Fukushima reactor No. 4 vulnerable to catastrophic collapse; could unleash 85 times Cesium-137 radiation of Chernobyl; human civilization on the brink

May 6, 2012 By Aaron 3 Comments

By Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) The news you are about to read puts everything else in the category of “insignificant” by comparison. Concerned about the 2012 U.S. presidential election? Worried about GMOs? Fluoride? Vaccines? Secret prisons? None of that even matters if we don’t solve the problem of Fukushima reactor No. 4, which is on the verge of a catastrophic failure that could unleash enough radiation to end human civilization on our planet. (See the numbers below.)
The resulting releasing of radiation would turn North America into a “dead zone” for humans… mutated (and failed) crops, radioactive groundwater, skyrocketing infant mortality, an explosion in cancer and infertility… this is what could be unleashed at any moment from an earthquake in Japan. Such an event could result in the release of 85 times the Cesium-137 released by the Chernobyl catastrophe, say experts (see below). And the Chernobyl catastrophe made its surrounding regions uninhabitable by humans for centuries.

Yet, astonishingly, the usual suspects of deception are saying absolutely nothing about this problem. The mainstream media (the dying dinosaur media, actually) pretends there’s no problem with Fukushima. President Obama says nothing about it. Federal regulators, including the NRC, are all but silent. It’s as if they think their silence on the issue somehow makes it go away.

Perhaps these professional liars in the media and government have become so used to idea that they can simply spin their own reality (and get the public suckers to believe almost anything) that they now believe they can ignore the laws of physics. That’s why they have refused to cover the low-level radiation plume that continues to be emitted from Fukushima.

The fate of the world now rests on reactor No. 4

“It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on No.4 reactor.” – Mitsuhei Murata, Former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland and Senegal, Executive Director, the Japan Society for Global System and Ethics

Mr. Murata’s stunning statement should be front-page news everywhere around the world. Why? Becausehe’s right. If reactor No. 4 suffers even a minor earthquake, it could set off a chain reaction of events that quickly lead to North America becoming uninhabitable by humans for centuries to come. Imagine California, Oregon and Washington states being inundated with radiation — up to 85 times the radiation release from Chernobyl. We’re talking about the end of human life on the scale of continents.

Here’s how this could happen, according to Mr. Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy:

“The No. 4 pool is about 100 feet above ground, is structurally damaged and is exposed to the open elements. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident. The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it was at the other three reactors. Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks. As this has never been done before, the removal of the spent fuel from the pools at the damaged Fukushima-Dai-Ichi reactors will require a major and time-consuming re-construction effort and will be charting in unknown waters.”(http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/forum/218/nuclear-expert-fukushima-spent-…)

Note: He says “10 times” the Cesium-137 of Chernobyl. Others say up to 85 times. Nobody is 100% certain of what would actually occur because this has never happened before. We are inuncharted territoryas a civilization, facing a unique and imminent threat to our continued survival. And both governments and the corporations that assured us nuclear power was safe are playing their “cover my ass” games while the world waits in the crosshairs of a nuclear apocalypse.

Fukushima Facts

To better understand the severity of this situation, read these facts about Fukushima reactor No. 4 which I have assembled from available news sources:

• Reactor #4 contains 1,535 spent fuel rods which remain highly radioactive.

• These fuel rods currently hold the potential to emit 37 million curies of radiation.

• Those fuel rods are stored in a concrete pool located 100 feet above the ground, inside the structurally compromised reactor building, effectively making the pool open to the air.

• The pool holding these fuel rods is “structurally damaged.”

• “If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident.” – Mr. Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy.

• “The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it was at the other three reactors.” – Mr. Alvarez.

• Just 50 meters from reactor No. 4, a much larger pool of spent fuel rods contains 6,375 fuel rods, all of which remain highly radioactive.

• All these fuel rods are, astonishingly, exposed to the open air. They are not held inside any containment vessel.

• The total number of spent fuel rods across all six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi site is 11,421.

• If reactor No. 4 suffers a structural failure, the release of radiation from the 1,535 spent fuel rods would make it virtually impossible for work to continue on the site, potentially resulting in an inability to halt a massive radiation release from all the other rods.

• In all, the 11,421 fuel rods held at the Fukushima Daiichi facility contain roughly 336 million curies of “long-lived radioactivity.” Roughly 134 million curies of that is Cesium-137.

• “Reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet.” – Mr. Robert Alvarez, U.S. Dept. of Energy

• This amount of Cesium-137 radioactivity held in the full collection of fuel rods at Fukushima is 85 times the amount released at Chernobyl.

• The release of this amount of Cesium-137 would “destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is an issue of human survival.” (http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html)

• The mainstream media operates in a total blackout of this news, refusing to even acknowledge the existence of this immediate threat to human civilization.

• The mainstream media is, in large part, owned by General Electric, the very company that designed the Fukushima reactors in the first place. It is clear that GE is diligently running a total media blackout on this news in order to cover its own ass and prevent people from asking questions about the faulty engineering and nuclear facility site selection that led to this catastrophe.

18,000 dead so far and hundreds of millions at risk: The media cover-up

“The executive branch and multiple federal agencies, agencies tasked with keeping the American public safe, did their best to hide and to cover-up information about a deadly radioactive plume and ensuing fallout that was headed for the West Coast of the United States from Japan,” says Alexander Higgins. (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/03/01/plumegate-media-silent-fe…)

He goes on to state “The evidence obtained in the FOIA request indicates that right from the start, the NRC had a clear idea of the significance of the disaster that was unfolding, but concealed the truth from the American public. The results of the plume and fallout can be measured in the rise of infant mortality rates: cells of unborn and newborn children are dividing at a much higher rate than those of a mature adult, thus the amount of damage is greatly increased and hence more detectable. Conservative estimates place the number of stillborn following the Fukushima accident at over 18,000.”

See the FOIA documents here:
http://www.houseoffoust.com/NRC/ML11269A172.pdf

and here:
http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1205/ML12052A106.pdf

The conspiracy cover-up of the radioactive plumes still being emitted from Fukushima is now being called “Plume-Gate.” This issue needs to be front and center on all our radar screens. There may quite literally be nothing more important for the survival of the human race than dealing with this runaway issue of Fukushima radiation in the immediate term, and the larger issue of the scientific fraud of nuclear power “safety” thereafter.

As Higgins explains, “It is this author’s opinion that any media source not shouting about Plume-Gate as loud as they can are likely controlled by the powers-that-be.” He’s got a point. Thisshouldbe our No. 1 issue, and NaturalNews is re-shifting priorities right now to help raise the alarm on the impeding Fukushima disaster for the obvious reason thateverything else pales in comparisonto the importance of dealing with this.

Take action now

Although I hate to call for the UN to do anything at all, as it is a criminal globalist organization engaged in widespread sex slave trafficking, child abuse and mass murder, the UN definitely has some pull with governments around the world. The petition linked below calls for the UN to take immediate, decisive action to deal with Fukushima reactor No. 4 before it’s too late and we all get “Fuk’ed” beyond repair.

http://fukushima.greenaction-japan.org/2012/05/01/an-urgent-request-o…

This petition calls for two actions:

1. The United Nations should organize a Nuclear Security Summit to take up the crucial problem of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool.

2. The United Nations should establish an independent assessment team on Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 and coordinate international assistance in order to stabilize the unit’s spent nuclear fuel and prevent radiological consequences with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Here at NaturalNews, although we hold the UN in contempt for its globalist actions and crimes against humanity, we nevertheless support this particular petition and the urgent effort for the UN to actually do something positive for a change. In fact, if the UN ignores this issue, that itself would be the greatest crime of all against humanity, for failure to solve this reactor No. 4 situation could mean the end of human civilization as we know it.

NaturalNews will continue to cover this issue, especially focusing on reactor No. 4. We are reaching out to Higgins and Gunderson to conduct more interviews on this subject. Watch for more coverage here at NaturalNews.com.

Sources include:
Japanese letter:
http://akiomatsumura.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Letter-to-Prime-Minister-Noda-by-Amb-Murata.pdf

Fukushima Update
http://fukushima.greenaction-japan.org/

Arnie Gunderson – one of the most important scientific voices of truth and reason on this issue
http://www.fairewinds.com/

Alexander Higgins:
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/03/01/plumegate-media-silent-feds-fukushima-coverup-88832

Reposted from: http://www.naturalnews.com/035789_Fukushima_Cesium-137_Plume-Gate.html

Filed Under: Cancer, Environment, Featured, Fukushima, Health, Nuclear, Pollution, Population, Radiation, Safety, Science

Max Igan’s Trance-Formation (Full)

April 16, 2012 By Aaron Leave a Comment

Full film available for download at:
http://thecrowhouse.com
IP: http://67.20.81.143
from May 15th 2012

“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders and millions have been killed because of this obedience. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves and the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem. – Howard Zinn

Universal Law trumps all others.

1. No man or woman, in or out of government shall initiate force, threat of force or fraud against my life and property and, any and all contracts I am a party to, not giving full disclosure to me, whether signed by me or not, are void at my discretion.

2. I may use force in self-defense against anyone that violates Law 1.

3. There shall be no exceptions to Law 1 and 2.

Filed Under: Banks, Corporations, Corruption, Crime, Education, Environment, Equality, Featured, Human Rights, Illuminati, Politics, Population, Privacy, Revolution, Rights, Safety, Technology

Russia stunned after Japanese plan to evacuate 40 million revealed

April 16, 2012 By Aaron Leave a Comment

Chinese ghost city (credit: Business Insider)

A new report circulating in the Kremlin yesterday prepared by the Foreign Ministry on the planned re-opening of talks with Japan over the disputed Kuril Islands during the next fortnight states that Russian diplomats were “stunned” after being told by their Japanese counterparts that upwards of 40 million of their peoples were in “extreme danger”of life threatening radiation poisoning and could very well likely be faced with forced evacuations away from their countries eastern most located cities…including the world’s largest one, Tokyo.

That’s according to the What Does It Mean blog, which also reports that “Japanese diplomats told their Russian counterparts that they were, also, ‘seriously considering’ an offer by China to relocate tens of millions of their citizens to the Chinese mainland to inhabit what are called the ‘ghost cities,’ built for reasons still unknown.

However, according to a knowledgeable intel source, this report is Russian disinformation, with the intention of neutralizing what the Russians see as a Japanese threat.

What do you think?

Source: http://www.kurzweilai.net/russia-stunned-after-japanese-plan-to-evacuate-40-million-revealed

Filed Under: China, Environment, Fukushima, Health, Japan, Nuclear, Pollution, Population, Radiation, Russia

Navy builds 50,000 square foot lab to simulate desert, jungle to test military robots

April 9, 2012 By Aaron Leave a Comment

By Kurzweil AI on April 9, 2012

The 50,000 square foot

Tropical High Bay at NRL's Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research is a 60' by 40' greenhouse that contains a re-creation of a southeast Asian rain forest (credit: NRL)

Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR) at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. is a real-world testing lab for robots, where they’ll be tested in sandstorms, jungle humidity, and water.

It can be used for small autonomous air vehicles, autonomous ground vehicles, and the people who will interact with them. A motion capture video system allows engineers to track up to 50 objects and gather high-accuracy ground truth data of all positions of these tracked objects.

The facility includes four human-systems interaction labs that can be used as control rooms for human-subject experiments, or for development of autonomy software.

An audio system allows for injecting directional sound into the environment, such as the sound of troops marching or environmental background noises.

The labs also contain eye trackers (useful for studying how people work with advanced interfaces for autonomous systems) and multi-user/multi-touch displays.

Sounds like a great place to test those taco-delivery drones. — Ed.

Source: http://www.kurzweilai.net/navy-builds-50000-square-foot-lab-to-simulate-desert-jungle-to-test-military-robots

Filed Under: Artificial Intelligence, Military, Neuroscience, Robotics, Technology

‘Genius’ computer with an IQ of 150 is ‘more intelligent’ than 96 per cent of humans

February 22, 2012 By Aaron 1 Comment

By Rob Waugh on February 17, 2012

Software uses mixture of logic and ‘human-like’ thinking
Score is classified as ‘genius’
It could ‘spot patterns’ in financial data

A computer has become the first to be classed as a ‘genius’ after scoring 150 in an IQ test.

The average score for people is 100. A score of 150 ranks the artificial intelligence programme among the top four per cent of humans.

The programme uses a mixture of mathematical logic and ‘human-like’ thinking, enabling it to outperform previous software on IQ tests.

Artificial intelligence? The high-IQ software uses a mix of computer logic and 'human like' thinking to achieve higher scores than previous software

Even advanced maths programmes usually score below 100.

The software was designed by a team led by researcher Claes Strannegård at the University of Gothenburg. His aim was to make a programme that ‘thinks’ like a person.

‘We’re trying to make programmes that can discover the same types of patterns that humans can see,’ he says.

IQ tests are based on two types of problems – seeing visual patterns and guessing number sequences.

The Swedish research group believes that number sequence problems are only partly mathematics – psychology is important too.

Strannegård says ‘One, two – what comes next? Most people would say 3, but it could also be a repeating sequence like 1, 2, 1 or a doubling sequence like 1, 2, 4. Neither of these alternatives is more mathematically correct than the others. What it comes down to is that most people have learned the 1-2-3 pattern.’

he group is therefore using a psychological model of human patterns in their software.

They have integrated a mathematical model that models human-like The group has improved the programme that specialises in number sequences to the point where its score implies an IQ of at least 150.

‘Our programmes are beating the conventional math programmes because we are combining mathematics and psychology.’

The programme’s ‘human-like’ thinking could have uses outside IQ tests. It can spot ‘patterns’ in any information that has a human component, such as financial data.

‘Our method can potentially be used to identify patterns in any data with a psychological component, such as financial data. But it is not as good at finding patterns in more science-type data, such as weather data, since then the human psyche is not involved,’ says Strannegård.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2102577/A-genius-born-New-programme-intelligent-96-cent-humans-IQ-150.html

Filed Under: Artificial Intelligence, Technology

Nanoparticles in food, vitamins could harm human health

February 22, 2012 By Aaron Leave a Comment

Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new Cornell University research warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought.

An intestinal cell monolayer after exposure to nanoparticles, shown in green (credit: Cornell)

The researchers studied how large doses of polystyrene nanoparticles — a common, FDA-approved material found in substances from food additives to vitamins — affected how well chickens absorbed iron, an essential nutrient, into their cells.

According to the study, high-intensity, short-term exposure to the particles initially blocked iron absorption, whereas longer-term exposure caused intestinal cell structures to change, allowing for a compensating uptick in iron absorption.

The researchers tested both acute and chronic nanoparticle exposure using human gut cells in petri dishes as well as live chickens and reported matching results. They chose chickens because these animals absorb iron into their bodies similarly to humans, and they are also similarly sensitive to micronutrient deficiencies, explained the paper’s first author Gretchen Mahler.

Intestinal villi remodeling

The researchers used commercially available, 50-nanometer polystyrene carboxylated particles that are generally considered safe for human consumption. They found that following acute exposure, a few minutes to a few hours after consumption, both the absorption of iron in the in vitro cells and the chickens decreased.

But following exposure of 2 milligrams per kilogram for two weeks — a slower, more chronic intake — the structure of the intestinal villi began to change and increase in surface area. This was an effective physiological remodeling that led to increased iron absorption.

“This was a physiological response that was unexpected,” Mahler said.

Research leader Michael Shuler noted that in some sense this intestinal villi remodeling was positive because it shows the body adapts to challenges. “Nanoparticles are entering our environment in many different ways,” Shuler said. “We have some assurance that at a gross level they are not harmful, but there may be more subtle effects that we need to worry about.”

Ref.: Gretchen J. Mahler, et al., Oral exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles affects iron absorption, Nature Nanotechnology, 2012; [DOI:10.1038/nnano.2012.3]

Source: http://www.kurzweilai.net/nanoparticles-in-food-vitamins-could-harm-human-health

Filed Under: Food, Health, Nanoparticles, Science

DNA nanorobots deliver ‘suicide’ messages to cancer cells, other diseases

February 17, 2012 By Aaron Leave a Comment

By Kurzweil AI on February 17, 2012

Researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed

Hinged nanorobot opens when target molecules are sensed

a nanorobotic device made from DNA that could potentially seek out specific cell targets within a complex mixture of cell types and deliver important molecular instructions, such as telling cancer cells to self-destruct.

Inspired by the mechanics of the body’s own immune system, the technology might one day be used to program immune responses to treat various diseases.

Using the DNA origami method (complex 3-D shapes and objects are constructed by folding strands of DNA), the researchers created a nanosize robot in the form of an open barrel whose two halves are connected by a hinge.

Recognition molecules

The nanorobot’s DNA barrel acts as a container that can hold various types of contents, including specific molecules with encoded instructions that can interact with specific signaling receptors on cell surfaces, including disease markers.

The barrel is normally held shut by special DNA latches. But when the latches find their targets, they reconfigure, causing the two halves of the barrel to swing open and expose its contents, or payload.

Programming cancer-cell suicide

The researchers used this system to deliver instructions, encoded in antibody fragments, to two different types of cancer cells — leukemia and lymphoma.

Schematic front orthographic view of DNA barrel of closed nanorobot loaded with a protein payload. Two DNA-aptamer locks fasten the front of the device on the left (boxed) and right.

In each case, the message to the cell was: activate your apoptosis or “suicide switch” — which allows aging or abnormal cells to be eliminated.

This programmable nanotherapeutic approach was modeled on the body’s own immune system, in which white blood cells patrol the bloodstream for any signs of trouble.

These infection fighters are able to home in on specific cells in distress, bind to them, and transmit comprehensible signals to direct them to self-destruct. This programmable power means the system has the potential to one day be used to treat a variety of diseases.

Integrating sensing and logical computing functions

“We can finally integrate sensing and logical computing functions via complex,

Aptamer lock mechanism, consisting of a DNA aptamer (blue) and a partially complementary strand (orange).

yet predictable, nanostructures — some of the first hybrids of structural DNA, antibodies, aptamers, and metal atomic clusters — aimed at useful, very specific targeting of human cancers and T-cells,” said George Church, a Wyss core faculty member and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, who is principal investigator on the project.

Because DNA is a natural biocompatible and biodegradable material, DNA nanotechnology is widely recognized for its potential as a delivery mechanism for drugs and molecular signals.

There have been significant challenges to its implementation, such as what type of structure to create; how to open, close,

and reopen that structure to insert, transport, and deliver a payload; and how to program this type of nanoscale robot.

By combining several novel elements for the first time, the new system represents a significant advance in overcoming these implementation obstacles.

For instance, because the barrel-shaped structure has no top or bottom lids, the payloads can be loaded from the side in a single step — without having to open the structure first and then re-close it.

Also, while other systems use release mechanisms that respond to DNA or RNA, the novel mechanism used here responds to proteins, which are more commonly found on cell surfaces and are largely responsible for transmembrane signaling in cells.

This is the first DNA-origami-based system that uses antibody fragments to convey molecular messages

Payloads such as gold nanoparticles (gold) and antibody fragments (magenta) can be loaded inside the nanorobot

— a feature that offers a controlled and programmable way to replicate an immune response or develop new types of targeted therapies.

“This work represents a major breakthrough in the field of nanobiotechnology as it demonstrates the ability to leverage recent advances in the field of DNA origami pioneered by researchers around the world, including the Wyss Institute’s own William Shih, to meet a real-world challenge, namely killing cancer cells with high specificity,” said Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber.

Ingber is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, and professor of bioengineering at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “This focus on translating technologies from the laboratory into transformative products and therapies is what the Wyss Institute is all about.”

Ref.: Shawn M. Douglas, Ido Bachelet, George M. Church, A Logic-Gated Nanorobot for Targeted Transport of Molecular Payloads, Science, 2012 [DOI:10.1126/science.1214081]

Credit for images: Shawn M. Douglas et al./Science

Source: http://www.kurzweilai.net/dna-nanorobots-deliver-suicide-messages-to-cancer-cells-other-diseases

Filed Under: Featured, Health, Nanorobots, Vaccines and Medicine

Corporate Control? Not in These Communities

January 7, 2012 By Aaron 1 Comment

by Allen D. Kanner from Yes! Magazine

Mt. Shasta, a small northern California town of 3,500 residents nestled in the foothills of magnificent Mount Shasta, is taking on corporate power through an unusual process—democracy.

Citizens of Mt. Shasta, California have developed an ordinance to keep corporations from extracting their water.

Photo by Jill Clardy.

The citizens of Mt. Shasta have developed an extraordinary ordinance, set to be voted on in the next special or general election, that would prohibit corporations such as Nestle and Coca-Cola from extracting water from the local aquifer. But this is only the beginning. The ordinance would also ban energy giant PG&E, and any other corporation, from regional cloud seeding, a process that disrupts weather patterns through the use of toxic chemicals such as silver iodide. More generally, it would refuse to recognize corporate personhood, explicitly place the rights of community and local government above the economic interests of multinational corporations, and recognize the rights of nature to exist, flourish, and evolve.

Mt. Shasta is not alone. Rather, it is part of a (so far) quiet municipal movement making its way across the United States in which communities are directly defying corporate rule and affirming the sovereignty of local government.

Since 1998, more than 125 municipalities have passed ordinances that explicitly put their citizens’ rights ahead of corporate interests, despite the existence of state and federal laws to the contrary. These communities have banned corporations from dumping toxic sludge, building factory farms, mining, and extracting water for bottling. Many have explicitly refused to recognize corporate personhood. Over a dozen townships in Pennsylvania, Maine, and New Hampshire have recognized the right of nature to exist and flourish (as Ecuador just did in its new national constitution). Four municipalities, including Halifax in Virginia, and Mahoney, Shrewsbury, and Packer in Pennsylvania, have passed laws imposing penalties on corporations for chemical trespass, the involuntary introduction of toxic chemicals into the human body.

When the attorney general of Pennsylvania threatened to sue Packer Township for banning sewage sludge within its boundaries, six other Pennsylvania towns adopted similar ordinances.

These communities are beginning to band together. When the attorney general of Pennsylvania threatened to sue Packer Township this year for banning sewage sludge within its boundaries, six other Pennsylvania towns adopted similar ordinances and twenty-three others passed resolutions in support of their neighboring community. Many people were outraged when the attorney general proclaimed, “there is no inalienable right to local self-government.”

Bigger cities are joining the fray. In November, Pittsburgh’s city council voted to ban corporations in the city from drilling for natural gas as a result of local concern about an environmentally devastating practice known as “fracking.” As city councilman Doug Shields stated in a press release, “Many people think that this is only about gas drilling. It’s not—it’s about our authority as a municipal community to say ‘no’ to corporations that will cause damage to our community. It’s about our right to community, [to] local self-government.”

What has driven these communities to such radical action? The typical story involves a handful of local citizens deciding to oppose a corporate practice, such as toxic sludge dumping, which has taken a huge toll on the health, economy, and natural surroundings of their town. After years of fighting for regulatory change, these citizens discover a bitter truth: the U.S. environmental regulatory system consists of a set of interlocking state and federal laws designed by industry to serve corporate interests. With the deck utterly stacked against them, communities are powerless to prevent corporations from destroying the local environment for the sake of profit.

Enter the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit public interest law firm that champions a different approach. The firm helps communities draft local ordinances that place the rights of municipalities to govern themselves above corporate rights. Through its Democracy School, which offers seminars across the United States, it provides a detailed analysis of the history of corporate law and environmental regulation that shows a need for a complete overhaul of the system. Armed with this knowledge and with their well-crafted ordinances, citizens are able to return to their communities to begin organizing for the passage of laws such as Mt. Shasta’s proposed ordinance.

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund is collaborating with Global Exchange, an international environmental and workers’ rights organization, to help supporters of the Mt. Shasta ordinance organize. In an interview for this article, I asked Shannon Biggs, who directs Global Exchange’s Community Rights Program, if she expected ordinances of this type to be upheld in court. Biggs was dubious about judges “seeing the error of their ways” and reversing a centuries-old trend in which courts grant corporations increased power. Rather, she sees these ordinances as powerful educational and organizing tools that can lead to the major changes necessary to reduce corporate power, put decision-making back in the hands of real people rather than corporate “persons,” and open up whole new areas of rights, such as those of ecosystems and natural communities. Biggs connects the current municipal defiance of existing state and federal law to a long tradition of civil disobedience in the United States, harkening back to Susan B. Anthony illegally casting her ballot, the Underground Railroad flouting slave laws, and civil rights protesters purposely breaking segregation laws.

But the nascent municipal rights movement offers something new in the way of political action. These communities are adopting laws that, taken together, are forming an alternative structure to the global corporate economy. The principles behind these laws can be applied broadly to any area where corporate rights override local self-government or the well-being of the local ecology. The best place to start, I would suggest, is with banning corporations from making campaign contributions to local elections.

The municipal movement could provide one of the most effective routes to building nationwide support for an Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In fact, the movement is already expanding. In Pennsylvania, people are now organizing on the state level and similar stirrings have been reported in New Hampshire.

What about your community?

Allen D. Kanner, Ph.D., is a cofounder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, co-editor ofPsychology and Consumer Culture and Ecopsychology, and a Berkeley, California child, family, and adult psychologist.

This article originally appeared in Tikkun.

Sources:

http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/corporate-control-not-in-these-communities

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/corporate-control-not-in-these-communities

http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/jan2011kanner

Filed Under: Corporations, Environment, Featured, Positive, USA

Nuclear alert: World leaders fear Kim Jong un’s ‘ruthless’ traits

December 19, 2011 By Aaron Leave a Comment

By AP on December 20, 2011

A VIGILANT world is watching for any signs of a turbulent transition to an untested leader as North Korea mourns the death of Kim Jong il.

State media proclaimed his twenty-something son, Kim Jong un, a “great successor” to power in an unpredictable nation known to be pursuing nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s military went on high alert in the face of the North’s 1.2 million-strong armed forces following news of Kim’s death after 17 years in power.

North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles off its east coast yesterday, but an unnamed government official said the launch was unrelated to the announcement.

Kim died of a heart attack, “complicated with a serious heart shock”, on Saturday while carrying out official duties on a train trip.

President Barack Obama agreed by phone with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to closely monitor developments.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd urged for maximum calm and restraint.

He said clear diplomatic communication was crucial to secure greater engagement with North Korea.

On the streets of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, people wailed in grief, some kneeling on the ground or bowing repeatedly. Children and adults laid flowers at key memorials.

A tearful Kim Yong-ho said Kim Jong Il had made people’s lives happier.

North Koreans mourn the death of their dear leader. The outpouring, however, has not been as great as when Kim Jong Il’s father died. Picture: AP

North Koreans’ devotion to Kim Jong Il has been cult-like. Pictures: AP / Getty Images / AFP

“That is what he was doing when he died: working, travelling on a train,” he said.

Other North Koreans walked in line past a giant painting of Kim Jong-il and his late father, national founder Kim Il-sung, standing together on Mount Paektu, Kim Jong-il’s official birthplace. Wreaths were neatly placed below the painting.

“How could the heavens be so cruel? Please come back, general. We cannot believe you’re gone,” Hong Son-ok shouted in an interview with North Korea’s official television, her body shaking wildly.

A foreigner who teaches at a university in Pyongyang told AP students told about Kim’s death from a reported heart attack looked very serious but didn’t show any outward emotion.

“There was a blanket of silence” over Pyongyang, said the teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of worries about his security.

“People were going about their business. Lots of people were lining up to lay flowers at official portraits. People looked a little stunned and very serious, but composed and respectful.”

Kim Jong Il with his son and heir Kim Jong Un. Kim Sr was groomed for power for ten years before he took over. His son has not had the luxury of such a long transition and many are nervous his rule will be short. Picture: AP

State TV announces the death of Kim Jong Il. The cause of death was heart attack brought about by overwork and stress. Picture: Supplied

“He passed away too suddenly to our profound regret,” said a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“The heart of Kim Jong-il stopped beating, but his noble and august name and benevolent image will always be remembered by our army and people.”

The death could set back efforts by the United States and others to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, because the untested successor may seek to avoid any perceived weakness as he moves to consolidate control.

“The situation could become extremely volatile. What the North Korean military does in the next 24-48 hours will be decisive,” said Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations who has made several high-profile visits to North Korea.

Seoul and Washington will worry that Kim Jong-un “may feel it necessary in the future to precipitate a crisis to prove his mettle to other senior leaders,” according to Bruce Klingner, an Asia analyst at The Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington.

Some analysts, however, said Kim’s death was unlikely to plunge the country into chaos because it already was preparing for a transition.

Kim Jong-il indicated a year ago that Kim Jong-un would be his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

Kim Jong Il embraces Vladimir Putin in 2002 and with Bill Clinton in 2009. Pictures: AFP/ Supplied

The North said it would place Kim’s body in the Kumsusan memorial palace in Pyongyang and that his funeral would be on December 28.

No entertainment will be allowed during an 11-day mourning period, and the country will accept no “foreign delegations hoping to express condolences”, it said.

South Korea’s President Lee urged his people to remain calm while his cabinet and the parliament convened emergency meetings.

The defence ministry said the South Korean military and the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea bolstered reconnaissance and were sharing intelligence on North Korea. Lee also talked with the leaders of Japan and Russia.

The White House said in a statement that it is closely monitoring reports of Kim’s death.

“We remain committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies,” the statement said.

Source:

http://www.news.com.au/world/nuclear-alert-as-little-kim-to-rule-north-korea/story-e6frfkyi-1226226257237

Filed Under: Featured, Nuclear

Western Elite Wages Info-War to Justify Syria Invasion?

December 15, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

By Prof. Igor Panarin

Escalating tensions surrounding Syria are preparation for aggression. Writer and political scientist Igor Panarin believes that part of the British-American and Israeli elite is waging an information war to justify a military invasion of Syria.

In the article below, Panarin explains his view.

The mass protests that broke out in a number of Arab countries in 2011 were orchestrated from London, which essentially became their coordination center. The BBC and Qatar’s supposedly-independent Al-Jazeera channel (which in reality is ideologically controlled by a part of the British-American elite) led the way in providing media support.

For instance, the BBC reports that an independent commission of UN human rights experts accused Syrian authorities of committing crimes against humanity as they dispersed anti-government protests. But French journalist Thierry Meyssan found out that the commission clearly fabricated the evidence they used in their investigation. For instance, according to the UN commission, Syrian security forces killed over 3,500 peaceful protesters.

But the figure is hardly credible, as it comes from a mysterious London-based human rights organization called Observatoire Syrien des Droits de l’Homme (OSDH) [Syrian Observatory of Human Rights – RT]. According to Meyssan, many of the 3,500 protesters supposedly killed by Syrian security forces are in fact alive and well. Their names, distributed by the OSDH, were in fact taken from the phonebook. Meyssan says an information war is being waged against Syria and that at least some of the footage distributed by Al-Jazeera is produced in special studios that reproduce the main squares of Syria’s major cities. The same trick was used with Libya, when the footage of street fighting in Tripoli on August 23, 2011, was actually shot in Qatari studios, which opened a new chapter in information warfare.

The Syrian government recently banned iPhones to stop the propagation of lies among protesters. Some of the protesters still use banned smartphones to disseminate false reports, announce protest rallies and distribute anti-government materials using the “Syria Alone” application. The application, launched on November 18, was developed by British and US experts specifically to help the opposition coordinate their protests. Information warfare specialists use Syria Alone to publish anti-government materials and criticize the work of law enforcers. The Syrian authorities believe that by banning the iPhone they can stop misinformation from spreading. In addition to the US and the EU, the anti-Syrian coalition now includes the Arab League, which recently expelled Damascus and then introduced tough sanctions against Syria.

A part of the British-American elite is playing the leading role in media campaign against Syria, which is no surprise after their success in Libya, where their media attacks preceded NATO’s direct military intervention. A similar strategy is now used against Syria.

For instance, the decision to suspend Syria’s membership in the Arab League leads to further international isolation, which is clearly what the West wants to achieve. The Arab League first took a similar decision regarding Libya in late February, and then it recognized the NATO-backed Transitional National Council as the only legitimate body representing the people of Libya, in August. In other words, what we see today is the same scenario being reproduced in Syria, with the Western multinational elite launching a media attack against that country.

The Syrian army and police are facing a strong opponent, including foreign mercenaries. According to some sources, there are around 10,000 of them, mainly from Arab countries and Pakistan and Pashtuns from Afghanistan.

Russia’s approach to the conflict in Syria radically differs from that of the United States and its allies. The Kremlin vetoed the UN Security Council resolution, which would have made it possible to repeat the Libyan scenario in Syria. Moscow is doing its best to avoid the escalation of the conflict, to prevent military intervention (among other things, by sending an aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean) and to establish a constructive peaceful dialogue.

Source: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28209

Filed Under: Syria, Technology, USA