We are within weeks of what may be humankind’s most dangerous moment and it is coming just as the greatest credit bubble in history is about to pop. Images of the movie Armageddon, with Bruce Willis, have been hanging like a cloud over me. In the movie, everyone on earth was watching to see if Willis would succeed in blowing up the incoming asteroid. If he and his team failed, everyone on earth was going to die so everyone was paying attention and praying for salvation.
The most dangerous situation humanity has ever faced is upon us and no one is watching. Only a few have reported on what is about to happen starting in November. The operation, to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel beneath the plant’s damaged Reactor No. 4, could set off a catastrophe greater than any we have ever seen, independent experts warn. An operation of this scale, says plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, has never been attempted before, and is wrought with danger.
The New York Times reports, “Thousands of workers and a small fleet of cranes are preparing for one of the latest efforts to avoid a deepening environmental disaster that has China and other neighbors increasingly worried: removing spent fuel rods from the damaged No. 4 reactor building and storing them in a safer place.”
The Japan Times writes, “In November, Tepco plans to begin the delicate operation of removing spent fuel from Reactor No. 4 [with] radiation equivalent to 14,000 times the amount released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Removing its spent fuel, which contains deadly plutonium, is an urgent task. The consequences could be far more severe than any nuclear accident the world has ever seen. If a fuel rod is dropped, breaks or becomes entangled while being removed, possible worst-case scenarios include a big explosion, a meltdown in the pool, or a large nuclear fire. Any of these situations could lead to massive releases of deadly radionuclides into the atmosphere, putting much of Japan — including Tokyo and Yokohama — and even neighboring countries at serious risk.”
The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is preparing to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel from a damaged reactor building. Containing more than 1,300 used fuel rod assemblies packed tightly together they need to be removed from a the third floor of a building that is vulnerable to collapse, should another large earthquake hit the area.
Tepco expects to take about a year removing the assemblies. Each fuel rod assembly weighs about 300 kilograms (660 pounds) and is 4.5 meters (15 feet) long. Spent fuel rods also contain plutonium, one of the most toxic substances in the universe.
Former U.N. adviser Akio Matsumura calls removing the radioactive materials from the Fukushima fuel pools “an issue of human survival”. Mycle Schneider and Antony Froggatt said recently in their World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013, “Full release from the Unit-4 spent fuel pool, without any containment or control, could cause by far the most serious radiological disaster to date.” The operation, beginning this November at the plant’s Reactor No. 4, is fraught with danger, including the possibility of a large release of radiation if a fuel assembly breaks, gets stuck or gets too close to an adjacent bundle.
Removing the rods from the pool is a delicate task normally assisted by computers, according to Toshio Kimura, a former Tepco technician, who worked at Fukushima Daiichi for 11 years. “Previously it was a computer-controlled process that memorized the exact locations of the rods down to the millimeter and now they don’t have that. It has to be done manually so there is a high risk that they will drop and break one of the fuel rods,” Kimura said.
Japan’s former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata stated that if the 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground—collapses it will affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. Such a catastrophe would affect us for centuries.
Hiroshi Tasaka, who has a doctorate in nuclear engineering and is now a professor at Tama University said, “The biggest risk during the meltdown crisis wasn’t the reactors themselves but the spent fuel pools sitting atop them, particularly the one above reactor 4, which still contains about 1,500 nuclear fuel assemblies. I would say the crisis opened Pandora’s box.”
A spent fuel pool. Highly radioactive “spent fuel rods” must be kept submerged under at least 20 feet of constantly circulating cold water for at least five years after being removed from the reactor core
The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it was at the other three reactors. Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks.
Arnie Gundersen, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer and director of Fairewinds Energy Education, who used to build fuel assemblies, has a lot to say about what we all have to live through during the next year. “They are going to have difficulty in removing a significant number of the rods. There is a risk of an inadvertent criticality if the bundles are distorted and get too close to each other. The problem with a fuel pool criticality is that you cannot stop it. There are no control rods to control it.
The spent fuel pool cooling system is designed only to remove decay heat, not heat from an ongoing nuclear reaction. The rods are also vulnerable to fire should they be exposed to air. I think they’re belittling the complexity of the task. If you think of a nuclear fuel rack as a pack of cigarettes, if you pull a cigarette straight up it will come out — but these racks have been distorted. Now when they go to pull the cigarette straight out, it’s going to likely break and release radioactive cesium and other gases, xenon and krypton, into the air. I suspect come November, December, January we’re going to hear that the building’s been evacuated, they’ve broke a fuel rod, the fuel rod is off-gassing.”
“I suspect we’ll have more airborne releases as they try to pull the fuel out. If they pull too hard, they’ll snap the fuel. I think the racks have been distorted, the fuel has overheated — the pool boiled – and the net effect is that it is likely some of the fuel will be stuck in there for a long, long time. The net effect is they have the bundles of fuel, the cigarettes in these racks, and as they pull them out, they are likely to snap a few. When you snap a nuclear fuel rod, that releases radioactivity again, so my guess is, its things like krypton-85, which is a gas, cesium will also be released, strontium will be released. They’ll probably have to evacuate the building for a couple of days. They’ll take that radioactive gas and they’ll send it up the stack, up into the air, because xenon can’t be scrubbed, it can’t be cleaned, so they’ll send that radioactive xenon up into the air and purge the building of all the radioactive gases and then go back in and try again,” concluded Gundersen.
Conclusion
All the resources of humanity need to be mustered and focused on the fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4. There is doubt that even such a concerted effort would have the scientific, engineering or financial resources to handle it. It is a national security matter for the United States, being directly downwind as it is, but the American president would rather go to war with Syria and much of the rest of the world and the congress would rather stop his Obamacare even at the risk of shutting down much of the American government. This crisis comes just as the Obama Administration is trying to provide a $8.3 billion loan to build the first new nuclear plants in the U.S. in almost 30 years. What kind of ironic insanity is that?
The absence of media attention and focus reveals how much in the matrix the masses of humanity are, led by arrogant people whose stupidity knows no end. We are in the worst hands imaginable, ones who have the most difficult time imaginable admitting fault or mistake.
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Philippine typhoon death toll could reach 10,000
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from one of the strongest storms on record that ravaged the central Philippine city of Tacloban could reach 10,000 people, officials said Sunday after the extent of massive devastation became apparent and horrified survivors spoke of storm surges as high as trees and winds sounding like the roar of a jumbo jet.
Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Gov. Dominic Petilla late Saturday and told there were about 10,000 deaths in the province, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings. The governor’s figure was based on reports from village officials in areas where Typhoon Haiyan slammed Friday.
Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said that the death toll in the city alone “could go up to 10,000.” Tacloban is the Leyte provincial capital of 200,000 people and the biggest city on Leyte Island.
About 300-400 bodies have already been recovered and “still a lot under the debris,” Lim said. A mass burial was planned Sunday in Palo town near Tacloban.
The typhoon barreled through six central Philippine islands on Friday, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes with ferocious winds of 235 kilometers per hour (147 miles per hour) and gusts of 275 kph (170 mph). By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the U.S., and nearly in the top category, a 5.
Tacloban was the first city to be liberated by U.S. and Filipino forces and served as the Philippines’ temporary capital for several months. It is also the home town of former Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos, whose nephew, Alfred Romualdez, is the city’s mayor.
BACK DOOR GUN CONTROL MOVES FORWARD
There are numerous alarming reasons why the US government and the military have been buying up all the ammo. Here’s one of them. Obama and the EPA just shut down the last lead smelting plant in the US. They raised the EPA regulations by 10 fold and it would have cost the plant $100 million to comply. You can own all the guns you want, but if you can’t get ammo, you are out of luck. –
Remember when Obama promised his minions that he was working on gun control behind the scenes? Welcome to it. Now, all domestic mined lead ore will have to be shipped overseas, refined and then shipped back to the US. Not only will ammo now be even harder to come by, the demand and the process of supply will cause the price to skyrocket even more. And ponder this… there is an excellent chance that Obama will rig the market to where all ammo has to be purchased from a government entity instituting de facto ammo registration. So much for the Second Amendment. There has not been a peep about this in the major news outlets and it is done. With the US no longer producing lead, all supplies will now have to come from China, Australia or Peru, with the overwhelming emphasis on China. More redistribution of wealth; more economic and liberty crippling of the US on tap. –
See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/back-door-gun-control-moves-forward_102013#sthash.OWkgqLEr.dpuf
‘PURGE SURGE’: OBAMA FIRES ANOTHER COMMANDER
F. MICHAEL MALOOF
WASHINGTON – After multiple top generals described to WND what they regard as a full-scale “purge” of the U.S. military by the Obama administration, the commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan was summarily relieved of duty and his civilian deputy reassigned, pending a “misconduct” investigation.
Nine generals and flag officers have been relieved of duty under Obama just this year – widely viewed as an extraordinary number – and several sources put the total number of senior officers purged during the five years of the Obama administration as close to 200.
In an email to WND, John outlined what he termed “a very few of the most egregious” aspects of Obama’s “attack” on the military over the past five years.
He referred specifically to the Rules of Engagement in combat that were put in place after Obama took office, asserting that the changes resulted in very high casualty rates in Afghanistan, including the loss of 17 members of SEAL Team 6 in one incident.
“The Rules of Engagement precluded the use of suppression fire at a landing zone,” John said.
Echoing what other high-ranking officers have told WND, he said the Pentagon policy of repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” resulted in the first openly “gay” “major military force in the world.” The development has brought about “massive” sexual assaults on “thousands of straight military male personnel that have been covered up,” he said.
He also cited military chaplains’ being prohibited from reading letters in the pulpit from their cardinals during Sunday services as a restriction of freedom of religion.
These and other “social experiments,” he said, have constituted “a massive assault to restructure the military mindset, destroyed unit cohesion, unit morale and is negatively affecting combat effectiveness.”
John also referred to major cuts in the military budget that resulted in, for one example, restricting as many as seven aircraft carriers to port, “leaving them open to another Pearl Harbor-type of attack.”
Physical fitness qualifications for “tip of the spear units” such as the Rangers, SEALs, Green Berets and combat infantry are being downgraded, he said, so “women can be placed into those units.” Likewise, he added, “women have been assigned to submarines and ships resulting in relationships at sea that have broken up military families.”
Some senior enlisted personnel and commanding officers in the midst of six-month deployments, he said, have been removed because they got involved with the opposite sex, which degrades the ships’ battle readiness.
John sums up this way: “The net result of the occupant of the Oval Office’s new policies set for the U.S. armed forces changed and enforced by his civilian appointees at DOD continues to degrade the most effective military organization ever created.”
If John’s comments about Obama sound dire, they are no more so than those expressed to WND in recent days by top generals.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, recipient of the U.S. military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, as well as other top retired officers, say President Obama’s agenda is decimating the morale of the U.S. ranks to the point members no longer feel prepared to fight or have the desire to win.
“There is no doubt he [Obama] is intent on emasculating the military and will fire anyone who disagrees with him” over such issues as “homosexuals, women in foxholes, the Obama sequester,” Brady told WND.
“They are purging everyone, and if you want to keep your job, just keep your mouth shut,” another military source told WND.
Not only are military service members being demoralized and the ranks’ overall readiness being reduced by the Obama administration’s purge of key leaders, colonels – those lined up in rank to replace outgoing generals – are quietly taking their careers in other directions.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, who was a founding member of Delta Force and later deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence under President George W. Bush, says it is worrying that four-star generals are being retired at the rate that has occurred under Obama.
“Over the past three years, it is unprecedented for the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not necessarily relieved for cause,” Boykin said.
“I believe there is a purging of the military,” he said. “The problem is worse than we have ever seen.”
The future of the military is becoming more and more of concern, added Boykin, since colonels who would become generals are also being relieved of duty if they show that they’re not going to support Obama’s agenda, which critics have described as socialist.
Brady made similar references in a recent article he wrote for WND in which he said “just when you thought the leadership of this government could not get any worse, it does. Never in history has an administration spawned another scandal to cover the current one.”
The reference was to the recent firing of a number of generals to mask “Obama’s serial scandals, all prefaced by lies – Fast and Furious, Benghazi, NSA, IRS” among others.
WND reported that three of the nine firings by Obama this year alone were linked to the controversy surrounding the Sep. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the CIA special mission in Benghazi, Libya.
In one case, U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, who commanded U.S. African Command when the consulate was attacked and four Americans were killed, was highly critical of the decision by the State Department not to send in reinforcements.
NEW JERSEY MALL GUNMAN FOUND DEAD HOURS AFTER SHOOTING
A gunman who opened fire at a New Jersey mall Monday night later holed up in a back room and shot himself in the head, authorities say.
No one else was injured in the mall shooting.
Richard Shoop’s body was found at 3:20 a.m. Tuesday in an obscure part of Westfield Garden State Plaza mall, hours after he fired at least six bullets without striking anyone in the massive shopping center.
He acted alone, authorities say.
Mall shooter found dead Gunfire at New Jersey mall, shooter dead Witness: Really didn’t know what to do
“We know that his intent was either suicide or to do something that would cause police to shoot him, which we call ‘suicide by cop,'” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told CNN’s “New Day.”
“He had more than enough opportunity to be able to shoot other people,” including a group adjacent to him, but he didn’t, Molinelli said. “Instead, he shot randomly at different locations.”
Shots hit the ceiling, an escalator, an elevator and a storefront, the prosecutor said.
The reasons for the shooting remain unclear. Shoop used narcotic drugs and sold drugs as well, Molinelli said.
Warns Jewish state running out of time as Tehran goes nuclear Israel does not have much time to make a “fateful decision” about whether to strike Iran’s nuclear sites, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said Sunday in a radio interview. “Israel, I think, now faces the fateful decision whether it will allow Iran to get nuclear weapons, thus constituting a true existential threat to Israel,” he said. “Or whether they will strike as the Israelis have done twice before against nuclear programs in the hands of hostile states,” Bolton told WABC Radio’s Aaron Klein. (Click on the screen below to listen to Bolton’s comments:) “I don’t think Israel has much time,” Bolton continued. “Frankly, they should have done this years ago because we all know intelligence is imperfect and Iran may have a more developed capacity than we know about, perhaps in cooperation with North Korea.” Bolton spoke amid U.S. outreach to Iran and amid reports Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced Saturday they are committed to the slogan, “Death to America.” The former U.N. ambassador reacted to a statement by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who said Thursday the while U.S. has “implemented unprecedented sanctions and pressure on Iran, we may very well have to use military force to back up our policy.” Bolton retorted: “If there is anybody left in Israel who thinks that the U.S. will use military force against Iran’s program, they really need to seriously re-examine their basic values. It isn’t going to happen under the Obama administration. I’ll just say it again. It isn’t going to happen.” The alleged Los Angeles International Airport gunman carried a note with him today that expressed anti-government sentiments and suggested he expected to die in an airport shootout, according to law enforcement sources. The suspect has been identified by the FBI as Paul Ciancia, 23. He is believed to have homes in Los Angeles and Pennsville, N.J. The note found at the scene ended with the letters “NWO,” according to law enforcement sources, which is believed to stand for “New World Order.” Law enforcement sources also said a large number of .223 caliber rounds were found at the airport. Officers followed Ciancia to the rear of Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 3, where he was shot and taken into custody, according to Mayor Eric Garcetti. David Bowdich of the FBI said Ciancia is receiving medical attention at a hospital. The TSA confirmed the identity of the officer killed as Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39, who has been with the TSA since 2010. Suspect’s Family Feared He Was Suicidal U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over the trial, told lawyers he’ll determine the amount of any civil penalty at a later date. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pierre Armand asked the judge to impose a penalty of as much as $848 million, representing the gross losses to Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac. Armand said alternatively, Rakoff could fine Countrywide about $131 million, the estimated net losses to the two entities. Countrywide, based in Calabasas, California, was once the biggest U.S. residential home lender, originating or purchasing about $1.4 trillion in mortgages from 2005 to 2007. The bulk of them were sold to investors as mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America acquired Countrywide in 2008. Following a four-week trial, the jury of six women and four men deliberated about five hours yesterday. After the verdict, a female juror said she and her colleagues on the panel agreed with the government’s view that Countrywide’s Full Spectrum Lending unit had shunted substandard loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMCC) under the HSSL program. Videotape Deposition Boland testified he had complained to Countrywide superiors repeatedly about the loan approval process under HSSL and an earlier program. He said it was “mind blowing” to learn that two employees who he criticized “lost their authority” regarding loans because that hadn’t happened before. ‘A Human’ O’Donnell, who came to court yesterday morning after jurors began their deliberations, declined to comment after the verdict. Under whistle-blower laws, O’Donnell testified he could collect as much as $1.6 million of any monetary damages awarded to the U.S. 28,800 Loans The case, brought under the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 or FIRREA, has been used by Bharara’s office at least six times. The office has used the statute and another law to obtain almost $500 million in mortgage fraud recoveries. By Nate Raymond After a four-week trial, a federal jury in New York found the bank liable on one civil fraud charge. Countrywide originated shoddy home loans in a process called “Hustle” and sold them to government mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government said. The four men and six women on the jury also found former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone liable on the one fraud charge she faced. The U.S. Justice Department has said it would seek up to $848.2 million, the gross loss it said Fannie and Freddie suffered on the loans. But it will be up to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff to decide on the penalty. Arguments on how the judge will assess penalties are set for December 5. Any penalty would add to the more than $40 billion Bank of America has spent on disputes stemming from the 2008 financial crisis. “The jury’s decision concerned a single Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before Bank of America’s acquisition of the company,” Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said. “We will evaluate our options for appeal.” Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for Mairone, called his client a “woman of integrity, ethics and honesty,” adding they would fight on. “She never engaged in fraud, because there was no fraud,” he said. Wednesday’s verdict was a major victory for the Justice Department, which has been criticized for failing to hold banks and executives accountable for their roles in the events leading up to the financial crisis. The government continues to investigate banks for conduct related to the financial crisis. The verdict comes as the government is negotiating a $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co to resolve a number of probes and claims arising from its mortgage business, including the sale of mortgage bonds. RISKY LOANS The lawsuit stemmed from a whistleblower case originally brought by Edward O’Donnell, a former Countrywide executive who stands to earn up to $1.6 million for his role. The case centered on a program called the “High Speed Swim Lane” – also called “HSSL” or “Hustle” – that government lawyers said Countrywide started in 2007. The Justice Department contended that fraud and other defects were rampant in HSSL loans because Countrywide eliminated loan-quality checkpoints and paid employees based on loan volume and speed. The Justice Department said the process was overseen by Mairone, a former chief operating officer of Countrywide’s Full Spectrum Lending division. Mairone is now a managing director at JPMorgan. Amy Bonitatibus, a JPMorgan spokeswoman, said, “We are reviewing the decision.” About 43 percent of the loans sold to the mortgage giants were materially defective, the government said. Bank of America bought Countrywide in July 2008. Two months later, the government took over Fannie and Freddie. Bank of America and Mairone denied wrongdoing. Lawyers for the bank sought to show the jury that Countrywide had tried to ensure it was issuing quality loans and that no fraud occurred. The lawsuit was the first financial crisis-related case against a bank by the Justice Department to go to trial under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA). The law, passed in the wake of the 1980s savings-and-loan scandals, covers fraud affecting federally insured financial institutions. The Justice Department, and particularly lawyers in the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the Southern District of New York, have sought to dust off the rarely used law and bring cases against banks accused of fraud. Among its attractions, FIRREA provides a statute of limitations of 10 years and allows the government to bring civil cases for alleged criminal wrongdoing. Virginia Gibson, a lawyer at the law firm Hogan Lovells, said the Bank of America verdict was a “big deal because it shows the scope of a tool the government has not used frequently since its inception.” Gibson and other lawyers say any appeal by Bank of America would likely focus on a ruling made by the judge before the trial that endorsed a government position that it can bring a FIRREA case against a bank when the bank itself was the financial institution affected by the fraud. The case was one of three lawsuits in New York where judges had endorsed that interpretation. Banks have generally argued that the interpretation is contrary to the intent of Congress, which they said is more focused on others committing fraud on banks. Bank of America’s case was the first to go to trial, a rarity given that banks more typically choose to settle government claims instead of face a jury. But Bank of America had said that it “can’t be expected to compensate every entity that claims losses that actually were caused by the economic downturn.” In a statement, Bharara said Bank of America “chose to defend Countrywide’s conduct with all its might and money, claiming there was no case here.” “This office will never hesitate to go to trial to expose fraudulent corporate conduct and to hold companies accountable, particularly when it has caused such harm to the public,” Bharara said. In late afternoon trading, Bank of America shares were down 27 cents at $14.25 on the New York Stock Exchange. The case is U.S. ex rel. O’Donnell v. Bank of America Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-01422. (Reporting by Nate Raymond; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Edwina Gibbs) It’s unfortunate that Snopes didn’t dig any further into the matter. It could have, for instance, sourced an 11-page exposé of Blum and Feinstein published by the online site FoundSF entitled “Richard C. Blum and Dianne Feinstein: The Power Couple of California.” There Snopes would have found how this couple, through a continuing series of events that could only be called crony capitalism on steroids, grew their wealth, starting in 1980 when they were married, from a modest sum to well over $100 million. In that exposé they would have uncovered another source, this time from the Los Angeles Times, which noted the couple’s illicit activities from the beginning: A review of the senator’s first two years in office found that Feinstein supported several positions that benefited Blum, his wealthy clients and their investments. She was a vocal proponent of increased trade with China while Blum’s firm was planning a major investment there. She also voted for appropriations bills that provided more than $100 million a year in federal funds to three companies in which her husband is a substantial investor. Visiting the Times article would have led them to another source that explained in detail her votes as head of the Military Construction Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee (MILCON), which funneled $1.5 billion worth of military construction contracts to URS Corporation, an engineering, design, and construction company located (where else?) in San Francisco — in which Blum had a significant financial interest. Her committee also funneled millions into Tutor Perini, one of the largest general contractors in the country, also located in California, and in which Blum also had a significant financial interest. When Blum sold his interests in URS and Tutor Perini, he booked profits estimated at between $5 and $10 million. It gets even better. While Blum was an owner in URS, it bought a substantial piece of another company, a defense contractor called EG&G, which just happened to enjoy a windfall contract, thanks to Feinstein’s MILCON committee, of $600 million. There are other egregious examples of how Feinstein, denials notwithstanding, funneled taxpayer funds into companies either controlled or heavily invested in by her husband. But the aforementioned examples should suffice to prove two points: Snopes often fails to dig deeply enough to discover the depth of corruption and deceit and denial in its efforts to “vet” a story like that from the Ventura California Tea Party. Second, the rampant self-dealing and obvious conflicts of interest go far beyond just a little agreement to sell some post offices through a company controlled by Feinstein’s husband. If one listens only to Snopes and fails to dig more deeply, one may be left with the conclusion that “there’s nothing to see here. Just move along now, and thank you.” A graduate of Cornell University and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at www.LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected]. http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/15579-snopes-misses-larger-story-on-sales-of-post-offices-by-california-sen-feinstein-s-husband-s-company The US has entered into a contract with a real estate firm to sell 56 buildings that currently house U.S. Post Offices. The government has decided it no longer needs these buildings, most of which are located on prime land in towns and cities across the country. The sale of these properties will fetch about $19 billion. A regular real estate commission will be paid to the company that was given the exclusive listing for handling the sales. That company is CRI and it belongs to a man named Richard Blum. Richard Blum is the husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein. (Most voters and many of the government people who approved the deal have not made the connection between the two because they have different last names). Senator Feinstein and her husband stand to make a fortune (est at between $950 million and $1.1 billion!!) from these transactions. His company is the sole real estate on the sale. CRI will be making a minimum of 3% and as much as 6% commission on each and every sale. All of the properties that are being sold are all fully paid for. They were purchased with U.S. taxpayers dollars. The U.S.P.S. is allowed free and c lea r, tax exempt use. The only cost to keep them open is the cost to actually keep the doors open and the heat and lights on. The United States Postal Service doesn’t even have to pay county property taxes on these subject properties. Would you put your house in foreclosure just because you couldn’t afford to pay the electric bill? Well, the folks in Washington have given the Post Office the OK to do it! Worse yet,most of the net proceeds of the sales will go back to the U.S.P.S, an organization that is so poorly managed that they have lost $117 billion dollars in the past 10 years! No one in the mainstream media is even raising an eyebrow over the conflict of interest and on the possibility of corruption on the sale of billions of dollars worth of public assets. Verified on Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/blum.asp How does a U.S. Senator from San Francisco manage to get away with organizing and lobbying such a sweet deal? Dianne Feinstein history goes like this: While on this trip to Dharamsala she was thinking about getting out of politics, however when she came back from vacation, the Mayor of SF (Harvey Milk) was assassinated and suddenly she became the Mayor. Dianne Feinstein is the first mayor to welcome the Dalai Lama to the United States and gave him the key to the City. What city? San Francisco the City of the Golden Gate. Dianne Feinstein has worked very closely on the promotion of the Dalai Lama’s agenda and the Congressional Gold Medal the Dalai Lama was awarded was minted in none other than, you guessed it, San Francisco. Blum, Feinstein’s husband is on the UC Board of Regents. Did he vote to raise tuitions? When Feinstein ran for Senator last time, her ads had a Buddhist statue behind her. The statue was Avalokitsevara, the Patron Diety of Tibet=the Dalai Lama. Richard Blum is also the Director or was of the Himalayan Arts Council. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s former husband was the head of an abortion clinic. She likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. note: Harvey Milk, was played by Sean Penn in a recent movie, as Hollywood continues to push the boundaries for the culture of permissiveness that has taken over, starting with the head, San Francisco law makers… i.e., Dianne Feinstein note: all the laws that affect California, flow from San Francisco. Recently the voters voted for normal marriage as between 1 man and 1 woman to produce a family to keep core values strong. This was over turned by a gay judge from?? you guessed it, San Francisco. The Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan was severely damaged by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 2011. Since then scientists have been battling with the damaged pant to keep the rectors cool and avoid a more serious incident. Next month will see work beginning to remove the fuel rods from the damaged rector. This work will be the most technical and dangerous since the 2011 disaster. This year’s World Nuclear Report says the operations have the potential to cause: “by far the most serious radiological disaster to date” if it goes wrong. And warns of possible apocalyptic scenarios, including the evacuation of Tokyo. The operations involve the removal of the spent fuel from one of the reactors. This reactor is in the most unstable condition, and scientists do not fully know the extent of damage within the reactor core. Since the disaster the reactor has had to be constantly cooled to stop a full meltdown of the plant. Every day gallons of irradiated water from this process escape the plant into the surrounding environment and into the Pacific Ocean. Once these fuel rods are removed, they will then begin work on removing the fuel rods from the other three reactors, which were also damaged. The whole process of decommissioning the site is likely to take 40 years. Althoug the removal of fuel rods from a nuclear power station is a standard procedure the damaged Fukushima plant has so many dangers and unknowns it makes it a highly dangerous and technical procedure. Nuclear expert Professor Neil Hyatt says, “This is probably a world first in terms of the engineering challenge.” Read More: Channel 4 News WASHINGTON – Over the years, the D.C. area has seen peace summits and nuclear arms summits, but the summit planned in the District Thursday night might make you wrinkle your nose. The meeting will discuss rats, and what many people along the 14th Street corridor see as a big-time increase in the number of them. “Some of them are sizes as big as squirrels and some of them almost as big as cats,” Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner John Fanning told ABC 7 in September. Construction on developments in the area may be behind the increase, Fanning told ABC 7. “Because of the demolition and the noise of the construction equipment, they’re looking for new homes,” he says. So, area residents and city officials, including those from the Departments of Health and Public Works, will gather at the Washington Plaza Hotel at 7 p.m. to talk about ways to tackle the problem. “Our neighborhood is more vibrant than ever with population growth and many new businesses attracting visitors and tourists. Logan Circle is a tremendous success story, but with progress comes new problems. One that we’re increasingly hearing about is the rodent population,” the organizers posted on the event’s website. Weeks after Tibetan Sand Mandola performed, Investigators said an officer from the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington was responding to a reported armed robbery at a fast-food restaurant when the crash occurred around 1:30 a.m. at a large intersection that includes traffic lights. The people killed in the other vehicle included a small child. Authorities believe but haven’t confirmed that the driver and a woman riding with him were the parents of the other four people, all girls, said Chief Robert Oppenheimer of Perry Township police, who are investigating the crash. “That car was just totaled, and they probably died instantly,” Oppenheimer said. Autopsies were planned.BOLTON: ISRAEL MUST MAKE ‘FATEFUL DECISION’ ON IRAN STRIKE
LAX SHOOTER, CONSPIRACY, WEBSITES, EQUALS = MORE GOVERNMENT CONTROL?
BofA’s Countrywide Found Liable for Defrauding Fannie Mae
Bank of America fell 31 cents, or 2 percent, yesterday to $14.21 in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares fell 0.3 percent today.
“I knew something about what was going on in the mortgage debacle but it was certainly interesting to see how this happened first-hand,” said the woman, who declined to be identified. She is a freelance writer who lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
The juror cited the testimony of John Boland, a former Countrywide employee who said some loan specialists were told they wouldn’t be allowed to go home for the night unless they approved a loan. Jurors asked to re-hear Boland’s videotape deposition just minutes before announcing their verdict.
“Boland’s testimony was shocking,” the juror said. “Those employees were told to do ‘30 in 30,’ or 30 loans in 30 days. I will say in my opinion the bank and these employees were just passing off unsatisfactory loans as prime loans and Fannie and Freddie got stuck.”
The juror also said she and her fellow panelists weren’t convinced by the lender’s argument that a computer-generated underwriting process called “CLUES” was a satisfactory method for evaluating the quality of loans.
“The defense seemed to be saying that with CLUES, the loan specialists didn’t need underwriters,” the juror said. “But we decided that there was no way that any machine could do that. You needed a human.”
Countrywide earned at least $165 million using HSSL, allowing the company to maintain revenue in a “cratering” market for subprime mortgages, prosecutors told the jury in closing arguments. Government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought single-family mortgages from lenders.
The U.S. last year joined the whistle-blower action against Bank of America filed by former Countrywide executive Edward O’Donnell.
Under the HSSL program, prosecutors said, the time in which more than 28,800 loans were processed was reduced to as little as 10 days from 60 days and safeguards were lifted to boost the number of loans the lender completed and sold to GSEs. Brendan Sullivan, a lawyer for Countrywide, said just 11,000 HSSL loans were sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and quality wasn’t compromised.
The case is U.S. v. Countrywide Financial Corp., 12-cv-01422, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).Bank of America liable for Countrywide mortgage fraud
NEW YORK | Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:58pm EDT
(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp was found liable for fraud on Wednesday over defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit, a major win for the U.S. government in one of the few trials stemming from the financial crisis.Snopes missed the boat on Dianne Feinstein and Richard C. Blum crony capitalism on steroids…
Dalai Lama, Senator Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco Syphoning US assets… what strange bed fellows… Will she give Dalai Lama $1.1 billion to further his cause of completely destroying America as he did with Nazi Germany?
Feinstein and Blum were married at the foot of Mt. Everest and went to Dharamsala to have their marriage blessed by his un-holieness the Dalai Lama.CLEAR UP OPERATIONS TO BEGIN AT THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT
GO FIGURE: Washington DC / Meeting to discuss rat problem in 14th Street corridor
Police: 6 killed, officer hurt in overnight collision between cruiser, car near Ohio’s capital
Its lights flashing and siren blaring, a police cruiser that was responding to a robbery report collided with a car at an intersection just northeast of Ohio’s capital early Friday, killing all six people in the car and injuring an officer, officials said.