Japan Preparing for Evacuation of Tens of Thousands in South Korea
September 4th, 2017Via: Japan Times:
As tensions on the Korean Peninsula reach new heights with Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test, Japan is planning for a possible mass evacuation of the nearly 60,000 Japanese citizens currently living in or visiting South Korea.
“There is a possibility of further provocations,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a Monday meeting with ruling coalition lawmakers. “We need to remain extremely vigilant and do everything we can to ensure the safety of our people.”
In response to North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, Japan and the U.S. seek to ratchet up economic pressure on the rogue state through an oil embargo and other measures. But U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Sunday also said any threat to the U.S. or its allies “will be met with a massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.”
Toxic Waste Sites Flooded in Houston Area
September 3rd, 2017Via: physorg:
Long a center of the nation’s petrochemical industry, the Houston metro area has more than a dozen Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being among America’s most intensely contaminated places. Many are now flooded, with the risk that waters were stirring dangerous sediment.
NORTH KOREA TESTS NUCLEAR WEAPON
September 3rd, 2017Via: Reuters:
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, which it said was a successful detonation of an advanced hydrogen bomb, in a dramatic escalation of the isolated state’s stand-off with the United States and its allies.
The announcement from Pyongyang came a few hours after international seismic agencies detected a manmade earthquake near the North’s test site, which Japanese and South Korean officials said was around 10 times more powerful than the tremor picked up after its last test a year ago.
There was no independent confirmation that the detonation was a hydrogen bomb rather than an atomic device.
Utah: Nurse Arrested for Refusing to Take Blood from Unconscious Patient for Police
September 2nd, 2017Via: BBC:
A US police officer who forcibly arrested a nurse for refusing to take a blood sample from an unconscious patient has been placed on administrative leave.
An investigation is under way after footage of the incident at a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, emerged.
It shows nurse Alex Wubbels screaming for help as she is manhandled outside and handcuffed.
The hospital said she had correctly followed its policy.
Blood can only be handed over without a patient’s consent if they are under arrest or the police have a warrant – neither of which was the case in this incident, the University of Utah Hospital said.
Salt Lake City Police Department said both the officer involved and another police department employee had been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
Won’t You Be My Neighbour?
August 31st, 2017Hello, Neighbour!
Are you interested in a relatively cheap getaway shack for when the living hell of Auckland gets to be too much to handle? Maybe a bugout location… Our friends are selling their property. The entire thing can flood during winter storms, but you can park in our driveway during floods if you want. Check it out. Spread the word.
MOTIVA: FLOODING SHUTS LARGEST U.S. REFINERY
August 31st, 2017Via: CNBC:
The largest U.S. refinery was shutting down completely on Wednesday morning as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey flooded the 603,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, plant, owner Motiva Enterprises said in a statement.
“At 5 a.m. (CDT (1000 GMT) on Wednesday, Motiva began a controlled shutdown of the Port Arthur refinery in response to increasing local flood conditions,” the company said.
‘The Story of Replika, the AI App that Becomes You’
August 30th, 2017Oh sure, share your most personal information with this Magic 8 Ball.
In other news: On Internet Privacy, Be Very Afraid.
Via: Quartz:
Research Credit: GB
Pentagon Says Up to 30,000 National Guard Troops Prepared to Assist in Response to Harvey
August 29th, 2017Via: Los Angeles Times:
Pentagon officials said Tuesday that National Guard assets are at full readiness to assist in the unfolding disaster in Texas wrought by Tropical Storm Harvey.
Maj. Gen. James C. Witham, director of domestic operations for the National Guard, told Pentagon reporters that up to 30,000 guardsmen as well as a U.S. naval amphibious assault ship could be called upon to help out in rescue efforts on the ground.
There are 30 National Guard helicopters flying in Texas in support of relief efforts surrounding the hurricane and subsequent tropical storm, with 24 more requested, he said.
Witham said that could increase to 100 helicopters in the days ahead as the Guard prepares for a sustained, phased response — a departure from what the Guard has done in the past.
“This will be a long-term effort,” Witham said. “When the Guard responds to hurricane-type events, normally we talk about that first 72 to 96 hours for the lifesaving and life-sustainment that takes place. Then, we’re into the recovery effort.
“Due to the nature of this storm as it spun across southwest Texas for days and dumped historic levels of rainfall, our response has been very different than what we’ve looked at before,” he said. “And the planning associated had to be different because of the nature of it.”
Afghanistan: America’s Trillion Dollar War
August 29th, 2017Via: ZeroHedge:
16 years since the Bush administration launched its military intervention in Afghanistan, President Trump has announced his intention to increase the U.S. military presence in the country. As Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes, there are approximately 8,400 U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan and reinforcements could start arriving within days. Trump’s new strategy is set to extend the longest war in U.S. history and add even further to its already staggering cost.
Website “The Balance” has been keeping track of Afghanistan’s economic impact and the conflict has now cost the U.S. at least $1.07 trillion since 2001.
Trump Expected to Lift Ban on Military Gear to Local Police Forces
August 27th, 2017Via: USA Today:
The Trump administration is preparing to lift a controversial ban on the transfer of some surplus military equipment to police departments whose battlefield-style response to rioting in a St. Louis suburb three years ago prompted a halt to the program.
The new plan, outlined in documents obtained by USA TODAY, would roll back an Obama administration executive order that blocked armored vehicles, large-caliber weapons, ammunition and other heavy equipment from being re-purposed from foreign battlefields to America’s streets.
On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to address the annual meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest police union, and he may outline the program changes there.
Administration officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The administration’s action would restore “the full scope of a longstanding program for recycling surplus, lifesaving gear from the Department of Defense, along with restoring the full scope of grants used to purchase this type of equipment from other sources,” according to a administration summary of the new program recently circulated to some law enforcement groups.
“Assets that would otherwise be scrapped can be re-purposed to help state, local and tribal law enforcement better protect public safety and reduce crime.”
