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PostPosted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:37 pm 
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Yeah, BBCNews is all over it right now. There does not seem to have been a tzunami.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:41 pm 
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A reader on FourWinds10 objected to Benjamin Fulford's claim that the 9.0 earthquake was caused by HAARP technology. Patrick Bellringer answered that the complaint is valid, because Fulford continues to overlook the Earth Shan cycles that are now changing everything.
Quote:
Yes, Cosmic cycles are a very real part of Earth Shan's life and of her present transition into fifth dimension. She creaks and groans, as her tectonic plates move to allow the rising of the continent of Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean, and the rising of the continent of Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean.

Great areas of our present land mass will again be submerged under the salt waters for cleansing in exchange for the new lands rising from their ocean cleansing The lunar and solar effects on Shan are a constant that cannot be changed by man, nor can they be ignored. We need greater wisdom to understand our constantly changing planet and greater appreciation of her. For eons she has provided for our existence, while we have nearly killed her.

It is time, indeed, for her to do major cleansing to save her life. We are presently experiencing only the beginning of this cycle. I am sure the Darkside is trying many technologies to upset our planet, but nothing works. To cover these failures they use propaganda to continue the production of fear-energy by the people, for without negative energy they could not function.

I gather this would not be a good time to invest in a large globe.

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 1:30 am 
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TollandRCR wrote:
A reader on FourWinds10 objected to Benjamin Fulford's claim that the 9.0 earthquake was caused by HAARP technology. Patrick Bellringer answered that the complaint is valid, because Fulford continues to overlook the Earth Shan cycles that are now changing everything.
Quote:
Yes, Cosmic cycles are a very real part of Earth Shan's life and of her present transition into fifth dimension. She creaks and groans, as her tectonic plates move to allow the rising of the continent of Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean, and the rising of the continent of Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean.
. . .

I gather this would not be a good time to invest in a large globe.

Hmmm - so the reptilian POTUS is an advanced ambassador of this new continent ?
Expect the rising of Lemuria anytime soon within the next 30 days saving the POTUS from beeing frogmarched out of the WH :!: :roll: :roll: :roll:


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:40 pm 
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The Guardian April 3, 2011 "Fukushima: the future is unknown, but the present is terrible enough"
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Of all the grim headlines to have emerged from Japan in recent weeks, this one on the Kyodo newswire was particularly disturbing: "Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched near troubled nuke plant". It followed reports that police abandoned the corpse of a tsunami fatality in Fukushima because leaks from the broken reactors made it dangerously radioactive to carry. They bagged the body and left it in a building; a burial or cremation will have to wait until radioactivity diminishes. Their action was a gruesome illustration of how disaster victims are being put to one side while the world is gripped by fear of a meltdown.

The explosions and radiation leaks at the nuclear plant have dominated coverage of Japan's multiple catastrophe, although they have so far resulted in far fewer casualties than the earthquake and tsunami. This is frustrating to anyone who has seen the situation in the evacuation shelters, where the need for food, fuel and care is enormous.
...
The shifts of the earth and ocean on 11 March reset the scales of modern catastrophe. The magnitude nine quake (one of the five most powerful ever recorded) and the 30m to 40m tsunami (the highest ever seen in Japan) caused more economic damage than any disaster man has known. They pulverised several hundred kilometres of coastline and left up to 400,000 people homeless. Fewer than a third are nuclear evacuees.

This is the first time that I have seen an authoritative source state that the tsunami reached heights of 30 to 40 meters (98.4 to 131.2 feet). I presume this applies only in some coastal areas. This brief amateur video may show the tsunami hitting the Fukushima power plant at a height above that of the power plant.


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:19 am 
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Yet another aftershock today on the northeast coast of Japan, measured by USGS at 6.6 in the Fukushima area. This occurred after the 7.1 aftershock of Thursday and on the one-month anniversary of the 9.0 monster. Tsunami warnings were issued and then withdrawn an hour later. There are currently no reports of injuries or fatalities; Thursday's earthquake killed three. Seismologists had predicted a series of major aftershocks from the March 11 quake.
Edit: Today's quake was initially estimated at 7.1



Edit: The Japanese government is expanding the mandatory evacuation zone around Fukushima. It has been 12 km for a while; based on local radiation readings, it may be expanded to 19km in some areas. In the meantime, "scientists" (which apparently consist of only a few persons, Leuren Moret PhD {all but dissertation} being the most vocal) have declared that the northern third of Japan must be entirely evacuated.

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:59 pm 
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I think another just hit about 45 min ago or so.

6.4 near Tokyo.

Quote:
47 minutes ago 6.4 Near the east coast of Honshu, Japan Map
15 hours ago 6.6 Eastern Honshu, Japan Map

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:20 pm 
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mimi wrote:
I think another just hit about 45 min ago or so.

6.4 near Tokyo.

Quote:
47 minutes ago 6.4 Near the east coast of Honshu, Japan Map
15 hours ago 6.6 Eastern Honshu, Japan Map


Not a surprise, really. As big as the magnitude 6 and 7 quakes are on their own, they're less than 1% as strong as the main shock. That's well within the norm for aftershocks.

After a magnitude 9 earthquake, it's normal for the aftershock sequence to take months or more to run its course. In all likelihood, there will be at least a few more in the 6+ range.

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:48 pm 
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Breaking News Alert: Japan to raise nuclear crisis rating to Chernobyl level
April 11, 2011 9:40:23 PM
----------------------------------------

Japanese authorities planned Tuesday to raise their rating of the severity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis to the highest level on an international scale, equal to that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to the Kyodo news agency.

A level 7 accident, according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, is typified by a “major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects.”

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/ ... 1QSEX/OS/h

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:44 pm 
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realist wrote:
Breaking News Alert: Japan to raise nuclear crisis rating to Chernobyl level
April 11, 2011 9:40:23 PM

Every news outlet that I have visited confirms that Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency will raise the rating to 7 and announce that at a news conference on Tuesday (today in Japan; it is 11:43AM Tuesday in Tokyo right now).

None of the news outlets has explained what led the Agency to make this decision or what the implications might be for Japan, the countries to the west of Japan, and the world. Nothing that I have seen suggests a heightened concern for radiation in Hawaii, much less the Pacific Northwest and California coast.

However, the evacuation zone is being widened to as much as 40km depending on local readings. There is discussion of building a cooling structure outside the power plants, because the internal cooling structure may be irreparably damaged and too dangerous to try to repair. There is also discussion of how the water might be decontaminated before releasing it into the sea.

The impression that I have is that Japan was not cognizant of the possibility of a nuclear emergency of this magnitude and nature and that things are likely to get worse before they get better. I also have the impression that Japan waited far too long before asking for help.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:00 am 
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Good op-ed by the USGS's Lucy Jones in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/com ... 3099.story

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:52 am 
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TollandRCR wrote:
The impression that I have is that Japan was not cognizant of the possibility of a nuclear emergency of this magnitude and nature and that things are likely to get worse before they get better. I also have the impression that Japan waited far too long before asking for help.


The not only did that, but they actively REFUSED help. This whole "face" thing again.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:42 pm 
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A Japanese camera crew got within 1.5 km of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants,



encountering radiation levels of 112 µSv/h, far above the level at which their Geiger counter signaled elevated radiation levels. Along their journey they encounter destroyed bridges, damaged road surfaces, destroyed buildings and vehicles, living dogs, and roaming cattle. They rarely encounter moving vehicles, and in the last part of their journey, they meet truck drivers clad in radiation-shielding suits. It is not at all clear that the reporters are wearing anything other than winter clothing. The extraordinary neatness of Japanese farms and home gardens is still there despite the earthquakes and the tsunami, but that food will never be eaten by humans.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:52 pm 
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San Francisco: The Epicenter of Gratitude
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - April 12, 2011) - A century after Japan donated millions to help San Francisco recover from its deadliest earthquake, city leaders, celebrities, musicians and huge crowds will unite to help the Asian nation heal from its worst natural disaster in history. In a first of-its-kind ceremony this Saturday, April 16th, a 108-foot tribute flag to Japan, proudly supported and donated by Porsche USA, will be unveiled at exactly 5 PM PDT at Japan Town's Peace Plaza on Post Street (between Buchanan & Laguna Streets). The world's largest "Get Well" card designed to make the Guinness World Records book will also be presented as this year's Cherry Blossom Festival comes to an exciting end. Beach Boy's Al Jardine will provide the musical backdrop for the tribute who recently returned from Japan, and feels very close to the people there, he is releasing a 7" vinyl single to benefit the Japanese Red Cross to be offered at Amoeba and other record stores. The event will also feature inspiring speeches, Asian cuisine and spirits, a silent auction and opportunities for the public to have their personal photo included as part of the gigantic "Get Well Japan" card.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:08 am 
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The coastline of Japan is dotted with hundreds of ancient stone markers warning of the danger of a tsunami.

Tablets served as a reminder for many of the danger that can follow earthquakes
Quote:
Modern sea walls failed to protect coastal towns from Japan's destructive tsunami last month. But in the hamlet of Aneyoshi, a single centuries-old tablet saved the day.

"High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants," the stone slab reads. "Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point."

It was advice the dozen or so households of Aneyoshi heeded, and their homes emerged unscathed from a disaster that flattened low-lying communities elsewhere and killed thousands along Japan's northeastern shore.
...
"Everybody here knows about the markers. We studied them in school," said Yuto Kimura, 12, who guided a recent visitor to one near his home. "When the tsunami came, my mom got me from school and then the whole village climbed to higher ground."

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:11 am 
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"High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants," the stone slab reads. "Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point."

It was advice the dozen or so households of Aneyoshi heeded, and their homes emerged unscathed from a disaster that flattened low-lying communities elsewhere and killed thousands along Japan's northeastern shore.


Wow, that sent a shiver up my spine!


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 10:28 pm 
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If we must begin to think of Fukushima Daiichi as kin to Chernobyl, then we should look Chernobyl squarely in the human face. Pictures of the reactor buried in sand and concrete are not Chernobyl.

Paul Fusco narrates the story of the children of Chernobyl in a series of harrowing portraits. (Press "Play" after the introduction.)

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/chernobyl

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:11 am 
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Harrowing is right. But thank you.

The mind boggles. How do you accommodate those images, in a debate about energy, the economy, safety, technology... You can't. And yet we're obligated to think about such things.

I think about Bhopal. Katrina. Famine exacerbated by civil war, in Sudan, other places. Times and places when unintended consequences snowball so fast, extend so far, that nobody can compass them. And we know it's not enough to say "it was an accident."

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:36 am 
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verbalobe wrote:
Harrowing is right. But thank you.

The mind boggles. How do you accommodate those images, in a debate about energy, the economy, safety, technology... You can't. And yet we're obligated to think about such things.

I think about Bhopal. Katrina. Famine exacerbated by civil war, in Sudan, other places. Times and places when unintended consequences snowball so fast, extend so far, that nobody can compass them. And we know it's not enough to say "it was an accident."


Yeah. When it comes to energy needs, the big challenge is coming up with the least unsafe solution that still manages to meet legitimate demands for energy. It's a tough balance to strike, but it needs to happen.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:07 pm 
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Mikedunford wrote:
Yeah. When it comes to energy needs, the big challenge is coming up with the least unsafe solution that still manages to meet legitimate demands for energy. It's a tough balance to strike, but it needs to happen.

The debate is about which technologies are most likely to be able to meet current and future energy demands at acceptable levels of risk.

The old I=PAT identity, although misleadingly oversimplified, tells us to look at two other things: the size of the population and the affluence that the population enjoys. Conservation can be a part, maybe a large part, of the response to Fukushima. Cheney scoffed that conservation can be a personal moral choice but cannot be a basis for energy policy. I think he was quite wrong.

Conservation is now being practiced in Japan. Escalators at airports are standing still. Sharp is slowing production of two of its lines of flat-panel televisions. The Red Light District in Tokyo is less garishly lighted by about 50% (the picture below is of that reduction in lighting). CNET describes Tokyo as now being a city of shadows. Perhaps after the crisis has passed, it will no longer be possible to read a newspaper in the median of a Tokyo avenue at 2:00 AM.



The population part is much more controversial. Sometime in 2012, the world population will hit seven billion. If high-fertility countries follow the Western pattern of lowering birth rates after their death rates have fallen, we might be fortunate enough to see a population of "only" nine billion in 2050. The best way to achieve that is to ensure the survival of children born in the developing world in the countries of higher fertility. This counter-intuitive finding is well-explained by Hans Rosling in this TED lecture. We can stop at nine billion if maternal and child health are improved. Yes, this does mean that women have to be empowered, including empowered to use contraceptives.

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth.html

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:09 pm 
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I don't know whether this is a story about an over-extended and highly leveraged investment bank or a story about property in Tokyo after the earthquake. The value of the Shinagawa Grand Central Tower, which houses the Japan offices of Microsoft, had already declined as of February, 2011. The same fund faces a debt payment on the Shinsei Bank building in July.

Reuters, April 15, 2011 Morgan Stanley fund fails to repay debt on Tokyo property
Quote:
A Morgan Stanley property fund failed to make $3.3 billion in debt payments by a deadline on Friday, handing over the keys to a central Tokyo office building to Blackstone (BX.N) and other investors, the largest repayment failure of its kind in Japan.

It marks the latest fallout from a series of highly leveraged investments by Morgan Stanley (MS.N), one of the most aggressive investors in worldwide property markets before the global financial crisis.

The $4.2 billion MSREF V real estate fund missed its April 15 deadline to repay 278 billion yen($3.3 billion) worth of debt packaged in commercial mortgage-backed securities on the 32-storey Shinagawa Grand Central Tower, a property which has seen its value plunge, two people involved in the transaction said.

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:24 pm 
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Le Monde Diplomatique, translated and published in The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus Hubris Punished: Japan as Nuclear State by Gavan McCormack.
Quote:
March 2011 is set to mark a caesura in Japanese history comparable to August 1945: the end of a particular model of state, economy and society, both marked by nuclear catastrophes that shook the world (even if the present one seems likely to be slightly muted and the meltdown kept to partial, the regional consequences may be broader, the number of people disastrously affected greater). Where the mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki signalled the end-point of the path chosen by the young officers of the Kwantung Army in the 1930s, the chaos and apocalyptic apprehension of post-quake and tsunami Fukushima in 2011 is the end-point of the path chosen by senior state bureaucrats and their corporate and political collaborators in the 1950s and steadily, incrementally, reinforced ever since then. Their legacy is today’s nuclear state Japan. 1945 was a purely human-caused disaster. 2011 differs in that it was occasioned by natural disaster, but human factors hugely exacerbated it.

Japan’s “Hiroshima syndrome” of fear and loathing for all things nuclear meant that cooperation with US nuclear war-fighting strategy had to be kept secret, in mitsuyaku or “secret treaties,” especially in the 1960s and 1970s that have only become public in the past two years. The nuclear energy commitment, also pressed by the US, had likewise to be concealed, never submitted to electoral scrutiny, and continually subject of manipulation (extensive advertising campaigns), cover-up (especially of successive incidents), and deception (as to risk and safety levels). The extent of that too is now laid bare.

The way forward out of the current disaster remains unclear. The debate over Japan’s energy and technology future will be long and hard, but what is now clear is that Japanese democracy has to rethink the frame within which this elite was able to overrun all opposition and push the country to its present brink. The crisis is not just one of radiation, failed energy supply, possible meltdown, the death of tens of thousands, health and environmental hazard, but of governability, of democracy. Civic democracy has to find a way to seize control over the great irresponsible centres of fused state-capital monopoly and open a new path towards sustainability and responsibility. A new mode of energy generation and of socio-economic organization has to be sought. Ultimately it has to be a new vision for a sustainable society.

I too believe that Fukushima represents the end of Japan Inc., but I am not at all sure that there are democratic institutions in Japan capable of seizing control "over the great irresponsible centres of fused state-capital monopoly."

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:31 am 
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TollandRCR wrote:
I too believe that Fukushima represents the end of Japan Inc., but I am not at all sure that there are democratic institutions in Japan capable of seizing control "over the great irresponsible centres of fused state-capital monopoly."


Frankly, I doubt it. About a year after the Deepwater Horizon, BP does business as usual, even though their malicious and illegal behavior caused a catastrophe, which will kill people for decades, and was far worse and far more inexplicable than a nuclear disaster partly caused by a huge earthquake and tsunami. Statistically, nuclear power is safer. Coal-powered electrical plants cause an order of magnitude more death and health problems, because they constantly emit pollution, cause cancer, and people die in mines constantly.

The difference is that nuclear catastrophes, and even most educated people can probably name three, TMI, where no people were harmed, then Chernobyl and Fukushima, both of which should be rated 7. Using outmoded technology we should be replacing.

If carbon emissions are a huge problem, then we have to consider nuclear. If nuclear can't be considered, then we need more coal-fired electrical plants. As a pure matter of statistics, the nuclear plants are safer. However, continuing to use the water-cooled plants like the ones used at TMI and Fukushima is insane. There is no reason whatsoever to continue to use absolutely idiotic, risky technology where if the electricity goes out, the cooling system fails, and the reactor melts down. We use far too many of those archaic systems in the United States. For instance, the Indian Point reactors which use almost exactly the same system that failed horribly at TMI. On top of that, it has the worst possible location. If that ever failed, it would make TMI look like a firecracker accidentally exploding. Despite that, it provides 35% of the electricity to NYC.

Why are we so stupid? I have no goddamn clue. But we are. When you think about Fukushima, you should also think but for the grace of God, there go I.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:16 pm 
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A Legal Lohengrin wrote:
TollandRCR wrote:
I too believe that Fukushima represents the end of Japan Inc., but I am not at all sure that there are democratic institutions in Japan capable of seizing control "over the great irresponsible centres of fused state-capital monopoly."


Frankly, I doubt it. About a year after the Deepwater Horizon, BP does business as usual, even though their malicious and illegal behavior caused a catastrophe, which will kill people for decades, and was far worse and far more inexplicable than a nuclear disaster partly caused by a huge earthquake and tsunami. Statistically, nuclear power is safer. Coal-powered electrical plants cause an order of magnitude more death and health problems, because they constantly emit pollution, cause cancer, and people die in mines constantly.

The difference is that nuclear catastrophes, and even most educated people can probably name three, TMI, where no people were harmed, then Chernobyl and Fukushima, both of which should be rated 7. Using outmoded technology we should be replacing.

If carbon emissions are a huge problem, then we have to consider nuclear. If nuclear can't be considered, then we need more coal-fired electrical plants. As a pure matter of statistics, the nuclear plants are safer. However, continuing to use the water-cooled plants like the ones used at TMI and Fukushima is insane. There is no reason whatsoever to continue to use absolutely idiotic, risky technology where if the electricity goes out, the cooling system fails, and the reactor melts down. We use far too many of those archaic systems in the United States. For instance, the Indian Point reactors which use almost exactly the same system that failed horribly at TMI. On top of that, it has the worst possible location. If that ever failed, it would make TMI look like a firecracker accidentally exploding. Despite that, it provides 35% of the electricity to NYC.

Why are we so stupid? I have no goddamn clue. But we are. When you think about Fukushima, you should also think but for the grace of God, there go I.

I was fairly cautiously in the camp of those who saw nuclear power, using modern designs, as a tolerable transitional source of electrical power and far preferable to any fantasy of "clean coal." I'm not quite ready to give up on that now. One of the reasons is that I believe that the earthquake and tsunami are not solely responsible for Fukushima. I agree with the Le Monde editorialist that there existed an unacceptable relationship between the central bureaucracy and TEPCO; this is characteristic of what I and many others see as Japan Inc. I would call it a corrupt relationship. How much lack of preparation and poor design of backup systems contributed to Fukushima remains to be determined.

What I am hoping but not expecting is that the back of Japan Inc. has been broken and that a functional democratic government can be installed. However, I just don't see the democratic institutions in place to make that work. The Emperor has the legitimacy to call out the political parties for what they have been and are, and to get behind efforts to establish a democratic system. Although that has happened in Thailand with the King, I'm not sure it can happen in modern Japan. Too much money depends upon keeping the system the way it was.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:00 pm 
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A Legal Lohengrin wrote:
The difference is that nuclear catastrophes, and even most educated people can probably name three, TMI, where no people were harmed, then Chernobyl and Fukushima, both of which should be rated 7. Using outmoded technology we should be replacing.


After reading this quoted in Tolland's reply, I am at a complete loss as to what the hell I was talking about, and nominate myself for the Bulwer-Lytton.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:03 pm 
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A Legal Lohengrin wrote:
A Legal Lohengrin wrote:
The difference is that nuclear catastrophes, and even most educated people can probably name three, TMI, where no people were harmed, then Chernobyl and Fukushima, both of which should be rated 7. Using outmoded technology we should be replacing.


After reading this quoted in Tolland's reply, I am at a complete loss as to what the hell I was talking about, and nominate myself for the Bulwer-Lytton.

One possible, even likely, meaning is that the generation of electricity by the burning of coal has known and inevitable consequences, while the three major nuclear catastrophes were avoidable. Chernobyl was being operated in an unsafe test mode, perhaps for the production of nuclear weapons. Three Mile Island was a cascade of failures that could have been avoided by better maintenance (just as with Union Carbide at Bhopal). Fukushima is not yet fully explained, but outmoded technology certainly played a major role.

Beyond that, I have to wonder whether the designers of the nuclear plant's backup systems really understood Japan's enormous risk of devastating tsunamis. Had they done so, they might not have put the backup generators in the basement. I don't know whether a higher seawall would have completely saved the plant, but quite clearly they were not prepared for a tsunami of a size that was already known to have occurred there. The hundreds of stone tablets along the coast of Japan warning "Do not build below this line" seem to have meant nothing to the designers and operators of the plant. My bet is that they did not even know such tablets existed.

I wonder whether the developers who built houses, factories, and office buildings below the tablets knew but did not care; they would probably make their money before a big one hit. I also wonder whether the municipalities that have constructed artificial islands off the coast of Kobe, Osaka (the international airport), Tokyo, and other cities somehow believed that the tsunamis would never return. Or if they too saw only income as being important.

That may be what you meant, but if not, it is an expansion of what I meant. Japan needs a central government that is not hopelessly intertwined with the corporate world, and it needs provincial governments and municipalities in which all the people matter.

The Nation Naoto Kan and the End of 'Japan Inc.' by Tim Shorrock.
Quote:
At home, the LDP and its corporate backers fought ferociously to suppress labor unions and civic groups that organized to protect workers, human rights and the environment. The end result was an LDP-created “Japan Inc.”—an undemocratic, corporatist state in which bureaucrats blessed and promoted nuclear power and other industries they were supposed to regulate, and then received lucrative jobs in those industries upon retirement—a system known as amakudari.

But during the ’90s the LDP-style of governing came crashing down. A key turning point—and the one that brought Naoto Kan to prominence—came in 1996 over a notorious scandal over tainted blood. The scandal began in the early ’80s, when the US government, warning that blood supplies were corrupted by HIV, licensed the production of heat-treated blood (which killed the virus) for use in transfusions. The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare learned of the contamination problem as early as 1983 but publicly dismissed the threat to the public. As a result, hundreds of people, primarily hemophiliacs, received transfusions of unheated, corrupted blood; more than 500 died. The Japanese public later learned that the Health Ministry deliberately refused to license heated blood for several years, not out of health concerns but because it was available only from foreign companies (“To have licensed its use before domestic firms had set up production would have significantly affected market share,” the London Independent reported at the time). Worse, the ministry’s chief adviser on blood transfusions and HIV received large sums of money from Green Cross, one of the companies that supplied unheated blood. And, in a classic form of amakudari, Green Cross hired several former high-ranking ministry officials in senior positions while the tainted blood was still an issue.

These facts were unearthed in 1996 by Naoto Kan when he was minister of health and welfare in a brief coalition government of the LDP and several small parties. Outraged by the scandal, Kan forced ministry officials to release documents showing that they had allowed public use of HIV-tainted blood, and he publicly apologized to the victims. As a result, Kan became wildly popular and at one point was dubbed “the most honest man in Japanese politics.” I was working as a journalist in Tokyo at the time and vividly recall how his embrace of accountability and sharp critique of the bureaucracy surprised and delighted the Japanese public.
...

Kan's embrace of accountability has turned out not to be sufficiently aggressive. TEPCO lied to the government repeatedly in this catastrophe and preceding it. Maybe the Japanese people will demand more.

Edit: Edited to add (in addition to the news that "U.S.-built robot probes measured radiation doses as high as 57 millisieverts inside the housing for reactor No. 3 and up to 49 millisieverts inside the No. 1 reactor building.")

CNN Robots report high radiation levels in damaged reactors
Quote:
In Tokyo, meanwhile, Japan's government took a step toward slowing what critics have called a revolving door between the nuclear industry and the ministry that regulates it. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government is urging officials of the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry to stop taking jobs with companies that run nuclear plants upon retirement.

"I have consulted with METI and decided to request that government officials to voluntarily refrain from seeking re-employment at electricity companies, and asked electricity companies for their cooperation," Edano told reporters. But he said the ruling Democratic Party of Japan lacks the votes in parliament to make his call a law at this point.

METI (formerly MITI) has been the most powerful agency building and overseeing Japan Inc.

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"Someone should tell Mrs. Reagan that young people -- not even young people on drugs -- are not the ones responsible for the major problems besetting the world!" John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel, p. 370.


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