Saturday, July 21, 2012

#Radioactive Disaster Debris: Kitakyushu City Educates Kids How Safe It Is to Burn the Debris


I haven't written about the disaster debris disposal for a long time, as it has dwindled into a non-issue in most part of Japan now that the amount of the debris in Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures has turned out to be much, much less than what was predicted. EXCEPT in the cities whose mayors are more than ever determined to bring and burn the debris NO MATTER WHAT.

One such city is Tokyo under the 79-year-old governor Shintaro Ishihara. Another is Osaka City under the boy-wonder mayor Toru Hashimoto who would say and do anything to stay in the news.

Then there is Kitakyushu City, whose mayor Kenji Kitahashi has been on a relentless campaign to shove the debris on the residents. His latest antics: Educate elementary school children and junior high school pupils so that they will tell their parents how safe and wonderful it is to bring the disaster debris all the way to their city in Kyushu Island and burn it.

Some Kitakyushu City's parents were outraged when they found out about this education pamphlets. Here's a copy of the pamphlet for 4th to 6th graders in elementary schools, tweeted here:


The pamphlet is full of misleading information and half-truths.

What is "disaster debris disposal"?

More than one year has passed since the March 11, 2011 disaster but there are still large piles of debris in the disaster affected areas. [The picture shown is probably more than one year old.] People in the disaster-affected areas want the debris to be removed as soon as possible. [Not true. Iwate Prefecture officials are on record saying they are considering shipping the debris to Kitakyushu City because the city has asked for it; otherwise, they say, there is no problem disposing it in Iwate.] It is necessary for everyone to help in disposing the debris. Kitakyushu City has decided to help by accepting the flammable debris for the sake of people who are suffering in the disaster-affected areas.


In the middle segment titled "2. There is no effect on health or the environment even if the debris is burned" ("No immediate effect" perhaps? a la Mr. Yukio EdaNO):

We have been receiving the radiation, even if it is invisible, from the universe, soil, air, and food. This time, the city consulted with the experts and decided to accept the debris. The amount of radiation from the debris does not affect your health or environment.


And in fine print, as if to further impress the youngsters on the cleansing effect of burning the debris, it mentions numbers:

Air radiation levels before the debris test burning: Kokura Kita-ku 0.08 microsievert, Moji-ku 0.10 microsievert.
Air radiation levels after the debris test burning: 0.06 to 0.07 microsievert


Wow, burning the debris lowered the radiation levels! (Professor Hayakawa would be pleased.)

In the last segment titled "3. Let's prevent baseless rumors", it says:

What's worrisome in accepting the disaster debris is the baseless rumor against produce in Kitakyushu City, residents of Kitakyushu City, and against Kitakyushu City in general. In order to prevent the baseless rumor, Kitakyushu City is providing the correct facts. The safety of the debris and of the disposal process will be announced on the city's homepage and pamphlets. It is important to make a correct judgment, without distracted by the wrong information about the debris.

As residents of Kitakyushu City, let's learn more about the debris disposal, and let's pray that the towns and schools affected by the disaster will be back to normal as soon as possible.


And look at the cute little three boys. I could almost tell what they are saying. The middle boy is saying:

"But my parents say burning the debris is dangerous, because it's not just radioactive materials but also toxic industrial materials on the debris..."


The other two boys are telling the middle boy,

"Don't be absurd, that's called "baseless rumor"! We have to help those poor children up in Iwate who are suffering. We must tell our parents to shut up and do what the teachers and the mayor of the city say!"


Or it could be the other way around: The middle boy is telling the other two to calm down, and telling them there is no danger.

According to the togetter about Kitakyushu City's pamphlets, school principals were instructed by the mayor and the city's Board of Education to speak positively about accepting and burning the disaster debris in Kitakyushu City at the end-of-semester ceremony before the summer break (most likely it was on July 20). Here's one of the tweets in the togetter:

昨日、学校長に終業式で小4以上に「がれきの受け入れは良いことをしたのだと生徒に話すように」と繰り返し話すことと、北橋市長が伝達したと聞いた。我が家は中学生なので、どうかな?と思っていたが、やはり今日の終業式で、その話が出たそうだ。

The other day, I heard that school principals were instructed by Mayor Kitahashi to repeatedly tell pupils from 4th graders on at the end-of-semester ceremony that "to accept the disaster debris is to do a good thing". Our child is in junior high school, so I wondered if they do that in junior high school also. Sure enough, [my daughter] said the principal talked about that in the ceremony today [July 20].


Mayor Kitahashi has his own website where he posts his reasoning for accepting the debris in English. If you care to read it, it is here.

Why doesn't the mayor come outright and say "I want the disaster debris for the money it brings to the city, and the business concessions it will bring to the city"?

By the way, asbestos and mercury have been detected in municipal incineration plants in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo that have been mixing the disaster debris from Onagawa City, Miyagi with the household garbage and burning the mixture. Hexavalent chromium and arsenic have also been detected in the disaster debris in the amount that exceeds the limit set by the regulations.

No matter. All is safe, and all to help "recovery" that is non-existent.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Nazis had a similar "education" program during WWII. It encouraged children to turn on their parents.

I hope the outraged parents will do to Kitahashi what should have been done to Hitler before it's too late.

Anonymous said...

Please support this impressive effort by a concerned mom in California, USA. Her book is called Silence Deafening: Fukushima Fallout...

http://www.indiegogo.com/p/​84388

Anonymous said...

Here comes the end of Japan, and it is being made closer by the Japanese politicians (plus the so-called higher education institutions that stay silent).

Admission officers of overseas colleges, please take a notice of this when you receive applications from Japanese universities. This proves taht Japan has no quality in science education and the exchange students from such a system would do no good to your institutional reputation.

Anonymous said...

OT:

"A Christchurch ute (SUV) with potentially dangerous radioactive material on board is still on the loose. The ute, clearly placarded with "Class 7 Radioactive" signs was carrying a nuclear density meter . The meter had two small radioactive sources and the radioactive material was encapsulated in stainless steel.

A police spokesman told The Press he understood the vehicle is owned by a private company.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7322892/Radioactive-ute-still-on-the-loose

m a x l i said...

What can I say? What a hammer! I am deeply shocked and disgusted...

Normally, I dislike such strong comparisons - but here I cannot help doing it myself. Like the first poster, I immediatly thought this is like Hitler-germany, when the nazis drilled and indoctrinated small children in order to use them as trojan horses to bring their murderous thoughts and plans into families' homes and to encourage them to spy on their parents to detect any "illegal" thoughts.

It speaks volumes that this pamphlet is not shy to deliver numbers that "prove" that burning debris lowers (!!!) radiation levels. Not a single teacher dares to detect this obvious lie? This is fascism, when no one can speak the obvious truth.

And, by the way, some intellectuals are already going into exile, as long as they can...

Anonymous said...

The Nazis wouldn't tolerate this sort of Nonsense!!!
If the Nazis were in charge, the reactors would have been cleaned up - and Japanese politicians, managers and fat cat TEPCO lunatics would have had to do the dirty work - themselves!

If only the Nazis were in charge!!
This wouldn't have happened!

aka Oceania

m a x l i said...

@Anonymous at 2:32
If the nazis were in charge, they would have forced anyone not thinking their thoughts - certainly me - to do the cleanup work. (New meaning of "death camp"!)
The tepgovs use anyone desperate for money and/or simple-minded and therefore fearless enough - not much better.

Anonymous said...

I am all for educating the children, the younger the better. However, education involves a discussion of the pros and cons, addressing concerns and answering questions. A pamphlet making a one-sided case for a government project for self-serving reasons has nothing to do with education. It is merely propaganda aimed to influence the most impressionable, i.e., the children. Despicable!
*mscharisma*

Anonymous said...

like Joshua replied I am inspired that anyone able to get paid $8579 in 4 weeks on the computer. did you read this webpage is.gd/sh8h2u

Anonymous said...

Wow this is blatant propoganda, straight out of 1984, get the kids to turn on their parents thought crimes..... Japan has become truly fascist again in the space of 70 years... where is the MSM ? fucking nowhere as usual..

Anonymous said...

The burning of radioactive debris all over the country itself is insane, add in the propaganda I've been seeing lately and it is too much. I've lived here for a number of years but can't stand it anymore. This country is taking turns I can't agree with or forgive. I used to love Japan, but now I give up on this country completely and am making my plans to leave.

Anonymous said...

The Nazi had "Arian physics" -- hard to beat, I thought, until I heard about the cleansing effetcs of burning debris.
Beppe

Anonymous said...

So if burning debris lowers the radiation in the air, doesn't it make sense to burn it all in Fukushima? Then everyone can go back...or something.

Anonymous said...

We have this same mentality in Utah where greedy politicians allow radio active waste to be brought her from all over cause we have big wide open desert good for nothing else but hazardous waste disposal!

Anonymous said...

Well, at least Utah has big wide open desert. Kitakyushu City has crowded commercial, industrial, and residential areas in the middle which are the incineration plants.

Anonymous said...

Be careful Nazi bashers, first of all this has nothing to do with them, and secondly, most of what we "learn" in "schools" and on the History Channel is a pile of BS.
http://zioncrimefactory.com/jew-world-order/

Anonymous said...

But we still don't know how much radiation is being released by the burning of the radioactive debris. Speculation = BS. WHERE IS THE ACTUAL DATA?

Anonymous said...

When they finish absorbing all the information they can head over here, smiling at the foresight of their elders.

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201207/CN2012072201001658.html

Anonymous said...

Criminal. They should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, with all the deaths they are sustaining. Only alien technology can save us, since we, on planet earth, cannot solve the radiation issue. Aliens, being more advanced scientifically have other technologies we have yet to discover. And if they come on earth, they are peaceful. rael.org

Greyhawk said...

Asbestos, arsenic and mercury are the spices in this toxic cocktail. And these politicians are forcing schools to teach children that all is safe. This is a nightmare that one cannot wake up from.

Anonymous said...

what is incredible is that they now have a huge region contaminated anyway, where they could find appropriate places to store or berry the debris. If you were trying to spread it everywhere, there is no better way. Chris Busby has his theory about it: by spreading the contamination you create a situation where there are no uncontaminated reference groups, therefore future epodemiological studies to measure the impact on health will not be possible conveniently allowing deniability and avoiding all sorts of liabilities. It makes sense.

MikeR said...

Now that we've added Fukushima Denial to the lo-o-o-ng list of stuff that never happened according to the Powers That Bloody Be, maybe one or two of my mates will at last live to see Climate Denial becoming acceptable along with Holocaust Denial likewise...

Even Dumb Dora admits that 9/11 Denial meanz No Planes. (but then she never could figure out why Dubya thought that kitchen kero could melt aluminum when her gas stove doesn't burn through her ally pan after it boiled dry....

Anonymous said...

MikeR, that's a very cheap trick, to tie "climate denial" (as called by warmers like you) with "holocaust denial". It's been tried, and laughed at, don't you know?

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