I Could've Had A V-8, But Chose This Horribly Mutated, Radioactive Tomato Instead..

The worst vegetable mutation  Fukushima Diary.  Check out this bullshit.  This is ONE tomato..

This is from June, 2011.  2011.  Now that's good eatin'!!  No telling what this year's Harvest of Horror will produce..  Seriously, though..  Nothing is wrong:  Keep shopping.

Fukushima One Year Later: Reactor 4 Is In Not-Awesome Shape.

Mainichi Expert Sr. Writer: Gov’t sources say No. 4 pool a grave concern — Storage pool barely intact — We have no time to humor senseless thinking of those who downplay the risks  This is happening now:  A continual erosion of the building's integrity.  Mainichi Daily News.  Excerpts:


[...] One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse. This is something that experts from both within and outside Japan have pointed out since the massive quake struck. [...] not only independent experts, but also sources within the government say that it’s a grave concern.



(...)The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. The roof has been blown away. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area. Both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and French nuclear energy company Areva have warned about this risk.


(...)A report released in February by the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident stated that the storage pool of the plant’s No. 4 reactor has clearly been shown to be “the weakest link” in the parallel, chain-reaction crises of the nuclear disaster. The worse-case scenario drawn up by the government includes not only the collapse of the No. 4 reactor pool, but the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the plant’s other reactors. If this were to happen, residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area would be forced to evacuate.
And:
“Because sea water was being pumped into the reactor, the soundness of the structure (concrete corrosion and deterioration) was questionable. There also were doubts about the calculations made on earthquake resistance as well,” (Emphasis author)said one government source familiar with what took place at the time. “[...] fuel rod removal will take three years. Will the structure remain standing for that long? Burying the reactor in a concrete grave is like building a dam, and therefore expensive. I think that it was because TEPCO’s general shareholders’ meeting was coming up (in June 2011) that the company tried to keep expenses low.” [...]


That's some pretty awesome short-term, Bottom-Line thinking, yeah?  Is killing your customer base a very sound business strategy?  Fukushima is perilously close to becoming an Undisputed Global Event (If Reactor 4's Spent Fuel Pool does indeed go, believe me, You Will Know..), yet won't drop the cash needed to reign in this Catastrophe of Unknown and Unimaginable Magnitude.  So it's a good bet that something horrible will happen, as really, it's already happening..  Already.

Why should you care?  If you're in the Midwestern United States, chew on this:  Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant is at 37 Degrees North Latitude.  Kansas City, Missouri is at 39 Degrees North Latitude.  I have said this before, but on the good chance you haven't seen it before:  The United States is, globally, downwind from Fukushima.  And it's not like the earthquakes have stopped, either.  And it's not like there's some freak storm coming in from the Sea of Japan..  Wait; There is?  My mistake.. 

(Updated) Japan Meteorological Agency's Highly Unusual Storm Warning on TV: "Don't Go Outside"  EX-SKF.  Don't forget to watch the wind direction video!  Excerpts:

The warning comes from the government agency that prohibited its own researchers from disclosing any information regarding the dispersion of radioactive materials right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. Many on Twitter are saying, "Why didn't they say the same thing on March 15 and 21 last year and warn us about radioactive plumes from Fukushima?"



Well, the answer is easy. Because issuing warnings about radioactive material dispersions was not in their job description. It still isn't.


Anyway, a highly unusual low is about to sweep through entire Japan from the Japan Sea side, and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) decided to hold a press conference which was broadcasted on TV to warn people in the evening of April 4.
And:
Mr. Uchida said, "The wind speed in Kanto is expected to be 25 meters per second, which is almost like a typhoon wind. We expect the wind to be stronger than in the last weekend. In particular, from 6PM to 9PM, it is possible that the wind will be so strong that people may get knocked down by the wind. Transportation may be affected as it may be dangerous to drive a car. So tomorrow, take ample precaution by going home earlier than usual, or by not going out unless it is necessary to do so."


Side Note:  If Tokyo is irradiated, I say we give Japan Detroit.  The Japanese bring the revenue, the people, and the technology to rejuvenate Detroit.  They remake the city in their technological image.  The Japanese find Safe Haven.  And Detroit rises again.  I like that scenario..  The whole Detroit metro area looking like present day Hiroshima..

Powered by alternative energies, of course..  That's a nice pipe dream, right?

Fukushima Update: Long Overdue November Edition..

Short answer?  The slow motion nightmare continues to unfold.  Have you noticed an uptick of "allergies," "colds," "I feel like shit!," "I don't know what this is, but I just don't feel right" creeping up in your everyday conversations?  I have.  If you haven't been paying attention; start.  The minor precursor effects have already started..

TEPCO: Reactor may have gone critical  NHK.  Excerpts:

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it found in the facility's No.2 reactor radioactive substances that could have resulted from continuous nuclear fission.



The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said on Wednesday that it detected xenon-133 and xenon-135 in gas taken from the reactor's containment vessel on the previous day. The substances were reportedly in concentrations of 6 to more than 10 parts per million becquerels per cubic centimeter.


Xenon-135 was also detected in gas samples collected on Wednesday.


Radioactive xenon is produced during nuclear fission.


The half-life of xenon-133 is 5 days, and that of xenon-135 is 9 hours.
 
Children and the elderly will begin to show effects first..
Smaller increase in children's weight in Fukushima  NHK.  Excerpts:
 
A survey shows that some children in Fukushima Prefecture have smaller average weight gains this year compared to the year before. A pediatrician says the results indicate the negative effects of the nuclear plant accident in March.



Doctor Shintaro Kikuchi tracked the weights of 245 children aged from 4 to 6 in 2 kindergartens in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. The results show an average weight increase of 0.81 kilograms over the past year through June. The increase for children in the same age group the previous year was 3.1 kilograms.


The average increase for children aged 5 to 6 in the survey was 0.84 kilograms. But a nationwide health ministry survey conducted last year for children of the same age group showed an average gain of 1.8 kilograms.

Shilling has its price..  From Ex-SKF.  Excerpts:

No, not in a young child in a high radiation spot that is often talked about on Twitter. A 63-year-old TV newscaster has been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and is now hospitalized, getting ready for chemo. He felt a strange lump in his neck on October 28, he says. (Various news sources including: Zakzak 11/7/2011, Yomiuri Shinbun 11/6/2011)



In his morning program on Fuji TV he's been promoting Fukushima produce by eating them in the show. He also happened to be in Fukushima in March 15. Just a coincidence. Never mind that ALL is predominant in small children, and an adult case is one in 100,000 annually in Japan.

JP Gov officially admitted that Japanese food is harmful  Fukushima Diary.  Excerpts plus bonus follow up information regarding the previous newscaster in question.  Bonus bonus:  Now chilling photos of newscaster eating irradiated food.  I bet the other news gals are a bit freaked out right now..

Since 311, every time it turned out a kind of food is contaminated, they made “safety” limit, such as 500 Bq/Kg for vegetables, and allowed them to distribute.



However, at today’s meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee, Edano former chief cabinet secretary, current minister of Economy, Trade and Industry admitted that it is harmful for your health if you keep having it for one year.


Edano former chief cabinet secretary is famous for his trade mark phrase, “In short term,it is not harmful”.


He was even called “Short term fraud” by some people.


It is not a small number of people who trusted his word and didn’t evacuate or kept eating food under the “safety limit”. (In other words, LOTS of people trusted him.)


At today’s meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee, he “explained”.


He held 39 press conferences in the first 2 weeks after 311.


BUT he said “In short term, it is not harmful” ONLY 7 times.


OF those, 5 “In short term, it is not harmful”s were for food and drink.


By this he “meant”, you will be sick if you keep having it for one year, but if you have it once or twice, it doesn’t hurt your body.

Japanese emperor to be admitted to the hospital on bronchitis fears  Radiation cares not of your position in life..  The China Post.  Excerpts:

Japanese Emperor Akihito is due to be hospitalized on Sunday with a cold, fever and symptoms of bronchitis, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the Imperial Household Agency.

Akihito, who will turn 78 next month, will be admitted to the University of Tokyo Hospital as a precaution because the fever worsened the bronchitis symptoms and he appeared fatigued and has lost some resistance to fight his illness, Kyodo said.
And:
Five days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan's northeast, Akihito made a rare public televised address and in April traveled to the disaster-struck area with Empress Michiko, 77.
 
Still think this is a Japanese problem?  California nuke plant detected 4,000% more iodine-131 than UC Berkeley during Fukushima peak
 
Highest detection of iodine-131 was March 23, 2011 @ 4.3e-06 Bq/liter (0.0000043 Bq/liter of iodine-131) -Source



The Diablo Canyon iodine-131 peak was 0.000188 Bq/liter of iodine-131, or 43.7 times higher than the 0.0000043 Bq/liter peak observed by UC Berkeley.

This was MARCH 23.  November 11 marks Eight Months of essentially non-stop nuclear disbursement.  I wonder what those levels are now?

Look after yourself  Fukushima Diary.  Short answer?  Start taking Calcium and Magnesium.  Especially Calcium.

Scientist Marco Kaltofen Presents Data Confirming Hot Particles  Latest video from Arnie Gundersen and Fairewinds.  Don't have six minutes?  Here's the beef:

Now Mr. Kaltofen did not just look at Japan. He set up monitoring stations in the United States as well. Two of the three monitoring stations in the United States did show hot particles in the air in April. Since then, there have not been any hot particles. But in April, it is clear that, at the worst of the accident, hot particles were wafted across the Pacific and deposited in Seattle and in Boston at least. There is also data that indicates contamination on the ground in the Cascades, which are a mountain range right up against the Pacific Ocean.



So I think we have two problems here. In Japan, there is a personal health issue and what that means is that individuals have received enough radiation that there is going to be a statistically meaningful increase in cancers in Tokyo and especially in Fukushima Prefecture.

In the United States, it is a different story. It is a public health issue and not a personal health issue. What that means is that we will never know who is the individual who got cancer from Fukushima. But we can be sure that the radiation did reach here and that there will be an increase in cancers, especially on the West Coast where the Rocky Mountains stopped most of the radiation and deposited it on the ground.

The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit  Japan Times.  Excerpts:

There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hōben — "lying is also a means to an end." It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth.

First — defining "telling the truth" as divulging the truth (not a lie), the whole truth (full disclosure) and nothing but the truth (uncompounded with lies) — consider how lies are deployed in everyday personal interactions.



Let's start with good old tatemae (charitably translated as "pretense"). By basically saying something you think the listener wants to hear, tatemae is, essentially, lying. That becomes clearer when the term is contrasted with its antonym, honne, one's "true feelings and intentions."
..
Now extrapolate. What becomes of a society that sees lying as a justifiably institutionalized practice? Things break down. If everyone is expected to lie, who or what can you trust?
And:
..Radiation has no media cycle. It lingers and poisons the land and food chain. Statistics may be obfuscated or suppressed as usual. But radiation's half-life is longer than the typical attention span or sustainable degree of public outrage.



As the public — possibly worldwide — sickens over time, the truth will leak out.

Our near-term and long-term future?  Bleak.

It's What's Happenin', Man..

News: Inside Of Reactor 1  Fukushima Diary. 

Fun, related fact:  MOX is super radioactive.  Go!  Go!  Godzilla! 

Fukushima: Immune-destroying radiation sickness spreads  This tragedy's in motion, but has yet to bloom.  There, Here, eventually Everywhere..  Japan is Coming Attractions.

Two from The Extinction Protocol..

Doomed German space telescope to plunge to Earth on October 23rd

The massive ROSAT X-ray space telescope continues to descend toward Earth. Latest estimates place the re-entry around noon Universal Time on Oct. 23rd. Uncertainties exceed 10 hours, which makes it impossible to say exactly where ROSAT will re-enter.

New Mexico shaken by ‘historically unusual’ 3.8 magnitude earthquake

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake “is unusual for this area, historically,” Richard Aster, a professor of Geophysics at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, wrote the New Mexican in an email Monday. “The present estimate of the epicenter is about half way between Santa Fe and Espanola. This is a large enough event that there may be felt aftershocks.” Monday’s temblor, at 3.8, is small compared to the earth-moving quakes recorded in Japan, California or other hot zones. But in New Mexico, 3.8 is a major event.

Evidence Builds: Deadly Gravity Wave Approaching Earth  Pakalert Press.  Excerpts:

Gigantic gravitational waves up to 100 billion light years long could be warping the universe into a twisted maze compressing and squeezing out the edges of space-time like an old rag being wrung dry. Now evidence is mounting that one of these rogue waves may be on its way towards Earth…



100 billion light year long gravity waves pushing and twisting the universe outward? That’s the astounding theory being proposed by some astrophysicists to explain why space is inflating at different rates in different regions.
 
The scientists’ hypothesis may have arrived like an interstellar cavalry for harried cosmologists. The theory of almost everything has been slipping towards almost nothing.
 
How?



Careful measurements of the universe’s expansion (called inflation) have revealed alarming anomalies. Not every region of space is expanding at the same rate.


Why is that important?


Well, it’s raising concerns because if the universe is inflating irregularly that could mean all the laws governing basic physics may be flawed…or downright wrong.


And if those laws are wrong, much of science is wrong, including the distance to other stars, the laws that affect many experiments—even the age of the universe.

Occupy's global impact:  Rome edition. 

 Greece heads for standstill before austerity vote  Reuters.  Excerpts:

Greece's two main unions, representing about half the four million-strong workforce, are preparing for one of the biggest protests since the crisis began two years ago, likely to hit food and fuel supplies, disrupt transport and leave hospitals run by skeleton staff.



The strike is set for Wednesday and Thursday to coincide with the vote in parliament, expected to take place in two stages on both days.


Memories are fresh of battles between riot police and stone-throwing protesters at anti-austerity demonstrations in June and sporadic incidents were reported on Monday with a petrol bomb hurled at a garbage truck in a northern suburb of Athens.


Trailing badly in opinion polls, Papandreou has defied a wave of protests, pledging to push through a deeply unpopular package that includes tax rises, pay and pension cuts, job layoffs and changes to collective pay deals.
And:

Trapped in deep recession and choked by a debt equivalent to some 162 percent of gross domestic product, Greece has been shut out of bond markets and would run out of money within weeks without international support.



Inspectors from the EU and the International Monetary Fund were in Athens last week and have recommended releasing an 8 billion euro (6.9 billion pound) aid tranche to enable the government to keep paying its bills past November.


That will only provide temporary relief and they have told Papandreou's struggling team to push ahead with further belt-tightening, structural reforms and privatisations, on top of what are already the deepest cuts in Greece's postwar history.

Wow.  Not even a fraction of what all is happening.