It was a ticking time bomb placed by the terrorists:
Explosion at Nuclear Plant Outside of NYC
Globe didn't even notice.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Sunday Globe Specials.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
I'm sorry I got it wrong. It was my first gut reaction to logging back in and seeing the story from NBC. Now the official truth:
"Oil spill follows fire at N.Y. nuclear plant" Associated Press May 11, 2015
BUCHANAN, N.Y. — Part of a nuclear power plant remained offline Sunday after a transformer fire created another problem: thousands of gallons of oil leaking into the Hudson River.
Oh, an OIL LEAK into the HUDSON RIVER! Great!
At an afternoon briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo said emergency crews were on the water near Buchanan trying to contain and clean up the transformer fluid that leaked from Indian Point 3.
‘‘There’s no doubt that oil was discharged into the Hudson River,’’ Cuomo said. ‘‘Exactly how much, we don’t know.’’
The transformer at the plant, about 30 miles north of midtown Manhattan, failed on Saturday evening, causing a fire that forced the automatic shutdown.
Cuomo revealed Sunday that even after the blaze on the non-nuclear side of the plant was quickly doused, the heat reignited the fire, but it was again extinguished.
Oil in the transformer seeped into a holding tank that did not have the capacity to contain all the fluid, which then entered river waters through a discharge drain.
Joseph Martens, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said measures were taken to keep the oil from spreading, including setting up booms over an area about 300 feet in diameter in the water.
The cleanup should take a day or two, Cuomo said.
I doubt I will see another word.
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Of course, right below that is the grandaddy of all oil "spills" -- as if it were an oops, not that serious, clean up spilt milk, not the result of negligence on the part of industry and government. It's a spill, ooops!
"With as few as about a dozen of the mammals left, federal regulators say a unique species of baleen whales in the Gulf of Mexico about 70 miles off the Florida Panhandle may be threatened with extinction. The small population of Bryde’s whales that live in the DeSoto Canyon region, a deep-water area about 50 miles east of the site of BP’s catastrophic oil spill. The Interior Department has begun to open up a sliver of the eastern gulf to drilling operations near the whales’ habitat. Most of the eastern gulf remains off-limits to drilling due to a moratorium."
Oh, the gooey Gulf gusher was just a blip, and they are handing out contracts in other parts of the Gulf and beyond. War machine needs it.
Let's get this train moving:
Oil train derails, explodes in North Dakota
Oil in North Dakota derailment was treated to cut volatility""
Other than that the railways are fein.
NDU: US conditionally approves drilling in Arctic
But they are serious about.... $igh. Such twists and turns, huh?
Last stop:
"Rising sea levels threaten Florida cities, but state has few plans; Officials struggle to protect roads, historic places" by Jason Dearen Associated Press May 11, 2015
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — St. Augustine is one of many chronically flooded communities along Florida’s coast, and officials in these diverse places share a concern: They’re afraid their buildings and economies will be further inundated by rising seas.
The effects are a daily reality in much of Florida. Drinking water wells are fouled by sea water. Higher tides and storm surges make for more frequent road flooding from Jacksonville to Key West, and they’re overburdening flood-control systems.
I'm suspecting it is government neglect of infrastructure like in California more than anything.
But the state has yet to offer a clear plan or coordination to address what local officials across Florida’s coast consider a slow-moving emergency.
Republican Governor Rick Scott is skeptical of man-made climate change and has put aside the task of preparing for sea level rise, an Associated Press review of thousands of e-mails and documents pertaining to the state’s preparations for rising seas found.
Despite warnings from water experts and climate scientists, skepticism about sea level projections and climate change science has hampered planning efforts at all levels of government, the records showed. Florida’s environmental agencies under Scott have been downsized, making them less effective at coordinating planning, documents showed.
“If I were governor, I’d be out there talking about [sea level rise] every day,” said Eric Buermann, former general counsel to the Republican Party of Florida and a former water district governing board member. “Unless you’re going to build a sea wall around South Florida, what’s the plan?”
Not even that will work, and it comes with other problems.
The issue presents a public works challenge that could cost billions here and nationwide.
Remember when America could do anything, even go to the moon?
Insurance giant Swiss Re has estimated that the economy in southeast Florida could sustain $33 billion in damage from climate-related damage in 2030.
I don't know how they calculate that with so many factors and predictions involved.
Communities such as St. Augustine can do only so much alone. Cities lack the technology, money, and manpower to keep back the seas by themselves.
That may be a losing battle, and look, maybe this is all true. Maybe Florida is sinking.
In a brief interview in March, Scott wouldn’t address whether the state had a long-range plan.
I don't know what to do, I've offered up some ideas sometimes, no one seems to like them much, and I have zero power compared to all these important people and interests.
He cited his support for Everglades restoration and some flood-control projects as progress but said cities and counties should contact environmental and water agencies to find answers — though Scott and a GOP-led Legislature have slashed billions of dollars from those agencies.
Everglades is rife with pythons last I saw.
Spokesmen for the water districts and other agencies disputed that cuts have affected their abilities to plan.
In a statement, Scott said the state will continue investing in Florida’s environment.
Maybe the warming is from all the ga$bag politicians.
Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection is in charge of protecting the state environment and water but has taken no official position on sea level rise, according to documents.
What?
In St. Augustine, flooding has long been problematic, but residents say it’s worsened over the past 20 years.
The state slashed infrastructure budgets at the same time.
St. Augustine’s civil engineer says the low-lying community will probably need a pumping system to keep water out — but the state has been unhelpful. “There’s no guidance. . . . Everything I’ve found to help, I’ve gotten by searching the Internet,” engineer Reuben Franklin said.
They neglected that all these years?
Water quality is one of the biggest concerns. It’s especially bad in South Florida — Hallandale Beach has abandoned six of eight drinking water wells because of saltwater intrusion.
While South Florida water officials have led the charge in addressing concerns in their area, their attempt to organize a statewide group was unsuccessful, documents show.
Meanwhile, government officials have been adamant that employees and scientists not “assign cause” in public statements about global warming, government e-mails show.
Scott administration officials are moving forward on a five-year plan that will provide basic guidance to cities dealing with sea level rise.
Do they have five years?
The Department of Economic Opportunity has received nearly $1 million in federal grants for the plan. More than half has been spent on staff time and travel or hasn’t yet been allocated, according to documents.
So who stole that loot?
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I don't know what to make of the rising level of BS. Their scientists say "New England seas are rising at an annual rate three to four times faster than the global average." Is that possible? Doesn't water disperse?
What a muddy mess, huh?
But you know who is going to fix it all? None other than Military Industrial Tech -- even though the Pentagon itself is the largest polluter on the face of the planet, consuming tons of fossil fuels for their jet fighters, and exempt from any regulation or treaty. Are you kidding? The cutting back of AmeriKan Empire would mean the inability to enforce such a thing, right? Unless they went green.
Yes, $elf-$erving crowdfunding and venture capital from the private equity crowd along with the generosity of bankers who scammed and destroyed economies while enriching themselves are going to save the world. I may not know science, but I know $cience when I $ee it con$idering the $ource pu$hing it. Of course it has been so hot here, and never you mind them shoveling snow off the baseball field.
It is now one minute until midnight on the doomsday clock.
What if the true danger is economic collapse? Would they, could they, false flag a nuclear.... Blame, well, Iran of course! Had one and didn't tell anyone; that will be the jew$media version were anything so horrible ever happen. I won't be buying in like I did the bin Laden cover story before, and won't casually remark "What a mess down there today" as some tower never hit by a plane was spilled a little after 5 p.m. before continuing with my studies for school -- as if that were the answer. It is a cultural myth. Just tell anyone you are going back to school and the initial reaction is "Good, good." No one ever questions whether it is a good idea or not. All that student debt and lost life-savings will be worth it -- for a select few.
Gee, I kind of blew up there and let off some steam. I'll have to lock and shut that down now:
"Obama, Japan leader express commitment to sealing trade deal; President faces pressure on jobs from Democrats" by Jim Kuhnhenn Associated Press April 29, 2015
WASHINGTON — President Obama acknowledged Tuesday the challenge he faces winning congressional support for a major Asia-Pacific trade deal that has become a cornerstone of his second term agenda.
Yes, this final gift to multinational corporations is to be the cornerstone of his populist administration. He will literally say anything to get it passed while dismissing those who oppose, as do others on the "left," “the most progressive trade agreement in history.”
If so, how come it is being kept a secret, sir, and as for "us" writing the rules.... everything out of Obummer's mouth is a $elf-$erving lie (and the Globe's, sob). It's also being pimped by that liar Deval Patrick (lot of money out there, but he left us a $2 billion budget hole) as the Globe does a rehabilitation job on Bain capital and beyond:
"The cheers by labor and environmental groups in Washington were met with silence by companies back in Massachusetts, where the state’s thriving life science and tech sectors consider the trade pact critical to the region’s economic prosperity."
And the same day, despite millions from the state, Canton biotech loses jobs. How ironic.
But it gets wor$e:
"A nearly completed 12-nation Pacific Rim trade agreement may require taxpayers to finance settlements worth billions of dollars with multinational corporations that claim US regulations hurt their companies, Senator Elizabeth Warren said Wednesday. The Massachusetts Democrat said the Trans-Pacific Partnership has a clause that would allow overseas companies to challenge US laws before international arbitrators. Payouts would be funded by the US government, and such challenges could lead to a weakening of environmental, safety, and labor rules, she said. “With more and more multinational corporations headquartered abroad, it is only a matter of time before such a challenge does serious damage here in the United States,” Warren said. The provision “should raise alarm bells for everyone.” President Obama, who is pressing to complete the trade deal, also seeks a fast-track process for congressional approval of trade accords. So far, much of the backing has come from Republicans, putting him at odds with typical allies like Warren and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. The White House said Obama will not sign a deal unless it is “clearly in the best interest of American businesses and American middle-class families.”
Yup. I guess that is why things mu$t be kept $ecret. All he can say is she's wrong in the most insulting manner!
And check this out:
"Obama said liberal opponents of his trade deal were living in the past. “Their arguments are based on fear,” he said, “or they’re fighting NAFTA, the trade deal that was passed 25 years ago, or 20 years ago.” He added: “I understand the emotions behind it. But when you break down the logic of their arguments, I’ve got to say there’s not much there.”
But he keeps on making them!
Obama defends the pact, a far-reaching agreement to tear down trade barriers between the United States and 11 other nations. He says it would help cure the ills inflicted on American workers by trade pacts of the past, particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement. The trade legislation would give Obama the “fast track” authority to complete such trade deals and speed them through Congress without amendments. During a speech to Democratic activists last week, Obama said that because the Pacific trade deal includes Mexico and Canada, “it fixes a lot that was wrong with NAFTA when it was passed back in the 1990s.”
He talks out of both sides of his mouth better than Nixon!
Btw, we WERE TOLD that the trade deals would be a WIN-WIN when they where SOLD to us! So place your bet, place your bet.
UPDATES:
Senate vote seen as key volley in fight over trade deal
Who is writing the TPP?
The u$ual $u$pects.
Now back to the table, 'er, regular scheduled article:
‘‘It’s never fun passing a trade bill in this town,’’ the president said as he and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan declared their determination to see the deal through.
Yeah, and we know the rea$ons why.
Obama and Abe face domestic pressures on trade that have created sticking points between Japan and the United States and complicated Obama’s ability to win support for a broader 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
With Japan and the United States as the largest economies in those negotiations, resolving their differences could go far in paving the way for the more extensive trade deal.
‘‘I know that the politics around trade can be hard in both our countries,’’ Obama said, Abe by his side, during a Rose Garden press conference.
While Abe’s visit to the White House was not expected to yield a trade breakthrough, the lack of a final accord nonetheless stood out given agreement in other areas, particularly on changes to US-Japan defense guidelines — an area where both countries share more common ground. The new rules boost Japan’s military capability amid growing Chinese assertiveness in disputed areas in the East and South China Sea claimed by Beijing.
This is the summer WWIII really gets going.
Referring to trade barriers on vehicles that have been one of the main sticking points in the US-Japan trade talks, Obama said: ‘‘There are many Japanese cars in America, I want to see more American cars in Japan as well.’’
Abe said he is eager to see ‘‘the early conclusion’’ of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, adding that on outstanding issues over trade barriers ‘‘we welcome the fact that significant progress was made.’’
Before completing the deal, Obama must win expanded negotiating authority from Congress, a difficult task given opposition from liberals and labor unions who fear the loss of US jobs. As a result, Obama’s stiffest resistance has come from members of his own Democratic Party.
I love by code-corporate pre$$, don't you? (Btw, he has the authority)
Abe faces his own trade politics at home. Japan has longstanding protections for politically powerful farm interests.
Not really free trade, is it?
Moreover, an aging population and changing tastes have lowered the consumption of rice, resulting in significant surpluses that Japan has protected with tariffs and other supports.
Still, Obama said: ‘‘I know that Prime Minister Abe, like me, is deeply committed to getting this done, and I’m confident we will.’’
China’s economic and military footprint hung over the Abe visit. In the face of China’s rise, Obama has sought to display more US economic and security might in the Asia-Pacific region.
Something being thrown in our face all right.
He said the United States sees China as a booming potential market and partner for US development overseas, noting that hundreds of millions of Chinese have been pulled out of poverty in recent years. But he acknowledged tensions over China’s maritime claims.
‘‘They feel that rather than resolve these issues through normal international dispute settlements, they are flexing their muscles,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve said to China what we should say to any country in that circumstance: That’s the wrong way to go about it.’’
Yeah, only the dictator of AmeriKa is allowed to toss missiles around, order airstrikes, and conduct covert destabilization and overthrow campaigns in other sovereign nations. What a an asshole!
In one closely watched development, Abe sidestepped a question on whether he would apologize for the sexual enslavement of women by Japan’s army during World War II. Abe instead said he was deeply pained by the suffering of ‘‘comfort women,’’ using a euphemism for tens of thousands of Asian women who were forced to serve Japanese troops.
I'm not trying to downplay it in anyway, but I've had enough of WWII. It's all over my TV, all over the paper, and we got WWIII in progress. Thanks.
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"Japan PM offers condolences for WWII dead in historic speech" by Matthew Pennington Associated Press April 30, 2015
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered condolences Wednesday for Americans killed in World War II in the first address by a Japanese leader to a joint meeting of Congress, but stopped short of apologizing for wartime atrocities.
Didn't raise as much of a fuss as that Israeli guy, did it?
Abe came to Capitol Hill after a morning visit to a Washington memorial to more than 400,000 American service members who died in the conflict. His remarks to a packed chamber a day after meeting President Obama were warmly received by lawmakers.
‘‘My dear friends, on behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during World War II,’’ he said, prompting his audience to rise in applause.
What about the rest of the victims?
But he skirted another issue that some US lawmakers had also been urging him to address in what is the 70th anniversary year of the end of the war: the sexual slavery of tens of thousands of Asian women by Japan’s military, which remains a sore point with another staunch US ally, South Korea. One of the few dozen surviving Korean victims, Yong Soo-lee, 87, was in the gallery to watch Abe’s address, seated in a wheelchair.
Yeah, it's a big deal but we got bigger deals now. Good to flog them with, though.
Instead, the Japanese prime minister expressed ‘‘feelings of deep remorse over the war.’’ He acknowledged that ‘‘our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries, we must not avert our eyes from that.’’ That won’t satisfy his critics, who want Abe to do more than ‘‘uphold’’ the apologies for wartime abuses made by his predecessors.
It did me. Sorry about the two greatest war crimes in human history, too, those being Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Got to keep the emperor anyway, huh?
Representative Mike Honda, a California Democrat who invited Yong to attend, said it was ‘‘shocking and shameful’’ that Abe was evading his government’s responsibility over atrocities committed by the Imperial Army against so-called comfort women.
So when do the apologies for slavery and genocide of the native populations start, or does that conflict with the image and illusion of AmeriKa that politicians shovel?
Since winning election in December 2012, Abe has been a strong advocate of closer ties with the United States, a message he hammered home Wednesday. He vowed to enact legislation by this summer to facilitate closer cooperation with the US military, in support of new US-Japan defense guidelines endorsed by the two leaders on Tuesday.
And Okinawa wants us gone.
Abe said the United States and Japan ‘‘must take the lead’’ in completing a 12-nation trans-Pacific trade pact. That got a lukewarm response from Democrats but warm applause from Republicans.
Abe has arrived amid a bruising battle in Washington over legislation that would give Obama the authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a cornerstone of his second-term agenda. In a reversal of politics-as-usual, it’s Obama’s own Democratic base that opposes him, and Republicans who support the deal.
And Obama says the Democrats are just wrong!
‘‘The TPP goes far beyond just economic benefits. It is also about our security. Long-term, its strategic value is awesome. We should never forget that,’’ Abe said.
The Japanese leader is a firm supporter of a stronger US presence in the region, both militarily and economically, as China, which in recent years has eclipsed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, asserts itself as a global power.
He’s taken some political hits at home for pushing the trade pact and for loosening the restrictions of Japan’s pacifist constitution to open the way for Japan’s military to take a more active supporting role to the United States, which has nearly 50,000 troops based there.
So what military action is being planned?
Dozens of Japanese leaders have visited the United States since the war, but Abe’s invitation to speak to Congress sets him apart from his predecessors. While past Japanese prime ministers — including Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, in 1957 — have addressed the House, it was the first time for a leader of the East Asian nation to speak to both chambers.
Senator John McCain of Arizona said the speech was ‘‘a historic recognition of two peoples reconciled with their shared history.’’ He expressed gratitude for Abe’s recognition of American sacrifices in World War II.
Would he do the same for a leader from Vietnam?
Fact is, he would have to be the one apologizing.
But Jan Thompson, president of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Society, which represents US veterans who fought in the Philippines and were forced into slave labor in Japan, expressed disappointment.
She said it was ‘‘deeply disturbing’’ that Abe offered sympathy to victims of a war that Japan started, but did not acknowledge responsibility. Noting that Abe told lawmakers that ‘‘history is harsh,’’ she said she agreed, but added: ‘‘history is ultimately harsher on those that deny it.’’
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That leads to this:
"Marine Corps Memorial to be restored after $5.37m donation" Associated Press April 30, 2015
ARLINGTON, Va. — The famous bronze US Marine Corps War Memorial overlooking Washington that depicts Marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima during World War II has begun turning green with age but now will be restored with a $5.37 million gift.
Flags of Our Fathers was a photo-op and redo. We live by so many myths!
Philanthropist David Rubenstein said Wednesday that he will give the National Park Foundation the funds needed to wash, wax, and restore the memorial and refurbish its plaza and landscaping. Improvements are also planned for the memorial’s signage and access for visitors. The project will also restore the memorial’s engravings to be much brighter.
Ah, he jwho is the guardian of AmeriKa's true history!
The 61-year-old memorial honors all who have given their lives in the Marine Corps. It depicts a famous incident of World War II after a bloody battle when the Americans moved to capture the island of Iwo Jima to help bring the war to an end. The monument’s depiction was inspired by a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.
The restoration effort will be the first comprehensive refurbishment of the memorial since it was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.
Rubenstein has built a fortune as cofounder of The Carlyle Group investment firm and has become a leading philanthropist in Washington, making multimillion-dollar gifts to restore the Washington Monument, expand the Kennedy Center, and to improve historic sites. Work is set to begin this summer, and is expected to take about two years to complete. The site will remain open to the public.
Then he must know the Bushes! So glad they are all preserving our history!
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Sometimes things need to be changed:
"A new push to revamp Japan’s 1947 constitution" by Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press May 03, 2015
TOKYO — Japan’s conservative ruling party is gearing up for a new push to achieve its long-sought goal of revising the country’s US-drafted post-World War II constitution. Its first challenge: winning over a divided public.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and other supporters rallied Friday ahead of Sunday’s Constitution Day holiday, marking when Japan’s democratic and war-renouncing charter took effect 68 years ago.
The party, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has resumed meetings of its constitution revision panel after a two-year recess, and last week started distributing a cartoon pamphlet to raise public awareness and drum up support.
Backers of a revision denounce the 1947 constitution as one imposed by the United States, which occupied Japan from the end of World War II until 1952. They say it’s now outdated and inadequate.
Amending the constitution won’t be easy. It requires two-thirds approval by both houses of Japan’s Parliament followed by a referendum. Abe’s ruling coalition controls two-thirds of the lower house, and hopes to do the same in the upper house after next year’s elections.
Hajime Funada, head of the Liberal Democrats’ team promoting constitutional revision, said it’s time to begin discussing details for a series of changes, with the aim to make the first round within two years.
The party has advocated revision for decades, but has had difficulty convincing the public.
Yeah, that DAMN PUBLIC that HATES WAR! Got 'em in every country!
Opponents have expressed concerns that the revisions will back away from democracy and individual rights.
Like the torturing, drone-missile dropper, sweep-'em-up spying, guy has a leg to stand on there.
A 2012 draft proposed by the Liberal Democrats promoted a conformist Japan with traditional patriarchal values, which place family units above individuals and elevate the emperor to the head of state. It also said civil liberties such as freedom of speech and expression can be restricted if considered harmful to public interest, and called for changes to formally upgrade Japan’s self-defense forces to a military, while keeping pacifist promises.
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I put up an apology for them. Will that be enough?
Related: Japan proposes cutting emissions by a quarter by 2030
I'm looking for the ongoing catastrophe at Fukushima, not that.
And across the sea:
"North Korea said Saturday that a South Korean man who it said was a student at New York University had been arrested and charged with illegally entering the country. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said that the student, Joo Won-moon, 21, from New Jersey, was detained April 22 in North Korea after crossing the Yalu River from the Chinese town Dandong. The river forms part of North Korea’s border with China (New York Times)."
My first reaction was spy.
They just fired off some missiles and are rattling sabers.
UPDATE: Japan advances effort to boost its military’s global role
You $ee what is important to my pre$$, right?
"In a separate development, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Monday that Australia has urged China not to create a proprietary air zone over the disputed South China Sea, with defusing tensions in the waters a priority. China drew a rebuke from Japan, Australia, and the United States when it set up a similar zone in late 2013 over disputed islands in the adjacent East China Sea. ‘‘The Asean countries . . . would be deeply concerned if there was any attempt to impose an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea,’’ Bishop said in an interview in Canberra, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations."
They mean any other than theirs.
"On Saturday police charged a teenager with planning a terrorist attack after officers found three improvised explosive devices in his home in a suburb of Melbourne. The 17-year-old had been under surveillance for nine days, senior police officials said. Officers detonated the three devices in a park near the teenager’s home (New York Times)."
Related: Australian teen faces terror charge
It's the "unprecedented threat posed by the Islamic State," the slavish propaganda says.
So stinky.
