The United States has escalated tensions with Iran once again, this after President Obama called for a freeze of all Iranian assets held in the US. The executive order signed on Monday was in reaction to what the US is calling “deceptive practices” by Iran. Israel has also joined in by stepping up threats against Iran, and US Secretary Defense Leon Panetta has acknowledged Israel may attack Iran in the next 90 days. Vijay Prashad, director of International Studies at Trinity College, takes a deeper look on the escalated possibility of war.
GlaxoSmithKline is clearing cash out of eurozone countries on a daily basis to protect itself against a potential banking and liquidity crisis in the region.
Sir Andrew Witty, chief executive of Britain’s biggest drug maker, said that early last year the company had started emptying “tens of millions of pounds” in cash every day out of most eurozone countries into accounts in Britain.
“We don’t leave any cash in most European countries. We sweep any cash we raise during the day out of local banks into banks we think are robust and secure,” he added. “You do your best to actively manage the risk.”
Effectively, the measures will force companies and financial institutions throughout the world to choose between the United States and Iran as their business partner.
… Ron Paul told voters in Iowa that western sanctions against Iran are “acts of war” that are likely to lead to an actual war.
Paul said that Iran would be justified in responding to sanctions by blocking the Straits of Hormuz, adding that the country blocking the strategically important strait is “so logical” since they have no other recourse.
He then compared the situation to China blocking off the Gulf of Mexico to trade.
Washington tightens financial vise imposed on Islamic Republic over nuclear program. New order effectively blacklists all Iranian financial institutions under US jurisdiction
US President Barack Obama ordered on Monday new sanctions against Iran, including its central bank, seeking to tighten the chokehold on Tehran’s economy as a nuclear showdown deepens.
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On 5 Feb 2012, I measured radiation around Kashiwa High School, Kashiwa city, Chiba pref. Japan.
The monitor indicates 0.29 micro Sievert per hour in air at chest hight, 6.20 on road side near a bicycle parking lot for students.
The monitorinig place is aprrox. 200 km from Fukushima Nuclear power plant, and 25 or 30 km for the center of Tokyo.
Measuring instrument is made of Ukraine, ECOTEST MKS-05.
6.20μSv/h 県立柏高等学校 自転車置場近くの砂
On the press conference of 2/7 AM, Tepco announced they ended up injecting 1094 Kg of boric acid to reactor 2 though they were planning to inject 960Kg.
At this moment, Nuclear Safety Commission stated they need to distribute potassium iodide tablet to the citizens in 30km area or even 50km area for possible nuclear accident. They say it is because they couldn’t give potassium iodide tablet to people in 311, but you can’t help questioning, why now ?
Mr. Koide talked on the radio show “Tanemaki journal” like below.
The actual problem is there is not even the way to know what’s going on inside of the container vessel.
Probably the fuel is as melted as mud. It’s attached to everywhere in the vessel, and the place that the mud is attached gets heated.
If they increase the water amount, the mud may move and the new place may get heated again.
so some place may get cool but other place may get extremely hot. so other places where no heat gauge is near may be over 100℃.
Even robot can’t get into the vessel. We can not see inside of the vessel for longer than several decades.
“If you burn firewood with 468 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, it will result in ashes with 85,176 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium (468 x 182). Even by the lax “standard” of the Ministry of the Environment, you wouldn’t be able to bury these ashes in a regular dump, not to mention using it in your garden. You certainly wouldn’t want to use them in your noodles, because the transfer rate from the ashes to the noodles seems rather high from the example in the article.”
Radiation’s reach is indeed long. Okinawa is as far away as you can get in Japan from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and there has hardly been any radioactive fallout. Maybe because of that, businesses in Okinawa don’t seem to be much concerned about radioactive contamination in goods.
Here’s an example of some Okinawa restaurants having bought firewood from (of all places) Fukushima Prefecture via a distributor in Gifu Prefecture who clearly thought it could get away with it; one of the restaurants made the traditional “Okinawa Soba (noodle)” using the ashes from the radioactive firewood, and has already served the noodles to the customers.
As usual, the familiar refrain from the government officials: “There is no effect on health.” They might as well add “Just keep on smiling.”
Okinawa Prefecture announced on February 7 that 4 restaurants in Okinawa have used firewood from Fukushima Prefecture, and in one of the restaurant the maximum 468 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the firewood, which is about 11 times the level of the national safety limit for radioactive cesium in firewood (40 becquerels/kg). In another restaurant, 39,960 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the ashes after the firewood was burned, which is about 5 times the level of the national safety limit of 8,000 becquerels/kg. The Okinawa prefectural government says, “For both the consumers and the employees at these restaurants, there is no effect on health at these levels.” Continue reading »
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