Tag Archives: health

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japanese officials decide to check beer & wine for radiation!

27 September 2011, Japan’s National Tax Agency has just now realized that all alcoholic drinks coming from the Fukushima area are probably contaminated with radiation.  Even so, testing on beer, wine/sake will not take place until next month!

Mandatory testing will be done at all beverage factories within 150 km (93 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Random testing will take place at factories outside the 150 kilometer radius.

Along with the national government, six major cities, including Tokyo, will test water meant for use in making beer and wine.

Rice and barely, used in beer and sake, have already tested positive for cesium contamination.

Fukushima

Typhoon Roke comes ashore, heading for direct hit on damaged nuclear plant Fukushima Daiichi, 4 dead!

21 September 2011, Typhoon Roke is moving up the Pacific coastline of Japan, after coming ashore south of Tokyo at Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Sustanted winds are 144 km (89.4 miles) per hour, with gusts up to 155 km (96 miles) per hour recorded at Hachioji City, near Tokyo.

During the past 24 hours, more than 400 millimeters (15.74 inches) of rain has fallen in Tokai region and Yamanashi Prefecture, and more than 200 mm (7.87 inches) of rain fell in northeastern Japan.

At least four people have died, three are missing.  More evacuation orders have been given to at least a half million more people.

The damaged nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi, has escaped typhoon damage from previous storms, but Roke looks like it will make a direct hit.

Roke is moving fast and should be approaching the northeastern Honshu prefecture of Fukushima. Already 200 mm of rain has fallen in Fukushima since September 20.  The nuclear plant is already flooding with rain water.

Work to stop the further spread of radiation, like the steel wall around the ocean intakes, and specially treated tarps over the exploded reactor buildings, has been halted.  Tokyo Electric says their workers have tied down everything they could think of that might get blown away.

TEPCo says reactor 1 and 2 have rain water pouring in from the roofs, and Reactor 6 basement is totally flooded.  TEPCo officials insist that none of the radioactive water will leak out.  Yeah right, how many times now have they made such promises?

 

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Heavy rain from Typhoons & Tropical Storms are flooding Fukushima Daiichi

Nine months later, and the radiation just keeps pouring from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Now its Mother Earth who’s to blame.

Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that the heavy rains from typhoons and tropical storms are flooding reactor buildings, greatly increasing the chance of massive flooding of highly contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

The nuclear plant is already flooding the ocean with radiation, but this would be on a massive scale.

Here’s why it’s so bad: TEPCo is already pumping 550 tons of water per day to cool three of its damaged reactors. About 80,000 tons of highly radioactive water has already accumulated in the buildings.  Now add the flooding from the storms. TEPCo says it has found 200 to 500 tons of rainwater entering every day into the basements of reactor buildings.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Officials say nuclear disaster could have been avoided!

16 September 2011, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency says the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could have been avoided.

They say if water injection began four hours sooner there would have been no melt downs.

Anyone who’s been following the situation from day one knows that Tokyo Electric Power Company has dragged their feet on just about everything connected to dealing with the disaster.  Especially at the beginning when it seemed that TEPCo officials just refused to believe that anything was wrong!

Of the plant’s six reactors, reactors 1 and 3 suffered meltdowns after losing cooling functions.

Reactor 2 suffered a hydrogen explosion on 15 March, which caused the release and spread of massive amounts of radioactive isotopes.

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Radiation still being found at garbage incinerators across Japan

16 September 2011, ever since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster began, waste incinerator sites across Japan have reported high levels of radiation in the ashes of burned garbage and sludge.

The latest tests show three Prefectures still with levels of cesium contamination exceeding safe limits: Iwate, Fukushima and Chiba.

The highest measurement was 144,420 becquerels per kilogram at one facility in Fukushima!

The Japanese Environment Ministry realized that the incinerators reporting high levels of radiation contamination, are storing the garbage outside, where it can be contaminated by airborne cesium.  This is also an indicator of just how much airborne radiation is being spread across Japan.

The Environment Ministry has now decided to test all incinerators sites, that store the garbage outdoors.

Read more about incinerator contamination:

Cesium levels skyrocketing

Japanese waste incinerators

Mysterious radiation found

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Drug companies pay Idaho doctors big bucks

A ProPublica report shows more than 1,000 Idaho doctors were paid by 12 drug companies, to the tune of more than $2 million within the last year.  The Idaho Board of Medicine sees no harm in it.

Some of those payments were in the form of free meals (a Boise doctor got $607 worth) in exchange for attending seminars that pushed new drugs.  Others made money giving the talks at those seminars.  A Sun Valley psychiatrist made more than $100,000 for giving such talks.

The ProPublica.org report is part of their ongoing investigation into how Corporate America, and possibly your doctor, are ripping everyone off. Many people, who’ve left comments on the ProPublica story, expressed surprise to learn their personal doctor was on the list.

Beginning in 2013, drug companies are supposed to publicly report who they gave money to.

 

International

Common disease killing children in Vietnam, 42,000 infected

The United Nations World Health Organization says 98 children have died, so far this year, due to a common hand/foot and mouth disease.  42,000 people have been infected.

Since 2008 the number of cases in Vietnam has been increasing.  Vietnamese health officials are warning people to maintain cleanliness.

The disease is spread by sneezing, coughing and contact with fluid from blisters or infected feces. No vaccine exists.

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japan’s wild animals and plants highly contaminated with Cesium!

Gakushuin University Professor Yasuyuki Muramatsu, says radioactive cesium on soil and fallen leaves in forests is easily absorbed by mushrooms and edible plants.

On 03 September 2011, wild mushrooms found in a forest in Fukushima Prefecture contained 28,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, far above the national safety limit.  A wild boar was also found to have radiation amounts about 6 times the safety limit.

Professor Muramatsu is urging the Japanese government to conduct tests on wild animals and plants.

FUKUSHIMA TO EUTHANIZE ABANDONED LIVESTOCK AND PETS!

FOOD CRISIS: HALF MILLION LIVESTOCK STARVING TO DEATH IN JAPAN!

Idaho, U.S.

Idahoans don’t trust vaccines, number of kids not getting vaccinated up 62%

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare report that the number of parents refusing to get their kids the required vaccinations for school is skyrocketing.

Idaho allows vaccinations to be skipped for medical, religious or personal reasons.  State officials say personal reasons are the leading exemption.

Since 2005 the percent of children not being vaccinated is up 62%  Health officials are fearing an increased chance of the spread of diseases, as a result.

Fukushima

Sunflowers absorb radiation!

A Kobe, Japan, private-sector group announced the results of their studies on sunflowers in the contaminated areas of Japan.

They grew sunflowers in 4 fields in Minamisoma City, within 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

They found that soil contamination was reduced between 20% and 50%.  Radiation was absorbed by the sunflowers’ roots.  The problem is that the sunflowers are now considered nuclear waste.