While I agree that there is a lot of information being lost in the media grinder, and that the handling of Fukushima should be made into the poster child for clusterfuckitude, I would say that this is an example of (some) Japanese politicians taking some of the more rigid aspects of Japanese culture to task.

Also, contrary to what the GP is trying to say, this is not about making the technology appear safe and blaming human error. It even says this in the summary, "We cannot rule out the possibility that a small-scale LOCA (loss-of-coolant accident) occurred at the reactor No 1 in particular."

This reaction is the opposite of what has historically happened in Japan when this sort of issue arises. The ex-TEPCO execs and their government cronies are being lambasted in the press and on the net for being given cushy jobs and TEPCO is being nationalized. Hopefully, harsher measures will be applied (if the furor doesn't die down).

Hopefully, those responsible for the human errors will be made to pay for their mistakes, and those technological shortfalls will be shored up. If they can't be fixed, we'll have to find a new way of getting power.

And d) what does your comment have to do with a research institute being funded at the University of Tokyo?

Why do my moderator points never come when I need them?

a) Philanthropists don't pay for Japanese whaling. It's paid for by corporate investment, government tax breaks, and profits from the sale of whale meat at such popular restaurants as Gansokujira-ya (http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g584700/lang/en/) In this way, it's quite similar to other food-based industries around the world, like the beef industries in the USA and Australia.

b) There are many good excuses for making despicable things acceptable. Luckily, the sustainable whaling taking place in the Southern Ocean isn't despicable. I mean, seriously, it's probably the only sustainable "fishing" market on the planet. Why would anyone complain about it?

c) Finally, whales can't talk, so asking them what they think probably won't result in any useful answers.

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to be nitpicky myself, I just didn't understand your point.

That's a bit nitpicky, don't you think? GP refers to the rebel in the post."Digital" is assumed here, no?

I dunno. It looks to me like BF3 probably has a lot more stuff (little facial animations,etc.) going on in the background.

The COD4 graphics are very dated.

I live 240km from Fukushima. Though I'm far from the irradiated area, my claim to fame is the black-ish rain I had to walk through to get to work a few days after the earthquake. Anyway, I believe that nuclear power should be a part of our future power generation strategy, but because of the potential dangers surrounding nuclear power in a seismically unstable region, the industry should be heavily regulated.

So, I am very happy that there are enough regulations surrounding nuclear power to increase the cost of energy production.

Expensive nuclear > cheap coal.

That's a bit misleading. You say that the PS3 is in last place worldwide, and then you say that the 360 is the fastest selling console right now. Then you make the conclusion that the 360 is increasing its lead on the PS3.

However, you left out the part from TFA that mentions that it's the fastest selling console in the US. You can make no conclusion about worldwide sales figures based upon the sales figures in the US. You can't just mix data samples like that.

I don't care about the whole console war or anything, I just like my statistics to be honest ones.

The benefit of the system depends on your distance from the epicentre. I routinely get earthquake warnings up to 15 seconds before the actual shaking starts.

Though I should note that I got no warning from the March 11th quake. My phone battery was dead.

...you could just turn that feature off.

You really have to work on shortening your revolutionary slogan. Try something catchy like "Corruption Shmorruption!!" or "Stupid Government, We Hate You!"

110,000 yen is about one week's wages for the average public servant. How much do you make per week, and how would that change the price of your prototype (which you haven't built yet)? Would it still be "way fucking cheaper" than his?

It would be very reasonable to assume that this researcher spent a week on fine-tuning and construction, no?