Cellphone Radiation? Probably Worse For You Than Fukushima Because It's Stuck to Your Head!

That's right. Unless you live near or around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants, or the nearby areas affected, then there are many things that are much more dangerous to you and your families' well-being than crap spewing out of the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

People need to keep things in perspective. Of course the Fukushima nuclear accident is serious business. For me, I thank God I don't live there... Actually, no. That's not true. I thank me. I'd never live close to a nuclear power plant anyway. Neither would I live close to any sort of refinery, oil producing facilities or toxic waste dumps. I always questions the sanity of people who do... I always wonder why, when something bad happens, then the people who do live near these places complain as if they are surprised by disaster.


Seems to me disaster has a way of striking all around the world all the time.


Like I said, when it comes to your health and the welfare of your family, there's lots of things you should be concerned about... If you don't live near Fukushima then there's stuff going on all around you that just aren't as glamorous as nuclear accidents so they aren't reported by the main stream mass media, yet they have a much higher chance of ruining your health or your families' health than Fukushima ever could.


Here's a list of a few:


Did you know that For Every One Death Due to Nuclear Power, 4,000 Die Due to Coal? 


Or how about Benzene in Cars! This Will Kill More People Than Fukushima Will


And today's interesting tidbit comes from Activist Post. It is entitled Is Your Cell Phone Killing You?

An excellent infographic has been released, which covers many of the physical and mental health problems, as well as the financial burden sold to an increasing number of people who feel they "cannot live without" a cell phone.

As shown below, this obsession manifests in a myriad of ways that affect individual health and social interaction....

There is one other area key area that is not covered in the infographic, but is also worth mentioning -- the radiation effects of cell phones, especially on the young.

Experts have said that cell phones are capable of causing a number of health problems, including depression, infertility and damage to your DNA.

In 2011, the WHO/IARC released a report stating that cell phone radiation may have a carcinogenic effect on humans. In fact, the World Health Organization actually said that cell phones are in the same cancer-causing category as lead, engine exhaust, and chloroform. 

Considering the hundreds of millions who live thousands of miles away from Fukushima with how much they have a radioactive device stuck to their head all day, I'd say that this issue demands some serious consideration.

Here's more details and facts from this very interesting infographic:

1) More people can't live without their cell phone:

* The average person glances at their cell phone 150 times a day

* 68% of people experience phantom phone vibration when anticipating a phone call or notification

* 43% of iPhone users would go shoeless for a week rather than temporarily release their phones

* 22% would forego brushing their teeth

* 73% of people sleep with their cell phones

2) This obsession can lead to mental and health problems

* Fear and anxiety can increase coagulation and increase heart disease by a factor of four

* 57% feel anxiety when they run out of battery or credit or have no network coverage

* 70% of women and 61% of men fear losing their phones (it's called "nomophobia" or "no mobile phone phobia")

* 50% feel anxious when they don't have their mobile phone with them 

* 25% of nomophobia have experienced accidents while messaging or talking on the phone

3) Sleep deprivation

* People lose an average of 45 minutes a week of sleep due to cell phone usage

* 63% of smart phones users use a social networking site before going to bed

The article then goes on to suggest ways to fight back against cell phones (and I heartily agree!)

1) Turn off cell phones 45 minutes before bedtime to increase sleep quality

2) Take a trip unplugged! Go to where there is no TV, network or computers! 

3) Resist constantly checking your cell phone for messages. If it's important, then they will call you

May I add?:

4) Turn it off at meal time

5) Turn it off during meetings and when you are not at work

6) Never use if for an alarm clock

7) Turn off your cell phone for 12 hours a day, everyday

Cell phones are bad news. Not only are they bad for your health, they are ruining people's quality of life. 


One person commented to me that, "... they can't be as bad as breathing in Fukushima radiation..." To that another friend said, "No. You just shove them up a hole in your head and talk on them for hours..." Good point.

Turn those damned things off! 


Refer to this great video that I wrote about at New Year's in Turn off those digital devices and learn to live again:

Not only will turning off your cell phone for at least 12 hours a day improve your life, it will improve your health.


For a related article, please read: Radiation and Reason - the Impact of Science on a Culture of Fear 

Sensationalist Reporting on Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Issues Goes on Unabated… Counter-productive to Anti-Nuclear Movement

The situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plants aren't the cozy situation that the Japanese government want us to believe. The reports are the water is leaking from one of the reactors again and until they get a better look, they can't make any judgements on what to do.

Please refer to: Fresh Radioactive Water Leak Discovered at Fukushima: 

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found that the water level in the No. 2 reactor's primary containment vessel was only 60 centimeters deep when it checked the interior of the crippled reactor using an endoscope, Kyodo news agency reported.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Junichi Matsumoto gave assurances that the melted fuel inside the No. 2 reactor remains cooled through continuous water injection, as the water temperature in the vessel was 48.5 C to 50 C.

But he acknowledged that the lower-than-expected water level suggests that a large portion of the injected water is leaking from the primary containment vessel, possibly via the damaged suppression pool that is linked to the reactor.

This is the kind of reporting we need; Just the facts. If we have the facts, then we can decide the best course of action to take.

But when the reporting gets more and more sensationalistic, it helps no one. In fact, I submit to you that sensationalist reporting is actually damaging to both sides of an argument... It is especially damaging to the reporter as they become like the "Boy who cried wolf." The consumers of such sensationalism and mis-reporting become ambivalent and jaded... Just look at the average citizen who consumes too much TV to see the results of this sort of junk brainwashing: Too much junk in equals a junk public.

Moving a little farther towards the sensationalist side of the reporting - but not quite there yet - is a good example. This time from Gizmodo: Over a Year Later, Fukushima’s Radiation Is Still Fatal

What a difference a year makes: none. Reactor #2 at Fukushima Daichi is still leaking enough radiation to kill you.

Al Jazeera reports "One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant's stability," adding, ominously, that safety workers "will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant. The process is expected to last decades."

Decades. And that's likely an eager estimate. With radiation levels at ten times the fatal exposure level and coolant water evaporating away, TEPCO, the incompetent power firm which owns the plant, still has a giant radioactive mess on its bib. Sending workers toward the reactor will either kill or poison them, and pumping more water into the core will result in contaminated spillage and steam reaching the ocean and beyond.

The tech to repair the reactor doesn't exist yet. Developing that will take time. In that same time, radiation seeps inexorably in a nation of 130 million, and nearly 100,000 people within a 450 square mile dead zone can't go back home. This is only year one—the Fukushima story is far, far from over. 

Do you notice the obvious slant and commentary in the story? First, the use of the word, "ominously" makes me wonder about an agenda of the writer, but I can still live with that. Next? Calling TEPCO "incompetent" is commentary and has no place in serious reporting. Incompetent? Compared to what? The Japanese government? 

I keep hearing that TEPCO is incompetent. Maybe so. And I also hear many saying that the Japanese government should nationalize TEPCO and those power plants. Now that's a big joke. Talk about having the insane take over the asylum! The people who ran TEPCO, before the March 11 disaster, had turned that company into the 4th largest and most profitable energy company in the world; the largest in all of Asia... The Japanese government? They've turned this country into one of the most indebted (to GDP) nations on earth... And people want to replace the "incompetents" at TEPCO with the Japanese government? 

I think the most incompetent people in this picture are the idiots calling for such a nationalization of TEPCO, a private company. It's not needed nor desired at all. And neither is bailing them out with public money. f they can't make it, let them go bankrupt and new, competent management come in and take over. Bailing them out only allows the "incompetents" (if they really are such) to stay in their jobs.

But I digress...

Going farther away from the serious and credible reporting, we go to the dark side. This is where the writers foam at the mouth and total conjecture and paranoia are passed off for reporting. It is the recent trend of news reporting being meshed with political commentary. I find this trend quite disturbing and consider it to be quite counter-productive to finding a solution. In this case, it is bad for both the pros and the cons to the argument. 

Please refer to Alexander Higgins quoting the completely discredited Fukushima Diaries in: Japanese Being Pushed Into Revolt Over Fukushima Radiation

Japanese Citizens are left with no further possible recourse besides a revolt to end the gross human rights abuses being committed by the government of Japan.

The Japanese are finally noticing that they are surrounded by the invisible walls.

Since the bubble ended in 1992, Japan has been in a long recession, called Japan’s lost 20 years.

Leaders changed like revolving lantern.

The article claims "tens of thousands of demonstrators"... But even event organizers

only claimed 12,000. Police claimed 7,000... I suspect this photo has been Photoshopped

Japanese citizens became aware that their voice is not reflected in the political situation but they tried to ignore the fact and indulged themselves in the fading prosperity.

However, they cannot ignore it anymore.

Since 311, their government has been trying to kill the people instead of saving them.

In the very first sentence, the writer calls for a revolt against the government? I'm sure that will go over very well with average Joe-Happoshu. Then he says that, "Since 311, their government has been trying to kill the people instead of saving them"????!!!! Now, you won't find me arguing with you when you say the government is incompetent, but to say that the Japanese government's purpose over the last 12 months is the extermination of the Japanese people is just laughable.

You guys don't expect anyone, excepting your comic book reading friends, to take you seriously do you?   

The caption read: "Police Clash With Thousands in Tokyo Protesting Nuclear Lies, Incompetence and Censorship"... You call this a "clash"? You can see more of a scuffle at an AKB48 concert.  

The above is not a clash.... That's nothing... Now here, below, this is a "clash":

Read and see more videos of these clashes from the mid-1980s and more here

The writer then goes on to name a litany of actions by people to change the course of government actions. You know, the usual: Petitions, demonstrations, discussions.... Ho hum... 

Another sentence by the writer that just shows a complete lack of knowledge of Japanese history is this gem:

The Japanese have not felt the necessity of revolt this much since the last Japanese revolution in the mid 19^th century. 

Really, this guy seems like he didn't study much in school nor does he have much a grasp on contemporary issues in Japan. The idea that the Japanese haven't "felt the necessity of revolt this much since the last Japanese revolution" makes me wonder where this guy was in the 70s and 80s.

This blather comes from the Fukushima Diary which seems to be a blog clearly written with the purpose of making the owner a name for himself. He reminds me of the Global Warming Believers; they need a crisis. Where there is none they will create it. That Alexander Higgins would repeatedly quote this junior high school level nonsense is not up to par. If this keeps up, I will have to delete the link to his blog at the right side of my blog. Too bad. Alexander was doing a good job reporting these matters several months ago and did a good job on OWS... This is crap reporting...

I commented to this article at Alexander's site:

   You have to realize that there are over 35 million households in the Tokyo area alone. I don’t mean to belittle the demonstrators but a weekend gathering of 10,000 people to protest nuclear power isn’t going to impress too many in the government. Also, there were no “clashes with police.” This sort of news exaggeration doesn’t help anyone.

    When, someday, the people do serious actions like get together, march and then, say, burn their credit cards in a city square then people in power will sit up and take notice. A weekend demonstration for a few hours at a park with a peaceful march through downtown… Then back to home and watching TV is BS…. Happens all the time.

People will say “But the Japanese are docile and don’t revolt.” Quite untrue. Here’s a few video of real Japanese revolts and fights against the government. Some of these riots happened as recently as 1985. Like I said, these fun get-togethers at the park don’t impress anyone.

To belabor the point, the article also goes on with a litany of examples of how bad the situation has become in Japan. One of the claims is that, "People in Okinawa is (sic) starting to claim that they are having nosebleed or sore throat." Of course, there are no links or references to support the claims. 

Pathetic.

Marchers in Tokyo. You do the math: 35 million homes in Tokyo Metropolitan area... 10,000 at a demonstration? Sorry... Japanese department stores get more than that when they are having a sale! 

But getting back to my point; it is this kind of "reporting" that is actually damaging to the anti-nuclear movement. Actually, this isn't reporting at all. It is political commentary disguised as reporting and has no place in a serious discussion of the issues. 

Once again, the anti-nuclear people will attack me for this post, but, folks, get serious. This kind of comic-book reporting does your movement absolutely no good at all and makes serious people just roll their eyes when you speak or write.

If you want to do good serious reporting, please do. If you want to write fiction, then there is a much more profitable and hungry market for it in the romantic novel section at your local bookstore or on Kindle.... 

If you do want to write seriously, then do yourselves a favor and please stick to the facts... Doing otherwise and exaggerrating and writing like the article I mentioned is to make a laughing stock of yourselves... 

Unless, of course, your purpose is actually to discredit the anti-nuclear movement as being fools. For some reason I don't suspect that you are merely "acting" like fools.

Yen Devaluation Now Imminent? Being Called by Major Financials! Get out of debt - Get your financial house in order now!

Now, after yesterday's report that the main market analyst at China's Caixin Market News and Analysis reports that he is convinced of a 40% devaluation of the Japanese yen is imminent and inevitable, here comes another report hot on the heels from the United States. 

Market Watch reports in: The Yen's Looming Day of Reckoning

Japan is on an unsustainable path of a strong yen and deflation. The unprofitability of Japan's major exporters and emerging trade deficits suggest that the end of this path is in sight. The transition from a strong to weak yen will likely be abrupt, involving a sudden and big devaluation of 30% to 40%.

It will be a big shock to Japan's neighbors and its distant competitors like Germany. The yen's devaluation in 1996 was a main factor in triggering the Asian Financial Crisis. Japan's neighbors must have a strong banking system to withstand a bigger devaluation of the yen.Japan's nominal gross domestic product contracted 8% in the four years to the third quarter of 2011, and six percentage points of that was due to deflation. Without increased government expenditure, the contraction will be one percentage point more. Japan has not seen this kind of sustained deflation since the 1930s.

Without government deficits, Japan's economy will decline much more. Central government bonds and borrowings plus its guaranteed debts rose by 116.3 trillion yen ($1.4 trillion) during the period, equivalent to one-fourth of the level of the nominal GDP in the third quarter of 2011. If Japan had adopted balanced budgets, its economy would have contracted two to three times more. This will lead to a debt crisis in its private sector.

If you are living in Japan then it is time right now to get your house in order.

1) Stop using credit cards 
2) Get out of debt 
3) Store up at least three months (six months preferably) of food and water to get over the coming financial shock 
4) Protect your wealth by obtaining physical gold and silver

These warnings about Japan's collapse have been coming louder and louder and more often over these past two months. The crash that was predicted by Karl Bass and reported here in Debt in Japan Actually 492% of GDP! UK 497% of GDP!:

...People going along, as usual, in their ignorant bliss. The "leaders" knowing full well what's going on but trying to get out with what they can, while they can! The only difference between the sinking ship and the economy is there won't be any rescue coming for us.

While the entire world watches Greece and Italy, it seems, from looking at this chart, the real action is the UK, Japan, Spain and France. 

Business, government and household debt in Japan show a 492% of GDP problem for Japan. The tax and spend days are coming to an end soon in Europe, the USA and, of course, in Japan. 

This entire house of cards is going to collapse around our heads. When the collapse does come, it will come suddenly. Hope you have cash readily available and at least a few weeks of food and water ready. Because when the crash does come, stores will be empty in a matter if a few hours - if it takes that long.

You've read it on this blog and I seriously warn people to get ready... This could break any day now considering the still simmering situation in Greece, the worsening situation in Spain, Portugal and Italy, tensions and saber-rattling by the USA and Israel against Iran... And now more problems with a world wide move away from the US dollar.

May you live in interesting times.... Indeed. 

"A massive 40% devaluation of the Japanese yen is imminent and inevitable..."

Are you sitting down? I hope you're not drinking coffee right now....

From Zerohedge:

"Caixin's Andy Xie, who is now confident that a massive 40% devaluation of the Yen is imminent and inevitable (with dire consequences for regional trading partners) ... now that the Japanese economy is no longer competitive in the New Normal world (read trade surplus) of delaying what every other central banks has been doing so well.... "

(Caixin is News and Analysis on China's Markets)

I hope you have at least 3 months of food and water stored up and you hold some gold besides being ready for earthquakes and other natural disasters, you should be ready for the man-made one that is coming.

Read more: Four Years of Japanese Central Planning Failure Chart

Are the Bees Really Dying Out? The Strange Disappearance of the Bees - One Japanese Farmer's Experience

Yesterday I wrote about going to pick strawberries at a farm in Isehara about one hour out from Tokyo. While I was there, I was anxious to ask the farmer about the story going on concerning the dying out of the bees that we so often read about.


I became interested in the bees and honey story because my wife and son have allergies this time of year and one well reviewed natural remedy for allergies is locally produced honey. The rationale for using honey to treat allergies is that bees process the same pollen that causes the allergies in making the honey. So, by eating the honey, one can build up a resistance to the pollen - somewhat like immunizations use dead viruses to create. (Also add loads of vitamin C and vitamin D3!) It seems to work well for my wife and son.

My wife's uncle is a farmer in Isehara and he grows rice and tangerines. Since he has tangerines, he also produces honey from bee hives he keeps and sells it as "Tangerine honey." It does have a different tangerine flavor (or so people tell me. I can't tell the difference!) 

(L to R) Shigeru Yamada and Mr. Tsuzuki, rice and strawberry farmer 

Over these last few years, there is much talk about the bees disappearing and or dying off. In the photos above, you can see two large jars of locally produced honey. The jar on the left sold for ¥2,000 (about $24.18 USD) two years ago. My wife and son just discovered the wonderful relief that honey gives to serious allergy sufferers and they went through (actually my wife) went through a jar that was 1/2 that size in three years. Now we are back to buy a new jar of locally produced honey and the jar on the right, when you can get them, sell for ¥5,500 yen (about $66.50 USD) today. So the price has gone up a lot... I am told that the price increase is due to problems with the bees.

Well, we've all heard that the bees are dying off, right? Well, according to my wife's uncle and another farmer, Mr. Tsuzuki (farms strawberries and rice) the bees are not dying off per se. They are, are you sitting down? (cue Twilight Zone music) "disappearing." 

I wasn't sure what they meant and asked for clarification. I asked Mr. Tsuzuki at his farm, 

"Did you find and dead bees around the hives or lots of dead bees in the fields?"

"No," came the answer. He continued, "It wasn't the bees dying as such. They would fly away and disappear."

Fly away and disappear!!?? Wait! What?

There were dozens of bee hives just like this at Tsuzuki strawberry farm

That's right. According to these farmers the bees weren't dying off, they were disappearing. This is a quote, "The queen bee would fly away from the hive and then they wouldn't come back. I  think, perhaps, they flew around above the hive for so long that the birds would come and eat them."

Now, before you panic and think that this could be the end of civilization, Mr. Tsuzuki told me that he knows all about the bees dying off in America - everyone does. But he said that while they had a similar problem in Japan for a few years, the local farmers switched back to fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides that they were using before the problem started and now the bees are coming back. He said that they've had no problems this year at all.

Fact of the matter is that, Mr. Tsuzuki rents his bees from another farmer named Mr. Aigara to pollinate his strawberries during season. He gives them back after strawberry season ends.

In Mr. Tsuzuki's farms, inside the hothouses where no chemicals are used at all, he said that they've never had any problems with the bees. Mr. Tsuzuki says it's not a problem with Japanese produced bees or American produced bees. In fact, he imports his bees from the United States as he says bees from North America are larger, more productive and more robust than Japanese bees.

Mr. Tsuzuki says that the problem with the bees disappearing is, as I have already written, due to pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides used at farms. He also says that buying quality bees from a quality bee farmer that feeds the larva and pupa quality foods.

These guys looked very healthy

This makes sense if you keep track of the continual degrading of food quality in the United States. US produced beef and meat products are pumped full of chemicals and hormones to make them grow. Chickens and other animals on massive farms in the USA are fed concotions of chemicals and not natural grains. This is suspected as being the prime reason for earlier puberty in American youth. Dr. Mercola says the reasons for earlier puberty and be directly blamed on: Hormones in food; pesticides in produce; obesity and phthalates in plastics. 

Understanding this as well as how the FDA and US government seems to be a part of the revolving door with chemical manufacturers like Monsanto, it shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone that the bee population in the United States is under serious threat... But, in spite of what you've heard, according to two farmer's I spoke to in Isehara, while they need to be ever vigilant, they believe that they know what the problem was with the bees and have taken actions to correct it by using more natural remedies for weeds and pests as well as more natural ingredients for breeding bees.

While the bee farmers - and everyone else (including me and you) - needs to stay alert and cut down on use of chemicals at home and outside, I think a little common sense and a return to natural remedies for ailments like allergies or natural remedies for pests and weeds will serve us all.

Let the disappearance of the bees in the USA be a stark warning to us all all over the world.

Strawberry Picking Near Tokyo - Take a Pictorial Vacation to Pick Strawberries in Japan!

It's called "ichigo gari"（イチゴ狩り) in Japanese literally translates into "strawberry picking." You can take the family to pick strawberries in Isehara in Kanagawa prefecture which is just an hour away from Tokyo by train or car.

Isehara is a very rural area and beautiful area of Japan. It is home to the exquisitely scenic Tanzawa-Oyama Quasi-National Park that features Lake Miyagase and Mount Hiru.

Lake Miyagase and Mount Hiru in Isehara

That Isehara is so beautiful and full of nature might come as some surprise to most people as it is so close to Tokyo, the biggest and most crowded city in the world. Isehara is right next door to Atsugi and I wrote about taking the kids trout fishing in Atsugi last year. Please refer to: Nature's Hideaway Just 1.5 From Tokyo! Trout Fishing!? It's True!!! 

Ya Taro River - Great from trout fishing!

Today I'd like to tell you strawberry lovers about going to a great place that allows you to pick strawberries and eat them right on the spot in hothouses in Isehara. If you love strawberries, then you've died and gone to heaven here!

Plum tree blossoms in front of one of the hothouses

View of one of the hothouses from a distance

The place is named Tsuzuki Ichigo En (都築いちご園) which translates to "Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden." (How in the heck 都築 is read "Tsuzuki" is beyond me but my wife says that any Japanese who graduated from high school should be able to read it!) Here at Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden, you can take your family to a very enjoyable trip to pick strawberries and eat until you explode.... And I do mean explode! 

View up the road from Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden. There's a train line in the distance and that is the Odakyu line to and from Shinjuku station

The shack where you pay your entry fee to all you can eat strawberries at Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden

For thirty minutes of picking and eating the prices are ¥1,300 (about $15.78 USD) for anyone over 6 years old and ¥700 (about $8.50 USD) for kids under 6 for thirty minutes. If you don't want to pick and just take photos, like me, it's free!  

Inside the hothouse

Now some people might think that thirty minutes of picking strawberries and eating them is a bit pricey, but it's not really when you see that the strawberries are very large. My eight-year-old says he ate 34 of them in the thirty minutes. His grandfather says he ate 50. Both of them said they were about to explode from eating so many strawberries!

This was the typical size of the strawberries but many were much larger. Can you eat 70 or 80 of these in thirty minutes? I can't.

All fresh, natural and no insecticides or chemicals used at all

Families bring the kids in for a wonderful time

There are at least a dozen huge hothouses like this one housing strawberry fields at Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden

Everyone can get sweetened condensed milk to eat the strawberries with too if they like

Of course, you can buy the chemical free organic strawberries to take home or as a present for friends and family

If you are sick and tired of the crowds in Tokyo and want to go enjoy nature but don't want to take a long train or airplane ride, then Isehara is right next door. I highly recommend it.

If you go to Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden, make sure you call ahead and make reservations as it gets a good crowd, especially on weekends!

To contact Tsuzuki Strawberry Garden: Please call: 0463-92-6277 (I'm sure these folks don't speak English, sorry!)

It is so far out in the country that there isn't an address. But here's some information online and a map: