Plutonium spill in Boulder, Colorado has spread

[mood4amelody]

Plutonium spill in Boulder, Colorado has spread (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/316514704/plutonium-spill-in-b.html)
Posted: 20 Jun 2008 05:24 PM CDT
The Boulder Daily Camera reports that residue from the spill of a "small amount of plutonium" last week at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado has been found on the floor and tabletops. The plutonium may have been released into the sewer system after two employees "washed plutonium-containing powder off their hands and into a sink (http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/jun/18/boulder-officials-no-danger-related-plutonium-spil/)" on June 9.
Traces of plutonium from the June 9 spill were found in a laboratory sink, where the radioactive chemical may have washed into the city’s sewer system, NIST announced last week. Contamination has since been found on the floor and tabletops, consistent of the spread of plutonium by hands and shoes, the agency said. Boulder officials were alerted since the sink drains into the municipal sewer system.
Boulder city officials say there is nothing to be afraid of. All is well. Link (http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/jun/20/udall-demanding-documents-answers-about-plutonium-/)

[mood4amelody]

House passes wiretap telcom immunity bill (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/316427428/senate-passes-wireta.html)
Posted: 20 Jun 2008 03:06 PM CDT
Senate House Democrats covered themselves in shame today, joining with Republicans to pass a bill granting amnesty to the cowardly telephone companies who helped the President's office with its illegal bulk-wiretapping campaign that spied on every American call and email without any judicial oversight. What's more, the bill also allows this to continue going on in the future. Who needs the fourth amendment? The bill (.pdf) could be voted on as soon as Friday in the House, given its backing by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who in February organized a high-stakes showdown with the president over a substantially similar bill. The Senate would likely also quickly pass the bill, despite already vocal opposition from the ACLU, left-leaning bloggers, as well as Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)...
Additionally, the bill grants amnesty to the nation's telecoms that are being sued for allegedly breaking federal wiretapping laws by turning over billions of Americans' call records to government data-mining programs and giving the government access to internet and phone infrastructure inside the country. The bill strips the right of a federal district court to decide whether the companies violated federal laws prohibiting wiretapping without a court order. Instead, the attorney general would need only certify to the court either that a sued company did not participate, or that the government provided some sort of written request to the companies that said that the president authorized the program and that his lawyers deemed it to be legal. That would be presented to federal district court Judge Vaughn Walker, who is overseeing the more than 40 consolidated cases against the telecoms. Walker's authority would be limited to judging whether the preponderance of the evidence is that the companies did get a written request, and if he finds that to be true -- as the Senate Intelligence Committee has already publicly stated -- he must dismiss the cases.
Link (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/dems-agree-to-e.html) Update: Tim from EFF sez, "The Senate vote will probably be sometime next week, could be as early as Tuesday. Folks can contact their Senator here (https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?alertId=389&pg=makeACall)"