents showed that the spy agency conducted surveillance operations starting in 2002 that targeted Gerhard Schröder during his term as chancellor. Schröder told reporters at the time that he wasn't surprised about the operation, which was made public due to documents disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.


China Reports Another Case of New Bird Flu Strain 15 Feb 2013 Chinese officials have said a new strain of avian influenza, H10N8, has killed another person, according to a report on Friday by Xinhua, the state news agency. The man's illness is the third case of H10N8. Scientists are also concerned about the rapid spread of another strain of avian flu, H7N9. It has already infected about 300 people and infects more each day. A quarter of those infected have died.


Pandemic Potential Seen in Gene Changes of Bird Flu 13 Feb 2014 Genetic variations in the deadly bird flu virus circulating in China increase the potential for a pandemic strain to emerge, researchers in Shanghai said. Three new variants of the avian influenza type-A H7N9 virus have been found this winter, spurred by transmission in poultry and the incorporation of genetic material from another strain called H9N2, scientists at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences said... Each case increases the risk of the virus becoming better suited to humans, rather than birds, giving it the ability to spread easily from person to person.


New bridge scandal subpoenas seek records related to Chris Christie, ARC tunnel and more 12 Feb 2014 The legislative panel investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal wants to know how closely Gov. Chris Christie's office and allies at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey coordinated to blame the lane closings on a traffic study, records released today show. The 18 subpoenas issued this week also cast a far wider net than past rounds, seeking information about the defunct ARC (Access to the Region's Core) tunnel project, any dossiers compiled by Christie and his campaign on Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, and a month and a half of State Police helicopter records.


Court tosses California's concealed-weapons rules 13 Feb 2014 A divided federal appeals court on Thursday struck down California concealed-weapons rules, saying they violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The 2-1 ruling of a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said California counties were wrong to require law-abiding applicants to show "good cause" beyond self-defense to receive a concealed-weapons permit.


Comcast takeover of Time Warner Cable 'will throttle choice on the web' 13 Feb 2014 Consumer groups reacted angrily to the merger of cable giant Comcast and Time Warner Cable on Thursday, claiming the combination could "throttle" choice on the internet. Comcast’s proposed 45.2bn takeover of TWC will create a media behemoth that will dominate broadband internet access across the US. Jodie Griffin, senior staff attorney at consumer rights group Public Knowledge said: "This is a deal that needs to be blocked." She said Comcast was likely to use the extra leverage to "drive up costs and reduce choices for consumers.", and claimed the new company would be too powerful, becoming a "gatekeeper" capable of "throttling competition."


Virginia gay marriage ban overturned by US judge 14 Feb 2014 A US federal judge in Virginia has ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. It is the first time that a southern state has had a voter-approved prohibition on gay marriage overturned. The ruling will not apply pending a possible appeal.


Pennsylvania Turnpike turned into parking lot after 100-car pileup 14 Feb 2014 The Pennsylvania Turnpike was turned into a parking lot after as many as 100 vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction of car crashes Friday morning. An eight-mile stretch of I-276 between exits 343 and 353 was reopened after a seven-hour shutdown as officials got a handle on the early morning wreck, according to police and local reports. First responders transported roughly 30 people to area hospitals, all of which were expected to survive, according to Bill Capone with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.


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