Sensationalism, Scare Mongering and the Nanny State

The article screams that the Japanese government has plans for evacuating 10 million people from Tokyo because of Fukushima... Yeah, right! If it were so bad, then why only 10 million? There's are at least 35 million people in Tokyo.

There is still way too much sensationalism and frankly speaking piss poor writing going on about Fukushima. I found one of the worst examples I've seen in a long time today. This article's title is suitable for a gossip weekly magazine on some US supermarket check out counter along with the Hillary Clinton Adopts Alien Baby story. The title lays bare to the low quality of writing held within: It's Not Over: Government Plans for the Worst: Forced Evacuation of Tokyo. The article goes on stating that the nuclear problem is out of control, cannot be controlled and the Japanese government has plans to evacuate ten million people from Tokyo.


Laughable.


Folks, the situation in Fukushima is bad enough as it is without some fools scare mongering. Allow me to go through this with you and point out some of the gross absurdities within. The article from SHTF will be italicized and highlighted in yellow. My comments will be added.


It's Not Over: Government lans for the Worst: Forced Evacuation of Tokyo 

While it has for the most part disappeared from mainstream view, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is anything but over. In fact, the situation in Japan has gone from bad to worse.

Bottom line: There is no way to contain the radiation.


Well, if saying that "There's no way to contain the radiation" isn't a give away for more sensationalism to come then I think I need some rabies shot before I go on reading further. As I said, at the plants in Fukushima, things aren't all roses and in many cases pretty bad especially with leakages that, by the way, have been reported to have been plugged (so maybe they can be contained?) Also, judging from the background radiation levels in Shinjuku, Tokyo measured daily, those levels are one half of what they were one year ago.

Even more alarming is that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and other agencies have warned that the nuclear storage pools (the containment units that are being used to cool the nuclear fuel) have been damaged and may collapse under their own weight.


"May" collapse? Well, I may win the year-end lottery too!

Such an event would cause widespread nuclear fallout throughout the region and force the government to evacuate the nearly 10 million residents of Tokyo and surrounding areas, a scenario which government emergency planners are now taking into serious consideration.


This paragraph is a dead giveaway that the writer doesn't have a clue as to what he is talking about. Tokyo constitutes over 51% of Japan's entire GDP. There are over 35 million homes in the Tokyo metropolitan area alone. Two questions for this writer: Where in the world did he come up with this incorrect information of "10 million residents of Tokyo"? and even if this were correct, where, pray tell would these people be sent? He goes on:

Leading Japanese newspaper The Mainichi Daily News reports:

One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse. This is something that experts from both within and outside Japan have pointed out since the massive quake struck. TEPCO, meanwhile, says that the situation is under control. However, not only independent experts, but also sources within the government say that it’s a grave concern.

The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. The roof has been blown away. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area. Both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and French nuclear energy company Areva have warned about this risk.


Lots of "ifs" and "the possibility" of disaster...

A report released in February by the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident stated that the storage pool of the plant’s No. 4 reactor has clearly been shown to be “the weakest link” in the parallel, chain-reaction crises of the nuclear disaster. The worse-case scenario drawn up by the government includes not only the collapse of the No. 4 reactor pool, but the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the plant’s other reactors. If this were to happen, residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area would be forced to evacuate. (emphasis mine)

This hits the crux of the problem. That last two sentences that I highlighted. They speak of the worst case scenario. This is the worst-case scenario drawn up by the government. 

I looked for the link to the original article and it doesn't exist. That's OK, though I found a cache. Then I tracked back to the original Japanese language transcripts and broadcasts.

Admittedly, they say the same thing as this sensationalist articles says, yet in a slightly different vein. The jist of the original Japanese is "If there is another huge earthquake, then the pools might collapse." They are indeed speaking of worst-case scenarios. Nowhere in the original articles do any of the experts consulted claim that this will happen. Everyone says "if"... 

Well, if I win the lottery too... If we have another 9.0 earthquake...

As far as evacuation claims, I could not find any information to that effect at all. Though I would consider that, even in the USA, there are evacuation plans for all sorts of scenarios... For example; If the Russians fire nuclear missiles; if there is a nuclear attack on a US city; if terrorists poison the water supply, etc., etc.... Gosh! There's goes that pesky "if" again.

It's all a part and parcel of the culture of fear that is pedaled by the government and media nowadays as news. 

This article was full of "what ifs". But, here's some facts:

144 workers and employees died at Chernobyl within 6 months of the event due to radiation. More than one year after Fukushima two guys dead from the tsunami, one guy dead from a heart attack, none from radiation.

As I have pointed out, the 10 million Tokyo residents number doesn't add up no matter how you slice it... Think about it.... Sure government wonks probably have plan for something like this (they also had a plan to blow a hole in the side of the nuclear reactors up with US military explosives in order to cool them down but Dr. Strangelove was out voted)... Doesn't the government sit around and make plans and committees to think up ways to screw up and spend money?.... 

This sensationalist article is full of conjecture and scare mongering... I'll bet it works good for selling products.


In fact, in some of the original article links, there are links to a daytime women's talk show where an "expert" appeared. Here's the video. Have a Japanese watch it with you and explain what is said: 

This is a morning women's talk and gossip news show on TV Asahi. For your information, few people take TV Asahi as a serious news station as Asahi TV is owned by Asahi Newspaper. Asahi newspaper is traditionally a leftist and pro-socialist publication - it has been that way for 100 years and supports the socialist parties and even did so with communist parties in the past. 

As with American morning TV talk shows such as Good Morning America and the like (we have them in Japan too - witness the above), then if you wish to trust this sort of women's gossip and news program as a news source, then you must have believed that Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons so the USA had to invade, a man in a cave organized 9/11, America the brave went into Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the middle east to bring those folks democracy and freedom.... Sure.

I like the SHTF reports (well sometimes) but they don't do sensationalism from Japan well - especially since they don't speak the language so they can't verify their sources and they obviously are not knowledgeable in the history of media in this country and why some publications and news services have a leftist or rightist slant. 


But, if you check the SHTF website you see that they sell survival gear and have been selling and promoting the end of the world since 2007. So well have they done this that they've predicted 11 out of the last 1 disasters.


Far be it from me to tell you not to be prepared or get ready for a financial calamity or natural disaster... But business can't be so bad for SHTF that they need to stoop to this level of reporting could it?


Sensationalism sure sells stuff... its track record on reporting the truth is pretty shockingly bad though.

Cellphone Radiation? Probably Worse For You Than Fukushima Because It's Stuck to Your Head!

That's right. Unless you live near or around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants, or the nearby areas affected, then there are many things that are much more dangerous to you and your families' well-being than crap spewing out of the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

People need to keep things in perspective. Of course the Fukushima nuclear accident is serious business. For me, I thank God I don't live there... Actually, no. That's not true. I thank me. I'd never live close to a nuclear power plant anyway. Neither would I live close to any sort of refinery, oil producing facilities or toxic waste dumps. I always questions the sanity of people who do... I always wonder why, when something bad happens, then the people who do live near these places complain as if they are surprised by disaster.


Seems to me disaster has a way of striking all around the world all the time.


Like I said, when it comes to your health and the welfare of your family, there's lots of things you should be concerned about... If you don't live near Fukushima then there's stuff going on all around you that just aren't as glamorous as nuclear accidents so they aren't reported by the main stream mass media, yet they have a much higher chance of ruining your health or your families' health than Fukushima ever could.


Here's a list of a few:


Did you know that For Every One Death Due to Nuclear Power, 4,000 Die Due to Coal? 


Or how about Benzene in Cars! This Will Kill More People Than Fukushima Will


And today's interesting tidbit comes from Activist Post. It is entitled Is Your Cell Phone Killing You?

An excellent infographic has been released, which covers many of the physical and mental health problems, as well as the financial burden sold to an increasing number of people who feel they "cannot live without" a cell phone.

As shown below, this obsession manifests in a myriad of ways that affect individual health and social interaction....

There is one other area key area that is not covered in the infographic, but is also worth mentioning -- the radiation effects of cell phones, especially on the young.

Experts have said that cell phones are capable of causing a number of health problems, including depression, infertility and damage to your DNA.

In 2011, the WHO/IARC released a report stating that cell phone radiation may have a carcinogenic effect on humans. In fact, the World Health Organization actually said that cell phones are in the same cancer-causing category as lead, engine exhaust, and chloroform. 

Considering the hundreds of millions who live thousands of miles away from Fukushima with how much they have a radioactive device stuck to their head all day, I'd say that this issue demands some serious consideration.

Here's more details and facts from this very interesting infographic:

1) More people can't live without their cell phone:

* The average person glances at their cell phone 150 times a day

* 68% of people experience phantom phone vibration when anticipating a phone call or notification

* 43% of iPhone users would go shoeless for a week rather than temporarily release their phones

* 22% would forego brushing their teeth

* 73% of people sleep with their cell phones

2) This obsession can lead to mental and health problems

* Fear and anxiety can increase coagulation and increase heart disease by a factor of four

* 57% feel anxiety when they run out of battery or credit or have no network coverage

* 70% of women and 61% of men fear losing their phones (it's called "nomophobia" or "no mobile phone phobia")

* 50% feel anxious when they don't have their mobile phone with them 

* 25% of nomophobia have experienced accidents while messaging or talking on the phone

3) Sleep deprivation

* People lose an average of 45 minutes a week of sleep due to cell phone usage

* 63% of smart phones users use a social networking site before going to bed

The article then goes on to suggest ways to fight back against cell phones (and I heartily agree!)

1) Turn off cell phones 45 minutes before bedtime to increase sleep quality

2) Take a trip unplugged! Go to where there is no TV, network or computers! 

3) Resist constantly checking your cell phone for messages. If it's important, then they will call you

May I add?:

4) Turn it off at meal time

5) Turn it off during meetings and when you are not at work

6) Never use if for an alarm clock

7) Turn off your cell phone for 12 hours a day, everyday

Cell phones are bad news. Not only are they bad for your health, they are ruining people's quality of life. 


One person commented to me that, "... they can't be as bad as breathing in Fukushima radiation..." To that another friend said, "No. You just shove them up a hole in your head and talk on them for hours..." Good point.

Turn those damned things off! 


Refer to this great video that I wrote about at New Year's in Turn off those digital devices and learn to live again:

Not only will turning off your cell phone for at least 12 hours a day improve your life, it will improve your health.


For a related article, please read: Radiation and Reason - the Impact of Science on a Culture of Fear 

Sensationalist Reporting on Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Issues Goes on Unabated… Counter-productive to Anti-Nuclear Movement

The situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plants aren't the cozy situation that the Japanese government want us to believe. The reports are the water is leaking from one of the reactors again and until they get a better look, they can't make any judgements on what to do.

Please refer to: Fresh Radioactive Water Leak Discovered at Fukushima: 

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found that the water level in the No. 2 reactor's primary containment vessel was only 60 centimeters deep when it checked the interior of the crippled reactor using an endoscope, Kyodo news agency reported.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Junichi Matsumoto gave assurances that the melted fuel inside the No. 2 reactor remains cooled through continuous water injection, as the water temperature in the vessel was 48.5 C to 50 C.

But he acknowledged that the lower-than-expected water level suggests that a large portion of the injected water is leaking from the primary containment vessel, possibly via the damaged suppression pool that is linked to the reactor.

This is the kind of reporting we need; Just the facts. If we have the facts, then we can decide the best course of action to take.

But when the reporting gets more and more sensationalistic, it helps no one. In fact, I submit to you that sensationalist reporting is actually damaging to both sides of an argument... It is especially damaging to the reporter as they become like the "Boy who cried wolf." The consumers of such sensationalism and mis-reporting become ambivalent and jaded... Just look at the average citizen who consumes too much TV to see the results of this sort of junk brainwashing: Too much junk in equals a junk public.

Moving a little farther towards the sensationalist side of the reporting - but not quite there yet - is a good example. This time from Gizmodo: Over a Year Later, Fukushima’s Radiation Is Still Fatal

What a difference a year makes: none. Reactor #2 at Fukushima Daichi is still leaking enough radiation to kill you.

Al Jazeera reports "One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant's stability," adding, ominously, that safety workers "will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant. The process is expected to last decades."

Decades. And that's likely an eager estimate. With radiation levels at ten times the fatal exposure level and coolant water evaporating away, TEPCO, the incompetent power firm which owns the plant, still has a giant radioactive mess on its bib. Sending workers toward the reactor will either kill or poison them, and pumping more water into the core will result in contaminated spillage and steam reaching the ocean and beyond.

The tech to repair the reactor doesn't exist yet. Developing that will take time. In that same time, radiation seeps inexorably in a nation of 130 million, and nearly 100,000 people within a 450 square mile dead zone can't go back home. This is only year one—the Fukushima story is far, far from over. 

Do you notice the obvious slant and commentary in the story? First, the use of the word, "ominously" makes me wonder about an agenda of the writer, but I can still live with that. Next? Calling TEPCO "incompetent" is commentary and has no place in serious reporting. Incompetent? Compared to what? The Japanese government? 

I keep hearing that TEPCO is incompetent. Maybe so. And I also hear many saying that the Japanese government should nationalize TEPCO and those power plants. Now that's a big joke. Talk about having the insane take over the asylum! The people who ran TEPCO, before the March 11 disaster, had turned that company into the 4th largest and most profitable energy company in the world; the largest in all of Asia... The Japanese government? They've turned this country into one of the most indebted (to GDP) nations on earth... And people want to replace the "incompetents" at TEPCO with the Japanese government? 

I think the most incompetent people in this picture are the idiots calling for such a nationalization of TEPCO, a private company. It's not needed nor desired at all. And neither is bailing them out with public money. f they can't make it, let them go bankrupt and new, competent management come in and take over. Bailing them out only allows the "incompetents" (if they really are such) to stay in their jobs.

But I digress...

Going farther away from the serious and credible reporting, we go to the dark side. This is where the writers foam at the mouth and total conjecture and paranoia are passed off for reporting. It is the recent trend of news reporting being meshed with political commentary. I find this trend quite disturbing and consider it to be quite counter-productive to finding a solution. In this case, it is bad for both the pros and the cons to the argument. 

Please refer to Alexander Higgins quoting the completely discredited Fukushima Diaries in: Japanese Being Pushed Into Revolt Over Fukushima Radiation

Japanese Citizens are left with no further possible recourse besides a revolt to end the gross human rights abuses being committed by the government of Japan.

The Japanese are finally noticing that they are surrounded by the invisible walls.

Since the bubble ended in 1992, Japan has been in a long recession, called Japan’s lost 20 years.

Leaders changed like revolving lantern.

The article claims "tens of thousands of demonstrators"... But even event organizers

only claimed 12,000. Police claimed 7,000... I suspect this photo has been Photoshopped

Japanese citizens became aware that their voice is not reflected in the political situation but they tried to ignore the fact and indulged themselves in the fading prosperity.

However, they cannot ignore it anymore.

Since 311, their government has been trying to kill the people instead of saving them.

In the very first sentence, the writer calls for a revolt against the government? I'm sure that will go over very well with average Joe-Happoshu. Then he says that, "Since 311, their government has been trying to kill the people instead of saving them"????!!!! Now, you won't find me arguing with you when you say the government is incompetent, but to say that the Japanese government's purpose over the last 12 months is the extermination of the Japanese people is just laughable.

You guys don't expect anyone, excepting your comic book reading friends, to take you seriously do you?   

The caption read: "Police Clash With Thousands in Tokyo Protesting Nuclear Lies, Incompetence and Censorship"... You call this a "clash"? You can see more of a scuffle at an AKB48 concert.  

The above is not a clash.... That's nothing... Now here, below, this is a "clash":

Read and see more videos of these clashes from the mid-1980s and more here

The writer then goes on to name a litany of actions by people to change the course of government actions. You know, the usual: Petitions, demonstrations, discussions.... Ho hum... 

Another sentence by the writer that just shows a complete lack of knowledge of Japanese history is this gem:

The Japanese have not felt the necessity of revolt this much since the last Japanese revolution in the mid 19^th century. 

Really, this guy seems like he didn't study much in school nor does he have much a grasp on contemporary issues in Japan. The idea that the Japanese haven't "felt the necessity of revolt this much since the last Japanese revolution" makes me wonder where this guy was in the 70s and 80s.

This blather comes from the Fukushima Diary which seems to be a blog clearly written with the purpose of making the owner a name for himself. He reminds me of the Global Warming Believers; they need a crisis. Where there is none they will create it. That Alexander Higgins would repeatedly quote this junior high school level nonsense is not up to par. If this keeps up, I will have to delete the link to his blog at the right side of my blog. Too bad. Alexander was doing a good job reporting these matters several months ago and did a good job on OWS... This is crap reporting...

I commented to this article at Alexander's site:

   You have to realize that there are over 35 million households in the Tokyo area alone. I don’t mean to belittle the demonstrators but a weekend gathering of 10,000 people to protest nuclear power isn’t going to impress too many in the government. Also, there were no “clashes with police.” This sort of news exaggeration doesn’t help anyone.

    When, someday, the people do serious actions like get together, march and then, say, burn their credit cards in a city square then people in power will sit up and take notice. A weekend demonstration for a few hours at a park with a peaceful march through downtown… Then back to home and watching TV is BS…. Happens all the time.

People will say “But the Japanese are docile and don’t revolt.” Quite untrue. Here’s a few video of real Japanese revolts and fights against the government. Some of these riots happened as recently as 1985. Like I said, these fun get-togethers at the park don’t impress anyone.

To belabor the point, the article also goes on with a litany of examples of how bad the situation has become in Japan. One of the claims is that, "People in Okinawa is (sic) starting to claim that they are having nosebleed or sore throat." Of course, there are no links or references to support the claims. 

Pathetic.

Marchers in Tokyo. You do the math: 35 million homes in Tokyo Metropolitan area... 10,000 at a demonstration? Sorry... Japanese department stores get more than that when they are having a sale! 

But getting back to my point; it is this kind of "reporting" that is actually damaging to the anti-nuclear movement. Actually, this isn't reporting at all. It is political commentary disguised as reporting and has no place in a serious discussion of the issues. 

Once again, the anti-nuclear people will attack me for this post, but, folks, get serious. This kind of comic-book reporting does your movement absolutely no good at all and makes serious people just roll their eyes when you speak or write.

If you want to do good serious reporting, please do. If you want to write fiction, then there is a much more profitable and hungry market for it in the romantic novel section at your local bookstore or on Kindle.... 

If you do want to write seriously, then do yourselves a favor and please stick to the facts... Doing otherwise and exaggerrating and writing like the article I mentioned is to make a laughing stock of yourselves... 

Unless, of course, your purpose is actually to discredit the anti-nuclear movement as being fools. For some reason I don't suspect that you are merely "acting" like fools.

Two Stories About Fukushima - blowing up nuclear reactors with explosives! What could possibly go wrong with that? Chernobyl comparison

Two interesting articles caught my eye this morning concerning the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I don't really want to comment on them too much as I think when you want information on that, I recommend checking EX-SKF (though recently I've sometimes noticed an editorial slant.)

The first story made me just laugh for how idiotic it was. It seems stereo-typically American that one of the solutions to fixing a problem was to destroy it. Kinda like how Beavis and Butthead always wanted to "burn things and blow stuff up!" One prominent US scientist recommended that they use explosives on one of the damaging reactors to blow a hole in the side so that they could cool it off.


Blasting a hole in a damaged nuclear reactor with explosives? Sounds safe to me. I can't foresee anything going wrong with that! Can you? 


The Japan Times reports in: US side eyed blasting hole in side of reactor

An informal panel of experts in the U.S. Department of Energy discussed using military explosives to bring the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant under control, said panel member and physicist Richard Garwin, who pitched the idea. "I wanted to make a hole through the great shielding slabs, which are more than a meter of reinforced concrete, and one of the opportunities was to use the military shaped charge," Garwin said in a telephone interview, referring to the proposal he made to Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the panel meeting last April 5. 

"Military intelligence?" Now there's a contradiction!

You can't make this stuff up. It says, "...discussed using military explosives to bring the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant under control" !!!! Bwa Ha! Ha! Ha! These are supposed experts. Nah, blowing up nuclear reactors with explosives! What could possibly go wrong with that? I know that this was a unprecedented disaster and, hence, uncharted territory, but this idea sounds like the guy who came up with this idea watches too many Bruce Willis movies. Like I said, it's typically American. Typical in the fact that it seems that America likes to fix all sorts of things with explosions. Need an example? Well, a quick one that comes to mind is like bringing democracy and freedom to people by bombing and killing them. That has seemed to work quite well over these last 10 years or so.... What do they say? "Give a kid a hammer and the whole world is a nail."

Really. People like this need to get out more often. 

Say dinner at a Denny's sometime or something.

The next story, also from the Japan Times says that the soil contamination around Fukushima is only about 1/8th as bad as Chernobyl was:

In terms of soil contamination, the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant is only about an eighth as severe as the meltdown at the Chernobyl plant, in what is now Ukraine, in 1986, according to a report by the science ministry released Tuesday.

The study, which began in June and was conducted by the ministry in cooperation with universities and semigovernmental bodies including the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, looked at 2,200 sites within a 100-km radius of the Fukushima plant, which had three reactor meltdowns.

The group studied the radioactive isotopes in samples of the top 5 cm of soil at each site.

The site farthest from the plant to have high levels of contamination, at 1.48 million becquerels of cesium per square meter, was the town of Namie, in Fukushima, located 32.5 km from the power plant, the research revealed.

The 1.48 million becquerel benchmark was used to define the exclusion zone after the Chernobyl meltdown. Such levels of contamination were found 250 km from the Chernobyl plant, or eight times farther than from the Fukushima plant, the report said

"Oh look! It has a halo like an angel!"

Well, let's hope this is as bad as it gets. Long ago, I'd have believed this report, but after so many instances of the government hiding facts and recent experience with universities supporting Global Warming theory - then we find out they receive money to do so - all I can say is what I always say;


Be suspicious. Be very suspicious of everything you hear in the mass media.

"Japan's children of the tsunami " BBC program in full. First aired 1st March 2012

Thanks to EK-SKF Blogspot