Hurricane Sandy Healthcare Rally at City Hall

New York City doctors and nurses are sounding a public health alarm on the stressed hospital network after Sandy.

Healthcare activists held a rally on the steps of New York's City Hall to demand that Mayor Michael Bloomberg do more to improve healthcare for survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

Sandy's floodwaters severely damaged NYU Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, Coney Island Hospital, and Manhattan's VA Medical Center. Patients who would have sought care at those facilities are now turning to other hospitals that remain open. (WNBC)

Emergency room doctor Marisa Fernandez, who has been volunteering in the badly damaged Rockaways neighborhood, said, "We're having to recreate an entire healthcare infrastructure from scratch—everything ranging from assessment and triage of newly housebound individuals, to mobile clinics." (Zimbio)

Despite what some hospital administrators have claimed, Sandy turned out to be exactly what weather forecasters were predicting, so while the Manhattan VA and NY Downtown were evacuated before the storm hit, Bellevue, Coney Island and NYU Langone waited until after. We can't say for sure why--but certainly the loss of revenue may have been a factor in that decision. Even public hospitals depend on reimbursements from patient visits to stay financially viable. (Socialist Worker)

Bill Rudin, Marathon Organisers Hoarding 41 Generators Whilst NYC Still In Dark

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Mayor Concedes To Critics : Cancels Marathon : What Took So Long ?

Race organisers, including the Rudin Family, the New York Road Runners Club, and ING, used Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be the fall guy for criticism about the city using valuable resources to hold the New York City Marathon. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg was forced to cancel the marathon after The New York Post reported that at least 41 generators were being hoarded by race officials. Meanwhile, large numbers of New York City residents were rendered homeless with little to no resources for food, shelter, heat, health, or safety in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Many storm victims were outraged at all the resources, not just power generators, that were being hoarded by marathon organisers for the sole benefit of runners.

"Runners were set to dine on a lavish Saturday-evening pre-race meal that included lemon-thyme chicken with shallot jus, and autumn vegetable bow-tie pasta primavera with extra virgin oil and fresh herbs — which most storm victims would have killed for," reported The New York Post.

"More than 2,000 cops are typically assigned to work the marathon. About five years ago, the city started privatizing medical coverage at the event, although scores of city paramedics and EMTs are still assigned to the race," reported The New York Daily News.

Bellevue Hospital Taking On Water

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

FDNY Manhattan scanner: Multiple people in the water @ ConEd Plant. Bellevue Hospital taking on water. Lower Man. flooded no power. #Sandy

— Lord Burghley (@Lord_Burghley) October 30, 2012

East Village Explosion Hurricane Sandy

A transformer possibly exploded in the East Village of Manhattan during the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.

Huge explosion just rocked the East Village, everything went dark and I mean dark.#Sandy I'm now legit scared. twitter.com/buckyturco/sta…

— Bucky Turco(@buckyturco) October 30, 2012

Con Edison Cuts Power to 6,500 Lower Manhattan Customers

Apparent explosion of Con Edison substation or electrical equipment due to destruction from Hurricane Sandy.

According to WCBS News, Con Edison has cut electricity to 6,500 customers in Lower Manhattan.

.@conedison preemptively shutting off two underground networks in Manhattan--Bowling Green and Fulton Street networks in Lower Manhattan.

— Scott M. Stringer (@scottmstringer) October 29, 2012

Worries Grow Over Possibility of a Second Nuclear Explosion in Japan

Updated : Early Sunday : 13 March 2013 -- New (Hydrogen) Explosion At Fukushima Number 3 Reactor (March 14)

March 14, 2011: A new explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant at the number 3 reactor.

From an AP Wire Story : "Japan’s chief cabinet secretary says a hydrogen explosion has occurred at Unit 3 of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The blast was similar to an earlier one at a different unit of the facility. AP journalists felt the explosion 30 miles (50 kilometers) away."

Video credit : ProducerMatthew

Early Sunday : 13 March 2013 -- Fears Grow Over Second Nuclear Reaction Explosion in Japan ; Larry Kudlow Shockingly Insensitive Japanese Tragedy Comment ; Disturbing Satellite Photos Show Widespread Tsunami Damage

Worries intensify that another reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is at risk of explosion, due to continued mechanical malfunctions of the cooling system, including pressure relief valves.

News of the worries at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are in addition to problems that have been identified at three other nuclear power stations.

As of yesterday, it had been reported that the integrity of the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant was also in danger of collapse, leading to the possibility of another nuclear crisis. Now, words has been received that two additional nuclear power plants face critical failures : radiation had been detected outside one plant approximately 60 miles from Sendai, and still yet another nuclear plower plant, this one located approximately 75 miles north of Tokyo, was having cooling system problems, The New York Times reported.

The cumulative effect of all these power plant problems could result in additional power blackouts in the nation, which is still yet trying to assess the damage to infrastructure as a result of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Meanwhile, reaction from conservative CNBC television commentator Larry Kudlow has shocked the conscious of the world. He took to the television to announce that, "We Should Be 'Grateful' That Human Toll From Japan Quake Is 'Worse' Than Economic Toll."

Meanwhile, The New York Times has published disturbing satellite photos of before and after the earthquake-tsunami disaster in Japan.