Powerful quake rocks Japan

[Howey]

I would like someone to point out where the proposal cuts Tsunami warning centers.  That was the original accusation.

Seems like your guys are finally speaking:

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/530566/gop_rep_against_restoring_tsunami_funding,_warns_against_%E2%80%98over-reacting'/

KING: The tsunami warning centers, it’s really — the timing of that really puts attention on the subject matter. I don’t know that I would go back and look at that. I would ask people to come forward with the facts on this — how badly do we need them and do the tragic events in Japan give us a different perspective. I would look at it from a different perspective. I don’t know I would at this point know say that I’d be willing to make that change. I think we often over-react to emergencies, especially natural disasters, before we assess the limit of the damage, and particularly with the nuclear part of this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/eric-cantor-defends-foreign-aid-cuts_n_835598.html

Cantor dismissed complaints from NOAA employees who have criticized the scope of the cuts to their agency.

"Nowhere have we indicated that we are directing NOAA not to emphasize the services it provides for the safety, wealth and welfare of American people," Cantor said. "We've all got to do more with less."

Despite the depth of some of the cuts proposed by Republicans, they would skim less than half of a percentage point from current deficit levels because they tackle only discretionary spending, which makes up a relatively small portion of government spending.

[lil mike]

Seems like your guys are finally speaking:

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/530566/gop_rep_against_restoring_tsunami_funding,_warns_against_%E2%80%98over-reacting'/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/eric-cantor-defends-foreign-aid-cuts_n_835598.html

Am I reading this right?  Are you admitting your first story was bullshit?

[Howey]

I would like someone to point out where the proposal cuts Tsunami warning centers.  That was the original accusation.

This was your point.

Am I reading this right?  Are you admitting your first story was bullshit?

You, of course, don't pay attention to what one Republicans says:

KING: The tsunami warning centers, it’s really — the timing of that really puts attention on the subject matter. I don’t know that I would go back and look at that. I would ask people to come forward with the facts on this — how badly do we need them and do the tragic events in Japan give us a different perspective. I would look at it from a different perspective. I don’t know I would at this point know say that I’d be willing to make that change. I think we often over-react to emergencies, especially natural disasters,

Instead you dwell on Cantor's remarks, which are a bit more obscure in the Republican way of obtuse-speak:

"Nowhere have we indicated that we are directing NOAA not to emphasize the services it provides for the safety, wealth and welfare of American people," Cantor said. "We've all got to do more with less."

Real world translation:

We're gonna slash your budget. If you can't track hurricanes, tornadoes, or tsunamis it's not our fault. We told you to make do with your dime and didn't specifically say what to cut, cuz that's how we roll.

 

[FooFa]

_{Leaked cable: Japanese lawmaker pointed to cover-up of nuclear accidents
By Stephen C. Webster
March 15, 2011 @ 10:54 am}
 

As engineers and scientists struggle to control six Japanese nuclear reactors, three of which are in near-meltdown status, the world watches with horror.

But even as efforts continue in earnest across Japan, the search for why this is happening has already begun.

At least one man might have some theories.

His name is Taro Kono, a liberal Democrat and member of Japan's DIET, or parliament. Kono's father was the president of the liberal Democrats. He's been an outspoken critic of the country's nuclear program, and once resigned a high-ranking post in the House of Representatives in protest of the Iraq War.

And according to a US diplomatic cable released Monday night by The Guardian [1], he allegedly told American diplomats about coverups carried out in Japan's nuclear plants.

"Taro Kono, who studied and worked in the United States and speaks excellent English, is a frequent embassy contact who has interests in agriculture, nuclear, and foreign policy issues," the US embassy document notes. "He is relatively young, and very outspoken, especially as a critic of the government's nuclear policy. During this meeting, he voiced his strong opposition to the nuclear industry in Japan, especially nuclear fuel reprocessing, based on issues of cost, safety, and security. Kono claimed Japanese electric companies are hiding the costs and safety problems associated with nuclear energy, while successfully selling the idea of reprocessing to the Japanese public as 'recycling uranium.'"

It goes on to say that Kono accused Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of becoming obsessed with their old policies, such as on food safety where radiation standards had not changed since shortly after the Chernobyl incident in 1986. He also accused the METI of only providing lip service to efforts for renewable energy, instead focusing much of their resources on the development of nuclear power.

He added that the country's major electric interests once torpedoed a series of television interviews he was filming. The companies allegedly threatened to pull their sponsorship when he began to speak frankly about the dangers and drawbacks of nuclear energy.

Japan has 54 nuclear reactors; 11 were taken offline following last week's 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that swept across the norther portion of the country.

The cable goes on: "He also accused METI of covering up nuclear accidents, and obscuring the true costs and problems associated with the nuclear industry. He claimed MPs have a difficult time hearing the whole of the U.S. message on nuclear energy because METI picks and chooses those portions of the message that it likes. Only information in agreement with METI policies is passed through to the MPs. Elaborating on his frustrations with the ministries, Kono noted that the Diet committee staffs are made up of professional bureaucrats, and are often headed by detailees from the ministries."

As the crisis has developed, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) has been rocked by criticism for its management of the nuclear facilities. The criticism has been so intense that Tepco CEO Masataka Shimizu called a press conference to apologize in public on Tuesday.

Even so, reporters did not appear to be taking his apology at face value. Some journalists on the scene were quite visibly angry with the company's response.

The event led MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to read off a litany of scandals and coverups [2] at Japan's nuclear plants over the years, perpetrated by Tepco with government help. She cautioned, meanwhile, that skepticism of the official word on these reactors is appropriate.

URL to article: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/15/leaked-cable-japanese-lawmaker-pointed-to-cover-up-of-nuclear-accidents/

URLs in this post:

[1] a US diplomatic cable released Monday night by The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/175295
[2] a litany of scandals and coverups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47N_nKjAWVA&feature=feedu

[ekg]

This was your point.

You, of course, don't pay attention to what one Republicans says:

Instead you dwell on Cantor's remarks, which are a bit more obscure in the Republican way of obtuse-speak:

Real world translation:

 

this is their shell game..

they were told back in Feb if they cut the NWS funding it would result in cutting the tsunami warning center..  they cut it anyways, now they don't want to look bad, so the say "Hey, we just cut your overall budget, we didn't tell you to cut from that place, you did that on your own".. and they walk-away scott-free..

it's like cutting the school budget, and then saying "hey, we never told you to lay-off teachers and re-use 12 year old text books, we just cut your overall budget and it's up to you find where those cuts come from"


the cut was to the NWS funding, the NWS houses the tsunami warning center.. if the NWS gets cut the Tsunami center gets cut.. they were warned on this specifically, because  hey, maybe they didn't know the NWS housed the center and maybe they weren't aware of what they were actually cutting.. so they were made aware and they voted for the cut anyway..

big surprise.. the NWS might have something to do with GW, so lets squeeze off it's funding so we don't have to hear about GW anymore..

when the tornado's are wreaking havoc and the NWS is being blamed for not warning people, they'll say "Hey, we warned you guys that this is what the cuts would do" and the GOP reply will be "Uh, no.. see we just cut your overall budget, you are the ones who decided to cut the tornado warning centers not us".. and they'll get away with it again..

[FooFa]

    Scientists ProjectPath Of Radiation


hitting Southern California late Friday.

[FooFa]

Radiation data from Japanese disaster starts to filter out

[lil mike]

This was your point.

You, of course, don't pay attention to what one Republicans says:

Instead you dwell on Cantor's remarks, which are a bit more obscure in the Republican way of obtuse-speak:

Real world translation:

 

Nope, I followed the think progress links and saw that they did not say what the implied that they would say.  So in a word, the story was bullshit.

This is really becoming SOP for Think Progress.

[FooFa]

 A Small Japanese Town, Swallowed By The Sea

npr/photos

[ekg]

 A Small Japanese Town, Swallowed By The Sea

npr/photos

the destruction is amazing..

[FooFa]

Yes, so sad. I think it's a cultural defense mechanism when these things happen and they refer to the thousands of dead as 'missing'.

[FooFa]

Radiation Traces Found in U.S. Milk
By STEPHEN POWER
_{MARCH 31, 2011}

The U.S. government said Wednesday that traces of radiation have been found in milk in Washington state, but said the amounts are far too low to trigger any public-health concern.

The Environmental Protection Agency said a March 25 sample of milk produced in the Spokane, Wash., area contained a 0.8 pico curies per literlevel of iodine-131, which it said was less than one five-thousandth of the safety safety guideline set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The EPA said it increased monitoring after radiation leaked from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It expects more such findings in coming days, but in amounts "far below levels of public-health concern, including for infants and children."


The U.S. government said Wednesday that traces of radiation have been found in milk in Washington state. Joe White has details.

Iodine-131 has a half-life of about eight days, meaning levels should fade quickly. "These findings are a minuscule amount compared to what people experience every day," the agency said.

For example, a person would be exposed to low levels of radiation on a round trip cross country flight, watching television, and even from construction materials," Patricia Hansen, an FDA senior scientist, said in a written statement distributed by the EPA late Wednesday.

The FDA last week said it will block imports of Japanese milk products and certain other foods produced in the area around the Fukushima nuclear facility because of concerns about radiation contamination.

An EPA spokesman said that while the agency isn't certain that the iodine-131 found in the sampled milk came from Fukushima, its discovery is "consistent with" what the agency knows has been released so far from the damaged nuclear reactors there.

 
"We know we don't normally see iodine-131 in milk. We know there's been an incident where it's been released," the spokesman said. "And now we're seeing it."

Dairy industry officials stressed that products remained safe.

"Consumer safety is the highest priority for dairy farmers and dairy foods companies, and today's report by EPA and FDA confirms that our nation's dairy products continue to be safe to eat and drink," said Rob Vandenheuvel, general manager of the Ontario, Calif.-based Milk Producers Council, which represents dairies in Southern and Central California. "We recognize the concerns of our consumers, and the U.S. dairy industry will continue to work closely with federal and state government agencies to ensure that we maintain a safe milk supply."

Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com

[FooFa]

Fukushima radiation plumes have now struck the Carolinas and Florida, say reports

by Jonathan Benson, staff writer

Originally published March 29 2011

(NaturalNews) Several nuclear power plants in the southeastern US have begun to detect low levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the air, which is the same type of radiation now being found all over the place as a result of the mega-earthquake and tsunami that struck the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan on March 11, 2011. Reuters has indicated that power plants in both North and South Carolina, as well as one in Florida, have all detected what they say are "low levels" of the non-native radioactive substance.

"If there were radiation coming from one our own sites, we would be seeing other types of radiation than iodine-131," said Drew Elliot, a spokesman for Progress Energy. "Other nuclear stations throughout the East Coast all started picking this up within the last week. It all points to something coming from overseas. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) both say it poses no threat to public safety."

Progress Energy's Hartsville, SC, plant and Crystal River, Fla., plant both detected what the company says are low levels of radioactive iodine-131. And Duke Energy's two plants in South Carolina, as well as its plant in Huntersville, NC, all reported levels of the non-native radioactive substance as well.

The report ties in to various others that have detected radioactive particles in rainwater in Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. It appears that all across the US, evidence of the Fukushima nuclear fallout is gradually beginning to turn up, and yet with every report comes empty assurances from government officials that everything is fine, and that the levels being detected are supposedly harmless to humans (http://www.naturalnews.com/031871_r...).

Meanwhile, continued reports are trickling in that indicate a rapidly-escalating crisis at the Fukushima plant. Deadly plutonium is beginning to show up in soil samples near the plant, and dangerously-high levels of radiation are now being detected in seawater nearly a mile from where the nuclear plant dumps water into the ocean. And this is only the information that is being publicly released, sometimes days after officials have become aware of it.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...

[FooFa]

Does anyone else think that this is the beginning if not further into the apocalypse? Regardless of how the quake happened, I'm not talking conspiracy. I'm saying that I don't think any of the atomic bombs or previous nuclear accidents are even comparable to what we're experiencing. The radiation as I'm sure we've all seen is in the rainwater, milk and will obviously be in every part of the food chain. I don't think there''s any such thing as experts on ground for which the territory is uncharted.

[clc]

Does anyone else think that this is the beginning if not further into the apocalypse? Regardless of how the quake happened, I'm not talking conspiracy. I'm saying that I don't think any of the atomic bombs or previous nuclear accidents are even comparable to what we're experiencing. The radiation as I'm sure we've all seen is in the rainwater, milk and will obviously be in every part of the food chain. I don't think there''s any such thing as experts on ground for which the territory is uncharted.

How can you believe in the apocalypse and not a Christian God? The two pretty much go hand in hand.

And no, I don't feel this is the apocalypse.