A top Australian journalist speaks out on “truthiness”, fact checking, and new media
Read all about it: journalism has a future!, The Age, Katharine Murphy, September 3, 2012 If balance is a pillar of the new media then the truth will still win out. “….I find myself increasingly energised by the fantastic journalism I can now consume online from the best media outlets in the world. The digital bounty has changed my own news consumption habits fundamentally.
These days I hoover up blogs in London, New York and Washington, scour the American political website Politico (one of the great success stories of this period), admire the methodical journalism of ProPublica, watch live politics coverage on The Guardian and The New York Times, and use Twitter as a brilliant aggregator as well as a breaking news channel in its own right……
Modern journalism should be about providing clarity in the clamour. It should champion facts over what the American comedian Stephen Colbert has brilliantly termed ”truthiness” (a statement that feels or rings true, regardless of
the logic or evidence)…..
There’s been an interesting affirmation of core professional values over the past few days in the United States. I’ve been 
fascinated to watch a fact checking offensive unleashed by the US media covering the presidential campaign.
The trigger was an anti-Obama advertisement from the Romney campaign. This particular ad, a core element of the Republicans’ negative campaign, reportedly contained factual errors.
This problem was called out. The response from Team Romney was not an apology. It was defiance. Romney pollster Neil Newhouse reportedly declared: ”We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by the fact checkers.”...
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/read-all-about-it-journalism-has-a-future-20120902-2588i.html#ixzz25RW49zSx
Children of Fukushima the victims of “low levels” of ionising radiation
Although thyroid cancer is highly treatable and is operable, this level of exposure for Fukushima’s children is nothing short of catastrophic. There is a scientific consensus that at least 4,000 excess cancer deaths occurred in the wake of Chernobyl’ (a consensus, by the way, not shared by the nuclear industry–surprise!), but careful epidemiologicalstudies sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimate as many as 25,000 excess cancer deaths.
the health threat of Fukushima, even with these shocking thyroid results known, is being systematically underplayed in the business press.
The thing is, there has been a consistent downplaying the likely health effects of the Fukushima accident and an over-hyping of nuclear power’s “green” energy profile
FUKUSHIMA–WORSE THAN CHERNOBYL’ FOR KIDS The Paltry Sapien, by Matthew Payne July 21, 2012 The shocking results of the latest epidemiological studies are in from Fukushima and they are not good. As summarized by Michael Kelly at Business Insider, the report indicates:
Of more than 38,000 children tested from the Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, 36 percent have abnormal growths – cysts or nodules – on their thyroids a year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, as reported by ENENews.
This is startling. The Chernobyl meltdown threw much more atmospheric contamination out but has had a much slower progression in poisoning its local children–only about 1.74 percent of tested children in the test area around Chernobyl’ had thyroid nodules five to ten years after the nuclear catastrophe! How to explain this much higher virulence of radiation contamination in Japan? Well, first, they received a very high dose of radiation–mostly radioactive iodine isotopes. This was to be expected given prevailing wind patterns and the reason why the US NRC advised American nationals to evacuate to a distance of 50 miles, not the 20 to 30kilometers implemented by the Japanese government. That zone was not based on the clear computing modeling available to the Japanese government and it is hard to come to any other conclusion than that the government balked at evacuating the major city of Fukushima in the wake of the tsunami’s chaos. Frankly, even an evacuation zone of fifty miles was inadequate–ENENews has uncovered three children (4, 7, and 10) from one family with pre-cancerous cysts on their thyroids sixty miles from Fukushima Daiichi. Continue reading
Flinders University participates in USA Department of Energy’s pro nuclear propaganda
Christina Macpherson 3 Sept 12, 18 months after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the truth is filtering out, about the continuing release of radiation from the crippled reactors, as radioactive water seeps into the ground below them, and radiation levels linger in the Fukushima area. The Chernobyl disaster’s health effects on the Ukrainian population are becoming widely known, but the evacuation following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident was managed more swiftly, and permanently, than the Fukushima evacuation.
How important is the impact of continuing low level radiation on children’s health? We have our answer already in the high rate of thyroid disorders among Fukushma’s children.
It is shameful that an Australian university should participate in the USA’s Department of Energy’s propaganda to promote nuclear power, and whitewash the reality of ionising radiation’s harmful effect on human health:
Radiation response a meltdown in reason Flinders University News, July 14th, 2011 Published by FU Marketing and Communications. The possibility that low doses of radiation may prevent or delay the progression of cancer is being explored by a Flinders University research team led by Professor Pam Sykes in a move that runs counter to the widely held perception that exposure to any radiation is harmful.
Professor Sykes, recently appointed to the University’s Strategic Professorship in Preventive Cancer Biology in the Flinders Centre for Cancer Prevention and Control says the public panic in response to nuclear accidents such as that at Fukushima in Japan is the result of a general ignorance about radiation.
“…….. radiation is not the poison, the dose is,” Professor Sykes said……. “It’s now been accepted that they should not have evacuated so many people because the biggest detriment from Chernobyl was that they were dramatically disadvantaged, both economically and socially. Many suffered depression thinking they were going to die of cancer…..
Professor Sykes’ research, which involves doses of radiation that are up to three orders of magnitude lower than those used by other investigators, has been funded by the US Department of Energy Low Dose Radiation Research Program for almost 10 years…… Studies in Canada and Japan have also shown that low doses of radiation given to mice delay the onset of cancer, and reduce the symptoms of diabetes and atherosclerosis, improving the span and quality of life of the affected animals.
Professor Sykes and her team are currently examining low dose radiation therapy in reducing or preventing prostate cancer
Children in Fukushima are being exposed to radiation every minute of the day
“He didn’t answer my question about the fuel rods melted out did he?”
No he did not answer that question. ( The molten fuel is still molten, and large amounts of it has leaked through the holes in the base of the pressure vessles. As of September 2011, TEPCO still cannot accurately measure the amount of water in the reactors, the levels have been recently found to be very low and the water keeps leaking from the holes in the bottom of the damaged reactor pressure vessels.
On completion of “Step 2″ in their road map, the government scrapped the 20km exclusion zone, “welcoming back” women and children.
…most will come back because the government is making false promises. They have no where else to go
“Our government is still telling us that there is no immediate effect on health. Also it is telling us that it will be safe to come back and live in Fukushima within one or two years after the clean up work is done. Children in Fukushima are the most victimized by these government lies. Children in Fukushima are being exposed to radiation everyday and every minute of the day. Only 10% of 300,000 children living in Fukushima Prefecture have evacuated. “
Evacuate Fukushima 福島の子供を守れ Part 07 – DAYS OF INFAMY http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/evacuate-fukushima-%E7%A6%8F%E5%B3%B6%E3%81%AE%E5%AD%90%E4%BE%9B%E3%82%92%E5%AE%88%E3%82%8C-part-07-days-of-infamy/
The Japanese government decides to return all evacuees within 20 km of Fukushima Diiachi …going deeper into the history books 30 September 2011 will also mention this Day of Infamy. When an entire nation abandoned its children at the hands of a Nuclear Mafia that purchased the souls of the very young ones that were supposed to protect them. Continue reading
Dr Peter Karamoskos – dispatch from Fukushima
For other, more heavily contaminated communities, decontamination has failed. The mayor of nearby Iitate village recently declared decontamination efforts a failure and reluctantly concluded that this spelled the end of the village community.
Geiger counters, empty playgrounds: dispatch from Fukushima Crikey, 3 Sept 12, by Dr Peter Karamoskos, an Australian nuclear radiologist and Treasurer of the Medical Association for Prevention of War It is not what I had expected. Fukushima prefecture has some of the most stunning and beautiful countryside I have seen. Rolling, heavily wooded steep hills, dense vegetation and dark rich fertile soil in the valleys below. I tried in my mind’s eye to visualise the invisible radioactive particles permeating and polluting the natural beauty; it didn’t take much effort as the regular clicking of the Geiger counter beside me began to sound like old late-night television static as we travelled into the mandatory evacuation zone, where the only sign of life was the occasional police car prowling to deter looters. Radiation levels are too high to allow human habitation.
More than a year on from the Japanese tsunami, which claimed an estimated 19,000 lives and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster, I visited the nuclear zone as a medical practitioner to hear the testimony of the local people whose lives had been irrevocably changed……. Continue reading
Jennifer Robinson, Julian Assange’s Australian lawyer on UK’s ‘inhibited person list’
Lawyer for Assange detained at Heathrow and told she was on a ‘secret watch list’ Daily Mail, By ABUL TAHER, 1 September 2012 A lawyer acting for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says she was stopped at Heathrow and told that she was on a secret watch-list and required special clearance before she could board her plane.
Australian Jennifer Robinson said she was left stunned after being told by an airline crew that she was on an ‘inhibited person list’ that means she must have ‘done something controversial’.
Ms Robinson said that she could not understand why she was on the list as she had never done anything controversial or criminal. She had only represented clients around the world, one of whom was Mr Assange….. Ms Robinson, 31, said: ‘This incident raises so many questions.
‘Why would I need clearance to travel to my own country? So far I have not had a proper explanation.’
The human rights lawyer is a member of Mr Assange’s legal team, which has been fighting his extradition to Sweden on alleged sexual assault offences.
She was also his legal adviser when WikiLeaks published US military documents as well as diplomatic cables from American embassies. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197003/Lawyer-Assange-detained-Heathrow-told-secret-watch-list.html#ixzz25RNRNfJl
Audio: the unfolding effects of Fukushima nuclear disaster
Arnold Gundersen with another update on the unfolding effects of the Fukushima disaster http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=6397
This week, Dr. Caldicott brings on nuclear engineerArnold Gundersen to update readers on the unfolding effects of the Fukushima meltdowns and what is happening with nuclear power in other parts of the world. Longer show description to follow. As background, listen to earlier conversations with Gundersen (starting with April 1, 2011), which can be found on the Archives page.
Read the August 2012 news articles Study: Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Caused Mutant Butterflies andGrassroots Power Pushing Japan Towards Nuclear-Free Future . And visit Fairewinds.org, the website of Gundersen’s organization, for more information.
This week, Dr. Caldicott brings on nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen to update readers on the unfolding effects of the Fukushima meltdowns and what is happening with nuclear power in other parts of the world
[…]Gundersen: The big problem is going to be — Have these things been distorted by the earthquake or heat during the process, or by rubble falling on them. They may not be able to pull them. They may get on them and try to pull them and try to lift and they’ll be jammed. Then that’s another problem. We’ll see as time develops. Unfortunately, they’re taking way too long. http://enenews.com/gundersen-they-may-not-be-able-to-pull-out-spent-fuel-rods-the-big-problem-is-are-they-distorted-from-heat-or-quake-or-fallen-rubble-video
Paladin uranium company chief sceptical about the future of Olympic Dam uranium mine
Paladin Resources chief John Borshoff heaps doubt on BHP Billiton’s Olympic dream BY: MATT CHAMBERS The Australian September 03, 2012 PALADIN Resources managing director John Borshoff says he does not believe that BHP Billiton will expand its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine before 2020.
BHP last month said it was going back to the drawing board on the giant $30 billion South Australian mine expansion, confirming months of speculation and reports that the mining giant would not be meeting previous timetables to approve a development this year. Subscribers only http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/paladin-chief-john-borshoff-downplays-heap-leaching/story-e6frg9df-1226463484628
Wind farm for Ballarat, Victoria
Meridian to build third wind farm in Australia TVNZ September 03, 2012 Meridian Energy, one of the state-owned power companies slated for partial sale, is to start construction of its third wind farm in Australia, with the 131 megawatt Mt Mercer project in the state of Victoria.
Mt Mercer is a 64-turbine wind farm 30 kilometres south of the town of Ballarat with a construction cost of about $A260 million. The two-year project will begin in December and the commitment follows chief executive Mark Binns’s recent comments that the company’s best opportunities for investment new generation are offshore.
Mt Mercer will add to the Meridian owned-and-operated Mt Millar wind farm in South Australia and its project with AGL Energy to build the 420 MW Macarthur wind farm in western Victoria, which is touted as the largest in the southern hemisphere…. http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/meridian-build-third-wind-farm-in-australia-5057752
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 