Censorship of Internet in Japan (and other media) a new team to delete "harmful" Fukushima information
This is a really troubling development. The internal security apparatus of Japan is contacting media and internet serviceds to begin deletion of certain information.
"[T]he Japanese government has moved to crack down on independent reportage and criticism of the government’s policies in the wake of the disaster by deciding what citizens may or may not talk about in public. A new project team has been created by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, the National Police Agency, and METI to combat “rumors” deemed harmful to Japanese security in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
"The government charges that the damage caused by earthquakes and by the nuclear accident are being magnified by irresponsible rumors, and the government must take action for the sake of the public good. The project team has begun to send “letters of request” to such organizations as telephone companies, internet providers, cable television stations, and others, demanding that they “take adequate measures based on the guidelines in response to illegal information. ”The measures include erasing any information from internet sites that the authorities deem harmful to public order and morality."
http://japanfocus.org/-Makiko-Segawa/3516
I learned about it on the thread discussing the absence of news in the major media. After looking at a number of the videos posted by a man living in Japan I am concerned about how much of the informastion may be censored or simply not reported. In one video he reports that women's breast milk has been tested at 40 Bcq/L but is not reported in main stream media (only local media in Japan). He also says that women will be the leaders who will rise up to oppose nuclear power once they know that radiation is in their breasts and milk. (I do not know where the breats milk was from, but the very fact of it was reported yesterday in the media with no mention of amounts - although authorities claim it is "safe" for the nursing infants (that seems to be 1080 pCi/L, right BRAWM?)
In any case these are video reports from someone who is living in Japan and is a first hand perpsective. He now fears his reports will be deleted from youtube and he will be branded a criminal or worse.
Worth taking a look at imho. He says that such censorship is tantamount to dictatorship.
http://www.youtube.com/user/playbacklapompe
I hesitate to
Makiko Segawa is a staff writer at the Shingetsu News Agency. She prepared this report from Fukushima and Tokyo. She can be reached at shingetsunewsagency@gmail.com
The problem with the
The problem with the Philosopher King theory of managing government and protecting society is, who gets to be the Philosopher King and decide what is OK to publish, and what is not OK to publish. What is safe, and what is dangerous to society? This is a huge problem philosophically speaking. Unless, of course, I get to be the Philosopher King and make the calls! But, then you won't be so happy, will you.
compensation for those harmful rumors...
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201105280184.html
Great article,
Great article, thanks!
"Although the word "rumor" can refer to groundless hearsay, the screening panel decided that it was "rational" for consumers to refrain from buying and recognized the damages from such rumors as both serious and real."
I don't know if the Japanese realize how much damage this crisis will cause to their food exports. Luckily for them and for us they don't export a lot of agricultural products, but even for their domestic market, the sales of products from the affected areas must be plummeting.
true news, but old news
Btw, you linked playbacklapompe's channel, I think you wanted the specific video where he addresses this article. That will date the time it came out, I was one of the people that sent him a link to the article.
To me, one of the facinating parts of this disaster has been watching the governments and media reaction, which I have been following closely, like a lot of people.
Information was originally scarce, but once Hilary Clinton made her visit to Japan, things got much worse. It wasn't to long after that where every country removed their regular detailed monitoring and forecasting from the internet - from NILU, UMD, China, etc.
I do believe this is being monitored more closely than we may know in our lifetimes. I do not know if it will ever be released to the public in our lifetimes. I am hoping somehow that independent organizations help us regular public folk out.
Do you not think the UCB folks probably know a lot more about this situation than they say? Of course they do, through their academic channels, but inofrmation nowadays is closely guarded. And anyone that leaks information now will most likely stop receiving that information.
In the absence of true, valid information, people flock where the tidbits are and try to fill the gaps. This can creat anxiety. Well-founded anxiety since it's clear we are not being kept informed and our intellect is not being respected. On the flip side, there are a lot of wackos out there and con men, so what to say can be a tough call, particularly when, realistically, what can they do? In japan, can they really evacuate their larger cities?
The situation is FUBAR. We all assume greater risk because of it, some more than others. As the radiation continues to spew out over the next year (years???), the best thing we can do is find some way to mentally cope with this. If you believe that there are things you can do or take to help prevent radiation disease (and I believe that there are), then do so.
I am tired of hearing that the anxiety of radiation caused more disease from Chernobyl than Chernobyl itself. Radiation also induces a lot of intestinal problems and damage - that isn't given enough credit. But now, now would be a good time to start on a path of wellness, even something as simple as probiotics.
The Two Faces Of MisInformation
Everyone should keep in mind some of the incorrect and just plain
dangerous information that has been posted on this forum. We've had
everything from leaving the US (losing jobs, leaving behind family
and homes, etc) to potentially dangerous preventative or remedial
actions for infants and adults. There was even one post where some-
one was *saying* they were on the verge of shooting themself and
their family. All because they were paniced. I'm sure in no small
part because of some fearmongering posts. The vast majority of it
based on incorrect levels of perceived risk. I'm not saying that the
Japanese govt is being completely honest in their actions (if the
article is even accurate), but if I were a member of the govt, I'd
want to take some sort of action to "censor" some of the dangerous misinformation that is being circulated. If not censor it, at least
come up with ways to counter it with correct information. But I do
agree that it's a very fine line between countering dangerous misinformation and simply shutting people up to protect the corporations
and economy.
So, how about a little "self censorship" on this forum. And not post
extreme information about radiation levels, illnesses or preventative/
remedial actions unless *you* are an expert in the field and can back
your information up with facts. Which should be backed up by research
data. Otherwise you could be more dangerous than Fukushima.
When the shitt hits the fan
We all I think have a nasty feelings about this meltdown and its fallout. Some of us have been momitoring this from the begining and it was completly obvious that this was a meltdown, from the fisth weeks.
Because.
We all know that fission, creates byproducts(aka Isotops)Plut. and so on.
They posted radiations survays and it was there.
And since then it has escalated and accumulated. Its been a ongoing farce and has shown to all of us a incompetence and a willingness to lie us strait into our faces, shamlesly.
And I fear that they have used the cheepest posible solution, they are leting the meltdown go down, and hopefully they belive it will cool of there, and when the suage and water systems already contaminated, its a mystery where they think the radiation will go.
And now when it realy is starting to close into something ugly and the concequenses are horrific.
This readings reviled are partly and polarized to give a fals image of the gravnes in this situation. The rest of the wide range of fissionproducts and the fact that several plutonium prod. are cept out of the knowledge of the public. Even the fact that Plut. is in USA allready and its been there since the firsth week, since the nuclear explosion in ractor 3. I am truoutly stunned that despite Tjernobyl we go along the same path, sensuring and downplaying, I know by no that this goes into a situation that dwarfs everything from the past, this one will be truly ugly.
And we have just started, and to say that this is scaremongering, that just underlines the ignorance and lack of knowledge on radioactiv fallout.
There is and its always overlocked, the wast differnce of internal - and/or external exposure, we should know that by now.
A rapport from Alexey V. YABLOKOV
Vassily B. NESTERENKO
Alexey V. NESTERENKO
http://www.strahlentelex.de/Yablokov%20Chernobyl%20book.pdf
We in Europa still have radiation and its implications 26 years later. Still there are products that is unfitt for human consumption.
This is exactly what
This is exactly what happened at Chernobyl, three mile island, and the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Understand history and you won't be surprised when it repeats. "Fool me once.....shame....on you?...." -GWB
This explains a lot,
This explains a lot, probably happening here too!
This is the USA and there
This is the USA and there was a time before nuclear power lobbyists and campaign contributions ran our government .the information contained in this 1961 report on internal emeters I believe is better than a current report due to nuclear industry relationship with politics and regulatory agencies set up by same polititions who were lobbyied get the picture?See this link to read about last quarters efforts by nuclear lobbysts increasing spending while others decrease.keep in mind ge donated 499,000 to Obama during 2008 this is done through bundling which corporations can do through employes and family of employes so many smaller donations bundled made 499,000.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/04/pace-of-k-street-spending-slows-...
http://books.google.com/books?id=BkArAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=196...
Academy of science 1996 report on low level ionizing radiation
O found this is most recent study/report
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11340&page=1
Public Summary
INTRODUCTION
The health effects of low levels of ionizing radiation are important to understand. Ionizing radiation—the sort found in X-rays or gamma rays1—is defined as radiation that has sufficient energy to displace electrons from molecules. Free electrons, in turn, can damage human cells. One challenge to understanding the health effects of radiation is that there is no general property that makes the effects of man-made radiation different from those of naturally occurring radiation. Still another difficulty is that of distinguishing cancers that occur because of radiation exposure from cancers that occur due to other causes. These facts are just some of the many that make it difficult to characterize the effects of ionizing radiation at low levels.
Despite these challenges, a great deal about this topic is well understood. Specifically, substantial evidence exists that exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation can cause illness or death. Further, scientists have long known that in addition to cancer, ionizing radiation at high doses causes mental retardation in the children of mothers exposed to radiation during pregnancy. Recently, data from atomic bomb survivors suggest that high doses are also connected to other health effects such as heart disease and stroke.
Because ionizing radiation is a threat to health, it has been studied extensively. This report is the seventh in a series of publications from the National Academies concerning radiation health effects, referred to as the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) reports. This report, BEIR VII, focuses on the health effects of low levels of low linear energy transfer (LET) ionizing radiation. Low-LET radiation deposits less energy in the cell along the radiation path and is considered less destructive per radiation track than high-LET radiation. Examples of low-LET radiation, the subject of this report, include X-rays and ?-rays (gamma rays). Health effects of concern include cancer, hereditary diseases, and other effects, such as heart disease.