U.S. Embassy in Tokyo quietly distributed potassium iodide pills

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo quietly distributed potassium iodide pills to U.S. citizens this week in what appears to be a word-of-mouth operation.

A handful of Americans waited for the pills Friday at the U.S.-military-operated New Sanno Hotel, in Tokyo’s upscale Hiroo neighborhood. One person in line said he heard about the offer from a contact two friends removed who works at the Tokyo embassy. Another recipient said he found out about the program through a connection in the military and through an email from a private club that counts some of the capital’s most elite expats among its members.

They shared those details with an embassy official, who asked recipients to write how they heard about the distribution on a waiver that acknowledges they received seven free potassium iodide pills from the U.S. State Department.

The embassy said on Tuesday it would provide the tablets, known as KI pills, to its staff and their families in Japan as a precautionary measure against possible radiation exposure in light of the conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The offer did not, however, extend to private citizens. Instead, the embassy advised them to contact their doctor or employer.

That notice has not been updated since the March 22 release on the embassy website. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo declined to comment, instead referring questions about the discrepancy to the State Department, which did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

David Spector, an American and longtime Japan resident who often appears on local news programs, decided to pick up the pills after receiving an email from the Tokyo American Club and a member of the U.S. military.

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West Coast Radiation Monitors Not Working Properly

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- The EPA has reported that at least eight of 18 air monitors along the West Coast are "undergoing quality review."

According to a statement on their website, the monitors in California, Oregon and Washington were set up after nuclear fears spread across Japan and are listed by the EPA as being in review for reporting an abnormal reading.

Scientists must now evaluate the readings, which indicate that the monitor may not be working properly or merely measured a spike in radiation levels due to environmental change.

Earlier this week trace amounts of radiation were registered on monitors in Southern California but at levels too low to pose a threat.

EPA's samples were captured by three monitors in California, including Riverside, Anaheim and last week in Sacramento. One monitor in Washington registered higher than normal amounts as well.

"The radiation levels detected on the filters from California and Washington monitors are hundreds of thousands to millions of times below levels of concern," the EPA said Tuesday.

The EPA also stressed that Americans have no reason for concern, saying that in a typical day, "Americans receive doses of radiation from natural sources like rocks, bricks and the sun that are about 100,000 times higher than what we have detected coming from Japan."

Last week many people were fooled by an official-looking email that was sent out, claiming radioactive particles could mix in with the recent rainfall.

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Japanese nuclear officials fear crack in reactor core

Nuclear safety officials in Japan fear the core of a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have cracked, causing a leak of high levels of radiation.

Growing uncertainty over the state of the stricken reactor prompted the government to tell people living within a 12-19 mile (20-30km) radius of the plant to consider leaving their homes temporarily.

The government's chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, said 130,000 residents in the area had been encouraged to leave to improve their quality of life, not because their health was at risk.

The nuclear emergency, 150 miles north of Tokyo, has caused severe disruption to business, supply routes and other services in the area.

On Thursday, three workers were exposed to radiation after stepping in contaminated water in the turbine building of the No 3 reactor. They were trying to cool the crippled reactor when the accident occurred.

"The contaminated water had 10,000 times the amount of radiation as would be found in water circulating from a normally operating reactor," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency. "It is possible that there is damage to the reactor."

Two of the men received possible beta ray burns to their legs. All three have been transferred to a special radiation treatment facility.

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Dangerous breach suspected at Japanese nuke plant

AP

A suspected breach in the reactor core at one unit of a stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination,Japanese officials said Friday, revealing what may prove a major setback in the mission to bring the leaking plant under control.

The uncertain situation halted work at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where dozens had been working feverishly to stop the overheated plant from leaking dangerous radiation, officials said. The plant has leaked some low levels of radiation, but a breach could mean a much larger release of contaminants.

Officials are also grappling with a humanitarian crisis, with much of the frigid northeast still a scene of despair and devastation as Japan struggles to feed and house hundreds of thousands of homeless survivors, clear away debris and bury the dead.

Police said the official death toll jumped past 10,000 on Friday. With the cleanup and recovery operations continuing and more than 17,400 listed as missing, the final number of dead was expected to surpass 18,000.

In the devastated coastal town of Onagawa, Shintaro Kamihara and his small troop from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force searched a debris-strewn beach long enough to serve as an impromptu coffin.

The corpse they found lay off to the side of the road beneath a wet, yellow blanket. Just beyond, a station wagon perched precariously on the roof of a hollowed-out, two-story hotel.

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Bahrain's Foreign Police Add to Tensions

WSJ

Joseph Eid/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Pakistani nationals took refuge at a Pakistan Club in the Bahrain's capital Manama, March 19, 2011.

The Al Khalifa family, Sunni Muslims who rule over a Shiite-majority population, have long relied on recruits from Sunni-majority countries such as Pakistan, Jordan and Yemen to fill the ranks of their police forces. As antigovernment protests have flared in Bahrain, culminating in a violent crackdown last week, the monarchy has turned again to Pakistan military-linked foundations to find recruits for its security forces.

This month, Bahrani recruiters for the National Guard, a paramilitary body, signed up 1,000 new security personnel during road shows in Pakistan, according to officials with military foundations in Pakistan that organized the recruitment.

A spokeswoman for the Bahraini government declined to comment on its policy of recruiting foreigners to its security forces.

Bahrain's dependency on foreign workers to fill security and other jobs has vexed Bahraini Shiites, who see it as an attempt to tilt the religious balance in the country and exclude them from jobs. Many are angered by the role of Pakistani policemen in suppressing the antigovernment protests.

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FRIDAY OF RAGE: Secret Police Arrest Dozens In Syria, As Protests Start In Yemen And Bahrain

07:19 ET: Secret police in Damascus just arrested dozens of protesters, witnesses tell Reuters.

Earlier: A few big protests to worry about today, which may start after noon prayer..

First in Yemen, where despite rumors that President Saleh would step down within days and promises from Saleh of a peaceful transfer of power, activists vowed to stage a wide-scale protester. Police have reportedly set up checkpoints to stop protesters from reaching the government headquarters in Sanaa.

Second in Syria, where protesters are gathering despite crackdowns that may have killed over one hundred earlier this week. President Assad has promised political reform including the lifting of emergency laws in place since 1963.

Third in Bahrain, where protesters have planned a day of rage despite violent crackdowns and arrests earlier this week. The government recently tore down a large monument at Pearl Square to mark the symbolic end of unrest -- which is clearly a fantasy.

The government has recruited new security forces from Pakistan, according to the WSJ, in addition to foreign assisstance from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.

Radiation Spread From Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Continues

VOA NEWS

Authorities in Japan are continuing efforts to control the crisis at a damaged nuclear power plant. The Fukushima-1 complex was damaged after a massive earthquake two weeks ago and is still emitting radiation in the atmosphere

On the outside, steam continued to rise Friday from several reactor buildings at the Fukushima-1 nuclear facility in northeastern Japan. Inside, work continued to try to bring automated cooling systems back on line that would help prevent an even potentially worse spread of radiation from the severely damaged complex.

Japan's government has recommended that people living between 20 and 30 kilometers from the facility leave their homes, but no mandatory evacuation is being issued for that zone. Those within 20 kilometers were previously ordered out of the area due to radiation fears.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, the deputy director of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, says it is possible that radioactive matter will continue to travel far away and testing about the extent of the emissions needs to be made.

The continuing emission of radioactive vapor has prompted warnings about drinking tap water as far away as 300 kilometers south of the plant. It has also raised safety concerns internationally about Japanese vegetables, milk and seafood.

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China 'to overtake US and dominate trade by 2030

China will overtake the US and dominate global trade by 2030, a leading accountancy firm says.

China's global trade is set to surge past the US' by 2030, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Currently, China's international trade is worth $2.21 trillion (£1.36tn), compared with the $2.66tn (£1.64tn) for the US.

China was confirmed as the world's second-biggest economy earlier this year, overtaking Japan.

According to the report by PwC, the coming years will see global trade undergo "fundamental change" as emerging economies such as China and India begin to "dominate the top sea and air freight routes".

Race to the top

PwC's findings are in line with the World Bank's prediction that China's economy will eclipse the US by 2030, if it can sustain its growth.

Its chief economist Justin Lin said on Wednesday that, if China continued to grow at an annual rate of 8%, it would be twice the size of the US economy in 20 years.

China is responsible for much of the world's production of material goods, helping to maintain the country's position as an economic superpower.

According to data by PwC, China is in a dominant position in terms of bilateral trade. It appeared in 17 of the top 25 bilateral trade pairings in 2009.

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Portugal Bailout Could Cost $99 to $114B

FORBES

After Prime Minister Socrates’ resignation right before the closing bell on Wednesday, speculation has mounted as to the future of the euro and the possibility of a bailout of Portugal by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.  While Warren Buffett said that it’s not unthinkable that the euro could collapse, analysts estimated the bail out could cost between 70 and 80 billion euro ($99 to $114 billion).

Uncertainty and a power vacuum define Portugal’s political landscape on Thursday, with Socrates still officially in charge, until his official resignation is accepted by President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Wednesday, and two days of EU summits with a powerless Prime Minister heading negotiations.

While the euro-dollar exchange rate initially tanked after Socrates’ resignation, it gathered some strength through Thursday’s session, gaining 0.66% to 1.4194 by 11:40 AM in New York.  Portuguese benchmark 10-year bonds did spike, though, with yields reaching 7.85%, nearing its all-time highs since the inception of the euro zone.

Socrates, who will be at a EU summit discussing the situation of Portuguese peripherals, the so-called PIIGS, in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, will lack political authority and the leverage austerity packages would’ve granted him, according to the Financial Times.  While President Cavaco Silva is expected to meet opposition parties on Friday, speculation that elections will be moved forward by two years and will be held in May or June has mounted.  As different political leaders such as socialist Manuel Maria Carrilho call for Socrates to take responsibility for the “political crisis,” Socrates himself hinted he could run again for the top executive post in upcoming elections.

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Here’s a little secret the Federal Reserve Board doesn’t want you to know

Here’s a little secret the Federal Reserve Board doesn’t want you to know. On Sept. 24, 2008, while financial markets were collapsing, Morgan Stanley borrowed $3.5 billion through the Fed’s oldest lending program, the 98-year- old discount window.

The Fed has long claimed that releasing this type of data could trigger bank runs, public hysteria, death spirals at financial institutions large and small, and other horrible outcomes. Yet I’ve got a hunch Morgan Stanley somehow will survive this revelation. Mass panic will not ensue. The world will not end.

This is the kind of information the late Bloomberg News reporter Mark Pittman was seeking when he filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Fed in May 2008, nine months after the financial crisis began. Among other things, he asked for documents showing which banks had borrowed money under the Fed’s emergency-lending programs and the details of those loans.

The Fed blew off his request. Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, responded by suing the central bank. The company won both at the district court level and on appeal. This week, the Supreme Court decided to let those rulings stand. And so almost three years after Pittman sent his original FOIA letter, the Fed finally will have to comply with the law.

Fox News is pressing a similar request concerning Fed loans from August 2007 to November 2008. Much of the information the two companies sought has been disclosed already. The Dodd-Frank Act, which President Barack Obama signed last July, forced the Fed to release details of many of its bailout programs. Still, the Fed has yet to divulge which banks borrowed through its discount-window program. It won’t be long now, though.

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Neutron beam observed 13 times at crippled Fukushima nuke plant

KYODO NEWS

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it has observed a neutron beam, a kind of radioactive ray, 13 times on the premises of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was crippled by the massive March 11 quake-tsunami disaster.

TEPCO, the operator of the nuclear plant, said the neutron beam measured about 1.5 kilometers southwest of the plant's No. 1 and 2 reactors over three days from March 13 and is equivalent to 0.01 to 0.02 microsieverts per hour and that this is not a dangerous level.

The utility firm said it will measure uranium and plutonium, which could emit a neutron beam, as well.

In the 1999 criticality accident at a nuclear fuel processing plant run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, uranium broke apart continually in nuclear fission, causing a massive amount of neutron beams.

In the latest case at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, such a criticality accident has yet to happen.

But the measured neutron beam may be evidence that uranium and plutonium leaked from the plant's nuclear reactors and spent nuclear fuels have discharged a small amount of neutron beams through nuclear fission.

Source: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/80539.html

Peter Worthington: More military abuse, but this time no cover-up

NATIONAL POST

If it were only photographs of U.S. soldiers posing alongside a dead Afghan civilian, it might be bad taste, even repulsive, but it wouldn’t be that unusual.

But that’s not what the fuss is about – or, rather, should be about.

The German publication Der Spiegel has opened a can of worms by printing two photos (of some 4,000 it says it has) of grinning American soldiers Jeremy Morlock (from Sarah Palin’s home town of Wasilla, Alaska), and Andrew Holmes, holding up the head of a dead person.

Suggestions are that the photos – which the U.S. army won’t release for publication – will prove to be a worse scandal than Abu Ghraib, where photos of Iraqi prisoners being abused by American prison staff resulted in prison sentences and dishonorable discharges to the perpetrators.

The scandal of the Der Spiegel photos is not so much the questionable taste of posing with the dead body, but that the dead man was one of three Afghan civilians murdered by American soldiers last year.

Twelve U.S. soldiers are currently on trial in Seattle – five for murder and conspiracy, seven for conspiracy to cover up, as well as dismembering a corpse, mutilation and drug abuse. Spec. Morlock has already pled guilty to murder.

Members of the U.S. 2^nd Infantry Division’s 5^th Stryker Brigade — now being called a “rogue” outfit – are alleged to have collaborated in the murder of unarmed civilians.

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CAUGHT ON TAPE: Former SEIU Official Reveals Secret Plan To Destroy JP Morgan, Crash The Stock Market, And Redistribute Wealth In America

The plan is designed to destroy JP Morgan, nuke the stock market, and weaken Wall Street's grip on power, thus creating the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government.

The former SEIU official, Stephen Lerner, spoke in a closed session at a Pace University forum last weekend.

The Blaze procured what appears to be a tape of Lerner's remarks. Many Americans will undoubtely sympathize with and support them. Still, the "destabilization" plan is startling in its specificity, especially coming so close on the heels of the financial crisis.

Lerner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore--the redistribution of wealth and the return of "$17 trillion" stolen from the middle class by Wall Street--is to "destabilize the country."

Lerner's plan is to organize a mass, coordinated "strike" on mortgage, student loan, and local government debt payments--thus bringing the banks to the edge of insolvency and forcing them to renegotiate the terms of the loans.  This destabilization and turmoil, Lerner hopes, will also crash the stock market, isolating the banking class and allowing for a transfer of power.

Lerner's plan starts by attacking JP Morgan Chase in early May, with demonstrations on Wall Street, protests at the annual shareholder meeting, and then calls for a coordinated mortgage strike.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/seiu-union-plan-to-destroy-jpmorgan#ixzz1HTMUGuKX

Sales of luxe doomsday bunkers up 1,000%

CNN

A devastating earthquake strikes Japan. A massive tsunami kills thousands. Fears of a nuclear meltdown run rampant. Bloodshed and violence escalate in Libya.

And U.S. companies selling doomsday bunkers are seeing sales skyrocket anywhere from 20% to 1,000%.

Northwest Shelter Systems, which offers shelters ranging in price from $200,000 to $20 million, has seen sales surge 70% since the uprisings in the Middle East, with the Japanese earthquake only spurring further interest. In hard numbers, that's 12 shelters already booked when the company normally sells four shelters per year.

"Sales have gone through the roof, to the point where we are having trouble keeping up," said Northwest Shelter Systems owner Kevin Thompson.

UndergroundBombShelter.com, which sells portable shelters, bomb shelters and underground bunkers, has seen inquiries soar 400% since the Japanese earthquake. So far sales of its $9,500 nuclear biological chemical shelter tents are at an all-time high -- with four sold in California last week, compared to about one a month normally.

Hardened Structures said inquiries have shot up about 20% since the earthquake -- particularly for its apocalyptic 2012 shelters, radiation-protection tents, and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) air filters.

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United Nations: radiation is 1,600 times higher than normal at power plant

(WFRV)-- It seems as if things couldn't get any worse for the citizens of Japan. Now, there's a new problem at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Water in one reactor storage pool is reported to be dangerously hot.

If the water boils away, exposed fuel rods could throw more radiation into the atmosphere.

United Nations monitoring teams say radiation levels are now 1,600 times higher than normal, about 12 miles from the complex; the limit of the government's evacuation area.

It also being reported that radiation levels drop dramatically outside that zone.

Who's in charge? Germans pull forces out of NATO as Libyan coalition falls apart

• Tensions with Britain as Gates rebukes UK government over suggestion Gaddafi could be assassinated
• French propose a new political 'committee' to oversee operations
  
• Germany pulls equipment out of NATO coalition over disagreement over campaign's direction
  
• Italians accuse French of backing NATO in exchange for oil contracts
  
• No-fly zone called into question after first wave of strikes 'neutralises' Libyan military machine
• U.K. ministers say war could last '30 years'
  
• Italy to 'take back control' of bases used by allies unless NATO leadership put in charge of the mission
  
• Russians tell U.S. to stop bombing in order to protect civilians - calls bombing a 'crusade'
  

Deep divisions between allied forces currently bombing Libya worsened today as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign.

A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.

The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.

Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination.

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Tokyo water unsafe for infants after high radiation levels detected

Authorities in Tokyo have warned that very young children in the Japanese capital should not drink tap water after it was found to contain twice the levels of radioactive iodine considered safe for infants.

The warning came as the spread of radioactivity continued through the food supply in the region surrounding the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Black smoke was seen rising on Wednesday afternoon from the plant's No 3 reactor, prompting the operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) to evacuate workers who have been battling to make the facility safe. The source of the smoke was not immediately known.

Tests conducted by the Tokyo metropolitan government identified 210 becquerels of iodine-131 per 1kg of tap water in the city, more than twice the limit of 100 becquerels considered safe for infants.

Tokyo's water bureau said babies and infants under the age of one should not be given tap water, but added that radiation levels did not pose an immediate risk to adults. "This is without doubt, an effect of the Fukushima Daiichi plant," a metropolitan government official said.

The capital's governor, Shintaro Ishihara, said the levels were not hazardous to health, but advised parents of children aged under one not to use tap water with milk formula.

Earlier this week, some residents living near the nuclear plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, were told not to drink tap water owing to abnormal levels of radioactive iodine, which can cause thyroid cancer if ingested in large enough quantities.

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U.S. rescue chopper shoots 6 Libyans as they welcome pilots of downed USAF jet

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ATF gunwalking scandal: Second agent speaks out

(CBS News) 

WASHINGTON - South of El Paso, Texas, on Mexico's side of the border, lies Juarez - the most dangerous city in the world. CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports ATF Special Agent Rene Jaquez has been stationed there for the past year, trying to keep U.S. guns from being trafficked into Mexico.

"That's what we do as an agency," Jaquez said. "ATF's primary mission is to make sure that we curtail gun trafficking."

Video: Mexico assignment "most dangerous in the world"

Video: ATF agent describes dangers of "gunwalking"

That's why Jaquez tells CBS News he was so alarmed to hear his own agency may have done the opposite: encouraged U.S. gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexico's drug cartels. Apparently, ATF hoped that letting weapons "walk" onto the street - to see where they'd end up - would help them take down a cartel.

Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF

Jaquez is so opposed to the strategy, he's speaking out. "You don't let guns walk. I've never let a gun walk."

Read Agent Jaquez's most recent job performance evaluation summary from ATF management.

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AP IMPACT: US spent-fuel storage sites are packed

The nuclear crisis in Japan has laid bare an ever-growing problem for the United States — the enormous amounts of still-hot radioactive waste accumulating at commercial nuclear reactors in more than 30 states.

The U.S. has 71,862 tons of the waste, according to state-by-state numbers obtained by The Associated Press. But the nation has no place to permanently store the material, which stays dangerous for tens of thousands of years.

Plans to store nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain have been abandoned, but even if a facility had been built there, America already has more waste than it could have handled.

Three-quarters of the waste sits in water-filled cooling pools like those at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex in Japan, outside the thick concrete-and-steel barriers meant to guard against a radioactive release from a nuclear reactor.

Spent fuel at Dai-ichi overheated, possibly melting fuel-rod casings and spewing radiation into the air, after Japan's tsunami knocked out power to cooling systems at the plant.

The rest of the spent fuel from commercial U.S. reactors has been put into dry cask storage, but regulators only envision those as a solution for about a century and the waste would eventually have to be deposited into a Yucca-like facility.

The U.S. nuclear industry says the waste is being stored safely at power-plant sites, though it has long pushed for a long-term storage facility. Meanwhile, the industry's collective pile of waste is growing by about 2,200 tons a year; experts say some of the pools in the United States contain four times the amount of spent fuel that they were designed to handle.

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