Mint Press – by Whitney Webb

TOKYO — While media attention has largely drifted away from the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the years since the disaster, a recent and disturbing development has once again made Fukushima difficult if not impossible to ignore.

On Feb. 2, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, quietly released a statement regarding the discovery of a hole measuring 2 meters in diameter within the metal grating at the bottom of the containment vessel in the plant’s No. 2 reactor.   Continue reading “2 Robots Crippled By Record Levels Of Radiation Leaking At Fukushima Daiichi”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The administration of President Donald Trump may ramp up enforcement of federal laws against recreational marijuana use, a White House spokesman said on Thursday, setting up potential conflicts in states where the drug is legal.

More than two dozen U.S. states have legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational purposes, and the administration of former President Barack Obama mostly looked the other way. But White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the Trump Administration may distinguish between medical and recreational use of the drug.  Continue reading “White House may boost recreational marijuana enforcement: spokesman”

Fox News

As Donald Trump becomes the latest U.S. president to attempt a ‘reset’ with Russia, a key Republican ally is pressing the White House not to lose sight of an emerging battle for influence that Moscow is currently winning – in the Arctic.

Russia has aggressively built up its fleet of ships cruising Arctic waters, while the U.S. has fallen far behind. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., is now urging Trump to counter that influence by funding additional so-called “icebreakers” for the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as drones to help the U.S. patrol.    Continue reading “Trump facing GOP pressure to counter Russia’s Arctic fleet”

KNPR – by Carrie Kaufman

The trial of six defendants accused of being gunmen for Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy during a tense standoff with federal authorities in April 2014 enters its second week in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

KNPR contributor John L. Smith has been monitoring the trial and he joins us as he does each week with his observations on the news.

Last week, we learned of plenty of dramatic photos and video footage of the standoff outside the Bundy ranch on April 12, 2014.   Continue reading “Gunman in Bundy Trial Say They Were Afraid of the BLM”

Fuel Fix – by Jordan Blum

The United States is on track to become a net exporter of gas next year, driven largely by the growth of liquefied natural gas exports, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

The U.S. started exporting LNG last year, courtesy of Houston-based Cheniere Energy, and the country is increasingly piping more natural gas to Mexico while, simultaneously, importing less gas via pipeline from Canada. The U.S. was still an overall net importer last year.   Continue reading “The U.S. is transitioning into a natural gas exporter”

Fox News

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt worked closely with major oil and gas producers, electric utilities and political groups to roll back numerous environmental regulations during his time as Oklahoma’s attorney general, new records reveal.

An Oklahoma judge ordered the release of thousands of emails between Pruitt and fossil fuel companies like Koch Industries and Devon Energy last week — after he and the state AG’s office were accused of ignoring multiple records requests.    Continue reading “Emails reveal EPA chief Pruitt’s work with oil, gas companies”

Tulsa World – by Randy Krehbiel

OKLAHOMA CITY — A trespassing bill prompted by pipeline protests in North Dakota cleared an Oklahoma House of Representatives committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 1123, by Rep. Scott Biggs, R-Chickasha, specifies penalties of up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison for individuals involved in actions against “critical infrastructure.”

It also would provide for fines of up to $1 million for organizations “found to be a conspirator” in occupations that damage or intend to damage such facilities or inhibit their operations.
Continue reading “Bill stemming from pipeline protests passes Oklahoma House committee”

SF Gate

A roaring waterfall is pouring over Santa Clara County’s Anderson Reservoir for the first time in 11 years.

The town of Morgan Hill, Calif. now has its own Niagara Falls–like attraction, and over the weekend many came out to take photographs and videos of the spectacular surge.

The man-made lake reached full capacity and began cascading over the spillway and into Coyote Creek on Saturday, the latest dramatic event to unfold amid a relentless rainy season.   Continue reading “Anderson Reservoir spills over for first time in 11 years as storms slam Bay Area”

WTSP

Only hours before a two-day visit to Mexico by the U.S. secretary of state and head of the Homeland Security, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Wednesday that Mexico “will not accept” the unilateral imposition of U.S. immigration proposals, according to media reports.

The foreign minister also said he would not hesitate to take the issue to the United Nations to defend what he called the rights of immigrants, Reuters reports.   Continue reading “Foreign minister: Mexico ‘will not accept’ new U.S. immigration proposals”

US News

(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld Maryland’s ban on assault rifles, ruling gun owners are not protected under the U.S. Constitution to possess “weapons of war,” court documents showed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decided 10-4 that the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, a law in response to the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, by a gunman with an assault rifle, does not violate the right to bear arms within the Second Amendment.

Continue reading “Maryland Ban on Assault Rifles Upheld in Court”

Reuters

China, in an early test of U.S. President Donald Trump, has nearly finished building almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The development is likely to raise questions about whether and how the United States will respond, given its vows to take a tough line on China in the South China Sea.   Continue reading “China finishing South China Sea buildings that could house missiles – U.S. officials”

CBS SF

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — As flooding along Coyote Creek in San Jose continued into the night Tuesday, San Jose officials issued expanded evacuation notices for an area stretching from Capitol Expressway to State Route 237.

At about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday night, San Jose city officials issued at mandatory evacuation for the rectangular area north of E. William and south of Santa Clara streets specifically for the homes on the creek side along South 17th Street to South 19th Street.   Continue reading “New Flood Evacuation Orders Issued In San Jose”

The Hill – by RAFAEL BERNAL AND JORDAN FABIAN

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday released details on how it will prosecute undocumented immigrants and criminal immigrants.

In two memos, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly repealed all guidance given to immigration enforcement officers by the Obama administration, save for those relating to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.   Continue reading “DHS releases new immigration rules”

Reuters

SINGAPORE/HOUSTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Chinese independent, or teapot, refiners are bringing in rare cargoes of North American heavy crude in a new long-distance flow that traders say has only been made possible by OPEC’s output cuts and ample supplies in Canada and the United States.

In April, at least 1 million barrels of the heavy crude Mars, pumped from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, are expected to land in China’s Shandong province and 1 million barrels of a second unidentified heavy grade will arrive in China, trade and shipping sources said last week. This follows the arrival in January of 600,000 barrels of U.S. Gulf Blend, a heavy crude made up of a blend of various U.S. and Canadian grades loaded onto ships on the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to the sources and shipping data.   Continue reading “Chinese refiners splurge on North American heavy crude”

Washington Post – by John Wagner, Missy Ryan and Greg Jaffe

President Trump on Monday named Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new national security adviser, replacing the ousted Michael Flynn — a move meant to help put the White House on firmer footing after missteps on multiple fronts.

Trump called McMaster “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience” while briefly introducing him to reporters at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida before returning to Washington.   Continue reading “Trump taps Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new national security adviser”

Fox News

For the second time in two weeks, members of a church on the south side of Indianapolis have found their Jesus statue vandalized, giving it the appearance of being beheaded.

“It makes me sad that somebody would do something like that,” said Pastor Brad Flaskamp. “I was hoping it was just a random act to destroy it in the first place.”   Continue reading “Indiana church’s Jesus statue beheaded twice in two weeks”

Washington Post – by Karla Adam

LONDON — British lawmakers on Monday kicked off a debate on whether to withdraw an invitation to President Trump for a state visit — ­an offer that had been extended by the British prime minister with un­precedented speed.

The debate, held in Parliament’s Westminster Hall, was triggered after a petitioncalling on the British government to cancel the state visit amassed more than 1.8 million signatures. A counter-petition urging the government to support the visit, signed by 300,000, was also being debated.   Continue reading “British parliament debates Trump visit”

Fox 40

OROVILLE — Five Oroville Dam workers were fired for posting spillway photographs to social media.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Water Resources told KRON that a number of employees working under the Folsom contracting company Syblon Reid violated the terms of their contract by posting the pictures.   Continue reading “Oroville Dam Workers Fired for Posting Spillway Photos to Social Media”

New York Times

On any given weekend, you might catch President Trump’s son-in-law and top Mideast dealmaker, Jared Kushner, by the beachside soft-serve ice cream machine, or his reclusive chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, on the dining patio. If you are lucky, the president himself could stop by your table for a quick chat. But you will have to pay $200,000 for the privilege — and the few available spots are going fast.

Virtually overnight, Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s members-only Palm Beach, Fla., club, has been transformed into the part-time capital of American government, a so-called winter White House where Mr. Trump has entertained a foreign head of state, health care industry executives and other presidential guests.

Continue reading “Trump’s ‘Winter White House’: A Peek at the Exclusive Members’ List at Mar-a-Lago”