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April 16th, 2011

News Roundup

News Roundup

From Spiegel Online:
A Survey of the World’s Radioactive No-Go Zones
“Everyone knows about Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and, now, Fukushima. But what about Semipalatinsk, Palomares and Kyshtym? The world is full of nuclear disaster zones — showing just how dangerous the technology really is.”

This is a great article. I didn’t know about a lot of these places. Scary and creepy. When will the world just embrace solar power?! An earthquake wouldn’t cause such a horrible disaster to a solar power plant.

From Rolling Stone:
The Kill Team: How U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan Murdered Innocent Civilians
“Early last year, after six hard months soldiering in Afghanistan, a group of American infantrymen reached a momentous decision: It was finally time to kill a haji.

Among the men of Bravo Company, the notion of killing an Afghan civilian had been the subject of countless conversations, during lunchtime chats and late-night bull sessions. For weeks, they had weighed the ethics of bagging “savages” and debated the probability of getting caught. Some of them agonized over the idea; others were gung-ho from the start. But not long after the New Year, as winter descended on the arid plains of Kandahar Province, they agreed to stop talking and actually pull the trigger.

(snip)

In a break with protocol, the soldiers also took photographs of themselves celebrating their kill. In the photos, Morlock grins and gives a thumbs-up sign as he poses with Mudin’s body. Note that the boy’s right pinky finger appears to have been severed. Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs reportedly used a pair of razor-sharp medic’s shears to cut off the finger, which he presented to Holmes as a trophy for killing his first Afghan.”

Whoa. This is was a sobering article. Disgusting to read but very important. Though I couldn’t help but think of the Stanhope bit “Some Troops Are Assholes”. You can watch that here.

From Democracy Now:
Supreme Court Weighs Massive Lawsuit Accusing Retail Giant Wal-Mart for Sexual Discrimination Against Female Workers
“The U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether a massive class action sexual discrimination lawsuit can move forward against retail giant Wal-Mart. Current and former female employees say they were given lower pay and promoted less often than their male counterparts. We speak with former Wal-Mart manager and plaintiff Stephanie Odle, who says she is pursuing the case to change the company’s corporate culture, and the workers’ attorney Joseph Sellers. “We found in this case evidence of gender stereotypes about women that I have rarely seen,” says Sellers. “They really are a throwback to the world in the 1950s.”"

Yet another reason that Wal-Mart sucks. Bleh.

From Natural News:
Groups, individuals petition NRC to suspend all nuclear reactor licensing in wake of Fukushima disaster
“The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has sparked an uprising against nuclear energy production due to concerns about its safety. Recently, 45 groups and individuals from across the US banded together to ask that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) cease all licensing for 21 pending nuclear reactor projects in 15 US states, and establish an independent commission to conduct an updated safety analysis of nuclear energy production in light of the ongoing meltdown taking place in Japan.”

Updating safety on nuclear production? Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Posted by Vixen in News

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 16th, 2011 at 10:01 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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