From allan.brison at gmail.com Mon Mar 7 07:25:33 2011 From: allan.brison at gmail.com (Allan Brison) Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 07:25:33 -0500 Subject: {news} Fwd: First Niagara Press Conference Monday, Public Hearing Wednesday and Engine 8 shut down In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: [image: allan_masthead_2010.bmp] Friends and Neighbors March 6, 2011 Two important Public Hearings are happening this week: *First - On the proposed take-over of the New Alliance Bank* Most of you are probably somewhat familiar with the situation currently occurring with the merger of the New Alliance Bank with First Niagara Bank. As you may remember, New Alliance Bank was formed seven years ago, out of the take-over of the 160-year old New Haven Savings Bank. Now it, in turn, is being taken over by First Niagara Bank, headquartered in Buffalo, NY. The Mayor's Office and many community groups and activists are fighting this take-over. There will be a Public Hearing on this Wednesday March 9 from 5 to 9 PM in the auditorium of the Conte West Hills School, located at 511 Chapel Street in the Wooster Square neighborhood. This Public Hearing is being held by the Banking Commissioner. It is the opportunity for local folks to have a voice in this important decision. Under state law, this merger cannot take place unless the Banking Commissioner determines that it will "produce benefits to the public? [that] *clearly outweigh* possible adverse effects." We need to fill the auditorium! Here are some of the possible adverse effects of the take-over: - Banking decisions will pass out of local control to First Niagara's headquarters in Buffalo, NY. - First Niagara has a *poor track record* of eliminating hundreds of good jobs and closing bank branches in communities where they have merged, bought, or taken over local banks. Right off there will be 250 confirmed job losses. - First Niagara has a *poor record* for lending to low and moderate income families, considerably lower than New Alliance. - First Niagara has a *poor record* of making loans to local small businesses. This will critically affect small business growth, so necessary for job growth. While many local people will lose their jobs, and New Alliance customers get less service, CEO Peyton Patterson stands to personally make up to $30 Million this year if the merger deal goes. *The control of the assets built up over the lifetime of the New Haven Savings Bank should stay in the city of New Haven.* It should be noted that First Niagara has a *lower government rating* than New Alliance, when it comes to loans in lower and middle income neighborhood, and *lower ratings* for small business loans under $100,000. In 2004, New Alliance promised that demutualization would not lead to a takeover by an outside bank. *They should be held to that promise* unless it can clearly be shown that this new merger benefits the citizens of New Haven. For more information, go to the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Say-NO-to-First-Niagara/185404671495550 ----------------------------------------------- The Commissioner needs to hear from us. Please come out to the Public Hearing on Wednesday evening starting at 5 pm, and help make our voices heard. -------------------------------------------------------- *2. On the proposed shut-down of engine 8 * I received this post from Ray Saracco and Kevin Donohue: We are just finding out that the city scheduled a meeting for Tuesday night March 8th at little Hooker school, on Livingston St. at 5:30 PM. This meeting is to explain why the city will shut down engine 8, our neighborhood fire engine. Notify all your neighbors and friends who live in the neighborhood. This is an important subject, because if this happens it could mean slower response times for fire and medical services. This is NOT due to budget cuts. Please come and hear the city explain why they are doing this to just our district. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. Thanks, Ray Saracco and Kevin Donohue ------------------------------------------------------ Please try to come to both of these important events. Thanks, Allan Allan Brison 203-782-6808 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From allan.brison at gmail.com Fri Mar 11 18:13:10 2011 From: allan.brison at gmail.com (Allan Brison) Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:13:10 -0500 Subject: {news} Left Forum 2011: 1, 000 Speakers, 300 panels: Conference Schedule Now Online! In-Reply-To: <477438.56755.qm@web180513.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <477438.56755.qm@web180513.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: > > > Greens and Friends, An exciting event is happening this next weekend, Friday March 18 - Sunday March 20. This is the weekend of the annual Left Forum which will be taking place at Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza in downtown Manhattan. Rick Wolff, Marxist Economist, long time former New Haven resident, and one-time Green Party candidate for Mayor will be in several of the presentations. See attached for the panel that he is on. Check out the whole extremely impressive program by clicking on the Panel Schedule below. I plan to be attending. Hope some of you will as well. Best, Allan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Having trouble viewing this email? Click hereto view it in your browser. > > > Panel schedule is now online! click here > > As always, we need volunteers?click hereto register, and get into the conference free! > > REGISTER NOW > for the conference! Online registration discounts will end on March 11th > > Please support Left Forum with a tax exempt donation. CLICK HEREto donate. > > For PRESS INQUIRIES, email media at leftforum.org > > Videotape two sessions and get into the conference free? > click > here to sign up. > > Follow Left Forum on Facebook > and Twitter ! > > *Please Forward and Post as Widely as Possible* > > leftforum.org | left forum on Facebook > | left forum on Twitter > leftforum at leftforum.org | 212-817-2002 > > _______________________________________________ > LeftForum mailing list > > Post: LeftForum at lists.mayfirst.org > List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/leftforum > > To Unsubscribe > Send email to: LeftForum-unsubscribe at lists.mayfirst.org > Or visit: > https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/leftforum/rdwolff%40att.net > > You are subscribed as: rdwolff at att.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: WORD new documents.doc Type: application/msword Size: 50688 bytes Desc: not available URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Mar 14 08:41:46 2011 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:41:46 -0400 Subject: {news} GPUS letter of sympathy to Japanese Greens Message-ID: <7B444B31C9C94058ABEEE34C4C7CA955@JUSTINE> Hi CT Greens, This IC drafted message was appoved by the SC and sent to the Japanese Greens this morning. Justine (Co-Chair, International Committee, GPUS) ======================================================== Shuji Imamoto Satoko Watanabe Ai Nonoue Green Party of Japan Dear Shuji, Satoko and Ai, On behalf of the Green Party of the United States, we extend our deepest sympathies and concern to the victims of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. With great sorrow, we also acknowledge that the Japanese Greens' warning against the dangers of nuclear power has now become a reality. We stand ready to aid our fellow Green Party members and the people of Japan in whatever way we can. In solidarity with you all, Marian Douglas-Ungaro and Justine McCabe, Co-Chairpersons, International Committee Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/ Romi Elnagar, John Rensenbrink, and Bahram Zandi Representatives to the Global Green Network, Green Party of the United States -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Mon Mar 14 08:42:46 2011 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:42:46 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Worse than Chernobyl Message-ID: <42D426733FDA4357951707AB919C3F2B@JUSTINE> ----- Original Message ----- From: anthony gronowicz To: USGP International Committee Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 8:30 AM Subject: USGP-INT Worse than Chernobyl Meltdowns Grow More Likely at the Fukushima Reactors by Robert Alvarez Institute of Policy Studies Blog March 13, 2011 http://www.ips-dc.org/blog Japan's government and nuclear industry, with assistance from the U.S. military, is in a desperate race to stave off multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns - as well as potential fires in pools of spent fuel. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 170,000 people have been evacuated near the reactor sites as radioactive releases have increased. The number of military emergency responders has jumped from 51,000 to 100,000. Officials now report a partial meltdown at Fukushima's Unit 1. Japanese media outlets are reporting that there may be a second one underway at Unit 3. People living nearby have been exposed to unknown levels of radiation, with some requiring medical attention. Meanwhile, Unit 2 of the Tokai nuclear complex, which is near Kyodo and just 75 miles north of Tokyo, is reported to have a coolant pump failure. And Japan's nuclear safety agency has declared a state of emergency at the Onagawa nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan because of high radiation levels. Authorities are saying its three reactors are "under control." The damage from the massive earthquake and the tsunamis that followed have profoundly damaged the reactor sites' infrastructure, leaving them without power and their electrical and piping systems destroyed. A hydrogen explosion yesterday at Unit 1 severely damaged the reactor building, blowing apart its roof. The results of desperate efforts to divert seawater into the Unit 1 reactor are uncertain. A Japanese official reported that gauges don't appear to show the water level rising in the reactor vessel. There remain a number of major uncertainties about the situation's stability and many questions about what might happen next. Along with the struggle to cool the reactors is the potential danger from an inability to cool Fukushima's spent nuclear fuel pools. They contain very large concentrations of radioactivity, can catch fire, and are in much more vulnerable buildings. The ponds, typically rectangular basins about 40 feet deep, are made of reinforced concrete walls four to five feet thick lined with stainless steel. The boiling-water reactors at Fukushima - 40 years old and designed by General Electric - have spent fuel pools several stories above ground adjacent to the top of the reactor. The hydrogen explosion may have blown off the roof covering the pool, as it's not under containment. The pool requires water circulation to remove decay heat. If this doesn't happen, the water will evaporate and possibly boil off. If a pool wall or support is compromised, then drainage is a concern. Once the water drops to around 5-6 feet above the assemblies, dose rates could be life-threatening near the reactor building. If significant drainage occurs, after several hours the zirconium cladding around the irradiated uranium could ignite. Then all bets are off. On average, spent fuel ponds hold five-to-ten times more long-lived radioactivity than a reactor core. Particularly worrisome is the large amount of cesium-137 in fuel ponds, which contain anywhere from 20 to 50 million curies of this dangerous radioactive isotope. With a half-life of 30 years, cesium-137 gives off highly penetrating radiation and is absorbed in the food chain as if it were potassium. In comparison, the 1986 Chernobyl accident released about 40 percent of the reactor core's 6 million curies. A 1997 report for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by Brookhaven National Laboratory also found that a severe pool fire could render about 188 square miles uninhabitable, cause as many as 28,000 cancer fatalities, and cost $59 billion in damage. A single spent fuel pond holds more cesium-137 than was deposited by all atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Northern Hemisphere combined. Earthquakes and acts of malice are considered to be the primary events that can cause a major loss of pool water. In 2003, my colleagues and I published a study that indicated if a spent fuel pool were drained in the United States, a major release of cesium-137 from a pool fire could render an area uninhabitable greater than created by the Chernobyl accident. We recommended that spent fuel older than five years, about 75 percent of what's in U.S. spent fuel pools, be placed in dry hardened casks - something Germany did 25 years ago. The NRC challenged our recommendation, which prompted Congress to request a review of this controversy by the National Academy of Sciences. In 2004, the Academy reported that a "partially or completely drained a spent fuel pool could lead to a propagating zirconium cladding fire and release large quantities of radioactive materials to the environment." Given what's happening at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, it's time for a serious review of what our nuclear safety authorities consider to be improbable, especially when it comes to reactors operating in earthquake zones. ___________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: portside at portside.org Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ usgp-int mailing list usgp-int at gp-us.org http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Tue Mar 15 13:14:27 2011 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:14:27 -0400 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Leaked US embassy cable: Japanese lawmaker pointed to cover-up of nuclear accidents (Raw Story) Message-ID: <6F43459A9F534A0B89BEC6E1E194546A@JUSTINE> FYI, ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott McLarty" To: Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:08 PM Subject: USGP-INT Leaked US embassy cable: Japanese lawmaker pointed tocover-up of nuclear accidents (Raw Story) > (The text of the leaked US embassy cable is here: > http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/175295) > > Leaked cable: Japanese lawmaker pointed to cover-up of nuclear accidents > > By Stephen C. Webster > The Raw Story, March 15, 2011 > http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/15/leaked-cable-japanese-lawmaker-pointed-to-cover-up-of-nuclear-accidents/ > > > As engineers and scientists struggle to control six Japanese nuclear > reactors, three of which are in near-meltdown status, the world watches > with horror. > > But even as efforts continue in earnest across Japan, the search for why > this is happening has already begun. > > At least one man might have some theories. > > His name is Taro Kono, a liberal Democrat and member of Japan's DIET, or > parliament. Kono's father was the president of the liberal Democrats. He's > been an outspoken critic of the country's nuclear program, and once > resigned a high-ranking post in the House of Representatives in protest of > the Iraq War. > > And according to a US diplomatic cable released Monday night by The > Guardian, he allegedly told American diplomats about coverups carried out > in Japan's nuclear plants. > > "Taro Kono, who studied and worked in the United States and speaks > excellent English, is a frequent embassy contact who has interests in > agriculture, nuclear, and foreign policy issues," the US embassy document > notes. "He is relatively young, and very outspoken, especially as a critic > of the government's nuclear policy. During this meeting, he voiced his > strong opposition to the nuclear industry in Japan, especially nuclear > fuel reprocessing, based on issues of cost, safety, and security. Kono > claimed Japanese electric companies are hiding the costs and safety > problems associated with nuclear energy, while successfully selling the > idea of reprocessing to the Japanese public as 'recycling uranium.'" > > It goes on to say that Kono accused Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, > and Industry (METI) of becoming obsessed with their old policies, such as > on food safety where radiation standards had not changed since shortly > after the Chernobyl incident in 1986. He also accused the METI of only > providing lip service to efforts for renewable energy, instead focusing > much of their resources on the development of nuclear power. > > He added that the country's major electric interests once torpedoed a > series of television interviews he was filming. The companies allegedly > threatened to pull their sponsorship when he began to speak frankly about > the dangers and drawbacks of nuclear energy. > > Japan has 54 nuclear reactors; 11 were taken offline following last week's > 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that swept across the norther portion of the > country. > > The cable goes on: "He also accused METI of covering up nuclear accidents, > and obscuring the true costs and problems associated with the nuclear > industry. He claimed MPs have a difficult time hearing the whole of the > U.S. message on nuclear energy because METI picks and chooses those > portions of the message that it likes. Only information in agreement with > METI policies is passed through to the MPs. Elaborating on his > frustrations with the ministries, Kono noted that the Diet committee > staffs are made up of professional bureaucrats, and are often headed by > detailees from the ministries." > > As the crisis has developed, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) has been > rocked by criticism for its management of the nuclear facilities. The > criticism has been so intense that Tepco CEO Masataka Shimizu called a > press conference to apologize in public on Tuesday. > > Even so, reporters did not appear to be taking his apology at face value. > Some journalists on the scene were quite visibly angry with the company's > response. > > The event led MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to read off a litany of scandals > and coverups at Japan's nuclear plants over the years, perpetrated by > Tepco with government help. She cautioned, meanwhile, that skepticism of > the official word on these reactors is appropriate. > > > > _______________________________________________ > usgp-int mailing list > usgp-int at gp-us.org > http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int