Liar, Liar...Fences on Fire

I'd like to share a two minute rant about a group in my town calling themselves CRS (Citizens for Responsible Spending). What they should be called is NC NIMBY's (New Canaan Not in By Backyarders). At issue is the town's plan to add sidewalks - a valid, needed and responsible plan which promotes both safety and more walking (and thus exercise and community). What it has become is an issue for a group of selfish, self serving individuals who built fences on what is technically town property and don't want to move their fences, which should never have been built (in case you missed the logic). I don't like liars who hide behind causes that are made up, or behind fences which don't belong. Let's take off the kid gloves. There are too many things in this world worth actually expending energy and time. This ain't one. CRS, go jump in the lake we just dredged. It should be deep enough.

Meltdown

-The obvious lead statement here is that we all hope that a meltdown is averted and everyone possible finds safety and shelter during the turmoil of trying to contain the damage at the 6 reactors near Sendai, Japan. 

-The next obvious statement, is why the heck did they build them on top of a known fault, by the ocean, with back up diesel generators positioned in  a basement prone to flooding in the case of tidal overflow?  Not to mention tsunami (a Japanese word, by the way). 

-Japan is a nation perched on what is largely considered the most volatile edge of the "Ring of Fire" a chain of tectonic plates, volcanoes and other unsettled geological issues. To build a power plant focused on a highly unstable energy source on top of this powder keg must seem a bit stupid, and not just with hindsight. 

-What child would build a house of Lego or Lincoln logs on a 3 legged table? 

-That we are now gleaning reports from former nuclear regulatory and construction officials in Japan that accidents have been covered up for years and faults in process or construction papered over, only adds insult to injury as the world sits on the edge of its chair waiting to see the out come of the "will they, won't they" end the crisis. That the regulatory body in Japan's nuclear industry is manned by the same utilities which it serves is at best a conflict of interest, at worst criminal. 

-If they are unable to contain this disaster imagine the consequences. What will the tourism board of Japan use as their new slogan: "Our LCD screens light up on their own" or "We and our watches both glow in the dark"? How short sighted has this whole process been?

-We won't bother to worry about the mercury in our tuna any more but rather the 3-headed ahi which roam a sea of monstrosities created by man's careless and haphazard management of nature's resources.

-Haven't we seen this movie. Doesn't it involve a giant lizard?

-Let's just all cross our collective fingers that somehow TEPCO manages to find the switch to begin pumping water back into the reactors before full meltdown occurs. We do not need a new generation of badly dubbed Godzilla movies.