Mar 17 2011

Six In The Morning

US charters planes to help its citizens leave Japan

State Department authorizes voluntary evacuations; meanwhile, Japanese official says ‘there is absolutely no reason to leave Tokyo’

NBC, msnbc.com and news services

Airlines scrambled to fly thousands of passengers out of Tokyo on Thursday as fears about Japan’s nuclear crisis mounted and the United States joined other nations urging their citizens to consider leaving.

The U.S. authorized the first evacuations of Americans out of Japan and warned U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to any part of the country as unpredictable weather and wind conditions risked spreading radioactive contamination.

The State Department said the government had chartered aircraft to help Americans leave Japan and had authorized the voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama – about 600 people.

Rebels slow Gadafy army advance



irishtimes.com – Last Updated: Thursday, March 17, 2011, 07:04

Libyan rebels have fought back against Muammar Gadafy’s troops around the eastern town of Ajdabiyah, hampering their push towards the insurgent capital Benghazi.

Government forces captured Ajdabiyah, 150km south of Benghazi on the Gulf of Sirte, on Tuesday after most of its rebel defenders retreated from a heavy artillery barrage.

One rebel officer said yesterday the town had been lost and the fighters who remained had handed over their weapons. But some apparently refused to surrender or flee.

By last night, residents said the rebels held the centre of town while forces loyal to Col Gadafy were mostly on its eastern outskirts.

Bahrain ‘arrests six opposition leaders’



AP Thursday, 17 March 2011

Authorities detained at least six prominent opposition activists today as the crackdown on dissent widened under martial law-style rule in the tiny Gulf nation, a rights group and relatives of the arrested said.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said those taken into custody in the pre-dawn raids include Hassan Mushaima and Abdul Jalil al-Sangaece – who were among 25 Shia activists on trial on charges of trying to overthrow the nation’s Sunni rulers.The case was dropped in a bid to calm tensions after political unrest began last month, but the latest sweeps suggests authorities have abandoned efforts at dialogue and are trying to silence the opposition leaders.

Bahrain has imposed a three-month emergency rule that gives the military wide powers to battle the pro-democracy uprising that began in mid-February in the strategic nation, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Brussels Eyes a Halt to SWIFT Data Agreement

Problems with Transparency

By Christoph Schult  

Only with great reservations did the European Parliament agree last year to the SWIFT agreement with the United States. The agreement allows the transfer of data pertaining to European bank customers to US investigators in accordance with strict guidelines. But many provisions of those guidelines have been widely ignored.

One week ago, a critical report from the Europol Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) noted that the written requests received by Europol, the EU-wide law enforcement organization, from the US are too vague to decide on their validity. Yet despite the shortcomings, Europol has agreed to every request. The auditors complained this is making oversight of data privacy “impossible.”

Quake images can shake a young child’s psyche



Julie Robotham

March 17, 2011  

THE acres of rubble and splintered wood that have replaced entire Japanese towns may leave children unmoved. But add an abandoned toy to the picture, or an image of someone in pain, and the result can be a devastating assault on a child’s sense of personal security.

News images that enter homes so casually can have lasting effects on even the youngest children, says a professor of population mental health and disasters at the University of Western Sydney, Beverley Raphael.

US to investigate killings by Davis Rallies against release, protest day tomorrow Tahir Khan



ISLAMABAD:  

The US ambassador Wednesday thanked families of the two men, shot dead by CIA contractor Raymond Davis in Lahore in January. “The families of the victims of the January 27 incident in Lahore have pardoned Raymond Davis. I am grateful for their generosity. I wish to express, once again, my regret for the incident and my sorrow at the suffering it caused,” US ambassador, Cameron Munter said. “I can confirm that the United States Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the incident in Lahore ,” the US ambassador said in a statement “I wish to express my respect for Pakistan and its people, and my thanks for their commitment to building our relationship, to everyone’s benefit.

Mar 17 2011

What’s Cooking: Stout Stew and Stilton Crust

(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Most people when they think of St. Patrick’s Day food think of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. Being an bit of an adventurous cook and not overly fond of the cabbage part of the traditional cuisine, I found a recipe that had the beef and potatoes but also, the addition of an Irish Stout. A bit more work and planning, it is a hearty stew for any chilly day, looks pretty and goes well with a hearty Irish Stout. The stew is simmered slowly on the top of the stove and finished with the Stilton Crust in a hot oven.

Beef and Stout Pie with Stilton Crust

Ingredients:

   * 7 Tbs. olive oil

   * 1 lb. white button mushrooms, quartered

   * 2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed

   * Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

   * 3 1/2 lb. beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes

   * 1 cup all-purpose flour

   * 3 garlic cloves, minced

   * 2 Tbs. tomato paste

   * 2 1/2 cups Irish stout

   * 1 cup beef broth

   * 1 lb. carrots, cut into chunks

   * 1 lb. red potatoes, cut into chunks

   * 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh thyme

   * One 16-inch round Stilton pastry (recipe below)

   * 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water

Directions:

In a 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the mushrooms, onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Dredge the beef in the flour, shaking off the excess. In the Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add one-third of the beef and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total. Transfer to a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup water to the pot, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Pour the liquid into a separate bowl. Repeat the process 2 more times, using 2 Tbs. oil to brown each batch of beef and deglazing the pot with 1/2 cup water after each batch.

Return the pot to medium-high heat. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add the beef, stout, broth and reserved liquid, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Add the mushrooms, onions, carrots, potatoes and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beef and vegetables are tender, about 3 hours.

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Stilton Pastry

Ingredients:

   * 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

   * 2 tsp. salt

   * 1 Tbs. sugar

   * 16 Tbs. (2 sticks/250g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

   * 1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water

   * 4 oz. Stilton cheese, crumbled

Directions:

In a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar and pulse until blended, about 5 pulses. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Add 1/3 cup of the ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 Tbs. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour, place on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper and roll out into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle the cheese over half of the dough, then fold the other half over the cheese. Roll out the dough into a 16 1/2-inch square. Using a paring knife, trim the dough into a 16-inch round.

Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 10 minutes, then lay the dough on top of the beef and stout pie and bake as directed in that recipe. Makes enough dough for a 16-inch round.

Brush the rim of the pot with water. Lay the pastry round on top, allowing it to droop onto the filling. Trim the dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang, and crimp to seal. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture, then cut 4 slits in the top of the dough. Bake for 30 minutes. Let the potpie rest for 15 minutes before serving. Serves 8 to 10.

Mar 17 2011

Stout Stew and Stilton Crust

Most people when they think of St. Patrick’s Day food think of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. Being an bit of an adventurous cook and not overly fond of the cabbage part of the traditional cuisine, I found a recipe that had the beef and potatoes but also, the addition of Guinness Stout. A bit more work and planning, it is a hearty stew for any chilly day, looks pretty and goes well with a hearty Irish Stout. The stew is simmered slowly on the top of the stove and finished with the Stilton Crust in a hot oven.

Ingredients:

   * 7 Tbs. olive oil

   * 1 lb. white button mushrooms, quartered

   * 2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed

   * Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

   * 3 1/2 lb. beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes

   * 1 cup all-purpose flour

   * 3 garlic cloves, minced

   * 2 Tbs. tomato paste

   * 2 1/2 cups Irish stout

   * 1 cup beef broth

   * 1 lb. carrots, cut into chunks

   * 1 lb. red potatoes, cut into chunks

   * 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh thyme

   * One 16-inch round Stilton pastry (see related recipe at left)

   * 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water

Directions:

In a 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the mushrooms, onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Dredge the beef in the flour, shaking off the excess. In the Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add one-third of the beef and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total. Transfer to a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup water to the pot, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Pour the liquid into a separate bowl. Repeat the process 2 more times, using 2 Tbs. oil to brown each batch of beef and deglazing the pot with 1/2 cup water after each batch.

Return the pot to medium-high heat. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add the beef, stout, broth and reserved liquid, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Add the mushrooms, onions, carrots, potatoes and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beef and vegetables are tender, about 3 hours.

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Mar 17 2011

DocuDharma Digest

Regular Features-

Featured Essays for March 16, 2011-

DocuDharma

Mar 17 2011

A Beautiful Day To Die

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Photobucket

The earthquake and the tsunami and the nuclear event have finally shut me up.  I haven’t been able to write. I don’t have anything clear or witty or insightful or clever or new to say about these events.  I am avoiding the talking heads on TV, and I’m reading as little as possible about the event on the Internet, and I’ve been absent from this blog. Why? Because I have no confidence at all that what I’d hear or read would be the truth. And I have the dreadful thought that the situation in Japan is far, far worse than what we are being told. I have no proof for the last sentence other than the plethora of contradictions I find in the news stories. And a tight feeling in my heart and chest and stomach that warns of impending, large scale disaster. I hope I’m wrong about this, but alas, I don’t think I am.

I don’t like to think of myself as a dead fish that won’t rot because it’s been thoroughly irradiated.

I don’t like to think of myself as sporting a wonderful radiation burn all over my body until I die, and then lying in my coffin for decades, if not centuries without decomposing.  I hope this won’t happen.  I expect to be cremated. I would like to wait until I am dead for that.

I don’t like to think of my children and relatives and friends and acquaintances and even people I detest as charbroiled by radiation and suffering from malignant tumors for long periods of time before they prematurely die.  Old guys like me have had our day. If we die, it’s all right. Younger people who haven’t yet had their chance deserve something far better.

I don’t like to think of the tens of thousands of Japanese people who are now dead or will be shortly.  I don’t want to think of their widows and orphans and friends.  I don’t want to think about those who were buried alive or swept into the sea or trapped under water.  I don’t even want to think about their pets.  And I hate thinking about the missing, those who disappeared who will never be accounted for.

I don’t like to think about the inadequacy of my insights, my thoughts, my writing, my prayers in the face of this tragedy.

I don’t like to listen to the radio because I don’t want to hear shills for energy companies talk about how nuclear power is safe and how nuclear reactors that can be built now are so much better than those they built 40 years ago.  And I don’t want to hear how this is a good time to invest in uranium or nuclear power.  Or the stock market.  Or commodity futures.  Or gold.  And I don’t want to hear the many offered distractions, so I would ignore these events.  I can’t stand the radio.

I don’t like to think about how many people live within 10 kilometers or 20 kilometers or 30 kilometers or 50 miles of where I am now sitting.  I don’t like to think about an evacuation that would empty most of three counties of people.

There is now so much suffering, and there is so much more to come. The suffering will soon be everywhere.  It will soon be unavoidable.  I fear that what is coming will make the sufferings foretold by biblical prophets seem a quaint, historical understatement.

So I have not been writing. What could I write in these circumstances?

It’s a time when there is new meaning in the phrase, “It’s a beautiful day to die.” It’s a time when having a smile on my face is particularly important.

May all beings be happy, and may all beings be free of suffering.


——————————-

cross posted from The Dream Antilles

Mar 16 2011

from firefly 16.3.11

(midnight. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Regular Daily Features:

Dire Straits in Late Night Karaoke, mishima DJs

Gha!

Essays Featured Wednesday, March 16th:

Youffraita goes Looney in Wednesday Open Thoughts

TheMomCat most kindly gives us a repeat performance of her Health & Fitness News

originally posted Saturday at The Stars Hollow Gazette

Diane explores & shares in My Man, My Son, My Life

The most recent episode of My Little Town: Elwood Brockman, from Translator

join the conversation! come firefly-dreaming with me….

Mar 16 2011

Play Ins Day 2

This will all make much more sense if you’ve already read my NCAA Basketball Tournament 2011 article which contains my Master Bracket Schedule for the round of 68.

Tomorrow and Friday are crazy days.  Coverage from 12:15 pm to midnight (without overtimes).

I uhh… might choose to nap through some of that and survey the carnage later.  Feel free to contribute your own observations, I don’t bite though I might call you a nasty name or two.

The natural place to split is at the 4:40 pm game so I’ll be running in two halves- one posted at 11:30ish and one at 6:30ish.

The format is going to change too.  I’m going to run two tables, Yesterday’s Results and Current Matchups so I’m only going to be foreshadowing whatever I’m covering now.  It’s probably possible to do it 36 hours ahead, but for sure it’s too much stinking work.

For instance-

Yesterday’s Results

Seed Team Record Score Seed Team Record Score
16 *UNC-Asheville 20 – 13 81 16 Ark.-Little Rock 19 – 16 77
12 UAB 23 – 7 52 12 *Clemson 22 – 11 70

Current Matchups

Date Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
3/16 6:30 pm True 16 UT-San Antonio 19 – 13 16 Alabama St. 16 – 17 East
3/16 9 pm True 11 USC 20 – 13 11 Virginia Commonwealth 23 – 11 Southwest

Follow the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on The Stars Hollow Gazette.

If you don’t like squeeky shoes you can look for alternate programming here-

Mar 16 2011

Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 55 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Five dead as Bahrain police clear Pearl Square

by Ali Khalil, AFP

23 mins ago

MANAMA (AFP) – Bahraini police firing shotguns and tear gas crushed the camp in Manama of a month-old pro-democracy protest on Wednesday in an operation that left five dead and sparked Shiite outrage across the region.

The violence prompted US President Barack Obama, whose country is a close ally of Bahrain, to express “deep concern,” as his secretary of state said the deployment of Gulf troops to quell political unrest was the wrong response.

Early on Wednesday morning, hundreds of riot police backed by tanks and helicopters assaulted demonstrators in Manama’s Pearl Square, clearing the symbolic heart of the uprising in the strategic Gulf kingdom.

AFP

2 Hundreds shot in Bahrain as emergency declared

by Ali Khalil, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 4:14 pm ET

MANAMA (AFP) – At least 200 people were shot and wounded on Tuesday in a Shiite village south of the Bahraini capital, a medic said, and two people killed elsewhere, as the king imposed a state of emergency after bringing in foreign troops to help quell anti-regime protests.

As violence escalated, close ally the United States warned that there was “no military solution” to political upheaval in Bahrain and that any violence against peacefully expressed political demands “should be stopped.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrainis must “take steps now” toward a political resolution of the crisis.

3 Kadhafi presses assault as Ban calls for ceasefire

by Karim Talbi, AFP

1 hr 1 min ago

TOBRUK, Libya (AFP) – Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi’s forces pressed rebels in the west on Wednesday and threatened their eastern bastion of Benghazi, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire.

With clashes raging on several fronts and casualties rising, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped the UN Security Council will vote on new measures against Libya as early as Thursday that might include a no-fly zone.

Elsewhere in the troubled region, Bahraini police killed at least three protesters and wounded dozens Wednesday when they cleared a protest camp in the capital’s Pearl Square, opposition sources said.

4 Kadhafi ‘determined to crush’ rebellion

AFP

Tue Mar 15, 7:03 pm ET

TRIPOLI (AFP) – Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi said on Tuesday he was determined to crush the month-old rebellion against him as his army said that it would soon move against the rebel bastion of Benghazi.

Only minutes earlier, anti-aircraft batteries and heavy artillery fire could be heard in Benghazi, but the aim of the shooting was unclear, as no aircraft could be seen or heard.

As fighting raged in Libya, hopes of foreign air protection for the revolt faded but were still on the table, with Britain and France pressing the UN Security Council, against stiff resistance, to impose a no-fly zone.

5 Libyan rebel cities come under Kadhafi assault

by Karim Talbi, AFP

2 hrs 38 mins ago

TOBRUK, Libya (AFP) – Libyan government forces attacked rebels in their last western bastions Wednesday and threatened their capital Benghazi in the east after strongman Moamer Kadhafi vowed to crush the month-old revolt.

But witnesses in the key town of Ajdabiya said fighting was still going on there after state television and officials said it had fallen on Tuesday.

Kadhafi loyalists killed two rebel fighters and two civilians in an assault on Libya’s third city of Misrata, a rebel spokesman reached by telephone said.

6 Libyan rebel capital awaits Kadhafi assault

by Karim Talbi, AFP

Wed Mar 16, 5:02 am ET

BENGHAZI (AFP) – Libya’s second city awaits a threatened assault on the rebel capital on Wednesday by forces loyal to strongman Moamer Kadhafi, who has vowed to crush the month-old revolt against his rule.

Meanwhile efforts to secure a no-fly zone over the country to prevent attacks by Kadhafi’s air force have faltered in the United Nations Security Council.

Elsewhere in the troubled region, Bahraini police killed at least three protesters and wounded dozens on Wednesday when they cleared a peaceful protest camp in the capital’s Pearl Square, opposition sources said.

7 I. Coast’s Gbagbo has ‘last chance’ to exit power: Ouattara

by Fran Blandy, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 6:43 pm ET

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Ivory Coast’s internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara warned rival Laurent Gbagbo Tuesday that he had a “last chance” to peacefully step down, as fresh violence rocked Abidjan.

In an address to the nation on a television station he controls, Ouattara also reached out to his rival in a bid to end a bloody tug-of-war for the country’s top job which has left some 400 dead since disputed November elections.

Ouattara has gained the diplomatic upper hand after the African Union last week endorsed his presidency, while forces backing him battle pro-Gbagbo troops for control of Abidjan, the financial capital.

8 Japanese emperor addresses nation

by Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP

2 hrs 12 mins ago

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) – Japan’s emperor gave a rare address to a jittery nation on Wednesday as a nuclear emergency deepened and millions struggled in desperate conditions after last week’s quake and tsunami disaster.

The television appearance by Emperor Akihito emphasised the gravity of the crisis gripping Japan after the 9.0-magnitude quake and the monster waves it unleashed, killing thousands and crippling a nuclear power plant.

Akihito said he was “deeply concerned” about the “unpredictable” situation at the stricken Fukushima No.1 power plant, which has been hit by a series of explosions after Friday’s quake knocked out reactor cooling systems.

9 Yen hits 16-hear high, Portugal downgrade hits euro

AFP

1 hr 28 mins ago

LONDON (AFP) – The yen on Wednesday rose to a 16-year high against the dollar despite the deepening nuclear emergency, while the euro lost ground to the greenback after Moody’s downgraded its credit ratings for indebted Portugal.

In London trade at 1620 GMT the Japanese currency stood at 79.98 yen to the dollar, the strongest level since April 1995, which was a postwar record.

At 1700 GMT it was at 80.25 yen to the dollar, from 80.73 late on Tuesday in New York.

10 Blasts, new fire escalate Japan’s nuclear crisis

by Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 7:36 pm ET

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) – Japanese crews battled Wednesday to avert a nuclear disaster and said they may pour water from helicopters to stop fuel rods from being exposed to the air and releasing even more radioactivity.

Fire crews were fighting a new blaze at reactor number four at the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said.

“We are battling the fire now,” a spokesman said. The government later said the fire was under control.

11 Pakistan frees CIA contractor accused of murder

by Masroor Gilani, AFP

1 hr 37 mins ago

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – A Pakistan court on Wednesday freed a CIA contractor accused of double murder after $2 million in blood money was paid to the families of the dead, ending a damaging row with the United States.

Raymond Davis, remanded in jail since he shot dead two men in Lahore on January 27, said he acted in self-defence and has been backed by US authorities, who said he was an embassy employee with full diplomatic immunity.

The incident sparked protests and ruptured fragile ties between the United States and Islamabad, which had been under domestic pressure to stand up to its superpower ally and try Davis for murder.

12 Irish corporation tax row colours EU unification bid

by Roddy Thomson, AFP

2 hrs 3 mins ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Europe launched plans Wednesday to give multi-national companies the choice of filing corporate tax returns just once, but a simmering row over Ireland’s business tax rates left their sponsor on the back foot.

EU taxation commissioner Algirdas Semeta’s legislative proposals, part of a drive to deepen the European Union’s single market of half a billion consumers, would theoretically let companies balance losses in one national market with profits in another.

Semeta recognises he faces a huge battle to push through ideas that have been a decade in the making.

Reuters

13 Japan scrambles to avert nuclear disaster, global fears mount

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Chisa Fujioka, Reuters

1 hr 4 mins ago

TOKYO (Reuters) – Operators of a quake-crippled nuclear plant in Japan said they would try again on Thursday to use military helicopters to douse overheating reactors, as U.S. officials warned of a rising risk of a catastrophic radiation leak from spent fuel rods.

Officials scrambled to contain the nuclear crisis with a variety of patchwork fixes. The top U.S. nuclear regulator warned that one reactor’s cooling pool for spent fuel rods may have run dry and another was leaking.

“We believe that around the reactor site there are high levels of radiation,” Gregory Jaczko, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing.

14 Economic hit from Japan quake seen up to $200 billion

By Leika Kihara, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 2:30 pm ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world’s third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast.

As Japanese officials scrambled to avert a catastrophic meltdown at a nuclear plant 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital Tokyo, economists took stock of the damage to buildings, production and consumer activity.

The disaster is expected to hit Japanese output sharply over the coming months, but economists warned it could result in a deeper slowdown if power shortages prove significant and prolonged, delaying or even scotching the “v-shaped” recovery that followed the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

15 Analysis: Japan nuclear crisis reaches new levels

By Scott DiSavino, Reuters

15 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Japan’s nuclear crisis may have taken its most dangerous turn yet after a U.S. official said one of the pools containing highly radioactive spent fuel rods at the stricken plant had run dry.

One nuclear expert said that there was now even a possibility that the disaster may approach the extent of the Chernobyl accident, the worst ever in the industry’s history. When the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine exploded in 1986 it spewed a radiation cloud over a large area of Europe.

And a nuclear engineer said that it may be time to consider ways to bury or cover the entire complex in some kind of material that would stop radiation from leaking into the atmosphere.

16 Analysis: Worst case nuclear cloud seen limited to Japan

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent, Reuters

1 hr 15 mins ago

OSLO (Reuters) – In the worst case, any radioactive cloud from Japan’s damaged nuclear plant is likely to be limited to the densely populated nation — unlike the wider fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, experts say.

The 1986 blast in then-Soviet Ukraine, when the reactor exploded, contaminated large parts of Europe in the world’s worst nuclear disaster. At the Fukushima plant, the explosive potential within the six reactors is easing with time.

“In the worst case, a radioactive cloud would not go that far up in the atmosphere,” said Jan Beranek, head of environmental group Greenpeace’s International Nuclear Campaign.

17 U.S. warns Japan spent fuel pool may have run dry

By Tom Doggett Tom Doggett – 2 hrs 33 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. nuclear regulator warned on Wednesday that one pool holding spent fuel at Japan’s stricken nuclear plant may have run dry and a second could be leaking, something experts say could accelerate the release of radiation.

“We believe at this point that Unit Four may have lost a significant inventory, if not lost all, of its water,” Gregory Jaczko, head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told lawmakers at a House energy and commerce subcommittee hearing.

Officials in Japan have not said how much water remains in the pool.

18 Thriving metropolis or ghost town? Crisis transforms Tokyo

By Jason Szep and Mariko Katsumura, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 7:22 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Areas of Tokyo usually packed with office workers crammed into sushi restaurants and noodle shops were eerily quiet. Many schools were closed. Companies allowed workers to stay home. Long queues formed at airports.

As Japanese authorities struggled to avert disaster at an earthquake-battered nuclear complex 240 km (150 miles) to the north, parts of Tokyo resembled a ghost town.

Many stocked up on food and stayed indoors or simply left, transforming one of the world’s biggest, most dynamic and densely populated cities into a shell of its usual self.

19 Somber Japan emperor makes unprecedented address to nation

By Shinichi Saoshiro, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 6:46 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation on Wednesday, expressing deep worry about the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to lend each other a helping hand in difficult times.

Looking somber and stoic, the 77-year-old Akihito said the problems at Japan’s nuclear-power reactors, where authorities are battling to prevent a catastrophe, were unpredictable after an earthquake he described as “unprecedented in scale.”

TV stations interrupted coverage to carry the emperor’s first public appearance since last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.

20 Bahrain crushes protests, draws U.S. criticism

By Lin Noueihed, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 3:21 pm ET

MANAMA (Reuters) – Bahraini forces used tanks and helicopters to drive protesters from the streets on Wednesday clearing a camp that had become a symbol of the Shi’ite Muslim uprising and drawing rare criticism from their U.S. allies.

Three police and three protesters were killed in the violence that has transformed a crisis between the island’s majority Shi’ites and minority Sunnis into a regional standoff between Sunni Gulf Arab states and non-Arab Shi’ite power Iran.

President Barack Obama called the kings of Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of Washington in the Middle East, and of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, to urge restraint. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrain and Gulf allies who sent in troops to back the Sunni royals were on the wrong track.

21 Iraq criticises Bahrain intervention; Sadrists march

By Khalid al-Ansary, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 2:18 pm ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday criticized military intervention by Sunni Arab neighbors in Bahrain, and followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets of Baghdad.

The crackdown by Bahrain’s Saudi-backed Sunni royal family against protesters from its Shi’ite majority has galvanized Iraq’s Shi’ite community, exacerbating the sectarian tension that led to years of war in Iraq.

The arrival of Saudi troops in Bahrain has enraged Shi’ites in the region, drawing condemnation from Iran and prompting protests in Lebanon and Iraq. Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq are the only Arab countries where Shi’ites outnumber Sunnis.

22 Gaddafi pummels rebels as war outpaces diplomacy

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 2:03 pm ET

TOBRUK, Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s army pounded an opposition-held city in the country’s west and battled fighters trying to block its advance on a rebel bastion in the east on Wednesday amid flagging diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States hoped for a U.N. Security Council vote aimed at ending Libya’s conflict “no later than Thursday.

Saying Muammar Gaddafi seemed determined to kill as many as Libyans as possible in his violent effort to quell a month-long uprising, she said “many different actions” were being considered not just a no-fly zone.

23 U.S. joins France and UK in urging swift U.N. Libya action

By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters

36 mins ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States, France and Britain on Wednesday urged the U.N. Security Council to take swift action on a proposed no-fly zone over Libya, as Washington suggested it might have decided to back the plan.

The Security Council met through the day behind closed doors to discuss a draft resolution authorizing a no-fly zone to halt Libyan government air strikes on rebels. But some council members, including veto powers Russia and China, are either undecided or have doubts.

British, French and Lebanese envoys distributed the draft on Tuesday after the Arab League called on the council to approve a no-fly zone in Libya.

24 Gaddafi seen growing in confidence as rebels fade

By Giles Elgood, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 10:33 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – As his armed forces roll over rebel fighters, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi has shaken off his delusional first response to the uprising and is reasserting his grip on the country he has ruled for more than 40 years.

After presidents in Tunisia and Egypt succumbed to popular revolutions, swift early gains by rebels in Libya made it look as though Gaddafi would be the next Arab domino to topple.

His initial reaction to the rebellion was defiant, but denied what was happening in plain sight on Libyan streets. There were no demonstrations, he told Western journalists. Nobody was against him and all his people loved him.

25 Pakistan frees CIA man after "blood money" paid

By Zeeshan Haider and Mubasher Bokhari, Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 3:01 pm ET

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A CIA contractor was acquitted of two murder charges and released by a Pakistani court on Wednesday after a deal to pay “blood money” to the victims’ families, Pakistani and U.S. officials said.

The deal, reached just hours after the American contractor had been indicted, ends a long-simmering diplomatic standoff between Pakistan and the United States.

“The court first indicted him but the families later told court that they have accepted the blood money and they have pardoned him,” Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told Reuters.

26 Watchdog says TARP helps perpetuate "Too big to fail"

Reuters

Wed Mar 16, 2:02 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The watchdog panel for the $700 billion bank bailout faulted the U.S. government for the last time on Wednesday, saying the program helped underpin the perception that federal authorities will always prevent troubled financial firms from failing.

In its final report on the bank bailout, the panel attacked the government for not being transparent enough and not articulating clear goals for its foreclosure prevention program.

It also said federal intervention transformed the notion of ‘too big to fail’ into a stark reality.

AP

27 Nuclear crisis a tangle of ominous, hopeful signs

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

1 hr 56 mins ago

FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Nuclear plant operators trying to avoid complete reactor meltdowns said Thursday that they were close to finishing a new power line that could end Japan’s crisis, but several ominous signs have also emerged: a surge in radiation levels, unexplained white smoke and spent fuel rods that U.S. officials said might be on the verge of spewing more radioactive material.

As fear, confusion and unanswered questions swirled around the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, and Japan suffered myriad other trials from last week’s earthquake and tsunami believed to have killed more than 10,000, its emperor took the unprecedented step of directly addressing his country on camera, urging his people not to give up.

“It is important that each of us shares the difficult days that lie ahead,” Akihito said Wednesday. “I pray that we will all take care of each other and overcome this tragedy.”

28 More governments advising citizens to leave Tokyo

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press

4 mins ago

TOKYO – Australia, Britain and Germany advised their citizens in Japan to consider leaving Tokyo and earthquake-affected areas, joining a growing number of governments and businesses telling their people it may be safer elsewhere.

The advisories came as the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in the northeast deepened in the wake of last week’s earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, however, said its advice to Australians had nothing to do with the threat of nuclear contamination from the damaged plant.

29 US nuclear plants located near geologic faults

5 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Two years before an immense coastal earthquake plunged Japan into a nuclear crisis, a geologic fault was discovered about a half-mile from a California seaside reactor – alarming regulators who say not enough has been done to gauge the threat to the nation’s most populous state.

The situation of the Diablo Canyon plant is not unique. Across the country, a spider’s web of faults in the Earth’s crust raises questions about earthquakes and safety at aging nuclear plants, amplified by horrific images from Japan, where nuclear reactors were crippled by a tsunami caused by a 9-magnitude quake.

The Indian Point Energy Center, for example, lies near a fault line 35 miles north of Manhattan; on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a safety review at the plant.

30 Japan crisis a threat to companies’ supply routes

By The Associated Press

2 hrs 38 mins ago

The disaster in Japan has exposed a problem with how multinational companies do business: The system they use to keep supplies rolling in is lean and cost-effective – yet vulnerable to sudden shocks.

Factories, ports, roads, railways and airports in northern Japan have been shut down or damaged because of the stricken nuclear plant in the region. So auto and technology companies are cut off from suppliers in the disaster zone. Some have had to stop or slow production.

“When you’re running incredibly lean and you’re going global, you become very vulnerable to supply disruptions,” says Stanley Fawcett, a professor of global supply chain management at Brigham Young University.

31 NRC: No water in spent fuel pool of Japan plant

Associated Press

1 hr 39 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The chief of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that all the water is gone from one of the spent fuel pools at Japan’s most troubled nuclear plant. But Japanese officials denied it.

“There is no water in the spent fuel pool and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures,” NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing.

If Jaczko was correct, this would mean there was nothing to stop the fuel rods from heating and ultimately melting down. The outer shell of the rods could also ignite with enough force to propel the radioactive fuel inside over a wide area, widening the potential reach of any nuclear fallout.

32 US sets new safety rules for citizens in Japan

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 5:40 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration, taking a tougher stand than Japan on how to deal with a deepening nuclear crisis, urged the evacuation of Americans on Wednesday within a 50-mile radius of a stricken nuclear plant, raising questions about U.S. confidence in Tokyo’s risk assessments.

The U.S. advisory about the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was far more stringent than the 12 mile radius recommended by Japan. The Japanese government is also urging people within 20 miles of the plant to stay indoors if they cannot evacuate.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney sought to minimize any rift between the two allies, saying U.S. officials were making their recommendations based on their independent analysis of the data coming out of the region following Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami.

33 Hope and loss in Japan’s search for 8,000 missing

By JAY ALABASTER and FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 5:19 pm ET

NATORI, Japan – Line after line, a list on the wall of city hall reveals the dead. Some are named. Others are identified only by a short description.

Female. About 50. Peanuts in left chest pocket. Large mole. Seiko watch.

Male. 70-80 years old. Wearing an apron that says “Rentacom.”

34 Rebels battle to hold city under Gadhafi siege

By KHALED KAZZIHA and MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press

56 mins ago

AJDABIYA, Libya – Libyan rebels battled to hold a strategic eastern city against a punishing offensive by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, voicing anger and frustration at the West for not coming to their aid. At the same time, government troops heavily shelled the last main rebel bastion near the capital.

Charred vehicles, bullet-riddled pickup trucks and an overturned tank littered the desert highway where pro-Gadhafi forces had fought up to the entrance of the key eastern city of Ajdabiya. An Associated Press Television News cameraman counted at least three bodies by the side of the road, evidence of fierce battles. Government troops were bringing in a stream of truckloads of ammunition, rockets and supplies – signs of an intensified effort by the Libyan leader to retake control of the country he has ruled with an iron fist for more than four decades.

The rebels lashed out at the West as the latest international effort to impose a no-fly zone over Libya stumbled along. Supporters in the U.N. Security Council were trying to push through a resolution to impose such a move along with other measures aimed at preventing Gadhafi from bombing his people, but Russia and Germany have expressed doubts.

35 Bahrain locks down kingdom as uprising surges

By BARBARA SURK and REEM KHALIFA, Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 4:42 pm ET

MANAMA, Bahrain – Soldiers and riot police in Bahrain overran a protesters’ camp, imposed a 12-hour curfew and choked off movement nationwide Wednesday. Witnesses described helicopters firing on homes in a hunt for Shiites and attacking doctors treating the wounded, while the government called the demonstrators “outlaws” for demanding an end to the monarchy.

The nation that once led the Middle East in entrepreneurial openness went into lockdown, its government propped up by troops from Sunni Gulf neighbors fearful for their own rule and the spread of Shiite Iran’s influence.

The unrest that began last month increasingly looks like a sectarian showdown. The country’s Sunni leaders are desperate to hold power, and majority Shiites want more rights and an end to the monarchy.

36 ‘Blood money’ frees CIA contractor in Pakistan

By ADAM GOLDMAN and ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press

1 hr 5 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Pakistan abruptly freed the CIA contractor who shot and killed two men in a gunfight in Lahore after a deal was sealed Wednesday to pay $2.34 million in “blood money” to the men’s families. The agreement, nearly seven weeks after the shootings, ended a tense showdown with a vital U.S. ally that had threatened to disrupt the war on terrorism.

In what appeared to be a carefully choreographed conclusion to the diplomatic crisis, a U.S. official said Pakistan had paid the families whose pardoning of Raymond Davis set the stage for his release. That arrangement allowed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to assert in a news conference the U.S. didn’t pay compensation.

But the American government “expects to receive a bill at some point,” said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the situation was so sensitive. The payments to families in Pakistan are roughly 400 times as high as the U.S. has paid to families of many civilians wrongfully killed by U.S. soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

37 Petraeus: first US cuts will include combat forces

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 4:15 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday the initial wave of troop withdrawals in July will probably include combat as well as non-combat forces, part of a President Barack Obama’s long-term strategy that garnered crucial support from lawmakers.

Testifying for a second day on Capitol Hill, Army Gen. David Petraeus described combat gains since last year’s U.S. troop buildup, and several members of the House Armed Services Committee who recently traveled to Afghanistan echoed his assessment.

“During a visit last week with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates observed, `The closer you get to this fight, the better it looks,'” said Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif. “Having just returned from a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan a few weeks ago, I couldn’t agree more.”

38 Clemson, Asheville win, then board flights

Assocaited Press

Wed Mar 16, 6:03 am ET

DAYTON, Ohio – As happy as Clemson and UNC Asheville were to win NCAA tournament games, there was no time to celebrate.

A group hug with your teammates, handshakes for the opponents, a few postgame remarks and both teams were airborne.

Jerai Grant scored a career-best 22 points and the fast-starting Tigers built a double-figure lead and never backed off in beating Alabama-Birmingham 70-52 on Tuesday night in an NCAA tournament “First Four” game at the University of Dayton Arena.

39 Ga. executions off: DEA seizes critical drug

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 2:26 pm ET

ATLANTA – A U.S. shortage of a key lethal injection drug deepened Wednesday as federal regulators investigated whether Georgia circumvented the law in obtaining its supply and Texas announced it was switching to an alternative.

The Drug Enforcement Administration seized Georgia’s entire supply of sodium thiopental, which defense attorneys claim came from a fly-by-night British supplier operating from the back of a driving school in a gritty London neighborhood.

DEA agents have not said exactly why they seized the drug, except that there were questions about how it was imported into the U.S.

40 Ind. businessman indicted, faces SEC fraud charges

Associated Press

8 mins ago

INDIANAPOLIS – A former Indiana businessman who served for years as National Lampoon’s chief executive was arrested Wednesday on charges he ran an elaborate Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $200 million to help fund a lavish lifestyle, including a $250,000 revamp of his luxury home’s garage.

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday in Indianapolis charges Timothy Durham, business partner James F. Cochran and their accountant, Rick D. Snow, with 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud.

The indictment, along with a separate Securities and Exchange Commission civil filing, accuses all three of defrauding about 5,000 investors in Akron, Ohio-based Fair Finance Co. of more than $200 million.

41 Wis. DA files lawsuit challenging union law

By TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press

5 mins ago

MADISON, Wis. – Republican lawmakers violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law when they amended a contentious plan that bars most public employees from collective bargaining, a Madison prosecutor alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne’s legal challenge is the second from a county official since Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill into law Friday. Ozanne filed his lawsuit after Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly alleged Republican leaders didn’t give enough public notice that a committee planned to meet to amend the bill.

Ozanne, a Democrat, wants a judge to void the law and issue an emergency order blocking the secretary of state from publishing the law, which would prevent it from taking effect. He also wants each Republican leader fined $300.

42 Ex-Chicago cop linked to torture heads to prison

Associated Press

4 mins ago

CHICAGO – As a former Chicago police commander reported to federal prison Wednesday for lying about the torture of murder suspects decades ago, a man his detectives allegedly beat into confessing learned he was being freed after spending 25 years in prison.

Jon Burge, whose name in Chicago is synonymous with police brutality and racism, turned himself in Wednesday morning to begin a 4 1/2-year sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. Hours later in Chicago, a judge ordered 45-year-old Eric Caine released from Menard Correctional Center after prosecutors conceded that they didn’t have enough evidence to convict Caine of murder again without the suspect confession he gave police in 1986.

“On the day that Jon Burge is headed for prison, Eric Caine got word he is coming home,” said Caine’s attorney, Russell Ainsworth.

43 Supporters call for Libya no-fly vote

By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press

51 mins ago

UNITED NATIONS – Supporters of a no-fly zone over Libya called for a Security Council vote Thursday on a U.N. resolution aimed at preventing Moammar Gadhafi’s planes from conducting aerial attacks on the Libyan people.

Britain and France put a draft resolution that would impose a no-fly zone in a final form late Wednesday. The text will be sent to capitals overnight and can still be changed before being put to a vote in the 15-member council.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong, the current council president, told reporters “we hope we will have real progress tomorrow.”

44 Feds eye anti-Semitism claims at Calif university

Associated Press

1 hr 34 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a faculty member’s complaint that a series of pro-Palestinian events at a California university crossed the line into anti-Semitism and created a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights notified the University of California, Santa Cruz last week that it planned to look into allegations made by Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin dating back to 2001.

The probe “in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to their merits,” Arthur Zeidman,” director of the San Francisco office, said in a letter to the instructor and campus officials.

45 Commerce secretary expanding review of fish fines

Associated Press

2 hrs 28 mins ago

BOSTON – The U.S. commerce secretary has reversed course and said Wednesday that he will allow more fishermen who have been accused of violations to have their cases reviewed for fairness by a special investigator.

Gary Locke also said he had agreed to give the investigator discretion to freeze pending penalties against those fishermen.

Locke had denied both requests in January, drawing protests from Northeastern lawmakers who said it was another assault by the federal government on the region’s fishing industry.

46 Man monitored by hate watchdog to address AZ panel

By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press

2 hrs 31 mins ago

PHOENIX – The chairman of a civilian border watch group invited by an Arizona lawmaker to address a state Senate panel has been described by a watchdog organization as a “vitriolic Mexican-basher” who courts white supremacists.

Glenn Spencer, chairman of the American Border Patrol, is set to give his assessment of the Arizona-Mexico border to the Senate’s border security committee on Thursday.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, has a three-page online profile of Spencer, in which it says he “may have done more than anyone to spread the myth of a secret Mexican conspiracy to reconquer the Southwest.”

47 White House: Latin America now has new view of US

2 hrs 34 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s sustained trip to Latin America will have a central political goal for the White House: showing that the forces of anti-Americanism are shrinking while the influence of the United States as a hemispheric partner is rising, senior aides to the president said Wednesday.

Obama leaves Friday night for a trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador that will have him in South America and Central America for essentially five days. Beyond the specific economic, energy and security themes of his agenda is an overarching effort to show that Obama is engaged with the countries of his neighborhood – and, in turn, why that matters to the United States.

Presidential aides were blunt Wednesday in describing the trip as a message to the regional nemeses of the United States, mainly Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose anti-U.S. position and harsh rhetoric have been defining features of his presidency.

48 US lacks people, authorities to face cyber attack

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 6:49 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military does not have the trained personnel or the legal authorities it needs to respond to a computer-based attack on America or its allies, and a crisis would quickly strain the force, the Pentagon’s cyber commander said Wednesday.

Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the Defense Department’s Cyber Command, told Congress that he would give the military a grade of “C” in its ability to protect Pentagon networks, but said things are much better than they were a few years ago and continue to improve.

“We are finding that we do not have the capacity to do everything we need to accomplish. To put it bluntly, we are very thin, and a crisis would quickly stress our cyber forces,” Alexander said. “We cannot afford to allow cyberspace to be a sanctuary where real and potential adversaries can marshal forces and capabilities to use against us and our allies. This is not a hypothetical danger.”

49 For Irish-Americans, labor threats carry poignancy

By The Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 6:39 pm ET

NEW YORK – In a year when the questions of union power and the responsibility of governments to their employees have taken center stage, St. Patrick’s Day is taking on dual meaning for many Irish-Americans, with their rich ties to the labor movement.

The struggles their famine-worn ancestors faced as new arrivals – the slurs from their neighbors, the “Irish need not apply” signs – still echo through the generations, as does the avid union support that helped lift them to positions of power, influence and ultimately acceptance.

“Union jobs, civil service jobs have always been the ladder out of poverty for working people in this country,” said Patrick J. Lynch, leader of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the union that represents New York police. “The faces may have changed. The countries they’re coming from may have changed. But the ladder is the same.”

50 Texas’ economic miracle beginning to tarnish

By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 6:23 pm ET

AUSTIN, Texas – Some in Texas had talked tough about solving the state’s budget problem by austerity alone, but lawmakers finally faced a hard fact: Texas is in serious financial trouble.

The severity of the state’s $27 billion budget crisis was evident in the furrowed brows, sad eyes and pained expressions of legislators. They fidgeted in their seats as hundreds of teachers, parents and disabled people explained in testimony in recent weeks how proposed budget cuts would ruin their lives.

Legislatures elsewhere are facing budget problems, but most are blending cuts with asset sales, increased fees and tax modifications to soften the impact. Texas prides itself on lean government so Republicans here promised to solve the crisis here by budget cuts alone.

51 3rd suit filed against Philly archdiocese heads

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 4:57 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA – A third man has filed a civil lawsuit charging officials from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up sexual assault allegations against a priest who molested him.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in the city’s Court of Common Pleas says the man was assaulted as a boy by a priest from St. Francis Xavier parish and Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia.

Francis Finnegan, 49, said he was molested by the Rev. John Kline at the age of 7, when the priest accompanied his family on a trip to the New Jersey shore in 1968 or 1969. He said he had repressed the traumatic event and only began to remember the abuse three years ago.

52 Teaching seen as crucial in topping ed rankings

By The Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 4:38 pm ET

MIAMI – Countries that outpace the U.S. in education employ many different strategies to help their students excel. They do, however, share one: They set high requirements to become a teacher, hold those who become one in high esteem and offer the instructors plenty of support.

On Wednesday and Thursday, education leaders, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the nation’s largest teacher unions, and officials from the highest scoring countries, are meeting in New York to identify the best teaching practices.

The meeting comes after the recently released results of the Programme for International Student Assessment exam of 15-year-olds alarmed U.S. educators. Out of 34 countries, it ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math.

53 EPA proposes regulating mercury from coal plants

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 4:22 pm ET

HOUSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules on Wednesday that would for the first time regulate toxic air emissions from coal-fired power plants, including limiting mercury, lead, arsenic and acid gas pollution.

Environmental and medical groups praised the move, which came in response to a court-ordered deadline, saying the new regulations will remove toxins from the air that contribute to respiratory illnesses, birth defects and developmental problems in children.

Some industry groups slammed the measure, however, accusing the EPA of inflating the benefits and arguing it would cost billions of dollars annually to comply.

54 Republicans say new consumer bureau too powerful

Associated Press

Wed Mar 16, 1:54 pm ET

WASHINGTON – House Republicans said Wednesday that a new government agency designed to protect consumers from problems with mortgages, credit cards and other lenders has too much power. They also criticized it for participating in a federal-state effort to force mortgage servicers to change the way they foreclose on troubled homeowners.

Testifying to Congress, the White House official assembling the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made no apologies. Elizabeth Warren said the agency was badly needed and might have helped the country avoid the housing problems it has suffered, including abuses in the ways foreclosures have been processed.

“If there had been a consumer agency in place, the problems in mortgage servicing would have been exposed early and fixed while they were still small, long before they became a national scandal,” she told the financial institutions subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.

55 Mini isn’t so mini anymore

By ANN M. JOB, For The Associated Press Ann M. Job, For The Associated Press – Wed Mar 16, 1:27 pm ET

The biggest Mini in new-car showrooms isn’t so mini in size and price.

The new-for-2011 Mini Cooper Countryman is some 15 inches longer, from bumper to bumper, than the diminutive, 12-foot-long 2011 Mini Cooper hatchback. The five-door Countryman also is 6 inches taller and 4 inches wider than the three-door Mini Cooper hatchback.

The new size creates a roomier back seat area that’s unheard of in previous Minis, and cargo space is larger than ever, too.

Mar 16 2011

Japan Syndrome

It’s very hard to get your arms around what’s happening with the Japanese reactor meltdown since most of what you read is either disingenous apologia for nuclear power in general or baldfaced lies (or more charitably confusion) about what’s actually been happening on the ground.

As near as I can tell the current problem is a big one.  The fuel rods are burning.  This is because the temperature produced by these still hot (and I mean that in the normal, don’t let your cat sit on the stove, sense) units is above the point where the casing and filler start to burn like a Brillo pad you light with a match.

Now unlike oil or electrical the best way to put out these fires is with water which cools the rods and slows down the nuclear reactions that heat them up in the first place.  The problem is that in these conditions water also breaks down into it’s component elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen, and Hydrogen just happens to be explosive.  Indeed one of the most confusing parts of the story is how many explosions there have been and where, but bottom line is a lot and in many places.

In any event each explosion has created more damage in addition to releasing radiation that has made it periodically impossible to continue fighting these fires without getting a toasty fatal tan.

Now there are other things you can do like dump a pile of Boron (even better than water for reaction reduction, not so good at cooling) on top and cover the whole damn thing with concrete.

That’s what they did at Chernobyl.

The problem is that there aren’t huge piles of Boron just sitting around and most of the brave Russian pilots tasked with that mission, ummm… died of radiation poisoning.

So the situation is fluid to say the least.

The NHK live earthquake coverage in English is on the right.

Mar 16 2011

Punting the Pundits

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”

Ladies’ Day. Gentlemen are below the fold

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Conservative Zealotry vs. Economic Reality

One thing about the current generation of conservatives: Getting mugged by reality hasn’t changed the way they look at the world. We’ve just come through a calamitous financial collapse – caused by reckless Wall Street gambling and toothless watchdogs – that triggered a Great Recession and doubled the U.S. national debt. The collapse is the greatest cause of large deficits, but conservatives act as if the deficits caused the collapse.

A recent stop in London revealed that this isn’t just a Tea Party phenomenon. There, the new Tory-dominated coalition led by David Cameron looks and sounds like a sprightlier offshoot of House Speaker John Boehner’s troops. Cameron has set out on a forced march for fiscal retrenchment, imposing deep and immediate spending cuts (and tax increases) to bring deficits down in Britain. This plan is sold with a jaunty recital of conservative gospel: The economy has begun to recover, and action on deficit reduction will boost the confidence of business and consumers. The resulting revival, it is argued, will generate more than enough private-sector jobs to make up for those lost in the public sector.

Amy Goodman: Warning to the World

A reporter, describing the devastation of one city in Japan, wrote: “It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of existence. I write these facts … as a warning to the world.” The reporter was Wilfred Burchett, writing from Hiroshima, Japan, on Sept. 5, 1945. Burchett was the first Western reporter to make it to Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped there. He reported on the strange illness that continued to kill people, even a full month after that first, dreadful use of nuclear weapons against humans. His words could well describe the scenes of annihilation in northeastern Japan today. Given the worsening catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, his grave warning to the world remains all too relevant.

Sharon Lerner: Republicans Push the Mississippi Model

If the proposed cuts to birth control get carries out, they could dramatically increase the birthrate.

As the Guttmacher Institute points out publicly funded planning services now

“prevent almost two million unintended pregnancies each year, which would result in 810,000 unintended pregnancies and 810,000 abortions. Without these services the unintended number of pregnancies and abortions among poor women in the United Stats would nearly double, and the number of unintended pregnancies in the nation as a whole would be nearly two thirds higher.”

But, as anyone who’s watched the Nature Channel can tell you, pregnancy is only the beginning of the story.

So what will happen to the thousands of new people who would result from the absence of publicly funded family planning services if the House gets its way?

Robert Reich: Safety on the Cheap

Can we please agree that in the real world corporations exist for one purpose, and one purpose only – to make as much money as possible, which means cutting costs as much as possible?

The New York Times reports that G.E. marketed the Mark 1 boiling water reactors, used in TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, as cheaper to build than other reactors because they used a comparatively smaller and less expensive containment structure.

Yet American safety officials have long thought the smaller design more vulnerable to explosion and rupture in emergencies than competing designs. (By the way, the same design is used in 23 American nuclear reactors at 16 plants.)

John Nichols: Greetings From Fitzwalkerstan: Wisconsin GOP Denies Legislative Democrats Voting Rights

Not content to deny state, county and municipal employees and teachers a voice in the workplace-with legislation that takes away collective bargaining rights-Wisconsin Republicans have now moved to deny Democratic legislators the right to vote on legislation as it is being considered by state Senate committees.

For the better part of a month, fourteen Democratic state senators denied Republicans the quorum they sought to pass Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s anti-labor legislation-and, in so doing, provided the time for the development of a mass movement that last Saturday drew more than 100,000 union supporters to the Capitol. The Democratic senators have returned and the legislation has passed.

But Republican poll numbers have collapsed. And they are furious.

Ralph Nader: Our Right-Leaning Public Media

The tumultuous managerial shakeup at National Public Radio headquarters for trivial verbal miscues once again has highlighted the ludicrous corporatist right-wing charge that public radio and public TV are replete with left-leaning or leftist programming.

Ludicrous, that is, unless this criticism’s yardstick is the propaganda regularly exuded by the extreme right-wing Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. These “capitalists” use the public’s airwaves free-of-charge to make big money.

The truth is that the frightened executives at public TV and radio have long been more hospitable to interviews with right of center or extreme right-wing and corporatist talking heads than liberal or progressive guests.

Dave Johnson: What “Free Trade” Has Cost The World

If you take a job away from someone who is paid a reasonable wage because they enjoy the protections and prosperity of democratic government, move it across a border, and give it to someone living under a thugocracy, forced to work for pennies with no protections whatsoever, it should be just plain obvious that the worker on our side of the border and the worker on the other side of the border are not going to be better off. And when you do this on a massive scale it just stands to reason that most people on both sides of the border are going to be worse off.

But propaganda being what it is we were somehow convinced to try a worldwide experiment in taking good jobs from democracies and turning them into bad jobs in thugocracies. Now, of course, the experiment has run its course and we can see the results.

Robert Naiman: Washington Smackdown: Petraeus vs. “Substantial Drawdown”

Gen. David Petraeus spoke today before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and is speaking tomorrow before the House Armed Services Committee, selling Congress a “progress” story about the war in Afghanistan that isn’t believed by US intelligence analysts. Whether Members of Congress choose to believe Petraeus’ reassurances over the assessments of the U.S. intelligence community (“who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?”) could prove decisive in determining whether the July drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that President Obama has promised will be “token,” as the Pentagon wants, or is “substantial,” as the overwhelming majority of Americans want. The stakes are high: a substantial drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this year would save many American and Afghan lives and tens of billions of dollars, and would open political space in Afghanistan for a negotiated political settlement that ends the civil war.

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