eugimon

I like the Halo figures, not 50$ like though. Mostly I just want the dude with the giant gun. Well, I just want the giant gun.

sweet. Sad that it's being billed as the "final chapter" but more ME2 is always a good thing.

Most of that stuff is widely known, it's non news but they need a way to keep the ratings up now that it looks like the situation has leveled out. Like all this noise about how they're going to have to case the plant... of COURSE they're going to case the plant, it's ruined and they're not going to open up the reactors to try and salvage the fuel rods. We've known that it was a complete loss the second they started dumping seawater on the reactors.

The alert levlel isn't new. France has been saying this event should be classified as a level 6 for a couple days.

And it's ONLY good for iodine exposure and you need to take it in advance. And while iodized table salt can work, you need something like 160 tablespoons to equal one dosage for an adult.

Livingsocial.com is working with the red cross. Donate 5 bucks and they'll match it, so 10$ will go the red cross. It's only 5 bucks, that's just one venti caramel something or other from starbucks. 10 bucks might not seem like enough but if enough of us do it then it can quickly turn into real money. https://livingsocial.com/deals/32115-5-for-10-donation-to-red-cross-relief-efforts

Yup, even the MOX (which is what the concern is over) isn't going to be harmful out of the immediate area, the plutonium is "heavy" and will come out of the atmosphere quickly. Not to downplay the concern for the people in the area, certainly local exposure to radiation and radioactive isotopes is a real concern for them but if you're in Korea, China, Taiwan, North America and the like, there's NOTHING to worry about. Besides, it wasn't long ago we were detonating nuclear weapons directly into the atmosphere...

considering people in california are buying out potassium iodide pills, I have no problem believing people in China are taking their own precautions. Just so everyone knows, experts are saying that even if there is a full scale catastrophic meltdown of the plant (that is, cores are breached, giant explosion) there's no threat of radiation poisoning on the west coast. Simply not enough radioactive materials, too much distance and dispersion for any measurable concentrations to reach the Americas.

make sure you're using WPA or WPA2 security protocol, there's some reports that WEP and ipad don't get along.

Russian nuclear experts are saying, first, this is NOTHING like Chernobyl, but most importantly that if they can keep up cooling efforts for 10 days then the spent fuel rods should be cool enough to begin more permanent stablization strategies. For people on the west coast of the USA there's no risk of exposure. Instead of buying radiation pills, please donate the money to the red cross or other charitable organisations

Some news: CNN: Stars and Stripes reports that the U.S. military on Thursday began voluntary evacuations for families and dependents on four bases in Japan: Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Yokosuka Naval Base and the Army's Camp Zama, all near Tokyo, the Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. Non-essential workers will also be allowed to leave [10:17 a.m. ET Thursday, 11:17 p.m. Thursday in Tokyo] Iwaki Kyoritsu Hospital, only 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, says it has only a five-day supply of food and a three-day supply of drugs for its 300 patients, the Mainichi Daily News reports. NHK is also reporting "high" levels of radiation, .17mSv, 30km northwest of the reactors. 6 hours of exposure is considered equivalent to 1 year of maximum "safe" radiation exposure. Other observation points are also reporting higher than normal readings but so far, the government is saying that the levels are "high" but SAFE and urging residents to stay indoors.

If moneys tight, donate your time at places like the red cross doing the grunt work if you don't have specialized training or doing your expertise if it's needed. I've been homeless, I know what it's like to go a week without food and having rich people walk around saying, " I'm praying for you" did little to keep me warm or feed me. The temp in Sendai at night is dropping to -2 C, your fraking prayers aren't going to keep people from freezing to death. If you want to pray, send warm wishes, send positive vibes, whatever to japan, fine do so. But you're doing it to make yourself feel better. Further, if money is tight, donate clothes, blankets, little hats for babies. Entire towns have been washed away, the level of devastation is incredible. Don't let the low confirmed death numbers fool you.

Any updates on the new powerline to the reactors?

Just got a package sent via SAL, took about two weeks but I've had stuff arrive just as quickly as EMS or FEDEX before as well. ... it might take longer now though, given what's going on over there.

News reports are saying helicopters have resumed water drops as well as ground measures. Hopefully this push will get things under control.

According to the BBC, Britons are being advised but not ordered to evacuate Tokyo. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12765593

Can we get local confirmation on reports that white smoke is coming from reactors 1,2,3 and 4 according to NHK?

CNN: [7:01 p.m. ET Wednesday, 8:01 a.m. Thursday in Tokyo] As air carriers monitor radiation concerns at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, German airline Lufthansa and Italian carrier Alitalia have rerouted flights to and from the Tokyo area to other Japanese airports.

CNN story on what is to be the exposed spent fuel rods from reactor 4 http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1 NPR just aired an interview where the guest experts said that there's little to no chance of this turning into a health crisis for Tokyo.

Yeah, there's such a huge range in the stories coming out. The US Nuclear Regulation Commission chief is calling the situation "troublesome" while the European Union's energy chief, Guenther Oettinger, told the European Parliament that the plant was "effectively out of control" after breakdowns in the facility's cooling system.

CNN: [4:25 p.m. ET Wednesday, 5:25 a.m. Thursday in Tokyo] A spent fuel pool at Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is dry, resulting in "extremely high" radiation levels, the head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday. "What we believe at this time is that there has been a hydrogen explosion in this unit due to an uncovering of the fuel in the fuel pool," Gregory Jaczko told a House energy and commerce subcommittee hearing. "We believe that secondary containment has been destroyed and there is no water in the spent fuel pool, and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures." Also, The US Embassy has recommended a 50 mile radius evacuation/shelter zone compared to the 20 mile evac zone recommended by the Japanese government. Some good news, a power line is nearly completed to the plant and will be used to restore power to the cooling system http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake

Im getting some pretty alarmed, scared messages from my friends in Tokyo right now. Nothing on CNN or NPR but I'll update as I hear more.

430,000 people are in shelters, 1.6 million without water, and a cold front moved in, roads and bridges are washed out. They need supplies, not well wishes. Please donate money or time if money is scarce.

Word is that firefighters are being sent in to help put water on target after the helicopter drops were cancelled.

That article isn't clear on duration and type of exposure. Ingesting or inhaling "safe" levels of radioactive materials can be very bad but being irradiated by high levels ov a short period of time can be okay and it also matters what the specific radioactive material is in question. Some numbers are coming in: 430,000 people are staying shelters and some 1.6 million people are without drinking water.