Tag Archives: Japan

TWO News Stories From Today — Sharp Increase In Rhino Poaching In South Africa & Sharp Drop In Japan’s Birth Rate.

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by Anura Guruge
on February 27, 2024

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From ‘Google‘. Check it out.

They are NOT related. IF they were, Japan’s birth rate would be INCREASING, as opposed to decreasing, since the MAJOR cause for rhino poaching is the STUPID belief by some Asians that rhino horns are aphrodisiacs. Haven’t they heard of ‘Viagra‘. Much less expensive & save the poor rhinos.

I happened to hear these two stories, back-to-back, on the ‘BBC‘ this morning. I try to listen to ‘BBC News‘, on ‘Sirius XM‘, at least once a day, because I like to know what is happening in the world — that doesn’t get covered in the U.S. news.

I knew about Japan’s natality woes. I can’t say it bothers me much. SORRY. I have enough other things to worry about — like poor rhinos getting killed. I am disappointed that this is happening in South Africa — but I appreciate that there are HUGE amounts of money at play.

Well, I wanted to bring these two stories to your attention since I wasn’t sure whether you listen to world news on the BBC. You really should. It is eye opening.

The Timing Of Netflix’s ‘Three Mile Island’ Miniseries Was Unfortunate.

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by Anura Guruge
on May 7, 2022

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From ‘Netflix‘.
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google News’. N.B., this is RECENT, topical news.
My post, on this blog, just a month ago. Click to access post.

No question; like so many of their recent efforts, this is a good Netflix documentary. I have no quarrels with it. I think it tells the story as to what happened.

The problem is that ‘Three Mile Island’ accident happened in 1979 — 43 years ago. That, quite literally was THEN, & we are now over four decades on. Just for reference, in 1979 we did NOT have PCs, the Internet, smartphones or Facebook. It was a very different world. I know. I was there. I was 26 years old. I was working for IBM. That, I can assure you, was yesterday’s technology.

Never mind advances in nuclear technology, our computer technology has advanced so much since then that we can have nuclear plants that are considerably safer.

That is my point.

Early jet planes were unsafe. But, we didn’t stop trying to build better jets. Now we have (bar the occasional dud as in the 737 Max) incredibly safe jet planes. Ditto, nuclear plants. Do NOT bring up the unfortunate Fukushima disaster. We don’t get many tsunamis in the U.S.

This is why I am so happy & proud that MY U.K. has started to rethinking its nuclear power future. Way to go.

We need nuclear power plants. To shy away from them is shortsighted.

So, just as Europe has re-embarked on revamping its nuclear power strategy we get this documentary. The timing sucks.

So Glad & So Proud That MY Britain Is Re-Thinking Reliance On Nuclear Power — Way To Go.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 6, 2022

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Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google News’ a few minutes ago.

I have always been a believer & fan of nuclear power. It is reliable, cheap power with some, inevitable, consequences — & I only worry about safely getting rid of the spent fuel rather than risk.

Living itself is a risk!

Going out on the roads, flying, drinking etc. etc. all have risks. But, most of us still do them.

We can’t dismiss nuclear because of setbacks from MANY, MANY decades ago.

Technology has moved on & we have more expertise.

IF we had given up on jets because of the early accidents we would not have today’s air travel. Think about that. Engineers studied & learnt from the early oversights.

Plus, in the U.K. we are not prone to earthquakes & tsunamis — unlike Japan where there was the unfortunate Fukushima disaster.

So, I am delighted that we are rethinking nuclear.

Alas, this kind of thinking will never occur in the U.S. because of this inane political divide — the two sides not even able to work together when it comes to climate change.

2 Things I Learnt From ‘Netflix’ ‘Earthquake Bird’ — Japan Has An Eiffel Tower & Gets Near Daily Earthquakes!

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by Anura Guruge
on April 2, 2022

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Click to ENLARGE. Click here for the ‘IMDb.com’ listing for this 2019 movie.
Click to ENLARGE. Wikipedia link.
Click to ENLARGE. From Google.

Fairly decent movie. Some bits aren’t logical, BUT you can overlook them.

I have never been to Japan, though I have flown over/by it.

I, of course, knew Japan experienced major earthquakes, BUT had no idea that you could get two (or more) noticeable shakers within a week or so. WOW. I never realized.

And then there was the Eiffel Tower. I never knew. Cool.

As for the bird. I can’t get any sense on that. Appears that there is no bird per se that is associated with singing after an earthquake. There are claims that the earth itself makes a hum. That I can believe.

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