The Nuclear Crisis in Japan

The penalty for following inept leadership during times of peace, and calm, is that it is viewed as treasonous, and disloyal to desert those leaders during times of stress, and national calamity. In this regard the Japanese have shown themselves of high moral character, and strength. Every Japanese knows now how inept their leadership is, but they are living with it because, . . . they lived with it.

What is the chain of command in this country in the event of a nuclear disaster? Do we rely upon our public utilities? Do we rely on corporations or government agencies which have systematically ignored increased calls for safety, falsified reports, paid for lobbyists, bought senators, and will be in cover-up mode when disaster strikes?

Cronyism is a weakness of all mature nations including the US. In Japan it's led to the worsening of an already tragic nuclear crisis. Six nuclear reactors in trouble should have had 6 teams of 100 working on cooling, not one, situation room leadership, and early reach out for international help. What can't be attended to properly until this crisis is out of the way, are victims of the tsunami who've lost everything.

he U.S. nuclear industry is adroitly avoiding heat, and lessons, it should be willing to learn from the Japanese disaster. As well, we should put this event in perspective. Far far worse is what has happened as a result of the tsunami. Lives, cities, a entire portion of Japan, has been devastated. We should not only look to what we should do differently, but rather what we can do now . . . . to help.

The Wolf

In darkened rooms,
on Avenue Foche,
along a small corridor of
'chambres des bonnes',
I smell the guano, of bats.
and hear them rustling at night.

They are in the crevices of these stone walls,
the old grand homes have become caves.

A radio plays Prokofiev,
I am near tears, at the thought,
of a large black wolf.

There's a convocation at a local university,
to celebrate the anniversary, of the Revolution,
Francois Mitterrand is the honored guest.
He speaks in French and is pronounced,
Doctor of Laws.

I walk for soup, to my one-franc spot,
where the waitresses are blonde,
and speak Russian.
And on the way home I notice how
all Paris is blonde now,
all the stones are creme-colored.
Centuries of soot are bleached away.

Down the glowering streets,
past sentries saluting,
screams the motorcade of the President.

I think to shout, "Vive la France!",
But in an instant, they roar past.