I’m seriously confused by your objections.
YOu posted an article that said things. I don’t “expect you” to have “poured over” the thing you posted line-by-line to state your opinion. I would expect that if I characterize that opinion, you wouldn’t object to my characterization without expressing what your opinion was on it.
Further, I don’t know why my commenting on the stupidity of the claims made in the article you posted would bother you in the least, especially if you don’t have the opinion that the article is pushing. I certainly wasn’t claiming that you wrote the article, but you are the one who posted the article, so responses discussing the article will of necessity be posted as replies to you.
In your other reply to me, you suggest I’m somehow NOT discussing what is in the article, when in THIS reply you are complaining that I AM discussing what is in the article, as if doing so hurts you in some way.
But I think it’s clear that I am discussing the claims made in the article, applying logical and scientific filters to the claims, and reaching a conclusion that the blogger at the least is ignorant of his subject, if not actually misleading deliberately or even lying about what the reports actually stated.
I don’t think I’ve found any credible news source that backs up the claim of high radiation release — I cant’ even say I found one that discusses the amount of radiation released. I also can’t find an official news source which comments on the supposed e-mail; I certainly am not taking it as fact that such an e-mail exists based on the claims of a blogger or a russian video.
Excerpt from Your Post 6: “The amazing thing is how not even the major left-leaning media outlets seem to have any idea about all these things you keep claiming are happening in Japan.
It’s like there’s an entire alternative Japan reality where the buildings are all falling over, nuclear fuel rods are jumping out of their spent fuel pools, and reactors have double-doors that are propped open to “let all the radiation out”.
I do not ‘keep claiming all these things’ are happening - I have made some posts featuring content that you disagree with, that’s all. Comparing your post 6 to your post 15 you seem to be back pedaling and trying to imply that you never offered such an unreasonable distorted view of my posts in the first place and that you are shocked I misinterpreted it that way - but the FR record stands and anyone curious can make their own comparison.
“I don’t think I’ve found any credible news source that backs up the claim of high radiation release — ‘
I said I leave it to bloggers to decide whether the radiation released matched TEPCO’s private email stating that high radiation would be released on MAY 8 versus TEPCO’s public announcement that it would be a low radiation release. I don’t see the point in my repeating this information further.
In the lower third of this article: http://japanfocus.org/-Makiko-Segawa/3516
there is an article (”Shortage of Information and Aid for Fukushima Citizens in the Radiation Exclusion Zone”) describing TEPCO’s policy of limiting access to TEPCO execs daily meetings to those networks with whom TEPCO has a sizable advertising account - no foreign press or independent Japanese press allowed. That is why there is a virtual media blackout on Fukushima. Without direct access to TEPCO execs, many news sources are hesitant to speak and so foreign outlets and bloggers like this one translate public interviews and documents. You are satisfied with receiving information only from the liable party (TEPCO) and that’s fine with me - I and some others are examining outside content and sharing it in order to balance our views.
The blogger is including the Japanese text and names of the players on his website as a service to the public and anyone who takes issue with his translation or the named officials can contest him. He also embeds video interviews with audio and links to the original Japanese text. If he didn’t work to make his work checkable, I’d have never stayed beyond the first visit. If his quality falters, so will his readership. Any FReeper following a link can find out whether they want to read his info or look further for network news. Whatever TEPCO says regarding the quantity of radiation released is relatively unchallenged because they are in an exclusion zone and outside independent sources are not permitted access for testing so the public has to take their word for it and TEPCO’s word has not been good in many respects - hence additional scrutiny to information disseminated.
There is a reason crying TEPCO execs apologized for not sharing information at the start of this thing - during the time they were saying ‘all is well’ there were no major news agencies saying anything different because TEPCO holds the reins to information. At this point, Japanese citizens have formed their own radiation monitoring network and are creating their own information network.
NOTE: I appreciate the improved civility in your last post on this thread.