Meanwhile - on the ground - teams of TEPCO workers began working in shifts to bring the melting down plant under control. These shifts were essentially suicide missions - as radiation levels were well above lifetime dosages. During that March - an estimated 900000 terabecquerels of radiation were released into the air. That's roughly one-sixth of the radiation released during the Chernobyl nuclear crisis - but again - that was just during the month of March. Between then and December of 2011, when TEPCO finally said the plant was stable, more than 300 workers were exposed to lethally high levels of radiation - and millions of gallons of highly radioactive sea water were dumped into the ground and into the ocean.The effects of this radioactive dump are still not known. In February of this year - TEPCO began pouring cement around the plant as part of the decommissioning process - a process that operators believe could take as long as 30 years. But despite assurances from TEPCO that the plant is stable - evidence shows the nuclear crisis is still far from resolved. The Unit 4 reactor building, with tons of radioactive fuel and waste still stored in its roof, is leaning - and in danger of toppling over and triggering a chain-reaction radioactive fire that could blow exponentially more radiation in the atmosphere than Chernobyl And radiation levels at reactor one recently reached all-time highs. Yet - Japan is moving forward with nuclear power. Just this month - a reactor at ...

Ben Franklin famously said, at the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, that "if we don't hang together, we shall surely hang separately." That lesson of "we're all in it together" wasn't lost on Rwanda. Rwanda - a small nation in central Africa - is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped nations in the world. Nearly 60 percent of Rwandans live below the national poverty line - and in Rwanda, with an average income of just $560 per year per family - less than $2 a day - being in poverty meant bringing home and living on as little as ten cents a day. From 1990 to 1994 - the nation had a civil war - and in April of 1994 - the Rwandan Genocide began - lasting for 3 months - and taking the lives of nearly 1 million Rwandans. And yet - despite going through a civil war and a genocide - and being one of the poorest countries in the world - the tiny nation of Rwanda has something the United States doesn't - a healthcare system that works for all. Today - the new talking point coming from the Right against Obamacare is that it raises taxes. Yet, that's exactly how Rwanda went about creating a healthcare system that works for everybody. Today - only 4% of the Rwandan population is uninsured - compared to more than 16% in the United States. So how'd Rwanda do it? In 1999 - most Rwandans never had seen a doctor and even when they were really sick, couldn't get into a hospital - primarily because costs were so high that average citizens simply couldn't afford it. Knowing ...

It used to be politicians presented themselves as being just average folks, part of the American middle class or, as in the case of a rich guy like FDR, at least understanding the needs of the middle class and working people. The idea that a rich donor might give money to a candidate's campaign and then expect that candidate to vote their way was shocking. It was considered bribery. In 1952, when Senator Richard Nixon was running for Vice President, Democrats pointed out that he'd taken $18000 - around $150000 in today's money - from some fatcats donors. Americans were so shocked by the allegation that Nixon had to go on national television to address them. It was his second most famous speech of all time, right behind his "I am not a crook" speech, as he tried to reassure Americans that he would never, ever cast a vote in a particular way or enrich himself because of his position as a senator. We also liked candidates who were "average people" or at least could understand average people. Harry Truman drove back to Missouri and lived in a modest home until his death. Jimmy Carter walked to his inaugural, as the Washington Post noted right afterwards: "But what undoubtedly will be most remembered about Jimmy Carter's inauguration was that long walk from the Capitol to the executive mansion. It took him 40 minutes to cover the mile-and-a-half. As he walked along, with Amy prancing, jumping and dancing along at his side, he was shattering recent presidential practice and ...

Lee Fang, RepublicReport.org joins Thom. Rhode Island has become the first state in America to pass a law requiring political groups airing ads in the state to reveal their donors. So - with this new level of transparency and disclosure being thrown into politics in the Ocean State - are more states across the country likely to follow?