| 
			 
			
			 
			 
			 
			
			  
			by Richard Wilcox, PhD 
			November 07, 2014 
			
			from
			
			Rense Website 
			
			 
  
			
			  
			
				
					
						| 
						 
						Richard Wilcox is a 
						Tokyo-based teacher and writer who holds a Ph.D. in 
						environmental studies and is a regular contributor to 
						the world's leading website exposing 
						 
						the Fukushima 
						nuclear disaster, Rense.com. 
						 
						He is a contributing editor 
						and co-author of the book: Fukushima: Dispossession or 
						Denuclearization? (2014). 
						 
						His radio interviews and 
						articles are archived at http://wilcoxrb99.wordpress.com 
						and he can be reached by email for radio or internet 
						podcast interviews to discuss the Fukushima crisis at
						
						wilcoxrb2013@gmail.com.  | 
					 
				 
			 
			
			  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			"Lies, lies and MORE 
			LIES" 
			- Radio Host, Jeff Rense 
			referring to the media handling of Fukushima 
			 
			"OBEY" 
			- A popular motto on T-shirts in 
			Japan and elsewhere 
			 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. I'm 
			going to shout out my window at the jackhammer across the street to 
			drown it out.  
			
			  
			
			In Japan where I live you would probably get in 
			trouble for public disturbance but endless construction noise is 
			perfectly acceptable: day, night, weekends, holidays and Christmas. 
			 
			The other day some of my Japanese university students were shocked 
			when I showed them the classic documentary film which is available 
			on YouTube: "911 Mysteries."  
			
			  
			
			Before viewing the film they told me that politics is 
			"boring" but once they watched it and learned how 
			
			911 was a blatant 
			false flag operation, they were energized with curiosity and nearly 
			jumped out of their seats. They mentioned that Japan had used false 
			flag terror in the 1930s in order to invade Manchuria and claim it 
			as its own.  
			
			  
			
			These students were making connections, creating 
			mental patterns based on the substantially unbiased evidence I had 
			presented to them - they were learning. 
			 
			Since many still accept the official story of 911 it is important 
			for us to spread understanding as 911 has hastened 
			
			the New World 
			Order of domestic and international oppression.  
			
			  
			
			It also represents the cognitive dissonance in the 
			public mind which in the same way accepts that nuclear energy is a 
			benefit for mankind. 
			 
			Because of media blackout and government propaganda, most Japanese 
			are in a state of amnesia regarding the Fukushima nuclear disaster 
			and its radioactive consequences. One older student who was taking 
			my class insisted that it was good to buy radioactive food from 
			Fukushima in order to support the farmers (my idea would be to send 
			them a donation, yes, but don't give yourself cancer).  
			
			  
			
			She also insisted that the nuclear disaster could not 
			have been averted.  
			
			  
			
			When I recited ample evidence that it could have been 
			she huffed "I don't believe it." 
			 
			David Lockbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists listed 
			many ways the damaging affects from the tsunami to the Fukushima 
			Nuclear Power Plant #1 (FNPP#1) accident could have been largely 
			avoided had Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) taken some simple 
			steps (1). 
			 
			Many people I encounter believe that small amounts of radiation are 
			nothing to worry about.  
			
			  
			
			Very small amounts of incidental radiation 
			(not to mention the innumerable other synthetic toxins in our mad 
			made environment) may not be immediately life threatening - but at 
			what point does the bioaccumulation of the ongoing flood of 
			contaminants in our global environment create havoc for the transgenerational health of diverse species including humans? 
			 
			At least in Taiwan, another nuclear powered country, they are 
			double-checking products from Japan to make sure they pass the 
			radiation test (2). 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			Japan's Ambivalence 
			 
			I won't address the complex history of Japanese international 
			relations, but we can safely say that Japan is caught between a rock 
			and a hard place, or would that be between
			
			the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, 
			India, China and South Africa) and the US/British/Israeli-Zionist nuclear hammer?
			 
			
			  
			
			In my opinion Japan would be better off maintaining 
			good relations with both power blocks.  
			
			  
			
			However, Japan with the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party 
			- the CIA's party of choice) and Prime Minister Shinzo "I 
			love nukes" Abe as obedient puppet to the US-Zio Power 
			Configuration is coerced into continuing to promote nuclear power as 
			a technical and political agenda, even if Japanese citizens are 
			opposed. Abe and the right wing loonies also have a dream of 
			avenging the bitter defeat in WWII. 
			 
			In the same way that Japan is both imperialist (to Asia) and 
			occupied nation (to US military bases), Okinawa became a Japanese 
			prefecture in 1872 (3) and is today both a US and 
			Japanese colony that suffers under their double hammer of military 
			and political hegemony (4).  
			
			  
			
			Okinawa has even been "nuked" - the US lost a 
			hydrogen bomb that slipped off an aircraft carrier that still lies 
			on the bottom of the ocean off Okinawa's coast (5). 
			 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			Fukushima - Dispossession Or 
			Denuclearization? 
			 
			The sad story of the dispossession of the Japanese people from their 
			country by the nuclear industry, coupled with the challenge of 
			denuclearization is spelled out in our excellent new book entitled: 
			Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization? (6).
			 
			
			  
			
			I played a role in organizing and contributing to the 
			book, and am proud of the wide range of talented minds that have 
			come together to tackle the issue. * 
			
			  
			
			(Proceeds from the book will be donated to the 
			lawyer's fund to help fight for the rights of Fukushima children who 
			have been displaced by the disaster, tossed aside like disposable 
			human garbage by Tepco and the government.) 
			 
			Our lead editor Majia Nadesan wrote a synopsis of the anthology book 
			in an article for Veterans Today: 
			
				
				"We pose the question starkly: Humanity must 
				choose between denuclearization or dispossession.  
				  
				
				We document that nuclear power and weapons are 
				connected and their complex fundamentally dispossesses citizens 
				of liberal guarantees, including rights to property, free 
				speech, and the pursuit of happiness.  
				  
				
				We explore crisis management of the Fukushima 
				disaster to demonstrate dispossession of rights of property, 
				free speech, and the pursuit of happiness, through examples that 
				include lost livelihoods and Fukushima children’s rising rates 
				of thyroid cancer, among other topics.... 
				 
				We disclose strong public support in Japan and elsewhere for 
				decentralized alternative energy production and we describe 
				oligarchic energy industries’ efforts to maintain centralized 
				control when challenged by the decentralizing production 
				tendencies of alternative energy, such as solar... 
				  
				
				We are concerned that in the absence of public 
				activism the choices made by governments and industry will 
				prioritize short term profits and vested interests. 
				'Dispossession' is the cumulative effect of these decision 
				criteria in action.  
				  
				
				Nuclear remains seductive in our Hobbesian world 
				of vying nation-states, despite myriad acknowledged hazards, 
				including aging and decaying infrastructures, recurrent nuclear 
				'accidents,' unceasing contamination, and terrorism.  
				  
				
				Nuclear seduces even when its effluents threaten 
				the ecosystem and, perhaps, even the human genome" (7). 
			 
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			Decommissioning Fukushima 
			in 40 Years? 
			 
			In the wake of the 3.11 nuclear disaster, Japan immediately shut 
			down all of its approximately 50 reactors out of safety concerns. 
			 
			
			  
			
			But today the government is intent on restarting as many as possible 
			to reduce their oil import costs. 
			 
			The question remains, if you are a chronic alcoholic, how can you 
			regain health by drinking a bottle of vodka for breakfast? I know a 
			Russian man whose father lives in Moscow and is 80 years old, drinks 
			vodka and smokes chronically - yet is doing well living in his 
			run-down hovel. Maybe excessive drinking is the solution. 
			 
			Presumably, if Japan were safe for nuclear reactors, the initial 
			accident would have been solved and confidence restored, but in 
			fact, the, 
			
				
				"Fukushima cleanup [is] going painfully slow" (8). 
			 
			
			For example,  
			
				
				"[r]emoval of melted fuel from Fukushima No. 1 
				reactor [will be] delayed until 2025" but this number of "2025" 
				is just a ballpark estimate (9).  
			 
			
			If we compare the situation of Fukushima with 
			Chernobyl, it is obvious that the Fukushima is going to be no 
			picnic. 
			 
			I have never seen an understandable (or honest) analysis of how 
			Tepco expects to remove the melted fuel from the three destroyed 
			reactors. In 2012, the radiation was 10 sieverts per hour near the 
			reactor buildings and it still is today.  
			
			  
			
			If you gauge progress by the half life of cesium 137 
			you are looking at 90 years before it is decreased to 1.25 sv pr hr 
			- is that low enough for human workers to go in there and play 
			around with? 
			 
			A simple comparison of Chernobyl shows that the 40 years estimate is 
			pure poppycock. While there are time tables for removing fuel from 
			units 4, 5 and 6; units 1, 2 and 3 (where extensive damage occurred) 
			are in a much worse situation.  
			
			  
			
			Assuming Japan can remove the fuel rods from the 
			pools of the three destroyed reactors (1, 2, 3) where there is 
			massive ambient radiation at the buildings, 
			
				
					- 
					
					How will they remove the corium that that has 
					melted through the containments?   
					- 
					
					If the Ukrainians can't remove the corium 
					from its one destroyed reactor, according to what logic will 
					Japan be able to?   
					- 
					
					If the technology exists (it doesn't), why 
					isn't it being shared?   
					- 
					
					Is national security more important that 
					international security for all humanity and the planet? 
					 
					- 
					
					Does Chernobyl's "safe confinement" of corium 
					actually makes it so?  
				 
			 
			
				  
				
				"The sarcophagus [at Chernobyl] locked in 200 
				tons of radioactive corium, 30 tons of highly contaminated dust 
				and 16 tons of uranium and plutonium.  
				  
				
				In 1996 it was deemed impossible to repair the 
				inside of the sarcophagus as radiation levels were estimated to 
				be as high as 10,000 rontgens per hour (normal background 
				radiation in cities is usually around 20-50 microröntgens per 
				hour, and a lethal dose is 500 röntgens over 5 hours). 
				 
				  
				
				A decision to replace the sarcophagus with the 
				New Safe Confinement was taken, and a project to reconstruct the 
				enclosure is underway" (10). 
			 
			
			 
			*** 
			
				
				* Chernobyl: one reactor destroyed, corium still 
				hot to handle 28 years later and the plant is on solid 
				granite foundation; 
				 
				* Fukushima: three reactors destroyed, corium emitting 10 
				sieverts per hour near the reactor buildings and the plant is 
				built on soft fill - over a flowing aquifer and near the ocean! 
			 
			
			  
			
			 
			 
			Volcanic Dangers 
			 
			In addition to ongoing uncertainty and constant leakages of 
			radiation at FNPP#1 (157 billion becquerels per day into the ocean), 
			there is volcanic activity threatening the nationwide reactor 
			restart agenda. 
			 
			Volcanoes are pesky geological formations that do not follow free 
			market neo-liberal logic, given that the Earth was bestowed to the 
			top 0.01 percent of the world's people to make money from, this is 
			an inconvenience.  
			
			  
			
			Volcanoes may be credited for creating the 
			archipelago of Japan itself, so the Shinto Gods must be thanked of 
			giving us a place to live, even though it is seismically unstable 
			one. While Japanese Prime Malefactor Shinzo "I never met a nuke 
			disaster I didn't love" Abe is certain nuclear power is completely 
			safe - others differ.  
			
			  
			
			The Japan Weather Agency noted that the, 
			
				
				"[v]olcano near Sendai nuclear plant is shaking 
				and may erupt" (11).  
			 
			
			Earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes, all safe. 
			 
			The mayor of the town that is set to restart the reactors claims 
			that his reactors are "100 percent" safe. " 
			
				
				"I believe the plant can 100 percent cope with a 
				tsunami and earthquake on the scale that hit Fukushima as well 
				as a possible nuclear accident, Iwakiri said... His assurance 
				that the Sendai plant is absolutely safe is at odds with the 
				NRA's opinion" (12). 
			 
			
			The fact that there was a powerfully destructive 
			volcanic eruption recently at Mount Ontake in Nagano prefecture and 
			that there is a pattern of seismic unrest and volcanic eruptions 
			around the world in recent times, and that many geologists do worry 
			about the mixture of nuclear power plants, volcanoes and earthquakes 
			is cause for concern (13;14).  
			
			  
			
			But like a crazy driver barreling around a 45 degree 
			turn at full speed with his eyes shut, our leaders seem hell-bent on 
			having another accident. 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			The Tohoku 
			Non-Reconstruction Destruction Industry 
			 
			The Northeast region of Japan that was flattened by the 3.11 tsunami 
			was featured in a new documentary film called "3.11 - Surviving 
			Japan" (15). 
			
			  
			
			I give the documentary 3 out of 5 stars (making an 
			independent film must be tremendously difficult) and although some 
			of it recycles video images from the destroyed city escape scenery 
			and is overly melodramatic, the film also brought to light original 
			information and interviews about the difficulties of the clean up 
			and impact from the tsunami and nuclear disaster on people's lives. 
			 
			This hardship is documented in a new report:  
			
				
				"Tsunami evacuees caught in $30 billion Japan 
				money trap."  
			 
			
			Three and a half years after the disaster thousands 
			of refugees are still living in cramped and inadequate temporary 
			housing units. 
			
				
				"Thirty billion dollars in funding for roads, 
				bridges and thousands of new homes in areas devastated by the 
				tsunami in Japan three and a half years ago is still languishing 
				unspent in the bank" (16). 
			 
			
			It is understandable that logistical and bureaucratic 
			issues will have hampered rapid progress with a problem of this 
			magnitude (17).  
			
			  
			
			Houses are not being built quickly enough due to 
			rising costs and labor shortages. I wonder if the government's 
			initial underestimate of the cost of housing is not due to 
			profiteering among those that might be able to make a buck on 
			other's misery.  
			
			  
			
			What shadowy interests and agendas are at play here? 
			 
			
			  
			
			The entire construction industry (Doken Kokka, or "Construction 
			State") is a triad between, 
			
				
			 
			
			The revelation that Japan Atomic Power Co., secretly 
			donated 1.54 billion yen to a city government is just one instance 
			of the financial corruption that inhabits the country (18). 
			 
			The Fukushima disaster could be an opportunity to develop renewable 
			energy and greener construction practices but the government as so 
			far squandered it.  
			
			  
			
			Freelance journalist Winifred Bird who lives in Japan 
			reports with a keen environmental perspective about the construction 
			industry's monstrously anti-environmental practices: 
			
				
				"In the years leading up to the massive tsunami 
				of March 11, 2011, it seemed that Japan’s coastal ecosystems 
				could hardly decline in health any further. 
				  
				
				Decades of coastal engineering had divided land 
				from ocean, turned quaint seaside towns grey with concrete, and 
				pushed once-familiar species like loggerhead sea turtles and 
				common orient clams towards extinction.  
				
				  
				
				Nearly half of the 
				island nation’s perimeter was modified in some way; cliffs 
				comprised most of what remained untouched.... 
				 
				Then came the once-in-a-thousand-year tsunami. Walls of water 
				swept over the coast of northeastern Japan, claiming more than 
				15,000 lives and destroying hundreds of thousands of buildings, 
				together with 60 percent of seawalls. In the rubble-covered 
				wasteland that remained, scholars, activists, and fishermen 
				alike saw a chance to rethink how people live on the coast. 
				 
				Instead, national and regional government bodies are moving to 
				recreate the concrete coastline that existed before. 
				Reconstruction plans in heavily damaged Iwate, Miyagi, and 
				Fukushima prefectures call for a string of stunningly tall and 
				wide seawalls. Some have already been built; many others are in 
				the final stages of planning.  
				  
				
				A second layer of raised earthen banks topped 
				with pine trees is also planned in many places.  
				  
				
				And with Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic 
				administration promising a major infusion of funding for 
				disaster prevention projects nationwide, new seawalls are in the 
				works well beyond northeastern Japan. 
				 
				The goal is to protect human communities along the coast. 
				 
				  
				
				But ecologists, environmentalists, and some 
				coastal residents say the plans are an environmental calamity" 
				(19). 
			 
			
			So while thousands of people are being forgotten in 
			their temporary housing, money is being prioritized to pour concrete 
			and repaint the coastline in gray.  
			
			  
			
			This supplies jobs to construction workers and large 
			payouts to heavy industry. We see the same mistake being repeated as 
			with the opportunity to rethink energy policy.  
			
			  
			
			There is a clear lack of creativity and forward 
			thinking on the part of with the old boy network lining their 
			pockets with taxpayer largesse. 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			Insult To Injury - Tepco 
			Profiteers 
			 
			Pillage the public with the other hand and with the other block to 
			guard against liabilities.  
			
			  
			
			
			
			Tepco and the government practice a hard hearted 
			niggardliness (in Japanese: "ketchi" to be a mean spirited cheap 
			skate) for anyone seeking economic compensation for their losses. In 
			one case a woman has been, 
			
				
				"urged to repay nuke disaster compensation after 
				she enters college outside Fukushima" (20).
				 
			 
			
			This is nominally to prevent brain drain, but you 
			can't blame people whose towns have been destroyed for seeking 
			opportunities elsewhere. 
			 
			In the meantime Tepco predicts a 1.3 billion dollar pretax profit 
			for the year even though they have been heavily subsidized 
			(quasi-nationalized) by the government (21). In 
			the real world criminals are punished for their bad behavior but in 
			the world of "too big to fail" corporate crimes are rewarded and the 
			bigger the crime the bigger the reward. We have seen this with the 
			multi-trillion dollar Wall Street bailouts and too many other 
			examples to mention. 
			 
			The costs of Tepco's incompetence at Fukushima are passed onto 
			taxpayers, so why not give them the ultra-pleasant double shaft by 
			upping their electricity rates as well (22).
			 
			
			  
			
			It matters not that democratization and free 
			competition from solar and other renewable sources could contribute 
			to the national energy solution (23). Life style, 
			housing, work, energy, they're all related. 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			Olympian Monument to Greed 
			 
			A billion dollars here, a billion there, pretty soon we're talkin' 
			real money.  
			
			  
			
			The 2012 British Olympic stadium was built for about 
			one quarter to just a fifth the proposed cost of the new Tokyo 
			Olympic stadium. The new "Tokyo stadium for 2020 Olympics could cost 
			up to ¥300 billion," 3 billion dollars (24).
			 
			
			  
			
			A famous Japanese architect I saw on TV said the 
			original 1964 Olympic stadium could meet the needs of the games by 
			being refurbished for just a fraction of the cost of a new stadium. 
			 
			The Tokyo Shimbun documented the estimated cost increases from the 
			time the Olympics was decided upon to the present day.  
			
			  
			
			In order to 
			persuade Tokyoites that the original cost was not so formidable, the 
			real plans to line the pockets of construction companies and 
			investors were kept secret and only gradually unveiled. 
			
				
				" 'New National Stadium' "Total Construction Cost 
				- increased another 90 billion yen.  
				  
				
				Changes in New National Sports Stadium Total 
				Construction Cost:  
				
					- 
					
					Spring 2012 - 100 billion yen (estimate at 
					the time of start of planning)  
					- 
					
					July 2012 - 130 billion yen (rough 
					calculation for start of design competition)  
					- 
					
					Oct. 2013 - 300 billion yen (rough 
					calculation if constructed according to design, it was 
					discovered)  
					- 
					
					Nov. 2013 - 178.5 billion yen (announcement 
					of plan for a roughly 20% downsize)  
					- 
					
					May 2014 - 162.5 billion yen (announcement of 
					basic draft plan)  
					- 
					
					Now - 250 billion yen (rough calculation by 
					Maki Fumihiko)  
				 
				
				For contrast, main London Olympic stadium cost 
				about 63 billion yen (486 million pounds at the yen-pound rate 
				at the time of construction) (25; Translated by Tony Boys). 
				 
				I wonder if the reason the Japanese public is so easily 
				hoodwinked is because of the greater participation of civil 
				society in the UK which managed to minimize the Olympics Rip-Off 
				(ORO) through oversight and regulation. In Japan civil society 
				is marginalized and kept weak and inept. 
				 
				ORO is an old scam:  
				
					
					The "[n]egative impact of 1964 Olympics [was] 
					profound... The 1964 Tokyo Olympics had a profound impact on 
					the capital city and the nation [including] the 
					environmental and human impact that resulted from hosting 
					the event" (26). 
				 
			 
			
			People in our neighborhood in central Tokyo have 
			complained that they think the Olympics construction will pull funds 
			and labor away from needed projects such as building parks, schools, 
			bicycle parking lots, community centers and other badly needed 
			public facilities (not to mention the cleaning up of Fukushima) that 
			the public has already paid for with tax money. 
  
			
			  
			
			 
			 
			Floundering Economy 
			 
			Efforts to solve the Fukushima nuclear crisis and rebuild Tohoku 
			have been less than stellar thus far if not appallingly lacking.
			 
			
			  
			
			Even though the 2020 Olympics are many years off, the 
			LDP led by Prime Malefactor Abe is hoping the Olympics tax payer 
			Feeding Frenzy For Crony Criminals (FFFCC) will help revive the 
			economy. In the meantime the Bank of Japan inject 80 trillion yen 
			(800 billion dollars) a year into the stock market mainly through 
			bond sales (27).  
			
			  
			
			This bout of money printing was meant to stave off 
			deflation and justify a higher sales tax. 
			 
			Anyone familiar with the way central banks operate in recent years 
			will be wary of such recklessness. So called "Abenomics" was 
			determined to be a flop back in the summer of this year (28) 
			as the public has grown increasingly skeptical of progress due to 
			rising consumer prices not met with salary increases. 
			 
			Financial analyst Charles Hugh Smith writes in "Anatomy of a Failing 
			State: Japan's Budgetary Nightmare": 
			
				
				"Once the global economy rolls over into 
				contraction, the tide will recede and Japan's fiscal and 
				monetary bankruptcy will become painfully apparent.  
				  
				
				What do you get after 25 years of stagnation and 
				Keynesian Cargo Cult monetary stimulus? A failing state, that's 
				what. The intellectually bankrupt ruling Elites of Japan have no 
				solution for Japan's slow stagnation, as real reform would 
				diminish their wealth and power.  
				  
				
				So their only 'solution' is to double-down on 
				monetary stimulus: flood the enfeebled Japanese economy with 
				more credit and fiscal stimulus, a.k.a. building bridges to 
				nowhere...  
				  
				
				But reality isn't as immobile as failed policies. 
				While Japan's ruling Elites fiddled away the past 25 years 
				propping up sclerotic cartels and phantom loans, Japan's 
				population has aged and its primary sources of wealth creation 
				have atrophied" (29). 
			 
			
			The goose that laid the golden egg is dying of 
			radioactive cancer. 
			 
			Even as Abe's "ministers [are predictably] hit by more scandals" and 
			his "political ratings fade" the rampage against the Japanese middle 
			class and the enfeebled democracy of the country continues 
			(30; 31).  
			
			  
			
			I like what someone in the comment section at the 
			Japan Times wrote for its pithiness: 
			
				
				"rossdorn: The huge majority of Japanese will 
				never vote Abe out of office. First, because it is rude to 
				criticize authorities. If someone becomes Prime Minister, he 
				must deserve it. Second, Japan is a one party democracy, there 
				is no alternative. And third, Abe will already have been out of 
				his office for some time, by the time the next election happens" 
				(32). 
			 
			
			Minamisoma city council member Koichi Oyama voiced 
			some deep secrets about Japanese cultural traits after the Fukushima 
			disaster had doused his town's children with avoidable plumes of 
			radiation: 
			
				
				"I would like to explain something historical to 
				better your understanding.  
				  
				
				Japan used to be ruled by a king, the emperor. 
				Parents and teachers told children the best thing they could do 
				was die for their country. Kamikaze pilots in the war embodied 
				this spirit. In World War II they always told us we were winning 
				every battle.  
				  
				
				No one knew about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The 
				same thing is happening now. The current government not telling 
				people what is happening is the same we have had since World War 
				II. Keep your country alive by killing yourself.  
				  
				
				I think the way to save the children at Fukushima 
				is to get the world involved. If we don't protect our children 
				now, it will be too late when we are the second Chernobyl.
				 
				  
				
				Not allowing the children to escape is murder" 
				(33). 
			 
			
			Just in case the media were to get too bold, the 
			government is happy to censor information vital to nuclear damage 
			victims while Abe carries out his "Assault On Press Freedom" 
			(34; 35).  
			
			  
			
			While the Japanese parliament focuses on important 
			matters such as proper dress code for women (36) 
			(how dare women get involved in politics anyway), the country's 
			infrastructure is in dire need of maintaining and rebuilding 
			(37; 38; 39).  
			
			  
			
			But Abe's Caligulian dream of an extravagant Olympics 
			stadium must be achieved. 
			 
			The same problems essentially plague any modern "democracy" in the 
			West where money rules politics and governments are slaves to 
			special interests, central bankers and corporate power and the 
			people are cannon fodder for wars of aggression. 
			 
			In line with recent decades of right wing politico-economic trends 
			that have swept the world in recent decades (eg., Reagan-Thatcher 
			era and beyond), Japan's once robust middle class is being 
			sacrificed as, 
			
				
				"Japan defense budget request highest ever as Abe 
				boosts military [while] [o]officials seek ¥5.05 trillion [over 
				50 billion dollars] amid Abe's security push" (40).
				 
			 
			
			While small compared to the military budget of the 
			US, led by Zionist Neo-cons and their willing puppet and amateur 
			golf enthusiast, Barack "Nobel Peace Prize Winner and I 
			never met a war I didn't love" Obama, for Japan it is 
			their "biggest [military] budget ever." 
			
			  
			
			Liberals who support Obama claim Republicans are 
			worse than Democrats, I say, 
			
				
				"Republicans are the worst, but Democrats are 
				just as bad."  
				  
				
				"Obama [once] Promised a 'World Without Nuclear 
				Weapons,' but [he] May Now Spend $1 Trillion on Upgrades" 
				(41). 
			 
			
			 
			 
			 
			Collapsing Social Structure 
			 
			The overall trends for Japan's middle class are not optimistic.
			 
			
			  
			
			The Japan Times reports that, 
			
				
				"[i]rregular workers now account for 38 percent 
				of the workforce and the average salary of an irregular worker 
				is much lower than that of a regular full-time employee" 
				(42).  
			 
			
			Furthermore,  
			
				
				"[l]ow-wage part-time workers [are] increasing"
				(43; 44). 
			 
			
			The trend is common:  
			
				
				"[p]art-time work [is] dominating jobs in the 
				United States, Canada, and Japan" (45). 
				 
			 
			
			In the UK, 
			
				
				"[g]oing to work is more stressful than ever" due 
				to excessive work load and the threat of randomly being fired 
				(46). 
			 
			
			Due to the Bank of Japan money printing, the 
			weakening yen has driven up prices five times faster than wages are 
			increasing (they aren't increasing at all). 
			
			  
			
			In addition, increasing 
			sales taxes are walloping consumer's wallets when they go to the 
			shop (47; 48; 49). 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			Struggling Students 
			 
			Because "Japan’s low education budget places financial burdens on 
			students" (50) "[p]oorer students [are] dropping 
			out in Japan." 
			
				
				"More and more students are being forced to drop 
				out of universities, colleges and vocational schools because 
				they cannot afford tuition, according to a new education 
				ministry survey.  
				  
				
				The economic downturn means many young people can 
				no longer afford higher education. More students than ever 
				before, most of them from less well-off families, are finding 
				that the dream of studying must be given up because they cannot 
				pay for it.  
				  
				
				The education ministry survey of 1,163 of 1,191 
				Japanese public and private universities, two-year colleges and 
				vocational schools found that nearly 80,000 students permanently 
				left higher education in 2013.  
				  
				
				The number of students who left college 
				temporarily was nearly 70,000. Lack of money was the top reason 
				given by students who quit or took leave" (51). 
			 
			
			Is this what Japanese people worked so hard for 
			during the decades of the "economic miracle" - to see it all whither 
			away? In the US not only is higher education absurdly overpriced, it 
			is largely an embarrassment of intellectual mediocrity if not 
			quackery.  
			
			  
			
			US university educator Anthony DiMaggio sums 
			it up in his essay "Academic Fraud and the Ponzi Scheme of 'Higher 
			Learning' ": 
			
				
				"Most research that is published is simply not 
				important enough to read, and this reality speaks to the 
				tremendous resources being wasted at public and private colleges 
				and universities" (52). 
			 
			
			The modern university system rewards professors for 
			carrying out obscure, non threatening research into niche 
			specialization areas as opposed to socially and politically relevant 
			areas of inquiry.  
			
			  
			
			Tenured professors have cushy - sit on your bum 
			positions - while the bulk of teaching is done by the underpaid and 
			job-insecure irregular teaching force. 
  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			Depleted Ecosystems 
			 
			Our planetary ecosystems are being destroyed by the modern 
			capitalist system and by participant countries, companies and 
			consumers.  
			
			  
			
			Satellite photos from space show the destructive 
			effects of fishing by trawlers that are scrapping the bottom of the 
			oceans, while on land mindless Japanese and Chinese consumerism 
			promotes animal poaching and deforestation in Congo, one of the last 
			great rainforest ecosystems on Earth (53; 54). 
			 
			It is more urgent than ever to wake up our fellow travelers to the 
			dire consequences we face.  
			
			  
			
			How ironic that all the free energy we could ever 
			need is readily available if only we could set ourselves free 
			(55). 
  
			
			 
			* Post script:  
			
			I have heard it said that 
			Israel sabotaged Fukushima to get revenge on the Japanese. According 
			to the Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Israeli-firms-cameras-recording-Japanese-nuclear-core) 
			the Israeli Magna corporation provided security at Fukushima at the 
			time of the disaster. 
			
			  
			
			I question the veracity of the 
			article (which may have been posted in order to spread confusion 
			among conspiracy researchers). 
			
			  
			
			My guess is it is a lie! 
			
			  
			
			Why 
			would Japan need to employ Israelis when Japan is one of the most 
			high-tech countries in the world and their nuclear power program is 
			so carefully guarded against prying eyes? I have never seen a 
			reference to this Israeli presence at Fukushima in either the 
			Japanese or American press. Japan may not have refuted it publicly 
			because they fear the Zionists. 
			
			  
			
			I stand to be corrected and 
			welcome independent verification of this story. 
			
			  
			
			However, the Israeli Mossad 
			live by deception, muddying the waters, divide and conquer and 
			confusion-causing tactics. Most of what "intelligence operatives" do 
			is not very intelligent, but is the deliberate spreading of lies for 
			geopolitical ends. 
			
			  
			
			  
			
			  
			
			 
			References 
			
				
				1. David Lockbaum, 
				Another Unsurprising Surprise (Day 1) -
				
				http://www.totalwebcasting.com/view/?id=hcf#
				 
				
				2. Green tea 
				products from Japan to be tested for radiation in Taiwan -
				
				
				
				
				
				http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201410290021.aspx 
				
				
				3. Ryukyu/Okinawa, From 
				Disposal to Resistance -
				
				http://www.japanfocus.org/-Satoko-NORIMATSU/3828
				 
				
				4. Agent Orange 
				ingredients found at Okinawa military dumpsite -
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/11/national/agent-orange-ingredients-found-okinawa-military-dumpsite/ 
				
				
				5. H-Bomb Lost at Sea 
				in '65 Off Okinawa, U.S. Admits -
				
				http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-09/news/mn-3000_1_nuclear-weapons-nuclear-reactors-william-m-arkin 
				
				6. Fukushima: 
				Dispossession or Denuclearization? -
				
				http://www.amazon.com/Fukushima-Nadesan-Mckillop-Wilcox-Editors/dp/131249817X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414969004&sr=8-2&keywords=fukushima+dispossession+or+denuclearization
				 
				
				7. Denuclearize or 
				lose our species: Multigenerational effects of exposure to 
				radiation -
				
				http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/10/23/denuclearize-or-lose-our-species-multigenerational-effects-of-exposure-to-radiation/
				 
				
				8. Fukushima cleanup 
				going painfully slow -
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/22/reference/fukushima-cleanup-going-painfully-slow/ 
				
				
				10. Chernobyl 
				Nuclear Power Plant Sarcophagus
				-
				
				http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant_sarcophagus
				 
				
				11. Volcano near 
				Sendai nuclear plant is shaking and may erupt -
				
				
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/24/national/volcano-near-sendai-nuclear-plant-shaking-may-erupt-japan-weather-agency/
				 
				
				
				12. Mayor says Sendai 
				plant able to withstand any disaster, despite misgivings -
				
				
				
				
				http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201410290042
				 
				
				13. Mount Ontake -
				
				http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ontake
				 
				
				
				14. The Number Of Volcanic 
				Eruptions Is Increasing And That Could Lead to An Extremely Cold 
				Winter - 
				
				
				http://www.activistpost.com/2014/09/the-number-of-volcanic-eruptions-is.html
				 
				
				
				15. 3.11 Surviving Japan - 
				
				
				
				http://www.amazon.com/3-11-Surviving-Japan-Blu-Ray/dp/B00AW7BO06 
				
				16. Tsunami 
				evacuees caught in $30 billion Japan money trap - 
				
				
				http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/31/us-japan-reconstruction-specialreport-idUSKBN0IK00220141031
				 
				
				17.
				Construction crunch slows 
				Japan tsunami rebuilding - 
				
				
				
				http://washingtonexaminer.com/construction-crunch-slows-japan-tsunami-rebuilding/article/feed/2122787
				 
				
				18. Cash-strapped 
				nuclear power company secretly donates 1.54 billion yen to city
				-
				
				
				
				http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201411020032
				 
				
				19. In Post-Tsunami 
				Japan, A Push To Rebuild Coast in Concrete -
				
				
				http://e360.yale.edu/feature/in_post-tsunami_japan_a_push_to_rebuild_coast_in_concrete/2651/
				 
				
				
				20. Woman urged to repay nuke 
				disaster compensation after she enters college outside - Fukushimahttp://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141023p2a00m0na013000c.html
				 
				
				21. Tepco projects 
				¥130 billion pretax profit for year -
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/25/business/tepco-projects-¥130-billion-pretax-profit-for-year/
				 
				
				22. Tepco posts 
				solid first-half profit sans reactors, rate hikes -
				
				
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/31/business/corporate-business/tepco-posts-solid-first-half-profit-sans-reactors-rate-hikes/
				 
				
				
				23. Japan's power failure: Bid 
				to forge national power grid stumbles -
				
				http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japans-power-failure-bid-to-forge-national-grid-stumbles 
				
				
				24. New Tokyo stadium for 2020 
				Olympics could cost up to ¥300 billion -
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/23/national/new-tokyo-stadium-for-2020-olympics-could-cost-up-to-300-billion/
				 
				
				25.
				Tokyo Shimbun, 05 October 
				2014, Page 1 "New National Stadium"
				 
				
				26. Negative impact 
				of 1964 Olympics profound -
				
				
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2014/10/24/olympics/negative-impact-1964-olympics-profound/
				 
				
				27. Bank of Japan to 
				inject 80 trillion yen into its economy -
				
				
				http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/31/bank-of-japan-80-trillion-yen-economy
				 
				
				28. Why Abenomics 
				Flopped -
				
				http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/02/why-abenomics-flopped/
				 
				
				
				29. Anatomy of a Failing 
				State: Japan's Budgetary Nightmare -
				
				http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.jp/2014/11/anatomy-of-failing-state-japans.html 
				
				30. Abe ministers 
				hit by more scandals - 
				
				
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/27/national/politics-diplomacy/miyazawas-ldp-chapter-got-donations-foreign-owned-firm/ 
				
				
				31. Abe's political ratings 
				fade - 
				
				
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/26/business/economy-business/abes-political-ratings-fade-top-official-calls-delay-next-sales-tax-
				 
				
				
				32. Too soon for a nuclear 
				restart -
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/11/02/editorials/too-soon-for-a-nuclear-restart/ 
				
				
				33. It's murder not allowing 
				children to escape - It will be too late when we are the 2nd 
				Chernobyl  
				
				
				http://enenews.com/local-official-fukushima-allowing-children-escape-murder-will-be-late-when-second-chernobyl-video
				 
				
				
				34. 
				Ministry withholds minutes from nuclear accident compensation 
				resolution meetings 
				
				http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141025p2a00m0na012000c.html
				 
				
				
				35. Abe’s 
				Assault On Press Freedom Aims At Social Militarization 
				
				
				
				
				http://www.rense.com/general96/abesassault.html 
				
				
				36. Japanese parliament sees 
				red over minister’s scarf worn in chamber 
				
				
				http://rt.com/news/192872-japan-parliament-woman-scarf/
				 
				
				
				37. 
				The waterworks are wearing out 
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/08/09/editorials/waterworks-wearing/ 
				
				38. Sorry state of 
				expressways 
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/06/27/editorials/sorry-state-of-expressways/ 
				
				39. Who’ll repair 
				Japan’s roads? 
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/02/26/commentary/japan-commentary/wholl-repair-japans-roads/
				 
				
				
				40. Japan defense budget 
				request highest ever as Abe boosts military  
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/29/national/japan-defense-budget-request-highest-ever-abe-boosts-military/
				 
				
				41. Obama Promised a 
				'World Without Nuclear Weapons,"' but May Now Spend $1 Trillion 
				on Upgrades 
				
				
				http://truth-out.org/news/item/27033-obama-promised-a-world-without-nuclear-weapons-but-may-now-spend-1-trillion-on-upgrades)  
				
				42. Proposed temp 
				law bad for workers 
				
				
				
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/10/29/editorials/proposed-temp-law-bad-workers/#.VFJGQPTF-mt 
				
				
				43. Low-wage part-time workers 
				increasing 
				
				
				
				http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=7579
				 
				
				
				44. Japan Press Weekly, 
				"Economy" News Archive 
				
				
				http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?action=list&category_id=33
				 
				
				
				45. The 
				trend for part-time work sweeping the world: Part-time 
				work dominating jobs in the United States, Canada, and Japan 
				
				
				
				
				http://www.mybudget360.com/part-time-work-us-canada-japan-part-time-employment/ 
				
				
				46. Going to work is more 
				stressful than ever, poll reveals 
				
				http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/going-to-work-is-more-stressful-than-ever-poll-reveals-9833602.html 
				
				47. Weak yen puts 
				Japan at risk of recession, says ex-BOJ deputy -
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/22/business/economy-business/weak-yen-puts-japan-risk-recession-says-ex-boj-deputy/#.VDH_DaWnB4M 
				
				48. As yen gets 
				weaker, consumers writhe - 
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/03/national/weaker-yen-is-hurting-consumers-and-may-threaten-recovery/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+japantimes+(The+Japan+Times%3A+All+Stories)#.VDH_RqWnB4M
				 
				
				
				49. Japan Consumer Prices Seen 
				Rising Five Times as Fast as Wages -
				
				http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-29/japan-consumer-prices-seen-rising-five-times-faster-than-wages.html
				 
				
				
				50. Japan’s low education 
				budget places financial burdens on students -
				
				http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=7565September
				 
				
				
				
				51. Poorer students dropping out in Japan - 
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/10/04/editorials/poorer-students-dropping/#.VDE506WnB4M
				 
				
				
				52. Academic Fraud and the 
				Ponzi Scheme of "Higher Learning" - 
				
				
				
				
				
				http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/09/19/academic-fraud-and-the-ponzi-scheme-of-higher-learning/
				 
				
				
				53. Trails of Destruction: The 
				Impact of Bottom Trawling as Seen from Space -
				
				
				
				http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/trails-of-destruction-the-impact-of-bottom-trawling-as-seen-from-space.html
				 
				
				
				54. Congolese 
				conservationist says Japan can help reduce deforestation, 
				poaching - 
				
				http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2014/10/30/environment/congolese-conservationist-says-japan-can-help-reduce-deforestation-poaching/ 
				
				55. Forbidden 
				Knowledge TV, Daily Videos from the Edges of Science -
				
				
				http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/alternative-energy 
			 
			
			  
			
			
			  
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