Major Earthquake Hits Japan

[cincinnatus]

[CgDs]

[Endovelico]

[Apollonius]

[Colonel Sun]

It's well documented that Japan has experienced tsunamis previously.

However, where the epicentres of the tsunami generating earthquakes were located is an open question.

[Colonel Sun]

Another reason not to defund NPR in the US:



They took the time and trouble to interview a health physicist rather than just make it up.

[Sennacherib]

[Caskhades]

[Endovelico]

The world would be a lot simpler if people were as stupid as others make them to be... Or, in other words, why do we assume that people who have a different opinion from ours must be either stupid, ignorant or evil?...

[Colonel Sun]

Radiation Risks to Health

A Joint Statement from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists,

the American Thyroid Association, The Endocrine Society,

and the Society of Nuclear Medicine

March 18, 2011

[pdf]

Just this evening I was talking to a friend who is a specialist in Nuclear Medicine and I mentioned that potassium iodide pills are sold out in the US just as he took a swig of his beer. The result was predictable.

[Caskhades]

PS: Reading the article, the thing that struck me as most urgent is the desperate need to stop using a million different measurement units for radiation. We have disintegrations per second (dps), becquerels, curies, for radiation sources, and then sieverts and rads for the health effects ionizing radiation, all of them with milis, micros and picos. Supremely confusing. I think we should use banana equivalents from now on. Banana units for individual sources, and bananas/year for health effects. "The total radioactive vapor released is about as radioactive as a Container-ship full of bananas. Workers were exposed to 0.5 KiloBananas/year, about a year's worth of natural radiation." -- for illustration purposes only, don't have any data on either.

[Colonel Sun]

[Mattmovies]

The Yakuza are helping with relief efforts:

[Colonel Sun]

[Mattmovies]

Thanks Col. Sun. It's fascinating stuff. Shows the dual nature of the organization, and some humanity. Maybe it's the same feeling as seeing a brute show a soft side, or a cold father figure cry at a funeral that makes this story interesting.

[Sennacherib]

[Caskhades]

[Sparky]

[Colonel Sun]

[skyhook77sfg]

THE SILVER LINING IN JAPAN

It’s often said that in times of crisis, there is tremendous opportunity. This is true… especially for a nation in turmoil. Sometimes leaders capitalize on the opportunity to make difficult decisions that put their country on a path to long-term success. Other times, they rely on the new goodwill to advance a corrupt, deleterious agenda.

The United States, for example, found itself in a position after 9/11 when the entire world was joined together in common humanity. US leaders cashed in on this unity to invade two countries and pass a host of legislation that ended financial privacy, granted sweeping powers to police agencies, and eroded individual freedom.

The French Revolution, with its roots in a desire for freedom and an end to the antiquated feudal system, lagged in the mid 1790s with the Reign of Terror and Committee of Public Safety. A handful of men capitalized on the national solidarity to seize dictatorial control of the country and put over 15,000 people under the guillotine.

Estonia, the tiny Baltic nation that had spent decades under Soviet rule, effectively found itself without an economy after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. National leadership used this ‘blank slate’ as an opportunity to build, from scratch, conditions where hard work and creative talent could thrive.

After a few years, its citizens grew very wealthy and the Estonian economy became a model for the rest of the world– high growth, high efficiency, low taxes, low bureaucracy.

In each crisis, leaders have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and rebuild from scratch… choosing an entirely new way to do business that is a marked departure from the bad habits of the past. As history shows us, some nations choose wisely, others choose poorly.

Japan is at the crossroads right now brought on by an incredible force of nature that literally washed away a significant portion of their island nation. Friday’s earthquake and tsunami necessitates a sobering look at the issues:

Japan’s economy hasn’t grown in years. Its debt has exploded. The nation’s finances have been downgraded by rating agencies (who are always the last to the party). Its population is growing older at an alarming rate, forcing larger burdens onto smaller portions of the population in the younger generations who earn less than their parents.

Though the economy opened up at the point of a gun in the 1850s when Matthew Perry forced his way in to the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan has remained culturally isolated and closed to foreigners. Similarly, Japanese corporate culture is bureaucratic, insular, and collectivist.

These are all major issues that need to be addressed. For years, Japanese leaders have been playing ‘kick the can down the road’. This game ended on Friday. The country is now forced to put all options on the table, including a complete revolution of cultural norms, national finances, and its way of doing business.

For example, the cleanup and rebuilding effort is certainly going to require labor… lots and lots of labor… and this will likely require hiring legions of foreigners to do the heavy lifting.

Japan isn’t set up for this right now, and it will take massive (and rapid) policy changes to bring in workers and integrate them across the social landscape. However the government tackles this issue will be a strong indicator– will Japan opt for the pro-growth, market-oriented Estonian model of dealing with a crisis?

If so, this period of crisis may be the low point for Japan.



http://sovereignman.com/SMC_gse2.php

[Endovelico]

[Colonel Sun]

[Colonel Sun]

[Colonel Sun]

[Endovelico]