Month: April 2006

This is great, even if Dana Milbank wrote it.

I had to look at this story twice to believe what I was reading. Republicans in the Senate are proposing to send each American $100 to counter high gasoline costs. One hundred bucks. Puhleeze.

Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee called the proposal “a bold package that will give consumers some relief” from gasoline prices that have passed $3 a gallon in many parts of the country.

“We are going to ease the burden,” added Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., at a GOP news conference unveiling the measures. Frist said he hoped for a Senate vote next Tuesday.

This is a vote buy-off, pure and simple.

I’m embarrassed for Frist, Domenici and any other Senate Republican who thinks this will really “ease the burden”.

Want to really ease the burden? Drop the federal gas tax, permanently. Republicans should encourage the states they represent to drop the local taxes they collect on each gallon of gas sold. Start drilling in Alaska. Build some refineries for goodness’ sake.

Keep my $100 bucks and do some of these things instead.

Drudge has posted an EXXON logo and a screaming headline which says “3–Month Profit: $8,400,000,000.00”, as if they alone are to blame for the high gas prices. Yet, from my calculations, the government has pocketed $16,800,000,000.00 in the same amount of time, for doing nothing. Then there is state government who also “profit” from each gallon of gas we use. If you’re angry about gas prices, don’t direct that anger at EXXON, or SHELL, or BP. No, look directly at Washington, D.C..

On this day in 1986, the worst accident in the history of nuclear power occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine.

A 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health Organization (WHO), attributed 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers and 9 children) with thyroid cancer, and estimated that as many as 9,000 people, among the approximately 6.6 million, will ultimately die from some form of cancer (one of the induced diseases). For its part, Greenpeace estimates a total death toll of 93,000 but cites in their report “The most recently published figures indicate that in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine alone the accident could have resulted in an estimated 200,000 additional deaths in the period between 1990 and 2004.”
(— Wikipedia)

The anniversary was marked as Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko and mourners laid red carnations near the site.

Blogs

— The Path of Chernobyl
— Chernobyl at 20
— In My Own Little Corner
— Epitheliums
— Chernobyl Essay
— Raincoast Books
— Randy Morin
— Newspapers Uncovered
— Chernobyl: an Insidious Legacy
— Chernobyl’s unsettling legacy
— Chernobyl 20 years later
— Chernobyl March

Links

— 2006 TORCH full report (in pdf)
— Chernobyl’s Legacy (PDF, 902KB) by the Chernobyl Forum (UN) updated in 2006
— Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts – a summary for non-specialists of the above UN report by GreenFacts
— The Chernobyl Catastrophe: Consequences on Human Health (PDF, 1.8MB) by Greenpeace International, April 2006.
— Better World Links on the Chernobyl Disaster
— BBC h2g2 giving a detailed description of events
— Fall-out data in 19 zones from Austria to Eastern USA
— The International Chernobyl Research and Information Network
— Western responsibility regarding the health consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in Belyorussia, the Ukraine and Russia
— Frequently Asked Chernobyl Questions, by the IAEA.
— Official UN Chernobyl site
— The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident: A Strategy for Recovery – UN Report, 2002 (PDF, 350KB)
— Nuclear Files.org Anti-nuclear organization’s comments on human toll
— The Chernobyl Disaster – including some discussion of the disagreements within the UN organization about its publications, Stanford University
— Chernobyl – A Canadian Perspective (PDF 405KB) – A brochure describing nuclear reactors in general and the RBMK design in particular, focusing on the safety differences between them and CANDU reactors. Published by the CANDU organization.
— Tacis Nuclear Safety Programme, Overview of Chernobyl related projects European Union Chernobyl-related TACIS Projects with Budget estimates
— Annotated bibliography for Chernobyl from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
— Survey about the nuclear disaster with updated results
— Sharing our Humanity at the 20th Anniversary of Chernobyl
— Detailed analysis of the events, Georgia State University
— Another take on the sequence of events at Chernobyl, Uranium Information Centre (nuclear power industry group), Melbourne, Australia.
— Another account of the incident, World Nuclear Association
— Technical information concerning the accident, as well as a contrast between the RBMK reactor design that of American reactors, University of Pittsburgh
— Harvard Medical School study on Radiation and Chernobyl
— Radioecology and the Chernobyl Disaster, January 2003. Covers impact on the UK
Lessons A global perspective and knowledgeable comments on the lessons to be learnt, honestly pro-nuclear
— Details of the events leading up to the accident and the aftermath
— WNC reactor Issue Brief – Short technical analysis of the RBMK reactor design and changes made after accident, World Nuclear Association
— 20 Years 20 Lives – Eyewitness accounts in words and photographs
— A female tourist’s account, in photos, the veracity of which has been questioned. 
— Pripyat town forum
— Interview with Sasha Yuvchenko – an engineer working in Chernobyl on 26th April 1986
— Cheating Chernobyl – New Scientist magazine interviews eyewitness Alexander Yuvchenko, who was at the power plant at the time of the accident.
— Mary Mycio’s Account of the Zone – Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl
— Animated Flash map—2 minutes and 30 seconds—of Caesium-137 contamination
— Photographs of Pripyat and Chernobyl
— Photos from Pripyat city and Chernobyl zone 2 trips in 2005
— Nuclear Nightmares: Twenty Years Since Chernobyl
— BBC On This Day: Including recordings of the first public announcement
— Zone of Exclusion: Pripyat and Chernobyl – Review of this book, with sample photo gallery shot in the dead zone in 2001
— More Dead Zone pictures
— Photos from the deserted town of Pripyat
— 2006 images of Chernobyl today
— Photos from the deserted town of Pripyat
— Chernobyl Gallery – Several images, many from inside the reactor.
— Chernobyl Heart (2003) – Academy Award-winning documentary BBC Horizon documentary ‘Inside Chernobyl’s Sarcophagus’, 1996. Footage and comment by Russian scientists conducting dangerous research in and around the burnt-out core.
— Stone, Richard, “The Long Shadow of Chernobyl“, National Geographic
— Nine Network Australia, 60 Minutes, ‘Inside Chernobyl’, air date April 16, 2006. Reporter Richard Carlton goes inside the control centre at Chernobyl and also visits the exclusion zone surrounding the plant. Focuses on the 1986 incident, the failing ‘sarcophagus’ and yet-to-be–realised plans to replace it, and the affected children in orphanages in nearby Belarus.
— Belarus 2006 Photographer who returned last month and exhibited Chernobyl photos in the Royal Photographic Society
— Chernobyl Children’s Project International – subject of documentary “Chernobyl Heart.”
— Aid Convoy – UK-based humanitarian aid to Ukraine
— List of charities primarily supporting Belyorussia but also Ukraine
— Our Generation – Youth group with education and volunteering projects
— Aratta – Public organisation supporting children and families
— SOS Belarus: The only big NGO still working in Belarus post Chernobyl
— BELRAD Institute – Radiation safety and protection institute
— Professor Yuri Bandazhevsky – Pathophysiology of incorporated radioactive emission

If conventional wisdom were correct, one would believe that America is shifting to the left out of disgust over the job being done by President Bush and Republicans in Congress. That should mean that fewer people would be attracted to Conservative talk radio and other media, right? That should mean that networks like Air America should be beating the pants off of personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, right? Wrong.

Where are all the Liberals?

VIA Drudge: Left-leaning new media has hit turbulence at the marketplace, newly released stats show.

A book hyped by major media as documenting a progressive revolution of “blogs” and political power, DAILY KOS ‘CRASHING THE GATE,’ has sold only 3,630 copies since its release last month, according to NIELSEN’s BOOKSCAN.

[NIELSEN claims only 2,062 copies of DAILY KOS have been purchased at the retail level; the rest coming through ‘discount’ outlets.]

Meanwhile, the just released radio Winter Book [Jan-Mar 2006] from ARBITRON shows AIR AMERICA in New York City losing more than a third of its audience — in the past year!

Among all listeners 12+, it was a race to the bottom for AIR AMERICA and WLIB as mid-days went from a 1.6 share during winter 2005 to a 1.0 share winter 2006.

During PM drive, host Randi Rhodes plunged to 27,900 listeners every quarter hour, finishing 25th place in her time slot, down from 60,900 listeners every quarter hour in the fall.

A network source says the radio ratings released today do not reflect the overall growth of the broadcast.

“The demos are better, and listeners trust AIR AMERICA to give them the real truth on issues and the Bush presidency,” says the insider.

Yet, the numbers just don’t pan out, do they? The fact is, the conversation in Liberal media isn’t interesting. I mean really – how long can one listen to someone do nothing but complain about how much they hate George W. Bush? After awhile, the listener begs to know what the Liberals will actually do if they return to power. That’s where the conversation ends, and the Bush bashing begins (again).

Kos claims (no surprise) that Drudge’s numbers aren’t on the up and up. What-ev-eh.

Tony Snow is hired.

President Bush announced his new White House press secretary on Wednesday: former Fox News host Tony Snow.

“As a professional journalist, Tony Snow understands the importance of the relationship between government and those whose job it is to cover the government,” Bush said during a White House appearance.

Snow replaces Scott McClellan, who announced last week he would step down during a West Wing makeover by Josh Bolten, the new White House chief of staff.

Can’t wait to see Tony work it up with Helen Thomas. He’s a classy guy though, so I’m not expecting fireworks. In general, this is a good move for the White House in terms of credibility. I’ve got high expectations for Tony.

The Bush administration will conduct background checks on an estimated 400,000 port workers to be sure that no one poses a terrorist threat.

In case you’re wondering, this crashed on me just 5 minutes after installation.

And now it’s been uninstalled.

Playing the part of the guinea pig so you don’t have to…you’re welcome.

The al-Zarqawi video released today is on display over at Expose the Left.

If you believe the liberal media and Democrats in Congress, you’d think the American public is economically depressed, and as such, George W. Bush’s numbers are in the tank. If that’s true, how can this be explained?