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Monday, March 14, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Sources Say Containment Breached At Fukushima Dai-ichi Plant

Explosion rocks third Japanese reactor

Sources tell NBC News the blast breached the container; radiation leaking

A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country's nuclear safety agency said.

Two sources told NBC News' Robert Bazell that the latest blast breached the containment structure and that radiation has leaked out.

Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano told news agencies that the suppression pool appeared to be damaged. He said, however, that measuring devices in the area did not indicate an increase in radiation as a result of the damage.

The suppression pool is used to turn steam back into water to cool the reactor and also plays a role in removing radioactive particles from the steam.

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Rt. 13 Shut Down In North Salisbury

Salisbury News has come to learn of a HAZMAT condition near Wendy's and Walmart. I'm told there's a strong oder of gasoline. I had just left that area and must have just missed it. More to come......

Information On The Nuclear Incidents In Japan

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants I and II
As a former nuclear engineer with the United States Navy, I am very concerned that the recent reporting regarding the Fukushima reactors has been unnecessarily alarmist and often inaccurate. Yes, there is cause for alarm, but not of the sort being bandied about at least not yet. As an attempt to counter the current spate of circular, uninformed, and sensationalist journalism, I offer the following. Because this treatise is based entirely on publicly available information, it is acknowledged that there may be some technical inaccuracies due to misinformation or lack of information. However, I hope to provide a good overview of events to date from the perspective of one trained to operate nuclear reactors under a variety of conditions and in various situations. More importantly, I hope to provide a better understanding of the events at Fukushima, as we know them so far.
This essay not intended to minimize the hazards of nuclear power, only to keep the concerns grounded in fact rather than fiction.

Summary:
    
Most likely the situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plants is as follows:
The reactors at the Fukushima I and II nuclear power plants are all shut down. I.e., there is no nuclear fission (except for naturally occurring spontaneous fission) occurring in the reactors there. There is no nuclear chain reaction in any of those reactors.
     Plant operators have been unable to restore cooling flow to Reactors One and Three at the Fukushima, causing overheating of the reactor cores.
     There was a hydrogen explosion in the containment building for Reactor One, causing the building's upper panels to be blown off. This is not the same as an explosion in the reactor itself.
     The reactor is not going to explode like the reactor at Chernobyl did.
Some core damage has occurred to Reactor One at Fukushima I nuclear power plant, as evidenced by the release of a small amount of fission products (I-131 and Ce-137).
     A partial core meltdown may well have occurred at two of the three operating reactors at Fukushima I may have occurred.
     The current threat to personnel in the area is limited, but that may change in the future as more products are released.
     The situation is still evolving.
Nuclear Basics:
    
Nuclear reactors are not constructed in such a way as to allow them to undergo a nuclear explosion. Worrying about this is much like worrying that the engine in one's car will suddenly become a fuel-air explosive (FAE) bomb.
     Atomic (fission) bombs work by bringing fissile material together in sufficient quantity and with sufficient rapidity that the material will go "prompt critical," a special case of super-criticality in which the number of fissions occurring, and thus the amount of energy being released, increases exponentially, in an uncontrollable fashion. In other words, a bomb.
     Nuclear reactors are constructed quite differently. A nuclear reactor is constructed so a self-sustaining controllable nuclear chain reaction occurs. This chain reaction can be controlled by limiting the amount of material exposed to other material at any moment. The physical construction of a nuclear reactor generally makes prompt criticality physically impossible, even during a meltdown. Nuclear reactors are heat sources, not bombs.
     A nuclear reactor uses fuel, typically U-238 (uranium with an atomic weight of 238) enriched with U-235 (with an atomic weight of 235), contained in individual reactor components called fuel elements. The physical arrangement of fuel elements can take many forms, but one common form is uranium oxide (UOX) pellets contained within a cylinder to form fuel rods. The fuel elements are then held in place by the reactor structure to allow coolant to flow around the fuel elements, and thus to remove heat from them. There also are channels for the control rods, which are long rods of materials which absorb neutrons, and thus can remove the neutrons which cause the chain reaction. Inserting the control rods controls or, when fully inserted, stops the nuclear fission process and thus shuts down the reactor.
     The reactor core (fuel elements plus control rods, plus various other structural elements) is contained within a reactor pressure vessel, a strong steel vessel capable of containing the high pressures at which the power plant operates. The reactor vessel is connected to similarly strong piping which contains the steam and the coolant. The entire coolant system is a sealed, high-pressure system. All connections to the reactor pressure vessel are high up on the pressure vessel, thus leaving the reactor core in a well in the pressure vessel. This provides a last-ditch means of keeping the core covered with water.
     The coolant in a boiling water reactor (BWR) is boiled by the heat from the reactor core, passes through piping to the turbogenerators, then to a condenser, a cooling device which uses water to cool the steam, causing it to condense back to water. High-pressure pumps then force the coolant back into the pressure vessel and the cycle begins anew.
     The reactor system itself is housed in a containment building, a steel and reinforced concrete structure which is designed to contain radioactive materials in case of a nuclear accident releasing coolant. Typically, for BWRs, the containment facility looks like a square building rather than the domed structures surrounding a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The Fukushima plants have such square containment buildings.
     Criticality: This term refers to the ability of a mass of fissile material to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. If the mass is:
Ø Subcritical, the nuclear chain reaction cannot be sustained and will die off.
Ø Critical, the nuclear chain reaction is sustained, with power neither increasing nor decreasing.
Ø Supercritical, the nuclear chain reaction is increasing, with power increasing.
Ø Prompt critical, the nuclear chain reaction is increasing out of control.
The critical mass of U-235 is about 52 kilograms, or a sphere about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches in diameter. For reactor fuel at 20% enrichment (20% U-235 and 80% U-238), the critical mass is closer to 400 kg.

Fukushima I & II Nuclear Power Plants:
    
The reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant) plant consist of six (6) GE boiling water reactors (BWRs) with two (2) GE advanced boiling water reactors (AWBRs) under construction (scheduled to be on line around 2016 and 2017). The former are conventional BWRs, and require pumps to force cooling water through the reactor cores in a closed, pressurized system. The heat from the reactor core causes the light-water (deuterium-free) coolant to boil, which produces steam to drive the steam turbogenerators and thus to produce electric power. The ABWRs (which are still being constructed) will use natural circulation to circulate coolant. Natural circulation uses thermal differences to force coolant flow, and thus no electric power is needed to circulate the coolant. Natural circulation provides distinct advantages in this sort of situation.
     Reactors one through six have a pressurized system which acts as the primary boundary for the reactor coolant, plus a secondary containment building, which is designed to act as an emergency boundary in case of what is called the design leakage accident, involving failure of the primary pressure boundary. As currently planned, the two (2) ABWRs will have three boundaries, and not just two.
     In addition to the normal method for transferring heat from the reactor core, there are a number of possible emergency systems. It is not yet clear exactly which emergency systems are incorporated in the Fukushima I and II nuclear power plants.
     The Fukushima II, or Dai-ni Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant), nuclear power plant uses four (4) BWR-5 reactors with Mark II containment buildings. Fukushima II is located 11.5 kilometers (7.1 miles) south of the Fukushima I power plant

The Earthquake and the Reactors:
Fukushima I (Dai-ichi): It was reported that Reactors 1, 2, and 3 were shut down automatically during and following the earthquake. Reactors 4, 5, and 6 were undergoing maintenance, and thus were already shut down and thus should need no or at most minimal forced cooling (depending of course, on how recently the reactors had been shut down for maintenance). This means that the control rods were inserted, and the nuclear fission process stopped. The reactors stopped producing heat from nuclear fission at that point.
Fukushima II (Dai-ni): it was reported the four BWR-5 reactors at the Fukushima II nuclear power plant had been operating but were shut down automatically during the earthquake.
However, the nuclear fission products continue to generate heat, even though the reactor has been shut down. The heat is generated by nuclear decay, and can amount to as much as one percent of the reactor's average power output over the last several days. The amount of decay heat being released decreases over time, but still is significant. Typically, when a reactor is scrammed (shut down) after a long and steady power history, the decay heat released might be:
Immediately after shutdown: 6 or 7% of reactor power at which the plant was operating
One hour after shutdown: About 1.5% of average reactor power when operating
One day after shutdown: About 0.4% of average reactor power when operating
One week after shutdown: About 0.2% of average reactor power when operating
It is this decay heat which must be removed.
Loss of Coolant / Loss of Coolant Circulation:
    
Fukushima I: Reactor Number One (460 MW) lost coolant circulation (cause not yet published), and it appears that Reactor Number 3 (784 MW) also has lost coolant circulation. With no coolant being circulated, the decay heat cannot be removed from these reactors.. Initially, the decay heat will cause the water to boil, which provides some cooling, but water must be added to keep the core covered, and thus limit core temperatures. If coolant circulation can be restored, then the reactors can be cooled. The primary coolant would pass through the core, be boiled off, and then pass through the turbines and to condensers, where the coolant steam would condense back to water and be cooled further before being circulated back through the core.
Fukushima II: Reactors One, Two, and Four are reported to have compromised cooling systems, with rising temperatures (above 100 degrees C, 212 degrees F) noted.
Until coolant circulation can be restored, there are a number of other possible solutions. One of these, venting, allows more water to boil off, thus removing more heat energy. (It requires significant amounts of energy to It appears this approach has been used at Fukushima I Reactors 1 and 3. There is a disadvantage with venting in that it allows primary coolant to escape. Lost coolant must be replaced in order to keep the reactor core covered. Typically the coolant is replaced by pumping water back into the plant, which requires electric power to run the pumps. Electrical power is provided by emergency diesel generators if other sources of electrical power are unavailable.
Replacing coolant requires forcing coolant back into the reactor pressure vessel against the pressure in the vessel. If the pumps being used cannot provide sufficient pressure, then the pressure in the system must be reduced, usually by venting, to a pressure low enough that the pumps can move water into the pressure vessel.
     The possibility of having to vent the reactors at Fukushima II also has been announced, but so far that has not occurred.
     As noted earlier, the reactor is constructed so that the reactor core is situated low in the pressure vessel, and all openings in the pressure vessel are placed near the top, thus making a well in which the reactor core sits and reducing the chances that the core will become uncovered. Uncovering of the core is highly undesirable, as air is not a very good coolant. (The specific heat, a measure of the amount of heat energy a substance can carry, of water is roughly 4000 times that of air.)
If coolant cannot be circulated, the water in the reactor pressure vessel will boil off. Boiling water consumes considerably more energy than simply heating water, and thus provides a greater cooling effect. It appears that the Fukushima I nuclear power plant has run out of distilled and purified light water normally used for cooling. In that event, any available water can be used to keep the core covered.
Sea water reportedly is being pumped into the overheating Reactors One and Three at Fukushima I. If so, this represents a last-ditch attempt to keep the reactors cool. It is by no means unheard of, but it does mean the power company operating the plants has given up any hope of recovering those plants and restoring them to service.
Venting:
It appears from the reporting that coolant venting has been used for Fukushima I reactors 1 and 3. Venting releases coolant (as steam, upon depressurization) into the containment building. Whether this venting was deliberate or resulted from the lifting of pressure relief (safety) valves, or both, is unclear. Safety valves release the pressure in a closed system before the pressure reaches the point at which the sealed system might rupture. When the reactor coolant is vented to the containment building, any radioactive material in the coolant is released as well. If this material gets to the atmosphere, then it can be detected, and people in the area can be exposed to radiation. This is what happened at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the United States on 28 March 1979.
In addition, venting releases gases in the coolant into the atmosphere as the pressure is releases. (Think of uncapping a soda here - the carbon dioxide in the soda is released as bubbles, or more energetically if the soda has been shaken first.) These gases may be radioactive, and may include hydrogen (on which more below).
Poisoning:
Nuclear fission has been stopped by the insertion of the reactor control rods in the plants under discussion. The effectiveness of this method of controlling the chain reaction requires the reactor structure to remain intact. In a partial or complete meltdown, the exact structure of the reactor core cannot be predicted. In order to ensure the nuclear chain reaction remains shut down, boron is introduced into the reactor core. Reportedly this is being done at Fukushima I by injecting boric acid into the primary coolant system. Boron is a strong neutron absorber, and thus acts to shut down the nuclear fission process the same way that a control rod does. Boron is considered anuclear poison, as it poisons the nuclear fission process. The term nuclear poison does not refer to effects on humans.
Evacuation:
Evacuation is a good precaution when venting is occurring. The area to be evacuated generally can be based on current winds, as well as on the amount of radioactivity being released.
Why is this a good approach? Basically, for a given amount of radioactivity being released, the concentration of that material is reduced as the material spreads (roughly spherical spreading). Thus, by clearing people from the immediate vicinity of the reactor venting the exposure to the population as a whole is reduced to acceptable levels.
Iodine Tablets:
It has been reported that iodine tablets have been issued to people in the vicinity of the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. The purpose of taking iodine tablets is to saturate the body with iodine, and thus (one hopes) reducing or eliminating the uptake of radioactive iodine (particularly long-lived radioactive I-129) from the environment. The human body concentrates iodine in the thyroid gland, which is a key organ for controlling metabolic functions.
So far, it appears the iodine tablets have been issued as a precaution.
Explosion:
The next time the explosion at the Fukushima I reactor number one building is shown, look closely at the video. You will see a shock wave traveling upward just before the rest of the smoke and clouds appear. Based on this, it appears that what happened was that hydrogen gas released by the venting process had gathered at the top of the containment building. Since there is air in the containment building, there also is oxygen present. With both hydrogen and oxygen present, one has an explosive mixture which needs only a spark to set it off, and that is what appears to have happened. It looks as though it was a hydrogen explosion. This does normally not happen inside the coolant system because that is a sealed system with no air present, but once that gas is vented to the containment building, it will tend to collect in the upper part of the building, and an explosion can result. (Look at the later pictures of the reactor one containment building and you will see panels form the upper half of the building have been blown off.)
Now there has also been an explosion at Fukushima I Reactor Three, and it appears this, too, was due to hydrogen accumulating in the containment building.
There will likely be subsequent similar explosions as steam and hydrogen continue to be vented from the damaged reactors.
Why this is not Chernobyl: Too many have cited the Chernobyl Reactor Four explosion and have compared the conditions there with those at the Fukushima nuclear power plants. Bad comparison.
First of all, the two reactors are considerably different construction and operation. The Chernobyl plant used four Soviet RBMK-1000 reactors, which are graphite pile reactors rather than the sealed boiling water reactors as used at the Fukushima plants. The Chernobyl reactors had a badly flawed design, which allowed the reactors to reach prompt criticality (uncontrollable criticality) when the control rods were inserted during a scram. Prompt criticality is akin to what happens in a nuclear weapon. Modern Western reactor design, such as used at Fukushima I and II, should not allow prompt criticality.
Secondly, the Chernobyl reactor was in operation at the time of the accident (I am sparing you some very pertinent technical details here), whereas the Fukushima reactors had been shut down automatically. This means that fission was continuing at Chernobyl, whereas the controlled fission reaction had stopped at Fukushima.
Thirdly, when the Chernobyl reactor was scrammed (control rods inserted rapidly), the flawed reactor design caused prompt criticality, with an estimated power surge of at least 1700 percent power (17 times rated power) in the reactor core. This means that in the center of the reactor core at Chernobyl nuclear power had reached levels well exceeding design power levels. No power surge at all has been reported in the Fukushima reactors.
Finally, the initial explosion at Chernobyl was a steam explosion, caused by the power surge. This was like a boiler explosion. It is likely the subsequent explosion at Chernobyl may have been from a hydrogen buildup. In any event, it was not a nuclear explosion. The explosions expelled about half the core material into the surrounding countryside. No such explosion, or sequence of events leading to an explosion, is being contemplated at the Fukushima I and II plants.
Core Meltdown:
This sometimes is called the China Syndrome, from the fear that if the core melts, nuclear fission will continue unchecked and the core will melt its was down into the Earth with catastrophic results. Of course, the core could never actually reach China simply because the gravitational pull from the Earth at the center of the Earth is zero. In addition, as soon as the core reached the molten mantle it would no longer be in one place. And it is not even going to reach the mantle. Great science fiction, though! ;-)
First, what is all this about "core meltdown?"
If the decay heat cannot be removed from the reactor core, the core can overheat, causing damage to the fuel elements in the core. The nuclear fuel in a reactor is contained in fuel elements, which can take any of several forms. If the form is cylindrical, these are often called fuel rods. Basically, the uranium fuel is contained in a metal casing. The purpose of the casing (in some cases called fuel cladding) is to contain the radioactive fission products and decay products and keep them from being released into the coolant.
When the reactor core overheats, the fuel elements can be damaged. The first way this can occur is by warping of the elements, and thus possible opening of the seams in the fuel elements. If the heating continues, localized melting of the fuel elements may occur, along with release of fuel and fission products from the fuel element. Finally, in the final stages complete melting is possible, but not as likely.
So, what is going on at Fukushima? Most likely the fuel elements have been compromised. Such core damage cannot be corrected, only contained. The evidence for this is the detection of small amounts of Iodine (I-129 and I-131) and Cesium 137 (Ce-137). These are fission products, and their detection outside the plant would seem to indicate that fuel element damage has occurred. The amount of damage is unknown yet, but clearly some fission products have been released.
Does this indicate a complete "core meltdown?"
No, it does not. It does indicate that there has been some core damage however. Furthermore, it seems as though, given the low levels being reported, the fission products most likely were released during venting (see section above on venting).
Furthermore, the levels being reported do not yet indicate the primary coolant system has been breached.
The Future:
It is not possible yet to foresee how the nuclear accidents at Fukushima I and II will progress. It seems certain that Reactors One and Three will not be placed back in service very quickly, if at all. At the very least it seems likely the current cores will have to be replaced in Reactor One, and possibly in Reactor Three as well. That will take time. Furthermore, the Reactor One containment building will have to be rebuilt. It is quite possible that the reactor may have been damaged beyond repair.
The status, and thus the future, of Reactor Three is less clear.
In addition, it seems quite likely the existing safety systems will be reviewed extensively. In particular, the reasons for the failure of back-up safety systems need to be determined, the systems need to be redesigned, and possibly upgraded or added to, in order to preclude a recurrence and to enhance reliability.
Clearly natural circulation reactors, plants in which the reactor coolant is circulated as the result of being heated, with no circulation pumps required, offer a good solution to the problem of coolant circulation under emergency conditions.
Finally, a thorough review of nuclear safety studies and accident analyses likely will be undertaken. Do the current analyses adequately and accurately reflect possible accidents, whether man-made or nature-caused? If not, what must be done to make them adequate? And so on.

This was written by Lars Hanson who's credentials appear to be documented at:

GOVERNOR O'MALLEY TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS

ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 14, 2011) - TOMORROW, Governor O'Malley will join more than 800 firefighters from across the nation to deliver remarks at the 2011 Alfred K. Whitehead Annual Legislative Conference of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) in the nation’s capital.

The IAFF was organized in 1918 a currently boasts a membership of 300,000 and has almost 3,500 affiliated local unions. The IAFF has members in each of the nation’s 435 Congressional districts and represents 85 percent of all professional fire fighters in the nation.



WHAT:           Governor O'Malley to deliver remarks at the 2011 Alfred K. Whitehead Annual Legislative Conference of the International Association of Firefighters

WHEN:            TOMORROW, Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE:          Washington Hilton
  1919 Connecticut Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC

Flat Out Stupid

Hey Joe,

A friend of mine sent this to me today... I have no idea how they are driving this around town but as you can see, they are causing drag marks behind them. This was taken in front of Peninsula Plastic Surgery over on West Carroll.. He drove up behind them and couldn't resist..

MDGOP Statement On MD Union Protests

ANNAPOLIS Maryland Republican Party Chairman Alex X. Mooney issued the following statement today regarding union protests scheduled for this evening:
 
“Union protestors descending on Annapolis illustrate the strong disconnect between union bosses and Maryland taxpayers. While the average Marylander grapples with record unemployment and 7,100 additional jobs lost in January, state union workers are set to receive a $750 raise and five extra paid vacation days financed by struggling Maryland taxpayers. Public employees in Maryland enjoy some of the most generous taxpayer funded benefit packages in the nation and their faux outrage over modest increases in their personal benefit contributions is a slap in the face to taxpayers.”

Armed Robbery On March 10, 2011

On March 10, 2011 at approximately 12:34 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police met with an adult female victim reporting an armed robbery. The victim advised that on the same date, at approximately 12:15 pm, the victim picked up a female for the purpose of giving the female a ride to the area of Smith Street in Salisbury. During the transport, the suspect produced what is believed to be a handgun and took an amount of U.S. Currency from the victim. The suspect then exited the vehicle in the area of Waverly Drive and fled from the victim on foot. The victim was not injured.
The suspect is described as:

Hispanic female, 20 to 22 years of age, approximately 5’2” in height, small build, straight dark hair, and freckles. The suspect was wearing a black “puffy” jacket, light blue jeans, a green knit cap and a dark scarf.

The Salisbury Police are asking anyone that may have witnessed the incident, or has any information pertaining to the incident, to contact the Salisbury Police Department at 410-548-3165 or to contact Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776. Information may be left at both locations anonymously.
CC # 201100008777

AFP Calls On Maryland Taxpayers To Stand Against AFSME Manipulations

AFP Condemns AFSME Annapolis Rally

ANNAPOLIS-
Grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity strongly condemns tonight’s rally at Lawyers Mall in response to the AFSME’s toxic rhetoric similar to what we are hearing from union organizations in Wisconsin. In an attempt to raise false concerns and further generate panic in our state, AFSME’s “Enough is Enough” rally completely disregards the current financial crisis our state is facing. The AFSME is out of touch with Maryland taxpayers who are suffering at the gas pump and in their pocket books from excessive taxation.

“There must be a realization that tax dollars are families’ funds, not a credit card for the State and Federal Governments,” said State Director Charles Lollar. “I don’t know of a single economy in the world that can sustain itself where its citizens can work in the public sector and make two times as much in retirement and pensions than the citizen in the private sector. In short, we cannot forget that private sector jobs provide the financial resources for every public sector job.”

The AFSME will attempt to put the pressure on legislators to keep the current system in place that is literally bankrupting our state. They will rally on behalf of their interest without considering what is best for our state and all Maryland citizens.

“There must be a voice for the Maryland middle class family,” said Lollar, “and Americans for Prosperity will continue to be that voice. Our legislators must do what is best for all Maryland citizens and that includes our hard working Maryland state employees-- ven they know that our current system is not sustainable.”

What: MD AFP Condemns AFSME Rally
Who: Americans For Prosperity
When: Monday, March 14, 2011 at 6pm
Where: Lawyers Mall in Annapolis

HELP WANTED: GROOMING ASSISTANT


Apply at Cathy's Pet Salon & Spa, 1005 Mt. Hermon Rd, Salisbury, MD

A New Message/Update From Chuck Campbell

Joe,

Definitely feeling better.

Vicki stayed at the new hotel for the first time last night. Thanks for that man. From what I am told it's just perfect for what we need. She got all the clothes and groceries and all that unpacked and put into its proper place. Lol. At least that what the hottest chick on Delmarva tells me. Thanks for that too my man! She's been so caught up with this whole being sick thing, the fundraising, just everything. Although she kinda played it off like awe he's just being goofy, it meant a lot to her.

We just got done walking a couple of laps and just chilling out now talking a looking out the window watching a new wing being added to the hospital. But yeah, all in all things are progressing a lot faster than I ever imagined. I hoped for it but didn't really think it would happen this quickly but it is and I'm loving it!! We'll talk again buddy.

Tell everybody hello for me.

GOVERNOR O’MALLEY CONVENES FORUM ON JOBS AND THE NEW ECONOMY IN WESTERN MARYLAND, ANNOUNCES NEW JOBS FOR FORMER SACRED HEART HOSPITAL SITE

Meets with tourism stakeholders, releases Maryland State Parks Economic Impact Study

CUMBERLAND, MD (March 14, 2011) – Governor Martin O’Malley convened the latest in his series of “Maryland Forward” policy forums today at Allegany College in Cumberland, addressing job creation and the New Economy in Western Maryland. Following a panel discussion hosted by Allegany College Interim President Gary Durr which included area business, tourism and education leaders, Governor O’Malley facilitated an open dialogue with more than 150 participants on how the State can work in partnership with local higher education institutions to meet the workforce demands in Western Maryland in the short term and over the next two to five years. During his remarks, Governor O’Malley announced the sale of the former Sacred Heart Hospital to NWT Enterprises, an information technology company that will establish a data center on the site and lease space on the campus to other IT companies. NWT anticipates creating 40-60 new jobs initially, with plans to grow to 400 to 500 jobs over the next five years.  The project is the culmination of two years of assistance by the Department of Business and Economic Development and Maryland Department of Transportation.

“We are all here today because we understand that we are in a fight for our children’s future. It’s a fight to turn into the new economy with more opportunity for all,” said Governor O’Malley. “In this fight, there will be some states that lose, and some states that win. For Maryland to win, we must move forward by creating jobs through innovation, by saving jobs, by training Marylanders to compete in the New Economy and by protecting public safety, public education, and our quality of life.”

Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian S. Johansson and Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Secretary Alexander M. Sanchez kicked off the Forum’s panel discussion, which included Barry Ronan, CEO of the Western Maryland Health System; Barbara Buehl, Allegany County Tourism Director; James Bailey, owner and President of Government Contract Consultants; Shawn Bender, Division Manager, Beitzel Corporation and Pillar Innovations; and Dr. Jonathan Gibralter, President of Frostburg State University.

“The community colleges play an important role in developing Maryland’s intellectual capital by providing boots on the ground customized training that enables our existing businesses to grow and expand and working to attract new companies to the region,” said President Durr. “It is critical that our workforce have the skills and training to be able to compete in an increasingly global economy.”

Earlier in the day, Governor O’Malley joined Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin and tourism stakeholders at New Germany State Park to release the 2010 Maryland State Parks Economic Impact and Visitor study. The study concluded that Maryland’s 66 State Parks have an economic impact of $650 million annually, create more than 10,000 jobs and generate nearly $40 million in State and local taxes. The Governor also received briefings on energy efficient upgrades to State Parks, and on local tourism and arts initiatives from Nicole Christian, President of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce and Andy Vick, Executive Director of the Allegany County Arts Council.

Last week, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation announced the first improvement in the state’s unemployment rate since May 2010 and the state’s lowest unemployment rate since May 2009. Unemployment declined, according to January 2010 employment estimates released by the U.S. Department of Labor, 0.2 percentage points in Maryland from 7.4 percent to 7.2 percent – nearly two full percentage points better than the national unemployment rate. Maryland’s unemployment rate has improved or held steady every month since February 2010. Maryland created 11,300 jobs in 2010. January 2011 was the seventh consecutive month of year-to-year job growth. Nonetheless, Governor O’Malley acknowledged that many Maryland families and businesses continue to struggle as the country pulls through this national recession.

Prior to his inauguration for a second term, Governor O’Malley convened a series of five “Maryland Forward” forums designed to gather the input of various stakeholders, including recommendations for legislative in areas including jobs and the economy; skills and education; sustainability; children and health; and public safety and security. These day-long summits brought together stakeholders to generate concrete actions and recommendations that support the Administration’s strategic goals.

Following that series, Governor O’Malley has convened smaller groups of local stakeholders, including today’s discussion and throughout the 2011 legislative session, focused on specific policy areas that will help Maryland be a winner in the new economy, protect our neighborhoods, and create jobs.

Another Survey Question

Should U.S. Put the Brakes on Nuclear Power?

Meltdown Threat Rises At Japanese Nuclear Plant


A top Japanese official said the fuel rods in all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors appeared to be melting.

Of all these troubles, the drop in water levels at Unit 2 had officials the most worried.

"Units 1 and 3 are at least somewhat stabilized for the time being," said Nuclear and Industrial Agency official Ryohei Shiomi "Unit 2 now requires all our effort and attention."

In some ways, the explosion at Unit 3 was not as dire as it might seem.

The blast actually lessened pressure building inside the troubled reactor, and officials said the all-important containment shell -- thick concrete armor around the reactor -- had not been damaged.

In addition, officials said radiation levels remained within legal limits, though anyone left within 12 miles of the scene was ordered to remain indoors.

"We have no evidence of harmful radiation exposure," deputy Cabinet secretary Noriyuki Shikata told reporters.

Online News Readership Overtakes Newspapers


For the first time, more of us are getting our news from the Web than from newspapers, according to a new report, which finds that the Internet now "trails only television among American adults as a destination for the news."

And that "gap" between the Internet and TV is "closing," according to a new report on "The State of the News Media 2011" by Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"Financially the tipping point also has come," wrote Tom Rosenstiel and Amy Mitchell in the report. "When the final tally is in, online ad revenue in 2010 is projected to surpass print newspaper ad revenue for the first time. The problem for news is that by far the largest share of that online ad revenue goes to non-news sources, particularly to aggregators," such as Google and Yahoo news.

Nearly half of all American Adults — 47 percent — report getting "at least some local news and information" on their cell phones or tablets. But when it comes to paying for online local news, be it via subscription or buying "apps,"  few of us are doing that or are thinking of doing it.

If we were to dig into our pockets, 23 percent of us would be willing to pay $5 a month for full access to a local newspaper online. Another 18 percent would be open to paying $10 a month.

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Uranium Rods 'Highly Likely' Melting At Japanese Nuclear Plant, Official Says

Official: Rods likely melting at Japan plant

Water drop at one reactor twice left uranium fuel rods exposed, increasing risk of the spread of radiation and potential for a meltdown

Water levels dropped precipitously Monday inside one stricken Japanese nuclear reactor, officials said, and the fuel rods inside three reactors at the complex appeared to be melting.

The water drop twice left the uranium fuel rods completely exposed, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for a meltdown, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Water levels were restored after the first decrease, but the rods remained exposed late Monday night after the second episode at Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

A senior government official said the nuclear fuel rods appeared to be melting inside three reactors at the complex.

"Although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
Some experts would consider that a partial meltdown of the reactor. Others, though, reserve that term for times when nuclear fuel melts through a reactor's innermost chamber but not through the outer containment shell.

The cabinet secretary's comments followed a hydrogen explosion at the complex Monday, the second one in three days, injuring 11 workers.

The blast was felt 25 miles away, but the plant's operator said radiation levels at the reactor were still within legal limits.

The morning blast occurred in Unit 3, which authorities have been trying to cool with sea water.

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Today's Survey Question

Do you support Maryland Legislators passing a bill stopping anyone from smoking in a vehicle with a child inside?

If so, do you believe $50.00 is a strong enough fine to convince people to stop, if passed?

Radiation Alert: US Navy Crews Contaminated


The U.S. Seventh Fleet moved its ships and aircraft away from a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant Monday after discovering low-level radioactive contamination on crews returning from relief missions.

The fleet said that the radiation was from a plume of smoke and steam released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where there have been two hydrogen explosions since Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Seventeen U.S. military personnel involved in helicopter relief missions were found to have been exposed to low levels of radiation upon returning to the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier about 100 miles offshore.

U.S. officials said the exposure level was roughly equal to one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment, and after scrubbing with soap and water, the 17 were declared contamination-free.

As a precaution, the 7th fleet said the USS Ronald Reagan and its other ships moved downwind from the nuclear site while the navy evaluated the situation.

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74 Miles Of Pipeline Needed


This video from CONGRESS is an eye opener, FOLKS! IT'S GONNA KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!!!

More On The Fukushima Reactor Problems

Asked if there is a danger of a meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, nuclear safety expert Toshihiro Bannai adds: "On units one and three there is a possibility they are partially damaged in the core. However at this point, monitoring indications doesn't indicate damage of the core."

Japanese engineer Masashi Goto, who helped design the containment vessel for Fukushima's reactor core, says the design was not enough to withstand earthquakes or tsunamis and the plant's builders, Toshiba, knew this.

Mr Goto says his greatest fear is that blasts at number 3 and number 1 reactors may have damaged the steel casing of the containment vessel designed to stop radioactive material escaping into the atmosphere.

More from Japanese nuclear engineer Masashi Goto: He say that as the reactor uses mox (mixed oxide) fuel that contains plutonium; the melting point is lower than that of conventional fuel.

Should a meltdown and an explosion occur, he says, plutonium could be spread over an area up to twice as far as estimated for a conventional nuclear fuel explosion. The next 24 hours are critical, he says.

BBC

We Can Make A Difference

Remember the billboard sign we posted last week. Workers seemed to be on it almost immediately.

Nuclear Crisis Update

A quick summary of the nuclear crisis in Japan: The nuclear emergency following Friday's earthquake and tsunami has worsened, with the operators of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant warning that they can't rule out a possible meltdown. The company says it's possible that cooling water at the number two reactor has evaporated, exposing the nuclear fuel rods. The BBC environment correspondent Richard Black says such an outcome would be very serious.

BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin explains what has happened at the Fukushima plant: "The power plant is supposed to be earthquake-proof and shut down automatically in response to the quake," he says. "But this starved power from the stations' cooling systems. Then the back-up diesel cooling system also failed. Reactor number 1 overheated, and it is said that hydrogen released exploded, causing the concrete roof of the plant to blow off. Now that's been repeated at Number 3 reactor, Numbers 2 and 4 have problems with cooling."

"Some of the nuclear fuel may have partially melted down in the overheating," adds our correspondent. "But crucially the primary steel nuclear containment vessels are said to be intact. The authorities report no significant radiation leak, although some Japanese people may be disinclined to trust the authorities who have lied to them about previous nuclear accidents. It looks at the moment as though catastrophe may well be avoided, but the crisis is far from over."

Local media is reporting that water levels have fallen far enough to partly expose the fuel rods at Fukushima's Number 2 reactor - increasing the likelihood of overheating.

The operators of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant say it's possible that cooling water at one of the reactors has evaporated, Reuters reports. The company says it can't rule out the possibility that the nuclear fuel rods in Number 2 reactor were now exposed and could be at risk of meltdown.

BBC

Hearing Today In Priest Abuse Scandal

PHILADELPHIA - A former high-ranking official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and two priests are among five men scheduled to appear before a judge on charges stemming from the alleged sexual abuse of children.

Priests Charles Engelhardt and James Brennan and Monsignor William Lynn, the archdiocese's former secretary of clergy, are due before a Philadelphia judge on Monday. A former priest and a Catholic school teacher are also set to appear.

Prosecutors say Lynn endangered the welfare of children by transferring abusive priests to new parishes with schools and youth groups without warning local officials. The two priests are charged with rape and related crimes along with former priest Edward Avery and teacher Bernard Shero.

The charges came last month following a grand jury investigation.

Source

Guardian Angel Victim Of Attack On DC Metro

WASHINGTON - A Guardian Angel patrolling DC’s Metro trying to protect riders wound up being a victim of a violent attack.

The incident happened Saturday Night when a fight broke out as a train was pulling into the Anacostia Station.

When a Guardian Angel tried to break it up the fight, he was punched, knocked down to the floor and kicked.

The other Guardian Angels on-board managed to stop the fight.

"At the time when the fight broke out I had another Guardian Angel on that car with me. He was able to call out the Code Red so all the other Angels knew we had a fight going on and we needed assistance,” said Alex Kaufer.

The Angels detained five young men until police could get there.

Three minors and two adults were arrested.

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Satellite Photos Show Devastation In Japan

NASA satellites have snapped new pictures of the devastating floods and fires in Japan from the deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck the country.

Three-Week Bill Likely To Buy Time For Spending Talks


The top Republican in the Senate said Friday that GOP senators will not go along with a must-pass bill to prevent the government from defaulting on its obligations unless President Barack Obama agrees to significant budget savings that could include cost curbs to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  

A Letter To The Editor


A neighbor took this photo a few days ago and sent it to me explaining the story.  The County actually posted a Construction Zone Warning sign at the development entrance and dispatched an army of County workers to repair a broken Rainbird sprinkler head.  The Sprinkler head was damaged by a County snow plow during the snow removal after the last storm.

Mark and I have replaced many of these same type Rainbird sprinkler heads - by our lonesome selves - and are normally equipped with just a hand shovel and rake. 
Wicomico County dispatched a half-a-million dollars of equipment - (an excavator, two dump trucks, pick-up) - and an army of County personel that would normally take a private sector working man just 30 minutes to perform the repair.
We really do have some serious problems in Wicomico County. 

Henry Vinyard Passing

Joe:

Last night Henry Vinyard passed away after fighting lung cancer for several months.  Henry was a well respected attorney in Salisbury, and the Chamber of Commerce's legal adviser for many years.  His many friends will miss him.

Video From Japan


Joe,

I have seen a lot of news footage and videos from Japan,  but this one really shows how fast the water can rise and just how powerful it can be.
Folks, watch this video to the end. It's truly amazing!

Hotovely: Take Palestinian State Off The Agenda

Member of the Knesset Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said on Sunday that in the wake of Friday night’s massacre of the Fogel family in Itamar, the idea of a Palestinian state must be taken off the agenda.

“The Itamar attack should be an event that causes soul-searching within the government and a significant change of direction in relation to the Palestinian Authority,” Hotovely said during an interview with Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website.

Hotovely welcomed the government’s decision, which was made following the Itamar murders, to approve construction of five hundred new housing units in major population centers in Judea and Samaria. She defined the decision as one that goes in the right direction, but added that it is not enough. “Hundreds of housing units in the so-called settlement blocs is not a statement that clearly strengthens our hold in the country,” she said.

Hotovely said that she expects Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “to strengthen the construction in Itamar in particular and in Judea and Samaria in general, and more importantly – to announce that a Palestinian state is not on the agenda. A Palestinian state means more cases like Itamar.”

As for the political positions expressed by Netanyahu, which are often similar to those of Kadima, Hotovely said that given the pressure on Prime Minister both from the direction of the left-wing ministers, the world and from Likud ministers as Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan, there should also be pressure on him from the right and a demand that he return to the principles of the Likud.

“There are many people in the Likud who know that a Palestinian state would be a disaster,” said Hotovely.
“We must return to basic principles of the Likud and demand our right to the land. I expect Netanyahu to return to these principles and announce that construction will take place in all parts of Judea and Samaria.”
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Update: Explosions At Fukushima 1- Reactor 3

Column of smoke escaping from Reactor 3 at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant - Japanese TV.

"Hydrogen blast occurs at Fukushima nuke plant's No 3 reactor" - Kyodo News.

Just to remind you: there were fears of a meltdown at Reactor 3 on Sunday.  An explosion occurred at Reactor 1 on Saturday but the core was reportedly not exposed.

There were two explosions at Reactor 3, the operator Tepco says

"We believe it was a hydrogen explosion. It is not immediately known if it affected the reactor" - nuclear safety agency spokesman Ryo Miyake.

The wall of a building collapsed as a result of the blast(s) at Reactor 3

Reactor 3 withstood the explosion(s), its operator says

Japanese government spokesman Yukio Edano has just spoken on TV. Says that water injection at Reactor 3 seems to be continuing, and the containment vessel is still safe.

Mr Edano said major radiation leaks were unlikely from Reactor 3.

BBC

Al Qaida Commander Backs Libyan Rebels In Message

A senior member of al Qaida urged Libyan rebels to continue their fight against Muammar Gaddafi and warned of the consequences of defeat, in a videotaped message posted on Jihadi websites, the Qatar-based Gulf News reported on Sunday.

The message from Libya native, Abu Yahya al-Libi, marked the first time a top ranked al Qaida commander had commented on the uprising in Libya. Gaddafi has repeatedly blamed al Qaida for inciting the unrest against him.

“The Libyan people have suffered at the hands of Gaddafi for more than 40 years ... He used the Libyans as a testing ground for his violent, rambling and disgusting thoughts,” Abu Yahya stated.

He warned that "Retreating will mean decades of harsher oppression and greater injustices than what you have endured.”

Abu Yahya also accused the West, and the US in particular, of having supported oppresive Arab regimes at the expense of the people.

The taped message could not be independently authenticated, according to the Gulf Times report.

An assault on Libya's rebel-held city of Misrata was stalled on Sunday by renewed fighting between members of Muammar Gaddafi's security forces, rebels said, but the government denied reports of a mutiny.

Residents said fighting broke out on Saturday after some units of the Libyan leader's force refused to attack Misrata, Libya's third-biggest city and the only place in the west of the country still openly defying Gaddafi's rule.

The reports of a mutiny could not be verified because Libyan authorities have not allowed reporters access to the city of 300,000 which is 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital.

"From the early morning they (the security forces) are fighting among each other. We hear the fighting," Mohammed, one of the rebel fighters, told Reuters by telephone on Sunday.

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Netanyahu Visits Mourning Relatives Of The Slain Family

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the mourning relatives of the slain members of the Fogel family on Sunday evening.

Netanyahu told the family, “They shoot, and we build.”

Referring to Jewish tradition, he said, “They say the land of Israel is built with hardship. But we did not realize the suffering would be this great.”

“This evil act has caused all of us to say, 'Enough.'

"The security forces will do everything they can to find the murderers, and we will find them.”

INN

Netanyahu Demands End Of ‘Double-Talk’

Prime Minister Netanyahu demands a thorough condemnation by the Palestinian Authority of the Itamar massacre and an end to its ”double-talk.” President Shimon Peres said, “There are no words of consolation in the face of this devastation. “

I would like to express my deep outrage, outrage which is certainly felt by every Israeli over the murder of a young family – father, mother, eleven-year-old boy, four-year-old-boy and four-month-old girl, said the Prime Minister after the terrorist attack at Itamar, in Samaria."

The Prime Minister continued, “One of the girls saw her parents and siblings stabbed to death.  The family was brutally murdered in their sleep on the Sabbath…

“I have noticed that several countries that always hasten to the UN Security Council in order to condemn Israel, the state of the Jews, for planning a house in some locality, or for laying some tiles somewhere have been dilatory in sharply condemning the murder of Jewish infants. I expect them to issue such condemnations immediately, without balances, without understandings, without justifications…

"I am disappointed by the weak and mumbled statements. This is not how one condemns terrorism. This is not how one fights terrorism.” 

President Peres stated, "This is one of the most difficult and despicable events that we have seen - the murder of parents and their young children including a three-year old and [newly-born] baby, on the Sabbath. It indicates a loss of humanity. There is no religion in the world or any faith that allows these kinds of horrible acts.

“There are no words of consolation in the face of this devastation. Our hearts are with the orphans and with the community of Itamar during this extremely difficult time.  I am sure that the security forces will make every possible effort in order to capture the murderers and bring them to the appropriate justice."

INN

Japan Watches Anxiously For Monster Aftershock

Northeastern  Japan can expect another monster earthquake large enough to trigger a tsunami within days, the head of the Australian Seismological Center says.

The director, Kevin McCue, said there had been more than 100 smaller quakes since Friday, but a larger aftershock was likely.

''Normally they happen within days,'' he said. ''The rule of thumb is that you would expect the main aftershock to be one magnitude smaller than the main shock, so you would be expecting a 7.9.

''That's a monster again in its own right that is capable of producing a tsunami and more damage.''

Details

"Is It A Dream?" Stunned Japan Grapples With Disaster

A wrecked airplane lies nose-deep in splintered wood from homes in the port of Sendai. An hour's drive away, workers in white masks and protective clothing scan thousands of people for radiation.

Two days after a ferocious earthquake and tsunami submerged Japan's northeast coast, killing thousands and leaving millions of people without electricity or running water, many are struggling to comprehend the scale of the disaster.

"Is it a dream? I just feel like I am in a movie or something," said Ichiro Sakamoto, 50, in Hitachi, a city in Ibaraki Prefecture. "Whenever I am alone I have to pinch my cheek to check whether it's a dream or not."

In Sendai, a city of one million, survivors and rescue workers picked through piles of rubbish mixed with wood and other debris from buildings and homes, searching for belongings and removing bodies.

Some hoarded supplies. A queue of cars waiting for fuel stretched 2 km (1.2 miles) in Sendai. About 300 people crowded into a supermarket, and about 40 lined up at Circle K Sunkus, a convenience store.

"There have been tsunami before but they were just small. No one ever thought that it could be like this," said Michiko Yamada, a 75-year-old in Rikuzentakata, a nearly flattened village in far-northern Iwate prefecture.

"The tsunami was black and I saw people on cars and an old couple get swept away right in front of me."

Many bodies were discovered under rubble on Sunday in Yamada's village, where about 5,000 homes were submerged, Kyodo News reported. In nearby Otsuchi village, the town office was swept away with the mayor and local officials apparently inside.

A 60-year-old man was found floating on a piece of roof about 15 km (9 miles) offshore from Fukushima prefecture. Hiromitsu Shinkawa was airlifted and in "good condition" after being swept out to sea with his home, Kyodo said.

South of Sendai in Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, tens of thousands of people evacuated from areas around a crippled nuclear power plant were scanned for radiation exposure.

Although the government insists radiation levels are low a day after an explosion in the main building of the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, white-masked workers in protective hats and gowns used handheld scanners to people for radiation.

"It's quite scary," said 17-year-old Masanori Ono, waiting at one Koriyama evacuation center.

About 10,000 people were feared killed by the earthquake. and as many as 20,820 buildings were either destroyed or badly damaged. The death toll could go higher. Local governments had lost contact with tens of thousands of people, Kyodo said.

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Momentum Builds In Eligibility Push

A long list of state lawmakers are marching forward on a number of legislative fronts to ensure candidates for president on their election ballots are eligible to hold the office.

But state Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Ga., is taking it one step further with his proposed eligibility requirement – making it illegal for an elector to cast a ballot for an unapproved candidate.

The state's Presidential Eligibility Assurance Act would specify, "It is unlawful for any presidential elector from this state to cast his or her electoral college vote for a candidate who is not approved by the Secretary of State as having submitted adequate evidence of eligibility. Any person who violates this Code section shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature."

WND has reported on the state-level efforts to ensure that candidates for the Oval Office meet the requirements established in the U.S. Constitution: a resident for 14 years, at least 35 years of age and a "natural born Citizen."

At least 11 states have seen such requirements introduced in the current state legislative sessions, and in 10 of those states the plans still are alive. A committee vote in Montana tabled a proposal there.

Hatfield told WND that his new bill is similar to the plan he proposed at the end of last year's session but which was not submitted in time to advance. It, like many in other states, calls for assurances that "no person shall be eligible for placement on any ballot as a candidate for president or vice president unless the secretary of state shall have received and approved adequate evidence of such person's eligibility for election to such office."

More here

PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama Shies Away From Protests

Union leaders urged Vice President Joe Biden during a White House meeting last month to go to Wisconsin and rally the faithful in their fight against Gov. Scott Walker's move to curtail collective bargaining rights for most public employees.

Request rebuffed, they asked for Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. So far, however, the White House has stayed away from any trips to Madison, the state capital, or other states in the throes of union battles. The Obama administration is treading carefully on the contentious political issue that has led to a national debate over the power that public sector unions wield in negotiating wages and benefits.

A few labor leaders have complained openly that President Barack Obama is ignoring a campaign pledge he made to stand with unions; most others say his public comments have been powerful enough.

The stakes are high as Obama looks toward a grueling re-election campaign. Republicans have begun airing television ads linking Obama to "union bosses" standing in the way of budget cuts in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states.

As a candidate, Obama seemed to promise more to organized labor, among the Democratic Party's most loyal constituencies.

"If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself," Obama said at a speech in 2007. "I'll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States of America because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner."

Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, the nation's largest nurses union, called Obama "largely a bystander" in the debate over collective bargaining. "I think we're feeling a sense of betrayal from him and not liking it much," she said.

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Democrat Senators Return To Madison To Tell Crowd Fight Isn’t Over

Unbowed and unrepentant, 14 Democratic state senators returned to the Capitol on Saturday and received a tumultuous welcome from tens of thousands of pro-labor demonstrators.
Despite last week's passage of Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, the senators said they did the right thing by fleeing to Illinois last month in an unsuccessful bid to block the legislation.

And they vowed to fight the law in the courts and at the ballot box in a longer struggle to restore the collective bargaining that was eliminated for most public employees.

As they made their way up the steps of the Capitol, they heard the roars of a crowd that clogged Capitol Square, and listened as chants of "thank you, thank you" rained down.

But not everyone was happy to see the 14 Democratic senators back in Madison.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) issued a withering statement ahead of their return.

He called the senators "the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin" and said it was "an absolute insult" to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites that the senators ran away to Illinois to block Walker's budget-repair bill.

Fitzgerald wrote: "To the Senate Democrats: when you smile for the cameras today and pretend you're heroes, I hope you look at that beautiful Capitol building you insulted. And I hope you're embarrassed to call yourselves senators."

The senators showed no such shame as they took the stage, one by one, and addressed the audience that fanned out on muddy ground and spilled out into State St. Other demonstrators kept up a continuous march in the square, the scene all playing out beneath cloudy skies and a brisk late-winter wind.


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Mitch Daniels Endorses GOP Sen. Lugar, A Tea Party Target

Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels on Sunday called embattled Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) a role model and pledged to support Lugar’s re-election despite Tea-Party opposition.

The endorsement of Lugar could further inflame conservative activists grumbling over Daniels’s call for a political truce on social issues and complicate a potential White House bid.

“I’m for Dick Lugar, he’s the role model I’ve had,” Daniels said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “Folks in Indiana know that I am for him and that I admire him and think if he wants another term he ought to have one.”

Lugar, the most senior member of the Senate Republican conference, is running for a seventh term against Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock, who has Tea-Party backing.

Daniels served as Lugar’s chief of staff and later under him as executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Lugar on Thursday announced he would support Daniels for president, if he chose to run.

Indiana’s most prominent representatives in Washington, Sen. Dan Coats (R) and Rep. Mike Pence (R) have pledged to stay neutral in the Lugar-Mourdock race.

Tensions have grown between Lugar and conservative activists in Indiana over the years.

Tea Party voters were dismayed late last year by Lugar’s staunch support for Senate confirmation of the New START nuclear treaty, which gave President Obama an important political victory.

Lugar was also critical of spending cuts in the House-passed spending measure that chopped $61 billion from the federal budget.

Here's more

GOP Freshmen Uneasy About Latest Stopgap Bill

Freshmen Republicans in the House are increasingly worried that party leaders will back down on spending cuts and might oppose the latest bill to avoid a government shutdown, one lawmaker says.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) said Saturday he will oppose a three-week continuing resolution from House Republicans to fund the government and signaled other freshmen may follow suit.

The three-week spending bill "could be much harder to pass than the last one" because it fails to make the cuts needed to slash the deficit, Huelskamp told The Hill.

The House is set to vote on the three-week bill Tuesday. It would cut $6 billion in federal spending.

If another spending bill is not passed by March 18, the government will shut down.

Although Huelskamp said he "appreciates the strategy of cutting a few billion [from spending] every few weeks," he said there's growing concern, especially among freshmen and members of the Republican Study Group, that lawmakers will fail to cut anywhere near the $61 billion approved by the House last month.

Huelskamp noted that the three-week continuing resolution (CR) contains funding for the healthcare law and Planned Parenthood, budget lines that many conservatives strongly oppose.

The most recent stopgap proposal “omits many of the priorities the American people demanded we pass,” including the elimination of some EPA regulations, repealing healthcare and defunding Planned Parenthood, he said.

The House-approved CR cutting $61 billion was rejected by the Senate this week. Talks are ongoing between the White House, Democrats and Republicans to strike a deal on a spending bill funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year.

Democrats and Republicans remain about $50 billion apart on how much spending should be cut this year, and each side is pushing the other to take the next step.

"We were elected to make bold changes to federal spending and to reverse our unsustainable deficits," Huelskamp said. "By allowing President Obama and Senator Reid to stall a budget they should have completed six months ago, we are being distracted from even bigger tasks.”

More here

Delegates Still Skeptical Of Combined Reporting For Corporate Taxes

Although many economists, experts, unions and small businesses urged the House Ways and Means Committee to institute combined reporting for more equitable corporate taxes, delegates seemed skeptical of the taxation method. Combined reporting is a complicated method of calculating corporate taxes based on how much companies make in all states where they are located, not where they are headquartered. It would shift businesses’ tax liabilities because of the new way income would be measured.

Continue Reading...

FASCINATING BUT SCARY!!!

If you were there, they would know?

You used to be able to get lost in the crowd, but not anymore. Double click on any area in the picture to bring the person closer. Or, just click the mouse and use the mouse wheel to bring them closer.

This is a photograph of 2009 Obama Inauguration. You can see IN FOCUS the face of EACH individual in the crowd !!!
You can scan and zoom to any section of the crowd. . . Wait a few seconds. Double click anywhere . And the focus adjusts to give you a very identifiable close up.

The picture was taken with a robotic 1474 megapixel camera (295 times the standard 5 megapixel camera). Every one attending could be scanned after the event, should something have gone wrong during it.

Click on:
http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c

Radiation Alert: US Ship Contaminated 100 Miles Offshore

The U.S. Seventh Fleet moved its ships and aircraft away from a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant Monday after discovering low-level radioactive contamination more than 100 miles offshore.

The fleet said that the radiation was from a plume of smoke and steam released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where there have been two hydrogen explosions since Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 100 miles offshore when its instruments detected the radiation. The fleet said the dose of radiation was about the same as one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment.

Citing experts, The New York Times reported that radioactive steam could be released from the stricken plants for weeks or possibly months.

Why Is It That We Haven't Heard About This?

Joe....Just got this in. You may want to consider posting this. It looks like this fall-out from Japan may reach the continental U.S in about 10 days.

21 Airlines Fined $1.7 Billion In Price-Fixing Scheme

The Justice Department has fined 21 airlines in a massive global price-fixing scheme. British Airways, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic were among the airlines indicted. Even four executives have gone to jail. What did they do? The JD charges that the airlines colluded to artificially inflate fuel surcharges for passengers industry-wide, as well as cargo surcharges. The case probably wouldn't have been broken if Luthansa and Virgin Atlantic hadn't come forward and confessed under the Justice Department's amnesty program that provides leniency for finking. In an interesting turn, the scheme was so codified that various airlines had entire committees and sub-committees devoted to managing it.

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Charlie Sheen-Inspired Tiger Blood Energy Drink Comes In An IV Bag


We've definitely reached Charlie Sheen saturation, in fact, it hurts just typing his name, but for those of you who just can't get enough of that wacky guy, you can now buy an inevitable by-product of his popular public breakdown: Tiger Blood, an energy potion that comes in an IV bag.

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BREAKING: Earthquake In El Salvador

A 4.6 earthquake hit El Salvador about 60 minutes ago. It is unknown if there 
are any injuries or damage.

Can U.S. Nuclear Plants Handle A Major Natural Disaster?

Congressman Ed Markey has asked the Government Accountability Office to look into earthquake and flood protection at nuclear plants and questions whether the new AP1000 reactor design by Westinghouse is vulnerable to earthquakes.

As engineers in Japan struggle to bring quake-damaged reactors under control [1], attention is turning to U.S. nuclear plants and their ability to withstand natural disasters.

Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who has spent years pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission toward stricter enforcement of its safety rules, has called for a reassessment. Several U.S. reactors lie on or near fault lines, and Markey wants to beef up standards for new and existing plants.
"This disaster serves to highlight both the fragility of nuclear power plants and the potential consequences associated with a radiological release caused by earthquake related damage," Markey wrote NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko in a March 11 letter [2].

Specifically, Markey raised questions about a reactor design the NRC is reviewing for new plants that has been criticized for seismic vulnerability. The NRC has yet to make a call on the AP1000 reactor [3], which is manufactured by Westinghouse. But according to Markey, a senior NRC engineer has said the reactor’s concrete shield building could shatter "like a glass cup" under heavy stress.

The New York Times reported last week [4] that the NRC has reviewed the concerns raised by the engineer, John Ma, and concluded that the design is sufficient without the upgrades Ma recommended. Westinghouse maintains that the reactor is safe [5].

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Humanitarian Pays With Life For Feeding The Children Of Iraq

February 26, 2011, marks the eighth anniversary of the imprisonment of Dr. Rafil Dhafir. Dhafir continues to pay the price for feeding the children of Iraq during the US- and UK-sponsored UN sanctions against that country.

According to the United Nations' own statistics, every month throughout the 1990's, 6,000 children under the age of five in Iraq were dying from lack of food and access to simple medicines. Three senior UN officials resigned because of what they considered a "genocidal" policy of sanctions against Iraq. Dhafir's charity, Help the Needy (HTN), openly sent food and medicines to starving civilians in Iraq during the brutal embargo.

Seven government agencies investigated Dhafir and HTN for many years. They intercepted his mail, email, faxes and telephone calls; bugged his office and hotel rooms; went through his trash; and conducted physical surveillance. They were unable to find any evidence of links to terrorism, and no charges of terrorism were ever brought against Dhafir. Yet he and other HTN associates were subjected to high-profile arrests in the early morning of February 26, 2003, just weeks before the US invasion of Iraq. Simultaneous to the arrests, between the hours of 6 AM and 10 AM, law enforcement agents interrogated 150 predominantly Muslim families because they had donated to HTN. On that day, former attorney general John Ashcroft announced that "funders of terrorism have been arrested."