So now another one is all fucked up?

[originalpckelly]

But I thought everything was fine and the reactors only needed to shut down automatically?

This is what happens in a disaster like this: LYING!

If you don't know what's going on, and you're in power, you lie your ass off!

[Duer 157099]

1. And if you DO know what's going on, and you're in power,

lie your ass off too!

The fact that we ever hear the truth at all is what amazes me.

[originalpckelly]

5. Here's the problem with this:

This is high tech, like a rocket. Only the people on the rocket get to choose to do that. They make the choice, and they manage the risk.

We did not get to choose the reactors in America, and I bet they didn't in Japan.

Our governments and big nuclear foisted them upon us all. We are forced to take the risks against our own will.

[Hannah Bell]

2. they are currently venting & pumping water. the reactors did shut down automatically.

the cooling system malfunctioned.

[uppityperson]

3. Sometimes it takes a while to get information out of a disaster zone.

If you don't have immediate information, wait a bit. Also realize that things are changing all the time, that the situation isn't static.

Good grief.

[madokie]

4. I'll be 63 years old in a few days

one of my dads good friends worked on the manhattan project and he was scared to death of "peaceful" use of atomic energy, as it was called back then. I went through the cuban missile crises with eyes wide open so I've been paying attention to the nuclear power industry most of my life. Helped to stop PSO from building a nuke plant about 12 miles or so upwind from where I reside today back in the early '70s and I am here to say that the nuclear industry is not to be trusted to be truthful in any way shape or form. Simple as that. They lied to us like the dogs they are.

I'm not a religious person I don't believe in an almighty god nor an afterlife just so's you know.

If any of that is any help

[LAGC]

6. What does being religious or not have to do with one's stance on nuclear power?

Kind of like the other poster in an earlier deleted thread who cried "borderline racism."

What does race or religion have to do with this subject at all?

[madokie]

10. Because we have a certain person here who calls us fundies

those of us who are anti-nuke. so I threw that in to clarify

[LAGC]

11. I wasn't talking about you, but someone else.

I won't mention her name as that would be calling her out, but bringing race (or religion) into the equation seems very odd and inappropriate, to say the least.

[Duer 157099]

8. Dogs don't lie.

What a strange phrase. Well, they lie down, or is it lay down? Yes, they certainly do a lot of that, but lying? Never. Ever. Even if they could talk, they wouldn't lie.

Now cats....

[demodonkey]

15. Dogs & people LIE down. Hens LAY eggs. (the difference is that lay takes an object)

This is a lifelong pet peeve of my mother, a retired teacher who will be 93 next week.

Sorry, the use of lie and lay is sort of off topic for the thread but if we are all going to get blasted with radiation and glow in the dark, at least we can do it while speaking correct English. ;-)

[Duer 157099]

18. Can a dog lay on a bed?

And if people lie down, how is it that they get laid? Or is it that they get laid when they lie down?

Honestly, I never did understand when to use lie and lay. So yeah, before we die, let's get it settled.

[demodonkey]

20. A dog lies on a bed....

...or he can lay his head (the object) on a bed.

Lie and lay are irregular verbs, but it's really not that hard. The trick is that lay always has an object (the dog's head, the hen's eggs, etc.) As the page linked below says, "Always remember that lay is a transitive verb and requires a direct object. (A transitive verb acts as a conveyor belt, transmitting action or influence from the subject to the object.)"

Here are a couple of explanation pages:

http://web.ku.edu/~edit/lie.html

http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/layliegloss.htm

Another similar confusing pair of verbs are sit and set. They work pretty much the same as lie and lay.

Now please don't die! :-)

[madokie]

16. Surely you got my gist though

didn't you?

[Posteritatis]

7. Love how black and white discussions about this stuff get

Everyone thinks that if you're not screaming that the sky is falling and we're all doomed, you're saying everything's perfectly fine and we don't need to worry, and vice versa.

It's ridiculous.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. What makes you think you have anywhere near the correct information and status?

As Hannah Bell has pointed out, there are hourly briefings being given, but makes the media often has delays and misunderstandings. Some here have been making dark pronouncements when they think things are not adequately transparent. Those should rightly be ridiculed.

The bubbas in Japan are doing the best they can to prevent a nuclear holocaust. It is not clear if they will be successful or not at this point. Squeals of protest when online demands for transparency and data that they may not even have from people far away are almost contemptible at this point.

I have a dog in this hunt, family in Okinawa to be specific. I am very concerned. I also know that everyone involved is doing the best they can, and will wait for after action report once things are secured and safe. Worried and concerned is fair, demanding answers and data is not

[originalpckelly]

12. Things I know...

Yesterday, all was fine and dandy.
Today, the containment building of reactor number one blew up because of a hydrogen explosion.
Tomorrow? Who the fuck knows.

[Paradoxical]

13. "Yesterday, all was fine and dandy" - Totally false

Things have not been fine for a while. And we all knew about it.

[originalpckelly]

19. They told the world the reactors shut OK...

and that they had power to keep the reactor coolant systems working. Then the diesel generators died. Then the shit hit the fan, because they knew they would run out of battery power at the plants.

Consistently throughout this disaster they haven't been forthright. I just listened to the press conference, and those people basically said nothing!

[B2G]

14. Fine & dandy??

Then you weren't paying attention. And now you're incensed to find out we have an emergency on our hands.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. No one paying attention thought things were "fine and dandy"

The issue was in doubt then and still is today.