On whether the government is lying to us

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

On whether the government is lying to us

March 17, 2011 by sevenbrane

Conspiracy theories abound these days. One often expressed fear, both abroad and here, is that the government is not telling us the truth.
The fact is that nuclear disasters are hard to hide. We have access to the figures for radiation measurements for all prefectures for the last two days, we have the figures of AIST (The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) in Tsukuba (Ibaraki), and the figures of the measurements of the University of Tokyo for its three campuses (on top of which, we have our own data taken at home). And while a momentary increase in radiation has been observed on Monday (which was still an absolutely harmless figure and mostly proves the sensitivity of our measurement processes), the figures have been falling ever since. Since yesterday morning, we’re essentially measuring only the natural background here in Tokyo.

About these ads

Posted in Asia, Japan, Tohoku Earthquake | Tagged earthquake, Fukushima Daiichi | 5 Comments

5 Responses

on March 17, 2011 at 10:34 pm | Log in to Reply jreffert

zumindest das tönt beruhigend, viel schlimmer ist ja die situation für die ueberlebenden von erdbeben und Tsunami, die jetzt auch noch unter kälte zu leiden haben.
on March 17, 2011 at 10:37 pm | Log in to Reply Luca

I wouldn’t talk about ‘conspiracy theories’, rather ‘cautionary tales’: it has to be said that the Japanese government or the Japanese electric companies have a history of minimizing or covering up problems in their nuclear plants (as late as 2007).

(1996) http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/24/world/reactor-accident-in-japan-imperils-energy-program.html
(2002) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/03/world/japanese-executives-resign-over-falsified-atom-plant-records.html
(2007) http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/03/15/us-japan-nuclear-idUST7529420070315

That being said, I honestly don’t believe is there any lying here, particularly so because of the entity of the disaster and the global attention over it.
on March 18, 2011 at 5:48 am | Log in to Reply Fukushima Update: From Reliable Non-Hysterical Sources:

[...] First hand account from someone in Japan: chipango blog (hat-tip: oekowatch.org): And while a momentary increase in radiation has been observed on Monday [...]
on March 19, 2011 at 1:36 am | Log in to Reply pascvaks

Any disaster, anywhere on the planet, is worth a googleplex of gigabites (and Money, Money, Money) to the AGW Mob, the anarchists, the “Sornose” Investors of the world, half the politicians anywhere, and the poor little Mainstream Media Gurus looking to sell some ad-space. This is the environment that the munchkin public must operate in when in search for the truth. Things are NOT getting easier with time. Indeed, much could be said for the greater value of “The Good Old Days” compared to the present. Thanks for keeping us posted from where you are Chipango.
on March 19, 2011 at 3:11 pm | Log in to Reply Gritos desde Japón: Por favor, parad la histeria! « PlazaMoyua.org

[...] On whether the government is lying to us [...]