Common sense observation about the state of disaster of Fukushima nuclear power plant.

I wish more people did have common sense! Many of the folks I know are quite book smart but are lacking in common sense. Seems like they don't even take notice of what is going on around them and don't take notice of the "bigger picture".

I mentioned to my 83 year old mother the other day...why did man ever think he could win against mother nature and build these dangerous nuke plants? Especially in places that are vulnerable to quakes?

Man vs Nature.

My bets are on mother nature everytime!

I gotta tell ya, I see common sense in the title, but not to much of it in the posts. What I see is more of the fear mongering and hysteria that is rapidly driving me away from ATS as a news aggregator. The hysteria is also diminishing my entertainment factor, the main reason I come to ATS. ATS should change it's motto from "deny ignorance" to "embrace hysteria".

The tragedy in Japan is huge: thousands dead and missing,entire towns destroyed, and untold damage to infrastructure. That's only from the earthquake and Tsunami. The problems at the nuclear plants are insult to injury for the Japanese, and even though most of the posters here are overreacting by orders of magnitude it is deadly serious in both the near, short, intermediate, and probably long term for the people of northern Japan. If you are posting from Japan IMO you have the right to be near hysterical. Anyone concerned about radiation exposure not in Japan, well I got some Potassium Iodide tablets that I'll sell ya for $200 per blister, just don't take them until there is actually a need. There are risks to them.

Several of th theses in this thread really get to me, and I'll address them individually.

1) There are problems with Japanese Nuke Plants other than Fukishima :Like most hysterical drivel there is a kernel of truth in this. Multiple nuke plants went into emergency shutdown after the quake. Any unplanned shutdown is technically a "nuclear incident". What whoever brought them up failed to mention is that backup systems and emergency protocols allowed all reactors except those at Fukishima 2 to safely shutdown as designed or were able to be shutdown by operators in a reasonable time frame after the emergency.

2)Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the West Coast or the whole effin world is in danger Nothing I've seen or read gives me any concern about radiation reaching to much farther than Japan. We did not have a huge explosion with graphite burning uncontrolled like in Chernobyl. In my absolute worst case (ie every damn one of the reactors 1-3 melting down and the spent fuel ponds in 4-6 burning) northern Japan is toast, but at worst some light radiation might reach the West Coast. That's still bad, but not deserving of the hysteria we see here by the minute.

3)Libya was attacked to draw attention away from Japan. Correlation does not equal causation.Concurrent events do not have to be related. I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit surprised that the UN approved a no-fly zone with no Russian or Chinese veto, or even no vote. I was particularly surprised with Europeans taking the lead as well. If events in Japan had an effect on how the UNSC voted for a no-fly zone over Libya at all,it has more to do with the need for a stable supply of spice (er oil) while the 3rd largest economy in the world recovers from the triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuke hazard.

The fear and hysteria I see on all these Japan-nuclear threads is discouraging, and has caused me to lose a lot of respect for posters who I have in the past though highly of. Only The Redneck sticks out as someone who has been very active in the threads,kept a pretty level head and actually shown common sense.

We do live in interesting times and people should learn to keep fear and hysteria in check. Fear and hysteria can be used very easily to drive you into the arms of whatever bogeyman you believe in (anti-christ, NWO, etc).

They have restored power but I feel it's too late

reply to post by jefwane


Yes Jefwane, it is fear mongering because the people, like the intelligent ones participating in this thread, are scared. They are scared about the future of our planet. ATS is a great place to find information other than what the MSM is spoon feeding us. The only hope I have is that they stoped Chernoybl before worst case scenerio and I am praying that they are able to stop the worst case scenerio for Fukushima as well.

Ok...I see the term "fear mongering" thrown all over forums. I did not grow up with this term, so I looked it up to find the definition:

"Fear mongering (or scaremongering) is the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object or subject is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of repetition, in order to continuously reinforce the intended effects of this tactic, sometimes in the form of a vicious circle."

I read this entire thread and don't really see where anyone is using fear to influence the opinions of others nor do I really see this thread as being exaggerated.

This thread contains concerns of those that feel that we are not being told the whole truth and are basically just posting what common sense might be telling them. If feel folks on this thread are just commenting on their perceptions and looking at the bigger picture.

I have never felt like I have been "fear mongered" whether it's on here or another forum. I either agree with the poster or I don't. I guess maybe I am so independent and trust my own thoughts, that I don't feel fear. I am not a follower but trust my own judgement.

If people are being fear mongered by something someone says, then why? Where are your own perceptions?

I do feel great concern for our earth, our animals, our environment, the air we breath, the food we eat. And yes, I believe our planet is in trouble.

reply to post by SkunkSense

I completely agree I've never felt "fear mongered" here on ATS. Like you I either choose to believe the poster or not then I do my own research.

Fear is a survival instinct. We often don't have much choice our bodies feel it for us. I walk up on a rattlesnake I really don't have much time to think before my body kicks in with a surge of adrenaline. Can't say I've ever gotten an adrenaline rush here at ATS. Nothing wrong with processing information. Those who are so quick to label information as "fear mongering" make me dig a little deeper.

reply to post by SkunkSense


I'm sorry, I've got to laugh at people who are concerned about the planet. This planet has (according to science)survived comet impacts, meteor strikes, gamma ray bursts, impact by a mars sized body that left us with our moon, pole shifts, and myriads of other events. It may not have been hospitable to life as we know it through it's entire history, but planet earth should exist until our sun goes nova millions or billions of years from now. NO MATTER WHAT WE DO TO IT THE PLANET WILL SURVIVE UNTIL THAT DAY. Life has started over from near scratch multiple times on this planet.

Aside from the whimpering cries of "the planet is in trouble" I do feel we as a species are in trouble. Our inability to love our neighbor as ourselves, greed, overpopulation, lack of long term perspective, inability to get along with each other and generally selfish nature pretty much ensure that humanity will one day cease to exist. It could be from some cosmic event like a comet or meteor, but we have had the ability to do the job ourselves since shortly after Trinity. The Fukishima reactors are not that species ending event and in the grand scale of things aren't even close to that event.

I'm really pissed at all the cries to stop all nuclear activities now and find them akin to some ancient tribesmen saying all humanity should not use fire because a candle fell over after an earthquake and started a fire that destroyed a village.

By my posting "the planet is in trouble" does not mean the planet is going to end. That is one statement that I have never made. I also believe most folks stating "the planet is in trouble" mean the same thing. It's everything that is attached to this planet that is in trouble. Next time I will be more clear for your sake and any others that read way too much into that comment.

You can laugh all you like. But I do not think this is some joke.

As far as the nuclear business, I have never liked it. It's dangerous. Do you want to live by one? I do and I hate it.
The nuclear plant is about 25 miles from here. I never go to Oak Ridge. I want nothing to do with that place.

California has many nuclear plants along the coast. Could the same fate await them? Like I mentioned before, who do you think is going to win? Man or nature?

reply to post by jefwane

Originally posted by jefwane
I'm really pissed at all the cries to stop all nuclear activities now and find them akin to some ancient tribesmen saying all humanity should not use fire because a candle fell over after an earthquake and started a fire that destroyed a village.

Fire has been used for heat, cooking and to cleanse the land for some time now. Sure fire has killed people and left its destruction. Fire doesn't prohibit us from starting over. Can the same be said for a nuclear dead zone.

reply to post by Morningglory


The only time I have seen fear mongering is in other countries. Ask the people of China, North Korea, the Yemens, along with all the other countries in those areas. They are probably getting very weary of it since they are stopped from their own opinons/expressions/thoughts/common sense/the sense of freedom.

Those poor people can't even phart without getting a ticket. They are sentenced to death for reasons that are next to nothing. Now that is fear mongering...or in my day it was called something similar "intimidation" to the point where one's life is threatened for even thinking outside of their dictatorship's control.

That's the funny thing about people calling posters fear mongers.

They are the only ones afraid. And then they set about denying reality at every turn of the road. It's priceless and repeated to no end these days. Calling people you disagree with "fear mongers" is the new fad in style....WHY???

Because SHTF for once and now that we want to DISCUSS it and it's implications or potentials , we are ostracized and ridiculed.

Get a life and stop being scared of normal common sense. The only one scared and in denial, are those calling us fear mongers. Sorry I'm not God, I'm not the government or the global corporate interest.

There is no way in hell I could scare anyone or anything.

But you know what IS SCARY? Nature, Govt, and global corps. That's reality though.

I take it back, I am afraid of something too.

I am afraid of not speaking out when I feel everything is going the wrong direction.

I am afraid of not pointing out how I feel the media and govt lie to me constantly.

I am afraid of the power govt's and corps have, and how they use it to twist everything to fit their agenda and how they cover up all the real problems THEY CREATE simply because they are greedy and seek profit instantly.

I am afraid of living in a world where nuclear accidents happen, and everyone keeps saying it's ok, nothing to worry about, no big deal, its TOTALLY SAFE, bla bla bla.

I am afraid we are being conned big time, and it's not by a few random posters on ATS, hardly. We are being conned by a movement seeking to undermine us at every step of the way.

reply to post by SkunkSense


I do not live near a nuclear plant, though there are several coal power plants, and a chemical weapons decommissioning site not too terribly far away. The coal plants are probably as hazardous long term as the nearest nuclear plants. I'd gladly take the jobs that a nuclear plant would bring to this area though. I'd be willing to work at one no problem if the pay was right.

I did have some advanced NBC training while I was in the Army (a two week NBC defense course for non-chemical corps soldiers). The course was more focused on chemical defense than nuclear defense though due to the time I was in the service (mid 90's).I did keep the training books from the course and am in the process of trying to find them. I've also looked up and have downloaded the military FM's 3-12 :Operational Aspects of Radiological Defense and FM 21-40 :NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) Defense. I'm not unconcerned about what's going on in Japan, I just refuse to let the hyperbole (much of it being put out by people who made their livelihoods off fighting nuclear power before the Japan quake) influence my feelings.

There are risks to the benefits we receive from any sort of energy. Be it my example of fire from the previous post.Thousands of people die worldwide each year puling coal and oil from the ground. About half of the US defense budget is spent on maintaining an uninterrupted supply of oil.WWII was largely about who would control resources. Wind, solar, and tidal energy are not capable of 24-7 generation and not every area has a harvestable amount of wind, sun, or tide. That leaves nuke, coal, and hydroelectric as the only viable sources for energy. Most of the suitable locations for hydro are used already, coal generation is dirty leaves lots of waste and it's by products probably cause lots of illnesses itself, I believe that the risks of nuclear, properly managed, are no worse than hydroelectric or coal. How many people would die if a large dam burst? Lots you say but no radiation, I'll give you that, but what about all the industrial chemicals that such hypothetical damn burst would spread over such an area?

To be honest I don't really listen to any ones anti-nuclear rants unless they have a technology that is viable right now to replace the energy we get from nuclear power. And by right now I mean something that could be up and running by the time current reactors are brought offline (say 5-10 years). Being against something based on it's potential costs without a viable alternative to replace it's known benefits is simply stupid.

Right you refuse to listen to anyone speak out the TRUTH about nuclear energy and it's extreme threat to civilization.

Why? Because you refuse to change your life style. You refuse to stop wasting. You refuse to demand your govt's and corporations offer solutions or alternatives.

There are new alternatives all the time, advanced solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, natural gas, etc, are everywhere around us! But I only get two choices, coal or nuclear. Can't you see how bias you are?

This is all about you and YOUR lifestyle, Admit it. You don't give a damn if half the world gets polluted beyond recognition, you don't care if biomes are decimated, and you don't care how many deformed or dead babies there are.

All you care about is having a replacement so you can keep on keepin on.

I got a news flash for you. Your days are numbered. Your system is gonna crash. It's what we call "Unsustainable". --- Enjoy your party while it lasts, cuz nothing lasts forever!

It is All a LIE. Everything.
9/11, madrid, 7/7, mumbai, bali, egypt, libya, japan deaths and radiation alerts etc. etc. etc.
We have been and are been suckered.
Over and over again. Decieved and distracted cattle.
We have been warned by some who didn't live long after disclosure.
David Kelly, Robin Cook, Christopher Story etc.
Their finishing end is at hand.
The Georgia Stones are coming into their own.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I agree. Everytime someone post their feelings/emotions/common sense/latest finds. It's called fear mongering. I am beginning to hate that term because it does not make sense for those countries that have freedom to a degree. I stated in my post above what fear mongering really may be.....ask the communist countries peoples or those that are under dictatorship what fear mongering is.

This term shouldn't really apply for US and other fairly free countries. If people are truly being scared of everthing that is posted, then we are in trouble. I can't help but believe, and I am sorry for this comment, then do we have that many people that don't have a mind of their own? Are we all followers rather than independents? If that is the case, then I am proud of my idependence and not a follower and feel bad that others are not. We all have that capability to think for ourselves.

reply to post by jefwane


There may be many more sources of energy that we don't know about.
Why? No money can be obtained from these sources.

These are my feelings, so don't bash me.

reply to post by Helious


Thats how I've thought of it..

I figured..pumping sea water in? Thats desperate.

Dropping it in with Ch-47s? Thats REALLY desperate.

Unlike most conspiracy theory forums on the net, this one actually has intelligent people who can handle the not-so-pleasant truth without self-destructing. Everyone on here is discussing the Japan crisis in a calm manner and analyzing all aspects of the situation; so tell me, how is that considered "Fear Mongering"? I don't see anyone panicking or telling us to dig underground bomb-shelters.

Of course, we're going to bring in our emotions/thoughts/theories into our posts when it comes to situations like these, a sh*t load of people have been affected by this. At least it proves we aren't entirely desensitized _javascript:icon(''). Although, I don't know about you but I am utterly sickened by the amount of people who think this crisis is a joke. I've tried informing my friends and they always seem to find some way to relate this whole thing back to Godzilla. _javascript:icon('')

I think it's more than a little weird that the media is more concerned with the latest development in the Middle Eastern sitcom than the potential global effects of the radiation. They only reported for 2-3 days on Egypt, and I don't think it was that major of a headline. Now, with military strikes in Libya, that's all I've been hearing about. Their little confrontation doesn't affect me, the Japanese crisis does. It affects all of us, so WTF do they think they're trying to pull?

reply to post by xKhaosXREVolutionXx


Thank you. I have literally seen next to nothing on Japan's woes. But much on the middle east.

As far as threads being labled as "fear mongering", I still don't get it. Fear mongering is close to the term "intimidation". If people are being intimidated, then whose issue is this?

This would be an awsome thread if someone wanted to start one! That term is getting way too used easily/readily and out of hand. It's almost like everytime some one disagrees or post something out of the norm or about their feelings/emotions/thoughts, it's labeled "fear mongering".