Collaboration Zones – Page 1211 – Public Intelligence Blog

2011/08/14

Chuck Spinney: What Caused the Fukushima Meltdowns?

05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, IO Impotency, Law Enforcement, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

The Tsunami or the Earthquake Preceding the Tsunami?????

Below is another pathbreaking report in Counterpunch on the Fukushima question. Fukushima may be off the front pages, but the catastrophe is still generating serious questions with profound ramifications. In a few days, I will forward another blaster will showing how the some of these ramifications this catastrophe reaching into the good ole USA. In the meantime, I urge you to read this report.

Chuck Spinney
Nice, France

The Fukushima Daiichi Reactors Were in Meltdown After the Earthquake, But Before the Tsnumami Hit

TEPCO's Darkest Secret

By DAVID McNEILL and JAKE ADELSTEIN

It is one of the mysteries of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis: How much damage did the March 11 earthquake do to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors before the tsunami hit? The stakes are high: If the quake structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every other similar reactor in Japan will have to be reviewed and possibly shut down. With virtually all of Japan’s 54 reactors either offline (35) or scheduled for shutdown by next April, the issue of structural safety looms over the decision to restart every one in the months and years after.

. . . . . .

Problems with the fractured, deteriorating, poorly repaired pipes and the cooling system had been pointed out for years. In 2002, whistleblower allegations that TEPCO had deliberately falsified safety records came to light and the company was forced to shut down all of its reactors and inspect them, including the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. Sugaoka Kei, a General Electric on-site inspector first notified Japan’s nuclear watchdog, Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) in June of 2000. The government of Japan took two years to address the problem, then colluded in covering it up — and gave the name of the whistleblower to TEPCO.

Read full report….

Nuclear/Climate Change: CLOSED 17 May 2011

2011/08/14

Patrick Meier: On Synchrony, Technology and Revolutions – The Political Power of Synchronized Resistance

09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence

On Synchrony, Technology and Revolutions: The Political Power of Synchronized Resistance

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Patrick Meier

Synchronized action is a powerful form of resistance against repressive regimes. Even if the action itself is harmless, like walking, meditation or worship, the public synchrony of that action by a number of individuals can threaten an authoritarian state. To be sure, synchronized public action demonstrates independency which may undermine state propaganda, reverse information cascades and thus the shared perception that the regime is both in control and unchallenged.

Read full posting–includes a TED video.

2011/08/14

John Steiner: Education Needs a Digital-Age Upgrade

04 Education, Academia, Advanced Cyber/IO, Cultural Intelligence, Worth A Look

Education Needs a Digital-Age Upgrade

By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

The New York Times, August 7, 2011

The contemporary American classroom, with its grades and deference to the clock, is an inheritance from the late 19^th century.

In her galvanic new book, Now You See It, Ms. Davidson asks, and ingeniously answers, that question. One of the nation’s great digital minds, she has written an immensely enjoyable omni-manifesto that’s officially about the brain science of attention. But the book also challenges nearly every assumption about American education.

. . . . . .

Simply put, we can’t keep preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. We can’t keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they’re developing on their own. And above all, we must stop disparaging digital prowess just because some of us over 40 don’t happen to possess it. An institutional grudge match with the young can sabotage an entire culture.

Dolphin: Connecting to Earth Point by Point

Advanced Cyber/IO, Earth Intelligence, Geospatial

iPhone App From SimpleGeo Discovers the History, Politics & Wildlife Around You

Geolocation data platform SimpleGeo released its own iOS app this morning to the app store (iTunes link). It clearly points to a future where all the data that's available online about the real-world locations we find ourselves will be available in our hands with the click of a button.

Right now, the app lets you quickly view the boundaries of geographic areas you're in (neighborhood, postal code, congressional district) and it lets you view other layers on top of your map like Wikipedia entries, Flickr photos and Project Noah wildlife sightings. Users with a SimpleGeo Storage account can log-in on the app and then view their own data layers placed on top of the map. That's pretty awesome. Now if only we could share and view each others' layers easily!

Marcus Aurelius: Al Qaeda Ricin, USG, Israel, Nuts

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, 11 Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Intelligence (government), IO Deeds of War, Law Enforcement, Military

Marcus-Aurelius-150x150 — Marcus Aurelius

From the underpants bomber to exploding print cartridges to ricin bombs…

Qaeda Trying to Harness Toxin for Bombs, U.S. Officials Fear

By ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER

The New York Times, August 12, 2011

WASHINGTON — American counterterrorism officials are increasingly concerned that the most dangerous regional arm of Al Qaeda is trying to produce the lethal poison ricin, to be packed around small explosives for attacks against the United States.

. . . . . .

But senior American officials say they are tracking the possibility of a threat very closely, given the Yemeni affiliate’s proven ability to devise plots, including some thwarted only at the last minute: a bomb sewn into the underwear of a Nigerian man aboard a commercial jetliner to Detroit in December 2009, and printer cartridges packed with powerful explosives in cargo bound for Chicago 10 months later.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: The insular insanity of the US Government continues. We note with interest that the NYT does not qualify either of the two preceeding plots, both of which are very likely to have been Israeli false flag operations to keep the “terror” myth alive, neither of which was properly investigated. We are right back in the 1970's, and repeat below what Daniel Elsberg said then to Henry Kissinger:

The danger is, you’ll become like a moron. You’ll become incapable of learning from most people in the world, no matter how much experience they have in their particular areas that may be much greater than yours” [because of your blind faith in the value of your narrow and often incorrect secret information].

2011/08/12

John Robb: Can Middle Class Be Saved? Too Late.

03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence

Great article. Starts with Citigroup's Plutonomy report (the report has been ruthlessly removed from the Web by Citi's lawyers) — wherein they show that, in the US, the middle class doesn't really exist. In reality, there are only two groups, a small percentage of rich households (that drive all consumption and investment) and the rest (that live hand to mouth). The last time this happened (in the 1920s) a global depression was the inevitable result

Can the Middle Class Be Saved?

The Great Recession has accelerated the hollowing-out of the American middle class. And it has illuminated the widening divide between most of America and the super-rich. Both developments herald grave consequences. Here is how we can bridge the gap between us.

By Don Peck

The Atlantic, September 2011

Read article….

2011/08/12

Michael Ostrolenk: The Transparitan Policy Imperative

11 Society, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Movies, YouTube

YouTube 1 Hour 14 Minutes

Michael Ostrolenk: The Transpartisan Imperative in Public Policy. Recorded July 29, 2011 as part of The Rutherford Institute's Summer Speaker Series.

Michael was Co-Director for Reuniting America 2006-2007, then President of Reuniting America in 2007-2008. He is now the Executive Director of the Transpartisan Center in Washington DC.