JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

WilliB's past comments

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  WilliBDec. 08, 2011 - 01:10PM JST

  Greenpeace will be happy to hear that Tokyo is using reconstruction money to support their whaling fleet.

  Posted in: Tokyo 'not doing enough' for Fukushima: Greenpeace

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  WilliBDec. 08, 2011 - 01:06PM JST

  nigelboy:

  " Each country has upper limits on the maximum Bq/kg on Cesium based on food categories. For instance, EU has an upper limit of 400Bq/kg for infant food. and Codex has an upplimit as much as 1000 bq/kg. "

  Thanks for the information. Kind of puts ther 20-31 Bq/kg of this article in perspective.

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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  WilliBDec. 08, 2011 - 01:04PM JST

  cwhite:

  " The expected back ground radiation for powdered milk should be less than 1 becquerels http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=KRVXMiQWi0cC&lpg=PA7&ots=eTHgNQWP9t&dq=natural%20background%20becquerels%20milk&hl=ja&pg=PA52#v=snippet&q=milk&f=false "

  Thanks for the reference, but I do not see that from your source. Table XV shows only Cesium 137, however it does not mention the total expected natural radiation. Again, when I google for natural radiation in food in other countries, I see values from around 30 to 150 Bq/kg. NEVER zero, which seems to be the assumption by many here.

  We do not live in a radiation-free environment on this planet.

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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  WilliBDec. 08, 2011 - 07:47AM JST

  Elbuda Mexicano:

  " That is not true! Chritians killed thousands and thousands of non Christians and Catholics going after Protestants etc... "

  The article is about today, not about the middle ages. I doubt many people are losing sleep today about being blown up by Catholic suicide bombers.

  Posted in: 58 dead in Afghan shrine blasts on Shiite holy day

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  WilliBDec. 08, 2011 - 07:37AM JST

  That is really really bad PR for the country. Feels like a slap in the face for many people who donated, even if it does not make a difference in the big scheme of things.

  Posted in: Japan using quake disaster budget for whaling aid

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 10:56PM JST

  BurakuminDes:

  " Aussie ocker doing - drinking Fosters' beer "

  Is that supposed to be funny? There is no alcohol in Saudi Arabia. It is haram. In European papers I am reading that the guy was Iranian, so there is good chance he is Shiite. That could explain a lot. He might have said something stemming from Shia doctrine, and a Sunni listener got miffed.

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 10:52PM JST

  hereforenow:

  So what is the expected natural radiation in baby formula? Nobody has told yet. All the strongly opinionated commentator pontificate here on the basis of a figure that nobody has put into context.

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 10:34PM JST

  Tamarama:

  " Mmmmm. I'm a athiest Australian who knows enough to know that one shouldn't insult one's hosts in foreign countries. If it is so important to them that they dole out 500 lashes for the offense, I either; don't visit in the first place, or keep my mouth shut whilst I am there. "

  Firstly, the charge is that he insulted the companions of the prophet. Well, Mohammed was not his host, so that is nonsensical. Secondly, as an atheist, you would not be allowed to enter Mekka or Medina, so that also moot. (And if you were a Saudi citizen, the punishment for your atheism would death. So you shouldn´t really worry too much about 500 lashes.)

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 07:51PM JST

  horrified:

  Their recall is of course for PR reasons. I am still wondering what the brouhaha here was about. What exactly is the natural radiation in baby milk powder? Nobody has told yet. It certainly is not zero, that is for sure.

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 07:17PM JST

  deepstar6:

  " Potassium is required to sustain biological processes by humans. I am sure this does not hold true for cesium and therefore going bananas over bananas is bananas. "

  There are other sources of potassium than bananas. So why is not an issue for you that the potassium in bananas has 5-6 times as much radioactivity as that horrible Meiji baby milk?

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 06:45PM JST

  BenJackinoff:

  " So, I assume we will soon see thousands of mainstream and moderate Muslims take to the streets to protest this hijacking of their religion on the part of the Saudis, right? "

  LOL, yeah right.

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 06:10PM JST

  “ You don’t travel from one side of the globe to the other to harpoon whales and chop them up in the name of science,” he said. "

  Exactly.

  Posted in: Australia refuses to protect Japanese whalers

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 05:43PM JST

  Alas, the more we learn about the case the clearer it becomes that this problem will not be resolved. He will get a slap on the wrist as juvenile, but later on he will commit crimes. The beheading of small animals... all too familiar from similar cases.

  Posted in: Police arrest 16-year-old boy over knife attacks in Chiba, Saitama

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 05:38PM JST

  Tom DeMicke:

  " This nation (Saudi Arabia) is a barbaric nation! I watched a lashing episode on YouTube and it is nothing but barbaric. Any nation doing so should be added to the "Axis of Evil" list. "

  You could not be more wrong. There is nothing barbaric about Saudi Arabi in particular. Saudi Arabia simply follows strict literal Sunni islam to the letter. Where you you strictly follow Sunni islam to the letter, you get Saudi Arabia. That can be in your neighbourhood too. Geography or ethnicity has nothing to do with it.

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 05:33PM JST

  @deepstar6:

  I googled it and look at what I found out.

  " Cesium can be taken into the body by eating food, drinking water, or breathing air. After being taken in, cesium behaves in a manner similar to potassium and distributes uniformly throughout the body. .(...) Clearance from the body is somewhat quicker for children and adolescents. This means that if someone is exposed to radioactive cesium and the source of exposure is removed, much of the cesium will readily clear the body along the normal pathways for potassium excretion within several months. "

  So, cesium in the body behaves basically like potassium. So again I wonder: Why is nobody going bananas over bananas? At app. 150 Bequerel/kg, they contain 5 times as much radiation as the dreaded Meiji baby milk.

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 04:56PM JST

  Triumvere:

  " I was simply refuting the absurd idea that the Euro was of no benefit to producers like Germany, when it has, in fact, been of enormous benefit. "

  Again, your saying so does not make it so. Firstly, the export advantages that Germany gets from the cheap currency are more then offset by the transfer payments to the PIIG countries and other Euro related costs that Germany is paying.

  Secondly, when you correctly point out that a cheap currency helps exports, why look at Germany and not at the PIIG countries? Germany can afford an expensive currency, the PIIG countries can not. For Greek exports, the expensive Euro is truly a disaster. If any country desperately needs a cheap currency, it is Greece.

  So, is it curious that you stress the benefit of a cheap currency for Germany, but deny the same for Greece.

  Posted in: Merkel, Sarkozy say EU treaty needed to save euro

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 04:50PM JST

  genji17:

  " And its what year?? 2011...and these people expect the west to take them seriously? "

  No! 2011 is the Christian calendar. In the islamic calendar, the current year is 1433 AH. But since you mention it, something like mentioning this year is 2011 might have gotten him the blasphemy charge.

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 04:44PM JST

  Elbuda Mexicano:

  " Boy oh boy!! And this Aussie is also a Muslim?? "

  Of course. Only muslims go on a Hadj, and only muslims are allowed into Mekka and Medina. You want to visit there, you have to convert first.

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 04:42PM JST

  tokyokawasaki:

  " Why do Islamic countries act so childish. Why do they get so upset over such trivial matters... "

  They do not act childish, they act according to strict islamic law. Since Saudi Arabia is one of the most literal Shariah countries (In Saudi Arabia, the Koran is the constitution and Shariah is the law), this is what you get. Nothing childish, simply following the letter of their law.

  Posted in: Australian sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy

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  WilliBDec. 07, 2011 - 04:35PM JST

  horrified:

  " Naturally occurring radiation from radioisotopes such as cesium 137 does not exist. "

  There most certainly exists naturally occurring radiation from radioisotopes. Maybe not cesium 137 (I did not check that) but from plenty of others. Again, the values for Bequerel/kg given here for the Maiji baby milk do not seem particularly high at. Google e.g. for bananas, and you find that 1 banana has 15 Bequerel on average. Not per kg. So should we all go bananas about bananas?

  Posted in: Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

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