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This one is the US. Of course we're talking about Japan which has ample geothermal resources.

"In Minami-Soma, a screening panel of doctors, lawyers and other experts examined 251 applications and approved 234 of them."
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120204003191.htm

Lol. If you want to pretend that all 573 applicants are lying for the money, then it's your right. But not only have I been to Japan and have had Japanese friends and girlfriends, I can tell you that they are one of the most honest people I have met. You can leave your wallet on a park bench and it will go untouched. Try that in NYC.

So I will believe the certificates (screened by doctors, lawyers, etc.) are valid until proven otherwise. And your stance is insulting to those who did lose someone because of the nuclear disaster. It's a shame you can't simply admit that you're wrong and continue to rationalize away without any supporting evidence. *sigh*

In the meantime, it is a *FACT* that the Japanese government acknowledges people died as a result of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Whether you do or not is irrelevant. End of discussion, thanks for playing.

Can't argue with the willfully stubborn and ignorant anymore. Let other slashdotters beware and heed this example! :)

Bzzzzt. Wrong. Try again. Only the Fukushima nuclear disaster related deaths were issued official certificates because the surviving families are getting money. Not all applicants were accepted.

573 deaths 'related to nuclear crisis'
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120204003191.htm

As of mid-2005, however, fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster

Bolded a word you might have skipped over. Because a woman getting breast cancer that wouldn't have, or a man dying of prostate cancer 20 years earlier than he would have without the radation aren't indirect deaths from radiation.

And even if you are able to make the perfect reactor design, there are still the fatal flaws of human greed, corruption and hubris.

A good source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120204003191.htm Ow, I posted it before but i forgot to login: I know I will be modded down (for some reason slashdot readers are nuclear-fan-boys), but someone need to tell you guys: A tsunami + earthquake on a ultra-populated archipelago killing 19,300 is really low. But a single failure (4 core but still one system) killing 573 (plus long-term deaths) is a lot. Ow, yes, and one more thing: there is a lot of land that will be not usable for decades. Even the salt of the water from the tsunami don't do such thing.

The only thing China really wants from NK is to act as a strong buffer against the capitalistic influence of SK,

And a sock puppet to export nuclear and missile technology to Syria, Iran, Hamas, Burma and probably a few other places.

Actually, kind of. The Tokyo area is overdue for its huge quake that happens approximately very 70 years. The University of Tokyo is giving it a 70% chance of happening within the next 4 years. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/T120123004717.htm

>> The official count is 4 deaths

No, the official is now 573 deaths.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120204003191.htm

As you may know, this number is probably underestimated due to the jap gov. lying daily to their citizens.

Also, you may know that many cancers take much time to develop, and that the large scale food contamination is ongoing. an example of future cancers :
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/01/1117-children-over-30-of-3739-tested.html

This diagram shows where they were looking. Might have seem melted fuel from that angle but they did not. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120120006919.htm

Sometimes what defines malware for some is a wanted "feature" for others.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110918002842.htm

From the cooling pond which they've been pouring water all over. And from the small amounts that were airborne in the hydrogen when it detonated.

If you have *airborne* plutonium, you have *huge* problems. The boiling point of plutonium is nearly 6000 degrees Fahrenheit. And even if you're getting plutonium from water, it inherently means that the zirconium cladding has melted off the rods. Arguing that that this happened in the cooling ponds isn't exactly going to win you any brownie points in the "Nuclear power is safe" front.

And all of that said? Your claim is simply wrong. Again. Again.. Why on Earth do you think they reduced the rate of water flow into the core? Whatever they inject ends up in the basement after getting a hefty load of radionuclides. Not only is the water from the core, the evidence shows that it's from a core which has had re-criticality (multiple spikes in iodine production; iodine is a short-lived radionuclide)

Though, the only reason I'm defending this nuclear plant at all - despite the fact that everyone knew beforehand was a horribly outdated design and was due to be decommissioned

No -- only one reactor was (#1), and as usual with aging nuclear power plants (including our own), they got an extension to for ten years.

When what we really need to do is put the NIMBY and enviroweenies together on an island and let them starve because nothing ever gets done.

Right, because anyone who disagrees with you is someone who's only good as a target for name calling and has no proposed solutions of their own, correct? You realize you're talking about the same people who were accurately describing how serious this situation was while people like you were out there describing the plant's reaction to the earthquake and tsunami as a triumph of nuclear safety engineering.

There are no tsunami defenses at Fukushima Dai-ichi.

Wrong.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110410003477.htm

Breakwater 5.7m above sea level. Also note that the cooling issue was made far worse by the inability to get replacement generators and batteries to the site due to damage to roads. What they had was considered adequate for most of the plant's life but they did fail to upgrade when it was suggested that they should. The government shares the blame there, they should have improved safety regulations to force upgrades. The reactor was due for shutdown in 2011 but the regulator granted a 10 year extension.

The actual failure was nothing to do with the plant being built too low, it was with the design of the generator and pump rooms. Newer plants have watertight facilities or are designed to survive flooding. The older Daiichi design wasn't as robust, but was considered to still be safe because even if the emergency generators flooded there would be other sources of power available quickly. Due to road and powerline damage that didn't happen.

You are also factually wrong about using sea water. That was an emergency measure, normally the system has a supply of water that is managed because naturally it becomes contaminated over timer.

That's all? So TEPCO did not falsify safety inspection records, cover-up a defective reactor, use the yakuza to get expendable workers, continue on with a foreign journalist QA session even without the foreign journalists, or make numerous blunders immediately after the tsunami to put us into the current situation ?

What a relief . . . here I was thinking TEPCO would become the poster child of the part of Japanese society that remains corrupt, arrogant, and incompetent. Good thing they have apologists like yourself . . .

Maybe the game could use a few modern twists and get people prepared for things they haven't given enough thought to. Got some radio-iodine in the milk? The half-life is short. Why not process it into powdered milk and store it until there's no longer a problem? Could farmers or the department of agriculture use cloud seeding to cause pollution to be dumped in a lower impact area like over the ocean? Could some keep hay in reserve to feed the cows with in case the pasture areas get contaminated for a little while? If farmers got more behind product testing, wouldn't they be less likely to have competitors cheating with melamine?

If animals are fed diets that promote higher acidity and nastier strains of pathogens, crowding promotes spread of pathogens, and heavy use of antibiotics has made resistant pathogens more common, shouldn't the "good" farmers be pushing for more transparency leading to public outcry that helps push desirable reforms?

Does the pubic have an accurate picture of potential dangers? Can a game help make life better?

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110505p2g00m0dm005000c.html

Should farmers have plans to evacuate their cows under bad conditions? Should information have been withheld to keep them and others more calm? Could they have been keep calm while being fully informed?

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110504p2a00m0na005000c.html
earlier report
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110504004563.htm

What can farmers and others do to deal with soil problems?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110422004322.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/T110412005529.htm
pdf on dealing with salt in soil
http://www.fao.org/ag/tsunami/docs/saltwater-guide.pdf

Is farming and other industry impacting farming regulated by the right people?
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/68-elite-bureaucrats-land-power-company-jobs-over-50-yrs

Maybe the game could use a few modern twists and get people prepared for things they haven't given enough thought to. Got some radio-iodine in the milk? The half-life is short. Why not process it into powdered milk and store it until there's no longer a problem? Could farmers or the department of agriculture use cloud seeding to cause pollution to be dumped in a lower impact area like over the ocean? Could some keep hay in reserve to feed the cows with in case the pasture areas get contaminated for a little while? If farmers got more behind product testing, wouldn't they be less likely to have competitors cheating with melamine?

If animals are fed diets that promote higher acidity and nastier strains of pathogens, crowding promotes spread of pathogens, and heavy use of antibiotics has made resistant pathogens more common, shouldn't the "good" farmers be pushing for more transparency leading to public outcry that helps push desirable reforms?

Does the pubic have an accurate picture of potential dangers? Can a game help make life better?

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110505p2g00m0dm005000c.html

Should farmers have plans to evacuate their cows under bad conditions? Should information have been withheld to keep them and others more calm? Could they have been keep calm while being fully informed?

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110504p2a00m0na005000c.html
earlier report
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110504004563.htm

What can farmers and others do to deal with soil problems?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110422004322.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/T110412005529.htm
pdf on dealing with salt in soil
http://www.fao.org/ag/tsunami/docs/saltwater-guide.pdf

Is farming and other industry impacting farming regulated by the right people?
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/68-elite-bureaucrats-land-power-company-jobs-over-50-yrs

Maybe the game could use a few modern twists and get people prepared for things they haven't given enough thought to. Got some radio-iodine in the milk? The half-life is short. Why not process it into powdered milk and store it until there's no longer a problem? Could farmers or the department of agriculture use cloud seeding to cause pollution to be dumped in a lower impact area like over the ocean? Could some keep hay in reserve to feed the cows with in case the pasture areas get contaminated for a little while? If farmers got more behind product testing, wouldn't they be less likely to have competitors cheating with melamine?

If animals are fed diets that promote higher acidity and nastier strains of pathogens, crowding promotes spread of pathogens, and heavy use of antibiotics has made resistant pathogens more common, shouldn't the "good" farmers be pushing for more transparency leading to public outcry that helps push desirable reforms?

Does the pubic have an accurate picture of potential dangers? Can a game help make life better?

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110505p2g00m0dm005000c.html

Should farmers have plans to evacuate their cows under bad conditions? Should information have been withheld to keep them and others more calm? Could they have been keep calm while being fully informed?

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110504p2a00m0na005000c.html
earlier report
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110504004563.htm

What can farmers and others do to deal with soil problems?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110422004322.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/T110412005529.htm
pdf on dealing with salt in soil
http://www.fao.org/ag/tsunami/docs/saltwater-guide.pdf

Is farming and other industry impacting farming regulated by the right people?
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/68-elite-bureaucrats-land-power-company-jobs-over-50-yrs

the Fukushima disaster wasn't ultimately caused by a private company taking shortcuts

Yes it was (obviously). Read also this study (caution pdf) for some interesting insight on the probability of such a tsunami in Japan (hint: pretty high).

Mr. Fork also seems to imply that private companies do not have an incentive to engineer for safety. As if it is somehow more profitable for a private company if their nuclear reactors explode!

This is not how it works; large companies are not level-headed individuals who ponder for the most reasonable decisions. Companies are run by engineers whose reputations, well-being and yearly bonuses depend on the reliability and safety of their product, and by managers whose reputations, well-being and yearly bonuses depend on the profitability of the endeavour, also on the short term, and sometimes, depending on economic and financial conditions, on the very short term. Sometimes engineers quit because they feel they're not heard, sometimes managers are fired because they're not cutting costs aggressively enough. At the end of the day the decisions that are made can be very remote from the ideal, most reasonable decisions.

We have seen that with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, we have seen that with the lost space shuttles, and probably with most large-scale industrial disasters at the end of the day. However I don't think that it has much to do with the fact that a company be public or private, it's more profound than that, it's almost a basic law of human nature from my understanding.

the 10-meter tsunami was the unforeseen circumstance

Worse, the risk was was really more disregarded than unforseen. A greater than 10m tsumani is to be expected once every 30 years in Japan according to this interesting study(caution, PDF). And TEPCO ignored tsunami warnings for years.

I'm saying they don't really have to do anything else, and basically aren't, besides keeping stasis until the thing cools off.

Uh no. They can't just keep doing what they're doing and wait. It's more urgent than that. With the rupture in unit 2 (believed to be in the suppression tank), that water they have to keep pumping in keeps coming out bringing highly radioactive particles from the damaged fuels rods along. They pumped over 100 tons of it out of one tunnel only to have it fill back up within two days. They may have briefly interrupted what's getting into the ocean, but it is piling up and needs to be dealt with soon.

They're injecting nitrogen into unit 1 hoping to reduce the chance of a hydrogen explosion, but the pressure not rising indicates a leak. They've said it may be venting contaminated gases. (but don't be too surprised if it turns out they are unintentionally pushing more contaminated water out somewhere)

For some pretty good articles check out what the media over there are saying.

Here's a six part series on how Tepco and the government have complicated matters.
It has many details no covered by most U.S. media.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110416002672.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110415004983.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110414006040.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110413004031.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110412006319.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004567.htm

I'm saying they don't really have to do anything else, and basically aren't, besides keeping stasis until the thing cools off.

Uh no. They can't just keep doing what they're doing and wait. It's more urgent than that. With the rupture in unit 2 (believed to be in the suppression tank), that water they have to keep pumping in keeps coming out bringing highly radioactive particles from the damaged fuels rods along. They pumped over 100 tons of it out of one tunnel only to have it fill back up within two days. They may have briefly interrupted what's getting into the ocean, but it is piling up and needs to be dealt with soon.

They're injecting nitrogen into unit 1 hoping to reduce the chance of a hydrogen explosion, but the pressure not rising indicates a leak. They've said it may be venting contaminated gases. (but don't be too surprised if it turns out they are unintentionally pushing more contaminated water out somewhere)

For some pretty good articles check out what the media over there are saying.

Here's a six part series on how Tepco and the government have complicated matters.
It has many details no covered by most U.S. media.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110416002672.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110415004983.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110414006040.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110413004031.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110412006319.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004567.htm

I'm saying they don't really have to do anything else, and basically aren't, besides keeping stasis until the thing cools off.

Uh no. They can't just keep doing what they're doing and wait. It's more urgent than that. With the rupture in unit 2 (believed to be in the suppression tank), that water they have to keep pumping in keeps coming out bringing highly radioactive particles from the damaged fuels rods along. They pumped over 100 tons of it out of one tunnel only to have it fill back up within two days. They may have briefly interrupted what's getting into the ocean, but it is piling up and needs to be dealt with soon.

They're injecting nitrogen into unit 1 hoping to reduce the chance of a hydrogen explosion, but the pressure not rising indicates a leak. They've said it may be venting contaminated gases. (but don't be too surprised if it turns out they are unintentionally pushing more contaminated water out somewhere)

For some pretty good articles check out what the media over there are saying.

Here's a six part series on how Tepco and the government have complicated matters.
It has many details no covered by most U.S. media.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110416002672.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110415004983.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110414006040.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110413004031.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110412006319.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004567.htm

I'm saying they don't really have to do anything else, and basically aren't, besides keeping stasis until the thing cools off.

Uh no. They can't just keep doing what they're doing and wait. It's more urgent than that. With the rupture in unit 2 (believed to be in the suppression tank), that water they have to keep pumping in keeps coming out bringing highly radioactive particles from the damaged fuels rods along. They pumped over 100 tons of it out of one tunnel only to have it fill back up within two days. They may have briefly interrupted what's getting into the ocean, but it is piling up and needs to be dealt with soon.

They're injecting nitrogen into unit 1 hoping to reduce the chance of a hydrogen explosion, but the pressure not rising indicates a leak. They've said it may be venting contaminated gases. (but don't be too surprised if it turns out they are unintentionally pushing more contaminated water out somewhere)

For some pretty good articles check out what the media over there are saying.

Here's a six part series on how Tepco and the government have complicated matters.
It has many details no covered by most U.S. media.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110416002672.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110415004983.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110414006040.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110413004031.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110412006319.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004567.htm

I'm saying they don't really have to do anything else, and basically aren't, besides keeping stasis until the thing cools off.

Uh no. They can't just keep doing what they're doing and wait. It's more urgent than that. With the rupture in unit 2 (believed to be in the suppression tank), that water they have to keep pumping in keeps coming out bringing highly radioactive particles from the damaged fuels rods along. They pumped over 100 tons of it out of one tunnel only to have it fill back up within two days. They may have briefly interrupted what's getting into the ocean, but it is piling up and needs to be dealt with soon.

They're injecting nitrogen into unit 1 hoping to reduce the chance of a hydrogen explosion, but the pressure not rising indicates a leak. They've said it may be venting contaminated gases. (but don't be too surprised if it turns out they are unintentionally pushing more contaminated water out somewhere)

For some pretty good articles check out what the media over there are saying.

Here's a six part series on how Tepco and the government have complicated matters.
It has many details no covered by most U.S. media.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110416002672.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110415004983.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110414006040.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110413004031.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110412006319.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004567.htm

I'm saying they don't really have to do anything else, and basically aren't, besides keeping stasis until the thing cools off.

Uh no. They can't just keep doing what they're doing and wait. It's more urgent than that. With the rupture in unit 2 (believed to be in the suppression tank), that water they have to keep pumping in keeps coming out bringing highly radioactive particles from the damaged fuels rods along. They pumped over 100 tons of it out of one tunnel only to have it fill back up within two days. They may have briefly interrupted what's getting into the ocean, but it is piling up and needs to be dealt with soon.

They're injecting nitrogen into unit 1 hoping to reduce the chance of a hydrogen explosion, but the pressure not rising indicates a leak. They've said it may be venting contaminated gases. (but don't be too surprised if it turns out they are unintentionally pushing more contaminated water out somewhere)

For some pretty good articles check out what the media over there are saying.

Here's a six part series on how Tepco and the government have complicated matters.
It has many details no covered by most U.S. media.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110416002672.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110415004983.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110414006040.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110413004031.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110412006319.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004567.htm

> Those idiots have the best disaster response in the world.

Yeah. The Japanese response was so bad that the US was considering a compulsory evacaution of all US nationals:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110411004893.htm

"Commenting on the Japanese government's slow response, a U.S. government source said Washington had offered immediately after the accident to provide a pump to help cool the reactors, but the Kan administration turned down the offer

Another U.S. government source noted that in the initial stage of the crisis, Japan had taken the stance that there was no room for U.S. assistance when it came to dealing with the problem."

And will use precisely for what you are proposing
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110330005766.htm

Ah ha! I knew something was fishy about this story... Taisei set to introduce robots for N-cleanup. I knew my faith in Japanese robotics wasn't misplaced. This is just a PR stunt by a iRobot.

Japan has plenty of radiation hardened robots. We need to stop feeding the PR plebes, it just encourages them. [Whats the term for mixed cliché?]

Ah ha! I knew something was fishy about this story... Taisei set to introduce robots for N-cleanup. I knew my faith in Japanese robotics wasn't misplaced. This is just a PR stunt by a iRobot.

Oh yeah? Back this one up with a well written, fact-based post and you'll get a +5 informative. But I seriously doubt you can do it.

Well, on one hand the state forces foreign companies to make 49%/51% joint Chinese-owned company ventures in order to have access to the Chinese market. Once foreign firms get access and have spent a considerable amount of resources getting started in China, the state forces them to manufacture a certain percent of their product in China, NOT by themselves, but it should be subcontracted out to a Chinese company (e.g., Honda China can't make, design, and manufacture all their own stuff, they have to transfer technology to some Chinese company so that the Chinese company can make it... if you don't follow their rules, the state can simply legislate your technology away, or worse). Once you've transferred sufficient technology to the Chinese company, you start wondering why no more orders for your products are coming in, and then you realize that it's because the very Chinese company you've partnered with is now making the product 100% in China without your help and "entirely of their own innovation."
http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/letter-bombs-11-coming-up-on-the-rail/

So there's our economic domination. And that's just one example of it. There's lots more, and it's in the news very frequently.

Then we have border disputes. China claims or has, in the past 10 years, claimed territory of: Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan (the entire country at missile-point, no less), Russia, India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Tajikstan, and any other country that has the misfortune to be touching them that isn't on their payroll. The People's Liberation Army annually ventures into Bhutan dozens of times. The government not only holds onto old conflicts which they have dubious claim, but starts new conflicts semi-frequently. We've also seen that when the CPC is pissed about a border, the Chinese media is used to intentionally and flagrantly lie about the facts in order to stir up nationalism. They have also shown that they will put the government's hand in everything, ranging from travel agents to school exchange trips to locking up the offending country's nationals for "espionage" (punishable by death) to economic embargoes meant to force countries to bend backwards and obey. Of course, the CPC will deny any involvement in any of these actions.

The People's Liberation Army continues to modernize and deploy more force aimed directly at Taiwan. The PLA "defense" budget continues to grow in the double digit percents every year, and it's almost exclusively aimed at Taiwan and the US -- it's still less than 20% of the US def

Despite the story's GO AMERICA slant, a lot of material is going straight to Japan, where most of it is consumed in the first place. Like to Hitachi: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BK5PL20101221

Oh look. They also signed deals with Sumitomo and Mitsubishi: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T101219002181.htm

They got huge piles of cash from Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi...which is why it's hilarious to hear the CEO of Molycorp waving American flags in various quotes. Oh, and Molycorp's stock has shot up since their IPO in July: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/molycorp-s-ipo-aims-at-chinese-grip-on-smart-bombs.html

Also, how interesting that the EPA announces cleanup plan of Molycorp site just a few days ago: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12460111

The EPA said contaminated material from the Molycorp site includes about 328 million tons of acid-generating waste rock, more than 100 million tons of tailings and acid-rock drainage at the mine and seepage at the tailings facility.

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not the US government will press environmental regulations on Molycorp this time, now that national security interests are involved?

This smacks of isolationism and ignorance as to how economics work. My guns and butter are more valuable being sold to Japan than in America, then sell to Japan. I get more money out of it, Uncle Sam gets more taxes out of it, my American employees get paid for creating the product, and I don't have to worry about Japan suddenly stockpiling MY products in order to stifle trade. It's literally the biggest amount of Win/Win that can occur. China made mining in America not as profitable as importing it. Now that that is over, the mine is reopening. It's as simple as that. That radioactive waste water snippet did raise my eyebrow though.

Despite the story's GO AMERICA slant, a lot of material is going straight to Japan, where most of it is consumed in the first place. Like to Hitachi: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BK5PL20101221

Oh look. They also signed deals with Sumitomo and Mitsubishi: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T101219002181.htm

They got huge piles of cash from Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi...which is why it's hilarious to hear the CEO of Molycorp waving American flags in various quotes. Oh, and Molycorp's stock has shot up since their IPO in July: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/molycorp-s-ipo-aims-at-chinese-grip-on-smart-bombs.html

Also, how interesting that the EPA announces cleanup plan of Molycorp site just a few days ago: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12460111

The EPA said contaminated material from the Molycorp site includes about 328 million tons of acid-generating waste rock, more than 100 million tons of tailings and acid-rock drainage at the mine and seepage at the tailings facility.

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not the US government will press environmental regulations on Molycorp this time, now that national security interests are involved?

Yomiuri Shinbun just ran a series of articles looking at the current state of agriculture, using official figures as a base. Here is one relevant piece in English (warning: articles disappear offline after a few days): http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T101130005037.htm

Here's the relevant part:

The population depending on agriculture as their main revenue source has declined to about 2.6 million in 2010, one-third of the figure recorded 30 years ago, according to a census of the farming and forestry industries.

The statistics also show the farming population's average age rose to nearly 66 this year, with 1.6 million--more than 60 percent of the total agricultural population--aged 65 or older. A government official anticipates 100,000 people will quit farming annually in the years to come.

You may get different statistics if you count farmland owners rather than farmers. A lot of the uncultivated land is plots that have been inherited by people who live and work in the city. They live too far away to farm the land on one hand, and they don't want to sell the family land on the other, so it ends up sitting unused.

Just read about it in the newspaper. (Daily Yomiuri, for me.)

Unfortunately, the on-line version leaves off a few things.

For instance, Kaneko's lawyer's pointed out that auto manufacturers would not "be punished if speeding became rampant." (Reported in the print news.)

Also, the on-line version doesn't mention that, "A revised Copyright Law that prohibits users from downloading such peer-to-peer file sharing software will come into force in January." (The last line of the print article.)

I think the print version of the Yomiuri may have been slightly off on that point... the sources I have seem to say the law is dealing with copyrighted works, not programs that can be used to download them. Copyright act amended

Japan Strengthens Copyright Law Basically, the new legal ground seems to be that downloading works protected by copyright without permission is now officially a crime, but they have to prove the defendent knew the file was not distributed legally. Up until now, prosecution has been mostly (if not completely?) uploaders. Nothing is being said about downloading the software itself.

If you want it from the original source, and you can read Japanese, this link has the text of the bill itself in PDF format. I have not translated it so I can't verify whether the English news sources are correct in their interpretation or not.

Just read about it in the newspaper. (Daily Yomiuri, for me.)

Unfortunately, the on-line version leaves off a few things.

For instance, Kaneko's lawyer's pointed out that auto manufacturers would not "be punished if speeding became rampant." (Reported in the print news.)

Also, the on-line version doesn't mention that, "A revised Copyright Law that prohibits users from downloading such peer-to-peer file sharing software will come into force in January." (The last line of the print article.)

North Korea reportedly claims the launch was a success and there's now a satellite orbiting with an inclination of 40.6deg, perigee of 490km, apogee of 1426km, and orbital period of 104h12m, broadcasting military songs along with tracking data.

Ehrm.... No. Japan has only laws for producing child porn. Everything else is fair game, and that is from one of the most powerful economic countries in the world. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081130TDY02303.htm

Or even a team that takes network hardware components that are known to be used by this bank (that information can be easily gained via social engineering, no question). Reverse engineer the network hardware's firmwares etc., or even better, social-engineer the manufacturer to get in-detail system specs.

They don't need to reverse engineer OR social engineer, They just need to make an outright demand.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20080919TDY01306.htm

Of course this hasn't happened quite yet?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20081006TDY07301.htm

Based on fact or not, this article has reasonably solid-backing -- this story was run a couple day ago in the Yomiuri Shinbun, which is not only a major newspaper in Japan, but it has the highest newspaper circulation in the world.

Here's the original article for those that read Japanese:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/net/news/20080529nt05.htm

Here's a translated article for those that don't:
http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/?wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2&wb_url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/net/news/20080529nt05.htm

That was the way it was explained to me by my then boss some ten years back. That's also the way I've seen it described in the newspapers. Didn't snip any articles, but you might try searching the newspaper sites. (My wife subscribes to the Daily Yomiuri. I suppose it's because they give her the Japanese ads in the English paper.)

the date on the first article?
i jp googled the issue, and came up with this:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/tabi/news/20060301tb03.htm
this is an old issue. also, there is nothing in either article saying this goes into effect tomorrow.

Even worse: the article linked to is just another blog, seeking hits and advertising.

The original article is at yomiuri.co.jp.

According to another Yomiuri article, BMW, DaimlerChrysler and other European automakers are jointly developing a next-generation OS and are expected to complete a prototype in 2008. ...a year earlier.

Similar case also happens in Japan.
Two men were arrested and charged this month for operating a website of links to porn photographs, Japanese newspapers say.
(Sorry, no English reference found... an article in Japanese is here.)

There may be good news on this front, as it looks as if China may be changing it's stance.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070407TDY01 004.htm
That story came out today--7 April.

I don't know how much faith to put in the DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE. It was a good source of information during the most recent N. Korea nuclear fracas, so I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. If anyone knows a better English-language Japanese news site, please post.

Works in Firefox right now. I can type http:///#35501;&%2322770;.jp in the address bar and I get redirected to http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/ just fine.

JWPce http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.html
Kanji Gold http://web.uvic.ca/kanji-gold/
Pera Pera Penguin http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/columns/0002/
Kanji Trainer Penpen http://www.coolest.com/penpen/

Original Article of Yomiuri Shinbun(Japanese)
(Babelfish translation)

It is a very large hand. :-)

Considerably more interesting OTEC news is that according to The Yomiuri Shimbun, the island of Okinotorishima will be subject to a joint reserach project by the National Fisheries University, an independent administrative agency and Saga University to assess whether the island is suitable for an OTEC installation. The project is supposed to start the 10 January 2006 and will involve about 20 people. The team will collect data about temperatures in different layers of water as deep as 1,000 meters, the quality of water, sea floor topography and currents. A report will be compiled by March. Japan is at odds with China over the establishment of exclusive economic zones (EEZ) around the atoll--which is about 11 kilometers in circumference--under the U.N. Convention of the Law of Sea.

I'm also wondering if there's a point where recording companies ask so much of Apple, satellite radio, internet broadcasters, and ring-tone distributors that they join up in backing a new recording company that signs artists primarily for digital distribution and broadcast.

It is already happening in Japan: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20051006 TDY14001.htm

Artists are signing directly with iTunes bypassing the record companies.

This has to scare the crap out of the RIAA and record companies.

The technology is there for artist to record and distribute without needing a record company. So when Brofman says we'll cut iTunes off at the knees it is a hollow threat, as Apple can deal directly with the artists.

SteveM