12/15 newspurge: when the lights go on again

9/11 updates:
9/11 year in review: nyc marks 10th anniversary*
proposed skyscrapers in s. korea stir up painful memories*
korea's 9/11 twin towers: what were they thinking?*
sandra bullock used 9/11 memories for new drama*

biowars/envirohealth:
fema kicks off 'resolve to be ready' 2012 campaign*
hydrofracking in ny may be derailed by contamination in wy*
congressman at nrc hearing: fukushima is worst nuclear disaster in world history*
hearing exposes disarray at nuclear agency*
could fukushima have a china syndrome?*
video: fukushima safety level not safe*
video: canada leaves kyoto climate protocol, draws critique*

drugwar:
violence beats 'results' of mexico's 5yr drug war*
'fast and furious' death: slain atf agent's family speaks out*
fda committee recommends approval of adasuve or bipolar & schizophrenia*

geopolitiks:
iran demands US apology for drone flight*
bye, bye england? snp plans closer scandinavian ties after independence*
israel steps up efforts to stop illegal immigration from africa*
did the pentagon help strangle the arab spring?*

history/mystery:
'carlos the jackal' convicted for 1980s french terrorist attacks*
france hands 'carlos the jackal' another life prison term*

murder/mayhem:
copycat effect:
virginia tech's garuda again?*
woman dies in freak nyc elevator accident*
prosecutor among 3 shot at minnesota courthouse; suspect evidently defendant in case*
belgian gunman, long in trouble with law, killed before rampage*
florence attack, same day as belgium attack, by the author of 'the key of chaos'*
los angeles cop who staged shooting may serve only fraction of sentence*
video: ntsb recommends full ban on use of cell phones while driving*

oregon oddities:
mysterious toolbox explosion kills oregon man*
2 portland-area men sentenced to more than 20yrs for sex abuse of medford teen*
fred thompson, oregon state freshman, dead of apparent heart attack at 19*
coquille woman confesses in letters to 'snapping' and beating 86yr-old neighbor to death with shovel*
crooked deputy permanently calls prison home, after murdering pregnant woman*
portland man sentenced to 6yrs in prison for exposing himself - again and again*

police state updates:
time magazine calls the protester person of the year*
occupy portland shuts down 2 terminals*
occupy portland protest locked out of downtown building*
occupy shutdown costly for oakland port*
house, senate negotiators agree on defense bill*
40 members of congress protest 'indefinite detention' bill*
pentagon spending bill includes sweeping detention measures*
house passes defense bill on detainees, iran, pakistan*
cfr & the 'grand area' of the american empire*

wv worry:
lawmakers pass marcellus shale bill*
manchin gives coal as gift to fellow senator*
woman accused of taking $1.2m from casino*
dozens of soldiers return home to wv*