I feel a “Charlie Brown” good grief coming on. Those reactors have been venting radioactive into the sea for weeks now. All those scattered control rods are now going to be rained on and a good number of them have plutonium in them. Does the fun never end? Does this disaster have a half-life as long as one of the isotopes it produces?
Let us hope and pray for a better outcome that is likely.
James Pilant
via Losing Freedom
Let’s get in there and put pressure on Obama to get this nomination done. The banks and the special interests have allied to block it. They are trying to kill the agency before any work can be done. Their crimes and unethical behavior will not be brought into the light without the agency.
Please go sign the petition. Elizabeth Warren will make a difference.
James Pilant
Can bombing government offices be justified by crimes committed by public officials? I believe that there can be situations in which such actions can be justified. The crime must be as significant or more significant than the bombing itself. The target of the bomber must be the perpetrator of the crime not someone else. The bomber must have no other recourse.
This does not make it to that standard. Having your home stolen and demolished does not balance out against bombings. Bombings result in death or serious injury. Only blind luck and careful planning delay that inevitable outcome. Bombing public buildings is an excellent way to kill receptionists, janitors and low level functionaries without every getting close to anyone who did the actual harm.
James Pilant
via thechinahotline
I try to comment for a few paragraphs at least on each post but this writer has an edge I admire. He’s got this story nailed. Please read.
James Pilant
via Jim Grisanzio
If four guys die tough and three get memorials, then the fourth should get on too.
(That may be my best summary of an article yet.)
I am for the monument. If you are as well, please let your congressman know.
James Pilant
via CNN Belief Blog
Fortunately or unfortunately (I’m 54) that is very true. However, considering how much of the web I control, my death won’t liberate much.
James Pilant
via Ben Gwalchmai
Whether you believe in solar or wind power, this is a positive, hopeful view of our future and I like those; I like them a lot.
About forty years ago, something went terribly wrong in the United States, it became the governmental fashion to avoid even attempting to solve real problems. Now, we just kick the can down the road and hope something good will happen. The Congress waits until enough contributions, enough lobbyists congregate, and then solves corporate money problems with no consideration of the wider effects.
Under these circumstances, it is hard to see a positive future. But this is a great country and it is still capable of great things.
James Pilant
Are workers entitled to severance pay when their facility burns down? It is not the custom in the United States. Is it the custom in Cambodia? If it is, should the cultural expectation override the “realities of global competition?”
It took many years for Patriotism, human decency and custom to disappear as issues in the loss of jobs in the United States, how long will it take in Cambodia? Or will it at all? In some countries, is the perception of fairness still a major issue?
James Pilant
Kanagawa Prefecture is just below Tokyo. Perhaps it is a cultural stereotype, but I consider the Japanese to be much more passive about these things than Americans and Americans much more passive than Europeans.
But there is always something salutary about people marching for their beliefs. It’s a democratic thing.
James Pilant
I like this article. It is skeptical but willing to ask a lot of hard questions. I’m willing to give nuclear energy a chance to be part of our nation’s future plans but only if I can trust the industry. So, you can pretty sure I’m opposed to any nuclear plant development since that condition cannot be met. The industry track record is clear. I’ve been pounded with lies, half-truths and assurances that bore no resemblance to reality. Whether or not you believe that the damage caused by the various nuclear incidents justifies abandoning nuclear power, surely you can see that the industry’s credibility is gone?
Not only do we have to contend with industry PR so thin, that the smallest child can see through it, we have the problem of governments being industry captives blurting out even worse nonsense. In the United States, there has been no real changes in planning caused by Fukushima. It’s as if a car of identical make to yours disintegrated on the highway but you just go ahead driving yours.
But there’s more. Disagree with a future of nuclear energy and you get to meet up with the dogs of war, the partisans of a nuclear future. They believe several things – 1) if you are opposed to nuclear energy you are some left leaning tree hugger, 2) you just don’t understand because you’re blinded by anti nuclear propaganda, 3) you don’t grasp the critical need for nuclear power since all the other sources of energy are flawed, and (my very favorite) 4) radiation is all around us, we get it in chest x-rays, scanners in our airports, granite taken from deep in the earth has radiation in it, therefore all of these concerns about radiation are overblown.
This article is intelligent and asks some critical questions, like why is our evacuation zones in case of nuclear accident only ten miles while in Japan a much larger zone was found necessary? That’s a good question.
Let’s hope for more posts from this author.
James Pilant
via boltonnewyork
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
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