Feel Safe??

Radioactive strontium – at nearly three times the level permitted in drinking water – was discovered in groundwater underneath a nuclear power plant.

From the Associated Press:

The groundwater does not intersect drinking supplies, and although the strontium-90 is believed to have reached the Hudson it would be safely diluted in the river, said Jim Steets, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear Northeast.

The strontium — which in high doses can cause cancer — was found in a well dug in a search for the source of a leak of radioactive water at the Indian Point complex, about 30 miles north of New York City.

[snip]

The sample also yielded tritium, another potential carcinogen, at levels well above the drinking water standard. High levels had been found earlier in another test well. The nuclear commission announced Monday that it would investigate releases of tritium at Indian Point and other plants.

[snip]

The sample from the well also found higher-than-normal levels of a third isotope, nickel-63, but those levels were under the drinking water standard, Steets said.

The test well, inside a turbine building, is among nine recently dug in an attempt to pinpoint the leak that is contaminating the groundwater. Contaminated water first was found in August on the outside of a spent-fuel pool for the Indian Point 2 reactor, but no leak has been found on the inside of the pool.

You Go, Girl!

A very smart and very brave 14-year-old girl fended off an assailant…using a hammer.

From the Associated Press:

Police said the quick-thinking girl found the tool in the man’s car and used it to hit him in the groin.

The girl told police the man forced her into his car while she was walking to her school bus stop on Tuesday.

Police said the girl told them she remembered a lesson from school to always search for a weapon in that kind of situation. So she told her abductor she had dropped her ring in the car and went searching for it. That’s when she felt the hammer under her seat.

Take this opportunity to (1) hug your kids, and (2) sit down and have a long discussion about personal safety.

Warning Signs From the Beginning

Jim Maceda of NBC News has an article up on msnbc.com, saying the warning signs that the Iraqi people wouldn’t keep the ‘welcome mat’ out were there from the beginning.

Three years ago I was sitting on the Iraq-Jordan border in a grubby transit town called Ruweishid when I saw my future go by in a flash.

I recall the lump in my throat that told me the next five years — at least — would be consumed by yet another war, by more combat reporting, more threats to myself and my team, more explosions and possibly, more kidnappings, just as I had experienced in other Middle East flashpoints.

I was, to borrow a phrase, in shock and awe that the invasion was actually happening. Especially since I had bet my foreign editor, Danny Noa, $50 that President Bush wouldn’t do it.

[snip]

In particular, there were three moments that stick in my mind, details that added flesh to my earlier musings.

The first was while covering a breadline near the Haifa Road, in downtown Baghdad. A father of a family of six (all on line) told me, smiling, ‘You know, you Americans will have about six months of welcome. After that, you will be seen as an occupier, and that means you will be our enemy.’

[...]

Christian Peacekeepers Rescued

A Briton and two Canadians, members of the Christian Peacekeepers organization, were rescued today by member of the US and British militaries. A fourth member of the group, Tom Fox – an American – was killed by his abductors earlier this month.

From the Associated Press:

U.S. and British forces stormed a house and freed three Christian peace activists Thursday without firing a shot, ending a four-month ordeal during which an American in the group was killed and dumped along a railroad track.

The U.S. ambassador and the top American military spokesman held out hope the operation on the outskirts of Baghdad could lead to a break in the captivity of American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was abducted Jan. 7.

[snip]

No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into the house, where the captives were discovered with their hands tied, Lynch said.

‘They were bound, they were together, there were no kidnappers in the areas,’ he told a news briefing.

The freed men were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men — members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams — were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with an American colleague, Tom Fox, 54.

Fox’s body was found this month, shot and dumped in western Baghdad.

What is sad is the number of right-wing blogs that are ticked because these three men aren’t ‘grateful’ enough for their rescue. Or who believe that the men’s belief in peace and non-violence should be gone now that they are victims of insurgent actions. Apparently, they’ve forgotten that the namesake of their faith said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers…’

For more info on the right-wing blog reaction, you can check Crooks and Liars. I won’t waste time and energy linking to them.

SD Planned Parenthood moving to Pine Ridge?

Cecilia Fire Thunder is furious about the state of South Dakota’s new abortion law. So furious that she plans to open a Planned Parenthood clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

From indianz.com:

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

‘To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,’ she said to me last week. ‘I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.‘ [emphasis mine]

From kathrynt:

I called the Office of the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge, and spoke with Ms. Fire Thunder herself. (In case you haven’t seen it, this is in reference to http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/013061.asp)

If you want to mail donations to the reservation, you may do so at: Oglala Sioux Tribe ATTN: President Fire Thunder P. O. Box 2070 Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:

ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER PO BOX 990 Martin, SD 57751

Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. Bear in mind, the Pine Ridge Res is not exactly dripping with disposeable income, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifically for this effort.

ETA: Make checks out to OST Planned Parenthood Cecelia Fire Thunder. This will ensure that the funds get routed properly.

For email contact, you can contact the president at:

firethunder_president AT NOSPAM yahoo DOT com
cc:vbush AT NOSPAM oglala DOT org

That is Ms. Fire Thunder’s personal email address; I have received permission to post it here. For the sake of record keeping, do cc: the listed address on all correspondence; that’s her official secretary.