America's Shame

We're Republican Livestock

Understanding Threat

Ask your local nuclear operator the following questions:

1) How much nuclear waste do you store on site?

2) What distance(s) from active reactor to waste storage?

3) How much such storage is necessary for power generation?

4) If you could easily offload your nuclear waste, how many tons would you give up?

Nuclear power plants also are nuclear waste dumps.  Answers to these questions easily show the nuclear industry is critically suboptimal, dirty and highly dangerous. Fukushima was not a sufficient lesson?

Demand "mile minimum" between waste dump & nuclear reactor. Hundreds of miles is better. Investors in the nuclear industry lump their waste dumps beside 'hot' reactors to minimize complaints - fewer sites, less complaint. Their short term convenience & profit-taking breeds disaster.

MILKSOP or LIMPSY?

US nuclear power plants should all be shutdown, say an expert panel of two former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners, a nuclear engineer, a Cape Cod politician, and Naoto Kan (Japan's Prime Minister at Fukushima Daiichi's Nuclear Disaster).

Meeting in Boston at the Statehouse, the panel criticized Massachusetts combined Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station and Pilgrim Nuclear Waste Stockpile.

There are over 3,000 spent fuel rods at Pilgrim. "Is Pilgrim any different from Fukushima Dai-ichi? The reactor is identical to Dai-ichi's units 2 and 3; in a critical way, it's worse. The Japanese have seven or eight years of spent fuel stored there, we have 35 years of spent fuel sitting in a pool in Pilgrim, and the pool sits on top of a building."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn't properly protected the public.

US nuke licensing is both MILKSOP and LIMPSY:

"milksop"

manipulable

indulgent

lenient

kowtowing

servile

obliging

permissive

"limpsy"

lenient

indulgent

manipulable

permissive

servile

yielding

Vigorous Debate?

Edward Snowden exposed a range of surprising & chilling operations by our overgrown secret police. And the NSA & GCHQ revelations released thus far are just tip of the iceberg. What characterizes subsequent debate?

The UK is somewhat on message in discussing appropriate limits to media debate (link) - "Politics should be about playing the ball, not the man, certainly not the man's family." Commentary included questions about religious faith, persistent foreignness (link), and an immigrant's stake in society.

America's media, in federal shutdown & nine days to government repayment default, continues reviewing Hanna Montana's butt.

Fukushima Cost to You

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster (which is still continuing) people living somewhat near a coastal nuclear plant should be paying much more for insurance - if they're insured at all.

Home insurance, health insurance, the risks are clearly high and much can go wrong.

We foolishly continue to stockpile nuclear waste next to operating nuclear reactors, just off beaches. Crazy.

NYC Madness

Was it a motorcycle gang that swarmed investment banker Alexian Lien, dragged him from his Range Rover, and beat him? Was it a mob enraged by Lien's seeming callousness? Was this an ethnically-fuelled attack? Or a bike vs. car rivalry? Was it a class war skirmish? Was it common road rage?

A daytime drive in upper Manhattan for a young family quickly turned nasty last Sunday (29 Sept) when they collided with a pack of motorcyclists. Plainclothes police were among the motorcyclists, and at least some of the multiple altercations were filmed over the at-least four mile chase & assault(s). Nobody was killed, but a man was crushed under Alexian Lien's SUV Range Rover, and Lien was subsequently dragged from the driver's seat and beaten in the street in front of his wife & toddler.

The bikers were part of a larger annual rally of some 1000 motorcyclists from around the region converging on Times Square (link), in which police reportedly forcefully intervened - making many arrests & confiscating 55 motorcycles.

The incident makes clear that sudden attacks can easily happen - in New York City or elsewhere, by a mob or by the cops.

Mr. Lien seems suddenly to have been confronted with annoyance, then trouble. How to best react? Conditions escalated / deteriorated quickly. While Lien survived with reportedly minor injuries, it is imaginable he & his family might have been killed. Subsequent reports on Lien's background (link) (link) and financial situation (involving Skrill emoney / Moneybookers, Investcorp and the Bahraini royal family) led to Lien seeking withdrawal from LinkedIn and other social media. Confrontation thus continues shaking-up those involved & peripheral. Of course the "live & let live" option seems most appealing in hindsight.

Bugging Your Bookmarks

It's unreasonably invasive when the secret police can legally sort through anyone's bookmarks & web browser history, secretly devising imagined personality profiles.

Curiosity is important for personal and social development. Creativity is stifled when we must lodge a state-sanctioned censor in every home, office & human mind.

Soldiering the Shutdown

Sequestration

Standing armies

Shutdown

Soldiers soldiers soldiers

No money for nothing.
But  MILITARISM  continues grabbing big funds.

Republicans Win !!!!

The Republican quest for smaller government has been successful.

The forced shutdown of the U.S. Federal Government is due to the House of Representatives failing to fund the U.S. Federal budget.

Many Republicans seek to eliminate assorted government operations, especially introduction of the Affordable Care Act (dubbed "ObamaCare").

After failing to strip away health care law, they sought to defund or delay it. Failing that, a hardcore "Tea Party" faction determined to shutdown government.

What happens? National Parks shutdown; the IRS stops tax audits; Small Business Administration Loan processing is halted, as are Veteran's benefits proceedings; the E-Verify system stops authentications (to eliminate illegal employment of foreign workers). It's Law of the Jungle: the biggest & meanest slaughter freely.

Programs monitoring illegality, that hamper big industry from wholly dominating American life, are out of operation. Terminating anything holding them accountable, Republicans thus win.

Dirty Bombs from US Spies

The secret police and spy services of the USA have gathered together a dangerous, even deadly system of intelligence gathering. Spying on so many people leaves huge security flaws. They spy because they can - it's what they do. Problems include misuse of security intelligence for commercial advantage, and blackmail.

It's natural we question the patriotism of those ferreting out the most intimate details of our lives, and challenge the widespread use of private contractors in top secret programs.

Ultimately, even when the secret police can point to multiple successes, consider also their many failures. By gathering & packaging confidential private information, they create dirty bombs. Allowing others to misuse intel about our leaders, neighbors, and perhaps our own family is inexcusable. Arrogantly spying on our allies and on prominent foreigners is odious and rude.

It all stinks. We must limit what the secret police are allowed to do, and greatly improve oversight and proper accountability. 

Pity Iraq

Pity Iraq.

First we supported Saddam Hussein with billions of dollars as he sacrificed his people against Iran. Then we turn and bomb the shit out of the country, tearing away infrastructure and allowing our mercenary-terrorists (Blackwater) to kick ass. Now Iraq is destabilized and wounded.

Surely we're partly at fault for their pain. But we've our own chronic creeping problems.

Now we try to ignore Iraqis. But we've done similar things in Egypt & elsewhere. Is retribution inevitable? Why not pull back our overseas armies, secure & keep our own borders safe, and truly beg forgiveness?  Our deadly militarism isn't amusing.

Political Arson

The Republican Party, USA, promises to burn down government. Without enough votes & support to make policy, they are only destructive. Unable to choose the color of a room, they vow to burn down our house.

They'll horribly wound Americans and the world economy. Irresponsible idiots.

Hello ?!

Who is served by the Surveillance State?

We're told it keeps terrorists from hurting us, and any level of cost is appropriate.

We're told the secret police spies have "public interest"at heart.

But as the government throws their net, and catches everything we think & do, what do they notice? Are they paying attention to our troubles, our pains, the fact so many are hungry and unsatisfied?

Do the watchers care we live carefully, shop cheaply, smile & greet our neighbors? Surely instead they look for activists, anarchists, and those who might fight against the rulers. It's been the same shit for generations:  "the haves" fear the "have nots" -- it's been so for millenia. Our secret police serve the master class. They don't really care what miserable things we do. We are significant only so much as we're any threat. As we fade to illness and death, we're boring and in the way. Our monies simply fund imprisonment.

Corporate interests pay attention to whether we use Crest® or Colgate®, and how often we brush our teeth. When P&G salespersons visit a home, they look beyond furniture and ambiance to the sink and the brand of dishwashing liquid, and at brands used in the bath. Their systems monitor our purchases. No doubt the Federal secret police also fish in such data streams, not only because they can, but with expectation they can better profile enemies of the state ... enemies of the rich.

But our energies can fuel better living and a brighter world. Work on those positive things, and give thanks if the secret police haven't interfered too negatively in your life to date.  Thank you!

Trust Everyone?

Sir David Omand writes in today's Guardian (link) about secret government spying: "we all need to have confidence that in the hands of our authorities these powerful tools of interception are not being abused. We have to have trust..."

Sir David is no doubt an honourable person. He worked many years for GCHQ (a branch of the British secret police) and as a well-connected senior government official is familiar with this topic. But he misses the point.

Abuse of authority & public trust includes not keeping intelligence data completely secure. Clearly the secret police have failed. Information leaks to private companies, to foreign interests, and to the public. Many key people involved should lose their jobs for such foolishness.

This intelligence gathering will continue to fail. Because some of the information they collect is incendiary, disquieting and valuable, outsiders are eager to tap into the details.

We can increase the guard over the periphery, and automate many processes, but the project is inherently unstable and unsustainable.

We can trust that some people will always seek shortcuts to wealth & power.

Political Bribes & Lies

Korean President Park Geun-hye was criticized during her election campaign for repeatedly promising to provide a national pension to all Korean senior citizens. Many observers felt this was a kind of payoff or bribery for votes, as her promises were very specific: 200,000 won monthly to everyone over 65 years old.

After winning election, the right-wing President now breaks her promise. Is it a bribe if it's a lie?

Shouldn't people have recognized Park's promises were too good to be true? Those who feel cheated had best be more careful. It's sad that in Dynamic Korea so many elderly enter this wintertime in grim poverty. Some still hope to receive scaled-back pensions (lesser amounts) next year July at earliest...

Protecting Police

Police officers need to protect themselves, and we can help. Police are not simply on the front line of conflict - these people are the front line of conflict. Because they often deal with riff-raff, lawbreakers & troublemakers, they're on the lookout for troublemakers even when surrounded by friends.

Police are exposed to danger. In the USA, militarization of the police is a major problem. Too many cops carry a military mindset to police work; but the public's very different from a military enemy.

In cases of breakdown, police work hard to preserve community. We can help. Don't allow your community to degenerate into anarchy.

For self-preservation, if not as a vital service, police should meet with local people and listen to their problems. Public outreach can be both with & without elected officials. If common citizenry have much to vent & complain about, it's better to open discussions early - to go without contact until a demonstration or the beginning of rioting is far too late.

It's a failure for police when typical citizens with minor gripes attend a public activity or demonstration and get violently clubbed (or gassed) by aggressive law officers who require instant obedience. The community mainstream becomes radicalized only when brutally abused.

At quiet times, police & their communities must build goodwill. Both sides should understand they are working together. And ultimately the police work for the people. When they don't, of course they feel under threat...

Police Violence

Too much violence stems from police believing they're in charge of our communities. They feel entitled to yell and to attack anything out of line. Peaceful protest is suppressed. Law-abiding citizens are intimidated.

Keeping everything quiet & peaceful can be impossible in conditions of great injustice.

Too many are homeless. Too many are unemployed. And too many people calmly concerned are suddenly abused by police.

The police club people who don't obey. Mayor Bloomberg set the police on the peaceful New York City Occupy encampment - they clubbed, arrested, and ripped everything to shreds. Other politicians in 'their' cities followed after with similar rough tactics, such as Fredrik Reinfeldt in Stockholm.

These are not cases of demonstrators attacking police or buildings - even determined children would cause more damage. "Police success" comes by clubbing non-violent unprepared citizens. So heavy-handed!

Many have complaint. Most of have questions for the powerful.

Have we come to expect any question or complaint justifies a police beating, a violent attack with truncheons or rifle butts by officer-tyrants, summary arrest, or worse?

Keepin' You Slaves

There's one good reason the US Republican elite hate Obamacare.

Their slaves git uppity.

A national health service covers medical problems with no regard to employment. Just now, many people are tied to their jobs - to quit or change employment threatens health coverage, perhaps jeopardizing home and possessions. It's as if we're indentured by threat of health disaster.

The American people should wake up & understand we're being played as schmucks.

Enjoy the Tea Party!

Feel something dribbling on your head?

It's crumbs...

The Rich  enjoy a real Tea Party, as We the People fight for crumbs. We aren't poor because we're lazy -- we're kept poor. Greedy Richie grabs the lion's share (and the jackal & vulture's shares) at protected celebrations; we scavenge rag & bone.