Of the 46 recently weaned northern elephant seals deaths reported by the San Francisco Bay Area’s Marine Mammal Center between April 20 and August 1 of this year, Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation was listed as a cause of death in 16 — over 1/3 of the total.
U.S. National Library of Medicine (emphasis added): Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a serious disorder in which the proteins that control blood clotting become over active… Risk factors for DIC include: Blood transfusion reaction; Cancer, especially certain types of leukemia…
DIC “is a pathological process characterized by the widespread activation of the clotting cascade that results in the formation of blood clots in the small blood vessels throughout the body… and can ultimately lead to multiple organ damage… severe bleeding can occur from various sites. DIC does not occur by itself but only as a complicating factor from another underlying condition, usually in those with a critical illness… DIC can lead to multiorgan failure and widespread bleeding… Causes — DIC can occur in the following conditions: Solid tumors and blood cancers (particularly acute promyelocytic leukemia)… Sepsis or severe infection… Severe allergic or toxic reactions… Giant hemangiomas (Kasabach-Merritt syndrome) [and] Large aortic aneurysms.”
Acute promyelocytic leukemia is a subtype of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a cancer of the white blood cells. According to Wikipedia, “ionizing radiation exposure can increase the risk of AML. Survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had an increased rate of AML, as did radiologists exposed to high levels of X-rays”
Journal of Intensive Care, 2014: Disseminated intravascular coagulation… with enhanced fibrinolysis is a DIC type usually seen in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)… The Scientific Standards Committee… defines DIC as ‘an acquired syndrome [that] can originate from and cause damage to the microvasculature, which if sufficiently severe, can produce organ dysfunction’… problems exist with this definition in terms of not taking into account the type of DIC often seen in acute leukemias (especially acute promyelocytic leukemia)…
Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 2013: A causal association with leukemia has only been documented to date for ionizing radiation, benzene and treatment with cytostatic drugs… A large number of studies included in the review referred to the effects of ionizing radiation, where new data suggest that the effects of exposure to small doses of ionizing radiation should probably be reevaluated… An update of [the Life Span Study (LSS) of A-Bomb survivors] has shown that exposure to ionizing radiation at doses as low as those usually recorded in occupational settings, leukemia incidence follows a quadratic dose response pattern… Moreover, there is uncertainty on whether the proposed safety limits from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) are appropriate, since revised LSS data show that the risk of leukemia remains increased even in groups with low cumulative exposure to radiation…
See also: Report shows California sea lions dying from organs falling out of place, tumors, accumulation of pus inside bodies (PHOTO)
Published: August 26th, 2015 at 3:53 pm ET
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Gov’t: It’s getting “even worse” on West Coast this year — Experts say over 35,000 baby sea lions could be dead; “This phenomenon is unprecedented in scale” — Hundreds of times more pups than usual at rescue center — Doctor: “Definitely indicates ocean not normal… Really, we should be worried” (AUDIO) March 4, 2015
Guardian: Pacific Ocean “turning into a desert” off California — Experts: Entire generation of baby sea lions is dying; It’s incredible, it’s so unusual and there’s no good explanation for it; Expect same thing to happen again next year — Carts filled with emaciated dead bodies (PHOTOS) May 17, 2015
‘Unbelievable!’: Scientists stunned as 3 rare giant oarfish found dead off Los Angeles in recent weeks — Flesh falling apart while still alive, body parts missing — Biologist: “Of course I’m very concerned… for some reason they’re dying… it’s very strange” — Being tested for toxins (VIDEO) August 20, 2015
Toxic bloom “basically eating the West Coast alive” — “Unusual deaths up and down the Pacific coast” — “All populations of marine mammals are way down” in areas — Experts: “Largest ever recorded… This is really unprecedented territory… Never seen an event like this” (VIDEO) August 9, 2015
CBS: This is really disturbing, sea stars dying by the millions on West Coast — Like the Black Death, only faster and deadlier — ‘Mystery plague’ affecting 20+ species — TV: Disappears from Orange County coast over 2 week period — Expert: “Largest epidemic ever in ocean… Something has changed in marine environment to lead to this” (VIDEO) July 29, 2014
August 26th, 2015 | Category: California, US, West Coast
Jiji, Aug 24, 2015: Powerful Typhoon Goni slammed into… Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture Sunday night… The typhoon registered a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 71.0 meters per second [159 mph] on Ishigaki, the strongest on record there. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015082400016
Mainichi, Aug 24, 2015: Powerful Typhoon Goni… is expected to… move close to the Kyushu region the following day while maintaining its strength, [JMA] has announced…. The Okinawa Prefecture city of Ishigaki [experienced] the strongest wind ever recorded since a local observatory began recording wind speed at the site in 1941. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150824p2g00m0in017000c.html
AOL, Aug 24, 2015: 159 MPH wind gust reported in Ryukyu Islands… This breaks the site’s all-time record wind gust of 157 mph (70.2 m/s) set July 31, 1977… Sustained winds at that same site have peaked at 107.1 mph (47.9 m/s) which breaks their all-time August record… According to the U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Typhoon Goni… had maximum estimated sustained winds of 125 mph as of Monday morning, U.S. time. http://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/24/typhoon-goni-heads-for-southern-mainland-japan-159-mph-wind-gus/21226476/
NHK, Aug 24, 2015: Seawater leak found at Sendai nuclear plant — Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture [on Kyushu Island] says it found seawater used to cool steam has leaked… they found cracks in 5 pipes in one condenser… They are now checking the other tubes… The trouble occurred 9 days after the operator restarted the reactor… the first to go back online… The utility was due to raise the reactor’s power output to 100 percent… But the problems are expected to delay the scheduled work… http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150824_31.html
NHK transcript, Aug 24, 2015: Workers at an operating nuclear plant in Southwestern Japan have run into problems. They found cracks and leaks in pipes… The utility has been inspecting the pipes, finding cracks in five of them at one condenser. They say seawater had leaked from them. Workers stopped the flow of water by putting plugs into the five pipes. They’re now checking other ones. Officials with the plant operator say they’ll keep running the reactor.
Scott Edwards
Co-Director, Food & Water Justice Project
Rude Awakening in America’s Farmland
Posted: 11/13/2012 12:21 pm EST Updated: 01/13/2013 5:12 am EST
I’m an environmentalist. So when I think about our industrialized system of agriculture and the proliferation of mega-factory farms across the country, where giant companies like Perdue, Tyson, Smithfield and a handful of others dominate our increasingly fragile landscapes, my first thoughts go to the impacts on watersheds and airways. I tend to dwell on the unsustainability of hundreds of thousands of tons of chicken manure piled high in places like the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where the Chesapeake Bay is dying, or the millions of gallons of fetid hog waste lying in lagoons all across the eastern part of North Carolina, overflowing into the Neuse River every time it rains. But the other night I was told a story about an equally dark side of our industrialized ag system, one where the ruin of our natural resources is matched every bit by the destruction of rural families and futures, where every day struggling farmers suffer rude awakenings from the American dream.
Back in 1987, Karen and Mitchell Crutchfield were living a quiet life in a three bedroom brick home near where the Arkansas River winds through the state of Arkansas. Their home was situated on 17 acres of farmland that was passed down to Karen by her grandfather. Mitchell had spent 16 years working as a towboat engineer on the Mississippi River.
Back then, the Crutchfields decided to take a shot with a business of their own. They weren’t looking for shortcuts to get rich quick, or ways to profit off the hard work of others. Karen and Mitchell weren’t hoping for fancy cars and big McMansions; theirs was a modest dream. They were going to be chicken farmers, knowing that it meant that they would have to struggle every day to pay their bills, but they could look forward to a simple and peaceful retirement some decades down the road.
The Crutchfields entered into a contract to raise chickens for Tyson Foods, an Arkansas chicken empire that is one of the largest industrial food producers in the world today, with profits in 2010 of $780 million. In the beginning, they mortgaged their debt-free home and land and took out big loans from the Farm Credit to build their first chicken houses. The Crutchfields were loyal to Tyson. They even purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock so they could enjoy some small benefit from the massive profits that Tyson earns off the hard work of their contract growers. And for two and a half decades Karen and Mitchell Crutchfield played by all the rules.
Every time Tyson told them to upgrade the chicken houses or install new equipment or add structures, the Crutchfields complied, even though it meant taking out more loans just to keep up. And at the end of each flock, when Tyson came to pick up the birds that the Crutchfields had so carefully raised according to the company’s evolving standards, they only received about half the money they earned. The other half? Tyson sent that directly to the Farm Credit to pay off the rolling debt the Crutchfields had incurred to keep up with Tyson’s demands.
The money left over wasn’t enough to get by on. So the Crutchfields did what almost every poultry contract grower in the country does — they took on other jobs to make ends meet. At some points, Karen was working three jobs while Mitchell cared for Tyson’s birds. And even though it wasn’t fair that Tyson was paying the Crutchfields less than 5 cents per pound of chicken raised in their houses while charging $1.25 or more per pound at the grocery store, and despite the fact that the Crutchfields had to sell off all their 3,000 shares of Tyson stocks over the years to survive, it was all okay because they were working towards the dream they started 25 years ago, when one day the Farm Credit loans would all be paid off and once again they’d be debt-free
The Crutchfields were going to reach their goal three short years from now, when they would be in their mid 60s. They were going to put off retirement until well past the age of 65 so they could spend their golden years with some small margin of comfort. But a year ago, their dream came crashing down. Not only did the Crutchfields get the rug pulled out from under them, they’re about to have their entire home and all their land yanked away.
Last year Tyson demanded yet another upgrade to the Crutchfields’ chicken houses. This time it was to install computerized ventilation equipment under Tyson’s “Premium House Mandate” program. The cost? According to the Crutchfields, somewhere around $250-300 thousand. Tyson told the Crutchfields that in exchange for the quarter of a million dollar upgrade, they would receive a raise of a penny per pound of chicken. A penny per pound for another $300,000 in debt — that’s a “raise” none of us could afford to accept.
Even so, in a desperate effort to hold onto at least a fragment of their dream while not putting themselves into a hole out of which they’d likely never be able to climb, the Crutchfields asked the Farm Credit for another loan to update only half of their six poultry houses. The Farm Credit refused, saying it was all or nothing. Daunted by the prospects of suddenly sinking another $300,000 deeper, the Crutches did what any responsible person would have done — they said no to more debt.
Last March, Tyson refused to renew the Crutchfields’ contract, abandoning them just a few years short of their finally being able to pay off their debts and after 25 years of loyal service. Tyson’s betrayal left them without any steady source of income to pay off the last three years of their Farm Credit loans. It seems that someone at Tyson didn’t read the “core values” listed on the company’s website, where they claim to “strive to be honorable” and “care about each other,” before they kicked the Crutchfields to the curb. And the curb is exactly where this farm family will end up because the Farm Credit is now foreclosing on their property. The foreclosure hearing is taking place in early December of this year, in time for the banks to take the Crutchfields’ home and land just as the Arkansas winter sets in.
Sadly, this tale should be the exception, but its not; it happens to small farmers on a regular basis all across the country, where big agribusinesses force their contract growers into massive debt while the companies reap huge profits. If you want to see who is destroying sustainable family farming in America, you don’t have to look any further than Tyson and Perdue and the other major meat producers. When you’re a poultry contract grower, there’s never any catching up. The dream you had when you started out stays just that — an elusive dream. The best that you can hope for is that it doesn’t turn into a horrible nightmare, as it has for the Crutchfields.
Alaska Dispatch News, Aug 13, 2015 (emphasis added): Warm water killing fish in Mat-Su and Anchorage… killing salmon in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys… Arctic char… have also gone belly up… “It will have some impact but in the long term for species that return multiple age classes, I wouldn’t characterize it as a disaster,” said Mike Bethe, Mat-Su area manager for the Habitat Division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game… dead salmon have been found near the [Knik River’s] weir… Dead fish have been turning up in other Mat-Su streams…
Juneau Empire, Aug 7, 2015: Herring mystery… dead baby herring in the algae-filled empty squares of the Statter Harbor breakwater. “It’s hard to know why, but there’s a lot of them,” Juneau-based marine ecologist Michelle Ridgway] said. “It’s fairly dramatic.”
KUCB, Aug 17, 2015: Dead herring… on Unalaska shorelines… “Hundreds of herring floating in the water,” Caleb Livingston [said] “But what really got my attention was the few that drifted on the beach were not being eaten by the eagles, or seagulls or terns.” Scientists have been receiving reports of dead and dying whales, birds and the small fish… “Their fins are deteriorated while their eyes are intact,” [Melissa Good, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks] said. “I think it’s probably bait fish that got dumped.” Even so, Good said she will send herring… to an Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation lab…
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Feb 24, 2015:
26:45 — Moses Tcheripanoff, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium geographer: If you wouldn’t mind sharing with us a little about what’s going on here, it’s a really interesting observation.
27:30 — Roderick Phillip, Environmental Coordinator for the Native Village of Kongiganak, AK: Needlefish, thousands of millions [i.e. billions] of needlefish… For about a mile there was needlefish and smelts. Dead needlefish… It was just millions of needlefish, piles of them… and also smelts. Last year… same situation… It was the first time we heard of needlefish and smelts being flooded out of the river.
29:30 – M. Tcheripanoff: How did all those fish die? … I’m trying to understand what exactly happened to cause the fish die-off… You haven’t ever seen this kind of thing happen before, other than last year?
30:45 — R. Phillip: I talked to the local board and elders, they haven’t heard about this [happening before].
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Local Environmental Observers Network, Feb 20, 2015: Fish die-off… Kongiganak, Alaska… This is unusual for our community to see thousands of fish dead… like last year we are starting to see this happen. I have not seen anything like this ever since I could remember for the past 35 years. Last years fish die off was the first and recently a lot more fish died off in a larger scale.
See also: US Govt: “We don’t know what’s going on” in Pacific — Many baby seals abandoned; Dozens of walruses dead; Dying whales, birds, fish — “Unprecedented things happening” — Experts: “It’s been a very unusual marine mammal year… I’m really worried, very concerned”
I was sitting here, minding my own business, when I received a phone call from some lady for Ted Cruz. I could have sworn that I am on the do not call list. Since when do I get calls about supporting anyone in the campaign?
Then this lady rattles off as fast as possible all this garbage about Ted Cruz. I try to get a word in, but she don’t stop. Hell, I told her a couple of weeks ago, that I am not interested.
I tell her that Americans don’t have jobs, we don’t have no money. She goes to rattling off again. She wants that $75 big time! She has no intention of shutting up and listening to me.
Finally I had to cut her off and tell her, I live with a man that is 100% disabled, we ain’t got no money.
We don’t vote for Dems or Republicans. If you want change, you don’t vote for the same assholes that got us to where we are right now. I still think we need to wipe out all the government and replace them with what we were supposed to have, according to our founding fathers.
(I did a search for an image of a laughing jackass, this is what I found, I guess it fits)
The govt. is supposed to work for us. Instead, we spend our livetimes paying taxes upon taxes, to support these retired idiots, some of whom served only a short period as an elected official and for what? It turned out that we work to support the govt. they don’t work for us, we work for them and they abuse their positions.
How often do they vote in accordance with what the people want? Not very, all I can see is them bowing down to King Obama.
Well, now, maybe I can calm down and try to be productive…
Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter slain in ‘exorcism’
(NYPOST) – Morgan Freeman’s step-granddaughter was stabbed to death by her crazed boyfriend as he appeared to be trying to perform an “exorcism” on her on a Manhattan sidewalk early Sunday, law-enforcement sources and a witness said. “‘Get out, devils! I cast you out, devils! In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you out!’ “…Continue reading “MORGAN FREEMAN’S GRANDDAUGHTER SLAIN IN ‘EXORCISM’”
Ernst, who has served on the Board of Ethics since June 2013, stepped down a day after the board reprimanded Commissioner Stan Watson for voting to award a county contract to his employer.
“When I joined the board over two years ago, we had a budget of $16,000, lacked full membership, were in a suspended state and had a number of old and languishing complaints,” Ernst wrote in his resignation letter. “Today, I’m proud to say that we have dealt with dozens of complaints and have a more robust budget for counsel and investigators to root out unethical behavior.”
Clara Black DeLay, the board’s vice chairwoman, will replace Ernst as its chairwoman.
Vancouver Sun, Aug 13, 2015 (emphasis added): Four B.C. whale deaths in a week baffle scientists; Necropsies hope to provide answers as carcasses continue to pop up… four dead humpback whales in B.C. waters in a single week, just as Alaska is experiencing a surge of whale deaths, has scientists searching for a possible connection… 21 humpback and fin whales have been found dead in southeast Alaska during the past month, according to Paul Cottrell, Pacific marine mammal coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “It’s definitely a pulse of deaths and something that we’re going to keep our eye on,” Cottrell said. No cause has been pinpointed for any of the deaths… “These samples are very important… to see if there’s any relationship — whether there’s a pathogen that may be causing this,” Cottrell said… Media reports have suggested [one] died after becoming entangled in fishing gear, but Cottrell said it is far too early to come to that conclusion… The scientists also noticed wounds on the whale’s body… “if there’s anthropogenic or human-caused things affecting the recovery, those are things that we want to know about.” http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Four+whale+deaths+week+baffle+scientists/11285810/story.html
Globe & Mail, Aug 12, 2015: A humpback whale that washed up dead on the shore of British Columbia’s northern coast last week was the fourth to die in a week in the province’s coastal waters… a smaller humpback [was found] near Haida Gwaii on Tuesday, and at least two more were reported to be seen floating lifeless in the water within the last seven days… The uptick in reported whale deaths [coincides with] 21 deaths of fin whales and humpback whales in the past two months in [Alaska]… Max Bakken, a field technician for Pacific Wild [is] alarmed at the spike in humpback deaths… http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/fourth-humpback-whale-found-dead-along-bc-coast-in-a-week/article25948881/
CBC News, Aug 12, 2015: Last Friday Spirit Bear Adventures wildlife guide Philip Charles got a call that a humpback whale was drifting… He set off with a team from Pacific Wild Conservation to Nowish Bay where they found the massive animal washed up dead… “It is exceptionally rare to see a dead humpback whale, especially in this relatively intact state,” said Charles… http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/humpback-whale-likely-killed-by-entanglement-near-klemtu-1.3188311
Cascadia Research Collective, Aug 12, 2015: Last week Cascadia Research, WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife, and the Westport Aquarium examined a 46-foot adult female humpback whale that washed ashore… Cause of death could not be determined…
Westport Aquarium, Aug 4, 2015: Yesterday sure was a big day and here’s a big reason. Westport Aquarium staff helped Cascadia Research and WDFW on the necropsy of a 50′ female Humpback whale that stranded near Markham…
NOTE: The following is presented for informational purposes only. NCSL does not provide advice on how to conduct a recall campaign in any state. For the specific procedures to be followed in any state, please contact state election officials.
Overview
Recall is a procedure that allows citizens to remove and replace a public official before the end of a term of office. Historically, recall has been used most frequently at the local level. By some estimates, three-fourths of recall elections are at the city council or school board level. This brief, however, focuses on the recall only as it applies to state officials.
Recall differs from another method for removing officials from office–impeachment–in that it is a political device while impeachment is a legal process. Impeachment requires the House to bring specific charges, and the Senate to act as a jury. In most of the 19 recall states, specific grounds are not required, and the recall of a state official is held by an election.
Nineteen states plus the District of Columbia permit the recall of state officials:
Recall of State Officials
Alaska
Illinois
New Jersey
Arizona
Kansas
North Dakota
California
Louisiana
Oregon
Colorado
Michigan
Rhode Island
District of Columbia
Minnesota
Washington
Georgia
Montana
Wisconsin
Idaho
Nevada
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, July 2011
Virginia has a process that is similar to a recall, but it is not listed here as a recall state because its process, while requiring citizen petitions, calls for a recall trial rather than an election. In Virginia, after sufficient petition signatures are gathered and verified, a circuit court decides whether a Virginia official will be removed from office. In the recall states, the voters decide through an election.
Recall of Local Officials
In at least 29 states (some sources place this number at 36), recall elections may be held in local jurisdictions.
History and Use of the Recall in the U.S.
The recall device began in the United States in a municipality–Los Angeles–in 1903. Michigan and Oregon, in 1908, were the first states to adopt recall procedures for state officials; Minnesota (1996) and New Jersey (1993) were the most recent.
Historically, recall attempts at the state level have been unsuccessful. The recall is used much more often, and with more success, at the local level.
There have been three gubernatorial recall elections held in U.S. history. In 2012, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker survived a recall attempt. In 2003, California voters successfully recalled Governor Gray Davis, and in North Dakota in 1921, voters removed from office not only Governor Lynn J. Frazier, but also the attorney general and the commissioner of agriculture. California voters have initiated 32 gubernatorial recall attempts since 1911, but the 2003 recall of Governor Gray Davis in 2003 was the first to ever reach the ballot. In 1988, Arizona voters filed enough signatures to trigger a recall election for Governor Evan Mecham, but he was impeached by the state’s House of Representatives before the date of the scheduled recall election.
Recall efforts against state legislators are more common, but still unusual. Recall attempts against legislators have gathered sufficient signatures to trigger an election just 38 times, and eleven of those occurred in a single year, 2011. Fifty-five percent of all legislative recall elections have succeeded in unseating a legislator, and additionally two legislators resigned after petitions with sufficient signatures were submitted. Seventeen recall attempts have failed, and the legislators subject to the recall remained in office. While there have been more legislative recall elections in recent years (45 percent have taken place in the years 2011-2013), they have been less successful than in the past: just eight of the 17 recalls attempted between 2011-2013 succeeded in unseating a legislator, a 47 percent success rate.
The list below represents all of the recall efforts against state legislators that led to elections between 1908 (when the first state to implement the recall, Oregon, did so) and the present.
Many more petitions are started and never make it to the election stage; either they are abandoned by their sponsors, or they fail to gather sufficient valid signatures to trigger an election. A recent example was in Colorado, in fall, 2013. Senator Evie Hudak faced a recall challenge; before the signatures were turned in, she resigned. By doing so, a recall election was not held, and her party was able to name her successor.
All Recall Elections Held in the U.S. for State Legislators
1913: California state senator Marshall Black was recalled.
1914: California state senator Edwin Grant was recalled.
1914: California state senator James Owens survived a recall election.
1932: Wisconsin state senator Otto Mueller survived a recall election.
1935: Oregon state representative Harry Merriam was recalled.
1971: Idaho state senator Fisher Ellsworth was recalled.
1971: Idaho state representative Aden Hyde was recalled.
1981: Washington state senator Peter von Reichbauer survived a recall election.
1983: Michigan state senator Phil Mastin was recalled.
1983: Michigan state senator David Serotkin was recalled. (Technically he resigned from office before the results of the recall election were certified, but the results were sufficient to recall him.)
1985: Oregon state representative Pat Gillis was recalled.
1988: Oregon state senator Bill Olson was recalled.
1990: Wisconsin state assembly member Jim Holperin survived a recall election.
1994: California state senator David Roberti survived a recall election.
1995: California assembly member Paul Horcher was recalled.
1995: California assembly member Michael Machado survived a recall election.
1995: California assembly member Doris Allen was recalled.
1996: Wisconsin state senator George Petak was recalled.
2003: Wisconsin state senator Gary George was recalled.
2008: California state senator Jeff Denham survived a recall election.
2008: Michigan house speaker Andy Dillon survived a recall election.
2011: Wisconsin state senators Robert Cowles, Alberta Darling, Dave Hansen, Sheila Harsdorf, Jim Holperin, Luther Olsen and Robert Wirch survived attempted recalls, while Senators Randy Hopper and Dan Kapanke were recalled.
2011: Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce was recalled on November 8.
2011: Michigan state representative Paul Scott was recalled on November 8.
2012: Wisconsin state senator Van Wanggaard was recalled. Senate Republican leader Scott Fitzgerald and senator Terry Moulton survived recall elections. Senator Pam Galloway resigned earlier in the year when sufficient signatures were gathered to trigger a recall election. Even though her name wasn’t on the ballot, a recall election was still held for her seat. All four senate seats in the recall election were held by Republicans; after the recall, three remain in Republican hands and one switched to the Democrats, giving control of the Senate to the Democratic party.
2013: Colorado Senate President John Morse and Senator Angela Giron were recalled on September 10.
Pros and Cons of the Recall
Supporters of the recall maintain that it provides a way for citizens to retain control over elected officials who are not representing the best interests of their constituents, or who are unresponsive or incompetent. This view holds that an elected representative is an agent or a servant and not a master.
Opponents argue that it can lead to an excess of democracy, that the threat of a recall election lessens the independence of elected officials, that it undermines the principle of electing good officials and giving them a chance to govern until the next election, and that it can lead to abuses by well-financed special interest groups.
How the Recall Process Works
The recall process varies in its details from one state to another, but in general, it follows these steps:
1. File an application to circulate a recall petition (some states allow petitions only if they meet certain grounds for recall).
2. Circulate a recall petition, gathering a specified number of signatures in a limited period of time (view the detailed petitioning requirements).
3. Submit petitions to election officials for verification of signatures.
4. If sufficient valid signatures are presented, a recall election is held.
Grounds for Recall
In most states, any registered voter can begin a recall campaign for any reason. Often, the reasons are political. The 2011 recall efforts provide a good example for politically-motivated recalls. In Wisconsin, Republican senators faced recalls for their support of the governor’s effort to reduce the influence of public employee unions, while Democratic senators faced recall because voters disapproved when they left the state to delay a vote on the union issue. In Arizona, a senator faced recall for his sponsorship of a controversial immigration bill.
The language in Michigan’s constitution is typical of most states: “The sufficiency of any statement of reasons or grounds … shall be a political rather than a judicial question.” (Const. Art. II §8)
In 2012, Michigan passed a new requirement that a recall petition must state clearly and factually the reason(s) for the recall, which must be based on the the elected official’s conduct during his or her term of office (M.C.L. §168.951A). This doesn’t really compare to the types of grounds required in other states. Even with this new law in Michigan, politically-motivated recalls can continue. For instance, a voter could initiate a recall against a legislator on the grounds that he voted against an issue the voter supports. As long as that is stated clearly and factually, it would presumably meet this new criteria.
Specific grounds for recall are required in only eight states:
Grounds for Recall
Alaska: Lack of fitness, incompetence, neglect of duties or corruption (AS §15.45.510)
Georgia: Act of malfeasance or misconduct while in office; violation of oath of office; failure to perform duties prescribed by law; willfully misused, converted, or misappropriated, without authority, public property or public funds entrusted to or associated with the elective office to which the official has been elected or appointed. Discretionary performance of a lawful act or a prescribed duty shall not constitute a ground for recall of an elected public official. (Ga. Code §21-4-3(7) and 21-4-4(c))
Kansas: Conviction for a felony, misconduct in office, incompetence, or failure to perform duties prescribed by law. No recall submitted to the voters shall be held void because of the insufficiency of the grounds, application, or petition by which the submission was procured. (KS Stat. §25-4301)
Minnesota: Serious malfeasance or nonfeasance during the term of office in the performance of the duties of the office or conviction during the term of office of a serious crime (Const. Art. VIII §6)
Montana: Physical or mental lack of fitness, incompetence, violation of oath of office, official misconduct, conviction of certain felony offenses (enumerated in Title 45). No person may be recalled for performing a mandatory duty of the office he holds or for not performing any act that, if performed, would subject him to prosecution for official misconduct. (Mont. Code §2-16-603)
Rhode Island: Authorized in the case of a general officer who has been indicted or informed against for a felony, convicted of a misdemeanor, or against whom a finding of probable cause of violation of the code of ethics has been made by the ethics commission (Const. Art. IV §1)
Virginia: Neglect of duty, misuse of office, or incompetence in the performance of duties when that neglect of duty, misuse of office, or incompetence in the performance of duties has a material adverse effect upon the conduct of the office, or upon conviction of a drug-related misdemeanor or a misdemeanor involving a “hate crime” (§24.2-233)
Washington: Commission of some act or acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office, or who has violation of oath of office (Const. Art. I §33)
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, July 2011
Circulating a Recall Petition
The recall process is similar to the initiative process in that citizen petitions are required. The number of signatures necessary to qualify a recall petition, however, is often significantly higher than for initiatives. Signature requirements are based on a formula, generally a percentage of the vote in the last election for the office in question, although some states base the formula on the number of eligible voters or other variants. Whatever the formula, the signature requirements are high: 25 percent in nine states; 25 percent for statewide offices and 35 percent for legislators in Washington; one-third in Louisiana; and 40 percent in Kansas. California’s requirements are 12 percent for statewide offices; 20 percent for legislators and appellate judges. Georgia requires 15 percent for statewide offices and 30 percent for all others. Idaho requires 20 percent for all offices. Montana has the lowest number of required signatures: 10 percent for statewide officials and 15 percent for state district offices such as legislative districts.
Who Can Be Recalled
Signature Requirement
Circulation Time
Alaska
All elected public officers of the state except judicial officers
25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
Not specified
Arizona
Every public officer in the state holding an elective office
25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
120 days
California
State officers, members of the legislature, judges of courts of appeal
For statewide officers:
12% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled, 1% from each of 5 counties
State Senators, members of the Assembly, members of the Board of Equalization, judges of courts of appeal:
20% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
160 days
Colorado
Every elective officer of the state
25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
60 days
Georgia
Public officials who hold elective office
For statewide officers:
15% of eligible voters for office at time of last election, 1/5 from each congressional district
Others:
30% of eligible voters for office at time of last election
90 days
Idaho
Every public officer in the state except judicial officers
20% of eligible voters for office at time of last election
60 days
Illinois
Governor
15% of the votes cast for governor in the preceding general election from each of at least 25 counties
Also required are the signatures from at least 20 members of the House of Representatives and 10 members of the Senate, with no more than half the signatures of members of each chamber from the same political party.
150 days
Kansas
All elected public officers in the state except judicial officers
40% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
90 days
Louisiana
Any state official except judges of the courts of record
If over 1,000 eligible voters:
33.3% of eligible voters for office at time of last election
If fewer than 1,000 eligible voters:
40% of eligible voters for office at time of last election
180 days
Michigan
All elective officers except judges of the courts of record
25% of total votes cast for position at last election
60 days
Minnesota
State executive officers, legislators, and judges of the supreme court, court of appeals or a district court
25% of total votes cast for position at last election
90 days
Montana
Any person holding a public office of the state
For statewide officers:
10% of eligible voters for office at time of last election
For district officers:
15% of eligible voters for office at time of last election
3 months
Nevada
Every public officer in the state
25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
60 days
New Jersey
Any elected official in the state or representing the state in the U.S. Congress
25% of the registered voters in the electoral district of the official sought to be recalled
Governor or U.S. Senator: 320 days
All others: 160 days
North Dakota
Any elected official of the state or legislative district
25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
Not specified
Oregon
Every public officer in the state
15% of total votes cast in officer’s district for all candidates for governor in the last election
90 days
Rhode Island
Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General
15% of total votes cast for said office in last general election
90 days
Washington
Every elective public officer of the state except judges of courts of record
For statewide officers:
25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
Others:
35% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled
Statewide officers: 270 days
Others: 180 days
Wisconsin
Any state, judicial, congressional or legislative official
25% of total votes cast for the office of governor at the last election within the same district or territory of that officer being recalled
60 days
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, July 2011
The Recall Election
In six states,the election for a successor is held simultaneously with the recall election. In California and Colorado, the first question on the ballot is whether the official should be recalled. Voters are then asked to vote for a candidate for the office; the official who is the subject of the recall may not be listed among these candidates. If a majority of voters votes “yes” on the recall question, then the incumbent is recalled and the successor is elected via the second part of the ballot. If a majority of voters votes “no” on the recall question, then the incumbent remains in office and the second portion of the ballot is moot.
In the other states using the simultaneous model, the submission and certification of the recall petition essentially triggers a special election for the office, and the recall ballot consists of a list of candidates for the office. The name of the official who is the subject of the recall may appear on the ballot along with other nominees. In fact, in Arizona and Wisconsin, the name of the official being recalled is automatically placed on the recall ballot for reelection unless the official resigns from office.
In the remaining 13 states, the recall ballot contains only the question of whether or not the official should be recalled. If the majority vote is “yes” for recall, the office is declared vacant and is filled at a special election or as otherwise provided by law, which in some states is by appointment for the remainder of the term. The chart below details how the recall election is conducted in each state.
Recall Election Held Simultaneously With Election for Successor
Recall Election Followed by Separate Special Election for Successor
Recall Election;
Successor is Appointed
Arizona1
Georgia
Alaska
California2
Louisiana
Idaho3
Colorado2
Michigan
Kansas3
Nevada1
Minnesota
Oregon
North Dakota1
Montana4
Washington5
Wisconsin1
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Illinois
1) In these states, the recall ballot consists of a list of candidates for the office held by the person against whom the recall petition was filed. The name of the officer against whom the recall was filed may appear on the ballot for reelection.
2) In these states, the recall ballot consists of two parts. The first asks whether the officer against whom the recall petition was filed should be recalled. The second part consists of a list of candidates who have qualified for the election. Note that courts in both states have ruled that a voter’s choice of candidate on the second part of the ballot must be counted regardless of whether or not the person cast a vote on the yes/no recall question first.
3) The governor appoints a successor who must be a member of the same political party as the officeholder recalled, and must be selected from a list submitted by a committee of the political party of the person recalled.
4) If vacancy occurs within 85 days of the general election in the second year of the term (terms are for four years), the county board of commissioners appoints a successor to serve until the election.
5) County board of commissioners appoints a person from a list submitted by a committee of the political party of the person recalled.
Recall Provisions in State Constitutions and Statutes
Alaska – Const. Art. 11, §8; AS §15.45.510-710, 15.60.010, 29.26.250-350
Arizona – Const. Art. 8, §1-6; Ariz. Rev. Stat. §19-201 – 19-234
California – Const. Art. 2, §13-19; CA Election Code §11000-11386
Colorado – Const. Art. 21; Colo. Rev. Stat. §1-12-101 – 1-12-122, 23-17-120.5, 31-4-501 – 31-4-505
Georgia – Const. Art. 2, §2.4; Ga. Code §21-4-1 et seq.
Idaho – Const. Art. 6, §6; Idaho Code §34-1701 – 34-1715
Illinois – Const. Art. 3. §7
Kansas – Const. Art. 4, §3; KSA §25-4301 – 25-4331
Louisiana – Const. Art. 10, §26; La. Stats. Ann. §18:1300.1 – 18:1300.17
Michigan – Const. Art. 2, §8; Mich. Election Law §168.951 – 168.975
Minnesota – Const. Art. 8, §6; Minn. Stat. Ann. §211C.01 et seq.
Montana – Mont. Code § 2-16-601 – 2-16-635
Nevada – Const. Art. 2, §9; Nev. Rev. Stat. §294A.006, Ch. 306, 539.163 – 539.183
New Jersey – Const. Art. 1, §2(b); NJ Rev. Stat. Ann. § 19:27A-1 – 19:27A-18
North Dakota – Const. Art. 3, §1 and 10; ND Century Code Ann. §16.1-01-09.1, 44-08-21
Oregon – Const. Art. 2, §18; Or. Rev. Stat. §249.865 – 249.880
Rhode Island – Const. Art. 4, §1
Virginia – Va. Code §24.2-233
Washington – Const. Art. 1, Sec. 33-34; Wash. Rev. Code §29A.56-110 et seq.
Wisconsin – Const. Art. 13, §12; Wis. Stat. Ann. §9.10
Interview with NHK journalist Morley Robertson, by the Center for Remembering 3.11, published Jun 30, 2012 (emphasis added): I begin with the radiation leakage. Radiation leakage exerts a long term effect on the environment. It contaminates our food chain, the groundwater and the ocean. And the contaminated seawater will circulate around the globe. We never know how much this will impact on the environment… We’ll never able to study such issues with empirical certainty… [Due to nuclear testing] we have already accumulated “hidden losses” of radiation damage… how much is the [Fukushima] cesium in relation to that?… I believe we should enjoy delicious food rather than worrying about the food. I enjoyed the town’s delicacy… I didn’t mind about how the beef was produced or where it came from. As long as it is tasty, it is no problem for me. With regard to radiation, I have become more optimistic. My hypothesis is that it’s no use worrying about radiation. For people in Fukushima, they have a lot to worry about their future, like damaged reputation… One reason why we have relied on nuclear plants is because we didn’t know about the facts… We need to face the facts… Rad-waste from the nuclear cycle is said to be unsolvable even after 2.5 million years.
Part II of Robertson’s Interview, published Jun 30, 2012: In 1974, then PM Tanaka declared, “Let ‘s go nuclear!”… we were issued credit cards to buy electric goods to consume the extra electricity… It is OK to say that everything was just a lie… and 3/11 happened. So we must study everything. It is no longer about what to do with Onagawa nuclear power plant, Miyagi or Tohoku. This is about what to do with Japan. This has been revealed by our vulnerability to the accident… So when we talk about “disaster“, it’s like a huge wrapping cloth expanding everyday.
NHK: Morley is a journalist… working in the fields of television, radio, and lecture meetings… he studied at the University of Tokyo and Harvard University.
Robertson’s Wikipedia entry (translated from Japanese by Microsoft): In 1968, because of father’s job moved to… Hiroshima [to work] on Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission [and] undertook study of atomic bomb patients.
TEPCO, updated Mar 10, 2015: Fukushima Daiichi Contaminated Water Issue FAQ — Q1 Please explain the impact of the leaked radioactive materials on the sea. [Answer:] TEPCO announced that underground water including radioactive materials had leaked into the port… It has been implied that trillions of becquerels of radioactive materials are still flowing into the sea; however, the concentration of radioactive materials in the sea is at a level that meets the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, except for some areas… http://www.meti.go.jp/english/earthquake/nuclear/decommissioning/index.html#cw
TEPCO, Apr 28, 2015: Comprehensive risk review was implemented, considering all the possible risks that might have an impact outside the Fukushima Daiichi NPS site… The paths through which water could leak outside the site: …
Sources of risk — Trenches… Pits… Tanks… Accumulated water inside reactor buildings… Contamination inside the port
Leakage routes — Ground surface… Drainage channels… Underground (groundwater）
Destination of the contaminated material… The Sea: Unit 1-4 water intake channel… Inside the port… Outside the port
Would deleted emails and destroyed records point where the lost $6 Billion went? Why haven’t we been outraged over those lost funds? Russia gained control of URANIUM, our uranium under Hillary Clinton, the Clinton’s profited!!!!!!
Al Jazeera, Aug 1, 2015: The toxic algae blooms in the Pacific Ocean stretching from southern California to Alaska — already the largest ever recorded — appear to have reached as far as the Aleutian Islands, scientists say. “The anecdotal evidence suggests we’re having a major event,” said Bruce Wright, a scientist with the Aleutian Pribilof Island Association… “All the populations (of marine mammals) are way down in the Aleutians.”… the blooms are responsible for unprecedented closures of fisheries and unusual deaths of marine life up and down the Pacific coast… The discovery of nearly a dozen dead whales in the Gulf of Alaska near Kodiak also raised suspicion… Other die-offs of species have been reported along the Aleutian chain, stretching nearly 1,500 miles across the north Pacific. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/1/scientists-fear-toxic-algae-bloom-continues-to-spread.html
CBS/AP, Aug 5, 2015: Toxic algae bloom in Pacific even larger than thought… ocean researchers say this one is much larger and persisting much longer, with higher levels of neurotoxins bringing severe consequences for the… marine ecosystems… [Vera Trainer, with Univ. of Washington and NOAA’s Harmful Algal Blooms Program] said this bloom is the worst she’s seen in 20 years of studying them… “It’s been incredibly thick, almost all the same organism. Looks like a layer of hay,” said Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz. Kudela told CBS… “It’s definitely the largest bloom of this particular algae seen on the West Coast, possibly anywhere, ever.”… “It’s really working its way into the food web and we’re definitely seeing the impacts of that,” Kudela said, noting that sea lions are getting sick and pelicans are being exposed… The most recent samples showed the highest-ever recorded concentrations of domoic acid in the internal organs of Dungeness crab, Ayres said. “This is really unprecedented territory for us,” said [Dan Ayres, Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife]. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/toxic-algae-bloom-in-pacific-even-larger-than-thought/
(Photo courtesy Associated Press)
USA Today, Aug 7, 2015: A massive toxic algal bloom thriving in the warm water along the West Coast may be the largest ever recorded, according to [NOAA] scientists. The bloom stretches 40 miles wide and in some places is 650 feet deep. It runs from California to Alaska, and has shuttered lucrative fisheries in several coastal states. “It’s unprecedented,” [said Trainer]. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/07/algae-blooms-economy-west-coast-toxic-bloom/31222581/
Grist, Aug 7, 2015: A huge, toxic algae bloom is basically eating the West Coast alive… and more toxic than anyone suspected… scientists have never known one to be this bad before.
Reuters, Aug 6, 2015: Massive toxic algae bloom reaches from California to Alaska… [it] stretches thousands of miles from the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and has surprised researchers by its size and composition. “It’s just lurking there,” Vera Trainer, research oceanographer with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Washington state, told Reuters on Thursday. “It’s the longest lasting, highest toxicity and densest bloom that we’ve ever seen.”… Researchers are investigating whether the bloom is linked to several suspicious marine mammal deaths…
Discover Magazine, Aug 6, 2015: Record Algae Bloom Laced With Toxins is Flourishing in “The Blob” — and Spreading in the North Pacific… a record-breaking bloom of algae stretching from Southern California all the way north to Alaska… Toxins from the algae are suspected to have contributed to the deaths of at least nine Fin whales near Kodiak Island, Alaska, in June, although a definitive cause has not yet been determined, NOAA says. There have also been reports of dead and dying whales, gulls, and forage fish in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands… http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2015/08/06/record-algae-bloom-laced-with-toxins-is-flourishing-in-the-blob/#.VcglOPmrStY
FBI warning law enforcement in CO & WY: “Middle Eastern men confronting families of
military personnel at their homes. Urges vigilance & reporting of all such instances”.
In part 1 of the show we look at a range of issues including our very own hacking and surveillance update, Monsanto trolls, TTIP issues, Uk mining in the courts, “Rivers of blood” speech from Hungary, London and Cairo military ties increasing, Yemeni forces attack a Saudi military base, CBC and Canada post to be privatised under TPP (wikileaks), cost of occupy protest for 17 days over 3 months comes to a staggering £2,000 000 approx, Norway joins critism of Isreali settlement moves, British oil interests working with ISIS , Eco- prisoner held by Russians refused release (Bellona.org) , Windows 10 versus Linux,
In the second part of the show we discuss with Herve Courtois (French activist, blogger and researcher) the issues with Fukushima evacuees, The PR companies…
Vogtle Units 3 (left) and 4, July 30, 2015. After 41 months of construction, the project is 39 months behind schedule. Photo by High Flyer, special to Savannah River Site Watch.
Georgia is one state that you would think would be wary of nuclear power economics. The first two reactors at Georgia Power’s Vogtle site, which came online in the late 1980s, were a record 800% over budget.
That is a number that is almost impossible to grasp. Nothing goes 800% over budget–in the real world, projects get cancelled well before reaching that point.
I’m thinking of making about $100,000 worth of improvements to my aging house desperately in need of them. 800% over budget would take that to $800,000. But I could buy a very nice house for that instead, even in the Washington DC area. Of course, I can’t afford an $800,000 house and can’t afford a project that is 800% over budget, either. Most people can’t. Neither can businesses. So if those improvements start to creep up from the budget–in my case if they go more than about 10% over budget–the whole project gets the kibosh.
Sane people do not let projects get 800% over budget. Unless, perhaps, if someone else is putting up the money. And that’s exactly what happened with the first two Vogtle reactors–the overruns were pushed on to ratepayers; Georgia Power had to eat some small portion of them, but basically ratepayers were forced to pick up the tab.
And in a case of history repeating itself as predicted–as farce–that’s exactly what is happening with the two Vogtle reactors under construction now.
When the project was announced, and when the utilities building the project first applied for taxpayer loans to help finance the project, Southern Company (Georgia Power’s parent) said the two reactors would cost about $14 billion and would be online in 2016 and 2017.
That was back around 2008. Vogtle got its taxpayer loan promise in February 2010 and its construction permit in February 2012. Three and a half years later, Vogtle is more than three years behind schedule–39 months behind, in fact.
And the cost of building Vogtle has, not surprisingly, gone up. Way up. Right now, it’s somewhere around $16 billion and rising fast–the over-budget portion caused by the delays alone is $2 million per day. And as you can see from the photo at the top of the page, taken last Thursday, construction still has quite a long way to go.
Georgia Power already has run through half of its federal loan money, paid for by all U.S. taxpayers, not just Georgia ratepayers. Some of the rest of the taxpayer loan (the loans totaled more than $8 billion) was received later by the other partners, so perhaps they haven’t run through their share yet.
In any case, the supposed point of getting the loan, and of charging ratepayers for construction costs as they are incurred (a concept called Construction Work in Progress, barred in most states), and of building the reactors in the first place, …read more
They have a great petition too that needs your signature:
We sign to support the crewmembers of the USS Ronald Reagan and other “first responders” now sick from radiation poisoning after rushing to help Japan’s earthquake/tsunami victims in March, 2011.
Then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan says “the first meltdown occurred 5 hours after the earthquake.” But Tokyo Electric kept secret Fukushima’s dangerous levels of radiation, which irradiated these heroes during their courageous humanitarian service.
We support them and their federal lawsuit and demand that Tepco:
1. Admit responsibility for its negligence at Fukushima;
2. Establish funds sufficient to compensate these sailors and to monitor their health;
3. Acknowledge the right of the US Courts to mediate and oversee these claims.
Thank you for signing this petition. Please take a moment to help this important campaign by sharing the petition with your friends:
Go here: http://coalitionagainstnukes.org/
About halfway down the page, on the right. Sign the Petition!
Aug 1, 2015 Threat Journal is a weekly supplement to the AlertsUSA National Threat and Incident Notification Service for Mobile Devices Facebook Twitter http://www.threatjournal.com/
WEEKLY THREAT ROUNDUP
Jihadi –
USGOV Issues New Worldwide Caution
Aug 1, 2015
Between July 25-29, AlertsUSA issued the following
related Flash SMS messages to subscriber mobile devices:
7/29 – State Dept issues new worldwide caution warning of threat of terrorism / violence against US citizens and interests globally. Urges a high level of vigilance.
7/28 – Key West, FL man (Harlem Suarez, AKA Almlak Benitez) arrested and charged w/ attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in an alleged backpack bomb plot.
7/25 – Overnight: FBI investigating envelopes containing suspicious powder mailed to 20+ gov agencies across Oregon. 3 law enf officials hospitalized. Monitoring…
What You Need To Know
Twice this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via text messages to their mobile devices regarding matters concerning terrorism. On Tues, subscribers were notified of a the arrest of 23 year old Key West resident, Harlem Suarez, (AKA Almlak Benitez), who is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property within the United States.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-resident-charged-attempting-use-weapon-mass-destruction
According to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, Suarez came to the attention of the FBI in April due to Facebook posts that contained extremist rhetoric and promoted the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Suarez told a confidential source that he wanted to make a “timer bomb” and went on to purchased components for this device, which was to contain galvanized nails and be concealed in a backpack. Suarez intended to bury the device at a public beach in Key West and then remotely detonate it using a cell phone.
According to Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, “There is no room for failure when it comes to investigating the potential use of a weapon of mass destruction. The FBI and our local, state and federal partners work around the clock to prevent such catastrophic weapons from being used against our citizens. Even so, we ask the public to be vigilant and report suspicious activity to law enforcement.” https://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2015/florida-resident-charged-with-attempting-to-use-weapon-of-mass-destruction
GLOBAL THREAT
On Wed of this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of a new Worldwide Caution issued by the U.S. State Department warning of the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests globally. According to the warning message, recent terrorist attacks, whether by those affiliated with terrorist entities, copycats, or individual perpetrators, serve as a reminder that U.S. citizens need to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness. http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/worldwide-caution.html
Since the launch of military action against the Islamic State in 2014, ISIS has called on supporters to attack foreigners wherever they are. Authorities believe there is an increased likelihood of reprisal attacks against U.S., Western and coalition partner interests throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Extremists may elect to use conventional or non-conventional weapons, and target both official and private interests. Examples of such targets include high-profile sporting events, residential areas, business offices, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, public areas, shopping malls, and other tourist destinations both in the United States and abroad where U.S. citizens gather in large numbers, including during holidays.
U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Extremists have targeted and attempted attacks on subway and rail systems, aviation, and maritime services. In the past, these types of attacks have occurred in cities such as New York, Moscow, London, Madrid and Glasgow
Specifically regarding Europe, the State Department reports current information suggesting ISIS, al-Qa’ida, its affiliated organizations, and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. and Western interests in Europe. Authorities believe the likelihood of terror attacks in Europe will continue as European members of ISIL return from Syria and Iraq. Additionally, there is a continuing threat in Europe from unaffiliated persons planning attacks inspired by major terrorist organizations but conducted on an individual basis.
The warning message goes on to warn, in significant detail, of the threat posed to U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses, and perceived U.S. and Western interests throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Central, South and East Asia, as well as the the Indian Subcontinent, .
U.S. government facilities worldwide remain at a heightened state of alert. These facilities may temporarily close or periodically suspend public services to assess their security posture. In those instances, U.S. embassies and consulates will make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens abroad are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the overall domestic and international terrorism threat environment and will immediately notify service subscribers via SMS messages of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant.
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What You Need To Know
The FBI has launched a nationwide campaign geared toward educating business and industry leaders about the growing threat – and mounting losses – of economic espionage. As part of the campaign, the FBI has released a short video entitled, The Company Man: Protecting America’s Secrets. The video, created by the FBI in collaboration with the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, is based on an actual case involving the attempted theft of trade secrets from a United States company by a foreign competitor.
Although the exact dollar figure on the costs and losses to U.S. businesses as a result of economic espionage is difficult to accurately report, the losses are substantial. In a 2013 report, total losses are estimated to be in the “hundreds of billions” each year. Those numbers do not take into consideration those companies who either do not detect, do not report, or under-report losses tied to economic espionage.
The goal of the FBI’s campaign is to not only raise awareness of the threat of economic espionage but to educate those with proprietary information about the warning signs of an insider threat or attempted breach. Each of the FBI’s 56 field offices has an assigned strategic partnership coordinator, whose goal is to liaise with local companies, trade groups, and industry leaders about the threat. In the past year, FBI investigators have provided more than 1,300 briefings to companies and industry leaders discussing the current threat of economic espionage.
ARM YOURSELF WITH KNOWLEDGE
USING THESE FREE REFERENCES
In order to help ground readers in the truth on Islam and enable you to crush liberal "Religion of Peace" arguments, AlertsUSA has compiled two free reports filled with passages from Islamic holy books covering some of the most controversial (and often denied) aspects of Islamic teachings, traditions and dogma. Now you can see them for yourself !
Is This Semi-Autonomous Mini Submarine The SEALs' Next Super Weapon?
EUROPE
Who's Nexit? 5 EuroStates in Trouble
Moscow vows to retaliate against latest US sanctions
Poland's future President wants more NATO presence
NATO intercepts record numbers of Russian aircraft over Baltic
NATO Split: Germany Wants to Withdraw Patriot Missiles From Turkey
MIDDLE EAST
The Taliban’s new leadership is allied with al Qaeda
The Iran Side Deals: The GOP’s New Reason to Vote ‘No’
Nusra Front attacks U.S.-backed rebels, captures leader
Iran calls for Israel's nuclear disarmament
Israel's Iron Dome on Lebanon border as Hezbollah anticipates arms from Iran
ASIA
Beijing celebrates historic day after landing 2022 Winter Games
Executives to be tried over Fukushima nuclear disaster
China blames U.S. military actions for tensions in the South China Sea
Wikileaks: US 'spied on Japan government and companies'
Japan fires world’s most-powerful laser beam
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Travel Security Update
The U.S. Dept. of State is the authoritative federal source for information on the security situation at travel destinations worldwide. With tensions rapidly increasing in most regions, readers planning on international travel, even to such common destinations as Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean Islands, are strongly encouraged to do a little research on the security situation prior to departure.
Latest USGOV Travel Alerts and Warnings
Canada Dept. of Foreign Affairs
Australia Dept. of Foreign Affairs
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
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AP, Jul 27, 2015 (emphasis added): Scientist says unexplained mass whale deaths off Alaska island may remain a mystery — Researchers may never solve the recent deaths of 18 endangered whales… 10 fin whales [and] eight humpback whales… scientists speculate the animals might have eaten something toxic… One test came back negative for one toxin that would be present in harmful algal blooms [Kate Wynne, a marine mammal specialist for the University of Alaska Sea Grant Program] said. “That’s my leading hypothesis,” Wynne said of an environmental toxin as a cause… “we never will find out what killed those whales, in my mind.” Other test results also are pending, however. A muscle-tissue sample is being tested for the possibility of radionuclides from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster… The deaths are an unusual occurrence, Wynne said. She said she’s never heard of anything similar occurring among large baleen whales in the U.S. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also is looking into the deaths of a slightly larger number of whales over a larger area. NOAA is requesting the deaths to be designated nationally as an unusual mortality event… NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said. Along with the dead whales, dead birds including murres and shearwaters were reported… Tests showed the shearwaters had a high parasite count and were starving, Wynne said.
(Alaska Public Media)
KUCB, Jul 27, 2015: Dead Fish, Wildlife In Aleutians… Scientists have been receiving reports of dead and dying mammals, birds and small fish in the Aleutian Islands. They think the killer might be toxic algae… “They’re a suspected cause for some of the mass deaths we’ve been seeing–the 10 fin whales that were spotted dead off of Kodiak Island; I know Adak has seen a lot of dead birds, King Cove, I believe (birds in) False Pass have been washing up. We don’t know the cause of that yet either,” [Melissa Good with University of Alaska Fairbanks] said… “No one that I know of is sure what happened.” This week, Good has been taking water samples around Unalaska and shipping them off to labs for full analysis… She’s also sampled the stomach and flesh of a Steller’s sea lion that washed up dead… Good said people in the Aleutians should be wary of eating clams or mussels… “We just don’t know if they’re going to be toxic or not,” she said.
Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, July 2015: Pursuing Cause of Death in Gulf of Alaska Whales… Over the next six weeks more large whale mortalities were reported by mariners and pilots. Kate Wynne and Bree Witteveen began gathering NOAA Stranding Network data… a total of 10 fin whale and 8 humpback mortalities have been documented… Both whale species feed in groups on small fish and invertebrates, filtering them with their baleen… Wynne, Witteveen, and other biologists have pursued many possible human-influenced and natural causes, but as of mid-July the cause of death remains unknown… Biotoxins caused by warm water–induced harmful algal blooms are a possibility, although tissue from the sampled fin whale tested for domoic acid came back negative… Scientists have followed up on other possible causes… even radionuclides from the Fukushima reactor…. To pursue the radionuclide possibility Wynne submitted a muscle tissue sample from a dead fin whale for Cesium 137 analysis, with results pending… Wynne and Witteveen complimented the professional network of bird, fish, and mammal biologists in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bristol Bay–Bering Sea area, who have reported unusual events since the mortalities. http://seagrant.uaf.edu/news/fishlines/2015/july.php
So, I went to the sight, not knowing what to expect really. I have to agree with “There is no prayer that will save this Earth!” After sitting here and crying about the animals, I thought about what obewanspeaks had said: “There is no prayer that will save this Earth!” The horror that those whales had gone through, and all these people getting into the senseless slaughter. We are all doomed. How the hell anyone can think that these actions are Ok, I cannot imagine.
People from Sea Shepard were arrested, they could not stand by and do nothing, so they tried, and were arrested. I am sure that there will be a special place in hell for people like those killing these whales. I am ashamed to be human after seeing that. I am disgusted at the human race, and ashamed that these animals have been so senselessy slaughtered. Who do these people think they are? These are not from the same cloth as most of us.
US NRC Event Notification Report, Jul 23, 2015 (emphasis added): Callaway Plant initiated a shutdown required by Technical Specifications (TS)… TS 3.4.13 Condition A was entered due to unidentified RCS [reactor coolant system] leakage being in excess of the 1 gpm TS limit. The leak was indicated by an increase in containment radiation readings… A containment entry identified a steam plume; due to personnel safety the exact location of the leak inside the containment building could not be determined. At this time radiation levels inside [the] containment are stable and slightly above normal. There have been no releases from the plant above normal levels. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/en.html#en51253
Power Reactor Event Number: 51253
Facility: CALLAWAY
Region: 4 State: MO
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] W-4-LP
NRC Notified By: WALTER GRUER
HQ OPS Officer: JEFF HERRERA Notification Date: 07/23/2015
Notification Time: 04:21 [ET]
Event Date: 07/23/2015
Event Time: 01:15 [CDT]
Last Update Date: 07/23/2015
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(2)(i) – PLANT S/D REQD BY TS
50.72(b)(2)(xi) – OFFSITE NOTIFICATION
Person (Organization):
HEATHER GEPFORD (R4DO)
SCOTT MORRIS (NRR)
JEFFERY GRANT (IRD)
Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
1 N Y 100 Power Operation 0 Cold Shutdown
Event Text
INITIATION OF PLANT SHUTDOWN DUE TO RCS LEAKAGE
“On July 23, 2015 at 0115 [CDT], Callaway Plant initiated a shutdown required by Technical Specifications (TS). At 2139 [CDT] on July 22, 2015, TS 3.4.13 Condition A was entered due to unidentified RCS leakage being in excess of the 1 gpm TS limit. The leak was indicated by an increase in containment radiation readings, increasing sump levels, and decreasing levels in the Volume Control tank (VCT).
“A containment entry identified a steam plume; due to personnel safety the exact location of the leak inside the containment building could not be determined.
“At this time radiation levels inside [the] containment are stable and slightly above normal. There have been no releases from the plant above normal levels.
“The [NRC] Senior Resident Inspector was notified.”
* * * UPDATE PROVIDED BY ROB STOUGH TO JEFF ROTTON AT 1757 EDT ON 07/23/2015 * * *
“Callaway entered TS 3.4.13 Condition B at 0053 [CDT on July 23, 2015] for the subject leakage since reactor coolant pressure boundary leakage could not be ruled out by visual inspection. The estimated leak rate when the decision was made to shut down the plant was approximately 1.8 gpm. The plant entered Mode 3 at 0600 CDT.
“Additionally, at approximately 1315, it was determined that the duration of the required outage would be greater than three days, thus requiring notification to the Missouri Public Service Commission. This offsite notification is reportable to the NRC [per 10CFR50.72(b)(2)(xi)], and the above table has been updated to reflect this reporting requirement.”
The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.
Notified R4DO (Gepford).
AP, Jul 23, 2015: Missouri Nuclear Plant Shut Down After ‘Non-Emergency’ Leak… Jeff Trammel, a spokesman for St. Louis-based Ameren, called it a “minor steam leak.”… Ameren officials are investigating the cause… it was unclear when the plant would restart… [NRC] inspectors are at the plant. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/missouri-nuclear-plant-shut-emergency-leak-32641600
Jefferson City News Tribune, Jul 23, 2015 at 2:26p: Alert – Steam leak shuts down Callaway…
Alert: Steam leak shuts down Callaway Plant: Leak poses no danger, and is under investigation http://t.co/OUqUc2kE0V
— Jefferson City News Tribune (@NewsTribune) July 23, 2015
Jefferson City News Tribune, Jul 23, 2015: Breaking News – Steam leak shuts down Callaway Plant… Company officials are trying to determine the cause of the problem, which they said “has been contained.” https://archive.is/iKgdW
ABC 17, Jul 23, 2015 — Callaway FLOOD WARNING: Issued at: 9:52 am CDT on July 23, 2015, expires at: 4:00 AM CDT on July 26, 2015. The Flood Warning continues for the Missouri River near Chamois until Friday afternoon. At 7:00 am Thursday the stage was 19.5 feet. Flood stage is 17.0 feet. Minor flooding is occurring. http://www.abc17news.com/weather/severe-weather/17736360?county=callaway_mo
Previous event at Callaway: Emergency declared at US nuke plant: Fire shuts down reactor — “Reports of black smoke” — Company says no radiation release “above normal operating limits”
It has begun. It was only a matter of time. Both Chernobyl and Fukushima shows it takes about four years to be visible in the wildlife. Chernobyl was bad enough, but Fukushima has never ended. Shows you what we are in store for in the future. Slow death by Fukushima! The news media will not risk an all out panic by the masses, they will continue to lie to you, while you poison yourselves to death with radioactive foods. Now for the story, but don’t expect mainstream media to tell you the truth:
KTVZ, Jul 16, 2015 (emphasis added): Restricting fishing in Oregon streams and rivers for the first time ever… Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife announced it’s taking drastic measures… they’ve never had to do this before… ODFW: “We’re starting to see fish kills in more places than we typically do. This is a pretty extreme set of conditions.” http://www.ktvz.com/news/odfw-curbs-fishing-statewide-due-to-warm-low-water/34203106
The Oregonian, Jul 10, 2015: Scores of dead salmon are washing ashore… mortality rates are rapidly rising for juvenile fish near John Day Dam… [French] said it appears the fish are dying from a bacterial infection… “It’s very alarming that we’re seeing them this early,” he said… [Paul Wagner, NOAA fisheries biologist] called it a head scratcher. The die-offs seem to be associated with disease, he said. http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/07/deschutes_salmon_deaths_add_to.html
Siskiyou Daily (Calif.), May 19, 2015: Klamath Fish Health Assessment Team has raised its level of alert… due to an increased detection of a deadly disease…. Chinook salmon tested in two reaches of the Klamath River… reached a 100-percent prevalence of infection [for] one of the deadliest salmon diseases… [Juveniles] have been found with… distended bellies, pale-colored gill and gill erosion… [N]ear the Scott and Klamath rivers confluence… 86 out of 120 showing distended bellies and 87 out of 114 showing pale gills… http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20150519/NEWS/150519690
OPB, Jun 9, 2015: More than half of the 3-inch long Chinook in the [Klamath River] trap are either dead or showing signs of a serious parasitic infection… nearly 100 percent of Chinook caught in this fish trap in early May were infected.
(chinook all have bacterial infections that will kill them all) http://earthfix.info/news/article/salmon-killing-parasite/
KATU (Portland), Jul 10, 2015: Salmon and trout, even sturgeon, are dying like never before… on the Deschutes, Santiam, Mackenzie, Clackamas, and other rivers.
KGW (Portland), Jul 7, 2015: It just seems like it’s getting worse… the issue certainly hasn’t improved since we reported on it 2 weeks ago… Chinook salmon, even some sturgeon, continue to wash up… Several fishermen I spoke with down here today, well they’re worried… Pretty much everywhere you look… dead fish… Starting last month, Chinook salmon began washing up… far short of their spawning grounds… It’s all the talk among local fisherman, “I’ve lived here about 25 years, and I’m an avid fishermen. I’ve never seen any fish like this on the bank as much as I’ve seen this year.” http://www.kgw.com/videos/news/local/2015/07/07/dead-chinook-salmon-continue-to-wash-up/29845937/
KOIN (Portland), Jun 19, 2015: Is this a really big concern right now? Very much so… “I’ve never seen it like that before“… The Chinook are on their way back from the ocean… Fishermen are coming up empty and are worried.
KGW, Jun 22, 2015: A startling site… Chinook salmon dying in the rivers… Biologists counted more than 100 on just a 3 mile stretch… We came down here this morning expecting to find 1, maybe 2, dead Chinook salmon. Boy, were we wrong — you can find them about every 20 yards… one after another… Have you ever seen that before? “Never, ever, ever, ever.” Jeannie Brooks has been fishing [here] with her dad for decades, never before had she seen this… “I looked all the way down and thought, what are all these dead fish doing here?” http://www.kgw.com/videos/news/local/2015/06/22/warm-river-temps-blamed-for-salmon-deaths/29141261/
(Katsuhide Okada revisits the Futaba Rose Garden after the triple disaster. | COURTESY OF KATSUHIDE OKADA)
Japan Times, Mar 8, 2015 (emphasis added): Katsuhide Okada… didn’t worry much about the power plant: It was so safe, Tepco told the Futaba community… [T]he roses that Mr. Okada cultivated over a lifetime — more than 750 varieties, nearly 8,000 bushes — have perished. Still, Okada has returned to Futaba 10 times… he was interviewed on NHK appearing grim and heartbroken… Maya Moore, a former news anchor and journalist at NHK, happened to catch Okada’s interview… she collaborated with Okada and the group in putting together the book “The Rose Garden of Fukushima.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/03/08/issues/labor-love-left-wither-die-fukushima#.VaXXHvmrStY
The forward to ‘The Rose Garden of Fukushima’ was written by US Ambassador to Japan (2009-13) John Roos: “The incredible tale of Katz Okada and his Fukushima rose garden as told here by Maya Moore… gives you a small window into what the people of Tohoku faced” http://maya87mh.wix.com/rosegardenfukushima
WHYY, Apr 24, 2015 – Interview with Maya Moore, former NHK news anchor and author of The Rose Garden of Fukushima (22:15 in): It’s just poisoned wasteland. The last time Mr. Okada actually went back in there, he found baby crows that could not fly, that were blind. Mutations have begun with animals, with birds. http://whyy.org/cms/youbetyourgarden/some-tips-and-tricks-to-fight-miserable-mosquitoes/
Several studies have linked the Fukushima disaster to mutations in wildlife and specifically discussed negative effects on crow populations:
Dr. Tim Mousseau, Professor of Biological Sciences at the Univ. of South Carolina, 2014 (pdf): We have studied biodiversity at Chornobyl since 2000 and Fukushima since 2011. Most organisms that we have examined showed significantly increased rates of genetic damage in direct proportion to the level of exposure… Many organisms showed increased rates of deformities, developmental abnormalities, eye cataracts, and even tumors and cancers.
Smithsonian, Apr 30, 2015: Birds Are in a Tailspin Four Years After Fukushima — Like the proverbial canary in a coalmine… Mousseau and his team have assembled a grim portrait… their data show that bird species and abundances are in sharp decline, and the situation is getting worse… “where it’s much, much hotter, it’s dead silent. You’ll see one or two birds if you’re lucky.”… birds such as the carrion crow… demonstrated higher susceptibility… 2012, he began capturing birds [with] patches of bleach-white feathers… the patches have a high coincidence with… cataracts, tumors, asymmetries, developmental abnormalities… By 2013, the birds… had white patches big enough to be seen through binoculars. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/birds-are-tailspin-four-years-after-fukushima-180955134/?no-ist
Journal of Ornithology (Moller, Nishiumi, Mousseau). Mar 2015: Recent seminal studies of butterflies… found strong evidence for increased mutation rates, developmental abnormalities and population effects as a direct consequence of exposure to [Fukushima] radionuclides… these unambiguously supported observations of the elevated mutation rates and phenotypic effects observed in the field.
Journal of Ornithology (Moller, Nishiumi, Mousseau), Feb 2015: [S]pecies showing the strongest negative correlated with level of background radiation level at [Fukushima] were Tree Sparrow [and] Carrion Crow…
Journal of Heredity (Moller & Mousseau), 2014: Developmental Effects: Albinism, Asymmetry, Brain Size, Cataracts, Sperm, and Tumors — There is an increasing array of empirical studies in Chernobyl, and now Fukushima [documenting] consequences of exposure… white spots on feathers of birds and perhaps the fur of mammals (i.e., cattle in Fukushima)… first detected in Fukushima in 2012 [were] observed in increasing frequencies in 2013 and 2014.
Presentation by Mousseau, 2014 (48:15 in): We’re actually starting to see these partial albinos popping up in Fukushima… They’re popping up all over the place in contaminated areas.
The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (pdf): http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC2596024&blobtype=pdf
Direct Estimates of Low-Level Radiation Risks of Lung Cancer at Two NRC-Compliant Nuclear Installations: Why Are the New Risk Estimates 20 to 200 Times the Old Official Estimates?, Dr. Irwin Bross, Director of Biostatistics at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, 1981 (emphasis added):
Nuclear submarine workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), who were exposed to low-level ionizing radiation [face] serious hazards.
The new risk estimates have been found to be much higher than the official estimates.
CDC/NIOSH refused to retract or correct the conclusion [that] “we found no positive dosage response relationships between ionizing radiation dose and mortality for any cause reported.” [They used] an incompetent way to examine this data.
[Our analysis] gives 189 lung cancer deaths per year per million persons per rem. This is over 100 times the official estimates and completely changes the picture.
PNS workers received much less than the 5 rem per year currently permitted… about 0.5 rem per year. Yet this was enough to greatly increase their risk of lung cancer.
Why does… data for the [Hanford] workers… show no lung cancer relationship? [When experts] analyzed the Hanford data they did find excess lung cancer and a doubling dose… similar to the corresponding estimate for the shipyard workers.
Estimates of risk to nuclear workers are two logarithmic orders of magnitude greater than the official risks. When the actual risks are 100 times greater, the cost-benefit calculations or permissible levels or environmental impact statements based on the official estimates cannot protect the health and safety of workers or the public.
Indeed, there are now more than 30 studies where the data show positive relationships in human populations exposed to low-level ionizing radiation.
Scientific evaluation of radiation risks [should] replace the obsolete older estimates by the newer ones. That this did not happen in the latest BEIR report suggests that official estimates are no longer a scientific product but rather a political one.
Radiation [studies] become bogged down in real or manufactured “controversies”… There is now much more than a prima facie case that NRC permits doses of radiation that are dangerous – a dose that doubles the risk of a fatal disease is a serious public health hazard.
Jay Mullen, former CIA agent and professor at Southern Oregon Univ., Oct 2013 (15:30 in):
When I was 19 years old, I was… a University athlete. I woke up one night and couldn’t move, it paralyzed me… it just baffled doctors… the Univ. of California Medical Center… determined it was the thyroid disorder that was paralyzing me… I had a thyroidectomy and as a consequence I wear what we call the Hanford necklace.
(thyroid anaplastic thyroid carcinoma gross photo)
There’s a good reason if you are an investor in the nuclear community to cover up the pernicious effects of radiation, because there’s profits in nuclear operations… There are strong ‘balance sheet’ reasons to continue the nuclear community, and therefore there’s a reason to discount the possible adverse effects of radiation.
I was in the government, but I was in the government clandestinely. I was an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency in Africa in the 1970s… I understand very well that the government covers up things that might in fact be embarrassing to the government. What could be more embarrassing to the government than the fact that they hazarded their own people by their operations in the atomic community?
I would hope the American public becomes more aware of the effects that radiation can have on the public’s health.
The thing I find most distressing is the dissembling and… the contempt that the government and its contractors have had for the people who they’ve in fact affected.
Watch the interview here:
Scientists from Japan’s National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Hirosaki University, and Peking University (pdf), May 2015 (emphasis added): Pu Distribution in Seawater in the Near Coastal Area off Fukushima… the amount of Pu isotopes directly released into the marine environment remains unknown. In the high level radioactive accumulated water collected at the FDNPP after the accident, high level radioactivities of Pu isotopes (ca. 10-3 Bq/mL) were detected. These values were 6 to 7 orders of magnitudes [1,000,000 – 10,000,000 times] higher than that of the seawater in the western North Pacific. In addition, a new study on Pu isotopes… suggested there was a potential sediment-borne Pu supply from Fukushima coastal rivers to the Pacific Ocean. Thus more attention should be paid to the contamination situation of Pu isotopes in the marine environment off Fukushima since the FDNPP accident… Pu isotopes in seawater… needs to be routinely investigated… There are two sampling sites close to the FDNP… 239+240Pu concentrations in seawater were reported in 2012-2014 and the range was from detection limit to 14 mBq/m3 except 31 mBq/m3 observed at T-2-1 site on 10 April 2014.
Scientists from Japan, Belgium, and French gov’t (pdf), 2015: Tracing the dispersion of contaminated sediment with plutonium isotope measurements in coastal catchments of Fukushima Prefecture — The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident led to important releases of radionuclides into the environment, and trace levels of plutonium (Pu) were detected in northeastern Japan… In this study, we measured Pu isotopic ratios in recently deposited sediments along rivers draining the most contaminated part of the inland radioactive plume… Results showed that the entire range of measured Pu isotopes (i.e. 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Pu, and 242Pu) were detected in all samples, although in extremely low concentrations. The 241Pu/239Pu atom ratios measured in sediment deposits (0.0017 – 0.0884) were significantly higher than the corresponding values attributed to the global fallout (0.00113 – 0.00008 on average in the Northern Hemisphere between 31-71 N)… These results demonstrate that this radionuclide has been transported relatively long distances… and deposited in rivers representing a potential source of Pu to the ocean.
CNN, May 6, 2015 (emphasis added): A smallmouth bass that was pulled out of the Susquehanna River… had a large cancerous tumor protruding from its jaw… an unusual and worrisome development. “Cancerous growths and tumors on fish are extremely rare in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S…” the commission said. http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/health/smallmouth-bass-cancerous-tumor-susquehanna-river/
FOX 43, May 5, 2015: The commission says it’s rare but anglers aren’t surprised. Jacob Myers and his family have been fishing [here] for decades. He joked about the abnormalities in the fish he’s caught over the years. “You know, we’re just waiting to catch one with 3 eyes”… [The bass] may look surprising to some, to anglers, unfortunately, it’s normal.
York Dispatch, May 9, 2015: [Experts say] the fish with the large, grotesque tumor bubbling out of its face… was very rare, and could be just a genetic anomaly… In 2011, experts raised concerns about the appearance of intersex smallmouth bass in the river. Many of the male fish’s testicles were found to contain immature eggs as well as sperm. [A USGS scientist] said about two-thirds of the male smallmouth bass in the river were showing signs of this.
(Image Courtesy Patriot News File)
John Arway, Fish & Boat Commission Executive Director, Dec 2012: A high percentage of fish in the river have sex signs of both male and female. That’s not natural. We’ve got a lot of things that show there is something going on with the fish. We don’t really know what’s causing it… We’ve got some photos from anglers that show green and white spots, which we haven’t seen on any other fish in the state. http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2012/12/susquehanna_river_is_sick.html
Geoffrey Smith, Fish & Boat Commission biologist (pdf), 2010: Further analysis of YOY [young of the year] smallmouth bass confirmed the presence of… pathogens. One of these is an unrecognizable pathogen… Adult male smallmouth bass were determined to have very high rates of intersex: a condition in which female egg cells are found in the testes of males… It appears that yet unmeasured variables may be acting on the smallmouth bass population.
Reading Eagle, Jan 30, 2013: A disease [is] devastating the bass fishery in the Susquehanna… comparable to an epidemic in humans. The issue is “very, very serious,” [Arway] said. http://berkscountry.readingeagle.com/smallmouth-mystery/
Though no media outlets mentioned the fish was caught near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, CNN’s report included footage of the river with TMI’s cooling towers in the background.
Published: June 30th, 2015 at 11:03 am ET
By ENENews
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