Japan: The Great Quake, Tsunami, the Nuclear Industry, Energy and Transport

JAPAN - MOVING FORWARD POST QUAKE AND TSUNAMI

(Whatever you do, do not miss this blog post on PODS!)


I'm just going to pile on 3 different topics into this post.

An Energy Efficient Future
Japan has an opportunity to rebuild smartly and with efficiency as never before seen in the developed world before. Do not let this go to waste Japan.

Transportation is perhaps the single most energy guzzler. One thing I imagine are using pods for transport. It's like a covered bobsled with an electric motor that runs on a track. It can fit one or four people or even more. I envision pods made for an individual as being most efficient. Bigger pods can be made for freight. In fact, the whole journey on rail can be computerized. Freight does not need a driver! Just punch in the address and it travels by computer. The individual punches the address or destination in the morning to get to work. Then he/she begins reading their book or attending to other things. Everything is computerized. Also, there's no accidents. And the cost to own one privately? They shouldn't cost more than $4000 each for ones hat fit one individual. And forget about car insurance, you won't need it.



These tracks can sit on poles on the side of the road where the sidewalk meets the road for cars. There will still be a need for regular cars and trucks to travel from other areas of Japan. These pods would be ideal for local travel. How much can a pod with an electric motor and an eggshell cover weigh? It would be lighter than even a motorcycle! And since it's got an electric motor that gets its power off the grid it will be super efficient. 200-300 "miles per gallon" would be commonplace.

[Youtube] Publicly run, Family sized Pods


Where do they park? Again. the parking will be computerized. They can stop at a valet area. the passenger can load/unload. Then the pod can self park itself into a stacked garage structure. And in the home garage, the rail goes inside the garage where the pod comes to a rest. Or it may rest in a plastic shelter that is on a pole on the side of the house.

[Youtube] Pods traveling next to river


Hopefully, somebody is reading this. Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Toshiba, this is your future!

[Youtube] Real life ULTra PRT/PODs @ London Heathrow Airport!


Here are some awesome links to pique your curiosity and your imagination.
[Article] Wired visits the subject of Pods

[Article] SkyTran Personal Maglev

[Link] ULTra PRT website




The Great Quake and Tsunami aftermath
Utter devastation. It can only be described as such. Whole families washed away. Missing family members. It all has changed in an instant for those victims on the Northern Japanese coast. And after the quake and tsunami comes the cold, dreary, snow weather. The elderly struggle with no electricity, lack of water and lack of food.

[Youtube] Memories at the Lost and Found




The Nuclear Industry
In light for the Fukashima nuclear disaster, Keith Harmon Snow looks at the dangerous, greedy, corrupt business world of nuclear power. Here is his recent interview on Guns and Butter on 03-23-2011.

Topics covered: Mark I Boiling Water Reactors and their safety issues, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Public Document Rooms, the do not rock the boat Japanese society, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), spent fuel pools, and Price Anderson Act.

[MP3] Keith Harmon Snow interviewed on Guns and Butter on nuclear industry's unsafe practices 03-23-2011

Groupon.com - Ebay - $7 for $15

I just bought a tiny but still a good deal off Groupon.com for Ebay. For $7, get $15 credit towards any Ebay purchase assuming you have an Ebay AND Paypal account.

Looks like the deal expires in 2 days.

Step 1: Click my referral and sign up if you haven't already:
http://www.groupon.com/r/uu6760943

Step 2: Click the link to the deal:
http://www.groupon.com/deals/ebay

Workers at Fukashima nuclear plant work and sleep onsite for a full week

What's it like working at the disintegrating Fukashima nuclear power plant? Find out what it's like to work and live onsite 24x7 for a week surrounded by deadly amounts of nuclear radiation!

Kyodo news of Japan give us a peek through a short but wonderfully informative article!

[Article] Kyodo News covers working conditions of workers at the Fukashima nuclear power plant

Muntadhr Al Zaydi, the Iraqi shoe thrower is back!

NEVER GIVE UP!

Muntadhr Al Zaydi, the Iraqi journalist internationally famous for throwing a shoe at former US president George Bush, is back to fight for the freedom and dignity of the Iraqi people. He's planning on being at the protests which call for the stepdown of the Iraqi Prime Minister. He will partake in this protests, defiant, in face of threats from government officials.

"If we manage to bring change, great. If we don't at least we have the honor of trying." -- Muntadhr Al Zaydi

[Youtube] Muntadhr Al Zaydi defies threats to partake in protests

Thomas Sheridan: Truth Brigade Radio's Christie Aphrodite 03-25-2011

ANOTHER AUTHOR'S CONTRIBUTION TO POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

Thomas Sheridan's recently released book Puzzling People: The Labyrinth of the Psychopath is available for purchase. Please do buy it as the author has laid out the all the information that one needs to identify psychopaths and psychopathy which keeps one out of trouble. It also helps in explaining the current political, economic, and social system gamed by psychopaths as they bring its unaware populations under the influence of their psychopathy.



The book can also be bought directly from Thomas Sheridan with his autograph at his website (in the right column) for $25 at http://labyrinthpsycho.blogspot.com


The latest interview is available in MP3 or Youtube formats. The Youtube version seems to cutoff some parts and accidently repeats part of the interview.

[MP3] Thomas Sheridan interviews on with Christie Aphrodite on Truth Brigade Radio / American Freedon Radio on March 25 2011

[Youtube Playlist] Thomas Sheridan interviews on with Christie Aphrodite on Truth Brigade Radio / American Freedon Radio on March 25 2011



Thomas Sheridan's blog is at: http://labyrinthpsycho.blogspot.com. There is a lot of fascinating material there including pictures of the fake smiles of popularly known people. Besmirch their smirk!

Libya: A Battle Victory Celebration

This video made me laugh. I title it Libyan insurgent battle victory parade. LOL.

[LiveLeak] Insurgent celebrations in Libya

Some really good links from Stoneleigh yesterday

As I was reading Stoneleigh's Automatic Earth blog yesterday I ran into these two wonderful articles:

Why some people value material things and why some people value life and people:
[Article] Materialism, where does it come from?

Victims of tsunami suffer starvation and cold. Roads are blocked from Tokyo. Only emergency and rescue vehicles are allowed through. They need to allow food and supply trucks through! Maybe the roads are impassable. Some Japanese feel so shameful scavenging for food, but they have no choice. It's heart breaking:
[Article] Survivors of Tsunami struggle for food and water

Japan in the 21st century of limited energy

Every cloud has a silver lining. Japan's hand has been forced by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Japan will be the first developed country to improvise its way into the 21st century where there will be less and less conventional energy resources available. It had to happen first with a country that imports 90%+ of its energy.

They can do it. They have the technology and brains and money. They now have the will. Instead of wasting billions subsidizing conventional energy they can bring to the forefront alternative energies such as solar, wind, tidal, geothermal. In the future, active geothermal areas will be treasured like a newly discovered oil field. Just remember all that's done by oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear is boil water to turn a turbine. A turbine is also turned by water in a dam. We have an unlimited radioactive magma source below the crust that can be exploited. Another resource is tidal waves. A gate opens and water rushes in at high tide. The gate closes at the peak of high tide. Now all the water rushes back through a dam and turbine. Liquid water has a lot more force behind it than water vapor. In fact, dams are the biggest power plants in the world. The Three Gorges dam in China produces 18gw of energy, a dam in Brazil produces 14gw, and a dam in Venezuela produces 10gw. The Daiichi plant in Japan, with its 6 nuclear powered turbines only produces 4.3gw at peak. And look at all the trouble it causes. If those billions were invested in solar on top of everyone homes or win turbines in people's backyards, then maybe it would've produced 10-20% of the energy the nuclear plant produced. The people would, of course, need to be more miserly with electricity.

[MP3] Financial Survival Radio interview with James Howard Kunstler: Japan's forced hand with dimishing energy supply

[Article] Tokyo in the Dark: A beginning of a new era

In the news - Japan and Libya

Suddenly there's information overflow with all the events happening around the world. Japanese quake, tsunami, nuclear crises. Insurgencies in Tripoli, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemem, Libya, Syria, Iraq and on and on and on. Now comes the bombing of Libya.


Japan - Let's hope for more electricity, warmth, food and water for those destitute in northern Japan. They are battling unusually cold, snowy weather for this time of the year. As for the sad news of deaths, the death toll reported by Japan's NHK English (direct link: [Link] NHK English ) is up to 7,500 or so. They are not counting those that are reported missing, only those that have been found dead firsthand. Preliminary reports coming out of the tsunami ravaged Northeast coasts report half of the coastal town populations missing. That's at least 10,000 deaths in Sendai, Miyagi, and Iwate. So that's at least 30,000 deaths right there.

[Video] Model of how the tsunami got created by the quake, Professor Takashi Furumura

[Link] University of Tokyo: Models of Quake and Tsunami

And the nuclear disaster that has no immediate conclusion... Let's hope those coolant pumps and pipes still work once AC electricity gets reconnected. The pictures of the blown up buildings at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant eerily resemble those of Chernobyl. Brave, sacrificial workers trying to cover up the radiation in the mist of it also bear resemblance, along with the ultimate possibility of entombment. I suspect radiation is leaking from underneath into the ocean where Japan's food supply might now be toxic. Btw, I'm in the middle of watching the Discovery Channel documentary on Chernobyl on Youtube.

Out of curiosity, I looked up what some of the biggest power plants in the world to see what they look like. Boy, does the world use a lot of electricity! Some of the biggest plants are dams that make nuclear plants look tiny! We need to start funding decentralized power generation (solar and wind) along with treating it as a limited supply resource. We need to stop abusing the use of it and become more efficient in the use of it. After all, I suspect 70%-80% of it wasted. Some examples are always on PCs and monitors in offices and homes, food imports from other states and countries (average miles food travels: 1000 miles), really counterproductive subsidies to GMO, ethanol, and agriculture (sugar), and subsidies to oil and oil infrstructure.

[Link] Top 100 power plants in the world

What have I learned? I've learned what a prefecture is. I've learned that the business class have cut corners, exposing the population to natural disasters around the world. Money needs to go into more solidly planned, designed, and built infrastructure, not into the business and financial classes' pockets. We need to better prepare for things that happen once in a 100 years. We can't keep ignoring this fact of life.


Libya - Another invasion for oil by the United States has begun! The oil executives and investors can't stop! Libya will face the same lowering of quality of life that Iraqis face after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. The Libyan insurgents and Qaddafi need to come to an agreement and work together to keep the NATO and US military out. Will this happen? Qaddafi will have to choose between appeasing the insurgents or his ultimate death. What will be choose? And do the Libyans have a choice? Their choices are whittled down to keeping a dictator or welcoming in the US takeover, suppression, and lower quality of life in their own country.


By the time I watch and read everything out there, I no longer have the time to write for this blog anymore. I will write once in awhile. I urge you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. More and more outlets are popping up. In fact it is getting harder and harder to keep up with all the information. What am I following everyday? The Al Jazeera English Youtube channel, NHK English, Kyodo News, Max Keiser, Catherine Austin Fitts, PrisonPlanet.tv are the main sources for information for me right now.

Japan: The Calamity Part 2

I'm sick of the news updates and articles of the Nikkei/US stock markets down, dollar down/yen up, and GDP numbers as if it matters... They keep taking up valuable news time. The keep interrupting the coverage of the victims of the tsunami and the looming threat of a nuclear disaster.

Come on, people's lives matter. Finding survivors. Shelter, food, water. Finding lost family members. Grieving lost family members. The nuclear debacle. That's what's important.

The stock market will NOT change any of what's going on in the lives of the people impacted in Japan. So stop harping on stock market, GDP, and economic numbers! Not now, not ever.

The people define an economy, not the other way around. The people will rebuild their lives and economy. The stock market / economy does not define the people, well unless one wants a disfunctioning society.

Japan: The Calamity

Japan survived the shaking of the earthquake just fine. They have built marvelously. I've seen videos of shaking outside a supermarket where the windows of that building did not even break. The telephone poles outside did not shake at all. Nothing fell or broke all around. No dust clouds even! Then I saw a Tokyo train station. It rocked back and forth. No damage, no cracks. The elevators worked the whole time the quake was shaking the whole building structure. The elevators went on as if there was no quake. The people calmly held on to the rails in the middle of the station and rode it out. No panic. The train was shut off automatically and sitting there the whole time during the quake. After the quake, the doors opened and people came out. All automatic.

In another video, I saw the earthquake and tsunami readings update right away on the tv while the quake was happening!

Whole villages/cities wiped out, some with over half missing or dead. Infrastructure laid out and designed for earthquakes in the 7 range cannot handle the repercussions of a 9.0 earthquake.

Let this be an example of business getting in the way of life. I see scientists and engineers being on top and business and finance as subordinates on the layer underneath. The organization chart is completely backwards right now. Why do businessmen/finance have a say over scientists and engineers? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Decisions and planning should be based on what scientists and engineers say, not what the business or finance men say. Someone should have listened to those engineers that resigned in disgust at GE over the building of these nuclear reactors. Either they meet the requirements provided by the engineers or it does not get built. Those should be the two options for everything. We would see a different society altogether if he adhered to this structure for an organization.

So for example, the specs for Japan's infrastructure and its nuclear reactors should be able to handle a 9.0 earthquake and all of what it invites such as tsunamis. The nuclear plants should be able to handle a tsunami generated by a 9.0 quake. If the nuclear plants cannot be built to these specs, they should not be built. Ok, so Japan can't have cheap energy. They're smart enough to find alternate technology such as solar, wind, or thermal. They'll have to also use much less. No more shipping food 1000s of miles. Hey, if we can drill miles down to get to oil, surely we can tap into magma that can heat steam for geothermal. Suddenly, land around volcanoes becomes a hot commodity.

The other thing is should houses be built in the middle of a tsunami plain? If the event happens once every 100 years, it's still imprudent to build in the path of a tsunami. They should be built on top of hills. Or maybe the types of homes that can be built should be out of concrete and steel so they don't get washed away by a tsunami. And nobody can live on the first 3 floors. Concrete structures survived the tsunami in many of the villages.

So there you go.. Business and finance has taken over all aspects of life. Now live through the repercussions. Whose word should be believed? Whose wisdom should be followed? Business/finance or scientists/engineers? In what way should life be lived? What shall we do with all that the Earth provides?

[Youtube] Japanese Tsunami 2011

NY Times: Compare pictures of Japanese cities before and after the quake

NY Times has a neat set of satellite photos of Japanese cities devastated by the quake. Move the slider to compare pictures before and after the quake. You can see most of the buildings wholly missing in after pictures.

The damage is incredible. It will be a real big blow to its economy. It won't be easy for Japan to come out of this so easily.

[Photos] Compare pics before/after Japanese quake

Watch Japan's NHK English LIVE

The earthquake has been upgraded to 9.0. The Nuclear Power Plant is leaking radiation...

[LIVE Video]Watch Japan's NHK English LIVE

Libya: Imagine the Revolution continues..

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from the warzone in Ras Lanuf, Libya!! Holy cow!
[Youtube] Front line footage of fighting in Ras Lanuf, Libya courtesy Jacky Rowland and crew


In the meanwhile, blowing up an oil tank full of deadly gases can kill any life within 15km.
[Youtube] Danger at a Ras Lanuf oil installation


Let the young people rebuild from scratch. Well put by the younger generation!
[Youtube] More footage from Ras Lanuf


Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the opposition National Council, offers Gaddafi immunity from prosecution if he leaves Libya in th next 72 hours. There's no point prosecuting these people. It's best they go like Mubarak.
[Youtube] Political opposition in Libya offers Gaddafi immunity if he leaves within 72 hours


Well that's it for now.. I do have some videos queued up that I want to comment on... I get them in as soon as I get more time.

Busy busy busy..

Cannot have enough time in the day (or week) to do everything! I'll post on Libya and Egypt as soon as I get a chance. There's a couple of outstanding videos out there that I'm itching to post.

Michael Moore goes to Madison, Wisconsin 03-05-2011

Michael Moore gives a 30 minute speech in front of the Madison, Wisconsin demonstrators. He goes after the bankers and corporations. Hopefully, the message sunk through.

[Youtube] Michael Moore's speech at the Wisconsin Demonstrations 03-05-2011

Charlie Sheen's interview on TMZ

CHARLIE SHEEN

Not the healthiest lifestyle.. But that's his prerogative. He's free to do what he thinks is best. And think he does! He's quite the free thinking individual!

I like his attitude about living life! It's much more lively than the others associated to his tv show production. He's quite bright and has a better handle on the world than most others. I think he'll come out winning and get back to his show. His interviewers want to make him look insane. He comes out human which only make people want him more.

[Youtube] Charlie Sheen's interview with TMZ

Jordan: Imagines the Revolution?

Things are heating up in Jordan...

[Youtube] Jordan protestors also want revolution

Egypt: The building of a new Egypt

While the rest of the world sleeps, Egypt's youth build a country. New, democratic, free, prosperous, and a lively future awaits.


[Youtube] Egypt's youth imagine a new civilization



But first they have to throw out the remnants of the the past...
[Youtube] Egyptians remove relic Ahmed Shafiq from Prime Ministership

Libya: Imagine the Revolution continues...

More videos concerning Libya...

Libyan martyrs remembered.
[Youtube]Libyans freedom fighters hold funerals for their dead


Imagine the courage it takes to volunteer go into a desperate dictator's warzone as a doctor!
[Youtube] Egyptian doctor volunteering in Libya discusses weapons used and deaths


Libyans know western intervention is bad news. The Libyans are fighting the West indirectly.
[Youtube] Libya DO NOT want US/Western Intervention


Imagine being a reporter and capturing a bomb dropped from a jet fighter detonating only several hundred feet away!
[Youtube] Reporter captures bomb dropped from Libyan jet fighter


Libyan ragtag voluntary militia unite to defend their territory consisting of captured military hardware and defected military personnel.
[Youtube] Benghazi Boot Camp


It's never good to have divided people. Don't the Libyans realize most of the blacks are not mercenaries but regular people trying to make a living? What's wrong with people?
[Youtube] Blacks in Libya fearful


Dismantling the torture chambers of Libya... Empire is really sick!
[Youtube] Libyan torture prisons decommissioned by rebels


Tour Gaddafi's bomb shelter below his palace. Furnished and maintained by western corporations.
[Youtube] Gaddafi's secret bunker underneath one of his many palaces


And to imagine that none of this would take place if people would be proactive and boycott all the rotten predatory capitalism present in the system...

Egypt Revolution Analysis - Max Keiser in Cairo

It is of my opinion that Facebook and Twitter did not cause the revolution in Egypt. And neither did Wikileaks cause the revolution in Tunisia. They may have been catalysts but they are not the main factors in the revolution. Plain and simple, it was the three decades long fatigue, and it was high food prices and inflation that finally broke the camel's back.

Instrumental was the historical education and the increase of knowledge by the youth in the revolution. They were aware of neoliberalism and neocolonialism. They were after all, a US colony, so to speak. They KNEW there was a better way. If they could just cut off those tentacles of that giant vampire squid.. They finally snapped and took action collectively.

If Facebook and Twitter were the actual cause of the revolution, where's the revolution in the US? Poor Ralph Nader still doesn't have a large population behind him.

Some thoughts..
1) The people of Egypt imagine a civilization. There was a silent churning and yearning for freedom. Suddenly, the masses couldn't take it any more. There was a revolution. Is it in the US population also? Only time will tell.

2) With their new found freedom, the Egyptians want a socialistic type of a government. After all, more money does not necessarily mean a better quality of life. A better community means a better quality of life. The Egyptians know not to fall for that free market propaganda. Corporations bringing a better quality of life? No way! Those one track minded people who only care about money... They are not going to have any of it. It's not in the country's interest to have people derive their income from foreign entities within their country.


Please fast forward halfway through the video to hear the interview with Anthony Shadid.
[Youtube] Max Keiser in Cairo interviews Anthony Shadid about the Egyptian Revolution



Max Keiser on Alex Jones Show 03-03-2011:
[Youtube] Max Keiser on Alex Jones Show 03-03-2011 Part 1
[Youtube] Max Keiser on Alex Jones Show 03-03-2011 Part 2

Max Keiser reports from Egypt post revolution

Egypt tourism sector needs to not fear. The new Egypt will attract even more tourists. I'd venture to say the tourism industry will see even greater profits this year compared to the last even though they have seen low numbers for the first 2-3 months of this year.

This is what it's all about. Fighting for dignity and civilization.... Fight those that want to kep it from you. Max Keiser reports the following on his blog today:

The weather is awesome here. Just perfect temperature and no clouds at all. And the people are so happy, everywhere we go they say it is a new Egypt. Many note that for the first time, they can say what they like without fearing arrest and that they no longer have to pay bribes. The guy who takes care of the pool here said, for example, that the official cost of a license for a car here is 150 Egyptian pounds (about $25) every three years but that it often actually cost 850 EGP after paying all the bribes. His uncle called him yesterday to report, in amazement, that he only had to pay 150 EGP to have his renewed yesterday. The police now really work for the people and not for Mubarak, he said.

They want Muhammad Yunus sacked

The psychopaths are out marching in full force. Only in bizarro world.. only in bizaro world. Muhammad Yunus accused of tax impropriety? There would be no one in government or corporations left!

[Youtube] Muhammad Yunus should be sacked, or so THEY want

Iraq: Imagines Revolution?

Revolution spreading to Iraq? Can the will and desire of the people be stopped this time around? Is enough enough?

[Youtube] Iraq Imagines Revolution?

Tunisia: Post Revolution expectactions

Keep throwing the bastards out until there's people in charge that do not compromise as firs order of business! People of Tunisia, you did not come this far to give it all up now. Keep fighting until your reality meets your expectations. While others blubber why this or that is not possible, you know what should be. Does the mafia head accept compromise or less than ideal outcomes? Why should you?

[Youtube] Tunisia - Not meeting expectactions

India: Imagines Revolution?

While lobotomized IT workers fall in line with the India Shining propaganda, there's a din churning from throngs of empty stomachs. Will this be the tipping point for the vast majority of India's poor that make up 80% of India's population?

Will they properly place the NeoColonialism and NeoLiberalism idealisms down into the gutter where they belong? Will the IT workers, finance, politicians, businessmen wake up one day to find their false wealth tumble alongside a stock market crash? What will it take for the majority of the population to say enough is enough?

[Youtube] Is India Shining imagining a Revolution?

Libya: Imagine the Revolution continues...

And here we go with some more videos...

No embedding, just links.

Some thoughts.. What happening now will go down in history books. Nothing can change its path and final destination now. The fear is gone. People's desires have awakened to a new dawn. What's it going to take? It going to require guns. Lots of guns. Never forget the 2nd amendment. Looks like people are taking up arms as necessary. The rebellion / revolution is showing you do not need a central authority/government to live their daily lives. As the founding fathers suggested, local is best. The people are showing exactly where the rules for civilization come from. It is not from the government but the people themselves. That's why I say the politicians are not the problem; it is the people. Sub-prime, imperialism, colonialism, war, GMO, fraud, broken families. These are all symptoms of misguided individuals in a dysfunctional society.


The Libyan capital appears to be a lonely outpost for supporters of Muammar Gaddafi as the anti-Gaddafi camp gains control of more cities. The areas reported to be now under control of anti-government forces include Az-Zawiya, Misurata, Benghazi and Al Baida. According to reports, the country's second most important military airport, not far from Benghazi, has fallen to the protesters. Meanwhile, military personnel say they have joined the people's revolution, and private jets and civilian aircraft at the Al Banin airport were seen grounded.
[Youtube] Central control not a requirement


Where have we heard this before? LOL.
[Youtube] Gaddafi: It's Al Qaeda!


Libyans form their own rebel volunteer army. Gaddifi's world is shrinking.
[Youtube] Libya's volunteer rebel army


While Muammar Gaddafi's son keeps with the propaganda, more of the armed forces join the people's revolution. And guns, more guns footage of arsenal left behind and taken over by the rebellion. And the countryside.. Gandhi always said the soul of the country is in the villages.
[Youtube] Gaddafi losing more areas of the country to revolutionaries


Well that's enough for today...