What began as an anti-Wall St protest has spread into a global protest aimed at perceived inequalities and excesses of capitalism. Some claim the messaging of the protestors is too confused to create a serious political agenda. Others claim that’s the point – it’s not a political movement within the system. What do you think? Do you support the protestors?

The growing catastrophe surrounding Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear power plants has some politicians around the world calling for an end to nuclear power. Germany has closed 7 plants, and the EU is reviewing all 195 plants in the EU. Some in the US are also calling for an end to nuclear power, but President Obama and most other leaders say that nuclear power can be pursued safely in the United States, away from coastal and earthquake-prone regions. Meanwhile, Bechtel has been to investigate a way to make smaller, more modular plants.

I then posted it on Facebook and it prompted this interesting discussion.

Ken Swartz It is certainly time to turn the lights out on building nuclear power plants on beaches in Tsunami prone areas!

Thursday at 1:34am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading…

Tricia McDonald Bell When these plants out way the risk to human lives with the resource that was the reasoning for there existence. How can we keep these open ? Look at what our earth has to work so hard to reclaim. Our mother earth seems very angry that this is a question.

Thursday at 4:22am · LikeUnlike

David Davies ‎”The Legacy of Chernobyl”
Zhores A. Medvedev PhD; Paperback
… But for most people its easier just to believe the rhetoric

Thursday at 7:34am · LikeUnlike

Irina Svirid Looks like the next generation will have more brain power (= people with two heads) to answer this question…

Thursday at 2:11pm · LikeUnlike

Michael Gale Brilliant!

Thursday at 9:32pm · LikeUnlike

Michael Gale now if you would all go vote in the poll and post these comments on the blog………….

Friday at 10:16pm · LikeUnlike

David Davies

if 7 days after 9-11 you created a “poll” asking people if the US should nuke Iran the result would probably be “yes” too.
if you’re just looking for knee jerk reactions, based on media hype and scaremongering in order to oppose Nuclear Ener…gy then now is absolutely the right time.
In a few months the actual impact will be known and people will be able to voice opinions based on real information.See More

Friday at 11:24pm · LikeUnlike

Michael Gale These polls have to go up immediatey. Interest wanes quickly! Its amazing how topical it all is. See how fired up y’all are

Yesterday at 12:20am · LikeUnlike

David Davies For those of you comfortable overseas, you can revel in your (to be short lived) propaganda victory against Nuclear Energy. For people here in Japan, we prefer to focus our concerns on victims of the Tsunami, which is a real disaster.

Yesterday at 12:30am · LikeUnlike

Ken Swartz They built the reactors to withstand a 7.0 earthquake and guard them with a 25 foot wall. The wave went right over it. Why hedge your bet? Build it to withstand a 9.5 earthquake (largest in recorded history) and a 50-100 foot wall. Or move it to higher ground. Just saying.

Yesterday at 1:15am · LikeUnlike

Ken Swartz And it goes without saying that we pray for the victims of this horrible disaster. Be safe.

Yesterday at 1:27am · LikeUnlike

David Davies

They did a LOT of things wrong, the implimentation was botched and they ignored warnings about the safety of the location.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-17/japan-s-nuclear-disaster-caps-decades-of-faked-safety-reports-accidents.html… Nowadays that’s the way things happen in Japan, it is not at all the same culture that made Japan the No 2 economy in the world. But the actual danger posed by the incident is blown out of all proportion by the media. The fact is, that despite everything that went wrong the nuclear incident is a trivial part of the real disaster, and the final impact will be minor.See More

Yesterday at 1:32am · LikeUnlike

David Davies

And 100 Million people still live here at very real risk of an aftershock or tsunami.
There are major aftershocks every day still, a week later. But instead of hearing news and information about the real threat, all we hear is news about… Fukushima which could never do comparible damage.
It sure must be more exciting for people outside of Japan, because its a hot topic of international debate, but it is extremely unhelpful to those of us still here, with friends here or for the 1000’s suffering from the original disaster.See More

Yesterday at 2:17am · LikeUnlike

Beverly Swartz Bul I don’t think “exciting” would be the term that comes to mind. Horror and disbelief might be. The Doctors without Borders in Virginia are being asked to sign on for 9 month commitments, so hopefully this will be considered helpful. Nothing but heartfelt condolences to you all.

Yesterday at 11:15am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading…

Ken Swartz Godspeed.

23 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Michael Gale You still in Tokyo David?

23 hours ago · LikeUnlike

David Davies

Yes, along with my wife and just few rational friends. Literally 1000’s of other foriegners have run away and selfishly diverted resources that should be focussed right now on helping people in the freezing Tsumani effected areas. The irr…ational panic over non-existant radiation in Tokyo is costing lives.
One ray of light is that BBC seem to have done an about face on their sensationalist stance as of this morning.See More

22 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Horace Lim Me thinks NEW nuclear power plants are on hold for another 20 years? Now let’s examine all the generation 1 nuclear plants built around earthquake faults…

22 hours ago · LikeUnlike

David Davies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-asia-pacific-12785274
BBC seem to be the first news service to see reality and try to save face. All the others will either follow or be left looking stupid.
Those of us here in Japan will always reme…mber that at the time of a genuine disaster what the world cared about most was the anti Nuclear political agenda.See More

21 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Michael Gale Do you think its politics? Aren’t people just worried and the Japanese Govt giving mixed signals and not appearing open after all the past cover ups about safety breaches? People expect Govts to come clean when stuff happens and mixed messages look bad.

21 hours ago · LikeUnlike

David Davies

Nobody trusts the Japanese government or Corrupt officials at TEPCO. And if were were not in the middle of a REAL disaster with a clear and present danger of further quakes and tsunami’s then this Nuclear incident would be a great discussio…n and we would learn a lot from it. We can still do that LATER.
But right now it is a trivial distraction that diverts life saving resources away from where they should be.
I strongly support your right to voice your opinion and push a political agenda, but I wish people would do so at an appropriate time when there are not negative implications.See More

21 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Michael Gale

Challenging isn’t it. I of course don’t have an opinion at least not one I ever let on. I just keep promoting the web as a way to get global democracy and all my poll originators scan for what is getting political traction and then poll it.… The inappropriate timing issue comes up a lot. Another one is how a poll extends the life of an issue. Our “Is Obama an American Citizen?” gets a lot of criticism for giving credibility to what some say should not be a legitimate issue but we found that a third of GOP politicians have publicly stated he isn’t so it really is a legit political issue even if distasteful. This being an impartial platform is harder than I ever imagined!

Should the UN be reformed to give it the authority to quickly and decisively arrest leaders (such as Mr. Gbagbo in Cote d’Ivorie, and others who commit crimes against Humanity, or who violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of other international laws)?

Chinese President Hu Jintao makes a state visit to the United States this week. Many observers believe the 21st century belongs to China, which will take its place alongside America as a world superpower. Skeptics believe China’s prospects are overblown; they say the vast majority of China’s people still live in poverty, it has an aging population that the younger people will struggle to support, and a severe gender imbalance, along with environmental issues, rampant corruption, a fear of openness, and a weak military.

Nato members are preparing to meet in Portugal for what is being billed as one of the most crucial summits in the alliance’s 61-year history. What is Nato’s role in the world?

November 2010, the G-20 Summit in South Korea is seen as a key event in stabilizing the global economy. Will they do enough to move us forward or will it even make a difference?

We’ve provided some of the favorites. Any of these get your vote to win the Final?

It’s a fact of life for the frequent flier: Once the plane is off the ground, cell phones must be turned off and put away. But, the debate on whether it is possible for mobiles to interfere with navigational equipment continues: Some say it’s possible, others not, some even think it infringes on civil liberty. Until it can be proven either way, we may not seen an end to the ban. What do you think?

Leaked memos. Inaccurate ’science.’ The fact that most media still refer to global warming as a ‘debate’ rather than a fact. What do you think – and has your opinion changed over the last year?

In 2009, The U.S. Government or circumstances closed 133 banks – a record total. In the UK, recent surveys have found people hoarding cash, avoiding banks. What do you think? Is it business as usual with your bank or are they losing your trust?