So, there's a new movement challenging blind consumerism and global policy. It's called Detox and it's a campaign to attack the toxic chemicals that are a byproduct (and often a "product") of clothing manufacturing. Not only do two-thirds of our new clothing have trace amounts of toxins but so does the water used to clean the garments. The problem is that third-world countries (chosen by fashion industries for their cheap labor and lose pollution laws) often dump this adulterated mix right into sources that locals use for drinking water. Detox is making slow progress in persuading leading clothing companies to switch out their most toxic ingredients.
Scantily clad protestors and Japanese language...doesn't get any better (source)
The part I like is the campaign's symbol: 水. This is the Chinese character for water...and while I don't know much Chinese, I do know that in Japanese the character is read as みず or "mizu". The 水 connotation in Japanese is that the water is cool and fresh, just like drinking water (source). Another interesting part is that people throw off their clothes in protest and reveal this kanji and the graphic for Detox. Check out the video.
I imagine you're staring at your computer screen thinking nothing more needs to be said about TEPCO (if you are up-to-date on Japanese events). You might want to read this article, though.
In a similar by-line, I never thought I would post more about TEPCO (or want to) given my prior post: The Beast that is TEPCO. However, here I am.
It is true: TEPCO is a corrupt company, and even after a complete firing of their upper management, corruption is still in the Japanese news. And if it's in the Japanese news that means it was likely OK'ed by the government. (Is it safe to say that?)
The article I recently read was a simple one declaring that the recent indictment charges against TEPCO were dropped because TEPCO could not be held legally responsible as they "could not [have] predict[ed] the real dangers of such a massive earthquake and tsunami." The article goes on to say that the company's "failure to carry out countermeasure construction after
it projected in 2008 a scenario of a huge tsunami of more than 15
meters, cannot be considered socially irresponsible behavior."
申し訳ございません. How many times can they apologize? (source)
Yes, the article was simple, but Alas! the implications were great.
The first large implication can be understood through a few analogies. Five earthquakes have occurred equal to or
greater than the Tohoku earthquake in the last century (source). I know the the
US plans watersheds, zoning, and planning based on at least 100 year
flood plains. And that is just for a flood! A nuclear plant, in
earthquake-ridden Japan, on an unprotected coast...wouldn't you think
they would have to prepare for a bit more? In that situation, the plant owners should have been thricely as cautious and prepared. "Preparedness for a large-scale complex disaster was insufficient; and
they were unprepared for the release of a large amount of radioactive
materials into the environment" (source). What are (or were) the current
standards for the protection wall (which was flooded by a long-shot)?
In 1964, Alaskan Good Friday earthquake had a magnitude around 8.4
and spawned a 201-foot (67-meter) tsunami in the Valdez Inlet (source). Of course
this was a rogue wave with the perfect circumstances, but that happened
in the last 50 years. Furthermore, that wasn't the biggest tsunami by a long-shot.
Japan even birthed the word Tsunami! - 津波 (source)
The other great implication is that it is likely TEPCO was
only admitted it's negligence when the government forced them—and sometimes the apologies were decades late. Why would a company apologize out of the blue if they had thought their misbehavior went undetected? That's just it. I'm sure the government knew a lot more about the TEPCO follies (essentially having them by the balls). So, when TEPCO didn't cooperate with the government (maybe even in terms of bribes), the government tells TEPCO to admit to past incidents. (Is it safe to guess that?) Also, there are countless other times that TEPCO has hidden illegal incidents. Look for yourself...I'm not even going to try to cover it here.
So who really is to blame? Sure, TEPCO is a backwards company. Even after the mandated upper-level restructuring (to put it politely) TEPCO continued to be the naughty little boy it always was. Covering radiation-reading equipment with lead? Come on. But there are scumbag companies in every country. America is not one to point fingers. The real question is: Who watches TEPCO? Might I suggest: the Japanese government?
I'm afraid this 1987 epic comic by Alan Moore beat me to the punch.
Yeah, definitely the government. And the Japanese citizens, the 大人しい bunch that they are have mostly rebuilt their homes and lives—most without pointing fingers or theorizing the point of the chain-of-command that may have been a little negligent (to say the least). Besides the few local residents and activists that had filed the criminal complaint against Kan
and his ministers (two years after the events) and a handful of other smaller organizations looking for justice, there isn't much Japanese activity surrounding the event that has had a devastating impact on the domestic agriculture, economy, food-supply, power-supply, and general health as well as global effects (some still unforeseen).
It's almost two years now since the Sumo match-fixing scandal went public. Remember that? A winning wrestler would offer another a victory just so to keep his higher title (and higher-bracket paycheck). This was happening often. In fact, according to Levitt from Freakonomics, there was a 75 percent chance a 7-7 (wins/losses) Sumo wrestler would win against an 8-6 wrestler in a tournament. This means that every time the opportunity appeared for a 7-7 wrestler to lose, not advance in the tournament, and lose money, that wrestler won 75 percent of the time. So, that's like a 50 percent chance of cheating, huh?
The word 八百長, or yaochou, is the Japanese word for "match-fixing". The kanji literally translate to "800 leaders". Hmm, I don't get it. But that often happens when you're learning Japanese.
Prior to the big press stink, often a related skirmish would surface concerning some foreign Sumo wrestler. The truth is though, "the Japanese-born seemed to be just as corrupt as the foreigners" according to the statistics (source). I guess when someone got wind of the cheating, everyone tried to use the foreigner as the scapegoat. Oh, Japan.
This isn't just a problem of xenophobia either. The Japanese media is very conservative and likes to protect the country's image. Here's another clip from Freakonomics:
The moral of the story: go watch Freakonomics and check out their blog.
This may cure hangovers, or by saying so, make Kagome rich
According to a recent study by Kagome and Asahi Group Holdings, drinking tomato juice will help you sober up faster (source). Apparently, the tomato juice helps to cleanse your liver by making it secrete more of the enzymes needed to break down alcohol.
The study included an experiment of people given about two shots of shochu (焼酎, a Japanese liquor similar to vodka). After the two shots of shochu, the control group was given a pint of water while the experimental group was given a pint of tomato juice. Those drinking the tomato juice sobered up an average of 50 minutes faster than those drinking water.
Kagome and Asahi agree that a tomato would most likely work the same way, although it was not studied.
This is great news considering Japan loses an estimated $11.5 billion every year to hangovers according to a recent survey of close to 3,000 people (source). I wonder if Japanese government and businesses will take this news seriously and actively engage in promoting tomatoes after enkai. I could picture the market for トマトパワー (Tomato Power) After-Party Shooters. (Japan is often wont to either fully embrace something or just let it fall by the wayside, e.g., influenza masks; the insurance hikes on those with large waistlines; or even baseball for that matter.)
Now, for those of you who don't know, Kagome claims to be Japan's largest supplier of ketchup and tomato juice (source) while Asahi is one of Japan's leading breweries with 40% of the Japanese beer market (source). It seems a little suspicious that a leading beer company and a leading tomato company "discover" that tomato juice can reduce the unwanted effects of alcohol. I would have liked to witness that first meeting where the two company heads discussed ways to join forces and increase money.
Did Kagome and Asahi formulate this as a publicity stunt? Or, were there scientists waiting for commercial sponsorship for their tomato juice findings? What are the chances that two companies put their heads together and found a scientific match for both of their leading products? I'll leave the musing up to you the reader.
There's a new application on iPhone and Facebook allowing two people to battle over a game of Sudoku at the same time. This beats the current tradition of one person holding a pencil while the other one tells them they've made a mistake.
The new application, called Challenger Sudoku, became available for the iPhone last December and has just recently gone live on Facebook. The game requires friends to challenge (or be challenged by) friends to a game of Sudoku and allows them to play head-to-head in real time.
As you solve each row or main square (consisting of nine single squares) the field highlights in your home color of blue. If your opponent solves a field first, the field becomes red.There are also various bonuses along the way, even one for the first to 777 points. Making mistakes will also take points away and transfer them to your opponents score. With the real-time spinoff, Challenger Sudoku can be very unnerving, especially if you are watching the puzzle light up red as someone solves it faster than you.
Through winning against opponents of your level or higher, you can raise your own level from Student, Senpai, Sensei, Grandmaster, and, highest of all, Sudoku Samurai. These aren't levels you can just relax at, though. If you lose too much or remain inactive you will drop a level.
If you ask a native Japanese speaker to play "Sudoku", you'll likely get an odd stare. In Japan, they generally refer to Sudoku as nampure (short for "number place"). In fact, the game was only recently titled Sudoku by a Japanese game company and later becoming an game of international popularity in 2005 (source). The Japanese had most likely appropriated it from the French, who apparently have had a thing for number puzzles.
On April 5, 2012, a study was released assessing Japan's views on Facebook. Nearly 70% of the Japanese surveyed said Facebook gives them at least occasional stress (source). The stats are a result of 500 people ages 15 to 59 surveyed in Japan's two biggest metropolitan areas.
When asked to be more specific about the cause of stress, the most
frequently given answer, with 34.3%, was due to lack of privacy when
engaging in interpersonal relationships in a frank manner. The second
most stressful factor, with 31.1%, was that users felt besieged by
meddlesome solicitations (invitations or pitches). Third, with 27.1%,
was that they felt they were put on the spot by people’s requests to
become “friends” and had difficulty refusing. And fourth, with 26.5%,
was that users found it annoying to receive messages or notifications
from friends of friends, or other parties with whom they had no direct
relationship (source).
Of course, I'm sure Americans are sometimes stressed by Facebook, but there are a lot of cultural differences in Japan that understandably make Facebook a more difficult environment. For a quick reference point: if one of my American friends complained about a friend request and whether or not they should add the person in question I would most certainly transmit the message, "Oh, grow up," in at least my facial expression and/or posture.
While Twitter is still on top, Facebook has a grip on Japanese social structures
In Japan, relationships, community and respect are much more important. Social roles are even more strict for older generations and for certain groups. While teaching an eikaiwa (English conversation class) class in Japan, I remember being irked by the older students asking each other their class years to establish seniority. Seniority in that eikaiwa class effected everything from who got to talk first to who had to do all the grunt work for special events.
If a community English conversation class can be justifiably manipulated by the seniors of the group, you could imagine what kind of social pressures run rampant on the Japanese Facebook platform. Imagine if you felt obligated to accept a friend request from your boss and a few coworkers and now feel pressured to attend a non-mandatory work function posted on Facebook because most of them are and you don't want to seem like the bad egg. And all you wanted to do was see pictures of your friend's kids.
"I'm sorry I missed the enkai last night, but I was nursing my sick cat. Check my status updates."
In contrast, people in the US tend to not shed a tear for those that are hung up on event invitations or friend requests. I may be speaking in generalizations now but it seems the Western Facebook users are bound more by the survival of the fittest rules in which only the weak are bogged down by social stress; anyone smart enough has learned to navigate Facebook stress free.
I'm sure if the same study was done in the US, the researchers would find the following unimpressive data:
Most people are slightly addicted to Facebook.
Half of users have complained about certain users complaining on Facebook.
90% of users are sick of getting Farmville requests.
10% of users are sick that no one will accept their Farmville requests.
45% of people are still upset about not getting a "dislike" button.
A third of all users are upset that you have to be friends with some people to see their photos.
60% of all college users have spent over 10 hours "stalking" other users.
4% are excited about Mark Zuckerberg's wedding photos.
And maybe, one or two more in-tune users might comment on Facebook's ever-shifting privacy policy. If you get my exaggerated point, the US seems to adopt a use-it-or-don't attitude (in part, because we've had it since 2004) whereas Facebook could potentially trap, coerce or exploit Japanese users for only respecting traditional social norms.
If you'd like to read more including some personal accounts, check out the article.
Morimoto, Ruth Chris, Four Seasons, Bellagio, Toscana 52...what do these higher-end restaurants all have in common? They all serve various dishes including Kobe Beef. Furthermore, they all currently serve Kobe Beef that isn't real Kobe Beef.
Dun dun dun. Apparently, since 2010 the USDA has deemed all slaughterhouses in the Kobe and larger Hyogo region to be unfit for US importation. This was also true from 2001 to 2005 when some speculated if Americans even gave a crap (source).
The truth is trademarks like "Kobe Beef" are only a nationwide observance. So, in Japan, no one sell Kobe Beef from cows raised anywhere else than Kobe, Japan. But in the US, we could ground up some hotdogs and Spam and legally slap a Kobe Beef sticker on it. (Of course, that's not where this article is heading...)
What the US is doing is marketing things like wagyu beef and even Kobe-style beef as Kobe Beef. Whereas wagyu beef (literally, Japanese cows) should be from cows at least descendant from anywhere in Japan and Kobe-style beef could be any cows from anywhere with food and preparation that might hint at a Kobe Beef flavor, the real Kobe Beef comes only from Tajima cattle in Kobe.
Real Kobe Beef has a marbling ratio, or BMS, of at least 6
Let me go further to say that while wagyu beef is considered better and even healthier than US prime, the Japanese cattle it comes from have probably been crossbred with Angus to fit the American taste (source). While "domestic alternatives" to Kobe Beef might be just as marbled with fat as their Japanese counterparts, the US stock may be corn-fed (leading to all sorts of undesired health and environmental proponents (source) including but not limited to flatulence) and are definitely not given beer (see video below).
Larry Olmsted from Forbes Magazine breaks it down for us:
Giving everyone involved the benefit of the doubt and assuming they were [sic]
starting with an actual quality Japanese breed, after crossing both
grandparents with American cattle, then doing it again with the parents,
you are talking about selling Wagyu from a cow that is potentially less
than half “Wagyu.” To me, that’s like selling orange juice that is less
than 47% oranges. Except you go to jail for the juice scam (source).
Being someone who has tried Kobe Beef, I must tell you it is rich and delicious. It was so rich and savory that my stomach almost couldn't handle it. In the US, I have only tried a Kobe burger from Toscana 52 in late 2011 (during the current Kobe Beef ban). The burger was very delicious, but not near the grade I had tasted in Kobe. What's funny is that I had written this off to the fact that it was a burger, and of course a burger shouldn't be as rich as a steak. Now I realize that was a gross miscalculation due to the included American condiments, alcohol, dim lighting and generally peculiar atmosphere to which most higher-end restaurants subject us.
Now, I don't plan on explaining to you the massages, and other strange things they do to the cattle in Kobe, Japan, but I will provide a highly entertaining video with all that information.
Japan now boasts the second highest building in the world with their Tokyo Sky Tree. The tower was finished after almost four years of work and reached 2,080 ft. in March of this year. The building was just opened to the public days ago on May 22, 2012.
The $806 million structure is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It's design encompasses three main concepts including:
Fusion of futuristic design and traditional beauty of Japan,
Catalyst for revitalization of the city,
Contribution to disaster prevention "Safety and Security" (source).
The design is actually quite crazy. To optimize the plot of land at ground level, the base is triangular, but floor by floor the tower slowly molds into a cylindrical shape reaching a full circle at 1,050 ft. Also, with earthquakes a major factor in building such a tall tower, the structural design mixes the best of ancient and modern architecture. Mimicking ancient Japanese pagodas, there is a thick center shaft that runs up through the whole structure. Apparently, none of Japan's pagodas have ever been toppled by the centuries of earthquakes (source).
The modern spin-off is that this center shaft is relatively unconnected to the outside steel frame of the building reducing swaying high up. Also, the foundation of the tower, rather than straight poles, is more like roots that dig deep and fan out. Simulation tests suggest that the Sky Tree would suffer almost no damage even in the event of a major 7.9 magnitude quake (source).
OK. Able to withstand a 7.9 on the Richter scale. But wait, 15 of those can happen a year anyway. Let's rewind a year to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. That was a 9.0. On average, an earthquake equal to or greater than 9.0 happens ever year in the world (source). And lets remember that the Richter scale isn't linear. It's exponential. That means this tower is built to withstand 10 to 15 megatons of seismic energy, but may encounter 480 megatons of energy. I guess the March 2011 earthquake changed a lot of perspectives (and plans). Add this "earthquake safe" monstrosity to the list.
The tower is so high up that from the top observation tower you can see not only the entire Tokyo region, but also the curvature of the earth (source).
Apparently, the admission to reach the observation towers are just as sky-high as the structure itself. Also, merchandise and food at the observatories will be equally as expensive. Prices are not stopping the lines of eager tourists, though; tickets are sold out through mid-July, leaving visitors keen
to ride up the capital's newest landmark in a very long queue (source).
As the second highest structure in the world, the Tokyo Sky Tree is outdone only by the height of Burj Khalifa in Dubai at a whopping 2,723 ft. which was opened in January 2010.
Burj Khalifa - figures that the tallest building in the world is in an oil-rich country
Masayoshi Son, richest man in Japan, with the striped tie. Make money, make money.
Softbank, a telecom and internet corporation, is teaming up with PayPal on the joint venture "PayPal Japan". The companies will each invest $12.5 million to "revolutionize digital payments in Japan" (source).
It's no surprise Hiroaki Kitano from the Softbank side will serve as the CEO of the business agreement; while revenue for PayPal is in the early billions, Softbank revenue reaches into the early trillions. Kitano is a senior vice president and director of Softbank Mobile Corp, with relevant experience from his time with Yahoo Shopping (source).
The joint venture will also push the Paypal Here credit card reader that plugs into the audio jack of a smartphone. The card reader add-on will retail for 1200 yen, or about $15. (When the card reader is released in the US, it will be free.)
After viewing the demo via the PayPal introductory page, I've become very skeptical of the whole process. I can't imagine a NYC pretzel vendor or cabbie handing the customer his smartphone to type in a tip and sign the transaction. What's stopping the $2.50 pretzel consumer from running away with a $200-$400 smartphone plus a pretzel? In Japan, I don't see this as being such a problem with such low crime rates as a result of their general family-like moral system.
Also, unless I had a special stylus signing pen, I'm pretty sure my signature on a smartphone would look like a few pixelated circles and lines. How's that going to sit with my bank that is tirelessly scanning for fraudulent charges?
Currently, Japan is a very cash-based society. I'm wondering the
speed as to which something like card reader might catch on. It's strange that
Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries but still
largely operates outside the lines of credit.
Softbank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son hopes that in five or ten years from now, Japanese consumers won't need to carry wallets (source). As for me, I find any statement from this guy (the richest man in Japan) laughable.
The irony here is Masayoshi Son supposedly directs some of the Softbank commercials which include what are thought to be hidden messages that dishonor Japan. (Son is Korean but later naturalized as a Japanese citizen.) In a line of popular commercials, a black man has a dog for a father (which doesn't sound so crazy for a commercial plot). The black man, then, is inu no ko, which in Korea is one of the worst curse words. Given that there exists a stereotype that Koreans don't like Japanese or blacks, you may see some of the disputed evidence.
Here another example, for obvious reasons:
When a bunch of Japanese celebrities march out of a dog's anus, it really makes you start to think...
In wake of all the post-Fukushima energy reduction under their Cool Biz campaign, Japanese underwear firm Triumph Japan has unveiled their iced bras. Given showing this amount of skin is very rare in Japan, the unveiling has been deemed a publicity stunt (source).
The Super Cool Bra, as it has been titled, also happens to be a pun that most Japanese will miss. This "cool" as a Japanese loan word is not connected with the meaning "hip" as it is in most English speaking countries.
The company, which has a long tradition of novelty launches that are
never made available for public sale, said it conceived of the bra in
response to a need to save energy during the hot summer (source).
The Cool Biz campaign is known by over 96 percent of the Japanese public, 33 percent of which work for companies that actively engage in turning up thermostats on their air conditioners to reduce consumption of electricity.
The ice pack bra also come with a sprig of mint and a Japanese wind chime, maybe seemingly just to make the wearer feel refreshed. The Japanese wind chime, or furin, is usually hung from the eaves of a house. The music produced by the chime is said to have a psychological cooling effect. The chime is moved by a long card called tanzaku on which is usually written a traditional poem.
It is currently unknown, though, how wind will sound the chime unless women are walking around with only their bras on. This, of course, would never happen given Japan's general fear of the sun due to the generally pale Japanese skin. In fact, this is more often the case:
Japanese sun protection - visor and sleeves (photo)
Dan Buettner, discovering the secrets of longevity. photo
Diets only work on two percent of any population.
Exercise routines are usually given up within 10 months.
If you're trying to live healthier, these quick fixes probably aren't working for you. Or at least that's what this guy is telling us.
To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and team study
the world's "Blue Zones," communities whose elders live with vim and
vigor to record-setting age. At TED, he shares the 9 common diet and
lifestyle habits that keep them spry past age 100.
Buettner studied groups in Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), as well a community in Costa Rica and Seventh-Day Adventists in California for their extraordinarily high rate of centenarians.
In Okinawa, Buettner has found that, aside from eating healthy and meshing exercise into your everyday life, the natives don't have a word for "retire". (The two years you are most susceptible to death are your first year, and your retirement.)
Instead, the Okinawan people have the word 生き甲斐, orikigai, which roughly translates to one's reason for living, or as Buettner puts it, "the reason you wake up in the morning". When Buettner asked these Okinawan's what their ikigai was, they each could spout it instantly.
It makes sense, though, that having your life goal(s) figured out would definitely add a couple years to your life. Now, what do I want to be when I grow up?
Suprisingly, "community" is among the top factors. Buettner says, "We know that isolation kills. Fifteen years ago, the average American
had three good friends. We’re down to one and half right now."
Toshiyuki Nakagaki, professor of Future University Hakodate (source)
Japanese professors, among others, are hard at work researching, umm, slime. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (above) has found that slime molds in petri dishes (although brainless) are smarter than supercomputers in solving complex-systems problems. The single cell organisms will spread themselves far as possible to find food and then well form to the shortest route to the food possible.
Here, the slime mold (physarum polycephalum) works realtively quick. This video shows how all other "bad attempts" at solving the puzzle will quickly die out to leave only the shorts route.
Atsushi Tero, from Kyushu University, southern Japan, who conducted the
research, believes that the intelligence skills possessed by slime mould
networks could potentially be used in the future design of transport systems
or electric transmission lines (source). "Computers are not so good at analysing the best routes that connect many base
points because the volume of calculations becomes too large for them," he
said.
In this video, researchers placed food at railway stations around Tokyo (not Bay of Tokyo at bottom middle). The fungus
collaborates, spreading out to map many possible configurations and then
dies out to highlight the shortest routes between cities and the most
efficient overall system map.
So this technology is smarter than humans, and even supercomputers. But isn't the web of human knowledge a product of our technology? Isn't every man as smart as his ability to navigate the internet, or smartphone? In much the same way, now that we have and control this slime technology, isn't it part of our knowledge?
The Baxters with two recovered items from Japan's tsunami (Reuters)
Survivor of the March 2011 events in Japan Misaki Murakami lost all of his possessions to the tsunami. Searching in the rubble for the last year, he hasn't been able to recover one of his own items. Needless to say it was a big surprise when Murakami got word that his prized soccer ball turned up 3,000 miles away on an Alaskan beach.
David Baxter, a radar technician from Kasilof, Alaska, found Murakami's ball while beach-combing in March this year. Baxter's wife, Yumi, reached Murakami with
help from a Japanese reporter. Murakami was so thankful that the couple took "the time to even try to find him," David
Baxter said.
The ball was a gift of encouragement in 2005. It was a present from a classmate when Murakami was transferring schools.
Incidentally, Baxter also found a volleyball with Japanese
writing on it a couple of weeks later, and NHK reported Monday that its
owner was also found - Shiori Sato, 19, from Iwate prefecture (state),
which was hit by the tsunami.
Michelle Obama has been spearheading the crusade against obesity which yesterday birthed a simpler and healthier update for the Food Pyramid. The new “My Plate” design is laid out like a sectioned plate so we can easily compare the suggested servings with our own dinner plates. And look at that chique low fat milk up in the top right corner. Simple, and great. What’s beneficial about this design is that even grade school kids can understand the inconsistencies between the My Plate portions and their own large meat and potato servings.
A good point of reference here is that kids from age 2 to adults obesity rates have doubled since the 1970s. The number of states with adult obesity rates over 25% has risen from zilch in the early 90s to 32 states in 2008!
Remember the 2005 USDA food guide travesty? It was a bunch of thin, colored wedges with foods crowded at the bottom (a version without titles or any information had been popularized on everything from cereal boxes to posters). Climbing the pyramid stairs was a clip-art guy—a symbol for the importance of exercise—seemingly conquering the food pyramid. That’s right, America, no matter how much High Fructose Corn Syrup and deep fried Oreo garbage you eat exercise will give you perfect health.
Before - a little crowded, confusing, Clip-Art guy beats the Pyramid
After - All kids are confused and guy walks over the rainbow parachute
Why did this no-brainer design take so long to come to fruition?
Up until recently, the USDA-approved Food Pyramid has been fundamentally based on the 1956 model. The 1950s model was intended to ensure people were eating enough. You can guess why this ideology has been outdated for more than 60 years. Even at the time of this make-sure-you-eat-enough model, roughly 33% of adults were overweight. The only problem in the ‘50s was that obesity hadn’t yet been recognized as a disease.
Fast forward to 1992 when the meat and dairy bigwigs started lobbying to keep their large suggested servings (lest they might lose a few dollars keeping America fat).
Fast forward again to January of this year when the newest dietary guidelines were released after a 2 year struggle against aforementioned lobbyists. Nice work, Depart of Health.
Since the release of My Plate on June 2nd, the USDA has spent $2 million to design and promote the plate. I think the U.S. deserves a high-five.
Did you know?*
Before vitamins and minerals were discovered Protein, Carbohydrates, Oils, and Mineral Matter comprised the first USDA food guide (the latter category of which consisted of ashes from charred meat and vegetables as well as salts).
1920’s food group updates included four cost-levels and shopping suggestions for the Depression.
From 1943 to 1956, one of the seven food groups was butter.
Vegetables were a recognized category only since the 1992 Food Pyramid.
We all have heard and experienced our share of April Fool's pranks and hoaxes. Whether it be the baby powder in the hair dryer, or the dried nail polish on someone's laptop, it's great to see the shock and even hate on someones face. I remember telling my brother over the phone that I broke my ankle tumbling down two flights of stone steps at our college. I also remember dipping my mom's toothbrush in the toilet. Sorry mom, I was only 6.
April Fool's was found to have been first mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Museum of Hoaxes lists the top April Fool's Hoaxes, most of which were played on the public. Some notable mentions were McDonald's left handed Whopper and Taco Bell's purchase of the Liberty Bell. Here is a good one I found relating to our Japan audience:
#20: The 26-Day Marathon
1981: The Daily Mail ran a story about an unfortunate Japanese long-distance runner, Kimo Nakajimi, who had entered the London Marathon but, on account of a translation error, thought that he had to run for 26 days, not 26 miles. Reportedly Nakajimi was now somewhere out on the roads of England, still running, determined to finish the race. Various people had spotted him, though they were unable to flag him down. The translation error was attributed to Timothy Bryant, an import director, who said, "I translated the rules and sent them off to him. But I have only been learning Japanese for two years, and I must have made a mistake. He seems to be taking this marathon to be something like the very long races they have over there."
Some of these hoaxes are great but it usually involves access or even ownership of a mass media source. One of the problems of such hoaxes is the Boy Who Cried Wolf effect when real, shocking news happens on April 1st. Here's a few notables:
The Gremlin car (Garth's car from Wayne's World) was introduced on April 1, 1970.
The death of Greece's King George II on April 1, 1947.
The split of the Canadian Northwest Territories into Nunavut on April 1, 1999.
The launch of Gmail on April 1, 2004.
The 165 people on Aluetian Island died in a tsunami April 1, 1946. In Hawaii, it is now considered the "April Fool's Day Tsunami" due to the drowned skeptics.
The late reports of Mitch Hedberg's death on March 29, 2005.
William Willet's pamphlet promoting DST went through nineteen editions.
Today, (March 13th) Daylight Saving Time has begun in the U.S. at 2am. If you are unaware, you probably don't work...or you still can't figure out why you were the first to arrive at work. Since "Fall Back, Spring Forward" we can all celebrate in the decadence of the extra hour. But, as people without clocks or view of the sun have been studied, the brain generally runs on a 25 hour schedule anyway. This means the hour is lost under our noses, while in the fall, everyone complains.
Actually, DST has caused controversy since it's induction in April of 1916.
Here's a very incomplete list of arguments:
It has mixed health effects.
More Vitamin D
Raised Skin Cancer Chances
It causes people to spend more money on food and leisure activities.
In some places is saves on energy (such as street lights)
It can adversely affect farmers who work by sunlight
It hurts prime-time broadcast ratings.
It may positively affect traffic safety.
It causes problems in computer installations
It is complex.
Wait, wait. It is complex? How complex could it be? "Note to self: set clock back," doesn't seem so complex!
Well, let's jump into the politics.
The countries in Blue observe Daylight Savings Time
Although the DST system is unused by most of the world, the it is common in the Northern Hemisphere. The red countries here don't observe DST. The orange countries don't observe DST anymore. Confused yet?
Also, observing countries observe it in different ways. Some countries start on different dates or at different times. Kyrgyzstan and Iceland observe DST all year round. Unless you're a DST expert, I'm sure you're confused now.
Also, consider the differing time zones--some operating on different hour scales. For example, if it's 5pm in Khazakistan, it will be 5:30pm in India and 5:45 in Nepal!
Now imagine a business man who regularly travels to 5 different time zones. This is absurd, compared to some of us Americans that wake up early (or late) and say "Oops" and all is cured.
Ohh, timezones, how uneven your lines are. Really, it's like a first-grader crayoned a hammer in the Pacific Ocean. That's our International Date Line. You'd think the difference between a whole day would be a bit more scientificly demarcated.
A view of the Tsunami waves striking Japan's Eastern coast
*Updates in Bold
Updated 10:30pm 3/27 (Tokyo Time)
On March 11th, following the catastrophic 9.0 magnitude earthquake of the eastern coast of Japan, waves of tsunamis greatly affected most of the eastern seaboard of Japan. Residents are quoted as being surprised not by the intensity of the earthquake, but the over 3-minute duration. The earthquake is the biggest in Japan's history and tied for the 4th strongest ever. Considering the overall magnitude, damage and people affected, this is the worst earthquake to date.
The seabed off the coast of Japan was split into an over 100 meter long crevice. Also, the Earth's axis is said to have been tilted 10 cm (Japan Times). The Meteorological Agency said more than 250 aftershocks have occurred so far, more that a dozen over 6 on the Richter scale. After shocks are still continuing. The Bank of Japan estimates 235 billion dollars of damage from this "Great East Japan Earthquake".
Generally, the Tohoku region was hit by waves up to 24 ft high sweeping inland dragging cars, houses, factories, boats and burning debris. Record 46 ft tsunami waves have been measured at the Fukushima Power Plant. Scientists say a record 52.5 ft. tsunami wave hit a coastal town in Miyagi Prefecture. The tsunami traveled at around a mile every 6.5 seconds and waves surged over 6 miles inland in the Tohoku region and over 12 miles inland north in Hokkaido. Examining before and after pictures in the Fukushima area, it is clear the Tsunami created new bays and waterways where whole towns once where. Check NY Times for before and after shots.
Here is an animation of the tsunami wave propagation in the Pacific provided by NOAA.
The earthquake, occurring at 2:46pm local time, has done massive damage especially around the Tokyo, Chiba, Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures. Although Japan is specially adept at handling earthquakes and other natural disasters prone to such an area (with stringent building codes and widespread use of advanced seismic dampening technology), 10,901 are confirmed dead and 17,649 people are still missing. There are currently 500 foreign nationals reported missing. Around 285,000 people are staying in approximately 2,000 emergency shelters, both of which have decreased. 23 people have died in the shelters, most sick or elderly with lack of medications. The National Police Agency says at least 18,000 houses were destroyed by the quake and tsunami, and about 140,000 homes were damaged.
The marine products industry on the Pacific coast of central and northern Japan suffered serious damage in the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. The fisheries ministry says 2,338 fishing boats had been reported damaged across the region as of Sunday. The ministry says the number of damaged boats is certain to rise, adding that it has yet to form an overall picture of the damage. It says almost all the fishing ports in the 3 northeastern prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima have suffered severe damage.
The red X was the epicenter of the quake, but lower inland was the worst tsunami impact (credit)
The earthquake epicenter is marked with a red X on this map. The tsunami advisory warnings in Japan have markedly decreased but still remain. The aftershocks of the earthquake are expected to occur for months to come. The tsunami's bark seems to have been louder than it's bite as it's waves spread to other countries.
Japan's Meteorological Agency is urging people to continue to be alert against powerful aftershocks following the March 11th earthquake. The initial quake had a magnitude of 9.0 -- the country's highest ever. The agency says it observed more than 60 aftershocks in a wide area of eastern Japan that registered 4 or more on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7 through Monday evening. On Saturday, a 5-plus aftershock jolted Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo (NHK).
The current concerns are with the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The earthquake and consequent tsunami impaired the cooling system of several nuclear reactors. All people have been evacuated from the 20 km radius surrounding the Fukushima 1 Power Plant (refer to map above). The Fukushima 2 Power Plant has been stabilized. People from 20 to 30km have been asked to stay indoors. The US Embassy has just advised a 50 mile radius evacuation due to .17 millisieverts per hour measured 18.6 miles Northwest of the plant. The NISA has prepared iodine tablets to hand out to residents in order to limit the thyroidal intake of radiation.
The earthquake that hit Japan was 8 times more powerful than the worst earthquake the nuclear power plant was built for (the Richter scale works logarithmically; the difference between the 8.2 that the plants were built for and the 9.0 that happened is 8 times, not 0.8). So the first hooray for Japanese engineering, everything held up (BNC).
Before and after of Fukushima's Daiichi reactor (BBC)
The quake disrupted the electric power the reactors used to run their cooling facilities, which pump water into the reactor core to cool the fuel rods there. The reactors switched to backup diesel generators, but the tsunami then swept in and shut down the generators used for the second nuclear reactor at Fukushima Daiichi. The unit then tapped excess steam in the core to power a turbine and switched to battery power, which would last only a few hours (WP). Japan, bereft of oil and gas reserves, has developed an extensive nuclear power industry.
Due to high temperatures, high pressure, lack of fuel/batteries and general havoc, Reactors 1 through four have all experienced serious problems. Due to the high temperature and resultant high pressure, slightly radioactive steam has been released from all reactors in turns as a preventative measure. The radiation in the Fukushima power plant area is currently unsafe limit and has at times jumped to the height of 3 years worth of normal exposure in one hour at 8.2 millisieverts at 8:31 AM Tuesday. It is 4 times the healthy limit of radiation and such levels can lead to the loss of white blood cells (NHK).
NISA has been measuring cesium and iodine levels in the surround area to monitor radiation. All reactors at the Fukushima 1 Power Plant have overheated at one point since Friday causing either an explosion or fire. Workers are currently using firetrucks filled with sea water and boron to cool the exposed rods. The current cooling system is running on borrowed batteries and the supply seems limited.
Video of explosion at First Reactor, and explanations
The Number 1 Reactor was the first concern. While the air-release and water-pumping work was continuing on Saturday, the housing of the No.1 reactor suddenly exploded. The building's ceiling and walls were blown off, and 4 workers sustained injuries. The explosion was due to the build-up of hydrogen and is now releasing hazardous radioactive material.
The Number 3 Reactor had the biggest explosion at 11am Monday. It was also a hydrogen explosion and the wall of the building collapsed. 11 were injured including TEPCO workers and Self Defense Force members. The reactor is now releasing hazardous radioactive material. Firefighters have spent over 25 hours spraying water on the waste pool. It has been releasing gray smoke recently.
The Number 4 Reactor, although out of commission for maintenance, had an explosion at 6am Tuesday. The fuel rods were left in a nuclear waste pool. The pool was naturally giving off heat and due to the cooling system having failed, a fire occurred and the roof was damaged. The reactor is now releasing hazardous radioactive material.
The Number 2 Reactor currently has the most serious radioactivity. After running out of fuel to pump water to the fuel rods, the rods became fully exposed for 2 hours on Monday. There was a hydrogen explosion 6:10am Tuesday. TEPCO says it is highly likely the containment vessel has been damaged. The radiation has reached 400 millisieverts per hour--enough to affect human health. The Japanese government has instructed 47 prefectures to report daily radiation measurements. It has been releasing white smoke recently (most likely water vapor).
Some are fearing a Three Mile Island or Chernobyl disaster re-occurrence. Why is this not like Chernobyl?
The Chernobyl reactors' design was very unstable compared to today's standards and allowed for massive release of radioactive material. The Fukushima reactors (as most modern reactors) have safe-stops for such possibilities.
The Chernobyl reactors had no containment whatsoever. The Fukushima reactors have 2 lines of containment. The explosions have happened within the outermost containment.
The Chernobyl reactor core was exposed. This is very, very unlikely at Fukushima.
The Chernobyl reactor was designed to speed up power as the heat rose. This is the opposite of the Fukushima "light water type boiling water reactor", or BWR (SMC).
While American media is over-dramatizing the situation, some are worried the Japanese officials may be watering down the severity of the situation. TEPCO has been supplying late information to the Japanese government.
Tuesday, a University of Tokyo facility in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, has reported radiation levels at 5 microsieverts per hour before 8:00 AM and the radiation level continued to exceed the yardstick figure designated by a law for 10 straight minutes. The facility 68 miles south of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. The facility says the radiation level later fell to 3 microsieverts per hour. It says normally the reading is at around 0.05 microsieverts per hour.
Wednesday, the radiation levels spiked to 10 millisieverts for 30 minutes and then fell to 2.7 millisieverts and hour. TEPCO has raised the "permissible level of radiation exposure" for workers to 250 millisieverts. Any exposure above this level is said to pose health risks.
TEPCO has tried dumping water on Reactor 3, but the plan was aborted after radiation levels above the plant were found to have largely exceeded 50 millisieverts (or 0.05 Sieverts) -- the maximum permissible for SDF personnel on a mission.
The reactors are cased in primary and secondary containers. Recent explosions have only affected the secondary containment.
Thursday, efforts continued to cool the Number 3 Reactor. TEPCO has used riot fire hose trucks to spray 30 tons of water on the building and the nuclear waste pool for 30 minutes. The progress has been little. By installing high voltage power lines, TEPCO is looking to have power restored to the area as early as Friday. This will relieve the power situation and allow TEPCO to run continuous power to not only run the cooling turbines but also the circulation pump for the spent waste pool in the Number 3 building.
Friday, TEPCO has continued to douse the Number 3 reactor with water. The radiation has reportedly fallen slightly. TEPCO now hopes to reconnect power to two generators Saturday. They hope to finish laying cables Friday.
Countries are bracing for the nuclear leakage. Russia is currently checking radiation on an hourly basis. NHK reports that France has sent 12 nuclear accidents experts to Fukushima. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has also sent 10 experts to help. South Korea has agreed to send 53 tons of boric acid to help cool the reactors following Japan's request. General Electric in America will be sending 10 gas turbines to help cool the reactors.
The Japanese government raised its rating on Friday of the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to the same level as the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency revised upward its evaluation of the severity of the disaster by one notch to Level 5 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. Level 5 is the third highest on the 8-notch scale and the worst for any nuclear accident to have happened in Japan (NHK). The agency says it raised the rating because more than 3 percent of the nuclear fuel has been damaged and radioactive material is leaking from the plant.
A "children version" explanation of the current radiation. Actually very helpful.
Friday, the World Health Organization said they find no public health reason to avoid travel to Japan, except to the affected areas, or to recommend that foreign nationals leave the country. Also, there is no risk that exported Japanese foods are contaminated with radiation.
External power was extended to the electricity distribution panels of the No.2 and No.5 reactors on Sunday, and power can now be supplied to reactors number 1, 2, 5, and 6. In order to get the electricity back on at the No.2 reactor, the power company plans to check various measurement devices and lighting systems in the central control room -- the heart of the plant -- and check for electricity leakage in the battery charging room. The No.3 and No.4 reactors, where high levels of radiation are forcing workers to exercise extreme caution. It may be some time before finally switching on the power.
Radiation scanning of evacuation shelters has begun. 22 people so far have been affected by the radiation. These individuals have been asked to shower and throw away their clothing. They are undergoing treatment in separate tents. Officials say these low levels of radiation will not pose health problems but they are taking all precautions.
The US Navy's 7th Fleet says 17 crew members have been exposed to low-level radioactivity released from a plume from the Fukushima power plant. The crew was aboard helicopters flying in relief missions in a 160km off the coast of Sendai. Their helicopters were also coated with particulate radiation that had to be washed off. The members seem to be in good health.
Radiation in the form of iodine-131 has been found in levels over 3 times the standard in Fukushima drinking water. On Friday, iodine 131 at a then-record 1,250 times regulated standards was detected in seawater collected in the same place 330 meters south of a plant water outlet. Whereas iodine quickly decays, the cesium's effect on marine life will have to be monitored. In areas 12 miles away from the crippled Fukushima Power Plant, radiation has been measured at 1,600 times the normal amount. Also, radiation has been detected in cow's milk and cabbage in the area. Japan's science ministry says radiation exceeding 400 times the normal level was detected in soil about 40 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
View of reactors 1-4 from the sky
TEPCO says it has detected radioactive materials 100-million-times normal levels in water at the No.2 reactor complex of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. They measured 2.9-billion becquerels of radiation per one cubic centimeter of water from the basement of the turbine building attached to the Number 2 reactor. The level of contamination is about 1,000 times that of the leaked water already found in the basements of the Number 1 and 3 reactor turbine buildings. TEPCO surmises the extremely contaminated water may stem from damaged fuel in the reactor, and are trying to determine how the leakage occurred. The suppression chamber of the N0.2 reactor is known to be damaged and is currently the prime suspect for the recent leak.
TEPCO plans to pump the water from the reactor basements into the turbine condensers for storage. They are trying to drain the basement of the Number 2 reactor turbine, and are studying ways to drain the basement of the Number 3 turbine building. The problem is cleaning the water as well. At the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant, workers continue to pump fresh water instead of seawater into the Number 1 through 4 reactors to flush out salt.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano pledged all-out efforts to prevent the highly radioactive water from leaking into the ground water or the ocean.
Many other Japanese power companies are having troubles restarting their generators due to lack of government oversight and/or lack of proper fuel transportation. Other plants are wary of starting and are looking to up their safety specs.
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has reassured his country's people that radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will not affect them.
On the first day, Naoto Kan is blamed for making TEPCO wait (before they could vent the reactors) while he flew his helicopter over the Fukushima Plant. Shortly after, the first explosion happened from releasing hydrogen too fast. Many suggest TEPCO's late start has snowballed things to the disaster it has reached now.
Money and Energy
The earthquake has led to the shutdown of 11 of the Japan's 55 nuclear power plants, representing nearly 20 percent of the country's capacity. Naoto Kan has asked the public to conserve as much power as possible. It has just been announced that Japan is 10 million kilowatts short and officials are asking residents to severely limit their electricity use. To conserve energy, Tokyo electric supplier TEPCO will hold scheduled blackouts in metropolitan areas. Also, due to the lack of energy, railways in the Tokyo region have been canceled.
The Sendai Airport was deluged by tsunami waters (credit)
The circumstances will deal an economic blow to Japan, which relies on nuclear power for one-third of its electricity generation, and could complicate economic recovery efforts. The economy is expected to drop and some theorize it will more than rebound with the jobs creating in the clean-up efforts.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said in regards to the emergency response:
Our priority is to save lives and we expect the 200 billion yen ($2.4 billion) budget reserve for the current fiscal year to suffice. We cannot comment on the size of the necessary extra budget for the next fiscal year (starting in April) for now, it will need deliberations in parliament. (Reuters)
Reuters also comments on the Japanese economy HERE stating there will be a temporary economic slump--the span of which can not yet be predicted. Here is a summary quote:
While few expect the damage to exceed that of the Kobe earthquake in 1995 when the economy shrank by 2 percent before rebounding even further, the concern is that Japan's economy is much weaker today. It also is weighed down by the largest public debt among advanced economies, double the size of its $5 trillion gross domestic product.
Also, some Japanese stocks plunged Monday morning. The Nikkei dropped 635 points, or five percent. On Tuesday, it dropped 10%. Asian stocks are also down across the board. Since Monday, the Bank of Japan have supplied around 490 billion dollars to the financial market to ensure ample market liquidity thereby avoiding further economic downturn. They are willing to supply more money if necessary. The Yen had risen to a record 76.25 yen per dollar. Government officials are worrying the Bank of Japan has been infusing too much money. Friday, the money officials have taken steps to stop the dangerously rising yen.
The G7 countries agreed on a coordinated intervention to curb the yen's surge following the disasters. On the Tokyo foreign exchange, the government and Bank of Japan immediately began selling yen and buying dollars on Friday. The Nikkei rose 2.72 percent since Thursday's close.
Japan is asking oil wholesalers to prioritize distribution to hospitals and shelters. Honda, Nissan, and Toyota have shut down all national factories and many other car companies have followed suit. Oil delivery has proven difficult as many roads are closed and many others are scattered with debris.
Help and Overseas
Currently, over 31000 people are taking shelter in schools and public institutions. Many residents were forced to wait outside and on roofs overnight through snow and below-zero temperatures. Currently, convenience stores and supermarkets are nearly out of bottled water stocks due increased panic. The lack of drinkable water seems to be the largest aide barrier. Many are struggling to find food as well as the demand far outweighs the supply. Supermarkets can only stock to about as high as 60 percent depending on late, and unavailable shipments. The cold weather and snow is now posing a threat to many of the survivors, many who are without heat.
A Japanese highway mysteriously ripped right on the road lines (credit)
Rescue teams from 12 countries have been sent to assist in relief operations. Collectively, 94 countries have offered assistance. US Ambasador John V. Roos spoke with the press on Wednesday saying:
In the military support area, we have delivered over 7,000 pounds of food and water to the disaster area and more is on the way. Nine ships are assisting in the relief operations, and helicopters and other aircraft have now flown over 50 missions to conduct survivor recoveries, transport passengers, and distribute food and water supplies in the most needy areas. With regard to some of the other assistance that's being provided by USAID, at this point in time more than 5.8 million dollars of United States aid has come to Japan so far and more is on the way. Urban search-and-rescue teams are working under the instruction of the Japanese and are coordinating with UK and Chinese teams to ensure a coordinated international response. So, this is just obviously a small piece of the incredible resources that the United States is providing to this human tragedy.
Naoto Kan has sent 100,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel into the devastated areas around Sendai, a city of 1 million people, for search-and-rescue efforts. About 190 aircraft and 45 vessels were deployed to transport injured people and supplies.
The Japanese government and the Democratic Party say they will begin to prepare an extra budget first for the most urgent reconstruction projects next month, when fiscal 2011 starts. Allocation of funds for less urgent projects will follow that. The government has already allocated about 430 million dollars from a reserve fund for fiscal 2010, which ends on March 31st. The money was used to provide relief goods to quake survivors.
The scale of the extra budget is expected to exceed the 37 billion dollars allocated for reconstruction projects after the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. But another emergency fund is needed for the clean up of debris, repairs to damaged roads and water supply and sewerage systems, and financial assistance to help small- and medium-sized companies recover (NHK).
Japanese search-and-rescue forces
Overseas, more than 35 boats have been crushed and destroyed by 6.5 ft waves hitting the California coast in Crescent City, 350 miles north of San Francisco, according to Cindy Henderson, the area's emergency services manager. Some individuals were carried out to sea by the tide. The cost of the damage is estimated at over $50m. Hawaii reported over 3 million dollars in damage.
These events have spurred debate, notably in France and Germany, over the stability of nuclear power.
Please refer to NHK World English before you check American media sources!
