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International Atomic Energy Agency says radioactivity released into atmosphere from Japan
Nuke plant blasts raise radiation threat
(AFP)
The Japanese government says radiation levels near a quake-stricken nuclear power plant are now harmful to human health, after a further two explosions and a fires at the facility.
“There is no doubt that unlike in the past, the figures are the level at which human health can be affected,” said chief government spokesman Yukio Edano.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it has been informed by Japanese authorities the spent-fuel storage pond at the No. 4 reactor is on fire and radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere.
It is unclear whether this is a new fire, or a report of the fire which started earlier today but was Read more…
Japan catastrophe could make U.S. debt costlier
The U.S. Treasury market could feel financial aftershocks from Japan’s tragic U.S. Treasury. Offloading some of the Asian giant’s $1 trillion of foreign reserves could raise cash to help rebuild after Friday’s disaster. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is due to end its Treasury bond-buying program in June. If Japan, the second-biggest foreign holder, starts selling that’s another support gone — with the potential to make borrowing more expensive for the U.S. government.
It’s too early to estimate the cost the Japanese government and private sectors will have to shoulder for reconstruction efforts. But bond investors can’t any longer take for granted that Japan will leave its ample reserves intact as it has, broadly speaking, for the past several years. For the government, cashing in could be more palatable than yet more borrowing. Japan’s debt already amounted to more than 200 percent of Read more…
Japan’s nightmare gets even WORSE: All THREE damaged nuclear reactors now in ‘meltdown’ at tsunami-hit power station
The Japanese nuclear reactor hit by the tsunami went into ‘meltdown’ today, as officials admitted that fuel rods appear to be melting inside three damaged reactors.
There is a risk that molten nuclear fuel can melt through the reactor’s safety barriers and cause a serious radiation leak.
There have already been explosions inside two over-heating reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, and the fuel rods inside a third were partially exposed as engineers desperately fight to keep them cool after the tsunami knocked out systems.
‘Meltdown’: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant moments after Read more…New York City Police to Conduct ‘Dirty Bomb’ Training Exercise in April
The New York City Police Department and a dozen regional partners will conduct a full-scale exercise early next month to test their ability to detect and intercept radioactive materials that could be used in a terrorist attack.
The exercise will be held from April 5 to April 9 and will involve 150 agencies, including law enforcement and first responders, working in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Paul Browne, a department spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement.
The exercise is part of the Securing the Cities initiative funded by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, which works to prevent terrorists from infiltrating a major city with a so- called dirty bomb or nuclear device, Browne said.
“The public can expect to observe increased law enforcement activity throughout the tri-state region in the form of traffic checkpoints and grid searches,” Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in the statement. “In particular, increased activity may be observed on roadways and transit hubs leading into New York City and may result in traffic delays in off-peak hours.”
Nasdaq Is Close to Making Hostile Bid for NYSE
You are witnessing the global markets becoming consolidated into an eventual one mega world market. If you are wise as I am sure many of you are, get out of stocks and purchase gold and silver bullion. It will save you in the longrun short-run.
Nasdaq is moving closer to a hostile bid for NYSE Euronext, which could come as early as Tuesday, sources close to the matter told CNBC.
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AP
NASDAQ MarketSite Tower, Times Square, New York, NY
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Nasdaq [NDAQ 26.37 
-0.82 (-3.02%) 
] has nearly secured financing for the hostile bid [NYX 36.55 
1.28 (+3.63%) ], in an arrangement that could involve IntercontinentalExchange, also known as ICE [ICE 124.79 -1.28 (-1.02%) ], which operates a global futures exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) markets and derivatives clearing houses.
Questions remain on how financing would be structured, as well as what role ICE would play in the bid, as sources say that ICE will not use its stock in any deal. Instead, it appears ICE could commit to purchasing certain NYSE assets upon the closing of any deal.
Any Nasdaq bid would face significant obstacles, including the likelihood of strong antitrust scrutiny, as nearly every U.S.-listed stock sits on either the NYSE or Nasdaq exchanges.
Last month, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced they would merge to create the world’s largest exchange operator in a Read more…
Nuclear Disaster ‘Will Have Political Impact as Great as 9/11’
A combination photo showing an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Monday.
The nuclear accident at Japan’s Fukushima plant following Friday’s earthquake and tsunami has led to anxious questions in Germany about the safety of its own nuclear reactors and is putting the government under intense pressure to rethink its decision to extend plant lifetimes by an average of 12 years.
German media commentators across the political spectrum are saying the accident in a highly developed nation such as Japan is further evidence that nuclear power isn’t safe. One Read more…
Between Sudan and Libya, Critics See U.S. Inconsistency
Why the rush to use force against Qaddafi when Sudan has suffered more?
Actor George Clooney helped conceive a project along with John Prendergast of the Enough Project that helps track violence in Sudan.
He went on to acknowledge that in a world full of Read more…
The Rule of Gold after the Financial Collapse
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“You can own silver and gold but never any fiat currency issued by someone else”
Peter Cajander
 In a secular world, the operative “Golden Rule” is “He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules”. The condition of the global financial banking system is untenable. The aggregate amount of debt worldwide is anyone’s guess. The introduction of derivatives and counter claims pushes the chain of obligations into the unknown. All that is left is for central banks to create mountains of uninterrupted counterfeit money to roll over and delay the inevitable. The IMF chart of World Currency Reserve is a skyrocket line to oblivion. It does not reflect a healthy stockpile of treasure, but certainly manifests a new debt machine running to infinity. The Bullion Vault explains this reality in the following manner.
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2011 has already exceeded 2010 Earthquake Energy Release by 20%
This is NOT doom-mongering. This is purely observation of the facts. In a year with a very large earthquake this is bound to happen, It happened in 2004 and in 2010, and now in 2011. What will be interesting is to see if the remainder of the year is proportionately quieter, or if we go into a quiet period for a year or two. This was definitely the case in 2005 and 2006. The actual percentage so far @ March 13th is 19.765%
Bearing in mind that the Indonesia big quake was Dec 2004, and then it went very quiet, the rest of this year MAY not see more large quakes.
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