Japanese Officials Didn't Keep Records of Fukushima Daiichi Discussions

Japan - Japanese Energy Minister Yukio Edano admitted no discussions in the days shortly after the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi were recorded.


"It is inconceivable that there were no records kept,” said nuclear engineering professor at Osaka University Kenji SumitaIt. “It may have been difficult to keep official logs during the extreme confusion after the crisis, but they could have taken simple memos. Perhaps there were some goings on that the participants did not feel comfortable being made public."


Only one-page logs with agenda items to be discussed were found according to NHK, which broke the story after attempting to get detail of the discussions.

The current estimate on the time it will take to clean up the area is about four decades.

Dentist Pleads Guilty to Wrongful Dentristry Practice

New Bedford, Massachusetts – A dentist accepted a guilty plea to Medicaid fraud and several other charges related to the use of paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals.


Dentist Michael Clair's other charges include defrauding 130-thousand dollars from Medicaid, assault and battery, illegally prescribing prescription drugs, and witness intimidation.


Although he was suspended in 2002 by Medicaid, he kept filing claims from 2003 to 2005 via the use of local area dentists' names.


His use of the paper clips in place of steel posts may possibly have caused pain and infection in some of his patients.

Update:  Michael Clair has received a year in jail for his medical malfeasance.  Prosecutors were hoping to get a sentence of five to seven years.

One victim's tooth turned black.  The victim's mother, who witnessed Clair's sentencing was outraged the former dentist only got a year in prison. He was also ordered to stay away from his victims and seven of his employees. 


"He put my kids in pain for months...I hope he rots there," she told reporters.


The reason for the light sentence was that he had, in Judge Richard Moses' words is "a lack of a criminal record and certain mental health issues" but didn't elaborate.

Odd Stories: Man Has Five Different Accidents in Same Day

Fort Meade, Florida – One man may have set the record for the most amount of car crashes in a single day.

Curtis Gunter was arrested January 24^th after he hit several cars in five separate incidients in the same day.

Polk County sherriffs finally got him off the road when he swerved to avoid a set of spike strips and crashed into five more cars.

The charges against him include leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving,

Washington State May Soon Legalize Gay Marriage

Washington - Washington state may soon be the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage, joining New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the move toward granting marriage equality across the country.

In the past Washington had two other laws, a domestic partnership one passed in 2007, and another granting same-sex couples “everything but marriage” in 2009. This however comes as a significant win for movement motivated to giving gay couples the same rights as heterosexual ones.

Governor Chris Gregoire in the past expressed her support for the law, which was opposed by people like Ken Huterson, Antioch's Bible Church pastor.

"You are saying as a committee and a Legislature that you know better than God," he said. Opponents' only argument against it seems to be that it “goes against traditional marriage and the Bible,” the standard argument.

Four Republicans, two in the House and two in the Senate, are likely to face the wrath of their more religious conservative base. The National Organization for Marriage stated they will spend approximately 250-thousand dollars against each Republican who dares to vote in favor of the new law. However, it seems that may not matter for much longer.

A University of Washington poll, conducted in October of last year, shows a five-year jump in support for gay marriage from 30 percent to 43 percent. Twenty-two percent say they are in favor of giving the same rights to same-sex couples but not calling it marriage.

When asked about the possibility of voting for a referendum which would repeal the new law, 55 percent said they wouldn't vote for it (47 percent of them saying they are strongly in support of it) while 38 percent said they'd vote for the referendum.

If the bill is passed it would go into effect starting in June.

Marine Who Ordered Haditha Attack Gets Plea Bargain

United States - The U.S. Marine who lead his squad into the infamous attack in Haditha which led to the deaths of 24 Iraqi people is getting a paltry sentence of three months, losing two-thirds of his pay, and demoted to private thanks to a plea bargain.

Despite the claims of his former platoon commander and troop members that nothing he did was wrong, the fact remains that Frank Wuterich killed more than a dozen people soon after seeing his friend killed by a bomb. Some of the dead people were women, children, and even an elderly man. None of the military members received any gunfire from those they killed. To this day the deaths, which took place a little more than six years ago, still bring the ire of many Iraqi people and was one of the main reasons Iraqi officials refused to grant immunity to U.S. troops. That refusal caused, in the end, the“withdrawal” of American troops – we still have mercenaries there – from the country, though they still are in the region.

Wuterich said during the trial he “regretted the loss of civilian lives” but still insisted what he was doing was within the rules of the military.

Even though this is one of the most famous cases against the continued occupation of Iraq, not a single member of the squad has been convicted.

Update: Frank Wuterich will not serve ANY jail time.  Instead he will only be demoted to private. For the crime of massacring 24 innocent people for no reason, nobody on that hit squad will see any punishment.

Chris Hedges "Brace Yourself! The American Empire Is Over & The Descent Is Going To Be Horrifying!"