Paper in all colors, shapes, and sizes for the holidays.

By, Uwe Paschen.

 The Holidays and all its paper. May it be the European Christmas or the Japanese New Years, paper will be sold in masses. May this be in form of Greeting Cards, Gift Wrapping Paper or simply paper bags and other papers used over the Year and especially this time of the year where we seem to used a great deal of it for all the New Years and Greeting Cards as well as for the Gift Wrapping and notes, chopping list and shopping paper bags. The list is in deed long and paper is just about any where and every where.

 Amazingly though, the discrepancy of Paper use is incredible through out the World. The USA being the top Paper Consumer on the Planet uses a mind blowing 333 Kg of paper per person and that include even those that can not yet walk nor read or write, yet per person, this compared to the Global average of 48 Kg per Person is incredible.

It gets better though.

 The Average paper used per person in Africa is only 0.5 Kg and in China it is 3.8 Kg per person, India uses 37 Kg per Person, however the paper consumption world wide is growing rather then decreasing even though the use of Computers and internet would have let one believe it would be the other way around. However, this does not seem to be the case, not even in Canada the country with the highest amount of Internet user per Capita.

 Now if we keep in mind that it takes 324 Litres of water, 4 Kwh and 114 Kg of Wood to produce a single Kg of Paper. It really makes you wonder how come this paper is so cheep, However it is not really, since we do not take into account the cost of waste management nor the cost of recycling or the environmental impact cost that this paper does generate.

 The production of each sheet of paper from Wood to paper need about 17 Wh in energy to be manufactured where as each sheet of recycled paper does require only 12 Wh in energy to be manufactured. This would and should already make some once choice easy.Sadly though it does not. http://www.id2.ca/downloads/eco-design-paper-facts.pdf

 Our paper consumption keeps going up each Year. In addition, requires today over 1040 Tons of wood Annually and Globally. North America alone does use 25% of all this with only 5% of the World’s population is quiet an achievement and certainly not one to be praised for. Now mind you the US is closely followed by Belgium and Japan when it comes to paper use and waste per person.

 This Holidays Season would be a great opportunity to change those habits of ours and make them more Eco Friendly. Easy enough to do by simply reducing, Reusing and Recycling Paper. At least that would be a starting point since only as little as 3% are being effectively Recycled today.

 And should you really feel up to it and save the environment, well then stop Wrapping Gifts with fancy gift wrap and go for the good old "news paper" instead. Similar for those greeting Cards, less colour or better yet, only Black and white print no colours at all would make a positive impact. Other then that use thinner paper rather then thicker paper, all those are things that would and will make a huge difference and a greater positive impact on the Eco System. 

 May you all have an Eco Friendly Holliday Season.

 http://eetd.lbl.gov/paper/ideas/html/countrygraph.htm

Graff to fund at the above link.

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPW/

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Paper/Prevention/ 

Plastic bags should it be, Yes please or no thanks?

By, Uwe Paschen.

 It is that time of the Year once again, where many of us go shopping for the Holiday’s festivities, may we be Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Hindu or even Muslim, we all have great celebrations coming up in the next four to twelve weeks.

 From Hanukkah to the Chinese New Year it is the season of great celebrations for all around the Globe. Parties are being held, as well as family gatherings and community events.

 Now, one thing all this has in common is the shopping in supermarkets, Farmer Markets and stores to buy the Gifts, the food and the decorations for the festivities to come.

 This of course does require packaging, and transportation as well as means to get it all from the Stores back home and there comes in a handy little idem called the chopping Bag.

 Now, until 1957, we used to go shopping with our baskets and cloth bags or even little carts we dragged behind us. However, since 1957 we have discovered the plastic bag that made its début in the US and by 1960 had spread around the Globe like a wild bush fire. To the point that by the 1970th it could be fund almost any where on this planet and has been causing major problem ever since.

 Since we discard those "trow away bags" so easily, they can be fund not only on land fields but also along roads, in Rivers, in the Forest and even on mountain pics and in the Ocean. There they cause great harm and kill million of birds, animals and fish that are trapped in them and most of them suffocate. This is no easy way to die or be killed what so ever.

 We discard about 1.5 Million Tons of Plastic bags each Year and most of this around the Holidays shopping time. Keep in mind that it takes 220 Million litres of Oil to produce those bags every year and this is not counting the additional energy cost for transportation and recycling or land fields. There are 4 to 5 Trillion Plastic bags used every Year, enough to engulf the entire City of New York so you would not even be able to see the tallest buildings any longer. And this with just one Years plastic bags waste.

 North America accounts for 60% of all this plastic bags waste and Europe for 20% the rest is more or less divided around the World evenly with Africa having the lowest share of plastic bags being used of all continents.

 Now even though we have recycling facilities and program in some Nations, Fact is, unfortunately, that only 0.6% is being recycle, the remaining 99.4% end up in lad fields as well as in the Oceans ad Nature at large.

 We could do with out and go back to Shopping baskets, Cloth bags and little carts we can easily pull and taken just about any where, some of those are so compact and easy to fold that they fit in a bag. It may be time to Refuse plastic bags given out to us and to ask to use our own cloth bag in stead. Leading by example for a better future for all living creatures on Earth.

 These Holidays do think twice about using a plastic bag and with the New Year around the corner, it may be a great time for an Eco resolution, not to ever use plastic bags again. There are some great cloth bags and carts, that even look sharp and would get you some positive attention as well.

 Happy Eco Friendly Holliday’s.

See Sources below.

 Food and Water Watch, 

garbage for food.

National Tap Water Database.

fact sheet on bottled water.

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1499

Think twice about taking a plastic bag if your purchase is small and easy to carry. Keep canvas bags in your home, office, and car so you always have them available when you go to the supermarket or other stores. Ask your favorite stores to stop providing bags for free, or to offer a discount for not using the bags. Encourage your local politicians to introduce legislation taxing or banning plastic bags.

Try to go at least one week without accumulating any new plastic bags. If every shopper took just one less bag each month, this could eliminate the waste of hundreds of millions of bags each year.

http://www.bpiworld.org/

Take action now. Join us on October the 15th.

Act now, for tomorrow may be to late.

Take part in the global people uprising and spread the word. United we will build a world where Equality, Justice, Fraternity and Duty shall be taken literally.

On October 15th people from all over the world will take to the streets and squares. From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, people are rising up to claim their rights and demand a true democracy. Now it is time for all of us to join in a global non violent protest. http://15october.net/jp/ 

Le 15 octobre des gens du monde entier descendront dans les rues et sur les places. De l’Amérique à l’Asie, de l’Afrique à l’Europe, ces personnes se mobilisent pour réclamer leurs droits et exiger une vraie démocratie. Maintenant il est temps de nous réunir dans une protestation mondiale non-violente.

Am 15. Oktober werden Menschen aus der ganzen Welt auf die Straßen und Plätze gehen. Von Amerika bis Asien, von Afrika nach Europa protestieren die Menschen, um ihre Rechte zu fordern und eine wahre Demokratie zu verlangen. Nun ist es Zeit uns alle einem globalen gewaltfreien Protest anzuschließen.

يومه 15 أكتوبر ستنظم مسيرات كبري في الشوارع والساحات ، من أمريكا إلي آسيا ومن أفريقيا إلى أوروبا. ودلك من اجل المطالبة بالحقوق و فرض ديمقراطية حقيقية محضة.

El 15 de octubre personas de todo el mundo tomarán las calles y las plazas. Desde América a Asia, desde África a Europa, la gente se está levantando para reclamar sus derechos y pedir una auténtica democracia. Ahora ha llegado el momento de unirnos todos en una protesta no violenta a escala global.

"The world will not be destroyed by those that do evil, but by those that stand by and do nothing about it!" said Albert Einstein.

We are the people and the masses of this planet, we cannot allow those in power and control to destroy our planet and its citizens. It is time to act and demand real democracy and take the power away from the bankers, stock-holders, share holders, and politicians. We have to make them listen. Only united can the citizen of this planet change their future and the future of their children.  

Natural disasters a gogo. When is it enough or can it ever be to much.

While I have witnessed many natural and men made disaster through out my short stay on this planet we like to call earth, at least in the English language. Feeling their impact financially, emotionally and maybe even health wise.
I have never once felt sorry for my self. However, I often felt tiered and beaten, maybe even ready to trow in the towel at times.
When ever that happens, I re-call my grand parents life and the stories I grow up with. As children they grow up in war times, the war 1870 was still felt in their parents souls and they witnessed the first world war which was followed by starvation, deprivation and misery, all this, just to live through the second world war as adults, raising their own children surrounded by the ashes left behind a men made agony and yet they managed to raise out of the debris and rebuild a society that even they could not have imagined to be possible after all that was destroyed, devastated and so many souls that where lost for nothing more than humanities arrogance, greed and pride.
Only the last decade of my grand parents life was peaceful and worry free so to speak, all their lives they struggled, worked hard, stayed positive and managed build a future for their children and grand children in spite of all the odds that where against them.
My parents did not have it much easier, they grow up in war times to and the post war era was a continual struggle as well.
By the time they thought that they made it and as we where still children our selfs new conflicts broke out in Niger which we called our home then. Coups, Libyan attacks, famines, diseases broke out and spread like wild fires and my parents lost their home and belongings to a sense less conflict.
Still they started all over again in Algeria just to lose it anew due to some fundamentalist that raided their town.
I went to Canada to build a farm there and spend a lot of energy designing it, building it and making it work, always in the back of my mind to be ready for what ever may happen. I was ready for all sorts of disasters, but not for human hate towards common sense, changes due to climate change and pollution.
I had to let go of my farm after a decade and half putting up with broken windows, people killing my fruit trees with herbicides and burned down buildings.
How I ended up in Japan, where I started to rebuild a farm based on my believes that it had to be environment friendly, organic, energy self sufficient and a model for other to be able to copy with ease so pollution would gradually stop and so we could restore what we humans have destroyed over the past two centuries.
Since I started out here, building and planting, we where struck by two major typhoons causing great damage as well as floods, not to forget one major earthquake and an unprecedented devastating tsunami  that claimed over 20,000 lives and caused the greatest devastation since WWII in Japan.
Nevertheless, what may be much harder to deal with may be the radiation that poisoned our soils, our water and our future. We can rebuild and learn and improve, but we cannot protect our selfs against radiation. A place that is contaminated with radioactive isotopes becomes like a leprae colony, even once it safe again to live and stay in those affected areas, the stigma remains and the people find them self isolated and labeled in the same manner as a leprosy.
This stigma makes it difficult for many, because we humans are social animals and fear nothing more than to be isolated from the rest of our specie.
Further, it is getting difficult to rebuild and find the strength and optimism needed to keep up with it all due to the avalanche of never ending new disasters that keep on striking to no avail and that seem to cause more devastation making the reconstruction more difficult and generating more frustration. It seems at times that for every building that we manage to rebuild several more get destroyed by another disaster. For every repair done, ten more have to be done with each new strike of another earthquake or typhoon.
This latest typhoon just about send me out with an axe to break what ever was left standing and set fire to it. I was so mad, I just had one roof fixed and another still standing when this typhoon took our neighbors greenhouse apart and send all the glass and steel our way destroying roof, windows and more.
I though to my self, how much more can Japan handle before its back breaks? No one knows since it all depends on the people them self and how much they are willing and able to handle.

My grandmother always said "you will never be burden with more than you can handle." This believe made her handle the impossible and I suppose it is true in a way, "if it does not kill us, it can only make us stronger." And hopefully wiser as well. Prevail we shall than. If our generation was to give up or give in for that matter, then all our ancestors would have struggled to survive in wain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/sep/21/typhoon-roke-japan-video


 

Radioactive iodine spread much further south from Fukushima than originally believed.

A Japanese government survey published on Thursday the 22th of September, showed that radioactive iodine emitted from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant spread not only northwestward but also to the south of the plant.

The ministry of science sampled soil at 2,200 locations, mostly in Fukushima Prefecture, but also as far south as Tokyo in June and July, and created another map indicating the extent of the radioactive contamination as of June 14th.

This map is giving information about radioactive contamination that where not previously published nor know by the public or even government workers.
Officials were able to obtain data for iodine 131 at only 400 locations, because of its short half-life of 8 days and because they waited to long to start collecting data on iodine 131.

The latest map shows that iodine 131 spread northwest of the plant, just like cesium 137 as indicated on an earlier map. But the substance was also confirmed south of the plant at relatively high levels.
The researchers found that accumulation levels of iodine 131 were higher than those of cesium 137 in coastal areas south of the plant.

Officials of the ministry said the clouds that moved southward over the plant apparently caught large amounts of iodine 131 that were emitted at the time.

Iodine 131 could cause thyroid cancer through internal exposure. The ministry is therefore trying to determine at what levels the substance spread immediately after the accident at the plant in March. 

Six month after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima dai ichi plant it is starting to become clear that high level of radioactive Cesium 137 as well as radioactive iodine 131 have contaminated large areas of the prefecture of Fukushima and reached as far North as Hokkaido and as far south as Tokyo prefectures leaving hot spots with well over the maximum permissible safety limits of radioactive elements. Contaminating soil, lac's, rivers and the ocean to a far greater extend than previously believed. 

Still, many areas in the 300 km radius from the Fukushima plant have not been sampled to this day nor has any form of assessment taken place. In stead people are being told that all is fine and that they should not worry. Why so many are taking things into their own hands, trying to assess the amount of radiation their area or town received.

This in some cases could lead to false data and needless fear mongering. Why it is of the outmost importance that all areas be tested and that an accurate map be made public so that the public can make an educated and objective assessment of their own and decide on the actions they want to have implement.

http://houseoffoust.com/group/?cat=32

High radiation levels fund in Green tea and other products in Chiba and Saitama, Japan.

The Japanese health ministry says radioactive cesium exceeding the government's safety limit has been detected in tea leaves in the prefectures of Chiba and Saitama, near Tokyo.

This is the ministry's first discovery of radioactive substances beyond the legal limit since it began unannounced tests of food products last month.

However, other organizations such has Greenpeace that conducted test earlier have warned of such high radiation levels and urged to government to take actions two month ago.

The tests were started in order to verify local government data using different numbers and kinds of food samples.

The ministry says the leaves of one type of tea from Chiba Prefecture contained 2,720 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, more than 5 times the safety limit.

Meanwhile, a maximum level of 1,530 becquerels per kilogram was detected in 3 kinds of tea leaves from Saitama Prefecture.

The prefectural governments of Chiba and Saitama say they will investigate where the teas were grown and how much has made its way to market.

They say they will order tea producers to recall their product, if necessary.

Our neighbor a tea farmer has already burned all his crop due to high level of radiation since he wont be able to sale any of it. In his frustration he also burned all his tree bushes, believing that he wont be allowed to sale any tea for years to come. Now he has no idea what he will do. Due to this latest news the value of properties and farm land has fallen even further. The farmers are not only losing their income but also their land value and any way out of this crisis with it. 

As harvest time for sweet potato, carrots, rice, wheat and other products is now underway, many farmer worry that they may lose their crops and end up in ruins. Even though the government has promised compensations for those affected, there is no warranty that one will receive compensation nor is the amount known or the time. Leaving many in limbo as to what to do and how to survive. Further, what will happen next year or the year after that, knowing that Cesium has a half life of 40 years it is unlikely that in the next few years much will change, leaving many farmers to wonder if they will still be able to farm tomorrow.

Saturday, September 03, 2011 22:23 +0900 (JST)

The curses and blessings of typhoon Ma-on.

Typhoons are common this time of the year through out Asia and here in Japan they are seen as part of life just like earthquakes and tsunamis are as well. The country is well prepared for natural disasters and most people do not really worry nor concern them self with any of those natural occurrences . Through out their lives they have been put through countless drills , those especially during their school years from elementary through high school.

Even though all are well prepared and always ready, every now and then nature still comes up with the unexpected, such as the March 11^th earthquake, that in it self did cause only little damage. It was the tsunami that followed which devastated the East Coast region of Japan with a force and height that Japan has never seen before nor expected to be possible. The present typhoon, "Ma-on" is also one of these exceptional powerful forces with 1170 millimetres of rain in Shikoku leaving one dead, three missing, fifty nine injured and hundreds evacuated. The town of Odai in the Mie prefecture received 1000 millimetres of rain which flooded 900 residences and caused some land slides. Here in the Kanto area up to 600 millimetres of rainfall are expected in the next twenty four hours, since Ma-on is now headed our way. So far the Kanto area received 80 millimetres of rainfall due to this typhoon and another 600 millimetres will flood some lover areas and a land slide warning was issued by the Japanese meteorological agency as well as a coastal warning since the weaves can reach 12 metres high now. This typhoon has already caused power outages and left much damage behind. The roofs that where covered with blue tarps and sand bags due to the March 11 earthquake are now seeing further damage broth to them. The sand bags are no match for a typhoon. I put steel rims from old tractors on our roof, each weighing 40 kilograms, those spread along the entire roof at half a metre from each other and attached with steel wire to the roof and the tarp. They just got lifted up by the powerful winds that managed get under the tarp and propelled those rims into the air breaking the wires and landing them tree metres from the roof as if they where merely toys. Fortunately no was was close by at the time. The tarps are gone from many roofs now and some put new tarps up but this time inside their houses to cover furniture and other belongings. Nevertheless, the centre of the typhoon is still approaching and may cause more damage. The temperatures fluctuated greatly as well, from plus 32 degree Celsius down to 18 degree Celsius with in minutes. It is as if the elements where playing roller-coaster. However, there is also a good side to all this, the air is crisp and clean, the toxic fumes from farmers burning their plastics after harvesting their vegetables and this on an almost daily basis in this area are gone now due to this storm, nor can they burn more plastic at the moment either, which I welcome. Even though the plastic has to be recycled by law it is still being burned by way to many and those toxic fumes are just as bad as the radiation emitted by our nuclear power plant since the melt down of three reactors last March. I do enjoy the clean air for now and try not to worry about my roof any longer. I think it may be time to give up on the roof and figure out a cheep way to tear down the building and recycle as much material as possible.    

Another strong earthquake strikes the Japanese East coast.

"The Meteorological Agency lifted tsunami advisories for coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures before noon."


We where just struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 this Sunday July the 10th at 10:15 local Japanese time. A Tsunami advisory has now been issued as well.

The Japanese meteorological agency issued tsunami advisories for coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures at 10AM.

The region was devastated by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

Tremors with an intensity of 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7 were felt at around 9:57 AM.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says the quake had a focus off the coast of Sanriku, at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The agency observed the first wave off Miyagi Prefecture at 10:28 AM. It estimates 50 centimetre tsunami will hit coastal areas.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has found no problems with its Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear plants as a result of the quake. It says it ordered its workers to move away from the coast.

Tsunami Warning/Advisory

Issued at 10:00 JST 10 July 2011

******************Headline******************

Tsunami Advisories have been issued for the following coastal regions of Japan:

PACIFIC COAST OF TOHOKU

*******************Text********************

Tsunami Advisories have been issued for the following coastal regions of Japan:



IWATE PREF.

MIYAGI PREF.

FUKUSHIMA PREF.

***********About Tsunami Forecast************



Tsunami height is expected to be about 0.5 meters. Attention advised.

******* Earthquake Information ******** Occurred at 09:57 JST 10 July 2011 Region name SANRIKU OKI Latitude 38.0N Longitude 143.5E Depth about 10 km Magnitude

7.1 

Japan, Is the unsinkable Titanic sinking?

By, Uwe Paschen.
Since the triple disaster that hit Japan on March the eleventh 2011, the country has been thrown into limbo. No longer knowing which way to go.
Even though this state of paralysis especially in our political affairs is nothing new, it has reached its extreme now in manner of speaking.
Since WWII and especially since the recession that hit Japan in the 1980th the countries sociology has been  one of resignation even self defeat. In part maybe because Japan has not yet digested the shock of the foreign invasion in 1945 which was the first time in over a millennia that any one managed to invade the Japanese main Islands. Still this can not explain today's mind set that causes the countries politics, businesses and people alike to be unable to break free from this down ward spiral in which all seem to be engaged.
It is almost as if an entire nation has put its heads into the sand becoming paralysed of sorts and unable physically has well as sociologically to face reality and adjust allowing them to the facts at hand.
Subsequently making the decisions needed to readjust the course of this massive ship called Japan. Many hopped that after this catastrophic disaster that cost so many lives and caused such great damages, the countries institutions, politicians and businesses would finally wake up and allow the country to cease those devastating events and turn them into opportunities for a rebirth of this nation through a massive change of course all the way embracing a green revolution of sorts.
Wile many people took to the streets over the past three month and demanded such changes, which in it self is some thing rather remarkable for this country since people in general are rather quiet when it comes to politics and other such matter. Yet, we saw great demonstration and many stood up demanding radical changes.
However, nothing happened still. In stead politicians are still turning in circles causing a downward spiral of sorts. It is pathetic, frustrating and even infuriating to witness. Nevertheless, Japanese remain mostly quiet and take their fate with resignation almost.
The hopes are now fading and the people are going back to bury their heads into the sand. Hoping for a rebirth in another life time perhaps.
The real victims here are the upcoming generations that will inherit their parents and grandparents mismanagement of the country as well as that of the environment. Now is the time to make the needed changes and failing to do so will cause a much greater disaster down the road whose price tag and impact could not possibly be handled nor absorbed by any one.
"It is far better to have an end with great suffering than a great suffering with out end." Japan needs to suffer now and change course or it wont be able to live even less survive down the road. We need to exit nuclear power and all other fossil fuels now, and we need to implement renewable energy sources along with fair social policies and a restructuring of the work force to move that one from an outdate mind set to an innovative one.
Japan is well positioned to successfully achieve this transition, since it has the technology, the know how, the skilled labour force, the resources and nature it self at its disposition. From volcanoes to hot springs and to the sea, this country is field with untapped energy sources, allowing it to not only become energy self sufficient. Moreover, Japan has the potential to export energy produced from renewable sources to China, Russia and others has well, in form of electricity or Hydrogen fuel.
Will we do it though? We may need a green revolution to achieve it. For the mighty Oil and nuclear industries do not want to give up their monopolies readily. It will have to be pried away from them. In part because the main industries are scared of nothing more then the decentralisation of energy, since who ever holds the control over that energy, also has the power over the big players such as Monsanto, Toyota and others. They would have to deal with the masses now rather then with some monopolies in wish they have friends and relative. The people producing and selling renewable clean energy would also gain control over the big corporations that need the power to produce and sale their goods.
The people need to wake up and take control over their future and that of there descendants.  The time to change is now, for this may very well be our last chance to do so.

Earth-day 2011.

                               Earth-day 2011.

Every year on earth day, I usually take part in rallies and write several posts about the issue and the need for change.

However, this year, I am somewhat physically and mentally drained, even tiered.

After the March 11 disaster that struck us here in Japan and the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power plant, I have not much hope or energy left for another earth-day. In stead the melody of the Doors iconic song “This is the end my friend” is going through my head repeatedly.

I tried to keep my mind sane and clear by planting some tomato, eggplants and many other veggies. Still, It did not help.

I was in my early twenties when Tschernobyl happened and lived right in the centre of Europe then. We went through the milk ban due to radioactive contamination, followed by the mushroom ban and so forth Then we were witnessing children being diagnosed with thyroid cancer this less then a year after the accident. However, in the same year that the Tschernobyl nuclear disaster happened, another followed On the 1^st of November 1986 an explosion occurred in the Sandos Chemical factory in Switzerland, which ended up killing nearly all life in one of the world largest rivers, namely the Rhine, which flows from Switzerland through Germany, France and the Netherlands where its waters enter the Northern Sea. The Sandos accident destroyed over four decades of hard work with some great expenses to clean up the Rhine from pollution and the devastation left behind after WWII. Those two accidents strengthened my dedication to protect the environment and all life on earth. The polluters may be responsible to clean up their pollution and to compensate the victims as well. At least in theory they should be hold accountable. Nevertheless, they rarely do pay up and even less end up being hold accountable. Moreover, when they do pay, it is merely a minuscule fraction of the real damage caused to the environment and society. Part of the blame does lay with the consumers and citizen them self that support those industries since they do benefit from them by means of jobs, cheep energy and cheep consumer goods. Until some thing goes terribly wrong such as at the Fukushima Nuclear power plant here in Japan or the BP oil spill in the Golf of Mexico.

Will we ever learn? I am afraid not, most people have a rather short memory and are easily bribed and this with surprisingly very little.

Why bother any longer then? Humanity does not even deserve to prevail especially not when we look at how we behave in Libya or even the U.S.!

However, there is such a thing as care, empathy, love, compassion and selflessness that some of us human still posses for our children, families, friends, neighbours. And some few even care for plants and insects and this planet, that is why we need to stick around for a little longer to help life on earth to prevail for it is well worth it.

In the so-called dark ages, the environment was mostly revered and respected, even though life was rather harsh for most, then again, living with radioactive poisoning can not be any better then the dark ages. In 1461 for instance, some businessmen that committed fraud where bricked alive into a wall in East Prussia, wile in the thirteen's century a couple of merchants that polluted the local river in Southern Germany where stoned to death and their families where disowned and forced into exile. Nowadays we are civilised, letting those that commit fraud receive a bonus and those that pollute our waters, our air, our soils and our sea with crude oil, radioactive substances or even toxic chemicals, receive public money to clean up their mess. We let them increase their profits and wealth; still not holding them accountable for leaving countless people and wild live to endure a slow and painful death.

It leaves us to wonder whether we have evolved into civilised and intelligent beings or merely ended up being brain washed in believing so and become uneducated with all the education we received or should we say indoctrination we underwent, leaving us to become irresponsible, maybe even criminal and insane.

Would we be able to bring a person that lived some two thousand years ago into our polluted and mad world, that person would call us mad and uncivilised, even careless. He would want to go back to his time in a split of a second.

We need to change course as a society for the sake of our descendants and their own ability to be able and allowed to live on this planet. 

Sakura.

By Uwe Paschen.

It is spring now, Sakura season, wherever you go you will see cherry trees in full bloom. The Sakura tree is an important symbol here in Japan; it is not only one of the first trees to come to live in spring. Moreover, it is also one of the most beautiful and its flowers are some of the most fragile as well.

It has been symbolising life, its beauty and its fragility and maybe even our brief time here on earth.

Japan has certainly known its fair share of disasters over the course of its 1500-years of history as a nation.

However, this latest triple disaster may very well top them all. Not only have we been hit with the strongest earthquake in recorded seismological Japanese history, we also where struck by one of the mightiest Tsunamis this country as ever seen and as if all this was still not enough we ended up with what may become the world worth nuclear disaster so far as well.

I live about 160 Km South from that nuclear plant where the prefectures of Ibaraki and Chiba share a boarder. We are less then 30 Km from the coast of what once was a beautiful rural area with much history an some of the most beautiful shrines, rice fields, sweet potato fields and vegetable fields as well as dairy animals and several once striving fishery villages.

We where fortunate though, since the tsunami waves where only four to six metre high along our coast line. Where as further north those waves reached in one village up to 23 metres in hight. In addition, in many other areas along the coast in the prefectures of Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Aomori, those waves reached on average over ten metres in hight, taking with them every thing, even steel reinforced buildings, which surprised most engineers here.

Our farmhouse is still standing. However, it is no longer structurally sound and has to be torn down as so many buildings will have to be in our area due to the damage that these last earthquakes have caused to them.

The demolition of our house has been estimated at one million Yen or more ($ 13,000.00). Building a new house will cost at least six million Yen ($78,000.00). Our house was not insured, since earthquake insurance insure only brand new houses and this for a premium that is not affordable anyhow.

Even if we had insurance it would take at least a year before the old building could be torn down due to the massive devastation that was caused through out Northern Japan and that left many homeless and took the lives of over 28000 people and maybe even more.

Even though those expenses may very well bankrupt us and force us to give up, since property values for farm land and houses as well as apartments went down to next to zero due to these disasters and the radioactivity that we received on top of it all, we are still fortunate. Many are far worth off, lost far more in machinery and buildings, and especially loved ones.

It is hard to focus even work and yet I keep my self busy at all times, cleaning up our mess and trying to help others far worth off as much as I can.

Whenever I stop to think about it all, I wonder why I am still alive and survived so many disasters through out my life wile so many good people have died.

I am some what furious at all the talk by stock holders and politicians as well as the nuclear industry, proclaiming that nuclear energy is still safe, and that radiation is some what still okay, when in fact it is not. None of those executives, stockholders or politician dare to put a foot into the contaminated area or volunteer their golf time with friends to help the countless refugees. Many people will end up dying due to this radiation and many more will get sick from it, all just so some few can make a profit at the expense of the masses and those masses end up paying for these accident on top of it. 

They proclaim that we need nuclear energy to fight CO2, which is nonsense, since the CO2 generated to extract the uranium ship it, refine it and to build those nuclear power plants does by far exceed any other forms of energy production (Other then Coal and Oil of course) especially from renewable energies sources. The production of solar panels and wind mils and so forth, does generate CO2 as well but nothing compared to the construction of a Nuclear power plant, especially not if we compare those to their real operation life and their KiloWatt produced. Those renewable energies do also come with out a death threat attached to them since they just break down or stop working after a major earthquake or tsunami, they do not end up becoming a death trap them self such as nuclear power or other fossil fuel tend to do, See the Golf of Mexico’s oil disaster. It is grand time we start to wake up and face facts.

We could save a lot of energy by simply using energy efficient machines and appliances as well as by stoping to waste so much. The proof lays in Japans current disaster, people voluntarily save energy in order to avoid black outs and it works with out impacting too much on the comfort level of the city dwellers. We do not need all the streetlights to be on, nor all the billboards or five lights on in every room even though there is not one person around. We can do well with less heat in the winter since most places are way to hot anyhow and we can also do with much less air-conditioning in the summer, after all, most of us freeze when ever we enter an air-conditioned building in the summer. We can do with out nuclear power there for. It is simply not worth the risks it generates. The same would apply to all other fossil fuels.

The government keeps on promising that it will compensate the losses encountered due to this nuclear accident, wile this may sound noble at first glace, it is merely politics, permitting crowd control. It will be financially impossible for any government to compensated the magnitude of those loses in business and lives. Nor should the government have to do so, since it is the tax payer that will end up paying for all this wile the industry that caused it will get off with a bonus, making some few much richer in the process wile the masses lose their basics to survive.

Every year the Sakura trees give us much joy in the spring with their beauty. However, this year they remind us of the fragility of our lives as humans and that of our environment more so then ever before.

Changing misfortune into fortune for Japan.

Japan has been severely crippled, this not only by a devastating earthquake followed by a tsunami and a nuclear disaster that is still ongoing. Moreover, it is now losing countless customers through out Japan and the world. Its industry has been severely damaged and in part even destroyed to the point that it will never be able to recover its loses or regain lost customers. Rebuilding will take two years at least, by then it will be next to impossible to retake once former position.

Even if the factories are rebuild and back in operation with in a year, the power supply to run those factories wont be back up by then, especially not if we rely on nuclear power and want to rebuild new nuclear power station risking yet another disaster down the road.

There is an alternative though. If we where to implement a national restructuring plan we could rebuild Japan and end up using this disaster to our advantage by revolutionizing the socio-political and energy make up of this country.

“Two roads diverge in a wood and I took the one less travelled by. And that has made all the difference.”

                                                                                                                                 Robert Frost.

What does the world need most and that every one seeks? It is not cars, nor computers or fish. The world needs power, in form of energy to power its cars, computers, lights and machines as well as its hospitals and food processing plants.

Japan has no oil, uranium, or gas but it does have know how and it is an Island state that is blessed with massive energies such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, a moderate climate and much more. Giving it the potential to become energy self sufficient with in two years.

This would allow Japan to strive again and emerge from the ashes as an energy self sufficient nation and to export its technology as well as it energy revolution. Not only would Japan become the leader in this sector, furthermore, it would be solving many environmental and health related problem at the same time, all the wile saving trillions of Yen in the long run and allowing Japan to witness an international comeback exceeding it growth of the 1960 by several times and maybe even surpassing China anew.

Today Japan is the third largest Industrial power in the World and yet only the eleventh largest investor into renewable energies, relying far more on fossil fuels such as oil, propane and uranium than its main competitors.

This will cost Japan dearly in the long run and cause it to lose its competitiveness with in the next decade leaving it domed to a continual industrial and global decline.

Turning misfortune into a blessing is the gift of great leaders and visionaries. Japan could achieve such massive transition and end up coming out of all this a winner.

One only needs to look at the geopolitical turmoil we are faced with as well as our environmental debacle and the ongoing global climate changes that all still need to be solved to see that there is a great opportunity here amidst all the devastation that surrounds us.

Mathematically and physically we can change the country with in two year from fossil fuels to renewable energies, giving the expertise, know how and skilled labour force that Japan has, makes this  very feasible. There are only few nations that could pull this off nowadays and Japan is certainly the best suited to achieve this, giving its past history and achievements, I cannot think of a better candidate.

The possibilities are endless and the options as well, energy could become the focus for this nation, rather then cars or gadgets. This energy could also be exported in form of Hydrogen gained through electrolysis or the development of new batteries to store energy more efficiently and more effectively.

Furthermore, renewable energies would be far more compatible with Japans culture, main religion and history then fossil fuels could ever be; Fossil fuels danger, pollution and impact are overall negative, especially when we look at the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

The long term success of a society, its industry and energy uses depend on its ability to balance the social sector with its environment and its economy, all the wile insuring that the three remain viable, bearable and equitable to one another or they wont be sustainable and if they are not sustainable then the system will inevitably collapse. This collapse is already well underway in most industrial nations today.

The future is now, tomorrow will be to late.