Putting TGS issues aside, this is one reason why many of us do not see today’s macroeconomic problems as exclusively cyclical:
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Conservative Propaganda: Hiroshima, 66 Years Later
Someone forwarded this email to me. Its full title is "66 Years Later and an analysis of community mindset?." It is (as far as I can tell from the message data) from Sherry Lynn Craig.
It is the kind of web propaganda that irks me to the max. It is a by-the-book exploitation of logical fallacies to drive the point that welfare systems are bad for you. Very wicked stuff on the unprepared.
It begins with a flamboyant red-herring by asking "66 years later! What happened to the radiation that lasts thousands of years?" In huge fonts and horrendous colors as these things often are.
The message goes on with plenty of black and white pictures of the devastation right after the bomb was dropped. Here are just a few, I'll spare you the overkill:
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Then follow more images, this time showing modern-day Hiroshima, presumably from some tourism agency, clearly intended to highlight the city's bustling prosperity. Again, just to give you a taste:
 h5 |
 h6 |
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Right after, under the title "Detroit - 65 years after Hiroshima" an even longer series of pictures this time of dilapidated buildings in modern-day Detroit.
 d1 |
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 d3 |
And finally, the central argument behind this piece of work. I've made a screen grab so you could partake of the gaudiness.
The message concludes in a firework of fallacies:
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Can you think of a reason for not sharing this? .........Neither could I.
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I can think of a few reasons for sharing this, in this context here. One being those five... biblical closing statements. Do you have a favorite?
And what was the point with those thousands of years of radiation?
Tags: Conservative, Detroit, Hiroshima, Propaganda:
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by doone on -
Here is the reason for the small amount of radioactivity
Are Hiroshima and Nagasaki still radioactive? 
12The practical answer is, "No."
There are two ways residual radioactivity is produced from an atomic blast. The first is due to fallout of the fission products or the nuclear material itself--uranium or plutonium (uranium was used for the Hiroshima bomb whereas plutonium was used for the Nagasaki bomb)--that contaminate the ground. Similar ground contamination occurred as a consequence of the Chernobyl accident, but on a much larger scale (click here for more-detailed explanation). The second way residual radioactivity is produced is by neutron irradiation of soil or buildings (neutron activation), causing non-radioactive materials to become radioactive.
Fallout. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs exploded at altitudes of 600 meters and 503 meters, respectively, then formed huge fireballs that rose with the ascending air currents. About 10% of the nuclear material in the bombs underwent fission; the remaining 90% rose in the stratosphere with the fireball.
Subsequently, the material cooled down and some of it started to fall with rain (black rain) in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki areas, but probably most of the remaining uranium or plutonium was dispersed widely in the atmosphere. Because of the wind, the rain did not fall directly on the hypocenters but rather in the northwest region (Koi, Takasu area) of Hiroshima and the eastern region (Nishiyama area) of Nagasaki.
The maximum estimates of dose due to fallout are 0.01-0.03 Gy in Hiroshima and 0.2-0.4 Gy in Nagasaki. The corresponding doses at the hypocenters are believed to be only about 1/10 of these values.
Nowadays, the radioactivity is so miniscule that it is difficult to distinguish from trace amounts (including plutonium) of radioactivity caused by worldwide fallout from atmospheric (as opposed to underground) atomic-bomb tests that were conducted around the world in past decades, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s.
Neutron activation. Neutrons comprised 10% or less of the A-bomb radiation, whereas gamma rays comprised the majority of A-bomb radiation. Neutrons cause ordinary, non-radioactive materials to become radioactive, but gamma rays do not. The bombs were detonated far above ground, so neutron induction of radioactivity on the ground did not produce the degree of contamination people associate with nuclear test sites (Nevada test site in Southwest U.S., Maralinga test site in South Australia, Bikini and Mururoa Atolls, etc.).
Past investigations suggested that the maximum cumulative dose at the hypocenter from immediately after the bombing until today is 0.8 Gy in Hiroshima and 0.3-0.4 Gy in Nagasaki. When the distance is 0.5 km or 1.0 km from the hypocenter, the estimates are about 1/10 and 1/100 of the value at the hypocenter, respectively. The induced radioactivity decayed very quickly with time. In fact, nearly 80% of the above-mentioned doses were released within a day, about 10% between days 2 and 5, and the remaining 10% from day 6 afterward. Considering the extensive fires near the hypocenters that prevented people from entering until the following day, it seems unlikely that any person received over 20% of the above-mentioned dose, i.e., 0.16 Gy in Hiroshima and 0.06-0.08 Gy in Nagasaki.
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Permalink Reply by doone on
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Households Living on Welfare in Japan - yes they have a lot of houses with Welfare
Please put your mouse on the map aboveNumber of households living on welfare by prefecture, from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's report on social welfare adminsitrative affairs. In the statistics, the monthly number of households living on welfare is counted by prefecture. Here, the average for the 12 month period in year 2008 has been used. Because in the statistics, ordinance designated cities and major urban cities were counted separately from prefectures, the numbers were combined according to prefecture.
Because this is data for 2008, before the effects of last year's recession, it is necessary to note that the numbers have probably increased drastically in 2009. The official data for 2009 is expected to be announced by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in the autumn of 2010.
The greates number of households living on welfare per 100 households is in Osaka, with 4.35. This is two times the national average, 2.14. Kochi (3.75), Hokkaido (3.70), Aomori (3.36) and Fukuoka (3.24) follow. The norther part of Tohoku, Hokkaido and prefectures in western Japan are ranked high.
The correlative ranking shows that it is positively correlated with the Annual Rate of Unemployment. The rate of households living on welfare is high in areas with high rate of unemployment, which is, in a sense, only natural. It is negatively correlated with the number of manufacturing industry workers and industrial production. It shows that there are many unemployed people and a high rate of households living on welfare in areas with few manufacturing industries. However, because this includes the first half of 2008 in which the manufacturing industry was doing well, the data may be somewhat different in 2009.
It is also highly correlated with the rate of senior citizens living alone, which supports the fact that many households living on welfare are elderly households.
Interestingly, it is also highly related with the amount of Consumption of Beer. Anxiety about living due to unemployment, etc. may be boosting the amount of consumption of beer.HOUSEHOLDS LIVING ON WELFARE
Rank Prefectures Households Living on Welfare Standard
ScoreAmount per 100 Household Sort Desc Asc Desc Asc Desc Asc Desc Asc 1 Osaka 166,413 households 4.35 households 77.91 2 Kochi 13,016 households 3.75 households 71.07 3 Hokkaido 96,932 households 3.70 households 70.53 4 Aomori 18,989 households 3.36 households 66.64 5 Fukuoka 68,889 households 3.23 households 65.24 6 Kyoto 34,661 households 3.16 households 64.41 7 Okinawa 16,644 households 3.07 households 63.42 8 Tokushima 8,971 households 2.83 households 60.70 9 Nagasaki 17,037 households 2.81 households 60.41 10 Tokyo 158,077 households 2.57 households 57.66 11 Oita 12,433 households 2.48 households 56.73 12 Kagoshima 19,310 households 2.48 households 56.69 13 Akita 9,572 households 2.30 households 54.61 14 Wakayama 9,448 households 2.23 households 53.89 15 Kanagawa 79,644 households 2.08 households 52.14 16 Ehime 12,911 households 2.07 households 52.10 17 Hiroshima 25,043 households 2.07 households 52.06 18 Nara 11,200 households 2.05 households 51.86 19 Miyazaki 10,075 households 2.04 households 51.74 20 Kumamoto 13,095 households 1.82 households 49.25 21 Okayama 13,806 households 1.80 households 48.99 22 Yamaguchi 11,209 households 1.76 households 48.53 23 Tottori 3,842 households 1.71 households 48.03 24 Iwate 8,407 households 1.68 households 47.67 25 Kagawa 6,754 households 1.67 households 47.51 26 Miyagi 14,846 households 1.67 households 47.47 27 Saga 4,769 households 1.56 households 46.30 28 Fukushima 11,371 households 1.53 households 45.99 29 Chiba 37,431 households 1.50 households 45.57 30 Tochigi 10,558 households 1.43 households 44.76 31 Saitama 39,885 households 1.41 households 44.58 32 Mie 9,873 households 1.39 households 44.34 33 Hyogo 29,464 households 1.28 households 43.16 34 Shimane 3,512 households 1.28 households 43.15 35 Niigata 10,593 households 1.26 households 42.93 36 Aichi 34,978 households 1.24 households 42.64 37 Ibaraki 13,032 households 1.19 households 42.11 38 Shiga 5,611 households 1.13 households 41.41 39 Yamagata 4,214 households 1.07 households 40.68 40 Ishikawa 4,559 households 1.05 households 40.45 41 Shizuoka 13,682 households 0.97 households 39.57 42 Gunma 7,072 households 0.94 households 39.25 43 Yamanashi 3,049 households 0.92 households 39.05 44 Gifu 5,685 households 0.78 households 37.40 45 Nagano 6,011 households 0.75 households 37.07 46 Fukui 1,980 households 0.74 households 36.94 47 Toyama 2,276 households 0.59 households 35.35 Average 1,120,829 households 2.14 households 
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Permalink Reply by Michel on -
The message also forgets to mention that Japan has virtually no defense budget and has had none for the past 65 years - it does help any recovery effort not to spend 4% of your GDP on your military ambitions.
Comparison of U.S. spending with other countries
Military spending as a percentage of GDPThe 2009 U.S. military budget accounts for approximately 40% of global arms spending. The 2012 budget is 6-7 times larger than the $106 billions of the military budget of China, and is more than the next twenty largest military spenders combined. The United States and its close allies are responsible for two-thirds to three-quarters of the world's military spending (of which, in turn, the U.S. is responsible for the majority).[36][37][38]
In 2005, the United States spent 4.06% of its GDP on its military (considering only basic Department of Defense budget spending), more than France's 2.6% and less than Saudi Arabia's 10%.[39]information 2006 This is historically low for the United States since it peaked in 1944 at 37.8% of GDP (it reached the lowest point of 3.0% in 1999–2001). Even during the peak of the Vietnam War the percentage reached a high of 9.4% in 1968.[40] Countries like Canada and Germany spend only 1.4% of GDP on their military.
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Permalink Reply by Chris on -
Thanks for posting this information about the nuclear bombs doone. I've wondered about this for some time.
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Permalink Reply by Michel on
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1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
If the very rich share, they are not legislated out of prosperity. When you have a hundred times what you can spend, you're already on the verge of obscene prosperity. Giving away 25% of their excess would still leave them with a comfortable 75% excess.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
Another false dichotomy that is cheaply gold-plated! Try this instead: "... another person must work receiving a little less."
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
Yep. It's called taxes.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
Why would the ultra-wealthy want to multiply their wealth? Addition is not enough? It would seem that the richer they get the more afraid of subtraction they become. Hence the division scare.
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them.
Now half the people think they don't need to work? Which leads to the other half deciding to stop working? I wonder where she got those numbers.
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Permalink Reply by doone on
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Meanwhile in the world we live in most of the people in the world are becoming poorer due to circumstances beyond their control
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Permalink Reply by doone on
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The Census Bureau has released new data on wealth:
The recent financial crisis left the median American family in 2010 with no more wealth than in the early 1990s, erasing almost two decades of accumulated prosperity, the Federal Reserve said on Monday.
The median family, richer than half of the nation’s families and poorer than the other half, had a net worth of $77,300 in 2010, down from $126,400 in 2007, the Fed said. The crash of housing prices explained three-quarters of the loss.
This vast loss of wealth was compounded by a loss of income, as the earnings of the median family fell by 7.7 percent over the same period.
The story is here. Matt adds comment and posts a good chart.
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Permalink Reply by Davy on -
Yeah! Number 5 because the writer has no real idea of how people on welfare feel or think. (Yes! there are welfare cheats but they are in the minority as the Australian dept. of social security found out when they went and started to ferret out the cheats at expense of the Australian tax payer as the amount recovered was far less the amount spent ferreting them out)
The majority of welfare percipients would rather work than receive welfare, they accept welfare only because that is the only way they can survive. Been there done that got the "T" shirt as they say.
As for Hiroshima and Nagasaki- My father when he was in the airforce he was sent to Japan as part of the British Occupational Force and he visited the cities. He lived till 1987 when he died aged 62 of cancer that was more induced by booze than radiation.
Like you Michel, crap like this bugs me to the utmost.
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Permalink Reply by Michel on
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Re: Detroit - Like it's welfare that deleted all the jobs?
That's willful lopsidedness!
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Permalink Reply by Adriana on -
Unbelievable. What a load of excrement.
Japan actually does have a welfare system, mostly for the elderly (check Wikipedia). The society is very different than American society. Single parents (or unwed parents) are basically unheard of, and the number of drug addicted people in Japan is much lower than in the US. Family ties are stronger. It's a totally different society.
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