Usa Thread

[BelgianBoy]

you forgot to mention the guns.....

[Flashermac]

29 Signs That The "Elite" Are Transforming Society Into A Total Domination Control Grid

 

 

http://worldtruth.tv/29-signs-that-the-elite-are-transforming-society-into-a-total-domination-control-grid/

[Flashermac]

How Do You Know When President Obama is Lying? MSNBC's "Progressive" Hosts Won’t Tell You.

 

July 7, 2013

 

 

 

I was a young person when I first heard the quip: “How do you know when the President is lying? His lips are moving.†At the time, President Nixon was expanding the war in Vietnam to other countries and deploying the White House “plumbers†to commit crimes against antiwar leakers.

 

Forty years have passed. Sadly, these days, often when I see President Obama moving his lips, I assume he’s lying.

 

Like Nixon, our current president is prolonging an endless, borderless and counter-productive war (“on terrorâ€) and waging a parallel war against “national security†leakers that makes the plumbers’ burglary of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office look almost quaint.

 

The World War I vintage Espionage Act, originally used to imprison socialists for making antiwar speeches, has been used by the administration against whistleblowers with a vengeance unprecedented in history: eight leakers have been charged with Espionage under Obama, compared to three under all previous presidents. The Obama administration has prosecuted not a single CIA torturer, but has imprisoned a CIA officer who talked about torture with a journalist. National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, who was unable to get abuses fixed internally, now has a criminal record for communicating with a reporter years ago about sweeping domestic surveillance.

 

So there I was watching Obama’s lips move about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden at a June 27 press conference. Saying he wouldn’t be “scrambling military jets to go after a 29-year-old hacker,†Obama added that he would not “start wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues, simply to get a guy extradited.â€

 

I didn’t believe a word of it.

 

Given Obama’s war on whistleblowers and journalists who utilize them, and given the Army’s abusive treatment of military whistleblower Bradley Manning (apparently aimed at getting him to implicate WikiLeaks), it’s inconceivable that Obama was truly blasé about Snowden. To deter future whistleblowers, Snowden would have to be caught and made an example of – and probably mistreated (like Manning, in hopes of getting him to turn against WikiLeaks and even journalist Glenn Greenwald).

 

As his lips were moving, Obama knew well that he would go to extreme lengths to prevent this articulate young man from securing asylum in some Latin American country, where he could continue to inform the world’s media about the Surveillance State that has blossomed alongside the Warfare State under the Bush and Obama administrations.

 

That Obama wasn’t truthful became clear when the U.S. campaign of “wheeling and dealing†led to possible asylum countries retreating in fear one after another (Vice President Biden was deployed to pressure Ecuador’s president by phone). And even clearer with last week’s outrageous, international law-breaking that effectively forced down the presidential plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales.

 

And if Obama eventually does scramble jets to force down a plane with Snowden on board, the commander-in-chief will be applauded for taking bold and decisive action by mainstream TV talking heads, “national security†experts and the opposition he seems most intent on pleasing: conservatives. Criticism from civil libertarian and peace voices (or unions and environmentalists, for that matter) has rarely daunted Obama.

 

The bipartisan consensus in support of our bloated Military/Surveillance State – which so undermines our society as a whole – is reflected in Congress and both the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as mainstream media.

 

When it comes to issues of U.S. militarism and spying, the allegedly “progressive†MSNBC often seems closer to the “official network of the Obama White House†than anything resembling an independent channel. With a few exceptions (especially Chris Hayes), MSNBC has usually reacted to expanded militarism and surveillance by downplaying the abuses or defending them.

 

Had McCain or Romney defeated Obama and implemented the exact same policies, treating whistleblowers like Manning and Snowden as foreign espionage agents, one would expect MSNBC hosts to be loudly denouncing the Republican abuses of authority.

 

But with Obama in power, a number of MSNBC talking heads have reacted to the Snowden disclosures like Fox News hosts did when they were in hysterical damage control mode for Bush – complete with ridiculously fact-free claims and national chauvinism that we’ve long come to expect from the “fair & balanced†channel.

 

As Snowden arrived in Russia from Hong Kong, MSNBC host Ed Schultz blustered on about Snowden as a “punk†and “coward.†Railing about the “security of the country†in tones Hannity would approve of, Schultz questioned Snowden’s patriotism and credibility, asking: “If the United States of America is doing something so egregiously wrong in its surveillance program, how come he’s the only one speaking up?

 

In O’Reilly-like blissful ignorance, Schultz seemed unaware of the three NSA whistleblowers who’d loudly spoken up way earlier than Snowden – and gathered for an illuminating USA Today interview a week before his tirade.

 

I watched one MSNBC host function as an auxiliary prosecutor in Obama’s Justice Department, going after Snowden – while trying to link WikiLeaks and journalist Glenn Greenwald to criminal flight.

 

MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry has been condemning Snowden by contrasting him with civil disobedients who “love their country†and submit to arrest – while Snowden just wants to “ save his own skin.†She proclaimed: “This is different. This is dangerous to our nation.†Should we similarly dismiss Dan Ellsberg, who leaked the top secret Pentagon Papers to a dozen newspapers in 1971 by going on the lam from the FBI. Or Watergate’s “Deep Throat,†who saved his own skin by hiding his identity for 30 years after leaking secrets that helped crash the Nixon presidency?

 

In a bizarre monologue attacking Snowden (who’s risked plenty, in my view), Harris-Perry hailed those who engage in civil disobedience for being willing “to risk your own freedom, your own body in order to bring attention to something that needs to be known. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested, attacked, smeared. Nelson Mandela went to prison for 27 years.†(My emphasis.)

 

Nelson Mandela? He wasn’t a civil disobedient who gave himself up. He was a fugitive, fleeing the apartheid police. He was on the lam domestically, like Snowden is now internationally. And some reports indicate that South African authorities were able to nab Mandela thanks to the U.S. CIA (one of the agencies now working to apprehend Snowden).

 

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has also disappointed. After doing a typically thorough presentation on the force-down of President’s Morales’ plane, she ended her report by expressing displeasure only that Washington had apparently gotten allies to go out on the limb “for nothing.†Her objection to the harassment seemed to be: it hadn’t succeeded. I didn’t hear opposition to the action had Snowden actually been on board and apprehended.

 

The Snowden/NSA story proves once again that – especially on so-called “national security†issues – we need strong, independent media not enmeshed with the corporate/political power structure and not allied with one of the two corporate parties.

 

Given Obama’s war on whistleblowers and journalists who utilize them, and given the Army’s abusive treatment of military whistleblower Bradley Manning (apparently aimed at getting him to implicate WikiLeaks), it’s inconceivable that Obama was truly blasé about Snowden. To deter future whistleblowers, Snowden would have to be caught and made an example of – and probably mistreated (like Manning, in hopes of getting him to turn against WikiLeaks and even journalist Glenn Greenwald). As his lips were moving, Obama knew well that he would go to extreme lengths to prevent this articulate young man from securing asylum in some Latin American country, where he could continue to inform the world’s media about the Surveillance State that has blossomed alongside the Warfare State under the Bush and Obama administrations. That Obama wasn’t truthful became clear when the U.S. campaign of “wheeling and dealing†led to possible asylum countries retreating in fear one after another (Vice President Biden was deployed to pressure Ecuador’s president by phone). And even clearer with last week’s outrageous, international law-breaking that effectively forced down the presidential plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales. And if Obama eventually does scramble jets to force down a plane with Snowden on board, the commander-in-chief will be applauded for taking bold and decisive action by mainstream TV talking heads, “national security†experts and the opposition he seems most intent on pleasing: conservatives. Criticism from civil libertarian and peace voices (or unions and environmentalists, for that matter) has rarely daunted Obama. The bipartisan consensus in support of our bloated Military/Surveillance State—which so undermines our society as a whole—is reflected in Congress and both the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as mainstream media. When it comes to issues of U.S. militarism and spying, the allegedly “progressive†MSNBC often seems closer to the “official network of the Obama White House†than anything resembling an independent channel. With a few exceptions (especially Chris Hayes), MSNBC has usually reacted to expanded militarism and surveillance by downplaying the abuses or defending them. Had McCain or Romney defeated Obama and implemented the exact same policies, treating whistleblowers like Manning and Snowden as foreign espionage agents, one would expect MSNBC hosts to be loudly denouncing the Republican abuses of authority. But with Obama in power, a number of MSNBC talking heads have reacted to the Snowden disclosures like Fox News hosts did when they were in hysterical damage control mode for Bush—complete with ridiculously fact-free claims and national chauvinism that we’ve long come to expect from the “fair & balanced†channel. As Snowden arrived in Russia from Hong Kong, MSNBC host Ed Schultz blustered on about Snowden as a “punk†and “coward.†Railing about the “security of the country†in tones Hannity would approve of, Schultz questioned Snowden’s patriotism and credibility, asking: “If the United States of America is doing something so egregiously wrong in its surveillance program, how come he’s the only one speaking up? In O’Reilly-like blissful ignorance, Schultz seemed unaware of the three NSA whistleblowers who’d loudly spoken up way earlier than Snowden – and gathered for an illuminating USA Today interview a week before his tirade. I watched one MSNBC host function as an auxiliary prosecutor in Obama’s Justice Department, going after Snowden—while trying to link WikiLeaks and journalist Glenn Greenwald to criminal flight. MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry has been condemning Snowden by contrasting him with civil disobedients who “love their country†and submit to arrest—while Snowden just wants to “ save his own skin.†She proclaimed: “This is different. This is dangerous to our nation.†Should we similarly dismiss Dan Ellsberg, who leaked the top secret Pentagon Papers to a dozen newspapers in 1971 by going on the lam from the FBI. Or Watergate’s “Deep Throat,†who saved his own skin by hiding his identity for 30 years after leaking secrets that helped crash the Nixon presidency? In a bizarre monologue attacking Snowden (who’s risked plenty, in my view), Harris-Perry hailed those who engage in civil disobedience for being willing “to risk your own freedom, your own body in order to bring attention to something that needs to be known. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested, attacked, smeared. Nelson Mandela went to prison for 27 years.†(My emphasis.) Nelson Mandela? He wasn’t a civil disobedient who gave himself up. He was a fugitive, fleeing the apartheid police. He was on the lam domestically, like Snowden is now internationally. And some reports indicate that South African authorities were able to nab Mandela thanks to the U.S. CIA (one of the agencies now working to apprehend Snowden). MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has also disappointed. After doing a typically thorough presentation on the force-down of President’s Morales’s plane, she ended her report by expressing displeasure only that Washington had apparently gotten allies to go out on the limb “for nothing.†Her objection to the harassment seemed to be: it hadn’t succeeded. I didn’t hear opposition to the action had Snowden actually been on board and apprehended. The Snowden/NSA story proves once again that—especially on so-called “national security†issues—we need strong, independent media not enmeshed with the corporate/political power structure and not allied with one of the two corporate parties. We can’t count on MSNBC to heed the lesson taught by legendary independent journalist I.F. “Izzy†Stone, after years reporting from Washington: “All governments lie and nothing they say should be believed.â€

http://www.alternet.org/media/how-do-you-know-when-president-obama-lying-msnbcs-progressive-hosts-wont-tell-you?page=0%2C1

[unit731]

http://youtu.be/RAGTvyn-rOo

[unit731]

http://youtu.be/3enHIM65oro

[unit731]

http://youtu.be/ucLmkIQtiys

[unit731]

http://youtu.be/TFW4UnkL9O8

[unit731]

http://youtu.be/y8AvYLY92Ck

[Flashermac]

Browns Ferry: Shrinking the safety margin at Alabama's largest nuclear plant

 

 

ATHENS, Alabama – For more than two years, the largest nuclear plant in Alabama operated without a fully functioning failsafe system.

 

A massive cooling pump didn't work. Bearings were installed backwards. Emergency cooling lines sat blocked and unnoticed for years. The last was a safety lapse so dire Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens received the federal notice of a "red finding" – the final warning before being forced to shut down.

 

Now a TVA engineer tells The Huntsville Times/AL.com that both the mechanical and managerial shortcomings were worse than what has been reported by federal regulators. Joni Johnson, a 52-year-old who's been a TVA engineer for half her life, contends that a worst-case scenario – overlapping failures of a broken line and a rapid loss of coolant in Unit 1 – could have led to a meltdown.

 

What federal regulators have said in recent years:

 

• Browns Ferry received a red finding, the federal government’s most serious warning before shutdown.

 

• Browns Ferry failed to notice a blocked low-pressure cooling line.

 

• Inspectors discovered wider problems with safety culture at Browns Ferry.

 

What a search of TVA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents also shows:

 

• The backup low-pressure line also malfunctioned.

 

• The high-pressure core spray was installed incorrectly.

 

• The Unit 1 reactor operated for years with overlapping, malfunctioning emergency cooling systems.

 

What a whistleblower alleges, and paperwork supports:

 

• TVA ignored or obscured failing safety tests for malfunctioning equipment.

 

• TVA hurried to install equipment based on managerial bonuses.

 

What TVA acknowledges in their own paperwork:

 

• The plant operated for years with a bias toward power production over safety.

 

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the danger from a nuclear accident is public exposure to radiation caused by the release of radioactive material from the plant.

 

Johnson points to managerial bonuses for rapid installation of equipment. She also blames an emphasis on continuous running of three boiling water reactors, which need to be shut down to allow for major repairs. But Browns Ferry generates about $1 billion a year, or about 10 percent of TVA's annual revenue, and maintenance shutdowns cost money.

 

For the past two months, a 23-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection team has been poring over records at Browns Ferry. Federal scrutiny in 2011 over one blocked failsafe line soon led to concerns about TVA's broader safety culture, prompting the NRC to expand its investigation from Unit 1 to all three reactors at the Athens plant.

 

Nuclear, perhaps more than any other industry, is built around a vocabulary of safety. Yet, in a recent newsletter preparing employees for the NRC visit, Keith Polson, site vice president at Browns Ferry, is quoted in large bold letters saying Browns Ferry had slipped.

 

"Our performance declined," Polson said. "Employee morale was low and because we were so wrapped in a production-first mentality, we didn't realize just how bad things had gotten. Even when outside experts told us we needed to get better, we really didn't listen."

 

Johnson, who is trained to conduct a "root cause analysis" of plant malfunctions, said she's speaking out now to restore the focus on safety. She said initial concerns voiced at the plant drew retaliation, that she was labeled a "man-hater," pulled from assignments and given poor performance reviews.

 

She has since engaged in a failed mediation with TVA. She alleges she was discriminated against for raising safety concerns. Regulators with the NRC wrote her a letter in October saying her case met the standards for a federal investigation. Johnson said she has met with NRC investigators on multiple occasions.

Browns Ferry (Huntsville Times file)

 

TVA and the NRC won't discuss legal matters or an ongoing investigation.

 

Johnson said the basis for her complaints was that TVA officials attempted to manipulate her team's findings related to equipment failures and how those findings pointed to organizational failures. A report by TVA's own inspector general backs up Johnson's equipment concerns about overlapping failures in the emergency cooling system.

 

The discrimination investigation remains open.

 

"You retaliate enough and people aren't going to come forward, and that's the real safety significance," said Johnson, who declined to be photographed for this report.

 

[Much more ...]

 

 

http://blog.al.com/w...owns_ferry.html

[unit731]

Special NRC Oversight at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant: Concrete Degradation

 

 

In 2009, NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC (NextEra) realized that the intrusion of moisture into sections of walls in certain below-grade structures at the Seabrook nuclear power plant, in Seabrook, N.H., could cause the degradation of some of the concrete as evidenced by pattern cracking.

 

 

 

LINK