[tomder55]

You'd love the book. Clancy takes pages to describe the process of the nuclear detonation while it occures . You just don't get that kind of detail in a movie.

[Curlyben]

Lets put the nuke issue in some context here: BBC News - Nuclear power: Energy solution or evil curse?

[excon]

Hello ben:

I don't know if the article puts the issue in the PROPER context. It's clear, that he's a proponent of nuclear energy. He's awfully assertive about these particular reactors posing NO problem when he says, "A disaster on the scale of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union is highly unlikely, according to experts, because Japan's reactors are built to a much higher standard and have much more rigorous safety measures."

I just don't think that's credible in light of today's news. Plus, he says it has the "lowest carbon footprint". By THAT measure it may be true. After all, it IS mined, and shipped all the way from Kazakhstan. That leave a carbon footprint. But CARBON isn't the environmental problem the world is worried about when it comes to nuclear power. It's waste disposal... As a matter of fact, the fire in the #4 reactor was in the spent fuel rod pit, cause we have NO where to dispose of it. He doesn't mention that at all.

Look. I'm not against using nuclear power. But we need to have an HONEST debate about it.

excon

[tomder55]

My biggest concern is that Iran and the NORKS have nukes. How much transparency about safety is there coming from them ?

Oh yeah . The IAEA monitors them (snicker) .

Other news on the alternate energy front...

Earlier I responded that seamingly committed Greenies were in fact NIMBYs .
The NY Slimes has a follow-up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/we...=2&ref=science

You should hear the whiner Anthony Weiner complain.

When I become mayor, you know what I'm going to spend my first year doing?” Mr. Weiner said to Mr. Bloomberg, as tablemates listened. “I'm going to have a bunch of ribbon-cuttings tearing out your [expletive] bike lanes.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/ny...er=rss&emc=rss

So where does this leave us ? Carbon based energy ?NO! Nukes? NO ! Green energy ? NO! Fusion? It was 50 years away 50 years ago. Flux Capacitor ? Maybe in the 22nd century.
Everyone should plan on building grass and mud yurts .
Pacific Yurts-What is a Yurt?
Become a hunter gatherer .
Kill your food and skin them for your clothes .
Buckskin Clothing | Buckskin Clothes

And say goodby because there won't be the energy necessary to run your computer. If we kill off a few billion of us we'll restore balance with mother Gaia .

[smoothy]

My biggest concern is that Iran and the NORKS have nukes. How much transparency about safety is there coming from them ?

Oh yeah . The IAEA monitors them (snicker) .

other news on the alternate energy front....

earlier I responded that seamingly commited Greenies were in fact NIMBYs .
The NY Slimes has a follow-up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/we...=2&ref=science

You should hear the whiner Anthony Weiner complain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/ny...er=rss&emc=rss

So where does this leave us ? Carbon based energy ?NO! Nukes? NO ! Green energy ? NO! Fusion? It was 50 years away 50 years ago. Flux Capacitor ? Maybe in the 22nd century.
Everyone should plan on building grass and mud yurts .
Pacific Yurts-What is a Yurt?
Become a hunter gatherer .
Kill your food and skin them for your clothes .
Buckskin Clothing | Buckskin Clothes

And say goodby because there won't be the energy necessary to run your computer. If we kill off a few billion of us we'll restore balance with mother Gaia .

Most of those NIMBY's don't know how to grow weeds, much less HUNT... many are vegitarians that think animals have the rights of people.

Then there are those that are going to be whining why they don't get food delivered to them because they are underprivledged and shouldn't have to fend for themselves.

Never mind many of them voted to prohibit everything that made modern life possible.

Project Dweller skins will make nice leather, no callouses to mar the hide.


And if you havest them early enough... the hides will be ample in size... if you get them before starvation shrinks their size.

[southamerica]

My dad has been living in the mountains in Chile for a while now, growing food, living off minimal power, and a water well... waiting for the rest of his family to go and join him. As is evident by my username, I have been considering that option. Maybe instead of my original plan (moving to Japan) I should just go to Chile now?

You all seem a lot more up to speed with current events than I, so I am just using my youthful power of deduction here...

[NeedKarma]

My dad has been living in the mountains in Chile for a while now, growing food, living off of minimal power, and a water well...waiting for the rest of his family to go and join him. As is evident by my username, I have been considering that option. Maybe instead of my original plan (moving to Japan) I should just go to Chile now?

You all seem a lot more up to speed with current events than I, so I am just using my youthful power of deduction here...

It really depends on what you want out of life and how self-sufficent you can really be. Most of the p[opulation that live in larger cities rely on others to provide end-product food, water, power, etc. they view their role as wage earners to pay for these services. As well many rely on technology for contact and entertainment.These people would not adapt well off the grid.

[tomder55]

Chile is smack in the middle of the Ring of Fire. They had a major earthquake in January and February .
The biggest difference was the tsunami that hit Japan after the quake.

[southamerica]

It really depends on what you want out of life and how self-sufficent you can really be. Most of the p[opulation that live in larger cities rely on others to provide end-product food, water, power, etc., they view their role as wage earners to pay for these services. As well many rely on technology for contact and entertainment.These people would not adapt well off the grid.

I was raised in a moderately "off-the-grid" environment. As of late, I've been living in urbania, as a partial rebellion to my upbringing. Though my individual skills of survival aren't exceptional, I would have many resources (e.g. my dad and the community in which he lives). I lived there for three months to help him prepare his land, build his house, and plant his garden. I know I would like, it there... but my plan was Japan first, and then Chile for a while... and then thinking about settling down. The first idea (Japan first) isn't looking so good, especially since the plan was to move there in November 2011.

[southamerica]

Chile is smack in the middle of the Ring of Fire. They had a major earthquake in January and February .
The biggest difference was the tsunami that hit Japan after the quake.

Yes, I know this. I was really scared for my friends and family when the quakes hit. Luckily, those particular quakes didn't effect my friends save a little shaking. Chile isn't nearly as populated as Japan, so the devastation wasn't as bad. I don't plan on avoiding natural disasters 100%... I'd be hard pressed to find a location ideal for that.

[tomder55]

There would be issues of acceptance in Japan. It is a very homogeneous nation.

[NeedKarma]

I was raised in a moderately "off-the-grid" environment. As of late, I've been living in urbania, as a partial rebellion to my upbringing. Though my individual skills of survival aren't exceptional, I would have many resources (e.g., my dad and the community in which he lives). I lived there for three months to help him prepare his land, build his house, and plant his garden. I know I would like, it there...but my plan was Japan first, and then Chile for a while...and then thinking about settling down. The first idea (Japan first) isn't looking so good, especially since the plan was to move there in November 2011.

I too have fantasized about living on my own wits and the land but know I could never do it, my upbringing wasn't like yours (not that mine was bad mind you). Maybe that's why I enjoy reading post-apocalyptic novels, people are forced to go back to fending for themselves, or find someone who can.

[southamerica]

There would be issues of acceptance in Japan. It is a very homogeneous nation.

Yes, that's a major consideration for people to make if they want to go east. I have already started to modify my wardrobe and have been practicing etiquette for dealing with Japanese business people and children (as I would plan on teaching English to school children).

[paraclete]

I see we are back to talking about fantasy again when the real thing unravels before our eyes. If I read the dispatches correctly we now have four separate reactors that are damaged and may or may not be contained with two others ar risk. No jihadist could have hoped for such a result. What makes this all the more bizzaire is that the Japanese Prime Minister specifically referred to the nuclear power stations in his fIrst speech. He must have been aware then that there were problems but they started with denial
http://www.news.com.au/world/japan-e...-1226022151756
The remain calm warnings are beginning to look like outright lies.

[southamerica]

I see we are back to talking about fantasy again when the real thing unravels before our eyes. If I read the dispatches correctly we now have four separate reactors that are damaged and may or may not be contained with two others ar risk. No jihadist could have hoped for such a result. What makes this all the more bizzaire is that the Japanese Prime Minister specifically referred to the nuclear power stations in his fIrst speech. He must have been aware then that there were problems but they started with denial
Radiation leaks from crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan | News.com.au
The remain calm warnings are beginning to look like outright lies.

Thanks for putting us back on track. I apologize for the hijack; that was my fault.

Level 6? Yikes.

"We monitored a higher than normal amount of radiation in the morning in Tokyo. But we don't consider it to be at a level where the human body is affected," said Sairi Koga, an official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Hopefully it stays that way. Shutting down Tokyo would be... interesting.

[paraclete]

Level 6?? Yikes.
.

Yes a significant emergency and made all the worse by the chaos in the surrounding region

[Curlyben]

Interesting how the press have started to round UP the magnitude of the quake.
There's a HUGE difference between an 8.9 and a 9.0!!

The scale is NOT linear in nature, but algorithmic.

[southamerica]

Interesting how the press have started to round UP the magnitude of the quake.
There's a HUGE difference between an 8.9 and a 9.0 !!!

The scale is NOT linear in nature, but algorithmic.

Journalism is not what it used to be. Why investigate when simple elementary mathematical strategies will do the trick (as far as public opinion is concerned)?

Thanks for this, Ben... I am one of the "general public" who doesn't know much about the Richter scale.

[tomder55]

Clete stay calm . Go out ,play a round of golf ;party with the reporters ,fill out your college basketball picks ;show true leadership in a crisis. Take a trip to South America.

Oh wait... that's the President's agenda.

[DoulaLC]

My brother has been living and teaching in Japan for 25 years. Quite an active few days of regular updates of what it has been like.

When the quake hit, he and my niece were at school. They literally wondered for a moment if the school was going to come down around them. It took them 10 hours to get home for a trip that normally takes 1.25 hours. The last of the kids on school buses were dropped off at 1:30 am. Freeways, subways, trains were all shut down. The supermarket shelves were bare.

They have just recently decided to leave Tokyo for Osaka for a time for the peace of mind with all that is going on. Long gas lines, fuel being rationed (one station only allowed 5 liters per car!), many roads still closed. Depending on the line, subways operating at about 50-70% now. Food and gas in short supply. Hard to imagine...