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Julian Assange and US government’s campaign to intimidate human rights activists

Assange’s mother stated, “The US government feels that it can seek to try my son for espionage, and possibly executing him simply for doing the job of a good investigative journalist, which is telling the truth about power.”

Assange’s mother justifiably fears U.S. would torture, maybe kill him  http://www.examiner.com/article/assange-s-mother-justifiably-fears-u-s-would-torture-maybe-kill-him?CID=examiner_alerts_article, AUGUST 3, 2012 BY: DEBORAH DUPRE

The mother of WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange is seeking refuge in the small safe haven nation, Ecuador, due the Assanges’ fear of United States persecution, a justified concern, according to The Guardian on Thursday. The American government, that claims world leadership in press freedom and democracy, is using Assange as an example of what will happen to other journalists and human rights defenders who expose high-level government corruption, The Guardian reports.

Assange’s and his mother’s concerns of U.S. persecution are justified on two counts, according to The Guardian:

“A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, empanelled to investigate violations of the Espionage Act – a statute that by its very nature targets speech – has subpoenaed Twitter feeds regarding Assange and WikiLeaks. An FBI agent, testifying at whistleblower Bradley Manning’s trial, said that “founders, owners and managers” of WikiLeaks are being investigated.

“And then there is Assange’s 42,135-page FBI file – a compilation of curious heft if the government is “not interested” in investigating its subject.”

In considering whether Assangs’s concerns about being treated inhumanely if extradited to the US,The Guardian reports, “One need only consider how the US treated Bradley Manning, the army private who allegedly leaked the cables to WikiLeaks to see why.” Manning spent nearly a year in 23 hours a day solitary confinement and then eight months “under conditions designed to pressure him into providing evidence to incriminate Assange”: stripped of clothing and made to stand nude for inspection.

Thousands of people, including legal scholars and the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, have condemned the U.S. treatment of Manning as inhumane and torturous.

“There is no reason for Assange to expect he will be treated any better.” Continue reading →

August 4, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

The secret, corrupt, and unaccountable face of India’s nuclear establishment

On account of the reluctance of the national media, print and electronic, to take up investigative journalism in the nuclear field , the Indian public has been deprived of a fair and full opportunity to know the true face of the Indian nuclear establishment.

Who Benefits From Nuclear Power Plants In India? By   Buddhi Kota Subbarao. Ph.D. 02 August, 2012 Countercurrents.org The rest of the world is moving towards renewable energy and away from nuclear power. But India is pouring most of its energy budget into
establishing more and more nuclear power plants. It raises two compelling questions. Why is the present Union Government of India committing an enormous portion of its energy budget to imported nuclear power plants? Who benefits from these nuclear power plants?

The answers to these questions are not difficult to find. The secrecy that surrounds nuclear issues affords the Union Government to deal with vast sums of money in an easy way. Corrupt practices in the nuclear field do not get exposed as easily as in other fields. Big
money and political ambitions go hand in hand. This is one part of the answer. The other part is the way the Indian nuclear establishment functions.

Indian nuclear establishment has some unique features. Pursuit is more for administrative power and less for knowledge in science and technology. Consequently, pretence to knowledge grew over the years. Accountability is conspicuous by its absence. Mediocre results and at
times even nil results are proclaimed as outstanding achievements. The cleverness of the Indian nuclear establishment is from the way it can claim indigenous development and at the same time devise methods to import foreign technology. Continue reading →

August 3, 2012 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Fukushima workers made to cover radiation dosimeters with lead plates

Criminal? Fukushima Daiichi workers told to rip open radiation protection suits and insert lead plates — “Make sure nobody sees what you are doing” — Threatened with being fired ENE News July 21st, 2012    Follow up to: Fukushima Daiichi workers ordered to cover dosimeters with lead plates (PHOTO)

(Subscription Only) Title: TEPCO subcontractor used lead to fake dosimeter readings at Fukushima plant Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Authors: Jun Sato, Chiaki Fujimori, Miki Aoki, Tamiyuki Kihara and Takayuki Kihara Date: July 21, 2012

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were ordered to cover their dosimeters with lead plates to keep radiation doses low enough to continue working under dangerous conditions, the Asahi Shimbun has learned….. Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Further cheating by TEPCO on Fukushima radiation monitoring

Tokyo Paper: Thick iron shielding placed below radiation monitoring post — Dose was double 5 meters away http://enenews.com/tokyo-paper-thick-iron-shielding-below-radiation-monitoring-post-journalist-dose-doubled-5-meters-away  August 1st, 2012    By ENENews 

Follow-up to: Japan TV: Monitoring posts show far lower radiation dose — Levels shoot up just steps away

Tokyo Shinbun article from March 2012 with summary translation on July 31, 2012 by Safecast member ‘the_STIG’ who lives in Japan:

Journalist Shoji Ozawa reported that surface soil had been replaced and that a thick iron shielding had been placed below a monitoring post in Iitate that measured 1.2uSv. He measured 2.4uSv when he walked 5m away from the post. The Ministry of Education currently publishes less than 1uSv for Iitate. Professor Imanaka of Kyoto University said that the current monitoring posts are not usable at all.

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation levels – Tepco cheats on monitoring

Japan TV: Monitoring posts show far lower radiation dose — Levels shoot up just steps away http://enenews.com/japan-tv-monitoring-posts-show-far-lower-radioactivity-levels-shoot-up-just-steps-away-tokyo-professor  August 1st, 2012  By ENENews Fukushima
Title: TEPCO cheating on radiation levels by using “improved” monitoring postsSource: Safecast  Author: the_STIG (Permanent foreign resident of Japan for over 30 years)Date: July 31, 2012 Link (Japanese Only): http://blog.fujitv.co.jp/tokudane/E20120716005.html

On July 17, 2012, the Japanese TV morning news show “Tokudane” reported that 31 out of 38 monitoring posts in 6 cities in Fukushima showed far lower radiation levels than the general actual levels for the areas where the monitoring posts are in. They measured the radiation levels with Professor Kato of Tokyo Metropolitan University. When they use a survey meter and walk a few steps away from the monitoring posts, the radiation levels shoot sharply up. One post measured 0.24uSv while a measurement showed 0.41uSv only one meter away. A monitoring post in South Iitate indicated 4.51uSv, but a survey meter read 9.5uSv. Professor Kato says that such monitoring posts have been set up on decontaminated spots. Citizens have been skeptical of their measurements for a long time.

TEPCO made a document for public release on April 20, 2012 explaining that they have “improved” the area surrounding monitoring posts by cutting trees within 20 to 30m, replacing soil and placing shielding walls, so that readings remain below 10uSv/h. It details the case of 8 monitoring posts, and they cite an example where the radiation dose went down from 83.6uSv to 9.7uSv.

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

The major security concern about Russia’s secret nuclear cities

Closed Cities & Nuclear Entrepreneurship In Russia JULY 30, 2012 by EDWARD PERELLO  Faced with a dearth of opportunity, the aged nuclear scientist would not need much imagination, nor would he have to look far, to find a buyer interested in an exchange that would provide him with a hefty retirement package with which to live out his remaining
years….

.Russia’s ten nuclear cities contain the former Soviet Union’s principal nuclear weapons research, design and production facilities, and to the ordinary citizen, they weren’t really there. Nuclear cities were not officially recognised as existing until 1992 as they were amongst the Soviet unions many “closed cities” that were involved in certain sensitive activities. Located in remote regions around the country, closed cities were not labelled on any
publicly-available map and were isolated from the world. Continue reading →

July 31, 2012 Posted by | history, safety, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

How Julian Assange was framed

Australian TV Program Exposes Julian Assange Frame-up http://www.democraticunderground.com/101636930 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/assa-j28.shtml  “Four Corners”, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program, this week broadcast what amounted to an exposé of the frame-up of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange on allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden. Assange remains inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, seeking political asylum from the threat of being removed to Sweden, which would in turn facilitate extradition to the US.

The program provided a valuable service by simply piecing together what happened in the three crucial weeks after Assange arrived in Sweden in mid-August 2010. Assange was there to address a conference and investigate the possibility of hosting WikiLeaks’ operations in a secure computer facility. By tracing the chronology, the program also clarified the connection between the Swedish witchhunt and the Grand Jury operation underway in the United States to charge Assange with espionage for WikiLeaks’ exposures of US war crimes (see: “Sex, Lies and Julian Assange”).

The program provided substantial evidence that the allegations against him were false and politically motivated. The unproven accusations were used to blacken his name in Sweden and around the world, and counter the widespread public support that he and WikiLeaks had won for courageously exposing the crimes and machinations of the US and other powers.

Assange has still not been charged with any crime.

July 31, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 2 Comments

Fukushima casual workers got 4 times as much radiation as employees

Radiation doses 4 times larger for ‘outside workers’ at nuclear plants , Asahi Shimbun, July 26, 2012 By TOSHIHIRO OKUYAMA/ Staff Writer Nuclear plant workers not employed by the operating utilities were exposed to nearly four times the radiation doses received by utility employees, indicating that “outside workers” are often assigned the dangerous tasks, statistics showed....subscription only .
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201207260071

July 29, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Heavy metal music: ACDC strikes Iran’s nuclear facilities

Iran nuclear facilities ‘Thunderstruck’ by AC/DC malware http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/07/iranian-nuclear-facilities-thu.html Jacob Aron, technology reporter  In 2010, Iran’s nuclear facilities were infiltrated by Stuxnet, the centrifuge-wrecking malware allegedly cooked up by the US government.

Now they seem to have been hit again by a bizarre attack forcing nuclear plant workstations to pump the song Thunderstruck by heavy metal band AC/DC through the speakers at full
volume. Continue reading →

July 25, 2012 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Suspects arrested in murders of Iran’s nuclear scientists

Iran arrests suspects in 2011 killing of nuclear scientist  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/23/world/meast/iran-nuclear-scientist/  CNN Wire Staff July 23, 2012  Tehran, Iran   — Iran has arrested suspects in connection with the July 2011 killing of a nuclear scientist, semiofficial media reported, citing Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi.

Moslehi made the announcement Sunday at an event marking the first anniversary of the death of 35-year-old physicist Daryoush Rezaie. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Widespread practice of underreporting radiation exposure of Fukushima workers

AP: Fukushima radiation cover-up http://enenews.com/ap-fukushima-radiation-cover-believed-be-part-widespread-practice-plant  22 July 12,    “believed to be part of a widespread practice at the plant” Japanese authorities are investigating subcontractors on suspicion of forcing workers at the tsunami-hit nuclear plant to underreport the amount of radiation they were exposed to so they could stay on the job longer.

The investigation marks the first time the government has looked into the case, believed to be part of a widespread practice at the plant since it was hit by the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl.

Health and Labor Ministry officials […] said TEPCO had several workers share a dosimeter not just early in the crisis when the equipment was in short supply due to tsunami damage, but even after a full stock had been regained.

July 23, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Fukushima workers faked radiation doses, to keep their jobs

Without faking the exposure level, the executive told the workers they would quickly reach the legally permissible annual exposure limit of 50 millisieverts,

Japan firm ‘told workers to lie about radiation dose’ News.com.au July 21, 2012 Workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan were apparently told to lie about radiation.
A SUBCONTRACTOR at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant reportedly told workers to lie about possible high radiation exposure. Continue reading →

July 23, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Falsified radiation doses for Fukushima workers

the executive instructed about four workers to make the [lead shield] covers… 

Radiation dosages ‘falsified’ The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network Asia One News, Jul 23, 2012 The health ministry is investigating allegations that a construction company ordered its workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to cover their dosimeters with lead to indicate lower exposure levels, according to sources. Continue reading →

July 23, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Revelations of UK government’s deceit over true state of its nuclear energy programme

 “The government has been colluding with the nuclear industry to try to media manage the collapse of their hopes,”

 “In reality the cost of new nuclear power has doubled in recent years and continues to rise. Instead of trying to pull the wool over the public’s eyes, the government should accept their nuclear dream is over and back renewable energy.”

Emails reveal UK government’s moves to protect nuclear power from bad news
Government officials worked closely with E.ON and RWE to soften the impact of a major blow to plans for a new nuclear programme Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk,  19 July 2012 Government officials worked closely with two energy companies to soften the impact of a major blow to ministers’ plans for a new programme of nuclear power stations, internal emails reveal.

The revelation is further evidence of how Westminster has collaborated with the industry to try and protect nuclear power from bad news, first exposed by the Guardian in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident in Japan last year. Continue reading →

July 20, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

France used soldiers as guinea pigs for radiation effects

An excerpt published in the newspaper refers to the “Gerboise verte”, code name for the test firings of April 25, 1961. It states that the experiment “should allow for a study of the physiological and psychological effects of atomic weaponry on humans, with the goal obtaining the necessary elements to prepare physically and morally for modern combat.”

Soldiers deliberately exposed to nuclear tests, says report According to the Tuesday edition of the French daily Parisian, a confidential military report proves that soldiers were deliberately exposed to nuclear tests that France conducted in Algeria in the 1960s. By FRANCE 24 17 July 12 Continue reading →

July 18, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, France, history, Reference | Leave a comment

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