Learning moments

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
3/14/2011



Global media enhance the learning moments from last Friday’s dramatic magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We have learned again from this latest earthquake and tsunami. First, that we have not seen the peak of the earthquake intensities our earth and Mother Nature are capable of: The 1995 Kobe 7.2-magnitude earthquake demonstrated the physical devastation to industrial infrastructure, the 2004 Indian Ocean undersea quake visually highlighted the trans-oceanic devastation in lives (240,000 killed) a tsunami can wreak on coastlines of continents thousands of miles apart, the Sichuan magnitude 8 earthquake in China in 2008 pictured for the world the impact of such seismic disasters in a mountain setting as landslides blocking rivers threaten inundations of already hard hit quake refugees. The Christchurch, New Zealand quake shows that no place on earth, even the idyllic, can be complacent. The current Sendai quake highlights the risk of mega-quakes to nuclear power plants.

The world, especially the Philippine proponents of the new nuclear power project, undoubtedly watched with great anxiety the events at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. Commissioned 40 years ago and the oldest of the over 50 nuclear plants in Japan, the Light Water reactor Fukushima 1 power plant’s regular cooling system was disabled by the quake; its emergency power knocked out by the tsunami and back up battery-power cooling system didn’t suffice to cool down the reactor. While the Japanese military moved in emergency power the nuclear reactor continued overheating until explosions destroyed its concrete outer shell and broadcast all over the world. I followed the Fukushima events closely from the Japanese cable news NHK while following the analyses on RT (Russia Today, more comprehensive on Fukushima than CNN, BBC or Al Jazeera). Early evening the NHK put on screen the Japanese spokesman announcing that a total meltdown and major radiation leak had been averted.

For the past decade I have advocated the development of geothermal energy for the Philippines and crusaded against the proposal for a $1-billion new nuclear power plant. We are one of the richest in the world in geothermal energy, it makes no sense to indebt ourselves by another billion dollars and be dependent on uranium fuel monopolized by industrial countries. Our geothermal energy has proven to be one of the cheapest and most reliable for our energy needs. However, neither have I subscribed to the fear mongering of anti-nuke activists who caused our Bataan Nuclear Power Plant to be mothballed, which led to massive power shortages and billions wasted. The Fukushima power plant crisis should compel advocates of the new billion dollar nuclear power plant to pause; we hope they all join instead the campaign to push geothermal energy development to the maximum. The lesson of Fukushima for Filipinos: geothermal is the only alternative.

The Sendai, Japan earthquake and tsunami shifted the world’s focus away from Libyan crisis. Gadhafi started to turn the tide after the surprise of the armed insurrection that started in the eastern city of Benghazi. Today, it is clear that the turmoil in Libya is not the “people power” as it was in Tunisia or Egypt. The turmoil was a very well planned and deliberate attempt at a coup d’etat with armed insurrection. Western allegations of Gaddafi’s air force firing on civilian protestors were debunked by Russian satellite monitoring which showed no such flights. RT (Russia Today) also debunks alleged bombings as its resource persons said that no proof has been shown by the West that these have occurred, only CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera footage of jets flying overhead. Billowing plumes shown by Western media may really be artillery explosions. Rebel forces in expensive SUVs highlighted the “rich rebels,” as Argee Guevara noted; giving him the impression that the issue in Libya is not poverty, unlike in Tunisia and Egypt; the issue in Libyan is control of oil.

Two important developments in the Libyan situation are: 1) Hillary Clinton’s admission that Benghazi, stronghold of the rebels is the origin of many Afghan and Iraq al-Qaedas; 2) the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Arab League’s call for instituting a “No fly zone” over Libyan. Hillary report strengthened Gadhafi’s claims. The GCC and AL states are practically ruled by Western installed feudalistic clans where the more authentic “people power” are even today being suppressed violently. Amr Mousa, secretary general of the AL, is one of the two Western candidates to replace Mubarak. Gadhafi has criticized these Arab groupings repeatedly for their failure to oppose Western invasion of Iraq, inaction on the Palestine-Israel issues and subservience to the West. The only real independent, sovereign leader in this question of the “No fly zone” is Muammar Gadhafi, and if he survives this conspiracy against the socialism of Libya Gadhafi may just become the Arab people’s new Nasser.

In the Philippines, the people missed one learning moment when the mainstream media downplayed the P6-billion illegal tax write off Aquino III gave to Mirant and “Team Energy,” the past and present owners of the Pagbilao power plants, by Executive Order 27 of the President which does not have any legal cover for such as act. Taxation is the exclusive province of Congress. PeNoy cannot afford P 5.4-billion subsidy for millions of MRT-LRT commuters but he can afford it for one foreign power company?

(Tune to Sulo ng Pilipino, M-W-F, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; TNT with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8 : “ARMM Hocus PCOS?”; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and listen to our select radio and GNN shows)