Fukushima Daiichi Plant Still Unstable, Japan to Focus on Renewable Energy
Two months after a massive earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has promised a full investigation of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. He also pledged to de-emphasize nuclear power in the coming years and instead focus on renewable energy, according to the Environment News Service. People across the region hit hardest by the disaster observed a moment of silence yesterday for the 24,834 people who are dead and missing. The Daiichi plant is still unstable and leaking radiation, and many evacuees from the area surrounding the plant remain in shelters. On March 11, a 9.0 earthquake shook Japan and unleashed a tsunami wave that claimed thousands of lives and caused a nuclear disaster at the Daiichi plant.
Attention Dumpster Divers: One-Third of the World's Food Gets Wasted
A new United Nations report reveals that about one-third of the food produced each year for human consumption worldwide gets lost or wasted. That comes out to approximately 1.3 billion tons of food that somehow slips through the cracks and never gets eaten, at least by those who don't dig through the trash. Consumers in rich countries waste 222 million tons of food each year, an amount of eatables that almost equals the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. If you're not a dumpster diver, it's time to join the clean plate club.
NATO Attacks Qaddafi After TV Appearance
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi made his first television appearance in two weeks last night, and within hours NATO airstrikes blasted his compound, according to Reuters. The strikes left at least three people dead and 25 wounded. A government spokesperson condemned the strikes and said the NATO hit an area where Qaddafi supporters gather every night to chant slogans.
House Panel Approves Billions in Defense and Nuclear Spending
The House Armed Services Committee approved a spending measure today that provides $690 billion to the Pentagon and Energy Department, including $18 billion for new nuclear projects, according to The Hill. The measure also secures $118 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and includes a amendment that could delay the process of a full repeal of the “Don't ask, Don't Tell” ban on openly gay military service members. The amendment adds four more military leaders to the list of those who must certify the official end of the ban.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
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