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Mail From Japan
A reader writes us from Japan:
I wanted to give you and the team a big thank you for your Fukushima coverage. I have lived in Tokyo for over 15 years and made the difficult decision to leave after the earthquake. Your reporting on the disaster has been invaluable. Some years ago, I turned a fellow colleague on to ZH, he's been equally enthusiastic about your coverage.
Just wanted to say "Thanks!" and ask you to keep the focus on this topic as the MSM has the attention span of a gnat.
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Agree 100%.. and this reminds me that I am a bit behind in my donation to the site... (Sorry TD) Fixing that now. Keep up the great work ZH. (Almost feel bad paying in FRNs... hope it has a decent value buy Monday. LOL You guys have to figure out how to accept PMs)
yeah I would send you a tenther if you had a mailing address.
1 Marriner Eccles
When you by a ZH t-shirt does the money go to the website or the people who make the shirts? I have two btw, one black one white. Occasionally people will stop and notice, they know and I know we're both "in the know".
Almost all the markup above the cost of the shirt and the printing goes to ZH, we just keep a few bucks per order for the time and cost we spend sorting out all the logistics.
100 Bernanke Bucks.... or is it space bucks???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km0_vOE_2XE
100 shingles of toilet paper as valued in "owner's equivalent rent"...
And other absurdities from PhD Economists from the "proper" schools...
I join Gold 36000 in wanting to send a contribution at a mailing address. FRNs. You have my email address somewhere Tyler(s)...
How many times have you posted this? What would stop ZH from having a PO box? I wonder, did Mere ever send his silver to ZH?
Thank you for the gentle reminder. I just donated too. Love this site. One can not live on ads alone, nor would we want Tyler to be beholden to his advertisers.
Ditto guys thanks, Tshirt ordered as well. Without you the world would be without you.
or something like that.
i'm gonna have a cry now
double whammy
Picture of concrete pump heading to japan.....they say its for pumping water, but my guess it is to bury the plant in concrete...pretty obvious...
http://nakedempire2.blogspot.com/
Fine, I'll buy another t-shirt (this time large)
Why large? Tight is the way to go. Got to show those puppies off to their best advantage.
I really wish people would quit insulting gnats.
the span of a gnat, not the gnat itself, pussykat.
Oh contrare, it assumes gnats have no nervous system.
Does not Steve LIESman remind you of Charlie McCarthy?
He reminds me of Pinocchio.
LIES-man reminds me of Joe... the 3rd replacement Stooge...
Liesman is at home right now reading all these hurtful comments, sharpening his knife, and continuously repeating, "I am the angel of death..."
anyone see gnat king cole?
+1. And how about gnatalie?
+5 &+5 I give each of you +5 for making me laugh. That's cute, I like it.
come on guys...gnatk it off.
Yuck brush those teeth! It's spelled Cat. Thilley.
Really.
Adult gnats live 4 hours after they pupate, 3 hours of which is spent locked in intercourse.
A gnat thinking about anything for more than 30 minutes is on a scale with Buddha meditating for 20 years under a tree. When was the last time any of us spent 2/3 of our lives fucking and meditating? Never happen.
Most gnats I know are highly evolved creatures, with great soaring dreams for themselves and the world. Of course, they die in a few minutes usually. But for those moments I am greatly moved.
I plan to approach my wife about this fucking-most-of-your-life-for-great-justice thing. I'll let you all know how it turns out.
When was the last time any of us spent 2/3 of our lives fucking and meditating?
Speak for yourself-
Bill Clinton
LOL!
Finally, a lifestyle to which I aspire;)
S E X is over rated.
where is ORI? mia†
Sounds gnatsy.
i thought you were the wife. darn it!
When was the last time any of us spent 2/3 of our lives fucking and meditating?
I know what you mean. I've been trying like heck to cut back, but something unexpected always comes up.
gj zh
I wish they would share their stories. We don't get much of any information on what is going on in Japan anymore. What happened to the water? What is the food situation? Are people still going to work? Etc.
People continue to live like nothing happened. The Japanese MSM has lured them into thinking little doses of radiation were inoffensive.
one could argue "radiation doses indeed do not offend." they fully announce their attention to invade, they speak of "many others such as themselves who are found routinely to be inoffensive" and then they remind us all "there is nothing you can do about us anyways." So there you have: "not offensive." Still--"you could end up with an attitude problem inside you" once this particular variant arrives. When I think of a Japanese word for "attitude problem" the word "Samurai" comes to mind.
rolling blackouts for several years is the only thing they will admit to. Those going long japan I believe are foolish.
those going long mutated radioactive monsters from Japan however...
I'm going long Manbearpig.
Got Gorgo?
I have to join the chorus of those angry at the japanese. They are doing the bare minimum of testing.
We could have actually followed each specific radioactive cloud to see where it was going to rain down and warn the area about a pending hot spot, but that would create too much hysteria as the MSM watched the "cloud of death" like the weather channel follows a tornado. In any event it would have been more honest to track these radioactive clouds until they precipitate or dissipate. I am pissed that we now have radioactive strontium and cesium diffusely spread all over the united states. They keep talking about iodine and then say it has a short half life. they won't talkabout the others. I don't care if the strontium and cesium is barely detectable. Nothing is spread out perfectly diffuse and we will have some spots of relative concentration in the USA, but I suppose knowing about those would just piss off joe sixpack and it is better just to keep him ignorant the way he wants to be.
Gold36000, you are naive if you think the Japs are in charge of this. DYODD re: the Black pope, the Jesuits, the Illuminati, etc. The Nipponese have been patsies for the Cabal for a few hundred years and the beating goes on.
Not to worry -- Cheney and the Bushes are safely at their ranches in Paraguay.
Zerohedge - saving lives since 1998.
+infinity
Sorry to go off-topic but there goes netflix http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7376UR20110408?WT.tsrc=Socia... about to have their bandwidth neutered.
WTF, Did they really believe bandwidth was free.
NFLX does.
Main Stream Media is a spin machine. Fukushima is contained the situation is stable. Reactors are under control. CNN says so, why doubt the most trusted name in the news business?
It's about time to NUKE FOX again. Lets work the mosquito thread. It's so apropo!
Yep. Military pay was cut last nite at 11pm, and those dufi are still saying a shutdown 'could'. Reserve exercises already canceled to boot.
LESs sent out early, to scare 'em.
If CONgress were worth a shit, I'd like an investigation into this.
LES?
LES = leave and earnings statement
Military gets paid on 1st and 15th.
I still can not get this video to physics students in Japan. This is an inexpensive tool to measure radiation in and on food. If you know of any physics students in Japan please forward this YouTube video to them. I am about to make another video using Pyrex dishware as a calibration source.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Q7VfWdgEg
It's got some attention here; physicist in the house points out the problem is scintillator access. But physicist also agrees it's a good idea, and is thinking on channels.
Going to try and spread that far and wide. Thank you.
You can also make a cheap geiger counter clone using a stack of neon bulbs (those old flickery things we used to use for electric mains indicators) and parts from a CFL 'power saving' lamp (the iffy ones with mercury in them). Just don't crack the tube if you plan to try that.
It won't be the most sensitive counter in the world, but if you live anywhere near Japan, that's probably not an issue.
(some extra reference, for h4rdware h4ckrz: http://www.techlib.com/science/geiger.html)
Of course the scintillator is a lot easier if you can get your hands on the BC412 plastic, or some BaF2 or BGO crystals on eBay etc.
Test results using an NE-2 Neon bulb as rad detector; dubious results with a 4 mR/hour geiger counter test source:
http://www.techlib.com/science/quench.htm
It seems that there is a news blackout on the latest quakes, etc. Japanese govt clamping down?
I snapshot archived yesterday's discussion of Reactors 1 and 2 by 'Element' and 'Stormdancer' in case you missed it.
http://oilgeology.blogspot.com
what did you think would happen?
Ooops!
Just slapped Erin B ... err... a gnat.
NO PROBLEM! Nothing to see here! Go about your business!
The economy is imploding over here. Folding up like a card table. The Koreans and Taiwanese are capiltaizing on the broken suply chain and like the Springsteen song goes, "Foreman says these jobs are going' boys, and they aint comin' back".
I'm way up north in Hokkaido and I haven't seen a single Chinese tourist since this thing began. They aren't dumb and won't be back. Radioactive Ioding reached us here in Sapporo 48 hours ago. Nobody had any idea. This place has six months at best, though it'll never go down the way it would in North America. The folks here will eat whatever bullshit TEPCO and the government throw their way because - well because "Disu izu Japan".
There can be no less self-actualized people on the face of the earth, in my not so humble opinion. There is no country in the world more suited to communism than Japan
Hey look, somebody is eating ramen on TV. Oh, it looks so good! What? Fukushima? Oh yeah, that's fine.
Weak. So utterly fucking weak.
Rant over.
Are you saying that Japanese resilience is a myth?
Bushido is still the order of the day?
They will stand fast, taking on man or microSieverts?
Where will the 3rd world get parts for their 4x4 war wagons,China and India will not do quite as well.
They make great robots,and I mean that in so many ways.
Are you saying that Japanese resilience is a myth?
Bushido is still the order of the day?
They will stand fast, taking on man or microSieverts?
Where will the 3rd world get parts for their 4x4 war wagons,China and India will not do quite as well.
They make great robots,and I mean that in so many ways.
The Japanese are awesome...such resilience. I wish the government would pay to send volunteers there to help, incentive-based community service works like nothing else.
www.forecastfortomorrow.com
Resilience? What resilience? You mean the resilience they showed when the U.S. paid to rebuild the country and use it as an aircraft carrier for the Korean and vietnamese Wars - type resilience? Or the resilience they showed when after following the last giant quake in Tokyo, while the fires still burned, they slaughtered thousands of Koreans in the streets based on rumours of arson? Japan doesn't have to revise its own history - Westerners already do a pretty good job of it.
What I see happening around me isn't resilience, it is ignorance and irresponsibility of the highest order.
The AP ran an article about a 75 year old man the journalists found in his house, inside the ring around Fukushima.
Unable to walk, he'd been there alone since the quake, with no running water and dwindling food.
His wife had left after the tsunami. He has no idea where she is.
The journalists left him 20 energy bars and a litre of water they'd been carrying, then they informaed the local police who said, "We'll look in on him when we get time." He didn't want to leave his home with the journalists.
"When we get time".
I took my two children and exfil-ed as soon as I could get flights. A combination of the BS from TEPCO and more importantly (to me anyway) the BS I was hearing from the Japanese people around me filled me with more terror than the daily tepco 3 stooges show.
I heard "we survived Hiroshima" a few times..."If it gets really serious we'll know when they'll tell us" ...."We can't think about ourselves in this time of disaster"...there's no point really arguing when you hear things like that. I'm not sure whereabouts this complete abdication of critical thinking came from. Although the Japanese alone are not guilty of this, they sure as hell show a flair for not thinking outside the box.
In the US people say "don't piss on me and tell me its raining"... In Japan it's more like "i know you're taking a piss on me, but I can't really do much about it given my circumstances and our relative positions, so I'll just wait this one out thank you very much". As many people have commented here on ZH the calm of the Japanese people is admirable, and one reason if it all turns to "the Road" I'd rather be in Japan than anywhere else (how scary can being surrounded by unarmed 70 year olds be) than anywhere else - however, there is a fine line between stoicism and self-preservation. I believe stoicism is seriously misplaced here. Ignoring the well-being of yourself and loved ones runs counter to instinct. In Japan there seems to be a sense of "what will be weill be" and you can't outrun fate..."We are Japanese"..."This is Japan"...like the guy above said! If I had a nickel for everytime I head that...It's almost as bad as being in France.
Another (unrelated) anecdote: I always enjoy these more than people's posturing. I was at the Amagasaki Costco (Osaka) before the tsunami and I'm stocking up on the essentials, if for reasons of protection against inflation alone (yes it does exist in Japan for food anyway)...canned goods, rice, oil, flour, sugar, salt etc...and we're in a goddamn cash and carry wholesale warehouse for chrissakes and people are giving me the "wtf?!" look when they see my trolley full to the brim with such odd items as oil and sugar!...most people go there for the novelty value of being able to buy an oversized pizza. I go after the tsunami, and do the same again, and still the same looks like buying wholesale quantities in a wholesaler is the most freakish thing anyone could possibly do.
Granted Osaka is about 250 miles as the crow flies from Tokyo, but once the wind starts whipping all that shit up, 250 miles aint that far, yet I made a point of checking the purchases of other shoppers and could pick up no sense or preparation,urgency or anything. It really felt like another tuesday morning - 'make a run for the cheap sushi and pastries!!'
2 days after the tsunami I also went to the local Inai (hardware store) to pick up some water storage bottles. I bought everything on display...filled up around 500 litres. Now this is after its widely reported that Fukushima Daiichi is having problems...and I'm getting serious eye-rolling from the in-laws who tell me the water will 'go off' . That might well be the case but I'd rather drink tapwater if push comes to shove down the line then some radioactive shit.
The lack of sense of urgency is bewildering or the presence of any kind of inquiry into the state of affairs. Perhaps its the education system which eradicates any vestige of thinking or the societal pressure to conform...I would love someone to jump in here and contradict and tell me I'm wrong, because this is one time I'd love to be.
Like I said I'd already given up on the authorities getting a handle on things from the get-go. The type of problem this is calls for qualities and types of thinking which are diametrically opposite to the traditional Japanese 'way' unfortunately. But if the population at large is anything like the small sample I've encountered in Japan, I don't hold out much hope for them.
Like people have said before all they show on TV are x-group of comedian/celebrity dickheads talking about y-group of celebrity/comedian/popstar dickheads or both groups of dickheads eating food and saying how delicious it all is. Yes, let's just overlook the fact we've got our heads in a radiation cloud. Christ, give me strength...
Thanks, Vic. First person account makes it real. Glad you got out.
Maybe you can enlighten us on what form of mental conditioning/brainwashing results in such blind Statism? This ain't Wrath of Khan and the ridiculous meme about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few or the one.
It takes some serious social conditioning the overpower basic self-preservation. How did the PTB do it?
I wish I could enlighten you, but I can't say. My guess though is that it's not purely one-sided nefarious govt policies, but rather the public succumb of their own accord and gladly give up their freedoms. It's easier to believe someone else has your best interests at heart. I would like to believe that so I didn't have to anticipate the ripple effect of every world event, and extrapolate it into viable scenarios I can use to plot courses for my investments, family and career.
If I had to make a stab at your question I would suggest it starts at an early age. From what I have seen of the education system (William Banzai's post might be a better place to start) a lack of place in the education system for creativity is probably key. Eradicate that in the young and your set for life. There's no creative writing and no creativity encouraged in mathematics or the other non-arty subjects. Alot of learning is my repitition or rote. Even English is taught like that.
Then you have a rigid system of career paths with the appropriate qualifications required and you have less mobility based on perceived ability, raw talent but rather a paper certificate or university course. I'd argue in the West you could begin as an Accountant then move into Sales or Management or start as a Mathematician and move into banking...or whatever. My point is in Japan there seems from a young age little point in fighting the system because you will never win (unless you are extremely hard headed)...so why try? And these little systems exist for any number of things.
then you have the usual culprits of advertising, lack of investigative journalism, keeping up with the Joneses, not wanting to stand out (a bit of a societal no-no in Japan - "the nail that stands out gets hammered down"), acting for the benefit of the group and not yourself, respect of hierachy and authority...and you have a match made in heaven between control of masses and the way Japanese culture works anyway.
If you're really interested, a fellow ZHer recommended the book "Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan" by Alex Kerr which goes into this.
williambanzai7 posted this last week. I found it fascinating:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/51891079/CASTRATION-PART-II-CASTRATION-THE-MAJOR-GOAL-OF-JAPANESE-EDUCATION-AND-ITS-RELATIONSHIP-TO-GOVERNMENT-DEREGULATION-By-Masao-Miyamoto-M-D
thanks Vic,
that really is a great insight into what's happening in Japan right now -
and perhaps not just in Japan, but all over the world:
" all they show on TV are x-group of comedian/celebrity dickheads talking about y-group of celebrity/comedian/popstar dickheads "
and then a 5 minute news-flash of the latest " mis-Infomercial "
the Rupert Murdoch's monopoly-media calls the " latest NEWS " -
synchronized ads to program robotic "clones" to conform , spend and consume -
and then die (quietly-without any complaints)
Vic, I hear what you are saying, I decided to leave Japan several years ago mainly
because I didn’t want to live in that brainwashed society any more. It seems like nothing has changed. You said “It’s almost as bad as living in France” at that time I moved from Tokyo to Paris and I did not regret it one bit.
Some of the more annoying things were;
We are Japanese (as if it was special)
The Japanese way. (Bushido)
24 Hour media brainwashing.
Revision of history in the children’s textbooks.
Looking down on the other East Asian Nations.
No Critical Thinking.
It felt like a communist state.
Gaijin would just not understand.
The funny thing is, it is not complicated to understand Japan. I studied the language for 6 years, integrated into
the society as much as I could, generally tried my best, I worked in corporate Japan.
By the time I left I had concluded that there was nothing complicated about the whole thing, you only need to understand
that brainwashed people will do and believe everything that they are told. The government promotes the “Japanese spirit” the people follow,
The government says “you must work hard for the good of the country” the people follow. I concluded that it was the Japanese that were the
ones who could not understand, not the other way around.
The Chinese and Koreans that they used to look down upon are now staying away from the infected Japanese, the irony of that.
I think we all have a love/hate relationship with the French! With their amazing way of life, wine, women and countryside it's hard to really hate them. What i meant was the French are always saying "This is France, and we are French" as if that is argument enough against defying logic.
I think you definitely have a headstart on me, I've been in Japan less than a year! I think you hit the nail on the head when you say "The govt promotes the "Japanese Spirit" the people follow" ---except I think they have so perverted what that spirit is and means so that only what qualities they deem useful are put under the banner of Japanese spirit and those that aren't are disposed of. To me 'samurai spirit' is dead, but as Chindit says 'gaman' (to hold back, to put on a brave face, keep your chin up) is not frowned on as it conincides with maintaining cohesion.
You described a Japan I remember well. Especially the celebs tasting food...the men chewing with their mouths agape, shaking their heads and grunting out "oishi", or smacking their lips, tilting the head slightly, squinting the eyes, wrinkling up the mouth and squealing out "tsugoku oishi da ne!". The women hold the non-chopstick hand over the mouth for modesty's sake to hide the view, shake their heads up and down, and from behind the hand emerges "ooooooiiiiiishiiiiiiiiiii!". And who can ever forget a half dozen schoolgirls uttering out in unison, with greater precision than an Olympics' syncronized swimming team, "kawai-eeeeeeeeee!" when anything is cute.
I take slight exception to your "don't piss on me and then tell me it's raining". Japan being a non-confrontational society, one person pissing on another (if it's not taking place in some wildly expensive hostess bar as part of a "spesharu sabisu") would elicit the correct response of, "Do you think the rainy season will come early this year?". The pisser knows exactly what is hiding behind the pissee's statement.
While Japan can be initially inscrutable, and never quite makes sense outside of the confines of the island nation, it always was a pleasant place to live. The peculiarities, in which the Japanese themselves take pride because "we Japanese are different" offer amusement more than frustration, and the good points (extreme pride in even the most minor of tasks) usually outweigh them in a positive way.
I have been in contact with many Japanese friends since the quake, and I see extreme tension and a frustration that is tearing away, slowly but surely, all the self-restraint and "gaman" for which the Japanese are famous. Six months ago few of us would have predicted that the first arena of public protest and revolution would have been the Middle East. Fewer still would have predicted the second arena would be Japan. It is not yet, but it might become so.
Was in Tokyo last week for a day. Tokyo station was packed and busy as usual.
In the evening, Tokyo was not it's usual brightly lit self as efforts are being made to conserve electricity.
No sign of radiation zombies or Godzilla. Or flyjin.
Kyoto is fine. No shortages at the local combini [convenience store].
Today looks like it will be a beautiful sunny day. So yes, I will spend it enjoying the cherry blossoms as they're currently at their peak.
On the other hand, with their response to this natural disaster, the senior management of TEPCO have covered themselves in something that certainly does not smell like glory. No cherry blossom viewing for them.
As for TV in Japan, the nature of the dumb shows are a reflection of cultural differences
when compared to the dumb shows on TV in the US and elsewhere.
Chindit, that's some true and funny shit right there! And the thing about cuteness..making things cute or revering what is cute - god only knows what that stems from. Another unique Japanese phenomenom. When I watch my kids tv shows in the morning, I get the impression the adults are having more fun dressing up and pretending to be kids and 'cute' than the kids are.
In all I do agree, the Japanese are extremely kind and probably the most friendly xenophobes in the world. It is very pleasant to live there. I was hoping that this recent disaster might wake the Japanese up - and according to my wife's generation (under 30) there are whispers....but personally speaking I find it hard to believe anything will ever happen. I'm back home now in London and it warmed my heart to see our youth demontrating, sitting in major retailers and attacking banks. Their leader (of a group called Uncut) when asked in one interview what had caused this crisis, he succinctly said 'bailing out the banks' and 'QE' ..when asked what the man on the street could do he said 'buy gold'. Genius haha
On the other hand, the Japanese don't do things by half...so if they do revolt it will be efficient, organised and well directed.
I think all of us here in one form or another see the end game as the same...just the order in which it will happen will differ. I personally see Japan falling first (that's just a random ass guess, because who truly can predict what, when and how - Even Kyle Bass!) and somehow I see a benefit in falling first (although the following domino effect will be rapid if Japan goes under) and thus getting up first. Alongside innovation and invention, I believe the capacity for sheer hardwork will get defaulted nations moving forward. And the Japanese have plenty of worker bees ready to march to the same tune. So if Honshu as a whole isn't radioactive I'll be going back. Japan will also be forced to be much more self-sufficient - and I think in that crisis will lie great opportunity. Japan is criminally lacking in self-sufficiency...their food security is probably the worst in the world.
Thank you by the way for the article you wrote over 6 months ago about Myanmar/Burma, I really enjoyed that and agreed with it having lived in Mandalay for 2 years in the 1990's. I have never been more happy than when living there. In a way it's like a utopia, there is (or was, I haven't been back recently) no consumer culture, mass market advertising, no tv (other than state run shit) then, next to no credit, no mass communications - people are desperately poor, but because everyone is at some level of poverty (even the people with jobs) it somehow doesn't create the friction or tension or unhappiness between various social groups. I guess that might sound like a hellhole to some people. And I won't deny it wasn't - no water, no electricity (except for a few hours a day)..barely functioning sewage systems, secret police, a military junta, proper inflation...but I've never been more content than in that country. All they have really is friends and family there, and they make that count.
Also they have the best noodles in Mandalay, better than anything ooooooooiiiishiiii in Japan lol
Are you still living there?
Is there a correction coming or what? I'm waiting for the sale.
BTW - gnats are good eatin'
Went to visit Kamkura yesterday to view the Shinto Shrine and cherry blossoms, the place was almost empty.
Back in bizarro world, it might be a nice gesture if the American people did celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival without their temporarily non-existent government.
You would have the whole place to yourself to stare at the cherry blossoms and shout “sugoiiiii” like the rest of the brainwashed idiots.
Oh I forgot, you have to appreciate the deep symbolism of the life and death cycle while you’re at it. Actually the Daibutsu is a bit shit, but don’t tell the locals.
At one point after April 7 aftershock, Fukushima I's reactor 1 dry well (containment vessel) measured 100 sievert/hr. now back to 6. Not micro, not milli. But don't worry it must be just a faulty instrument, says the government Agency who protect the safety of TEPCO.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/
The radiation level of the dry well of the Reactor 1 Container Vessel has been rather high, and fluctuating, indicating that the reactor is far from stable.
#1 Drywell readings between 30 Sv & 50 Sv for the last 3 weeks !
http://atmc.jp/plant/rad/?n=1
#2 Sv readings DryWell & SupressionChamber
http://atmc.jp/plant/rad/?n=2
#3 Sv readings DW & SC
http://atmc.jp/plant/rad/?n=3
Geez ... Drywell (D/W) #1 showing 100 (one hundred) Sv/h (not milli, not micro) at the moment!
Reactor #1 D/W Sv/Hr: http://oi52.tinypic.com/200d15z.jpg
Exposure to 6 Sv is lethal ...
Maybe Ari will try to convince me these are NORMAL readings !
Japan has a tradition of the government protecting business at all costs, the industrial pollution incidents in the 50s, 60s, 70s are prime examples, Minamata shows just how mercenary Japanese businesses in cahoots with the government can be.
The Japanese seem to be resigned to this as a normal fact of life. Something bad happens, there is a coverup, the victims are ostracised and their credibility attacked, finally there is acknowledgement of the problem and compensation is paid - too little, too late.
But you would be a fool to believe that this is a purely Japanese phenomena - it is endemic worldwide. Its just that the Japanese don't tend to engage in strident protest.
Yep, Zero did some amazing covering on the subject and always was able to frontrun me while I am an info savvy dude myself. Chapo to Zero hedge!
My latest: New radioactive leak at 2nd nuclear plant in Onagawa, Japan - Fukushima Forecast: Massive radiation cloud nearing California on April 11 http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=203916.msg1228725#msg1228725
-1 Prison planet ref ... pls cite original source?
You're still a fucking idiot from the last thread. It's at the bottom of the page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acYzwscoBx0
WaterWigs - are you back after that previous trouncing?
I still don't follow your rational for avoiding known truths ... but, I guess you have your 'Water Wigs' business model to work there.
Good luck with that.
It's at the bottom of the page.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What page; your direction is not specific as to 'where' ...
That's part of the problem with you hard-core conspiracy types, your belief system pervades even your elementary thought and functional processes, debilitating each one progressively as you spin ever-deeper into conspiratorial darkness ...
If it's at the bottom of the Youtube link, then I offer this prescription for you to follow in the future, such that you can be clear and specific:
"It's at the bottom of the YouTube page here:"
Maybe you were filled with with too much rage and vitriol to make a comprehensible web post; a few deep breaths along with the realization that neither you nor I have a lock on the truth, but an un-ending string of conspiracy stories is only candy for the mind ... and will eventually rot it ...
A recent email from a buddy in Japan seemed so composed, yet distant. He is a native of Tokyo and his nations ability to handle disaster has always been impressive and dignified. Even though the disfunctional MSM doesn't know better, we do. We remember.
We at ZH are a community that understands there is much pain in the world that needs healing. I feel it is my job to reach out and make sure my friends in this land and particular our industry are healing, even though it is painful for my Japanese friends to admit that they are "okay".
well i for one, am glad to hear, you made the decision that you did. i think it was prudent. you will now embrace your memories of japan. see, you are lucky you have those 15 good years in japan. i love all things [almost - bureaucracy] japan and only have pictures from a book or internet. be well. well well.
When was the last time any of us spent 2/3 of our lives fucking and meditating? - gnats the way i like it...
Net no neutrality is bad idea, anyway you pay for that bandwidth when you sign your COLO contract and you pay monthly fee for the drop off and more..
A bit of back n forth with the Navy:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110408004590.htm
U.S. Navy 'sought N-plant water discharge details'The Yomiuri Shimbun
The U.S. Navy asked the Japanese government to hand over detailed data about the release of radiation-contaminated water into the sea from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, government sources said Friday.
After Tokyo Electric Power Co. began discharging the water with a relatively low level of radiation, the U.S. Navy asked the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to provide the data, such as the schedule of water discharge, its extent and spread within the sea, as well as the density of radioactive substances.
The U.S. Navy said it made the request over concern that its vessels, which have equipment to desalinate seawater for drinking and other daily needs, could take in radioactive water and damage the health of its sailors.
According to the sources, the U.S. Navy made the demand Tuesday, following the first discharge of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean on Monday night.
The ministry and the SDF reportedly responded by telling the U.S. Navy the Japanese side wanted to discuss the issue under the framework of the Japan-U.S. liaison council, which has been holding meetings to address the nuclear crisis.
Regarding the release of radioactive water into the sea, the Japanese government notified its U.S. counterpart in advance.
As part of the U.S. Navy's rescue and relief mission for areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake--dubbed Operation Tomodachi--the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship, were deployed off the Sanriku coast.
(Apr. 9, 2011
)
Something that has puzzled me as I have watched this Tepco nonsense play out. The videos that are shown are sub par, fuzzy, and look like they were taken by 8 year olds with their Hanna Montana video camera.
Why hasn't Tepco installed high resolution cameras on those large towers that are on the site. They are like 300 feet tall, and there are 3 or 4 of them. Cameras installed on the top of the towers would have an unobstructed, 360 degree view of the entire site. One tower could have full motion video. One tower could have IR and maybe put night vision optics on another tower.
The installation could be done by people that work on the large TV antennas and could be flown in by helicopter, dropped on the towers, the cameras could be rigged up, the power and video cables could be dropped over the side and then hooked up.
Seems like it is something that could be done pretty easily, if they wanted to. After all there is a live video camera showing Bald Eagles chicks hatching.
Just a thought.....
And just in case some moron at Tepco says "it will be to dangerous" or "too hard" tell them to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k4Xk1mEwmI
Why hasn't Tepco installed high resolution cameras on those large towers
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Do you want to do the install?
I'd take that contract. Wouldn't be cheap, but I can do it.
I'd want to do a site-survey first, with my own Geiger-Muller tube based measuring apparatus, known to be functional and calibrated ... maybe even a pair of them, from two different manufacturers ...
Honest, God will bless you Tyler for all the good you do. You make me look like an oracle to my friends, and most important, I have learned about financial responsibility for myself.
Babylon is falling, but it don't mean we gotta fall with em....
TD and ZH rocks!
Anticipating the next Fukushima development is important to me since official Japanese, IAEA and other declarations and media coverage are IMHO lagging reality not by days, but probably by weeks or longer.
The 72' Putzmeister crane/concrete pumper from the S. Carolina MOX facility is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo tomorrow aboard the Soviet Antonov 225, to join with 4 more cranes from other origins, with the announced intent of pumping water to cool reactor elements and spent fuel pools, to presumably be followed by the dumping of the contaminated effluent run-off into the ocean, a fool's errand.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/view/heavy-help
Maybe tonight's Russian and Chinese demands for Japan's dealing with ongoing seawater contamination will soon or eventually force the realization that these and perhaps more concrete pumps need to be used for a sarcophagus containment, leading to the question of how that could be done without first doing a Chernobyl-like below-ground concrete tunnel containment structure:
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2011-04/09/content_22320200.htm
I'm trying to read ahead of the news; if I'm not looking for the next problem developing, I won't see it coming or ever hear about it in the news.
Temperatures starting to creep back up in reactors 1 and 3.
http://falloutphilippines.blogspot.com/
Temperatures starting to creep back up in reactors 1 and 3.
http://falloutphilippines.blogspot.com/
I've been looking at the super hi res versions of the drone shots. I'm pretty sure I found bob_dabolina's ejected objects. Now if he'd just show up so's I can tell him....
Looking extra steamy today...plus I found the TEPCO webcam link. It's much cuter than the scary German one.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/camera/index-j.html
Hey Jim, check this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FobcdNqlcVw
Excellent.
I recommend pausing it, waiting for the whole thing to load, then scrolling through it with the slider instead of watching it play for eight minutes.
Webcam now is looking just gawdawful, like some kind of sea fog or something. Radioactive sea fog...it would just get into everything..
Good grief.....check out the one from 1400 hrs.....I do hope that's a totally natural phenomena :)
Paranoia....the destroyer...
Just another rainy day at Fukushima (I hope as well). Keeps the radioactive fallout close-by...
People may find this useful - my accumulated list of Fukushima links:
http://everist.org/archives/links/!_Fukushima_nuclear_disaster_info.txt
Thanks - great link collection. Most helpful to keep the facts straight (and to check the official statements for any "inconsistencies")
Wow! What a great list. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Great stuff.
I also live in Tokyo (since 1993) and just returned with my wife and son last night after
departing on 3/17. It was a difficult decision to leave on the 17th, but after the
third reactor building exploded on the the 15th, the decision got a lot easier. Like
many long-time Zero Hedge readers, I have relied heavily on TD for truthful information
that would allow me to make informed decisions. We decided to return, despite the
obvious dangers, for several reasons, most notably to start wrapping up our life here in
Japan. We will try to sell our home if possible then decide what happens next. With
any luck, we will be ready to leave in a couple of months. While I am mindful of the
just how bad the situation here actually is, I believe the risks of staying for several
months to be acceptable as long as there is not another catastrophic event in Fukushima.
In many respects, we are quite lucky because we still have options and we can leave
Japan, the vast majority of people here do not have that luxury, they must remain and
deal with the consequences of what may be the biggest environmental disaster in the
in the history of human kind. And even those people who remain are still "lucky" in that
they were not killed in the earthquake/tsunami and still have homes and jobs, many, many
people were not so fortunate.
I look for more obfuscation and dissembling from TEPCO and Japanese government,
both of which have long, dishonorable histories of withholding the truth for the greater
"public good".
Like many ZH's, I have have been preparing coming economic storm, but I thought/hoped
there would be more time, perhaps several more years before America, Japan, & Europe
finally succumbed to the inexorable forces of debt that will ultimately bring about
economic collapse. But I was always aware that a black swan event could greatly hasten
the coming collapse. The recent events in Japan could very well be that black swan
though it will take some time for it to play out; time will tell. In the meanwhile,
Silver and Gold are at all time nominal highs; the storm is coming and sooner than
many may thought.
Finally, a parting shot at TEPCO. I will never forgive those bastards for this, they
knew the reactors were not built to code and cut costs all through design and construction.
They will argue for decades that no one could have prepared for a magnitude 9.0 quake
and tsunami and there is some small truth to that but they could have done, much, much
more by way of safety and over engineering but they chose not to, just to save some
money.
Best of luck to us all.
not to be a contrarian but "why are ZHer's asking why they have to get their news on Zero Hedge?" This is about as "non-newsy" a place as could be--i find it disturbing FOR REAL--because obviously none of us are experts nor do we have the resources to gather the xperts and "try and get to the reality of a situation." It may be an internet thing--but given that we still have newspapers and "they used to be called muckrakers"--that media form has no excuse. i really don't "get it." so what if we engage in ad hominem attacks? so what if we libel individuals or entire groups? can't say anything bad about politicians? i mean can anyone say "Adams vs. Jefferson and the election of 1800?" Is there a "kinder/gentler" way to truth? Name one time when that was the case? The "whole thing" is based on the notion of "state secret." Get redacted documents in your own dumb ass investigation sometime. Or I guess "just call it info-tainment" and "cut some the biggest/fattest paycheck possible." Maybe Mencken really was....
I suggest you stick to reading the comic section of your local newspaper ...
Holy shit, can someone be more incoherent than this? :-/
Lol. Side effects of too much MM.
Good luck to you and your family.
and Yomiuri Shinbun hides it under medical news section.
Thanks Lapri. Your blog is a lifeline to many Japanese I know still in Japan. Just wanted to say thanks to you!
Thank you!
And to anyone here whom I haven't said thank you, Thank you for your support by reading my blog.
your blog is a great source of info.
it's becoming the first place I check for J crisis news.
thanx
deleted
Well done indeed.
Coming from Alaska, thanks Tyler. I'm a small business owner and Zerohedge has been such a helpful resource in my tax planning and business ventures. Keep it up!
www.forecastfortomorrow.com
Details, details....
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011040800654
Tokyo Electric Fails to Disclose Key N-Plant DataTokyo, April 8 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> failed to disclose key data about the status of its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in an early stage of the crisis shortly after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, it was learned Friday.
On Friday, the company for the first time disclosed data on water levels inside reactors of the plant as from 7:30 p.m. March 11 (10:30 a.m. GMT), nearly five hours after the quake.
Data as of 9:30 p.m. that day showed water inside the plant's No. 1 reactor decreased to just 45 centimeters above the top of the fuel rods.
The water level rose back and stood at 1.3 meters above the fuel rods' top at 12:30 a.m. March 12. But the level fell sharply starting around 7 a.m. and an upper part of the fuel rods became exposed to air at 8:49 a.m.
The data that had been made available so far were about the reactor status as from 8 p.m. March 13.
(2011/04/08-15:36)
How do you get 100 Sv in the #1 (wetwell) drywell ?!
Gravity?
Looks like the technical folks are starting to get a bead on it...up to 4X Chernobyl evac levels of cesium-137 outside the current Fukushima evac zone...running prominantly in Asahi Shimbun English web edition:
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104080169.html
High radiation levels found beyond 30-km radiusA study of soil samples has revealed that as much as 400 times the normal levels of radiation could remain in communities beyond a 30-kilometer radius from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where explosions spewed radioactive materials into the atmosphere.
The study was conducted by a team of experts from Kyoto University and Hiroshima University.
According to the study, the accumulated amount of radiation in the soil at Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture--which is located outside of the 30-km radius--calculated over a three-month period would exceed the annual accumulated amount of 20 millisieverts that the central government is considering as a guideline for evacuating residents.
The government has asked residents living within a 20-km radius of the Fukushima No. 1 plant to evacuate and those living between a 20- to 30-km radius to remain indoors as much as possible.
Government studies have also found evidence of radiation contamination beyond the 30-km radius. The results show that radiation has not been spreading from the nuclear power plant in a concentric manner.
The predicted changes in the level of radiation at the ground surface were calculated after analyzing the amounts of eight kinds of radioactive materials found in the soil and taking into consideration the half-lives of each material.
The study results are considered more accurate than the study conducted by the science ministry, which only released information concerning two types of radioactive material.
Tetsuji Imanaka, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, Satoru Endo, an associate professor of radiation physics at Hiroshima University, and other experts visited Iitate in late March.
They collected soil samples from five locations in the village at depths of five centimeters. All the locations were outside the 30-km radius and were by roadways in various hamlets.
The study found cesium-137 at levels between about 590,000 and 2.19 million becquerels per cubic meter.
After the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union in 1986, residents who lived in areas where cesium-137 levels exceeded 555,000 becquerels were forced to move elsewhere.
According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the total land area from where residents were forced to move was about 10,000 square kilometers, about the land area of Gifu Prefecture. A total of about 270,000 residents were subject to the forced move.
The amounts of cesium-137 found in Iitate were at most four times the figure from Chernobyl.
If more radioactive materials are emitted from the crippled Fukushima plant, the level of cesium-137 could rise even further.
Calculations were also made of changes in the radiation level in the air one meter above contaminated ground over a three-month period from March 15, when an explosion occurred at the Fukushima plant.
The study found that even after three months there would be between 7 and 21 microsieverts per hour being emitted from the contaminated soil into the air.
If an individual remained outdoors for the entire three-month period, the person would be exposed to between 30 and 95 millisieverts over the period.
Assuming the cesium remains in the soil, the accumulated level of radiation after one year could be between about 70 and 220 millisieverts.
The central government is considering using an accumulated radiation exposure figure of 20 millisieverts over the course of a year as one indicator of whether an evacuation instruction should be issued.
The cesium-137 could move or be washed away by rain and wind, so there is the possibility that the actual accumulated radiation exposure figure could fall below the study's estimates.
Studies by the science ministry have found that contamination of the soil by radiation does not spread out in concentric circles, but is more irregular due to wind direction and other factors.
Soil-sample studies by the science ministry have found levels of cesium-137 per kilogram of soil in other areas beyond the 30-km radius, such as Okuma and Namie, that were higher than those in the study conducted by the experts at Kyoto and Hiroshima universities.
The 100 microsiverts/hr 1.5 km away took my breath away earlier today. I'm still classified as a "Nuclear Worker" in Canada which means no more than 50 millisiverts a year for one in five. Essentially what I would get in a month 1.5 km away but likely within a day at the plant. The workers at the plant are the third generation of the divine wind.
How valuable do you think this patent is in Japan right now?
RADIOPROTECTANTS TARGETING THROMBOSPONDIN-1 AND CD47
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2010017332
I'm surprised no one seems to have mentioned apricot seeds aka vitamin B17, aka Laetrile.
http://everist.org/archives/links/!_B17_Laetrile_links.txt
A genuine cancer cure, only can't be patented since it's a natural product. And because it's cheap and actually works, it is a serious threat to the establishment 'cancer industry'. So it has been suppressed. I only found out about this stuff _after_ my best friend died of cancer in 2004, dammit. Miserable internet research fail.
I recall being sternly lectured as a child to never, ever eat apricot seeds, because they contain cyanide, and would kill me. Interesting... an actual public disinfo campaign, and I remember it from childhood. Having learnt about B17 and its function, I recently tried eating apricot seeds. Slight bitter almond taste, because yes, they do contain cyanide. But no ill effect at all - the cyanide is locked up safely in a 'carrier' molecule, as described.
Might be a good time to invest in apricot plantations. The way Fukushima is going I guess we'll be having a surge in the cancer rates globally. Then we'll see how well the B17 information suppression campaign holds up.
Interesting, I remember reading about some guy who was jailed for claiming that the seeds were a Cancer cure. I always keep an open mind and a healthy suspicion of the FDA and it's government owned politicians. I did my own liver flush just yesterday evening, never taken a big pharma drug in years.
One of the links in that list I gave, is to a video by G E Griffin on vitamin B17, how it works against cancer, etc. Yes, that G Edward Griffin, author of Creature from Jekyll Island. Which of course I'd hope everyone here in ZH will have read, and thus will know what an excellent researcher and very level headed fellow Mr Griffin is.
Really, if you don't pay any other attention to the B17 story, watch his video on it.
Latest simulation out of RIU presents the high-end possibility of as much as 10Bq (Cs-137) in air within the next few days within regional countries. Converting this value to absorbed dose, this activity will presumably yield about 2 microsieverts/hr at a distance/depth of 1 cm. If anybody knowledgeable could anyone confirm/clarify this calculation, i would greatly appreciate it as i am a bit perturbed right now. Assuming constant rates, that's 1.75 REM per year, folks. And this is just the Cs contribution alone excluding I-131.
Are the Japanese going to invade Pearl Harbor again?
Hope we don't get a TEPCO Exec as President.
Earth still moving: 6.1 EQ in Kyushu an hour ago, 12:57 UTC.
Gommenasai.