This and That...

[Warph]

Obumas Off To Hawaii For 17 Day Trip Later This Week

(Hey, it may only cost us a million or two or three or four)

Via Daily Mail:
President Obama and his family are expected to leave Washington later this week for a 17-day vacation in Hawaii.

This will be the First Family's sixth Christmas in Hawaii since he was elected president, and in keeping with tradition they are expected to spend it on the island of Kailua.

The White House announced on Friday that the Obamas will depart next week after what is expected to be a light work schedule for the president in Washington.

The president and his family traditionally spend their Christmas break in a rented private beach front residence with spectacular ocean views.

The Obama's covers the cost of the accommodation that typically costs up to $3,500 a day, or $75,000 a month, but local and federal taxpayers help pay their travel and security bill which costs in the region of $1 million.

[Warph]

From Life To Eternal Life ... Peter O'Toole 1932-2013 Legendary actor Peter O'Toole died today. He was 81.

Read more at : http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/15/peter-o-toole-dies-lawrence-arabia

In honor of Peter O'Toole, here is Lawrence of Arabia, full, uncut and unedited.

Part #1

Part #2

[Ross]

Before I adopted my son he had been labeled with ADHD and attachment disorder and far to many other things to list here by a foster mother through Child Protective Services in Washington, State. When I adopted him all were dropped except ADHD. The purpose of all the labels, was so the foster mother could collect more money from the state. As rinks were blowing soon as I realized the shrinks were blowing smoke at us, I fired all of them and removed the ADHD drugs from my sons life.

Sure, I was always concerned that I did the right thing. However thisi article confirms I did do the right thing.

Diagnosed With ADHD? You May Have Been Sold a Lie

Drug companies target parents through false advertising: report

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2013 4:05 PM CST

(Newser) – The diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has itself become hyperactive, with doctors handing out too many pills, ads creating unrealistic expectations, and drug companies downplaying side effects like insomnia and mood swings, the New York Times reports. "The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it's not. It's preposterous," said Keith Conners, a doctor who once led the charge to legitimize ADHD. "This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels." Among the Times' findings:


• Scientists estimate that real ADHD affects around 5% of children, but the CDC says that 15% of high schoolers have been diagnosed, and the number of children on ADHD drugs has risen from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million today. So what's driving the diagnoses?
• Millions are spent on ads, some targeted directly at children or parents, saying that ADHD drugs like Adderall will improve performance in school and even inspire kids to take out the garbage. The FDA has repeatedly told drug companies to withdraw such ads, and one company, Shire, agreed this year to pay $57.5 million in fines for improper advertising and sales of drugs.
• Drug companies also target parents through sources that seem independent, like teachers and support groups. Two parents near Seattle put their child on Ritalin for 3 years because teachers—who had received materials from the drug company Ciba—pushed them into it. "I definitely felt seduced and enticed," said the father. "I'd say baited."
• You'll hear that ADHD is a lifelong condition, but at least some doctors who say so are on the Big Pharma payroll. And studies show that about half of ADHD kids don't have the disorder as adults. Meanwhile, drug companies are successfully targeting the adult ADHD market.


http://www.newser.com/story/179211/diagnosed-with-adhd-you-may-have-been-sold-a-lie.html

[Ross]

Analysis
Fukushima's crippled reactors: the risky plan to move fuel rods

World watching extremely delicate operation by TEPCO utility with checkered track record

By Craig Dale, CBC NewsPosted: Nov 19, 2013 1:22 PM ET|

The thousands of people who punch in every day at what is arguably the world's most dangerous workplace are accustomed to facing risks.


But now workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have embarked on their most precarious operation since the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns and explosions at the facility.


On Monday, select crews from Tokyo Electric Power Company began  removing hundreds of radioactive fuel rods from a cooling pool inside a rickety reactor building, a job that is unprecedented in scale, and where one wrong move could have disastrous consequences.


Fuel rod quick facts

TEPCO engineers have a plan to remove more than 1,500 fuel rod assemblies from a pool in Daiichi nuclear site's reactor four building.

Six teams of six workers will operate a specially constructed crane to move the assemblies into containers. Each team can only work for two hours a day to minimize radiation exposure.

The assemblies are being raised at the speed of one centimetre per second to avoid any further damage.

The amount of radioactive cesium-137 in the pool holding the fuel rod assemblies is said to be the equivalent of roughly 14,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs.



"It's a totally different operation than removing normal fuel rods from a spent fuel pool," Shunichi Tanaka, the chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, said recently.


"They need to be handled extremely carefully and closely monitored. You should never rush or force them out, or they may break. I'm much more worried about this than I am about contaminated water."


TEPCO's checkered track record


But given that TEPCO has not exactly won over the Japanese public with its handling of the catastrophe, and that the amount of radioactive cesium-137 in the pool is said to be the equivalent of roughly 14,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs, this next step is turning into a crucial test for the beleaguered utility as much as it is an engineering challenge.


Few in Japan or abroad seem convinced that TEPCO can pull this off, given the company's checkered track record.


This is the same utility, they point out, that used false inspection reports years ago to cover up faults at Fukushima Daiichi; that dismissed warnings in 2008 that a monster tsunami could engulf the plant; that waited weeks to admit meltdowns even happened in March 2011, and that waited many months to acknowledge radioactive water is leaking into the Pacific Ocean.

TEPCO executives have also held back key information, and stumbled from problem to problem over the past 2½ years.

In fact, TEPCO has performed so poorly that a task force for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is recommending it be split up so that the job of decommissioning the wrecked plant would be separated from the utility's power-generating role.

Managing risks

TEPCO workers are expected to spend the next 12 months removing fuel rods from reactor four, which was offline when Fukushima Daiichi was shaken by powerful tremors and swamped by towering waves.

In the subsequent hydrogen explosions and fires, debris rained down on the large pool that holds 1,533 fuel rod assemblies —1,331 used (and highly radioactive) and 202 unused. Another roughly 1,500 assemblies are held in the three other reactor buildings.

TEPCO spokesperson Tatsuhiro Yamagishi told CBC News that along with cesium-137 and cesium-134, the radioactive isotopes contained in the fuel include strontium-90, radium-226, uranium-235, and plutonium-239, which has a half-life of approximately 24,000 years.

Company officials recently revealed that 80 assemblies are damaged, 70 of them in reactor one building. They say holes and cracks in the assemblies could cause radioactive particles to leak out.

"We are managing different types of risks," he said. "We are evaluating each case right now."

John Froats, an associate professor and nuclear engineer in residence at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, says those risks can probably be dealt with if handled carefully.

Anti-nuclear activists around the world, like those here in Mubai, India, in October, have stepped up their campaigns following the meltdown of the Fukushima reactors two years ago. (Rafiq Maqbool / Associated Press)

"The Fukushima Daiichi plant evolution is no doubt complicated by the plant damage and debris," he said. "These complications can be managed by careful inspection to understand the state of systems and equipment and the fuel, and then by careful planning of the step-by-step tasks that need to be achieved."

Workers spent months shoring up the reactor four structure and its pool, fearing another strong quake could trigger a catastrophe. Then they removed larger pieces of debris and checked some fuel rod assemblies to make sure they weren't corroded by the seawater that was used to cool the pool in the early days of the crisis.

■Crippled Fukushima reactor to get ice wall
■Removal of fuel rods begins at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

Last year, they successfully removed two unused rod assemblies. This week they began using a specially constructed crane to slowly transfer the assemblies one-by-one into containers, which will be hoisted out of the pool and taken to another storage location on the Daiichi site. They've installed cameras in the murky waters to monitor the progress and check for debris.

In a corporate video on the TEPCO website, a deep-voiced narrator cheerfully runs through a simplified version of the process.

"Moving the spent fuel out of the damaged reactor building and into safe, permanent storage lays the groundwork for moving forward with cleanup and remediation of the damaged reactor building," the video says.

In the video, TEPCO also calls the removal of the fuel rod assemblies from the reactor four building "a milestone" in the recovery of Fukushima Daiichi.

The world is watching

Certainly, it's a key part of the decades-long decommissioning process now underway, and perhaps key to the company's survival.

But while utility managers have no choice but to show they're up to the task, the reality is they're tackling a challenge no one in their industry has faced before, and they will be carrying out the work knowing people around the world will be watching with critical eyes.

Among the critics is Mitsuhiko Tanaka, a science journalist and engineer who helped build part of reactor four at Fukushima Daiichi (and who later admitted to helping cover up a manufacturing flaw with the unit).

As he sees it, "TEPCO is a selling-electricity company, not an engineering company.

"It is quite apparent that TEPCO doesn't have enough ability to cope with the problems in progress now. That's why [it] has made a lot of mistakes."

Tanaka, who calls the current state of the nuclear plant "hopeless," says that while the utility has plenty of experience in normal fuel removal work, this job is different because of the possibility that some of the rod assemblies have been damaged.

And although TEPCO spokespersons insist their inspections and those by outside experts confirm the reinforcement of the reactor building has made it seismically sound, Tanaka maintains the structure is still vulnerable.

"I think it is very dangerous," he says. "Furthermore, this very difficult work is going to be done in an earthquake-prone country."

TEPCO was given permission in late summer to take on the removal of the fuel rods. But just before the operation began U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited the facility to offer American help.

"The success of the cleanup also has global significance," Moniz said. "We all have a direct interest in seeing that the next steps are taken well, efficiently and safely."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/fukushima-s-crippled-reactors-the-risky-plan-to-move-fuel-rods-1.2431190

[Ross]

Fukushima Daiichi: a Never-Ending Story of Pain or Outrage?

Hannah Spector

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to scholarship on cosmopolitanism and education, with particular relevancy for environmental education. While much of current research in this area has underscored cosmopolitanism as a politico-philosophical project for global justice or a worldly sensibility that can be cultivated through literal and/or metaphoric travel to different lands, I argue that cosmopolitanism ought also to be understood in phenomenological-environmental terms. Drawing from Ulrich Beck's work on world risk society and Hannah Arendt's on responsibility, I examine the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a case of actually existing cosmopolitanism. When understood as a global risk (turned catastrophe), cosmopolitanism presents an urgent occasion to summons a "postnational ethics of responsibility" (Beck). Such an ethics centralizes the importance that story and metaphor play in planetary sustainability.

http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/article/view/183609

[Warph]

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster : One of the World's Worst-Ever Cases of Pollution.

Professor Fumikazu Yoshida of Hokkaido University's Graduate School of Economics, Economic Journal of Hokkaido University, March 2013:
The Fukushima nuclear disaster, however, has been responsible for the largest and worst case of pollution to have occurred during the postwar era. [...]
Its complexities and scale are greater than anything that has gone before. [...]

So severe are [the myriad of problems] that we can characterize this disaster as a "second war defeat" since its impact on the nation questions the whole basis of Japan's postwar society. [...]

There are immense dangers that the 'accident' still poses... [...]

Rather than simply being a local problem, it has been from the beginning a nationwide and potentially international issue (some say that it has the potential to affect the whole of the northern hemisphere). If we consider the nature of the devastation and the number of victims. [...]

as well as the extent of affected area... [...]

then we understand that the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident has been the cause of injury to human society and the natural environment on a scale that is unprecedentedly wide-spread and lifethreatening in its effects. [...]

The nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is a "multiple disaster" never before experienced in human history...

[...]

Estimate of Consequences from the Fukushima Disaster, Nordic PSA Conference (nuclear utilities in Finland and Sweden), September 2011:
Comparison of results for the Fukushima best estimate and Chernobyl source terms used for the Fukushima site shows that the Fukushima accident, as a whole, is very likely the largest nuclear accident which mankind experienced because estimates of long term fatalities, risks of death and other societal impact based on Chernobyl source terms in Fukushima show lower potential of consequences than Fukushima source terms.
http://enenews.com/japan-professor-damage-fukushima-unprecedented-disaster-never-before-experienced-human-history-could-affect-northern-hemisphere-experts-very-largest-nuclear-accident-mankind-experienced


[...]

Building nuclear plants in earthquake and tsunami prone areas is not the brightest thing to do but money can move mountains.  And with the Fukushima disaster being labeled by scientists as the worst nuclear disaster in history one can see why.

After the tsunami in Japan ancient markers were found on the mountainsides warning future generations not to build below that point because of enormous tsunamis that had already taken place wiping out everything in their path.  Did anyone listen to these ancient warnings carved on pillar stones?     

Tsunami Warning

http://schuylerthorpe.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/in-japan-tsunami-warnings-often-found-carved-in-ancient-stone/

Of course not just as no one listens to the ancient warnings given by prophets of long ago.  People want their own way.  People continue to throw caution to the winds.

Now, understand, I am not saying there should be no nuclear power.  What I am saying is that more research and study into keeping it and making it safe is needed before anything new is built.  More study into fixing and making existing plants safer and more contained is also in order.  Otherwise all bets are off and it should be discontinued because the aftermath of accidents are far too devastating.  We do not know enough about this kind of power production to really be safe using it.  This despite it's being in use for so long a time.  We cannot assure safety with it either and its unsafe factors far outweigh those of other energy producing methods.

...Warph

[Warph]

Fox News 2013 Ratings Champ, Draws More Viewers Than CNN, MSNBC, HLN Combined

(Hmmmm.... Media Matters unavailable for comment.  LOL... Or is it?  Checkout:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/media-matters-fox_n_4433207.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Politics )

Via Variety:
http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/fox-news-remains-ratings-dynamo-as-2013-comes-to-close-1200964903/#


Fox News Channel maintained its grip on the cable-news network ratings prize in 2013, drawing more viewers than the combined averages of CNN, MSNBC and HLN.

It was a down year in terms of overall audience, as every newsie but HLN showed declines from their Presidential Election-driven tallies of 2012.

According to Nielsen data through Dec. 8, Fox News Channel averaged 1.774 million viewers in primetime (down 13% from 2012) and 297,000 adults 25-54 (down 30%). It was followed by MSNBC with 645,000 viewers and 203,000 adults 25-54 (down 29% in both); CNN with 578,000 (down 15%) and 187,000 adults 25-54 (down 16%); and HLN with 403,000 total viewer (up 21%) and 142,000 in the demo (up 27%).

Among all basic cable networks in 2013, FNC ranked sixth in primetime while MSNBC was 29th and CNN was 31st. In total day, Fox ran fourth while CNN was 28th and MSNBC ran 30th; in 2012, CNN finished behind MSNBC. CNN and HLN showed some year-over-year gains on a total-day basis, while FNC and MSNBC were down.

Fox and CNN both made some significant changes to their lineup in 2013, with FNC's revamped primetime lineup, introduced on Oct. 7, posting gains in both total viewers and adults 25-54 vs. the block's 2013 season-to-date average. The newest program, "The Kelly File" with Megyn Kelly, has improved the 9 p.m. hour by 23% in total viewers and 13% in adults 25-54, and "The O'Reilly Factor" is the top show in cable news (2.78 million, 439,000 adults 25-54).

Also of note outside of primetime, "The Five" (5-6 p.m. ET) and "Red Eye" (3-4 a.m. ET) had their most-watched years to date.

Best news for CNN, which is on pace for its least-watched year on record in primetime, was that it was able to hold steady or rise a bit in various total-day categories, like afternoon show "The Lead With Jake Tapper," which is second among the cable news nets in its timeslot. Morning show "News Day" is up a bit vs. last year in total viewers but is averaging less than 300,000 daily and is down vs. what the net was drawing in the time period earlier this year.

Elsewhere at CNN, the reboot of "Crossfire" has struggled, averaging 400,000 viewers, but the net made some noise — especially in the 25-54 demo — with some of its CNN Films specials.

[Warph]

Are you an American Badass?

by Lt.Col.Allen West
December 17, 2013

Since this is the gift-giving season, I'd like to recommend a fantastic book, written by a "badass" friend of mine, Dr. Dale Comstock.

It is said that "a nation sleeps peacefully at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on her behalf." Dale is most certainly one of those men.

He is possibly the youngest Soldier ever to qualify for the Army's Special Operations Detachment (Delta), the nation's premier counter-terrorism force. Dale follows the calling of his own father, an infantryman in Vietnam, who passed on the legacy oath of service and commitment to his son.

It's not just Dale's exceptional military service that's impressive — Paratrooper, Ranger, Special Forces, Delta, serving in every ground combat operation from Grenada to Afghanistan to Iraq. Dale also holds a Masters degree in business and security management and a Ph.D in alternative medicine.

He's been a small business owner, and some of you may remember him from the NBC series, "Stars Earn Stripes."

Dale is the consummate man's man and as I had the special honor of dubbing him, a "modern-day Spartan." His book details the exploits of an American warrior. Dale was encouraged to write his book by the late US Navy SEAL Sniper Chris Kyle, author of "American Sniper."

What is an "American Badass," the moniker bestowed upon him by his competitors on the NBC show ? Here are Dale's own words:
An American Badass can be a man or woman. One needs to be a role model and lead by a positive example. An American Badass doesn't start fights, but knows if he must fight, he can with courage and conviction. An American Badass doesn't steal, lie, or subvert the society he lives in. He lives by a code of unwavering morality, and ethics that are tempered with honor, honesty, integrity, leadership, and loyalty to family, friends, and America.

I wholeheartedly recommend this great read by a great American. Dale says it's his story of a journey "from innocence to a world of extreme violence, from a paltry and humble existence to a life enriched through determination, hard work, sacrifice, and the love of family." It's a great Christmas gift for dads – and badass moms.

Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2013/12/american-badass/#WkUEyYjZOGAQGKm8.99

[Warph]

Vietnam War Hero Edwin A. "Ned" Shuman Dies At 82...

(RIP Lt.Cmdr. Shuman... you are truly Gods Child

)

Via WaPo:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/edwin-a-ned-shuman-navy-aviator-and-pow-dies-at-82/2013/12/14/7fe7efb2-5d27-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

On Nov. 29, 1970, 43 U.S. servicemen gathered in the Hoa Lo prison compound, often called the "Hanoi Hilton," and performed an act of retaliation— a church service.

Nine days earlier, after a failed attempt by U.S. Special Forces to liberate the prisoners, the North Vietnamese captors had removed them from their cells and incarcerated them in a single holding area. For several men, it was the first face-to-face encounter with friends they had made through tap-code communication.

The first Sunday after they were removed from their cells, they attempted to hold a church service but were threatened with severe punishment. Seeing the men's disappointment, then-Lt. Cmdr. Edwin A. "Ned" Shuman — a naval aviator who would spend five years as a POW and who died Dec. 3 at age 82 — stepped forward. "I want to know — person by person— if you are really committed to holding church," he said, asking each of the other 42 men for support until he achieved a unanimous commitment.

The following Sunday, they tried again. This time, Cmdr. Shuman, the highest-ranking officer in the group, began to lead the soldiers in the Lord's Prayer. The guards quickly grabbed him and took him away to be tortured.

The remaining officers continued reciting the prayer in unison, drowning out the shouts of the North Vietnamese guards who were beating them with gun butts.

"Forty-two men in prison pajamas followed Ned's lead," recalled retired Col. Leo Thorsness in his memoir "Surviving Hell: A POW's Journey." "I know I will never see a better example of pure raw leadership."

From then on — until the men were released with other long-serving POWs as part of Operation Homecoming in 1973 — they held a weekly church service.

"It was the first confrontation of the camp's regulation," said Everett Alvarez Jr., a naval aviator who was held as a POW for 8 1/2 years by North Vietnam and at one time served as deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. "For those of us who were religious or spiritual, it was a very important part of our morale, optimism, and overall, it was a part of our survival."

[Warph]

"Wreaths Across America"

(While these pictures are from Arlington, this event took place at cemeteries across the country today)

Via Politico:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/wreaths-across-america-day-arlington-cemetery-101165.html

PORTLAND, Maine — Thousands of Maine-made wreaths are being distributed at Arlington National Cemetery.

All told, 11 truckloads of greenery from Worcester Wreath Co. made their way to the cemetery outside Washington, D.C. Maine first lady Ann LePage planned to be on hand Saturday as the wreaths are laid on headstones.

All told, the nonprofit Wreaths Across America expects to ship 470,000 to 500,000 wreaths to adorn veterans' graves this holiday season. Last-minute donations bumped the number of Arlington wreaths from 100,000 to 120,000.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King say the Senate has passed a resolution designating Saturday as "Wreaths Across America Day."