Radio update with goats

Look who came out to greet me at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe's outdoor vendor event on Saturday. The brown one was named Anna and even answered to her name! They were sweet, friendly, beautiful. (you can click to enlarge)

If you need more, check out adorable Baby Goats and Friends. I now begin every day by checking in on them, as I drink my morning coffee.

Cuteness makes life better, always.

~*~

Other notable stuff:

[] Duke Energy's evil, money-grubbing, nefarious schemes have been steady network-news almost every night for a month. I can hardly keep up. Suffice to say: they are poisoning us, and they don't care. (Do they ever?)

They just ignore the media and the noisemakers and hope it will blow over... a strategy that has so far served them very well.


[] Meanwhile, in other sordid political news today, the Supreme Court made it legal to buy elections. Well, I guess its always been legal, but now they don't have to hide it or make any pretense.

They can hand over the cash right there in public, just like any other transaction.


[] The beautiful art of Azisa Noor! I just loooove her work, have a look!


[] My Flickr page, which I have been faithfully updating like a good girl. (Check out my red frog.)


[] My anemic little Tumblr page, where I have only a handful of followers. (PS: I took that background photo of blooming echinacea myself, on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.) Which is probably just as well, since that place is the worst cesspool since Reddit... sometimes, the kids are so mean, they scare me. Like, scared for the future; scared of what we will become. Because no, I don't think its a "phase"--I think people could well be getting worse. As in, lacking empathy, lacking love, lacking any sense of common humanity.

I know, I know, about 18 months ago, I went and agreed with Steven Pinker that the world is getting less violent, but that was before I started hanging out on Tumblr.

Let's see what Pinker thinks after hanging out on Tumblr a few months?

~*~

Occupy the Microphone update






It looks like we may be back on the air some time this month, probably at WMXP, the community-powered radio station here in town. This will be our 4th radio station in two and half years! I feel like I am getting to be an old hand at this stuff.

Community radio will be far different than what we were doing before, so we have to prepare and do it right. Efia Nwangaza runs the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination, where the (low-powered) radio station is located. It's only a few blocks from our last radio station (as the proverbial crow flies), but it is eons away in attitude and purpose: An anti-capitalist radio station! I never even believed there was such a thing, until I met Efia. Yes, I know various good-hearted attempts have been made, but I am amazed any of those attempts came to fruition and have actually survived until now. If anyone could make it happen, Efia could.

And so, currently, that's the plan. Times, dates, and subject matter are still being hassled out. Since we are doing things on a FAR SMALLER budget, it looks like we will all be learning how to operate the radio soundboard ourselves.

New skillz! I can't wait to learn how.

Nuclear reactor shut down at Oconee

EMERGENCY! We warned you Duke Energy had their heads up their asses.

From WSPA:

OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. -
A radioactive leak at an Upstate nuclear power plant has forced the shutdown of one of its reactors.

Emergency officials say the leak was detected Sunday night at the Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca. The leak occurred in a containment building at a rate of 1/10 of a gallon per minute.

According to Scott Kern with the Oconee County Emergency Management Agency, the incident was small and under control. He also says there are no immediate threats and that the public is not in any danger.

The reactor will remain offline as crews work to fix the leak. One reactor was already shut down for repairs. This leaves one functioning reactor at the plant.

Duke Energy will continue to monitor the situation. They say they don't anticipate any delays in meeting the needs of customers as a result of the shutdown.

And that's it. That's all. That's the news. Duke Energy officials cozily proclaim: Everything is gonna be FINE FINE FINE.

Let us hope.

Stay tuned, everyone.

Radio Updates and some music too

At left, Occupy the Microphone in progress, yesterday. We interviewed Jasmine Lowrance about her anti-violence program in schools, Inspirational Wisdom. (Photo by Traci Fant.)

Today, we talked about the Michael Skakel verdict being overturned, and interviewed Yolanda Johnson about her local business, REFLECTIONS.




Mary Olsen of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service also joined us to talk about the recent (May of this year) and alarming leak at the Catawba Nuclear Station, which has leaked more than 100 gallons of water with traces of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen.

Now there is a second leak, reported yesterday. From the Aiken Standard:

LAKE WYLIE (AP) — Water with traces of a radioactive hydrogen isotope has again leaked at a South Carolina nuclear power plant, but the spill hasn’t made nearby drinking water unsafe, according to federal regulators. According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, more than 100 gallons of water containing tritium leaked over the weekend during maintenance at the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County. Water was being pumped from the main condenser to a site collection pump, and the water in the pond overflowed, officials said.

Duke Energy's continuing negligence is going to be the ruin of us.

~*~

Currently watching BLACKFISH, the searing (and long-overdue) CNN documentary about the treatment of "killer whales" (orcas) by SEA WORLD. Quite honestly, I am watching intermittently. When it gets to be too much, I switch over to something tolerable.

CNN takes a bit of a risk in showing this, but to make up for it, they give a whole webpage over to allowing SEA WORLD to defend itself, as well as booking a non-official SEA WORLD apologist for Crossfire.

The documentary has sparked a whole new debate about taking kids to animal parks, about which I have always been ambivalent. As an animal rights-advocate, the practice makes me almost hyperventilate. And yet, I know how important it is for children to SEE animals, the better to appreciate the habitats and creatures we want them to preserve, protect, and possibly save from extinction. We want them to love the animals, and we hope this experience will nurture that love.

But... what about the animals?

Please don't miss BLACKFISH, even if you have to skip over the violence/abuse/neglect every ten minutes or so. It is worth knowing and remembering.

~*~

Music Time! This is one of the best instrumentals of the 70s, I was glad to finally locate it.

Black Pit - Steppenwolf (1971)



~*~

George Clinton's Mothership has been acquired by the Smithsonian! That's the best news I've heard in awhile.

Meanwhile, I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the Universe.

Contains sublime guitar work by Eddie Hazel; one the greatest solos ever.

Maggot Brain - Funkadelic (1971)

Duke Energy public hearing

... last night at County Square in Greenville, SC. The South Carolina Public Service Commission listened to community testimonies regarding the impact of Duke's latest proposed utility rate hike. Various politicians and local activists also attended, including your humble narrator.




At left, Les Gardner, development director for the Greenville Tech Foundation, claimed Duke contributed over $4.3 million to the school through its AdvanceSC program. His was the only pro-Duke voice I heard during the brief time I was at the hearing, although apparently a few other capitalist hacks showed up to appropriately genuflect to their big-money patrons.

These few were easily drowned out, but I sincerely doubt the Forces of Good will prevail over Duke Energy greed and their desire to suck money into building even more destructive nukes... as well as the all-important distribution of $45 million golden parachutes to their corporate shills/parasites. (Meanwhile, Duke can't even make sure its EXISTING local nukes are safe.)

From the Greenville News:

Upstate residents revolted against Duke Energy’s latest plans for a rate hike during a public hearing Monday night with state regulators in Greenville.

Hundreds of residents attended the night meeting at County Square for a chance to protest Duke’s request, which would raise home power bills another 16.3 percent by Sept. 18.

If approved, the rate hike would be Duke’s third since 2010 for about 540,000 South Carolina retail customers, including residences and businesses, most of them in the Upstate.

Duke says it has spent $3.3 billion for capital improvements to its electricity system in the Carolinas since its last rate hike in 2012.

As a result of that and other factors, the company says it no longer collects enough from its Upstate customers to recover what it spends to operate and maintain the system that serves them.

Members of the Public Service Commission, which will rule on Duke’s request, listened to numerous complaints during the hearing in Greenville County Council chambers, and not just about the proposed rate hike.

They also heard complaints about what residents called unreasonable late fees and heavy-handed treatment over delinquent bill payment.

Barbara Keeton of Taylors told commissioners that Duke executives were still getting their raises and bonuses. “When was the last time these people got raises and bonuses?” she asked, pointing to the crowd.

The leader of the homeowner’s association at Bear Grass Townhomes, a development for senior citizens south of Greenville, said Duke’s plan would force an increase in the association’s fees, because of seven street lights in the development, as well as raise residents’ bills.

“Residents living on fixed incomes do not need this burden,” she said, drawing applause.

Seth Powell, president of the Greenville County Taxpayers Association, turned in 600 signatures on a petition and asked that the Public Service Commission “put the public first.”

If approved, Duke’s proposal would add $17.83 to a residential bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. That would bring the total monthly bill to $118.28 and represent a yearly increase of nearly $214.

The Charlotte-based power company is proposing less of an average increase for factories, 14.4 percent, and a 14 percent average hike for retailers and other commercial customers.

Jeff Stewart, a contractor from Easley, asked why South Carolina hasn’t deregulated the electricity business as other states have. That way, “We don’t have to be stuck with Duke,” he said.

Now, there's a good idea.

At left: local folks listen intently during the Duke Public Hearing.

State Sen. Karl Allen, a Greenville Democrat, asked commissioners to balance Duke’s needs with “the needs of the people.”

State Reps. Mike Burns of Taylors and Leola Robinson-Simpson of Greenville also attended.

A representative of state Sen. Mike Fair of Greenville read a statement saying the proposed rate hike would put “undue stress” on residents, especially those on fixed incomes.

Duke hadn’t implemented a general price hike for 19 years until 2010, when it raised residential rates more than 9 percent while decreasing industrial rates nearly 5 percent. In 2012, the company was allowed another overall rate increase of 6 percent.

And from WYFF:

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Duke Energy is seeking to raise rates for the third time in four years -- and as hundreds of people file complaints, there is now a chance for residents to voice their opinion on the increase.

Monday night, a public meeting was held at Greenville County Council Chambers.

Dozens testified to the Public Service Commission regarding a proposed rate increase.

Duke Energy Carolinas has filed a request with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) for an increase that averages 15.11 percent.

Residential customers would see a 16.3 percent increase. The commercial increase would be 14 percent, industrial would be 14.4 percent and lighting would be 15.9 percent.

In 2009, Duke Energy asked for a 9.26 percent increase and settled on a 5.16 percent increase.

In 2012, the utility asked for a 14.61 percent increase and settled on a 5.98 percent rise.

"In the current economic situation, I think this rate is the most crass thing Duke Energy could do," said a citizen.

Duke Energy, the corporate parent of both Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, said the new increase would boost the utility's revenue by $220 million.

Duke cites capital investments including fleet modernization, upgrades and new power plants as necessitating the increase.

Let's start with taking back that $45 million given to the CEO for working a whole 20 minutes. Do you think he's the only Duke boss making that kind of cash? I want to see ALL of their salaries, and then WE can make up an appropriate (and suitably frugal) budget for them. If they are a utility serving the people (without our consent or choice), they need to be managed by the people (without their consent or choice). Its obvious they can't run their own company, so maybe we should run it for them.

After all, when Oconee melts down, it will be US paying the price, not the CEOs with pricey co-ops in Malibu and Manhattan.

Latest in Nuke News

Last week, we interviewed Mary Olsen (of Nuclear Information and Resource Service) on Occupy the Microphone. (For the best in recent nuke news, check out NIRS.org)



Some of the news Mary shared with us:

[] In March, the NRC denied a third reactor to Calvert Cliffs nuke in Maryland:

The five-member commission [that oversees the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission] upheld an earlier Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruling on the Calvert Cliffs 3 new nuclear reactor application, which had denied UniStar Nuclear Energy LLC’s application because of its failure to meet NRC foreign ownership requirements for US power reactors.

On Aug. 31, the three-judge ASLB denied a license for the proposed Calvert Cliffs unit 3 project because UniStar was bought out by Electricite de France in November 2010, resulting in 100-percent French ownership of UniStar.

[] In April, the Crystal River nuke in Florida was permanently shut down due to cracks in the containment dome and other problems; it has been offline since 2009 and has been a long-term headache for Duke Energy ever since:

The Crystal River plant in Citrus County, Florida, is operated by Progress Energy Florida. A failed repair to its thick reactor containment building led to repeated problems with cracking concrete in the structure.

Duke cited differences with merger partner Progress Energy last year over Crystal River’s condition. Progress CEO Bill Johnson, who was fired as chief executive of the combined companies, had favored repairing the 36-year-old plant.

But a Duke-commissioned engineering report late last year concluded that, while repairs were feasible, they could cost up to $3.4 billion in a worst-case scenario.

[] In May, the Kewaunee nuke in Wisconsin was permanently shut down:

The Kewaunee plant, which opened in 1974, was sold in 2005 to Dominion, based in Richmond, Va., by its owners, the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation and Wisconsin Power and Light. In the past, the lengthy decommissioning process that nuclear power requires was in the hands of local companies, which have had the option to go to a public service commission and ask for a rate increase to pay for the job if it proved unexpectedly difficult.

But Kewaunee was a “merchant” plant, a sort of free agent on the grid, selling its electricity on contract, at a price set by the market, not by the government.

...

Earlier this year, [Rep. Edward Markey] pointed out, the owners of the Crystal River 3 plant in Florida decided to retire it rather than repair its containment structure, because of unfavorable economics. Industry experts say that several reactors are operating at a loss while their owners wait for the glut of natural gas to disappear. How long that will be, and how many will last, is not clear.

“Once these old nuclear reactors shut down — as we’re seeing now — it will take 60 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to decontaminate them,” Mr. Markey said in a statement. “Taxpayers should have assurances that these nuclear relics don’t outlive their corporate owners and their ability to fund nuclear cleanup costs, leaving ordinary Americans to foot the bill.”

[] The NRC denied a license to Nuclear Innovation North America LLC for their proposed South Texas 3 & 4 Project (a joint venture between NRG Energy and Toshiba) because Toshiba owns a controlling interest in the nuclear reactors, in violation of US law:

The federal regulator denied the application of Nuclear Innovation North America LLC for a license to build the reactors, noting that Toshiba’s ownership stake in and “overwhelming financial contributions” to the project afford it a degree of control over the nuclear power plant that exceeds the limits of the Atomic Energy Act.

“The staff has determined that Toshiba, a Japanese corporation, through Toshiba American Nuclear Energy Corp. … its American subsidiary, is the sole source of financing for NINA,” the commission said in a letter denying the license.

[] Nuclear plant San Onofre 2 & 3 in California, has been shut down permanently, due to one disaster after another:

[The] nuke plant’s two operating reactors had already been shut down since January 2012. Southern California Edison’s decision to give up the ghost can be traced to its pattern of extreme mismanagement of plant operations, consequent huge financial losses, and the tenacious opposition that rallied local communities to take action to keep the unsafe plant shut down.

San Onofre is the largest nuclear power plant to be shut down in the US. One reactor was retired in 1992. The other two, just cut loose, formerly generated 2200 Megawatts of electricity to 1.5 million households. Located between San Diego and Los Angeles, the plant supplied power to 1.5 million households. 8.7 million people live within 50 miles of it. The two reactors at San Onofre had been scheduled to operate until 2022.

...

Long before Fukushima, San Onofre had already been having its own problems.
Reactor Unit 1, started up in 1968, had to be shut down in 1992 after problems with equipment that came back to haunt Edison with a vengeance in recent years at its other reactors.

In 2006 workers found radioactive water under Unit 1 that was 16 times more radioactive than EPA permitted levels for its presence in drinking water. And this was 14 years after that reactor had been shut down.
In August 2008 the Los Angeles Times reported “Injury rates at San Onofre put it dead last among US nuclear plants when it comes to industrial safety.” Later that year it emerged that a battery system, key to providing backup power to pump water to flood Unit 2’s reactor in case of a potential meltdown “was inoperable between 2004 and 2008 because of loose electrical connection,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported.

And also in 2008, the Radiation and Public Health Project reported, in the European Journal of Cancer Care, that the counties nearest San Onofre, had the highest child leukemia mortality rates, of counties near nuclear power plants studied for the years 1974-2004.

...

All this led to 2009 and 2010, when Edison found it necessary to replace the four massive steam generators in San Onofre’s units 2 and 3. The original steam generators lasted over a quarter century, though they were supposed to last for the life of the reactors, 40 years. Steam generators facilitate the creation of steam to turn turbines to generate electricity in the type of nuclear plants most common in the US. Water pipes run through reactors and are heated by nuclear fuel. But this water also picks up lots of radioactivity. The steam generators have tubes that pass on the heat to another set up pipes that make the steam, while not passing on the radioactivity, which otherwise would escape into the environment and contaminate it. Thus the steam generators are key to keeping these nuclear plants running safely. Edison reportedly spent $680 million on the replacement steam generators. Since the plant was not originally designed to need replacements, the utility had to cut huge holes in buildings to get them inside.

And then they turned to junk in just a few years.

In a March 2012 report , Arne Grundersen, of Vermont’s Fairewind’s Associates, a former nuclear industry engineer, described the decisive moments when San Onofre’s shut down began in January 2012: “Unit 3 was operating at full power and experienced a complete perforation of one [steam generator] tube that allowed highly radioactive water from inside the reactor to mix with non-radioactive water that was turning the turbine. As a consequence, an uncontrolled release of radiation ensued, and San Onofre was forced to shut down due to steam generator failure.”

[] And finally, Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy has shelved all plans for a nuclear reactor in Iowa, opting for wind turbines instead:

MidAmerican Energy has scrapped plans for Iowa’s second nuclear plant and will refund $8.8 million ratepayers paid for a now-finished feasibility study, utility officials said Monday.

The utility has decided against building any major power plant: “We opted for what was in the best interest of our customers,” MidAmerican vice president for regulatory affairs Dean Crist told The Des Moines Register.

Mid­American will focus on its plan to build up to 656 wind turbines in a $1.9 billion project across Iowa, which also will trim power bills by saving fuel costs.

Thanks to Mary for coming on our show; she will be revisiting us soon.

NRC denies Oconee fire protection delay

More on the unsafe Oconee Nuclear Station, as originally reported here back in late September of last year.



The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct a public meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Oconee Nuclear Station’s World of Energy. Duke Energy officials will discuss major projects at the plant, including the fire-protection efforts.





From Sunday's Greenville News:

NRC denies Oconee fire protection delay
Agency says plant is safe, but wants protection system
by Eric Connor, staff writer

For years now, the Oconee Nuclear Station’s colossal three reactors have operated on the shores of Lake Keowee under fire-protection methods that the government says were only meant to be temporary.

However, federal regulators have now taken an unexpected stand – denying the most recent of voluminous deadline extensions Duke Energy has requested through the years as the company works to put its fire-protection practices at the forefront of the nuclear industry.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission – in recently citing a higher-than-acceptable safety risk under temporary fire-protection measures while at the same time insisting those temporary measures have been sufficient so far — is straddling a line with contradiction on either side.

If the risk of fire is great enough for regulators to stand ground opposite a powerful energy giant, then why are Oconee’s reactors still operating?

Or, if the plant can safely operate under interim measures as it has for years, why should a nuclear provider so integral to life in the Upstate be denied a pass in an industry known for the deadlines both it and the government itself frequently don’t meet?

The NRC insists that the plant is safe from fire, though the agency says the degree of safety could be as much as 40 times less than if Duke had kept to its deadlines.

Duke insists that it is working diligently and that the project is more complex than either it or the government had foreseen.

The answer, nuclear watchdogs say, lies in reading between the lines of a denial that they say borders on the unprecedented — and one that, if held to, could be an indication of a willingness for the NRC to take a stronger stance against criticism that it has become too cozy with the industry it regulates.

Our 2010 Green Party Senatorial Candidate, Tom Clements, is quoted in the article:

“This is almost unprecedented to me that the NRC would deny a request presented by a licensee,” said Tom Clements, director of the Columbia-based Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. “This is highly unusual, and it signifies how serious the NRC is taking this issue.”

Duke has a 30-day window to appeal the NRC’s denial.

The outcome — for instance a potential plant shutdown — could set a tone for the industry as dozens of reactors must make the transition, said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project for the Maryland-based Beyond Nuclear watchdog organization.

“This is sort of a push-comes-to-shove moment for fire protection in the nuclear industry,” Gunter said. “We really need to see if the NRC will back up its enforcement policy. This plant shouldn’t be operating if it can’t meet fire-protection qualifications.”

The denial is even more astounding given that the NRC recently granted a one-year extension for Brown’s Ferry in Alabama, the genesis for the industry’s original fire standards following a fire at the plant in 1975, Lochbaum said.

“What about all the other plants that haven’t begun the transition?” Lochbaum said. “If two more years is unacceptable for Oconee, how is it OK for the four dozen other reactors? I guess Oconee spun the wheel of misfortune and it came up ‘no’ this time.”

The NRC determined that the “core damage frequency” rate is at least four times and as much as 40 times greater than if Duke had the pilot measures completed.

More here.

I probably will not be able to make it to Wednesday's Duke Energy meeting, but we are hoping we can hear from folks who will be? If you will be attending the meeting, please consider contributing your account to Occupy the Microphone, which airs on Tuesdays on WOLT-FM, 1-2pm, here in upstate SC. (OccupyTheMicrophone@Yahoo.com). We would like to have South Carolina Greens in attendance. Unfortunately, the meeting wasn't announced very far in advance, to allow people to travel from all over the state (especially from the more liberal coast).

And of course, we are hoping some of those rich folks around Lake Keowee make their feelings known.

~*~

EDIT: Mary Olson of NIRS (Nuclear Information and Research Service) will be calling into the show tomorrow to talk about this issue in more depth, so tune in!

~*~

EDIT 2/1/13: The January 29th Occupy the Microphone show in its entirety is HERE. My apologies for tardiness in posting it.

Oconee Nuclear Station unsafe

At left: The Oconee Nuclear Station is right around the proverbial corner from me, so now I am damn nervous.

There is also the fact Duke Energy is run by money-grubbing liars and it is therefore impossible to trust anything they say. (This has been true since... well, when HASN'T it been true?)

In a report on Huffington Post, the vulnerability and instability of the Oconee plant has been outlined, thanks to a letter from whistleblower Richard Perkins, an engineer. Perkins was one of the authors of a report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, detailing the problems at Oconee and similar plants.

Oconee was singled out as particularly vulnerable.

According to the above-linked Huffington Post piece:

[The] vulnerability at one plant in particular -- the three-reactor Oconee Nuclear Station near Seneca, S.C. -- put it at risk of a flood and subsequent systems failure, should an upstream dam completely fail, that would be similar to the tsunami that hobbled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan last year. That event caused multiple reactor meltdowns.

In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Huffington Post, Richard H. Perkins, a reliability and risk engineer with the agency's division of risk analysis, alleged that NRC officials falsely invoked security concerns in redacting large portions of a report detailing the agency's preliminary investigation into the potential for dangerous and damaging flooding at U.S. nuclear power plants due to upstream dam failure.

Perkins, along with at least one other employee inside NRC, also an engineer, suggested that the real motive for redacting certain information was to prevent the public from learning the full extent of these vulnerabilities, and to obscure just how much the NRC has known about the problem, and for how long.

"What I've seen," Perkins said in a phone call, "is that the NRC is really struggling to come up with logic that allows this information to be withheld."

Perkins was the lead author of the report, which was completed in July of 2011 -- roughly four months after an earthquake and subsequent tsunami flooded the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, cut off electric power to the facility and disabled all of its backup power systems, eliminating the ability to keep the reactors cool and leading to a meltdown.

In addition to the Oconee facility, the report examined similar vulnerabilities at the Ft. Calhoun station in Nebraska, the Prairie Island facility in Minnesota and the Watts Bar plant in Tennessee, among others.

According to the report, dam-failure occurring upstream from these plants "may result in flood levels at a site that render essential safety systems inoperable." All power sources (including backup batteries, generators and grid power) could be compromised by high floodwaters.

In response to the report, the NRC launched an expanded investigation, which is ongoing. It also folded the dam failure issue into the slate of post-Fukushima improvements recommended by a special task force formed in the aftermath of that disaster. But in a press release dated March 6 of this year, the agency said the report "did not identify any immediate safety concerns."

The NRC made a heavily redacted copy of the report publicly available on the NRC website the same day.

"Nuclear power plant designs include protection against serious but very rare flooding events, including flooding from dam failure scenarios," the agency release noted.

Very rare events! Nothing to worry about!

And where have we heard THAT before?

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff may be motivated to prevent the disclosure of this safety information to the public because it will embarrass the agency," Perkins wrote in his letter. "The redacted information includes discussion of, and excerpts from, NRC official agency records that show the NRC has been in possession of relevant, notable, and derogatory safety information for an extended period but failed to properly act on it. Concurrently, the NRC concealed the information from the public."

In a conversation with The Huffington Post, Perkins elaborated on the redacted material. "My estimation is that if people saw the information that we have, and if they knew for how long we've had it, some might be disappointed at how long it's taken to act, and some might be disappointed that, to date, we haven't really acted at all."

What is darkly humorous is how many rich people live up on Lake Keowee. Maybe THAT will force them to act? They are right in the line of this possible future-disaster.

At the least, their property values have just plummeted.

Will their GREED railroad the NRC into action, if nothing else? Will property-owners and real-estate developers succeed where other mere humans (and concerned engineers) have failed?

Meanwhile, [Perkins] is among several nuclear experts who remain particularly concerned about the Oconee plant in South Carolina, which sits on Lake Keowee, 11 miles downstream from the Jocassee Reservoir. Among the redacted findings in the July 2011 report -- and what has been known at the NRC for years, the engineer said -- is that the Oconee facility, which is operated by Duke Energy, would suffer almost certain core damage if the Jocassee dam were to fail. And the odds of it failing sometime over the next 20 years, the engineer said, are far greater than the odds of a freak tsunami taking out the defenses of a nuclear plant in Japan.

"The probability of Jocassee Dam catastrophically failing is hundreds of times greater than a 51 foot wall of water hitting Fukushima Daiichi," the engineer said. "And, like the tsunami in Japan, the man‐made 'tsunami' resulting from the failure of the Jocassee Dam will –- with absolute certainty –- result in the failure of three reactor plants along with their containment structures.

"Although it is not a given that Jocassee Dam will fail in the next 20 years," the engineer added, "it is a given that if it does fail, the three reactor plants will melt down and release their radionuclides into the environment."

David Lochbaum, a nuclear expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said a key concern was that the NRC has failed to appreciate and tackle this risk for so long. "NRC can, or may, resolve the flooding issues," Lochbaum said. "But if it doesn't step back and review when those problems could have been exposed sooner, it won't make the programmatic fixes needed to become a more effective regulator.

I've been sleeping well lately, but tonight? Don't know if I will.

Grandma Daisy's: "We don't dial 911"

I see Renegade Evolution's existential question... and I raise her one! At left, photo reads: Grandma Daisy's: "We don't dial 911" and is punctuated with a nice old-school firearm. (This is an antique store in Fredericksburg, Texas, and of course, I could not resist taking the photo for my blog!)

Not coincidentally, various folks over the years have joked to your humble narrator, that I probably didn't need 911, and they are probably right about that. ;)

Speaking of which: Suitably adorable Grandma photos of my trip, for anyone interested. I loved seeing my grandbabies! (I worried that photos of me and Barbie would ruin my feminist cred, but hey, I think that was already compromised a long time ago!)

~*~

A sort of all-purpose post, as I create links for the Daisy Deadhead show tomorrow. (Commercial: LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!) I suppose I could bring my laptop to the radio station (WFIS, tomorrow, 9-10am), but trying to fiddle with the keyboard and talk, at the same time? Sounds risky to me. I am NOT Wolfman Jack. Maybe when I get a little more proficient at this stuff.

First up, will be the illuminating story in the Austin Statesman, Personal ties key to Rick Perry's wealth:

Gov. Rick Perry might like for people to believe he made more than $1 million while holding elective office in Texas through shrewd business decisions, but in almost every case he was steered to his investments.

From his father-in-law renting space in a building Perry owned back home in Haskell to a high school buddy from Future Farmers of America helping him make a million in a Horseshoe Bay land deal, Perry has been more than just lucky or shrewd. He has been a man with friends.

The question of whether Perry's real estate windfalls have been a result of friends helping friends or are evidence of some sort of corruption has been fodder for some of his past campaign opponents.

"From abusing his power over appointments to getting sweetheart real estate deals from supporters, he's a regular get-rich-quick icon," U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign manager said of Perry before last year's gubernatorial primary.

During the general election campaign last year, Democratic opponent Bill White said of one deal, "Perry's investment was enhanced by a series of professional courtesies and personal favors."

Over the course of about 18 years , Perry and his wife, Anita, grew from struggling to make ends meet in Haskell County to having a comfortable retirement nest egg built primarily from real estate deals Perry made while he was a statewide elected official.

And rest assured, there is plenty more dirt where THAT came from. Tune in for my personal assessment of Rick Perry's business acumen! NOTE: I DO have my all-purpose, FCC-approved, NO CUSSING sign, as I mentioned HERE, so I am required to keep my anti-Perry commentary squeaky clean. (It's a challenge, but I am up to it.)

On the local front, we will be peeling and digesting State Senator David Thomas (R-of course), who opposes "government spending"--except when the spending is on David Thomas. Another faker, like Governor Haley.

He carefully voted himself a cushy pension for working only A SCANT FEW YEARS:

At age 55, South Carolina state Sen. David Thomas began collecting a pension for his legislative service without leaving office.

Most workers must retire from their jobs before getting retirement benefits. But Thomas used a one-sentence law that he and his colleagues passed in 2002 to let legislators receive a taxpayer-funded pension instead of a salary after serving for 30 years.

Thomas' $32,390 annual retirement benefit — paid for the rest of his life — is more than triple the $10,400 salary he gave up. His pension exceeds the salary because of another perk: Lawmakers voted to count their expenses in the salary used to calculate their pensions.

No other South Carolina state workers get those perks.

Since January 2005, Thomas, a Republican, has made $148,435 more than a legislative salary would have paid, his financial-disclosure records show. At least four other South Carolina lawmakers are getting pensions instead of salaries, netting an extra $292,000 since 2005, records show.

And finally, I will try to include Anna's comments at Mills River Progressive, which came courtesy of Onyx Lynx. (THANK YOU!)

It just seems so obvious, but sometimes, people have to spell out the obvious:

All the Politicos Yapping About "Creating Jobs" Avoid the REAL Solution

Which is to stop sending the jobs overseas. Duh. That would be the logical course of action, if the U.S. Congress actually worked on behalf of the citizenry. Obviously they don't, and therefore none of them will propose the only lasting solutions to our massive unemployment. End our destructive trade policies, restore fair trade policies and practices, invest in new sustainable industries on the domestic front (other than weapons), and sweet pygmy Jeebus STOP REWARDING CORPORATIONS THAT SEND JOBS OVERSEAS!

There. That's not too difficult, is it? It's not rocket science. And it's well within the realm of the possible. But *they* won't do it. They won't discuss it. Almost no one will mention it on the floor of Congress. Why? Why won't the people who supposedly represent our interests do the things that will lead to a reversal of our crumbling fortunes and dismal futures? Because their handlers - their actual bosses, the financial elite, the investor class, the 1% - don't want that.

The reality is that our lives are of no importance to them. In fact, we're obsolete. They make enormous amounts of money by sending our industries, our (former) work to the third world. They're profiting like never before; why on earth would they want to return to the bad old days, when profits were hampered by trade policy, by benefit packages, by paying a middle-class wage?

I will try to quote the whole thing, if there is time. We hope to be hearing directly via telephone from Green Party members who are currently occupying Wall Street. YEAH!

I will also slip in a mention of Duke Energy's intention to raise our utility-rates, and the necessary information about the local public hearings. The print on the teeny-tiny postcard recently mailed out by Duke Energy is nearly microscopic, and very difficult to read.

I'm sure that's only a coincidence. They wouldn't try to dissuade people from coming to the hearings, now would they?

War is over, if you want it

Best thing I've heard today: Gloria Allred canceled her press conference with her stunningly-attractive client, Rachel Uchitel, just as Uchitel was poised to Tell All about her "relationship" with Tiger Woods.

Scandalmongers everywhere sobbed; Gloria never lets us down. This is a first!

After the cancellation, Allred's daughter, Lisa Bloom (yes, intrepid Court-TV junkies and scandalmongers love Lisa almost as much as we love her mom), announced on several news networks that mom would never cancel a press conference, except for one reason: Mr Green has arrived.

Mr Green! Love it.

And I'd love to know what kind of Merry Christmas the Uchitel family will have this year; something tells me the presents under the tree will be first rate indeed.

~*~

More scandals! DEAD AIR can barely keep up. As Renee reported, actress Meredith Baxter has come out as gay.

I first became very interested in Baxter when she dated... David Cassidy! Yes, I kept careful track of all the Cassidy-women: Meredith, Susan Dey, Judy Strangis, Robin Millan, and his first wife, the totally fabulous Kay Lenz. Embarrassing but true.

Camille Paglia once wrote the following about Baxter, which I found rather puzzling at the time... but now, suddenly makes perfect sense:

Baxter's 1992 performance as a real-life San Diego murderess in the two parts of "The Betty Broderick Story," "A Woman Scorned" and "Her Final Fury," remains one of the most impressive pieces of work by an American actress in the last 20 years. Though I've watched rebroadcasts of that tense docudrama times without number, I still thrill with admiration at Baxter's tough energy, pinpoint vocal work and insight into both sexual relations and American character. "The Betty Broderick Story" should be required viewing at every acting school.

Um, say what?

Of course (it should go without saying!), I enjoyed the Betty Broderick mini-series as much as the next scandalmonger... but hey, Meredith Baxter isn't Meryl Streep, okay? I wondered if Paglia (with whom I share my special great love for Elizabeth) had gone off the deep-end, or was possibly in love with Baxter.

Ha! Was I right or what?

Now that we know, I am wondering if they have actually dated or possibly got real friendly on one of those hot lesbian cruises.

It's interesting that Paglia lets her emotions interfere with her critical sensibilities, although she loves to accuse feminists like Naomi Wolf of doing the same thing. Paglia is always proudly blathering that she has "a male brain"; I wonder if effusively gushing over her favorite lady-friends is what she means by that?

(giggle)

~*~

Raleigh Demonstrators against Cliffside, from October 29th demonstration. Photo courtesy of the Canary Coalition.


On a political note, Duke Energy is still attempting to destroy the Blue Ridge Mountains with a coal-burning power-plant, smack-dab in the middle of one of the most beautiful areas in the world. I have covered this previously, and the brawl continues, with protesters busted this week also.

Jeanne Brooks writes, accurately:

Although coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S., that’s not the only concern. In August, U.S. Geological Survey research tested fish in about 300 streams across the nation and found every fish contaminated with mercury.

The smoke-stack emissions of power plants are a major source of the mercury, the EPA said, along with trash burning and cement plants.

Tiny particulates, associated with heart attacks and asthma, among other medical problems, are another power plant emission.

Removing mountain tops by detonation in central Appalachian states like West Virginia and Kentucky to mine coal is an additional, and ugly, factor. The debris has ruined and buried miles of streams.

STOP CLIFFSIDE!

~*~

Pausing for unpaid commercial for the wonderful MOMMIE DOTS line by Augisa & Co. All of their vegan, cruelty-free skin-products are terrific, but this one deserves a special shout-out.

I just sent the awesome Mommie 2 Be Bellie Butta to my daughter, as her pregnant self expands. Bellie Butta is made of aloe, chamomile, lavender and organic coconut oil; highly recommended for you future-mamas out there.

~*~

Locally, the Sara Lee factory is closing and laying off 200 workers. Our warmest positive thoughts, deadhead vibes and heartfelt novenas are with all the folks losing jobs at Christmastime, which just makes me wanna cry:

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Officials with Sara Lee Corp. said 200 workers in South Carolina will lose their jobs when the company closes its bread factory in Greenville.

Sara Lee officials told the Herald-Journal of Spartanburg that they have to close the bakery in January because they lost a major customer.

Spokesman Mike Cummins said the plant makes frozen dough and bagels for the food service industry. Cummins said a few workers may be offered jobs at other plants, but the rest will get severance packages and help finding another job.

Sara Lee began operating the Greenville plant in 1984 after acquiring it from King's Hawaiian Bakery.

We are with you, folks, and wish you all the best.

~*~

And speaking of Christmas, as always, I am currently inundated with endless holiday music at my workplace. (My definitive Christmas music post is here!) However, I have noticed that John and Yoko's famous "Happy Christmas/War is Over" is pointedly NOT one of the songs being played over and over.

Hmm.

Maybe because the war isn't over?

(If you want it.)

~*~

Speaking of Christmas and capitalism, several different versions of the official DEAD AIR Christmas season kick-off tune have been yanked off YouTube already. Yes, boys and girls, The Grinch is alive and active and wants to CHEAT US OF OUR JAMS!

But I found one anyway, she snorted derisively. Listen now, before they yank this one too!

Come to think of it, they never play this one in public places either. ;)

Father Christmas - The Kinks

[via FoxyTunes / The Kinks]

April is the Cruelest Month

Falls Park, Greenville SC. Photo by your humble narrator.

~*~

From Mountain Xpress comes the following:

How much is that nuclear plant in the window?
by Nelda Holder on 04/30/2008

The N.C. Utilities Commission has decided that Duke Energy will not have to disclose cost estimates to state residents in preparing for a proposed nuclear-power plant to serve North and South Carolina customers, according to a report today by The Raleigh News & Observer. The twin-reactor plant is proposed for construction in Cherokee County, S.C. — just south of the N.C. border. Most of the customers served would be in North Carolina, however, where the Utilities Commission has now agreed with Duke Power that state law protects the cost estimate as a “trade secret.”

“Customers would ultimately pay for any new power plants through their monthly rates,” the article states, noting that some estimates for a single reactor run in the $9 billion range. Duke Energy argued that revealing cost estimates would affect vendor and contractor negotiations and keep the company from getting the lowest cost.

A South Carolina decision on the question of disclosure is anticipated in May, according to the article.

Meanwhile, a public hearing concerning the same proposed plant — which would be located some 60 miles southwest of Asheville — has been scheduled by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m., at Gaffney High School, 149 Twin Lake Road in Gaffney, S.C. More information is available through Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League or by contacting Mary Olson with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service at 675-1792.

— Nelda Holder, associate editor, Mountain Xpress.

~*~

Left: traditional holy card of St Joseph Cottolengo of Turin.

It is the traditional, liturgical Catholic feast day of St Joseph Cottolengo of Turin, one of the Vincentian saints who counseled us to care for the poor. In keeping with that, I wanted to share a great blog entry from Parkside Q, titled Biting the hand that feeds me. Parkside linked me a view days ago, and then I went to snoop and found this fabulous entry. (And isn't that the way it works?)

I admire the self-awareness of the author, as he honestly describes his discomfort in encountering a homeless man on the subway, begging for spare change:

I've only been here a few months, but I can already feel myself becoming calloused toward that man, and the 5% of New Yorkers that have been walking miles in his well-worn shoes. But this time, I genuinely felt bad that I have been so caught up in my life that I've been ignoring others' suffering. His main concern on that train was trying to find his next meal; my biggest problem was trying to find reception for my next text message. Kind of puts in perspective what's really important, huh?

Read the whole thing!

~*~

Also see Content Regulation and Porn Laws by Renegade Evolution... don't forget to guard those pesky Civil Liberties they keep trying to yank away from us!

And finally, Treehugger notes that US Consumers "Get the Cheap Stuff":

We had a faint hope that the rise in food prices might lead people to buy more carefully, perhaps cook more from scratch instead of buying prepared food, or even cut back on meat and eat more vegetables. No such luck; according to the IHT, Americans are just buying more crap, because the cheap calories come from the most processed, corn-based foods.

While they keep telling us to lose weight! (Is there a problem here?)
----------------
Listening to: Grateful Dead - Eyes of the World
via FoxyTunes

Asheville activists arrested at Cliffside power-plant construction site

Left: Activist holding sign at Cliffside construction site, from Mountain Xpress.



I wish I could have been there with all of you, but I don't think I can handle an illegal occupation and subsequent arrest as well as I could have as a youngun. My love, prayers and best Deadhead vibes are with all of you wonderful folks. I'll be sure to reprint everything you do here!!! (((kisses))) Thank you for caring so deeply about our home, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and our mother, planet Earth. Godspeed!

The following is from Mountain Xpress, by Rebecca Bowe on 4/01/2008:

As the sky grew light this morning out at the Cliffside power plant construction site in Rutherford County [North Carolina], half a dozen activists chained themselves to the heavy earth-moving equipment that was parked there. Among the 20 or so people who were initially gathered there were at least three Asheville residents, who had traveled out to Cliffside to join others from across the state in staging a protest against Duke Energy’s recently permitted, 800-megawatt coal-fired facility. The activists roped off the construction site with tape that read “global warming crime scene,” and held banners with the slogans, “social change, not climate change” and “coal fuels climate change.”

Within half an hour of their arrival, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office responded, and eight people were arrested on charges of trespassing. Some faced additional charges of resisting arrest. Records showed that those arrested were David Elliston, Brittany Cusworth, and Clare Rappleyea of Asheville, and Matthew Wallace of Hot Springs. Also arrested were Christine Irvine, Attila Nemecz, Joseph Monteleone and Evan Webb.

“The new plant will increase greenhouse gas emissions substantially — which we can’t do,” said activist Liz Veazey, a native of Morganton, who spoke with Xpress outside the Rutherford County Jail. “We need to reduce our emissions 80 to 90 percent, James Hansen and other scientists are saying. So we’re here to say that we have to stop that and all fossil-fuel projects.”

Veazey described the scene that unfolded at the plant at daybreak: “People [were] locked down with lock boxes around some of the machinery,” she said. The activists had appointed a liaison to communicate with law enforcement, she says. “We had a police liaison, and people were standing along the side of the street with signs, and we were taking pictures. The police liaison got arrested really quickly. Then our photographer got arrested.” Veazey asserted that tazers were used during the arrests, and said she’d heard people screaming while they were locked down.

According to Rutherford County Sheriff Jack Conner, tazers were used as stun guns, but the nonlethal weapons were not used to deploy the full electric current. “It’s just like sticking it right up against them and stunning them, like a stun gun,” he explained. “The actual tazers were not used, just the stun position.” One week ago, Duke Energy held a groundbreaking ceremony and tour at the construction site, which straddles the Rutherford and Cleveland county lines. The Division of Air Quality granted approval for the plant in January. Since then, legal appeals have been filed by grassroots environmental organizations from across the state.

The day after the arrests were made, Avram Friedman, executive director of the Canary Coalition, issued a statement supporting the activists. “Eight courageous, young non-violent protesters were brutally arrested at the construction site of Duke Energy’s planned new Cliffside coal-burning power plant in Rutherford County yesterday,” he wrote. “Two of these people of conscience were tasered for no apparent reason by police. The police, whose salaries are paid for by taxpayers, not by Duke Energy, arrested the wrong people. The protesters chained themselves to bulldozers to prevent a crime.”

In a letter sent March 25, NASA climate expert James Hansen urged Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers to abandon the project. “It would be a tragic mistake for Duke to proceed with plans for new coal-fired power plants in Cliffside, North Carolina and Edwardsport, Indiana,” Hansen wrote. The new coal-fired generator would emit some 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Duke Energy spokeswoman Marilyn Lineberger painted a much different picture of the controversial project. “The Cliffside permit is a legal permit, and the project is a good project for North Carolina and the environment as it continues forward,” she told Xpress. As for this morning’s protest, she noted, “Clearly, people were trespassing and causing some illegal activity on Duke property, so the local law enforcement was handling that, and we appreciate their support in that situation. At Duke Energy we have zero tolerance for illegal activities.”

“The activity this morning had no impact on construction or plant operations,” she added. Conner, the sheriff, echoed her statement, and said, “Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office will do whatever is necessary to protect that plant, along with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.”

Veazey, who was not arrested, said the protest was organized by Rising Tide, a network of grassroots organizations dedicated to “fighting the root causes of climate change.” According to a press release sent out shortly after the event, this was one of more than 100 protests worldwide that were planned for today, which Rising Tide has dubbed “Fossil Fools Day.”

When asked what the central message of the protest was, Veazey responded, “No more fossil fuels, and no more fossil fools – like Jim Rogers of Duke Energy, who likes to say good stuff like energy efficiency is good and we need a carbon tax. But he can’t really mean that if he’s going to build a coal plant at the same time.”

The message seemed to have gotten across to Sheriff Conner. When asked if he knew what the protestors’ objective was, he replied, “The only thing that we can determine is, their objective was ‘no coal.’ No coal, and ‘earth first.’ That’s basically what we noticed on some of the units that they were using to hold onto around the equipment. They said, ‘no coal’ and ‘earth first.’”

--by Rebecca Bowe, contributing editor, Mountain Xpress.

Video of the bust:

Tell Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers to cancel Cliffside!