Vesperto comments

It is not only Rick Kisa talking about germany. This is common knowledge and if Japan wants to learn, it can do so. Somebody mentioned that wind energy requires a lot of land, which is laughable. Netherlands depends on wind energy yet it is a very small country. How about turning the waste land near Fukushima into a renewable energy park by building wind mills?

What is laughable is someone saying the Netherlands depend 90% on wind power. Source for that, please? Yes, it's a small country, but it's not a farm that can have its own wind generator. It's some 16M people - how many generators would be required?

How many wind generators would be required to match the Fukushima reactors? What area do you think they'd occupy?

No reactors should have been started before the new atomic safety agency is up and running.

+1

@Disillusioned

The Netherlands is 90% reliant on wind energy. New Zealand is 20% reliant on Geothermal energy. Please tell me what makes you think renewable energy is not viable. It is totally viable and many countries have proven it.

The Netherlands is a windy small country (compared to Japan in terms or energy requirements). I mentioned geothermal would be a good bet for Japan. Neither country is New Zealand.

They're not viable because the technology is not fully developed yet, it's very expensive, it's unreliable (i.e. depending on external uncontrollable factors like wind and sun), it's mostly subsidized by governments and the energy these technologies produce is is small quantities per device.

They might become more economically viable in the future, probably solar will advance the most, but for the time being there's a lot of work to be done. Besides, each country has it's specifics, which may or may not adapt to each type of renewable (which makes most country comparisons moot unless you'd like to suggest hydro-electrics in near-dry lands).

@Rick Kisa

One only needs to look at the German example to know how renewables can make nuke electricity almost irrelevant.

Are you the one who kept spamming that Germany saved itself by having a gazillion solar plannels and now is totally green?

@Thomas Anderson

Renewable energy my friend.

I think you've been spending too much time in the matrix. In the real world, renewable energy is not a viable alternative to nuclear energy. Wind depends on... well, wind; solar is more reliable but still very inefficient; geothermal seems to be a good alternative for Japan; wave generators have their quirks; etc. Maybe someday Japan will be able to get 30% of its juice from renewables, i hope so - but not yet.

So make sure security protocols are followed to the letter, that there are no money shortcuts, turn 'em back on and carry on living, while investigating better alternatives.

Police are investigating how a man was able to escape from police custody while being detained at a police box [...]

When he later went to question the man, the sergeant realized that the suspect had left the station by an unlocked back door [...]

What's there to investigate?

The more i see people complaining about smoking, the more i feel like starting to smoke.

It's plain simple: post a sign outside cafés that says whether or not you can smoke inside. If you're a smoker, welcome to heaven; if you're a non-smoker, you might not like the air inside so stay out and stop yapping. Jeez...

I, for one, prefer smoker places even though i never smoked - people tend to be more tolerant and relaxed. I never really did like the "You can't do __ because i don't like it / science or god says / it's wrong according to my moral standards" crowd.

Incidentally, toys for grown-ups, really?

Oh and it's good to find Japan has opened another establishment where people refuse to interact or speak with one another !

+1

The sheer number of comments is enough to conclude how hot this topic still is. And yet, very few seem to know what they are talking about (which doesn't mean they do). The vast majority is just like babies: No, because... er... no; and i'll downgrade your post because... er... just because you're pro-nuclear! There. Most people are reacting emotionally, not rationally, and are not informed, at all. The very few who are pro-nuclear just get downgraded, sometimes for no apparent reason.

I'd be interested in knowing how much fossil-fuel energy was Japan using before shutting down all NPPs and after, both domestic and imported. Anyone? It's a simple question.

I'd also like to know: of all the people who are against nuclear power, how many have at least tried to learn something about it? Ya know, some wikipedia articles, some googling around, trying to see the pros and cons...? Any surveys on that?

Go ahead and downgrade. Your head's in the sand anyway.

@REMzzz

Curiosity and the human nature of wanting creature comforts cannot be eradicated.

Even though i think East Germany was much less isolated than NK, i hope you're right. But from the likes of things, it'll take quite a few more years for the Demilitarized Zone to become peacefully inhabited. .

But without China, Korea would have reunited years ago for economic reasons.

That's the problem with indoctrination from an early age in a nearly isolated state: you just can't be sure of anything. If they have no means of - or will to! - comparing their misery with the outside world, how are they not to assume that's standard?

Without China, starvation and lobsters would continue, that's just human nature.

Some people continue to ignore the fact that Israel pulled out of Gaza

Some people continue to ignore Israel continues to build new settlements. That's an extremely negative move.

How about if Hamas gave up their cause of trying to destroy Israel and actually negotiated for peace? Would that be so terrible?

Not at all. Haven't they been there before?

Let's stick with this reality. Israel was provoked.

You mean lets forget the previous decades of "realities" because it might not suit us? I see...

US(the international police) should act.

If the US "acts" both China and NK will strike back. Yearning for a nuclear war, are we? 'sides, the US is not the international police.

" the systematic indoctrination of [...] starts as early as kindergarten" This is the scary bit: 1984 meets Brave New World.

I wonder if Netanyahu would condone touch action every time the IDF attacks unprovoked.

OMGhontoni

If 3 separate doctors and the family agree there is very little chance of abuse.

Make that 3 separate doctors from 3 separate hospitals and i'll agree. Just because they're doctors doesn't mean they're saints.

@Frungy

So even if the brain is not totally wikipedia-dead, if you go without oxigen for long you're clinically-as good as dead. I see your point but i'd rather avoid differentiating as it creates (in my opinion) a creepy gray zone where vegetables can be sustained years on end while plugged into machines.

This is interesting, some of the comments i just can't vote up. All of them have been voted down and neither one is actually offensive, some even pose interesting questions. How odd... surely it's a PBKAC.

@Frungy

Well normally what's damaged is one of the regions responsible for autonomic function (automatic functions, like beating the heart, breathing, etc).

Gee really? That's odd, i thought "brain dead" meant total brain inactivity, zero electric signals, flatline. You're saying only the part responsible for autonomic functions needs to be dead? This is also odd...

The brain is known to recover lost areas under given circumstances, sometimes by even using other seemingly unused areas, but this is in cases of partial loss. A total loss is... a dead brain. There's a reason why stroke response must be quick.

@lachatamber

people always jump on the ~sexual play gone wrong~ bandwagon?

Unless you're considering groping someone in a taxi sexual play; yours is the first comment i see suggesting something went wrong in the room, i.e., she liked some asphyxia during sex and he got carried away.

Maybe it was an accident, maybe it was intentional. The fact remains he was found next to a corpse. Did he call an ambulance or the police?

@kurisupisu If it bothers you so much just don't go there. I've never smoked nor do i intend to start, but i'll sure visit the shag house next time i visit Japan.

(by shag i meant tobacco-related shag (not the post-coital cigarette, the shag in the article (oh nevermind)))

@soldave so much for my conspiracy theory! :(

The USGov makes money "liberating" oil-rich countries to drive an oil-based economy. No hybrid Mustangs last time i checked. No wonder all the attention gets shifted to cigarette smoke ;)

Wenkels are mechanically simpler, quite interesting, if it wasn't for the sealing problems. :( Does Mazda still produce them? Diesels need cast iron to withstand the required pressure to combust diesel rather than explode petrol. I guess they even out but i still think diesel makes more sense.

Feel free to offer me a Tesla for Chrismas :D

Er... since when is this news?

also concluded on Tuesday that petrol, or gasoline, exhaust was possibly carcinogenic,

Yeah... duh, so why single out diesel? All exhaust fumes are bad for you, period. REMzzz's cigarette smoke also. At least diesel engines are less inefficient than petrol ones.

Next there's gonna be a "scientist" or entrepreneur suggesting refurbishing cars with petrol engines instead of diesel.

The japanese are so green these days after Fukushima, try skipping the hybrids and go full electric. Of course... you'll need more electricity for that... Nevermind then, keep the diesel engines.

unless specifically stated, smoking in restaurants and public places is widely permitted.

Pretty damn nice. It's the owner's call, not the state's. Say so outside and let the client decide. Same for this bar: don't like smoke? Don't go in.

And yeah, the name is very shagadelic. :)

That said, it is a small price to pay for Skype's free service.

I'd say it's a huge price. Skype's voice chat has always been free, it's only getting paid now c'so it was bought by Microsoft. Also, i'm not sure how these ads will work, but if they're in-call ads, meaning sound coming into your conversation, what keeps Them from receiving sound coming out of the conversation?

Skype's always been too closed for my taste, i'll stick with XMPP+Jingle wherever i can.

are these bulbs the ones that take a few minutes to get bright and then are still dull compared to regular light bulbs?

No, they're not. Minimal search will tell you what a LED is. It's those tiny ones that are becoming ubiquitous, from tail lights in cars to flashlights.

Go nuclear! Just make sure you're doing it transparently, securely and by the book.

@NeverSubmit

Are you willing to do the dirty deed yourself and take someone's life because of your philosophy.

That's a statement, but i believe you meant it as a question. People should have the right to post their "silly" comments, as you have the right to think they're silly just because they don't match your philosophy.

As to mine, it's one of prevention: teaching people how to avoid getting pregnant in the first place. There's condoms, morning-after pill and regular pill, among others. As a last resort, abortion in the first few weeks might be an option.

I doubt anyone in these posts is in favor of forced abortions on 7 month-old babies.

@thywillbedone

Eventually, as their economic situation improves and the society urbanizes, the Chinese people will voluntarily have fewer children.

Disagree. Economic growth only leads to consumerism. Urbanization has no effect either on demographics. Education does. Educate people and then you can say they'll tend to voluntarily have fewer children. There's also the culture to tackle with that male-only thing.

@tensaisg

so self abortion is not murder?

I'd say suicide, no?

Maybe it was an accident (they DO happen) and the mother couldn't bring herself to abort earlier

She would've known 4-5 weeks into gestation. If she couldn't do it then there's no one else to blame but her. The outcome turned out much more worse. I intentionally ignored all your "you don't know what's like to be pregnant" bs.

Again, does China have proper counseling for birth control and family planning? It doesn't seem to, but i never bothered digging into it. Regardless, it's population must be controlled. Granted, forced abortions are obviously not the answer.

They should have gone to an abortion clinic

That's the main issue: what kind of family planning is there in China? Are people aware of their options relating to birth control? Or are abortions the only "option" for undesired pregnancies (unless you wanna call abstinence an option)?

Abortions, abstinence, pills and condoms are actually not at all necessary if the men have been properly educated. I have had many long term relationships without any of the above, and the only child I made was the one I intended to make.

So the women shouldn't be properly educated? Btw do you think abortions are a birth-control technique?

Guess i should master my pull-out-early techniques. Nah... i'll stick to condoms, they're safer on both fronts.