It DOESN'T matter if this is as bad as Chernobyl...

[PCIntern]

Let's try it this way: was John Wayne Gacy as bad as Hitler? No...not by a longshot..there's a special place in Hell for Hitler and a few others over the centuries who have descended to that level of inhumanity...so: if one says, Gacy wasn't as bad as Hitler, does that absolve him of much of the anger, fear, rage, and hostility which a mention of his name can engender? If your family was victimized by him, of course not.

So it is with the nightmare of Japan: the people living within a reasonable radius, a radius which probably should be increasing daily are living this nightmare, and as those of us who lived in Southeastern Pennsylvania did in 1979, they worry about their futures, those of their children, and of their children's children. No number of statistical analyses, no number of "allowable" radiation charts with hundreds of teeny-tiny green squares, no number of reassurances from paid individuals who represent the nuclear power authorities will stop the dreams or the early-morning awakenings.

While we split hairs thousands of miles away, while people make jokes about eating bananas or living in stone houses, there are these people, the vast majority of whom, wished to awaken in the same country in which they went to sleep the night before, and now that may be impossible for decades. I would submit that anyone who feels that there is minimal danger from this nuclear event should be paid handsomely to go over there and attend to these inhabitants door-to-door, and to visit the reactor site and perhaps even help with the cleanup.

[uppityperson]

1. k and r edited to add caveat

caveat: "anyone who feels that there is minimal danger from this nuclear event ". The danger ranges from huge to minimal depending on where you are. I will not say there is no danger since for many there is. However, I will acknowledge that for most of us the danger is minimal.

It really really sucks for those involved.

[jberryhill]

2. Depends on what you mean by "danger"

There is going to be far reaching economic impact.

If Toyota can't make the parts in Japan, they aren't going to assemble the vehicles in Tennessee.

And that is just the tip of a large supply chain iceberg.

[uppityperson]

5. I agree about the supply chain iceberg.

Danger from radiation is what I meant. If you live near Fukushima, don't drink the milk. Here in the USA, meh.

I posted a topic a couple days ago, musing on the long reaching effects of the tsunami and nuke plant problems, with supplying things like auto parts and computerized chips. There is a lot of stuff that is made in Japan, or necessary parts of things that will be in short supply for a while.

So many things use computer chips, so many electronics. So much potential to be in short supply, leading to more job loss, etc etc etc.

For us far away, economic impacts. For those close, danger of health issues or death.

It's a small world after all.

[damntexdem]

3. Does it matter if it's worse?

It sure does to the world.

[CoffeeCat]

4. The stone-house stuff is propaganda....

I am so tired of reading about tvs, stone houses and microwaves giving off radiation--and ohhhhh, the
radiation from Japan (that is now in our milk) is less than that.

BULLSHIT! TOTAL BULLSHIT!

Iodine-131 is a dangerous substance that gets INSIDE your body and travels around, until it cozies up
inside your thyroid and causes thyroid cancer. This is not a joke. These are the facts.

This kind of radioactive substance--the stuff from Japan that is in our milk--is NOT LIKE THE RADIATION
EMITTED FROM A MICROWAVE OR A BRICK HOUSE.

Internal emitters---are radioactive substances that emit radiation INTERNALLY--IN YOUR BODY. They
are extremely dangerous. Even just one particle.

External emitters--like radiation from microwaves and xrays are external emitters--hit the outside of your
body for a short period of time. They do not infiltrate the inside of your body. They do not mimic minerals
and then next inside of your organs and thyroid--causing cancer.

The question we all need to ask is----WHY IS RIGHT-WING RADIO AND MANY IN THE MAINSTREAM PERPETUATING THESE LIES??????

Look them up. THEY ARE LIES!

[Tesha]

6. And just to be clear, there isn't *ANY* ionizing radiation from microwave ovens or cell phones.

And nowadays, as CRT TVs become little more than a
memory, there's no ionizing radiation from LCD and
OLED flat-screen TVs either, and none or damned-little
from Plasma flat screen TVs.

Tesha

[JoeyT]

10. It's true there's a very small amount of radiation in most food.

But that isn't really the point. It's about volume.

There's a chart floating around that gives a pretty good idea about the doses involved http://xkcd.com/radiation/

Keep in mind this was done a while back, and the radiation levels for a hot spot nearish to Fukushima was the same amount of radiation you get in a year every day. IIRC it's gotten a lot worse since this chart was made.

[grahamhgreen]

7. Indeed, those who feel there is minimal danger should get over there with a mop and bucket.

[Snoutport]

8. and a fishing pole to catch some tasty fish right there off the coast

[tnlefty]

9. and I just saw this...

http://enenews.com/radioactive-iodine-131-in-rainwater-sample-near-san-francisco-is-18100-above-federal-drinking-water-standard

Radioactive iodine 131 in a rainwater sample near San Francisco was 18,100% above the federal drinking water sample.

And what happens to all of that rainwater? This is a nightmare for the people in Japan and from my perspective the beginnings of a bad dream for others.

[anarch]

11. I was just thinking about that "hey guys, don't drink the radioactive rainwater" message

that the EPA sent out recently, when a commercial came on for Home Depot or something, selling rain barrels so you can save money keeping your lawn and garden in good shape. I guess if you don't eat the vegetables, at least the flowers will grow taller...that's what happened in a lot of places after Chernobyl, anyway.

[Generic Other]

15. My relatives in Ibaragi are eating the vegetables they can't sell

They have no other food.

[Mnemosyne]

16. My heart goes out to your relatives, GO.

Sending caring energy for their suffering to be as brief as possible. :grouphug: I cry, knowing it will be an ongoing nightmare for a multitude of people for many, many, many years.

:hug:

[tnlefty]

18. And whle I'm not suggesting that people run around with

hair on fire..it's good to know.

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. Oh good grief.

This is NOT good! :(

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. K & R! n/t

[Generic Other]

14. Thank you so much for saying this...

I know it's pretty much political mudwrestling as usual around here but there are people whose families are directly in harm's way. There are also some DUers who are in hazardous areas. Many are dealing with the psychological trauma of what is happening. Some are in mourning. So very very devastating. The land in the prefectures that adjoin Fukushima was some of Japan's best agricultural farmland. It's future is uncertain. People's lives are in limbo.

And it's not like we didn't know. We know what happened to people at 3 Mile Island. And Chernobyl. We know many learned nothing from these accidents. They continued their headlong rush to disaster. Now we are there. And what do they worry about? Public image damage control. And more reactors. Over all our dead bodies.

[crickets]

17. Well said

and thank you for saying it.