14,000 U.S. Deaths Tied to Fukushima Reactor Disaster Fallout

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2011 -- Impact Seen As Roughly Comparable to Radiation-Related Deaths After Chernobyl; Infants Are Hardest Hit, With Continuing Research Showing Even Higher Possible Death Count.
An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services. This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.

Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns is comparable to the 16,500 excess deaths in the 17 weeks after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks...

Full Article:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/medical-journal-article-14000-us-deaths-tied-to-fukushima-reactor-disaster-fallout-2011-12-19

Russians & North Koreans in Iran: Collateral Damage?

From OilPrice.com:
As the drums for direct military intervention to derail Iran’s purported covert military nuclear weapons program beat louder in both Jerusalem and Washington, an overlooked issue is the possibility of international “collateral damage,” to use the Pentagon’s favourite euphemism for civilian casualties.

On 14 November South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo stated, "Hundreds of North Korean scientists and engineers are working at about 10 nuclear and missile facilities in Iran, including Natanz, The North Koreans are apparently rotated every six months." Russian technicians also remain at Iran’s first nuclear electrical energy facility, Bushehr. So, any aerial strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities could result in significant numbers of dead Russian and North Korean specialists as “collateral damage,” with all the diplomatic uncertainties that might ensue from Moscow and Pyongyang as the body bags start arriving home.

The https://www.cia.gov/ website, which listed the report, describes the Chosun Ilbo website as “conservative in editorial orientation -- strongly nationalistic, anti-North Korea, and generally pro-U.S.”

For those looking for more smoking guns, Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reports that among the Iranian sites the North Koreans have been involved in are three research centres carrying out simulations of how to trigger nuclear weapons.

The news complicates the situation for advocates of a “clean” surgical strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Airstrike Against Iranian Nuclear Facilities Could Kill 100s of North Koreans and Russians John Daly
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/Middle-East/Airstrike-Against-Iranian-Nuclear-Facilities-Could-Kill-100s-of-North-Koreans-and-Russians.html

Report Shreds Japan's Carefully Constructed Fukushima Scenario

New International Report Shreds Japan's Carefully Constructed Fukushima Scenario
John Daly
Wednesday, 02 November 2011
http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/New-International-Report-Shreds-Japan-s-Carefully-Constructed-Fukushima-Scenario.html

Japan’s six reactor Fukushima Daichi nuclear complex has inadvertently become the world’s bell-weather poster child for the inherent risks of nuclear power ever since the 11 March Tohoku offshore earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, triggered a devastating tsunami that effectively destroyed the complex.

Ever since, specialists have wrangled about how damaging the consequences of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami actually were, not only for the facility but the rest of the world.

The Fukushima Daichi complex was one of the 25 largest nuclear power stations in the world and the Fukushima I reactor was the first GE designed nuclear plant to be constructed and run entirely by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO.

Needless to say, in the aftermath of the disaster, both TEPCO and the Japanese government were at pains to minimize the disaster’s consequences, hardly surprising given the country’s densely populated regions.

But now, an independent study has effectively demolished TEPCO and the Japanese government’s carefully constructed minimalist scenario. Mainichi news agency reported that France’s l’Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, or IRSN) has issued a recent report stating that the amount of radioactive cesium-137 that entered the Pacific after 11 March was probably nearly 30 times the amount stated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. in May.

According to IRSN, the amount of the radioactive isotope cesium-137 that flowed into the ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant between March 21 and mid-July reached an estimated 27.1 quadrillion becquerels.

Why should this matter? Aren’t the Japanese authorities on top of the issue?

Cesium-137 can cause burns, acute radiation sickness and even death at sufficient doses. It can contaminate food and water and, if ingested, gets distributed around the body, where it builds up in soft tissues, such as muscles. Over time, it is expelled from the body in urine.

And where might tingested cesium-137 come from?

Seafood, anyone? One of the problems of the release of radioactivity into a maritime environment is that is represents a cumulative food chain, from plankton consumed by larger organisms, as evidenced by mercury contamination of swordfish, none of whom swam around ingesting globules of the silvery metal.

IRSN estimated that of the total amount, 82 percent had flowed into the sea by 8 April, adding that the Pacific was polluted at exceptional speed because the devastated Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant (NPP) is situated in a coastal area with strong currents.

If the IRSN report contained any good news, it was that the impact of the cesium-137 contamination on marine life in remote waters is likely to lessen later this year.

The radioactive silver lining? Radioactive cesium-137 has a half life of roughly 30 years, so if the IRSN estimates are accurate, then my 2041 the Pacific’s aquatic life will only be subjected to a mere 13.55 quadrillion becquerels of radiation.

This is not to suggest that Japanese will shortly be keeling over from consuming their sushi but rather, that for better or for worse, a significant amount of cesium 137 has entered the Pacific’s aquatic environment, and the long-term effects of low-level exposure on the population consuming Pacific seafood are unknown. Numerous tests since 1945, when before it was believed that only massive bursts of radiation were hazardous to human health, have documented the insidious effects of long-term, low level radiological exposure to humans.

Fukushima sits at the nexus where the Kuroshio Current, running northward off the eastern coast of Japan, collides with the cold subarctic Oyashio Current that flows southwards, circulating counterclockwise along the western North Pacific Ocean. Their interaction produces the North Pacific Current, a slow warm water eastwards flowing current between 40 and 50 degrees north in the Pacific Ocean. In the eastern northern Pacific, the North Pacific Current divides into the southern flowing California Current and the northern Alaska Current.

The potential level of pollution outlined in the IRSN report indicate that it is long overdue for both TEPCO and the Japanese government to stop dribbling out information about the true state of events since Fukushima was devastated, and that foreign governments, particularly the United States, whose western shores are washed by the same currents that pass by Fukushima, insist that they do so.

While trillions of dollars are at stake in the worldwide nuclear industry, the potential health consequences are now simply too significant to ignore.

You're in my Prayers Japan

As you know, Japan has been hit with a serious natural disasters today. Red Cross has been on call and is taking donations. If you wanna help please contact your local Red Cross chapters. Or Visit Redcross.org to donate. My heart goes out to our fellow Japanese fiends.

Japanese Matchbox Label

japanese matchbox label, originally uploaded by maraid.

Helena Wong Loopwheeler Bespoke!

These are NICE!!! Hopefully she made them just in time for Christmas because that it what these scream!! Loopwheeler produces high quality fleece used for overalls, shoes, hoodies, and now BESPOKES! I love how Helena kept it simple with an all red upper down to the stitching, and to make it pop, clean white eyelets, laces, and midsole! She did her thing on these! No info on Helena herself but I will try to find this FSFer!

Source: Nike Sportswear - 21 Mercer

Acne Cream & Mitsuya Cider, 1900-1929

Acne Cream & Mitsuya Cider, 1900-1929, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

(Thanks to Paula Wirth for translating!) Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 632 x 900 size.

Japanese magazine, 1930s

Japanese magazine, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 715 x 1000 size.

Magazine Cover, 1930s

Magazine Cover, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 1087 x 1529 size.

Magazine Cover, 1930s

Magazine Cover, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 698 x 999 size.

Japanese magazine, 1930s

Japanese magazine, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 713 x 1000 size.

Japanese magazine cover, 1930s

Japanese magazine cover, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 714 x 1000 size.

Japanese magazine, 1930s

Japanese magazine, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 715 x 1000 size.

Japanese Beauty, 1930s

Japanese Beauty, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 715 x 1000 size.

Japanese ladies, 1930s

Japanese ladies, 1930s, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "Japanese Beauties". Click image for 718 x 1000 size.

T. ENAMI in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE -- September 1922

T. ENAMI in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE -- September 1922, originally uploaded by Okinawa Soba.