# Rantings about stupid nuclear reporting, and I want to bitchslap somebody, also other crap **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077 "2011-03-26T19:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 56
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1101 "2011-08-16T18:40:47Z")
To sum up. “…really dangerous shit…” “…serious fucking problems…” “…you will get sick…” “Guaranteed.” Did I miss anything other than pages and pages of lunatic spewing and frothing? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1102 "2011-08-16T18:53:43Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > To sum up. > > “…really dangerous shit…” > “…serious fucking problems…” > “…you will get sick…” > “Guaranteed.” > > Did I miss anything other than pages and pages of lunatic spewing and frothing? Bananas! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1103 "2011-08-16T18:56:10Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Bananas! Apologist cheerleader deniers! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1104 "2011-08-16T19:01:47Z")
Is there a still-active thread elsewhere for reasonable discussion of nuclear safety/Fukushima Daiichi, or is this it? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1105 "2011-08-16T19:06:24Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > Apologist cheerleader deniers! Mmmm…cheerleaders. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1106 "2011-08-16T19:18:10Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Is there a still-active thread elsewhere for reasonable discussion of nuclear safety/Fukushima Daiichi, or is this it? I don’t think that’s going to be possible while fxm is around. Any thread, no matter how reasonably posited, is going to go off the rails within his first few “OMG TEH RADIATION IS COMING” posts. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1107 "2011-08-16T19:24:05Z")
And several have. One in comments about Cecil’s columns, one in the Pit, one in Great Debates… ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1108 "2011-08-16T20:13:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sailboat] Is there a still-active thread elsewhere for reasonable discussion of nuclear safety/Fukushima Daiichi, or is this it? [/QUOTE] I’d start another one in GD or GQ concerning your questions. If FXM decides to do what he seems to do best, then you can at least report him and maybe do us all a favor and get his ass banned. I think at this point most posters are going to just ignore anything he spews out in any other thread anyway since his credibility (low as it was to begin with) is completely shot. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1109 "2011-08-16T21:20:31Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > I don’t think that’s going to be possible while fxm is around. Any thread, no matter how reasonably posited, is going to go off the rails within his first few “OMG TEH RADIATION IS COMING” posts. You have it backwards, TEH RADIATION GOT HIM!!!, which explains the way he posts. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1110 "2011-08-16T21:33:32Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > You have it backwards, TEH RADIATION GOT HIM!!!, which explains the way he posts. OMG he caught teh gray? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1111 "2011-08-17T00:03:00Z")
The pro nuclears didn’t waste much time spreading the meme of “nothing to worry about”, as well as the myth of the “banana dose”, though truth be told the real news outlets were wise enough not to jump that train to idiocy. Bloggers and self styled pundits of course didn’t let facts get in the way of spouting the most vile nonsense about it. [http://shanegreenup.com/2011/03/fukushima-and-the-banana-equivalent-dose/](http://shanegreenup.com/2011/03/fukushima-and-the-banana-equivalent-dose/) > [@](#): > > **Fukushima and the Banana Equivalent Dose** > Mar 17, 2011 > After seeing sensationalist headlines in the newspapers about “Australians Exposed to Radiation!” and constant talk about radiation leaks and a recent radiation spike etc with relation to the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant, I started wondering why none of these news sources seemed to ever mention how MUCH radiation was leaked, or what amount of radiation is was spiked to… or how much exposure the Australians were exposed to . Now it sounds like there is a real concern, as well as simply noting the horrible and stupid way radiation is reported on in ‘the news’, which truly is a clusterfuck of course. But that isn’t what he focuses on at all. > [@](#): > > I don’t want to just go on a rant about how frustratingly terrible the news sources are for ommiting this incredibly simple and IMPORTANT element of these stories, although that is an obvious temptation….but seriously, I want to know. And I think that in order for people like me (non-nuclear physicists), I think they should present the information in the form of\*\* the Banana Equivalent Dose\*\* (BED). And there it is again. Clearly after Boing (and Wikipedia) debunked the illogical and nonsensical BED, a lot of people didn’t clue up. > [@](#): > > You see, because of the high Potassium levels in Bananas, they are significantly more radioactive than most foods. As such, for simplicity of explaining radioactive exposure, the “Banana Equivalent Dose” system was devised, and is used as simply as it sounds: “They were exposed to 50 Bananas worth of Radiation” for example. And there it is, in the most simple and ridiculous way possible. You can eat 50 bananas, or stand next to them, and it isn’t going to hurt you. The natural (and very slow) decay of potassium isn’t anything like the radioactive iodine, cesium, terrelium, cobalt, strontium, plutonium or other dangerous materials that come from a working reactor, or spent fuel rods. No matter how many misinformed idiots say it is. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1112 "2011-08-17T01:20:46Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > The pro nuclears didn’t waste much time spreading the meme of “nothing to worry about”… You see, this is a perfect example of the straw man fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1113 "2011-08-17T03:13:48Z")
except the link is to a march 17th article ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1114 "2011-08-17T03:54:42Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > You can eat 50 bananas, or stand next to them, and it isn’t going to hurt you. The natural (and very slow) decay of potassium isn’t anything like the radioactive iodine, cesium, terrelium, cobalt, strontium, plutonium or other dangerous materials that come from a working reactor, or spent fuel rods. You are an idiot. The potassium in bananas is in fact a beta emitter, and 1 Bequerel of bananas is equally as dangerous as 1 Bequerel of any other beta emitter. That’s the whole POINT of Bequerels. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1115 "2011-08-17T14:16:13Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > OMG he caught teh gray? He woke up in a seedy motel room, covered in dried siemens! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1116 "2011-08-17T14:51:00Z")
… with vague memories having to do with bananas and cheerleaders. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1117 "2011-08-17T19:36:47Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Is there a still-active thread elsewhere for reasonable discussion of nuclear safety/Fukushima Daiichi, or is this it? There are threads on another forum, vast science based threads. Here, this is about all you will get. Deniers trying to shout down any and all information about the biggest nuclear disaster in history. Their problem is obvious. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1118 "2011-08-17T19:40:37Z")
Show us on the doll where the banana touched you. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1119 "2011-08-17T23:18:32Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Deniers trying to shout down any and all information about the biggest nuclear disaster in history. You’re delusional. No one is doing that or has done that. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077/1120 "2011-08-17T23:39:59Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Show us on the doll where the banana touched you. You wacky sumbich. I’m howling over here. Thanks I needed that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rantings-about-stupid-nuclear-reporting-and-i-want-to-bitchslap-somebody-also-other-crap/576077.md?page=57)