So what does a West Coaster do now?

[Arcana]

I live in Arizona, which seems to be in the path of the incoming jetstream carrying the radiation from Japan.

My concern is that the radiation detected is going to be much worse and much more incoming than stated, and the possibility of plutonium isotopes which may be ingested, inhaled, or contaminating food.

I know many people in the path of the jetstream and aren't sure what to tell them.

I know you guys aren't experts, but I'm sure you guys have a better idea what's going on than I do, and my brother who has been listening to Alex Jones lately is of course panicking like crazy; and a part of me is wondering if he's right.

Some ideas are hoarding food that may come from California or other local sources, dry milk, frozen fruits and vegetables. I know this is going to sound crazy but if I can't go to El Paso or Florida perhaps sealing the doors and windows with duct tape for awhile? Of course while stocking plants to maintain oxygen levels. I haven't been able to get ahold of a Geiger counter yet though.

And what are you guys doing?

[EFerrari]

1. I'm watching reruns of "Sanford and Son" and thinking about

cleaning up the cat litter boxes.

:shrug:

[stevedeshazer]

56. +1

:)

[Dorian Gray]

70. Sounds like my plan

every Friday night. LOL.

[cutlassmama]

2. Canned food, canned milk, bottled water, toilet paper

[shanti]

42. beer

;-)

[Upton]

3. I live about 40 miles from the WA coast...

I'm just going to kick back, smoke a bowl, and watch some basketball...

[jemsan]

5. San Diego here. Went to acupuncture and now taking a walk. It's 65 and sunny.

[HuckleB]

84. A walk in that temperature sounds wonderful.

I'm not sure why you wasted money on a placebo beforehand, however.

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

9. We're about the same distance in, and the coastal winds

barrel up the canyon here every afternoon.

May not be a good week to buy a cow.

[HuckleB]

82. From an economics standpoint, this might be a great week to buy a cow!

[woofless]

Me too.

Mt, Baker sez hello.:hi: :hippie:

[HuckleB]

81. +1

Flounders still stink.

[Drale]

4. I know theres a ton of paranoia going on around here lately

but I still believe that if the radiation gets to dangerous levels they will inform people so that they can either evacuate or take some sort of precautions.

[pscot]

36. That sort of faith is rather touching

and completely unwarranted. This is the Atomic Energy establishment you're talking about. They lie automatically, reflexively and without shame.

[Drale]

37. I was under the impression that it was the EPA who

was monitoring the radiation coming to the coast.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. And they did a bang up job on 9.11

that said it will not get even close to evacuation orders... really... or all we now about plume dispersement and physics should be thrown out the window.

Hell stay indoor orders will not be given either

[HuckleB]

83. Logical fallacies are fun!

:rofl:

[pscot]

65. Was it the EPA that told the National Weather Service

not to issue any forecasts of when radiation might reach the U.S? The EPA is out of the loop on this one.

[Control-Z]

76. There are a lot of

people not associated with the government or industry keeping an eye on things. I trust they'll get the word out if need be.

[Le Taz Hot]

97. Actually, Jerry Brown said

they're closely monitoring the radiation levels and, if anything turned dire, the information would be released immediately along with further instructions. So far all is quiet. I normally am not real trusting of anything coming out of the gummit these days but I do believe Brown.

[Sherman A1]

6. One could go shopping?

But, I really wouldn't worry too much at this time at least.

[Kennah]

7. I asked the wife, "Wanna go out with a bang?"

[Richardo]

8. Stop watching the uninformed panic-mongers on TV and relax

[slackmaster]

26. I think it would be a good evening to watch the movie On the Beach

[flamingdem]

72. That looks like Boehner in there nt

[Maru Kitteh]

91. omg.... IT DOES! Orange Alert!. . . Orange Alert! . . . Orange Alert! . . . n/t

[Autumn]

10. Drinking whiskey,

but I'm in CO. I did take our nadinbrzezinski advice and bought milk and filled up my freezer with veggies. And stocked up on booze.

[Sonoman]

31. Same here, I have found a really nice one.

Elmer T Lee.

I like it better than Hirsch Reserve, and it is only $36 a bottle (if you can find it).

Bulleit is probably as good a deal.

Sonoman

[nosmokes]

66. The Tyr Connell is a really nice Irish single malt. Very smooth.

[Sonoman]

67. I'll see if I can find some.

Man, I love communicating with people who are serious about what they drink.

"I'll have another Bud Light!!"

I spotted the other kind of serious drinker yesterday.

We were eating corned beef (St Patty's Day is really big in Sonoma) at Town Square, the only real (drinkers') bar on The Plaza. I go there maybe twice a year, as the crowd is pretty teabaggish and I am not into bar fights, anymore. Fat chick at the bar twists off the cap of her Bud Light using the hem of her t-shirt.

Never missed a beat.

We do have some great bars, tho, and if you make it to the Bay Area we will hit some of them.

Sonoman

[dbackjon]

11. 1st - stop listening to anyone that listens to Alex Jones

2nd - stop panicing. You'll cut your life expectancy more by the stress of worrying than any radiation particles.

[Poll_Blind]

12. I'm in Oregon. Not sweating it too much, but still very concerned. Tokyo is....

....4,800 miles away.

These are some very heavy particles. They were not blasted very far in the air. The jet stream is pretty high. I don't think we have much to worry about. However, all of that I just said could be totally wrong- long-shots happen all the time. But it's still a pretty safe bet that you aren't going to have to worry much in Arizona.

I have 3 children, 10-13. Ain't no way I'm playing dice with their lives- which are far, far more important in the grand scheme of things than mine.

But until I have some real reason to believe otherwise, I think the thing that's probably going to kill me is a heart-attack from worrying, not fallout.

Different story in Japan.

PB

[Arcana]

80. The claim from Busby is that radiation detectors do not detect the amount of particles.

My brother is freaking out over this guy's claim:

http://www.llrc.org/index.html

[Maru Kitteh]

92. How con-veeen-ient

[bluestate10]

13. It is too late to get another brother, but with that off the table.

Chill out and turn on your local public radio station, or even CNN. You will get updates. The amount of fallout that will pass your way won't be more than you get from radioactive decay from nature, ALL around you. At the worst seal the seams on your doors, if you are that concern and wash your house down with a water hose later. But in the end, your efforts would have been unnecessary.

[IsItJustMe]

14. No problem. I heard one of the msm tools say that it would be no more radiation than you would

get from a chest X-ray. Of course, they tell the truth, Right?

[nadinbrzezinski]

Not even close to my foot x-ray which is lower than the chest

[yawnmaster]

23. And a head X-ray is higher than a chest X-ray, right? eom

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Depend on imaging technique but yes

[yawnmaster]

33. If one is laying down, I would think it is pretty much level with the chest...

During a standing X-ray, the head is definitely higher than the chest, and foot X-ray, if standing would be much lower.

(humor)

[Arcana]

48. What about a plutonium isotope in your lungs?

[IcyPeas]

99. plutonium isotope in your lungs?

everyone knows that that calls for a frozen margarita once every 3 hours.

[tXr]

105. I find a margarita on the rocks every hour to be far more effective! n/t

[jannyk]

15. I'm at the coast - just been grocery shopping, tonight dinner w/friends

tomorrow dinner with other friends (my turn to cook), Sunday - an equinox party on the beach.

Did you have something specific in mind?

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Get milk in tetrapack

today or tomorrow...

Powedered works too.

No cheese

Soy milk.

Some canned goods if like me, in the off chance you may get rain on local places.

After that, relax... the current spike in radiation is much lower than my foot x-ray by orders of magnitude.

OH and the particles, they are my concern too... but that is where getting that milk comes in, as if we have any of that... it will concentrate on the milk... cows are really efficient about it.

I got milk for us, and milk for my sister.

Oh and rice... got a large bag too, since we eat a lot and that may come from areas that might get some of that.

But after that... relax. We are in pretty good shape.

[demosincebirth]

17. Nothing. Like I usually do.

[DBoon]

18. I'm staying the hell away from granite

Granite is a natural source of radiation, like most natural stones. However, some granites have been reported to have higher radioactivity thereby raising some concerns about their safety.

Some granites contain around 10 to 20 parts per million of uranium. By contrast, more mafic rocks such as tonalite, gabbro or diorite have 1 to 5 ppm uranium, and limestones and sedimentary rocks usually have equally low amounts. Many large granite plutons are the sources for palaeochannel-hosted or roll front uranium ore deposits, where the uranium washes into the sediments from the granite uplands and associated, often highly radioactive, pegmatites. Granite could be considered a potential natural radiological hazard as, for instance, villages located over granite may be susceptible to higher doses of radiation than other communities.<10> Cellars and basements sunk into soils over granite can become a trap for radon gas, which is formed by the decay of uranium.<11> Radon can also be introduced into houses by wells drilled into granite.<12> Radon gas poses significant health concerns, and is the number two cause of lung cancer in the US behind smoking.<12>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite

[slackmaster]

19. I'm considering ordering a pizza and a bottle of Chianti tonight

To be delivered.

[HuckleB]

86. +1

[yawnmaster]

20. I'm in CA. Even if the radiation detected is worse than stated, it's still negligible.

Stress will kill more than any radiation in CA.
Look up what stress hormones can do. They can destroy health.
Here:
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

I'd be more worried about worry causing sustained levels of cortisol.

relax

[neverforget]

21. I'm in Oregon and I'm not concerned. However, I am flying to Okinawa

in 3 weeks and I have to go through Narita.

[JVS]

22. Drive East!

[IcyPeas]

24. Wear Duct Tape

[IsItJustMe]

32. LOL

Now that is funny.

[taterguy]

25. Relocate

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Starry Messenger]

28. I woke up from a nap and I'm thinking of taking another one.

The weather is making me sleepy.

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. I'm jealous.

[yawnmaster]

34. As I said before, sustained stress regarding this will harm your health more than the predicted...

radiation, even if it is worse than predicted.
Cortisol really can be a killer.

Do what needs to be done, but relax.

[Egnever]

35. You could watch reefer madness

And concentrate on some different paranoia.

Me I am actually gonna keep reading DU cause these threads are coming fast and furious and the responses are often quite entertaining!

[shanti]

44. or

:smoke: hey, i'm in nor cal. it's storming and i've just stayed indoors all day...

[Countdown_3_2_1]

38. I ATE DYNAMITE. MY HAIR CAME OUT IN BANGS!

so first of all. don't eat dynamite.

Secondly, it helps to go in a panic mode and run around in circle screaming like a little girl.
Not much is accomplished but you will feel a *** cool dizzy buzz.***

Frankly I don't think much will come of this. I doubt the radiation will be significant.

If you are worried at all.
1) stay indoors, let the rads bounce off the roof.
2) its always good to have a store of canned food in case of emergency.You'll never know what really will come down the path. I'm betting when the big one hits California, supplies will get a bit erratic.
3) buy some ice cream and a video. RELAX. You're not going to die. really. you'll be OK.
4) Google is your friend. Get a bowl of ice cream, pour some Hershey chocolate syrup and salted peanuts, and calmly research whats going on. Look at dissenting opinions and make up your own mind.
5) REMEMBER Y2K. a lot of panic over nothing. lesson learned: perspective.

of course you could go for the dizzy buzz again, but thats your call.

[Obamanaut]

39. Get milk. Be happy. Don't worry. Milk will keep you safe. nt

[TNLib]

40. I don't think you're in any danger

But it's always a good idea to have canned goods water on hand. As well as first aid kits, duct tape, candles matches, crank radio. You never know when your going to need those things. Just be prepared for any disaster.

As for the radiation I really don't think you have anything to worry about the levels will be too low to have any impact. If some big explosion happens or complete meltdown maybe then. But even then just follow basic common sense instructions. But right now you don't have to worry. Whatever you do don't take those iodine pills you may cause more damage to yourself if you take them.

[jpak]

43. Light-up a Fat One and watch The Big Lebowski

:D

[seabeyond]

45. i finally got a whole lot of people out of my house, since tues. now? i am relaxing

and feeling good with a more empty house

[yawnmaster]

47. Now you can start regaining your health level! take vit C. eom

[seabeyond]

50. lol. thank you. nt

[yawnmaster]

54. I can only take an occasional dose of about 2Rels. 3 or more Rels is severe...esp. sustained.

1 Rel = 1 relative (average dose).
young relatives can spike at over 3 Rels.

[cliffordu]

46. Drinking wine and breathing deep.

But I'm 59 years old and in love with a 28 year old stripper, so I'm doomed from the getgo.

[yawnmaster]

49. I agree with a number of responses. If you are stressed, some moderate level of liquor...

and put your feet up; read a nice escapist book; look at the news only very occasionally.

[Canuckistanian]

51. Start building a backyard bunker RIGHT NOW

Stock it up with lots of supplies like Cheetos and Gatorade - they're natural anti-radioactive foods.

Next, coat your body with a potassium iodide/boric acid cream. Next fill up a small tank of heavy water and get in it.

Stay in the bunker for at least 30 years (the half-life of Cesium-137).

We'll tell you when it's safe.

[taught_me_patience]

62. lmao!

:spray:

[hunter]

52. I don't drink milk. Do you know where that stuff comes from???

Dairy cows! Blechhhhh. Especially Cows living their entire lives on mountains of shit, only to end up in a meat grinder mixed with oats and served up at Taco Bell.

Well, that's what I'd like to self-righteously claim, but truth be told I'm somewhat lacking in those nifty lactose enzymes these days. Whenever I drink milk the bacteria in my gut have a raging wall banging gaseous party, so I don't.

If there's the very slightest danger to me from this nuclear accident I'll feel worse knowing that people in Japan are surviving in the thick of it. My own risk seems insignificant. I can't imagine what it's like to lose everything -- family, friends, community, house, job, to a natural disaster such as this.

[yawnmaster]

55. I know!!! give me a couple eggs. eom

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. Lucky you

but kids could potentially be at risk. Yes from cows... what do you think they feed them? And cows like oh the ones for Horizon, actually live in pastures.

[hunter]

64. Awful.

The happiest grass eating cows in California will take the radioactive hit while the most miserable industrial agricultural cardboard eating cows living on mountains of shit will not.

[Irishonly]

53. Watching Doll House

Took my 87 year old neighbor to get her hair done, went to the grocery store and tomorrow will try to be at the counter protest in Claremont.

[Raine]

57. I'm in coastal Los Angeles County, I stayed in this morning but

when out this afternoon. A person has to live their life, can't stay isolated forever.

edit: typo

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. The queston was honest and all of you making fun, SHAME ON YOU!

[seabeyond]

73. i think most people are not making fun. we are saying, we are not concerned

and stating what we are doing. living our lives.

you do not ALWAYS have to see the worst in a duer, or american, you know

[Maru Kitteh]

89. Aren't you on the Iggy train, CB? It's kind of fun really.

[seabeyond]

103. never shut me up in past.... or with others i make the list. not gonna stop me now

i gots something to say... gonna say it, lol

wink

[stevedeshazer]

60. I'm going to band practice tonight and sleeping in tomorrow.

Then I'm going to do laundry and fix that damn bathroom faucet.

After that, my better half and I will have a nice dinner, and maybe engage in some wrestling.

[taught_me_patience]

61. You probably get more radiation from the sun in Arizona

make sure you wear sunscreen when you go outside... it'll protect you from the radiation.

[SoCalDem]

63. nothing n/t

[Bardley]

68. this short youtube has usefull info

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGMdnod8VPI

[MikeW]

69. duct tape, plastic tarps, and beer

[krispos42]

71. Minnesota is lovely this time of year.

So is, um.... Italy. And what Italy and Minnesota have in common (besides having an "a" in their names) is that they are WAY FAR AWAY from the fallout plume!

[NYC_SKP]

74. Just praying for those is Japan, might take a trip to Hawaii, otherwise not concerned.

IMO all the fear about fallout from 5,000 miles away is a bit OTT.

If I had little ones I might feel differently but I don't.

[NHDemProg]

75. Yawn...scratch...

update NCAA brackets, hope none of your Final Four teams got knocked out yet.

[AsahinaKimi]

77. Here's what I am going to do

GO to Japan town and go shopping...

[eowyn_of_rohan]

78. if it makes you feel any better...

In 1986 I forgot to duck and cover and was caught, on my bike, in the radioactive rain shower wafting over the U.S. from Chernobyl. They'd been warning people to stay indoors when it went over us, but I was preoccupied with my classes and forgot. I'm ok, I guess. ;)

[Arcana]

79. What areas of the U.S were affected?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

87. I was in Madison Wisconsin, and it came from the west, but I don't remember

what exact path it took --I assume to the northwest coast, across the Dakotas etc.

[HuckleB]

85. I'm going skiing tomorrow and Sunday, and tomorrow night I'll watch the Timbers MSL debut!

The rain will fall, and my tulips will grow, knowing that they survived the neighborhood cats, a much more hazardous "issue" than the radiation from Japan.

[Liberal In Texas]

88. Probably die.

Oh, not in the next few days or weeks. The exposure to plutonium is like breathing asbestos back in the 50s or 60s. It won't kill you right away, but eventually.

If you are in your 30s look for some problems in your 50s or 60s. Odd tumors, probably lung cancer.

You probably can't hoard enough food or water to last very long.

Geiger counters are not to be had. Look on the internet:
http://www.geigercounters.com/

pdate 3/17/11, 5.03 A.M. We are no longer accepting orders for Geiger Counters of any sort. If you have already placed an order, it will eventually get filled, in days, weeks, or months, depending on when you placed the order. If not yet filled, your credit card has not been charged, and will not be charged until your order is ready to ship, and you may cancel your order at anytime up until then, but we do not have time to confirm any order cancellation. We are not answering emails, and if you must contact us, make sure it is urgent, and call us by phone, but please be advised that the time we spend on the phone takes away from order fulfillment. Thanks

I heard a scientist on the radio or someplace saying that we ALL have a piece of Chernobyl inside of us. Now we will have a piece of Japan.

This insidious awful experiment has to be over.

Good luck, but you may end up not dead tomorrow, but in 20 or 30 years. It'll the the fault of the for-profit nuke industry. But try to collect. Or your children try to collect.

And don't forget, the nuke industry is the gift of spent fuel the keeps on giving for 250,000 years.

I wish you well.

[Yo_Mama]

90. YOU DON"T NEED TO WORRY

It is hard to envisage a scenario right now under which you would.

Here's the ZAMG's animation of current plume and projections. The maps are great, but the text is in German. Go the second link for an English translation of the main points.
http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index.php?seite=1&artikel=ZAMG_2011-03-18GMT09:52

http://www.zamg.ac.at/docs/aktuell/20110318_Japan_1300_engl.pdf

Not only don't you have to worry about anything not colored, but most of the plume depicts max exposures that are no concern either.

The reason you are seeing stuff about "picking up" radiation is that we have an incredibly sensitive radiation detection system. But it is not picking up higher levels - it is picking up terribly minute quantities of certain isotopes that mean recent release because they decay so rapidly. A lot of the radiation released has a very short half-life, so when they detect a bit of one of those isotopes, they consider it different from "background" radiation.

Background radiation levels in the US won't change. The residual radiation from our own nuke tests is far above anything we will get from Japan. But what we don't have in the US are isotopes that are only going to be around briefly.

There is an extremely sensitive system of detection posts all around the world. That way countries can be sure that no one is setting off nukes. In the US, we beefed up our detection system over worries about dirty bombs as a result of 9/11.

And as for those iodine tablets - I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. The only use for those is to fill up your thyroid with "good" iodine before being exposed to a radioactive iodine isotope (Iodine-131). But that has a half-life of 8 days. Given the minute quantities out there even around say, 50 km, from Daiichi, given the 4,500 mile buffer zone between the west coast and that iodine, and given its extremely fast decay rate, people on the west coast don't need to worry about iodine.

The risks just aren't there. Seriously.

[calimary]

93. Walk the dog, listen to the band, watch the teenagers, do my email, sit here on DU.

Just stuff. Not gonna worry about it (here in L.A.). What's the point?

[Hannah Bell]

94. links for independent/volunteer radiation monitoring

Crowdsourced Radiation Monitoring Emerges in Japan and California
http://citizenscientistsleague.com/?p=359

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=ustream+radiation+monitoring&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=c47ba9fccbc37ce6

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

i've been following the last link for a few days. nothing out of the ordinary thus far.

[thelordofhell]

95. Get bit by a spider

Super powers.....here I come!!

[slackmaster]

96. I ended up having a big crab cake and some Manhattan cocktails for dinner

Knob Creek whiskey. It was a fine meal, with good company at the bar.

[Le Taz Hot]

98. Write for a few hours, check in on DU every so often,

cook a large meal and continue sanding down the hardwood floor in my studio. Somewhere in there I'm sure I'll find a Salty Dog and a couple o'bowlfulls.

[HappyMe]

100. Don't worry so much.

From what I have read here lately, maybe some research into buying fake milk stock.

[pink-o]

101. I read about Wheatgrass in the 70s, and thankfully have never had the opportunity to test its power

to combat radiation. But let me tell you, I've been patronizing Jamba Juice for my shots all week now. Even if it doesn't work, it's amazing for your health in many other ways:


Wheatgrass and radiation
Tests have been made which point to a chlorophyll (wheatgrass) rich diet affecting the survival of experimental animals after lethal doses of radiation. In 1950, Lourau and Lartigue reported that cabbage supplement (chlorophyll) increases the resistance of guinea pigs to radiation.

Protection Against Radiation Fallout (Radioiodine) A person exposed to "fallout" can suffer from a myriad list of ailments, among them thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer, due to radiation poisoning, is caused by the uptake (through inhalation or ingestion) of radioiodine (a radioactive isotope of iodine). If a nuclear emergency should occur, be it from a reactor or attack, the preferred way to block the uptake of radioiodine is by making certain that the gland is already saturated with iodine. Learn how to protect your thyroid with KI supplement.


The full link:

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/greens.htm

[Shagbark Hickory]

102. I think you've got a higher chance of getting nuked by an Iranian Missile.

than from the radiation that makes it across the sea.
But I could be wrong.

[Politicalboi]

104. I'm putting a plastic bag with duct tape over my head

And of course staying indoors. LOL! Duct and plastic has replaced duck and cover, because that don't work. I think you're worrying over nothing. I live in Ca and I work graveyard shift and I didn't notice any glowing or anything unusual. And I didn't drink the rain.

But isn't it a coincidence that we get involved with Libya on a day where the talking heads would be following this cloud minute by minute. Just saying.

[Codeine]

106. I had 14 dental xrays last month.

That was more radiation than I'll ever get from the Fukushima cock-up.

Even better, no cavities! :7