You're gonna pay for it!

Have you been listening to the whining about how 'industry' can't afford those dastardly regulations?

What they mean is just what Freedom Industry did - massive cleanup? File bankruptcy! Taxpayers pick up the costs.....if their mess can even be cleaned up.

If you bought the propaganda, please re-think!

No one can tell you what this or any other chemical will do to human beings, wildlife or the environment because these chemicals have never been tested.

The heroes among us fight to preserve and restore the best they can.

Charles P. Pierce. (illustration: Boston Globe)

Another Step in Freedom Industries' Clean Getaway

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

11 February 14

reedom Industries, the Orwellian author -- and conveniently bankrupt cause -- of the chemical spill in West Virginia that poisoned most of the state's drinking water, had an unbreakable hair appointment and found itself unable to attend a congressional hearing on what it did because why should it, anyway?
That was OK, though, because nobody else knew anything, either.

Despite more than two hours of testimony, there was little discussion of the available information -- or the unknowns -- that, if focused on publicly, might help residents understand why no one can really answer for certain the question Capito said everyone is asking. There was little testimony about the huge lack of data about Crude MCHM, or about thousands of other chemicals. There were few, if any, questions about the formula federal public health officials used to come up with an emergency "screening level" of 1 part per million the state used to clear the regional water system for public use. Only U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso seemed to really want to try to wade into those issues. "It would be hard to say if it's safe," Moure-Eraso said. "In order to give a scientific answer, you have to have scientific information."

In other words, over a month after the spill occurred, the answer given by most responsible officials to the question, "Can we drink the water yet?" is "Fked if we know."

The witness list, though, included no average West Virginians -- no business owners or schoolteachers or working mothers -- who might have told lawmakers personal stories about the spill's impacts. Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., did allow public comments at the end of the hearing, but limited those to seven individuals who were given two minutes each. Witnesses and lawmakers discussed various options for legislation that might help to avoid a repeat of the spill and the water crisis that followed. Barely mentioned was the fact that numerous agencies knew Freedom was storing large quantities of chemicals 1.5 miles upstream from the water intake, but did nothing to try to prevent or plan for such a spill.

Overregulation is such a burden.

Poisoned Water, Lack of Regulation

Dirty Coal has destroyed communities, poisoned water and destroyed environments.
Dirty Coal owns elected officials with generous campaign contributions.

Please add your name to the petition below - it's time to end Dirty Coal!

While 300,000 West Virginians are still suffering the effects of having their water system poisoned by a coal chemical leak, we are still trying to do what we can by delivering to communities most in need. Since the very first day after the spill, we've been delivering water and supplies.

We need your help. Please donate to help cover the cost of water, supplies, and delivery. Please write "Water" in the notes. You can also donate by check to CRMW, P.O. Box 303, Naoma, WV 25140.

The official verdict, based on "shaky science," is that the water is now okay to use, except by pregnant women, in spite of the many reports of rashes, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms, and in spite of new revelations that additional chemicals were leaked. Our governor and the water company may have turned their backs on the most vulnerable, but we will not.

This disaster has been largely ignored by the mainstream media, but there have been reports by Jon Stewart, Chris Hayes, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Rachel Maddow. Please keep spreading the word, via letters to the editor, Facebook, or just telling your friends.

Mountaintop removal and coal waste sludge (the end product of the spilled chemical) contributed to ruining so many water sources that 300,000 in nine counties depended on one inlet for their water. Without an effective regulatory agency, coal companies have done as they please for years.

Please join over 26,000 people who have signed this petition demanding that the federal Office of Surface Mining intervene and protect the water and health of West Virginians from unchecked industry.

Please enjoy and share the images of last night's vigil at the WV Capitol and around the world. We must not let our leaders wash their hands of this affront to basic human decency. And don't forget to join over 2,500 friends in liking us on Facebook.

Vernon Haltom, Executive director, Coal River Mountain Watch

Al Jones of the West Virginia Department of General Services flushes the water as he reopens a restroom on the first floor of the state Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. (photo: Steve Helber/AP)

Chemical-Related Hospital Admissions in West Virginia Have Doubled Since Water Deemed Safe

By Emily Atkin, ThinkProgress

21 January 14

t took nearly five days after a major chemical spill in West Virginia for residents to receive the go-ahead to start using their water again.

 

Nearly 7,500 gallons of crude MCHM - a little-known chemical used to wash coal - had leaked into the Elk River on Jan. 9, perplexing state officials on how exactly to get the chemical out of the water and what exactly it would do to people if they used it. It was Jan. 13, a Monday, when the first bans were lifted. As of Saturday, everyone affected by the spill was given the all-clear - water everywhere, state officials said, was now fine to drink.

 

In a perfect world, that would be the end of the story. But according to statistics released by the state health department on Saturday, it turns out that since the bans on water began being lifted, hospital admissions and calls to the poison control center have doubled. Emergency room visits have nearly tripled.

 

On Jan. 12, the day before do-not-use orders began being lifted, health department officials cited 10 hospital admissions, 169 people treated and released from the emergency room, and a little more than 1,000 calls to the poison control center.

 

By Saturday - the same day the final 2 percent of people affected by the spill got their water back - those numbers had increased significantly. According to a report in the Charleston Gazette, health officials said 20 people had been admitted to the hospitals, 411 had been treated and released from the emergency room, and 2,302 had called the poison control center. Of those, 1,862 were human-related, 98 were animal-related and the rest were requests for information only.

 

Saturday's numbers were also much greater than Thursday's numbers, when health officials said only 317 had been treated and 14 had been hospitalized.

 

Part of the increased hospitalizations and calls may be due to confusion on the part of West Virginia residents, who in the last week have been repeatedly given conflicting information about the spill and whether they should use the water. The "do-not-drink" order finally lifted on Saturday, for example, was in a town that had actually had their ban lifted on Tuesday. On Thursday, however, West Virginia American Water rescinded their statements that the water was safe to drink, after water from a fire hydrant registered chemical levels above the 1-part-per-million (ppm) limit.

 

It's not the only instance of conflicting information. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said pregnant women should not drink water with any amount of the chemical in it, despite West Virginia American Water saying two days earlier that water in some areas was safe to drink.

 

Chemical levels in the water must be below 1 ppm for human ingestion. But health experts have questioned that logic. Specifically, some are saying that the study being widely used to determine whether the water is safe does not include several chemical components that leached into the water.

 

"A key corporate study used by federal health officials to set a screening level for 'crude MCHM' in the West Virginia American Water system actually tested a pure form of the material's main ingredient and might not account for potential toxicity of other components," the Charleston Gazette reported on Friday.

 

The chemical that is thought to have spilled, crude MCHM, is actually a mixture of chemicals that is used to wash coal of its impurities, explained Evan Hansen, president of Morgantown-based Downstream Strategies, in an interview with Climate Progress' Kiley Kroh on Saturday. Of those multiple ingredients, only one of them has any information about exposure limits, he said.

 

"If crude MCHM is truly what leaked, it's possible that we don't even know which of this 'cocktail' is most harmful," said Hansen. "We could have set a threshold based on the wrong one. We may be testing the wrong one."

 

So far, however, no official diagnoses have been reported linking patients' symptoms to water exposure.

 

"As far as the data and recommendations we have from West Virginia American Water, the water is safe to use," Rahul Gupta, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said.

 

"We're not saying it's safe. West Virginia American Water is saying it's safe. We are taking their word for it."

 Nothing is known about most of the chemicals in our environment:

The Big Impact Of A Little-Known Chemical In W.Va. Spill

by Elizabeth Shogren

January 13, 2014

 

Listen to the Story

All Things Considered

3 min 6 sec

 

West Virginia officials say they also turned to safety information companies, which are required to provide information on the chemicals they possess. But that so-called material safety data sheet included very little data in this case.

"The entries were largely 'data not available' for this particular compound," says Sharon Meyer, a toxicologist from the University of Louisiana, Monroe.

 

Experts weren't surprised that the scientific literature had so little information about MCHM, because there is very little toxicological research about many chemicals. Priority for testing is given to chemicals used by consumers or in food preparation.

"There are 85,000 chemicals in commerce right now in the United States, and we cannot possibly test all the chemicals for all their different properties," says Rolf Halden, an engineering professor at Arizona State University who researches how chemicals move through the environment and people.

 

Still, the spill shed light on how little is known about many chemicals. Members of Congress have been debating for years whether to update the 1976 law that governs these chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Lynn Bergeson, a lawyer who specializes in the regulation of toxic chemicals, says she hopes the West Virginia accident will convince lawmakers that it is urgent for them to act.

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/13/262185930/mysteries-persist-surrounding-west-virginia-chemical-spill

For West Virginians – Still Major Unknowns about Chemical Spill

January 16, 2014 4:00 PM

Listen to the Story

All Things Considered

4 min 27 sec

• Playlist
• Download

The chemical spill from the Freedom Industries tank farm has raised questions around chemical regulatory procedures. For more information, Melissa Block speaks with Ken Ward, a reporter with The Charleston Gazette.

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/16/263123726/west-virginia-chemical-regulations-stay-beneath-the-microscope

 

Solar Energy Spill!

League of Conservation Voters

Last week, nearly 8,000 gallons of a chemical used in coal power plants spilled into West Virginia’s drinking water. But have you ever heard of a solar energy spill? This pic from The Other 98% is the only one we've seen.

If you agree that we’ve got to kick our coal habit and invest in clean energy now, show your support here: http://wefb.it/T78sPi

 

Occupy Democrats's photo.

 

List of shootings on school campuses since the December of 2012 Newtown tragedy. Is this the America that you want for your children?

 

 

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America's photo.

 

ANOTHER WEEK OF SHOOTING DEATHS IN AMERICA: So far this week we've witnessed the 30th school shooting since Newtown by a 12-year-old in New Mexico; a Florida father was shot dead in a movie theater for texting during previews; a 5-year-old in Omaha was killed by a stray bullet while she was eating breakfast; two mothers, one in Florida and one in Utah, shot and killed their children and then committed suicide; and last night, in an Indiana super market, a gunman shot and killed two women and was pointing his semi-automatic weapon at a third victim when police took him down: http://tinyurl.com/n2zw57l. This is not happening in other developed countries. The horror and tragedy resulting from our lax gun laws can be stopped, but only if we collectively rise up and demand change. Concern, sadness and prayers aren't enough: you must act. Today. Join your state chapter now: http://momsdemandaction.org/join-us/

 

CommonDreams.org

"All over the planet, the Obama administration is waging a secret war whose full extent has never been fully revealed -- until now."

 

The Special Ops Surge

commondreams.org

They operate in the green glow of night vision in Southwest Asia and stalk through the jungles of South America. They snatch men from their homes in the Maghreb and shoot it out with heavily armed militants in the Horn of Africa. They feel the salty spray while skimming over the tops of waves

 

 

 

Modest Needs Foundation's photo.

Fair?

 

Pay it forward. Begin today at www.modestneeds.org

 

 

 

 

 

In defense of critical thinking.

 

 

350.org

 

Oil Spills Leave Trinidad's Beaches Covered In Crude

huffingtonpost.com

At least 11 oil spills have crippled parts of Trinidad and Tobago, coating miles of beach with crude as the state-owned energy company scrambles to control what's being called one of the country's worst environmental disasters. Petrotrin, Trinidad's state-owned oil company, first responded to an

 

 

Bold Nebraska

A state-owned pipeline in Trinidad that may not have been inspected for the past 17 years has spilled at least 7,000 barrels over 11 incidents in the past month.

‪#‎NoKXL

 

 

350.org

Trinidad and Tobago is facing a major oil disaster right now. State-owned oil company Petrotrin has confirmed ELEVEN oil spills since December -- but the story gets dirtier.

The pipeline responsible for the first of the leaks may not have undergone any inspections for the past 17 years, despite a government audit in 2010. And while trying to cover-up the extent of the spills, Petrotrin claimed that at least two of them had been the work of saboteurs. Typical.

 

 

 

League of Conservation Voters

While climate deniers in Congress are trying to limit the EPA’s ability to address climate change, communities like Shishmaref, Alaska are living with its effects everyday. Rising sea levels and coastal erosion are causing so much damage, the village may have to relocate.

‪#‎ActOnClimate‬ today by supporting strong carbon pollution standards: http://www.lcv.org/CutCarbon

 

 

 

Center for Biological Diversity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services may sound harmless, but this secretive wildlife-extermination agency is killing as many as 3 million coyotes, bears, beavers, foxes, birds, wolves and other native animals each year.

Now, Wildlife Services is gunning to expand its wolf-killing program to Washington state.

Please act now to urge the USDA to protect Washington's recovering wolf populations and rein in Wildlife Services.

Don't Let Wildlife Services Kill Our Wolves

action.biologicaldiversity.org

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services may sound harmless, but this secretive wildlife-extermination agency is killing as many as 3 million coyotes, bears, beavers, foxes, birds, wolves and other native animals each year.

 

There's always a Koch Connection!

Freedom Industries executive a two-time convicted felon, benefited from 2009 federal stimulus 12 Jan 2014 (WV) Freedom Industries, the company [eco-terrorists] responsible for contaminating the water of 300,000 Kanawha Valley residents, was founded by a two-time convicted felon, benefited from the 2009 federal stimulus and at least two of its executives have longstanding ties to the Charleston business community. Since the chemical spill on Thursday, Freedom Industries executives have entirely avoided media requests, except for a brief news conference Friday night... In 2008, Freedom Industries secured a contract to distribute a line of products called Talon that are used as a binder in coal processing, according to a news release issued at the time. Talon is made by Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC. Georgia-Pacific is owned by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch.

West Virginia Spill Prompts Drive for Tougher Regulations 14 Jan 2014 A chemical spill that left 300,000 people in West Virginia unable to drink their water is reviving calls for more stringent regulation of thousands of chemical storage sites in the U.S., especially those near water supplies. The Freedom Industries Inc. complex in Charleston that leaked was subject to a patchwork of federal and state regulations that allowed hazardous materials to be stored less than two miles upstream from a treatment facility for drinking water.

 

 

The rest from CLG:

 

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government15 Jan 2014 - Part 2

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

Previous edition: U.S. appeals court strikes down FCC net neutrality rules 15 Jan 2014 - Part 1

 

 

U.S. courts oppose reform proposals for secret surveillance court 14 Jan 2014 The U.S. federal court system objects to key proposals by a presidential review panel to reform the secret court that supervises the classified electronic eavesdropping activities of the U.S. National Security Agency, a former chief judge of that court said on Tuesday. Judge John Bates, the former head of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, sent the objections in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said he submitted it on behalf of the federal judicial system as a whole, through an entity called the Judicial Conference of the United States, of which he is secretary.

NSA phone collection does not prevent terrorism - report 13 Jan 2014 A new analysis of 225 terrorism cases in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks indicates that the National Security Agency's massive collection of phone records had a "minimal" on preventing acts of terrorism, according to a report released Monday by the New America Foundation, a Washington nonprofit group. Traditional law enforcement and investigative methods provided the evidence to begin most cases. The study makes similar conclusion as an advisory group appointed by President Barack Obama to examine the federal government's vast surveillance programs.

Anonymous online critics must be identified, says court 13 Jan 2014 Users who have posted negative comments on the online review site Yelp must be identified, a US court has ordered. The case involved the owner of a carpet-cleaning business who told the court bad reviews written about his company were not from real customers. The court said anonymous users were not protected by the First Amendment, which allows free speech, if the review "is based on a false statement". [Right, only corporations are protected by the First Amendment.]

'Miami Protest to Close Guantanamo Bay' marched in Doral on Saturday 14 Jan 2014 75 protesters gathered outside the U.S. Southern Command over the weekend for the event, "Miami Protest to Close Guantanamo Bay." Protesters in orange jumpsuits marched in Doral. The words "Close Guantanamo Now!" were black and bold on a banner protestors carried in a march along Northwest 87th Avenue in Doral... Protesters also gathered in front of the White House.

Iran to get first 550 million of blocked 4.2 billion on February 1 12 Jan 2014 Iran would receive the first 550 million installment of a total of 4.2 billion in previously blocked overseas funds on or about February 1, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday. Under a November 24 nuclear agreement, six major powers agreed to give Iran access to 4.2 billion in revenues blocked overseas if it carries out the deal, which offers sanctions relief in exchange for steps to curb the Iranian nuclear program. Some payments are contingent on Iran diluting its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium to no more than 5 percent enriched uranium. [Why aren't the US and Israel forced to destroy *their* enriched uranium?]

$1.1T spending bill: 85.2B for military ops in Afghanistan and aid to Israel; funding for Wall St. oversight slashed 14 Jan 2014 Congressional negotiators unveiled a bipartisan [DemocRATic surrender], 1.1 trillion spending bill Monday night that will reverse a 1 percent cut to cost-of-living increases for disabled veterans and provide 1.525 billion in aid to [the military dictatorship in] Egypt, among other provisions. The measure fleshes out the details of the budget deal that Congress passed last month; it would fund the government through October. Liberals are more likely to climb aboard, but only after voting to give Obama about 6 billion more in Pentagon war funding than the 79 billion he requested.

Christie, Official Who Arranged Bridge Closures Were Together During Fiasco 14 Jan 2014 Gov. Chris Christie (R) was with the official who arranged the closure of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 11, 2013 -- the third day of the closures, and well after they had triggered outrage from local officials beset by heavy traffic. It isn't known what, if anything, Mr. Christie discussed with David Wildstein that day, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official was among the delegation of Mr. Christie's representatives who welcomed him to the site of the World Trade Center for the commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks there. Mr. Christie addressed Mr. Wildstein in a news conference last week, saying he had not encountered him "in a long time."

Bridge controversy expands into new areas for Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey 13 Jan 2014 As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spent the day finalizing his State of the State speech, Democratic lawmakers announced the creation of special investigative committees with subpoena power to further scrutinize a scheme in which top aides to the governor worked to paralyze traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., in an apparent plot against the town's Democratic mayor. Meanwhile, new documents released by Jersey City officials Monday suggest that the Christie administration punished the Democratic mayor of that town last summer by cutting off his access to top state officials when he declined to back the governor's reelection bid. And in Washington, federal auditors have begun looking into Christie's use of Hurricane Sandy recovery money to pay for an expensive tourism marketing campaign last year starring him and his family.

Okla. Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down; Ruling on Hold 15 Jan 2014 For the second time in a month, a federal judge has set aside a deeply conservative state's limits on same-sex marriage, this time in Oklahoma. U.S. District Judge Terence Kern on Tuesday struck down Oklahoma's voter-approved ban, but headed off any rush to the altar by putting the effects of his ruling on hold while state and local officials complete an appeal. Like the federal judge who reversed Utah's gay marriage ban in December, Kern determined that Oklahoma's constitutional amendment violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.

*****

CLG needs your support.

http://www.legitgov.org/donate.html

Or, please mail a check or m*ney order to CLG: Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.

Feel free -- and CLG encourages you -- to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!
Those who wish to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name

 

 

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government15 Jan 2014 - Part 1

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

Note: I have been splitting newsletters into two parts, in an effort to circumvent certain email providers' 'filters.' CLG reader, Steve R., emailed us w. the following point and suggestion: 'Thanks for sending. You sometimes say you were blocked. Will you please give us readers a way to tell if we received it? You could make a different lead story and then tell us in your note what it was. Or number them...Then we could tell if we got it. Thank you, Keep sending!'

Going forward, I will note the headline and date of the previous newsletter at the top of the summary, so folks can keep track and, if necessary, retrieve the previous edition from their sp-m bins.

U.S. appeals court strikes down FCC net neutrality rules 14 Jan 2014 A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected federal rules that required Internet providers to treat all web traffic equally, a decision that could allow mobile carriers and other broadband providers to charge content providers for faster access to websites and products. The Federal Communications Commission's open Internet rules, also known as net neutrality rules, required Internet service providers to give consumers equal access to all lawful content without restrictions or varying charges. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the regulation, which was passed in late 2010 and challenged in court by [corpora-terrorists] Verizon Communications Inc.

Responding to Sanders, NSA director denies spying on Congress --Vermont senator notes that agency's head failed to rule out collection of elected officials' phone 'metadata' 14 Jan 2014 The National Security Agency’s director, responding to questions from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, says the government is not spying on Congress. But a two-page letter from Gen. Keith Alexander to the Vermont independent goes on to state that the agency can make no guarantee that representatives or senators have not had their "telephone metadata" caught up in broad government sweeps. "Nothing NSA does can fairly be characterized as 'spying on members of Congress or other American elected officials,'" Alexander wrote in the letter, dated Friday and released Tuesday.

Iran nuclear deal to take effect on January 20 12 Jan 2014 Iran's interim nuclear deal with six major powers will come into force on January 20, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the European Union said on Sunday. "Capitals have confirmed the result of the talks in Geneva...the Geneva deal will be implemented from January 20," Marzieh Afkham, spokeswoman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Tehran, the semi-official Mehr news agency said. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also confirmed the date, and said the sides would now ask the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to verify the deal's implementation.

Ohio Man Arrested With Bombs and AR-15 Was Intel Analyst With Top Secret Clearance 12 Jan 2014 In an odd twist of events an Ohio man was arrested after a traffic stop on New Year's Day which lead an officer to uncover a slew of bombs, IEDs, a remote detonator, and an AR-15 rifle. Andrew Scott Boguslawski, 43, of Moores Hill, Indiana, was stopped by Trooper W. Scott Davis on westbound I-70 on January 1st, 2014, for speeding... Further investigation uncovered 58 small improvised initiators, 25 IEDs, a medicine bottle weighing 1.5 lbs containing explosive materials, four incomplete improvised bombs, a remote detonator, and several loaded guns including an AR-15 rifle. Also in his possession were schematics for Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in which he was employed as a groundskeeper. Boguslawski was trained as an Intelligence Analyst Specialist in the Army National Guard and held a Top Secret Clearance.

London Police Campaign to Boost Public's Counter-Terrorism Role 12 Jan 2014 London's Metropolitan Police, which oversees the U.K.'s national counter-terrorism operations, begins a campaign today to remind members of the public they may play a "vital role" in foiling an attack. The drive known as Operation Penna, the second project of its kind run by the police force, ends Jan. 24. It will involve high-visibility police patrols around crowded places such as shopping centers and Underground railway stations across the capital's 32 boroughs, according to an e-mailed statement.

New Homeland Security headquarters costing extra billions --DHS eye-sore is $3.2B over budget and ten years behind schedule 13 Jan 2014 Building a new Department of Homeland Security headquarters is not only taking extra years, but extra billions of taxpayer d*llars. A new staff report from Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, says a "reality check" is needed about the escalating costs and delays of the new DHS headquarters. DHS has also pushed back the completion date of the entire facility, which includes new senior leadership offices and other operations, to 2026 -- 10 years beyond the originally scheduled finish time.

Fish testing at 124 times over radiation limit caught off Fukushima 13 Jan 2014 Fish with deadly levels of radioactive cesium have been caught just off the coast of Fukushima prefecture, as scientists continue to assess the damage caused to the marine food chain by the 2011 nuclear disaster. One of the samples of the 37 black sea bream specimens caught some 37 kilometers south of the crippled power plant tested at 12,400 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, making it 124 times deadlier than the 'threshold considered safe for human consumption,' Japan's Fisheries Research Agency announced. The samples were caught at the mouth of the Niidagawa river in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on November 17.

Wheelchair-bound sailor's blames radiation exposure at Fukushima; DoD says 'no' 11 Jan 2014 A Maryland sailor says he's now wheelchair-bound, and he blames it on radiation he was exposed to while representing his country at what's been called the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. It was eight months after Steve Simmons served on the USS Ronald Reagan when it was the first ship to respond to the March 2011 meltdown(s) at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant... Steve explains, "As far as the big picture we still don't have a diagnosis of what this is, still struggling to even get a doctor to acknowledge that radiation had anything to do with it." Without the Navy acknowledging Steve wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for his time in Operation Tomodachi, his retirement and pension are at stake, plus he doesn't qualify for aid in the same the way he would if he lost his legs in an IED explosion.

Kelly Thomas verdict: Demonstrators gather at beating site 13 Jan 2014 Dozens of people gathered Monday night at the Fullerton transit depot not far from where Kelly Thomas was beaten by police [sociopaths] in the summer of 2011. The demonstrators, some of whom chanted or carried candles, gathered just a few hours after an Orange County jury found two former Fullerton police officers not guilty in the death of the homeless man who used to sleep on benches at the transit center. Curtis Gamble, 53, who is homeless, said many of his friends witnessed the beating. Thomas died five days later.

Ex-cops acquitted in beating death of homeless man in California --'This is carte blanche to police officers to do whatever they want.' --Victim's father, Ron Thomas 13 Jan 2014 A jury has acquitted two former Fullerton, California, police officers on trial in the beating death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill and homeless man. The verdict was read in a Santa Ana courtroom Monday afternoon. Eight women and four men began deliberating the case on Thursday. "I'm just horrified. They got away with murdering my son," Cathy Thomas, the victim's mother, told reporters after the verdict was read.

3 injured in N. M. school shooting; suspect arrested --Shooter opens fires at Roswell middle school shortly after 8 a.m. 14 Jan 2014 A suspect was arrested Tuesday following a shooting at a Roswell, N.M., middle school that left at least three people injured, according to local media reports. Roswell police said the incident occurred around 8:11 a.m. local time at Berrendo Middle School.

U.S. Rep. Pallone said he thought Christie's Sandy ad campaign 'smelled', called for investigation 13 Jan 2014 U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D) said today he asked federal officials to look into the state's decision to use Hurricane Sandy aid for an advertising campaign that featured Gov. Chris Christie's family because he thought it "smelled." The television spots were meant to draw tourist back to the storm-battered Jersey Shore - a worthy cause, Pallone said. But what's fishy, he said, is that the firm chosen by the state to put together tourism advertisements -- the politically-connected MWW -- submitted a bid that was *2.2 million more expensive than another company that had no plans to put the governor in the ads.

Jersey City Peace Movement rallies against Christie over GWB scandal 12 Jan 2014 Wielding signs emblazoned with "Political Terrorism" and "Christie Has Blood on His Hands," about 10 members of the Jersey City Peace Movement rallied against Gov. Chris Christie over the unfolding GWB scandal in front of the PATH station in Jersey City's Journal Square yesterday evening. In a press release announcing their protest, the Jersey City Peace Movement demanded a "federal criminal inquiry" against Christie and the Port Authority of NY/NJ for their allegedly "revengeful bridge closure."

New report says millions of women at risk of falling into poverty, economic ruin 12 Jan 2014 Although in recent decades women have made historic advances in nearly all areas of American public life, a staggering number of women across the country are still teetering on the verge of poverty and economic disaster, a new report released Sunday shows. The report, co-authored by NBC News and the Center for American Progress, takes a wide-angle snapshot of a national economic crisis, seen through the eyes of women. The key findings paint a portrait of an estimated 42 million women -- and 28 million dependent children -- saddled with financial hardship.