The Free

‘The Free’. 462pp. free download

‘The Free’, an adventure/thriller about teenage runaways, during climate chaos and capitalist collapse. The E-book has been a Free Download since May 1st.

tags: Social Revolution, anarchist, anti-fascist, climate chaos, collapse of capitalism, adventure, coops, coppice, credit union, deschooling, feminist, gay, lesbian, permaculture, magic,money free, online democracy, rape, riot, revolution, squatters,

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Fukushima fallout nears Chernobyl levels –

Radioactive Japanese reactors

Japan’s damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Austrian researchers have used a worldwide network of radiation detectors – designed to spot clandestine nuclear bomb tests – to show that iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73 per cent of those seen after the 1986 disaster. The daily amount of caesium-137 released from Fukushima Daiichi is around 60 per cent of the amount released from Chernobyl………..

….Iodine is rapidly absorbed by the thyroid, and leaves only as it decays radioactively, with a half-life of eight days. Caesium is absorbed by muscles, where its half-life of 30 years means that it remains until it is excreted by the body. It takes between 10 and 100 days to excrete half of what has been consumed.

While in the body the isotopes’ radioactive emissions can do significant damage, mainly to DNA. Children who ingest iodine-131 can develop thyroid cancer 10 or more years later; adults seem relatively resistant. A study published in the US last week found that iodine-131 from Chernobyl is still causing new cases of thyroid cancer to appear at an undiminished rate in the most heavily affected regions of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

Caesium-137 lingers in the environment because of its long half-life. Researchers are divided over how much damage environmental exposure to low doses has done since Chernobyl. Some researchers think it could still cause thousands of new cases of cancer across Europe.

via Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels – health – 24 March 2011 – New Scientist.

Guantanamo- no end in sight.

US detention centre can remain open as long as the “war on terror” continues, with no end in sight.

by Lisa Hajjar Last Modified: 29 Mar 2011 13:42

It seems these days that the best way to get out of Guantanamo – other than to die – is to plead guilty to charges, Hajjar says [EPA]

On March 7, when president Barack Obama signed an executive order (E0) that varnishes the framework of indefinite detention without trial, he put the final nail in the coffin of his day-two promise to close Guantanamo.

Those detainees who, in the government’s view, can not be tried but are too dangerous to release will continue to be subject to “law of war detention” because they are deemed by official reviewers “in effect, [to] remain at war with the United States”.

via Guantanamo is an evolutionary experiment – Opinion – Al Jazeera English.

Jailed for trying to disarm NUKES

Sentencing: 6-15 months confinement, 1yr supervised release

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Disarm Now Plowshares

The Disarm Now Plowshares activists who entered U.S. Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor to symbolically disarm the nuclear weapons stored there were sentenced today at the Tacoma Federal Courthouse, receiving sentences of 6 months to 15 months confinement, plus one year supervised release. About two hundred fifty people gathered at the courthouse to support the Plowshares activists with their presence, song, and prayer. After the trial, they sang peace songs and processed out as a group, celebrating the beacon of hope the five activists have been for their community. Read more »

via Disarmnowplowshares’s Blog.

London – The Kettlers get Kettled

Protesters get the better of these London riot police! Watch!

March 26th, London – The Kettlers get Kettled

The police began forming a kettle scenario almost immediately after a small, insignificant incident occured at the entrance of Fortnum and Mason wherein an occupier-activist was forcibly refused entry by one Metropolitan officer. This is what happens when you fight back.

via Amanda Menlove (21).

ECUADOR: Texaco’s shaky Rainforest –

Rosa Tanguila cleaning up oil residue near her rainforest community. / Credit:Gonzalo Ortiz/IPS

Trees on Shaky Ground in Texaco’s Rainforest

By Gonzalo Ortiz*

NUEVA LOJA, Ecuador, Mar 29, 2011 (Tierramérica) – When the trunks of the trees move with every step you take, you know you are in a swamp. This is what happens when you walk over the seemingly firm and vegetation-covered ground over what was once a pit used to dump oil sludge in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest.

The extent and impact of oil contamination on the environment and human health in northeastern Ecuador are much worse than anyone could imagine, as Tierramérica discovered during an extensive tour of the area.

via ECUADOR: Trees on Shaky Ground in Texaco’s Rainforest – IPS ipsnews.net.

A Question for ‘Water Car’ Believers

Water-Powered Car Saga

Last month, we wrote about the Genepax ‘Water Car’ and were surprised by how many people were ready to believe that it truly worked with water as the only fuel without special explanation or evidence from those who make the claim. Right now the post has 124 comments, which is higher than average for TreeHugger, and a significant portion of those talk about rewriting the laws of physics and such.

A Question for ‘Water Car’ True Believers

But there’s a question we’d like to ask those who are so certain that ‘water cars’ (with water as the only fuel, and not as an energy carrier via hydrogen) already work and are somehow kept hidden: If some people had that technology, why would cars be the first thing they try to make? That’s hard, with huge supply chains and massive capital investments, lots of regulations and red tape, etc. Why not make power plants right next to rivers (or just use tap water) and sell the power?

They could start very small (less than 1 megawatt) to show that it works. That would be much more profitable, no? Or even sell the technology to makers of portable electronics, which don’t have vested interests in oil and cars.

So why aren’t we hearing about ‘water power plants’ (other than hydro), or ‘water powered laptops’? It’s always ‘water cars’, and mostly when gas prices are up. Could it be that it’s just a really nice story that strikes the imagination (the image of pouring water in a fuel tank is powerful), the way many urban legends do?

Genepax Water-Powered Car photo

Conclusion on Water Cars

We’ll conclude this post the same way we concluded the Genepax post: “As Carl Sagan used to say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The next time you hear about a water car, remember that and don’t get your hopes up too quickly.”

We’d be the first to be overjoyed if it really worked (we’re not against the idea), but before we jump around, we’ll need some serious evidence and not just PR stunts that don’t really explain anything (and that are probably designed to lure investors).

Water Cars

Genepax Water Car: Too Good to be True? Yeah

Survey: Can a Car Run on Water?

Photo by Scott Armitage.

via A Question for ‘Water Car’ True Believers : TreeHugger.