I must say that I am partial to a good Chinese Proverb. But recent events have led me to be believe that they are, in fact, fallible. The Proverb in mind is "The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it".
To me this would mean that if you left it alone, you don't get pricked. However, I think the photo above shows a rose that has thorns for everyone, whether we 'pick' it, or not.
I have the utmost sympathy for the people of Japan right now. Sincerely. And I would not want to be seen as being insensitive, but within days of the tragic events, we had people repeating that if we want to reduce our carbon emissions in Australia, the only reasonable option is nuclear power, and that to not use it, is in fact hypocritical.
Earlier today, a major Australian newspaper reported that fallout had reached Europe, and particularly Russia. How's that for irony. Further, radiation has been detected in food in Japan, and certain items have been banned from being imported into the USA. That is a lot of people being stuck by thorns they did not grasp.
I am concerned by the prospect of nuclear power being introduced into Australia. I don't believe that it is safe. It produces less carbon outputs than burning coal, but at what potential cost. I want to advocate against nuclear power, and support other renewables, and I choose to help others to do the same. You can march in the streets, write a letter to your member of parliament, or even invest your superannuation so that you don't support something that you don't want to.
As a final point, before starting this entry I quickly searched the Internet, under Japanese Nuclear Disaster. I read a paragraph or two on one of the articles about how the disaster has been classified as the worst since Chernobyl. Two people have died. It was then that I realised that there had been no mention of the earthquake, and I read the date of the article and saw that it was from 1999, and the disaster wasn't Fukushima, but Tokaimura, in 1999. The cause of that disaster was classified by the IAEA as human error and serious breach of safety protocol.
I don't want to grasp the 'rose' of nuclear power, and I don't want to be stung sitting idly by either.
