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Monday, March 14, 2011

Today in Slate: How Poisonous Is That Cloud of Radioactive Gas? Plus, Make your March Madness picks with Slate's mascot and school color brackets.

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Today: March 14, 2011

Nuclear Overreactors

Nuclear Overreactors

Let's cool the political meltdown over Japan's damaged nuclear power plants.

By William Saletan

READ FULL STORY | More Science

Let's Go Blue Team!

Let's Go Blue Team!

Forget team names. Make your March Madness picks with Slate's mascot and school color brackets.

By Holly Allen

READ FULL STORY | More Life

Remembrance of Things Assed

Remembrance of Things Assed

How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

By Luke O'Neil

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The Best Way To Help a Rich Country Like Japan Recover From Disaster

The Best Way To Help a Rich Country Like Japan Recover From Disaster

Today's Republicans Would Be Embarrassed by the GOP's 1996 Arguments for DOMA

Today's Republicans Would Be Embarrassed by the GOP's 1996 Arguments for DOMA

Win Your March Madness Pool: Pick Texas To Take the NCAA Championship

Win Your March Madness Pool: Pick Texas To Take the NCAA Championship

What Exactly Is in That Cloud of Radioactive Gas? And How Poisonous Is It?

What Exactly Is in That Cloud of Radioactive Gas? And How Poisonous Is It?

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Biofuels Are Wasteful, Cause Hunger, and Exacerbate Global Warming

Biofuels Are Wasteful, Cause Hunger, and Exacerbate Global Warming

The Investigation Discovery Channel: Disturbing Footage To Watch During Breakfast

The Investigation Discovery Channel: Disturbing Footage To Watch During Breakfast

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The Latest Japanese Disaster News

By Jim Newell

The Latest Japanese Disaster News

The Latest Japanese Disaster NewsJapan, which has only been rocked by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, colossal tsunami and volcano eruption over the past few days, still faces the possibility of a meltdown at one or more of its major nuclear reactors. And even if that doesn't happen, the radiation that's been leaking already presents its own long-term problems. Other countries are rethinking nuclear power safety, now. Here's a roundup of the latest news.

  • The Associated Press reports that nuclear fuel rods "appear to be melting" in three reactors. This terrifying news comes from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edan — the government's top spokesperson — who said about the melting rods, "Although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening." But does "melting nuclear fuel rods" even count as a "partial meltdown"? That all depends: "Some experts would consider that a partial meltdown of the reactor. Others, though, reserve that term for times when nuclear fuel melts through a reactor's innermost chamber but not through the outer containment shell." So the two camps of experts have significantly different definitions of "meltdown." C'mon, Science.
  • Some 350,000 Japanese have become homeless and are staying at shelters, according to the New York Times.
  • The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission "has announced that the Japanese government has formally asked the US for assistance with cooling nuclear reactors," the Guardian writes. Why of course we'll help! Unless we don't, because the NRC says it's still "considering" providing Japan "with technical advice." Let's not be cads, NRC.
  • Japan — the third largest oil-consuming country in the world — has lost a devastating chunk of its refining capacity. According to one estimate, "the capacity loss (1.7mn bbl/d) accounts for about 36% of total Japanese oil refining capacities or 6% of Asia refining capacities."
  • A German commentator is comparing the would-be impact of a nuclear disaster to that of 9/11. Hey Germany: It's our job, in America, to peg every global disaster of any kind to 9/11, okay?
  • Speaking of America, the nuclear industry had been "poised for a comeback" in recent years here as the 1979 Three Mile Island disaster had receded into the distant past. But then this crisis in Japan comes along and hello, the "fragile bipartisan consensus" supporting nuclear energy expansion could fall apart now, just like everything else.

Previously:
The Latest News from Japan (March 13)
Street-Level Footage of a Japanese Town Washing Away
A Shocking Ground-Level View of the Tsunami

[Image via AP]

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The Afternoon Scoop - 2,405 Shot Dead Since Tucson


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The Daily Beast
The Morning Scoop MARCH 14, 2011
Cheet Sheet Latest Articles Entertainment Books
GUN CONTROL
1. 2,405 Shot Dead Since Tucson

In an op-ed Sunday, President Obama mentioned the thousands killed by guns in the wake of the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords. In this week's Newsweek, Andrew Romano and Pat Wingert explain how a court ruling and Dick Cheney are giving the president a chance to change gun laws for good.

Read it at The Daily Beast

JAPAN
2. Meltdown Feared at Nuke Plant

Nuclear fuel rods at Fukishima's number-two reactor—the only of the plant's three reactors to not have experienced an explosion so far—were fully exposed at one point Monday, increasing fears of a full meltdown. The exposure occurred after a pump flooding the reactor with sea water ran out of fuel. Emergency workers are now focusing their efforts on the number two reactor, which poses the greatest threat of meltdown. But Japanese officials say that meltdowns are probably already occurring at all three reactors.

Read it at Kyodo News

SUICIDE BOMBER
33 Killed at Afghan Army Base
Taliban claims responsibility.

UNDERCOVER
NPR: O'Keefe Misleadingly Edited Tapes
Glenn Beck's website backs them up.

TRAGIC
NY Bus Crash Claims 15th Victim
Driver apparently napped before the trip.

MEDIA
Al Qaeda Launches Women's Magazine
Woman poses with machine gun on cover.

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