The nuclear industry has melted in Japan and France

There are zero commercial reactors operating in Japan today. On March 10, 2011, there were 54 licensed to operate, well over 10% percent of the global fleet.

But for the first time in 42 years, a country at the core of global reactor electricity is producing none of its own.

Worldwide, there are fewer than 400 operating reactors for the first time since Chernobyl, a quarter-century ago.

And France has replaced a vehemently pro-nuclear premier with the Socialist Francois Hollande, who will almost certainly build no new reactors. For decades France has been the "poster child" of atomic power. But Hollande is likely to follow the major shift in French national opinion away from nuclear power and toward the kind of green-powered transition now redefining German energy supply.

In the United States, a national grassroots movement to stop federal loan guarantees could end new nuclear construction altogether.

From the Kent State killings to Occupy Cleveland, this is the face of the new COINTELPRO

Recent events in northern Ohio underscore the new COINTELPRO assault on activism. On Tuesday, May 1, federal authorities arrested five "anarchists" charging them with conspiracy in trying to bomb property used in interstate commerce, according to the Associated Press (AP). The target of this alleged plot was a bridge running through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland.

Media immediately identified the men as linked to the nonviolent anti-corporate Occupy Cleveland movement. The next day, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson refused to renew the permits for Occupy Cleveland's downtown encampment site. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio questioned why the Mayor would revoke the permit the day after the arrests. "Individuals are responsible for their own actions, not the groups they affiliate with," said James Hardiman, ACLU's Ohio Legal Director.

Atomic rate rape & the new China syndrome

Japan's one remaining operating reactor (of 54) may go dark tomorrow.  Japan would be nuke-free for the first time in a half-century.  

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is desperately trying to get Osaka's Mayor to allow the Ohi nuke to stay open.  But Japanese law gives local officials far more power over the reactor industry than in the US or China.  And the 42-year-old Toru Hashimoto, the son of a Yakuza gangster, is holding firm.  Now probably Japan's most popular politician, Hoshimoto has harshly criticized its nuclear industry for lying to the public and for causing the Fukushima catastrophe and then covering up its true impacts.

Japan has long been at the core of the global reactor business.  It manufactures pressure vessels, steam generators and much more of the serious hardware that comprises the world's atomic infrastructure.  Should it go totally post-nuclear, the symbolic as well as tangible impact would be huge.  Even Germany, which has announced its intent to go green, has a number of nukes still going.

Japan's top brass are desperately trying to persuade Hashimoto to give in.  We'll know tomorrow.

New York May Day protests draw thousands

Although not attracting the crowd many Occupy Wall Street activists had hoped for, May Day marches drew tens of thousands of demonstrators across the New York City and surrouding boroughs, demanding social change and higher taxes for the wealthiest in American society.

Throughout the day, Occupy Wall Street activists joined by unions formed groups of between 30 and 50 activists at various corporate locations throughout the city, including the offices of Chase, Pziser, and HSBC.

Outside the headquarters of Fox News in midtown Manhattan demonstrators pounded the sidewalks on a wet and gloomy morning, where they urged Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (parent company of Fox News) to pay more taxes.

"They got bailed out. We got sold out," circling protestors shouted in protest at bank-rescue plans, while AIDS activists from Vocal New York blasted Murdock's New York Post for pushing austerity measures that hurt HIV patients and promoting tax cuts for the rich.

Former Republican governor of New York State, George Pataki, who was leaving the building as protests continued, called the behavior of the Occupy

New song/video about ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council)

Music Video

Labor not loyalty on May 1

Two key steps have helped to ruin May Day in the United States. First, Labor Day was created at a completely different time of year -- labor day without the struggle, labor day without the history, labor day without the labor movement. Second, Loyalty Day was created on May 1st.

"We Did Not Choose This War" and other hypocrisies

"We did not choose this war. This war came to us on 9/11. We don't go looking for a fight. But when we see our homeland violated, when we see our fellow citizens killed, then we understand what we have to do."

These are the words that President Obama used on Tuesday to describe the Afghanistan war, but they would have been more appropriately said by any Afghan citizen.

Coming out of the mouth of the President of the United States, these words are nothing more than nationalistic propaganda — designed to justify an aggressive war of choice launched against a sovereign nation. Somebody chose this war, and it certainly wasn't the Afghan people — 92% of whom have never even heard of the events of 9/11.

AIDS demonstration in New York City

The New York City Police Department arrested nine housing and AIDS activists Wednesday near City Hall, before the start of a march on Wall Street, which called on Mayor Bloomberg to improve services for those affected with HIV/AIDS, while demanding a new tax to fight the epidemic's global threat.

Chanting "Tax Wall Street. End AIDS," activists, all from advocacy group, Housing Works, chained themselves to a couch, sink and even a toilet, blocking Broadway traffic around noon.

However, using heavy duty chain cutters, police snapped demonstrators free after ten minutes, before dragging them off to awaiting vans.

The demonstration was a joint effort of Occupy Wall Street movement and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and was planned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a demonstration protesting the steep cost of HIV medication.

Organizers estimated that at least 2,000 turned out for the trek to Trinity Church, overlooking Wall Street.

ACT-UP's Chip Ducket told the crowd that Wall Street can well afford a "Financial Speculative Tax," on shares, bonds and other financial transactions.

Ohio Super Max hunger strike continues and expands

Thursday, May 3. According to a level 5 prisoner participating in the hunger strike at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) there are forty-eight (48) prisoners who have refused nine meals and should be officially recognized as on hunger strike. Warden Bobby refused to comment or return calls requesting information about the hunger strike.

The prisoner's demands include the following:
1. Lower commissary prices. One striker writes: "Commissary items are permitted to be marked up.to 35% above retail, while many of us receive only $8 a month."
2. No more indefinite terms. Prisoners on the highest security level at OSP (level 5) currently have little prospects for reducing their security level and increasing privileges. "We are taken in front of a privilege review board every 90 days, yet can expect no [increase in] privilege for a year or longer" the hunger striker says of prisoners on Level 5B. Men on Level 5A have a privilege level review every six months, but there has been no increase in their privileges in recognition of good conduct for some time.

Kent State

This letter is in response to the articles covering the Justice Department's decision not to reopen the probe of the 1970 Kent State shootings.
Well, it appears the ghosts of Tin Soldiers and Nixon are coming back to the Kent State Campus.
First, your most ambitious students are being charged more money because they choose to take more credit hours {without any justification for the increased fees}. Second, the annual out-of-control beer party is put down by a armed SWAT team wearing similar uniforms as the Guardsman did 42 years ago {except that this time the tear gas is far more potent}. Now you have a Justice Department under the leadership of a Democratic President that decides they would rather look anywhere but at KSU or for that matter perhaps Dealey Plaza, the Lorraine Hotel and the Ambassador Hotel. Per the article: "The FBI's Cleveland office apparently destroyed the original Strubbe tape in 1979, according to the Justice Department." This begs the question: why wasn't it given to the Smithsonian Museum as a artifact of history? Why the rush to destroy the tape?

Per the article: "Some details of the altercation Allen identified on the

Pages

Subscribe to ColumbusFreePress.com RSS