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[AtLast]

Originally Posted by betenoire

Anti-Gay Alabama GOP dude secretly donates sperm to Lesbian couples in New Zealand

(or: I hate the gays but that won't stop me from jerking off into a cup for them)

One of the best "Gotcha" stories ever!!!

[LeftWriteFemme]

National Organization for Marriage’s 2010 financial records raise questions

Interesting to read that the NOM has far fewer people financially supporting it than you might have thought. It's a little group of rich people making a lot of noise. No wonder they want to keep their donation lists secret!


http://washingtonindependent.com/116...aise-questions

[MsTinkerbelly]

California court recognizes same-sex parent of adopted child as a legal parent
By Adam Bink

From our friends at National Center for Lesbian Rights (via e-mail):

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) applauds the California Court of Appeal decision confirming that when a same-sex couple raises a child together who was legally adopted by only one of the partners, both parents should be recognized under California law. NCLR submitted an amicus brief to the Court of Appeal in the case supporting recognition of both parents.

The case was brought by a woman, known as S.Y., who raised two children with her former same-sex partner. The children were legally adopted only by S.Y.’s partner, S.B. S.Y. did not adopt the children, primarily because she was in the military and could have been discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” if the military learned about her family.

The Court of Appeal, applying longstanding California law, ruled last week that S.Y. should be recognized as a legal parent to both children, even though she had not legally adopted them, because she had acted as a parent and “held the children out as her own.”

“This was an important decision for families with adopted children,” noted attorney Deborah Wald, who represented S.Y. on appeal. “The Court of Appeal clarified that when children are raised by same-sex parents but only one parent adopted the children, both parents should be legally recognized.

Prior California case law had already established that when one member of a same-sex couple gives birth to a child, who is then raised by both partners, both partners should be legally recognized as parents. This decision makes clear that this rule applies to children who are initially adopted into families headed by same-sex parents.

“We are very pleased that the court enforced California law, which clearly provides that children’s relationships with the people who assume parental responsibility for them should be protected,” said Catherine Sakimura, the Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ Family Protection Project. “California is a leader in recognizing that there are many different types of families and that it is good both for children and for society when the law supports existing family bonds.”

S.Y. said: “I had my children with me this weekend, and for the first time in years I didn’t have to be afraid that it would be the last time they spent a weekend with me. I am so grateful to the attorneys who helped me win my right to continue raising and supporting my kids—and to the court for seeing our family for what it is.”

The case, S.Y. v. S.B., was decided by the Third Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal, which is based in Sacramento. S.Y. was represented in her appeal by Deborah Wald of Wald & Thorndal PC, and was represented at trial by Eileen S. Gillis.

[Kobi]

Marriage Rate Falls to Record Low in U.S., Pew Says


Facebook may seem some days like a laundry list of "just married" profile updates complete with images of smiling brides and grooms, but according to the Pew Research Center, barely half of U.S. adults are married, the lowest percentage ever.

W. Bradford Wilcox, the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, said that marriage had been "in retreat" in the last 40 years and that the decline had accelerated since the recession started in 2008.

"Marriage is less likely to anchor the adult life course," he told ABC News today. "It's less likely to ground children's experience with family life. It plays a less central role as an institution in American life."

In 1960, 72 percent of U.S. adults age 18 and older were married compared with 51 percent today. The median age when adults decide to finally take that big step is also the highest its ever been for both men and women - 26.5 and 28.7 respectively.

The most dramatic decline in marriage occurred among those 18-29. Just 20 percent of them are now married; 59 percent were married in 1960.

Wilcox said that people felt more comfortable postponing marriage until their late 20s and early 30s these days. He said the 20s were viewed as the "odyssey years," and a time to "find yourself."

For many, Wilcox added, marriage is still viewed as an economic institution, not just about love and living happily ever after.

"People are looking for a soul mate but also a person with a decent job," he said today. "The bar has been raised. Expectations are higher."

Pew, which examined U.S. Census data, said that other living arrangements - including cohabitation, single-person households and single-parents households - were becoming more prevalent. The number of new marriages fell by 5 percent between 2009 and 2010.

Wilcox said that while U.S. adults without college degrees were marrying less, they increasingly were having children in nonmarital situations.

"In the minds of Americans, getting married and becoming parents are two different things," he said. "Their top priority is being a parent, second to having a successful marriage. People have separated the two things. Years ago, they were closely linked to one another."

"The bottom line is that kids are experiencing more instability and more hardship because the adults are less likely to get and stay married," Wilcox said.

Seventy-two percent of U.S. adults had been married at least once, though this was a decrease from 85 percent in 1960.

A survey done by Pew and Time magazine in 2010 of 2,691 Americans found that nearly four in 10 Americans said that marriage was becoming obsolete. Forty-four percent of those 18-20 said it was obsolete.

http://news.yahoo.com/marriage-rate-...190248672.html

[MissItalianDiva]

I personally can not stand this sheriff he is a nut job

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-fe...164947314.html

PHOENIX (AP) — The federal government issued a scathing report Thursday that outlines how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office has committed a wide range of civil rights violations against Latinos, including a pattern of racial profiling and discrimination and carrying out heavy-handed immigration patrols based on racially charged citizen complaints.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its release, is a result of the U.S. Justice Department's three-year investigation of Arpaio's office amid complaints of racial profiling and a culture of bias at the agency's top level.
The Justice Department's conclusions in the civil probe mark the federal government's harshest rebuke of a national political fixture who has risen to prominence for his immigration crackdowns and became coveted endorsement among candidates in the GOP presidential field.
Apart from the civil rights probe, a federal grand jury also has been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009 and is specifically examining the investigative work of the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.
The civil rights report said federal authorities will continue to investigate complaints of deputies using excessive force against Latinos, whether the sheriff's office failed to provide adequately police services in Hispanic communities and a large number of sex-crimes cases that were assigned to the agency but weren't followed up on or investigated at all.
The report took the sheriff's office to task for launching immigration patrols, known as "sweeps," based on complaints that Latinos were merely gathering near a business without committing crimes. Federal authorities single out Arpaio himself and said his office, known as MCSO, has no clear policies to guard against the violations, even after he changed some of his top aides earlier this year.
"Arpaio's own actions have helped nurture MCSO's culture of bias," wrote Thomas Perez, who heads the Justice Department's civil rights division, adding that the sheriff frequently gave such racially charged letters to some of his top aides and saved them in his own files.
"MCSO is broken in a number of critical respects. The problems are deeply rooted in MCSO's culture," he said Thursday.
The Justice Department's expert on measuring racial profiling said it's the most egregious case of racial profiling in the nation that he has seen or reviewed in professional literature, Perez said.
Investigators interviewed more than 400 people, including Arpaio, reviewed thousands of documents and toured county jails as part of its probe, he said.
If the sheriff's office doesn't turn around its policies and practices, the federal government could pull millions of dollars of federal funding.
Arpaio's office did not immediately respond to AP requests for comment.
The report will require Arpaio to set up effective policies against discrimination, improve training and make other changes that would be monitored for compliance by a judge. Arpaio faces a Jan. 4 deadline for saying whether he wants to work out an agreement. If not, the federal government will sue him and let a judge decide the complaint.
Arpaio, the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America, has long denied the racial profiling allegation, saying people are stopped if deputies have probable cause to believe they have committed crimes and that deputies later find many of them are illegal immigrants.
Arpaio has built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can go to confront illegal immigration.
The report also said he and some top staffers tried to silence people who have spoken out against the sheriff's office by arresting people without cause, filing meritless lawsuits against opponents and starting investigations of critics.
One example cited by the Justice Department is former top Arpaio aide David Hendershott, who filed bar complaints against attorneys critical of the agency along with bringing judicial complaints against judges who were at odds with the sheriff. All complaints were dismissed.
The anti-corruption squad's cases against two county officials and a judge collapsed in court before going to trial and have been criticized by politicians at odds with the sheriff as trumped up. Arpaio has defended the investigations as a valid attempt at rooting out corruption in county government.
The civil rights report said Latinos are four to nine times more likely to be stopped in traffic stops in Maricopa County than non-Latinos and that the agency's immigration policies treat Latinos as if they are all in the country illegally. Deputies on the immigrant-smuggling squad stop and arrest Latino drivers without good cause, the investigation found.
A review done as part of the investigation found that 20 percent of traffic reports handled by Arpaio's immigrant-smuggling squad from March 2006 to March 2009 were stops — almost all involving Latino drivers — that were done without reasonable suspicion. The squad's stops rarely led to smuggling arrests.
Deputies are encouraged to make high-volume traffic stops in targeted locations. There were Latinos who were in the U.S. legally who were arrested or detained without cause during the sweeps, according to the report.
During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city — in some cases, heavily Latino areas — over several days to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders. Illegal immigrants accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested in the 20 sweeps conducted by his office since January 2008, according to figures provided by Arpaio's office.
Police supervisors, including at least one smuggling-squad supervisor, often used county accounts to send emails that demeaned Latinos to fellow sheriff's managers, deputies and volunteers in the sheriff's posse. One such email had a photo of a mock driver's license for a fictional state called "Mexifornia."
The report said that the sheriff's office launched an immigration operation two weeks after the sheriff received a letter in August 2009 letter about a person's dismay over employees of a McDonald's in the Phoenix suburb of Sun City who didn't speak English. The tip laid out no criminal allegations. The sheriff wrote back to thank the writer "for the info," said he would look into it and forwarded it to a top aide with a note of "for our operation."
Federal investigators focused heavily on the language barriers in Arpaio's jails.
Latino inmates with limited English skills were punished for failing to understand commands in English by being put in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day or keeping prisoners locked down in their jail pods for as long as 72 hours without a trip to the canteen area or making nonlegal phone calls.
The report said some jail officers used racial slurs for Latinos when talking among themselves and speaking to inmates.
Detention officers refused to accept forms requesting basic daily services and reporting mistreatment when the documents were completed in Spanish and pressured Latinos with limited English skills to sign forms that implicate their legal rights without language assistance.
The agency pressures Latinos with limited English skills to sign forms by yelling at them and keeping them in uncomfortably cold cells for long periods of time.
The Justice Department said it hadn't yet established a pattern of alleged wrongdoing by the sheriff's office in the three areas where they will continue to investigation: complaints of excessive force against Latinos, botched sex-crimes cases and immigration efforts that have hurt the agency's trust with the Hispanic community.
Federal authorities will continue to investigate whether the sheriff's office has limited the willingness of witnesses and victims to report crimes or talk to Arpaio's office.
"MCSO has done almost nothing to build such a relationship with Mariciopa County's Latino residents," Perez wrote.

[SoNotHer]

China’s Deserted Fake Disneyland
ReutersBy David Gray | Reuters – 19 hours ago

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china%...isneyland.html

Along the road to one of China’s most famous tourist landmarks – the Great Wall of China – sits what could potentially have been another such tourist destination, but now stands as an example of modern-day China and the problems facing it.



Situated on an area of around 100 acres, and 45 minutes drive from the center of Beijing, are the ruins of ‘Wonderland’. Construction stopped more than a decade ago, with developers promoting it as ‘the largest amusement park in Asia’. Funds were withdrawn due to disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers. So what is left are the skeletal remains of a palace, a castle, and the steel beams of what could have been an indoor playground in the middle of a corn field.



Pulling off the expressway and into the car park, I expected to be stopped by the usual confrontational security guards. But there was absolutely no one to be seen. I walked through one of the few entrances not boarded up, and instantly started coughing. In front of me were large empty rooms and discarded furniture, all covered in a thick layer of dust, along with an eerie silence that gave the place a haunted feeling – an emotion not normally associated with a children’s playground.



Once outside again, I came across some farmers who originally owned the land and are now using it to once again to grow their crops. Their tracks and plantations can be seen running through and surrounding the uncompleted buildings. Walking further, I came across a rather farcical sight of some farmers digging a well next to a castle; a moment I will always savor as a photographer in a place like China where castles are not in huge supply. I explained this to the farmers and they just shrugged their shoulders, oblivious to a photographer’s happiness. I asked them what happened, and they simply answered the developers ran out of money, and they are getting back to doing what they do best. They are even slowly starting to plant trees and build shelters near the buildings, adding they think it is now safe to think the developers are never coming back. This I can believe, as the absence of any security (something very rare in China) leads one to think that even the developers have given up on what is already there.



All these structures of rusting steel and decaying cement, are another sad example of property development in China involving wasted money, wasted resources and the uprooting of farmers and their families. It is a reflection of the country’s property market which many analysts say the government must keep tightening steps in place. The worry is a massive increase in inflation and a speculative bubble that might burst, considering that property sales contribute to around 10 percent of China’s growth.

[LeftWriteFemme]

I.R.S. Denied Lesbians Legitimate Adoption Credit



http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/...dit/?src=rechp

[AtLast]

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_ne...egal-questions

Sandusky's dinner with alleged victims raises new legal questions

By Lisa Riordan Seville and Hannah Rappleye
NBC News

While under investigation by a criminal grand jury for allegedly sexually abusing young boys, Jerry Sandusky said he spoke to and even dined with men now identified as his victims. The 67-year-old former Penn State assistant coach accused of sexually abusing young boys for more than a decade holds up these encounters as proof of his innocence, but a lawyer for at least one of the victims believes they could be criminal.

“One of the questions that raised in my mind, ‘Was this an effort on his part to tamper with witnesses?’” said Howard Janet, a Baltimore attorney representing the man known in the grand jury report of Sandusky as Victim 6. “Was it intended as a way to influence the public or the prospective jury pool?”

In early November, Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing boys over a period of about 14 years. But the community knew of the investigation months earlier.



The story went public on March 31, when the Patriot News newspaper broke the story that a grand jury had been convened to look into allegations that Sandusky abused a 15-year-old Clinton County, Pa., boy, now known as Victim 1.

The following day, Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, issued a statement saying that his client was prepared to fight.

“Should the allegations, as set forth in today’s newspaper article eventually lead to the institution of criminal charges against Jerry, Jerry fully intends to establish his innocence and put these false allegations to rest forever,” he said.

Interviews with lawyers and the grand jury report show that in the months that followed, Sandusky made several attempts to contact boys who had participated in the charity he founded -- the Second Mile – and who later testified before the grand jury, prompting Janet to question whether Sandusky tried to sway the outcome of the investigation.


Witness tampering in the state of Pennsylvania is defined as any act with the intent to intimidate a witness or victim to “refrain from reporting a crime, withhold or give false or misleading information, or to ignore or evade requests for information or a summons.”

Under state penal codes, witness tampering is considered equal to the most serious offense a defendant is charged with. Among the charges against Sandusky are multiple first-degree felonies, which carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

Sandusky has not been charged with tampering or intimidation of witnesses.

A 'reunion' dinner

In July, Sandusky called Victim 6 and asked him to dinner. Sandusky framed it as a “reunion” of former Second Mile children, Janet said. Police asked the alleged victim to wear a wire, Janet said, but he eventually decided not to because he was nervous.

Victim 6 testified before the grand jury that Sandusky showered with him on the Penn State campus. Sandusky was investigated in 1998 after the boy’s mother reported the incident to the police. Sandusky at the time admitted that he had showered with the boy – as well as another youth whose name surfaced in the subsequent investigation -- and was advised by a Penn State University detective not to do it again. The district attorney closed the case.

On the night of the July dinner, Victim 6 said he met Sandusky at his home then continued on, along with Sandusky’s wife, to a local restaurant. Janet said his client was “surprised” to find no other former Second Mile children he knew among those at the restaurant, but he finished the dinner and reported back to the police.

In an interview with NBC, Janet said it was “inconceivable” that Sandusky did not know he was under investigation at the time. “It was public knowledge and it was widely reported,” he said.


According to Amendola, Sandusky’s lawyer, Victim 2 was also at the dinner. Victim 2 is the boy who Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary testified to seeing being raped by Sandusky in the showers in Penn State’s Lasch Football Building in 2002. Victim 2, however, has not been identified by prosecutors and did not testify at the grand jury.

Amendola told reporters in November that a man he believes is Victim 2 had appeared in his office weeks before to say he had no sexual contact with Sandusky.

Amendola said that both Victims 2 and 6 maintained a relationship with the Sanduskys in recent years, including visiting their home and attending other dinners. The July dinner, he said, was friendly. “Neither of them had any knowledge 2 or 6 had been or were going to be questioned” by the grand jury, and there was no mention of the investigation, Amendola wrote in a statement to NBC.

“Jerry and Dottie have maintained positive contact with 2 and 6 as well as many other kids they helped who have grown into adulthood over the years,” he said. ”They are both deeply saddened and perplexed by the allegations.”

Sandusky and his wife also reached out to at least one other alleged victim prior to his testifying, according to the grand jury report. Victim 7, a former Second Mile participant who Sandusky allegedly met around 1994, told the grand jury that weeks before his testimony, Sandusky, his wife, and an unidentified friend left several messages on his voicemail. It had been nearly two years since he last spoke or had contact with Sandusky. Victim 7 said he did not return their calls.


Sandusky confirmed to the The New York Times that he had contacted at least one of his accusers but did so believing he would serve as a character witness. He said he did not know the prosecution had listed the individual as a victim.

An unorthodox defense strategy
Sandusky’s defense has so far been unorthodox. He spoke live to NBC’s Bob Costas following his arrest and last week gave an extended interview to the New York Times.

Asked by Costas if he was sexually attracted to young boys, Sandusky said, "Sexually attracted, no -- I enjoy young people, I love to be around them."

The New York Times revisited the comment last week in an extended, four-hour interview in which reporter Jo Becker asked Sandusky about his answer to Costa's question.

"If I say, no, I'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because I'm attracted to young people, boys, girls," Sandusky said.

Amendola, sitting nearby, jumped in. "Yeah, but not sexually, you're attracted because you enjoy spending time..." he said.

"Right, I enjoy, that's what I was tryin' to say, answer that," Sandusky clarified. "I enjoy spending time with young people. I enjoy spending time with people."


-----------------------------------------------------

It isn't unusual at all for victims to continue in some kind of association with their abuser- it is often a way for them to re-script the abuse as they try to live a "normal" life and they have undergone years of grooming by the abuser- there is pre-during and post grooming going on- part of the power dynamic.

[Kobi]

The Sandusky thing just gets more and more odd. The strategies (?) being employed are not only unorthodox, they are just plain bizarre and ill advised by conventional wisdom standards.

It's fascinating to watch it unfold tho. I eagerly await seeing if this is some new, well thought out maze of deception as a way to establish reasonable doubt or if it is a budding example of the worst legal malpractice known to mankind.

[AtLast]

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/15/143765...d-civil-rights

About time this sherriff is investigated! Hope he is charged with civil rights violations and does time, himself!

[Gemme]

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/...6pLid%3D120710

HOA demands tool to help a disabled child gain independence and strength be torn down.

[Kobi]

MONTPELIER, Vt.—A University of Vermont fraternity whose members are accused of circulating a survey that asked who they would like to rape has been closed indefinitely.

The national Sigma Phi Epsilon made the announcement Friday after an internal investigation and lengthy discussions with the university in Burlington.

"Without suggesting that every member had knowledge of this questionnaire, the questions asked in the document are deplorable and absolutely inconsistent with our values," said Brian Warren, executive director of the national fraternity organization based in Richmond, Va.

The national organization has said there's no indication the questionnaire was sanctioned by the fraternity or distributed to the more than 50 members of the Vermont chapter.

A student reported the questionnaire to university officials over the weekend, which led the school and the national organization to suspend the chapter temporarily, pending the investigation.

The school is investigating how widely the survey was circulated, and campus police are trying to determine if any crimes were committed.

The survey prompted a women's rights and equality group to organize a rally Thursday in Burlington, attended by more than 200 people, some calling for the fraternity to be shut down.

Members of the Vermont chapter would not comment Friday on its closing, and deferred questions to a national representative.

UVM Interim President John Bramley said Friday that national representatives of Sigma Phi Epsilon have been thorough, respectful and serious in their investigation. UVM's investigation will continue.

"We respect and support their decision, and appreciate their interest in maintaining a dialogue going forward to identify lessons learned from all of this, as well as exploring educational strategies and opportunities to address pervasive cultural issues that contributed to this egregious situation," Bramley said.

The national organization said it will work with the university in considering when a fraternity chapter might be revived.

http://www.boston.com/news/education...--+Latest+news

[betenoire]

Two People In Louisiana Die From Brain-Eating Amoebas Because They Used Tap Water in Their Neti Pots

(The actual title of the article is "Two People Die From Brain Eating Amoebas After Using Neti Pots" but I figured for the sake of not creating mass panic I should add "In Louisiana" and "Because They Used Tap Water".)

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by betenoire

Two People In Louisiana Die From Brain-Eating Amoebas Because They Used Tap Water in Their Neti Pots

(The actual title of the article is "Two People Die From Brain Eating Amoebas After Using Neti Pots" but I figured for the sake of not creating mass panic I should add "In Louisiana" and "Because They Used Tap Water".)

"Tap water is safe for drinking, but not for irrigating your nose".

Sounds about right.

[betenoire]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

"Tap water is safe for drinking, but not for irrigating your nose".

Sounds about right.

Well obviously the only pathogen in tap water is the brain eating kind the gets in through your nasal canal.

Duh.

[DapperButch]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...?ir=Gay+Voices

[Kobi]

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai transsexual ladyboys are taking to the air as flight attendants for a new airline, a move that some said could be a key step towards still broader acceptance in a nation where they are already unusually visible.

Known as "katoeys" or "ladyboys," transgenders and transsexuals hold mainstream jobs in a variety of fields in Thailand. They are especially common in cosmetics shops or health stores, which almost always have a ladyboy shop assistant.

Working for new charter airline PC Air, transsexual flight attendants including 22-year-old Tanyarat Jirapatpakorn made their debut on a flight from Bangkok to the southern city of Surat Thani on Thursday, serving drinks and snacks and carrying out safety demonstrations.

This is the beginning of the acceptance of transsexuals in Thailand, giving the opportunity for us to work in various fields," said Tanyarat.

"Maybe in the future we can get any job that transsexuals never did before, such as police, soldiers or even pilots."

PC Air, whose name comes from the initials of president Peter Chan, originally planned only to hire male and female flight attendants, but changed its mind after more than 100 transsexuals and transvestites applied as well.

Four were chosen, along with 19 female and 7 male flight attendants. The airline said qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walked and talked, and have a feminine voice.

Chan, the airline president, said the ladyboy flight attendants actually might have a special advantage.

"They might provide better services because they understand both males and females. And they're well trained according to the aviation standard," he added.

The new recruits were chosen in February and have been training since in security measures, in-flight services, and make-up application.

PC Air flies domestically as well as to several Asian destinations, including Japan and South Korea.

(Reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat; editing by Elaine Lies and Jonathan Thatcher)

http://news.yahoo.com/thai-ladyboy-f...GVzdAM-;_ylv=3

[Sassy]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...?ir=Gay+Voices

Love that Newt's half sister is endorsing Obama

[Midnight]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/w...ippines-storm/

Thoughts and prayers to those caught up in the disaster

[SoNotHer]

Persistent drought in Romania threatens Danube's power

Drop in the level of the river's waters means that nuclear reactor may have to close down


Season of drought ... Romanians with carts loaded with firewood drive across the Danube's river bed. Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

In Cernavoda, a small town in southeast Romania, social housing projects stretch all along the left bank of the Danube. The now dilapidated buildings sprang up in the 1970s and 1980s, after the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided to build the country's first nuclear power plant there. In his ambition for power and prosperity, he also ordered a canal to be built from Cernavoda to Constantza, a port on the Black Sea, to shorten the trade route by 400km. The excavations were done by thousands of political prisoners, many of whom died.

Today, 21 years after the fall of communism, the threat to Cernavoda is not from dictatorship but the drought that has hit Romania since August. "Look at the water level," said Vasile Mogos, who lives in a council flat by the river. "I would never have imagined that the Danube could fall so low." The Danube crosses Europe from west to east over 2,850km, from its source in Germany's Black Forest to the Black Sea in Romania. In its path Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania all exploit the waters of Europe's second-longest river after the Volga.

The first reactor in the Romanian nuclear power plant, which uses Canadian CANDU reactor technology based on natural uranium and pressurised heavy water, came on stream in 1996. A second reactor was built in 2007, and three others are planned, since the Romanian government counts on nuclear power for energy self-sufficiency. The two reactors in the Cernavoda plant generate 20% of those needs and were built on the banks of the Danube to use its waters for cooling.

Early this month, the Danube's flow rate in Turnu-Severin, a town in southwest Romania, home to the country's largest hydroelectric power plant, was 2,400 cubic metres per second, 63% of the usual average of 3,800 cubic metres per second. Hidroelectrica, the public corporation in charge of delivering the energy produced by the plant, is generating only 1,800MW instead of the usual 2,100 MW. In 2003 the drought in Romania was so severe that it led to the shutdown of one of the Cernavoda reactors. Cantemir Ciurea, director of the National Committee for Controlling Nuclear Activities, said: "We immediately put in place a new system that allowed the pumps to extract the cooling water from much lower levels."

The Romanian authorities have not, however, discounted the possible closure of a reactor if the drought persists. The lack of rain is also worrying for hotel owners in the Danube delta, who have lost some 10,000 tourists this year, with 250 boats and craft stranded, waiting for the rains before they can sail again. Losses are now counted in millions of euros. Second world war battleships have even resurfaced on the Sava river, a tributary that joins the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia.

The drought is also threatening the fragile ecosystem. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the race to expand agricultural land in the 20th century has already eliminated 80% of the Danube's wetlands.

"The wetlands along the riverbanks were able to absorb water in the event of flooding and free it in periods of drought," explained Andreas Beckmann, director of WWF's Danube-Carpathian programme. "We are going to see more and more of these extreme situations. Our best response is to protect and strengthen our green infrastructure."

This article originally appeared in Le Monde

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011...be-power/print