Wise COVID-19 risk mitigation action would now include the assumption that the pig population in the USA is asymptomatically infected with SARS-COV-2.
Analysis:
1) Research from 2018 has shown that "Bat-Origin Coronaviruses Expand Their Host Range to Pigs" (link in source documents below)
2) US Pork processing facilities are being massively disproportionally hit with COVID-19 cases, as compared to beef, and poultry processors
3) The pork processing plants are mostly located in States withotherwise very low per capita Coronavirus infections
4) Pigs are known to be susceptible to Coronavirus infections.
5) Due to immense economic pressures there will be great hesitance to inform the public of any risks related to Pigs spreading COVID-19 infections.
6) A knee-jerk public reaction to infected pigs could lead to destruction of the pork industry and potentially increase the world wide risk of starvation.
Conclusion:
Given the correlation preponderance and the high impact of infection, it is a wise risk mitigation decision at the individual level to proceed as if Pigs and raw pig products were a direct source of COVID-19 infections.
1) Ground meat products MAY currently present an usually high risk of transmitting coronavirus as normal cooking temperatures may not inactivate the SARS-COV-2 "COVID19" coronavirus. 2) The infection risk may spread to all forms of meat products if farm animals become infected. 3) A knee jerk public reaction could decimate meat production resulting in Mass Starvation.
Analysis:
1) A research study out of France indicates the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus shows a high heat resistance when contained in fluids (Source link below)
2) COVID19 has become endemic among workers in multiple major meat processing facilities
3) Meat processing workers likely are causing surface contamination of meat products they are handling.
4) Ground Beef / Pork / Chicken by nature of its processing mixes any surface contamination into the body of the ground product.
5) Internally contaminated meat products provide a similar environment to those tested by the French researchers
6) Ground meat product are notoriously known for spreading disease as it is difficult to raise internal temperatures to sanitary levels and maintain edibility.
7) The French study found that heating contaminated samples to 198F for 15 minutes was enough to inactivate the virus.
8) The risk may spread beyond just Ground meat products if farm animals themselves become infected with SARS-COV-2
9) MANY farm animals are susceptible to generic coronavirus
10) Generic coronaviruses in the Animal Kingdom spread via the Fecal Oral Route
11) Searing / Charing the surfaces of steaks / cutlets/ roasts may risk mitigate human contamination of meat products
12) UVC irradiation (high energy ultraviolet light) provides the safest surface decontamination of whole meat products
13) IF farm animals become infected it may not be possible make meat products "safe" to eat without nuclear irradiation.
14) Governmental authorities will EXTREEMLY down play the risks to the meat supply because of the economic disruption and potential STARVATION that could result from a knee jerk public reaction and potential destruction of livestock farming capability.
This footage is from a Minnesota Sam's Club on 3/8/2020; literally moments prior to the video the butchers had restocked the displays seen here with the last of the meat products they had available.
The shortage issue here stems from the Herd stampeding to buy a 2 week supply of food when the supply chain only has a 3 day buffer. As this effect is on going, the result will be a feast and famine cycle in which food shows up and is purchased in waves.
The feast and famine cycle will only serve to panic the Herd further. Unfortunately things will become worse as Government's try to manage the supply chain and control costs; picture your local Department of Motor Vehicles in charge of your food supply. The fast and most painless solution to recover from this situation is the Free-Market "Price Gouging". But obviously that won't be allowed to happen so prepare to suffer under the DMV controlled food supply.
Pray and Help Your Neighbors.
Risk Mitigation:
Telemedicine risk mitigation devices we are using (in order of importance):
Oximeters (can indicate the difference between shortness of breath vs pneumonia) https://amzn.to/2IADrPn (We tested it on adults and children down to 3 years old)
(1) For emergency and portable decontamination we are using PDI Prevantics skin wipes containing 3.15% chlorhexidine gluconate and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (or similar products)
PDI Prevantics is both rapid and persistent for hours in its viricide capability
(2) We are actively using Hibiclens 4% Chlorhexidine surgical scrub as a full strength lotion applied to the hands as a persistent long duration viricide. The Hibiclens Gallon Jug Refill is more cost effective, but we may also substitute the significantly less expensive and slightly weaker 2% veterinarian chlorhexidine soaps as conditions and shortages unfold. 2% is the minimum strength we would use.
Unlike China, most Americans have to drive to get supplies. Don't expect gas stations to be open, and expect the ones that are open to be crowded. That last thing you want to do is increase your coronavirus exposure chances by making unnecessary gasoline stops.
Unfortunately, most modern American gas cans are now dangerous as all heck thanks to California and their friends in the Federal Government. Metal cans are preferable over plastic, and if it doesn't have a long nozzle (preferably flexible) you wont be able to use it to fill your cars gas tank.
NOTE: Several States require gasoline cans to be red and to say gasoline on them. Where possible the use of 100% gasoline is preferable to 10% Ethanol formulations for storage purposes.
Almost all car parts and maintenance items are made in China, those factories are already closed. With an outbreak in the USA expect car dealerships and local garages to be shutdown for lack of parts and for fear of being infected.
Many of these items may yet still be available at your local stores.
If you buy through any of the Amazon links, we will get a commission.
We did NOT include links to purchase cough medicine based on reports that China was tracking who purchased cough medicine and such tracking might be expected in the USA.
Three things VERY few people know about Ebola vaccines
(1) Exposure to more than 1 Cubic Millimeter of Ebola infected blood "overwhelms" the vaccine(s)
(2) FDA's 10 years of required vaccine dosing safety studies have been whittled down to just 3 months of guess work
(3) Ebola vaccines have induced early Ebola type symptoms in those given them
Those three facts bring us to the very unusual Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone among foreign health care workers. Strangely that outbreak has coincided with the planned vaccination of foreign health care workers in Sierra Leone.
We knew something unprecedented had happened when we broke the news on Twitter that all 3 Ebola Air Ambulances were in Africa at the same time; the situation became even more concerning as these Air Ambulances started making same day flight turnarounds to go back to Africa to collect more and more Ebola exposed Health Care Workers (HCW's). As it stands 16 HCW's have returned to the USA, while others are in treatment or under observation in England, Honduras and New Zealand.
The USA victims are the most concerning as CDC is housing these Ebola exposed victims in hotels outside of Ebola treatment centers in order to save money on hospital care. The CDC has decided that it is a "sure thing" that pre-symptomatic airborne Ebola transmission is impossible, where as the US Army believes cold weather airborne transmission of Ebola is to be expected.
If we had to make a conjecture, it would be that the symptoms of an Ebola exposure to a health care worker(s) was ignored because that worker had received a dose of Ebola vaccine known to trigger similar symptoms. As such, that Doctor/Nurse did not self quarantine but instead continued to interact with the other HCW's and thusly exposing them to Ebola.
However, what is not conjecture is that the public is being sold a billion dollar load of poles when it comes to the Ebola vaccine(s) and their stockpiling. Of course we don't expect you to take our word for it, thats why in the attached video we include key excerpts from the National Institutes Of Health's [NIH] 8 hour long "Immunology of Protection from Ebola Virus Infection" video conference.
The key takeaways from NIH's conference are:
(1) The experts freely admit that even exposure to vomit is enough to overwhelm the Ebola vaccine(s)
(2) The current Ebola "Challange Dose" being used simulates a person in a Bio-Safety Level 4 Space suit having a minor needle prick and being exposed to a measly one cubic millimeter of blood.
(3) The vaccines producers would like to cut "Challenge dose" down by a factor of 100 times
Much more detailed information is contained in the above video.
A Saint Louis company within rioting distance of the Ferguson unrest has just won a two million dollar urgent contract to urgently deploy a palletized airborne isolation chamber capable of holding 12 Ebola patients for military transport. The company has been developing the product as a follow on to the Airborne Biological Containment System they developed for Phoenix Air Group. Several aspects of the contract including who the DoD has tasked with handling these Ebola evacuations have been redacted, but its safe to guess Phoenix Air Group is involved.
"The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracting activity proposes to procure, without
using full and open competition, the development and validation testing of a Transport Isolation
System (TIS) to be used for the safe evacuation of Ebola-exposed or Ebola-infected personnel
from affected areas. DTRA intends to award a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) letter contract to
Production Products Manufacturing and Sales Co., Inc. (PPStL) of St. Louis, Missouri. The
contract is expected to be approximately four and a half months in duration, with a not-to-exceed
(NTE) price of $2,380,505.76"
"Open and competitive channels of acquisition are not suitable in this case due to the urgent
national need to rapidly develop the TIS for immediate use in support of the Ebola outbreak"
Given the urgent need spelled out in the contract and PPStL's proximity to the Ferguson, Mike Brown protesters may just have a new venue to show their true colors.
Fall 2014 is starting to look much like Fall 2013 in terms of the Federal Government Pandemic Spending
In the last week:
(1) HHS gave Sanofi Pasteur $105 million to produce an adjuvanted H7N9 influenza vaccine; Last year they purchased the syringes needed to give EVERY American two of these vaccinations. Even more troubling the CDC had ALWAYS previously banned the use of adjuvanted flu vaccines in the USA because they were considered dangerous.
(2) HHS also gave PHILIPS RESPIRONICS a $46 million dollar sweet heart deal funding the entire R&D development to production cycle of 10,000 Advanced All Hazard Stockpile Ventilators (AAHSV)
(3) The US Army ordered a stockpile of test reagents for H7N9 and MERS-CoVspecifically
"in preparation for potential pandemic outbreak of H7N9 and/or novel Middle East Coronavirus".
(4) The Department of Defense has also placed a large order for Doxycycline Hyclate Injections to fill their Pandemic Influenza Stockpile. Interestingly, there is also a US Patent on the use of Doxycycline to spur blood serum treatments for Ebola, as has been recommended by WHO to treat Ebola infections. The supply has been directed to USNORTHCOM, meaning the outbreak is expected to occur in North America. It also just happens that this drug is currently in critically short supply in the US.
(5) The USDA has awarded a contract to build multiple Mobile Modified Atmosphere Killing Trailers
"for the depopulation of poultry in response to an animal health emergency such as a catastrophic infectious poultry disease" aka H7N9 Bird Flu
(6) And not to feel left out, The US State Department expects its going to have to do A LOT of Ultra high infectious containment Aeromedical Evacuations after February 2015. As such, they have put out an RFI seeking additional EBOLA type air ambulance medical flight airlift capability.
Of course all of these expenditures just scratch the surface of the pandemic preparations the US Government undertook in 2013. If the population had just an inkling of what was actively being prepared for, they'd be in Church as if it were Christmas and Easter combined.
Our Analysis:
H7N9 is low risk with medium impact. Its had every chance to go Global and has not. If it appears NATURALLY in the USA, hot points for infection are river deltas like San Francisco, Houston, and New Orleans
MERS is a low to medium risk with medium impact. MERS has had several chances to breakout at HAJJ and has not. But since MERS outbreaks have previously occurred 6 months out of phase with HAJJ, mostly in Spring camel birthing season, a human infection carry over into October might allow HAJJ to be fuel to the fire. That said, the spread of MERS seems to be tied to behaviors related to Eastern toilet habits and Islamic palliative care,
EBOLA is High Risk with High Impact. The experts at the ARMY's Aerobiological Science center report that Ebola has an airborne stability like Flu, and that Winter type weather may allow for airborne spread to occur. One must also consider the Airborne implications of Ebola victims have co-infections with Cold, Flu, Tuberculosis, or even seasonal allergies. All these factors make for the potential of an EXPLOSIVE number of Ebola cases in cold weather climates.
Based NIH data, the POTRBLOG team has been able to calculate that Kentucky Bioprocessing has the Rough Order of Magnitude [ROM] emergency capability to produce 97,751 courses of Ebola treatment per month. The lead time to meet this emergency production rate is approximately 5 weeks.
One very concerning bit of information, the ZMAPP treatment has components which are reported to produce one escaped mutant per every twenty non-human primates treated. And, that the escaped mutants do exhibit reversion.
A senior 'vaccine' scientist at US Navy's Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) placed an order for a large amount of anti-MERS Polyclonal Antibodies produced by Sanford Applied Biosciences (SAB). This order no doubt will help SAB's bottom line with its hyper MERS infected trans-human cows, which produce such Polyclonal antibodies.
Given the cows are being infected with MERS-CoV, and given that its transmitted in feces, one hopes that these cows-human hybrids only poop in a bio-level 3 containment facility that doesn't compost its waste. We would not want to be down wind of those farmers fields.
If NAMRU's research on the Polyclonal treatments for MERS infections is successful, SAB may be in for a large windfall. Of course, it still remains to be seen if serum derived from trans-human cows will be considered halal or harram by MERS primary victims.
Seems the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] is either planning the worlds largest deer hunt or they are expecting to deal with a significant level of rioting, as they just released an order for 25 MILLION rounds of 12 gauge ammo. Of course, its also possible that DHS just doesn't want you to have easy access to 12 gauge ammo for the same reasons.
Specifically, today (4/21/14) DHS released an order for 25 Million 12 gauge shotgun shells. of which 15 million are 12 gauge slugs and the remaining 10 million are 00 buck 12 gauge shells. Just screams deer hunting doesn't it?
Obviously such a large governmental order will reduce public availability of 12 gauge ammo, especially when one considers that the "RIO" shotgun ammunition production facility in Tennessee just had a rather large explosion, resulting in 1 fatality and multiple injuries.
So, maybe its also possible that DHS just doesn't want you to have easy access to 12 gauge ammo for the very same reasons they are ordering so much of it.
The POTRBLOG team has received additional inside information in a response to our analysis of WIPP's statements that it was using scaffolding, attempting to 'STABALIZE' the mine's ventilation system, and were bringing in outside experts to help with the stabilization effort (prima facie evidence of explosion damage).
The insider, who has proven him/herself to be a reliable source of WIPP information, gave us some very shocking information in reference to our report about the ventilation system and HEPA filters at WIPP.
As a result of that information, we will have to revise UPWARDS our calculation of the volumetric size of the Plutonium cloud released from the WIPP site on Valentine's Day evening. The revision comes because we had estimated the release time to have occurred over a 30 second period based on statements, which we had accepted as being truthful, of automatic HEPA filter activation, which only took "brief moments"
Based on the new information, and the historically credible nature of the provider, we are revising the Plutonium release event time estimate to have occurred over a period of 5 to 20 minutes (if not longer). This means that the volumetric size of the Plutonium Cloud was 10 to maybe 100 TIMES larger than previously calculated. We will follow up with calculations in the near future.
We would like to expound in detail on the information the insider provided, but have been ask to hold back the shocking details. Given that the release has already happened, we will hold back the details of the systemic failure at the WIPP facility. But, we won't hold back on how that information influences that math of WIPP's Plutonium release. However, it does make it clear to us that no information provided by WIPP can be trusted at face value. Be ready to evacuate on a moment's notice, within 200 miles, of further activity at WIPP.
Moreover, when the information that was shared with us does come out, we believe that there should be a Special Prosecutor appointed, and people should ask what DOE, WIPP, & CERMC knew, and when they knew it.
Sunday night we took a trip to our local Cabelas to buy a new FoodSaver vacuum sealer. Unfortunately the shelves were bare of the model we wanted. We asked a helpful employee when they might expect the next shipment to arrive, he dutifully checked the app on his smart device and said Cabelas didn't have any on the way, so there was no telling. Then we noticed the store employees' had a fast emptying roll away cart with about 100,000 rounds of 22lr ammo on it; they were handing it out one 500rnd brick at a time, limit one per person. Along with each brick of ammo came a Cabela's credit card application. Much like finding bread at a Soviet grocery store, the people in line were rapidly trying to call their friends and relatives to rush down to Cabelas and pickup their allotment while they still could. When I asked the friendly employee when they might expect more to come in, he didn't even bother to check his smart device to answer.
The beauty of the modern supply chain is the system has visibility of every empty shelf; just imagine what the Soviets could have done if they had known when their shelves were empty. Actually its not hard to imagine, its not like centralized planning could produce more food or goods even if it wanted to. No, the result would have been that the limited supplies would have been more readily doled out by the government as rewards for compliance and complicity with the system. Its a system the Government would love to implement on ammunition. Call it Smart Grid for ammunition, truth in advertising would actually call it Rationing Grid. Yes, that is the true purpose of the Smart Grid is to ration energy. That is why all funded Smart Grid designs are of Centrally Planned Top Down design architecture. A true functional Smart Grid would have a architecture driven from the bottom up; much like a farmer deciding what to plant and when, vs Soviet Style Famine'ing er "Farming"
But its not just ammunition or electricity, ObamaCare is such a system too. Its a classic example of creating more government as a supposed fix for governmentally created problems. As such, FDA regulations have caused a shortage of Saline (salt water) Solution, and many other drugs too.
Hard to imagine a shortage of salt water isn't it? To "fight" such shortages the FDA is putting out even more regulations to require the Government's approved manufactures to warn the Government when the harvest, err medical supplies are going to fall short.
In a free non Soviet world, someone would decide that now is a good time to start producing sterile salt water; TRY IT see how government regulation is designed to keep you from starting your own business to compete with the favored business. Try setting up your own Doctors Office outside of ObamaCare. Try loading and selling your own .22lr ammo and see how fast you end up in jail. Try selling cupcakes out of your home.
Of course someone reading this right now is screaming, BUT ITS ALL TO KEEP US SAFE. Lol, no its not! We had a perfectly good legal system designed to allow people to combat fraud; we also had a perfectly good system that allowed people to take their money elsewhere and NOT TO CHOOSE crappy products and services. And that is why regulations exist, to prevent you from taking your money elsewhere, and to force you to use "The Company Store".
Surgical Face Masks will go out of stock. Buy them NOW, if you need or want them!
UPDATE: NIOSH has started following our Twitter feed as a direct result of this video
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Federal Solicitation Number 2013-61145 and supporting document "J&A":
The Centers for Disease Control will require that all Filtering Facial Respirator (FFR) manufacturers perform and pass fit tests on their masks in order to given NIOSH approval for their masks.
The CDC is having an ' H7N9 URGENT' economic analysis performed under the following ground rules:
(1) "What would the impact be to a given supplier if 10% of their current product failed the new performance test? 40% failed? 75% percent failed?" (2) "What would the impact on the consumer populations be if 10%, 50%, 90% of all FFRs sold in North America, and globally, were no longer available?" The CDC describes the urgent nature of this situation as follows:
"NIOSH further recognizes the urgency and the need for this economic analysis at this time due to the threat of Avian Influenza A H7N9. Lessons learned during the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak (considered a non-serious flu) include issues with the supply and demand of well-fitting N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) for healthcare workers and others. The intent of the proposed rule is to add a population fit test requirement to the NIOSH performance requirements in Subpart K of 42 CFR Part 84"
Our estimation is that this directive will result in a 50% reduction if the PRE-PANDEMIC supply of masks and a 500% increase in the average cost of a mask from $1 per mask to $5 per mask
As we have previously reported, this urgent revision is being sought because the H7N9 virus is defeating hospital caregiver masks.Unfortunately, this type of centralized corporatist planning will only serve to make the situation much worse.
The following results should be expected:
(1) An increase in the transmission of H7N9
(2) Shortages and Rationing of masks in Hospitals
(3) Complete public unavailability of masks
Our risk mitigation position on H7N9 is that it has a low to medium likelihood of occurring in the USA this year, but that it has insanely high, large scale, death potential in adults should the pandemic occur as the government expects.
We believe the primary high risk scenario that the average person might incur is the home quarantine of a sick child (as directed by the newly create 2-1-1 phone triage system).
That scenario is based on the following:
(1) Nearly 100% of ADULTS presenting with an H7N9 infection will die quickly without advanced life support.
(2) Children may survive an infection without hospitalization, but will likely infect adults.
In that situation, a well fitting P100 mask appears to be the best last line of defense.
Below is an Amazon link to a P100 mask so that you may do further research.
As Missouri residents we make ZERO money from Amazon links. But if this information ends helping you not leave your children orphans, please feel free to donate in hindsight to our website using the PayPal button below.
Paul Krugman Will Claim Hurricane Sandy a Great Economic Stimulus. From his Krazy Keynesian mindset, as long as the the amount of damage done to New York and et-al is great enough to cause significant rebuilding without effecting the capability to rebuild, the economy will be much better for the destruction.
Basically, this Krazy Keynesian belief is the equivalent to believing that hiring teenagers to break windows around town is a great economic stimulus to society in general; provided of course that the teenagers don't break the windows at the window factory. On an individual level, its the equivalent of rationalizing littering as a modality to create street sweeper jobs.
So instead of crying over the hurricane damage to your purse, bask in the warmth that all of these destroyed taxis might just give a GM a chance to force Chevy Volts on the Taxi Czars and you as a patron.
In this video we show our cost effective, radioactive risk mitigating, greenhousegardening approach for dealing with radioactive fallout from Fukushima. The portable greenhouse shown in the video, and the container gardening book mentioned, are available via the "Risk Mitigation" Amazon widget on the right side of the screen. Clickable links are also embedded in this blogpost, below the video.
With Spring Sprunging early here in Saint Louis, we made a run by our local Army/Navy/Camping store. The instant we walked into the store it was immediately clear something was very wrong; the place was devoid of ammo cans. Frankly it was the moral equivalent of walking into a Casino and not seeing or smelling cigarette smoke and urine; its not something your looking forward too, but you KNOW it is ALWAYS going to be there. Well, not this time.
We walked around the store just to make sure that cans were not just hiding somewhere, but not a single rusted out, over priced, ammo can of any type was to be seen anywhere in the store. Finally gathering up courage and enough resolve to question this mysterious event, we inquired with the proprietor about where she was keeping all the ammo cans?
The kind lady informed us that none of her three stores had any ammo cans of any kind left. Moreover not only did she not have any ammo cans, her distributors could not even get them in stock for her to order. At that point we just shook our heads and left, not even remembering what it was we came in for in the first place. We're not brave enough to check the Casino's.
This is our quick plain language summary of the NRC meeting with the Dominion North Anna Nuclear; a follow-up is planned.
Based on limited, incomplete, and sometimes contradictory earthquake data, combined with visual "if it looks good, it IS good" inspections; North Anna nuclear believes they have no real damage and that they only need to follow minimal procedures to restart the facility.
Several of the lower level NRC engineers and geologists saw the obvious issues with Dominion's position and asked questions which highlighted the 'iffy' nature of their calculations and overall thrust.
I project that the lower level NRC engineering concerns will not translate up to NRC management because the cost of performing true diligence will be too great for Dominion to restart that plant.
The NRC also seemed to indicate they have no concerns with radioactive ground water contamination occurring at levels other nuclear plants have experienced.
Its clear to me that it will be quantitatively impossible for North Anna Nuclear to establish what level of earthquake the nuclear plant will be able to survive in the future. I wager that the primary hope is that there will be no new such earthquake for at least 100 years, and that a New Madrid quake would have only minimal effect in the current period.
Its also clear to me that North Anna gambled that the Nuclear Plant would survive Hurricane Irene despite raw data that would indicate it was a risky gamble. I also question if North Anna did not do their own immediate analysis of the earthquake monitoring equipment because the results would have put onus on them to evacuate the area in response to the incoming hurricane projections.
Based on these opinions, I WOULD NOT WANT TO LIVE NEAR NORTH ANNA. I would not want to be the guinea pig proving that 'low level radioactive leakage" and some subtle current damage would not lead to catastrophic failure in the near to medium term future. It is a gamble which North Anna can afford because they are protected by governmental regulations from the market forces that would require large insurance premiums for that plant to restart. If North Anna screws up, its the Public that is hurt and it is the Public which will cover the governmental insurance bailout.
If we want North Anna to be safe the NRC is NOT the answer. The answer is removing Dominion North Anna Nuclear from the public corporate welfare Nuclear insurance teat and having them seek and pay for their own operating insurance. No insurance company in its right mind would insure North Anna and its current plans/approach; only the government is that careless.
Fukushima Daiichi has opened many people's eyes to the vulnerability of nuclear generation facilities to electricity loss and infrastructure failure. One risk area the the general public may not be fully aware of is infrastructure collapse due to either a High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) Blast or a Solar Storm / Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). A HEMP Blast would come from an enemy detonating a nuclear weapon a few hundred miles over head. For the time being, we can rule out a HEMP Blast because it makes no sense for an enemy to attempt that type of attack given that the Federal Reserve is attacking the nation more efficiently than any enemy could desire.
Much work has already been done to quantify the destructive potential of Solar Storms to our electrical grid and nation, but none of the publicly available research has focused on the potential of a large number of American nuclear reactors simultaneously experiencing a Fukushima type failure. The map at the top of this post is a high altitude analysis of the nuclear generation facilities in the USA that could suffer a multiple years long electrical grid failures from a solar storm equal in size to the one that hit the USA in 1921.
The map above correlates the data from a pre-Fukushima solar event impact study to the locations of nuclear generation facilities in the USA. The large red circles are areas of the Nation that are likely to experience a total collapse and multiple year loss of the electrical grid from a May 13, 1921 sized solar storm. The primary failure mode is the solar induced destruction of very large electrical transformers. Moreover, these transformers are no longer manufactured in the United States, and the lead time to produce them is very long. The loss of those transformers and the long time it takes to replace them are the primary drivers that would keep the electricity off in the circled areas for potentially YEARS.
Based on the high level data, approximately 71 nuclear plants in the USA are at direct risk from such a solar storm. Not only would those nuclear generation plants be without a electricity for cooling their fuel pools, the logistics collapse from the loss of gasoline stations, transportation systems, food distribution, water distribution, and the associated societal upheavals would make the difficulties of the Fukushima recovery effort look like a walk in the park.
However, those are not the only threats from a post-Fukushima Solar Storm. Fukushima Daiichi has resulted in the on going long term release and dumping of high atomic weight elements into the atmosphere. Those Fukushima particles, both radioactive and non-radioactive, provide the basis for large scale solar particle interactions via Solar Storms / Coronal Mass Ejections. The associated spallation and fission reactions will form new radioactive fallout simultaneously over the entire sun lit side of the Northern Hemisphere. A preliminary analysis of such an even may be found here, further analysis on that eventuality is to follow.
Updated 8/10/11
The video below gives further analysis on the interaction of Fukushima high atomic weight fallout with Solar Storms
Ethics are a moral analysis of an action. Ethics asks the question "is [an action] morally right to do, or morally wrong?"
By the very definition, you can immediately tell that ethics are subjective, as individuals subscribe to a wide variety of moral codes.
Corporations, businesses, however, having no conscience have no capacity for determining moral right or moral wrong. At a corporation, all actions are judged on economic merit. "Will [this action] increase or decrease the likelihood of a lawsuit?" "Will [this action] increase or decrease customer sales?"
There is nothing about "ethical" that applies to these decisions.
Sometimes a company will incorporate into its business model a seemingly ethical stance. "Fair Trade" and "Green" are common go-to terms designed to appeal to certain moral codes of individuals, but they are merely part of the corporations' economic sentience, and answer to the governing judgements.
Irony enters when a corporation attempts to teach its employees to protect its bottom line under the moniker of ethics (moral right and moral wrong). At best, it rightly confuses the employees who can never figure out why something that is not wrong by their individual moral code should be labeled "unethical". At worst, "business ethics" training should open the company up to lawsuits of religious discrimination for attempting to replace the workers' individual guiding moral codes with one based on corporate economics.
In all eventualities, it sets for the employees an unjustifiable standard of covering ethically questionable behavior with euphemistic stylings that intentionally conceal obscure issues of rightful concern.
Corporations should abandon the semantics of ethics and replace them with a policy of forthright communication informing employees that actions are judged by the businesses bottom line. Such an action however, while truly ethical to most people, would doubtless violate the principles of economic fitness and is so spurned in favor of the current practices of doublespeak.
