Marla's adventure from Aplastic Anemia and beyond
“One must create the ability in his staff to generate clear, forceful arguments for opposing viewpoints as well as for their own. Open discussions and disagreements must be encouraged, so that all sides of an issue are fully explored.”
~Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, father of the nuclear submarine
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As I suspected, tragedies such as the nuclear disaster now going on in Japan will not deter some people from nuclear power. Nevermind the myriad of evidence of birth defects, heart defects, blood disorders, and cancers related to radiation exposure, there will always be these people. I don’t know if it’s because they value money more than lives, or they are just ignorant of the facts, or maybe they just don’t believe what they see and read. I give you Ann Coulter leading the pack. . .
Click here to watch the interview.
I actually agree with O’Reilly in this interview. We must err on the side of caution. I find Coulter irresponsible in that she neglects to explain how complicated radiation is. She does not explain the differences between ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation, external radiation exposure vs internal radiation exposure, and then cites supposed studies without reference to “who” financed those studies. We already know that many studies are biased to favor those who paid for those studies. And we know there are a lot of nuclear power advocates investing in lots of money in nuclear energy. Plus just the examples she quotes raises questions like the one about the women with reduced breast cancers. Does that mean they didn’t develop any other cancers or other health problems resultant from their radiation exposure. How long was the study conducted? The 10k people in the buildings exposed to cobalt? How did they follow 10k people from this building? I mean did they “know” beforehand that their building was emitting cobalt radiation all this time? And for how long? What other details regarding the health of these people?
Ann Coulter speaks as if it’s the scientists vs the government word. Well, where does she think the government got their figures to start with? Uh, scientists, perhaps? The military has been the primary force in developing nuclear plants in the first place, and it has been through the military’s myriad of tests and studies by which the “government” based their findings. So what I see here is basically Coulter has fabricated her argument, and is not at all balanced. I know that O’Reilly asked a few pathetic questions to appear to oppose her view, but if he really wanted to oppose her view, why didn’t he ask her about all those people who developed thyroid cancers from the Chernobyl accident? How about all the heart defects and birth defects as a result of the same? Which they are still dealing with today. Why are the nuclear plants so contained if they aren’t so dangerous? Why did Madame Curie die of leukemia? Why did Edison’s assistant have both his arms amputated, then still died of cancer? Why did Edison refused to continue work with radiation? Why did Edison believe his eyes were damaged as a result of radiation? Why did those gals who painted watch dials for the military using radioactive materials have their jaws fall off? Why is there such a thing as “radiation hands” for the early x-ray technicians? The questions go on and on. O’Reilly’s feebile attempt to bring an opposing view was pathetic at best.
Marlakins
Yeah, I know. Proverbs 6:27 is referring to the consequences of adultery, but I do see a principle here regarding reaping what we sow.
More specifically, I’m very disturbed about the situation in Japan and their “venting” nuclear power plants. It’s really heartbreaking to learn about the destruction and hardships the Japanese are now experiencing in wake of the earthquakes and tsunami, but the damaged nuclear power plants are REALLY upsetting to me. I mean the gulf oil spill was bad enough! I keep checking in on the status of Fukushima, and if it’s not annoying enough to read that U.S. Senators like Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell say, even in the face of the nuclear crisis in Japan, that “they are still open to expanding nuclear power capabilities in the U.S.” (Update: Obama Administration, Senators Stand Behind Nuclear Power Amid Japan Meltdown Scare, by Elise Foley at the Huffington Post), then to read, Radioactive Releases in Japan Could Last for Months, Experts Say posted today in the New York Times by David Sanger and Matthew Wald, I can’t help but vent myself!
After my dad passed away, I felt numb and lost. I put all my books down and haven’t read anything significant since. A little news, yes, but not like before. But this recent crisis in Japan must be knocking some of my old self back. I “feel” some of my old passions again regarding the destruction man is causing to the earth and the people. Sure the earthquake and tsunami were acts of nature (at least if you don’t believe in HAARP’s capabilities and all), but nuclear power plants were/are avoidable. They don’t have to be built. I believe the dangers outweigh the good and that nuclear energy is basically a Faustian bargain. I’m saddened that we can’t go back to when nuclear power was not discovered and harnessed. I’m saddened to think of all those people who have suffered radiation exposure and continue to suffer today from it (countless birth defects, cancers, heart defects, etc. in the Ukraine, Japan, Iraq, etc). I’m saddened to think of the people being exposed right now, and all the suffering they will endure through no fault of their own, but as a result of the decisions made to build nuclear plants without their choice. I have to remind myself that there will be justice in the end because I do believe in God and judgment day.
Marlakins
Could definitely relate to this video. . .
Yes, eating is a big part of Filipino culture.
Hmm, I guess I haven’t been blogging so long that I forgot how to link the YouTube video to the picture. . . So here’s the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W4_LV77HlY Just copy and paste the link to your browser.
Marlakins
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“A person’s a person no matter how small.”
~Horton, Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Seuss
We actually arrived home last Monday night. This time things went pretty smoothly for me–nothing was confiscated like in previous times like my knitting needles, small scissors, and chicharon. . . However, my friend, Anna, didn’t fare as well going both directions. She lost her cell phone going through baggage scans on the way to the Philippines, then on the way back we discovered to our dismay that she had over stayed her visa by six days! We didn’t find out until we were trying to check visas going out of the Philippines that she was only given 21 days visa. . . Fortunately, that mistake only cost us $70. But boy was it a shock when the inspector said the fee was about 3,000. My first thought was $3,000 U.S. dollars, but it was only 3,000 pesos, whew! LOL
Now that I managed to copy all the pictures that my chip would allow, the first pictures I want to share are of Aaron’s birthday. We celebrated his birthday in the Philippines. Since he was far away from his dad and brothers, I wanted to make it special and celebrate the whole day. We started off with breakfast at Sentro to get his favorite champrado–chocolate rice, but in this case, chocolate oatmeal.
Anna gave him a nice card with $25.
After breakfast my cousins Rhommel and Richelle picked us up to take us to Intramuros and the surrounding area. We had to make some stops like their office for a short while, then we headed to Manila Hotel where we had lunch at one of their buffets.
Aaron is seated and wearing a white shirt. I’m behind him on his left. Richelle is next to me, my mom is next, and then Anna. Rhommel is seated to the right of Aaron and wearing a black t-shirt.
This was Aarons’ first round.
I love the way they display foods at these buffets, so can’t resist taking pictures. . .
The buffet was pretty good and cost about half of what the price is at Spirals in the Sofitel Hotel. Still a bit pricey, tho. We did go to Spirals again this year with family as usual, so will try to post those pics as well later.
Apparently, ++ refers to tips and tax.
Here’s a shot in the Manila Hotel lobby.
This is actually a fairly old hotel. It’s about 88 years old, being reconstructed after it was destroyed in WWII. My mom and dad had their high school prom in this hotel. . .
After lunch we visited Casa Manila in Intramuros. Aaron had already seen the place, but Anna had not, so we stopped by. No pictures were allowed inside the museum, so we just took one shot out by the courtyard.
Later we visited the Mall of Asia aka MOA and the third largest mall in Asia. By the time we finished shopping in the mall it was about dinnertime. Mom chose Duo back at Serendra. Here’s a pic of the waiters singing Happy Birthday to Aaron.
We don’t usually indulge in cakes like this, but mom ordered it, so we all took a bite. It tasted good, hehehe, and was pretty to boot.
After dinner we headed out to the bookstore and hung out there until late evening. We didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I guess I wanted to savor every moment. My baby is growing up, and it’s only once that he’ll turn 17.
Happy Birthday, Aaron.
Love,
Mom
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I can’t believe another month just flew by. It feels like we just got here, but tomorrow we’ll be leaving. As much as I like it here in the Philippines, I still will be happy to reunite with my other boys back home in Los Angeles. I’m sure Aaron will be happy to be back with them as well.
We’ve taken a lot of pictures here and met with a lot of relatives. Would have updated the blog sooner with some of those pictures, but had trouble with my chip getting corrupted. Will try to see if I can extract those pictures when we get home. I seem to be getting worse at keeping up with this blog. I used to try to do my travelogue as we travel, but never managed to finish all the travel experiences before tuckering out with the post. Now I only got one in! LOL
This time we didn’t do as much sightseeing-wise, but a lot more visiting with relatives. We got a lot done for Dad’s upcoming one year anniversary this July (reserved the facility, met with the caterers, made up the guest list, arranged for additional accommodations, etc. We even worked on transferring property and updating the condo dues. Boy, bookkeeping here in the Pines can be a zoo.) My whole family should be here come July, tho, so we’ll see what we can see then, if anything.
Okay, next post should be from Los Angeles! Over and out!
Marlakins
