December 21, 2013

US Navy Personnel suffering radiation sickness from Fukushima -

Fox News: “So many US sailors coming forward” with symptoms after mission near Fukushima; “Strange lumps all over… he’d been poisoned with radiation”; Hemorrhaging, cancers, leukemia, tumors — Another 50 service members may join lawsuit

Fox News, Dec. 20, 2013: Months after 3/11, while still serving aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, Quartermaster Maurice Enis, began to notice strange lumps all over his body. Testing revealed he’d been poisoned with radiation, and his illness would get worse. And his fiance and fellow Reagan quartermaster, Jamie Plym [...] also began to develop frightening symptoms, including chronic bronchitis and hemorrhaging. They and 49 other U.S. Navy members who served aboard the Reagan and sister ship the USS Essex [report] illnesses including thyroid and testicular cancers, leukemia and brain tumors [...] They wonder if their service to their country and to Japan has left them doomed. [...] the number of plaintiffs has more than quadrupled from the initial dozen, as more service members come forward with radiation-related illnesses, attorney Charles Bonner said. Nathan Piekutoski, 22, who served aboard the USS Essex stated "I suffered from leukemia." [...] “Within a few months I started getting all these weird symptoms” [...] Plym says she is prepared to have her symptoms question in court [...] with so many U.S. sailors coming forward, she believes justice will prevail.
- See more at: http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/fox-news-fukushima-bombshell-exposes-cover-up-us-navy-sailors-sickened-by-radiation#sthash.H8JdTHgI.oSC1t3uW.dpuf

December 21, 2013

Comedy of Errors involving "Secret" FBI Interrogation manual.

So did the agent who went to US Library for copyright of this manual really forget that once he got the copyright, the entire manual would be available for public viewing?

The manual had been requested by the ACLU, and then the ACLU only got a redacted copy. But then this "copy right protected" version surfaced...

http://rt.com/usa/fbi-secret-manual-library-congress-580/

December 19, 2013

US Senate Passes US Budget in Bipartisan Effort

Source: The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/bipartisan-budget-agreement-clears-us-congress

From the article:

However, while a government shutdown is off the table, the spectre of the kind of political brinkmanship that took the US to the precipice of an economic crisis in October has not been entirely averted. The deal that put an end to the shutdown, and set up the Ryan-Murray talks, also extended a separate debate over the US Treasury's borrowing capacity, but only for a few months.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/bipartisan-budget-agreement-clears-us-congress

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The Winners: The One Percent

The Losers: Military personnel who expect to someday have pension, also those who are unemployment!
Also first massive cut to Food Stamps in decades.

December 19, 2013

Actually you are making two statements, and both are debatable.

As far as statement Number One: If "Law" is defined as a system of rules that is designed and then legislated to promote fairness and equality, we are not longer a nation of laws.

We are more like a banana republic, in which those with the monetary wherewithal are able to legislate instructions and "legal manipulations" that while devoid of any sense of morality, benefit themselves, while putting all others at a disadvantage.

As far as Statement Two: Some time ago (2011? 2010?) The TV show "Sixty Minutes" spent a halfhour investigating the claims of not one but two separate individuals who had been deep inside a mortgage or banking institution during the time leading up to the housing collapse and the economic collapse of 2008.

Both individuals had worked for different companies. I believe (IIRC) that one of the firms was Countrywide.

Anyway the individuals both went to the SEC and DOJ to show that there was in their possession plenty of documents indicating that the people who ran their respective companies were deliberately defrauding the customers.

SEC and DOJ looked the other way. The statute of limitations had not run out when the Obama Administration took over, but the results were no different then anyway, under Obama's people, than had been the case under George W's.

December 18, 2013

Survey shows many IT professionals still use WindowsXP

I am not really asking for help here, at lest not in this post. But I thought this might cheer people up to be aware that they are not the only ones who are attached to Windows XP.

And it seems those not using XP are still using Windows 7.


Overwhelming number of iT folks still use Windows XP
http://frugalnetworker.com/2013/12/18/overwhelming-majority-of-it-professionals-still-running-windows-xp-as-end-of-life-nears-survey-results/

December 17, 2013

Sallie Mae Is Under Attack for the way it treats Student Loan Holders

After participating in a discussion here on student loans, I got some interesting information.

According to a fellow DU'er: basically if you have a student loan, and the amount of money that is demanded of you is far beyond your ability to repay it, then you should apply for the IBR method of paying. (IBR is income based related method of calculating the payment.)

So for instance, if Sallie Mae wants you to pay $ 1,000 a month, and you are living on just $ 400 after rent, groceries and taxes, they can divert your loan to an IBR determination, and maybe then, IF YOU ARE APPROVED of receiving IBR status, you might only be required to pay $ 220 a month.

I was astounded to find out that the spouse had requested this IBR designation six months ago, and after filling out the paperwork, and waiting for the answer, the answer came some weeks ago. Nothing was said by Sallie Mae about whether he did or didn't qualify for the IBR. But the new amount that was quoted was identical to the old amount. And so it remained quite unaffordable.

Also, there is no way to talk to a live person about any of this. You can email the various email addresses available, and that is what I will be doing over the next week.

Now I have discovered a rather recent Huffington Post article about the matter of how Sallie Mae is acting with regards to those citizens it supposedly serves. Apparently even the Consumer Finance Bureau is investigating good ol' Sallie Mae.

So much of this is reminiscent of the various schemes and maneuvers utilized by our fine friends in the Banking Community with regards to foreclosing on mortgage holders, that I can't help but thinking that Eric Holder's philosophy of "Too Big To Jail Is Too Big To Fail" is one of the runaway Hit Songs of the Obama era.

There no longer needs to be any customer service, or any accountablility, or any actual guidelines, nor does there seem to be any recourse if you don't know why you do or don't qualify. In life in the New USA of Big Agencies and Corporations, if you are a "mere consumer" you simply must suffer the consequences.

Link to the Huff Pro article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/sallie-mae-student-debt_n_3839243.html

December 15, 2013

The President has suppressed the 6,000 page torture documents.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/the-6-000-page-report-on-cia-torture-has-now-been-suppressed-for-1-year/282318/

"One year ago today, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to adopt a 6,000-page report on the CIA rendition, detention, and interrogation program that led to torture. Its contents include details on each prisoner in CIA custody, the conditions of their confinement, whether they were tortured, the intelligence they provided, and the degree to which the CIA lied about its behavior to overseers. Senator Dianne Feinstein declared it one of the most significant oversight efforts in American history, noting that it contains "startling details" and raises "critical questions." But all these months later, the report is still being suppressed."

"The Obama Administration has no valid reason to suppress the report. Its contents do not threaten national security, as evidenced by the fact that numerous figures who normally defer to the national-security state want it released."

People who want this released include VP Biden, and Sen John McCain.

But, oh well, so much for transparency.

December 15, 2013

He doesn't feel comfortable standing in Fukushima, radiation-contaminated snow.

And he is not in Japan, he is in St Louis, here in the MidWest USA.
Dec 14th 2013:

&feature=youtu.be

December 12, 2013

If I visit Huff Pro -

My computer is running pretty smoothly, in part due to all the help I get on this forum.

However once a week, I visit Huff Pro. And then the system slows down.

If my internet connectivity is in really bad shape, the next time I use Firefox to go on the internet, Firefox apologizes to me, and asks me to clear everything and start from scratch.

When I do that everything is fine.

But if I don't get the chance to start from scratch, in terms of internet sessions, i am plagued by very slow connectivity.

Any advice? (Other than never visiting Huff Pro.)

December 12, 2013

Other Nations Are Heavily Opposing Obama's "Need" for TPP

The video that is at the top of this article is very revealing, just of itself.

And the article explains a great many reasons why so many other nations don't want to turn their countries into the Corporate-run state our One Money party has going on 24/7, here inside what used to be the USA:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/tpp-trade-agreement_n_4409211.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular


WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration appears to have almost no international support for controversial new trade standards that would grant radical new political powers to corporations, increase the cost of prescription medications and restrict bank regulation, according to two internal memos obtained by The Huffington Post.

The memos, which come from a government involved in the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations, detail continued disputes in the talks over the deal. The documents reveal broad disagreement over a host of key positions, and general skepticism that an agreement can be reached by year-end. The Obama administration has urged countries to reach a deal by New Year's Day, though there is no technical deadline.

One memo, which was heavily redacted before being provided to HuffPost, was written ahead of a new round of talks in Singapore this week. Read the full text of what HuffPost received here. (Note: Ellipses indicate redacted text. Text in brackets has been added by a third party.) Another document, a chart outlining different country positions on the text, dates from early November, before the round of negotiations in Salt Lake City, Utah. View the chart here. HuffPost was unable to determine which of the 11 non-U.S. nations involved in the talks was responsible for the memo.