Archive for December, 2011

“Radioactive” Baby Formula Recalled: Contained Less Radiation Than A Banana

Hundreds of thousands of containers of Meiji Step Formula have been recalled after a citizens’ group ignited a radiation scare by detecting trace amounts of radioactive cesium in the product.

The amount of cesium in the formula was 22 to 31 becquerels per kilogram, far below the legal limit of 200 becquerels per kilogram. Since it is powered formula, it would be mixed with water before consumption, a process that would further dilute the cesium and probably make it undetectable low when in liquid form.

For comparative purposes, here is the amount of natural occurring radiation that can be found in commonly consumed foods:

• Bananas – 130 bq/kg of radioactive potassium (about 15bq per banana)
• Brazil Nuts – 44 bq/kg of radioactive potassium
• Carrots – 126 Bq/kg of radioactive potassium
• Lima Beans – 170 bq/kg of radioactive potassium

According to the CDC, the human body treats radioactive potassium-40 and cesium in a similar manner. Both exit the body quickly via urine and feces.

Although the amount of radiation in the formula is far below a level that can be reasonably considered dangerous, its manufacturer was forced to recall its products because fearful consumers believe that any amount of radiation in food is dangerous.

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Profitable Activism: Sea Shepherd’s Skyrocketing Income

A graph from a recent Sankei Shimbun article shows the amount of money that the radical animal rights organization Sea Shepherd has brought in over the last ten years:

The graph, using the latest data from 2010, shows that Sea Shepherd’s income has sharply risen since the non-profit organization escalated its violent actions against Japanese whaling ships. The airing of the “Whale Wars” TV series has had an especially profitable influence.

In February, Sea Shepherd claimed victory over whalers when its aggressive and dangerous attacks forced an early end to a hunting expedition. Japan has responded by dispatching a Fisheries Agency patrol boat to provide security to its latest hunt. As usual, almost all of the 900 whales on this year’s quota will be unendangered minke whales.

Western media reports about this year’s hunt have predictably followed anti-whaling talking points about the alleged misuse of government disaster relief funds to aid the whaling program, downplaying or ignoring the fact that an important whaling community was destroyed by the March 11th tsunami. One Television New Zealand has included this quote from Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson:

“I think that its totally disgraceful. People from around the world sending money to help the victims of the Tsunami-earthquake were not expecting their money to be used to fund killing whales in the Southern Ocean.”

Like so many of Watson’s past statements, it is a lie. The whaling program is subsidized by the Japanese government, not by international charity donations for tsunami relief. The Japanese government does not have authority over the millions of dollars of international charity donations, which are being handled by non-profit relief organizations. Television New Zealand’s failure to fact-check is lending credibility to a very ugly falsehood.

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Last Message: A Short Movie Filmed in the Tohoku Disaster Area

Here’s the trailer for Last Message, a short movie that was recently filmed in the tsunami-hit areas of Tohoku:

A wealthy, independent Japanese woman is in search of her grandfather who is lost in the tsunami chaos. Throughout her journey, she discovers herself and the importance of life.

By capturing real scenes of the devastation, it conveys the message of how valuable our lives really are.

For updates on the film, including information about upcoming screenings, please visit its Facebook group.

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Elite Private School Offers Special Pearl Harbor Day Menu

The Washington Post reports about how the Sidwell Friends School, the elite private academy where President Barack Obama’s daughters are students, has received some complaints about a very strange “coincidental” menu choice for December 7th:

the school cafeteria listed as its “Pearl Harbor Day” menu Wednesday: A heavily Japanese-inspired lineup, including teriyaki chicken and edamame (as well as more generically Asian delicacies like tofu, fried rice, fortune cookies and “oriental noodle salad”). A school rep told us this was just a fluke — not a meal intended to commemorate the 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. forces: The contractor that prepares school lunches randomly assigned an Asian menu to Dec. 7, and the subcontractor that prints the calendars automatically marked Wednesday at Pearl Harbor Day. “It was completely coincidental,” said Ellis Turner, associate head of the school.

This weird story hasn’t been reported in the Japanese media, and probably won’t be. However, if it was, readers would probably be more surprised about the fact that calendars printed in America still point out the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.

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82% of Japanese Have Friendly Feelings Towards United States

A poll has found that 82% of the Japanese public has a positive/friendly feelings towards the United States:

While the United States has consistently scored highly in the Cabinet Office’s annual poll of attitudes toward foreign countries, the latest result was the highest since the survey began in 1978. Only 16 percent of respondents reported not having a friendly attitude toward the United States, the lowest such result ever.

Some of the credit for this rise can be attributed to Operation Tomodachi, the massive disaster relief mission that the United States military launched after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku. The American military is continuing to provide assistance to disaster victims, and has been getting positive Japanese media coverage all along the way.

As this graph shows, there was also a small increase in friendly feelings towards China (but not enough to recover from the damage caused by aggressive Chinese actions in 2010):

It looks like few people love Russia, probably because of the Kuril Islands dispute.

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Rikuzentakata’s Miracle Tree Is Dying

Several months ago, I blogged about a single pine tree that was left standing after the March 11th tsunami swept away an entire forest in the city of Rikuzentakata. People saw the tree’s miraculous survival as a symbol of hope, and were hoping to preserve it as a living monument.

Unfortunately, that won’t be possible. Experts have determined that salt water has killed the tree’s roots:

Although the group used iron sheeting to protect the tree and pumped seawater out of the surrounding soil, the Japan Greenery Research and Development Center discovered in October that salt water had rotted most of the tree’s roots and efforts to save it would be futile.

The civic group says it will leave the decaying tree alone.

Yoshihisa Suzuki, head of the group said: “The tree has encouraged us to live positively. I’m very sorry we can’t do anything more to save it.”

There are plans to take a graft from the tree and grow a new tree from it.

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