In the inevitable debate over nuclear energy that is coming as a result of what is still occurring at Japan's Fukushima power plants, the following should never be forgotten:
After Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cried as he left a conference to brief journalists on the situation at Fukushima, a senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis.
He said officials should have admitted earlier how serious the radiation leaks were.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said: 'The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans.
Unsolicited Advice: Never again tell us that all contingencies have been anticipated. As Union of Concerned Scientists Nuclear Safety Project Director David Lochbaum has said when asked if nuclear power plants in the United States are safe from man-made and natural disasters (paraphrasing): Yes. If there are no man-made or natural disasters.
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2009:
Hey, have you heard that Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) is forming a new, supposedly "moderate" Democratic voting bloc in the Senate?
You have?
Did you hear it today in The Fix? ...
Or last week in Roll Call? ....
Or the week before that in Politico? ...
Or last year in Roll Call? ...
Or was it seven years ago from the DLC? ...
Yawn. Sun rises in East, Evan Bayh forms "moderate coalition."