Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Why? To prove that the water is ok to drink. The irony is that the water was never intended for human consumption and it was gathered from pools inside the Fukushima Plant. It’s a publicity stunt to help the public insure that the water is clean and safe, but would a politician do this to “save face”? In Japan, yes. (Telegraph UK – Yasuhiro Sonoda)
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“The North Korean survivors demanded that Tokyo apologize and pay compensation. Some in Tokyo worry that compensation would be diverted to the government in Pyongyang. North Korean survivors claim that more than 40,000 Koreans were killed in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Another 30,000 Koreans survived, and 2,000 returned to what became North Korea after the Korean peninsula was divided in 1948. Japan colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945.” I understand paying for being a colonizing jerk, or forcing Koreans to come to Japan and then get killed. But as I read this, it seemed to say, “pay for being bombed since Koreans died because of it.” Strange. Did Japan want to be atomic bombed? How about someone Else paying for it? A group of Japanese doctors have made their way to the North Korea to treat some survivors – 65+ years later! (Washington Post – Bombed)
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What seems uninteresting, a mayoral vote in a small fishing village in Japan is symbolically huge. Kaminoseki isn’t in the earthquake area, it’s further south, yet they’re in an interesting quandary. Imagine, after 3/11, the idea of nuclear anything has been divided. Some say nuclear power is the way to go, and many are now against it. This village is set to have a nuclear power plant, and the political side in favor has won 8 times in a row. The town is now just over 3,000 people, so do they really need to be another Simpsons-like Springfield? (WSJ – Kaminoseki)
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Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro resigns because of a radiation joke! This guy might be the one you want to split sake with, but he’s on fire with the jokes and phrases. He wiped a sleeve of his radiation outfit on a reporter and said, “Look out, radiation!” and ticked people off. (NY Times – Yoshio Hachiro)
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Haruki Murakami goes back to WWII, and basically says that Japan should have never had nuclear anything after the two bombs. He’s quoted as saying, “However, this time it was not a bomb being dropped upon us, but a mistake committed by our very own hands.” The award it turns out is given to a person who helps the world! It’s been handed out to Jimmy Carter and Aung San Suu Ki in the past.(Guardian UK – Haruki Murakami) (Catalan News Agency – Haruki Murakami)
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