Libya, War #3

So, we are now involved in a third war, Libya, regardless of what our elected officials tell us.  I mean, you must have heard it, "Exit Strategy", No Boots on the Ground", "Only establishing a no-fly zone",... and all the other malarkie...

Why are we doing this?  Even the casual browser of the history of that area can tell that this is a no-win situation for the USA (and for other countries involved in this allied intervention.  A no fly zone will NOT achieve anything other that prolong the pain and suffering and postpone resolution of the situation.  But, they told us, Libya has a strategic importance to the USA (and the World) because of its oil.  Come on, give me a break, it supplies 2% of the world's oil!  Important?  Maybe... Strategic?  Go sell it to someone else.

Some bring up the example of how we used no-fly zones to give an opportunity to the Kurds of Northern Iraq who were being persecuted by Husein.  Day and night!!  Thu Kurds were a distinct group, different than the rest of the Iraqis and when isolated they could pool together their resources, and better themselves.  This has nothing to do with the tribal system of Libya, which, by the way, none of our politicians understand :-(  So, let's say the Quadhafi leaves, is overthrown, etc.  Who takes over?  What structure or group is ready and poised to take over?  There is none, because of the country's tribal structure.  This is a civil was, with multiple faction (you'll see them sprout as this progresses) fighting each other and we now game them a common enemy, the USA.

And what about the coalition?  What a joke.  The French are in today, well sort of, and may be out tomorrow, the Germans were i, but they don't want to play any longer, the British are in (don;t know how wholeheartedly), the Chinese and the Germans tried to block the coalition, and so on...  I can see the writing on the wall.  At the end, we may have to go this one alone, as well.

But our leaders keep telling us no boots on the ground, they have an exit strategy :-(

Japanese Accident and the US Media

I have been following the news on the Japanese Nuclear problem very closely (well, as closely as I can) and I am disappointed in the media coverage of what is happening (yeah, I know, I shouldn't expect any better).  What I cannot understand is "why?".  I saw a half a dozen interviews on the major TV station (CNN, FOX, etc.) over the last couple of days, before I gave up and I think I finally realized that news is no longer news, it's opinion and agendas, whatever they might be.   There is no other explanation, for example, for them having Jim Walsh as an nuclear expert commentator!  Please, give us a break, PhD from MIT (in Political science), BS from Brown (in Philosophy), providing expert opinion on one of the most intricate engineering problems?  They must take us for fools, but you know, most viewers probably saw "MIT" and that was enough for them, his opinion all of a sudden became "expert" opinion - very sad.  No, I am not an expert, but I don;t pretend to be one, either.


Then, I've been reading the Drudgereport, NPR, BBC on-line, and just in case, some of other sites that may have an inkling of what's going on, like the National Energy Institute, IAEA's site, etc.


BBC (and Drudgereport) post that 500 bone marrow centers in the EU are on alert to receive Japanese exposed to radiation.  What??  500 centers on alert?  So, they expect hundreds of people to get doses higher than 0.7 Gray?  And, most of them to get the dose to the whole bod and to get it all in a matter of minutes, so they can develop acute radiation sickness and need a bone marrow transplant?    (Check out the CDC site for Acute Radiation Syndrome, that's what one should do).  Don't these "reporters" realize that when the site is reporting, lets say, 400 mSv levels at the plant, those are at radiation monitor levels, usually right next to the plant?  And, if that is a direct dose, all one needs is to be a few tens of feet away, for that level to be reduced by factors of 10 to 100? Spending 10 minutes on line, I was able to fond that!


And Drudgereport (well, Yahoo news) reports,  

RADIATION LEVELS SOAR AFTER 3RD NUKE EXPLOSION... 

which starts with:

 "

By ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press – 8 mins ago

SOMA, Japan – Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan..." 

As soon as I saw this, I checked the NEI site, which says: 

"UPDATE AS OF 10:20 A.M. EDT, TUESDAY, MARCH 15:

The level of radioactivity at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been decreasing, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

At 8 p.m. EDT March 15, a dose rate of 1,190 millirem per hour was observed. Six hours later, the dose rate was 60 millirem per hour, IAEA said.

About 150 residents near the Fukushima Daiichi site have been checked for radiation and 23 have been decontaminated.

At this point, I guess I just need to give up, rather than expecting any Yahoo, or BBC, or CNN reporter to understand the issue even just well enough to ask the right people to comment, or to make sure their information is corroborated.  Silly me :-(

Bravo to the Resilient Japanese

A 9.0 earthquake, a 30-ft tsunami, 4 unstable nuclear plants!

The Japanese have been hit hard, but one has to applaud their resolve.  Waiting patiently in long lines for food, water, etc. 140,000+ people orderly evacuating a 30 km radius!  Not screaming in the streets, killing each other, looting and demanding that the government "gives" them something that's owed to them. Compare that to what we saw on TV during Katrina :-(  What has happened to our country?

And no, I am not putting all the blame on the people, it also has to do with "how" governments treat their citizens, but now matter how I look at it, I come away with nothing but respect for the Japanese, and bitterness knowing that's now how we would respond (or have responded) to similar calamities.

I hope all of us take a page from their book!!