How does nuclear radiation affect animals?

Toronto, CANADA – Many of us are animal lovers, and we have heard very little about the affects of the nuclear radiation on the animal kingdom in Japan and near the Fukusima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The focus is centred on the residents, but what about the animals?  The devastation of the earthquake, tsunami and now nuclear radiation that hit Japan on March 11, 2011 has killed many and displaced thousands but we always seem to forget about the domestic pets and animals in the area.

The nuclear radiation from the nuclear meltdown at Fukusima Daiichi, Japan affects those that have survived this tragedy and that means animals too. It is estimated there are 30,00 domestic pets affected by this and many residents are bringing them to the shelters with them.

There was a YouTube video that can be seen below of one injured dog standing by and protecting his friend as rescuers come to save the two. Although many forget about the animal kingdom, animal lovers from all over the world have been concerned for the domestic pets and wildlife and how the radiation will affect them if they have survived this incident.

Dr Joanna Coote, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the Toronto Humane Society took some time to explain how the radiation could have an impact on animals and wildlife that could have survived the tragedy.

“I guess it depends which animals you are referring to, so if we talk about dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep those are all mammals, so the way that animals are affected by radiation will be quite similar to humans, they often worry about the cumulative radiation affect so that if you are exposed to certain levels of radiation over time they’re worried that there would be a cumulative affect of radiation that can cause dangerous levels.” said Dr. Coote.

“In animals they don’t really have a prolonged exposure to radiation, because they have such a short lifespan relative to humans,” she went onto say about farm animals, “If they are farming dairy, goats or chickens, it’s the issue with, one, the actual exposure to radiation the way we get exposed in the atmosphere so there’s that exposure and then there’s the exposure they get from the vegetation that they are eating. And it’s also in the water, the runoff and the rain.”

“Birds and insects will be affected as well and they can spread the radiation as they fly miles from the danger zone but they have a very low life-span and then it becomes a problem for the food chain as the bird eats the contaminated insect or the bird eats a contaminated fish that’s a concern and then flies miles away and then the bird gets eaten by another predator and the cycle continues”

Tokyo, Japan – “Japan National Police Agency, on Tuesday (March 16, 2011) said, dead and missing has exceeded 12,000 and is expected to go well beyond this figure. Out of this number 4277 are confirmed dead with 2282 injured from the tsunami and earthquake, not including any that may die from nuclear radiation.
On Sunday (March 13, 2011), police chief of Miyagi, one of the prefectures hardest hit disaster, said the number of death toll is estimated at more than 10,000 in its own territory.” Story from WorldNews
Ontario Veterinary College spokeman Barry Gunn said,

“There really isn’t anybody that can talk about your questions clearly, in general, the assumption is that any threat would be the same as it is for people, these animals might be exposed to radiation from food or water, some of the nuclear isotopes have a short half-life, and caesium has a half-life of 30 years so they disappear soon after exposure and I suppose the caesium will be around for a while in the soil.”

Animal support Groups and interesting LINKS …

Japan Earthquake and Animal Rescue
World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
Toronto Humane Society
Ontario Veterinary College Health Sciences Centre
World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has committed $150,000
Health hazards if exposed to nuclear radiation, Great LINK about radiation affects

Daniel … Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

Why does CNN say the Great Lakes and further north, are part of the "Northern USA?"

It appears the weatherman, Rob Marciano of CNN was saying and showing that the "Northern United States" takes in much more space than is USA territory. Maybe they should just concentrate on doing "BREAKING NEWS" instead of geography lessons, which their graphics guy is not too clear on, and needs a further education.
I believe the cut off is the 49th parallel.

 
He actually said last week that "Heavy storms are coming across the Northern USA," including a large part of Canada ... Huh?



Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

Will Japan's next generation make better choices? We sure hope so.

A volunteer baths this 2 yr old rescued in Japan

Change Text Size - refresh/reload page to get back to increased size CLICK desired "+" sign size, still trying to figure this out.

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TORONTO, March 20/2011
Will this child make better choices for the future, and better plan their energy programs? This baby is just two months old and was born just before the disaster and survived the tragedy.
It will be a long road for Japan and we wish them well and if anyone can do it, I know the Japanese will succeed in re-building their country. I have noticed already even while after-shocks are still occurring they have started the cleanup process. I read a story yesterday about young 13-year-olds doing cleanup work in their town.

Click collage to go to my other BLOG

Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

It's a sad day for Toronto and CANADA - G20 The world was watching, and are still watching, we need an inquiry.

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Toronto, CANADA - March 17/2011
The G20 summit was held in downtown Toronto, Canada in June 2010 and the outcome was not that great as you can see by the posting below. Over 1000 citizens were arrested and most were released without any charges and the whole weekend event put a black mark on Toronto and it's nine months later and not much has been revealed.

Several groups have investigated the police and their actions and a few have been charged with assault on some people but the vast majority of the police have not been held accountable for the abuse of the citizens. Many citizen rights groups are calling for a Public Inquiry into the whole situation but the  Canadian Government has not moved forward with such a finding.

Many regular citizens were caught up in the crowds and arrested for walking down a street, many young people were searched for no reason and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was thrown out the window for one weekend in Canada's history.

Several lawsuits have been launched against the Toronto Police Service (TPS) and the organizers of the summit and also against individual police officers who were identified by videos and still photographs that were taken.

Click READ MORE below to read on about the G20 a sad day .... Lots of videos and great LINKS.

Are CNN and others, milking this horrible nuclear "meltdown" situation in Japan?

Toronto, CANADA - March 16/2011 - I'm not a huge fan of CNN, but recently with Egypt, Libya and now Japan, there is no better source for news than CNN. One of my concerns is for their reporters, why are they not moving out of Japan with all the dangers that exist because of the nuclear explosions and release of the radiation poisons into the air?

I would have been out of there a few days ago, or even better, I wouldn't have even gone there, are they insane?
Does anyone really believe that the government is being honest with the information they are releasing to their people about the radiation dangers? The nuclear plant is run by Tepco which has a very checkered past and has not always been completely honest with the people.
So many questions and no answers, but CNN is doing very well trying to get the answers to these questions and many others. One thing CNN is doing which I don't like, is saying every night on the Anderson Cooper show at 10pm,  "We will be on tonight for a full Live two hour show" but it turns out they just run the one hour show for two hours back to back, I'm not sure why they are lying about such a simple thing.
UPDATE - March 17/2011 - I watched Anderson Cooper last night and it appears they are listening because for the first time that I have noticed they actually had a full two hour LIVE show on Wednesday night. Are they reading my BLOG?

The reporters and the citizens of Japan are still in danger in my opinion and someone must help them all. Tonight I heard a report that the 50 workers who were still at the Fukushima nuclear  power plant had left, but I find that very hard to believe. They are risking their lives by being there in the first place and if they have left who will be there to manage the shut-down before things get way out of hand?
It seems clear to me that there is still a "meltdown" in effect and someone must be there to manage this crisis and if they are not, things will only get worse.

People will be required to wear these suits and for how long, no-one knows.

Let's consider this amount of radiation exposure to the human body. No amount is acceptable, but it has been reported that a safe level is about five milli-sieverts per year, and on comparison if you have an X-ray, you are exposed to 0.1 sieverts. You do the math, it's dangerous and everyday the people of Japan are being exposed to this without full disclosure from the government.

 What is going to happen if this radiation gets into the food chain? This cloud smoke or steam that is coming from the power plant is floating over the residents still alive from the earthquake and tsunami and now they have to deal with this. This radiation can fall on the ground and then the cows eat it and it can be ingested by humans (milk or meat) and we all know what that means. A lot of this is still unknown at this time because much of what happened in CHERNOBYL, Ukraine in 1986 was with reactors that were built 60 years ago and we know a lot more now. This two-three month old child (on the right) was rescued from the devastation yesterday and will she live trouble free until she is 40 years old?

We shall again pray for all the Japanese people tonight, and wish all the best for their future and hope that this radiation problem is not as bad as it seems. We can only hope.
To read more on the disaster check out the NEW YORK TIMES.





Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

How do I increase TEXT size when I'm surfing the internets? I can never read anything. HERE's HOW.

UPDATE - Scroll down and you can change the TEXT for my whole BLOG to any size you like.
It took me years to find out this little secret and for a page that doesn't have a "Increase text size button" (test out the one I just added below, small, medium, etc, it changes size of the whole BLOG)  how do I change it so I can read it?
Well here's the answer, and I shall make it larger/LARGER so you can READ it.

UPDATE: December 2011 - Another easier way to change it on any computer is to hold down the control key, and then hit the PLUS or MINUS sign at the top of your keyboard on the right side.
Seasons Greetings to all.


It's really very simple, just hold down the control key and move the scroll button (on your mouse) up/down and the page will increase/decrease in size.
 
Change Text Size Here for my whole BLOG if you wish or use the tips I explained.

Small
Medium
Large
Larger
Largest
 
Why did it take so long for me to find out this simple solution?
I'm not sure why but it has seemed to be a guarded secret. Well know everyone knows, give it a try. I'm really such a nice guy and check back I will have many more secrets that everyone wants to know.

To get back to my main BLOGGER BLOG
CLICK HERE

But then again it might just be me, maybe everyone already knows, and I'm just a dork for NOT knowing.

What about laptops there's no mouse.
Well yes, I finally figured it out myself because there is an up/down touch bar next to the main touch pad. You just hold down the control key and move your finger up/down on the bar, usually to the right of the main touch pad.








Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

Libya, Egypt, 'We only want what you have' and they can't leave, these are their countries, they just want FREEDOM.

  Toronto, CANADA - How very sad, we hear about all the people from USA and Canada getting out of Libya, but what about those that cannot get out. Many have the resources to get the borders and go to Tunisia and other countries but what about those that must stay and accept this horrible regime forever.

One thing I never heard reported in the news, for either country was that the government would fall if the leaders left. This is not true, since in my opinion the governments are well run by the many departments and agencies that currently take care of day to day business. Yes there may be a need for fine tuning, but the reality is these countries have been operating well for many years.

Where is the United Nations, what are they waiting for, more bloodshed? They should move in immediately and get their peace keeping troops into this troubled area to help the citizens who have no where else to go.

I have no "horse in the race" I am just a regular Canadian concerned about these people, all they want is what most countries in the world want, and that is peace and freedom to choose their way in life. Is that really too much to ask? We must all help these people and not let this continue. Contact your local government representatives and let them know you are outraged at what is happening to these wonderful people and to their countries.
We can make a difference.

I hear people complaining that "Is this the only news story" yes it is, if this continues to happen without any intervention by the world community this could happen in any country, and this is not right.


Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

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Bell FibeTV/internet bandwidth issues, "Why am I being charged so much on my internets"

March 11/2011 – TORONTO – Well I did speak too soon, same problems (pixillating and sound-outs on the TV side) after 1-2 days, I don’t know what I’m going to do now. Just so depressed by all this and feel like jumping off a bridge, but I shall still hang in there and hope for the best, but it means more calls to Bell Fibe and another round of service calls. You can read all our encounters and results CLICK HERE.

March 6/2011 – TORONTO – Called Bell FibeTV today to compliment them that the TV side is working much better but the final determination will be made when it is trouble free.

Today I want to bring up a revelation about the bandwidth issues we are all encountering across Canada with Bell and other large internet providers. Tech Savvy and other smaller operations have been giving unlimited bandwidth for years and the big guys don’t like it.

Bell Canada FibeTV/internet

The "BIG" guys

As I said, I called Bell FibeTV today to compliment the techie for the work he did yesterday for my FibeTV signal and he asked me “is there anything else I can help you with?” and the floodgates opened. I started to ask him why I was charged just under 22GB for three separate days in February 2011. My total usage for the month according to Bell’s own Bandwidth Usage Monitor was about 50GB which fell under my bandwidth limit for the month, but I wanted to try and understand why I was accounted for using such a large amount of bandwidth over three days, when my regular usage is well less than 1GB per day. This question was actually a side issue and I never really gave it much thought, since I was not being charged for any overages. (CLICK HERE for larger view of usage monitor)

Click READ MORE below to read on about Bell bandwidth issues ....

New Rule (spoof) - Entry to banks will be restricted with full body scan.

TORONTO, CANADA - It has been brought to our attention at First City Bank of Toronto that banking customers have been sneaking into the bank with suspected explosive devices and with this, we felt it necessary to bring in a new screening procedure for all banking customers and start full body scans and pat-downs.

We got the idea from the TSA in the USA.
Toronto, CANADA - November 24/2010   We realize we have bullet proof glass around the tellers, but it was discovered this may not withstand the explosive nature of an explosive device, so we felt it necessary to institute these new procedures. Please be patient and understanding as we will be as discreet as possible, although we may have to "grope" some persons who we feel are concealing any kind of contraband (ie. bombs)

You will have the option of going through our full body scan which is "allegedly" safe, and the radiation is very minimal (so we say,) and if we don't find the suspected explosive we will do a public, full body pat-down, if you don't comply, we will freeze all your funds in all your bank accounts, and if you were to die in an explosion, we have the right to your full estate if you die while being a customer of  First City Bank of Toronto. This is a picture of a Bank, but not ours, of course.

It has also been brought to our attention that the full body scan does not detect explosive materials, we feel it is then necessary to do a very thorough pat-down checking all "junk" on all passengers, I mean customers.

This is not a joke, since we do not conduct such stringent policies unless it is absolutely necessary and although we are not any part of the Federal Government we feel it is appropriate to conduct these new security measures.

If you fail to comply after entering the lobby of the Bank, the armed security staff, with the full force of the Federal Government will wrestle you to the ground and if need be, they will "taze you man," and you will have no recourse but to comply.

I'm sorry, but because of this new ruling by our head office, we cannot provide private pat-downs (we never even thought of that) and they will be conducted right in front of the other customers lined up as they enter the banking tellers area.

We realize this may seem to some to be a little extreme, we just can't take the chance of someone blowing up our bank with the fact that we have so much cash on hand (mostly $100 bills.)

Click READ MORE below to read on about "New Rules" City Bank of Toronto ....