Sunday, March 13, 2011

My first e-book: Buy it now for only $4.99

Posted by Mickey Z on 03/13 at 05:29 AM
  1. Good morning everyone.

    Good luck with the new book Mickey.

    As for this...wow...i mean, just wow…

    http://bit.ly/fSl4ho

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  03/13  at  06:20 AM
  2. Wow - CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN, MICKEY.

    Hi Michael and all...Maybe we should consider taking IODINE tablets, just in case the plume comes our way.  A while back, Vermont was going to issue Iodine tablets to residents living near the Vermont Yankee Nuke, but then did not. They thought that it would be a public relations disaster to alert citizens to the real threat of nukes.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  03/13  at  10:26 AM
  3. Thanks, Michael and RMJ.

    I find myself saying this a lot lately: Even with all I’ve written about, I never truly imagined I’d be alive when the big collapse hit.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  03/13  at  05:25 PM
  4. Good luck with the book.

    Funny thing, I always assumed I would see the collapse…

    I just saw clip. Check it out starting at 2:09 in...I particularly like the last quip.

    Captcha agrees with a YES!

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  03/14  at  02:31 AM
  5. http://www.news-leader.com/article/20110313/NEWS06/103130400
    /Ham-radio-operators-upset-over-bill

    Sorry for the long link I just feel like the people who frequent this site would care about this story.  : )

    Posted by b_yak from   on  03/14  at  05:37 AM
  6. Good morning everyone.

    Hillary’s front man, P.J. Crowley recently stated, “the treatment of Bradley Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.”

    He pretty much sums up the history of america.

    He also resigned or was fired, whatever. Perhaps he can collect unemployment comp. so he won’t need to go into his multi-million dollar bank account.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  03/14  at  05:53 AM
  7. Hi All

    Large protests in Germany see tens of thousands come out against nuclear power.

    It’s weird though, as a teen in the 80’s I was quite taken by all the CND action in the UK. Then it all just went away. The utter insanity of nuclear weapons and power plants that will pop if unattended in 24 hours didn’t go away though.

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  03/14  at  12:11 PM
  8. It’s amazing to see the different TV “experts” on all things nuclear. I saw (on either BBC or ITV) that said about “steam” being vented...which might contain “hydrogen”....and possibly the odd radiocative isotope. He added the radioactive bit like it was a silly little possibility...when radiation levels inside were already 1000 times normal.

    Earthquake/Tsunami disaster...with nuclear power stations nearby.
    “Disaster?...Would you like to SuperSize that?”

    Posted by Rick (The Cartoonist) from England  on  03/14  at  01:14 PM
  9. A species living even remotely in harmony with the planet would never build nuke plants on a fault line...would never build nuke plants, for that matter...wouldn’t even build cities. Humanity has long seen itself as above nature and now it’s all tumbling down and the momentum cannot be reversed. I mourn for the dead but anyone over college age is guilty by association. Simply put: None of us did anywhere near enough to stop the global death march and all we can work for now is a softer place to land.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  03/14  at  01:18 PM
  10. If I ever bring up the fact of nukes existing being insane in conversation I get looked at as if I’m from Mars.

    Even after I destroy whatever weak counterpoint comes next, people then just tend to stare into space and not want to deal with it. i think it’s just easier for them to live in denial than do something.

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  03/14  at  04:16 PM
  11. Hello, Mickey, Michael, Rosemarie, subgenius, b_yak, Joe of Maine, Andy and Rick - from Daylesford where it 10:20am and the sun is out - and good luck with your ebook, Mickey!

    And those Australians who are in favour of the nuclear history (at the moment, there is only one nuclear plant used for research purposes in Australia) have already assured that everything is A-ok.

    Posted by Helga from Daylesford, Australia  on  03/14  at  06:19 PM
  12. Well, to throw some more beans into the jelly...as the last Tsunami a half dozen years ago was unquestioned for the most part, there is always us skeptics that wondered if an underwater nuclear bomb test was possible? Or some other kind of war shit. Especially since India was reported as testing a bomb in that general time frame?

    It’s certainly sensational to think this was a natural disaster, earthquake, but I always ponder the possibilities of insane weaponry development that was unpredictable.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  03/14  at  06:54 PM
  13. Panic is setting in over here in Asia as radiation has been reported to leak (affecting a 20 km zone around it for now).

    Here’s what I’m thinking ... if this is the reaction to a power plant leak, what do they all think happens when a powerful modern nuclear bomb goes off in the open? Why haven’t they all been protesting it or been involved in progressive change in some way?

    Will this wake people up? Well even the reaction to Chernobyl went away eventually so don’t hold your breath.

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  03/15  at  01:16 AM
  14. Can anyone recommend a decent site for Fukushima news? Between chaos on the ground and official spin, it’s hard to know what’s happening...except that h. sapiens has done it again.

    Apparently three reactors have gone rogue and three more are at risk. More damage and the wrong wind could make large areas of Japan uninhabitable.

    When does Godzilla make an appearance?

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  03/15  at  05:40 AM
  15. Zenprole.

    Try this guy

    http://phronesisaical.blogspot.com/2011/03/exposed-to-radiation.html

    and some of the links on this one…
    http://phronesisaical.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-links-on-japanese-reactor_14.html

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  03/15  at  05:42 AM
  16. and the latest on BBC was this…

    “The radiation dosages of up to 400 millisieverts per hour recorded at the Fukushima plant “are levels that you have to take very seriously indeed to ensure you avoid immediate health effects”, Professor Richard Wakeford from the Dalton Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester tells the BBC World Service. He says Japanese authorities will be imposing a ban on food and drink from the area and issuing iodine tablets to block the intake of radioactive iodine from the thyroid.”

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  03/15  at  05:44 AM
  17. Oh and I published this one yesterday. It is not very technical, but it is true…

    http://bit.ly/eN4m0l

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  03/15  at  05:48 AM
  18. An excellent and chilling analysis on Japan right now:

    Posted by Bob T. from   on  03/15  at  06:07 AM
  19. Happy to meet you, b-yak #5.  I used to be WA2YYU.

    Years ago, during the 70s, when I lived in New Jersey, the electric company wanted to build a nuclear power plant in the ocean off the coast of Atlantic City. I, and many others protested. Ralph Nader came to Cape May - at no charge - and supported us. The nuke was never built. Ralph did this with no fan fare and no publicity. I have voted for him in every election since.

    About the stripping of Manning… Maybe we should have a time of solidarity and go nude until he is released. Think about it - every street corner filled with nude citizens standing at parade rest.  Quite an image.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  03/15  at  09:55 AM
  20. A Little Of-Topic:

    But this SUCKS:

    Vietnam veteran, Rastafarian, flutist and joyful iconoclast — is heading to a showdown: His hilly, brushy three-acre spread deep in the backcountry is set to be sold for back taxes and penalties.

    LA Times article from today.

    The full story and some videos.

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  03/15  at  09:58 AM
  21. Thanks for the links, michael and Bob T.

    subgenius: often, in a story like that, the words “by law” can be replaced with “when you suffer several sharp blows to the head.” In about 2003 I saw a sign an hour east of SD, advertising homes “From the $800’s.” Forget evicting him; we should give Diliberti a medal.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  03/15  at  01:02 PM
  22. Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear whistleblower called upon to offer a progressive (sic) angle on the nightmare in Japan, said this earlier today on Democracy Now:

    “If there is any goodness coming out of this, it’s that the wind is blowing out to sea right now. If the wind were to shift inland, I think we’d have a different situation.”

    So, it’s “goodness” that the long-besieged ocean - and all that lives in it - will be radiated thanks to our insatiable need for “energy”...before inevitably visiting that radiation back upon the myopic humans who created this mess?

    This is precisely the human-centric, anti-nature way of thinking that has now brought the entire eco-system to the brink of total collapse.

    Thanks, Democracy Now...for nothing (as usual).

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  03/15  at  01:23 PM
  23. The thing that is disgusting about this crisis is that it almost seems like some people WANT the meltdown to happen.

    By that I mean the media who want to sell copy and wingnut blogs on the left who want to do various “I told you so” stories and wingnuts on the right who think it is the rapture.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  03/15  at  01:46 PM
  24. Yep, Mickey. It reminds me of the old saying YOU CAN NEVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY.  It is not a matter of ‘if’, it is a matter of when and where.  Reports are saying that we have run out of potassium iodide pills.

    Capitalism, GE, and Wall Street - the Triangle of Destruction that might destroy the planet.

    Everyone here remember the old General Electric slogan “WE BRING GOOD THINGS TO LIFE”.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  03/15  at  01:50 PM
  25. WE ARE ALL DOWN WINDERS - WAITING FOR THE PLUME…

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  03/15  at  03:14 PM
  26. I am all for increasing the public’s exposure to Mickey, and on that note I applaud almost any angle that furthers his influence. That said, I wonder out loud for one and all whether or not e-books encourage the use of Kindle, a source of radiation for one and all which is proliferating, and which poses an even greater threat, as Wi-Fi does, than cell towers. Because of the nature of what is transmitted. The talk about iodine tablets is clearly --intentionally or otherwise—a distraction from the dangers at hand. In terms of creating the illusion that they offer some kind of significant enough protection. In terms of playing down the threat (for at least the U.S. public) of daily self-exposure to radiation vis-a-vis high tech gadgetry. That source is a much greater health risk than what’s slated to cross the Pacific. I love Mickey’s comment, by the way, about the ocean, about how commentators talk as if no thing is there worth talking about. Love, Ox P.S. Soon we relocate to Europe where we will continue to try to do something to stop the horrid momentum on many counts. In closing, I point out that the French government—for all its serious downsides re nuclear proliferation, etc.—has (at great expense) taken all the Wi-Fi out of its public schools and libraries; most centers that is. Love, Ox
    Call at any hour or email for continued contact overseas.

    Posted by Richard Martin Oxman from Aptos, CA, USA  on  03/15  at  07:46 PM
  27. Well things look bad. Always do, even when there aren’t 200 wars, nuclear plants falling apart, earthquakes, children running to the emergency ward to get a cell phone pulled out of their ear or ass.

    I’ve read about iodine twice this morning already and it’s only 5am.

    Eat Kelp, use Sea Salt, smoke all tobacco leaf cigars, throw Sage into the air before start your bulldozer. Hum, OM for 30 consecutive minutes, 80 times a day.

    The Deciders everywhere continue to decide, continue to screw up everything. Why would any police or national guard want to defend these wack jobs who want to decide for others? I want a ‘confession’ from the pope. I want the generals and admirals to take that silly looking tinsel off their shoulders. I want shorter sentences with more meaning.

    Posted by Joe Ciarrocca from The Window  on  03/16  at  04:19 AM
  28. I want to run with Mickey’s point there about the weird ‘logic’ that goes on in times like these.

    Here’s another one - and it’s not going to be a pleasant thing to say. But ... I saw plenty of tweets, comments and reminders amidst all the reports of the 50 or so people from the plant’s company risking their lives to stave off a greater disaster there.

    But are they talking about the same company that built a nuclear power plant on a fault line at the coast which is prone to tidal waves? Surely those are the people who’s every other action up until this point has put millions of other people’s lives at risk? Right?

    Is it just me?

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  03/16  at  10:37 AM
  29. Richard: I hear you but what options do I have besides paper or digital...both unsustainable and toxic?

    Andy: Agreed. If humans refused to work in nuke plants, there would be no nuke plants.

    RMJ: Got your book and love it. We should do an interview very soon.

    Hello to everyone else…

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  03/16  at  11:46 AM
  30. On that note, I just put up a new post. See you all there.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  03/16  at  11:48 AM
  31. The choice is not just between paper and digital. There is also the option of less publishing and publishing as per the usual. I understand that that is easy for me to say, an (relatively) unpublished person. But, as an activist, there are other options, especially if any writer is writing in great part because of wanting institutional change, as I know is the case with you, Mick. I submit that there is—has been for quite a long time—virtually no discussion about the fact that there’s entirely too much publishing in lieu of meaningful action. Why is that the case? I will not be presumptuous and delineate all the negative reasons for publishing… out of respect for your intentions, Mick, AND the glorious hard work you have given one and all with your life blood. That said, it would be worthwhile to discuss… to begin the discussion respecting WHY publishing continues unabated, proliferating so. In light of the fact that, as you say, both paper and digital are unsustainable. Flying around on the lecture circuit for too many “activists”, flying around for seminars and conferences for too many “activists” is also unsustainable… and yet that proliferates too. Why? There are options. And what those options are can best be determined by having one and all in on a discussion, not from me delineating WHAT from the “top” down. I am at the bottom of this Creativity Barrel with you, and we should get to work on that note, I believe.  Love, Ox

    Posted by Richard Martin Oxman from Aptos, CA, USA  on  03/16  at  12:00 PM
  32. Again, I hear you, Ox....but as you know, I’ve already made the treacherous choice to not use my skills and abilities in service of the machine and it’s cost me more than I ever imagined.

    So, this e-book is my way to earn the bulk of what the book sells for as opposed to a tiny fraction (read: 5-10%) when going through traditional (paper) publishers.

    It’s a way to earn a little much-needed money that, for me, far more palatable than 99% of the options available to me.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  03/16  at  12:05 PM
  33. To clarify, Mick, you have my unqualified blessings, blessings without reservations. Truly. The bottom line point here, however, for me, is that there’s no discussion of the general state of what I’ve described among activists. Perhaps you can contribute to encouraging such a discussion. For I could name—and so could you—a 100 well-known alternative writers from the top of my head who do NOT have to resort to additional publications or submit to ongoing meetings ad infinitum. Do not have to feed The Routine Lecture Circuit. What say you? What say your readers? The talk here too quickly becomes too reminiscent of what was going on when I entered the Activist Picture courtesy of your kindness. Love, Ox

    Posted by Richard Martin Oxman from Aptos, CA, USA  on  03/16  at  12:14 PM