…I don’t feel like saying much
Posted by Michelle Moquin on March 30th, 2011
Okay…so I am at a loss today. My mind is reeling with too many topics. The news is overwhelming and everything is melding into one. I am a tad frustrated this morning and I don’t feel like saying much. But I will check in and address a few of you.
AH: I read the “list” of gangs that you posted. I recognized the name of only one: The Bowery Boys. And only because of the television show the same name, that I watched when I was young. A slapstick comedy involving a mob of juvenile delinquents. Not exactly what you described. I watched the BB trailer just now, and funny, I don’t find much humor in it anymore. But at the time I loved it.
Linda: I loved that quote too. And no doubt, it is a battle.
Robert: FOX says, “The radiation leaks at Fukushima don’t come close to that of Chernobyl”? I wonder what FOX has to say now after seeing the headlines on the Huff Po this morning about this nuclear disaster. This is just so devastating. You can’t lie about something like this and get away with it, can you? I don’t think so but if anyone is going to try, it’s going to be FOX. And yes, I tend to think along the lines of Zen Lill with respect to the Japanese Government. Can we really believe that all is being disclosed?
Afaf: Politics isn’t based on fairness. And life is not fair in many ways. But to answer your question, simple, “Bush is a white man”.
Haruki: I can not even imagine the state of emotions, what thoughts…fear that must running through the minds of everyone in Japan. This is not something that you can escape. Terrible doesn’t even begin to express what is happening over there. I wish you and your well.
Anonymous #12: Thanks for posting the entire poem. I too like Dan love that line, “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on”. I can’t tell you how many times that line has been used in conversation with a particular person, when he was trying to make a point. But I never knew from where it came from. Thanks for enlightening me.
IN HONOR OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH:
“The prejudice against color, of which we hear so much, is no stronger than that against sex. It is produced by the same cause, and manifested very much in the same way. The negro’s skin and the woman’s sex are both prima facie evidence that they were intended to be in subjection to the white Saxon man.”
~Elizabeth Cady Stanton
PEACE OUT.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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March 30th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Easy Ways to Avoid Painful Diverticulitis
Jamison Starbuck, ND
If you’re over age 60, your chances are fifty-fifty that you have diverticulosis, a condition marked by numerous small pouches (diverticula) in the wall of the colon.
Virtually everyone over age 80 is affected by the disease, and even 10% of people age 41 to 60 have it.
The good news is that the vast majority of people with diverticulosis are symptom-free. The condition becomes a problem only when one or more of these pouches get inflamed, becoming diverticulitis — due, for example, to weakening of the gastrointestinal wall and/or poor diet.
With diverticulitis, you are likely to experience a sudden onset of pain and tenderness in the lower left abdomen.
Diarrhea or constipation and a fever can also occur, as well as rectal bleeding. Fortunately, diet and lifestyle can significantly reduce the likelihood of diverticulosis turning into diverticulitis. My advice…
Eat the right foods. We now know that the old notion that diverticulitis is caused by small, fibrous foods is simply not true.
Many doctors had believed that certain foods, such as poppy seeds, lodged in the diverticula and caused it to become inflamed.
However, an 18-year study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association conclusively showed that eating foods such as nuts, seeds or popcorn does not increase the risk for diverticulitis.
In fact, a high-fiber diet, including fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, offers good nutrition and promotes regular bowel movements, both of which reduce the risk for diverticular disease.
Get vigorous exercise. People who routinely run, hike, walk briskly, swim and/or do aerobics are significantly less at risk for diverticular problems than those who are sedentary — perhaps because vigorous exercise promotes circulation and helps fight constipation.
Try probiotics. These “friendly” bacteria help keep colon inflammation at bay. Three times a week, eat eight ounces of plain yogurt with “live cultures” or take a probiotic supplement containing at least five billion units of acidophilus and 2.5 billion units of bifidus.
If you are diagnosed with diverticulitis…
Drink tea. Most doctors recommend a liquid diet, including water, soup and juice, for three or four days.
To reduce abdominal pain and speed healing, include tea made from peppermint, slippery elm and marshmallow root.
What to do: Blend equal parts by weight of each herb (chopped, shredded or powdered), and use two teaspoons of the mix per 10 ounces of boiling water. Have up to one quart of the tea daily.
Take Oregon grape root. This herb has a sedating and antiseptic effect on the gastrointestinal tract and will ease cramping and reduce inflammation.
Take 60 drops of Oregon grape root tincture in two ounces of water on an empty stomach, three times a day for up to seven days.
If you have abdominal pain and a fever of 101°F or higher, rectal bleeding… or even mild abdominal pain that lasts for more than two days, see your doctor — each could signal an ailment that needs medical attention.
Health interviewed Jamison Starbuck, ND, a naturopathic physician in family practice and a guest lecturer at the University of Montana, both in Missoula.
She is past president of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and a contributing editor to The Alternative Advisor: The Complete Guide to Natural Therapies and Alternative Treatments (Time Life).
March 30th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Michelle:
I have been reading you blog for almost 2 years. It has never disappointed me. There is always something interesting going on. I am amazed at the worldwide contributions. How did you do it?
I have often though about starting a blog of my own. But I don’t know how to get started. You don’t seem to have a theme except you are against those who abuse women.
I was the only male raised in a household of 11. My mother had 10 daughters by as many men and me the 7th child. Everybody fucked me. Starting with mother. She would have me eating her out before meals and pass me along to my sisters.
By the time I was 9, I knew every way possible to please the women in my household. Fingers, tongue, dick whatever it took. I was forbidden from having any contact with my younger 4 sisters until they reached 18.
Of course, if they wanted a piece of me, I had to perform. I was not allowed to have a girl friend until I graduated from medical school in 2009. I am a Stanford medical school graduate practicing OB/GYN as a surgeon at a private clinic here in the sticks.
Mother insist that I bring my fiancee into the family. She threatens to disinherit me if I don’t. All my sisters are doctors except the two youngest who are attorneys. So, you would think that they would speak up for me. But they tow the line as if they need any of mother’s money.
She inherited much of her money from the various men she married and encouraged to hastily depart to the realm of hell where she believes all men belong. What does she need me for? With all the plastic surgery that hundred of $millions can buy she has a body and face like those of her daughters. Everyone thinks they are sisters.
My sisters don’t trust men. They read your blog and gloat when you suggest the worst for them. They think that I should be available on a minute’s notice to service them. They refuse to understand that I have a fiancee and that she needs servicing.
Mother loves you and admires your articles. She says you give sound advice. How about telling her that it is time that I stop servicing the family and started one of my own. Besides I am sure to father sons and daughters that will follow the family values that she has laid down.
If that is their wish, I will not interfere. I am simply no longer interested. My sisters are beautiful, talented and most have graduated at the top of their classes in undergraduate and graduate and medical schools that they attended.
Three of my sisters have made very substantial contributions to the pharmaceutical community and enjoy the fruits of their labor via sizable patent incomes.
Why they continue to insist on me fathering their offspring is a true mystery. Mother says since none of us have the same father and I am the only male; it is my duty. Well, I have fathered 6 children for them. When will it be my turn to live?
Since we all admire your sound logical advice, what is your opinion? When is a son entitled to live his own life? I am 30 years old today?
Hector(not my true name)
March 30th, 2011 at 10:38 am
I like writings that expose the would be cowboy hero for who he really was”
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Quantrill’s raiders, the livestock thieves who pass themselves off as Confederate guerrillas in the American Civil War, have gained a new recruit. Seventeen year old Jesse “Dingus” James robs under the direction of “Bloody Bill” Anderson, a ruffian who kills alls his prisoners.
Anderson and Jesse dreamed up another version of the “Trojan Horse” recently. Knowing that a house of ill-fame four miles outside Independence Kansas, entertains Union soldiers, young Jesse dressed up in a gingham dress and be-ribboned pink bonnet, mounted his horse side-saddle and took his fresh pretty young face to the brothel. He persuaded the madam that he was a saucy country girl whose parents not let “her” have a beaux or “romp” with the boys, and claimed that “she” and 12 of her friends all wanted to come in and “play” with the soldiers that night.
The old bawd, delighted at the prospect of fresh faces for here establishment, sent word to the soldiery. As a result, James and a dozen armed Raiders found a dozen unbraced and unprepared northerners i the brothel parlor when James’ dulcet “lady’s” secured them admission.
Young James’ colleagues would have robbed the soldiers and let them go. The vicious pseudo-harlot, however, insisted that all their throats were cut. We cannot imagine that such a malign “Miss Nancy” will make much impression as a criminal once this dreadful war ceases to camouflage his villainy.
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I am investigating an interesting hanging. And a bit of racism western style. watch this spot.
Your turn Librarian:
AH
March 30th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Yes Michelle, it has been spoken to me as well. What I needed to hear at the time was the last part of it. Many years and tears I have shed trying to change the Moving Finger, all for naught.
March 30th, 2011 at 10:47 am
The white man feels that it is his birth right to be the masters of the rest of the human race. You should hear my father, his brothers and mine discuss the state of the world since the white man lost control.
What bullshit I have to endure to keep the peace. Mother rolls her eyes and leaves the room. She says to anyone within earshot as she leaves the room, “that lot in their is the reason the world is so fucked up.”
I am glad to be white because it is a hazardous state to be not. It would be better still if I were a white man.
Becky
March 30th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Adam thought that some of you might find this quite interesting.
========When Hotelier Hill Beachy saw David Page, Chris Lowery and James Romaine ride into Lewiston, Idaho, he was absolutely horrified.
A few nights earlier he had dreamed that three men with exactly their appearance had murdered his old friend, muleteer Loyd Magruder, out on the trail.
When he heard that they had been travelling with Magruder, he wanted them arrested, but felt that a vivid dream was not plausible evidence. When they left town, and he heard that Magruder’s equipment had been found abandoned beside the trail, he pursued the three men to California.
Once he bought them back to Idaho, muleteer Bill Page, who had travelled with the party, testified that the three had indeed murdered Magruder, two prospectors,and four other muleteers who had been traveling together with a shipment of gold.
The three were convicted and hanged – and all because of one man’s dream.
March 30th, 2011 at 11:09 am
I hear ya, Misch, not much to say with soooo much going on and not really getting the true scoop, I can only watch the news with different eyes these days and they tell me to believe not much of what they’re showing and saying…the lack of real info is to prevent total anarchy, whihc we may just see here in the US if things don’t change soon, I feel for Pres Obama, so much to take care of and he will not get another chance if he cannot get the domestic sitch re: jobs, etc…fixed here. In archives Anonz suggests strongly that something of a fairly large magnitude will take plave just before elections in 2012 (could be the Mayans are right and we’re all just history…). I’m waiting and watching…
OK, Al-Phonso, here’s da joke – and it still my fave – a woman stops by a new store on the block, the sign says ‘exotic pet store’ she stops in and sees a frog and says ‘what’s so exotic about the frog’ – the owner says, ‘well, madam, this frog eats pussy’ hmm, she says – ‘I’ll take him!’ the owner says, ‘ok now when you get home, you take off all your clothes, lay on the bed and put the frog between your legs, he’ll take over form there…’ she smiles and says ‘alright!’ – she gets home and does as instructed and the frog does nothing, hmm, she tries again the next morning and again, nothing happens. Later that aft, she takes the frog back and tells the store owner what happened (nothing!) and he says, ‘ok, well…go down that hall over there, open the door and there’s a bed there, take off yor clothes and put the frog between your legs and I’ll be there shortly’ she does as instructed, the owner taps on the door and enters, he looks at the frog and says, ‘now I’m going to show you this one more time’ : ) ahhahahaha…gotta love it…! You had all kinds of hysterical comments that followed for days, too funny : D
Howie and Al, that was all back when you’d just had surgery (Howie) and the ‘yoga’ kids were sending out the healing vibes, remember?
It’s fun going back to see what was going on back then…wish we could get back to VERY beginning, is there a way, Misch? I think everyone has had an education these past few years, probably even our BABE of a blog host : )
Maple, you still using ‘hug till relaxed’ with your kids? It’s such a great technique, men love it (if you’re son inclined to hug one) they usually don wanna stop ; ) he he he…
OK, well, that’s it from me for now, be back later, so gorgie here today, the outdoors is just a calling my name…
Luv, Zen Lill
March 30th, 2011 at 11:33 am
AH, I’ve opened a can a worms I think while investigating “Dingus.” First, there is some confusion about who is the real Jesse James and it maybe attributed to a cover up by the British Royal Family. Sorry for the length of the post, but there is much info here. I found a posting online by someone who identified themslves as simply a “liaison agent,” conveying/representing the views of a secret society (the “CIAO” ) which is interested in bringing to light certain activities of the true (esoteric) Knights Templar in the United States, which included/includes the KGC (one of the Knights Templar’s “front groups”). They believe the “Missouri” Jesse, the “Kentucky” Jesse (aka “Jesse Woodson James” ), and “J. Frank Dalton” were 3 different individuals, and all 3 were heavily involved with the KGC, in one way or another. Orvus Lee Howk was basically on the right track about the overall subject of Jesse James, it’s just that eventually (probably by the late 1950s) he was “recruited” to act as a disinformation agent because in his wide-ranging research, Howk had succeeded in contacting so many individuals who each new a small part of the real truth, that the pooled information from all these people, collectively, represented a real potential threat to the “British royal family-James family coverup/conspiracy agendas” of the “powers that be.”) Therefore, Howk was “recruited” to run a covert “damage control program.” The main component of this “damage control program” was the false idea that “J. Frank Dalton” was the same man as the “Kentucky” Jesse. Who the real “Missouri” Jesse was, is possibly a great mystery, since much of the historical information we have about “Jesse James” now appears to be actually about the activities of Jesse Robert James (alias Jesse “Dingus” James, “William Campbell” and “Joseph L. Hines”) and Charlie Bigelow (who was a Jesse James imposter), the events of whose “criminal careers” were mistakenly/inadvertently all combined and intermixed with each other by most of the writers who wrote about the outlaw Jesse James. The “Jesse James” that John Trammell always talked about was probably Jesse Robert James, unless there was a third “Jesse James” (someone other than the “Missouri” and “Kentucky” Jesses) who was the real Jesse James and who has managed to stay completely “underground” all these years. The current state of research suggests (but doesn’t prove) the following tabulation:
1) Jesse Robert James – Was born on Sept. 5, 1847 at Centerville, Clay County, Missouri. He is thus, probably, the “Missouri” Jesse, the famous outlaw known to history as Jesse James, unless there was a third Jesse who has escaped the detection of historical researchers. Jesse Robert James later became known as Jesse “Dingus” James, “William Campbell” ( of Lincoln County War fame ), and “Joseph L. Hines” ( of Cottage Hill, Escambia County, Florida ). He reportedly died sometime in 1955 or 1956.
2) Jesse Woodson James – Was born, reportedly, on April 17, 1844, somewhere in Kentucky. This individual became the head of the Inner Sanctum of the KGC, and was also referred to by Henry J. Walker (in his book “Jesse James ‘The Outlaw,’” 1961) as the “Kentucky” Jesse. His estate was valued at between $1.2 – $10 billion dollars. The information as to when and where he really died is not in the public domain. “Copper King” Senator William A. Clark may have been acting as one of the “Kentucky” Jesse’s “doubles.” In other words, the “Kentucky” Jesse was really the “Copper King” and Senator William A. Clark was only “acting the part” of being the “Copper King” as a “stand-in” or “double” for the “Kentucky” Jesse (who wished to remain anonymous with regard to his copper holdings and his fortune derived from the copper industry).
3) “Frank Dalton” or “J. Frank Dalton” (aka “Jesse Frank Dalton”) – Supposedly born on March 8, 1848 at Goliad, Goliad County, Texas. Was originally a KGC-appointed, long-term Jesse James “double,” but he became a full-fledged Jesse James “imposter” on April 24, 1948 when he signed an affidavit claiming he was the same person as the “Missouri” Jesse (who had been born on Sept. 5, 1847, as described above). Until recently, most researchers have generally believed that “J. Frank Dalton” died on August 15, 1951 at Granbury, Texas, and was buried in Granbury Cemetery, but current research disputes that he really died on that date and that he was actually buried in Granbury Cemetery. Orvus Lee Howk further confused this issue by claiming on Dalton’s death certificate that “J. Frank Dalton” was actually the “Kentucky” Jesse rather than the “Missouri” Jesse. Why Howk claimed this is somewhat unclear, since Dalton himself had claimed, in his April 24, 1948 affidavit, that he was the same person as the “Missouri” Jesse, although in that affidavit Dalton also stated that the “Missouri” Jesse’s given name was “Jesse Woodson James,” whereas current research suggests (doesn’t prove) that in reality the “Missouri” Jesse’s given name was Jesse Robert James and that the “Kentucky” Jesse’s given name was Jesse Woodson James. In his writings, Howk never addressed or cleared up these important discrepancies, which makes his presentation of this whole subject highly suspect from the beginning.
Here’s where it is really gets interesting: regarding the “Woodson” James: There is a secret, suppressed tradition that the man known as “Jesse Woodson James” was actually a descendant or relative of “Robert Wood” (“Sr.” and/or “Jr.”) somewhere/somehow along the line. This is where the theory about Jesse’s middle name “Woodson” (= Wood-son = “son of [Robert] Wood”) comes into play. However, the proponents of this theory state that the man known as “Jesse Woodson James” was not the same man, in reality, as the famous outlaw Jesse James (born on Sept. 5, 1847 ) of Kearney, Clay County, Missouri. According to this secret, suppressed tradition, these men got confused with each other in the historical accounts, and as a result the name “Jesse Woodson James” came to be applied to both men indiscriminately, whereas the name “Jesse Woodson James” properly belonged only to the man who was a descendant of Robert Wood. This alleged descendant of Robert Wood is also sometimes referred to as the “Kentucky Jesse,” while the famous Missouri outlaw is referred to as the “Missouri Jesse.” Some evidence has surfaced in the past few years which suggests that the man who was born at Kearney, Clay County, Missouri, on Sept. 5, 1847, was actually named “Jesse Robert James,” not “Jesse Woodson James.”
If this secret, suppressed tradition is true, then “Jesse Woodson James” (aka the “Kentucky Jesse”) was actually a descendant of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent (1767 – 1820), who was a member of the British royal family. This makes “Jesse Woodson James” (but not “Jesse Robert James” of Missouri) a member of the British royalty, which is information Queen Victoria and the so-called “British Illuminati” have supposedly done their utmost to suppress. All this is information certain members of the Wood family may be privy to, and it may very well explain why the Wood family refuses to communicate/cooperate with researchers who are investigating possible connections of “Jesse James” with the Wood family. If certain members of the Wood family who are “in the know” have signed a “nondisclosure agreement” on this topic at the behest of the British royal family, it is very unlikely the true facts of the matter will be disclosed any time soon, if ever. The “Wood family controversy” revolves around the issue of several possible illegitimate children of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and his mistress Alphonsine Therese-Bernardine Julie de St. Laurent de Mongenet (Montgenet), Baronne de Fortisson ( 1760 – 1830 ), who was frequently known simply as “Madame de St. Laurent” or “Julie de St. Laurent.” Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, was supposedly the father of Queen Victoria of England (1819 – 1901; reigned as queen from 1837 – 1901 ) however, it has been a long-standing rumor that John Conroy was actually Queen Victoria’s father, and that that information was immediately suppressed, along with the parallel/correlative information regarding Edward, Duke of Kent’s various alleged illegitimate children. The British royal family wanted both of these topics swept under the rug, for fear that an in-depth investigation of the topic of Edward’s illegitimate children would lead, in turn, to an in-depth investigation of Queen Victoria’s own alleged/rumored illegitimacy. Seven possibly illegitimate children have been attributed to the union of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, and his mistress “Madame de St. Laurent.”
SO WHAT’s the REAL DEAL? Who is who? Is the British coverup authentic?
March 30th, 2011 at 11:42 am
Do people in the US know that we have the same old reactors that are leaking in Japan in many of our US cities.
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WASHINGTON — Long before the nuclear emergency in Japan, U.S. regulators knew that a power failure lasting for days at an American nuclear plant, whatever the cause, could lead to a radioactive leak.
Even so, they have only required the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors to develop plans for dealing with much shorter blackouts on the assumption that power would be restored quickly.
In one nightmare simulation presented by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2009, it would take less than a day for radiation to escape from a reactor at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant after an earthquake, flood or fire knocked out all electrical power and there was no way to keep the reactors cool after backup battery power ran out.
That plant, the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station outside Lancaster, has reactors of the same older make and model as those releasing radiation at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which is using other means to try to cool the reactors.
And like Fukushima Dai-ichi, the Peach Bottom plant has enough battery power on site to power emergency cooling systems for eight hours. In Japan, that wasn’t enough time for power to be restored.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Institute trade association, three of the six reactors at the plant still can’t get power to operate the emergency cooling systems. Two were shut down at the time. In the sixth, the fuel was removed completely and put in the spent fuel pool when it was shut down for maintenance at the time of the disaster.
A week after the March 11 earthquake, diesel generators started supplying power to two other two reactors, Units 5 and 6, the groups said.
The risk of a blackout leading to core damage, while extremely remote, exists at all U.S. nuclear power plants, and some are more susceptible than others, according to an Associated Press investigation.
While regulators say they have confidence that measures adopted in the U.S. will prevent or significantly delay a core from melting and threatening a radioactive release, the events in Japan raise questions about whether U.S. power plants are as prepared as they could and should be.
“We didn’t address a tsunami and an earthquake, but clearly we have known for some time that one of the weak links that makes accidents a little more likely is losing power,” said Alan Kolaczkowski, a retired nuclear engineer who worked on a federal risk analysis of Peach Bottom released in 1990 and is familiar with the updated risk analysis.
Risk analyses conducted by the plants in 1991-94 and published by the commission in 2003 show that the chances of such an event striking a U.S. power plant are remote, even at the plant where the risk is the highest, the Beaver Valley Power Station in Pennsylvania.
These long odds are among the reasons why the United States since the late 1980s has only required nuclear power plants to cope with blackouts for four or eight hours, depending on the risk. That’s about how much time batteries would last. After that, it is assumed that power would be restored. And so far, that’s been the case.
Equipment put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks could buy more time. Otherwise, the reactor’s radioactive core could begin to melt unless alternative cooling methods were employed.
In Japan, the utility has tried using portable generators and dumped tons of seawater, among other things, on the reactors in an attempt to keep them cool.
A 2003 federal analysis looking at how to estimate the risk of containment failure said that should power be knocked out by an earthquake or tornado it “would be unlikely that power will be recovered in the time frame to prevent core meltdown.”
In Japan, it was a one-two punch: first the earthquake, then the tsunami.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the crippled plant, found other ways to cool the reactor core and so far avert a full-scale meltdown without electricity.
“Clearly the coping duration is an issue on the table now,” said Biff Bradley, director of risk assessment for the Nuclear Energy Institute. “The industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have to go back in light of what we just observed and rethink station blackout duration.”
David Lochbaum, a former plant engineer and nuclear safety director at the advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists, put it another way: “Japan shows what happens when you play beat-the-clock and lose.”
Lochbaum plans to use the Japan disaster to press lawmakers and the nuclear power industry to do more when it comes to coping with prolonged blackouts, such as having temporary generators on site that can recharge batteries.
A complete loss of electrical power, generally speaking, poses a major problem for a nuclear power plant because the reactor core must be kept cool, and back-up cooling systems – mostly pumps that replenish the core with water_ require massive amounts of power to work.
Without the electrical grid, or diesel generators, batteries can be used for a time, but they will not last long with the power demands. And when the batteries die, the systems that control and monitor the plant can also go dark, making it difficult to ascertain water levels and the condition of the core.
One variable not considered in the NRC risk assessments of severe blackouts was cooling water in spent fuel pools, where rods once used in the reactor are placed.
With limited resources, the commission decided to focus its analysis on the reactor fuel, which has the potential to release more radiation.
An analysis of individual plant risks released in 2003 by the NRC shows that for 39 of the 104 nuclear reactors, the risk of core damage from a blackout was greater than 1 in 100,000.
At 45 other plants the risk is greater than 1 in 1 million, the threshold NRC is using to determine which severe accidents should be evaluated in its latest analysis.
The Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 1, in Pennsylvania had the greatest risk of core melt – 6.5 in 100,000, according to the analysis. But that risk may have been reduced in subsequent years as NRC regulations required plants to do more to cope with blackouts.
Todd Schneider, a spokesman for FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., which runs Beaver Creek, told the AP that batteries on site would last less than a week.
In 1988, eight years after labeling blackouts “an unresolved safety issue,” the NRC required nuclear power plants to improve the reliability of their diesel generators, have more backup generators on site, and better train personnel to restore power.
These steps would allow them to keep the core cool for four to eight hours if they lost all electrical power. By contrast, the newest generation of nuclear power plant, which is still awaiting approval, can last 72 hours without taking any action, and a minimum of seven days if water is supplied by other means to cooling pools.
Despite the added safety measures, a 1997 report found that blackouts – the loss of on-site and off-site electrical power – remained “a dominant contributor to the risk of core melt at some plants.”
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, further solidified that nuclear reactors might have to keep the core cool for a longer period without power.
After 9/11, the commission issued regulations requiring that plants have portable power supplies for relief valves and be able to manually operate an emergency reactor cooling system when batteries go out.
The NRC says these steps, and others, have reduced the risk of core melt from station blackouts from the current fleet of nuclear plants.
For instance, preliminary results of the latest analysis of the risks to the Peach Bottom plant show that any release caused by a blackout there would be far less rapid and would release less radiation than previously thought, even without any actions being taken.
With more time, people can be evacuated. The NRC says improved computer models, coupled with up-to-date information about the plant, resulted in the rosier outlook.
“When you simplify, you always err towards the worst possible circumstance,” Scott Burnell, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said of the earlier studies.
The latest work shows that “even in situations where everything is broken and you can’t do anything else, these events take a long time to play out,” he said. “Even when you get to releasing into environment, much less of it is released than actually thought.”
Exelon Corp., the operator of the Peach Bottom plant, referred all detailed questions about its preparedness and the risk analysis back to the NRC.
In a news release issued earlier this month, the company, which operates 10 nuclear power plants, said “all Exelon nuclear plants are able to safely shut down and keep the fuel cooled even without electricity from the grid.”
Other people, looking at the crisis unfolding in Japan, aren’t so sure.
In the worst-case scenario, the NRC’s 1990 risk assessment predicted that a core melt at Peach Bottom could begin in one hour if electrical power on- and off-site were lost, the diesel generators – the main back-up source of power for the pumps that keep the core cool with water – failed to work and other mitigating steps weren’t taken.
“It is not a question that those things are definitely effective in this kind of scenario,” said Richard Denning, a professor of nuclear engineering at Ohio State University, referring to the steps NRC has taken to prevent incidents.
Denning had done work as a contractor on severe accident analyses for the NRC since 1975. He retired from Battelle Memorial Institute in 1995.
“They certainly could have made all the difference in this particular case,” he said, referring to Japan. “That’s assuming you have stored these things in a place that would not have been swept away by tsunami.”
March 30th, 2011 at 11:42 am
Just like in Japan. We are allowing the plants to conduce their own Risk analyses. And naturally they report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the chances of suffering a radiation leak are remote. Rather than check their facts, the NRC merely published their report to the public as if it is gospel or something they have verified.
Lorna
March 30th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
oooowwww, Librarian, yes you’re onto something with the KGC, you’ve got detes I could not get to but the whole British family Illuminati (and the illuminati/knights templar in general) were a rabbit hole unlike anything I’d ever researched before, that was back a few weeks ago…would love to hear AH’s details on this one, thanks for the digging…I got more caught up in the mind control games of the 1940′s and 50′s and it spookied me a bit I must admit, what say you, AH, about any of the above 1800′s or 1940-50′s and illuminati/KGC/etc…very interesting occurences, some too hard to believe. Do tell, please? Thank you, ZL
March 30th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Lorna, yes…your post is exactly what I meant in my earlier comment – that whole ‘keep it movin’ nothing to see here folks’ garbage that govt agencies/news stations are putting out there, is anybody buying that we’ll all be OK if Japan or US reactors blow? What a bunch a maroons. ZL
March 30th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Zen Lill, I couldn’t find any reference that the Librarian made to the KGC. Who are they?
March 30th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Zen Lill, the KGC, you’ve got detes I could not get to but the whole British family Illuminati (and the illuminati/knights templar in general) what are you talking about?
Some of us are new to this blog?
Randy
March 30th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
This heartache I just can’t explain,
All I ever feel is pain,
That passion I long for true love for real,
His gentle caressing is what I long to feel,
A love that when we are together we’d rather die than be apart,
A love that when our lips meet I can feel the kiss from his heart.
I’ll wait forever to have this special love,
I’ll even wait for all eternity in the heavens above,
All this waiting for him may cause me pain and strife,
But I’ll wait, because this love comes once in a life.
March 30th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
This from Moveon.Org. I am sharing this because I’m hopeful that this will in fact motivate the nation to turn its attention to the injustice of corporate tax evasion. (What is it going to take people?)
According to The New York Times, last year General Electric (GE) made over $14.2 billion in profit, but paid NO federal tax.1 None. In fact, thanks to the millions GE spent lobbying Congress, we American taxpayers actually owed GE $3.2 billion in tax credits.2
Now GE is slashing health benefits and retirement benefits for new employees among non-union workers and is expected to push unions to accept similar cutbacks3, while its CEO, Jeff Immelt, gets a 100% pay raise.4
What’s worse? Immelt now sits as chair of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (Jobs Council), representing corporate America to the President on matters like job creation and corporate taxation. That’s a slap in the face to every hardworking, tax-paying American—especially GE employees. That’s why we’re teaming up with Russ Feingold and his new group Progressives United today to call for Immelt to go. Will you join the call?
One of the chief ways GE avoids paying taxes is by shifting a large portion of its profits overseas, and jobs follow.5 Now GE’s CEO is the person charged with helping the President create jobs here in America. That’s just perverse.
And if the American people got back just the $3.2 billion GE took in tax credits, it would pay for the programs that House Republicans want to gut, like community health centers providing care to over three million low-income people6 and food and health care assistance to pregnant women, new moms, and children.7 We’d even have enough left to save the jobs of over 21,000 teachers across the country.8
The American deficit is being weighed down by hundreds of billions spent on bailing out major corporations. The tea party’s plan is to make working families pay through devastating cuts, instead of making corporations with billions in profits pay their fair share. But if we can hold Immelt accountable for GE’s corporate irresponsibility, the nation will turn its attention to the injustice of corporate tax evasion in the face of the Republicans’ budget-slashing attack on working families.
Make it all happen by signing the petition calling for Immelt to go. Sign the petition calling for GE CEO Jeff Immelt to step down as chair of the President’s Jobs Council. I signed; I hope you do too. Something has to be done.
http://pol.moveon.org/immelt_must_go/?rc=tw&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=1
Sources:
1. “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes All Together,” The New York Times, March 24, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207259&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=3
2. Ibid.
3. “After Paying Zero Income Taxes, GE Plans To Ask Its Union Workers To Make Wage and Benefits Concessions”, ThinkProgress, March 28, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207260&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=5
4. “UPDATE: GE Doubles CEO Immelt’s Compensation, Shrinks Board”, Smart Money, March 14, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207261&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=6
5. “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes All Together,” The New York Times, March 24, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207259&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=7
6. “NACHC Statement in Response to the Budget from the House Appropriations Committee,” National Association of Community Health Centers website, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206514&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=8
7. “Bye Bye, Big Bird. Hello, E. Coli.,” The New Republic, February 12, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206104&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=9
8. Based on an annual teacher’s salary of $42,500, as noted in the Payscale website (updated March 19, 2011), accessed March 30, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207263&id=26713-18577251-CVpjijx&t=10
/SB
March 30th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Zen Lill: You have been doing some research. I have been trying to connect the Knights Templar, Illuminati, Freemasons, Bilderberg Group, Skull and Bones and others, together or seperately, for some time. But I haven’t heard of the KGC (Knights of the Golden Circle) till today and Googled it. And got the whole story, well enough to know their plans.
What I had the hardest time with was DETES, why can’t you just say details so someone knows what the hell you’re talking about?
This is some frightening shit considering that June and Ward Cleaver aren’t around anymore. I know you think I’m funny. But I ain’t funny,funny.
There is some creepy shit goin’ on behind the scenes, and it has been happening for a long time. It appears to be falling together at this point, while everything else is falling apart.
Al
March 30th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Floyd, reread the first paragraph of Librarian’s comment, KGC is there.
Randy, sorry, but it’s so involved and everything is so connected and well, read Al’s comment, and yues, Al, it is all connected and falling into place nicely. That’s what I meant when I said a few weeks back ‘that seemingly unrelated occurences and events (spin doctored to seem unconnected totally) are very much part of a master plan. Anonz eluded to a 30+ year plan by the puppetmasters of the GOP and it was a hint he left that got me going…
Two weeks or so ago, I wrote a long revealing post and when I his ‘submit comment’ this blog went car-aaazzyyy, it only showed ‘a day in the life of…’ 20 x’s and flashing – so I assumed whoever watches over this place did not like my tell-all, and then…well, the more I researched the more it freaked me out – so sorry but I just put all my info under two favorites headings (‘rabbit hole’ and ‘HOLY SHIT’) and left it all alone, as I mentioned I got a bit fascinated with the depth and amount of mind control being used by the powers that be (and I left connects but would not post then so I’ll parcel em’ out in a few posts OK?) since way back, creating in essence, agents who run themselves to a degree bc their minds have been fragmented, some laso have handlers, it’s weird and it’s still creeping me out now…
I’ll be back with more but perhaps AH or our new Librarian would care to elaborate?
That’s it for now, I’ll make sure this posts first – Zen Lill
March 30th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Al’a'mode’ sorry about ‘detes’ I am accused by pals regularly of speaking in code : ) and am also known as the abbreviation queen though I’ve yet to shorten that moniker ‘abqueen’ would imply something to do with a body part and nah, not going there : ) would you prefer that I take the time to hit a few more keys and spell it all out, bro, bc for you, I would do it! – ZL
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