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Elderly woman hangs herself over nuclear crisis — Please tell your readers why she committed suicide, son tells Mainichi

Published: July 10th, 2011 at 2:56 pm ET
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Elderly Fukushima woman kills self ‘to evacuate to grave’, Mainichi, July 9, 2011:

A 93-year-old woman, dejected over the ongoing nuclear crisis, was found hanged at her home in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, in late June, leaving behind suicide notes that said in part, “I will evacuate to the grave. I am sorry.”

After hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in March, the woman was forced to evacuate to the house of her second daughter in Soma and was later hospitalized for two weeks before returning May 3 to her house in Minamisoma, subject to a possible emergency evacuation order due to the nuclear disaster.

“If we have to evacuate again, elderly people (like me) will become a drag,” her suicide note said. [...]

Her four suicide notes addressed to her family, ancestors and a close neighborhood friend were later found in the house. “My heart is in my mouth everyday due to news of the nuclear power plant,” she wrote to her family. [...]

Her son and his wife told the Mainichi, “Please tell your readers why she killed herself.”

Published: July 10th, 2011 at 2:56 pm ET
By
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150 comments

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July 10th, 2011 | Tags: , , , | Category: Uncategorized
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150 comments to Elderly woman hangs herself over nuclear crisis — Please tell your readers why she committed suicide, son tells Mainichi

    • gerryhiles
      July 10, 2011 at 7:59 pm

      Dear everyone at enews.

      I have had three lots of cancer … prostate, lung and in my ribs.

      I have had radiation sickness from radiation treatment for cancer, so I know abit about what is possibly all our futures, epecially because it is likely that all my cancers might have been due to atomic weapon testing during my early life, e.g. whilst I am a smoker (have been for over fifty years) my surgeon told me that my particular form of lung cancer was not correlated with presumed tobacco-caused cancers.

      We have all been irradiated INTERNALLY since WW2 and now along comes Fu(c)kushima!!

      I know exactly why that woman suicided.

      In previous posts I have mentioned the book/movie “On the Beach”. At the close the family decided to suicide/euthanase, rather than face death from radiation sickness which, as I’ve said, I have experienced in mild form.

      I do not actually believe in a god, but anyhow, “God help us all.”


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      • gerryhiles
        July 10, 2011 at 8:28 pm

        PS. The elderly of the Enuit used to choose death, rather than become a burden.


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        • gerryhiles
          July 10, 2011 at 9:18 pm

          PPS. Always has to be “bogey man” eh.

          Thus pick on tobacco, weed, Osama bin Laden, etc. for all that is wrong with the world … I will even include nuclear power plants.

          No they are not the fundamental problem, our species is and I cannot wholly exclude myself from being part of it all, though I did protest when one of the first nuclear power stations was being built at Dungeness (in England) during the 1950s.

          Nevertheless I have used electricity and numerous “wonders of this industrial civilization”, (including the PC I am using now), so I am complicit by default, though I have never had much money, nor any real say in the mess we are in today; so just to cheer you up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIoBrob3bjI

          And: Billy Joel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-A4QFHZBA

          I urge you all to take the time to watch these links. They give perspective.


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          • Steven Steven
            July 11, 2011 at 12:29 am

            It’s been quite a ride Gerry, no question. I came aboard a little later than yourself, started same place though and ending same place. Survived Windscale (now Sellafield – born in the shadow of the accident) Thallidamide (mother almost used it) and a father involved in the atom bomb tests here in Australia. Also a smoker, is it any wonder considering the start we had (threat of nuclear war) and the ongoing culture shock of advancing technology. Must have a guardian angel – no cancer or serious damage thus far, not for want of trying on the part of TPTB.

            Spent my teen years watching the ’70′s unfold, believing much of what was promised. Nothing delivered. Shame. Hadn’t learned to read between the lines yet, didn’t understand the power of the $.

            I feel sorry for the young people today. They didn’t even get the hope, let alone the Faith. So no wonder there’s so little charity.

            But in that oblique and rather cryptic reference to Malta perhaps there is hope. You said “they are not the fundamental problem, our species is”. History shows that we are at our best when things are at their worst. I pray this is still the case… it’s in our genes, provided we haven’t messed those up as well.


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      • Darth
        July 10, 2011 at 9:10 pm

        We are all going to be “screaming” our death screams sooner or later due to radiation sickness. May the Force be with you.


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      • odylan
        July 11, 2011 at 12:58 am

        You are right. In 1968, after vaporising several islands with their nuclear bombs, they told the Bikini Islanders it was safe to go back home and some of them went back. In the early 1970′s they left again – it wasn’t safe to go back home at all. They were lied to.

        Just one telling example.


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      • JCastro
        July 11, 2011 at 8:52 am

        I truly regret that for some people, like for this old lady, despair (and loneliness?) takes over.

        Won’t we all die one day? Why anticipate? We are all so worried about the terrible radiation disease. However, if we kill ourselves we cannot blame radiation.

        And even if we feel symptoms of radiaton disease, no one knows if we’ll die from a heart-attack or car-crash…

        Everyone in the end will go, isn’t it? That is terrible… What can we do about it?

        And what can we do to make our stay worthwhile to us and everyone around us?


        Report Comment

    • xdrfox
      July 13, 2011 at 1:18 pm

      Woman jumps in front of express train; body propelled into station
      National Jul. 13, 2011
      TOKYO — Police said Wednesday that a woman jumped from a platform into the path of an express train in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward on Tuesday morning, killing herself and injuring four bystanders.
      Police say although …
      http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/woman-jumps-in-front-of-express-train-body-propelled-into-station


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      • xdrfox
        July 14, 2011 at 11:09 am

        Second suicide in two days at Shin-Koiwa Station
        Jul. 14, 2011
        TOKYO — Police said Thursday that there was another suicide at Shin-Koiwa Station in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward on Wednesday. The incident comes a day after a 45-year-old woman from Edogawa jumped in front of an express train, killing herself and injuring four bystanders when her body was propelled through the glass door of a station shop that was situated on the station platform.

        According to police, the second suicide occurred at 1:13 p.m. when a man in his 50s or 60s was hit and killed by an express train …
        http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/second-suicide-in-two-days-at-shin-koiwa-station


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  • TheWorldIsBlind
    July 10, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    so depressing….


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  • cossack55
    July 10, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    Hopefully she is leading by example for TEPCO and the Japanese political class. Seems honor has died in Japan along with truth. This old lady at least displayed courage.


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  • tony wilson
    July 10, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    the polite japanese way.
    in the future all good patriots should die this way.
    nice and private.
    death by real suicide or radiation slow kill or even yakuza mobster government assisted suicide all is for the best.
    all part of the containment,keeping the animals at home a super efficient localized event.
    four legged animals sometimes try to escape or try to attack the slaughterman not so the japanese.


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  • kx kx
    July 10, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    i blame tepco and nuclear scumbags


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  • alasanon
    July 10, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    Govt. needs to get them out of that Prefecture. The psychological pressure on the average at-risk citizen is ridiculous. Didn’t Russia offer some amnesty/asylum and relocation assistance?


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  • Whoopie Whoopie
    July 10, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Oh my God!! This poor woman and her family!! LOCK TEPCO UP!! IT’S WAY PAST TIME!! CRIMINALS!!


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    • larry-andrew-nils
      July 10, 2011 at 8:15 pm

      the japan people have to form an armed militia and have an armed revolution, otherwise tepco don’t give a shit.

      its the same with bp

      same with monsanto.

      until we miraculously grow balls, we’re subservient to all of the bad stuff we complain about.

      complaining makes it go away for us ball-less assholes….

      i feel better.

      see?


      Report Comment

  • CB CB
    July 10, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    Don’t forget about the sudden increase in infant mortality. They were murdered too. Our unborn children, spouses, kids, friends and family have been ravaged by the power industry, and blatantly lied to continuously. Like the gulf oil syndrome. Where is this nuke plant spewing radiation? I don’t want too swim there. What is happening with the Nebraska plants, I’m down wind.


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  • Whoopie Whoopie
    July 10, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    Hope you can TRANSLATE this. No way could I post it all without getting banned. :)
    FUKUSHIMA comes into its own , by François Leclerc
    http://www.pauljorion.com/blog/?p=26022
    The immediate bad news is ginned over the days. Levels of radioactive contamination are very high here and there found in the environment or food, demonstrating that the evacuation areas have been cut too narrowly and without adequate measures of radioactivity and their borders do are not waterproof.

    Hundreds of thousands of Japanese are therefore condemned to live with uncertainty and danger, which increases over time, by dint of cumulative exposure to radio-elements to long life (cesium). Sticking to the decommissioning of the plant, the government plan does not take into account the human dimension.

    Gradually, he draws another picture of the disaster at Fukushima. The economic equation is also progressively placed under the double perspective of its immediate and long term. A rhythm or another, Japan could now be sentenced to also phase out nuclear power.


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    • gerryhiles
      July 10, 2011 at 8:18 pm

      Good link Whoopie … fortunately I speak French a little.


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      • NoVictimNoFraudNoCrime
        July 10, 2011 at 8:54 pm

        If you use Firefox, there is an add on that allows you to highlight a block of text, right click and translate it from any language to any other language. Foreign text is no longer an issue.


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    • xdrfox
      July 10, 2011 at 9:03 pm

      Such work has never been equivalent and will appeal even to invent an undetermined cost and resources will require funding. Its startup assumes that recovery in the Central main is done, which is still far from being the case despite the progress that has been made. On functional development of new cooling systems of the reactors, to the judgment of the continuous production of highly contaminated water is still pending.

      -After partial decontamination – evacuation of common water masses in the basement is still problematic and long. Finally, its buildings and structures tested, Central remains vulnerable to the elements: tropical rain, shaking telluriques… and tsunamis.

      The immediate bad news are stripped daily. Very high levels of radioactive contamination …


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      • xdrfox
        July 10, 2011 at 9:06 pm

        Controls on food products, was recognized by the authorities, are made in a random manner and no change is envisaged in this regard. Less than one per cent, from the region of Fukushima, were monitored. Which also includes the products of the sea, where it is known that a significant contamination occurred


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  • CaliMom
    July 10, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Gosh, to live so many years, only to end it in such grief and despair. What a tragedy. I wonder how many others feel this way? Also, I find it amazing that a woman of 93 years should be so socially aware of the goings on of her country and government. It seems that the elderly just accept what comes to them, and never speak out against such things. Though I never agree that suicide is correct, I find it very interesting that she took her own life over this mess. :(


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    • Whoopie Whoopie
      July 10, 2011 at 5:08 pm

      I’m not as old as she was, but I’ve been speaking out for years and years. Looks like it’s gotten me and millions of others NO WHERE. :( That is not to say I GIVE UP. I never will. :)
      But like you say – The Elderly would rather commit suicide than FIGHT. She is not the 1st nor will she be the last I’m afraid.


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      • Terranigma1 Terranigma1
        July 11, 2011 at 1:37 am

        God bless her! God would have granted her many more years for sure. Your comments have not fallen on deaf ears as you’ve influenced me and many others. One tiny stone can make a ripple!


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  • arclight arclight
    July 10, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    Make no deep scrutiny
    Into her mutiny
    Rash and undutiful:
    Past all dishonour,
    Death has left on her
    Only the beautiful.
    1844 by Thomas Hood


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  • majia
    July 10, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    Looks like steam or smoke coming from the area of #4 or beyond on tepco webcam. It is not typical to see this during the day
    http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/camera/index-j.html


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  • extra knight
    July 10, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    this is truly a sad event. i guess she felt lost and unimportant and that others couldn’t or didn’t recognize her humanity.


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  • Whoopie Whoopie
    July 10, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    LOOK GUYS!! HP’er just posted!!
    Strike at nuclear plants extends into second day
    http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/strike_at_nuclear_plant_extend.html
    About 460 workers walked off the job. Shifts of 20 to 30 have been picketing around the clock since the strike began, said Theodore Skerpon, president of IBEW Local 97, which represents the striking workers.

    THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED HERE!!
    STRIKE’S!!!


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    • milk and cheese milk and cheese
      July 11, 2011 at 6:34 am

      Who is minding the nuclear plant during the strike? I support unions but also hope they aren’t leaving themselves and everyone else in danger.


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  • Whoopie Whoopie
    July 10, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    Nine Mile Point Nuclear Workers On Strike
    Members and supporters of IBEW local 97 picket near the entrance to the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plants, at the intersection of Lakeview Road and county Route 1A, in Scriba. Hundreds of union members took to the picket line at midnight Saturday morning after a final contract negotiating session ended Friday morning.


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    • westcoastgirl westcoastgirl
      July 10, 2011 at 6:42 pm

      That’s great, but I hope some workers will be there to manage the place, otherwise it will be in danger too…

      And I wish it were for the right reasons; seems like they are just unhappy about their pensions…


      Report Comment

  • Pu239 Pu239
    July 10, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    Lovely piece on how Japanese flotsam (garbage) will wash up on the West Coast of the United States. Do a Control[Commmand]-F and see if you can find the word “radiation”:

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/10/debris-japan-tsunami-floats-toward-california/


    Report Comment

  • Whoopie Whoopie
    July 10, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    #Fukushima #Radiation – Local Residents Drink Out of Same Well That Cattle Farm Where Contaminated Beef Was Found Used For Stock
    http://news.lucaswhitefieldhixson.com/2011/07/fukushima-radiation-local-residents.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


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  • Whoopie Whoopie
    July 10, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    Only yesterday (July 9), the officials of this city in Chiba, which has had consistently elevated levels of radiation since the Fukushima accident, announced they had detected radioactive cesium in the ashes after burning the household garbage at its waste processing plants. Over 8,000 becquerels/kg but only slightly over 10,000 becquerels/kg.
    Wrong.
    One day later on July 10, the city announced it was 70,800 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium from the ashes.
    Oops.
    http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/07/radiation-in-japan-70800-becquerelskg.html


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  • xdrfox
    July 10, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    To moved to speak ! Poor Babies !


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  • CB CB
    July 10, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    Off subject;
    Since Fukushima, there have been numerous reports of many reactors on the Brink of Catastrophe. Nevada’s 2 reactors, Los Alamos Fire, Flooding, North Carolina, France, and anything else I missed. What by pure coincidence are the chances of this happening? Maybe it’s no so coincidental after all. Just thinking out loud.


    Report Comment

  • xdrfox
    July 10, 2011 at 9:37 pm

    Earth: Crowded field still in need of much plowing

    July 11 is World Population Day, and this year the number of world inhabitants is going to reach 7 billion people. Many experts say both
    Turkey’s and the region’s fertility rates are declining, leading to problems of aging related social policies. According to Thea Fierens, UN…

    Indeed, in a world in which 267 people are born every minute and 108 lose their lives, inequality seems unavoidable. Nearly a billion people go hungry and 2 billion are surviving on less than $1 a day. Today, while 1 billion people lack access to clean water, more than a thousand women die in pregnancy and childbirth every year. So, how will such statistics improve?

    According …

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=earth-crowded-field-still-in-need-of-much-plowing-2011-07-10


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    • Steven Steven
      July 11, 2011 at 1:00 am

      And just think, over the next 100 or so years 7 billion people will die – and that’s only if things go along as usual (hint: the first figure is the variable).


      Report Comment

  • Mark
    July 10, 2011 at 9:57 pm

    Anything is possible. Since mainstream media appears so untrustworthy these days, thinking people look elsewhere. HAARP? Conspiracy theories? Illuminati wanting to de-populate the planet? I honestly won’t discount anything and I keep an open mind but there are a lot of 40-50 year old reactors out there and they are ending there serviceable life. Like if you are trying to buy a used car on the cheap. Why a certain model, lets say a 95 civic, they all will have rust around there rear wheel wells all need timing belt changed all have 200,000 miles on them and will start burning oil soon. Los Alamos fire and flooding are products of changing environment. Probably nearly forty years ago I remember reading an article in Time I think about how agriculture has all been planned based on weather patterns that have only been stable for the last (from 70′s) forty years or so and historically weather patterns change. The thrust of the article was that we won’t be able to feed ourselves as modern man is planning everything based on a stable weather pattern and historically we know weather is not stable. Europe was a lot colder hundreds of years ago and people ran horse teams across the frozen north arm of the fraser river here in Vancouver a hundred years ago while today you are lucky to get a couple of weeks of below freezing tempurature. That river never freezes over. The Missouri River has been heavily re-engineered to accommodate commercial traffic based on a weather pattern that has only been around for 50 or 60 years. No way they can predict what that river can do. Los Alamos was a experimental war lab in the forties located at the time a long way a way from people in a wilderness. Back then they were relatively ignorant about nuclear waste and most likely dumped it in the wilderness now that wilderness is called a Wilderness Park. And that park burned in a wild fire created by changing climate.

    I am not a conspiracy theorist. I believe that we have all been tricked into respecting a class of people that are worse then common criminals. A psychotic, power addicted sick group of people are calling the shots right now and most everybody have been seduced by them. They are f*cking us without even buying us dinner!

    Please let us all pray for that poor 93 year old who took her life. She had wisdom we can’t understand. Is a sign of how desperate the situation is in Japan. Peace


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    • Steven Steven
      July 11, 2011 at 1:04 am

      LOL nice shot – right across the bows.


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    • milk and cheese milk and cheese
      July 11, 2011 at 6:37 am

      Great post, especially the post about the dinner.
      The worst thing about the poor woman’s death is that it will have no effect on the psychotics who want to keep on running, and building, nuclear plants even when all hell is literally breaking loose.
      R.I.P.


      Report Comment

      • arclight arclight
        July 11, 2011 at 4:41 pm

        maybe we can use the momentum of compassion shown here to help our resolve to inform and offer choices to the japanese and americans and iraqis(remember fallujah) and the afghanistanies and the libyans and sorround areas of chernobyl and…..well just about everyone in varying degrees…
        ive had all day to consider this families tradgedy and the thought occourred to me that TPTB are trying to protect the people from fear…i put it to you all that this poor lady did not have fear, indeed the opposite, she had clarity of vision and true strength of character…the disorganisation and manipulation from ey minded tepco, the skulking media and the incompetent government can actually be seen especially as time goes on and i think this dear lady was aware of the situation…a situation that she could see no future in for herself…what a tradgedy!! the japanese government needed to take a lead, the nuke lobby should have realistic plans for evacuation(this is the 21st century).. the elderly and sick should be relocated somewhere comfortable with support…this and many other things should have been done and maybe this and other similar tradgedies would not need to happen!! now though i will remember her as the reason to continue this endless blogging…till it comes out of me ears if necessary! my mission statement…
        THE TRUTH WILL OUT!
        love light and peace…


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  • alasanon
    July 10, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    I admit that I’m nowhere near 93, but even if all the Daiichi reactors melt down, I would keep trying to find a way out. Nothing is final. Yet.

    I feel strongly that I have a duty to pursue Life and Hope, regardless!!

    I would roll up my sleeves and pitch in on site, rather than ever give up!!!… Better to make your life count to the end!!

    Courage inspires Faith. And Faith inspires Courage, as required here.


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    • farawayfan farawayfan
      July 10, 2011 at 10:23 pm

      When you are 93 you may find these platitudes yield little to you. Pray you will have the chance to reach that age and then maybe you will have the right to make such statements.


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      • alasanon
        July 11, 2011 at 1:02 am

        @farwayfan,
        By the way, I spoke for myself… Hence, “I”. Moreover, age is just a factor, not a determinant. I’ve had a number of relatives in their 80′s and 90′s who could move mountains, if they so chose.

        I disagree with your tone and every presumption you’ve made, but I’m coming from a higher point of view, so I’ll just hope that you can take something from it or find out why something benign would bother you…..


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    • farawayfan farawayfan
      July 10, 2011 at 10:30 pm

      This post is offensive. You sit at a computer somewhere, well-fed, young compared to this woman, and not surrounded by radioactive death and you presume that you know better than she. You imply by your words she should have kept tryin to “find a way out. Nothing is final. Yet”

      What a load of garbage. You spew these things as if you had the slightest comprehension of who or what she was, of what she was going through.

      You tried to post a hopeful message, yet all you did was mock the memory of someone you didn’t even know.

      If you have any decency, apologize.


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      • alasanon
        July 10, 2011 at 11:35 pm

        I have great sympathy for her. I’m not condemning her, obviously. If anything, I have far greater sympathy for her and those still alive there than to relegate them to a depressed, hopeless outlook. That’s sick.

        I think to project that mentality is cowardly and defeatist. And, frankly, if we had less cowards out there, I don’t think Japan’s govt., the U.S., the nuke industry, the media, and TEPCO would be enabling this disaster.

        This isn’t about me. I’m sorry my message got under your skin, but I think it might help you… ;)


        Report Comment

    • milk and cheese milk and cheese
      July 11, 2011 at 6:38 am

      There is nothing any of us can do but live decently and help others.


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  • Mark
    July 10, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    Exactly! only a 93 yr old knows what its like to be a 93 yr old!


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  • Mark
    July 10, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    And I have never been to Japan and I am blessed in not knowing what its like to have so many people on a small island. Tokyo is whole population of Canada (me Canadian) Don’t think us North Americans understand there is no where to run in Japan


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    • farawayfan farawayfan
      July 10, 2011 at 10:33 pm

      That is the saddest part of this entire story…that ultimately, the truth revealed will only be that they really have very little choice, now the TEPCO has failed them.


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  • Mark
    July 10, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    But farawayfan we do not know who alasanon is how old etc. She has a right to her opinion. Easy to spread hatred harder to spread love. God Bless.


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    • farawayfan farawayfan
      July 10, 2011 at 10:37 pm

      I don’t know alasanon, but I can say with virtual certainty this person is not likely a 93 year old woman in Fukushima. How dare they hold this person to such a standard. And no, not every opinion is entitled.

      Spread hope, but do NOT do it at the sacrifice of the dignity of this woman. There are better ways to do what they did, and they should know it. I won’t coddle such rudeness and lack of empathy.


      Report Comment

  • Mark
    July 10, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    Death on a public forum everyone has a right to their opinion that is what freedom is I will defend freedom. You can’t be an individual unless you can respect anothers individuality. Peace.


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    • farawayfan farawayfan
      July 10, 2011 at 10:43 pm

      Respecting individuality does not have to extend to accepting everything everyone says is valid, but I understand your non-confrontational approach. god knows we all need each other more than we realize.

      But I cannot, and will not, abide desecration. We have to have some boundaries and respect, or what’s the point?


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    • alasanon
      July 11, 2011 at 12:02 am

      Thanks, Mark!! Re-reading, my message is not offensive at all. I actually have withheld the full extent of my opinion, which includes being personally extremely offended by those who enforce the notion of giving up and waiting for cancer…That negative drumbeat on this forum is useless and I think it taints and diminishes this woman’s reputation and memory. Not to mention, all of Japan and its future…

      Finally, I think to advocate for suicide desecrates EVERYONE. And I think most mentally healthy people would agree with me, except Dr. Kevorkian.


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  • irradiated californian
    July 10, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    this is extremely sad, and it just shows that not all the japanese are ok and happy as bees over there. same as over here, but there is still no need to spread fear which some regulars will do almost on a daily basis. i know i will get attacked for saying this, but there is a big difference between spreading info in a practical and between spreading it through fear. by always assuming something is going to happen and give dates, timeframes, etc. what kind of way is that to go? we are all here for information, and we have almost all had access to the same amount of info, and yes some people do know a bit more about radiation and its effects, but something like this HAS NEVER happened before, so NOBODY knows what the hell is going to happen, no matter what you all think, you have to admit to yourselves that you do not know what is going to happen, because if you say you do you are a liar. let go of your ego every now and then, and you will open up a piece of your mind.


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    • farawayfan farawayfan
      July 10, 2011 at 10:46 pm

      NOBODY knows

      Pasted for emphasis. So right.


      Report Comment

      • irradiated californian
        July 11, 2011 at 1:04 am

        but people will ignore what i say and keep believing that tacomagroove knows all. if there is anything that keeps me from frequenting this site more, it is her. i don’t mean to call anybody out, but the way things are posted from her is extremely hard to read, it’s almost always ‘oh look massive steam, another explosion happened’. i remember a few times she said that the ‘china syndrome’ was happening because the jnn cam was greyed out like it is usually…yeah how’t that work out? also, how did her long elaborate ‘prediction’ for lack of a better term work out about fukushima being totally deserted by the middle of june…from what i have seen earlier today and the last couple of days people are still there, working with cranes, doing their best to keep that fucker from getting worse. but people still hold all she says to the highest of highs, like it is the gospel here…it is sad how people react in that manner here, but hey, that’s the way it is.


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        • anne anne
          July 11, 2011 at 10:17 am

          I think tacomagroove is a man. I think he is an event planner in the sense of a psy ops planner to do psychology studies of those who blog on this and other sites which are doomsday sites. Anyone on these sites can be working for Tavistock. That doesn’t mean automatically that the information is incorrect. Tavistock operatives play good cop bad cop all the time. Criticizing tacomagroove doesn’t mean that the criticizer isn’t also not working for Tavistock. We need to deal with the information presented and not attack the messenger which helps not at all.

          There have been many nuclear accidents to date on which to lead us to know that nuclear is 100% unsafe. Because the spent fuel rods were accumulated for 40 years, there is much plutonium. Because there is MOX, there is much plutonium. We know that complete meltdown happened Mar. 11 or Mar 12 according to official reports out of Japan. We don’t need to scapegoat tacomagroove to know that the world is in grave trouble with or without another explosion.

          5 Worst Russian Nuclear Accidents of All Time
          http://www.topsecretwriters.com/2011/03/5-worst-russian-nuclear-accidents-of-all-time/

          Calendar of Nuclear Accidents
          http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/nukes/chernob/rep02.html
          “Below is a calendar that shows the threat that humanity faces from the atom bomb and the nuclear fuel cycle. This calendar gives some examples of the everyday nuclear incidents that have occurred all over the world. It demonstrates how technological failures coupled with human error risk public health and the environment on an almost daily basis.”

          Mayak
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak


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          • Steven Steven
            July 11, 2011 at 10:41 am

            Good post with some nice links anne. The nuclear calendar is astonishing. As for this being some sort of ‘doomsday’ site, not sure I’d agree with that. More a situation info and discussion thing IMO.

            Perhaps your assessment of Tacomagroove is correct, insofar as he/she seems to be attempting to spread panic amongst the less well informed here. Without an occassional rebuke I suspect he/she would have been considerably more successful.


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          • radegan
            July 11, 2011 at 1:04 pm

            I believe both corporations and governments develop “gullibility indexes” by using various websites to plant memes of varying verisimilitude. Then they watch the ‘echoes’. Maybe how gullible we seem at any moment dictates what lie they will choose to fly by us.


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        • westcoastgirl westcoastgirl
          July 11, 2011 at 11:28 am

          I agree with you about the folly of setting timelines for exactly how things will progress with this accident, since no one really knows.

          But I have to say I appreciate tacomagroove’s viewpoint. Her analyses to me seem not so much the truth of what is actually going to happen, but of a scenario that could possibly truly happen one day in a nuclear accident that spirals out of control.

          It has made me think that the possibility of an E.L.E. resulting from a nuclear accident is not so far fetched…especially in an accident involving multiple reactors and huge spent fuel pool storages.

          At one point in the beginning of this crisis Tepco was planning to evacuate the facility because it was too dangerous to work there. imagine what could have happened if they had done that.

          So her scenario about abandoning the plant may not be happening in this case right now, but if there were ever an accident that led to this it could be catastrophic. I especially think of solar flares and the east coast of the U.S., which is littered with NPPs.

          The sheer number of them poses a huge danger. And a large enough accident at one plant could possibly cause an evacuation at another…the possibility of things spiraling out of control become more likely.

          Maybe it’s tacomagroove’s predictions of timelines and dates that offend you so much, but to me what she is actually saying does not seem so preposterous. I definitely don’t have any blind faith in the nuclear industry, that they will protect us or even inform us if we are ever in any real danger.


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        • radegan
          July 11, 2011 at 1:10 pm

          I never thought Tacoma knew everything, you have misjudged the group. And certainly given the early predictions, there are many mainline physicists with an egg/money mixture all over their faces, so what constitutes expertise? I always thought Tacoma wanted someone to bust his/her theories – a way of reaching out for reassurance. But to condemn her for ideas is to condemn the basic principle of science – an assertion for which we will now gain evidence for and against and modify our assertion as we learn.


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    • Mark
      July 10, 2011 at 10:52 pm

      So true nobody knows what will happen, me hoping Jesus will come down and turn Fraser River into wine! (probably won’t happen) we come here for info and we come here because we are the concerned minority that can’t talk about this among our friends and workmates and family because no-one else seems to see what we see we need each other that is part of the human condition.


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      • milk and cheese milk and cheese
        July 11, 2011 at 6:42 am

        None of us know, but we post and compare notes. It’s better than waiting for the ‘official’ sources to comment. We have our differences but at least we are trying to learn the truth.
        I have no printable words for ‘officials’ who turn off warning sirens when a ghastly flood is approaching, shrug off the irradiation of small children’s thyroids and claim that people will not be hurt if they are ‘happy’ (that Japanese politician should have immediately been vaporized) or turn off radiation detectors in an entire country after a nuclear accident (I’m looking at you, Stephen Harper.)


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      • radegan
        July 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm

        Damn, turn the Missouri to wine and we’ll drink Ft. Calhoun to safety.


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  • Mark
    July 10, 2011 at 10:47 pm

    Alasanon no need to apologize you have a right to your opinion, my exactly! above was not agreeing with Farawayfan although he to has a right to his opinion and I respect everyones opinion freedom is a hard road to follow sometimes but I think we should all agree to pray for poor 93 yr old lady? Agree it is a tragedy and pray none of us will reach that cross-road? Peace and Good Night.


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  • NoNukes NoNukes
    July 10, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    It reminds me of the Vietnamese monk, Thích Quảng Đức, who set himself on fire, or Margaret Garner, who killed her daughter so she wouldn’t have to go back into slavery.

    I don’t know if that is what this 93 year old woman intended, but my Republican father was talking about her tonight, with compassion. The self-destructive, violent actions of Thích Quảng Đức and Margaret Garner captured everyone’s attention and signaled the end of the regimes which oppressed them. I wish that the same would be true now.


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  • brydie
    July 11, 2011 at 12:39 am

    Ny mom is 93. I know 93. it is very very close to death. this woman is like the monks who burned themselves to protest the war in vietam. she is saying see my death at my hand and do something…wake up. this is not ok. we need to heed her message. Here is an idea: write every day for 10 minutes on the topic of how can we save the earth and stop this madness. see what ideas you come up with. do it every day. good luck to us all.


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    • Pu239 Pu239
      July 11, 2011 at 1:32 am

      It’s actually impossible, and inadvisable, to do anything at all, until one is fully knowledgeable on the problem at hand.

      I might be paraphrasing Chomsky here: the first act is to find out [or, something like that].

      I feel that just becoming an enenews member is a very important first step. It indicates a pre-existing level of understanding and a desire to hone and fine-tune it for later acts of civil “importance” [or, disobedience].

      At least, it is a forum that enables us to improve our thinking (and writing) so that we don’t sound too much like raving lunatics when dealing with government, industry “personnel” [i.e. shills] and the general public.

      So, this is my idea for saving the world:

      Step 1: Find out.
      Step 2: See Step 1.

      The other steps will follow …


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      • Pu239 Pu239
        July 11, 2011 at 1:45 am

        Another idea is to determine who, or what, in the political system is positioned to provide the most impact.

        This means understanding the political system you live in, and tailoring your message accordingly.

        For instance, in both Canadian and U.S. politics there is a noteworthy trend towards solidification of power at the top, like a monarch, or king. Knowing that MPs or Senators actually wield little power these days may lead you to address letters to either the Prime Minister, or the President. (Actually, I’d address letters to both – just to cover both bases).

        Another avenue of “attack” might be the press, even the hated MSM. Most reporters wouldn’t know a BWR from a mortuary with a big chimney on top, even though they’re in the same industry (i.e. death).

        So, a little education might be helpful to the embedded scribblers. They seem to be picking it up in bits and pieces.

        Most prime ministers in the Westminster system of government (Canada, Australia, NZ, Britian, etc.) are VERY sensitive to the media.

        Letters to editors might make it through if carefully worded somehow, without leaving out the important bits.


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      • Mark
        July 11, 2011 at 1:52 am

        I think doing something is often better then doing nothing. Sometimes life looks like a puzzle. Easy to get overcome by the facts and say what can I do? Good excuse to do nothing but to do something is a step in the right direction and sometimes by doing something you are in a better position later on to do something more meaningful then if you had done nothing.

        That poor old woman took her own life thus generating the conversation we are having now. For better or worse that woman a stranger to myself and all others on this page has touched us in some way for better or worse. A set of circumstances I hope nobody here will ever understand leads to a suicide conclusion. Suicide itself is an expression of free speech. An expression for sure of how bleak is the reality in Japan for an old woman living on the edge of a nuclear disaster and certainly a reflection of what that government and society has and has not done.

        I’m not looking for answers I’m still wondering what the question is


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        • Pu239 Pu239
          July 11, 2011 at 2:05 am

          Well said.

          Doing something is sometimes better than doing nothing, and sometimes worse, depending on how, where, to whom, why you do it.

          A simple act can do a lot.

          Also, I rather look upon her simple act as one of heroic martyrdom, not suicide.

          We should all be guided by the light of her spirit in whatever we do from here on.


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          • Mark
            July 11, 2011 at 2:28 am

            Yeah me too, heroic martyrdom. Looks around and sees she is a burden on her family in times of trouble and does what she thinks is right. Wouldn’t happen in North America because 93 year old would be in a home drugged up to facilitate easy care by underpaid overworked staff while rest of family living the life. Few elderly live with their offspring in North America unless they are immigrants with other cultural values. Truly respect other cultures (East Indian comes to mind) family values


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  • anne anne
    July 11, 2011 at 2:14 am

    Earthquake 11 miles (18 km) from Fukushima Daiichi, magnitude 2.7:
    11:23, 2011/07/11 Earthquake Activity Date-Time 2011/07/11 11:18 Epicenter Area FUKUSHIMAKENHAMADOORI Depth(km) 10 Magnitude(M) 2.7 Area(LAT) 37.1 Area(LNG) 140.9
    http://www.bousai.pref.hiroshima.jp/hdis_eng/main.jsp?link=2&menu=1&param1=1&param2=0&param0=3


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  • odylan
    July 11, 2011 at 4:32 am

    Wildfire causes major explosion at Naval base and knocks out island’s main power station. Fortunately non-nuclear – this time.

    http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-cyprus-naval-10-feared-dead-055750458.html


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  • jonjon
    July 11, 2011 at 5:16 am

    When the president of TEPCO came back from the hospital to face the public only to give his resignation, it should have caused an outcry. Unfortunately in Japan, all you have to do to be forgiven and forgotten, is show regret, not by having any, but by faking tears… That’s what all these scum bags politicians do, every time they are caught stealing public funds, or found guilty of deceit, corruption and treason.

    The president of TEPCO should be prosecuted for falsifying documents and risking the health of an entire nation and neighboring countries. These guys should be ready to sink with their ship. Instead, their attitude is summed up in their action: Make your money and run.

    One has to wonder what the president of TEPCO was up to at the start of the incident. Was he really in a hospital? Or did he just check-in? Or was he doing board meetings to see how they should all play down the catastrophe so in the meantime they can sell their shares or find a way to make money off put options? Was there any insider trading while they knew what was really going on? KNowing Japan and the degree of corruption and cowardice shown by politicians and industry leaders, I would really not be surprised if the president of TEPCO and his buddies somehow profited financially from this nuclear disaster. This should be investigated, and people should be prosecuted.


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    • anne anne
      July 11, 2011 at 9:41 am

      I don’t disagree with your assessment of TEPCO, but I read on this website somewhere that they did tell the Japanese government the truth, and they were ordered to keep it secret. The government should also be held accountable, including here in the US.

      The government is based on the nuclear industry and the fossil fuel industries, and these industries can only exist with the government. No wonder so much money is spent on election campaigns.


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      • jonjon
        July 11, 2011 at 12:26 pm

        Well, TEPCO and the government is one and the same thing. Japan functions on the tradition of Amakudari, where politicians become presidents of large corporations or board members after years of receiving bribes and doing favors in exchanges. Typical every day example in Japan would be, locate a pristine beach on the coast then give a concrete company the right to destroy it by pouring concrete. No other country in the world has as much useless concrete as in Japan, yet they’re incapable of making any good use of it when the situation really calls for it… Such as now with Fukushima!!


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  • milk and cheese milk and cheese
    July 11, 2011 at 6:46 am

    Seppuku is an old Japanese tradition. TEPCO management should use it.


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  • xdrfox
    July 11, 2011 at 11:11 am

    Only 23% of donations reach quake victims
    Less than one-quarter of some 3.7 billion dollars in donations collected in Japan after the March 11th quake and tsunami has reached the hands of survivors, 4 months after the disaster…
    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_32.html


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