The latest from Japan nearly a week after the earthquake. Radiation and weather patterns. Worrying about natural disasters and why we’re STILL not prepared. Republicans take aim at consumer bureau. Print wasn’t always dead, man - the underground press in the '60s.
Japan's problems continue at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
Problems continue to abound at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Helicopters have been flown in, using tons of water in an attempt to cool and control the reactors which are overheating. Water cannons have pumped out 30 tons of water to cool a sizable amount of spent-fuel near the No. 3 reactor, which has been one of the notable sources for radioactive fallout in the area. At this point, housing units for reactors Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 have exploded or been exposed in some way, with their radioactive cores beginning to melt down, and Nos. 5 and 6 heating up. Emergency workers in the plant are working abbreviated shifts to reduce exposure to radiation, in addition to already wearing cautionary protective gear. Yukiya Amano, chief of the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency, is frustrated due to the dearth of information, and arrived in Japan on Thursday to run an evaluation of the plant. What will Amano uncover in this assessment? How much longer will the recovery take for the plant and Japan?
Guest:
Stephen I. Schwartz, Editor of The Nonproliferation Review at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterrey Institute of International Studies
What will affect weather patterns and the path of radiation coming from Japan?
The first vestiges of radioactive isotopes are expected to be reaching the West Coast of the U.S. tomorrow. As a precaution, the EPA is installing additional monitors to their Radnet system, in the Western United States, including Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Although the amount is well within the range of safe limits, close track is being kept of weather patterns and atmospheric condition as they will affect the amount of radiation that could reach us from Japan. How will weather patterns affect the dispersion of radiation?
Guest:
Jim Andrews, Senior Meterologist, Accuweather.com
Worrying about natural disasters and why we’re still not prepared
Why is it that even in this land of earthquakes, mudslides and wildfires the majority of us still stubbornly refuse to put aside supplies for emergencies? According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) it’s a matter of denial more than lack of information or resources. In spite of constant messaging from FEMA, innovative social media programs, and the availability of pre made kits, FEMA’s head, Craig Fugate, reiterated his concern about the lack of U.S. citizen preparedness recently saying it “needs considerable national attention.” Will the images of the devastation in Japan inspire more preparedness here? Or will denial prevail? What is it about our psyches that make us not want to confront what we are told is inevitable? Are there any lessons to be learned from Japan’s high level of preparedness and emphasis on national drills?
Guest:
Laurence Gonzales, author of Everyday Survival and Deep Survival
Dr. Melissa Brymer, Director of Terrorism and Disaster Programs of the UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, co-author of Psychological First Aid
Republicans take aim at consumer bureau
Last year Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to police the terms of mortgages, credit cards and other financial products. But yesterday in an oversight hearing Republicans criticized the bureau for lacking Congressional oversight. Will the bureau wield too much power and hamper the economy? Or will it do a protect consumers from deceptive loans and offer consumers clarity on complex financial transactions?
Guests:
Carter Dougherty, Consumer Finance Reporter, Bloomberg News
Brad Sherman, Democratic Congressman from the San Fernando Valley's 27th Congressional district; member of the House Financial Services Committee
Mark Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies, CATO Institute
Print wasn’t always dead, man
The social revolution of the 1960s affected more than just the tempo of music and the style of jeans; it also laid the foundation for dramatic shifts in culture and media. In Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America, John McMillian details the ascent of the New Left and its particular style of journalism. McMillian examines papers such as The Los Angeles Free Press, East Lansing, Michigan’s Paper, Austin’s Rag, and the Berkeley Tribe and their cumulative impact on the liberal, youth movement in America. Established news sources such as newspapers and magazines were failing to adequately report on the revolution for teenagers and young adults. Due to cheap and efficient technologies, local, independent papers began to spring up to fill this void left by the mainstream media. The papers and the communities which read them were mutually dependent on one another. The papers obviously needed an audience, and the communities were able to rally and unify around new ideas, philosophies, and lifestyles due to the content they could not find anywhere else. What happened to the New Left approach to media? Can it still be seen in modern society, despite the lack of a revolution?
Guest:
John McMillian, Author of Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America, Assistant Professor at Georgia State University.