Signal boost

This is one of those things that news networks aren’t talking about when they really should be. A blurb scrolling past the bottom of the screen doesn’t mean a whole lot.

I don’t know if this will really affect the tuna we eat — as bananas have been known to contain more radiation — but I honestly feel concerned. Irradiated water is washing up on the west coast of the United States. People in Japan are swimming in the water. Plant and animal life may be affected.

This is not the kind of problem that should be handled by a for-profit company that has already held back and lied to the public about how things are going. This is something that should be handled by people with know-how and concern for the public health. There should at the very least be some kind of over watch on the situation that has thus far not been provided.

Do we really want a situation like they had in The Host?


Harvey Wasserman:

The World Community Must Take Charge at Fukushima

At Fukushima Unit 4, the impending removal of hugely radioactive spent fuel rods from a pool 100 feet in the air presents unparalleled scientific and engineering challenges. With the potential for 15,000 times more fallout than was released at Hiroshima, we ask the world community, through the United Nations, to take control of this uniquely perilous task.

They need 125,000 signatures. Go check it out.

The danger of huge radiation releases from Fukushima 4 has taken on a new dimension; the world community must step in!

Panoply at Amazon

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The Phoenix Code, by Catherine AsaroTitle: The Phoenix Code
Author: Catherine Asaro
Genre: sci-fi

Summary from Amazon: When robotics expert Megan O’Flannery is offered the chance to direct MindSim’s cutting-edge program to develop a self-aware android, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project is trouble plagued–the third prototype “killed” itself, and the RS-4 is unstable. Megan will descend into MindSim’s underground research lab in the Nevada desert, where she will be the sole human in contact with the RS-4, dubbed Aris. Programmed as part of a top-secret defense project, the awakening Aris quickly proves to be deviously resourceful and basically uncontrollable. When Megan enlists the help of Raj Sundaram, the quirky, internationally renowned robotics genius, the android develops a jealous hostility toward Raj–and a fixation on Megan. But soon she comes to realize that Raj may be an even greater danger–and that her life may depend on the choice she makes between the man she wants to trust and the android she created.

As everyone knows, I am a GIANT Catherine Asaro fan (and I don’t literally mean giant, because I’m only 5’2″ I’m just very enthusiastic.) Anyways, Catherine Asaro is re-releasing The Phoenix Code as an ebook soon and she’s decided to graciously share the first three chapters at her blog.

Go check them out:
Chapter I
Chapter II & III