Making mountains out of meltdowns (in Japan)

tfdesign · 15 Mar 2011, 21:57

edit; carrying on from Honolulu's thread here;

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=35807

All go to the worst!
4 days losted with hiding the true!
There is only now copters for refresh reactors and swimming pool!
So nothing!
Are you blind?

4 days lost to hiding the truth? So what? That's four days. It's not even a week I would worry if it were 4 years, but it's not. Yet the west want Chernobyl mark II. Why? Thousands of people, perhaps even tens of thousands have lost their lives from one of the most natural elements in the whole world, the sea, yet western media seems obsessed with a man made nuclear disaster that has yet to happen. There is an exclusion zone of only 20km, yet not one person has died from a direct result of radiation poisoning. I feel sickened by this ignorance every time I turn on the news.

And no, Pilou, I am not blind. I do find that comment rather bewildering especially in the light of all those who have lost their loved ones, their houses and their futures are uncertain (but I guarantee that you will be impressed by how the Japanese will bounce back!). And it's bloody freezing there too. Snowing and minus 5C! Is the latter not more bothersome?

Dale and I decided we (work permitting) should have a debate about this, and this is why I am starting this thread here. Please feel free to comment (but no flames! (because it only means you've lost the argument! ))

Tom

srx · 16 Mar 2011, 07:54

I agree with you.

watkins · 16 Mar 2011, 08:27

Dear Tom,

I rather agree with your sentiment. Here in the UK the media are having a feeding frenzy, First Egypt, then Libya and now Japan. The BBC have a Japan Disaster Live website giving minute by minute updates on the reactor, and have flown out 'celebrity' newscasters to cover events. You almost feel that they are wishing for things to get worse so that their headlines can be even more dramatic.

The Japanese are an industrious and disciplined people, and will recover from these setbacks. These events might even kick-start the Japanese economy, so there might even be a silver lining to this particular 'radioactive' cloud.

I urge people to make a contribution to the Red Cross fund. Consider giving up one Stabuck's grande latte each week for 6 months, and denoting the proceeds to the relief fund. It is enlightened self-interest. If Japan's economy goes down then we will all be affected

Kind regards,
Bob

tfdesign · 16 Mar 2011, 12:20

Well put Bob. I couldn't agree more

dale · 16 Mar 2011, 18:10

I will start by saying that I agree supporting people in areas that are so hard hit by disaster. In Canada there is a code that you can text to the Red Cross via cell phone which automatically adds the donation to your phone bill.
But since the thread topic is about Nuclear energy pros and cons....
I have a lot of misgivings when it comes to supporting any more development of the current Nuclear Energy programs.
I can't disagree that there has been a media frenzy over this, but I think this is understandable given the empowerment, and connectivity of the general public in the internet age. Succinctly, people want answers. Particularly as to how this nuclear plants emissions could potentially affect them and their families.
And here lies one of the problems, and perhaps why someone like me remains skeptical.
This industry and its proponents could have never been all that transparent or necessarily truthful.
I propose that this industry chose the uranium based systems that we see proliferating today because the by-product of these plants in most cases is enriched uranium which is used in Nuclear Weapons.
And in my mind I feel that once we started down the path of developing the kinds of Nuclear reactors we now see, given the resources that it requires to develop a system as complex as this, we are in essence stuck with it. I would also say it is both becoming antiquated, and still fairly secretive.
I won't make this a thesis dissertation, but will say again what I said in Honolulu's thread.
I can't be very supportive of decision makers, and particularly experts in their field, who would place a set of Nuclear Reactors in a location such as this, and not suspect that the consequences would be exactly what we are witnessing.

tfdesign · 25 Mar 2011, 20:20

A good interview with Professor David Jamieson, head of the School of Physics at The University of Melbourne on Thorium reactors and the current nuclear 'crisis' in Japan.

Page not found - ABC

Stay informed and entertained with ABC Australia. Access live events, news, audio and on-demand video streaming from the nation's most trusted broadcaster.

(www.abc.net.au)

(with audio- so you don't have to read much )

d12dozr · 25 Mar 2011, 20:34

An interesting read from marketing guru Seth Godin...
The triumph of coal marketing

Look at this infographic!

honoluludesktop · 25 Mar 2011, 23:49

While nuclear power is probably the only way to go, Japan's situation is steadily deteriorating. I wouldn't be surprised if reactor 3 turns out to be a major disaster. I am sure that none of us would care to eat the radiated seafood, and vegetables as the result of the disaster. It's a mistake not to consider people's "state of fear", and its impact on the world economy.

tfdesign · 26 Mar 2011, 12:45

More and more of this has got even more to do with mass hysteria and panic. Even the World Health Organisation has made a statement that there is very little to worry about.

The problem with the press is that they haven't a clue how to report a massive humanitarian crisis, because what sells papers isn't news that eight thousand people are already confirmed dead and 12,000 are still missing, but what sells papers to the liberal masses in the west is an impending nuclear disaster caused not by nature but by people, and this simply isn't true.

I actually find it quite disgusting that in a liberal paper such as the Guardian here in the UK, has mentioned nothing of the humanitarian crisis, just pages upon pages of updates on the reactor.

It makes me very upset. So upset that I'm quite happy to eat food that has been labeled as 'contaminated' just to prove a point. In fact, in order to become affected with radiation, you would have to eat vast proportions of leafy vegetable for at least a year, every day. The same goes for drinking water. The Japanese obsession with these face
masks doesn't improve perceptions either.

solo · 26 Mar 2011, 13:10

[flash=600,400:ymsrl8dm]http://www.youtube.com/v/CsDomUQ-fYM[/flash:ymsrl8dm]

Crazy!!

honoluludesktop · 26 Mar 2011, 13:51

Doesn't she have cancer? If so, that may be contributing to her fear.

The tons of water they poured into the reactors have sent 2 workers to the hospital. I'll bet some of this water found its way into the adjacent ocean along with the radioactive iodine in the smoke.

pbacot · 26 Mar 2011, 13:54

I never saw her before this, but on seeing this again (it was on the Daily Show), I wonder if she wasn't playing along as an outlandish devil's advocate for the pervasive ignorance.

tfdesign · 26 Mar 2011, 14:18

@honoluludesktop said:

The tons of water they poured into the reactors have sent 2 workers to the hospital.

I think you have to be very careful how a news item like that is interpreted.

solo · 26 Mar 2011, 14:28

@unknownuser said:

but what sells papers to the liberal masses in the west is an impending nuclear disaster caused not by nature but by people

@unknownuser said:

How many other "Glenn Beck"'s are you Americans hiding??

So what is it?, liberal or conservative?

Beck is an extreme conservative, yet you cite the liberals as the problem.

tfdesign · 26 Mar 2011, 14:29

@solo said:

Crazy!!

'Thick' more like!

How many other "Glenn Beck"'s are you Americans hiding??

Someone should give her a reality check about the radiation that is emitted every single day from our very own sun!

tfdesign · 26 Mar 2011, 14:31

neither. This is sensationalism. It can be both.

edit; Pete, I should point out that I was referring to the UK when I mentioned papers.

solo · 26 Mar 2011, 14:32

The true problem is the 24 hour news cycle IMO.

honoluludesktop · 26 Mar 2011, 15:23

Here is the news post. NHK is the Japanese version of "Voice of America".

honoluludesktop · 26 Mar 2011, 15:27

@tfdesign said:

@honoluludesktop said:

The tons of water they poured into the reactors have sent 2 workers to the hospital.

I think you have to be very careful how a news item like that is interpreted. :idea:

Well, 3 workers walked in the water that had been poured into one of the reactor's building, and 2 were found with potential radiation burns. The one that wasn't burned, had his shoes protected from getting soaked.

tfdesign · 26 Mar 2011, 16:37

@solo said:

The true problem is the 24 hour news cycle IMO.

Well we have 24 hour news too. It's pretty bad ('bad' as in it just repeats the same thing over and over again), but nowhere near as awful as that.

The last series of HBO's The Wire was a good reminder of how low media can go in order to sell papers. Although fictional, I think The Wire captured quite a good perspective into perceiving how some may portray the news in order to hold on to an audience, and thus regaining viewing figures that keep those 'journalists' in a job.