Radiation Fears Escalate After Second Nuke Explosion
March 14, 2011
(ChattahBox World News)— Japan is facing a nationwide disaster of calamitous proportions after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated the country on Friday, raising the horrifying specter of nuclear meltdowns and long term radiation contamination. The radiation released into the air could go on for months, and there is a possibility that radioactive plumes could eventually reach the United States. On Monday, a second explosion occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station that blew the roof off of the plant. So far, Japanese plant operators have prevented full-blown nuclear reactor meltdowns, by desperately poring seawater over the partially exposed radioactive fuel rods, after the electricity and diesel generators powering the cooling systems failed. To release the pressure, the operators are forced to purposely release radioactive steam into the air. And the problems from radiation exposure are just beginning. Crew members of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan were exposed to radiation on Sunday when the ship encountered a radioactive cloud in the Pacific. And hundreds of residents near the Fukushima Daiichi plant are believed to have been exposed, with at least one operator suffering from actual radiation sickness.
How is nuclear power looking now? Is it time yet, for a more serious investment in renewable energy resources in this country? With the GOP “drill baby, drill” crowd and global warming deniers controlling the debate, don’t hold your breath. Read more
Death Toll at 5,000 as Japan Braces As Second Reactor Explodes
March 14, 2011
(ChattahBox World News) – Three days after Japan’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, 2,000 bodies washed up on two separate beaches in Miyagi bringing the found dead to about 5,000. The death toll is now expected to exceed 10,000 and that number seems very understated, with 10,000 alone still missing from Minamisanriku, which has a total population of 17,000. Meanwhile a second explosion at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant injured 11 workers Monday, and officials are already bracing for a third blast. After the explosions at Unit 1 and Unit 3, the plant has lost the ability to cool the reactor at Unit Two. They will have to inject it with seawater and periodically release radioactive steam, but a new explosion is quite possible. The New York Times reports that the plant could continue leaking radioactive steam for months as the plant fights to avert full meltdowns. The 450,000 people who have been evacuated as of Sunday in Miyagi and five other prefectures, may not be able to return to their homes for a considerable period. The powerful earthquake has moved the island’s coast inward 8 feet and has shifted the Earth on its axis by nearly 4 inches.
Team presents proof that lost city of Atlantis found in Southern Spain
March 13, 2011
(ChattahBox US News) – Though debate about whether the fabled island truly existed has lasted for thousands of years, perhaps Atlantis has been found. Plato’s “dialogues” from around 360 B.C. said the island he called Atlantis “in a single day and night … disappeared into the depths of the sea,” are the only known historical sources of information about the fabled city. But now an international research team led by Professor Richard Freund at the University of Hartford, CT believes it has pinpointed the exact location of the lost island. The team of archeologists and geologists used a combination of deep-ground radar, digital mapping, and underwater technology to find the remains of a city, just north of Cadiz in Spain buried in the vast marshlands of the Dona Ana Park. And they say that it was wiped out by a tsunami thousands of years ago. Freund says that it has the multi-ringed characteristics and that there are over 100 “memorial sites” near the area, which he believes were created by resident refugees in honor to their destroyed city.The team’s findings will be unveiled tonight according to Reuters, on Sunday in ‘Finding Atlantis,’ a new National Geographic Channel special.
Japanese Nuke Plant Blows Up, Radiation Leaking (Video)
March 12, 2011
(ChattahBox World News)—Japan continues to get hammered from the after effects of a powerful 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami that hit on Friday, causing untold devastation and thousands of deaths, with the death toll rising everyday. Now comes this. On Saturday, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station exploded after the reactor’s cooling system failed. Video of the explosion shows clouds of white smoke and radioactive vapor shooting up from the roof of the nuclear power plant. And officials confirm there is a radiation leak, which prompted a more far-reaching evacuation extending 12-miles from the explosion. Read more
Offshore Japan 8.9 Earthquake Causes 23-Foot Tsunami
March 11, 2011
(ChattahBox World News) – A powerful 8.9 offshore earthquake, the largest in the country’s recorded history, hit Japan, sending a massive tsunami into the Pacific. A tsunami warning is in effect for the entire Pacific, including the U.S. West Cost, Canada, and Alaska, and South America. The quake hit at 2:46 p.m. local time in Japan. Several waves, including one reported to have been 23 feet, slammed the eastern coast and sent boats, trucks, and burning buildings miles inland, slamming debris into overpasses, before receding. At least 60 people were killed and dozens more were injured, but the toll is expected to rise as they struggle to assess the damage. At least 19 powerful aftershocks have struck the island country, reversing the path of rivers, washing away boats and cars and leaving buildings shaking. Tokyo’s airports halted flights and trains were suspended. Two of Japan’s nuclear power plants shut down automatically, and authorities report a fire in one plant’s turbine building. An oil refinery in Ichihara city caught fire, sending 100-foot flames into the air. The quake (8,000 times stronger than the one that hist New Zealand last month) was the biggest to hit Japan since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.
Update: The death toll has now risen to 300, as Japanese police say 200 to 300 bodies were found in Sendai, the closest major city to the epicenter. Police also said that a ship carrying more than 100 people was washed away by a tsunami, and a bullet train carrying hundreds of passengers in the Miyagi region was missing.
Jordan Van der Sloot’s lawyer gonna try temporary insanity defense
March 7, 2011
(ChattahBox World News) – Jordan Van der Sloot, the key suspect in the 2005 disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba, will use a “temporary insanity” defense in the slaying of 21-year-old Peruvian woman Stephany Flores Ramirez. Ramirez, a Peruvian business student and the daughter of race car driver Ricardo Flores, was found bludgeoned to death in a Lima hotel room. Van der Sloot stands accused of first-degree murder with a 15- to 35-year sentence if convicted in Peru. But if his insanity defense somehow works, Van der Sloot could serve only 20 months of a 3-5-year sentence. Van der Sloot previously claimed that Flores was killed by a thief. Van der Sloot’s attorney Máximo Altez now tells the “Domingo Al Día” TV program that his client killed young woman Stephany Flores out of “violent emotion” and not with intent:
“When Ms. Stephany Flores was digging through information on van der Sloot’s computer, she realized that he had had previous problems with the death of Natalee Holloway. We are stating that this produced Joran’s violent reaction. They began to argue and push one another, and that is what led to everything that we all know now happened,” said attorney Altez according to Living in Peru.
Flores’ family lawyer, Edward Álvarez, said that the defense’s new strategy does not hold up against the evidence:
“It is “completely false” that Flores argued with van der Sloot over this information. That laptop with information about the crime in Aruba was produced long before Stephany went with him to the hotel,” he explained.
Taliban Guns Down Christian Pakistani Minister for Being ‘Known Blasphemer’
March 2, 2011
(ChattahBox World News)— Pakistan has to be one of the most screwed-up countries in the world. The nuclear-armed state combined with political instability, a ridiculously high rate of illiteracy, Islamic extremism, crushing poverty and constant terrorism, with Taliban insurgents seeking refuge on the Afghanistan border, is a volatile tinderbox. The Islamic extremism has evolved into the persecution and murder of Pakistani Christians, by Muslim mobs. Now, a branch of the Taliban has gunned down Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti. His crime? Bhatti was a Christian, and he was in favor of reforming the country’s blasphemy laws that have been used to persecute non-Muslims. His sentence for being perceived as “a known blasphemer of the Prophet,” was death by gunfire. Read more
Russian spy Anna Chapman to offically run for Russian parliament
February 23, 2011
(ChattahBox World News) – Espionage to politics seems like a natural transition, given they both require plenty of subterfuge? Deported from the United States last year, failed former Russian spy Anna Chapman, is now set to run for office. Chapman pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and was among nine other agents were deported to Russia last summer as part of a prisoner swap. Read more
Somali Pirates Murder Four Hijacked Americans
February 22, 2011
(ChattahBox World News)—The Somali hijacking of a yacht in the Indian Ocean with four Americans on board, ended in tragedy today. Multiple news sources are reporting that all four Americans being held hostage by Somali pirates were killed by their hostage takers. U.S officials negotiating with the pirates from a nearby Naval vessel heard gunfire. All four American hostages, Scott and Jean Adam and Phyllis Macay and Bob Rigglewere, were found dead. Some Somali pirates have been captured and others are dead, according to U.S. Central Command. Read more
Deadly 6.3 magnitude quake hits Christchurch New Zealand
February 22, 2011
(ChattahBox World News) – New Zealand’s second largest city Christchurch, has been hit by a deadly earthquake, measuring 6.3 in magnitude, with first reports suggesting there are 65 fatalities (so far) and many people trapped in buildings. Prime Minister John Key announced that “at least 65 people have lost their lives” and noted the rescuers were still scrabbling through the ruins of collapsed buildings looking for injured and trapped survivors and bodies. Read more