CLG: 57 nuclear waste barrels from Los Alamos pose potential 'imminent' and 'substantial' threat, Broken bolt pieces found in pump, reactor vessel delay Salem 2 nuclear plant restart, et al

News Updates from CLG
21 May 2014

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

 

Previous edition: Pentagon document lays out battle plan against zombies (Google subscribers: Google Filter Instructions for CLG Newsletter.) 

 

57 nuclear waste barrels from Los Alamos pose potential 'imminent' and 'substantial' threat 20 May 2013 Los Alamos National Laboratory packed 57 barrels of nuclear waste with a type of kitty litter believed to have caused a radiation leak at the federal government's troubled nuclear waste dump, posing a potentially "imminent" and "substantial" threat to public health and the environment, New Mexico officials said Monday. State Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn issued a formal order giving the lab two days to submit a plan for securing the waste containers, many of which are likely stored outdoors on the lab's northern New Mexico campus or at temporary site in west Texas. The order says 57 barrels of waste were packed with nitrate salts and organic kitty litter, a combination thought to have caused a heat reaction and radiation release that contaminated 22 workers with low levels of radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad in February.

 

NMED to WIPP: Seal nuclear storage rooms 20 May 2014 The New Mexico Environment Department on Tuesday demanded the federal government seal off two underground storage rooms in a nuclear waste repository to prevent the possibility of another radiation leak. In its second administrative order to the Department of Energy this week, the Environment Department is demanding detailed proposals for the "expedited closure" of panels six and seven at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. Those panels - large rooms excavated from a deep salt mine to hold nuclear waste - contain drums that are believed to have caused a hot reaction that that led to a radiation release in February.

 

Broken bolt pieces found in pump, reactor vessel delay Salem 2 nuclear plant restart 19 May 2014 (Lower Alloways Creek Township, NJ) A scheduled outage for the Salem 2 nuclear plant has been extended for an indefinite period after workers found heads of broken bolts in a key cooling pump and at the bottom of the reactor vessel. The bolt pieces were discovered during inspections being conducted during the outage which began last month. PSEG Nuclear Spokesman Joe Delmar said Monday the extended outage had been caused by a "bolting issue," but declined to elaborate further.

 

Former Malaysian Leader Says CIA Could Have Taken Control of Missing Jet --Former PM accuses CIA of cover-up 19 May 2014 19 May 2014 A former Malaysian leader on Sunday accused American intelligence agents of covering up what really happened to the Malaysia Airlines plane missing since March. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad claimed that Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board, claimed that the CIA could have taken control of the Boeing 777, and lamented that the Malaysian government is bearing the brunt of the blame for the mystery... "What goes up must come down," Mohamad wrote in a blog post. Mohamad said "the 'uninterruptible' autopilot would be activated--either by pilot, by on board sensors, or even remotely by radio or satellite links by government agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, if terrorists attempt to gain control of the flight deck."

 

U.S. to disclose 'legal justification' for drone strikes on Americans --Some facts will still be excluded from the document - official 20 May 2014 The U.S. government will disclose its [so-called] legal justification for the use of drones against U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism, a senior Obama administration official said on Tuesday. The U.S. solicitor general has made the decision not to appeal a federal appeals court's decision in April requiring the release of a redacted memorandum spelling out the justification for the policy, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. The court and the Justice Department have not set a time for the document's release.

 

The NSA records EVERY cell phone call in the Bahamas as part of previously unknown program revealed by Snowden papers --Program is part of larger MYSTIC program 20 May 2014 The NSA is listening in on every cell phone call made within or to the Bahamas, according to revelations contained with the documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden. As part of a program codenamed SOMALGET, the National Security Agency is recording millions of communications in the nation of 370,000 and they're even able to replay a given conversation for a month after it happens. Bahamian leaders did not authorize the surveillance, the extent of which goes far beyond the metadata spying that's known to have been down in the U.S. and a slew of other countries.

 

U.S. utility's control system was hacked, says Homeland Security 20 May 2014 A sophisticated hacking group recently attacked a U.S. public utility and compromised its control system network, but there was no evidence that the utility's operations were affected, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not identify the utility in a report that was issued this week by the agency's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, or ICS-CERT. ICS-CERT said in the report posted on its website that investigators had determined the utility had likely been the victim of previous intrusions. It did not elaborate.

 

Holy hypocrisy, Batman! Because, the US would *never* spy on anyone, right? LOL! US to bring criminal charges against Chinese officials over cyber-espionage 19 The US Justice Department is charging figures linked to the Chinese military with stealing US trade secrets, in an escalation of tensions with China over economic espionage. Suspicions about extensive corporate data theft have swirled around China for years, but never before has the US formally accused the People's Liberation Army with criminal activity. Last year, a report by the information security firm Mandiant concluded that a unit of the PLA, known as Unit 61398, was likely behind data theft comprising hundreds of terabytes. It found that the scale of the espionage was unlikely to have occurred without government sponsorship.

 

U.S. Charges 5 Chinese Officers With Hacking U.S. Companies 19 May 2014 The charges, unsealed today in District Court in Pennsylvania, allege the Chinese officers conspired to steal trade secrets and other information from U.S. companies, the U.S. Justice Department said. In releasing the indictment, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other law enforcement officials sought to put a human face on the impact of computer hacking, saying jobs of industrial workers have been jeopardized in the U.S. industrial heartland in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where some of the target companies have facilities.

 

White House vows CIA will not stage fake vaccine programs 19 May 2014 The White House has promised the United States will not use vaccination programs as cover for spy operations -- after the move was attempted during the hunt for 'Osama bin Laden' in Pakistan. As Pakistan suffers a resurgence of polio, a top White House official pledged in a letter dated May 16 that intelligence agencies would foreswear the tactic, which is partly blamed for the spread of the crippling disease. Islamic militant leaders are reluctant to embrace vaccination programs after Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi attempted to help the CIA track down the Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] terror chief through a fake vaccine project.

 

Abu Hamza Found Guilty In New York Terror Trial 19 May 2014 Extradited British cleric Abu Hamza has been found guilty of terrorism charges in the United States. The radical preacher faced 11 charges in total, including conspiring to set up a terror training camp in Oregon, conspiring to kidnap Americans in Yemen and providing support to terrorist organisations. At a federal court in New York, the jury convicted him on all counts. He could face life in prison when he is sentenced.

 

Lockdowns Issued at VA Medical Centers in West Haven, Newington 20 May 2014 (CT) The Veterans Administration is limiting access to healthcare facilities in Newington and West Haven after receiving a potential threat to the West Haven campus. The VA Connecticut Healthcare System sent an e-mail saying there is no immediate danger, but they are temporarily limiting access to all exterior doors of the Newington and West Haven campuses, with the exception of the main entrances to Building 2 and 5 on the West Haven campus and Building 2E on the Newington campus as a precautionary measure.

 

N.Y.U. Apologizes to Any ALL Workers Mistreated on Its Abu Dhabi Campus 20 May 2014 New York University issued an apology on Monday to any [?!] workers on its newly completed Abu Dhabi campus who were "not treated in line with the standards we set," after The New York Times reported widespread abuses among a labor force that numbered about 6,000 at its peak. The article described workers being arrested, beaten and deported to their home countries after striking over pay. Recruitment fees, of approximately a year's wages, were all but required, and laborers had to work overtime, sometimes seven days a week, to earn the base pay they were promised. Not one of the dozens of workers interviewed had his own passport. [Time to apologize to the underpaid professors and other exploited workers, and *do* something about it.]

 

Occupy activist Cecily McMillan sentenced to three months in prison 19 May 2014 An Occupy Wall Street activist has been sentenced to three months in prison for assaulting a police officer as he led her out of a protest. Cecily McMillan, who had been facing a maximum sentence of seven years, was told on Monday morning by Judge Ronald Zweibel that she "must take responsibility for her conduct". McMillan, 25, received a three-month sentence to be followed by community service and five years of probation. Having been remanded at Rikers Island jail for the past two weeks, she will receive credit for time served.

 

Right-Wing Obama Nominee Under Fire From Civil Rights Icon --Some critics of Boggs have been puzzled by the silence of John Lewis in recent weeks 19 May 2014 Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) announced Monday that he opposes President Barack Obama's controversial judicial nominee Michael Boggs, saying his socially conservative record on civil rights, gay rights and abortion rights "is in direct opposition to everything I have stood for during my career." Lewis has emerged as a key figure in the debate over Boggs, who has been under fire from progressives over his record as a Georgia state legislator.

 

NJEA says it will sue to block Christie from cutting pension payments 20 May 2014 Gov. Chris Christie's plan to balance the state budget by grabbing 2.43 billion meant for the state's pension system over two years drew an immediate response from the largest public-worker union in New Jersey. The New Jersey Education Association said it will seek to block Christie's proposal in court. Union president Wendell Steinhauer called it an "illegal, irresponsible and reckless proposal" and said the NJEA "will pursue every legal avenue" to stop the Republican governor.

 

Chris Christie to reduce pension payments to fill $800M NJ budget gap 20 May 2014 In a stunning reversal, Gov. Chris Christie (R-Troglodyte) today announced plans to grab, over two years, 2.43 billion meant for public workers' pensions to balance New Jersey's ailing state budget. The plan threatens to derail one of Christie's signature accomplishments in Trenton: a major revision to replenish New Jersey's strained pension fund over the long term.

 

McConnell Wins Senate Primary Setting Up November Challenge 20 May 2014 U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell cleared the first hurdle in his bid for a sixth term. The second promises to be considerably harder. McConnell defeated Matt Bevin, a businessman aligned with the limited-government Tea Party movement, in Kentucky’s Republican primary, according to the Associated Press. McConnell, 72, will next face Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of state, in November’s election.

 

Grimes wins Democratic Senate nomination in Kentucky 20 May 2014 Alison Lundergan Grimes has won Kentucky's Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, setting up a highly anticipated race with Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell in November. Kentucky's secretary of state easily won Tuesday's vote. She looks to be McConnell's toughest opponent since his first election in 1984, when he narrowly ousted Democrat Dee Huddleston. Recent polls show the two locked in a virtual tie.

 

Voters set stage for fall races in Oregon, Kentucky, other states 20 May 2014 Gov. John Kitzhaber and Dennis Richardson easily won their respective primaries, setting up a fall gubernatorial race in which the state's health-insurance-exchange plan, Cover Oregon, figures to be a key issue. Monica Wehby, a physician, won the Republican nomination to oppose Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley in a race that GOP strategists hope can become more competitive as the year unfolds. On a day when five other states - Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho and Pennsylvania - held primaries, Richardson, a state representative from southern Oregon, had more than 60 percent of the vote Tuesday and all his opponents were struggling to reach double-digits.

 

Jason Carter wins Democratic primary for governor in Georgia 20 May 2014 Georgia state Sen. Jason Carter won the Democratic primary for governor in Georgia Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, ran unopposed. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is facing a Republican primary challenge but is favored to best his two opponents.

 

Judge strikes down Pennsylvania law barring gay marriage --Ruling makes Pennsylvania the 19th U.S. state where gay marriage is allowed 20 May 2014 Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by a federal judge on Tuesday in the latest court decision in the United States confirming gay couples' rights to wed. Finding Pennsylvania's 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, U.S. District Court Judge John Jones III wrote: "By virtue of this ruling, same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so, and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such in the Commonwealth."

 

Federal judge strikes down Oregon ban on same-sex marriage 19 May 2014 A U.S. District Court judge struck down Oregon's ban on same-sex marriage Monday, the seventh ruling that a state's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional in the wake of last year's Supreme Court decision invalidating sections of the Defense of Marriage Act. The decision came after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a bid by the National Organization for Marriage to stay the ruling. The Oregon judge, Michael McShane, had denied NOM's effort to intervene in the case.

 

NBA alleges Sterling-led Clippers tried to cover up scandal 20 May 2014 Donald Sterling tried to persuade companion V. Stiviano to say the Clippers owner was not responsible for the inflammatory statements about blacks after a now infamous audio recording became public, according to the NBA's 30-page formal allegation that the league is using to try and get Sterling removed as owner. The charges, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, said that Sterling's attempt to alter Stiviano's statements was part of an effort by Sterling - aided by his wife, Shelly, and Clippers President Andy Roeser - to evade responsibility for the recording that has enveloped the Clippers owner in controversy for nearly a month.

 

Mama Bear Pulls Cub Off Highway to Safety 17 May 2014 Driving through British Columbia's Kootenay National Park, we stopped to capture a shot of a baby bear on the highway only to get much more of a show. While watching the cub, we saw the mama bear stick its head over the barrier to save its young from the dangerous predicament.

 

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