Mothers of Fukushima

Will they never learn?

Yesterday, the New York Times reported:

TOKYO — Brushing aside widespread public opposition, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ordered the reactivation of two nuclear reactors at a plant in western Japan on Saturday, making it the nation’s first plant to go back on line since the crisis last year in Fukushima.

The decision to restart the Ohi nuclear plant ends the temporary freeze of Japan’s nuclear power industry since the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant idled all 50 of Japan’s functional reactors. Despite the prime minister’s vows to strengthen the Ohi plant against the same sort of huge earthquake and tsunami that knocked out Fukushima, the Japanese public has remained deeply divided over the safety of nuclear power.

I sometimes wonder what will need to happen before the politicians realize that nuclear power is not safe full stop.

According to polls, some two-thirds of Japanese still express deep concern about the safety of nuclear plants after last year’s accident, which contaminated food with radiation and shattered the myth of Japan’s infallible nuclear technology. The day before Mr. Noda gave the order, his government was visited by an anti-nuclear group led by Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, which presented the signatures of 7.5 million people calling for the abolition of nuclear power.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters turned out in the rain in Tokyo and elsewhere with placards criticizing the prime minister’s claim that the restarted plant was safe.

In fact the Fukushima disaster shows that all nuclear reactors are fallible, being that the reactors there are the same kind used worldwide. 

Ongoing nuclear nightmares

Yesterday, there were more reports of Radioactive cesium levels rising sharply in Fukushima and last week there were a couple of serious nuclear accidents in Canada and South Korea that went largely unreported.

The worlds second largest nuclear power plant located 250 kilometers northwest of Toronto leaked an undisclosed amount of heavy water and a power cut at the Gori-1 nuclear power plant 50 kilometers south of Seoul caused a suspension of operations.

Like previous accidents, the Koreans initially tried to keep the incident secret with both countries playing down the serious nature of the close calls.

This raises interesting questions for John Keys Saturday junket to the South Korean Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, the very area that could have been experiencing a meltdown of the old Gori-1 nuclear reactor.

Although the US initiative is aimed at reducing the global threat of nuclear terrorism, incidents such as Fukushima have motivated the people of South Korea to pressure their representatives to move away from nuclear power generation, which has proven to be completely unsafe.

On Sunday, The Korea Herald reported:

In an increasingly volatile race for parliament, nuclear power is creeping up the political agenda as opposition lawmakers seek to exploit growing safety jitters to retake power in next month’s vote.

Concerns about the safety of the nuclear industry are rife after news broke last week that plant operators had attempted to cover up a power cut at a reactor in Busan for over a month.

[...]

Scrambling to win more seats, Han Myeong-sook, chairperson of the main opposition Democratic United Party, promised to curb the country’s reliance on nuclear energy if her party comes to power.

“The government may have been able to avoid overheating the reactor, but failed to avert a meltdown of public trust and the principles of truth and responsibility,” the former prime minister said Friday.

A poll released on March 6 showed that more than six out of 10 Koreans are against the government’s plans to boost the use of nuclear power. Nearly 80 percent of 1,100 respondents said they oppose extending old reactors’ lifespan.

North Korea is one of the stalwarts of the outdated and dangerous nuclear age that has largely resisted reductions in their nuclear programs. Withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, they became a fully fledged nuclear power in 2009 and have tested two nuclear weapons.

In comparison the United States maintains a ban on enriched plutonium being supplied to South Korea which has effectively meant they have not developed their nuclear weapons capability.

In 2000, revelations that scientists in South Korea had engaged in clandestine uranium enrichment emerged at a time when Seoul was playing a leading role in efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons drive. However they still have plenty of chemical and biological weapons to ensure mutual destruction in the advent of all out war.

I wonder if Key will come back glowing?

Fuck TEPCO

Radioactive muttonbirds

Last Thursday, the NZ Herald reported:

Potentially radioactive muttonbirds nesting in NZ

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), which is charged with leading New Zealand's biosecurity system, said it took the potential for contamination of foods with radioactive material very seriously.

"However, we have no information at this time to suggest that muttonbirds might be significantly exposed to radioactive contamination due to this incident.

"MAF continues to monitor any new information that might cause us to change our advice to people about eating muttonbirds.''

Until testing is conducted, shouldn't people be warned not to eat Muttonbirds?

Despite the possible contamination, there's been no official warning about eating sooty terns (Onychoprion fuscata) that could have been exposed to Strontium-90 after the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Here's Josh Adams, head of the research team from the US Geological Survey, speaking to Radio NZ:



What kind of researcher into nuclear fallout doesn't understand that people can be exposed to Strontium-90 through dietary pathways?

Adams believes that the Muttonbirds offspring will not be affected... he's wrong! Sensitivity to radiation is elevated from conception through embryonic development... that means if the Muttonbirds are exposed, they will pass that exposure onto their offspring through maternal bone stores.

When consumed orally or inhaled Strontium-90 has multiple pathogenic effects in the body and results in elevated levels of a variety of cancers.

Muttonbirds migratory pattern

With an average 10 years between exposure and cancer manifestation... it looks like MAF will get away with their idiotic decision not to place a ban on the collection of Muttonbirds.

Fukushima highlights industry failures

Last Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda gave a press conference in which he claimed that the Fukushima nuclear reactors are now stable. This information has been widely accepted by many news services.

However Fukushima's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), have not measured the temperatures at the bottoms of the containment vessels. Readings would be inaccurate if containment vessels were punctured by melted fuel rods. High levels of radiation is making any proper confirmation unattainable.

So can we trust what TEPCO and the Japanese government says? Today, The Japan Times informed us that a new study into the cause of the Fukushima accident is due out on the 26 December, which shows that the claims of TEPCO that the tsunami caused the nuclear power plants failure is not correct. Kyodo writes:

If the allegation is found to be true, it would force Japan to overhaul all quake-safety findings at many nuclear plants because it has claimed that the tsunami, not the quake, crippled the Fukushima plant.

This could be a huge blow to the industry, as the report would show that all the nuclear power plants around the world that use the same technology are susceptible to similar catastrophic failure in the event of an earthquake. It's no wonder TEPCO tried to hide this fact.

Surely the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would have ensured that there was accountability and honesty in the face of such a huge disaster. Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case. In March, Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreev said:

The IAEA should share blame for standards, he said, arguing it was too close to corporations building and running plants. And he dismissed an emergency incident team set up by the Vienna-based agency as "only a think-tank not a working force":

"This is only a fake organization because every organization which depends on the nuclear industry - and the IAEA depends on the nuclear industry - cannot perform properly.

It appears that the IAEA is biased and all too willing to help a corrupt industry that is more concerned with protecting their interests than the well being of people around the world. We shouldn't only be concerned with the health and wellbeing of people in Japan either. Today, the Medical Daily reported:

Study Connects U.S. Deaths to Fukushima, Contradicts EPA Reports

In the 14 weeks after Fukushima fallout arrived in the U.S., deaths reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rose 4.46 percent from the same period in 2010, or roughly 14,000 deaths. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks.

The reason they've tried to cover up the amount of radiation released and the harm caused by the Fukushima disaster is that it questions the legitimacy of the entire nuclear power industry... an industry that appears to be without any impartial or proper oversight.

It's time to follow Germany's lead and close all nuclear power plants worldwide.

Fukushima is worse

Study Shows Worse Picture of Meltdown in Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Radioactive debris from melted fuel rods may have seeped deeper into the floor of one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant than had previously been thought, perhaps to within a foot of breaching a crucial steel barrier, a new simulation showed Wednesday.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, said that its latest simulation showed overheated nuclear fuel at the No. 1 reactor may have eroded part of the primary containment vessel’s thick concrete floor. The vessel is a beaker-shaped steel container set into the floor. A concrete foundation below that is the last barrier before the fuel would begin to penetrate the earth.

In the worst-case scenario, according to the company’s simulation, the reactor’s fuel came to within a foot of the container’s steel bottom.

Nuclear power plants are far too dangerous to keep operational past their closure dates. It is a crime against humanity to continue to use a technology that has so much destructive potential.

With children in Japan now showing serious health issues because of exposure to radiation after the Fukushima meltdowns, now is the time to demand a nuclear free future.

Radiation release unaccounted for

On 11 November the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported higher than usual levels of iodine-131 had been measured in the atmosphere over the Czech Republic and the rest of the continent.

Higher than normal levels of radiation have been detected in the air in several parts of Europe, but officials said they don’t believe the public is at risk. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement Friday that “very low levels of Iodine-131” have been found in the atmosphere, the Associated Press reported. 

The radiation has been detected in the Czech Republic and in other parts of the continent. 

The IAEA said the cause of the radiation is unknown, but the increase in normal levels does not appear related to Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, which showered the globe in radiation in March. 

The EPA said Iodine-131 can get into the environment after leaking from cracked fuel rods in nuclear plants. But the radioisotope will lose much of its radiation in roughly eight days.

The radiation is apparently not from Fukushima and the Czech Republic is adamant that none of their reactors have released radiation that would account for the higher levels of Iodine 131 in the atmosphere.

So where the hell did the radiation come from?

This just shows how lax regulations and oversight is within the nuclear industry. They can't even tell where the radiation was released from.

Fukushima is Worse

Last night, New Zealand's mainstream media reiterated that the Fukushima nuclear disaster was officially recognized as an accident similar in scale to Chernobyl, and that typhoon Roke, was heading towards the stricken nuclear power plant, which was devastated in the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

The main fear is that even more radioactive material will over flow into the sea and surrounding areas due to heavy rainfall. High winds could also displace radioactive particles across a larger area.

The plant has already been leaking vast amounts of radioactive water into the nearby ocean, with strontium-90 levels measured in June at 240 times above safe limits. Last month, nearly half of the children living in the Fukushima district tested positive for dangerous levels of radiation contamination.

After the major 9 magnitude earthquake, around 37 of the country’s 54 nuclear power plants were shut down for safety checks. All the nuclear plants that were closed were ordered to stay closed until their safety could be guaranteed.

The public's sentiment after the major disaster meant support for the president, Naoto Kan fell to only 16%. After the Fukushima meltdowns, he said he wanted Japan to move away from reliance on nuclear energy, which was projected to grow from approx 33% to 53% of the countries energy requirements by 2030.

Naoto Kan formally resigned just prior to the August elections, and Japan's parliament backed the former finance minister of the Democratic Party, Yoshihiko Noda to become prime minister. Noda then informed the public that he wanted to reopen the closed nuclear power plants.

"From spring through next summer, we must bring them (the reactors) back up as best as we can, because if we have a power shortage, it will bring down Japan's overall economy," Noda said in an interview with the U.S. daily today.

Commercial production has re-started at some nuclear power-plants after strong lobbying from nuclear industry workers, who were recently caught posing as members of the public to promote their industry. Kyushu employees accounted for more than 30% of all messages sent in support of the Genkai plant being reopened, in what was an under reported major scandal.

However the majority of Japanese do not want to see the nuclear power plants reopened, especially the dangerous ones that experienced containment failures after the earthquake. As of June 2011, more than 80 percent of Japanese say they are anti-nuclear and distrust government information on radiation. There's been many demonstrations, the largest of which occurred in Tokyo on 20 September.

Anti-nuke demonstration with approx 100,000 people in Tokyo

It's apparent that the Japanese authorities are ignoring the will of the people in their quest to reopen the dangerous nuclear power plants. What is even worse is that a lack of reporting by mainstream media is allowing the nuclear power industry to undertake a coverup of the Fukushima disaster.

One would think that with the potential risk Fukushima posses, the authorities would make a precise measurement of radiation fallout available to the public. But despite elevated levels of radioactive idodine-131 being detected in the water supplies of 19 different US cities, the EPA stopped making data available on 5 April. Radiation levels in the US then started to increase.

In my opinion, the official recognition that Fukushima is as bad as Chernobyl is grossly underestimated, as the disaster is ongoing, has already released more radiation than Chernobyl and has the potential to get a lot worse.

The Stream

I make no bones about this post being a plug for a TV program. In fact I give it the Jackal’s tick of approval and full endorsement. Covering current affairs with a focus on human rights, The Stream digs out priceless bits of info from the WWW. If you’re a blogger or political commentator, The Stream is a must watch program.

Last night they ran a story about Fukushima radiation levels and the government not ensuring food supplies are safe. What many news services have not reported on over the last week is that radiation levels at Fukushima have increased to levels as high as those first seen when the “accident” at Fukushima happened.

The Japanese government decided to not initially evacuate people from around Fukushima, even when radiation readings were very high, a decision made because of the costs involved in an evacuation. This information was revealed on Monday in a NYT article that categorizes some of the governments failure. Basically they put money before the well-being of the public, which seems to be a common policy amongst administrators around the world these days.

The Stream runs weeknights on Aljazeera on Stratos in New Zealand and also has an online presence well worth keeping an eye on.

The week that was 26 June - 3 July

Air New Zealand has terminated its membership to the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) following disparaging comments made by its chief executive Alasdair Thompson.

The EMA has been hit by angry feedback from its membership and others over Thompson's comments during a radio interview last week which suggested women take more sick leave because of their monthly periods.

"I have received a number of questions asking whether Air New Zealand is a member of the EMA following outrage at the CEO's public comments suggesting women are less productive and take more sick level because of their monthly periods," said chief executive Rob Fyfe.

"Air New Zealand was a member of the EMA, we terminated our membership this week," he said.

Alasdair Thompson has been under fire since June 23rd when he made comments that the gender wage gap was due to women taking more sick leave than men. He cited their "monthly sick problems" as a reason why.

Union member Jen Natoli said she expects more from a company that represents the views of businesses throughout New Zealand.

"It's also an issue with the EMA. They represent businesses and advise managers on how to treat their employees. As an organisation this represents a collective view that women can be paid less, and I don't think that's on," she said.

More than 3 millisieverts of radiation has been measured in the urine of 15 Fukushima residents of the village of Iitate and the town of Kawamata, confirming internal radiation exposure, it was learned last Sunday.

Both populated areas are about 30 to 40 km from the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, which has been releasing radioactive material into the environment since the week of March 11, when the quake and tsunami caused core meltdowns.

“This won’t be a problem if they don’t eat vegetables or other products that are contaminated. But it will be difficult for people to continue living in these areas," said Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus of radiation biology at Hiroshima University.

This follows a number of frightening revelations concerning further radiation releases and containment mismanagement at the devastated nuclear power plant.

New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) is calling for greater levels of support, including lifting benefit payments, for families with children and for more investment to be made in rangatahi Maori and in Pacific young people.

After two years of releasing Vulnerability Reports, NZCCSS is distressed to be reporting a real and continuing deepening of vulnerability within New Zealand communities.

"The first Vulnerability Report was published in March 2009. Now a full 2 years later almost every indicator shows that New Zealand's inequalities are increasing with more people becoming worse-off as support for those on benefits and lower level wages doesn't keep up with costs," said Trevor McGlinchey, NZCCSS Executive Officer.

"The unemployment rates for young Maori and young Pacific people are unacceptably high and have been since the recession started. We must invest more in our youth - not to do so is will result in increasing cycles of income inequality along with health and social disparities instead of a hopeful and prosperous future. Community Max, employers' subsidies and other Youth Training schemes need reinstating or beefing up to help get our young people into employment," he said.

The Report shows that the numbers of people receiving unemployment benefits have increased by 214.9% since 2008 and that over the last 2 years Maori youth unemployment has risen from 18% to 28.8% with Pasifika rates rising to 28.1%. In 2009 the number of children supported in homes dependent on a social welfare benefit was 211,736 now it has increased to 232,262 - an additional 20,528 children who are likely to be living in poverty.

The report also states that the increases in basic living costs such as food, power, petrol and rent have been much greater than the increases in benefits and basic wages.

"All of these increases have been reflected in the worse-off getting much worse off and many who were doing okay now falling into the worse-off category. As a result Christian and other social service agencies have mobilized to meet a huge increase in need - food banks, counseling, budget advice, emergency housing and advocacy, even as they themselves face funding pressures as charitable donations and government funding has not keep up with demand,” said Ruby Duncan, NZCCSS President.

Poverty Action Waikato is deeply concerned by the findings within the Vulnerability Report released by the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services.

“This report confirms the stories we are hearing from the coal face in the Waikato. Many people are struggling to meet their basic needs, food and electricity are becoming luxury items, and there are not enough opportunities for our young people” said Anna Cox, Poverty Action Waikato.

The report states that the increases in basic living costs such as food, power, petrol and rent have been much greater than the increases in benefits and basic wages.

“There are no surprises in this report. Our clients are ravaged by increasing living costs but their incomes have stayed the same. We need to ensure that people have the financial resources to meet their basic needs, or we all suffer the consequences in increasing stress, violence and crime in our communities” says Clare Mataira, Hamilton Budgeting Advice.

People throughout New Zealand travelled to various beaches and joined hands on Monday 25th June in a symbolic gesture to protest against non-renewable energy.

Hands Across The Sand is an international movement of people calling for Governments and industry to abandon their fossil fuel agendas.

"Coal emissions must be phased out as rapidly as possible or global climate disasters will be a dead certainty. Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet,” said Dr James Hansen, a top NASA climate scientist recently on tour in New Zealand.

"To see people joining hands today and literally making a line in the sand is very inspiring, 70 people came to hear Jeanette Fitzsimons speak on Southland Lignite developments at a meeting on Monday, and to have double that participating today in the international call for a renewable energy future, sends a strong message to the Government and industry, that New Zealand must leave the coal in the hole,” said Coal Action Network Aotearoa spokesperson for Top of the South, Helen Tulett.

Coal Action Network Aotearoa came out in support of the Hands Across the Sand regional actions, which occurred at Tahunanui, Motueka, Pohara beaches and other beaches throughout New Zealand. These events will kick off an international day of action against fossil fuel extraction.

“We call for New Zealand to leave the coal in the hole. Coal Action Network Aotearoa stands in solidarity with the people in Nelson, Motueka, Golden Bay and people from countries around the world who are using their voices to call for a clean energy future – such as Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Norway and South Africa. There are 180 events confirmed in the US alone,” said Frances Mountier, spokesperson for Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

"Coal Action Network Aotearoa supports the call from the top of the south to phase out fossil fuels. We don't want to contribute to catastrophic climate change by supporting further fossil fuel extraction. Instead there needs to be more discussion around the economic opportunities Aotearoa New Zealand will miss out on. We need to priortise the development of home-grown clean technologies," she said.

Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CAN Aotearoa) is a group of climate justice campaigners committed to fighting the continuation of coal mining in Aotearoa New Zealand. CAN Aotearoa's objectives are to:

1. Phase out coal mining and coal usage within 20 years, initially by opposing new and expanded coalmines.
2. Promote a cultural change so that mining and using coal are unacceptable.
3. Work towards a society where people and the environment are not exploited for profit.
4. Be part of a just transition to a coal-free Aotearoa New Zealand.

An ExxonMobil pipeline in the US state of Montana has ruptured, leaking hundreds of barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, downstream from the famed Yellowstone national park, which is a major tourist attraction in the US.

The company said the pipe had been shut down and the segment where the leak happened had been isolated. Nearby residents were evacuated, but later allowed to return to their homes.

ExxonMobil spokeswoman Pam Malek said an estimated 750 to 1,000 barrels of oil had leaked from the pipe for about a half-hour before it was shut down.

"We recognise the seriousness of this incident and are working hard to address it. Our principal focus is on protecting the safety and health of the public and our employees," she said.

"If fish get oil on them, if they break the surface and get oil on them, it tends to plug up their gills and it often is fatal," said Bob Gobson, of the Billings Fish, Wildlife and Parks Program.

Exxon Mobil has been ordered to pay more than $1.5 billion in damages to 160 families and businesses affected by a 2006 gasoline leak in Maryland. Jurors awarded more than $1 billion in punitive damages on Thursday, after earlier awarding $495 million in compensatory damages. The award in Baltimore County Circuit Court follows a $150 million award in 2009 involving about 90 households. The company is appealing that ruling.

Exxon Mobil Corp, based in Irving Texas, said that it will appeal this ruling as well. The 2006 leak occurred in Jacksonville, a small, affluent community about 20 miles north of Baltimore. An underground pipe that burst beneath the gas station allowed more 26,000 gallons of gasoline to escape in the oil spill.

More Bad News From Fukushima

On the 26th June, yet another incident happened at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant. It appears from the video below that Unit 3 and 4 released a large amount of smoke or steam into the atmosphere.

Unit 3 contains the highly dangerous plutonium MOX fuel that is far more radioactive than "normal" reactor fuel. Tepco and officials haven't made a media release in the two days following, leaving people to speculate about the danger the Fukushima Nuclear power plant posses.

 

This follows the 8th June revelations that the International Atomic Energy Agency doubled its estimate on the amount of radiation released from Fukushima to 770,000 terabecquerels. 

We also learned recently that officials had doctored global fallout information, making claims by Governments that levels remain safe questionable. Slightly elevated levels have been detected recently in San Diego. The US continues to not have any proper public radiation monitoring system.

New readings taken in May showed levels of radioisotopes 30 kilometers offshore from the on-going crisis at Fukushima are ten times higher than those measured in the Baltic and Black Seas during Chernobyl.

After previously denying it, TEPCO confirmed and the IAEA reported that fuel at Unit 1 melted down before the arrival of the Tsunami on 11th March. This shows that many of the worlds nuclear reactors are unsafe because they are placed on or near known fault lines.

We already know that reactors one, two and three suffered at least partial fuel melts. In at least one case, the fuel melted through part of the inner containment system, with molten radioactive metal melting through to the reactor floor. Unit 4 may have been entirely exposed to air and caught fire. A wide range of sources confirm the likelihood that fission may still be proceeding in at least one Fukushima core and the 26th June video certainly points to such a conclusion.

There's no question in my mind that Fukushima Dai-ichi is now the worst known nuclear accident in the world, far exceeding Chernobyl. Japan seems unable or unwilling to contain the Fukushima disaster and is instead expending it's energy on hiding the truth. Perhaps there's a case to be answered in the International Court of Justice.

The week that was 19 - 26 June

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council said this week that excessive sludge on beaches is not associated with the discharge of dairy farm effluent. They said that the high levels of scum is all a part of nature and that surf diatoms are a type of phytoplankton, which is a main source of food for productive shellfish beds in the surf.

The council’s pollution prevention team leader, Steve Pickles said the recent dominance of onshore weather has contributed to the build-up of surf diatoms, particularly on Tirohanga and Hikuwai beaches and that an abundance of these indicates a healthy habitat.

The Bay of Plenty Council has completely ignored the fact that like house plants, phytoplankton needs nutrients and a certain temperature range to grow well. An increase of nutrients ie effluent discharge and an increase in winter temperatures is attributable to the increased amount of phytoplankton.

The occurrence is also known as an algal bloom. While most phytoplankton and cyanobacteria are harmless, there are a few dozen that create potent toxins given the right conditions. Harmful algal blooms may cause harm through the production of toxins or by their accumulated biomass, which can affect co-occurring organisms. Impacts include human illness and mortality following consumption of or indirect exposure.

These outbreaks are commonly called red tides, but scientists prefer the term harmful algal blooms (HAB). The term red tide erroneously includes many blooms that discolor the water but cause no harm, and also excludes blooms of highly toxic cells that cause problems at low (and essentially invisible) cell concentrations. Therefore, harmful algal bloom is a more appropriate descriptor.

Around a thousand people participated in New Zealand's Slut Walks on Saturday. The anti rape marches were sparked by a Toronto police officer when he said; "Women could avoid being raped by not dressing like sluts." Wellington organiser Maria-Jane Scannell said the same attitude existed in New Zealand and it placed the blame on the victim rather than the rapist.

"We're all here because we agree that rape and sexual assault are never the fault of the victim," she said. "Yes means yes, no means no, whatever we do, wherever we go," she yelled through a megaphone during one of the the marches.

Family First's Bob McCoskrie supports the protestors' message, but thinks the rally's shock-value title is taking away from the real issue:

"I think their cause is a completely justified one. I'd just like them to do it in a family friendly way so that the message gets across rather than with a negative connotation," he told Newstalk ZB prior to the NZ marches.

On Tuesday a tanker carrying 24,000 litres of waste oil crashed in the King Country gorge and spilt its load into the Awakino River. 

The tanker tipped on its side near the northern end of the Awakino Gorge on State Highway 3 about 3.30pm.

Waikato Regional Council spokesman David Stagg was measuring his words about the extent of the spill, but said the waste oil would damage the river's ecosystem.

"Waste oil in the river will not be any good for it and will cause some degree of harm. Unfortunately in the gorge area, because of the swift nature of the river, there's no opportunity to contain it,'' he said.

Council spokesman Chris McLay says the spill has clear potential to hurt aquatic and marine life and pollute river banks and the coast.

"So we're assessing the situation to see how much oil is still in the river and its impacts. We'll be working hard to try and get any remaining oil out of the river if at all possible. We'd also advise people to stay away from the oil if they come across any on land. If they discover distressed animal or bird life they should advise the Department of Conservation," he said.

Web statistics show that more Japanese people are turning to external media sources in desperation for the truth concerning the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant.

The countries Government and Nuclear industry is continuing to downplay the seriousness of the incident in what is a despicable attempt to retain power.

In April, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that 370,000 terabecquerels escaped from the facility. Then on the 8th June we were informed to double that figure to 770,000 terabecquerels.

One reasoned and comprehensive argument against Nuclear Power has come from the reputable Dr Helen Caldicott:

It was revealed this week that radioactive tritium has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. commercial nuclear power sites, often into groundwater from corroded, buried piping.

Tritium, which is a radioactive form of hydrogen, leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites, according to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission records reviewed as part of the Associated Presses' yearlong examination of safety issues at aging nuclear power plants.

Leaks from at least 37 of those facilities contained concentrations exceeding the federal drinking water standard, sometimes at hundreds of times the limit.

At three sites leaks have contaminated drinking wells of nearby homes, the records show, but not at levels violating the low drinking water standards.

At a fourth site, in New Jersey, tritium has leaked into an aquifer and a discharge canal feeding into Barnegat Bay off the Atlantic Ocean.

Previously, the AP reported that regulators and industry have weakened safety standards for decades to keep the nation's commercial nuclear reactors operating within the rules.While NRC officials and plant operators argue that safety margins can be eased without peril, critics say these accommodations are inching the reactors closer to an accident.

Any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how slight, boosts cancer risk, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Federal regulators set a limit for how much tritium is allowed in drinking water. So far, federal and industry officials say, the tritium leaks pose no health threat.

A panel of Scientists convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), has found that the oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected.

In a report released this week, they warn that ocean life is "at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history." 

The experts from different disciplines, including coral reef ecologists, toxicologists, and fisheries scientists; concluded that things like over-fishing, pollution and climate change are all acting together in ways that have not previously been recognised. They said it's already impacting negatively on humanity. 

"The findings are shocking. As we considered the cumulative effect of what humankind does to the oceans, the implications became far worse than we had individually realised," said Alex Rogers, IPSO's scientific director and professor of conservation biology at Oxford University.

More than 5 million people have been displaced or otherwise affected by flooding in eastern China. Torrential rains have left huge areas of Hubei and Zhejiang provinces under water, with more than 1 million acres (432,200 hectares) of farmland inundated, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Almost 1,000 businesses have been forced to suspend operations and 5.7 million people have had their lives disrupted. More than 7,000 homes collapsed or were otherwise damaged and direct financial damage was estimated at almost $1 billion NZD. The final death toll is not yet available.

The week that was 28 May - 3 June

The majority of people would have heard about Germany's plans to go Nuclear Free by the year 2022. This caused some New Zealand media outlets to wheel out the kooks to say Germany would need to burn more coal or purchase electricity from France, which derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy and has no plans to change. All they really had to do to get their facts straight was find an article on the net that quoted what the German Chancellor Angela Merkel actually said: 

"We believe we as a country can be a trailblazer for a new age of renewable energy sources, and will phase out nuclear power. We can be the first major industrialised country that achieves the transition to renewable energy with all the opportunities - for exports, development, technology, jobs - it carries with it." Merkel said.

Germany is the largest industrial power to renounce nuclear energy in a policy reversal for the governing centre-right coalition, which will see the country reap many economic and environmental benefits from the move. Mrs Merkel set up a panel to review nuclear power following the crisis at Fukushima in Japan. 

The official commission, which has studied the issue, found that electricity use can be cut by 10% in the next decade through more efficient machinery and buildings. The intention is to also increase the share of wind energy.

After an anti-nuclear drive including many largely unreported protests that swept the country, Germany's Green party took control of the Christian Democrat stronghold of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in late March.

But Germany wasn’t the only country to declare its intent to go nuclear free. Mainstream media failed to pick up on the story that Switzerland's cabinet has decided to phase out nuclear power by the year 2034. Five Swiss nuclear plants will close as each reaches the end of its 50-year life span. The first, at Beznau near the German border, is due to go offline in 2019.

"After Fukushima we had to rethink our use of atomic power. The goal is a clean, safe and secure energy supply," Energy Minister Doris Leuthard told reporters in Bern.

Switzerland produces 39% of its energy requirements from nuclear power and had already shelved two planned atomic power stations after the quake in Japan. They opted for a gradual shutdown of the country's nuclear plants, rejecting both their early closure and continued use.

"Plans to cover the shortfall in output include increasing energy efficiency and relying more on hydro generation. Coupled with upgrades to the grid, the shift might cost as little as 0.7% of Swiss GDP," said Pascal Previdoli, deputy director of the Federal Office of Energy.

There was yet another incident at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant last Sunday. The system to cool the nuclear reactor and fuel pool of Unit 5 stopped working. This follows a number of other problems that have developed at the plant since the March 11 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami.

A TEPCO official said the operator had started work to repair the cooling facility and hoped to restore the system within several hours. However the success of this work has gone unreported. TEPCO said the breakdown of the cooling systems would not lead to a rapid rise in temperatures at the reactor and spent fuel pool. From past experience we've learned not to trust what TEPCO officials say.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant's cooling systems for No. 1 to 4 reactors were severely damaged in the natural disaster, which resulted in a number of large explosions. TEPCO have now confirmed that there's been three meltdowns at the facility housing a total of seven nuclear reactors.

Japan's Self-Defense Force at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Research undertaken in a Colmar Brunton survey shows that 73% of New Zealander’s think the Government should prioritise increased development of renewable energy to provide electricity and transport fuel. Only 18% said National's strategy of prioritising more exploration and mining for fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas to sell offshore was a good idea.

WWF-New Zealand commissioned the research, which found that the majority of Kiwi's disagree with the priorities outlined in the government’s Energy Strategy. At the beginning of May, Coal Action Network Aotearoa published the Government’s strategy online in its final draft stages.

“The research shows that the majority of people want the Government to prioritise development of safe, clean energy future for New Zealand. As the Deepwater Horizon oil spill shows us, drilling for oil in deep water is dangerous - it risks loss of human life and oil spills that have the potential to devastate natural habitats.” WWF Climate Change campaigner Lee Barry said.

“We know that oil exploration is becoming more expensive, more dangerous and when burnt, contributes to climate change.  Digging and drilling for more coal, oil and gas is applying a 19th century strategy to 21st century challenges.  This survey shows that seven in ten Kiwis instead want a safe, clean energy future."

"Real opportunities exist to build on New Zealand's significant renewable energy potential including wind, geothermal and home-grown biofuels, and the research indicates the majority of Kiwis want the Government to develop those opportunities.” She said.

A recent study published in the online journal PLoS ONE, says climate change is expected to dramatically alter the global industry in fruits and nuts as tree crops such as pistachios and cherries struggle in the rising temperatures, researchers said.

The study found that trees in temperate regions evolved to need a chilly period so they can grow in the spring. The expectation was that fruit and nut trees would be highly affected in California, the southeastern United States, China's Yunnan province, southern and South-western Australia.

The research found that 'Rising temperatures pose a special problem for many varieties of trees that require temperate but comparatively warm areas where the winter chill is already in short supply. Areas that have already seen the worst losses of winter chill include Israel, Morocco, Tunisia and the Cape region of South Africa.'

Co-author Eike Luedeling of the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre said that farmers making long-term investments needed to realize quickly that fruits and nuts are more vulnerable than many other crops.

"If I'm growing wheat or maize, then from one year to the next I can decide whether to plant a little late or plant a little earlier or plant a different variety. But for trees, you can't. Once you've made a decision to plant a certain crop, you're locked in for 30 years," Luedeling said.

Thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the state regulators Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health from Fracking are greater than previously understood.

The destructive drilling method known as high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or hydro fracking; carries significant environmental risks. It involves injecting huge amounts of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, at high pressures to break up rock formations to release gas deposits.

The documents reveal that the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle.

The Times also found never-reported studies by the EPA and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways. The EPA has thus far not intervened in the destructive process that has laid waste to large areas of the US.

A Purdue University study published in the early online edition of the journal Ecological Applications, found that when exposed to increased carbon dioxide, precipitation, nitrogen and temperature - yellow starthistle in some cases grew to six times its normal size while the other grassland species remained relatively unchanged.

Yellow starthistle is a significant weed in the West, especially in California, where it has a longer growing season than native plants and depletes ground moisture, affecting water supplies.

"The rest of the grassland didn't respond much to changes in conditions except nitrogen. We're likely to see these carbon dioxide concentrations in the second half of this century. Our results suggest that yellow starthistle will be a very happy camper in the coming decades," said Jeff Dukes, a Purdue associate professor of forestry and natural resources and the study's lead author.

The study is one of the first comparing the growth of invasive species versus their local competitors under future climate scenarios. Dukes believes the results indicate problems land managers and crop growers could see in the coming decades, and not just with yellow starthistle.

"Plants are going to respond in a number of ways to climate change. Sometimes, the species we depend on will benefit, but other times, it will be the weedy, problematic species that benefit most, and there can be economic and ecological damages associated that people should be aware of. These problems with yellow starthistle aren't going to go away on their own. If anything it's going to become more of a problem than it is now," Dukes said.

The week that was 21 - 27 May

A study undertaken by a citizen's group has found radioactive substances in the breast milk of women in Japan. 12.5% of those tested, were affected by Fukushima Dai-ichi fallout. Samples were taken from across five prefectures, the tests found cesium in the breast milk of four women in Tokyo, Fukushima and Ibaraki, and radioactive iodine in the breast milk of a woman in Fukushima.

The findings were released on Wednesday, with the study being conducted one month after the magnitude 9.0 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which destroyed much of Japan’s northeast coast, triggering a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant which saw radiation leak into the sea, soil and air.

Reports of contamination in water and food then emerged in the weeks following the March 11 twin disasters. Safety levels of radioactive substances in breast milk have not been set by the Japanese government with readings being in the range of 5.5 becquerels of iodine and up to 10.5 becquerels of cesium. The allowable limit is currently 100 becquerels of radioactive iodine and 200 becquerels of cesium for tap water consumption by infants. The group has called on health authorities to make testing available to concerned parents.

Masataka Shimizu

The president of Japanese company Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) will step down over what many are now saying is the world's worst nuclear crisis the World has ever known. Masataka Shimizu's resignation comes as the firm reported a record loss of more than $14 billion for the past financial year after being hit by huge costs as a result of the crisis. TEPCO will appoint current managing director Toshio Nishizawa to replace Mr Shimizu, effective after a June shareholders' meeting.

The loss for Japan's biggest utility comes amid criticism over its handling of the nuclear crisis, in which it faces massive compensation claims, prompting the government to devise a rescue plan. The beleaguered utility says it has decided to scrap all four reactors at the plant crippled after the March 11 earthquake, and abandon plans to build two more. The company plans to cut jobs and draft a streamlining plan this year, as it looks to raise funds to pay for a compensation bill that some analysts have conservatively estimated to top $114 million.


Former Bosnian-Serb military leader Ratko Mladic has been arrested on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian civil war in the early 1990s. Ratko Mladic was one of Europe’s most wanted war crimes fugitives.  He has been on the run for more than 15 years, since he was indicted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal at The Hague in 1995. 

During the Bosnian war in the early 1990s he oversaw the siege of Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, which lasted more than three years and is the longest in the history of modern warfare. He’s also accused of having played a key role in the bloody attack in 1995 of Srebrenica, where thousands of Muslim men and boys were killed in Europe’s worst massacre of civilians since the Second World War.


A group of over 200 people protesting deep sea oil exploration in the Raukumara Basin marched up Auckland’s Queen St this week. The group carried banners, bearing the slogans: ''no oil drilling'' and ''Petrobras: go back to Brazil''. The protest left Princes Wharf and made its way towards the Town Hall. An Auckland Central police spokesman said the protest was peaceful and no arrests were made, but police did not know about the protest in advance. One of the protesters said she attended the march to protest the exploration and possible deep sea drilling by Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.

“It’s hugely dangerous for our environment and our economy, I think in general most people are against an oil rig being set up.” she said.

On Tuesday protesters abseiled from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and unfurled a huge banner. The bridge is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of the San Francisco Bay. The protesters want Chevron to take responsibility for its oil pollution in the Ecuadorean Amazon. The 30,000 Ecuadoreans affected by Chevron’s oil pollution in the Amazon issued a moving Open Letter to the United States last week, calling on Americans to stand with them in demanding justice.

A group of Rainforest Action Network activists heeded their call by unfurling a banner reading "Chevron Guilty-Clean Up Amazon" from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, which lies in the shadow of Chevron's Richmond refinery.

The New Zealand National Government has confirmed special tax breaks in the Budget for the two major rugby organisations behind the Rugby World Cup. Finance Minister Bill English confirmed the Crown would reimburse income tax incurred by Rugby New Zealand 2011, the company set up to run the tournament, and also by the New Zealand Rugby Union where it was involved. Separately, the Crown has agreed to reimburse the union for withholding tax incurred on payments made in relation to the tournament.

Inland Revenue has clarified that anyone representing overseas unions or official overseas rugby organisations also won’t have to pay tax on income received from games or Cup-related activity while in NZ. Visitors not part of official overseas rugby bodies may also be spared the taxman’s pinch, but may get 20 per cent tax deducted from appearance money or prizes received – including any bonuses handed out because their team made the semifinals.

A policy change means New Zealanders wanting to get a job during the Rugby World Cup will now face more competition from migrant workers. Immigration New Zealand has been encouraging migrants to take jobs created from the tournament. Usually when someone applies to work in New Zealand, and their job offer does not specify an end date, they are given a 12 month visa. But immigration officials have been told to make sure visas for low skilled jobs in hospitality and accommodation last until three weeks after the Rugby World Cup ends in October. Since September last year, unskilled, English speaking workers have been given no-questions asked extended visas.

Cuts to KiwiSaver were confirmed with the release of the 2011 budget this week. John Key had previously stated that no cuts to the scheme were going to be undertaken in Nationals first term as Government. The Prime Minister promised that changes wouldn't kick in until after the next election. No Right Turn has found that the cuts come into effect on July 1^st of this year, showing that once again John Key is untrustworthy. The cuts effectively halve the member tax credit. Idiot/Savant goes on to say:

“Tax credits are paid at the end of a tax year, but accrue daily. So National are cutting KiwiSaver before the election, and stealing your tax credits every day from July. It’s not what was promised, and it’s not what they said they were doing. I guess they thought that no one would notice, and that they could bury it with some clever spin.

This is a foretaste of what is to come if National wins a second term: not just the cuts, but the deceit, the fundamental contempt for the electorate. If you want to stop that from happening, you know how to vote in November.”