- A bullet train has gone missing and is suspected of having been swept out to sea by the tsunami. No calls to halt use of trains.
- Also a dam break washes away 1800 homes. Ban hydro power.
- Next Big Future has its own summary and analysis.
- The BBC calms things down by fighting fire with petrol. Acts all surprised at the panic it's creating.
- Wall Street panics.
- Germany panics.
- Seattle panics.
- New York Times doesn't let a crisis go to waste.
- Another radiation hoax; this time in the Philippines.
- Radiation levels spike at complex due to either fire or cooling system crack. Levels have gone back down, though never reached dangerous levels.
- Mr Barack Hussein Obama leaps into action and votes "present". Will he call the disaster "unacceptable"?
- The Corner provides a reality check.
- So does the Register.
- Fukushima may not melt down, but the MSM certainly have.
- Reactor status as of yesterday.
- The Japanese earthquake shows why centrally controlled urban societies are a bad idea.
- Confronting anti-nuclear activists is like scolding a puppy.
- It looks like only the West is running away from nuclear power.
- Practical advice for west coast Americans.
- US energy secretary "paint the roof white" Chu says his country is still committed to nuclear power. It's pity that The One is really only offering a bait and switch "commitment" to fool people into supporting his controlling their right to breathe.
- Press panic-mongering risks Japanese lives.
- Another reality check.
- Hysteria is a poor basis for decision making.
- The New York Times implies that the Fukushima reactors are inherently unsafe, though it only manages this by being wrong on almost every relevant point and relying on anti-nuclear activists for quotes.
- Increase in severe earthquakes hitting Japan. Global warming not involved. I suggest contacting Jor El about this.
- Bravenewclimate update.
- Current reactor status.
- Will Japanese crisis curb the rise of nuclear power? The BBC hopes. Oh, they hope.
To Prof. Hanson's list of examples, I think I can add how easy the barbarians found it to roll over Gaul once the wall of the border legions was breached. The more civilized Romans were too busy being specialized, while the barbarians were under no such constraints. On the other hand, the Romans were civilized, and the barbarians, again, not so much. In this I think that Prof. Hanson neglects to mention a point: more complexity necessarily requires narrower and deeper specialization. A new MD might know everything from the inner life of the cell to performing orthopedic surgery, but look whom we admit to medical schools---for those less than two s.d. out in the smart tail of the bell curve, knowing more of something requires knowing less of something else. For those more than two s.d. as well, I think. Look how naive the smart ones tend to be about politics.
ReplyDeleteApropos of nothing, a thing. Heard recently. Comparison of the behavior of the Japanese people hit directly by this catastrophe to that of the Americans hit by Hurricane Katrina (which was of course, Bush's Fault). No looting, even though the shops are broken and their contents spilled. No murdering and raping, even though no one might be looking. This says something good about the Japanese people, and I'm afraid, something less good about my countrymen. I expect Japan to be back on its feet in months and the rubble cleared within a year, though of course the lives lost can never be replaced.