Europe Planning A Lunar Base By 2030. (Got Priorities?)

"The final words that Gene Cernan spoke before stepping on to the tiny craft that would ("allegedly") carry him back to Earth are simple and sobering:

'We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind.'"

That was in 1972. That’s more than 40 years ago. (Again, "allegedly") We haven’t been back."

And, now, THIS...
(Cue Ominous Music)
Europe Planning to Establish Lunar Base by 2030*

*So much for the National Parks' (& other delicate natural places') advice of: 

"Take Only Pictures.  Leave Only Footprints."

Here's a Question: "Who's going to win the Lunar Landfill Contract?"
Or, will they  follow that Old Standard practiced on Mother Earth:
"Outta Sight, Outta Mind.", and just jettison their (countless tons 'o) junk into SPACE?

Also, consider how many Billions of Dollars/GBP such an endeavor will cost.  

Meanwhile...  Back here on Planet Earth:

Thousands of children are suffering from starvation; in need of medical care; without safe, non-war zone places to live; haven't safe drinking water or adequate education, etc..  And, there's so much toxic & lethal (and nuclear) waste scattered about the globe because "modern man" has been and STILL Is treating the Earth and her oceans like their own individual and collective "Magical" Bottomless Garbage Can...

But... Hey, Don't Be A 'Buzz-Kill'!

Never mind all THAT!  Having our own "Moon-Base ALPHA" Will Be So COOL!

I'm counting to 10, now... (Breathe)

smh

Fukushima Japan: No More Headlines & Half-Life Headaches

Fukushima Japan: No More Headlines & Half-Life Headaches

Nearly 3 months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck, the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant are still spewing radiation. The plant's operator, Tepco, has now confirmed that three of their reactors likely suffered meltdowns.

(Sigh.)

But, wait...

There is... well, maybe not "Hope", but... there's definitely "Inspiration", and then some...

Enter: A tough, tried and tested team of Unassuming & Unexpected Heroes: The Skilled Veterans Corps.

Who are they?

They are a group of 200+ Japanese pensioners - mostly retired engineers and other professionals, all of them over the age of 60 - who have volunteered to tackle the nuclear crisis - and replace the younger workers presently at the site and those whom the crisis would, eventually, require to have available to work there.

Michio, a former primary school teacher who is spending his retirement helping out at a cafe that offers work experience to people with learning difficulties, had this to say...

"I don't think I'm particularly special," he says. "Most Japanese have this feeling in their heart. The question is whether you step forward, or you stay behind and watch."

Check out the inspirational story via the link below:

 Japan pensioners volunteer to tackle nuclear crisis

Porpoise rescued from rice field after Japan tsunami

Pet shop owner Ryo Taira rescues the young fin-less porpoise from a flooded rice paddy two km (1mi) inland. (AFP/Asahi)

(Yess!) I just found this golden nugget of Good News originating from tsunami-devastated Sendai, Japan (Insert visual of me doing the "Happy Dance", here):

Japanese animal rescue volunteers have saved a porpoise from a rice field after it washed two kilometres inland by the March 11 tsunami.

Ryo Taira and his group were in the devastated area around Sendai rescuing cats and dogs when they received a phone call that took them a while to comprehend, the Asahi daily reported.

"There's a dolphin in the rice fields!" said the caller, Masayuki Sato, 55, confusing the baby porpoise with the similar-looking sea mammal.

The volunteers rushed to the site at nearby Ishinomaki, where they saw the animal - a finless porpoise or Neophocaena phocaenoides - wriggling in a flooded rice field.

Read the rest of this inspiring (and brief) rescue story, here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/23/3172015.htm

Enjoy (I certainly did)!
L.

Japan's Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: Where 3 Isn't Company - It's A Catastrophe.

As if you didn't need anymore reasons to dislike Mondays...

As if the devastating 8.9 quake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, followed shortly thereafter by the news (with video) of an explosion at the building housing a nuclear reactor at one of Japan's 50 nuclear plants wasn't enough...

Here's an update:
There are three reactors at Fukushima's Dai-ichi nuclear power plant which are now facing possible meltdown.

This Is Not A Drill, People.

Gee. No... G.E., actually.
(As in "General Electric") :P

What does GE have to do with any of this? You might ask...
Well, in some I-wish-I-could-say "surprising news", it turns out there have long been known vulnerabilities with GE's Mark 1 containment structures - such as are found in the three Japanese reactors which are now creeping - like tectonic plates - toward Epic (not to mention avoidable) Man-Made Disaster Status.

Here's an enlightening - if not irritating article on the matter from The Guardian (thankfully not - I hope - a subsidiary of corporate blob GE):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/14/nuclearpower-energy

Pray... Think "Good Thoughts"... Whatever feels "right" to you.

Looking On "The Bright Side"...
Here's hope and optimism that, at the very least, the horrible man-made disasters we are now experiencing - ones which followed what were - without exception - inevitable (if not predictable) natural disasters will usher in The End Times for the nuclear power industry.

Peace,
L.

Location Location Location, Right? So, How Did Japan End Up W/50 Nuclear Plants?

Japan is one nation I'd never have expected to go with the perpetually-poisonous (toxic waste w/half-lives) and potentially disastrous-beyond-belief route of energy production that is nuclear power.

Boy, was I wrong.

Despite it's geographical location, which is smack in the midst of " The Ring of Fire" and despite being struck, frequently, by sizable Earthquakes which are often followed by Tsunami - the archipelago that is Japan (formed by one tectonic plate moving under another in a process called subduction) has 50 (that's five-0) nuclear power plants.

Fifty nuclear power plants scattered across beautiful islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Hmmm... How is it that, apparently, no national and/or international chorus of scientists. statisticians, people who understand how priceless and fragile ecosystems are... or even just those fortunate ones who possess Common Sense rose up to Protest, declaring for those blinded by greed(?) "This is a Stupid Idea!"? {rhetorical question}

Sigh.  Well, as was - without exception - bound to happen at some point - Yesterday. Friday, Japan was hit by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake.

Japan has declared an atomic power emergency. At one of the 50 plants, Daiichi, residents within a 6-mile radius of the plant have been ordered to evacuate.  The neighboring Daini plant is also reporting offline reactors. Members of the world's scientific community are voicing concern that Japanese officials are being less than forthcoming with timely and accurate information.

Initially, Daiichi had reported falling back on back-up power sources to provide the energy required to continue pumping the huge amounts of water through the reactors which is necessary in order to keep the nuclear cores cool. About an hour later - after the tsunami had struck - they had lost that back-up power source.

The worst-case scenario?  A very real possibility: nuclear meltdown.

The last news report I heard said that at least 10 of Japan's reactors were off-line due to the quake and subsequent tsunami.

I sincerely hope that those rocket scientists who promoted the idea that Japan was the perfect location for nuclear power plants also made a point to build some state-of-the-art concrete plants close-by...

Well, not too close-by...

Last night, TRMS offered a clear, concise and to-the-point segment on the ongoing and worrisome situation in Japan with a physicist from The Union Of Concerned Scientists.
Check it out:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Peace,
L.