Hypersonic Jet Transport Of The Future To Be Powered By Seaweed

Apparently Western Europe hasn’t fallen out of love with the Concorde. Plans and concept designs of a new hypersonic Mach 4 passenger aircraft were unveiled recently and the projected specifications and overall performance conceptualization was indeed impressive.

Original Story Hypersonic Jet Transport Of The Future To Be Powered By Seawe

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How Corporate America came to dominate our discourse

Over the weekend I was re-reading the infamous Powell Memo, written by written in 1971 by former Supreme Court justice Lewis Powell, who at the time was working as a corporate attorney. The memo is in essence a letter to the Chamber of Commerce in which Powell urges the American business community to begin investing more money trying to capture the hearts and minds of Ma and Pa America. You see, back in the early '70s a handsome young buck named Ralph Nader was making life miserable for the American business establishment, particularly the automobile industry. While Nader today is considered a crank by most of the country, at the time he was quite effective, a sort of anti-corporate Andrew Breitbart who loved to stir the pot, make trouble and collect scalps.

At any rate, Powell's memo basically encouraged the business community to take more of an active role in political life. And I don't just mean donating to campaigns -- I mean getting involved in academia and the media to begin influencing public opinion. While it's true that this memo is not the Rosetta Stone of corporate influence that it's made out to be, it is reflective of a general feeling among business elites that they were tired of being pushed around by liberals and leftists and that they were going to start hitting back. This passage is particularly amusing in light of how much corporate power dominates our political landscape today:

[A]s every business executive knows, few elements of American society today have as little influence in government as the American businessman, the corporation, or even the millions of corporate stockholders. If one doubts this, let him undertake the role of 'lobbyist' for the business point of view before Congressional committees. The same situation obtains in the legislative halls of most states and major cities. One does not exaggerate to say that, in terms of political influence with respect to the course of legislation and government action, the American business executive is truly the 'forgotten man.'

Powell is certainly exaggerating the plight of the poor beleaguered business man here, as the business lobby always had a seat at the table even during liberalism's heyday in the 1960s. The difference was, unlike today, the business lobby didn't own the damn table.

One of my favorite scene's in Oliver Stone's 'Nixon' film comes when a group of cigar-chomping right-wing businessmen give Tricky Dick and earful about 'federal price controls on my oil' and about the fact that 'your EPA environmental agency has got its thumb so far up my ass that it's scratching my ear.'

And while this is a work of fiction (and an Oliver Stone work of fiction at that), it's still somewhat thrilling to see Nixon stick up for the EPA in the face of corporate pressure. Where have you gone, Tricky Dick, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you!

The point here is that in the early 1970s, the public at large still thought the putting limits on how much pollution a private firm could emit was actually a good thing. That same decade was when Corporate America began investing more cash into think tanks like Heritage and Cato in order to scrub these inconvenient little ideas out of peoples' heads and convince them that air pollution was just one of the free market's many wonders, along with lead poisoning and E. coli.

But back to the Powell Memo. Toward the end of the memo, Powell provides a list of several principles that Corporate America should be defending as part of its propaganda campaign. Some of what you would expect, but others are still surprising:

We in America already have moved very far indeed toward some aspects of state socialism, as the needs and complexities of a vast urban society require types of regulation and control that were quite unnecessary in earlier times. In some areas, such regulation and control already have seriously impaired the freedom of both business and labor, and indeed of the public generally. But most of the essential freedoms remain: private ownership, private profit, labor unions, collective bargaining, consumer choice, and a market economy in which competition largely determines price, quality and variety of the goods and services provided the consumer.

Labor unions??!! Collective bargaining?!!?!!?!!?! This dude would be considered a Communist by the Tea Party's standards!

Powell then closes with a flourish and recites the most insidious meme embedded within corporate propaganda -- that your right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is directly tied to the right of rich and powerful corporations to do whatever the hell they want:

But whatever the causes of diminishing economic freedom may be, the truth is that freedom as a concept is indivisible. As the experience of the socialist and totalitarian states demonstrates, the contraction and denial of economic freedom is followed inevitably by governmental restrictions on other cherished rights. It is this message, above all others, that must be carried home to the American people.

And tragically for our country, this campaign to influence hearts and minds has been stunningly successful. We no longer protect blue-collar jobs, union membership as a percentage of the workforce is the lowest it's been in decades, and average wages have stalled even as corporate profits have soared. And still, our corporatist ideologues demand more. They want to voucherize Medicare in order to pay for tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals. They want to privatize Social Security and shift risk even more toward individuals. They want to end collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers all together.

For our democracy to survive at all, we're going to need a movement that challenges the role of corporate power. Russ Feingold's campaign to overturn the truly horrible Citizens United decision is a good place to start.

#Radiation in Japan: Greenpeace Detected Cobalt-60 and High Radiation "Hot Spots" in Fukushima City in Fukushima

Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture is 60 kilometers northwest from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. No part of the city is designated as 'evacuation' zone of any kind (mandatory or planned). It is the 3rd largest city in Fukushima Prefecture with over 290,000 people.

Shukan Gendai, a Japanese weekly magazine, had a feature article in early June (for the June 24 Issue) that described the radiation survey in Fukushima City done by Greenpeace on June 7.

The article says Greenpeace detected cobalt-60 in a park in Fukushima City.

Cobalt-60?? From the RPV??

Very rough, partial translation of the Shukan Gendai (June 24 Issue) article follows:

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Fukushima City is in danger
Extremely high radiation detected
Our urgent, special report reveals

More than 10 times the radiation limit. Even cobalt-60 was detected. Children should be evacuated immediately, but the government says nothing, pretending not to know anything　

[body of the article]

What some have feared all along is coming true.

'This Fukushima City has become a place where children should not live. The only choice left would be a mass evacuation. But no politician understands that. Or rather, they don't want to know, probably.'

Seiichi Nakate, 50-year-old man who lives in Fukushima City, could barely suppress his anger.

On April 19, the Japanese government suddenly raised the upper limit of the annual radiation exposure for children from 1 millisievert to 20 millisieverts. Mr. Nakate is the head of the organization called 'Fukushima Network to Protect Children from Radiation', which was set up to protest against this barbaric act.

Located 60 kilometers away from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima City is not in the evacuation zone designated by the government. However, it is now a known fact that the heavy radiation contamination exists in the northwest direction from the plant, in places like Namie-machi and Iitate-mura. People started to wonder from early on that Fukushima City might be in danger also.

Nakate says, 'Unlike Namie and Iitate where the radiation is high everywhere, Fukushima City has so-called 'hot spots' hidden throughout the city where the radiation spikes up compared to areas surrounding them. But since the government insists 'it's safe', the residents are complacent. That makes the situation even more dangerous.'

The residents do not know that they are not safe - because they 'cannot see' the radiation contamination. Because it can't be seen, the government is simply kicking the can, doing nothing.

Fukushima City is the capital of Fukushima Prefecture, with government offices and headquarters of major businesses. Its population is over 290,000. But the government doesn't do anything.

'If the national government doesn't do anything for us, then we'll have to think and act for ourselves.'

And Mr. Nakate started the network.

On June 7, an urgent survey was done in Fukushima City.

The survey was conducted by Greenpeace, an international non-profit organization for environment. Seven Greenpeace staff came to Fukushima City, responding to Mr. Nakate and his organization.

.........

The survey team started the measurement in a park located at 5-minute driving distance from the Fukushima City Hall.

There is a reason why they [Greenpeace] included the parks in the survey. On April 24, Fukushima Prefecture restricted the use of 5 parks in the prefecture to '1 hour per day' when the radiation exceeding 3.8 microsieverts/hour was detected, which was the national safety limit. Then, the prefectural government removed the restriction on June 6, one day before the Greenpeace survey, saying the later survey showed the radiation within the limit.
　
'To begin with, 3.8 microsieverts/hour was calculated, based on the high annual radiation exposure limit of 20 millisievert, and it's not appropriate. It isn't just the matter of restricting the use. Parks directly affects the health of children, and should be very carefully monitored', says Greenpeace Japan's Sato.

The survey team went to locations where the high radiation was expected - dirt pile in the corner of a park, water drain behind the public restroom. The radiation measuring equipment was made in Czech Republic, home country of one of the Greenpeace staff members. It costs about 1.2 million yen. It can not only measure the overall radiation level, but it can also identify the nuclides.

The dirt pile measured 6.3 microsieverts/hour, 1.7 times the national guideline. The staff were surprised at the high number. A pile of dead leaves in the corner measured 4.2 microsievert/hour.

Mr. Sato said, 'Contaminated dead leaves should be collected in secure containers and managed for 20, 30 years. Burning them is out of the question, as it only spreads radioactive materials. If these leaves blow in the wind, they will spread contamination.'

More serious numbers were to come. The ground surface with weeds behind the restrooms measured 9.1 microsievert/hour, and the area near the water drain at the restroom entrance measured 12.5 microsieverts/hour.

A local parent who accompanied the Greenpeace staff was surprised.

'Small children are attracted to dirt piles and leaf piles. They also like to play in a water puddle. I was shocked to see the high numbers around leaf piles and water. I don't feel like letting my children play in the park, no matter how safe the national or municipal government say it is.'

Another thing that the survey team paid attention to was the types of nuclides that were detected in the park. They detected cesium-134, cesium-137, and cobalt-60.

Professor Kazuhiko Kudo of Kyushu University (nuclear engineering) says, 'Cobalt-60 does not exist in nature. It has a half-life of 5.3 years. That cobalt-60 was detected in Fukushima City, 60 kilometers from the plant, proves that a certain amount of cobalt-60 was released from the reactor meltdown.'

The survey team stood out in the summer-like heat, with uniforms, long boots, protective masks and the radiation measurement equipment. Men and women from different parts of the world that made up the survey team looked very foreign indeed in the park in a quiet residential neighborhood.

So, while the team was in the park, the residents stayed away. As soon as the survey was done, a young child went to the swing with the mother. They didn't know that there was a 'hot spot' right near by.

Next, we went to Watari Junior High School, located near the park.

That day, they were removing the surface soil from the schoolyard. According to the workers, the soil was being buried in the hole dug in the schoolyard. The perimeter of the schoolyard was covered with blue tarp, because the neighbors complained. Needless to say, tarp cannot completely prevent the radioactive materials from spreading. It looked as if they wanted to hide.

Just when the team was about to do the survey, an elderly man came and started to protest loudly.

'You, why don't you stop already. There are people here who don't want to know the numbers. I say, 'Stop squawking'. I am a doctor, and I think there's no problem living in this neighborhood. For children? There isn't any data that proves the danger, is there?'

Spitting out the words breathlessly, he left.

We cannot criticize the man. He is also being threatened by radiation.

However, it is a reality that the Japanese citizens are underestimating the negative effect on health, because the government has emphasized 'baseless rumors' more than 'negative effect on health'. It is absolutely necessary to recognize the danger for children and pregnant women.

Mr. Nakate did his own measurement before the surface soil removal started at Watari Junior High. The soil around the warehouse near the parking lot measured 360 microsieverts/hour.

This time, the survey team measured the soil after the surface soil removal. It was till 45 microsieverts/hour, about 12 times the limit. It is equivalent to 240 millisieverts per year [?], almost the radiation exposure limit of 250 millisieverts for the workers at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The Greenpeace staff frowned, put on the protective suits and collected the soil sample.

Mr. Nakate said, as he looked on the work to remove the surface soil from the schoolyard,

'Look. The workers are removing the contaminated soil, and the regular class is being held as usual. What a contradiction, isn't it? This is how the government responds. Haphazard, with no long-term vision. What's most important right now is to evacuate children to safe places.

(The article continues.)

------------------------------------

There is one more segment on a private nursery school 200 meters from the junior high school. The article describes how the Greenpeace survey team measured radiation along the road that small children walk on, on the way to the nursery school. 35 microsieverts/hour under the rain gutter. At the nursery school, the principal didn't know what to do with the radioactive soil that had been removed. 'We want the national government to tell us how to deal with the contaminated soil, the playground equipment. We need guidance.'

Toward the end, a mother whose daughter goes to this nursery school says,

'There are many mothers who want radiation measuring equipment. Whether to send children to places with lower radiation, or to continue to live here. I wonder everyday. But looking at the silly exchange between the politicians in the Diet [she is probably referring to the vote of no confidence in which PM Kan conned everyone and stayed on], we will have to leave on our own, if we leave.'

Many readers have wondered why the mothers like her don't simply pick up and leave with their children to safer places. I can tell you one reason. Unless the evacuation is ordered by the government, they don't get compensated for their inconvenience. It's not about money but children's health, many would say. These parents, mostly, know that, but not all of them can afford to do so without assistance.

And this is the government who wants to tax the money that TEPCO has given to people for their suffering because of the plant accident as 'income'.

Return To The Days Of Hoover's Enemy List? FBI Raiding Activists As Terrorists

Back in the days of J. Edgar Hoover running the FBI and Senator Joseph McCarthy accusing all sorts of people of various 'un-American' activities, you ran the risk of being accused of all sorts of things just for disagreeing with the government. It seemed like those days were over, and I'd love to believe those days really are over, but Pickle Monger points us to the unfortunate news that the FBI has been raiding homes of various political activists, claiming that it's part of a terrorism investigation. Many of the targets of the raids seem like unlikely 'terrorists,' as they include peace/anti-war activists and union organizers. Whatever you think of their politics, we should certainly be worried when there's any sense that political viewpoints are getting wrapped up in any claims of a 'terrorism' investigation. It seems like it's so easy to abuse that word to go after anyone who law enforcement doesn't like. You would hope that America would have learned from its past to avoid moves like this, so it's a shame to hear that it may still be ongoing.

The Chinese Government Is Buying Up Economic Assets And Huge Tracts Of Land All Over The United States

In 2011, America is for sale and the communist Chinese are eager buyers. The Chinese government is using sovereign wealth funds and Chinese state-owned enterprises to buy up economic assets and huge tracts of land all over the United States. Many of our politicians hail all of this 'foreign investment' as something that is 'good for America', while many others see something much more sinister going on here. In any event, this is a trend that is rapidly accelerating and that is causing great concern among patriotic Americans.

In my recent article entitled 'China Wants To Construct A 50 Square Mile Self-Sustaining City South Of Boise, Idaho', I examined a potential deal that Sinomach (a company controlled by the Chinese government) wants to do with the government of Idaho. There will be more on this deal in a minute.

But first it is important to note that this is a phenomenon that is happening all across the United States.

For example, a Chinese investment group is buying up a very large chunk of real estate in Toledo, Ohio. The following is a brief excerpt from an article in the Toledo Blade on May 26th, 2011....

Dashing Pacific Group Ltd., which has already purchased the nearby Docks restaurant complex for $2.15 million, put its $3.8 million offer to buy the southern 69 acres at the Marina District in East Toledo back on the table for approval by Toledo City Council. Additionally, Dashing Pacific Chairman Yuan Xiaohong, in a letter signed in Hangzhou, said the firm wants a two-year option to buy the decommissioned Toledo Edison power plant property on the site.

Even more disturbing is what has been happening down in Texas recently. The Chinese have been gobbling up our oil and gas fields. The following is a quote from one local Texas news source about one of these deals....

State-owned Chinese energy giant CNOOC is buying a multibillion-dollar stake in 600,000 acres of South Texas oil and gas fields, potentially testing the political waters for further expansion into U.S. energy reserves.

With the announcement Monday that it would pay up to $2.2 billion for a one-third stake in Chesapeake Energy assets, CNOOC lays claim to a share of properties that eventually could produce up to half a million barrels a day of oil equivalent.

You can read much more about this particular deal right here.

CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Company) has been buying up oil and gas assets all over the globe. They seem to have an insatiable appetite for them.

There is not much we can do about what is going on in other countries, but when we allow foreigners to buy up our own precious oil and gas assets shouldn't that set off 'national security' red flags?

Not that our politicians are too concerned about real national security issues anyway. They just keep telling us that we will be just fine as long as we allow the TSA to grope our wives, our children and the elderly.

Getting back to the topic, shouldn't we be alarmed that someday soon we may be importing 'foreign oil' that is being pumped out of Texas land?

It is almost as if virtually all of our politicians have lost all common sense.

Of course one of the most insane projects was the one that Sinomach proposed to do in Idaho. The following is a description of that project from an article in the Idaho Statesman....

A Chinese national company is interested in developing a 10,000- to 30,000-acre technology zone for industry, retail centers and homes south of the Boise Airport.

30,000 acres is close to 50 square miles.

That is a huge chunk of territory.

Fortunately, it appears that the deal is stalled at least for the moment.

But that could change at any time, especially considering the fact that the governor of Idaho is pushing hard for Chinese 'investment'....

The following is a quote from Boise lobbyist Pat Sullivan....

“One thing these Chinese see is we have a governor here who has a great big open-door policy'

Doesn't that just sound wonderful?

A 'great big open-door policy'.

That just sounds so warm and fuzzy.

All of this is a part of 'Project 60' - a huge initiative to revitalize the economy of Idaho.

The following is an excerpt from an open letter from Idaho Governor Butch Otter about Project 60....

Project 60 is just a name. But it stands for a goal, and a way of getting there.

It means more than some abstract concept for increasing our gross domestic product. It means jobs and opportunity, hope and independence for the people of Idaho. That’s what I want you to think about when you hear about Project 60. This is an initiative in which we all need to be involved, to build Idaho’s economy together in a way that strengthens our businesses, people and communities.

No state or local agency, no government of any kind can successfully tackle this kind of goal alone. Project 60 belongs to all of us and it needs all of us to be champions of this effort. Today, I invite you to be a Project 60 Partner.

It all sounds so great until you learn that one of the primary pillars of Project 60 is 'Inward Foreign Direct Investment'.

So how do you promote 'Inward Foreign Direct Investment'?

Well, you do things like offer massive tax breaks to Chinese state-owned companies and you actively encourage immigration from China.

The following is a quote from an article on the New American website and it explains how a visa program known as EB-5 would help facilitate Project 60....

Specifically, “The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service administers an immigrant investor visa program called EB-5. The program grants foreigners permanent U.S. residency in exchange for helping create U.S. jobs.” This prong will facilitate the immigration of Chinese nationals into the United States for the purpose of establishing a Chinese industrial beachhead in Idaho, under the guise of creating U.S. jobs.

In fact, the state of Idaho is actually touting the EB-5 program on their website that promotes Project 60.

Yes, Chinese state-owned companies would probably hire a small number of Idaho citizens. But as I have written about previously, the idea would be for 'special economic zones' to be set up inside the United States that would be very similar to the 'special economic zones' inside China.

The following is how Wikipedia defines special economic zones....

A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a geographical region that has economic and other laws that are more free-market-oriented than a country's typical or national laws. 'Nationwide' laws may be suspended inside a special economic zone.

Apparently the government of Idaho believes that allowing the Chinese to set up a 50 square mile 'special economic zone' just south of Boise would be a grand idea.

But others are not so sure. Barbara H. Peterson recently posted the following on Farm Wars....

This is not a boom to Idaho, but a death knell for those who are rapidly losing jobs to overseas outsourcing, only this will be so much more convenient for the mega-corporations.

Today, the cost of transportation is rapidly going up. If state-owned Chinese companies can set up shop inside the United States and get massive tax breaks from state and local governments at the same time why wouldn't they want to do it?

The truth is that the Chinese can't believe how stupid we are.

30 years ago, the Chinese economy was absolutely pathetic compared to the U.S. economy.

But now they have almost surpassed us.

Why?

Well, we shipped them thousands of our factories, millions of our jobs and trillions of our dollars.

For much more on this, read my previous article entitled '40 Signs The Chinese Economy Is Beating The Living Daylights Out Of The U.S. Economy'.

It is insane what we are doing.

Now the Chinese are starting to colonize us.

Would we have ever allowed the Soviets to come in and buy up our companies and buy up huge tracts of land all over the country?

Yet somehow we have become convinced that it is okay for the communist Chinese to do it.

In fact, we even allow the Chinese to make many of the key electronic parts for our most advanced weapons systems.

It even turns out that some 'counterfeit electronics' from suppliers in China have gotten into some of our military hardware.

A recent AFP article noted that 'counterfeit electronics had 'infiltrated' the Pentagon's supply chain, including microprocessors for the F-15 fighter jet and microcircuits for US Missile Defense Agency hardware.'

Now China is even blocking an investigation into these 'counterfeit electronics'.

We have become dangerously dependent on China.

In fact, if our relationship with China went south, there would be a lot of weapons systems that we would suddenly not be able to get parts for.

The people that originally decided that it was a good idea for China to produce electronics for our planes and weapons systems should resign immediately.

We are allowing the Chinese to dominate us in hundreds of different ways.

As China becomes wealthier and as the United States becomes poorer, all of this is only going to accelerate.

China is going to become even more dominant in the years ahead.

Should we all start learning to speak Chinese?

#Radiation in Japan: Nosebleed, Diarrhea, Lack of Energy in Children in Koriyama City, Fukushima

Once a malicious 'baseless rumor' on the net, now it is written up in a regional newspaper with readership in Tokyo and Kanto area.

Tokyo Shinbun (paper edition only, 6/16/2011) reports that many children in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, 50 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, are suffering inexplicable nosebleed, diarrhea, and lack of energy since the nuke plant accident.

(The photo of the page from this blog site, in Japanese.)

click to view

Quick translation of the article:

What's happening to children in Koriyama City in Fukushima right now? Nosebleed, diarrhea, lack of energy - 'Effect of radiation unknown' says the doctor

Report by Ao Ideta, Tokyo Shinbun, June 16, 2011

On June 12, a non-profit organization called 'The Bridge to Chernobyl' (チェルノブイリへのかけはし) held a free clinic in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, 50 kilometers [west] from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Worried about the effect of radiation exposure, 50 families brought their children to see the doctor.

A 39-year-old mother of two told the doctor that her 6-year-old daughter had nosebleed everyday for 3 weeks in April. For 1 week, the daughter bled copiously from both nostrils. The mother said their doctor told her it was just a seasonal allergy from pollen. Her other child, 2-year-old son, had nosebleed from end of April to May.

The pediatrician from The Bridge to Chernobyl, Yurika Hashimoto, told the mother it was hard to determine whether the nosebleed was the result of radiation exposure, but they should have the blood test done for white blood cells. It was important to keep record, the doctor advised.

The family move out temporarily from Koriyama City to Saitama Prefecture after the March 11 earthquake, but came back to Koriyama at the end of March.

The mother said about 10% of pupils at the elementary school have left Koriyama. Each school in Koriyama decides whether to have the pupils drink local milk that the school provide, which tends to concentrate radioactive materials. In her daughter's school, it is up to the parents to decide. But the mother said she let the daughter drink milk with other children because the daughter didn't want to get excluded by other children for not drinking milk with them.

A 40-year-old father of a 4-month-old baby daughter was so worried that he never let the daughter go outside, even though she didn't exhibit any ill effect of radiation so far. He said, 'I'm so worried. I don't know how to defend ourselves.'

I [the reporter of the story] used the radiation monitoring device over the low bush near the place where this event was being held. It measured 2.33 microsieverts/hour. As I raised the device higher, the radiation level went down to 1 microsievert/hour. The highest air radiation measured in Koriyama City was 8.26 microsieverts/hour on March 15. Since middle of May, it has been about 1.3 microsievert/hour.

If you live one year in a place with 1.3 microsievert/hour radiation, the cumulative radiation will exceed 11 millisieverts. [And that's only the external exposure.]

A 40-year-old mother with a 6-year-old son was angry, and said 'Doctors, researchers, they all say different things. I don't understand how the evacuation areas are determined. Take Iitate-mura, for example. They just let the villagers get exposed to high radiation for a month, and when the air radiation level got lower they told them to move out. We can't trust the national government, we can't trust Fukushima prefectural government.' Her family just built a new house, and she was not sure how they could survive economically if they moved. If they moved, when would they be able to come back? What about cost of moving, or the psychological effect on her child? She just couldn't decide what to do.

Operation Payback - Hacker Group Anonymous Issues A Digital Call To Arms