For many years, the Governor of Tokyo, Ishihara Shintaro has been railing against the Koreans and Chinese in Japan. Criticisms of his rants have been muted. Indeed when he recently announced that he may not run for a fourth term, most Tokyo residents were disappointed and urged him to reconsider. Now, one of the most egoistic Japanese politician claims that the devastating tsunami was divine retribution meted out to the Japanese people for apparently being too “egoistic”.
He said the tsunami was needed “to wipe out egoism, which has rusted onto the mentality of Japanese over a long period of time.”
“I think [the disaster] is tembatsu (divine punishment), although I feel sorry for disaster victims,” he said.
Not to be outdone, the Rev. David Yonggi Cho, the Korean senior pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church – the world’s largest church – pointed out that recent Japanese quake and tsunami arew without a doubt, “God’s warning” – apparently because, in his view, “the Japanese people shun God in terms of their faith and follow idol worship, atheism, and materialism, it makes me wonder if this was not God’s warning to them.”
Needless to add, Glenn Beck could hardly be expected to stay out of this muscular one-upmanship! He (surprise, surprise!) claimed that the earthquake could be a "message from God". Posing as the intellectual he craves to be, he injected the mandatory nuance by pointing out: "I'm not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes," but added: "I'm not not saying that either."
Yes, there is indeed the danger of propagating manipulative yet unadulterated crap while criticizing it, yet…
The politician and the pastor were blasted by their fellow citizens. Presumably Glenn Beck was cheered on by his supporters drunk on tea. Quite unexpectedly, possibly for the first time in history, Tokyo Governor Ishihara, offered his "deep" apologies for his comments. He has of course never apologized for his verging-on- -the-racist rants against the Chinese, Koreans and other “foreigners”. They don't have a vote.
"Secular" commentators were not faring any better. According to the CNBC host Larry Kudlow:
"The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll, and we can be grateful for that," Kudlow said, quickly adding: "The human toll is a tragedy; we know that. But these markets, all these markets - stocks, commodities, oil, gold - there is no major breakout or breakdown."
Naturally, he later apologized on Twitter: "I did not mean to say human toll in Japan less important than economic toll. Talking about markets. I flubbed the line. Sincere apology."
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Nuclear Radiation detected in Tokyo and Saitama
Earlier today, there were reports of radiation spreading to Yokosuka city, south of Tokyo. Now there are reports of radiation in Tokyo and Saitama too. According to the Governor of Tokyo, Ishihara Shintaro : "I received a report this morning that there was an important change of data," Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said at a news conference. "I heard that it will not immediately cause health problems." He did not elaborate on whether he had heard anything or received any reports about long term health problems…radiation in Tokyo
Capitalizing on Nuclear Disaster in Japan
The radioactive dust will take a while to settle in Japan. While most people are still struggling to come to terms with the tragic disaster that continues to unfold global investors have begun eyeing and buying up stocks of Japanese companies that have declined in value.
"We're looking to spend more in Japan," Alex Motola, co-manager of the Thornburg International Growth Fund, said on Tuesday. "You can't easily set aside the human element in a tragedy like this but as an investor you've got to find the best place for your capital...Motola said he's buying beaten-up shares of some Japanese technology companies with strong sales outside of Japan. He declined to name them" here
"We're looking to spend more in Japan," Alex Motola, co-manager of the Thornburg International Growth Fund, said on Tuesday. "You can't easily set aside the human element in a tragedy like this but as an investor you've got to find the best place for your capital...Motola said he's buying beaten-up shares of some Japanese technology companies with strong sales outside of Japan. He declined to name them" here
Fukushima, Nuclear Catastrophe and the Precautionary Principle
The "precautionary principle" or the better safe than sorry approach cannot obviously be applied to all technological innovations - the divining of the relative costs and benefits of any technology cannot never be an unambiguous affair. Then there is always the issue of costs and benefits for whom?
However, when it comes to nuclear energy, nothing is better than the better be safe than sorry maxim. But just because the problems with some technologies are transparently self-evident, will not in and of itself put a damper on the absurd talk of nuclear reactors being the alleged solution, via something called "clean energy", for global warming. Over the past few years or so, the nuclear energy industry has been been using the climate change issue to peddle its deadly wares. While the proverbial "wake-up calls" might put many to sleep, the unfolding tragedy at the Fukushima reactors exemplify the inherent risks of nuclear energy. The tragic effects of the quake and the tsunami are now compounded by the radiation spewing from the reactors.
Meanwhile, as AP reports, radiation has been detected as far Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. American service personnel posted at the bases in Yokosuka and Atsuki have been advised to stay indoors for the time being:
"WASHINGTON – More U.S. military crews were exposed to radiation Tuesday as the Pentagon ramped up relief flights over a Japan reeling from an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
The Defense Department said the Navy started giving anti-radiation pills to some of those exposed, and Americans on two military bases south of Tokyo were advised to stay indoors as much as possible. Meanwhile, U.S. aviation and energy officials also worked with Japanese counterparts on the nuclear developments.
With more aid for victims on the way, the U.S. Navy said it was redirecting three ships to work in the Sea of Japan on the country's west coast rather than risk the hazards of radiation and the debris field in the waters off the east coast.
Sensitive air monitoring equipment on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington detected low levels of radioactivity from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant as the carrier sat pier-side at Yokosuka, Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, said Tuesday.
While he said there was no danger to the public, the commander recommended military personnel and their families at Yokosuka and Naval Air Facility Atsugi limit their outdoor activities and seal ventilation systems at their homes as much as possible."
Yokosuka
However, when it comes to nuclear energy, nothing is better than the better be safe than sorry maxim. But just because the problems with some technologies are transparently self-evident, will not in and of itself put a damper on the absurd talk of nuclear reactors being the alleged solution, via something called "clean energy", for global warming. Over the past few years or so, the nuclear energy industry has been been using the climate change issue to peddle its deadly wares. While the proverbial "wake-up calls" might put many to sleep, the unfolding tragedy at the Fukushima reactors exemplify the inherent risks of nuclear energy. The tragic effects of the quake and the tsunami are now compounded by the radiation spewing from the reactors.
Meanwhile, as AP reports, radiation has been detected as far Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. American service personnel posted at the bases in Yokosuka and Atsuki have been advised to stay indoors for the time being:
"WASHINGTON – More U.S. military crews were exposed to radiation Tuesday as the Pentagon ramped up relief flights over a Japan reeling from an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
The Defense Department said the Navy started giving anti-radiation pills to some of those exposed, and Americans on two military bases south of Tokyo were advised to stay indoors as much as possible. Meanwhile, U.S. aviation and energy officials also worked with Japanese counterparts on the nuclear developments.
With more aid for victims on the way, the U.S. Navy said it was redirecting three ships to work in the Sea of Japan on the country's west coast rather than risk the hazards of radiation and the debris field in the waters off the east coast.
Sensitive air monitoring equipment on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington detected low levels of radioactivity from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant as the carrier sat pier-side at Yokosuka, Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, said Tuesday.
While he said there was no danger to the public, the commander recommended military personnel and their families at Yokosuka and Naval Air Facility Atsugi limit their outdoor activities and seal ventilation systems at their homes as much as possible."
Yokosuka
Monday, March 14, 2011
Nuclear Nightmares in Japan and Beyond
In the wake of the partial (so far as we know) meltdown at three nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, there is talk in the media, of a resurgence of alleged “debate” over nuclear energy. Predictably, slick supporters of the nuclear industry have already started pointing out that Japan represents an unusual case – one of the most intense quakes in world history and tsunamis. Some such supporters are even attempting to turn this growing tragedy into an advantage by claiming that despite the intensity of the quakes and tsunamis, the very fact that there is no immediate total meltdown yet, should be taken as confirmation of the overall safety of nuclear reactors in general. They also point out that the Fukushima reactors are over forty years old - presumably the the designs of the new reactors render them destruction proof.
However, the fact remains that even under conditions of “normal” operations, nuclear reactors represent unmitigated risk. Indeed, as long as the issue of the safe disposal of nuclear waste is resolved – and it is hard to see how this issue could ever be addressed – any nuclear reactor, whether functioning normally or malfunctioning, is literally a proverbial dead end. Conventional wisdom would have it that in Japan there is a consensus among the citizens over the “value” of nuclear reactors. Not so. There are many grass-roots organizations that have over the years contested – without much success of course – the proliferation of nuclear reactors in Japan. One of the more prominent anti-nuclear organizations is the Citizens Nuclear Information Centre (http://www.cnic.jp/english/) based in Tokyo. Just last January, five activists went on a hunger strike to protest the building of a new nuclear reactor – the Kaminoseki Power Plant in Yamguchi prefecture http://www.panorientnews.com/en/news.php?k=716 There are more than 55 active nuclear power plants in Japan and many more facilities that help in the processing of nuclear material for the plants. It is one of those ironies of history that after the two atomic bombs that devastated Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the country is yet again affected by the same technology.
Meanwhile, according to some of the live blogs/tweets on the BBC website (14th March, 2011):
• 2001: A senior nuclear industry executive has told the New York Times that Japanese nuclear power industry managers are "basically in a full-scale panic". The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors' difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. "They're in total disarray, they don't know what to do," the executive added.
1844: Mikan in Tokyo writes: "There is a growing sense that the Japanese government is not telling us the true story. On one end, there is the Japanese media that plays down the nuclear drama and focuses on human drama, and at the other, the foreign media is up-playing the nuclear disaster. In my company I heard at least half the essential staff is being sent to Hong Kong, Singapore or even Sydney. I am preparing to leave Tokyo and/or Japan. So are many of my friends. There is a sense of deserting Tokyo as soon as possible.
• 2022: A Russian diplomatic source has told the Interfax news agency that Moscow is "awaiting trustworthy information regarding the situation at Japanese nuclear power plants" from the authorities in Tokyo. The source said Russian officials had not ruled out that the Japanese were playing down the possible threat for fear of causing panic among members of the public. Moscow planned to send seismologists to Japan to assess the situation on the ground so it could be "a thousand times more sure that everything is safe", the source added.
However, the fact remains that even under conditions of “normal” operations, nuclear reactors represent unmitigated risk. Indeed, as long as the issue of the safe disposal of nuclear waste is resolved – and it is hard to see how this issue could ever be addressed – any nuclear reactor, whether functioning normally or malfunctioning, is literally a proverbial dead end. Conventional wisdom would have it that in Japan there is a consensus among the citizens over the “value” of nuclear reactors. Not so. There are many grass-roots organizations that have over the years contested – without much success of course – the proliferation of nuclear reactors in Japan. One of the more prominent anti-nuclear organizations is the Citizens Nuclear Information Centre (http://www.cnic.jp/english/) based in Tokyo. Just last January, five activists went on a hunger strike to protest the building of a new nuclear reactor – the Kaminoseki Power Plant in Yamguchi prefecture http://www.panorientnews.com/en/news.php?k=716 There are more than 55 active nuclear power plants in Japan and many more facilities that help in the processing of nuclear material for the plants. It is one of those ironies of history that after the two atomic bombs that devastated Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the country is yet again affected by the same technology.
Meanwhile, according to some of the live blogs/tweets on the BBC website (14th March, 2011):
• 2001: A senior nuclear industry executive has told the New York Times that Japanese nuclear power industry managers are "basically in a full-scale panic". The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors' difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. "They're in total disarray, they don't know what to do," the executive added.
1844: Mikan in Tokyo writes: "There is a growing sense that the Japanese government is not telling us the true story. On one end, there is the Japanese media that plays down the nuclear drama and focuses on human drama, and at the other, the foreign media is up-playing the nuclear disaster. In my company I heard at least half the essential staff is being sent to Hong Kong, Singapore or even Sydney. I am preparing to leave Tokyo and/or Japan. So are many of my friends. There is a sense of deserting Tokyo as soon as possible.
• 2022: A Russian diplomatic source has told the Interfax news agency that Moscow is "awaiting trustworthy information regarding the situation at Japanese nuclear power plants" from the authorities in Tokyo. The source said Russian officials had not ruled out that the Japanese were playing down the possible threat for fear of causing panic among members of the public. Moscow planned to send seismologists to Japan to assess the situation on the ground so it could be "a thousand times more sure that everything is safe", the source added.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The "Big One" - An Earthquake of magnitude 9 hits Japan
As everyone who has been following the news will know, the quake that hit Japan recently, was the strongest one since the advent of seismic measurements in the country. It is also apparently the fifth strongest quake in history. In popular coverage of the quake and the tsunami, the label “natural disaster” is frequently applied. This label, while not entirely false, does not entirely capture the many social dimensions of such catastrophes. If an earthquake of such a magnitude had hit a crowded city in India, the casualty toll would have been unimaginable. The relatively milder quake in Haiti last year claimed about a quarter million victims immediately and many more in its wake. It was the same tragic story when quakes hit China, Iran and Pakistan over the past few years. The fact that Japan is a “developed” society with a state that has the power to enforce building regulations designed to withstand strong quakes, has made a tremendous difference. Most commentators have pointed out the amazing resilience of buildings despite the incredible intensity of this particular quake. It is also a testament to the importance of long term state initiated and orchestrated planning that advocates of the so-called “free market” rail against. In societies with tremendous social inequalities that translate into substandard housing if at all, and hardly any building regulations, the results are not surprisingly disastrous. Depending on the social structure and the distribution of resources, the same “natural” quake can have very different consequences. Japan of course, also has a long history of quakes and as historian Gregory Clancey points out in his insightful book _Earthquake Nation_ (2006), seismology is Japan’s major contribution to the world of science. Regular quake drills in schools, countless emergency shelters all over the country and tremors pretty much every week, have ensured that most Japanese cannot ever shake off quake awareness. Psychologically, most Japanese have been prepared for the “big one”.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
British Prime Minister David Cameron carries the "building blocks of democracy" to Egypt
The proverbial dust (and sand) had no chance of settling before the Conservative British Prime Minister landed in Cairo, accompanied by arms manufacturers. Representatives from major arms and aerospace outfits such as BAe Systems, Qinetiq, Thales the Cobham Group, Ultra Electronics, Rolls Royce, Babcock International Group and Atkins joined Cameron on his trip. Around the same time Defence Minister Gerald Howarth and fifty other British companies were participating at an arms expo in the United Arab Emirates. A Libyan contingent was in attendance.
Many newspapers such as The Independent (UK), the Indian Express, the Daily Mail etc. rightly decried the "hypocrisy" of it all and, Sarah Waldron, a representative of the Campaign Against Arms Trade called in an "absolute disgrace". While such critical comments are indeed needed, in an era of business as usual and "just trying to make a buck", nothing should come as a surprise. In response to the criticisms, Mr. Cameron's response was predictable. According to the Daily Mail, he "reasoned" (so to speak): "You cannot expect every country in the world to provide for its own defence, so it is perfectly logical for us to have a defence trade.’ In practically the same breath he also proclaimed that he was in the region with "building blocks of democracy" in tow. In 2004, Mr. Tony Blair embraced Col, Gaddafi in Tripoli. Naturally, lucrative arms sales and oil deals followed barely a few weeks later. Today, there are reports that the current British government approved the sale of sniper rifles to Libya barely months before its army and mercenaries began gunning down civilians (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110223/tuk-libya-uk-approved-export-of-sniper-r-45dbed5.html). Naturally, while meeting the new generals in charge of Egypt and introducing representatives of arms manufacturers, Mr. Cameron also exclaimed that Col. Gaddafi's actions were nothing less than "completely appalling" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8338236/Libya-vicious-repression-is-appalling-says-David-Cameron.html). Meanwhile, Jeffrey Cox, the Deputy Attorney General of Indiana was fired today for tweeting that police should use live ammunition on protesters in Wisconsin.
Needless to add, C. Wright Mills, who analyzed the military-industrial complex, a term that was first used by President Dwight Eisenhower, would not have been surprised.
Clip from President Eisenhower's speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY
Many newspapers such as The Independent (UK), the Indian Express, the Daily Mail etc. rightly decried the "hypocrisy" of it all and, Sarah Waldron, a representative of the Campaign Against Arms Trade called in an "absolute disgrace". While such critical comments are indeed needed, in an era of business as usual and "just trying to make a buck", nothing should come as a surprise. In response to the criticisms, Mr. Cameron's response was predictable. According to the Daily Mail, he "reasoned" (so to speak): "You cannot expect every country in the world to provide for its own defence, so it is perfectly logical for us to have a defence trade.’ In practically the same breath he also proclaimed that he was in the region with "building blocks of democracy" in tow. In 2004, Mr. Tony Blair embraced Col, Gaddafi in Tripoli. Naturally, lucrative arms sales and oil deals followed barely a few weeks later. Today, there are reports that the current British government approved the sale of sniper rifles to Libya barely months before its army and mercenaries began gunning down civilians (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110223/tuk-libya-uk-approved-export-of-sniper-r-45dbed5.html). Naturally, while meeting the new generals in charge of Egypt and introducing representatives of arms manufacturers, Mr. Cameron also exclaimed that Col. Gaddafi's actions were nothing less than "completely appalling" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8338236/Libya-vicious-repression-is-appalling-says-David-Cameron.html). Meanwhile, Jeffrey Cox, the Deputy Attorney General of Indiana was fired today for tweeting that police should use live ammunition on protesters in Wisconsin.
Needless to add, C. Wright Mills, who analyzed the military-industrial complex, a term that was first used by President Dwight Eisenhower, would not have been surprised.
Clip from President Eisenhower's speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY
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