From the Net: 'Fears for safety at Fukushima one year on' (Economic Times)

To some of the men who earn as little as $100 a day to work inside Japan's Fukushima Daiichi, the plant at the centre of a year-old nuclear disaster is far from safe - despite the official line.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and the Japanese government say the tsunami-crippled reactors are all in a "state of cold shutdown" and are keen to give the impression that there is just cleaning up to do.

They acknowledge it is the work of a few decades - perhaps 40 years - but nonetheless insist things are under control.

But that is not how those who spend their days inside the plant see it.

"I can clearly say it's not safe at all," said one worker in his 50s, a subcontractor who has been working on the plant's cooling system since September.

The man did not want to be identified for fear of losing the 8,000 yen ($100) daily paycheck he receives.

"There are many spots where radiation levels are extremely high," he said.

The man said subcontractors like him were treated like animals. 

... full story at Economic Times.

That's how Japan and the Nuclear Industry treat their people and even their heroes.

70,000 students march through Barcelona

Striking students took in large numbers (70,000) to the streets of Barcelona today against increased university tariffs and the sell off of education to private bloodsuckers.

Some groups threw bananas to the police and broke glasses of bank offices.

Upon finishing the demonstration, the students marched to the rectorate, which was occupied in spite of police intervention. Some students continued the occupation tonight, while others marched in the evening to Plaça Espanya where there was the Mobile World Congress fair.  They were confronted by anti-riot police.

12 people were arrested, two of them minors. A speaker of the students described the arrests as scapegoats and unrelated to any specific incidents.

Source: Ara[cat].

From the Net: 'World's oldest nuclear power station closes... but it will take 90 more years and £954m to clear it completely' (N. Enoch at theDaily Mail)

The world's oldest running nuclear power station was shut down today after 44 years in use - but will take another 90 years to clean up.

Staff at Oldbury Nuclear Power Station near Thornbury, South Gloucester switched off the site's only remaining reactor - which first generated electricity in 1967.

As well as the time factor, it will also cost £954million for the 175 acre site to be completely cleared, with the final stage anticipated to take place between 2092 and 2101.

... full story at the Daily Mail (found via Fukushima Diary).

It is interesting how costly is in the long run nuclear power and it never really washes away fully, you know. 

Everything looks like, well, from the 60s, you know.

The rich are rich because they are greedy and cheat

There's a new study out there set to open some minds to reality:

Raul K. Piff et al., Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior. PNAS 2012. Pay per view (free in six months or already depending on global region).

Abstract

Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.

They even justify their unethical behavior because for them greed is somehow ethical, something good (as Reagan would memorably state in his reign), justifying almost everything (while for the rest of us it is obviously not). 

I wonder if there is a greedy gene and if we could inactivate it with genetic engineering. Of course I also wonder if such thing could be ethical... but sounds better than guillotine, right?

In the media: The Independent, Kaos[es].

Other great discoveries of modern psychological science: conservatives are quite scared, and progressive and open minded people are generally smarter.

The dirty war continues in the Basque Country: boy kidnapped and threatened by police

As I have been sadly forced to denounce once and again here, the Spanish authorities are doing everything in their hands to reverse the peace process. In this case I have to report the continuity of dirty war tactics by police forces, which include persistent stalking, kidnappings and death threats. 

The latest most outrageous case was that of Iker Uruburu, from Bilbao, who was first bothered by two policemen in plain clothes on January 6th when he went to work. Without further explanations and after being violently pushed against a wall, he was threatened repeatedly with arrest. 

He was followed in the next days. 

On February 23rd, in the afternoon, he was kidnapped by several unidentified individuals who forced him into a car. He began yelling and hitting the doors of the car demanding to be released until they threatened him with being shot on the spot. 

Then they brought him to a rather hidden park (Los Caños), where they pulled from his hair and threw him to the floor while yelling threats and insults. They threatened him with arrest if he did not cooperate.

Today, together with a large support group, he has denounced these aggressions before the media. 

Stop police stalking!

His attorney, Roberto Zenón, has denounced that they are collecting many testimonies like his these days and that they suspect that many others remain unreported for fear.

A protest has been called before the government subdelegation on March 10th at 12:00.

Sources[es]: Branka, Gara.

From the Net;: 'Strike hits mining in Chhattisgarh' (Zee News)

The nationwide strike called by the country's trade unions has hit bauxite, coal and iron ore mining in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh, officials said on Tuesday.

Reports coming in from the state's northern Surguja district say that bauxite mining has been severely hit at Mainpat area, about 450 km north from here. Aluminium major BALCO, in which Vedanta Resources Plc holds 51 percent stake, has mines in Manipat. 

... full story at Zee News. Found via Revolution in South Asia.

US ambassador led the coup in Honduras (Wikileaks)

Zelaya and Llorens

Just in case anyone had any doubts it has been known today, thanks to the new Wikileaks information hoards, that former US ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Hugo Llorens, was actively behind the 2009 coup that ousted legitimate President Manuel Zelaya and initiated a terror war against the Honduran People.

Llorens met former President Ricardo Mauro, Tegucigalpa Mayor Ricardo Álvarez and the CEOs of major companies: Antonio Travel, Emilio Larach y Emin Barjum, all which seem involved in the coup. 

Source: LibreRed[es].

See also this entry about the CIA agent who apparently managed all the coup and also: Leherensuge cat. Honduras, FWWATWB cat. Honduras.

Luca Abba will survive but injuries severe - TAV/HSR works continue in spite of massive protests

As mentioned yesterday, Italian farmer and ecologist Luca Abba was severely injured after suffering electrocution and fall from an electricity tower, when police was murderously chasing him without any regard for security. 

Struggles in Italy reports today that Abba is out of mortal danger but that he has extense burns, broken spine in several places, lung puncture and a minor head injury. Besides burns, the electric shock may have damaged some organs, something that is not clear yet. 

As result of this murderous police aggression, a large spontaneous reaction took place in all the Val Susa, with workers walking out of their jobs and people cutting the highway in protest and duel (it was still blocked by the night).

Demonstrations ensued in the evening in many Italian cities and also Barcelona and Stuttgart.

See also: Contra Info, for more details on the protests.

Popular road blockade at Val Susa

From the Net: 'Insecticide used with GM corn highly toxic to bees' (Food Freedom)

New research should nail the coffin lid shut on a toxic bee-killing pesticide; Entire food chain found to be contaminated, from soil to pollen to dead bees.

The Sierra Club calls on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to immediately suspend the registration of the insecticide clothianidin, based on new scientific evidence of extensive contamination in bees and soil.

... full story at Food Freedom.

From the Net: 'Independent Investigation Commission on Fukushima Accident: Confusion from Interference from PM Kan and His Ministers Made the Situation Much Worse' (Ex-SKF)

The Independent Investigation Commission set up by a private foundation called Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation has issued the report of its findings of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

Unlike the investigation commissions set up by the administration and the Diet, the RJIF Commission has collected and studied information from the general public as well as from the experts.

...

Confusion caused by the interference by the Prime Minister's Office, chain reaction of "doubts begot doubts", a private investigation commission on Fukushima Nuclear Plant accident says
 

...

The private Commission was set up last September, and has heard from about 300 people including then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano and other top government officials.

...

The report points to the direct interference of the Prime Minister's Official Residence into the response at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, causing confusion.

...

In my rare defense of TEPCO, it is a lie propagated by Naoto Kan himself that TEPCO wanted to completely withdraw from the plant. TEPCO's president wanted to protect workers who were not directly involved in nuclear emergency response by evacuating them from the plant, when the radiation level at the plant spiked to extremely dangerous levels.

...

He insisted he visit the plant on the morning of March 12 when everyone at the plant was scrambling to figure out what was happening (or figure out what to do about the meltdown that was happening). When he arrived, he went shouting and screaming at the plant management and workers.

... full article at Ex-SKF.

From the Net: 'Val di Susa, Italy: Clarea mountain hut evicted, authorities’ land expropriation and a comrade in extremely serious condition' (Contra Info)

In the morning of February 27th the eviction and demolition works at the Clarea mountain hut (meeting place of NO TAV* resistants in Susa Valley) began along with transport of construction material and authorities’ land expropriation.

At around 8.30am Luca Abbà, a NO TAV activist, climbed an electricity pylon trying to slow down the military-industrial operation. A cop started climbing the pylon too, in an attempt to take him down —an absolutely murderous maneuver, without safety nets or any such equipment at the spot.

Despite the cops’ pressure, Luca communicated that he would not desist, and indeed he would have ascended higher if he had not suffered a strong electric shock, causing him to fall from several metres. The cops-murderers’ responsibility is irrefutable.

Luca was transferred by helicopter to the CTO hospital in Turin after almost an hour since the ‘accident’ caused by the repressive forces.

... full story at Contra Info.

Luca Abbà and the electric tower where he was murderously attacked by police

__________________________________________

* TAV: Italian and Spanish acronym for High Speed Rail. 

From the Net: 'Okinawa will accept radioactive debris' (Fukushima Diary)

Japanese prime minister Noda visited Okinawa on 2/26/2012, then Nakaima Hirokazu, the Okinawa mayor decided they will accept radioactive debris if Japanese government asked them.

Having this decision, Naha shi and Haebaru shi have decided to be forward to accepting the radioactive debris.

Onaga Naha city mayor stated, “As Japanese citizen, we shall help disaster area by accepting the radioactive debris.”

... full story at Fukushima Diary.

_________________
Note: yes, that is the absurd, idiotic, suicidal attitude of the Japanese officialdom and some sheepish citizens: instead of trying to contain the damage to where it happened (NE Honsu) they are spreading it to all Japan "in solidarity". Stupid like nothing I have seen before.

From the Net: 'Dr. Vandana Shiva: Occupy our food supply!' (Grist)

Today, Feb. 27, is an Occupy Our Food Supply day of action. The following essay is just one of several related posts that will be appearing around the internet to mark the day.

The biggest corporate takeover on the planet is the hijacking of the food system, the cost of which has had huge and irreversible consequences for the Earth and people everywhere.

From the seed to the farm to the store to your table, corporations are seeking total control over biodiversity, land, and water. They are seeking control over how food is grown, processed, and distributed. And in seeking this total control, they are destroying the Earth’s ecological processes, our farmers, our health, and our freedoms.

It starts with seeds. Monsanto and a few other gene giants are trying to control and own the world’s seeds through genetic engineering and patents. Monsanto wrote the World Trade Organization (WTO) treaty on Intellectual Property, which forces countries to patent seeds. (...)

... full story at Grist (found via Food Freedom).

Wikileaks is back with the 'shadow CIA' files

Actually it has been active all this time for what I can see in their main page, but only today it has jumped to the media (in Spanish language at least) with a new exclusive media bunch of leaks.

These are the files of a global private intelligence company: Stratfor. While I and possibly you had never before heard of this company, it has already earned the nickname of "shadow CIA". 

At the moment of writing this, I have only got yet a very shallow notion of what all this is about but I imagine that we will know much more in the following days and weeks. 

By the moment in Spain it has hit the front pages[es] that the spies secretly mocked former ultra-conservative, recycled fundamentalist fascist, prime minister J.M. Aznar, whom they considered the more extremist political leader of the West back in the day, much more extremist that Israeli officers, go figure!

The list of media with special access to these leaks, after the Guardian-NYT-Spiegel fiasco, is much more diverse:

Pick your source(s). 

A central theme is about Stratfor and other agencies' attempts to subvert Wikileaks and imprison Julian Assange. Other issues are corruption of journalists by Stratfor or Zionist infiltration in Venezuelan political leadership and attempts of taking control of Hugo Chávez in person by sexual, financial or psychological means.

We'll see what comes out.

Resources: Wikileaks main page, Wikileaks: The Global Intelligence Files, Público: Wikileaks The Global Intelligence Files[es].

Official declaration from the Basque Nationalist Left, dismissed by other actors

Image from the presentation

It seems that for the Spanish nationalists and their lackeys of the Basque Nationalist Party (Basque regionalist Catholic conservative party) nothing is enough and are willing to push for more and more demands forever in a farce whose obvious intention is only to reignite the armed conflict in the Basque Country. 

Whatever the reactions, the Basque Nationalist Left presented yesterday in Donostia a document in four languages (Basque, Spanish, French and English) in which they share their determination for peace and fears for the lack of progress by the imperialist side. 

Some quotes:

The Peace Process is stuck for lack of political will from Madrid:

So, Abertzale Left has contributed its part to building peace in our country. It has done everything in its power to make a new time possible. This however has not meant that peace has automatically come to the Basque Country. Peace is still to be built and the unilateral end to one side violence does not bring peace. There are other forms of violence, a repression that must end. The repressive policy of the States must end in order to begin talking of a non-violent scenario and real democracy.

...

ETA has ended its armed activity. This has not brought the end of all violence.

Thus, we consider necessary the end of the current inhumane prison policy. Seriously ill prisoners and those that have completed 3/4 or 2/3 of their sentence should be released. Dispersal policy of Basque political prisoners must come to an end, transferring them to the Basque Country, as a first step on a process that do possible to them to return home. The policy of repression, police harassment and arrests against pro independence activists, as well as trials and imprisonment must finally end. The different emergency policies must end and all civil and political rights must be guaranteed to Basque citizens, most notably the urgent legalization of the political party Sortu.

...

A country in peace does not need thousands of armed people. It is necessary to start demilitarising our country.

...

No conflict in the world has ended maintaining hundreds of people imprisoned for decades.

...

Proposing South-African style reconciliation by mutual recognition

There are and will be diverse opinions among our People on what happened in the past and while we must seek the truth, this whole truth will be the sum of diverse and even different truths.

...

The Abertzale Left considers that it is crucial to talk about what happened, to recover the truth about what happened. Our People need to know the truth, but they must know the whole truth about the political conflict and its consequences. Knowing it will make easier to move from a scenario of violence to a democratic scenario, and it will make us freer. It will also help reconciliation.

...

They close with an specific proposal of four points:

1. Accepting the Mitchell Principles:
1. Commitment to democratic and exclusively peaceful means to resolve political issues.
2. Commitment to renounce the use of force or the threat of using it...
3. Commitment to agree to submit to the terms of any agreement reached during multi-party negotiations and to resort to democratic and exclusively peaceful means to try to alter of any aspect of this outcome with which it may not agree.
2. Political projects must be differentiated from democratic solutions.
3. Acknowledging and respecting plurality in the Basque Country.
4. Recognizing and respecting all rights, including the Right to Self-Determination

You can read the full document at Gara (PDF).

From the Net: 'Kilkis, Northern Greece: Message from a member of the workers’ general assembly, from the occupied city’s hospital' (Contra Info)

Hello all,

Thank you so much for your interest and support.

The occupation of our hospital in Kilkis by its workers started on Monday, February 20th, at 8:30 local time. This occupation is not only about us, the physicians and the workers at the Kilkis Hospital. Neither is it only about the Greek National Health System, which is collapsing, indeed. We are in this fight because what are in real danger now is the human rights. And this threat is not against just a nation, or against a few countries, or a few social groups, but against the low and middle classes in Europe, America, Asia, Africa, in the whole world. Today’s Greece, is tomorrow’s picture of Portugal, Spain, Italy and the rest of the countries worldwide.

The workers at the Kilkis Hospital and at most of the hospitals and health centers in Greece are not paid on time and some of them see their salaries being cut down to practically zero. A fellow-worker of mine was transferred to our cardiologic clinic in shock, when he realized that instead of receiving the usual check of 800 euros (yes; that is his monthly salary) from the state, he received a note saying that not only he will be paid nothing for this month, but he is also to return 170 euros. Other workers were paid only 9 (nine) euros for this month. Those of us who still receive some kind of a salary will support them in any way we can.

This is a war against the people, against the whole community. Those who say that the public debt of Greece is the debt of the Greek people are lying. It is not the people’s debt. It was created by the governments in collaboration with the bankers in order to enslave people. The loans to Greece are not used for salaries, pensions and public care. It is exactly the opposite: salaries, pensions and care are used to pay the bankers...

... full letter at Contra Info.

Massive demo in Bilbao against social cuts

More than 20,000 people demonstrated yesterday through the Gran Vía of Bilbao against social cuts, heating the ambient for the general strike of March 29th.

The anger is really appreciable in the declarations of some speakers of associations and unions. For example LAB speaker Sonia González criticized the hypocrisy of the good practices code announced by the banks because these are the biggest mafiosi to ever set foot on Earth, asking for a Penal Code of popular justice for bankers and businessmen. She ended her discourse with the following memorable sentence:

Do not ever bow your heads because you belong to a higher class: the working class.

Sources: Gara[es], Berria[eu], Sare Antifaxista[es].

From the Net: 'Clashes across West Bank for the opening of Shuhada St.' (Anarchists Against The Wall)

Open Shuhada Day was commemorated in demonstrations throughout the West Bank this Friday. In the heart of Hebron itself two protest marches took place: one organized by "Youth Against Settlements" and the other by the three leftist Palestinian parties – the PFLP, the DFLP and the communist People's Party. Together, both demonstrations were attended by about one thousand people, including some 100 Israelis and international activists. Both demonstrations were met with army forces, which tried to disperse the non-violent processions with tear gas, "skunk" water cannons and arrests.

While he first demonstration developed into heavy clashes, including stone throwing and Molotov cocktails, the second remained non-violent, and ended when a funeral procession needed to pass through the same street as the demonstration. However, the funeral too was attacked with water canons. A video from this demonstration shows the army's use of an American made non-lethal weapon. One can hear a recording saying "This is a test of the Long Range Acoustic Device – LRAD – from American Technology Corporation".

... full story at Anarchists Against The Wall.

Note: Suhada Street in the center of Hebron, West Bank, is banned to Palestinians since 2001 in order to protect an urban Zionist colony. For that reason it is one of the many hotspots of Zionist Apartheid in Palestine (aka Israel).

From the Net: '4 major Japanese corporations are evacuating to Osaka' (Fukushima Diary)

On the regular press conference of Tokyo mayor on 2/24/2012, it turned out that 4 major Japanese corporations are moving the head offices from Tokyo to Osaka.

The companies are

Mitsubishi Corporation
Mitsui&CO.,LTD
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd
Sumitomo Mitsui banking corporation

The journalist asked,
The city income of Tokyo has been decreasing for these 5 years.

Yesterday, the Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui&CO.,LTD, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd, Sumitomo Mitsui banking corporation and Panasonic (← Note : This is wrong. The head office of Panasonic is in Osaka from the beginning.) published they are going to move their head offices from Tokyo to Osaka.

It’s likely to damage the income more. What is your opinion ?

Ishihara Tokyo mayor,
Yes, that’s a problem, but it would be better for the entire economy of Japan.

From Fukushima Diary. 

See also at the same resource: Tokyo station is contaminated like as mandatory evacuating zone in Fukushima.

It seems to me that the worst case scenario is being realized in spite of the government's efforts of extend-and-pretend: all the Eastern half of Honsu is too damaged, and the government's attitude only destroys confidence on the remaining of Japan and its industry.

From the Net: 'Today’s Love Goes to Arizona’s Banned Book Smugglers' (J. Rivas at Colorlines)

The Librotraficante Caravan is bringing contraband books—or “wet-books”—to Arizona. The project is also intended to raise awareness of the “prohibition” of the Mexican-American Studies Program and the removal of books from classrooms.

“When we heard that Tucson Unified School District administrators not only prohibited Mexican-American Studies, but then walked into classrooms, and in front of young Latino students, during class time, removed and boxed up books by our most beloved authors - that was too much. This offended us down to our soul. We had to respond,” said Tony Diaz, founder of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, which has led the charge.

Diaz added, “With their record of anti-immigrant legislation, politicians in Arizona have become experts in making humans illegal. We did not do enough to stop that, thus that anti-immigrant legislation spread to other states such as Alabama and Georgia. Now, these same legislators want to make thoughts illegal. If we allow this to happen, these laws, too, will spread. Other branches of ethnic studies will be prohibited, and other states will follow suit.”

The Librotraficante Caravan will travel from Houston, Texas, to Tucson, Ariz., carrying a payload of contraband books, creating networks of Underground Libraries and leaving community resources in its wake.

With just days away from launching the caravan Libroficante could use your help. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign didn’t work out they way hoped for, so donations are critical. For more information on how you can make a tax-deductible donation visit librotraficante.com/Donate.html.

From Colorlines.