ek hornbeck – Page 671

O Paddy dear, and did ye hear the news that’s goin’ round?

The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground!

No more Saint Patrick’s Day we’ll keep, his color can’t be seen

For there’s a cruel law ag’in the Wearin’ o’ the Green.

I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand

And he said, “How’s poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?”

“She’s the most distressful country that ever yet was seen

For they’re hanging men and women there for the Wearin’ o’ the Green.”

So if the color we must wear be England’s cruel red

Let it remind us of the blood that Irishmen have shed

And pull the shamrock from your hat, and throw it on the sod

But never fear, ’twill take root there, though underfoot ’tis trod.

When laws can stop the blades of grass from growin’ as they grow

And when the leaves in summer-time their color dare not show

Then I will change the color too I wear in my caubeen

But till that day, please God, I’ll stick to the Wearin’ o’ the Green.

You can listen to it here.

Mar 16 2011

Today on The Stars Hollow Gazette

By ek hornbeck

Our regular featured content-

Six In The Morning by mishima
On This Day In History by TheMomCat
Punting the Pundits by TheMomCat
Evening Edition by ek hornbeck

And these articles-

Taking Back America: Michigan by TheMomCat
Japan Syndrome by ek hornbeck
My Little Town 20110315: Elwood Brockman by Translator

Special live blogging of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Play In games Play Ins Day 2.

The Stars Hollow Gazette

Mar 16 2011

Michigan

By ek hornbeck

From Michael Moore, hat tip dday.

Mar 15 2011

Today on The Stars Hollow Gazette

By ek hornbeck

Our regular featured content-

Six In The Morning by mishima
On This Day In History by TheMomCat
Punting the Pundits by TheMomCat
Evening Edition by ek hornbeck

And these articles-

The Week in Editorial Cartoons – Unprincipled Zealots and March Madness by JekyllnHyde
The State of Public Education from a Student’s Perspective (My First Diary) by Phoenix
Under the Radar: Besides an Imminent Nuclear Disaster by TheMomCat

Special live blogging of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Play In games with Master TV Bracket Table good through the 18th.

The Stars Hollow Gazette

Mar 15 2011

Live NHK Quake Coverage

By ek hornbeck

In English. The one John Aravosis couldn’t get to work because it’s missing a closing </embed>.

Mar 14 2011

Today on The Stars Hollow Gazette

By ek hornbeck

Our regular featured content-

Six In The Morning by mishima
On This Day In History by TheMomCat
Punting the Pundits by TheMomCat
Evening Edition by ek hornbeck
Prime Time by ek hornbeck

And these articles-

Pique the Geek 20110313: Firearms 103. Propellants by Translator
Monday Business Edition by ek hornbeck (a weekly feature)
Obama Adopts Nixon’s Tactic by TheMomCat

A special reminder that tomorrow night instead of Prime Time I’ll be live blogging the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments starting at 6 pm.

The Stars Hollow Gazette

Mar 14 2011

The Next Deepwater Horizon

By ek hornbeck

Crossposted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Remember all those safe, clean, cheap nuclear energy ads from the 50s, 60s and 70s?

Here’s one from Westinghouse circa 2007 ——>

Connecticut has 2 active units, Millstone 3 happens to be a Westinghouse reactor. It’s licensed to operate until 2045.

Makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Partial Meltdowns Presumed at Crippled Reactors

By HIROKO TABUCHI and MATTHEW L. WALD, The New York Times

Published: March 13, 2011

TOKYO – Japanese officials struggled on Sunday to contain a widening nuclear crisis in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, saying they presumed that partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors and that they were bracing for a second explosion, even as they faced serious cooling problems at four more reactors.

…

On Saturday, Japanese officials took the extraordinary step of flooding the crippled No. 1 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, 170 miles north of Tokyo, with seawater in a last-ditch effort to avoid a nuclear meltdown. That came after an explosion caused by hydrogen that tore the outer wall and roof off the building housing the reactor, although the steel containment of the reactor remained in place.

Then on Sunday, cooling failed at a second reactor – No. 3 – and core melting was presumed at both, said the top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. An explosion could also rock the No. 3 reactor, Mr. Edano warned, because of a buildup of hydrogen within the reactor.

…

Officials also said they would release steam and inject water into a third reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after temperatures rose and water levels fell around the fuel rods.

Cooling had failed at three reactors at a nuclear complex nearby, Fukushima Daini, although he said conditions there were considered less dire for now.

Crisis Underscores Fears About Safety of Nuclear Energy

By NORIMITSU ONISHI, HENRY FOUNTAIN and TOM ZELLER Jr., The New York Times

Published: March 12, 2011

Critics of nuclear energy have long questioned the viability of nuclear power in earthquake-prone regions like Japan. Reactors have been designed with such concerns in mind, but preliminary assessments of the Fukushima Daiichi accidents suggested that too little attention was paid to the threat of tsunami. It appeared that the reactors withstood the powerful earthquake, but the ocean waves damaged generators and backup systems, harming the ability to cool the reactors.

It was not until Sunday that the increasingly dangerous nature of the problems at Daiichi became clear. But even on Saturday, with Reactor No. 1 there having suffered a radiation leak and an explosion, James M. Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said the nuclear industry would be shaken. While Japan may try to point to the safety of its newer facilities, concerns may run too deep, he said. Decades ago, after the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island accidents, Mr. Acton said, the nuclear industry tried to argue that newer reactors incorporated much better safety features. “That made very little difference to the public,” he said.

…

Over the years, Japanese plant operators, along with friendly government officials, have sometimes hidden episodes at plants from a public increasingly uneasy with nuclear power.

In 2007, an earthquake in northwestern Japan caused a fire and minor radiation leaks at the world’s largest nuclear plant, in Kashiwazaki City. An ensuing investigation found that the operator – Tokyo Electric – had unknowingly built the facility directly on top of an active seismic fault. A series of fires inside the plant after the earthquake deepened the public’s fear. But Tokyo Electric said it upgraded the facility to withstand stronger tremors and reopened in 2009.

Last year, another reactor with a troubled history was allowed to reopen, 14 years after a fire shut it down. The operator of that plant, the Monju Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, located along the coast about 220 miles west of Tokyo, tried to cover up the extent of the fire by releasing altered video after the accident in 1995.

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