Motley Moose – Archive

Along with the report of an internal explosion at the Fukushima No 2 reactor reports of what seems to be at least a partial reactor containment breach have been made:

Part of the container of a troubled nuclear reactor appears to be damaged, the Japanese government said today, a development that could indicate the possibility of serious radiation leaks.

Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told reporters “damage appears on the suppression pool” – the bottom part of the container that contains water used to cool the reactor and control air pressure inside.

“But we have not recorded any sudden jump in radiation indicators,” Mr Edano said, without elaborating.

Japan fears damage to reactor container AFP via ABC 14 Mar 11

TEPCO reports the partial evacuation of operators from the facility.  Previously there was a report of an explosion at Fukushima No 2:

TOKYO – Japan’s nuclear safety agency says an explosion has been heard at Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. An agency spokesman speaking Tuesday on national television said the explosion was heard at 6:10 a.m.

Japanese agency: Explosion heard at nuclear plant AP via Yahoo News 14 Mar 11

In the TEPCO news conference recently the translator mentioned that the explosion was heard “…in the vicinity of the reactor.”

Interesting new developments today in Bahrain as Saudi troops have crossed the border into that embroiled nation.

What is most notable about this situation in particular is how it exposes the flaws of US foreign policy in the Middle East. With Iran in one corner warning outside powers not to intervene in the Bahraini protests, and Saudi Arabia in another corner peering anxiously across the sand at disquiet they hope so fervently to keep from their lands, the United States is in a precarious position: continue to implicitly (often unequivocally) support an authoritarian regime (with the old logic, “the devil you know beats the devil you don’t”) or support a grassroots democratic movement in the region.

Sadly, it now appears that early estimates of 80,000 dead as a result of Friday’s Earthquake and Tsunami may not be short of the mark.

This ‘Help Japan’ poster is available at the Signalnoise store, with all profits going to disaster relief.

Japanese death toll to far exceed 10,000

Tens of thousands believed to have died as result of tsunami and huge earthquake that triggered it.

It’s March, and if you’re like me, it’s your favorite time of the year.

The Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament expanded its field this year to 68 teams, further confounding excited fans eager to find the elusive “perfect bracket.”

The Republican presidential field of 2012 seems equally as numerous and elusive.

To help you, we’ve broken down the list of 2012 hopefuls into their own–well–bracket? It’s about as much fun as you can have with these potential power-pilferers:

^{In our faith, in our politics, in our finances, in our daily lives–the following passage from the Gospel of Luke is more than a script in a religious book. It is a story and lesson that transcends all walls and borders we have constructed for ourselves, and can bring us closer to that “More Perfect Union” once dreamed of in tougher times:}

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am  not like other people-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this  tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

  ¹³  “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a  sinner.’

  ¹⁴  “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified  before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and  those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

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What’s good Moose?

We have all heard poignant stories about the many people across the country and around the world suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. It can be a crippling condition, which can lead to a plethora of other problems, from generalized anxiety to depression to suicide. PTSD is a disorder affecting many Americans, and rates of PTSD have increased over the past several years due to US involvement in wars overseas. Many of our soldiers return home presenting with symptoms of this extraordinarily complicated and frequently debilitating disorder.

For two years the Lithuanian government had banned the public display of Soviet and Nazi symbols, but suddenly lifted the ban on Swastikas last May. This Friday a large Neo Nazi demonstration marched through the streets of an EU capital with Government permission and police escorts.

Hundreds marched through the streets of Vilnius with  swastikas and SS insignia. Many people wore badges with swastikas sewed onto their clothing. Some were wearing white armbands with flames (that essentially resemble a swastika, a symbol that was also on some of the flags).

But this was no normal fringe Neo Nazi movement. Among the participants were Ricardas Cekutis, current head of PR at the state-sponsored Genocide Research Center – a government subsidised institution which tries to make an equivalence between the horrors of Stalinism and the horrors of the holocaust, seen here (on the right) with Mindaugas Murza, the infamous neo-Nazi. More astonishing still, MP Kazimieras Uoka, a member of parliament from the ruling Homeland Union faction was at the front of the March.

Something is going very wrong in Lithuania.

Meis and associates found a correlation between relationship adjustment and the chances of an individual manifesting PTSD symptoms seeking treatment.

As the Fukushima nuclear power plant threatens to meltdown, too many otherwise sane people are ignoring the very real dangers that accompany nuclear power use. You think Fukushima, and other power plant’s are safe? Well say that to my face. Because I almost died of childhood metastatic cancer that probably came from radioactive fallout. And there wasn’t a single explosion to show for it.