-  Safety rating for nation's biggest nuclear plant lowered


• Downgrade means plant will be subjected to more inspectors
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission made the decision
• It comes after three years of problems with safety systems at the plant
• One of its emergency diesel generators had been broken for 18 days
   

     PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday downgraded the safety rating of the nation's largest nuclear plant, subjecting it to more inspectors and a level of scrutiny shared by just one other plant in the nation.

      The NRC made the announcement following three years of problems in various safety systems at the Palo Verde nuclear plant west of Phoenix.

      Inspectors in September found that one of its emergency diesel generators had been broken for 18 days. Emergency generators are critically important at nuclear reactors, providing electricity to pumps, valves and control rooms if the main electrical supply fails.

      Only FirstEnergy Corp.'s Perry nuclear plant in Ohio has a safety rating as bad as Palo Verde's, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said.

      APS, a subsidiary of Phoenix-based Pinnacle West Capital Corp., said it will not appeal the ruling..."

      Generally, in my opinion, utilizing a power source with a half-life of over 5,000 years, which when not properly stored or maintained could reach meltdown and affect millions, is a real bad idea. 

     I'd sooner choose "clean" coal (even though we all know it's not clean) just because if somebody screws up at a coal power plant, it doesn't mean radioactive dealth will soon follow.

     I say let's get on the whole harnessing power from moving wind, water and direct sunlight.  The weather is there, let's harness it.  Sheesh.

     Either way, this proves my point that we should ALL have secondary, and even tertiary means of supplimental power in case the main grid goes down for one reason or another.

-  Iran defies deadline to halt atomic work  

   

    VIENNA (Reuters) - "The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday that Iran failed to meet a February 21 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, prompting major powers to call a meeting next week to start writing a new Iran sanctions resolution.

     By ignoring the deadline, Tehran reaffirmed its rejection of a mid-2006 offer by six world powers of talks on trade benefits provided it halted enrichment, a process that can yield nuclear power plant fuel or bombs.

     The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report Iran had installed two cascades, or networks, of 164 centrifuges in its underground Natanz enrichment plant with another two cascades close to completion..."

 
    Is anyone surprised by this?  How is this news?  I only wonder who's going to do what next to instigate things further.

     
       UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - "An external audit of U.N. funds in North Korea is a hostile maneuver by the United States, Pyongyang said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulated on Thursday.

      North Korean U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon also accused the United States of having "dirty" political motives and fabricating lies by suggesting Pyongyang might have misused funds from the U.N. Development Program for the development of nuclear weapons.

      "The allegations of the United States are sheer fiction aimed at politicizing international aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Pak said in the letter, which was also sent to the 15 U.N. Security Council members..."

-  Crisis talks over Bolivian Floods


     BOLIVIA (BBC) - "The Bolivian government has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the floods in much of the country.  Almost every department in Bolivia has been hit in some way by heavy rains over the past few months, affecting an estimated 350,000 people.

       Many thousands of those people have had their homes completely destroyed by landslides and flooding.  Others are cut off from the emergency services, or have had their crops and livestock washed away.

      Over the weekend, government ministers visited eight of the nine affected regions of Bolivia to report back to President Evo Morales in an emergency meeting.

      On his return from the north-eastern department of Beni, the Bolivian defence minister, Walker San Miguel, described the situation there as highly worrying..."

      This has happened before, but not to this scale of destruction.  Something is going on with the weather.

-  Fear as cyclone nears Mozambique  

   

    Mozambique (BBC) - "Mozambican authorities have put the country on the highest level of alert, as it waits for an approaching cyclone.

      The cyclone, named Favio, is predicted to arrive on Wednesday with winds of up to 175km/h (109m/h).

      Central and southern parts of the country are expected to be worst hit, particularly Sofala, Inhambane and Gaza provinces.

      The country is already struggling to recover from recent heavy floods that forced 120,000 people from their homes.

      Inhabitants of central and southern parts of the country have been warned and told that the army and Red Cross are on standby..."

 
    Nothing really THAT unusual for this time of year, just showing that much of the world is threatened by cyclones/typhoons/hurricanes.

 
     United Kingdom  (BBC) - "Tony Blair is due to host a gun crime summit, following a recent spate of fatal shootings.  The prime minister and Home Secretary John Reid will hold meetings with police in Downing Street.

     Mr Blair has suggested the minimum age at which someone faces a mandatory five-year jail sentence for possessing a gun could be reduced from 21 to 17.

     Four people have been shot dead in London during the last month - three of them teenagers..."

     Wait a second, I thought guns were illegal in the U.K..  How could this be?  This doesn't make sense.  Because any sensible person knows that when you make something illegal you completely dispell its evil nature and thus any threat it may entail forever.  (note my sarcasm)

     Give me a break.  Proven fact; violence sky-rockets in any nation that outlaws firearms from the general law-abiding population.  The law-abiding citizens that comply and willfully disarm are much more likely to be victimized, as criminals who pay no attention to such laws run rampant. 

     And 95% of all gun-crime in the U.S. is committed with illegally possessed firearms.  Don't believe me?  Look it up at the FBI's statistics page.  It's all there in black and white. 

http://www.FBI.gov/research.htm

    Once someone possesses a firearm illegally, I don't know if you can make it "MORE ILLEGAL"... someone enlighten me.  Maybe if we enforced the curren laws on the books we'd have better "gun control".  I think we need de-legislation, not more. 

    By the way, for any of you Brady-ban fans...  Over the past 8 years, consistantly (during the ban and after the sunset of the ban) more than twice of the U.S.'s homicides were committed with UNARMED MEANS (choking, punching, etc.) than with any type of rifle ("assault" or otherwise).

    More than 3 times were killed by knives and blunt objects. 

    Not to mention that any weapons ban proposed is 100%, completely and utterly unconstitutional.  But I don't know many politicians these days who care about the Constitution, Bill of Rights or any subsequent Amendment to the Constitution.  Even though anyone who publicly swore an oath to uphold it seems to be doing otherwise.

    When properly educated on function and safety of firearms, they are the best means of protecting your family and property.  Don't let the public status-quo of their "evil" nature corrupt your free-thinking mind.  They are simply destructive tools.  If one can use one against you, shouldn't you be so equally capable of the same means of defense? 

    How this logic escapes so many people boggles my mind.




- Fed "Uncertain" about Inflation


    Washington, D.C.  (BBC) - "The US Federal Reserve left interest rates on hold last month because of uncertainty about the future path of inflation, minutes of the meeting show.

      "Participants did not yet see a downward trend in core inflation as definitively established," notes said.

      While there had been some good news on the economy - such as strong growth, members of the group remained concerned about the outlook for inflation.

      The news came hours after data showed a surprise sharp rise in US inflation.

      "Incoming data had suggested some improvement in core inflation, and a further gradual decline was seen as the most likely outcome, fostered in part by the continued stability of inflation expectations.

      "However, participants did not yet see a downtrend in core inflation as definitively established," the minutes stated..."

- New Emergency Food and Water Storage Guides added to Food / Water Storage Page!



-  US 'Iran attack plans' revealed


     London, England (BBC) - "US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country's military infrastructure, the BBC has learned.

      It is understood that any such attack - if ordered - would target Iranian air bases, naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centres.

      The US insists it is not planning to attack, and is trying to persuade Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

      The UN has urged Iran to stop the programme or face economic sanctions..."

      This is following all of the textbook steps to "justify" an assault.  I think I'm having Deja Vu.

-  Iran refuses to halt nuclear work as deadline passes  

   

    VIENNA (Reuters) - "Iran brushed off threats intended to make it freeze its nuclear program as a U.N. deadline to do so fell due on Wednesday, but offered to guarantee it would not seek atomic weapons.

     Iran, defiant as a 60-day grace period it had been given to stop enriching uranium for nuclear fuel ran out, again vowed it would not halt its nuclear activities as a precondition for talks on trade benefits offered by six world powers.

     The U.N. Security Council, which in December banned transfers of technology and expertise to Tehran's nuclear program, may consider broader sanctions if Tehran, as expected, does not freeze enrichment work by February 21..."

 

    Now we can't honestly say that we're surprised by this.

  

     JAKARTA (Reuters) - "The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Wednesday he sees "good signs" for calling a meeting to conclude the Doha trade round, "but we're not there yet".

      WTO Director General Pascal Lamy made the comments to Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on trade in Indonesia.

      Lamy had said earlier in February that he sensed fresh determination to conclude the Doha round of global trade talks, but would wait for more substance before calling trade ministers together for that purpose..."

-  Missiles could reach Europe if Kremlin wanted: General  

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - "Russia's military is capable of firing missiles at Poland and the Czech Republic if they agreed to host a U.S. missile shield, Russia's Strategic Forces commander said, but added it was for the Kremlin to decide.

    President Vladimir Putin has described Washington's plans to deploy elements of its Missile Defense System in the two central European states as a threat to Russia's national security which would damage the strategic balance of forces on the continent.

    "So far we have seen nothing being done, only intentions being talked about," General Nikolai Solovtsov told a news conference on Monday..."

 

    Statements made by Russian seem to be akin to that of a conditional threat.  In what was supposed to be a "de-escalation", it in fact seems that tensions are still high between the 2 superpowers.

     SAN FRANCISCO - (NBC) "Even as NASA moves ahead with its $100 billion plan to return to the moon, it's also making room for the private sector to get in on the ground floor, according to one of the agency's most vocal advocates for commercial space ventures.

       "I'm quite optimistic that privately funded science missions are going to be a wave of the future," said Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center. "Probably some of the first ones will be astronomy-related."

       The prospects for private enterprise on the moon  — ranging from astronomical telescopes to gee-whiz television to medical isotopes and fusion fuel — were listed during a weekend session at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science..."

- UPDATE:  One of our Readers, Hollowpoint, has mentioned the following site about Strategic Relocation and a Secure Home.  The writer of these sites, although fairly biased, has some interesting ideas and useful statistics.


-  Another Mount Hood Rescue under way  

• Efforts under way to bring down last three climbers
• All climbers located as rescuers try to bring them down from mountain
• Climbers wore homing devices that helped rescuers find them
• Team was well equipped, according to officials

    

     MOUNT HOOD, Oregon (CNN) -- "Three climbers who fell from a ledge while ascending Mount Hood have been located and rescuers were using ropes to reach them late Sunday, while five others who were stranded have been taken down the mountain to a lodge, according to rescue officials.

      Two of the climbers who fell off a mountain ledge suffered minor injuries, but all others were unharmed, according to Russell Gubele, command officer for Mountain Wave Search and Rescue.

      The accident occurred in white-out conditions at an altitude of more than 8,300 feet in the area of Illumination Saddle, said the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, which got news of the missing climbers shortly before noon (3 p.m. ET).

      The climbing teams were well-equipped with adequate clothing and climbing equipment and mountain locator units, electronic devices intended to enable rescuers to pinpoint a climber's location, according to Jim Strovink, a spokesman for the sheriff's office..."

 

    In no way am I trying to sound like it's a bad idea to climb Mt. Hood when I say this, but; Don't climb a huge mountain unless you are mentally, physically, and logistically E for the worst weather you anticipate can strike there. 

     Florida (CBS) -- "A Florida woman who lost power due to hurricane damage has finally regained electricity, CBS 4 reported this weekend.

      Sound normal? Well, the hurricane that knocked out her power was Hurricane Andrew, which hit 15 years ago.

      The woman, who didn't want her full name released, had been living in her Cutler Bay home without power since August 24, 1992.

      That means no air conditioning during the sweltering summer heat. No heat during cold swings that Florida sometimes experiences during the winter. And no hot water for showers every morning.

      "I think it's like everything, you learn how to step into it, and wait, and when you feel it, you take your quick shower," she told CBS 4..."

- New Public Resources added to Chem/Bio, Radiological, Weather and Medical References sections!


-  U.N. Urged to take action on Asteroid Threat  

     SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - "An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday.

      Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036.

      Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near future, former astronaut Rusty Schweickart said..."

 

    The only threat of an Asteroid I've seen was from the Movie Armageddon, which so terrible it gave me a migraine.  But seriously, as I have said before, if has happened before, it will happen again.  When, where and how big are the only real variables.

    To be honest, in some respects I doubt most people can truly be ready for a really big asteroid or comet impact.





-   Solar Storm Satellites launched from Florida

     CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Five satellites were launched into space from Florida on Saturday aboard an unmanned Delta rocket to investigate electromagnetic storms, the dark side of the phenomenon that causes Earth's dazzling aurorae.

      The $200 million mission is expected to help scientists develop better forecasting techniques for potentially dangerous solar storms, which can knock out power grids, navigation and other satellites and even force airlines to abandon polar routes due to loss of radio contact.

      The satellites were carried into orbit aboard a Boeing-built Delta 2 rocket that lifted off at 6:01 p.m. (2301 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

      The solar storms are better known for triggering the beautiful sheets of shimmering green lights near Earth's north and south poles. The lights, known as aurorae, are caused by charged particles that have been blasted off the sun's surface toward Earth, where they can interact with the planet's magnetic field..."