Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Outrage as Japan lifts radiation limit for kids
Mark Willacy
ABC Australia
May 24, 2011
Outraged parents have held a rowdy demonstration outside Japan’s education ministry in Tokyo to protest against the government’s decision to weaken nuclear safety standards in schools.
Under new guidelines, Japanese children are allowed to be exposed to 20 times more radiation than was previously permissible.
The new regulation means children can now be exposed to as much radiation as a German nuclear worker.
The government argues the change is essential to keeping schools open in the Fukushima region.
According to Nobel Prize-winning group Physicians for Social Responsibility, the new limits mean exposed children now have a one-in-200 risk of getting cancer, compared with a one-in-500 risk for adults.
Defense Contractors Using Prison Labor to Build High-Tech Weapons Systems
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It is a little known fact of the attack on Libya that some of the components of the cruise missiles being launched into the country mayl have been made by prisoners in the United States. According to its website, UNICOR, which is the organization that represents Federal Prison Industries, “supplies numerous electronic components and service for guided missiles, including the Patriot Advanced Capability Missile (PAC-3)”.
In addition to constructing electronic components for missiles, prison labor in the United States is used to make electronic cables fordefense items like “the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing (BA) F-15, the General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16, Bell/Textron’s (TXT) Cobra helicopter, as well as electro-optical equipment for the BAE Systems”.
Traditionally these types of defense jobs would have gone to highly paid, unionized workers. However the prison workers building parts for these missiles earn a starting wage of 23 cents an hour and can only make a maximum of $1.15 an hour. Nearly 1 in 100 adults are in jail in the United States and are exempt from our minimum wage laws, creating a sizable captive workforce that could undercut outside wage standards.
"It's no different than when our government allowed a United Steelworkers-represented factory of several hundred good jobs in Indiana called Magnequench to shut down," United Steelworkers Public Affairs Director Gary Hubbard told
'Corporations can literally buy seats in our congress'
Marcy Winograd, Congressional Candidate and co-chair of Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles spoke to Press TV's U.S. Desk on Friday about the problems with the political system in the
She said, "One of the main problems that we have with our political system in the United States Is that in many ways, corporations can literally buy seats in our congress. We have the
"What this means is that for the average citizen it's virtually impossible to mount an effective campaign without corporate money. How can one counter the influence, …, the advertising that can be bought with unlimited amounts of money from large corporations that in many ways benefit off policies of continued war, of militarism, benefit the insurance companies that deny health care to Americans. So there is a great impact that the corporations have on our political system."
"We also have to understand that there is a very powerful narrative in
"I know this personally because I am a teacher. I have taught history and I have taught history to students who are struggling, whose families are struggling, and in many ways they were most interested in the Robber barons of our history. Those who stole from
Mysterious helicopters seen roaming in Muzaffarabad
| MUZAFFARABAD: Eight mysterious helicopters were seen roaming about in the skies of Muzaffarabad at around 1:15am, Geo News reported. The copters including seven small and a large remained in the skies for several minutes and returned after inspecting the mountains in Dolai area of AJK capital. The roaming of these helicopters has created panic among the people of the area. Military officials have claimed that these helicopters were of Pakistan and that these were on night mission. | ||
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Naval base attack: Big blow to Pakistan's snooping capabilities
The irony is stark. Pakistan got the P-3C Orions, packed with radars and weapons like the E-2C Hawkeye 2000 airborne early-warning suites and anti-ship Harpoon missiles, from the US as part of the around $15 billion military aid in the name of the global war on terrorism over the last decade.
India cried foul, holding that Orions as well as other weapons like F-16s were clearly meant for conventional warfare, not counter-terrorism. Al-Qaida or the Taliban, after all, did not have an air force or a navy. And now, in a role reversal, the Pakistan Taliban has destroyed at least two, if not more, of the four-engine turboprop Orions, probably seeing them "as legitimate targets".
"It's quite a significant loss for Pakistan Navy...almost 50% of its long-range maritime patrol capabilities has suddenly been taken out," said an Indian Navy officer. As per Pakistan-watchers here, Pakistan is slated to get a total of 10 upgraded Orions, with eight of them supposed to arrive by 2012.
"They had five as of now, two older ones which were upgraded and three newer ones. If the two destroyed in the attack are the newer platforms, the loss will be even more significant," said another officer.