Heroes, criminals and victims of 2011

Heroes for 2011

My heroes for 2011 are Arnie and Maggie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates who have gone over and beyond their professional mandate, and at personal cost to themselves, to ensure that information about Fukushima is placed in the public arena.

Criminals of 2011

Although there is no international law covering peace time genocide there should be. My candidates, if ever this law is put in place, are the Japanese government and TEPCO.

Victims of 2011

Absolutely, the children of Japan and then of the Northern Hemisphere.

A living, breathing child is the potential of the future, voiceless, unprotected and vulnerable.

Sadly, the most silent in this catastrophe are those who claim that they are right for lifers. If they truly were pro life then the outcry against the deliberate and conscienceless destruction of the innocent would have filled the vacuum of protest in the wake of Fukushima.

The children remain undefended.

Closing 2011 opening 2012

December 21, 2012, is predicted to be the end of life on Earth. It certainly seems that the majority, including the body politic and big business, believe this to be true because everyone is acting as if there is no tomorrow.

For myself, I doubt seriously that there is any universal design which will bring our species to a close. I do not believe that we will be lucky enough to be destroyed by a giant red planet lurking behind the sun, but 2012 will bring to an end many of the things we have taken for granted up until now.

We are likely to spiral into the abyss of 2012 carrying all the familiar baggage, and to enter 2013 lesser than we are now, bereft of health, wealth and happiness. If that qualifies for an end of world experience, then, yes, the scryers are right.

Einstein, I think, said that we will go out with a whimper not a bang, and I tend to go with this statement.

A bang would be something glorious, a thing of legend. As a species we don't deserve to be immortalized even in the untold story. With the way we treat each other we deserve to be chased into a corner whimpering and fearful, and left there to rot.

No species responsible for acts of gross stupidity like Fukushima, or for incomprehensible acts of aggression like war, animal abuse and bullying, deserves to be remembered.

The statistical myth that is Fukushima

After a little more look-see I discovered a video in which Arnie Gundersen refers to a model used to project the one million deaths from Fukushima.

Although I have a great respect for Mr. Gundersen, I do have a problem with the source he quotes.

Models are projections, nothing more, nothing less. They are the what if factor often present in the absence of raw primary data. They anticipate possible statistical outcomes only and should never be viewed as substitutes for actual research data. 

My personal feeling is that if we really wanted to understand the human toll from Fukushima, qualitative scientists like anthropologists should be hired to perform a long term observational study in the areas mapped by European tracking systems which followed the spread of radiation during March/April onwards.

I can guarantee that their outcomes would be horrendously higher than a million because of the cumulative nature of observational research, and there is nothing more cumulative than radiation - especially when it is still seeping, and will continue to seep into our seas, our air, and onto our land and food sources for an unknown period, perhaps decades.

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The feeling among quantitive scientists is that we will never know if diseases are caused by Fukushima radiation or some other factor. Observationally, I would argue that we can by studying the society itself. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

It's that time of year.  The summer holidays are almost here, along with Christmas and the New Year.  I've been delighted to see there's been a small run on both The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore and The Grease Monkey's Tale over at Amazon of late, in time for Christmas presents or holiday reading, so I'll raise my glass and say Cheers to that. Of course, Snowing and Greening is very much a winter's tale, while Grease Monkey turns much of that on its head, so hopefully there'll be something for all, whether about to celebrate Christmas and the New Year through a southern summer or through a northern winter.

I'm taking a break from Blogdom for a couple of weeks, but would like to thank you for dropping by and say thanks for buying my books.   Here's wishing one and all, a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. 

May your days be many and your troubles be few;
May those you love always love you too.

Inside the Express packet is a white envelope and inside the white envelope a Christmas card.
page 224 The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore

Killing the future one child at a time

Investigative journalist penetrates Fukushima

This video is long but is well worth the time. Translator provides English translation at intervals. I discovered it on Enenews.

40 Years to decommission Fukushima

40 Years to decommission Fukushima means in your lifetime, that of your child's, and possibly your grandchild's, the oceans and land in both hemispheres will be void of healthy foods and drinking water.

40 years means that no country's medical scheme will be able to cover the debilitating illnesses which will be common place, and deformity will become the norm.

40 years means that the Occupy movement is redundant because long before 40 years is up we will be equal - we will all be part of a new mutant species incapable of being occupied or occupying.

40 years makes the scientific and political dream of a human colony on another planet science fiction, because no system, not even a hermetically sealed one, maintains itself indefinitely, and the seed like its protectors and donors will corrupt.

40 years means that conspiracy theorists and world enders are trumped at the finish line. A hidden red planet which sucks the life off Earth, or a meteor devastation, or a super volcano will be a blessing, a quick end to a burdened body and mind.

40 years is probably closer to the truth than the Japanese authorities have ever come, but the news is a non-event, as if we are already drugged to the reality around us. We are like sheep to slaughter, unseeing and uncaring that in 40 years we may momentarily wake and ask, "Why did we not react? Why did we not respond to save ourselves from this?"

The above post is based on http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20111215_04.html - NHK World release dated December 15, 2011.

The Mad Square

NGV Catalogue cover using Suicide (detail), George Grosz, 1916

As an 18 year-old studying for my Art and History of Art 'A' levels, I admired the work of George Grosz, Otto Dix, Wassily Kandinsky, Rudolph Schlicter... many of the artists who've since been lumped together as German Expressionists, but who also became directly or indirectly involved with Dada, Bauhaus, and the like - post-World War One, post-Blue Rider and all that.  For a while I tried drawing like some of them, and held onto one piece that was clearly influenced by the likes of Grosz, Max Beckmann and Georg Scholz .  (Took it out and dusted it down today, then promptly hid it back in my folio again.)  It suited the person I was at that time, and aspects of the world I saw about me.

Eats, Paul Burman, 1976

'Under my rule, it shall come to pass ... in this livery will I clothe ye.' from The Robbers portfolio, George Grosz, 1922

I was delighted, therefore, to be in Melbourne recently, shortly after an exhibition, which celebrates "modernity in German art" and places it in its historical perspective, was opened. The Mad Square features an impressively broad range of work, from Franz Marc, Rudolf Belling, August Sander, El Lissitzky, Erich Dieckmann, to name just a few.  The period from 1910-1937 is presented in paintings, prints, photogaphs, collages, films, sculpture, furniture, and well worth a visit if you're in Melbourne. It runs until 4th March 2012.

So many wonderful pieces.  By way of giving a taster, here are two of my current favourites:

 Self-portrait, Christian Schad, 1927

Triad, Rudolph Belling, 1918-19

Down at the Factory of the Imagination in November

Last report had Number Three novel at 67,000 words.  This report has it at 74,000.  That's not too bad, although a tad behind where I was hoping to be by this point in the year.  I had hoped all the words would be down, roughly in place, and that I'd be engaged in some glorious editing by now, but I'm not quite there yet.  Another ten thousand words should do it though.  However, the closer I get to the end of a project like this, the more frequent and more pronounced the self-doubts become.  The best antidote to this is in telling myself that every draft is a rough draft, and that it's the polishing that really counts.

Writers delight, it seems, in developing metaphors that describe the process of writing, and I've been likening where I'm up to recently with the sinking of a mine shaft (without the environmental damage).  Having invested a couple of years of time and creative energy in developing this manuscript because I believed the initial workings/the exploratory drilling looked promising, I sometimes worry that when I actually get to where I need to be with it there'll be nothing of value - nothing that I value.  No gems to polish, just a slag heap of ideas.

This being Number Three though, I remind myself that I felt exactly this way with Snowing and Greening and Grease Monkey too.  Ho hum.  Onward and downward.  Be sure and steadfast, and all that.  Let's hope thar's gold in them thar hills.

Another Earth directed by Mike Cahill

It was slashing down with rain when I was in Melbourne recently and, having already got a tad damp heading to the NGV, it seemed like a brilliant idea to spend a couple of hours in the cinema - the Nova in Carlton, no less. Another Earth was on the billing, and what little I'd read about this recent release intrigued me.

This was my first time in Nova, and I thought it an enjoyably retro experience - spot on for a wet, Saturday afternoon.  In fact, the young American couple who'd found their seats in the auditorium before us must have felt something similar, because they were busying themselves photographing the fixtures and fittings until we arrived, and then they cheered for no longer being the only patrons.

I thought we'd entered the wrong auditorium and were about to get another film at first,  because it seemed as if we were being shown the Another Earth preview - about the appearance of another planet, very close to Earth - except it was more depressing than I'd expected.  Wasn't sure what we were going to get instead - not Cars 2, I hoped.  Until it transpired that the preview was for Lars von Trier's Melancholia.

Another Earth is the feature film directorial debut of Mike Cahill, who co-wrote it with Brit Marling. She also stars in it, alongside William Mapother.  Great performances by both.  It tells the story of Rhoda Williams who, as a high school student out celebrating with friends, is driving home when she hears a radio report about the appearance in the night sky of another planet, which is, to all extent and purposes, the very image of Earth.  She catches sight of the planet, is mesmerised by it, and crashes head-on into the stationary car of Yale music professor John Burroughs, killing his pregnant wife and young son instantly.

Because she is under the influence of alcohol, Rhoda serves a prison sentence (thereby ending her prospects of becoming an astro-physicist and exploring the nature of the universe!), and the main body of the film picks up with her release 4 years later, telling a story of grief, loss of innocence, and the painful search for redemption.  If that sounds too depressing in itself, be assured that there is an energy and ambience about the film, and the portrayal of all the characters, that makes it compelling and ultimately life-affirming.

While the presence of the additional Earth adds some interesting elements to the story, this is not Sci-fi, and the storyline does not over-concern itself with too much pseudo-scientific justification of this - or the logical ramifications of it.  Another Earth affects towards Arthouse-on-a-small-budget, down to the scratchiness and muted colours of the film (although this might equally have reflected the age of Nova's projector) and the hand-held camera work, which I found irritating for a few minutes, although on the whole these combined characteristics add rather than detract from the experience.  On those occasions when I could suspend disbelief no longer and wanted to raise concerns about some of the logic flaws (particularly with the outcome), I found it useful to remind myself that the parallel Earth idea is, more than anything else, an effective device to explore a few interesting existential questions - a bloody big metaphor floating in the sky.  Namely, how we each choose to live our life, the ways in which we respond to regret, self-forgiveness, the notion of the life we would like to have... 

Well worth watching.  Even more so on a wet afternoon.

Are there gifts of radiation on your Christmas list?

In the rush to buy Christmas presents for those you love, you may forget to ask where the products were manufactured, and if the answer is Japan, were they shipped before 3/11.

This may sound strange, but anything manufactured or grown in Japan - after the Fukushima explosions which send radiation debris around the world on the Jet stream earlier this year - carries no guarantee that it is not contaminated to the point of injuring purchasers or users.

The unending log of lies both from the Japanese government and TEPCO, the constant alteration of research findings and radiation equipment readings, and the active suppression of information among Japanese citizens, should concern all of us at this time of year.

A gift as innocent as a Japanese manufactured camera or Japanese green tea could put a loved one at risk because there is no radiation monitoring of imports from Japan.

Yellow rice is a favorite dish on our Festive Season table, but I hesitate to buy fresh rice from the grocery store because of the level of contamination in Japanese rice, some of which has been exported but, seemingly, no one knows where to.

The amount of lies associated with the Fukushima cover up also suggests that companies, with the blessing of the Japanese government, are not beyond shipping contaminated products to other countries for repackaging, making it appear as if these are not from Japan. While there is no evidence that this is occurring, the idea set in several months back with a circulating rumor which suggested that products were being shipped to China for repackaging.

I would have put this rumor aside as a cheap shot at China-West trade, but given the lies, as I have said, I cannot help thinking that those who stoop so low to hide truth are capable of anything.

My Festive Season budget will be spent on products close to home. We have a great local meat supplier in Lake Land Meats, a Farmers' Market in town, and endless other suppliers of local goodies within easy reach. As for the yellow rice? I hope my dwindling supply of rice stocks in the pantry will see me through the holidays.

If you want to follow the Fukushima developments which could impact your day to day activities, visit Enenews and Fairewinds.