Thursday, April 27, 2006

20 years later, have we learnt from Chernobyl?

Chernobyl Families

April 26th marked the 20th anniversary of the disaster at Chernobyl. On that day, two explosions took place at reactor number four that caused in total 120 tons of uranium and over 900 tons of highly radioactive graphite to be dispersed, much of it, of course, in the vicinity of the plant, but a significant part of it ended up contaminating all the countries of the world.

I wonder if we have learnt anything from this event that caused and continues to cause so much death, disease, pain and hardship... Officially it is said that about 4,000 deaths could be attributed to the accident, however, some estimates now predict the number of fatal cancer cases will be over 90,000. But even 90,000, may be on the low side. Have a look at this Chernobyl Health Report from GreenPeace if you would like to learn more...

Here in Japan, a country prone to earthquakes, we have 55 nuclear power stations operating in the area the size of California. With a population of nearly 130,000,000, if only one of them were to meltdown, the direct human damage would be unthinkable.

Chernobyl Contamination Area JPG

Map of the soil contamination area. The area is larger than the island of Honshu

Chernobyl Reactor

The town of Hamaoka, which is less than 200 KM / 125 Miles from Tokyo, currently has five nuclear reactors in operation. Many people consider Hamaoka to be a disaster waiting to happen as it is built over an earthquake prone area where two tectonic plates meet. Hamaoka may be the most dangerous reactor complex in Japan, if not the world... Have a look at this story titled Japan‘s Deadly Game from the Japan Times and you will begin to understand what I mean.

Again, I ask, have we learnt anything from Chernobyl? As we continue to court such obvious danger I think that maybe we have not! Perhaps it is because we have not been shown in detail the continuing horror that continues in and around Chernobyl.

Chernobyl Firefighter

Recently CNIC (Citizens Nuclear Information Center) translated to Japanese a 25 minute movie titled ‘The Sacrifice.’ It shows scenes of the cleanup directly after the explosions as well as personal stories of the brave men that sacrificed their lives for the safety of their country and actually the world. I hope you will make the effort to see it. The movie can be bought from CNIC. Contact them at the bottom of this page. CNIC publishes newsletters in English(bimonthly) and Japanese(monthly). If you would like to support their hard work to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear power I hope you will subscribe to one or both of them.

Also, if you would like to help support the work of the many volunteers trying to get the five Hamoaka reactors shut down, please check out the Stop Hamaoka homepage. There is no English page available but even so, you can send them a donation to help them with their important work. They put out a newsletter in Japanese that you can show to your Japanese friends... To send them a donation use a Post Office Furikae form. The account name is: Hamaokagenpatu Soshoudan. The account number is: 00870-5-95420. If need be you can contact them via email, though they may take a while to reply as they do not usually use English.

If you read Japanese you should buy a copy of Housyano de Syutoken Shometsu (放射能で首都圏消滅 Radiation - Extinction of Tokyo Metropolitan). It went on sale on April 26, the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. Even if you can’t read it you should buy a copy and give it to your Japanese friends so they can understand the gravity of the situation we are in. Everyone living in Japan will be affected by the expected earthquake and any resulting nuclear disaster.

[Update] I would also suggest you take a look at this PDF report titled On The Way Out, by Mycle Schneider and Antony Froggatt. It appeared in Nuclear Engineering International last year, though that version was not complete with graphs.

Here is a quote from the last paragraph: “The nuclear share of energy use for electricity production is expected to decline in most regions of the world as a result of public opposition, waste disposal issues, concerns about nuclear arms proliferation, and the economics of nuclear power. The nuclear share of electricity generation worldwide is projected to drop to 12% in 2025 from 19% in 2001.”

I will repeat what I said to one of the comments attached to this blog, I wonder if any of the people and government officials controlling the nuclear industry here in Japan are aware of the trends mentioned in the report. The sooner they wake up to what is going on in the rest of the world, the better!

I hope you will take a look at some of the many web sites that discuss the Chernobyl disaster on the net. Here are a few that I found interesting:

Nuclear Nightmares: 20 Years Since Chernobyl
- A photo documentary.

Murderous Atoms - An archive from the May 5, 1986 issue of DER SPIEGEL, just days after the world became aware of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Chernobyl Revisited - In 2004, a local woman named Elena rode her motorcycle through the Chernobyl area, and took photographs... Check out what she sees and has to say.

Bush Must Now Face The Music!

Living With War JPG

[Update: Neil Young‘s Living With War album is now available in streaming format online. Click here to listen to the album!

There seems to be a growing dissidence amongst musicians for the Bush government. USA today reported on March 23rd that Carlos Santana‘s philosophy is the antithesis of President George W. Bush's. Read the story here.

Then a few days ago, 60’s rock musician Neil Young, who once openly supported President Bush, did a complete about face! Neil is about to release a new album titled ‘Living With War‘. The album centers around one hard hitting song, ‘Let’s Impeach The President.’ Hey, it doesn’t get more direct than that!

Check out this interview on CNN ShowBiz tonight! (Broadband is recommended)

You can read more about Neil’s thinking and the backround to his new album here. The albums internet release is scheduled for April 28th, the CD format should be available in early May.

Here are the lyrics to “Let’s Impeach the President”:

Let’s impeach the president for lying

And leading our country into war

Abusing all the power that we gave him

And shipping all our money out the door

He’s the man who hired all the criminals

The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors

And bend the facts to fit with their new stories

Of why we have to send our men to war

Let’s impeach the president for spying

On citizens inside their own homes

Breaking every law in the country

By tapping our computers and telephones

What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees

Would New Orleans have been safer that way

Sheltered by our government’s protection

Or was someone just not home that day?

Let’s impeach the president

For hijacking our religion and using it to get elected

Dividing our country into colors

And still leaving black people neglected

Thank god he’s racking down on steroids

Since he sold his old baseball team

There’s lot of people looking at big trouble

But of course the president is clean

Thank God

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Former German Minister says 911 an Inside Job!

Don't be surprised when you read or listen to the interview of a former German Minister (from the Schimidt cabinet) by Alex Jones.

This is part of the April 21st 2006 article:

Former German Minister Says Building 7 Used To Run 9/11 Attack, Guide the planes in, then destroy the crime scene.

Buelow JPG

Former Helmut Schmidt cabinet member, 25-year German Parliamentarian and global intelligence expert Andreas Von Bülow says that the 9/11 attack was run by the highest levels of the US intelligence apparatus using WTC Building 7 as a command bunker which was later demolished in order to destroy the crime scene.

=============

Shocking! Read the full story here:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2006/210406runattack.htm


Spread the word. Send it to your friends. And thank you in advance! We are in this together and your help is important and needed.

Listen to the interview here:
http://www.prisonplanet.tv/audio/200406vonbuelow.htm

[If you would like to learn more about Von Bülow you should have a look at this Wikipedia article on him.]

Friday, April 14, 2006

JUMP Kick Off Concert on April 29

JUMP flyer JPG

If you have friends living in and around Tokyo, an interesting peace concert will be held on April 29, 2006. This concert is the kick off event for JUMP, Japan United for a Ministry of Peace.

Please spread the good news by putting news of the concert in your blog and homepage.

Your help is appreciated to help make true PEACE a reality.

The Japanese government wants to discard our Peace Constitution, including Article 9, and is preparing many wartime laws which will make our nation a Police State, following in the steps of the USA. If you know of any English or Japanese publications, please submit the concert information below to their event calender.

**************

JUMP flyer JPG

"JUMP Kick off Concert"
JUMP (Japan United for a Ministry of Peace) will have a Kick Off Concert on April 29, 2006 in Tokyo, at Educus Tokyo from 6:30pm to 8:30.
*Map: http://www.zenkyo.biz/map.html
(nearest station: Kojimachi, or Ichigaya JR, across from old Nihon TV bldg.)

Musicians will include The New Frontiers -1 (minus one member), ZAKI, Kazumi, Yukie Ikebe and others. MC: Yumi Kikuchi. Tickets: 2000 yen reserved, 2500 yen at the door.
*reservations can be made through Yumi: yumik@fine.ocn.ne.jp

JUMP is a citizen's volunteer group aiming to establish a Ministry of Peace in Japan. Representatives of JUMP will attend the 2nd People's Initiative for a Department of Peace which is to be held in Victoria, Canada from the 18th to the 22nd of June. This event is fundraiser for the conference to help 3rd world delegates attend as well as to promote JUMP in Japan.

To join JUMP and/or to help spread the word about JUMP, please contact Yumi.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

JUMP KICK OFF CONCERT!

JUMP (Japan United for Ministry of Peace or 平和省プロジェクト in Japanese) will have a "JUMP Kick Off Concert" on April 29, 2006 in Tokyo, at Educus Tokyo (Ichigaya, In front of old Nihon TV office) from 6:30pm.

Musicians will include The New Frontiers -1 (minus one member), ZAKI, Kazumi and others.
MC: Yumi Kikuchi.
Tickets: 2000 yen reserved - 2500 yen at the door.

You can send an e-mail to me to reserve tickets: yumik@fine.ocn.ne.jp

JUMP is a citizen's volunteer group aiming to establish a Ministry of Peace in Japan. Representatives of JUMP will attend the 2nd People's Initiative for a Department of Peace to be held in Victoria, Canada in June (18-22) and this event is fundraiser for the conference to help 3rd world delegates attend the conference.

You can find out more about the 2nd People’s Initiative for a Department of Peace on this page.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Must listen to conversation with Jimmy Walter!

Jimmy Walter JPG

You must listen to this conversation between Alex Jones, Jimmy Walter and William Rodriguez. Jimmy and William are currently in Venezuela and will meet with President Chavez soon to discuss the coverup of the Sept. 11th events and the possible formation of an international investigation into 911.

This is truly a first rate discussion on the current situation in the US and the world and how the media is controlled by the government. A lot of other important things are covered too! Definitely recommended listening. Definitely! Listen to it here!

Great Ray Griffin Speech here

On March 30, Dr. Ray Griffin gave a wonderful speech in California at the Grand Lake Theater to a crowd of Progressive Democrats. You can listen to it on our Global Peace Campaign website Audio Resource page (It is 2 hours in length.)

Hugo Chavez JPG

In other news, Ed Asner is officially supporting Charlie Sheen. An interview was planned on CNN ShowBiz Tonight but at the last moment CNN cancelled, due to pressure from the ‘top‘. (Read about this here) Ed is a supporter of Addicted To War and I hope one day to meet all these great, courageous Americans. Thank you, Ed Asner!

Another amazing piece of news is from Venezuela. Jimmy Walter of Reopen 911 and William Rodriguez, a 911 survivor, are making a world tour and are currently in Venezuala. (When I spoke to him a few days ago, he was just about to leave the hotel for the airport.)

They have already met with the President of the Assembly and they will soon meet with the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. President Chavez has decided to organize a full international investivation into 911.

William Rodriguez JPG

Check out the poster that William is holding. Can you read what it says at the bottom? Rodriguez was the last survivor pulled from the rubble of the north tower of the WTC, and was responsible for unlocking the stairwells within the tower. Rodriguez represented family members of 9/11 victims and testified to the 9/11 Commission that bombs were in the north tower but his statements were completely omitted from the official record!

Wow! It is getting HOT.