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A ray of hope for ethics, especially in Climate Change science

a prohibition against government public affairs officers asking or directing federal scientists to alter scientific findings….. and that “data and research used to support policy decisions undergo independent peer review by qualified experts.”……”This is a rough but promising blueprint for honesty and accountability in the use of science in government decisions,”

Obama administration issues guidelines designed to ensure ‘scientific integrity’ The Washington Post,  By Rob Stein and Juliet Eilperin December 17, 2010 The Obama administration Friday issued long-awaited guidelines designed to protect federal scientists from political interference – the first time the federal government has had an explicit government-wide policy of this kind.

Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

US sues BP for $billions, while protecting nuclear corporations from liability in India

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

Ethics and justice – out the door, as far as India is concerned, say the Western great powers. Nuclear corporations of  USA, France, Russia are all scrambling to flog their nuclear reactors to India.  But they want to be sure that they won’t have to pay up, if nuclear disaster happens.

The USA government is busily suing BP for the recent gulf oil spill –  for $20 billion.  Yeah, if a British-based corporation  does harm to USA interests, well, it’s only fair and ethical to make the corporation pay up.

And of course, an American company – Union Carbide, didn’t t have to pay up for the Bhopal gas disaster in India.  (After all, it was only Indian people who suffered)

India, having experienced the worst corporation-caused environmental event in history  – the Bhopal gas catastrophe, has come up with a law to indemnify nuclear corporations if their reactor is the cause of accident  –  the Nuclear Liability Law.

USA etc are out to wreck India’s nuclear Liability Law, at the same time as making BP pay up. Doesn’t the world notice these contradictions?

December 18, 2010 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Hanford nuclear wastes – shameful injustice to the Yakama tribe

Some 400 billion gallons of liquid wastes were dumped into the [Hanford] soil — enough to create a poisonous lake the size of Manhattan Island — 80 feet deep. Enormous groundwater plumes containing radioactive and other hazardous wastes are migrating into the river….…..the Federal government has a moral and legal trust responsibility to ensure that tribal treaty resources are protected and that the health of tribal people is not being harmed

Endangerment Near a Nuclear Weapons Site. THE HUFFINGTON POST , Robert Alvarez, 17 Dec 10, Yesterday President Obama held a meeting with the leaders of indigenous people in the U.S. One important issue is the fact that tribal people, because of their subsistence lifestyle, are the most vulnerable group of humans to environmental contaminants. Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | indigenous issues, USA | Leave a comment

India sticking with its Nuclear Liability Law, despite pressure from nuclear salesmen

the dealings by nuclear suppliers with India will have to be well within the legal framework envisaged in the legislation passed in Parliament….

India Rules out Change in Civil Nuclear Liability Law   India Journal  Dec 17, 2010 BRUSSELS – India on Dec. 9 firmly ruled out any change in the civil nuclear liability law notwithstanding repeated concerns expressed by countries exporting atomic equipments over compensation claim in the event of an accident. Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | Leave a comment

Like USA, Russia doesn’t want to foot any costs of nuclear accident in India

Kadakin was equally clear that the international law would take priority over any domestic law that India might have, specially when it came to international nuclear commerce…..There have been some protests against the project in West Bengal, which put the future of the project in doubt

Russia asks India to mend nuke law – The Times of India, 18 Dec 10, ………Russian envoy Alexander Kadakin was more unyielding on the liability law. Russia was expecting “explanations” from the Indian side on the nuclear liability issue, he said. Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Russia wants to defeat India’s Nuclear Liability Law

India’s nuclear liability legislation, passed in August, caps the operator’s liability atRs 1,500 crore ($331 million) and also gives it the right to seek damages from suppliers, if there is an accident.

Ahead of prez visit, Russia seeks clarity on N-liability Hindustan Times
New Delhi, December 18, 2010Ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit that begins on Monday, the Russian ambassador on Friday said the country was still awaiting an explanation on how India’s nuclear liability legislation would work. Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | politics international, Russia | Leave a comment

US Republican hawks threaten Republican senators against voting for nuclear arms reduction treaty

“fully committed” to defeating any GOP senator that votes for ratification during the lame-duck session.

Group Vows Primaries for GOP Senators Who Vote for START – Real Clear Politics – TIME.com, by Scott Conroy, 18 Dec 10, A prominent conservative political action committee is vowing to defeat any Republican senator who votes to ratify the New START nuclear arms control treaty with Russia in the lame-duck session of Congress. Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA and UN half-hearted on nuclear non proliferation

Fallout shelters making a comeback, American Thinker , Ethel C Fenig, 18 Dec 10, Whoops! Just when you’ve finally removed those cracked yellow and black 50 year old Civil Defense signs from your grandparents’ or old office building basement along comes a new report with news you hopefully will never have to use; those air raid atomic bomb fallout shelters might be useful after all.

Apparently resigned to the fact that their governmental counterparts–and the UN–have failed in their half hearted efforts to derail Iran, North Korea and who knows what other unstable American hating regime from getting nuclear weapons, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has taken us back to the 50s of coping with nuclear fallout,,,,,,,,There, you feel safer already. American Thinker Blog: Fallout shelters making a comeback

American Thinker Blog: Fallout shelters making a comeback

December 18, 2010 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA business as usual, and by the way, Duck and Cover

Here we are back in December of 2010. Iran is enriching uranium. So is North Korea. China has 10,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan, whom we must protect and defend. Now the government is presenting us with detailed advice on surviving nuclear explosions. But they remind us that we have no need for concern. It’s “Business as usual”. Rumor has it that several Senators have refused to discuss the matter until bills are added to promote online shopping for flashlights and batteries, and the elimination of soda pop for poor people — let them drink water!

The Government Wants Us to “Duck and Cover.” – Blogcritics Culture, John Lake 18 Dec 10, “Let us face without panic, the reality of our times.” So begins a widely viewed televised presentation prepared and aired to the public during the long remembered 1950s decade of concern; concern of a coming nuclear attack. (see video at Nuclear attack survivable if you stay inside, U.S. government says | Posted | National Post ) Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons for Iraq?

The Security Council’s action demonstrates how the inconsistency and hypocrisy apply not only to nuclear weapons but also to nuclear programs short of weapons……we ought not to get very relaxed about Iraq possibly developing a nuclear weapon in the future, however remote a possibility that may seem now.

An Iraqi Nuclear Weapon | The National Interest , by Paul Pillar, 16 Dec 10, At the urging of the United States, the United Nations Security Council passed on Wednesday a resolution permitting Iraq to have a civilian nuclear program. Continue reading →

December 18, 2010 Posted by | Iraq, politics international | Leave a comment