Greg Palast: One reason I don't support Truthout

Greg Palast is the kind of left-liberal that led me to identify myself on this blog and elsewhere as a skeptical left-liberal.

Non-skeptical left-liberals can be counted on for one or more of the following foibles:
1. Supporting the "woo" of alt-med pseudomedicine. (Antivaxxers get lumped here.)
2. Supporting some anti-government conspiracy thinking.
3. Being rabidly opposed to nuclear power.

The Fukushima radiation release levels get put into context.

The details?

And, in this Truthout piece, that's Greg Palast. (He also falls in category 2 at times.)

I don't know the law in Japan, so I can't tell you if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) can plead insanity to the homicides about to happen.

Incindiary, at the least. If made in reference to a similar disaster in the U.S., arguably legally libelous.

Followed by innuendo of open-ended implications:

Nuclear plants the world over must be certified for what is called "SQ" or "Seismic Qualification." That is, the owners swear that all components are designed for the maximum conceivable shaking event, be it from an earthquake or an exploding Christmas card from al-Qaeda.

The most inexpensive way to meet your SQ is to lie. The industry does it all the time.

Hey, douchebag:
1. Japan never had a 9.0 before.
2. The plant survived that, even though not certified that high.
3. The seawall that was supposed to protect the diesel generators maybe should have been built even higher, but unfortunately wasn't.

And, speaking of both that and "category 2":

Last night, I heard CNN reporters repeat the official line that the tsunami disabled the pumps needed to cool the reactors, implying that water unexpectedly got into the diesel generators that run the pumps.

Oh, Truthout has some good stuff that's not reprinted in other locations, so I won't ask to come off its e-mailing list.

But, with a numbnuts like Palast, it won't get my money. (Oh, and Greg, the cheesy 1940s Clark Kent "reporter" hat on your Twitter pic? Thanks for the laugh.)

Update: Palast is busted in another lie. He claims Tokyo Electric is going to build two new nuclear plants in south Texas?

The reality? No, it was just seeking to become a 10 percent owner.

And, speaking of realities?

The reality on nuclear power dangers in general?

William Saletan of Slate has an excellent article, in the wake of Japan's nuclear concerns, about how nuclear power is saving lives every day compared to fossil fuels.

And, my blog thoughts here.

Meanwhile, the latest nonhysterical, non-axe-grinding information on Japan's plants (as fo the start of March 15 in my part of the U.S.) is here.

(And, per Leo L. on Facebook, none of this mentions Truthout's wholesale copy-and-paste of previously used material. Either the NYT is OK with quick-term giveaways of Krugman's material, or Truthout is too poor and too far off its radar screen on fair use issues to matter.)