I woke up

I cannot tell you the exact moment I woke up and realized Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant near Tokyo Japan was a threat to me and my family but there was that moment. It was a very emotional moment. I cried. For a couple days I cried. In private. Not for me, it was my grandkids I cried. The world we live in has changed for them and it can never be made whole. Then...I became angry. When my President stood up on television and said radiation would not reach the shores of my country he seemed so sincere and I believed him. The Potassium Iodate I had purchased on Amazon, just in case, stayed in it's box unused. It's still there. I was ready. I believed him. Then I discovered that the nuclear industry is one of his largest backers. I feel betrayed.

I ask why there is a need for the cover-up but I try not to drift there too often. It just makes me too mad. I know the answer anyhow. Money. Bad news keep people in their homes and away from the mall. That sort of stifles "growth" and with the economy in a downturn and Obama pushing for more nuclear... I have to stop right there before my mouth begins to lather.

Since the day I woke up to this massive danger in my hemisphere and to my very home on the West coast of the United States I have followed the story very closely. Practically minute by minute. It's a disaster of utmost magnatrocity. Ok I made up that word magnatrocity but there is no proper word to describe the depth and breadth of this problem. This problem will outlive me, my grandkids, their kids (assuming they don't become sterile from the low level but ever increasing radiation pervading the northern hemisphere) and many many  generations to come. As I follow this I hear sensible, educated, reputable and reliable people saying this could essentially the end of the world...or at least the northern hemisphere. Could be. The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company of course are saying it's all under control. Yeah, right! I've been on that end of a large male bovine many times before and I know what that stuff is and it is not truth.

I tend to think the pendulum is going to come to rest somewhere off center between "under control" and "end of the world" but I would lean heavily toward "end of the world". You can't throw tonnage of radionuclides into the open atmosphere and ocean and expect things are going to turn out just fine. Just fine is no longer possible. At best now we are just looking for the best outcome. That won't be pretty.

My goal in this blog is not to convince anyone of my opinion. My opinion does not matter. My goal is to diary the happenings at Fukushima as they proceed lest we become complacent and just go back to our shopping. The world has changed. I have changed. It has changed my family. It changed my outlook on life. It made me look at death and come to peace with it and hope while I get there, fast or slow,  I don't suffer too badly from what is most likely to come. I worry for my grandkids. There is a huge mess we have left them and, on behalf of all involved, I am truly sorry we could not have left them with a better world. The world from here on out is not ever going to be the same.