EPA adds seven more monitors, boosts radiation-sniffing system

Federal agencies are beefing up their radiation-monitoring capabilities at home and abroad, even as they insist that significant amounts of fallout won’t waft from Japan onto U.S. territory.

At home, the Environmental Protection Agency said it's adding seven monitors in Alaska, Hawaii and Guam to its RadNet radiation-tracking system, which operates about 100 air-sniffing stations nationwide. Putting in those extra stations "allows us to gather data from a position closer to Japan," EPA said in an online question-and-answer guide.

Looking beyond America's borders, the U.S. Air Force is sending out a high-tech aircraft to sniff the air over Japan for radiation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration are also sending experts to Japan to help counter the growing crisis at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant complex.

The NRC and the NNSA have teams who track how hazardous materials spread through the atmosphere, based on computer modeling and other methods. It was the NRC's revised analysis that led to today's advisory telling Americans to evacuate the area within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Fukushima reactors, or stay indoors if they can't get out of the area.

White House spokesman Jay Carney acknowledged that the NRC's advice goes far beyond what the Japanese government is telling its own citizens — that is, to keep indoors within a 19-mile (30-kilometer) radius of the plant.

"The advice the Japanese government is giving — based on information it has — is different from the advice that we would be giving if this incident were happening in the United States of America," Carney said. "It is not about the quality of information. It is about the standards set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission here in the United States and the kind of advice it would be giving should this incident happen in the United States."

For what it's worth, the NRC calls for protective action when projected doses exceed 10 millisieverts (1 rem) or 50 millisieverts (5 rem) to the thyroid. Radiation levels at the damaged plants rose as high as 400 millisieverts per hour.

How the calculations are made and the rest of the story.

A weak Japanese government is out of the information loop –company controls media releases

Companies controlling the media. Sound familiar? BP basically tried to pull the same trick after the DeepWater Horizon disaster – and succeeded to a point.

Flaws in Japan’s leadership deepen sense of crisis

No strong political class has emerged to take the place of bureaucrats and corporations

Excerpts:

“Left-leaning news media outlets were long skeptical of nuclear power and its backers, and the mutual mistrust led power companies and their regulators to tightly control the flow of information about nuclear operations so as not to inflame a broad spectrum of opponents that include pacifists and environmentalists.

“It’s a Catch-22,” said Kuni Yogo, a nuclear power planner at Japan’s Science and Technology Agency.

He said that the government and Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, the operator of the troubled nuclear plant, “try to disclose only what they think is necessary, while the media, which has an antinuclear tendency, acts hysterically, which leads the government and Tepco to not offer more information.”

The wariness between the public and the nuclear industry and its regulators has proven to be costly during this nuclear emergency. As the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant unfolded, officials from Tepco and the Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency have at times provided inconsistent figures or played down the risks to the reactors and the general public. No person from either side has become the face of the rescue effort.

Politicians, relying almost completely on Tepco for information, have been left to report what they are told, often in unconvincing fashion.”  Full Story

FULL STORY       Image source

Talk about Tsunamis: Lost city of Atlantis believed found off Spain

Archaeologists and geologists use imagery to find site ravaged by tsunami

With all the talk about tsunami’s right now, I thought this news story seemed appropriate to share.

The tsunami in this article went 60 miles inland!

Excerpt:

“A U.S.-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago, in mud flats in southern Spain.

"This is the power of tsunamis," head researcher Richard Freund told Reuters.” FULL STORY HERE.

Conference on Future of Marijuana Reform in California set March 19

"Next Steps for Marijuana Reform in California," is a day-long gathering of marijuana reform advocates.

In the wake of Proposition 19's remarkably strong showing at the polls last year, this conference will address ongoing efforts to end failed marijuana prohibition in California, steps to reform the state's medical marijuana laws, and priorities for marijuana reform in the coming years.

The conference is presented by California NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, Americans for Safe Access, and VibeNation MultiMedia. Confirmed participants include leaders of the Proposition 19 campaign and other ballot initiative proponents, Latino Voters League, California NAACP, United Food and Commercial Workers, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and California Church Impact as well as political consultants, attorneys, medical marijuana advocates, and public officials.

The event is open to the public, and the audience will have the opportunity to comment and weigh in on competing proposals. A party and reception, featuring live music, other entertainment and refreshments, will be held at the Montalban Theater immediately following the conference until 10 pm.

The conference follows up the sold out "Next Steps" conference in Berkeley in January (http://www.canorml.org/nextsched.html).

What: "Next Steps for Marijuana Reform in California"

When: Saturday, March 19th, 9 am to 6 pm

Where: Ricardo Montalban Theater, 1615 Vine St., Hollywood

Tickets: www.drugpolicy.org/nextsteps

Conference Schedule: www.canorml.org/LAConfSched_Online.html

Admission: $20 for the conference; $20 for the reception. A $30 discounted ticket for both events is available online in advance only.

Ask yourself – ‘Why is there no looting going on in Japan?’

I can’t help thinking about natural disasters in America and what usually follows in their wake. A lawless atmosphere that includes looting.

How has Japan managed to maintain order in the aftermath of last week's earthquake and tsunami?

The chaos and theft that have followed many earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis have been noticeably absent in the wake of Japan's 8.9-magnitude quake. Instead, people have formed long, orderly lines outside grocery stores, where employees try to fairly distribute limited supplies of food and water. "Looting simply does not take place in Japan," says Gregory Pflugfelder, an expert in Japanese culture at Columbia University, as quoted by CNN. "I'm not even sure if there's a word for it that is as clear in its implications as when we hear 'looting.'" How has Japan managed to avoid this common after-effect of disaster?

Flooded Streets in Ishimaki City (Kyodo Kyodo/Reuters)

PHOTO - People walk along a flooded street in Ishimaki City, Miyagi Prefecture in Northern Japan, after an earthquake and tsunami struck the area.

Japan isn't superior, just different: “Japanese people are "taught that conformity and consensus are virtues," says James Picht at The Washington Times. To Americans, who prize individualism, "those virtues sound almost offensive." In normal times, "concerns about appearance and obligation" may be stifling, but in adversity they may be what trumps "the urge to smash and grab." Japanese culture isn't "superior," it's just "well suited to maintaining public order immediately after a major disaster."   STORY HERE

New Study Says Gay Families More Accepted Than Single Moms

Pew study find Americans are split evenly overall on accepting 'non-traditional families' but disparage single moms

“When Steve Pougnet was sworn in as mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., in 2007, his husband, Christopher Green, was at his side. In Pougnet's arms was his then 2-year-old son, Beckham, while Green held the other twin, Julia.

It was a moment neither man could have imagined possible when they met 19 years ago. Even then, they knew they someday wanted to have children, but they didn’t know if it would be possible and couldn’t be sure how their family would be viewed if they did.”

PHOTO - Christopher Green, left, and Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, right, shown with their 5-year-old twins Beckham and Julia, say gay families have become more public in recent years. When they first began talking about having children 19 years ago, “we didn’t see any gay couples with kids on the streets,” Pougnet said.

GO HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.

Bottled water largely unmonitored - flush your habit and turn the tap

Bottled water? That's so '80s.

The $14.4 billion bottled-water market has come under fire for being environmentally incorrect as those discarded plastic containers keep piling up in landfills.

Meanwhile, decades of marketing that touted costly bottled water as cleaner, healthier and better tasting than tap water turned out to be a lot of hype. Not only is most good-old-fashioned tap water safe and clean, experts say, but swearing off the bottle also saves you a bundle.

Here's how to turn on the tap and let the savings pour in — without sacrificing flavor: Full Story

‘Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day’ slated for March 30th

I’d like to remind my readers that March 30th is the 2nd Annual “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” for all Vietnam Veterans in California.

The following is a list of local cities that will be recognizing this law and honoring Vietnam veterans prior to March 30th:

The meetings will be held at each city hall, and the County Supervisor’s chambers.

The public is encouraged to attend and show their support for the men and women who served during a difficult time in our nation’s history:

   City of Arcata - March 16th at 6:00 p.m.

   City of Eureka - March 21st at 6;00 p.m.

   City of Fortuna - March 21st at 6:00 p.m.

   City of Rio Dell - TBA

   Humboldt County Board of Supervisors - March 22nd at 9:00 a.m.

After March 30th – The City of Ferndale will present a proclamation on April 7th.

On September 25, 2009, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, joined by Assemblyman Paul Cook and WHVVD founder Jose G. Ramos, signed AB 717, making it a law.

  According to latest veteran census statistics, there are an estimated 3,300 Vietnam Era veterans living in Humboldt County. For more information, or updates, contact Carl Young at carlhandup@att.net

Nuclear industry vows that lessons from Japan will make reactors 'even safer'

“Two days after the earthquake and tsunami pushed Japan into a nuclear emergency, the leading trade and lobbying group for the worldwide nuclear power industry has outlined its position on the future of nuclear energy: “When we fully understand the facts surrounding the event in Japan, we will use those insights to make nuclear energy even safer.”

The Nuclear Energy Institute posted 19 questions and answers on Sunday, apparently intended to reassure the public, the financial markets and legislators that "public support for nuclear power should not decline dramatically.”   FULL STORY

As It Stands: Recognizing when not to 'die' over an issue

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 03/13/2011 01:27:28 AM PST

Have you ever heard the phrase, “It's not worth dying for?” Basically, it means there's no use getting stressed out over things when you're the one who will suffer.

Not that politician who angered you. Not that jerk who cut you off on the freeway. Not that clown who claimed to be pious but was actually a child molester. You're the one who will suffer the consequences of increased blood pressure or heart attack when your anger gets the best of you.

I had to remind myself of that when I heard the Supreme Court's decision to allow the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) to continue picketing Army funerals. Watching that hate group taunt the families of dead American servicemen on TV practically sent me through the roof!

For days, I fumed over the decision, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the only decision the justices could make. Free speech was challenged and had to be upheld, regardless of how hateful that speech was. It still hit me hard.

As a Vietnam veteran (Army) I looked at the decision with biased eyes. Gut reaction. Those fallen men and women were my brothers and sisters, and the WBC is allowed to mock their deaths. To disrupt a sacred ritual of comfort for the living over their loss. How wrong was that?

Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq in 2006 and his funeral was picketed by Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church, Albert Snyder, Matthew's father, told Katie Couric on CBS News.

He also said, “When the government won't do anything about it, and the courts give us no remedy, then people are going to start taking matters into their own hands. And believe me, someone is going to get hurt. And when the blood starts flowing, let it be on the Supreme Court Justices' hands.”

I feel Albert Snyder's pain. I didn't lose a son but I felt like the whole world was turned upside down, and wrong was right. The bad guys won. Chaos was creeping nearer. Then I heard Tom Brokaw say something that really struck a chord with me. He mentioned the veteran groups that were attending military funerals to shield the families from Phelps and his minions.

If anything, the WBC has caused attendance to increase at military funerals across the nation. The fallen are actually getting more recognition for their sacrifices than before the WBC started their vile campaign against them.

For years, I've read about low attendance at military funerals. They even had a hard time finding people to play taps and used tape recordings instead. The services were generally confined to immediate family and friends, in spite of being open to the public.

Look at what's happening now. Hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of strangers are going to military funerals to show their respect and solidarity against those who would profane such a sacred event. I wouldn't be surprised to see even more dramatic increase in attendance after the WBC promised to “quadruple” their demonstrations after the court's decision.

The mistake Albert Snyder makes is he's prepared to “die over something” that's not wrong according to our Constitution. The WBC is morally wrong, without a doubt, but the court can't use that as factor in its decision for freedom of speech. Hopefully, Snyder can take some solace since his son's funeral brought about an awareness of military deaths. The public needs to be reminded that Americans are dying in our never-ending wars. Matthew Snyder's legacy is that he died fighting for his country and his funeral became a wake-up call for America.

Violence at military funerals, as Snyder suggested may happen, is not the answer. Violence is never the answer. The Supreme Court's decision was the right one. Threatening the WBC members will accomplish nothing and will only keep them in the spotlight they crave.

To put things in perspective, a small cult/church is spewing hateful messages and will do or say anything to get attention. Most of the country disagrees with them, and the end result is an awareness of military deaths and a reaffirmation of free speech.

As It Stands, few things in life are really worth “dying for,” and the ability to recognize that means a longer and happier life.

Think about it – no more need to worry about idiots who leave their turn signals on forever…

I was reading my good friend, Woody Woodburn’s column “Distraction on roads all the rage” at the Ventura Star and found out something that will help reduce my irritation at people who leave their turn signals on forever!

It sure made my day knowing that there was hope this distraction will disappear someday. This company (RLP Engineering) responded to Woody’s column and provided the following link:

Excerpt:

 “INTELLITURN is the first and only smart turn signal designed for all motor vehicles.  INTELLITURN is a system with no moving parts that precisely and intelligently controls right and left turn signals. 

By eliminating the steering column mechanism and using computer control to shut off the turn signal at a situation-appropriate point through the turn, a vast improvement in an old technology is born. The result is that the overall driving experience is enhanced and vehicle safety is improved.  The common shortcomings of today's mechanical turn signal control become a thing of the past.”

GO HERE to learn more about this new system.

As It Stands – a glance at blog readership …

I’m always amazed to see where readers are coming from, and what countries they hail from. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those who stop by here and visit. One stat that constantly sticks out is how many students – from high schools to colleges – read this blog. I find it fascinating that high school students from Florida, to college students in the UK provide the majority of my readers. I’m still not sure why. It’s obvious when schools out though.

Period from Mar 5 12:00, 2011 – Mar 12 11:00, 2011

United States: 3,407 - United Kingdom: 220; – Canada: 169; – Japan: 129; – Germany: 121; – Australia: 80; – Philippines 59; – France: 57; – Thailand: 52; – and Russia: 51.

Page Views by Browsers

Internet Explorer: 3,073 (55%) – Firefox: 1,192 (21%) – Chrome: 573 (10%) – Safari: 515 (9%) – Opera: 78 (1%) -

Iceweasel: 32 (<1%) – SearchToolbar: 24 (<1%) – Chromeframe: 10 (<1%) – CometBird: 7 (<1%) – Flock: 6 (<1%)

 

Millionaires and billionaries can’t agree: the NFL lockout has officially begun…

“For the first time since 1987, the National League Football has officially entered a work stoppage.

It came with a whimper.

As of 12:33 a.m. ET, the league hasn’t released a statement on the matter.  (The collective bargaining agreement ran out at midnight.)  NFL Network did announce on air, however, that the owners have imposed a lockout on the players, and NFL.com also has a story on it.

The Associated Press also confirmed the move and teams received an email notifying them a lockout was imposed.

The start of the lockout will set off a number of legal maneuvers.  The players have gone to court in an effort to block the lockout.

They have filed an antitrust lawsuit — officially known as Brady et al vs. National Football League et al.   The owners are expected to try to prove that the NFLPA’s decertification is a sham.   That argument could have problems.”   Image source      FULL STORY

A thought before you drift off…

    "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
— Oscar Wilde

Is that a monkey in your bra, or ... oh, OK, it's a monkey

Woman shows up at Va. courthouse with tiny marmoset in her undergarment

“A woman turned a few heads when she walked into a rural Virginia courthouse with a tiny monkey clad in a pink-and-white dress tucked in her bra.”

Story Here 

Photo - Cara, a seven-week-old marmoset, sits on a desk at the Amherst County Courthouse in Amherst, Va., on Thursday.

North Coast Tsunami warning: “I have my floaties on!”

UPDATES BELOW

 

My wife and I were woke up at about 2:30 this morning by a call from our niece in Stockton, California.

She was in tears and thought we were going to be taken out to sea with the Tsunami that she heard was coming our way after it hit Japan.

In turn, my wife called our son and his family in Crescent City to warn them. They cleared out long before the sirens went off and went to higher ground.

After listening to the TV and following reports on local blogs, it’s becoming apparent to me that it’s highly unlikely there’s going to be any major damage anywhere on the West Coast – it’s 8: 28 a.m. right now.

Some boats and piers might get messed up, but I highly doubt places like Eureka are going to see monster waves. Authorities, in what I think was an overabundance of caution, shut down the power plant in Eureka leaving the entire city and the City of Fortuna without power! (Update – . 9:59 -  PG & E has established rolling outages for the next 2 hours to lighten their power load. This is all part of the Emergency plan up here, and shows you how little I knew about it!) 

Kids on the North Coast are delighted. My grandchildren in McKinleyville, Arcata, and Crescent City, are thrilled they’re getting the day off. In what has to be one of the most stupid reactions to all of this, the company my middle son works for insisted he go out and make beverage deliveries in Eureka – despite business’s shutting down! The last time we talked to him he was at the Co-Op – where employees didn’t want his delivery since the store’s power was off. I won’t name the company he works for, but I will say someone there has a screw loose!

For live views along the California Coast GO HERE

UPDATE NOON:  The most current information can be found here.

UPDATES:

1. Very little news coming out of our local Channel 3. Channel 7 has reporters in areas that no one else is showing describing the oceans movements live. That includes Crescent City.

2. 945 AM water reported receding for 3rd time in Humboldt Bay, 3rd wave pulse expected shortly.

3.I’m concerned about my middle son who is out there driving a big beverage truck and trying to make deliveries as ordered by his boss. Shirley has been in contact with him (via cell phone) as he describes what it’s like right now in Downtown Eureka. Looks like everything is going to be okay though.

4. Between 35 to 40 boats in the Crescent City Harbor are reportedly destroyed by a follow-up wave that also smashed pier. No casualties reported by Officers of Emergency Services in Eureka where the first reports are flooding in. Santa Cruz harbor also had boat damage.

5. Reports out of crescent City (11:37 PST): 4 people swept out to sea. One fatality confirmed!

6. MSNBC and other news organizations are reporting that the person who was killed was taking photos when it happened. Several news outlets report that two people in Crescent City who were swept out to sea were rescued. That still leaves one unaccounted for. Link here.

Crescent City harbor destroyed; 4 people swept into sea, 1 feared dead

From The LA Times:

“Eight-foot waves from the Japan tsunami destroyed much of Crescent City harbor, battered boats, closed the 101 Freeway and left one person missing.
KDRV-TV reported that four people were washed out to sea Friday. Three were hurt and one is feared dead.”

PHOTO - Crescent City residents reported that about three dozen boats were "crushed" in the harbor. (Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

From KATU NEWS:

Tsunami waves ripple ashore, sparing Oregon coast

After their nine-hour trip across the vast Pacific Ocean, the waves that devastated parts of Japan spared the Oregon coast, while parts of California did receive some isolated damage. One person has been reported killed and three others washed out to sea in Crescent City, California, near the Oregon border, where waves over 7-feet tall have been reported.

Muslim 'radicalization' hearing revives ghost of Joseph McCarthy and his anti-Communist hearings

Please take a moment and look at Peter King (pictured here). You should know that he was once a terrorist who ran with the IRA back in the day when the group was on a world terrorist list and killing innocent civilians.

Look again. He’s back now as a crusading New York lawmaker on a mission. Do you see a hint of the fanatic? He recently admitted to being “obsessed” with the American Muslim community that he feared was fostering homegrown terrorists at alarming rates.

Peter King, the New York lawmaker at the center of the controversial hearing, says not to conduct the probe would be a 'craven surrender to political correctness.' Democrats compare the proceeding to Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist hearings. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca stresses the need to build trust between the police and Muslim Americans.                                   Full Story

The irony of King conducting witch hunts in America is almost too much. How does a man like this get to a position of power with the opportunity to pursue a segment of the American population (over 2 million Muslims) that he’s confessed he’s obsessed with? He’s not the only person trying to alienate the Muslim population in America.

Another man on a mission against Muslims is Pastor Terry Jones from Gainesville, Florida.Yep. He’s the same guy who was going to publicly burn piles of the Koran last year. Well, guess what? He’s back. On Sunday, March 20th he’s staging a “International Judge the Koran Day” and plans to expose the “so-called peaceful” book of the Koran. 

My column in the Times-Standard, on that Sunday, will look at Jones’s misguided mission to not only discredit an ancient religion, but to harass American Muslims in any way he can. Is he just another sicko, or is he part of a movement to stop the practice of Muslim worship in America? You decide on March 20th. See ya there.   

PHOTO - Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, arrives for the first in a series of hearings on radicalization in the American Muslim community. Critics say the hearings will stigmatize Muslim Americans. (Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press / MCT / March 10, 2011)

Funniest E-mail from this morning…

Going through my e-mails this morning this gem appeared. When I stopped laughing, I knew it was time to share it with my readers:

Beginning in early 2011 gas stations will start showing PORN movies on the screens of the pumps so that you can watch someone else get screwed the same time that you do!

photo source

GOP Trampled Democracy to Appease Their Wealthy Backers

When Wisconsin's G.O.P. senators couldn't get what they wanted in an open process, they resorted to goon-squad democracy. You got a problem wi' dat?

Cartoon source

I’m not at all surprised by what the Wisconsin Republicans have done to get their way (hook or crook it doesn’t matter). No one else should be either.

“When Wisconsin Republicans did an end run around Democrats on Wednesday night in order to pass a bill that would strip public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights, they showed themselves to be liars. This was supposed to be about balancing Wisconsin's budget, remember? The collective bargaining rights revocation was all of a piece with an ironically named "Budget Repair Bill," and Gov. Scott Walker, darling of billionaire union-hater David Koch and his astroturf group, Americans For Prosperity, swore up and down that it was only the budget he cared about in this fight.”

That lie has been exposed by the GOP’s actions. People should know that the men behind this assault on unions don’t believe in democracy. They are elitists who only look out for their own. The Koch brother’s daddy Fred was the clown that started the John Birch Society – what does that tell you about the Koch boys? 

“This battle is about a few very wealthy men, and the politicians who seek their slice of power through them, wanting to steal the future from ordinary people and their children. They want to rob old people, who worked all their lives, of their Social Security and their pensions; they want to rob future generations of their inheritance, which, for regular people so blessed, usually comes in the form of the windfall from the sale of a deceased parent's home. If people can't afford to stay in their homes in their later years, there's no inheritance for their children. Why do David Koch, and his brother Charles, and their good friend, Rupert Murdoch, want to rip you off? To enrich their own heirs at your expense.

This is what the fight is partly about. The rest is about control.”

I have no doubt busting unions is only part of the Koch brother’s agenda. Just look what they’ve done so far to ensure they can override the will of the people in Wisconsin. They buy politicians like you and I buy socks – when they are no longer usable, they throw them away. 

“How much easier it would to be boss of all of us if there were no meaningful opposition to fulfilling one's self-inflating, heir-enriching agenda. Now that he's made the Republican Party over in his own image -- in Wisconsin alone, at least three congressmen, one U.S. senator and the governor won election in 2010 thanks to his efforts -- the only obstacle left is the opposition party, whose get-out-the-vote operation is rooted in the labor movement. Kill the unions and you cripple the Democratic Party. Game over.”

GO HERE to read the rest of the article.

‘Even-handed’ political columnist David S. Broder died today

 As a longtime loyal reader of David Broder, I’m sad to see his voice silenced. I’ve always admired his fairness when approaching any issue, regardless of how politically charged it was.

There’s few like him out there these days. It’s good to know he was so well-read, and hopefully his legacy will be to inspire others to be as even-handed in their political commentary.

I know that I have a long way to go to achieve his credibility in political commentary. All I can do is to strive to emulate the master. May he rest in peace.

David Broder, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post political columnist whose even-handed treatment of Democrats and Republicans set him apart from the ideological warriors on the nation's op-ed pages, died Wednesday. He was 81

Media Matters found that Broder was second among columnists only to George Will in the combined circulation of newspapers in which his column appeared.

Full Story