The "collapsed roof" of Dai-ichi Reactor #1

Leave it to FOX News to exaggerate claims in order to sell copy. The network reportedly printed a headline that read, “Japan abandons stricken nuke plant over radiation”. Don’t worry, folks! They haven’t abandoned the site leaving us to suffer the consequences of a meltdown.

Yes, radiation spiked. Yes, they withdrew from the site for an hour. Essential staff are, however, back on site to continue working with the cooling systems.

Take a deep breath. Hold it for a 5 seconds. Now exhale slowly. Doesn’t that feel better?

 

7 Comments
  1. I first saw the report on Twitter, twice, by two different “Breaking News” news agencies. Well, it was Twitter, so I thought “Wait & see.” In about 20 minutes it went live on CNN, with Anderson Cooper reporting from a site he said was about 30 mi. from the reactor…and up to that time, Fox News on TV had not mentioned it. CNN was saying that the story was unproven, but giving dire consequences & meanings, IF it was true. Fox did mention it briefly as something that had been heard but not verified, roughly 45 minutes after I saw it live on CNN. I was thinking “Why is Fox so slow?” Then before going to bed, I took one last look & this article popped up…but Fox was late on the story. And now, almost 3 hrs. later, Coast To Coast AM (radio) is still repeating the story, that the site is vacated, no mention of workers returning. TOO confusing.

    Breaking News on Twitter has now posted that the workers returned to the site because radiation level had dropped, just a short time ago. I turned the TV off in favor of book & radio, go GOK what they are all reporting now.

    This just shows how truly broken the press is, notwithstanding it’s biases, however people may see them. One common thread in all the coverage since the beginning has been remarks about spotty info from the Japanese government. True, they have much to do, sadly, but at least from the POV of the Western press, information has not been clear or easy to get, & in many cases it’s been downright conflicting from different parts of Japan…Power Co. vs. government vs. Japanese news sources. Confusion can be expected during the biggest story of the century, one with so many aspects & breaking with such speed, of course. Could any country faced with such a story do better? Probably not.

    News coverage shouldn’t become the story…the NEWS should be the story. The confusion doesn’t start with the viewer or listener…it unfortunately often begins with the press, & this is a good example. Time will tell what the real story will turn out to be, & I among millions am putting Japan in the Light and sending love & positive vibes. It’s the best I can do for the moment.

    Love to all. White Light around you.

    • I think part of the problem is that everybody races to be first with the news, but then they end up not necessarily being aware of the facts. As such, it becomes a constant stream of misquotes, mistaken contexts and flat-out errors.

      In my own few days of real-time blogging, I’ve sure had to go back and fix some errors. It’s easy to miss something and if you don’t double- and triple-check your facts, it’s easy to get it wrong. This is especially true when the situation changes so quickly. This one certainly has been. We flow from earthquake to tsunami, tsunami to meltdowns, back to earthquakes, etc.

      I feel for the international press who are unable to get real-time information in Japanese. For those of us who can understand the language, it’s hard enough to keep it all straight. It’s got to be really frustrating for people working under less transparent conditions.

      To be honest, I haven’t seen much confusion from government versus TEPCO, etc. There have been only minor contradictions of the sort that can easily be attributed to human error. What’s going on here is pretty much unprecedented, so I can easily see how people would get confused and make mistakes. Those in power are not getting very much sleep, for sure.

  2. “I feel for the international press who are unable to get real-time information in Japanese.”

    The BBC have numerous reporters there, both in Tokyo and the Sendai area, a number of whom flew in over the weekend. The permanent-based reporters there speak the language and they also have translators working with them. It’s slightly bizarre to see people fronting news reports from the field who I normally see in the London studios doing interviews and presentations, but at least they are there on the ground doing a degree of first-hand news-gathering, rather than passing on rumours like so many bloggers and facebookers or reliant on foreign news agency feeds.

    Anyway, as they said in WW2 here, “Keep calm and carry on”, but fear and anxiety does sell a lot of papers and keep people tuned in to rolling news….

    • I generally find the BBC to have the most comprehensive of the international reporting and, yes, their people at ground zero do a wonderful job. For the rest of the world, it’s a tough slog to get it right.

      Thanks for the post, Ric. 🙂

  3. A big sacrifice sending your kids to Okinawa. Take care of yourself, healthfully, as well. Try not to sacrifice your own health as your input to the world & your children is much needed. Who knows the impact one of your kids will have on the world because of the upcoming years of your input in their lives.

    My question: I live in California and our health food store called those of us inquiring about kelp and potassium iodide as they were able to get some orders in. I’m quite confused about the recommended protected dosages, so I thought I would run by you. It seems they may be too small? Solaray KELP with folic acid, 400 mcg folic & 600 mg kelp. Also we got a product called Tri-Iodine: Each capsule: 12.5 mg Iodine (5 mg molecular iodine, 5 mg sodium iodide, 2.5 potassium iodide). I’m going to do more research. Don’t want to put myself into a danger zone, but don’t want to be minimally protected. Your feedback would be great.

    • Hi, Wavedancer.

      I appreciate your post, as it shows that there are potentially dangerous products out there.

      Your Solaray Kelp supplement looks to be reasonable, which is good news. 600 mg of kelp will have a small amount of iodine (~12.45 mcg). This is in line with the kind of numbers a supplement should have. You generally don’t want to be taking much more than this amount on a daily basis.

      The Tri-Iodine numbers are just scary. If they’re valid, then you’re looking at over 8000% the recommended daily allowance. This amount of iodine taken over even just a matter of weeks could cause irreparable thyroid damage.

      If I were you, I’d be running straight to your MD and/or licensed pharmacist to discuss the real risks of working with such large amounts of iodine. And, frankly, if you’re in the states, I think you’re already well protected by the considerable distance from Japan. You’re just not facing any considerable risk from fallout emanating from the reactors here. Even in Tokyo, the risk we’re facing is minimal.

      I appreciate your very kind thoughts about being separated from my kids. It’s only for a few weeks, I hope, and they’re getting to spend some time with their grandparents. That’s always a welcome experience for them! 😀

      Love, Light and Laughter to you!~

  4. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I’ll be getting back to you with the info I get from my MD and pharmacist as I think it is so good we all don’t panic, take care of ourselves and be wise about our choices. No need to reply. I will get back to you in a couple days.

Leave a Reply to Trane Francks Cancel reply