Author: southwerk

I am a 53 year old teacher. I have double major in Speech and Criminal Justice resulting in a Bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and a law degree.

Americans Dig In Preparing for Disaster

On By southwerkIn business ethics3 Comments

Americans voting with their “shovels?” This is hardly a statement in favor of nuclear power or disaster preparedness in the United States. Of course, it is probably the American idea that if you throw enough money at a problem you can fix it. (We only believe that now about certain subjects.) It might be better to have a FEMA that we can trust but after the disaster in Louisiana, that kind of trust is never coming back.

James Pilant

Sales of deluxe doomsday bunkers up 1,000% from CNN

A devastating earthquake strikes Japan. A massive tsunami kills thousands. Fears of a nuclear meltdown run rampant. Bloodshed and violence escalate in Libya.

And U.S. companies selling doomsday bunkers are seeing sales skyrocket anywhere from 20% to 1,000%.

Northwest Shelter Systems, which offers shelters ranging in price from $200,000 to $20 million, has seen sales surge 70% since the uprisings in the Middle East, with the Japanese earthquake only spurring further interest. In hard numbers, that’s 12 shelters already booked when the company normally sells four shelters per year.

“Sales have gone through the roof, to the point where we are having trouble keeping up,” said Northwest Shelter Systems owner Kevin Thompson.

Radiation Release in Japan 20 to 50 Percent of Chernobyls

On By southwerkIn business ethics3 Comments

From Reuters –

The release of two types of radioactive particles in the first 3-4 days of Japan‘s nuclear crisis is estimated to have reached 20-50 percent of the amounts from Chernobyl in 10 days, an Austrian expert said Wednesday.

That’s not encouraging. The numbers 20 and 50 percent are not as wide a variance as might be thought. They are referring to two different kinds of radiation.

Below–

The Austrian institute’s Dr Gerhard Wotawa stressed the two isotopes from Fukushima he had sought to estimate — iodine-131 and caesium-137 — normally make up only one tenth of total radiation.

Based on measurements made at monitoring stations in Japan and the United States, Wotawa said the iodine released from Fukushima in the first three-four days was about 20 percent of that released from Chernobyl during a ten-day period.

For Caesium-137, the figure could amount to some 50 percent.

Most dangerous jobs aren’t what you may think (via MSNBC)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

As someone who on occasion has taught criminal justice classes, one of the more difficult problems you deal with teaching is the misconceptions about police work. Everyone knows all police work. They think. After all it’s on television, dozens of movies. You could even add in a few mystery novels.

Police work is the most dangerous work you can do. There are shoot outs and constant danger.

No, there aren’t. Half of all sworn officers never pull their gun on the job for any reason whatever.

The numbers are straightforward.

Read below.

James Pilant

From MSNBC –

Miners and police officers face many dangers. In 2009, the most recent year for which we have statistics, 101 miners and 97 police officers and security guards died on the job, making for a roughly similar fatality rate of around 13 deaths per 100,000 workers.

From further down in the article.

Still, it does matter what career path you choose. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) database, the 10 most dangerous industries to work in are anywhere from six to 60 times as dangerous as the average workplace.

First on the list is fishing, as anyone who’s seen Deadliest Catch on Discovery might guess. In the last year on record, 56 fishermen died, a colossal fatality rate of 200 per 100,000 workers, or 0.2 percent. Loggers and pilots are the only other jobs that come close to being that dangerous, each with 0.006 percent annual death rates. Construction (800 deaths) and transportation and warehousing (586 deaths) registered the largest number of deaths per sector, though their occupational fatality rates hovered around 0.002 percent.

Japanese Nuclear Plants Evacuated

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

The crisis continues. As I said yesterday, the Japanese utility company and the government are unwilling to give an accurate view of the disaster. So, one day we hear encouraging news which will be partially or totally dispelled by the next day’s news.

From the Associated Press –

(AP) Tokyo’s utility company says black smoke has been seen emerging from Unit 3 of the crippled nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, prompting a new evacuation of the complex. Officials with Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that workers from the entire Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been temporarily evacuated. Operators of the power station have been desperately trying to cool the reactors and spent fuel pools at the plant after it was damaged by this month’s tsunami, which knocked out power to the cooling systems.

Elizabeth Taylor is dead at 79 (via CBS)

On By southwerkIn ethics

From CBS –

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79.

The actress, who won Oscars for her performances in “BUtterfield 8” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” died Wednesday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from congestive heart failure, publicist Sally Morrison said.

I am never able to think of Elizabeth Taylor without thinking of Richard Burton. I am a product of my age. Here is a clip from The Sandpiper. I was nine when the movie was released. Their marriages and marital difficulties were a news background for most of my formative years.

James Pilant

This is a fan video of Johnny Mathis and Barbara Streisand singing “The Shadow of Your Smile.” It won an Academy Award for best original song.

Warren: Consumer agency on small banks’ side (via MSNBC)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I have become concerned at the language of corporate ethics and white collar crime. It is not precise enough for what we are doing. I have talked many times about banks often very critically. But very seldom was I speaking of the local banks, the small banks. Generally, the despicable actions of the 24 large investment banks were what was motivating my anger. We don’t have the right words. Multi-national corporations shifting jobs overseas are not the same as close corporations composed of a single family running a large farm. We speak of corporations and banks but we mean only a few. We need a new language in business ethics. We need a new precision. Those small banks, those small businesses would be allies in the fight for morality and justice if not lumped in with the others everytime criticism is made.

We need a new language.

James Pilant

From MSNBC –

Small banks have expressed concern the new agency, set to open its doors in July, will add regulatory costs, making it harder for them to survive.

Warren told a gathering of community bankers that the opposite will happen as the agency simplifies regulations on products such as mortgages and seeks to crack down on non-bank lenders that went largely unregulated during the 2007-2009 financial crisis and are accused of shady lending practices.

“I know that you want a regulatory structure that doesn’t require an army of lawyers,” she said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Independent Community Bankers of America annual convention. “Big banks may be able to afford to hire all those lawyers, but you cannot.”

Power cables reach Japan’s nuclear plant (via Al Jazeera)

On By southwerkIn business ethics4 Comments

The good news is that electric power is available at the six nuclear plants. The bad news is that some of the plants are so damaged the pumping systems no longer function. And the further bad news is that the sea water used to cool the plants apparently ran back into the ocean with a high level of radioactivity.

You must recall, of course, that the Japanese have been unfailing optimistic when anything went their way in this mess. So, I strongly suspect that things have not improved as much as they imply.

But I very much want to say how grateful I am that a meltdown is more likely to be avoided now.

James Pilant

From Al Jazeera –

Power lines to all six nuclear reactor units at Japan’s quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi complex have been connected, its operator said, but electricity has not yet been turned on.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) warned on Tuesday that equipment still had to be checked before power could be properly reconnected, which would mark a significant step in bringing the reactors back under control.

Engineers have also been able to cool a spent fuel pool that was nearly boiling, bringing it back to 105 degrees after dumping 18 tonnes of seawater into a holding pool.

However fears have been raised over the possibility of radiation in seawater near the reactors in northeastern Japan, with reports that some radioactivity has been detected in the sea.

Experts are concerned about sea water that has been used to cool the reactors and their spend fuel ponds after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11.

Radioactive iodine in the sea samples was 126.7 times the allowed limit, while caesium was 24.8 times over, Kyodo news agency said. But TEPCO said that still posed no immediate danger.

“I’m interested to know how this water is being disposed… if it is being disposed or just allowed to drain to sea,” Najmedin Meshkati, a nuclear and environmental expert at the University of Southern California, told the Reuters news agency.

 

Welcome To Pottersville, USA (via Crowhavenscriptsfarm’s Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

A few stories of the banking industry and how it plays the public for every last extractable fraction of a cent!

I’ll let the stories speak for themselves of the constant danger of being a consumer in America.

James Pilant

Welcome To Pottersville, USA Yes, that is a reference to that classic film, “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Oh where, oh where is George Bailey when you need him?! Because most banks, MOST not all, are run by Mr. Potter type thinkers. Get ’em while they ain’t lookin’. And get ’em good! We have debt, who doesn’t these days? I own up to it, or “own it” as the financial gurus tell you you must. I do, we have debt. And with two teens, more is coming. My hours at work have been cut in h … Read More

via Crowhavenscriptsfarm’s Blog

“High Degree of Confidence”

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Japan nuke crisis does not warrant U.S. changes (via Salon)

The nuclear crisis is Japan, while severe, does not warrant any immediate changes in the U.S, a top U.S. nuclear official said Monday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s executive director for operations, Bill Borchardt, said officials have “a high degree of confidence” that operations at the 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states are safe. He said inspectors at each of the plants have redoubled efforts to guard against any safety breaches.

I feel all better now. “A high degree of confidence” and “redoubled efforts.” Is this some kind of bad disaster movie where the Russian Premier forgets to tell the United States of a doomsday device because it’s his birthday?

We can hope that we get through the Japanese crisis without a meltdown. But there is no way, any objective observer can believe that the nuclear industry isn’t about to have its most dramatic shakeup.

Let me remind you for the umpteenth time – none of this was supposed to be able to happen. It was outside the realm of possibility. You can go to the internet, date a search before the earthquake and tsunami, run nuclear safety as a search, and pull up dozens of studies and hundreds of web sites explaining the complete and total improbability of a nuclear meltdown – not to mention, the most vicious slurs as to the motives and intelligence of those questioning nuclear power.

So, the world of nuclear energy is going to have a shake up. Unfortunately, there is no possibility of any discussion as to whether or not nuclear power should be a part of this nation’s energy policy. That decision has already been made and it’s carved in stone.

So, we can only hope that changes are made that render a U.S. nuclear disaster less likely.

James Pilant

Future News: Is the Worst Over for Japan and the Nuclear Industry? As Energy Secretary Steven Chu Comments (via FUTUREPREDICTIONS.COM Source of Likely and Preferable Futures ™)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I don’t trust him. I consider him little more than a cheerleader for the nuclear industry. However, “Future News,” believes he has something significant to say. I’ll go with them on it.

James Pilant

Future News: Is the Worst Over for Japan and the Nuclear Industry? As Energy Secretary Steven Chu Comments Photo Source Energy Secretary Steven Chu on preventing a nuclear meltdown and whether U.S. plants can withstand natural disasters. … Read More

via FUTUREPREDICTIONS.COM Source of Likely and Preferable Futures ™