Tag Archives: food

Fukushima

Iodide Not Iodine

Once again the U.S. media has been getting it wrong; saying that people in Japan are being issued “Iodine” pills. No, it’s “Iodide” pills!

Iodine and Iodide are related, but are different. Both can be good for you, and bad for you. It depends on the form, dosage and how they are used.

Many people think Iodine is good for you, in extreme small doses, and, in fact Iodine deficency can cause health problems. But, some forms of Iodine, like Iodine 131 (used in nuclear reactors), are bad and can cause cancer.  Iodine is not used in table salt.

Some table salts are enriched with Potassium Iodide. It is called “Iodized Salt”.  The general public has mistakenly called it iodine salt.

Potassium Iodide is what is used in anti-radiation pills. This is what the people, near the crippled nuclear reactors in Honshu, are being given. 

The thyroid gland in animals (that’s us humans as well) uses trace amount of Iodide to create proteins and hormones that contains Iodine. Hyperthyroidism can occur with an increase in Iodine consumption.  In other words, this substance is finicky when it comes to the health of humans. It can prevent cancer, and, it can also cause cancer and glandular problems, it depends on how much the person is ingesting, or is exposed to.

The lesson here is: Use Iodine and Iodide only when necessary, like in the case of diagnosed Iodine deficiency, or as a disinfectant (Lugol’s Iodine), or to prevent radiation poisoning in a nuclear event (Potassium Iodide). Otherwise, do not eat or drink it on regular basis.

Do your research.

Fukushima

Japan Tsunami Much Higher than Officially Stated!

Japan’s NHK has interviewed survivors on the coast of North East Honshu.

Survivors in one coastal town say they have been told that the official tsunami height was put at 4 meters, for their area.  They say that can not be, because sea wall tsunami barriers are built 10 meters high, and the tsunami easily went over the 10 meter high sea walls.  One resident says the tsunami that hit their town had to be at least 14 meters high.

1 meter = 3.28 feet.  14 meter wave is 45.9 feet high.

 

Fukushima

Japan Disaster Predicted, More to Come for Rest of World!

13 March 2011

In February there were several reports that a massive geological event was beginning under Japan. This was driven by the sudden increase in volcanic and quake activity south of Japan. It’s all tied to the increasing activity of the Pacific Plate, and surrounding tectonic plates. It’s also believed that disasters will resonate around the world.

13 March, a report in a Wales newspaper says the Japan event was part of a larger event that changed the tilt of the Earth on its axis. The tilt was changed by 10cm. The article also says Japanese professors claim that events will occur around the world on “…faults that are already on the brink of a tectonic upheaval.”  They also say this event in Japan happens every 1000 years.

Another report says that the speed of Earth’s rotation has increased, as a result of the Japan event. It was increased by 1.6 microseconds.  The speed was also increased after last years big Chile quake. But after the big 2004 Sumatra quake/tsunami the Earth was slowed down by 6.8 microseconds.  The point is that these events are not just ‘normal’ quake events.  They are deep events affecting the very rotation of the planet.

For the past few years there have been growing events of quakes and tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean.  There’s a reason it’s called the Pacific Ring of Fire: An event on one side of the Pacific will result in an event on the other side.  The intervals of events have been getting closer together.  So far this year we had New Zealand quake event, then volcanic event in Hawaii, now Japan. There was also a moderate quake off Chile the same day as the big Japan quake.  It looks like the Pacific Ring of Fire events are intensifying.

Be prepared.

 

Fukushima

Japan Modern Day Atlantis round 3 Quake Upgraded 10,000+ Dead

13 March 2011

Nuclear power plant officials admit that reactor 1 at Fukushima plant 1 exploded due to hydrogen gas build up. Many western observers had already made this statement, but Japanese officials downplayed it for almost a day. This is becoming standard of Japanese officials, they have been downplaying the severity of the situation from day one. Nuclear officials say their nuclear plants are designed to withstand 7.9 quakes. Japan’s government has uprated the main quake to 9 on the international scale. I think it will be higher.

Miyagi prefecture is reporting that at least 10,000 people are dead. Towns wiped out along with their population. Miyagi prefecture has 13 cities, plus towns & villages, with a total official population of about 2 million.

Some local governments have literally been wiped out and the national government has taken direct control.

Major Japanese companies, like Toyota, Honda, Sony, etc, are shutting down operations in Japan due to a total collapse of the infrastructure of Japan. Japanese reporters have said that rescue helicopters have not been able to land in the hardest hit areas because the ground is too torn up. One city looks like it has been hit with a nuclear bomb, only the tallest buildings are standing. Landslides have hit areas further inland. The infrastructure includes roads, bridges, rail lines, water lines, power lines, etc. This is adding to the growing nuclear disaster.

Officials with nuclear power plants say they have no back up power from non-nuclear plants because those plants have been shut down by the quake/flood. The back up generators at the nuclear plants are not working, or will not run properly, damaged by the quake/flood. Power is needed to run the massive cooling systems on the nuclear reactors. Fukushima nuclear plants 1 and 2 are in trouble. Reactor 1, at plant 1, has exploded and experience partial melt down of reactor rods. Other reactors at both plants are overheating. As I’m writing this word has come that reactor 3 could explode. Officials say hydrogen gas is building in the reactors. They are trying to vent it to prevent explosion. They are dumping sea water on the reactors. Using sea water is a last ditch act, which is a sign that they can not do anything else to prevent nuclear catastrophe. 62,000 people have been evacuated from around the Fukushima plants. Officials are now saying they want to expand the evacuation to include another 80,000 people. There are reports that another nuclear plant, in Onagawa, is in trouble.

JAPAN MODERN DAY ATLANTIS ROUND 2: People of Atlantis had become extremely arrogant because of their technological advances. 

Fukushima

Japan Modern Day Atlantis round 2

12 March 2011

Part of the myth of Atlantis is that the people of Atlantis had become extremely arrogant because of their technological advances. Some Atlantis myths say they were destroyed for their arrogance. The ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan is a modern day example.

The Fukushima nuclear plant was built with many safe guards and back up systems. This was part of the selling point of the plant when convincing the people to accept that the worlds biggest nuclear plant was to be built in their country. Right up until the explosion at reactor 1, the government was reminding people of all the back up systems and how unlikely it was for the problem to get worse. It got worse, and it could get catastrophic. There is more than one reactor at the plant, and reactor 2 is in trouble. (Japan’s NHK media will not show the video of the explosion of the reactor, I watched it on BBC and RT. Japanese officials are still claiming that the explosion happened after the walls fell down. Watch the video, there is a clear shock wave before the walls fall.)

What happened to the safeguards and back up systems, which included 13 back up diesel generators for reactor 1? It all failed, all the high tech systems failed. Plant officials and workers were attempting to cool the reactor manually. They were rotating work crews in and out of the plant, because of the radiation levels. The crews were trying to operate cooling valves manually. Also, they were dumping sea water on the reactor, in an attempt to cool it down (the U.S. military was helping with this attempt). All these attempts failed.

Another event has escaped the attention of most media and government officials: Landslides. A CNN reporter discovered, on her way to flood hit areas, that major landslides have occurred at higher elevations. She did a live report from one small town where half a neighborhood was buried by what looks like about 20 feet of earth. There are reports of towns being wiped away, by landslides and flooding. One small city says 9500 of their residence are missing, half their population. Again, the Japanese government is downplaying the severity of the situation, they are still saying the “…death toll could hit 1000” (can you say “understatement”?). When you hear the number of people being reported as missing, by the different cities and prefectures, the indication is that the death toll will be in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Japan’s NHK has been showing before and after aerial pics of cities. It is clear that some cities have been completely erased.

Also, I have heard that millions of people on the main Japanese state of Honshu are without access to drinking water. The water supply system has failed. No power, no water, no food supply because the road/rail systems are disrupted, the systems of an advanced society have failed. In the U.S. I still hear insulting talk about the people of Haiti, still suffering from their deadly quake, better think twice and humble your arrogance.

The Atlantis myth has another lesson for arrogant humans: Societies can be erased by Mother Earth, no mater how advanced their technology, no mater how correct they think their way of life is. Mother Earth always wins.

JAPAN MODERN DAY ATLANTIS:  “A potentially catastrophic disaster,” understated President Obama. 

Fukushima

Japan Modern Day Atlantis

12 March 2011

“A potentially catastrophic disaster,” said President Obama. Hello, can you say understatement?

Aside from the looming nuclear disaster, it is starting to look to me that there is a major catastrophic geological event taking place under Japan. There are now reports that suggest that the big 8.9 quake set off chain reaction quakes all over Japan’s main state of Honshu. It would explain why some areas experienced shaking for up to 5 minutes. Other reports are adding that there was more than one major tsunami, which would have been caused by multi-quakes around Honshu. Early morning, March 12, NHK reported that some parts of northern Honshu were still being hit by small tsunami every 30 minutes. This means the “event” is continuing. The east coast of Honshu moved at least 8 feet eastward. Also, there was the 6+ quake on the north west coast of Honshu on Friday, and there was a 7.3 quake the day before the bigger 8.9. A Japanese committee said GPS data indicates that the quakes were “synchronized”.

Honshu sits where three major tectonic plates converge: Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate and Philippine Plate. A major quake with chain reaction quakes on the Pacific side, with a major quake following on the Eurasian side, signifies a major tectonic event. (There are more detailed smaller plate and trench structures that run through Honshu).

Also, in some areas of northern Honshu the flood water has not receded. An “expert” interviewed on NHK stated that it could be because the ground was saturated (don’t quote me, this was through hasty translation). I find it interesting that the ground was saturated that fast from flooding, I’m thinking liquefaction. So water is not only being pushed on land, but it is being pushed up through the land. Another possibility is that the land has actually dropped.

Liquefaction was a factor in the large earthquakes along the New Madrid fault line during the 1800s in the United States.

The Pacific Plate is making a major push eastward. The norther end of Honshu might go the way of Atlantis, being submerged under the ocean. But this brings up the question of what is happening on the eastern side of the Pacific Plate, North America.

The Pacific Plate is being pushed by the North American Plate (I assume that because the North American Plate is moving southwesterly, and is not being subducted, except along the Puerto Rico Trench). Big events should be expected in North America. It is known, by geological evidence, that a major quake/tsunami event is expected anytime for the Pacific Northwest. What is happening to Japan could be a precursor for a major event for North America, just as what happened in New Zealand could be considered a precursor to the Japan event (New Zealand sits on top of the converging Pacific and Australian plates). Don’t forget the super volcano known as Yellowstone, in the Pacific Northwest, is overdue for major eruption.

Be prepared.

Fukushima

Japan Quake = No Economic Recovery

11 March 2011.

Japan’s huge earthquake, Tsunami and huge aftershocks, are not only devastating for the people of Japan, but are devastating to Japan’s economic recovery, as well as the world’s economic recovery.

Infrastructure for densely populated areas of Japan, hit by the flooding, are destroyed. Nuclear power plants are shut down. One nuclear power plant is in emergency mode because its cooling system, and back up systems, have failed. Auto manufacturing plants have been shut down. A major oil refinery is on fire. A lot of the land flooded by the Tsunami is farm land, which means no crops this year, adding to the what the UN is calling a World Food Supply Crisis for 2011.

This on going event of Mother Earth is adding insult to injury for Japan’s struggle for economic recovery. Before the quake hit, Japan’s so called recovery stalled, with its credit rating downgraded because the country is deep in debt. Recently there was hope that investors would start buying up stocks in Japanese companies, because they were considered a bargain, and, it was thought they would pick up in value as the Japanese recovery picked up steam. Now all that is in doubt.

It looks like Japan, helped by Mother Earth, might become the next domino to fall in the world economic crisis.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Beat the Food Crisis, Go Native. Free Seeds?

Our civilized society has taken too many things for granted, like where our food comes from.  Mass produced by big farms, using lots of chemicals, and even genetic modification.  Those chemicals and modifications are supposed to help our traditional crops produce more, and handle extreme weather.

Mother Nature already has plants that can do that, they’re called Native Plants, and you can eat them (not all of them, of course).  How do you know which native plants you can eat?  You can check your local bookstore, or public library, for local books on the subject.  You can check the internet, under native plants and whatever state you live in.

Can We Eat It? City Creek, Pocatello, Idaho.

In Idaho an organization has formed that is pushing for the use of native plants in landscaping (because they can save water and are fire resistant), and native plants you can eat.  The Boise based Idaho Native Plant Society even sponsors plant sales and seed exchanges.

Don’t think of snatching some native plants out of the wild, believe it or not, there is such a thing as plant poaching.

There’s a seed bank that has spent decades searching the world for food plants that do well in Idaho’s climate. They have lots of high altitude crops, Siberian Tomatoes, and Tomatoes developed by the University of Idaho (I think the company used to be in Idaho, but relocated to Arizona. You can still order the seeds).

Want to start a garden but don’t have the money?  Texas based The Dinner Garden gives away seeds.  They admit that they are backlogged trying to meet requests for seeds.  Their website says they have a partner in Kimberly, Idaho.

Business/Economics, International

Food Crisis: Drought, Floods, now Locust in Australia

Australia is struggling to keep it’s lucrative agriculture industry booming.  Some areas of Australia are dealing with the worst drought on record.  Other areas are dealing with floods, and now Locust.

PARKES, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 26: A lamb stands in a dry paddock on the 10,000 acre property owned by the Orr family on January 26, 2010 in Parkes, Australia.The Orr family received 13 inches of rain in 2009 and have been hand feeding stock for approximately 8 years. Drought in New South Wales has increased by 1%, the state is now believed to be 95% marginally or fully in drought despite some rain during the Christmas period. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
Parkes, Australia, dealing with drought.WANGARATTA, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Floodwaters surround Painters Island Caravan Park on September 6, 2010 in Wangaratta, Australia. Many parts of Victoria were devastated by flood waters when heavy winds and rains inundated the area causing the worst flooding in over a decade. The State Emergency Service has ordered the evacuation of several cities and are warning residents that the threat is not yet over. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Wangaratta, Australia, dealing with floods.
This is a major threat to Australia’s economy.  Their economy is based mainly on service industry, but, it’s their agriculture industry that’s boosting their economy.  Australia has profitable agriculture trade deals with other countries, that’s helping Australia see a 1.20% growth rate this year.  It’s also helping to keep their unemployment rate around 5.10%.
Margaret River Western Australia. 13/01/2010 Voyager Estate Winery www.voyagerestate.com.au Netting protects the crop from Silvereyes Photo Roger Parker
Margaret River, Australia, using Locust nets.

The struggles against Mother Nature in Australia will add to the growing price of agriculture commodities, and the looming Food Crisis.

Idaho, Opinion

Red Cross Hummers. Why?

Brand new Red Cross Hummer seen in the Fred Meyer parking lot in Pocatello, Idaho.

General Motors has been donating Hummers to the American Red Cross since 2004, along with a lot of cash ($100,000 in 2004). GM claims the vehicles help with disaster response. I can see the Hummer H1 as practical for this, but the H2 & H3 are among the most impractical  SUVs out there.

Why not deck out one of GMs big four door 4×4 pickups with all kinds of rescue gear, that would be more practical. Are the H2s & H3s meant for rescuing the upper class in style?

This is just another example of the lack of wisdom in our corporate leadership. Oh, but wait, I bet GM got a huge tax write off for doing this. A tax write off for an expensive vehicle that was seeing declining domestic sales (a little more than 9,000 in 2009 compared to almost 56,000 in 2007). Oh, isn’t General Motors the company that got bailed out by U.S. taxpayers (yes, they did pay it back, at least on paper).

Here’s better news; the Hummers aren’t even made anymore. The Chinese government rejected plans to buy Hummer, and GM officially ceased production this year (apparently the last Hummer H3 left the production plant in May 2010).

So the question now is; is GM going to continue to donate vehicles to the American Red Cross, or was it just a way to write off their unsold Hummers? If they do give the ARC more vehicles I hope they choose a more practical truck.