Radiation Threat...Real or Not?



This satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility in Japan on Monday. Authorities are struggling to prevent the catastrophic release of radiation in the area devastated by a tsunami.


I was just over at one of my favorite Alaskan Blogs... Immoral Minority ...and Gryph has posted an article about radiation coming out of Japan. I was immediately engaged with the information I found there. Weather Underground is the place to start to get a clear, concise forecast for weather patterns and radiation exposure in the USA. You can register for free.

I poked around there for awhile and found this site, Citizen Weather Observer Program. If you really get all excited about tracking weather, you can buy the hardware and software and start your own weather station. That sounds like more fun than following what Sarah Palin is doing these days.

When I came back to Immoral Minority I started to read some of the comments and came up on this one. I tend to believe what this guy is saying, even though he commented under an anonymous handle. He seems to be intimately involved with radiation safety. Here is what he posted:

Anonymous at 4:58

I'd like to see some links for those statistics you just gave. The last update I saw from the Nuclear Energy Institute indicated the dose rate levels peaked at 1190 mRem/hr, and has returned to 60 mRem/hr. At its highest the radiation levels were at 1.19 Rem, which is extremely low. 0 to 100 Rem are considered sublethal, and anywhere from 200 to 400 Rem are still very manageable. Please consider that the three main aspects in radiation are time, distance, and shielding. The further away from a source the less dose exposure. For every time you double the distance between yourself and the source, the dose decreases by 4 times. Please consider the hundreds of miles between Japan and the West Coast/Alaska. There really is an extremely low risk for any adverse health effects as a result of this. And for those people buying potassium iodine pills, you can stop- the half life of I-131 is only around 8 days... by the time it gets here it's already gone. The Cs-137 and Sr-89 are much longer lived, but again, by the time any "gets here", the concentration will be so dispersed as to not pose any real threat. As for the workers, radiation workers are some of the safest and best protected in any industry. We actually have lower lifetime dose rates than people with "regular jobs" because of all the safety measures put in place. Your dose rate meter is your best friend, and I do not doubt that anyone would put themselves into a situation where they are subjecting themselves to so much radiation that they are certain to die. Workers can and do work in extremely elevated levels of radiation, they just work in smaller time increments (again, time, shielding, and distance). That way the dose is spread across a larger population. Radiation can be scary to those unfamiliar with it, as it was to me when I first started in radiation safety. You have to remember that radiation is ALL around us, in what we eat, drink, breathe, live in- everything. Okay, off my soapbox- I hope I've helped somewhat..? If it's any additional consolation I spoke with my boss who's been involved in radiation safety for over 35 years, and he was not concerned either.

There is no reason to start to panic and wring our hands. I am not trying to downplay it all, but we need to stay calm and patient to see how things play out over time. I hope some of this information offers you some peace.

HBO TO PRODUCE "GAME CHANGE" WITH JULIANNE MOORE AS SARAH PALIN

Huffington Post published today that HBO Films announced that Julianne Moore will take on the role of Sarah Palin in its film adaptation of the 2008 election tell all book, "Game Change," written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. Moore is the first member of the cast, which will feature screen versions of the top players in the election, such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

The book spilled deep, sometimes damaging secrets and quotes from the high-tension campaign trail, including Obama and then-running mate Joe Biden's distant relationship, the Clintons' original distaste for Obama and the fallout from McCain's choice of Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.

To read the whole article, go here.

This Time We're Taking The Whole Planet With Us

Excellent article by Chris Hedges over at Truth-Out. Read it here.

Talk Sarah, Talk

There's a new article up on Huffpo written by Robert J. Elisberg...He's done a really nice job of covering most of Sarah's gaffs. Enjoy.

American Shame

I find it interesting that some politicians continue to brag about how "exceptional" the United States is. Truth be known, we are not even close to being the best at most of the things that really matter. Here is a table from the international Monetary Fund. Our Student Performance is the most dismal and revealing. We are not the world leader that many would still believe. Now look at Food Insecurity. We rank right at the top with people who do not have enough money to buy food for their families. And don't forget to look at the prison population. Those numbers are off the charts. I'm sorry, but we do not look like an exceptional country. It's a shame. All of it is a big shame.

Sarah Palin To Speak At Fundraiser For West Hills College In May

Sarah Palin has been chosen to give the keynote address at a fundraising function for West Hills College. The small community college main campus is located in Coalinga, CA. The speech will take place in Lemoore, California where there is a newer satellite campus.

According to sources, Palin will be paid $115K for her speech, and excitement is building as all the $25,000 tickets have been sold. Republican money is tied to Agribusiness in these parts.

I thought it was interesting that a student at the college voiced hope that Sarah Palin's appearance might generate funds for student programs at the college. Unfortunately, the purpose of the fundraiser seems to be to keep a sports arena staffed and maintained.

During her speech maybe Sarah will tell the story about how she built the Sports Complex when she was mayor of Wasilla. But I bet she won't talk about the fact that the land she built the complex on didn't belong to the city and that unraveling the title left Wasilla with  20 million dollars of debt. Read about it here. Nor will she mention that her home has many of the same features and materials that were incorporated into the Sports Complex.

I don't expect Sarah to mention anything about education. That doesn't seem to be something that she even pushes for her children. Nor will she offer any solutions for students on how to pay for an ever-increasing college education, either.

But I'll bet she will criticize the Obama administration more than once and reiterate how the lamestream media and Democrats are picking on her. In other words, it's probably going to be another SOSDV #sameoldspeechdifferentvenue.
Here is the link to the local ABC News program in Fresno, CA.
West Hills Community College  here.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I found this in the blogoshere and wanted to share it with you.

Wordle of SOTU Address

Here are some wordle graphics of the most common words that President Obama used

in the State of the Union Address.

President Obama Previews His State Of The Union Address

Be sure to tune in Tuesday night for the full address. Listen for yourself. Invite friends over for a State of the Union party. Don't depend on some pundit to interpret this important speech for you.

Now We Argue Where The Violent Rhetoric and Imagery Originate...

From the New Yorker. Link below




But it won’t do to dig up stray comments by Obama, Allen Grayson, or any other Democrat who used metaphors of combat over the past few years, and then try to claim some balance of responsibility in the implied violence of current American politics. (Most of the Obama quotes that appear in the comments were lame attempts to reassure his base that he can get mad and fight back, i.e., signs that he’s practically incapable of personal aggression in politics.) In fact, there is no balance—none whatsoever. Only one side has made the rhetoric of armed revolt against an oppressive tyranny the guiding spirit of its grassroots movement and its midterm campaign. Only one side routinely invokes the Second Amendment as a form of swagger and intimidation, not-so-coyly conflating rights with threats. Only one side’s activists bring guns to democratic political gatherings. Only one side has a popular national TV host who uses his platform to indoctrinate viewers in the conviction that the President is an alien, totalitarian menace to the country. Only one side fills the AM waves with rage and incendiary falsehoods. Only one side has an iconic leader, with a devoted grassroots following, who can’t stop using violent imagery and dividing her countrymen into us and them, real and fake. Any sentient American knows which side that is; to argue otherwise is disingenuous.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2011/01/tucson-revisited.html#ixzz1Akl90YmY