Nonanon comments

I think this article/quote may be painting the situation in an inaccurate light. For sure the true waste is an issue. But then why are we breeding and stockpiling plutonium? Japan alone apparently has 10's of tons of plutonium! - the most dangerous substance/matter known.. That's enough to destroy all life on the planet.

To those focusing on the ages in the story, the law makes that a mute point - as has been indicated by those quoting Wiki, etc. That is unless prefectural law takes precedence in this. But in general, this is Dodge. If you don't like it..

Also, the islands themselves are of little value. What is sought here is the water rights and what's under that water - i.e. natural gas. And maybe national pride too.

I think a point has been taken wrongly here by the comments. Some Japanese person holds title to the islands. The government buying the land from its own citizens is not admitting they don't own it. This happens all the time when the government or some company wants to build a highway, pipeline, etc. through was what some individual's property.

Fyi - for those thinking that this is really just about the islands/land - it isn't. A country's territorial waters are define to be up to a certain distance (12 nautical miles / 22 km / 14 mi) from the edge of their coastline. It is the control over the waters that is of practical concern.

Talk about major shitsurei to much of the world. I'm not seeing any deep bowing or jumping from high places so far..

And this is big news now? People, at least check out this headline from April last year. Vancouver is about 7200 km away from Fukushima.

http://enenews.com/recent-radioactivy-testing-vancouver-canada-shows-iodine-131-rainwater-almost-100-times-above-drinking-water-limit

Hey what's going on here? I thought Japan was the leader at miniaturization.

Females in this 'male-dominated' society are well skilled at 'passive' aggression via these kinds of sexual power trips.

@ Samantha Zoe Aso,

You can't compare males and females symmetrically as you have done. They are sexually different creatures. One is a hunter, the other wants to be hunted.

I feel sorry for this society. These kind of frustration creating scenarios don't help on top of an already hi-stress environment. On top of it all, I wouldn't be surprised if this girl goes ahead uses this incident as a bragging point amongst her friends.

Parasitic capitalism.

@DS,

Misinformed about Harper? Perhaps it is you that is misinformed, or of a very different set of priorities. I do not rank dollars and national balance-sheets above humanity, freedom, etc. Do you realize that Harper's party had its roots in people that wore brown shirts with black arm-bands and held meetings in fields in Alberta? Canada not having a financial crash around the Lehman-shock era was hardly due to the Harper regime. It was due to Canada not getting involved in the lending practices of its neighbor long before Harper took the job.

@ tmarie,

I am not equating Bush and Harper. I was trying to convey my sense of being stunned that Canada elected it's most far-right PM to date after GWB was already generally was seen as having been a dud. At least Reagan and Mulroney coincided in time. Also, I don't think you are aware of what is going on beyond the surface in the country. Canada is not as clean as you might like to think - for example its history of racial issues, right from the start of the place. It has black-spots in its history, some of which have come to light, that will likely continue into its future - this story being one case.

@ tmarie,

Canadians are pretty political and keep a tight leash on those in power

Hardly, I think. Striking for money is not an altruistic political act. My concern is how Canadians could have elected the current PM, twice. It's like how W. Bush got in twice. And that was **after the Bush episode.. There is a difference between having a demo/ march, and actually directly acting to change something. Speaking up and voting are minimum pre-requisites. Asking your oppressor to be kind to you is not going to work. Perhaps you are not aware of the details, but people such as scientists are currently being muzzled in Canada by the government. But that's because they allow themselves to be muzzled, for the sake of their careers. Seems most people are not motivated to action politically unless their status quo is threatened. Also, please do not assume that I am not Canadian.

I'm quite surprised this piece on torture got out. Somebody must have cracked and leaked it. Let's see if similar happens for other cases such as that of the salmon in the Frazer river.

I don't understand Chinese so a lot will be lost on me from this video. To me the difference between something being cruelty or being training is in the mind of the person imposing the conditions. Perhaps the father did mean well. But the father saying that it's all good since the boy didn't die,... well that's pure stupidity. That's ends-justifies-the-means thinking among other things too.

@ Zenpun, Are you saying that you think such hardship-training cures Cerebral Palsy?? If so, I think you should go into medical research and start trying to formalize this technique and publish it. I am skeptical though.

@ Pruitt Igoe 72,

You raise a very good point. Canadians do tend to be politically apathetic. This was ok in some practical sense under a benevolent dictator such as former PM, Jean Chretien. However under the current one it's dangerous. I do personally know of individuals and small groups of some influence that want say/do things that are contrary to what powers that be want. However, the current PM is a vindictive micro-manager and people salaries and pensions have been threatened should they speak/ act up. Canada does need an infusion of political boldness in its citizens.

Ewww! No. 2 is going to spew! But i guess you already knew..

@ j4p4nFTW. I agree with you. In public it should be stiff upper lip. Displays of emotion should only be shown briefly, if at all, inside the love hotel with other's partners.

Chocolate should be made a restricted/ regulated substance - sold only at pharmacies or shops with 18歳未満 written on the door/ のれん. It is basically a narcotic and causes migraines in some people.

To all the haters: A product better live up to its advertised qualities - otherwise a refund is in order. There is nothing wrong exercising the legal system and challenging corporations to be honest. Would be good to see more individuals like her being motivated and taking action for wrongs in society and not tolerating being taken advantage of. Better Business Bureau should look into and incorporate this into their rating of the company.

If we can't rely on a main brand like Honda for well-made, efficient cars, what has this country got left?.. Wonder if the same model is made in Japan and what its performance is.

@ j4p4nFTW

NetNinja,

No doubt Endo has been paid to tell you this.

I don't see anything in the article indicating she's been paid to say this. Do you have some outside information or is this just made up?

Perhaps English is not your native language so let me help interpret the point NetNinja was trying to make. This mayor is making a statement/request which is contrary to the thoughts and feelings of a significant portion of the population - so why would she make it? The job which she does, and for which she gets paid for, is as the mayor of the town in question. So one point is that perhaps she will be out of a job and therefore pay if she no longer has a town over which to be mayor. But the more significant point is that there is great likely hood that this mayor has been paid by TEPCO to encourage repopulation of the town. One case of "outside information" which we have as background to this situation and for which you ask is the following: The nuclear power industry in Japan has been caught in recent history (even after Fukushima happened) using advertising which uses what appears to be local citizens saying they support nuclear power, when in fact these 'local citizens' are actually employees of the nuclear power industry. So actually the likes of TEPCO in this country have paid people to do their bidding in public. Here, read up on it:

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3341024.htm

Amaterasu help this country. Only she can be trusted to control nuclear power.

@ j4p4nFTW

Divorce is another unfortunate side effect of our importation of American culture.

Is divorce more unfortunate that spending an entire life unhappy; is it better than infidelity? Perhaps a positive side of this set of disasters is that it is galvanizing people more; forcing them in to leaving their mediocrity even just briefly and taking a leap they never would have otherwise.

@ j4p4nFTW Maria Abe was 15 at the time she was announced to be part of the group. Also, several "trainees" are even younger: Rika Suzuki (13), Miyu Ōmori (12), and several others. I suggest you Wiki/ Google things yourself first instead of asking others for simple, easily accessed information such as the above.

What I hope for is that the final report high-lights another tendency through-out the nuclear industry/regulators/government - that of willful blindness. This was not a situation of 'souteigai' at all. The Sumatra earthquake of 2004 generated waves 10m - 30m in height. The exact same coastline of Japan already had markers left by past generations showing where giant tsunamis had reached. There were precedents, old and recent, to say 6m was by no means a physical upper limit - as they had previously claimed... Another aspect side-stepped by Tepco/Hitachi/et al. was how they did not heed the warning of G.E., the reactors' own designers, of technical safety issues with the reactor's design - from the 70's... Willful blindness, which is a phenomenon recognized by some countries' courts, is not an excuse. Willful blindness by professionals in their profession translates to criminal negligence.

@MaboDofuIsSpicyDec, Well, Russia for one. Their handling of Chernobyl was definitely more proactive. They sent up airplanes to seed clouds to precipitate out the radiation released to the air over surrounding farmlands, before it reached major centers. They also sent in workers to check on conditions and to try to manage the situation - sending those people to their deaths albeit. However, Japan had its Kamikaze...

To all the people supporting the government's and Tepco's handling over the nuclear crisis: It's not a matter of whether it was 100% or not - 100% is not practically achievable. The questions are, 1) was their preparedness enough?, 2) was their reaction good enough. Seems neither was the case based on this report..

Good stuff.

Let's all boycott the U.S. and China.

Let's boycott the environment as well, as it doesn't seem to be doing its part adequately in cleaning up after us.

To all the people that think Woodford did wrong because he was selfish and trying to get more for himself, (pause) uhm, yeah. He already was Prez and CEO. What more could he become? Emperor? He didn't have to stir the pot. He was still relatively young and possibly could have had a long future at the top of that company. He could have used his influence to replace old retiring guys over time with better candidates. He doesn't necessarily gain from this. He might not succeed in the shareholder vote. I suspect he is a totally straight, otaku/account-type, and that's why he was trusted to the top responsible position. Perhaps the board couldn't see that that might back-fire due to the dirty laundry he would be privy to in that position.

But let's put the guesses at motives aside and look at the facts:

Sure, the shareholders made some money in the past. They could have made more had money not been squanders as it was.

Criminal is criminal - even if you only deal with them - as mentioned earlier. I can confirm this because I have to take training at my company against dealing with "Anti Social Forces". I have seen a company get shut down in Japan due to dealings with organized crime.

The clean-up isn't easy, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. And it won't get done by the people who made the mess either, so someone else has to step in. The eggs are breaking - now is the time to make a better omelet.

And besides, this will go to a vote with the shareholders. How can it be any more democratic than that?

Sorry if I have missed something totally logical or factual here.

@Antonios_MD

As I said before here and elsewhere, if you wait until a situation is obviously at dangerously critical levels to react, then it's likely too late for the majority to do anything about it. This is what happens in biology/ nature in major catastrophes: the majority of the population may get wiped out, but it is the lucky and the cautious that survive. I believe that without having better information available, it's better to play it safe. It's up to the individual to make the decision: to fight or fly; to flee or go down with the ship.

I personally cannot see the inherent abhorrent bad of chaos that many seem to perceive as axiom. I would choose significant chaos over significant radiation. Life can go on in chaos. Humans are highly adaptable to changing social conditions, but the body takes much longer to adapt to changing physical conditions (i.e. radiation).

@theResident:

@Elbuda: Yes, If built and operated correctly, still safe and still cheap - no better alternatives in this country.

I think Elbuda's point may have not been on the technology itself, but having it in Japan.. I don't think it's in the majority of this society to handle something as risky as this. They are recipe followers, not independent thinkers who look at something starting from the fundamentals. There are definitely some technical experts on the ground here, but they are not supported by corresponding level of expertise in their organizations (company, government, regulatory body, etc.).

As for the technology in general - at least 3 major nuclear incidents in 3 decades. Human error/ stupidity cannot be eliminated. Many of the people with vested interested in the technology are not experts that can/ want to grasp/ address the risks adequately. Technical failures also cannot be eliminated, no matter the amount of back-ups/ redundancy put in place. This is why many areas/ businesses talk in terms of 6-sigma uptime of computer systems, etc. There is a 'proof' in fail-proof - proof that it will fail. Remember how once things were called 'water-proof'. Now with a culture of insurance claims, law-suits, etc. we now have 'water-resistant'. Unfortunately for Fukushima, their back-up generators weren't even resistant..

I agree with orignalusername. By having the electronics of counting the hits and doing the associated rate/dose calculations offloaded to a piece of hardware many already have, you can bring down the price. At JPY10,000 for just a Geiger-Muller tube this is a reasonable price. I paid close to JPY40,000 for my German-made self-contained/ stand-alone detector. And as for accuracy, I have checked my counter on four airplane flights and have measured up to about 3mSv - a reasonable measure against published literature for the altitude. Also, at ground level around Tokyo area my unit's measures (around 0.1uSv typ.) are within about a factor of two from the values published by the government-based measuring stations in the area. Bottom line: this product by no means is necessarily a piece of junk/scam basing it on its price alone. If it is even of the right order of magnitude in its accuracy, then this is a great product to have on the market.

Can't remember?: sodium pentothal

Military training?: great, you'll understand better at guantanamo

@hoserfella: are you sure I am not Canadian?

In my opinion, that - the 60s, 70s - was perhaps close to the best era of society in Canada (as well as in the US, coincidently). Now I think all this praise of Canada is starting to go to our heads. To me it seems that when people start believing in the hype of their own greatness is when they start to founder. But I like the votes for Trailer Park Boys. That keeps us grounded, like Red Green, or Bob and Doug Mckenzie before them. I wouldn't be so quick to blow off the US. Leonard Cohen didn't. Check the lyrics of his song, "Democracy".