Riding the Tide

A few days before my last post, the North Eastern coast of Japan was devastated by a multi-fold chain of catastrophic events. When I first heard about the earthquake on March 11, my thoughts immediately went out to a friend, who's family still lives there. Her father and mother, recently returned to their southern home city Fukuoka from a visit to the US. Relief when I discovered how far north the earthquake was. Then the news of the Tsunami heading for Japan.

We watched in horror as our fellow humankind were swept away in a flash of a few moments. I felt sick, and in shock. Then...the mention of a few nuclear plants (Japan's main resource for electrical power). That stopped me cold. I started searching to find out how many other plants are nearby. There are 4 plants in the earthquake/tsunami effected area. RIGHT THERE, I tell you. Fukushima I & Fukushima II, Tokai and Onagawa. ALL of them were effected by the earthquake and tsunami. What state are the other three in? At this point it's hard to believe that the "OFFICIALS" have any desire or compassion enough to tell the world the truth. I realize that personal honor and how one is perceived by outsiders is a big thing in Japan. Saving face I think they call it. This is one case where the people who are SUPPOSED to be in charge feel that saving face is more important than dealing with the TRUTH of how bad it really is and saving your PEOPLE. They don't want the world to know how irresponsible they've been with this...volatile form of power resourcing.

Now, we have NO idea what is going on at the OTHER 3 nuclear plants in the area. On the map I've included the original number of reactors.

15 in total near the worst effected area. They've told press that some of those reactors were in cold shutdown, what ever the hell that's supposed to mean. How many of these other reactors are now being used to store spent fuel rods as well? What about them? What state are they all in right now?

Then, a few days reading how Japan's nuclear specialists are "dealing with it" by forcing those poor guys to work in those death traps in order to cover someones corporate ass. And reassuring all the poor people who are left struggling without food nearby that the radiation is nothing to worry about. Even the radiated food is ok to feed to your children. I'd like to see if the "OFFICIALS" would like to feed that food to their children/familes.

Now we see this:
"The amount of radioactive iodine-131 isotope in the samples, taken Wednesday some 330 meters (361 yards) into the Pacific Ocean, has surged to 4,385 times above the regulatory limit. This tops the previous day's reading of 3,355 times above the standard -- and an exponential spike over the 104-times increase measured just last Friday.
Officials have downplayed the potential perils posed by this isotope, since it loses half of its radiation every eight days.

Yet amounts of the cesium-137 isotope -- which, by comparison, has a 30-year "half life" -- have also soared, with a Wednesday afternoon sample showing levels 527 times the standard.
"That's the one I am worried about," said Michael Friedlander, a U.S.-based nuclear engineer, explaining cesium might linger much longer in the ecosystem. "Plankton absorbs the cesium, the fish eat the plankton, the bigger fish eat smaller fish -- so every step you go up the food chain, the concentration of cesium gets higher." *
30 YEARS?
Now take a look at the air and water currents. The Bering Sea will most likely see the first of the nasty radiation. Yes, the place most of us living near the pacific get our seafood and fish. Then the Western Coastline, probably hitting Oregon first then splitting upward to Washington/Alaska and southward to California and beyond. No one seems to be concerned that our ocean is about to become a poisoned pit of radioactive water. Thanks for all the wonderful nuclear power guys. It's helping with all that pollution so much, right?

* quote from article on CNN - http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/31/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T2

Epiphany

i feel it but I can't see it YET

(punctuation or lack of it, intentional)javascript:void(0)

BP: 'We are doing everything we can to stop the damn leak' (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/28/gulf.oil.spill/index.html?hpt=T1)
How can you be drilling in the ocean floor and NOT already have a plan to FIX a problem like this? Negligence for not having a plan is nearly criminal. Ignorance in this case is NOT bliss.

Remember what your doctor says when you say...my leg hurts when I do this....
And he replies, "THEN STOP DOING IT and your leg won't hurt like that any more!"

Ever stop to think that if we quit carting oil overseas and trying to drill it up out of the ocean that we wouldn't have these CONSTANT disasters with it polluting our environment? DUH! Start lowering your use of petroleum based products and save our planet.

Oil Spill Oddessy & Idiocy

Oil, the most abused, overused and ecologically destructive natural resource we have. We tear the earth apart to get at it. Wars are fought over control of it. We all seem to be extremely addicted to it. When I consider these things, it seems to me that we are addicted to one of the most descructive substances on earth.

For certain manufacturing processes, oil is a necessity, styrofoam, plastics and gasoline to name a few. I can see reason for VERY limited use of these substances, but in these times there ARE alternatives that are environmentally friendly, and in the long run cost us far less to produce than this problematic liquid. Why we continue to ruin our planet to get more of it is beyond me. Because so many people have a financially vested interest in it? Why should they be allowed to continue this UNGREEN industry at the expense of our planet's health?

Now we have a gusher spilling out approximately 5,000 BARRELS of oil a day, that's about 100,000 gallons of gasoline. "U.S. refineries produce between 19 and 20 gallons of motor gasoline from one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil. The remainder of the barrel yields distillate and residual fuel oils, jet fuel, and many other products. Refinery yields of individual products vary from month to month as refiners focus operations to meet demand for different products and maximize profits." (http://www.eia.doe.gov/ask/gasoline_faqs.asp)

Notice the last word in the quote? THAT is what oil is about, PROFIT, pure and simple. It's not about simply making our life easier, more convenient. We are stunting our own resource management by focusing so much energy and allowing entities' financial investments to be more important than keeping our planet safe from being ruined. Is this sound thinking or pure idiocy? How many times are we going to continue to allow these mistakes and accidents before we decide it is better for us to MOVE ON and stop using so much of it? We should put OUR money toward energy resources that are more friendly to our environment. WE DON'T NEED OIL so desparately.

Why should we continue doing this to our planet? We now have a gusher under our ocean that is spewing out oil and KILLING everything that lives near it. MORE dead ocean on our planet is something we simply cannot afford. And to add to the stupidity is the fact that the industry that sucks it out of the planets veins, can't seem to fix the problems it's created. If a regular citizen had caused a problem like this he'd be in JAIL awaiting trial.

WAKE UP world. Stop nursing off of the breast of an industry owned by people who's bank accounts matter more than the livelyhood of our planet.