MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
An early answer to my stated hopes that Fukushima will signal that nuclear generation of electricity has reached its "high water mark" (groan...). After 60+ years running the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Christian-Democrats (there's an oxymoron...) are to be replaced by....wait for it... TEH GREENS.
This reversal of fortune was unsurprisingly a response both to the catastrophe in Japan and Merkel's maladroit repositioning, and (re-re-positioning) on the issue of extending the license of several German reactors.
Now if only our electorate will prove as sagacious next chance they get.
Or, more likely, the passage of time will dull our memories, unable as we seem to be simultaneously to hold in our attention the threat of apocalyse, the threats of Sheen, and the shenanigans of Snooki.
Comments
You were hoping for Fukushima fallout to reach the US?
Well, you got your wish*:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/28/uk-nuclear-japan-massachusetts...
(Oh wait, you meant in the metaphorical sense, didn't you?)
*Yes, I know it's at non-threatening levels.
by Verified Atheist on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 9:19am
non-threatening levels.
I've learned not to spar with you over physics, but speaking for living things in general, ionizing radiation is only bad, badder, and worser, is it not?
by jollyroger on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 6:57pm
There's the American school of thought - along your lines - versus the French school of thought
http://www.academie-medecine.fr/detailPublication.cfm?idRub=27&idLigne=26
according to which there isn't a linear relationship between radiation levels and cancer - small incremental increases in radiation supposedly lowers cancer risk. But, hey, fuck the french.
by Obey on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 8:45pm
One of the psychotic harpy sisters was pushing "radiation prevents cancer" the other day--I forget if it was Shelle, Annie or Sarah...
by jollyroger on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 10:04pm
Yes, I heard that too. Think it was coming from that French report. I was stumbling around the net trying to remember some of allegations about Chernobyl-related thyroid cancer rates in N-E France from the 90s, and found this to be useful (if you're okay with the français). Looks like all the investigations got horribly botched, so no one knows really. The Académie des Sciences going up against the Académie de Medecine and then changing its position a couple of years later.
by Obey on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 9:24am
Lovin' panache=fallout...
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 6:54pm
"But, hey, fuck the French."
There are days when it's real hard to disagree with Obey.
by quinn esq on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 10:31pm
Ann Coulter's craziness aside, it's not insane to speculate that a minute amount of ionizing radiation is actually quite helpful for evolutionary purposes, and most likely not harmful for organisms of sufficient size (i.e., us). What constitutes "minute" is somewhat debatable, but I feel confident, that for now*, we're fine over here in the US. It's also worth pointing out that we're receiving ionizing radiation all the time, from the Sun, from our Milky Way's galactic core, from the Andromeda galaxy (those sneaky bastards), etc.…
*Therein lies the real rub. Things can still get significantly worse, although I still feel quite confident that the Japan reactor will not have any direct impact on our health. (I specify direct, because I can imagine some indirect paths, such as tainted products from Japan, or just their economic health suffering in such a way to create a domino effect, etc.)
by Verified Atheist on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 10:55am
for evolutionary purposes
While I cherish my status as a platform for the production, transportation, and delivery of DNA, there are times when I can appreciate (in the medical parlance) a divergence of interest betwen me as an individual and the progress of the species.
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 6:39pm
http://www.counterpunch.com/whitney03282011.html
by cmaukonen on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 12:24pm
wow. I really have not been paying attention. I confess that I sort of figured we weren't really in the Chernobyl zip code yet.
by jollyroger on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 6:58pm
Plutonium detected in soil at Fukushima nuke plant.
Kind of like picking up a hay bail and having needles fall out at your feet.
by cmaukonen on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 2:50pm
but does not pose a major risk to human health.
I suppose it depends upon the meaning of "major". I seem to recall widespread angst over the plutonium load of some satellite or other--I will google for details in a trice.
by jollyroger on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 6:55pm
It was the Cassini space craft that used plutonium to power it. Created quite a stir.
by cmaukonen on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 7:52pm
Triggering "another martini for mother cabrini" in my labyrinthian subconcious where Lennie Bruce has been hiding ever since he faked his death...
by jollyroger on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 10:05pm
In my opinion, that was a lot of ado about nothing. The radiation coming out of a coal plant on a daily basis is far more of a concern. I'm not pro-nuclear, but I'm even more anti-coal. If the average person only knew about the radioactive uranium and thorium being spewed into the atmosphere by these things, I think it'd be easy to shut them down. It's bizarre how little attention is paid to such things.
by Verified Atheist on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 11:10am
If the average person only knew
well, he does now and he's even more pissed bout coal,,,
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 6:29pm
Why, why, WHY ARE ALL ROOVES NOT PHOTOVOLTAIC???
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 6:31pm
Here's the info georgewashington dug up, and probably some opinion:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/03/comparing-japans-radiation-release-to.html
by we are stardust on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 9:09pm
o/t is that really his name? I love the blog.
by jollyroger on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 10:06pm
by quinn esq on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 12:14pm
Although alarming, keep in mind that at this point, it's still speculation. Granted, if I were living in the area, I would assume it's true until shown otherwise, but we shouldn't give up hope yet.
by Verified Atheist on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 12:22pm
"The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant appears to have melted through the bottom"
oops
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 6:34pm
Apparently it doesn't take much time to dull our memories. According to this:
In 1992, the EPA produced a PAGs manual that answers many of these questions. But now an update to the 1992 manual is being planned, and if the “Dr. Strangelove” wing of the EPA has its way, here is what it means (brace yourself for these ludicrous increases):
The new radiation guidelines would also allow long-term cleanup thresholds thousands of times more lax than anything EPA has ever judged safe in the past.
by miguelitoh2o on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 9:48pm
new radiation guidelines
I, for one, welcome our new three-eyed, five armed custodial staff...(see VA on the evolutionary impact of ionizing radiation, above)
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 9:52pm
Maybe the extra appendages will be the magic bullet to lift our GDP, and get us out of the financial/economic morass we find ourselves in. Maybe this is a strategy.
by miguelito (not verified) on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 10:01pm
5 arms good, 2 arms bad...
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 10:05pm
Keep in mind, that just like The Invisible Hand, evolution knows best. If 5 arms weren't better, then we wouldn't have whupped your sorry 2-handed selves.
by Verified Atheist on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 10:09pm
I can see that now. One gun on each hip, one in each shoulder holster, and a *pancake in back.
*inside joke for gun fanciers, others may google.
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 10:14pm
Just to be clear, and to mirror stardust's comments below a bit (but to take it up yet another notch), evolution is primarily about reproductive ability. Think about the advantages of five arms now…
by Verified Atheist on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 8:25am
Two for hugging, three for fighting off the competitors?
by jollyroger on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 4:40pm
Nah; workers are already producing at incredible rates for less money, fewer benefits. Now the extra appendages might make for more interesting pole dancing, or something...
by we are stardust on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 11:14pm
more interesting pole dancing,
As a careful student of the genre, may I say that the mind boggles, the senses reel...
by jollyroger on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 11:19pm