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The plot thickens, as Michael Flynn’s shady nuclear deals are exposed.

Michael Flynn’s involvement in a plan to build nuclear reactors in the Middle East is looking even shadier https://www.vox.com/2017/12/6/16743476/michael-flynn-russia-sanctions

According to a whistleblower, a Flynn business associate bragged that Flynn would end sanctions on Russia to clear the way for this project.

By Andrew Prokopandrew@vox.com  On President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, a former business parter of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn allegedly bragged that Flynn told him Trump would quickly lift US sanctions on Russia — a move that would pave the way for a controversial plan to build nuclear plants across the Middle East, with Russian help.

That’s the explosive, but unverified, allegation of a whistleblower cooperating with House Democrats probing the myriad scandals surrounding Flynn, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a senior Russian diplomat.

The allegation has been made public by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee — who is demanding that his Republican counterpart on the committee investigate Flynn and others involved in the matter more aggressively.

The project in question — promoted by a group of former senior US military officers, and often described as a “Marshall Plan” of sorts — would involve US companies working with Russian companies to build and operate nuclear plants in the Middle East, and export spent fuel from those plants.

In June 2015, Flynn flew to Egypt and Israel to “gauge attitudes” on the proposal, Newsweek’s Jeff Stein has reported. And one of the companies involved in the project covered his travel expenses and wrote him a check for $25,000 for the trip, though it’s not clear if Flynn cashed the check.

But reports over the last few months have suggested that Flynn continued to promote the project after the election, and even after he had been sworn in as national security adviser.

One businessman involved in the project — Alex Copson of ACU Strategic Partners — even dubbed it the “Trump/Putin M.E. [Middle East] Marshall Plan,” according to an email obtained by Reuters.

Now, new allegations are coming from a whistleblower who says he met Copson at a Washington, DC, event on Inauguration Day — and that Copson had some very interesting things to say about the project.

Michael Flynn’s business partner allegedly said this project was a pretext for expanding the US military presence in the Middle East

According to the whistleblower, Copson flat-out said the following things:

  • That he “just got” a text message from Flynn saying the nuclear plant project was “good to go,” and that his business colleagues should “put things in place”
  • That Flynn was making sure sanctions on Russia would be “ripped up,” which would let the project go forward
  • That this was the “best day” of his life, and that the project would “make a lot of very wealthy people”
  • That the project would also provide a pretext for expanding a US military presence in the Middle East (the pretext of defending the nuclear plants)
  • That citizens of Middle Eastern countries would be better off “when we recolonize the Middle East”

The whistleblower said that Copson quickly displayed what he claimed to be a text message from Flynn that appeared to have been sent during Trump’s inauguration speech. But the whistleblower says he or she could not read the actual message. Still, he or she claims to have been disturbed enough by the interaction to have documented it at the time.

Perhaps most intriguingly of all, Cummings writes that he told Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team about all this some time ago — and that they asked him to delay publicly revealing this information “until they completed certain investigation steps.”

Cummings added: “They have now informed us that they have done so.”

October 5, 2021 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | 1 Comment

Michael Flynn, Trump’s first National Security Advisor hid $200k in payments for Middle East nuclear power plan before joining White House 

Michael Flynn hid $200k in payments for Middle East nuclear power plan before joining White House   https://www.salon.com/2021/10/04/michael-flynn-hid-200k-in-payments-for-middle-east-nuclear-power-plan-before-joining_partner/

Trump’s first National Security Advisor did not disclose fees from consulting work in the Middle East

By TRAVIS GETTYS OCTOBER 4, 2021  MICHAEL FLYNN RECEIVED $200,000 IN UNDISCLOSED PAYMENTS FOR CONSULTING WORK IN THE MIDDLE EAST BEFORE JOINING DONALD TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION.

The retired U.S. Army general was paid for his work in 2014 and 2015 on a plan to build 40 nuclear power plants in the Middle East,

Flynn briefly served as Trump’s first national security adviser before he resigned in disgrace for lying to FBI agents about his communications with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and his undisclosed work for the Turkish government.

Robert Mueller’s prosecutors filed charges against Flynn, who pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI, but Trump pardoned him in November.

The newly revealed payments to Flynn came from a U.S. firm connected to the project, ACU Strategic Partners, although his relationship to the project had been reported in 2017. ACU Strategic Partners, although his relationship to the project had been reported in 2017.

Two U.S. House committees investigated Flynn’s involvement in the project, which he had not disclosed before joining the White House, after Newsweek reported he had been repaid between $10,000-$15,000 for travel expenses.

An audit of a Dutch company that specializes in transport revealed the $200,000 payment to Flynn.

October 5, 2021 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Advocate for a safer world challenges Midland to not give up and to act now

Midland event focuses on impact of nuclear weapons in our world

Advocate for a safer world challenges Midland to not give up and to act now

Kathy McCreedy, Nonviolent Peaceforce Midland ChapterOct. 4, 2021

Asha Asokan, Rotarian, Nonviolent Peaceforce member, and director of NuclearBan.US, recently came to Midland to both educate and challenge attendees to think about the presence and impact of nuclear weapons in our world. The presentation was sponsored by Midland Rotary and Nonviolent Peaceforce Midland Chapter (NPMC).

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. They are focused on mobilizing civil society around the world to support the objective of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons. The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was presented to ICAN to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and ICAN’s ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons………

At that 2017 ceremony, a survivor of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima 75 years ago, Setsuko Thurlow, spoke these words:

To every president and prime minister of every nation of the world, I beseech you: Join this treaty; forever eradicate the threat of nuclear annihilation. When I was a 13-year-old girl, trapped in the smoldering rubble, I kept pushing. I kept moving toward the light. And I survived. Our light now is the ban treaty. To all in this hall and all listening around the world, I repeat those words that I heard called to me in the ruins of Hiroshima: “Don’t give up! Keep pushing! See the light? Crawl towards it.

Asha Asokan, an advocate for a safer world, brought to Midland a similar challenge, “Don’t give up. Act now!” Her challenges to the engaged audience included:

1. Reach out to your elected U.S. representative to have him or her sign the ICAN Pledge, which can be signed by an individual legislator. Also, state and city legislators or other leaders can be approached to sign the ICAN Pledge.

2. Ask your representative to sign on to US House Bill 2850 — Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act of 2021 (which is also known as the Norton Bill). Only 11 members in the House have signed on to the Bill at this time. (U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, has not.)

3. Become knowledgeable about U.S. and other countries’ positions on nuclear weapons. Resources include www.icanw.org/how_is_your_country_doing and www.icanw.org/united_states.

October 5, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

CNMI House slams Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into Pacific


CNMI House slams Japan’s plan to dump nuclear waste into Pacific, https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/452916/cnmi-house-slams-japan-s-plan-to-dump-nuclear-waste-into-pacificThe CNMI House of Representatives has a introduced a joint resolution that condemns Japan’s plan to dump treated nuclear waste from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Introduced by Representaive Sheila Babauta, the joint resolution opposes any other government’s actions related to nuclear testing, storage, and waste disposal in the Pacific and reaffirm everyone’s fundamental right to a safe and healthy living environment.

The resolution states that the Pacific Ocean is a resource and home for many in the Commonwealth, broader Oceania, and many in Japan who rely on it to provide food, economic subsistence, a means of travel, and so many other aspects of life that can be easily threatened by human activities such as pollution and nuclear exercises.

Japan announced in April a plan to start dumping in two years into the Pacific more than a million tons of treated but still radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was destroyed in the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Babauta, who chairs the House’s Natural Resources Committee, said the people of Oceania have throughout history been disproportionately impacted by foreign powers’ nuclear activities within the Pacific region.

In 1979, Japan also proposed a plan to dump about 10,000 drums of nuclear waste in the Pacific.

Babauta said UN Special Rapporteurs released a statement expressing deep disappointment in Japan’s latest decision, saying “the release of one million tons of contaminated water into the marine environment imposes considerable risks to the full enjoyment of human rights of concerned populations in and beyond the borders of Japan.”

October 5, 2021 Posted by | OCEANIA, oceans | Leave a comment

Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.

Climate scientist Professor Katharine Hayhoe gives on average 100 talks to
people around the world every year, according to her own calculations. At
the end of her (mostly virtual) engagements, she is always asked the same
question: what gives you hope? “I could be speaking to students at
Cambridge or a senior citizens home, it’s always right there at the top
of people’s minds,” she tells The Independent. “We’re desperate for
hope. If you go to any mainstream media outlet, the headlines are
depressing, scary, anxious, infuriating and enraging. 

Humans can’t keep
that up long term.” In the face of news about stronger hurricanes,
melting ice sheets and thawing permafrost, the Canadian-born scientist has
“made a practice of hope”. S

She searches and shares stories about
floating solar farms in China and river-fired power in remote Arctic
villages. She spends time talking at rallies and events calling for greater
action on the climate crisis. 

 Hope runs as a central theme throughout her
new book: Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a
Divided World. The book explores the politicisation of the climate crisis
from the US to the UK, increasing levels of climate anxiety among ordinary
people and what she views to be the solution finding hope and starting
conversations.

 Independent 3rd Oct 2021

 https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-scientist-hope-katharine-hayhoe-b1928983.html

October 5, 2021 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Boris Johnson promoting nuclear power as clean, green, renewable.

Boris Johnson will this week announce that all of Britain’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2035 as he seeks to reduce the country’s dependence on gas and other fossil fuels, The Times has been
told. The prime minister will use his conference speech to commit his party to plans to hugely increase investment in renewable and nuclear energy as Britain faces a crisis caused by a surge in the cost of gas.

He is expected to argue that taking all electricity from green sources would be a significant step towards the government’s ambition to hit net zero emissions by 2050, and reduce exposure to fluctuations in gas prices. Thenew target will require significant growth not only in offshore wind generation but also in nuclear capacity to provide a “baseload” of electricity to cope with variable supply and demand. It will mean a minimum quadrupling of offshore wind from the present level over the coming decade.


Johnson is also expected to commit to the construction of at least two large-scale nuclear power plants. Britain’s seven existing nuclear plants provide about 17 per cent of the country’s electricity needs but this
will fall by almost half by 2024. Further plants are due to close between then and 2030. So far only one nuclear power station, at Hinkley Point in Somerset, is under construction. However, ministers are looking to give the go-ahead for up to two more plants, with a funding announcement for at least one being expected in this month’s comprehensive spending review,the conclusions of which are due to be given in the autumn budget on October 27.

 Times 4th Oct 2021

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/all-britains-electricity-to-be-green-by-2035-ns76tl7vm

October 5, 2021 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

October 4 Energy News — geoharvey

Opinion:  ¶ “How Many Solar Panels Could Power The World?” • The YouTube channel “Corridor Crew” has shared an awesome video demonstrating just how many solar panels it would take to power the world. “How many solar panels could power the world? 23 billion solar panels. That is how many we will need.” [CleanTechnica] Solar […]

October 4 Energy News — geoharvey

October 5, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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