[ a bump to the front with a 'welcome back, Mishima'. Hope you're safe and it's all good where you are! - luaptifer]

GOTTA BOUNCE
After winning 10 straight national trampoline championships, 27-year-old Haruka Hirota decided to retire from the sport due to a rule change regarding how much time the athletes spend in the air.

Former Livedoor boss Takafumi Horie decided to go out in style, sporting a Mohawk haircut and wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase “Go To Jail” as he began his prison sentence for fraud.

Forty-year-old tennis queen Kimiko Date Krumm gave Venus Williams a run for her money at Wimbledon, before finally bowing out 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6 in nearly three hours in the second round.
In Sapporo, four “Super Grandmas” aged between 75 and 88 set a world record in the 400-meter medley for swimmers with a combined age between 320 and 359 years. Their combined age was 322 years and they shaved a full 40 seconds off the record.

Doara, the popular mascot of the Chunichi Dragons baseball club, was sent down to the minor leagues to work on his flips after a few mishaps.

Yoshie Soma, a 69-year-old special adviser to the president of Kobe University, was named one of the “most distinguished women in chemistry and chemical engineering in the world” by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. She discovered a copper carbonyl catalyst in the 1960s that has been used in paint for cars and the bottom of ships.

Stats

300
People who responded when ex-engineer Yasuteru Yamada called for elderly “suicide corps” volunteers to help quell the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant

358,000
Foreign visitors to Japan in May, down 50.4 percent and the second largest year-on-year decline, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization

11
Prefectural governors, out of 47, who said nuclear power plants should be abolished or reduced in the future, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey

31
Governors polled who would not commit, choosing “none of the above” or not answering the question at all

KIDS TODAY

A 3-year-old girl in Osaka got behind the wheel of her mom’s Porsche SUV and drove into a supermarket, slightly injuring a woman.

The 17-year-old son of Yomiuri Giants slugger Alex Ramirez is pitching in a Kansai independent league this season. Young Alexander Ramirez says his goal is to strike out his old man one day.

Nineteen-year-old golf sensation Ryo Ishikawa had a few problems recently with his driving… in a car, that is. It was discovered that Ryo had been driving on an invalid international permit. He “humbly apologized,” bowed several times, and all was forgiven.

Certificates allowing free use of some highways in northern Japan were being advertised on the Yahoo Japan Auction website. The certificates were apparently issued by the mayor of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, and were intended for disaster victims.

France decided to destroy green tea leaves imported from Shizuoka “after detecting radioactive cesium at more than double the European Union’s limit.”

Headline of the Week: “Japan research team shows black hole at center of galaxy built of many black holes” (courtesy of the Mainichi Daily News).

Nippon Ham Fighters ace Yu Darvish uncorked a wild pitch as his scoreless innings streak came to an end in a 2-1 loss to the Hanshin Tigers. Darvish had tossed 46 innings without giving up a run.

Meanwhile, Chunichi Dragons reliever Hitoki Iwase set a new NPB saves record when he closed out the 287th game of his long and illustrious career.

The, “Atsui, nes?” were flying on June 22, the summer solstice, as the temperature hit 35 C or higher in 13 locations throughout Japan.

Bad Blood

Explains His Stupidity

Make Sure Your Lies

Are Happy Lies

Hey! I'm Busy

I Can't Possibly Stop

Kan under fire from his own team
Cabinet gets apology for flip-flop on reactor restart
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized to his Cabinet on Friday morning over the confusion he caused by his sudden order that "stress tests" be conducted on all nuclear power plants in Japan.

During a closed meeting with Cabinet ministers, various participants expressed dissatisfaction with Kan, who is now intent on holding the safety tests before now-idled reactors are restarted.

The administration scrambled to unify its policy and is expected to announce new safety guidelines, including the stress tests, as early as possible.

Many people have heard of the ordeal that Lara Logan went through during the Egyptian riots. Now, Lara speaks out and tells what happened.

We hope that Lara's recovery continues, and thank her for her voice and bravery. Her decision to speak out may help protect others against having to endure such horrible experiences. Sexual assault is a very real, and very prevalent, problem.

Nobody should ever have to experience it.

Hat-tip to Christina Rad's blog entry about this.

Via The Guardian,

The death has been announced of Mohammad Nabbous, described as the "face of citizen journalism in Libya".

Nabbous was apparently shot dead by Gaddafi forces in Benghazi on Saturday.

Known as "Mo", Nabbous set up Libya al-Hurra TV, which broadcast raw feeds and commentary from Benghazi, on Livestream.

Video from the Guardian article, via YouTube

A Google search on the term "journalists targeted" yields quite a few results, indicating the potential power and impact that live reporting can have on fluid, dangerous situations - particularly in this age of ubiquitous and instant communication. Any time that there's a potential for oppression through violence, those doing the oppression know how important it is to keep the truth hidden as long as possible. A few samples from the search results as of this report:

• Journalists targeted in Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya:
  

  New York, February 18, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities today in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya to cease their attempts to prevent media from reporting on anti-government demonstrations. Bahraini authorities used live ammunition--including fire from a helicopter--against peaceful protesters and journalists, according to news reports. Pro-government thugs attacked at least two journalists in Yemen, and the Libyan government appeared to be shutting down Facebook, Twitter, and Al-Jazeera's website as a means of silencing reporting on protests.

• Journalists Targeted by Warring Factions in Ivory Coast:
  

  The New York-based Committee to protect Journalists [CPJ] says both sides are using media outlets allied with them to disseminate their political message.

  Media houses have been used to inflame passions and win the hearts of civilians in both the south and the rebel-controlled north, says Mohamed Keita, the CPJ Africa advocacy coordinator.

  [...snip...]

  Thirty people were killed recently when they marched on the offices of the state-controlled television station to demand the resignation of its director.

  [...snip...]

  "It is becoming unbearably dangerous for media outlets and their journalists to operate in Ivory Coast,” says Keita. He calls on both sides to “refrain from targeting the press or using politically motivated censorship."

• Turkish newspaper claims more journalists targeted by ruling party:
  

  Turkey’s ruling party has a list of 70 people, including journalists and opposition figures, to be kept under surveillance or detained in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation, a daily newspaper has claimed.

The truth hurts. Sometimes, ensuring that the truth gets out can be deadly.

Be careful out there. Without journalists - and without citizen journalists - the forces of oppression and decay can operate with less fear of opposition.

We need to stand together, and we need to keep those who have given their all to keep the rest of us informed, and safe, in our hearts and minds.

Support your local citizen journalists and their efforts - remember, they're doing this for all of us.

Note: For those interested in the fate of the four missing NYT journalists, they'd been held in Libya and are now scheduled for release. Via the Boston Herald,

NEW YORK — Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have said they will release four New York Times [NYT] journalists who were captured during fighting in the eastern part of the country, the newspaper said today.

[...snip...]

The journalists are reporter Anthony Shadid; photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario; and a reporter and videographer, Stephen Farrell. In 2009, Farrell was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan and was rescued by British commandos.

Gadhafi’s son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, told ABC News reporter Christiane Amanpour during an interview that the journalists were in Libyan custody, and on Thursday evening Libyan government officials told the U.S. State Department that all four would be released, the Times said in an article on its website.

[...Read the rest at the Boston Herald...]

Michael Collins

Bumped and promoted. Originally posted 2011-03-14 04:37:12 -0400. -- GH

The Japanese disaster at Fukushima I is a human tragedy of striking proportions. As many as ten thousand citizens may be dead in the general catastrophe, with many more at risk for radiation poisoning at levels yet to be determined. The fact that Japan is a highly organized and wealthy nation in no way diminishes the intensity of the losses and pain experienced by the victims. (Image)

Political and economic implications will emerge rapidly. As the whole world watches, the Japanese experience creates windows of opportunity to learn how to avert future meltdowns at nuclear ticking time bombs placed throughout Europe, the United States, India, and China.

Events have overwhelmed the highly professional Japanese bureaucracy. In a late Saturday night report by CNN, the chief cabinet minister said that he presumed that there was a nuclear meltdown in reactors one and two, with three on the way. A nuclear regulatory official hedged by referring to the "possibility" of a meltdown, which he said could not be confirmed since workers couldn't get close enough to see. The same regulatory official told CNN,

"We have some confidence, to some extent, to make the situation to be stable status," he said. "We actually have very good confidence that we will resolve this." March 12

Experts outside the government referred to the situation as desperate given the use of saltwater as a last resort for cooling the nuclear material.

See interactive map at International Nuclear Safety Center

Japanese Energy and Economic Disruption

Eighty percent of Japanese energy relies on imports. Nuclear plants provide about 30% of the electric production for the industrial base. The loss of the Fukushima I plant, for example reduces the nuclear output by 10%, just for starters. It also derails the big plans Japan has for nuclear power through 2050. Over 60% of domestic needs will be met by a robust nuclear program according to one optimistic estimate.

The following graph shows the contributions electrical production:

Assume a 20% loss of nuclear power production with the elimination of Fukushima's 10% contribution and other reactors that may go offline due to preemptive safety precautions. Japan faces a near term energy shortage. The loss of 20% of nuclear production, for example, could translate into a 6% percent reduction of overall electric production. Hydroelectric and renewables are not capable of rising to the occasion as replacements. That leaves thermal/fossil plants. More imports and more pollution will go hand in hand for the next few years. Japan will pay much more attention to the Middle East, the source of 90% crude oil imports, with less focus on planned spread of nuclear plants.

This is speculation. The situation may be much worse. One thing is certain. The government regulator's confidence that "we will resolve this" seems far-fetched at best.

The damage to plant, equipment, and infrastructure led to the shut down of several automobile plants. United States exporters will feel the impact of lower Japanese corporate revenues. China, Japan's top trading partner, may well see the loss of investment and export opportunities. In addition, China may have a new competitor for crude oil due to the disruption to Japan's overall energy supply system.

Still mired in the great stagnation since 1985, healthcare costs, rebuilding requirements, and the implosion of energy production in the Fukushima Prefecture will hit the domestic economy very hard in short order.

As if that weren't bad enough, exports faltered in January. The country showed a 500 billion Yen trade deficit for the first month of 2011, the first drop in a string of sizable surpluses since February 2009. Japan's people and economy are in for hard times. (Graph)

What if… Lessons for the United States

What would happen if a massive earthquake hit one of California's nuclear plants? California represents 13% of the US GDP, 12% of the population, and ranks number eighth in global economies. Seismic disasters are not a new phenomenon in the Golden State.

Certainly, energy companies, politicians, and regulators considered this possibility. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) produced scientific research for years fine tuning the timing, intensity, and inevitability of future earthquakes. USGS states, "the chance of having one or more magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquakes in the California area over the next 30 years is greater than 99%." The chance for a magnitude 7.5 or greater earthquake is set at 46%. (USGS)

Was anyone paying attention? Apparently not. The seismic risk map shows the danger of earthquakes for the state.

California's two nuclear power plants are located on or near major fault lines. The Diablo Canyon facility is of particular concern. Californians have been anywhere from upset to outraged at the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility from the start. More than two million people get electricity from the plant. Designed to withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, there are reasons to be less than confident in this estimate. The plant operator, PG&E, completely misinterpreted blueprints in the initial construction of "certain crucial pipe supports in the reactors containment room." The misinterpretation involved constructing the pipe supports in a "mirror image" of the intended design.

Diablo Canyon is just 2.5 miles from the Hosgri Fault, a major portion of the San Andreas Fault. Construction proceeded despite the discovery of this massive fault early on.

Recently, PG&E executives diminished the importance of the Shoreline Fault less than an mile offshore from the nuclear plant. This fault was discovered in 2008. The Santa Barbara Independent reported that, "Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials and PG&E executives have insisted there’s no cause for alarm; the plant, they maintain, is designed to withstand far more force than the new fault" will generate.

The Independent interviewed USGS Chief Scientist, Tom Brocher. He noted the possibility that the Shoreline Fault runs under Diablo Canyon's reactors is "speculative" but not ruled out. Brocher said, "You’re bringing into the picture the possibility that an earthquake could crack the ground surface. This would be a disaster beyond anything we've seen in Japan:

"The prospect of such a calamity -- with two nuclear reactors operating above ground and pools of spent fuels so dangerous they have to be kept submerged in water at least five years before they can be moved to steel-reinforced concrete casks -- is the stuff of nightmarish disaster scenarios." Nick Welsh, Santa Barbara Independent.

Sitting Ducks

As meltdowns and nuclear disaster continue in Japan, we should anticipate the impact of similar disasters at one or several of those red dots from the interactive global map of nuclear facilities. Natural events, plant failures, and sabotage provide an array of scenarios that can cripple a region or entire nation.

The potential of nuclear catastrophes is dismissed by energy company sponsored and nuclear friendly government reports claiming probable nuclear plant safety in the face of well-documented risks. The nuclear firms and Japanese authorities vouched for the safety of Fukushima I. All of that was to no avail.

Nevertheless, the administration's proposed energy solution, the American Power Act, contains provisions for nuclear industry bailouts which are central to future energy needs. The industry largesse will help achieve the act's goal of a 60% increase in power from nuclear reactors.

Will someone please calculate the probability for - we are doomed.

We are led by fools.

END

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