Monday, February 13, 2017

CLG: Authorities issue dire warnings amid imminent California dam collapse




 News Updates from CLG
13 February 2017
 
Previous editions: Record high fatal radiation levels, hole in reactor detected at crippled Fukushima nuclear facility
 
Authorities issue dire warnings amid imminent California dam collapse | 12 Feb 2017 | Authorities ordered the evacuation of several northern California towns as a rapidly eroding section of a dam appeared on the verge of collapse. "Immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered," the Butte County sheriff's office posted on Facebook Sunday night. "Operation of the auxiliary spillway has lead to severe erosion that could lead to a failure of the structure. Failure of the auxiliary spillway structure will result in an uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville." The evacuation warning was "NOT a drill," the sheriff's office added.
 
Thousands ordered to evacuate after Oroville Dam predicted to fail | 12 Feb 2017 | (Oroville, CA) Officials have ordered thousands of residents near the Oroville Dam to evacuate the area, saying a "hazardous situation is developing" after an emergency spillway severely eroded. The Butte County Sheriff's Office says the emergency spillway could fail within an hour unleashing uncontrolled flood waters from Lake Oroville. The department says people in downstream areas need to leave the area immediately.
 
US airstrikes in Afghanistan may have caused deaths of at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children | 12 Feb 2017 | US airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Helmand province may have been responsible for the deaths of at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children, according to the UN and local sources. Airstrikes took place late on Thursday in Sangin district, which has been highly contested for most of the Afghan war. The UN said on Sunday: "On 9 and 10 February, international military forces conducted airstrikes in Helmand’s Sangin district reportedly targeting anti-government elements. [The UN's] initial enquiries suggest that the airstrikes killed at least 18 civilians, nearly all women and children."
 
Yemen keeps counter-terrorism operations with U.S. despite raid | 08 Feb 2017 | Yemen said on Wednesday it had not suspended counter-terrorism operations with the U.S. government, despite controversy over a U.S. commando raid on al Qaeda militants in which several civilians were also killed. The raid in al-Bayda province, approved by new U.S. President Donald Trump, resulted in a gun battle that left one Navy SEAL dead and an American aircraft a charred wreck. Local medics said several women and children were killed.
 
Four people arrested in France 'for planning imminent terror attack' | 10 Feb 2017 | Four people have been arrested in and around the southern French city of Montpellier on suspicion of planning an imminent terrorist attack in France. Police and judicial sources said those in custody included a 20-year-old man and his 16-year-old girlfriend, both known to authorities for connections with radical Islam, and said the attack had been due to take place in Paris. Police found TATP explosives and other bomb-making materials in the man's home, the sources said. The interior ministry confirmed that explosives had been found.
 
Counter-terrorism unit arrests man arriving at Gatwick from Iraq | 10 Feb 2017 | A man from Hertfordshire has been arrested at Gatwick airport as he arrived from Iraq on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts. Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism unit initially stopped the 44-year-old under schedule 7 of the 2010 Terrorism Act as he left the plane. The man was later arrested under section 5 of the 2006 Terrorism Act -- suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts -- and taken to a central London police station where he remains in custody.
 
Terrorism charges: Married couple, allegedly preparing an attack, to face court in Sydney | 08 Feb 2017 | A married couple will today face a Sydney court and be charged with planning a terrorist attack. The man and woman, both 19, are already on remand facing terrorism-related charges. The man is accused of collecting terrorism-related documents. Police allege his wife was found with a hunting knife and a Shahada flag in her handbag, as well as instructions for making a bomb detonator.
 
'Restore my liberty': Assange pleads for freedom while holed up in embassy | 06 Feb 2017 | Showing no sign he would give himself up to the U.S., WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reportedly begged the United Kingdom and Sweden to "do the right thing and restore my liberty" Monday, claiming he deserves freedom. He spoke out one year after a United Nations group found the U.K. and Sweden were "arbitrarily" detaining him. Assange argued, "These two states signed treaties to recognise the U.N. and its human rights mechanisms," the BBCreported.
 
NSA contractor indicted over mammoth theft of classified data | 08 Feb 2017 | A former National Security Agency contractor was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges he willfully retained national defense information, in what U.S. officials have said may have been the largest heist of classified government information in history. The indictment alleges that Harold Thomas Martin, 52, spent up to 20 years stealing highly sensitive government material from the U.S. intelligence community related to national defense, collecting a trove of secrets he hoarded at his home in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The government has not said what, if anything, Martin did with the stolen data.
 
Cleaner Robot Pulled From Fukushima Reactor Due to Radiation | 09 Feb 2017 | A remote-controlled cleaning robot sent into a damaged reactor [Unit 2] at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant had to be removed Thursday before it completed its work because of camera problems most likely caused by high radiation levels...Both of the robots are designed to withstand up to 1,000 Sieverts of radiation. The cleaner's two-hour endurance roughly matches an estimated radiation of 650 Sieverts per hour based on noise analysis of the images transmitted by the robot-mounted cameras. That's less than one-tenth of the radiation levels inside a running reactor, but still would kill a person almost instantly.
 
Nuclear waste ready to move through Erie County --A federal judge has approved the Department of Energy plan to move the material on trucks. | 07 Feb 2017 | (PA) Liquid nuclear waste soon will make its way through Erie County. Tractor-trailers carrying shipments of the radioactive material will start traveling on Interstates 90 and 79 as early as Feb. 17. A federal judge has rejected environmental groups' efforts to block the transports, which will occur regularly over four years. Liquid nuclear waste soon will make its way through Erie County.
 
Anti-nuclear activists slam New York State move to transfer 'decommissioning funds' to energy companies | 12 Feb 2017 | Anti-nuclear activists are blasting the state for agreeing to turn over about $1.5 billion it held in nuclear plant decommissioning funds to two energy companies. The New York Power Authority agreed to transfer the 683.8 million decommission fund for the Indian Point nuclear plant to Entergy, which recently reached agreement with the state to shut down the Westchester County facility by 2021. It is also turning over the 746.2 million decommission trust fund for the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in upstate Oswego County to Exelon Generation, which is purchasing the facility from Entergy as part of a bailout plan by [globalist scum-bag] Gov. Cuomo for three aging upstate nuclear facilities.
 
'Last stand': Protests erupt as Standing Rock Tribe vows court challenge to DAPL easement | 09 Feb 2017 | In cities nationwide, Dakota Access Pipeline protesters are treating their cause with more urgency than ever since the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe vowed to fight President Donald Trump's executive memorandum expediting construction. In court documents filed on Tuesday, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced it would grant the final permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline, and cancel any further environmental impact study (EIS) that would allow the pipe to be laid beneath Lake Oahe. "Today's announcement will allow for the final step, which is granting of the easement," Robert Speer, Acting Secretary of the Army, announced in a press release.
 
U.S. Army to grant final permit for controversial Dakota pipeline: court filing | 07 Feb 2017 | The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will grant the final easement needed to finish the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a court filing Tuesday. The line had been delayed for several months after protests from Native American tribes and climate activists. The $3.8 billion line, which is being built by Energy Transfer Partners, needed a final permit to tunnel under Lake Oahe, a reservoir that is part of the Missouri River. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose reservation is adjacent to the line's route, has said it will fight the decision.
 
Trump's 2-for-1 deregulation executive order challenged in court | 09 Feb 2017 | Another of President Donald Trump’s executive orders is headed to court. Requiring the removal of two old regulations before a new one is imposed goes beyond his constitutional authority, opponents allege. Trump's "one-in, two-out" executive order over regulations received pushback from unions and left-leaning advocacy groups. Trump claimed that the order was not directed specifically at regulations from the Obama administration but rather "a knock on many presidents preceding me."
 
'He took a fact and blew it up into a story that wasn't true': Former British spy behind Trump dirty dossier is accused of smearing a Cambridge University political rival 32 years ago --Former MI6 agent fled his 2m-pound home and went into hiding over dodgy document --Steele accused of smearing a political rival by claiming he supported apartheid | 11 Feb 2017 | The former British spy behind the discredited Donald Trump dossier is accused of twisting the truth in similar fashion, three decades ago, by smearing a political rival. Steele, described by university contemporaries as ruthlessly ambitious, allegedly badmouthed former Cambridge Union Vice President Lance Forman, wrongly accusing him of supporting apartheid. Now, 32 years later, according to Mr Forman, the former MI6 agent has behaved equally badly, tarnishing the President with lurid claims, linking him to Russian prostitutes. 'When I heard about the Trump dossier, I thought: 'He hasn't changed at all, has he?',' Mr Forman told MailOnline. 'He took a fact and blew it up into a story which wasn't true.'
 
Trump promises new security steps after travel ban court setback | 10 Feb 2017 | U.S. President Donald Trump promised on Friday to introduce additional national security steps, a day after an appeals court refused to reinstate his travel ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, and he expressed confidence his order would ultimately be upheld by the courts. The White House is not ruling out the possibility of rewriting Trump's Jan. 27 order in light of the actions by a federal judge in Seattle and an appeals court in San Francisco that put the directive on hold, an administration official said.
 
Trump won't immediately appeal travel ban halt to Supreme Court | 10 Feb 2017 | The Trump administration is not currently planning to appeal the decision blocking its travel ban to the Supreme Court, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. The decision to not go to the Supreme Court comes as the White House is examining several options to save President Donald Trump's controversial executive order on immigration, sources say. They are still considering issuing a reworked executive order. The source cautions that a new order risks making the current lawsuit "moot," which the administration may not want to do because it believes it can ultimately win on the merits.
 
Defiant Trump tweets 'SEE YOU IN COURT' after ruling again blocks immigration order | 09 Feb 2017 | A defiant President Donald Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT" after a San Francisco federal appeals court Thursday upheld the suspension of his controversial immigration order. He also warned the security of the nation was at stake and said he expected to easily win the case. The panel of three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously refused to reinstate the order after a federal judge had issued a halt to it last week.
 
Court Upholds Ruling Blocking Trump's Immigration Order | 09 Feb 2017 | A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the suspension of President Trump's controversial immigration order Thursday -- a decision that could end up in front of the Supreme Court. The panel of three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the order after a federal judge had issued a halt to the order last week. Trump issued the executive order, which placed a 90-day pause on immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan, on Jan. 27, causing chaos and outrage at airports across the country. The order also imposed a 120-day pause on all refugees, and an indefinite pause on refugees from Syria.
 
Appeals court to hear arguments on Trump's travel ban | 07 Feb 2017 | The U.S. Justice Department will face off with opponents in a federal appeals court on Tuesday over the fate of President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, his most controversial act since taking office last month. Last Friday, U.S. District Judge James Robart suspended Trump's ban, opening a window for people from the seven affected countries to enter the country. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will hear arguments over whether to restore the ban from Justice Department lawyers and opposing attorneys for the states of Minnesota and Washington at 3 p.m. PST.
 
Sessions confirmed as U.S. attorney general after battle with Democrats | 08 Feb 2017 | A bitterly divided U.S. Senate confirmed Republican Senator Jeff Sessions on Wednesday as the next attorney general of the United States after strong pushback from Democrats concerned about his record on civil rights. Sessions, who has served two decades in the Senate from Alabama, was confirmed by a 52-47 vote largely along party lines after Democrats raised public opposition to his confirmation. In a rare move for a senator recently confirmed to a Cabinet position, Sessions took to the floor of the chamber after the vote and called for members of Congress to have some "latitude" in their relationships with members of the other party.
 
Jeff Sessions confirmed to be the next attorney general | 08 Feb 2017 | The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama as the next attorney general, surviving a vocal push by Democrats to derail his nomination. The 52-47 vote was mostly along party lines, though one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, joined the Republicans to back their Alabama colleague. The final vote for Sessions -- one of Trump's closest advisers and his earliest supporter in the Senate -- came after 30 hours of debate from Democrats and a stunning fight between liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Republicans which ended in her being forced to sit down after she was accused of impugning Sessions. Sessions said he would resign from his office 11:59 p.m. Wednesday and the White House is scheduled to swear him in Thursday morning.
 
Protesters block Betsy DeVos from entering public school in Washington | 10 Feb 2017 | Protesters physically blocked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from entering a public school on Friday morning. Parents holding signs greeted DeVos when she arrived at Jefferson Middle School Academy in southwest Washington, not far from the Department of Education building. When she tried to enter the school, the protesters stood in front of her, video from CNN affiliate WJLA showed.
 
REPORT: Bias Response Teams oversaw nearly 3M students in 2016 | 09 Feb 2017 | The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has released a report examining the proliferation of "Bias Response Teams" and the chilling effect they have on campus speech. FIRE surveyed 232 Bias Response Teams, defined as groups that formally collect reports from the university community regarding "offensive” speech, and found that at least 2.84 million students had their speech subjected to review by the teams in 2016 alone..."Some systems define 'bias incidents' to include expressions of bias against political and social affiliations, [and] 15 percent of institutions include 'political affiliation' among their categories of bias," FIRE remarks. "Still others include bias against similar categories such as 'intellectual perspective' (University of Central Arkansas), 'political expression' (Dartmouth), or 'political belief' (University of Kentucky)."
 
Reply to LS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group by Michael Rectenwald | 06 Feb 2017 | First, I would like to say how deplorable I think it was that an apparently official committee of NYU's Liberal Studies Program responded to my interview and criticized my Twitter account as it did. The alacrity with which this committee rendered its guilty verdict served to validate my suspicions regarding the peril of openly opposing politically correct authoritarianism on campus...As for the kinds of campus policies and mechanisms that have been put in place over the past few years at NYU and elsewhere, I argue that they are not merely silly but also pernicious. Under the influence of Social Justice Warrior ideology, we now encounter demands for safe spaces to protect students from ideas that may disturb or trigger them...
 
'Heartbreaking': Over 300 whales die in biggest recent stranding in New Zealand | 10 Feb 2017 | Most of the 415 whales that washed up on a narrow sand spit in Golden Bay, New Zealand died by Thursday night, while scores of volunteers armed with blankets struggled to keep the surviving animals wet to refloat them during a life-saving tide. The mammals were scattered along the beach in Farewell Spit on the northwestern coast of New Zealand’s South Island, near the settlement on Puponga. (Photos)
 
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