Just when you think things couldn't get any worse for Fukishima: Firm unveils new mascot called 'Fukuppy'

The Daily Mail
By Steve Nolan
PUBLISHED: 10:19 EST, 15 October 2013 | UPDATED: 12:47 EST, 15 October 2013


[center]
[font size=1]Oops: Fukushima Industries is reconsidering the name of its mascot - Fukuppy[/font][/center]

With its friendly face and welcoming greeting, a Japanese fridge manufacturer's new mascot was supposed to amuse visitors to the firm's website. But the egg-shaped character has caused an online outbreak of the sniggers for all the wrong reasons. Fukushima Industries says it is now considering rebranding its cute but somewhat awkwardly named mascot - 'Fukuppy'.

The bizarre character, which has wings and red shoes, has become the source of much ridicule on Japanese social media sites since he was unveiled in April. He greets visitors to the company's website with a friendly 'I'm Fukuppy. Nice to meet you.'

But rather than intending to amuse or offend, the unusual moniker, which is unlikely to inspire confidence among consumers regarding the reliability of the firm's products, is meant to reflect the company's ethos.

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breakingtheset·Published on Oct 10, 2013

Abby Martin speaks with Michael Ruppert, investigative journalist and author of 'Crossing the Rubicon', about destructive energy policies, the global energy crisis and the potential for a collapse of industrial civilization as we know it unless people become more than just passive actors.

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METRO
Friday 11 Oct 2013 8:41 am

[center]
[font size=1]The Vatican has recalled these Pope Francis medals after
spelling Jesus’ name wrong (Picture: Italian State Mint)[/font][/center]

Embarrassed Vatican officials have recalled medals commemorating the first year of Pope Francis’s reign after spelling Jesus’s name wrong.

The official Vatican medals went on sale with the son of God’s name spelt as ‘Lesus’ before they were swiftly removed when the spelling error was spotted.

Around 6,000 of the gold, silver and bronzed medals, featuring the Pope’s motto on his coat of arms, were created by the Italian State Mint.

It says: ‘Jesus therefore sees the tax collector, and since he sees by having mercy and by choosing, he says to him, follow me.’

[center]
[font size=1]The Vatican has been embarrassed by a basic spelling error (Picture: Italian State Mint)[/font][/center]

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MONSANTO, PIONEER, PROHIBITED FROM MARKETING TRANSGENIC SEED

Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | October 11, 2013



An October 10 press release with Mexico City byline announces the banning of genetically-engineered corn in Mexico. According to the group that issued the press release, La Coperacha, a federal judge has ordered Mexico’s SAGARPA (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca, y Alimentación), which is Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, and SEMARNAT (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales), which is equivalent of the EPA, to immediately “suspend all activities involving the planting of transgenic corn in the country and end the granting of permission for experimental and pilot commercial plantings”.

The unprecedented ban was granted by the Twelfth Federal District Court for Civil Matters of Mexico City. Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. wrote the opinion and cited “the risk of imminent harm to the environment” as the basis for the decision. The judge’s ruling also ruled that multinationals like Monsanto and Pioneer are “banned from the release of transgenic maize in the Mexican countryside” as long as collective action lawsuits initiated by citizens, farmers, scientists, and civil society organizations are working their way through the judicial system.

The decision was explained during a press conference in Mexico City yesterday by members of the community-based organizations that sued federal authorities and companies introducing transgenic maize into Mexico. The group, Acción Colectiva, is led by Father Miguel Concha of the Human Rights Center Fray Francisco de Vittoria; Victor Suarez of ANEC (National Association of Rural Commercialization Entertprises); Dr. Mercedes Lopéz of Vía Organica; and Adelita San Vicente, a teacher and member of Semillas de Vida, a national organization that has been involved in broad-based social action projects to protect Mexico’s extraordinary status as a major world center of food crop biodiversity.

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RT·Published on Oct 12, 2013

Edward Snowden hasn't been seen by the wider public since he received political asylum in Russia until now. Wikileaks has released new footage of the NSA whistleblower. They did not reveal exactly where it was filmed though, because of concerns about his security. RT's Lucy Kafanov reports. READ MORE http://on.rt.com/egf69s

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tab sam·Published on Oct 12, 2013

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Bill Maher ended his show Friday night going after both Michele Bachmann and Antonin Scalia for being so open about their religious beliefs, saying even though Scalia's viewed as more serious than Bachmann

A law prohibiting fracking for shale gas has been upheld by France's constitutional court, citing environmental protection

theguardian.com
Friday 11 October 2013 09.08 EDT


[font size=1]Anti-fracking protesters in La Petite Brosse, outside Paris.
Photograph: Pierre Andrieu/AFP/Getty Images[/font]

France's constitutional court has upheld a ban on hydraulic fracturing, ruling that the law against the energy exploration technique known as "fracking" is a valid means of protecting the environment. The court in Paris said on its website on Friday that the 2011 law "conforms to the constitution" and is not "disproportionate".

France banned fracking in 2011 and cancelled exploration licences held by companies including Schuepbach and Total SA, the country's biggest oil company, after protests by environmental groups.

Schuepbach Energy LLC, a Dallas-based explorer, complained to the court that the law was unfair after having two exploration permits revoked because of the ban. President François Hollande has said France won't allow exploration of shale gas energy even as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on nuclear energy and keep down costs for consumers.

"It's a judicial victory but also an environmental and political victory," French environment minister, Philippe Martin, said today after the ruling. "With this decision the ban on hydraulic fracturing is absolute."

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UTIAtv·Published on Oct 16, 2012

Italian designer Gabriele Diamanti (@GabDiamanti) has invented Eliodomestico,
an eco-distiller running on solar power, to provide safe drinking-water for people in developing countries: a very simple way to produce healthy, bacteria-free water.
Eliodomestico is an open source project.

Winner at Core77 Design Award 2012 - social impact category;
Finalist at the Prix Émile Hermès 2011 competition.

Published: October 11th, 2013 at 1:03 am ET
By ENENews



The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition), Oct. 10, 2013: Rice Grown Near Fukushima Cleared for Sale {...} Rice grown in some areas within a 30 km radius of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant will be cleared for sale this year, but concerns remain. Some samples have tested positive for radiation well above the permitted level. So far only test farming of rice in the region was allowed. Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday said 44 out of 52 sacks of 30-kg rice harvested in Minamisoma, 20 to 30 km from the power plant, likely exceeded the permissible levels of radioactive materials when tested with a conveyer-belt detector. The prefecture carried out thorough test of the 44 sacks, and detected 120 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, way over the permissible level of 100 becquerels. “It is possible to sell rice that does not exceed the level,” said a prefecture official. {...}

Fukushima Farmers Negotiate with Japanese Government - YouTube, Published August 31, 2013 – Farmer from Sukagawa, 60 km west of Fukushima Daiichi (at 1:45 in): Do you understand the meaning of ‘de’ in the word decontamination? We are just tilling deeply and spreading the radiation thinly. We are not removing the contamination. No wonder that the radiation level has not gone down. We measured the radioactivity in the air. It has not gone down at all. We have not removed the contaminated soil. Of course not! The environment has not changed at all 2 years after the explosions. {...} In Fukushima, all farm produce must be checked for the cesium level prior to shipping. The current government limit is 100 becquerels. The farmers know how many becquerels of cesium their produce contains. We can ship them if the reading is lower than 100. But I would not dare eat them myself. The consumers assume there is no radiation in the food they buy. {…} We farmers know better. We feel guilty about growing it and selling it. We won’t eat it ourselves, but we sell it.

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