Comments On: Japan's New Normal by Goldy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/08/31/japans-new-normal Comments On: Japan's New Normal by Goldy en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 22 May 2013 21:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
It also floated to many other places around the world via, you know, the atmosphere, such as Scotland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-hi…

But that is not a health concern. The health concerns are limited to residents and visitors of Northern Japan, and consumers of foods from that area, and seafood from the seas all around Japan. What those health impacts might be is unknown at this point.
Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:34:20 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
So why do they keep denying? refusing to see that they've gone intellectually bankrupt defending yet another poison-the-earth-for-all-life technological 'solution'?

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. - Einstein

Posted by tunanator]]> Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:59:29 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by prompt]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:24:57 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
They live on a rocky island with no resources. They surrendered unconditionally to the United States, and then adopted our handwritten constitution and economic order--including the "atoms for peace" bit.

Maybe instead of just going on and on about how much damage a massive earthquake and tsunami can do to any advanced society, you might suggest some alternatives for a population of 100 million packed into a chain of rocky, mountainous islands the size of California?
Posted by the idiot formerly known as kk]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:43:53 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> damn missy. chill......
Posted by in a sea of assholes you are the assholiest]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:43:08 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by blip]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:05:03 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:53:08 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:51:04 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> http://hosted2.ap.org/COGRA/APWorldNews/…

That is a really poignant story. It is interesting that the article characterizes Japanese people only by compliance to authority while forgetting about other deep cultural virtues like stoicism and determination. I am not surprised that he chose to stay, and admire him for caring for the abandoned animals. I would wish him peace, but I think he has found it.

Posted by MemeGene]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:47:15 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by blip]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:36:31 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archive…
Posted by Anastasia Beaverhausen]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:33:13 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
Fixed.
Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:30:22 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by blip]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:15:31 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
You really should just get the Stranger IT department to create a script that see's any slog post you write with the words "Japan" and "Nuclear" in it and automatically pastes:

"See, I told you guys so. NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAH!"

...at the end.

Or maybe hire a developer that could create some sort of Markov algorithm filter that mines the latest internet outrage to generate defensive Straw-men argument strings.

Strings peppered with the usual panicky adverbs and knee-jerk buzz words. I picture the headline like:

"Radioactive pit-bull digs misogynistic tunnel over monogamish fat girl."

And the first sentence would always lead with a insecure straw-man argument , like:

"For those who think I should stop exposing the truth about tunnels dug by radioactive pitbulls..."

The entire Slog staff could get all their writing done in like 5 minutes instead of the usual 8.

Wait. I think I just made my first million.


Posted by tkc]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:12:58 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
"What people are saying is that torture may be less damaging to humanity than continuing to suffer terrorist attacks. No doubt innocent people were (and are) brutally violated and killed by the use of torture, but if more people end up being saved by preventing terrorism, then torture might be the way to go."

Fuck off, goober.
Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:09:57 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
Can you cite any particular statements? Or do you just find the information presented by Goldy to be alarming?

You said: "You just happen to err on the side of OMIGOD WERE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEE more often than not. And by that I mean always."

Can you link to any single post that made claims that were anything like that, or that lacked: knowledge, objectivity, and nuance?

Because it seems to me that you are full of shit.
Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:05:25 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

Wherein he stated:

For those of us not directly working at the plant bravely sticking to their duties despite all the risk or within a hundred miles or so from the damaged reactors, there is no heath risk or radiation exposure risk. (emphasis original)


That one not only cited, but recommendedthe hilariously ignorant and thoroughly wrong blog post by a supposed MIT scientist-type-guy "Dr. Josef Oehmen" which was a load of garbage:

"Debunking a viral blog post on the nuke threat:
An MIT researcher's claim that there was no threat of radiation in Japan was picked up widely, then it fell apart"

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_r…

Mr. Golob's posts have been informed by significantly greater understanding of the plant and principles involved, and have been pretty good actually. Yet despite that, he forwarded the same "don't-panic-everything-will-be-okay" line of crap as the nuclear industry.

On the very same day, Goldy posted the following much more pessimistic post:
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

Comparing the two posts, it is obvious that even with his much more rudimentary understanding of what was going on, Goldy was much more correct in what was going on and the potential risks it posed.

Goldy's less-informed alarm probably comes from his healthy skepticism of governments and corporate power, which lead him to be far more prescient about just how bad this would become.

In contrast, I did not see Mr. Golob retract his poor choice of article recommendation in misleading his readers by the ostensible "authority" of "MIT-research scientist" 'Dr. Random Nobody-with-no-experience-at-all.' (though perhaps I missed it.).

And in contrast, Mr. Golob has not posted a single thing about the ongoing developments surrounding Fukushima (and there have been many) for more than 4 months.

Sticking with a story rather than treating it as a one-time thing, particularly a very long-term and slowly developing story such as this one, is crucial, and on that note too, Goldy has had significantly greater journalistic integrity.

I don't mean to criticize Mr. Golob too heavily, but if your goal is to inform yourself properly of as much as possible surrounding what has occurred and is continuing to occur at Fukushima, following Goldy's posts and his numerous links (which are never to alarmist claims like Busby or others) will give you an excellent overview of what has been going on, certainly superior to following Mr. Golob and his sometimes colossally poor choice in citations.
Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:01:41 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by history mystery]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:39:28 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Searc…
Posted by blip]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:29:01 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:17:58 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by Zebes]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:48:54 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by blip]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:46:03 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:40:23 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]>
My favorite thing we will have in twenty years, circa 1986:

The technology to dismantle and clean up Chernobyl.

My favorite thing we will have twenty years from today:

The technology to dismantle and clean up Fukushima.

My favorite legacy of Chernobyl: a temporary sarcophagus built in 1986 designed to last only 20-30 years, during which the technology could be developed to approach and remove the nuclear material at the site.

My favorite development at Fukushima: beginning the construction of a temporary enclosure over the reactors to last a period of time during which presumably the technology can be developed to locate, approach, and remove the core materials and other radioactive wastes.

Cover Assembly at Fukushima:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Ass…

The reason people give Goldy sh*t is because they are convinced that nuclear power is safe and/or an appropriate solution to global warming, that Chernobyl was anomalous (the "due to inherently faulty/dangerous reactor design and lack of containment" lie), that Fukushima was due to poor engineering/foresight/design/planning/management/insert-your-choice-here, and that this could never happen in the United States.

Well, the factual history of commercial nuclear reactors shows a 1-in-100 chance of meltdown.

Would you buy a car that had a 1-in-100 chance of exploding?

Would you live in an apartment or home that had a 1-in-100 chance of spontaneously collapsing?

Facts cause cognitive dissonance, and it's far easier to bash Goldy as being alarmist than it is to approach soberly the nature of risk and the factual history of nuclear energy.

The beauty of it is that decidedly pro-nuclear agencies such as the IAEA are forwarded as trusted arbiters of risks and consequences, and the classic causal trap is used to belittle and dismiss any studies of health effects post Chernobyl, just as I'm sure they will do likewise post-Fukushima.

Posted by Captain Wiggette]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:39:13 -0700 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: Japan's New Normal]]> NOW IT'S A GHOST TOWN.
Posted by venomlash]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:30:06 -0700 The Stranger