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Friday, November 29, 2013

Russian-Made Nuclear Reactor not Affected by Iran Quake



MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s Russian-built nuclear power plant was not affected by a deadly earthquake in the south of the country on Thursday and continues to operate at full capacity, Russia’s state nuclear corporation said on Friday.

The tremor, followed by several aftershocks, damaged buildings and disrupted electricity supplies in the provincial capital Borazjan.

“Despite the earthquake, the plant continues to operate at 100 percent of capacity, the [seismic] event has no impact on its work. There were no shutdowns or capacity loss,” a spokesman for the Rosatom nuclear corporation told RIA Novosti.

Construction of the Bushehr power plant began in the 1970s but was plagued by delays. Russia signed a billion-dollar deal with Tehran to complete the plant in 1998.




The plant was connected to Iran's power grid in September 2011 and the Unit 1 reactor was brought to 100 percent capacity a year later. Russia handed over operational control of the plant to Iran in September.

According to the US Geological Survey, the 5.6-magnitude quake’s epicenter was about 63 kilometers (39 miles) northeast of the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr, where the plant is located. The quake was especially destructive due to its relatively shallow epicenter depth of 16.4 kilometers (10.2 miles).

At least eight people were killed and about 60 were injured, 12 of them critically, Iran’s FARS news agency said.

Credit to RIA Novosti

Iran Nuke Deal May Bring War, East China Sea Dispute May Get Hostile, Another Obama Care Delay

European Unemployment Declines From All Time High, Youth Unemployment Hits Fresh Record - Full Breakdown

Following the "good" news in the inflationary front, in which European November CPI rose and beat expectations if posting the first sub-Japan inflationary rate in Eurozone history, Eurostat followed with more holiday cheer when it reported a surprising decline in the overall Eurozone unemployment rate from 12.2% to 12.1%, the first such drop since late 2010. This was driven by a decline in the jobless rate in France (from 11.1% to 10.9%), Portugal (from 15.8% to 15.7%) Ireland (from 12.7% to 12.6%) and Lithuania (from 11.4% to 11.1%). The offset was as usual Spain which rose to a new record high of 26.7%, and Belgium rising to 9.0%.

The sequential change is shown in the next table:
It was not all good news however, and when one looks at Europe's weakest link - youth unemployment - the number once again rose to a fresh all time high, of 24.4%:
In October 2013, 5.657 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 3.577 million were in the euro area. Compared with October 2012 youth unemployment decreased by 29 000 in the EU28, but increased by 15 000 in the euro area. In October 2013, the youth unemployment rate5 was 23.7% in the EU28 and 24.4% in the euro area, compared with 23.3% and 23.7% respectively in October 2012. In October 2013, the lowest rates were observed in Germany (7.8%), Austria (9.4%) and the Netherlands (11.6%), and the highest in Greece (58.0% in August 2013), Spain (57.4%) and Croatia (52.4% in the third quarter of 2013).
Of all, Spain was most notable, because its record high youth unemployment rate of 57.4%, is now just why of the sad Greek record of 58.0%. At this pace there should be parity between the two countries in 1-2 months.
Credit to Zero Hedge

Comet of the Century' ISON crashes around sun

Unemployed and Deployed in America




Unemployment will be a global tipping point in 2014, and America will tip as well. Europe is already panicking about the likelihood of young people rioting in the streets next summer. The 17-nation Eurozone is predicting severe riots due to soaring unemployment, especially among the young. In September, the Eurozone's general unemployment rate was 12.2%; the rate for young workers was 24.1%. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, youth unemployment is nearly 60% in Greece, 55% in Spain and 40 percent in Italy and Portugal.

Last month, violence broke out between police and tens of thousands of protesters who marched in Rome against unemployment and austerity; the French held similar mass rallies last month as well. Greece and Spain seem to have been protesting for most of 2013.

America is widely touted as being the exception in unemployment. But, then, America lies unabashedly about its statistics.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles the United States' unemployment statistics every month. It looks at six categories of different data, that are called U-1 to U-6. U-3 counts how many people were unemployed but were actively looking for work during the past month; this is the official unemployment rate that is broadcast by the media. 


By contrast, U-6 counts the unemployed and underemployed who are excluded from the U-3 data. For example, U-6 classifies people who have unsuccessfully looked for a job in the last year as "not participating in the labor force" rather than as unemployed. U-6 also includes part-time workers who need more employment in order to live, but the number of these workers is dwarfed by the number of long-term unemployed. ("Long-term employment" is defined as lasting 27 weeks or more).

The data included in the categories increase as the numbers ascend; the categories are defined as follows:

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers
U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force
U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons

What is America's real unemployment rate? According to U-3 for October 2013, 11.3 million people were officially unemployed. BLS adds that 91,541,000 working age people did not participate in the labor force. If these numbers are added together, there are 102 million working age Americans who are either unemployed or not in the labor force for reasons that are not clear; for example, they could be retired. The non-working population represents 37.2% of working age people.

(Note: it is not known how the federal furlough of employees during the October shutdown affected the data, if at all. The furloughed employees seem to have been counted as both unemployed and working because they eventually received full payment for the time off.)

The unemployment rate reflected by the last four categories of BLS data break down as follows:

U-3 = 7.3%
U-4 = 7.8%
U-5 = 8.6%
U-6 = 13.8%The American media used the U-3 numbers and reported the unemployment rate for October to be 7.3%, which is about 1/2 of the more realistic U-6 total. The media also glossed over U-3 figures that were alarming. For example, the official rate for teen unemployment (16 to 19 years old) stood at 22.2%; black unemployment is 13.1%

And, then, there were the outright media lies. For example, the New York Times reported on November 17, "[T] he economy is improving, if slowly. Employers are now adding jobs at a pace of around 200,000 a month, and the unemployment rate has dropped to to 7.3 percent." [Emphasis added.] Actually, the September rate was 7.2%, making the October rate an increase in unemployment, not a drop. But the NYT could not claim "the economy is improving" without data that reflected improvement.

One aspect of the BLS data is particularly alarming. In the month of October alone, 923,000 new people became "non-participants" in the labor force. Given the job killing impact of Obamacare, it is reasonable to assume that the rate of growth for non-participants will hold steady in the foreseeable future. If so, then, by 2017, there will be more working age people who are not in the workforce than there are ones holding jobs in America.

Other factors make American unemployment more explosive. For example, an estimated 1.3 million long-term unemployed workers are scheduled to lose unemployment benefits by the end of the year unless Congress authorizes an extension. An additional 850,000 could lose benefits in the first quarter of 2014. House and Senate Democrats have already introduced two bills to renew the federal program through 2014. It is doubtful that the bills will pass before Congress adjourns. It is doubtful that Republicans and Democrats will cooperate on a budget.

A mass of idle and discontented youths is a formula for social unrest. Indeed, high youth unemployment rates have been a driving factor in protest movements around the world, including the Arab Spring. There is no reason to believe that America will be spared the similar sight of protests, riots, street violence and the inevitable backlash by police.

Controlling civilians on its own soil is why the American police became militarized, in the first place. Arguably, a 1960s police unit in Delano, California was the first "high-risk team" that resembled the modern SWAT operation. The unit was organized as a specific response to the non-violent farm worker activism of the United Farm Workers led by Cesar Chavez. The police supported the growers and acted against the strikers in a manner that the courts found to be unconstitutional.

Perhaps the most path-breaking SWAT was established in Los Angeles in 1967 by Inspector Daryl Gates, who later became chief of police. Formed as a response to the Watts riots, the SWAT unit was inextricably tangled in the control of social and political dissent. The first high-profile use of the Los Angeles SWAT team was in December 1969 when the police attempted to serve search warrants on the Black Panthers headquarters. A four-hour gun battle ensued.

The militarization of law enforcement on every level has increased dramatically since the 1960s. Police departments are prepared to treat fellow Americans who protest as enemy combatants.

Conclusion
The media and politicians cannot successfully lie to people about the food they can afford to put in their children's mouths. This is something people notice. Unemployment is a reality to which they wake up every morning. And, yet the media shakes its head in amazed confusion and asks, "Why is the recovery jobless?" The unemployed know the answer: because there is no recovery. What passes for progress - the rise of the stock market, for example - only reflects the quantitative easing that is skewing all economic data. What is real is what happens every time the state enters an industry or field of endeavor: stagnation.

It could be a long, hot summer.

Credit to Activist Post

Matt Damon Speaking Truth

The Hunger Games And The Moral Imagination







This past weekend I caught The Hunger Games: Catching Fire at my local theater. The movie is based on the second part of a dystopian trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. In Collins’s fictional world known as Panem, a despotic government rules over all with a violent iron fist. 
There is a strict separation between the political class and the rest of the populace, with the latter working in slave-like conditions to support the former. The story focuses on protagonist Katniss Everdeen and her struggle to protect her loved ones while surviving the tyranny of her brutal overlords.
Throughout Catching Fire, the subject of revolution is paramount. Since the first instalment of the series when Katniss bested her oppressive dictators in the highly-publicized, annual fight-to-the-death tournament, she has become a symbol of agitation to the people. They look to her as a chink in the government’s armor – a sign that tyranny is not immortal but can be damaged. 
The plebs and their desire for freedom results in riots in the streets with vicious crackdowns from Orwellian-named “peacekeepers” who maintain tranquility with the bloodied end of truncheons. At one point during Katniss’s victory tour, an older gentleman raises his hand in defiance of the regime and whistles the popularized tune of revolution. He is summarily executed on the spot while the crowd that attempts to protect him is beaten handily.
The act of violence drew a startled and winced response from the movie audience. It was a demonstration of the horribly destructive nature of tyranny. There was no question as to the evilness of Panem’s dictatorial government. The line between enemy and hero was straight and untainted.
Stories such as the Hunger Games are wonderful things because they spark what conservative statesman Edmund Burke called the “moral imagination.” In his famed Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke chided the Jacobin revolutionaries for endeavoring to paint “the decent drapery of life” and the “moral imagination” as “ridiculous, absurd, and antiquated.” Russell Kirk expanded on this phrase and defined it as the “power of ethical perception which strides beyond the barriers of private experience and momentary events.”
Whether viewers know it or not, the basic plot of the Hunger Gamesseries is an appeal to the moral imagination that men should be free from working as servants to others. It’s not exactly a new theme when compared to other modern movies. There are a multitude of storylines where a strong-willed protagonist finds the courage within themselves to fight off an authoritarian power, not alone, but with the help of others. The narrative follows a familiar pattern: while outgunned and outmanned, good ultimately triumphs over evil not so much because of one person but rather the hope for a better life embodied within a symbol.
The engrossing message of liberty over tyranny in the Hunger Games is thought to be why the franchise is so popular. In some ways, that is correct. People tend to have the urge of rooting for the underdog. When the abuser receives his just deserts, it’s seen as a representation of justice fulfilled.
But as great as the moral imagination is, it ultimately means nothing if it does not translate into real-life behavior modification. It’s one thing to cheer on a character on screen who is risking their life for a freer world. It’s another to embody that risk yourself in a reality that is slipping towards despotism.
Anyone who claims the post-apocalyptic setting in Hunger Games bears an uncanny resemblance to state control in our time is liable to be marked as a black helicopter-type. The ridicule is the same that was aimed, and still is aimed, at Friedrich Hayek after his great work The Road to Serfdom was released. “No,” the critics say, “the existence of the large welfare-warfare state has not translated itself to one world authoritarianism.” That is certainly true for now. Still, the general public finds it fun to mock the government as an over-bearing and inefficient behemoth while relying on the beast for a bi-weekly allotment of tax subsidies.
We may not be living hand-to-mouth while being forced to labor for thuggish overlords but the modern trend is clear: the political class is consuming more and more wealth-generating capital for themselves. It can be seen in highly-unionized European countries and within the bubble of richness known as the District of Columbia. The police state is ratcheting up its already untamed authority. Economic regulation is becoming more varied and intrusive. In the West, the state as an institution has been growing by leaps and bounds for over a century. Only an imbecile would deny this mass centralization in government power.
Yet most viewers of the Hunger Games will not let that message sink into their consciousness. They will not make the connection between a story and their own lives. It’s far too discomforting. At the same time, they will revere characters in a tale who come off as heroes. 
These fictional thought constructs are viewed as perfectly noble persons who sacrifice for the greater good. One would think the same reverence would be shown to those individuals who engage in the same art of defiance against what is generally deemed an unjust situation. If characters in fiction can be seen as courageous, why not real-life persons who display the same type of behavior?
Edward Snowden, the now-infamous whistleblower of the National Security Agency, is still seen as a dirty, rotten traitor by much of the public. It’s a strange cognitive dissonance that while a majority are irate over their government’s spying, they see the man who clued them in as some type of mendacious plotter who hates Uncle Sam. It’s equally as strange that the same folks who hardly bat an eye when calling Snowden a scumbag will just as quickly latch on to the fighter of injustice in a movie.
Stories provide valuable insight into the limits of mankind and what constitutes good. But they are not reality in the end. There is little risk in admiring a character in fiction who stands up for the right thing. Doing so in real-life is apt to bring ridicule, and thus has a social stigma attached to it.
It takes no spine to be a warrior on paper. It also requires little brain power to bend your will with that of an author’s. The science of critical thinking demands a logical and coherent approach to viewing issues. Criticizing someone for doing the very same action that you praise in make-believe land is inconsistent and a sign of poor judgment. The borderline between the real and the imagination does not render ethics and morality capricious. A proper way to live is to be transcendent of observable examination alone.
Hunger Games contains a pertinent message to those living under big government. The heroes and villains of the story should not be unfamiliar to current events. Edward Snowden is a real life Katniss Everdeen. He defied the powers-that-be in order to do what he believed was right. But instead of receiving praise, he got condemnation from voices normally wary of statism. The irony remains that the same men and women who call Snowden a traitor should be cheering for the tyrannical government of Panem to squash the rebellion and restore its oppressive hold on society. Of course, that suggestion sounds crazy, but then so does the person who pays lip-service to freedom while cheering for the death of someone who risks their life for greater liberty. Their moral imagination is in great need of fine-tuning.
Credit to Zero Hedge

Fukushima Is Absolutely Horrifying



Hiroshima City University, Nov. 27, 2013: I see the catastrophe as absolutely horrifying and ongoing. There is no discernible end in sight to this tragedy, radiation will continue to seep into the Pacific Ocean for decades when they have problems they are always global in scale. 

These toxins will remain dangerous for hundreds of generations and will disperse throughout the planet. [...] the sickness and contamination resulting from the disaster will last for hundreds [of generations]. [...] they knew that there had been a full meltdown on the first day of the disaster, and three full meltdowns by the third day, they denied this for almost three months. [...] fuel has melted and is now located somewhere unknown beneath the reactor building [...] if some rice is contaminated above this legal level it is not removed from the food supply, but rather is mixed with uncontaminated rice until it is below this level. This is a process for moving contaminated food into the food supply [...] But by far the most disastrous thing is to allow so many children to remain in contaminated areas. All children should be removed from contaminated areas immediately [...]

Prof. Jacobs, Oct. 18, 2013 (at 3:30 in): Nobody really knows how to solve the problems at Fukushima. There is nobody who has solutions to these. The problems at Fukushima are unprecedented [...] There’s no solution that other countries have that they can come in and fix the reactors, or rather shut down the contamination, shut down the leaks[...] those experts will be at a loss it how to solve the immense problems that we’ll be facing for decades in Fukushima.

This is exactly how I feel. Helpless and I’m just sitting here waiting for something to happen. When you build something big enough that someone on the other side of the planet feels helpless about because its about to collapse and radiate the world, you know you’ve gone too far. Japan is going to be a ghost island soon and the Japenese people are in danger of dying out. The country is mostly old people and now they are bathing their children in radiation. Terrible. Nothing right now in the world that is happening frustrates me more than this. Environmental groups should be on the streets rioting right now, it’s amazing that they aren’t. -Mort


Credit to Before it´s news

Iran Accuses US of Deal Dishonesty

Tehran has strongly rejected Washington’s interpretation of the long-awaited interim nuclear agreement reached by the P5+1 nations in Geneva, as Iran’s Foreign Ministry labeled the factsheet released by the US a “one-sided interpretation.”

The agreement, reached over the weekend in Geneva, outlines a framework for continued negotiations with Tehran, including a deal which is yet to be finalized. However, Iran now claims that the American factsheet, posted a few hours after the deal was announced on the website of the White House, has omitted some key points and is misleading the public by adjusting the language of the original agreement.

A spokeswoman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Marziyeh Afkham, came out with the following statement published by the Fars news agency on Tuesday:

“What has been released by the website of the White House as a factsheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action [the title of the Iran-powers deal], and this factsheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true.”

The spokeswoman gave no further details.

Iran, together with the P5+1 nations – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany – agreed on Sunday that the former will curb a substantial portion of its nuclear activities for a period of six months, which will be spent finalizing the conditions of the deal.

In light of the recent crippling economic sanctions against Iran, Western parties agreed to lift some, including those on gold, precious minerals, the auto sector and petrochemical exports. According to the American factsheet, this is a potential $1.5 billion in revenue for Iran. Additionally, it could also be getting an additional $4.2 billion in oil revenues.

Furthermore, “$400 million in governmental tuition assistance [may also be] transferred from restricted Iranian funds directly to recognized educational institutions in third countries to defray the tuition costs of Iranian students,” DC officials told the Washington Free Beacon, which reported on the story.

However, a key aspect in Iran’s nuclear program – its ability to enrich uranium – was claimed by the Foreign Ministry to differ in nature from the US interpretation.

Some key points from Tehran’s version, which was published by Fars, are as follows:

“This comprehensive solution would enable Iran to fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the NPT in conformity with its obligations therein.”

“This comprehensive solution would involve a mutually defined enrichment program with practical limits and transparency measures to ensure the peaceful nature of the program,” it also says.

And finally, the draft stipulates that “this comprehensive solution would constitute an integrated whole where nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”




(From L) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius react during a statement on early November 24, 2013 in Geneva (AFP Photo)

Afkham went on to explain that the above Joint Plan of Action, which is four pages in length, includes terminology chosen in collaboration by all the parties to the Geneva agreement. The spokeswoman added that the accuracy and choice of words is the precise reason the P5+1 agreement took such time to finalize, with particular emphasis given to the importance of its phrasing by Tehran.

Early Sunday morning, however, saw the release of a markedly different text, prompting the Iranian Foreign Ministry to release what is says is the real version of the agreement.

The Washington Free Beacon spoke to White House officials, who said that the “P5+1 and Iran are working on what the timeframe is” adding that the final details of the draft agreement are still being ironed out. They declined to elaborate on what this means.

One thing that remains certain is while those details are being worked out, Iran retains the right to continue enriching uranium. Its right to do so has been the hottest subject of debate and is what landed it in hot water with the US, leading to Western sanctions.

Israeli leader Benyamin Netanyahu called the agreement a flat-out “mistake,” while US President Barack Obama, despite welcoming the deal, said the toughest sanctions will remain in place, while other offers listed in the agreement could easily be retracted.

Credit to RT

China sends warplanes to newly declared air zone



China has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defence zone in the East China Sea, state media reports.

The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face "defensive emergency measures".

But Japan, South Korea and the US have all since flown military aircraft through the area.

The new dispute in an already tense region has raised concerns it could escalate into an unplanned military incident.

China's state news agency Xinhua quoted air force spokesman Col Shen Jinke as saying several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft had been deployed to carry out routine patrols as "a defensive measure and in line with international common practices".

He said the country's air force would remain on high alert and would take measures to deal with all air threats to protect national security.

In Xinhua's Chinese language version of the article, the colonel said the aircraft would "strengthen the monitoring of targets in the air defence zone and do their duty".

Credit to BBC