Posted on by nootkabear

Pentagon Releases Propaganda Video of “Drone Swarms” Being Launched From a Fighter Jet

http://www.activistpost.com/2016/03/pentagon-releases-propaganda-video-of-drone-swarms-being-launched-from-a-fighter-jet.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActivistPost+%28Activist+Post%29

TOPICS:

March 10, 2016

DARPA3Op-Ed by Nicholas West

It is often forgotten how recently, and how quickly, drones have become commonplace. Not only are they a military staple in countries around the world, but after long speculation it was admitted by the Pentagon just days ago that, yes, drones are being used to spy on the American people.

As this technology rapidly develops, and as legislation keeps pace by allowing their increased use anywhere and everywhere, each advancement now must be received with a further sense of concern.

It was several years ago that I first wrote about micro-drones – miniature flying vehicles that are designed to be as small as an insect. These tiny drones would be “hidden in plain sight” with the ability to harvest energy from natural and man-made power sources. The Air Force admitted in the video below that they could enter houses and even commit assassinations after being dropped from military aircraft.

So, here we are with the Pentagon’s most recent announcement about testing drone swarms that can be launched from fighter jets. Strangely, these announcements typically come from defense-related sites, or the videos appear directly on military YouTube channels; this latest one, however, has been given extensive treatment by The Washington Post in its article “Veil of secrecy lifted on Pentagon office planning ‘Avatar’ fighters and drone swarms.”

High over Alaska last summer, the Pentagon experimented with new, secret prototypes: Micro-drones that can be launched from the flare dispensers of moving F-16s and F/A-18 fighter jets. Canisters containing the tiny aircraft descended from the jets on parachutes before breaking open, allowing wings on each drone to swing out and catch the wind. Inch-wide propellers on the back provided propulsion as they found one another and created a swarm.

The experiment was run by the secretive Strategic Capabilities Office, a Pentagon organization launched in summer 2012 to figure out how to best counter growing strategic threats from China and Russia. The specifics of what the mini-drones can do are classified, but they could be used to confuse enemy forces and carry out surveillance missions using equipment that costs much less than full-sized unmanned aircraft. Video reviewed by The Washington Post shows the tiny aircraft, which weigh about a pound each, moving in packs and gaining situational awareness after sitting inert in the flare canisters. (Source)

The “secretive program” is called Perdix. Here is the test launch from an F-16 (itself potentially a drone):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/bde747f0-e555-11e5-a9ce-681055c7a05f

One aspect of this video that is striking is how little detail there is and how unimpressive it is compared to other military promotional videos. Interestingly, the Pentagon was quick to admit that the release of this demonstration was part of a propaganda campaign to put America’s enemies on notice that this tech is out there.

(Defense Secretary Ashton) Carter’s disclosures raised some questions in the Pentagon about whether he had revealed classified information while previewing his 2017 budget. But in a rare interview, the director of SCO said the secretary sought a green light to disclose snippets of the mini-drone experiment in Alaska and a few other programs as part of a broader effort to get the attention of potential adversaries. (emphasis added)

While there is a very real global drone arms race (that the U.S. itself initiated) which now requires constant funding for capability upgrades, this video might actually be propaganda of a different sort; putting out something so unimpressive that it might lull other militaries – and the general public – into a false sense of how far along the U.S. military really is with their micro-drone program.

For example, please watch the next video that shows a projected battlefield for 2017, according to leading defense contractor General Atomics, then tell me that a toy with a parachute on it is a program worthy of being “veiled in secrecy.”

It seems that with each new announcement we run the risk of being conditioned to misunderstand the true state of military tech. Perhaps this latest video serves to reinforce that notion.

The fact that the Pentagon has just released a video, essentially through The Washington Post, might indicate an intent to establish the conditions that will make full-scale roll-out much more acceptable by giving us pause about what is really coming.

There is also a segment of the public who still have faith that if any of this is developed and used at all, it will be “over there” and not deployed in a town near us. However, combined with the Pentagon admitting that they have been using drones to spy inside the U.S., what should we expect the real future to look like?

What do you think is the reason for the Pentagon taking a high-profile stance regarding its micro-drone program? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Image: DARPA

H/T: ZenGardner.com

Posted on by nootkabear

The Coach’s Team, Foolish Gun Owners HELP Government with Illegal Gun Registration Scheme By Doug Book, editor

The Coach’s Team

The Coach’s Team (TCT) is a conservative site that offers the best in grassroots conservative essays on the web. A new site, TCT is a sister to Coach is Right (CiR) which has been serving this market for many years. The staff at The Coach’s Team is the same, the opinions the same and the feel for saying what has to be said to save and preserve America is the same as found at Coach is Right. Please enjoy The Coach’s Team as we continue to uncover the enemies of the American people.

http://www.thecoachsteam.com/2016/04/foolish-gun-owners-help-government-with.html

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Foolish Gun Owners HELP Government with Illegal Gun Registration Scheme

By Doug Book, editor

Published a year ago on “Coach is Right,” this is a story which bears repeating

The left will do anything to abolish the private ownership of firearms. And the emphasis is onanything.  After all, politicians cannot safely exercise absolute, uncontested authority over an armed public. And the majority of our nation’s ruling class–yes, Republicans included–yearn for such power; in part because it will bring an end to those annoying constitutional rights which prevent lawmakers implementing what they “know to be best,” but mostly because these self-infatuated mirror-gazers believe dictatorial authority to be their due.

The question is, how can it be accomplished? How can more than 300 million firearms be separated from an estimated 100 million owners?

With some it will be easy. When Connecticut passed into law its knee-jerk response to the 2012, Newtown murders, some 50,000 “Assault Weapon” owners dashed to the nearest police station, eager to be among the first to sign away their freedom by registering their rifles with Governor Malloy. Courageous custodians of liberty such as these will be a snap to deal with when it comes time to confiscate their-or more properly, the State’s-property.

But what of the estimated 300,000-400,000 Constitution State owners of black rifles who refuse to play toadie to a would-be monarch? How can Big Brother intimidate these or other American gun owners—for example the estimated 1 million New Yorkers who have defied the state’s Safe Act– into registering their firearms so that the coming end-game of confiscation might be facilitated? Isn’t the outright use of force likely to result in that shooting war we’ve heard so much about?

Well, not if a majority of Americans follow the example set by “Assault Weapon” owners in Maryland and Virginia.

During the 2002 killing spree by the “D.C. Snipers,” police recovered .223 caliber shell casings from the scene of one of the murders. With the necessary assistance of the ATF, local and state police searched the sales records of gun stores in Maryland and Virginia, creating an inventory of those who purchased rifles which fire .223 caliber ammunition.

Information including name, address, rifle description and serial number were taken from the gun sales records (Form #4473) which the ATF demands gun store owners maintain. Police knocked on the door of every owner, asking that they be permitted to take their rifle “downtown” in order to fire it and prove their innocence!

As the AmmoLand site puts it, “With a simple ‘Please may we have your rifle…’ to prove your innocence, the police were not only given the owner’s registered sale 4473 rifle(s) but in many cases the citizens had other .223 caliber rifles that were NOT on the new purchased 4473 forms and many of these guns were also voluntarily offered up by the cooperating owners to the police. And all it took was a simple   “‘please.’”

“Most” of the rifles were returned. Of all the gun owners contacted by police, fewer than 3% refused to hand over their firearms. When officers decided to use a little “we’ll get a court order” intimidation, these owners said go right ahead. 

According to the article, no court orders were obtained. Not one.

Before you conclude that gun owners in Maryland and Virginia are just unusually stupid, cowardly or accommodating, the same thing happened in Oklahoma. When two children were shot to death with a .40 caliber pistol, area gun stores were robbed of their .40 caliber pistol sales records.

By the way, none of the expended “test” shells or bullets from these weapons were returned to rifle owners. So the states—and you can bet, the federal government—have a complete record of the “fingerprints” associated with these firearms, to be used if a bullet or shell should turn up at a crime scene. Of course this means that countless weapons and their owners have been catalogued as part of a gun registration scheme. It is a compilation of information which is strictly illegal; just as it was illegal for police or the ATF to take part in the Maryland, Virginia and Oklahoma, Form 4473 fishing expeditions.

Of course some may be confident that their government is far too honorable to save this information for the purpose of confiscating firearms from the law abiding at some point in the future. These individuals will believe that Big Brother has discarded the entire stockpile of illegally collected, gun owner/firearm “fingerprint” information.

“We are a country of sheep. …from my cold dead hands indeed,” concludes AmmoLand.

Posted on by nootkabear

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT!!!

Official: “PLANT EMERGENCY” at U.S. Nuclear Facility, Uranium Gas Released — Eyewitnesses: “There’s the plume… It was moving across highway… Chemical taste in mouth… I could smell it!” — Size of release unknown — Emergency crew trying to find source and whether it has stopped (VIDEO)

Published: October 27th, 2014 at 6:02 pm ET
By ENENews

http://enenews.com/official-plant-emergency-nuclear-facility-uranium-gas-released-emergency-personnel-working-determine-source-unknown-material-released-eyewitnesses-chemical-taste-mouth-moving-across-highway-c?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

WPSD (emphasis added): Calls to the newsroom… over a rumor that the Honeywell plant… is leaking uranium hexafloride [UF6] … into the community… Sheriff’s Office [says it] is releasing UF6 [but] no one is in any danger… Spokesperson Peter Dalpe [said there’s] no… indication that any material has left the building… the plant immediately notified emergency responders as per emergency procedures.

Paducah Sun: [The plant in Illinois] experienced a leak of a radioactive gas… emergency personnel are still working to find the specific source of the leak… A picture of the plant shrouded in mist was circulating… with speculation that the mist was the actual leaking gas.

West Kentucky Star: [We] received pictures and videos… showing a white, cloudy substance above the plant, moving off to the west… Emergency Management Director Joe Miller [said] Honeywell was under a plant emergency.

AP: The plant helps make nuclear fuel… the company and union-backed workers… are embroiled in a contract dispute. Employees have been locked out of the site…

DOE: UF6… is the chemical form of uranium used during the uranium enrichment process.

HW Leak BA

WSIL: Honeywell released new information Monday… “The plant is continuing its investigation into the incident and working to determine how much material was released.”… The local union president posted a picture showing a white vapor over the plant… News release [said the] “response team is currently working to ensure the leak has been stopped completely.”… Pictures taken at the plant Sunday night showed white… cloudy substance… Dalpe said it is spray from water that used to contain leaks… [UF6] reacts with water.

Wikipedia: UF6… reacts with the water in the air to produce uranyl fluoride and hydrogen fluoride both of which are highly corrosive and toxic… EU classification: Very toxic

Excerpts from videos published by Steelworker Local 7-669 Union support page — Part 1: “Wind’s blowing to the west… See the haze… that’s all release — UF6… You can see the spray… they’re trying to mitigate it” — Part 2: “There’s the plume of UF6 leaving Honeywell’s property… No fog out… There’s the cloud of either UF6 or HF going right over the fence”

> Marla L.: I could smell something in the air when we went into town
> Janet H.: Chemical taste in our mouth… Maybe lil’ headache too
> Chelle F.: It was shooting out like a geyser an hour ago… it has definitely left the property. I drove by it… and took the interstate home… it was HUGE — Part 2: It is far from contained
> Melissa B.: Didn’t look contained…It was moving across [US] 45…smelled like polish remove!!
> Rachel D.: My mom… on mt Mission Rd… can smell something… Dad is currently in chemo
> Me’Lissa E.: I live just past Joppa road and could smell it!

Watch the videos here

Posted on by nootkabear

IN FROM JAPAN: “Warning ‘crisis could get worse’ as 180 km/hr storm heading to area”

Well typhoon Phanfone passed causing enough trouble to choke a horse…NEXT up is the killer typhoon Vongfong! Read it, and pray for the Japanese, and the rest of the world!

FromL http://enenews.com/japan-times-records-shattered-fukushima-surging-radiation-levels-after-typhoon-tepco-doesnt-happening-warning-crisis-could-worse-180-kmhr-storm-heading-area?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29:

Japan Times: ‘Records shattered’ at Fukushima — Radiation levels surge after typhoon — Tepco “doesn’t know why” this is happening — Warning “crisis could get worse” as 180 km/hr storm heading to area
Published: October 12th, 2014 at 12:16 pm ET
By ENENews

Original Japan Times headline: Tritium surges tenfold in groundwater at Fukushima nuclear plant; typhoon effect suspected

Altered Japan Times headline: Tritium up tenfold in Fukushima groundwater after Typhoon Phanfone Tritium up tenfold in Fukushima groundwater after Typhoon Phanfone

Japan Times (Jiji Press), Oct. 12, 2014 (emphasis added): The radioactive water woes at [Fukushima] got worse over the weekend after the tritium concentration in a groundwater sample surged more than tenfold… [Tepco] said Saturday that heavy rain caused by Typhoon Phanfone probably affected the groundwater… [The] 150,000 becquerels… is a record for the well… [Beta ray emitters at the well] also shattered records with a reading of 1.2 million becquerels… close to the plant’s port in the Pacific… [Another well had] a record 2.1 million becquerels of a beta ray-emitting substance, nearly double the level from a week earlier… The cesium activity in the sample was 70 percent higher at 68,000 becquerels… Readings hit record highs at three points after the heavy rain caused by the typhoon, but the utility said it does not know why.

Perhaps it has something to do with this report just after the typhoon hit last weekend: Officials: Typhoon triggers alarm at Fukushima plant — Warning of leakage at Reactor No. 1 turbine building — Leak then detected at Reactor No. 3 — Camera captures images of water pouring in after “very heavy rain” — Powerful storm still packing gusts of up to 180 km/hr off Fukushima coast

Japan Times (Jiji Press), Oct. 12, 2014: The water crisis could get worse… Typhoon Vongfong… was still packing winds of up to 180 kph… The Meteorological Agency said it [would be] gradually losing strength as it races north toward Tohoku [which includes Fukushima.]

In fact, officials at the Japan Meteorological Agency forecast Vongfong’s wind speed to lose just 5-6 mph from it’s current level by the time it reaches Fukushima prefecture. See: Typhoon winds up to 110 mph to hit Fukushima Daiichi, storm surge advisory issued — Nearly all gov’t forecasts show eye passing right over plant — Nuclear Expert: Expect radioactive material washing into Pacific Ocean (MAPS)

Although not mentioned in the Japan Times’ report, a spike in Cobalt-60 was also seen after Typhoon Phanfone. The Co-60 concentration more than doubled the record high for any well since Tepco began publishing results. See: Officials: Typhoon caused significant increase in radioactive releases from Fukushima — Record levels of ‘highly toxic’ nuclear material found in ground outside reactor — Among the most poisonous substances at plant

Published: October 12th, 2014 at 12:16 pm ET
By ENENews

Gov’t issues ‘inundation warning’ for Fukushima Daiichi as year’s strongest storm to hit within hours — Tepco bracing for overflows — Officials warn of landslides and torrential rains… ‘ground-loosening’ south of plant — Danger from tornadoes, storm surge, violent waves along coast October 13, 2014
Officials: Typhoon triggers alarm at Fukushima plant — Warning of leakage at Reactor No. 1 turbine building — Leak then detected at Reactor No. 3 — Camera captures images of water pouring in after “very heavy rain” — Powerful storm still packing gusts of up to 180 km/hr off Fukushima coast October 6, 2014
Typhoon winds up to 110 mph to hit Fukushima Daiichi, storm surge advisory issued — Nearly all gov’t forecasts show eye passing right over plant — Nuclear Expert: Expect radioactive material washing into Pacific Ocean (MAPS) October 12, 2014
Forecast shows Fukushima to get eye wall of Typhoon Wipha — Weather Channel: Things may be getting worse at plant; Storm surge to combine with inland flooding at site (VIDEO) October 15, 2013
NHK: Severe storm is heading to Fukushima plant — Workers now scrambling to protect facility — Worried over impact of strong winds — Warning for tornadoes, landslides, high waves (VIDEO) September 16, 2013
October 12th, 2014 | Category: Fukushima Daiichi, Japan (Fukushima)

Posted on by nootkabear

What’s Up In California? see: http://beforeitsnews.com/environment/2014/10/something-bad-is-happening-in-california-the-government-is-hiding-it-2511274.html

HOME ENVIRONMENT 10/14/2014 12:00

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By Wake up America – All News PipeLine (Reporter)
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Something Bad Is Happening In California – The Government Is Hiding It!
Monday, October 13, 2014 6:13

(Before It’s News)
By Susan Duclos – All News PipeLine

Massively high radiation readings from San Diego, California have disappeared yet again, right on the heels of a report showing that “Intense” radiation exposure was headed towards the US west coast with a plume traveling very fast and that “high concentrations” would impact the west coast with a prolonged period of radioactive upwelling expected.

ANP reported the first instance of this on September 21, 2014, after we were contacted by Chuck Hindman from Mid America Land Restoration / Microbes / Probiotics, who has been tracking radiation levels across the US, where he noticed that extremely high radiation levels from CA and NM, simply disappeared. A response from NETC where these readings are listed, stated “If you read the EPA webpage you will learn that government takes down each station when unusual event occurs, like high radiation readings. The EPA takes out the filter from the station and sends it to the lab, to find out what type of radiation was detected. Then they install a new filter and turn the station back online. “

On October 10, 2014, Mid America Land Restoration / Microbes / Probiotics reported, with a screenshot proving their assertion, that San Diego once again were showing massively elevated radiation readings, this time showing 625 CPM (counts per minute).

The San Diego reading disappeared and as of October 12, 2014, it still had not been put back online, as shown in the screen shot Hindman took and posted to his FB page on Sunday, shown below.

The chart below shows the dangers levels of high radiation as well as what is considered “normal,” so readers can understand exactly how over-the-top a 625 CPM reading actually is.

Now ask yourself why no one in the MSM is not reporting these levels and more importantly, if the government is taking these filters offline to test what type of radiation is being found, why are we not being told what the results are. If the results are benign and not dangerous, wouldn’t they be anxious to let the people know?
Something very bad is happening in California and with everything else going on in the world today, everybody seems to be ignoring it.
The first video is describing this latest disappearance and the second video is from September 21, 2014, showing the background of the California numbers simply vanishing.

french nuke test” alt=”explosion” />

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SOURCE: http://www.allnewspipeline.com/Something_Bad_Is_Happening_CA.php

 

Posted on by nootkabear

Marburg Virus Hitting Kenya! Be Safe!

RSOE EDIS
RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
Budapest, Hungary

RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

2014-10-12 03:52:31 – Biological Hazard – Kenya

!!! WARNING !!!

EDIS Code: BH-20141012-45602-KEN
Date&Time: 2014-10-12 03:52:31 [UTC]
Continent: Africa
Country: Kenya
State/Prov.: ,
Location: The area was not defined,
City:
Number of infected people: 2

Description:
Kenya said Saturday that adequate measures have been put in place, with health facilities and ports of entry being on high alert, to check possible outbreak of Marburg haemorrhagic fever in the country. Nicholas Muraguri, director of medical services in the country’s health ministry, urged citizens to be vigilant and avoid contact with anyone who has travelled from Uganda after a Ugandan man died from the haemorrhagic fever, Xinhua reported. “Kenyan health workers have been provided with a case definition and instructions on screening all persons who have travelled to Kampala or have had contact with someone from Uganda if they present Marburg-like syndrome,” said Muraguri in a statement issued in Nairobi. He also confirmed that two suspected cases of the fatal virus were reported to the health ministry, which turned out to be negative. “Two suspected cases of Marburg have been reported to the Disease Outbreak Response Team. These were a man and a woman who had travelled from Uganda and developed fever and other symptoms that are similar to Marburg disease,” Muraguri said. He said the blood samples of the two, however, were found to be negative for both Marburg and Ebola viruses, adding that they were treated for other infections and discharged. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Marburg is a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family as the one that causes Ebola haemorrhagic fever. The illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with severe headache and severe malaise. As with Ebola, the family and health personnel in contact with infected patients are particularly at risk of contamination. Muraguri cautioned the public to avoid those who have complaints of fever, headache and other malaria-like symptoms as they could be exposed to Marburg disease. He appealed for maintenance of personal hygiene such as washing hands with soap as many times a day as possible as a sure way of remaining healthy and keeping the highly infectious virus at bay. The incubation period of the disease that manifests as a viral haemorrhagic fever is between two and 21 days.

The name of Hazard: Marburg virus (MARV)
Species: Human
Status: Suspected

Posted:2014-10-12 03:52:31 [UTC]

Posted on by nootkabear

Threat Journal, The Latest From Them – Yall Be Safe!

Just In From Threat Journal

Yall Be Safe!!!

Threat Journal Logo Banner – ALLOW IMAGES
Oct 11, 2014
Threat Journal is a weekly supplement to the AlertsUSA National Threat
and Incident Notification Service for Mobile Devices
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PODCAST – CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS ISSUE – ALLOW IMAGES

WEEKLY THREAT ROUNDUP
Now Published Each Saturday Afternoon

MV-22B DEparts Spain for Africa – ALLOW IMAGES
Marine General Warns of Ebola Nightmare Scenario,
HHS Secretary Warns More to Come,
WHO Warns Spread Across Europe Unavoidable
Oct 11, 2014

Between Oct 5-8, 2014, AlertsUSA issued the following
related Flash messages to subscriber mobile devices:
10/8 – Texas health authorities reporting that U.S. Ebola index patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, has died.

10/7 – CT Governor declares pub health emergency over Ebola threat. Move gives authorities power to quarantine those believed to have been exposed to the virus.

10/7 – USGOV to begin health screenings at several major US intl airports over Ebola. Cases spreading. Spain: 1 conf, 4 susp, Saudi Arabia (Jeddah – Hajj…): 1 death.

10/5 – AlertsUSA warns the number of daily reports of poss Ebola cases climbing fast. We monitor each and will only report on CONFIRMED cases to minimize false alarms.

What You Need To Know
On multiple occasions this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via text messages to their mobile devices regarding the West African Ebola outbreak, the death of U.S. index patient Thomas Eric Duncan and stepped up efforts by federal and state agencies to prepare for what is threatening to become a much larger case count here in the U.S..

HEALTH SCREENINGS AT U.S. AIRPORTS

On Tuesday subscribers were notified that the federal government was preparing to announce the launch of health screenings at several major U.S. airports in an attempt to identify sick travelers. These plans were made public by the CDC the following day and involve the CDC and officers from the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs & Border Protection agency screening passengers at five U.S. airports that receive the majority of travelers from the Ebola-affected nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

FORCED QUARANTINE AN OPTION

Travelers arriving from these countries will be observed for signs of illness, be asked to complete a health and exposure questionnaire and have their temperature measured. If the travelers present with a fever or other indications, or if the health questionnaire reveals possible Ebola exposure, they will be evaluated by a CDC public health officer with forced quarantine a distinct possibility, particularly with those who refuse to undergo the new screenings.

RESOURCE: CDC Legal Authorities for Isolation and Quarantine

The screenings are slated to begin on October 11, 2014 at New York’s JFK Int’l (JFK) and next week at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta (ATL), Washington Dulles (IAD), Newark Liberty (EWR) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD).

British authorities also announced this week they would soon introduce similar enhanced screening procedures at Heathrow (LHR) and Gatwick (LGW) airports and Eurostar rail terminals.

MINIMAL IMPACT EXPECTED

Readers are cautioned that these checks will likely have very little impact on filtering those individuals who are possible carriers of the virus given the incubation period for Ebola is currently said to be as long as 3 weeks. So as to illustrate the inherent weakness in this layer of the strategy, the screening procedure would not have caught the Dallas Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, as he did not begin displaying any symptoms for several days after his arrival. Additionally, there are a myriad of OTC medications available to bring down fevers.

Additionally, all exit screening efforts taking place at airports in the Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are currently being carried out by poorly trained local healthcare and immigration workers, though the CDC is said to be increasing training efforts.

Further, readers should understand there are no direct flights between the U.S. and any of the three West African nations. Individuals traveling from the region must first fly to hub cities such as Paris, Brussels, Accra, Ghana, Nairobi, Kenya, or Casablanca, Morocco, then board connecting flights for the trip to the U.S.. Thus, debates about the U,S, government shutting down airline flights are, essentially, a waste of time unless you also intend to shut down all incoming flights from the whole of Europe, S. America and Asia as all three routes are used by travelers to ultimately arrive in the U.S…

CT GOV DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY

Gov. Dan P. Malloy issued an executive order Tuesday that gives the state’s public health commissioner broad power to quarantine anyone exposed to or infected with the Ebola virus.

RESOURCE: CT Declaration of Public Health Emergency (PDF)

NOTABLE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell this week stated that despite the best efforts of health officials, Americans have to prepare for the reality that there may be more cases of Ebola in the United States.

“We had one case and I think there may be other cases, and I think we have to recognize that as a nation.”

WHO European director Zsuzsanna Jakab this week stated that the spread of Ebola across Europe is “quite unavoidable.”

“It is quite unavoidable … that such incidents will happen in the future because of the extensive travel both from Europe to the affected countries and the other way around,”

Four Star Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command, issued dire warnings about Ebola and the impact of an outbreak in the Caribbean or Central America:

“It will make the 68,000 unaccompanied minors look like a small problem.”

“If Ebola breaks out in Haiti or in Central America, I think it is literally ‘Katie bar the door’ in terms of the mass migration … into the United States.”

‘By the end of the year, there’s supposed to be 1.4 million people infected with Ebola and 62 percent of them dying, according to the CDC. That’s horrific. And there is no way we can keep Ebola [contained] in West Africa.”

“The nightmare scenario, I think, is right around the corner.”

To this end, health authorities are attempting to closely monitor an outbreak of a yet unidentified hemorrhagic disease spreading within several cities in Venezuela. Additionally, authorities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are treating what they refer to as a “probable” case of Ebola with a 47 year old missionary who returned to Brazil from Guinea last month.

MORE CONFLICTING GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Once again, AlertsUSA again cautions readers to carefully evaluate the conflicting information being put forth by public health and government officials regarding transmission and survivability of the virus, perhaps in an effort to minimize panic.

Last week we highlighted conflicts regarding transmissibility via airborne and aerosol routes. This week, we point out that despite public pronouncements by the CDC, WHO and cable news medical personalities that the Ebola virus does not survive beyond a few HOURS on contaminated surfaces, published research in respected, peer reviewed scientific journals show that “viable” Ebola virus can in fact survive for multiple WEEKS on surfaces outside the body.

As an example, research published in 2010 within the Journal of Applied Microbiology demonstrated that two different strains of Ebola, including Ebola-Zaire which is at the heart of the current W. Africa outbreak, can survive for long periods in different liquid media and can also be recovered from plastic and glass surfaces at low temperatures for over 3 weeks.

Piercy TJ, Smither SJ, Steward JA, Eastaugh L, Lever MS., The survival of filoviruses in liquids, on solid substrates and in a dynamic aerosol, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2010 Nov;109(5):1531-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2010.04778.x. Epub 2010 Jun 10.

PREPAREDNESS GUIDANCE
AND RISK MITIGATION

NEW FROM THE CDC

Detailed Emergency Medical Services
(EMS) Checklist for Ebola Preparedness (PDF)

While it is impossible for anyone to be fully prepared for each and every type of emergency, it IS possible to mitigate your risk in specific, known threat environments. This is the case with the threat of Ebola.

AlertsUSA has established an Ebola preparedness website offing specific guidance and information on how to prepare for and respond to a domestic outbreak of Ebola. http://www.EbolaReady.com .

EbolaReady Banner – ALLOW IMAGES

Many of the preparedness suggestions on this page reflect common sense. Others will come across as cold and severe until it is remembered that Ebola is a highly infectious and deadly pathogen. More than half of those who become infected die and that death is particularly gruesome.

In addition, we make product suggestions on the site with links to a multitude of suppliers via Amazon as they are convenient and inexpensive compared to most retail outlets. That said, if you can find these products elsewhere at a better price, by all means exercise those options. The links are there for your convenience.

OTHER RESOURCES

For 10 of the past 11 weeks, AlertsUSA and Threat Journal have been warning of the progression of the West Africa Ebola outbreak and the danger posed to the continental United States (See 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10). A wealth of information is available within those past issues.

As always, AlertsUSA continues to closely monitor developments with the spread of this virus and will immediately notify service subscribers of major changes in its spread to different regions, important notices and warnings by government agencies or any other major changes in the overall threat environment as events warrant

AlertsUSA.com

OTHER ALERTS ISSUED THIS WEEK BUT
NOT DETAILED IN THIS NEWSLETTER

10/11 – Overnight: USGOV issues new travel warning for Mexico. Widespread risk of criminal activity incl homicide, gun battles, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery.

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Posted on by nootkabear

Seeking Personhood: Tommy the Chimp Will Get His Day in Court – Story and Picture by Alicia Graef, October 7, 2014

TommySeeking Personhood: Tommy the Chimp Will Get His Day in Court

Story and Picture by Alicia GraefOctober 7, 20141:00 pm

Page_1_Chimp

Seeking Personhood: Tommy the Chimp Will Get His Day in Court

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is headed back to court this week in a landmark case seeking legal personhood for a 26-year-old chimpanzee named Tommy.

Last December, the NhRP filed three groundbreaking lawsuits in New York on behalf of Tommy, and three other chimpanzees in the state that the group is seeking to have moved to a sanctuary that is part of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA). According to the group, Tommy is currently being kept alone in a “small cement cage in a dark shed in the back of a used trailer lot.”

Even if we look at Tommy’s situation and conclude it’s wrong to keep him that way, as the group noted, “one’s awareness that Tommy’s situation is not ‘right’ is in another sense meaningless because Tommy, like any number of cognitively complex, self-aware nonhuman animals, is not a being whom the law recognizes as having any legal rights. What Tommy’s ‘owners’ are doing has been considered legal since the advent of our legal system and well before.”

The NhRP filed the lawsuits under the writ of habeus corpus, which is used to challenge imprisonment and was used in a landmark case in 1772 in which a judge ruled an American slave named James Somerset was not a piece of property. Somerset’s case didn’t end legalized slavery, but it did set the stage.

In the cases for the chimpanzees, the NhRP argued, not that they are human, but that they are entitled to live with basic rights to bodily liberty and bodily integrity – that they should have the fundamental legal right not to be imprisoned based on their intelligence, self-awareness and autonomy.

As it stands, non-human animals are seen by the law as things, or property, that have no legal rights, not as persons. The legal wall that separates human animals from non-human animals is exactly what the NhRP is trying to break down. They’ll also be pursuing cases for elephants and cetaceans in the future. According to the group:

Courts recognize that a sufficient, though not necessary condition of a fundamental right like bodily liberty is the possession of certain qualities. With over half a century of scientific evidence to support our legal arguments, and affidavits submitted in support of our lawsuit by an international group of the world’s most respected primatologists, our lawsuits set out to establish that chimpanzees possess such complex cognitive abilities as autonomy, self-determination, self-consciousness, awareness of the past, anticipation of the future, and the ability to make choices; that they display complex emotions like empathy; and that they construct diverse cultures. The possession of these characteristics is sufficient to establish personhood and the consequential fundamental right to bodily liberty.

While the courts denied the writs of habeus corpus, they left the door wide open for appeals. In Tommy’s case, Judge Joseph Sise even offered words of encouragement, stating: “Good luck with your venture. I’m sorry I can’t sign the order, but I hope you continue. As an animal lover, I appreciate your work.”

According to the NhRP, the result was not surprising because changing common law is typically left up to the higher courts.

“These were the outcomes we expected. All nonhuman animals have been legal things for centuries. That is not going to change easily,” said Steven M. Wise, NhRP’s president. “What we didn’t expect, however, were the strong words of encouragement and support from the judges and their acknowledgement of the strength of our arguments. So we are now in a good position to appeal each decision to the appropriate New York Appellate Division.”

For chimpanzees, the lawsuits themselves added to more victories on their behalf following an announcement from the National Institutes of Health that it would retire most of the government owned chimps used in research and a proposal to classify them as an endangered species – both moves that would make it more difficult or impossible to keep and exploit them.

These changes are long overdue. There’s certainly no shortage of evidence to suggest chimpanzees are far more than things and that body of evidence keeps growing. A study published last month concluded that chimpanzees who are kept as pets suffer far more than we thought. Another added evidence to the argument that they pass on knowledge to each other and have unique cultures like us. The more we learn about them, the more obvious it is that we have grossly underestimated them.

This week Tommy’s case will be heard by five judges in New York’s Supreme Court. If the NhRP wins they will make history and Tommy will be moved, but whatever the outcome of the case, it’s exciting to see this new approach be taken seriously by the courts while at the same time the mere existence of these cases is forcing us to consider questioning how we see and treat other sentient species.

 

Posted on by nootkabear

In From Enews: “US gov’t analysis says Fukushima is more serious than ‘China Syndrome’ — Destroyed reactors suffered worst type of containment failure”

US gov’t analysis says Fukushima is more serious than ‘China Syndrome’ — Destroyed reactors suffered worst type of containment failure (PHOTOS)

 
Published: October 8th, 2014 at 8:35 am ET
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Email Articlehttp://enenews.com/govt-analysis-fukushima-serious-china-syndrome-worst-type-containment-failure-all-3-reactors
 

US Department of Energy, September 2013 (emphasis added): A severe earthquake and tsunami… caused significant damages on the reactors in Fukushima… [including] containment damage… and intensive radioactivity release… This paper reviews and compares a typical BWR SPAR Level 2 model with [what] occurred in Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 2, and 3. It shows that the SPAR Level 2 model… could very reasonably describe the accident progression for a real and complicated nuclear accident… SPAR Level 2 model predicts that the containment integrity of Daiichi Units 1, 2, and 3 would be compromised by overpressure failure prior to or at core damage, which would be further impaired by drywell shell melt-through after vessel failure… The fission product release categories of Daiichi Units 1 to 3 are all classified as large early release in SPAR model… This work was sponsored by the NRC…

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Early Releases (pdf): Generally, the most severe [containment] failure modes are ones that occur early in time (before or during reactor vessel failure) so that there is little settling or other retention of radionuclides in the containment… ruptures are more likely to lead to severe consequences… [T]he worst failures are failures that occur early and allow rapid, unscrubbed transit of radionuclides out of the containment…

NRC on Containment Failure Due to Drywell Shell Melt-through (pdf): There are two basic types of meltthrough to consider. First is the possibility of basemat meltthrough (the China Syndrome)… This failure mode is not generally catastrophic, because of the long time available for emergency response actions and the possibility of some retention in the soil.The second type of meltthrough is most applicable to Mark I BWR containments [All 3 Fukushima reactors used Mark I boiling water reactor containments]. In this case,molten material can exit the area beneath the reactor and flow across the floor, directly contacting the steel liner and causing it to fail. This type of failure… can happen much more quickly than basemat meltthrough and can lead to more serious consequences… A phenomenon of importance primarily for Mark I BWRs is shell (liner) meltthrough… The Mark I drywell floor area is small and the drywell shell is within ten feet of the pedestal doorway…

NRC on Containment Failure Due to Overpressure (pdf): Overpressure can theoretically lead to either leakage or large rupture… Steel containments are susceptible to rupture [if] the containment continues to pressurize. Given sufficient pressure, a crack in a steel containment can propagate catastrophically… a large rupture of the containment can lead to rapid transport of radionuclides to the environment with minimal retention.

NRC on Mark I BWR Containment Failure (pdf): [I]n general, Mark I containments are more likely to fail during a severe accident… However, the ranges of predicted failure probabilities are quite high for all BWR containment designs… BWR containment groups found a significant probability of early or late structural failure, given core damage.

See also: French Nuclear Experts: Did corium pierce steel liners of Fukushima reactors? How deep did it erode concrete? (VIDEO)

 
Published: October 8th, 2014 at 8:35 am ET
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  2. “Gross containment failure” of Fukushima reactors — Now we are seeing plutonium far from plant April 25, 2013

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  4. Yomiuri on China Syndrome: Gov’t secretly figured out how far the melted fuel would burn through reactor pedestals — “Worst-possible scenario” October 16, 2011

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October 8th, 2014 | Category: Did China Syndrome (Fuel Outside Containment) Occur?, Fukushima Daiichi, Japan (Fukushima)

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