In Between Times 8-25-2023
Radioactive water dumped into the East China Sea, Paper straws as bad (or worse than) plastic ones?, Maui fires aftermath, A 3rd party candidate?
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In Between Times respects your intelligence. We know that things are not black and white, or blue and red. There is nuance. In nuance there is often the truth. We are committed to finding this truth through the reasoned and thoughtful exploration of the days events, especially in the areas of the environment and social cohesion.
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Japan releases radioactive Fukushima water into the Pacific
It sounds worse than it is. But don’t tell that to Korea and China who are upset about the release.
It appears that the impact on wildlife will border on none to none at all. Still, the prospect of pouring water used to cool the Fukushima reactors during the semi-meltdown into the ocean should give anyone pause. It’s not the sort of thing that happens everyday.
(From NPR)
The government has been working on a complex filtration system that removes most of the radioactive isotopes from the water. Known as the Advanced Liquid Processing System (or ALPS, for short), it can remove several different radioactive contaminants from the water.
The authorities have used ALPS and other systems to remove some of the most hazardous isotopes, like cesium-137 and strontium-90.
But there's a radioactive isotope that they cannot filter out: tritium. Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen, and hydrogen is part of the water itself (H20). So it is impossible to create a filter that could remove the tritium.
Thankfully tritium is not terribly harmful. Though again, would you drink a glass of water that you know had tritium isotopes floating around in it?
And maybe that’s the biggest factor here, the so called “optics”. Dumping even very “unradiated” irradiated water into the sea just doesn’t seem right.
On the other hand there are probably many more harmful things being dumped into the East China Sea as we write this. Seventy percent of China’s rivers it should be remembered are toxic to humans.
So some tritium laced wastewater versus an unrelenting flow of toxic waste from China’s cities?
All we know is sushi is looking less and less appealing to us these days.
Click here for the article.
China bans seafood from Japan after the Fukushima nuclear plant begins its wastewater release
13 China plants released more tritium in 2021 than Fukushima annual total plan
NYT: Seafood is safe after Fukushima water dump, but some won’t eat it
Paper drinking straws may be even worse than plastic for the environment and your health
This is kind of a bummer. The reason paper straws aren’t so good either? PFAS, “forever chemicals”.
It appears that paper straws are full of the buggers.
We have a humble suggestion. Just drink your drink without a straw. Sure it makes driving with a full cup of soda more difficult, but just sip your drink down a bit after you get it from the drive-thru, then stick it in the drink holder. We promise, unless you’re going off-roading this works just fine.
Alternatively keep a clean metal (washable) straw handy. (If you live in a particularly bumpy area.)
(From Studyfinds)
Does using an eco-friendly paper straw give you a good feeling because you’re doing something for the environment? You might want to rethink that. A new study contends that paper drinking straws may not be more environmentally friendly than plastic straws and could pose significant health risks to users as well. The study reveals the presence of “forever chemicals” — compounds that can persist for thousands of years — in these straws, linking them to cancers, thyroid, and liver issues.
Out of the 39 straw brands examined, 90 percent of the paper variants had chemicals known as poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals were prevalent in straws, especially those made of paper and bamboo. Notably, only the stainless steel straws were free of PFAS.
Click here for the article.
Milan records hottest day since 1763
Imperial College London publishes circular economy guidelines
The Maui fires aftermath
This haole loves Maui so we are paying particular attention to this story, a story that seems to be filled with incompetence, lack of planning, plain old negligence, and to some degree a callus detachment from the isolated people of Lahaina. Your editor grew up surfing and ingesting loads of surfing and windsurfing footage from Maui, from the beaches right around Lahaina.
This fire is a massive disaster that deserves more attention than it is getting. How government responded and responds going forward should be examined closely by the media and by voters.
Currently the death toll stands at 115, with 388 still missing.
Attorney: Reason given for not sounding alarms in Maui ‘absurd’
Maui residents are still reeling from wildfire devastation. Now investors and realtors are trying to cash in
Looking over Lahaina post-fire
The center of the world’s population has shifted radically over the last 50 years.
A third party candidate looks very appetizing to many in key battleground states
Both Biden and Trump have got issues, and we mean issues. Sure Trump has been indicted but that isn’t moving the polls. Most on the right feel that the charges are politically motivated. Biden has his own issues. One, that he does not look very sharp, and two, his own potentially very serious legal issues tied to his son and Burisma lurk in the distance. Many people want another choice, and many of those people live in parts of the country where it matters.
Of course the prospect of a real third party option scares the daylights out of the current political class. Arguably it is the Democrats that are most fearful this time around, but the GOP has third-party problems too, depending on the candidate.
As such the establishmentarians generally have of late done all that they can to demonize the prospect of a viable third party run. In fact the knives that have come out for No Labels, what is essentially a vehicle for DLC Democrats, have been particularly sharp. Such is the fear that a muddied Trump could rise from the mire with the help of a third party spoiler.
But we are not so sure that the political calculus will go the way the consensus thinks. There’s a long way to the election.
(From The Washington Examiner)
A majority of registered voters across eight key battleground states say they would back a third-party candidate if the 2024 election features a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Roughly 63% in those states say they’d be open to supporting a centrist independent presidential ticket in 2024, according to the latest poll conducted by the centrist group No Labels. Most voters also say they do not believe Biden, at 72%, or Trump, at 63%, should win a second term, opening the door for an alternative candidate to siphon votes away from both major parties.
Click here for the article.
In Between Times Podcasts:
Event:
September 1 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm MDT
Police-Community Relations Conversation
Location: Online
Communities function best with (a few) shared values like safety and order. We want our communities to be safe. We want law enforcement to be fair. We want police to do their job in a manner that is safe for them and for community members. We expect these elements to be a given-a shared goal based on shared values-but we are in a moment where instead of safety, we are witnessing tragedy in our communities. Smartphone video is documenting police and citizen interactions in a way that wasn’t possible in earlier times. The role, management and funding of police has come under question as incidents of violence crossing racial lines are no longer invisible to the larger community. This conversation offers an opportunity to speak of our experiences and perspectives on this situation.