Chanukah or Christmas – the best things don’t come wrapped in plastic
I don’t expect consumerism’s grasp on religion to slacken in one holiday season, but I can hope that more individuals take time during their holidays this year to remember what in their lives is truly valuable — I would bet all my dreidel winnings that nothing on that list comes wrapped in plastic.
‘Tis The Season of Consumerism http://whatibelievein.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/tis-the-season-of-consumerism/ December 4, 2012 Given the berserk cultural focus at this time of year on buying things — a different catalogue has been arriving at our doorstep every single day for the past couple of weeks — I feel that it is almost obligatory
for all of us to do some soul-searching.
Presents and gift-giving are a beautiful thing, and I do not doubt that people are genuinely happier, at least for a while, during this orgy of spending. Continue reading
How Australia was sold the idea of atomic bomb testing, uranium mining, nuclear power
…. all manner of consumer and industrial goods were arrayed as icons of the coming atomic utopia.
‘ON THE BEACH: AUSTRALIA’S NUCLEAR HISTORY, Discontents Tim Sherratt, 7 Dec 12
“…..The crossroads of destiny At 8.00 am on the 1 July 1946 the inhabitants of eastern Australia tuned in to the atomic age. In a live radio broadcast from Bikini Atoll, they listened as the world’s fourth atomic bomb was exploded – ‘Bomb’s away! Bombs away!’ came the excited radio announcer’s call.
Some weeks later, a fifth atomic bomb was detonated, again at Bikini. Continue reading
Japan under pressure from USA to keep nuclear power
On 22 September the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper reported that the US Government had demanded that no cabinet decision endorsing the strategy be made. Other newspapers reported that the US Government was pressuring Japan to abandon its nuclear phase out aspirations.
More recently a series of statements by former senior US officials and advisors suggests a concerted campaign could be underway to intimidate the Japanese Government
whatever the outcome [of Japan’s election], Japan is undergoing a historic shift in its energy policy. The Japanese people need international support in this process, but they don’t need to be bullied.
Why America Wants A Nuclear Japan, New Matilda, 7 Dec 12 In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, most Japanese voters want the country’s nuclear power plants to be permanently closed down – 
but the US has other ideas, writes Philip White
On 14 September this year, one and a half years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the Japanese Government released an unprecedented document.
The “Innovative Energy and Environment Strategy”, the culmination of a year-long policy review process, set the previously unthinkable target of zero nuclear energy by the end of the 2030s. In resolving to phase out nuclear energy, the Japanese Government did what it had never done before in the energy policy field: it allowed itself to be influenced
by the will of the people.
The backlash was immediate. Business groups banded together to condemn the strategy, governors of prefectures hosting nuclear facilities expressed concern about the future of these facilities and, perhaps equally significant, the governments of France, the UK and the United States communicated their displeasure. In the face of this onslaught the government went weak at the knees and failed to give the strategy formal cabinet endorsement…… Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 