Sunday Funnies

Super Moon Rising -- tonight

Astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term “Super Moon” 30 years ago to describe the extra large full moon rising tonight. It will be something special – a great look at the “biggest” moon in 20 years.

“Super Moon” describes a new or full moon occurring at the same time the Moon comes within 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit. It’s an event that happens 4-6 times a year, but according to a NASA Science News story, tonight's full moon will nearly coincide with the Moon's arrival at the closest point in its orbit around the Earth, resulting in the largest visible full moon in North America in two decades.

"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C.  said in the recent NASA Science News story. "I'd say it's worth a look."

Officially, a “Super Moon” is called a  "perigee moon."

"The full moon of March 19th occurs less than one hour away from perigee – a near-perfect coincidence that happens only 18 years or so," added Chester.

Full moons vary in size because of the moon’s oval shape, according to the article. The moon is an ellipse with one side [perigee] about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other [apogee]. Perigee moons appear about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than non-perigee moons – if the weather cooperates.

No earthquakes, tsunamis, or nuclear accidents should result, although that Mayan calendar thing still kinda freaks me out.

The mortgage interest deduction: for or against?

This is the kind of topic I really enjoy discussing: one which I don't have a strong feeling about (while others do); one which I can agree with the arguments on each side; and one which the usual liberal/conservative pros and cons don't easily apply.

Recently some folks at SaveMyMID.com have been asking me to blog on the issue, so I encouraged them to submit a guest post. As background, know that Rep. Gary Miller of California is sponsoring legislation to protect the mortgage interest tax deduction, and in 2007 Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) proposed a bill to repeal it. Miller is not only as solid a right-winger as the Right could hope for, he's also a shady developer from way back. CREW even lists him as one of Congress' most corrupt members. (The only Texan that makes their list is Pete Sessions, which is amazing in its own right.) Dingell, 84, is one of Congress' oldest and longest-serving  members, was the chair of the House Energy and Commerce committee when the Dems were still the majority, and survived a tough challenge last November to earn a 28th term. That makes this his 55th year in the House of Representatives (but who's counting).

Dingell's legislation in 2007 would have phased out the MID as part of his "carbon tax" reform package:

The phase-out schedule (begins) with houses of 3,000 square feet, which would lose 15 percent of their deductions, and ending with houses of 4,200 square feet and larger, which would receive no deductions at all.

“In order to address the issues of climate change, we must address the come forth of consumption -- we do that by making consumption more expensive,” Dingell said.

Then along came the housing market bust, of course, and in the interest of reviving the economy talk of the MID went away. But Obama's budget revives and expands it, particularly on the wealthy, who are still building large homes despite the Great Crash of 2010 2008.

The Obama administration hopes to tap the rich to help pay for its ambitious programs. Specifically, that would include slashing mortgage interest deductions for high-income taxpayers.

The proposal would cap at 28% the tax break for itemized deductions.

That would leave people in higher marginal tax brackets of 33% and 35% - the wealthiest Americans -- with a smaller benefit from the deduction of mortgage interest, state and local taxes and other items such as charitable contributions.

The move is projected to raise $318 billion over 10 years and fits nicely with the president's campaign pledge to increase taxes only for families earning more than $250,000. Few, if any middle-income homeowners are in tax brackets of more than 28%.

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a D.C. think tank, said he was impressed with this part of the budget plan.

"It's a no-brainer for economists," he said. "Why have taxpayers been [in effect] subsidizing home payments for the highest income people in the country?"

Preserving the MID is favored by a host of historically conservative special-interest groups like the National Association of Realtors.

Here's the argument SaveMyMID sent me.

Contrary to assertions by some economists, the income tax deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes primarily benefit middle class taxpayers with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000, according to the findings of a study by the National Association of Home Builders. Taxpayers earning less than $200,000 pay 43 percent of all income taxes. However, they receive 68 percent of the total benefit of the mortgage interest deduction and 77 percent of the total benefit of the real estate tax deduction.

Moreover, larger benefits go to larger households and families, such as those with children. And as a share of household income, larger benefits are collected by families with less than $200,000 income, indicating that these tax rules make the tax system more progressive. Ever since the federal income tax was introduced in 1913, the government has used the tax code to encourage homeownership. Now, as a result of the effort to reduce the federal deficit, the mortgage interest deduction is under fire. Proposed changes to the tax code would have a dramatic impact on homeowners and would significantly reduce the value of this deduction.

Suppose a home owner paying $10,000 in mortgage interest in a year faces a marginal tax rate of 25 percent and, to keep things simple, has enough other itemized deductions that they would itemize regardless of the mortgage interest deduction. For that homeowner, the mortgage interest deduction is worth approximately 25 percent times $10,000 or $2,500 in reduced taxes paid. With a 12 percent tax credit, the homeowner’s tax benefit would be reduced to $10,000 times 12 percent or $1,200.

Moreover, if other proposals affecting housing-related deductions went into effect, home owners would not be able to deduct their state and local property taxes or the interest on any home equity loan they might have and they would pay higher tax on a principal residence when sold.

Here let's add some additional remarks from various online conversations (too many to properly credit, I'm afraid) ...

Next time a right-winger complains about entitlements, ask him or her to not take the mortgage deduction on their taxes.

A liberal responds:

FWIW this is a deal-breaker for me. I will probably vote against anybody who supports repealing the mortgage deduction.

OTOH, the mortgage deduction doesn't meet the definition of an "entitlement", just like social security doesn't. Neither are entitlements. I believe that as part of our social safety net, we SHOULD have some entitlements, however... the mortgage deduction is not an entitlement in the first place.

Sure sounds like you are treating it like it is.

Nope. Here's the distinction.

I made an important INVESTMENT decision based on the deduction. I would have made a different investment decision (a different mortgage, house etc.) if it wasn't there. The mortgage interest deduction is no more an entitlement than the lower tax rate for capital gains vs. income is. It's about trade-offs, and if they change the rules in the middle of the game, I call foul. If they changed the rule for all NEW mortgages, that would be different.

It's not an entitlement, it's a tax incentive based on one type of investment vs. another.

More along that vein.

The mortagage deduction should be repealed.

It is corporate welfare for the banking and real estate industry. It causes the prices of houses to be inflated beyond their worth ("Look at all the money you will save by taking the mortgage deduction!"). If the deduction were eliminated the houses would come down in price because people would not be tricked into taking loans which they can't afford. Get rid of it.

Wrong on two points.

First, it doesn't help banks at all; they charge the same interest rate whether you deduct interest from your taxable income or not. It does help a potential homeowner by lowering the net cost of owning a home. Second point, I don't see how people are being "tricked" into taking out loans they can't afford and why would a bank want that? If you can't afford your home loan and default on it, then the bank has to foreclose on the house and they'll probably lose a lot of money. If you're too dumb to make an intelligent decision about whether you can afford a mortgage, you shouldn't be borrowing money -- period.

Brokers/originators don't care if the loan is repaid or not. Fees/commissions for the mortgage originator are paid upfront with the closing costs. True, the mortgage lender suffers from a default. But by that time the originator is long gone from the transaction.

So what? The bank makes the final decision about whether to lend the money.

Based on what the originator tells them (my note: more accurately, the information collected by the originator, furnished by the borrower. Which could be manipulated by either/both for a favorable outcome). No investor intentionally bought bad paper. It was all funneled through secondary markets, changing hands several times before being bundled and sold as securities for investors. Hence the culprits had plausible deniability for passing the bad paper. In the end they stuck the bill to the US taxpayer.

Maybe the banks did crappy due diligence or maybe the originator committed fraud. The fix for those problems is not to bail out the banks and the securities firms and to prosecute fraud if and where it occurred. That is unrelated to whether mortgage interest should be deductible for the borrower.

I just can't argue with any of this so far. Here's something else.

The mortgage crisis is separate from the tax issue.

The former results from a system that placed rewards upon certain transactions without sufficient oversight to ensure that impropriety wasn't taking place. Such as an accurate rating of mortgage backed securities. And our legislative history of allowing large corps to privatize profits while socializing losses.

Interest deduction on taxes was originally intended to prevent the money from being taxed twice. Once by the Payee and again by the Lender. During the Reagan administration the rules were changed, and most loan interest was no longer tax deductible. The exception being the 'Interest on Primary Residence' and a secondary residence. Then the tax lawyers found ways to start incorporating home improvement loans into mortgages and others went further, selling HILs with the pitching of buying big-ticket items with the money.

Going back to the pre-Reagan view IMO is the right choice. Let everyone get the deduction for interest and avoid paying tax twice on the interest.

Finally, some of this.

Sorry chum, but us poor folks who are holding on to our homes by the finger nails use the mortgage interest deduction tax. Sure, it's only a little over $2,000 per year that I'm saving from adding to my income taxes, but every little bit helps.

If they change it, lots of middle class folks will see a HUGE tax increase.

You'd have to phase it out over time because people who bought their home calculated that into the decision, and you have to give them enough time to make a change. And in this housing environment, selling or refinancing is very tough for the middle class.

A wealthy family will have no problem restructuring their debt.

There are several classic confrontations inherent in the MID conversation, from economic vs. enviromental and tax cut vs. tax increase as well as the social and class concerns.

So is the mortgage deduction regressive, as some would seem to suggest? Do you favor it or oppose it? Are you a homeowner or not (or a Realtor or a banker or a lender, for that matter)?

FTR I am not a homeowner and never have been. I HAVE worked as a loan originator and my wife as a banker, mostly as an originator herself, though she has the experience of a big bank's deliberations in loan approval. I think I quite clearly see the pros and cons of both sides and lean in favor of reducing and/or phasing out mortgage interest deductions, most particularly on larger more expensive homes (as well as taxpayers). But I'm capable of being swayed by almost any argument.

What's yours? Please post it in the comments.

KISS at the Houston Rodeo

The first time I saw these dudes was in 1976, my senior high school year, at McDonald Gymnasium on the campus of Lamar University. I was 17 years old.

So last evening I took the wife to her first Rodeo to see them again.

KISS, by now, is as warm and familiar to fans as a (sparkly) bathrobe. There's nary a sense of danger, though Gene Simmons can still strike an imposing stance. Paul Stanley's voice has taken on a banshee screech, even when he's talking, and it's often funnier than it should be.

But the band's sense of humor is what keeps things from dwindling into complete parody. Stanley and Simmons are in on the joke. They're like vaudeville stars (in spandex). And the KISS army was out in force. Old-school fans and grade-schoolers in full makeup populated the crowd of more than 72,000, a big number for a weekday show, even during spring break.

If you haven't seen Simmons' reality TV show Family Jewels -- season 6 is on the way -- then you're not getting all of the joke. Gene's relatively normal suburban dad occasionally mashes into six-inch-tongue-in-cheek self-parodies of his stage character, and his relationships with Playmate "wife" Shannon Tweed, now a pinup victim of too much plastic surgery, and their children Nick and Sophie (seemingly unaffected psychologically by being burdened with parents like these) are never boring either. But I digress from last night.

Stage limitations cut out much of the band's extravagant stage show, which is a large part of the KISS experience. But they did what they could with pyro and fireworks, which punctuated every song.

Modern Day Delilah, from 2009 album Sonic Boom, was a strange choice for opening such an abbreviated set. But things soon sounded familiar: Shout it Out Loud, Deuce, Firehouse (complete with Simmons' fire-breathing finale) and Calling Dr. Love.

I Was Made for Lovin' You didn't pack as big a punch as it should have. It felt tentative instead of arrogant. But drummer Eric Singer managed a standout version of Beth, the night's only ballad.

I am ashamed to say I wouldn't have known the drummer's name if it hadn't been included in this article. Former kitmaster Peter Criss -- he wore a CAT Diesel Power cap in Beaumont 35 years ago -- long ago dropped out and was later diagnosed with breast cancer, rare for men. He's a survivor. Still couldn't tell you who or how many have replaced Ace Frehley over the years.

But my voluntary and semi-dishonorable discharge from the KISS Army after college and the corporate world summoned was all forgotten last night. My favorites were Detroit Rock City and of course the closer, Rock and Roll All Night. I would have loved hearing some of the old stuff, like Cold Gin or Black Diamond, but I'm sure they never play them live any more. Here's what we missed, fresh from that era ...

Stanley led the crowd through a military salute and the Pledge of Allegiance before kicking into a Rock and Roll All Nite sing-along and guitar-smashing finale. It was random, a little ridiculous and, overall, more fun than it should have been.

It was just as weird as you think it would be to see all of the cowboy hats and too-tight Wrangler jeans all around me, with flames shooting in the air and KISS onstage jamming. As a commenter at the link noted, I never thought I would have seen the day when this band led its fans in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Despite that brief return to current reality, for about an hour last night I was back in high school.

Teabagger starts fight at rally

What did you expect?

One person was arrested Tuesday after a scuffle broke out during a rally on the steps of City Hall to protest cuts in the state budget.

A Houston police spokesman confirmed that one person was arrested for misdemeanor assault but didn't have any specific details. The spokesman said it was the only incident of note at the Texans Day of Outrage protest rally.

A Houston man said a scuffle broke out after an unidentified man carrying an umbrella and a video camera moved toward the podium during one of the speeches.

"He kept advancing step by step, until he was right in his face," said Dan Joyce. Joyce said he supports the 400-500 people who attended the rally.

The man took a swing when Harris County AFL-CIO president E. Dale Wortham came toward him, Joyce said.

"He landed a punch," Joyce said. "Mr. Wortham did not retaliate."

Joyce said Wortham did not appear to be injured.

Others at the rally pulled the man away. Houston police officers took the man away in handcuffs, Joyce said.

Here's the video. Pretty provocative on the part of an old white dude all by himself.

Update: Stace at Dos has more pictures of the perp, including being handcuffed and led away by HPD. And the Chron has more video -- it inaccurately describes the rally and the counter-protest as between "Democrats" and "Republicans" -- that includes fellow blogger Egberto Willies...



Update II: Big Jolly demonstrates his math handicap again, though he does manage to conclude that Mr. Agitated TeaBagger was wrong in attacking the podium.

Taxing Questions – How Wisely is Tax Money Being Spent?

The following guest post is contributed by Phillip Donavan, who writes on the subject of Online Political Science Degrees. Phillip can be reached at his email: phillip dot donavan at gmail dot com.

The trade unions in Wisconsin want higher taxation for the super-rich so that their benefits are not cut; there are suggestions being put forward to increase gasoline tax to $1 by the CEO of Hess Corp., John B. Hess as a way to introduce fuel economy measures and moderate the demand for gas in the coming years; and there is a general outrage at the proposed hike in taxes. It is in this backdrop that we hear news of tax dollars being put to use to train counter-terrorist squads to annihilate Jihadi units.

But that’s not wrong, you say? Well, not if the units are being trained to counter terrorism in any form. But when they’re being indoctrinated to form an image of Muslims that is distorted and skewed, then we do have a problem at hand. According to progressive think tank Political Research Associates (PRA), the US government is spending millions of tax dollars to set up unregulated training programs for the police and others in law enforcement, and that these programs are spreading the ideology that Muslims as a whole are a dangerous lot because Islam is a violent religion that endorses terrorism.

One training conference which the agency attended was held late last year by the International Counter-Terrorism Officers’ Association, a unit of New York police officers formed after 9/11, and it featured an invective that could at best be called rabid; delivered by Muslim-turned-Christian Walid Shoebat who features in many of the training sessions, it went on to state how all Muslim men raped women and children and were pedophiles who were taught to kill people of other religions with a smile on their faces. The presentation was titled "The Jihadi Mindset and How to Defeat It: Why We Want to Kill You” and sought to negate the fact that Islam is a peaceful religion.

According to the author of the PRA report Thomas Cincotta, this kind of mental conditioning could spell disaster because it essentially conveyed the message that anyone who was a Muslim was a traitor and extremist. While it’s true that many terrorists follow extreme Islamic principles and methods, the converse is not always true – just because you’re a Muslim, it doesn’t give law enforcement the right to harass or persecute you. This is infringement of religious freedom, just as Tennessee is hoping to introduce a law that will ban the practice of the Islamic law Sharia which defines a way of life under the pretext that it breeds extremists and spawns terrorism.

By going to such extreme measures, we’re proving that we’re just as narrow-minded and bigoted as the few Muslims who hate the West and are bent upon wreaking havoc on any nation and its citizens who don’t follow Islam. We’re adopting their attitude and being indoctrinated into believing that all Muslims are terrorists and must be viewed with a jaundiced eye, just as extremists are raised to believe that the Western world is full of infidels who must be killed because they belong to a different faith.

When contacted, one of these training agencies, Security Solutions International (SSI) which is based out of Miami, responded to these allegations as those of “people who were politically motivated and out to weaken the anti-terrorism efforts of the country”. It’s all well and good to combat terrorism, but not with propaganda and vicious invective which is sure to harm and ruin innocent people just because they follow a certain way of life.

Update: More on this story from TPM Muckraker.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is still working on springing its clocks forward as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff noted that in the days just before the Save Texas Schools rally, State Rep. Scott Hochberg filed a bill that made clear what the effects of cutting the public school budget would mean for local school districts.

Despite a strengthening progressive uprising, the Texas Democratic Party remains so feeble that it appears unable to capitalize on an open US Senate seat in 2012. That's why the nascent movement to draft Tommy Lee Jones to run keeps gaining steam, notes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

As thousands of Texans turned out on Saturday to "Save Texas Schools", WCNews at Eye On Williamson reminds us whose fault it is that Texas schools need saving -- and that their ruin has been the GOP's plan all along: Yes Governor Perry, it is your fault.

Letters From Texas poked fun at Bill O'Reilly for his claim that President Obama was the first African-American candidate for president, which is absolutely true if you ignore five or six other African-American candidates for president.

Libby Shaw at TexasKaos explains how Governor "It's not my fault" is going to cut care for Granny. Read all about it and then plan to attend the Day of Outrage event near you! See here for more.

Stace at DosCentavos also tells us about the big rally at the Texas Capitol. It's got pictures and everything!

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes Dan Patrick is a woman-hating asshat without a sense of irony.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted the March 12, 2011 passing of his father. Tony Aquino was a combat veteran of the Korean War, an award-winning journalist, and a committed liberal. Tony would have wanted you to each day fight for a more fair and just society.

This week at McBlogger, Captain Kroc went to the Rally to Save Texas Schools and came away a little underwhelmed.

Sunday Funnies

The mess is here.

A sad yet brutal truth about our beloved Great State, the 17-year one-party Republican rule of it, and the state of the opposition. The Texas Tribune:

In recent weeks, an idea of Houston attorney Geoff Berg's turned into a Facebook page and then became a website that he hopes might spark a movement. The message: "Draft Tommy Lee Jones for Senate."

Berg, a left-leaning commentator and host of the radio show Partisan Gridlock on KPFT, says he is "absolutely serious."

"I can't think of another Democrat in Texas," Berg says, "that has the necessary name ID, that has positive name ID, that would be able to raise money, and that would have at least the potential to attract swing voters and a substantial number of Republicans."

Berg says he would "love" to see former Comptroller John Sharp or former U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards replace retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The only problem, he says, "neither one of them can win, and I'm certain they know that."

As the Trib notes, Berg hosts "Partisan Gridlock" on Houston's KPFT radio and is accurately described as a political southpaw with a mostly low opinion of the Democrats in general and the Texas Democratic Party specifically. He floated this idea three weeks ago in his blog post at the Chron. Continuing with the Trib...

Assuming Berg's right, does that say more about Jones or the state of the Democratic Party? "It probably says a lot about both," Berg says, "and it also says a lot about the state of our politics."

So far, Berg does not believe the Republican field for 2012 is particularly inspiring either — but "whatever right-wing extremist they nominate is going to waltz right in if the Democrats don't have a credible candidate."

A legitimate Democratic star could change that, he believes. Think of it this way: the three-plus minute YouTube video former Republican Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert released after jumping in the race doesn't hold a candle to Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

To make this point, Berg recently released a YouTube video of his own:

Berg is, as usual, dead solid perfect in his analysis. The Texas Democratic Party is in the same shape as the California Republican Party: impotent, toothless, and all but extinct. There's lots of excited liberals and progressives throughout Texas -- just look at the rallies taking place yesterday and next Tuesday --  but the TDP has spectacularly weak management at the top, little money, less enthusiasm, and no improved prospects for the future. All that after seventeen years of 100% Republican rule at the statewide level, all nine SCOTX justices, and in the wake of the 2010 Red Tea Tide, near-supermajorities in the Texas House and Senate. The Texas Green Party achieved ballot status for 2012 based initially on the impotence of Boyd Richie failing to recruit a candidate to run for Comptroller in 2010, an inexcusable mistake (yet he continues to head the TDP to only the most perfunctory objection and with nothing but a handful of opposition).

Personally I support a Jones candidacy for all of these reasons, but deplore the Schwarzneggar-ization of American politics. The only way the CA GOP managed to get someone in the governor's office was to recruit a movie star, and he was of course an epic failure. Every time a famous person's name gets floated for office anywhere, it makes me cringe.

Still, seventeen years wandering in the desert is too long. It's past time for a saviour, and Jones will do until one gets here.

Austin's "Save Our Schools" rally draws thousands

That's correct, Big Jolly; thousands. And thousands.

Thousands of teachers, parents and students swarmed the state Capitol grounds Saturday to protest the sharp education cuts that Gov. Rick Perry and many Texas lawmakers are pushing to close a budget shortfall.

The rowdy but peaceful gathering, which organizers said numbered at least 11,000, focused on some simple messages: Don't abandon children. Don't lay off teachers. Don't increase class sizes. Don't cut music, theater and art classes.

Chau Tran, selected as Teacher of the Year in 2010 at her elementary school in Austin, told the crowd she learned recently that she might get laid off next year.

"I was stunned and devastated," she told the crowd. "I love teaching. It's my passion. We are not numbers, we are not positions. We are people."

Increasing class sizes, cutting programs and firings educators could be toxic to the state's future, Tran said.

Dalton Sherman, 12, a Dallas student whose talks about hope and opportunity have earned him a television spot on Oprah, drew frenzied applause.

"We need our teachers. We need books. We need classrooms. We also need music, art and culture. We need these things to feed our minds," Sherman told the crowd. "We are scared about our teachers and schools and our dreams."

Courtesy to Martha Griffin and Susan Bankston, from their Facebook profiles, for some of the above photos. See more pictures at The World's Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, and at the Statesman.

I reallly like it that BJ has only the weakest amount of snark available as a response. This indicates that conservatives are failing to recognize the strength of this progressive populist uprising ... just as we underestimated the wrath of the TeaBaggers.

Update: Eye on Williamson has another pic and some video.

Madison's "Tractorcade" protest refocuses WI outrage

Clogging the Wisconsin Capitol grounds and screaming angry chants, tens of thousands of undaunted pro-labor protesters descended on Madison again Saturday and vowed to focus on future elections now that contentious cuts to public worker union rights have become law.

"This is so not the end," said protester Judy Gump, a 45-year-old English teacher at Madison Memorial High School. "This is what makes people more determined and makes them dig in."

The day began with a morning "Farmer Labor Tractorcade" that circled (Wisconsin's Capitol) Square with antique tractors and farmers who led the chants of "Show me what democracy looks like!" and “Recall Walker!"

Early afternoon saw "Art Workers March Together", aka "The Blue Tape Brigade". Lavishly decorated in the type of tape used to affix posters to the Capitol’s wall, around 100 actors, painters, musicians and others marched from the Overture Center to the gathering on the Square, beating drums and carrying possibly the largest and most elaborately constructed palm tree yet.

Of course, the highlight of the day was unquestionably the return of the 14 Senate Democrats. An overflow crowd that packed the Square and several State Street blocks greeted the returning senators like celebrities, chanting: "Thank you! Thank you!" and "Welcome home!"

Update: Tractorcade, the video.

Let me remind you of something.

When it comes to nuclear incidents (and accidents) the owners of the facility, government officials, and media all lie. If they can't cover up an incident they will minimize it.

When a serious crisis such as we are seeing in Japan occurs, the danger is repeatedly mitigated.

We've seen this pattern for decades. Minor releases of radioactive material are covered up for years, if not forever. Major incidents such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are downplayed, sometimes to ludicrous extents, until the extent of the devastation simply can't be hidden anymore. And even afterward reports of the event mostly marginalize the damage and the scope. Proponents of nuclear power in the United States like to point to TMI and say that no deaths occurred, all the while ignoring the fact that there are cancer clusters surrounding the downwind side of TMI, one full of thyroid cancers and childhood leukemia.

We're seeing the same game being played out in Japan. Since the reactor building at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor in Sendai, Japan exploded yesterday, the damage and worsening threat has been consistently underemphasized. Vague statements that were meant to be reassuring were issued, and all the buzz words were used. First we read that there was one reactor in danger, then two ... then five. Officials assured us that they could control the overheated core. Then we were told that a cloud of "slightly" radioactive steam was released. Radiation levels around the plant went up, then went down. All this while more and more people near the site were evacuated.

Since most people don't carry around a Geiger counter, officials feel that they can get away with minimizing the impact, and thus people nearest the accident are led to believe they can risk some amount of environmental exposure. Only later will we learn ("through the Internet" only, at first) that the damage, risks, and fallout -- literally as well as figuratively -- were much, much worse than anyone in charge disclosed. Since radiation poisoning only kills immediately with close exposure at dangerous levels, the plant and government officials will continue to say that all is well, nobody has died, the danger is over, etc. But radiation at low levels or exposure at a great distance over a long period can also kill. It just happens slowly, over a long period of time ... as in the next generation, even. Years after the incident, cancer clusters begin to pop up and people die prematurely.Particularly children.

Nuclear power has been shoved down the throats of the people in this world for the past sixty years despite the dangers, despite the threats, despite the fact that it is no longer by any reasonable measure an economical way to produce large amounts of electricity. A small group of powerful people have a vested monetary interest in continuing the nuclear path, and when disaster occurs they are able to exert their influence to put out the myths, spin the facts, and advance the lies and propaganda.

Don't fall for it. The evidence of nuclear's dangers are apparent in the cancer clusters of Pennsylvania. They are evident in a 2,800-square mile dead zone in Ukraine. And they are being played out for us now, on the eastern coast of Japan.

Update: This is what I'm talking about.