Le Show; 2012-09-23

From deep inside your radio. Well ladies gentlemen, one thing I think we should all have learned by now regarding politicians is that they're like parents. Watch what they do, not what they say. After all in 2008, I don't recall Barack Obama promising to sign into law indefinite detention without trial for American citizens, but we got it. Thanks to his signature. So although we know now have the makings of an actually interesting candidate debate between the secretly recorded words of Romney and Obama, each pandering to the prejudices of their top donors, I personally am more interested in what we learned this week about what Romney has actually done. Now as I recall, his main calling card for the presidency aside from having run the Winter Olympics for which I am eternally grateful. You know, no one loves his loose like I do is his career as a businessman. Of course George W. Bush tried bragging about his career as a businessman, but that inspired

chuckle. It's not fear. Anyway, when you, when you run a business, when you, at the top of a business, you have hired directly or indirectly, everyone who's working for you. And therefore you can directly or indirectly fire them if they screw up. A presidential campaign is organized in roughly the same way, not so the federal government. So running a corporation resembles running a campaign more than it does running the government, which causes me to ask why is mid Romney supposedly so bad at running his presidential campaign? And that at least is what the conclusion you're led to by paying attention to the mainstream media, which is full of one time campaign aides declaring the Romney effort at this moment, faltering, failing, or dead and political journalists, most of whose sources are these one time campaign aides and who themselves fancy themselves as experts on the mechanics

of campaigns far more than under the details of government policy. They're pulling on in the best tradition of the herd. And in the midst of all this, what has Mitt Romney done? He has given bonuses to his top campaign staff. It's right. The Washington Post reported at the end of August, at least seven high level campaign aides in the Mitt Romney campaign split more than $200,000 in payments above their normal salaries. So either governor Romney is rewarding failure or he doesn't read the papers. The other thing he did this week was release his most recent tax return, which we find he paid a little more than 14, a little more than 14% rate slightly higher than what he did previously said was his historic 20 year running average rate of 13% income tax.

Nice rate if you can get it. Hello, welcome to the show. You pay lots to help the widows and support the tuts, so the news should be no big event. You'll miss to 13% you miss to 13% now working folks may pay a little more, but that goes to help the speedy core, bees gather around pistols and statements, funds tend to assembling

the payments, the lawyers say you pay in your fair share, there's no seat till the other they're there, why even ask where the green stuff went, you miss to 13%. Your mister 13% Triska Dickel phobia is not a match for clock, your buildings all have 13 floors, elevators never get stuck, 13 stars, 13 stripes, that's how our flight begins. 13 days of Christmas is in your long range plan, now deductions are a major deal of course, got a few jets and feed the horse, money goes to the moon because it can, for the purpose

of working on its time, if for me, I had the charity that's their job, then you're almost like any normal slab, the IRS hasn't made a dent in Mr. 13% From London, England from Leicester Square, you remember him, I'm Harry Sharer, welcome you to this edition of the show and now ladies and gentlemen, news from outside the bubble.

Hey remember a few years ago when the nation of Georgia, not the state of Georgia, was having its little tussle with Russia and I believe George W. Bush was still present and we were four square for the democratic people at Georgia, well here's a little more about that place. The United Nations Human Rights Chief called on Georgia Friday to prosecute prison officers caught on videos torturing and raping inmates, the scandal that's broken out a week before in national election in Georgia, Navi Pile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said authorities in the former Soviet Republic must comply with international laws that banned torture, really, now they tell us, we call on the government to ensure that all allegations of such human rights violations and not only the ones exposed in these videos but any others are promptly and partially and effectively investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice, he said, at a news briefing in Geneva, like they prosecute for torture, really? Dude, you gotta be kidding, we got to look forward.

Demonstrators took to the streets of Tbilisi and other towns this week after footage showing the torture and rape of inmates in the capital's main prison was aired by two television channels, supportive of the opposition, the interior minister resigned this week as the president, Mikhail Tsakashvili sought to soothe the protests, quote, these videos are truly shocking, they show prisoners being physically and sexually assaulted, being humiliated and being verbally abused by prison officers, said the UN spokesperson. Georgia has ratified the convention against torture as well as its protocol in allowing national and international experts to make unannounced visits to detention facilities according to the UN spokesperson. Really? They could have made a visit and we, did we, concerns about ill-treatment of prisoners in Georgia have been raised in various human rights forums for over the years as well as consistently in reports of Georgia's own Ombudsman, said the UN spokesperson in almost

the good English, those were our guys, now I think we know why. And speaking of which, ladies and gentlemen, we've been involved for the last so many years in a so-called war on terror, so it would be hoover to know what this terror deal is and how you get to be one of them, how you get to be declared a terrorist and perhaps even more importantly, with little knobs you have to turn, to not be declared a terrorist any more. And that leads us to this story from the Guardian. In case you didn't know, supporters of a designated Iranian terrorist organization on the US State Department's terrorism list since the late 90s have won a long struggle to see it unbanned

in the United States after pouring millions of dollars into an unprecedented campaign of political donations hiring Washington lobby groups and payments to former top administration officials. This was discussed on this broadcast back when the lobbying first became public on last year. A Guardian investigation, drawing partly on data research by the Center for Responsive Politics, has identified a steady flow of funds from key Iranian American organizations and their leaders into the campaign to have the MEK remove from the list of terrorist organizations Hillary Clinton so removed it this past week. The campaign, this says the Guardian, to bury the MEK's bloody history of bombings and assassinations that killed American businessmen, Iranian politicians and thousands of civilians and to portray it as a loyal U.S. ally against the Islamic government in Tehran, has seen large sums of money directed at three principal targets, members of Congress, Washington lobby groups and influential former officials.

So it's win-win, win. Prominent among the members of Congress who have received funds, Iliana Ross-Latinan, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Isn't that an adequate sentence? She's accepted at least $20,000 in donations from Iranian American groups or their leaders for her political campaign fund. Other recipients include Congressman Bob Filner, who's flown twice to address pro MEK events in France. More than $14,000 in expenses for Filner's Paris trips were met by the head of an Iranian American group. We'll also pay close to $1 million to Washington lobby firm working to get the MEK unbanned. See? That's how you do it. Saddam should have just bought politicians instead of weapons. By the way, speaking of Saddam, his allowing the MEK to locate in Iraq was one of the reasons the Bush administration gave as proof that he was supporting terrorism.

The Guardian sought comment from Ross-Latinan and Filner, only Dana Rohrabacher, a California congressman who received thousands of dollars in donation from supporters of the band group this year. Only he responded. He said he was comfortable accepting donations from MEK supporters, but that the money has no influence on his position that it should be unbanned. Rohrabacher said the MEK's past attacks on Americans, its bombing campaign in Iran that killed top politicians and civilians, and its support of Saddam, who say, were history, ladies and gentlemen, history. It's like toast. The group has turned its back on violence, he said. This isn't a bad group. He said, a long time ago in their history, they certainly had a questionable time. 20, 30, 40 years ago. They're not a terrorist group simply because some bureaucrats in the State Department say

so. Unquote, Dana Rohrabacher. Scores of former senior officials have been paid up to $40,000 to make speeches in support of the MEK's delisting, including the former chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff General, Hugh Shelton, ex-FBI director, Louis Free, and Michael Mukasey, who has Attorney General, oversaw the prosecution of terrorism cases. Newt Gingrich flew to Paris in June to address a pro MEK rally and meet its co-leader, Mariam Mirajavi. He was criticized for bowing to her. Remember all the criticism of President Obama for bowing to somebody? Newt Gingrich bowed to the head of the MEK at the time, a State Department designated terrorist group. Congressman Rohrabacher is described the lobbying campaign as one of the most effective he's seen on Capitol Hill. The MEK's supporters say was banned as a move by the Clinton administration to appease

the Iranian government. The State Department, on the other hand, points to a long and bloody history. The MEK ran a bombing campaign inside Iran against the Shah's regime. The targets were sometimes American, including the US Information Office, Pepsi Cola, Pan Am, they're out of business now, who cares. And General Motors, the group routinely denounced Zionism and racist Israel and called for quote, death to America, unquote. A State Department report in 1992 identified the 1992, that is history. Identified the MEK as responsible for the killing of six Americans in Iran during the 1970s, included three military officers and three men working for Rockwell International and Conglomerate specializing in aerospace, including weapons who were murdered in retaliation for the arrest of MEK members or the killings of the US military officers. The MEK was an enthusiastic supporter of the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran following the Iranian Revolution.

It called the eventual release of the American hostages a quote, surrender. I wonder how they felt about Salman Rushy. But then they fell out with Iran's new rulers and they launched a bomb campaign against the Islamic government in 1981, history. It attacked the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, killing 74 senior officials, including the party leader and 27 members of parliament. A few months later, it bombed a meeting of Iran's national security council, killing Iran's president and prime minister. The State Department then described the MEK as cutting a swath of terror across the country in the following years and a violent attack in Iran that victimized civilians. Some questionable years, ladies and gentlemen. So the State Department since 1981, the MEK have claimed responsibility for murdering thousands of Iranians. They describe as agents of the regime. The bombings included, sorry, continued into the 1990s, including one at Khomeini's tomb and against oil refineries. Saddam helped arm the MEK's fighters.

The MEK conducted raids into Iran during the last ages of the Iran-Iraq war. The last major act of violence committed by the MEK in the West was in 1992 when it stormed Iranian diplomatic missions in the U.S. Britain, Canada, Germany, France, and to Switzerland. Says the Guardian, the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 changed everything for the MEK. Until the 1990s, it was known as the people's holy warriors of Iran, but that's not the kind of name to win support in the West these days. So it tweaked the name. So the New York Times story on this subject said that to call it terrorist group was out of fashion. You see, it's just like the heel height. More news from outside the bay.

How are on that or nearby our friends and who becomes our friends and why and when and how we then forget. I guess that's a little theme, Georgia, MEK, and now Libya. This from the front page of the Times of London today, Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan dictator, was a sadistic rapist who kidnapped schoolgirls to serve him as sex slaves according to an authoritative French account, a book published last week describes how Gaddafi casually raped, beat, and humiliated teenage boys and girls in between checking his emails. This from John McCain, Senator John McCain after he met with Gaddafi in the former Libyan leaders tent after Gaddafi renounced nuclear weapons. This is a McCain tweet. Late evening with Colonel Gaddafi at his ranch in Libya, interesting meeting with an interesting

man. From the observer newspaper, a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and the Institute for Employment Research, highlights how millions of victims of changes in the British jobs market, which coupled with current tax benefits and other policies are fast creating a Britain of two halves. Those in the bottom 50% whose living standards are on the slide and those in the top half who can look forward to better prospects in the future. The hard of the problem, according to the study, is that traditional well-paid skilled jobs, like the one Adrian has here, such as in manufacturing and administration, have given way to low skilled, low wage jobs in the retail, caring, leisure, and service industries. These days, large swaths of the squeezed middle are in danger of becoming part of a vanishing middle. So serious is the situation the report says that even in a rosy scenario, you remember her, in which healthy levels of economic growth returned between now and 2020, the bottom 50% of British households would still see their living standards decline steadily between

now and the end of this decade. Enjoy those Olympics, folks, and finally, from outside the bubble, Italy's highest criminal court this week, upheld the convictions of 23 Americans in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terrorist suspect as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. The ruling marks the final appeal in the first trial anywhere in the world, involving the CIA's practice of abducting terrorist suspects and transferring them to third countries where torture is permitted. The 23 Americans were all convicted in absentia, following a three and a half year trial. They've never been an Italian custody. They risk a risk if they travel to Europe. Hey, Italy's nice this time of year, guys. One of their court appointed lawyers suggested that the final verdict would open the way for the Italian government to seek their extradition. It went badly. It went very badly, lawyer Alessia Sargato said. The Americans and two Italians were convicted last year of involvement in the kidnapping of

Abu Omar from a moral Milan street in February 2003, the first convictions anywhere in the world against people involved in the CIA's practice of rendition. He, a cleric, was transferred to U.S. military bases in Germany and Italy before being moved Egypt where he says he was tortured since been released. Those convicted include the former Milan station chief of the CIA, Robert Scheldon lady, was original seven year sentence, was raised to nine years on appeal. Not either way they can do that in Italy. The other 22 Americans all face seven year terms, news from outside the bubble, ladies and gentlemen, it all leaves a good taste in your mouth doesn't it's a copyrighted feature of this broadcast on a slightly lighter note. Two New York tabloid newspapers have dueling accounts this week of the ruminations of a one time celebrity, Kato Kaelin, Brian Kato Kaelin, according to the New York Post,

said that OJ, but here's what he said, the statue of limitations has now passed so I can now say yes, he did it, referring to OJ Simpson killing his then wife Nicole. He said he hadn't come forward before because he was quote, too scared. That was the New York Post owned by Rupert Murdoch. This is the New York Daily News. Kato Kaelin is denying he told anyone that OJ killed his ex wife. Former Simpson house guest is saying that while he thinks Simpson is guilty, he has no first hand knowledge of the death. I'm Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. So from the archives, just to review. Three million dollars and we're just starting with Marsha Clark and Christopher Darden.

She's losing family. These missing groups and the national inquirers get in legit scoops. Johnny Coppin gets cocky and Darden goes ballistic, Barry Shek is arguing the value of statistics. Bailey says the end word to try to riddle Ferman at the end of the century, it's tough to tell Levant from the Ferman from the Ferman, OJ, can you see by the dawns are they like by the twilight's last gleaming and into the night. This bang, they still don't have the hang of the slummo and everybody's watching Kato Eda or the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, OJ take the Brooklyn, Paul is doing big parts, Shapiro's autographing glasses at the K-Mart, Squeez no relation, Lang Wendard Rombus, Rosamita Werson, Prussian, Paul Sondis, Rocking and Bundy, Climb, Scene, Tape, Cater Bronco and OJ you can see by the dawns are they like by the twilight's last gleaming

and into the night, Mr. Harris still having trouble with the slummo and everybody's watching Kato Eda and the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the dawns are they like by the twilight's last gleaming and into the night. Mr. Blue is draining the running out of moon, Daddy's on the speed dial, Van Dyke is on a 10, the fibers are an opening, Dr. Morris likes this trip, and the ratings for everything

are the same, but OJ you can see by the dawns are they like by the twilight's last gleaming and into the night, Mr. Van Dyke is on a the hang of the slummo and everybody's watching Kato Eda and the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, or the Elmo, maybe that rings a bell, Kato, and ladies and gentlemen, on the subject of how friends become friends, Tony Blair has this also from the Sunday times of London, Tony Blair has a former British prime minister, Tony Blair, remember when ex-presidents and prime ministers just sort of faded nicely into the woodwork, not since Bill Clinton, Tony Blair has negotiated a new advisory contact

contract with the country of Kazakhstan, it would increase the total fee for working with the regime to about $23 million. Crit excuse the former prime minister of whitewashing the image and human rights record of a dictator, but no, Blair who has advised the regime on judicial, economic and political reform over the past year is expected to finalize the deal within the next few weeks. In March last year, the Blair had set up a government, sorry, a group to advise the government of Kazakhstan. Blair, Blair's office this weekend confirmed the Kazakhstan project will now run for two years. Blair's team will support the Kazakh regime on public procurement, regulatory reform, decentralization, and green growth, along with the group of advisors. This is Tony Blair associates is not involved in the deal, but it would be coordinated by a policy advisory group. The former prime minister had defended giving

advice to regimes with a questionable, questionable, here we go again, paging Dana Rara backer with the questionable, questionable human rights records insisting his work with countries involving Kuwait and Kazakhstan was, quote, not to make money, but to make a difference. Speaking of which, other nice people doing nice things, the folks at Nice Corp, detectives according to the independent newspaper have evidence which suggests a notorious private detective agency carried out a burglary while working for the now shuttered tabloid news of the world, then owned and run by Nice Corp. The latest twist to the phone hacking scandal of police intelligence report indicates that Southern investigations, based in South London, hence the name, targeted the home of a news where the individual in an attempt to dig up salacious information. That is so nice. The independent established the material,

that first suggested link between the news of the world and burglary is being held by the special operation police inquiry into a legal news gathering techniques other than phone hacking and corruption. It refers to a sort he carried out into a woman's home in Ascot and mentions the name of a long serving executive on news of the world, Alex Maroon Chuck. Southern investigations or an associate had, quote, gained unauthorized access into a private domestic premises with a view to gaining information on the resident. Separately a former undercover policeman who infiltrated Southern investigations said it burgled homes of members of parliament in an attempt to obtain embarrassing information for the newspaper. All those involved in Southern investigations and Mr. Maroon Chuck deny any involvement in break ins or any knowledge of any illegal acts. But even if they were, it was nice. Nice people. Doing nice things. It's a nice little world we live in and that ladies

and gentlemen news of the godly now, because it just gets nicer. Police in Poland have launched an investigation after photographs were posted on a school website of 14 year old children. You'll like this licking whipped cream from the knees of a priest cream. Hey whipped cream. You heard me. Oh, try to pretend you didn't hear that. The series of pictures show boys and girls apparently pretending to be cats approaching the priest seated in a battered armchair on all fours. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I was thinking of something funny. They then take turns at licking cream from his legs and what the school has described as an initiation ceremony for first year pupils at the school in the southwest town of Lubin where the priest is also the director, how handy for him. Once the pictures were picked up by the media, police and the local prosecutors office began a formal investigation into

the affair that has prompted condemnation across Poland as a good ways to cream whipped cream. No, no. I didn't mean this is very disturbing. So the Polish government spokesman on child affairs. They're not supposed to be having OIC. Surely the boundaries of decency in acceptable forms of bodily contact have been exceeded. Who are you calling sure? Oh, I've ordered an inquiry and demanded an explanation from all relevant authorities. The director of a charity working with abused children said the children were manipulated into the knee-licking and that, quote, limits had been exceeded. What, like the shin would be okay? The calf? The priest involved. Now here's somebody who, like stand up, stands up for himself. Doesn't cow-tow. The priest involved father Marcin Kozerra defended the ceremony. I had whip coming on my knees and I had to get it off. He said, no, that's not what he said. Quote, there's never been a complaint from either parents or students about any impropriety involved in these games. He said in a radio interview and not on this show, unfortunately. Quote,

similar pictures were posted on the school website last year and nobody batted an eyelid. That's because we had the eyelids removed. No, we didn't. The priest has also won the support of his immediate superior. It appears to be a storm and a teacup, commented, father, leisure, a school inspector from the local church authority. It appears to me that people are trying to distort this situation and make you look like some form of sexual abuse. So far prosecutors have said they will not press charges against father Kozerra, but condemned his behavior as, quote, tasteless. It's a matter of taste. You see, let's do it. Tasteless. The Catholic church in one Australian state has revealed that at least 620 children have been abused by its clergy since the 1930s, sparking a fresh call for an independent inquiry into sex abuse. Catholic church in the state of Victoria revealed a number in a submission to a state parliamentary hearing on Friday, but said the instances of abuse appear reported had fallen dramatically from the, quote, appalling numbers of the 60s and 70s.

Last year, Pope Benedict told Australian bishops that their work had been made more difficult by the clerical sex abuse scandal, which has rocked the church, rocked the church. He exhorted them to repair the errors of the past with honesty. The full submission was not released publicly. The church said most of the 620 criminal abuse claims it had upheld over the last 10 years related to incidents 30 to 80 years ago. That's history. That's like history with very few related to abuse that has taken place since 1990. The church had taken a step to redress the issue, including a program implemented in the 90s involving an independent investigation and ongoing program of counseling and support. Victim supporters say the number of children abused was likely much higher. But it's not just the church, ladies and gentlemen. Over two decades, the Boy Scots of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from

parents and the public. I have heard about being prepared, but this is ridiculous. Los Angeles Times, they're still publishing. Review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign and helped many cover their tracks. Don't you see? Volunteers and employees, suspected of abuse were allowed to leave citing bogus reasons such as business demands, chronic brain dysfunction, and duties at a Shakespearean festival. The details are contained in the organization's confidential quote per version files. Unquote a black list of alleged molesters that the scouts have used internally since 1919. Don't you know scouts lawyers around the country have been fighting in court to keep the files from public view. The Times reported in August that the black list often didn't work men expelled for alleged abuses, slipped back into the program only to be accused of molesting again.

Now more extensive review has shown scouts sometimes abetted molesters by keeping allegations under wraps. In about 80% of the cases, there's no record of scouting officials reporting the allegations to police. In more than 100 of the cases, officials actively sought to conceal the alleged abuse or allowed the suspects to hide it. I'm speaking quietly in case there's a scout in the room. I think the only thing to do now ladies and gentlemen is to go to something else that's slightly more entertaining. And that would be the return to the headlines even momentarily of our old friend, Sarah Palin, who says in a statement to the weekly standard of conservative news magazine, I don't buy more knock, who says she's got some advice from Mitt Romney. Quote with

so much it's taken this election, both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan should quote, go rogue and not hold back from telling the American people the true state of our economy and national security. They need to continue to find ways to break through the filter of the liberal media to communicate their message of reform. America, she says, this is a quote, desperately needs to have a come to Jesus moment in discussing our big dysfunctional disconnection and debt-written federal government. Go rogue, have a come to Jesus moment, guys, will you? Sarah Palin is back building the only kind of bridge she knows how. From can't take a hint featuring Judith Owen. When I'm asleep, you're in every dream, but can you be as grand as you seem? You span the miles

why I really don't know, you promise a journey, what where do you go? Bridge to nowhere, I'm under your spell, if you were a tunnel in your walls I would dwell. Please set me free, oh how I wonder, how you feel about me. At first I loved you, I thought you could help, cut short my commute to the moose at the end,

but you became a notorious curse, my dreams are driving, driving to reverse. Bridge to nowhere, you're under my skin, when my world is at stake, forsaking you is new sin. Bridge to nowhere, just leave me alone, we keep the money, honey, you're on your own. Okay, keep me to the bridge.

See the bridge went to nowhere, and down ladies and gentlemen, news of our friend, the Adam. Clean, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet, save to meet. Hey Addy, the Adam. Yeah. You know it's not very up. Weather's nasty over here. What? Weather's nasty over here, depressed. Oh yeah, seasonal effective disorder hits Adam, huh? Hard. It reacts to it's three mile island, remember that ladies and gentlemen? Yeah, three mile island. The side of the nation's worst nuclear accident shut down unexpectedly.

This past Thursday afternoon, you can't expect them to work all afternoon, can you? When a coolant pump tripped and steam was released, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the system tripped when quote, the pump stopped operating and created a power flow imbalance, said the NRC spokesperson, the plant responded as designed and is stable with no impact on public health or safety. Of course not. Why would there be if any radiation was in the released steam, said the NRC spokesperson, it would be below detectable levels, because we didn't detect it. Excellent. The plant operator said in a statement that during the shutdown, steam was released into the atmosphere, creating a loud noise heard by nearby residents. Here's a bonus. And in our sea inspector base of the plant responded to the control room, immediately, this is the use of the word respond that law enforcement uses. The officer responded

to the address. I just love, I'm a fan of that. And in our sea inspector, based at the plant, quote, responded to the control room immediately after the reactor trip to independently assess and to split his infinitive control room operator's response to the event and ensure safety systems were functioning as designed, said the NRC spokesperson. He did not identify any immediate concerns with operator or equipment performance, meaning nobody was asleep and nothing was burning. Plant operators were not yet sure what caused the problem. Once the reactor is sufficiently cooled down, plant personnel will be able to access the containment building and troubleshoot the problem. No date given for that. But you know, it takes a wild heat, it takes a wilder cool. It's a very mature thing for you to say. Thank you. Daylight Seabrook, New Hampshire, just one day after two nuclear safety groups called on the NRC to better evaluate the extent and impact of the degradation of the building that was designed to contain radiation in the event of a major accident of the Seabrook nuclear power plant in New

Hampshire. The NRC has announced it will step up its monitoring of the cause of that degradation. So like yes, the NRC will conduct additional inspections and reviews to independently verify and assess work being done to address concrete degradation at the Seabrook nuclear power plant. Says they press release from the agency. The degradation problem was discovered by plant workers in 2009. I'll see that's history. And confirmed by NRC inspectors the following year, it stems from the you've been listening. I can't help it. I'm trapped in here. It stems from the intrusion of groundwater into various structures at the plant and the effects of that water on both the concrete and the steel that reinforces that concrete. Alkaline silica reaction, the well-known ASR, is a chemical combining of reactive silica from the concrete aggregate with the alkali from the cement paste in the presence of moisture, in case you were wondering. The result of the, in case you're going on mastermind or something, the result of the reaction is a gel

gel is a good for you, which can expand and may cause micro cracks in the concrete. Testing done at the plant in 2011 showed that the strength of the concrete in one of the electrical tunnels at the plant in which ASR had been identified, the strength had been decreased by 22 percent from the time the concrete was poured in 1979. That's back when concrete was good. A September 13th letter to the NRC from a couple of interested groups called on the agency to determine the impacts from ASR and the so-called containment building, the double walled structure around the plant's large nuclear reactor. Despite the fact that Seabrook's containment building has historically had an accumulation of up to six feet of water since construction in the 1980s, to date, Seabrook's containment building has not been tested for this particular kind of concrete degradation. Said the group's containment is the most critical building to test. Yeah, I would think so. That's why it's called containment. And systematically

established the extent of degradation accurately, they said. And I now see officials and plant personnel have repeatedly offered assurances that all the plant structures affected by ASR can still perform their safety-related functions. However, they admit the problem is still being analyzed. So reassure first investigate later. It's one way to do it. It is. It's going to cost a nice piece of change to get the Fort Calhoun nuclear station in a near Omaha back to full service to ease the financial pain. The board of directors has approved a plan to spread out the cost, spread out you guys over a period of 10 years. The plant has been offline since April of last year, initially for routine maintenance, but the Missouri River flooding last year surrounded the facility with water, so it remained offline. The NRC also became critical of operations at the plant during the extended flood. What do you think? That's right, a fire broke out. Because floods, you know, start fires, don't they? A fire broke out in the cooling system used for fuel or for fools,

while the NRC says temperatures never exceeded safe levels. Regulators were concerned because the fire could have happened at any time, not just because of the flood. And workers did not fully investigate an unusual smell in the area three days earlier. There's nothing smelling here. Just checking. Replacement power costs and difficult questions are beginning to stack up at Santa Nofray, according to powerengineering.com. The stations which have been out of service in January remain so pending resolution of those steam generator two-barrel problems, particularly embarrassing says the publication is the problems that were risen, as you know, in newly replaced steam generators. Steam generator reliability has been a major issue for pressurized water reactors over the years. This, according to powerengineering.com, making initial claims that they would have a service life of 40 years now look laughable. That's that publication's language,

not mine. This is me talking. I wonder what other claims of service life will seem laughable a few years from now. Going back to the publication, judging by the experience at Santa Nofray, there are still important lessons to be taken on board. The complete technical explanation of all this is at power-eng.com slash news. I don't have a computer. It's not for you then. And ladies and gentlemen, discussed in this segment on this broadcast maybe a year or two ago for a while was a totally different source of fuel for a possible forgetting electricity from the atom. I'm not looking at you, honey. Thorium, namely thorium, not uranium, not plutonium,

thorium. And there's been this undercurrent on the internet and I've received various links to people who say that, you know, thorium is the answer. Here is just, listen carefully to this story. This is from the Guardian newspaper. The benefits of an alternative nuclear fuel that could offer a safer and more abundant alternative to uranium has been, quote, overstated according to a new British government report on the potential thorium. The report says the UK should continue to be engaged with the technology, but downplays claims by thorium proponents, which says the radioactive chemical element makes it impossible to build a bomb from nuclear waste leaves less hazardous waste than uranium reactors and it runs more efficiently. Quote, thorium has theoretical advantages regarding sustainability, reducing radio toxicity, and reducing proliferation reach of risk. States the report prepared for the Department of Energy and Climate Change by the national

nuclear laboratory and an L. While there's some justification for these benefits, they are often overstated. Unquote, now the Guardian says some of NNL's hesitance comes from British utility companies unwillingness to invest the money in research and development necessary to draw thorium's advantages. Quote, nevertheless, it is important to recognize that worldwide, there remains interest in thorium fuel cycles, and this is not likely to diminish in the near future. The report continues it may therefore be judicious to the UK domain a low level of engagement in thorium research and development. The report does note thorium's advantages would be most noticeable in reactor types other than the conventional solid fuel water cooled reactors used in almost all the world's commercial nuclear electricity stations today. In particular, design known as a very high-temperature reactor is especially well-suited to thorium fuels. There's one of them in partially decommissioned built in the 60s.

Several thorium initiatives are underway in the US. Fly of energy is developing a thorium reactor based on design developed in the 1960s by the Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. China is also developing different types of thorium reactors. Thorium is abundant, mildly radioactive, and it occurs naturally around the world. Yes, what scares me? Clean, cheap, safe. Do everything to meet our friend, the atom. Eddie, stay warm. Now ladies and gentlemen, catching up on another development, forces us to go back into the archives. The University of California, Davis, police officers who doused students in alumni with pepper spray during a campus protest last November will not face criminal charges. Prosecutors said this week, the chemical crackdown prompted widespread condemnation, campus protests and calls for the resignation of the chancellor. After video shot by witnesses

were widely played online, images of an officer casually spraying orange pepper spray in the faces of nonviolent demonstrators became a rallying point for the Occupy Wall Street movement. But the YOLO County District Attorney's Office said in a statement there is insufficient evidence to prove the use of force was illegal. A task force appointed by the university concluded in April that the pepper spraying was, quote, objectively unreasonable, unquote, and could have been prevented. Prosecutors said they relied on facts included in the task force report. Among them, the finding that officers perceived they were dealing with a hostile mob and needed to spray the protesters to clear a path to safety. John Pike, the police lieutenant who was shown in the videos, pepper spraying the protesters said he was relieved by the DA's decision. He was fired last July by the campus police chief who took over the university's police department after the chief who wasn't charged last fall stepped down. So we now have on our hands an unemployed pepper spray cop. When I was a pup, I dreamed I'd grow up to be a scientist, a doctor or an astronaut,

which school was so rough, I had to be tough, or then I had to learn all that stuff. I was taught so I adjusted my goals, started meeting up pros, reset my signs on a life at the time. I go hard, I go long, I'd be fearfully strong, I grow up to be the pepper spray cop. Pepper spray cop, pepper spray cop, not walking the halls with a pale and a mob. They may be sitting, it's a plug they'll be spitting, when they come up against the pepper spray cop. Now life is real good in a nice neighborhood, gotta boy in two girls and a four or one came

to the sound of crickets I write, pocket tickets, it's all I can do on an average day, but when the protests begin that's when I dig in, stole the short sleeves and hit the right gear shop. It's either me, it's not me, who'll be me, I'll name it your face, you're gonna drop. Pepper spray cop, pepper spray cop, not walking the halls with a pale and a mob. Now I pay leave, but you better believe that when push comes to shove, what you need isn't love,

it's a spreece from above, from a pepper spray cop. Now ladies and gentlemen, the apologies of the week. Organizers of two California-based rodeo events last weekend are condemning the racist comments of a rodeo clown that were directed towards President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. United bullwriting, a for-profit organization based in Bakersfield, apologized for statements that Mike Hayhurst reportedly made during the bullwriting event, which immediately followed but was not connected to the rodeo. I'll have pronounced rodeo three different ways.

For your listening pleasure, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported several residents who attended the bullwriting event said the rodeo clown made several offensive comments about the President and First Lady Nancy Pelosi and actress Lindsay Lohan. Hayhurst hung up when the San Luis Obispo Tribune reached him for comment by phone. UBR, United Bullwriting, does not endorse or condone the distates full in unsettling remarks expressed as part of the unscripted freeform banter during our bullwriting event. The company said in the statement, as a result of the incident, the Creston Classic rodeo board said it would not contract with that rodeo clown. Again, they've done it for three years. During the rodeo, Hayhurst made a joke over the public address system. Apparently, reportedly went like this. Playboy is offering Anne Romney $250,000 to pose in the magazine and the White House is upset about it because National Geographic only offered Michelle Obama $50 to pose for them. Other board members said it did not hear the rodeo clown's comment. All were busy ensuring the rodeo went smoothly. Sir, leave the comedy to amateurs. The International Coalition in Afghanistan has apologized for an airstrike that killed

eight civilian women in a remote part of the country. Last Sunday's airstrike came shortly before dawn in Lachman province east of Kabul. Villagers claimed the women were killed while gathering firewood. The U.S.-led security assistance force initially said an airstrike targeted 45 insurgents, but later extended its deepest regrets and sympathies to the families and loved ones of the civilians unintentionally killed or injured in the strike. And the Bishop of Clomfort, Ireland, John Kirby is apologized for describing instances of pedophilia as, quote, friendship that crossed a boundary line. The apologies of the weak ladies and gentlemen, a copyrighted feature of this broadcast. Ladies and gentlemen, that's going to conclude this week's edition of the

show the program in turn next week at the same time over these same stations of RNPR worldwide throughout Europe on the U.S. and 440 cable system in Japan around the world through the facilities of the American forces network up and down the east coast of North America by the shortwave triant WBCQ the planet on the mighty wind of foreign Berlin around the world by the internet at two different locations live in archive whenever you want at harryshear.com and kcrw.com available for your smartphones through stitcher.com, a mate heard me in Australia via stitcher, hit that mate, and available for as a three podcast through kcrw.com, and it'd be just like putting that all history away if you'd agree to join with me then. Would you already thank you very much, huh? A tip of the Lachoshapo to the San Diego Pittsburgh Hawaii and Chicago desks thanks as always to Pam Hallstead. Thanks for Adrian Bodnam. He's got one of the skill jobs here at Global Radio. It's a crazy obsession called Global for helping with today's broadcast. This broadcast is on Twitter. Join them almost 71,000 lunatics at the harryshear, won't you?

And I mean lunatic in the most loving sense of the word. Lachoshap comes to from century progress productions and originates through the facilities of kcrw Santa Monica community recognized around the world as the home of the rubber promise and the home of the homeless.