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Davis-Besse atomic reactor license extension challenged again, based on U.S. Representative Kucinich's revelations on containment cracking severity

Toledo, Ohio-- The recent U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection report, coupled with a revelation provided by U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (Democrat-Ohio), have provided environmental intervenors against the Davis-Besse atomic reactor with substantial documentation to confront relicensing of the nuclear plant.

The FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company’s (FENOC) proposal to extend operations at the problem-plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor by 20 years has been challenged by a coalition which includes Beyond Nuclear, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don’t Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio. The coalition submitted its supplementary contention this morning to the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which is planning an oral hearing near Davis-Besse in the weeks ahead.

Saying no to militarism

No mail on Saturday, maybe, but small-town police get armored personnel carriers? Let’s take a moment — in the context of these bitter times, and President Obama’s recent austerity budget proposal — to celebrate the questions the residents of Keene, N.H., are asking their city council about the kind of world we’re creating.

First of all, the grotesque insult of “austerity” in the shadow of limitless military spending is destroying our national sanity. And the proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, mental health services, environmental cleanup, National Parks programs and even, yeah, Saturday mail delivery are miniscule compared to the unmet social needs we haven’t yet begun to address in this country, in education, renewable energy and so much more. But we’re spending with reckless abandon to arm ourselves and our allies and provoke our enemies, and sometimes arm them as well, creating the sort of world no one (almost no one) wants: a world of endless war.

Iranians allegedly posted "Baked Clay" signs to attack Bangkok

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Three Iranians who were arrested for allegedly setting off clay-like C-4 bombs in Bangkok on Valentine's Day, pasted more than 50 signs printed with an Arabic word describing "baked clay" pinpointing more than 27 sites including near the American Embassy, police said on Monday (Feb. 20).

Panicked residents in central Bangkok telephoned police on Monday to report additional sightings of identical signs attached in plain view to electricity poles, billboards, traffic signs, walls and elsewhere, including some sites where multiple signs appeared.

Locations included near Soi Ruam Rudee, which is an upscale two-lane road leading to the nearby rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy, police said.

Some police said the signs appeared to map a mile-long route leading to the JW Marriot Hotel, off Sukhumvit Soi 2, which is a couple of blocks from Soi Ruam Rudee and a popular venue for U.S. diplomats, executives, tourists and other nationalities.

Israel said Iran was plotting to assassinate Israeli diplomats in Bangkok by using "magnet bombs" which could be attached to envoys' vehicles.

Why students are hunger striking in Virginia

Twelve students at the University of Virginia on Saturday began a hunger strike for a living wage policy for university employees. They've taken this step after having exhausted just about every other possible approach over a period of 14 years. I was part of the campaign way back when it started. I can support the assertion made by hunger-striking student A.J. Chandra on Saturday, who said,

"We have not spent 14 years building up the case for a living wage. Rather, the campaign has made the case over and over again."

This is the latest in a long series of reports making the case.

Another striking student, David Flood, explained, "We have researched long enough. We have campaigned long enough. We have protested long enough. The time for a living wage is now."

Alleged Iranian bombers cavorted with Thai women in beach resort

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Police hunted on Friday (Feb. 17) for a fifth alleged terrorist who may have taught three arrested Iranians how to bomb Israeli diplomats in Bangkok, and released a photo showing the trio celebrating with Thai girls at a sleazy beach resort before bungling their plot.

"The additional suspect is a 52-year-old Iranian man, Nikkhahfard Javad, who was seen leaving the house hours before the blast," said Bangkok Metropolitan Police Deputy Commander Anuchai Lekbumrung on Friday (Feb. 17), referring to the Iranians' bomb-packed house which exploded on Tuesday (Feb. 14), apparently unintentionally.

Thai media said police suspected Mr. Javad was a bomb-making instructor, who allegedly helped the three younger Iranian men build so-called "magnet bombs" with C-4 explosives which could be stuck on the exterior of vehicles belonging to Israeli embassy personnel in Bangkok, but the plot failed.

A photograph published on Friday (Feb. 17) identified Mr. Javad as a stocky, graying, slightly balding man with a moustache and close-cropped beard arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Chat I just had with Homeland Security

After publishing this report I was contacted by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The individual involved never returned my call. Instead I heard from Brian Hale who said he had been with Director Morton at the event recently held at the University of Virginia and discussed in my report. He told me that ICE in fact had nothing to do with contacting activists, that in fact Ed Ryan (who had contacted local residents from an ICE email address) actually worked for Federal Protective Services which used to fall under ICE and still has some ICE email addresses. I asked Hale, regardless of department, why any branch of Homeland Security was using our money to contact us in a manner that intimidated people out of exercising their First Amendment rights. Hale told me to ask Federal Protective Services (FPS).

Where is Conyers with impeachment threats against President for Iran attack now?

It may have been the one and only thing which prevented an attack on Iran during the Bush years. Chairman of the Judiciary Committee John Conyers spent years fending off nationwide calls to impeach George W. Bush over the invasion of Iraq, the shredding of the Constitution after 9/11, and other high crimes and misdemeanors culminating in a summer of 2008 "non-impeachment impeachment hearings," in which witnesses such as Rep. Brad Miller, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Rep. Walter Jones, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, Vincent Bugliosi and many others came together to implore the committee to bring articles of impeachment.

At one point Conyers closed to the committee room to any further audience members, prompting calls of "shame! shame! shame!" from the packed halls of the Rayburn Building to which people had traveled from across the country, but established numerous closed-circuit television viewing rooms for the public in other parts of the Hill.

BREAKING NEWS---VICTORY AT COOPER!!

We just received the news that, due especially to all your solidarity efforts & those of steelworkers, their families, and all the people fighting for justice, a TENATIVE SETTLEMENT AT COOPER TIRE WAS JUST ANNOUNCED!!

Pending worker’s ratification of the announced settlement, the SATURDAY RALLIES ARE POSTPONED.

Just as the lockout of the Cooper Tire workers was an attack on all of us, this settlement is a victory for all of us who stood together with these embattled workers and their families. Only because of the solidarity efforts so far, and the announced escalation of our solidarity efforts, did Cooper management come back to the table and actually begin to negotiate again. THANK YOU ALL!!

Cold war in warm waters: US-China's dangerous contest for Asia-Pacific

On two occasions in my life I found myself living close to the South China Sea. The sea became my escape from life's pressing responsibilities. But there is no escaping the fact that the deceptively serene waters are now also grounds for a nascent but real new cold war.

China takes the name of the sea very seriously. Its claim over the relatively massive water body – laden with oil, natural gas and other resources – is perhaps 'ill-defined', per the account of the BBC (Nov 3, 2011), but it is also very serious. Countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are uneasy but are caught in a bind. China's growing regional influence – to some, perhaps 'encroaching hegemony' – is an uncontested fact of life. To challenge - or balance - the rising Chinese power, these countries face a most difficult choice: accepting China's supremacy or embracing an intractable American return to the region. The latter option is particularly worrisome considering the US's poor military track record throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Help Arctic Whales

The Obama administration is considering leasing the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas – the Polar Bear Seas – for oil drilling. Doing so would have a disastrous impact on the whales that depend on the Arctic Ocean for mating and feeding.

Take action now to protect beluga, bowhead and grey whales from the dangers of oil drilling by sending a message to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Right now, NOAA's scientists are studying the potential impacts of oil drilling. If they give a green light, drilling would almost certainly start this summer. But they can also stop this drilling by calling attention to the real damage that oil drilling would do to the marine wildlife of the Polar Bear Seas.

You already know that an oil spill in the Polar Bear Seas would be a catastrophic disaster, because we don't have the equipment to clean it up – and the Arctic is in complete darkness for 3 months out of the year.

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