AskTracy

The reason I started this blog/website was to inform new "thinking about it" homeschool families and to encourage those who just started their homeschool lifestyle.  I've made it a point to be positive and encouraging, no matter how frustrating some days can be.  Today I'm breaking the mold and writing, More Than Homeschool.  The topic... Japan, and I'll share with you information that is important and will have you think about your daily decisions.  As a Homeschool Mom, we are not only sporty little race cars, but we are resourceful, knowledgable, and prepared.

Japan will be in turmoil for a very long time.  My heart goes out to these people that have no control over their future, their children's future, or the future effects of their beloved land.  It has been almost a month since that 9.0 earthquake and enormous tsunami hit, and it affected areas as far away as Hawaii, shutting down a favorite landmark of mine, Kona Village.  In the event of an earthquake or tsunami, no matter how severe, the people can start over, but that's not the case for the people of Japan.  

For those who think nuclear is a safe alternative for energy, think again.  No one knows what to do in an emergency (Fukushima), and that's coming from the experts world wide!  We have 104 nuclear power plants in our country.  Three of them happen to sit on the largest fresh water resource in the entire world and our country's biggest water asset, the Great Lakes.  Hmmm, something to think about when experts can't figure out solutions in an event of an emergency.  

The Dai Ichi Power Plant was not thoroughly thought out when being built for an event of an emergency.  The emergency generators were put in the basement surrounded by tall berms.  Okay, let's put this into perspective... knowing that Japan is an island and known to have tsunamis, would you put your emergency equipment on the ground floor?  What about the berms?  Think about water from a tsunami going up a hill then over with great force and then receding back.  The water went over the berms and when it tried to go back, it couldn't, there was a berm in the way.  Now there is a swimming pool with emergency generators submerged in the middle.  Had the engineers of this plant NOT put the berms up, Japan would have a different outcome altogether.  The Japanese are not the only people that will suffer from the Dai Ichi Power Plant disaster, and that's part of the daily decisions that we will have to make that I mentioned earlier. 

23 million pounds of radioactive water will be dumped into the Pacific Ocean. I can't fathom what 23 million pounds even looks like, so maybe this will help, 2.75 million gallons of radioactive sewage.  Nope, too big for me, and if it's too big for me to understand, then surely that's something that will affect the entire globe.  Should we eat seafood anymore?  I wouldn't, and I love sushi and all those shelled little underwater critters.  That's a daily decision for the dinner table, now we need to think about it. 

Another daily decision?  Dairy products.  Iodine 131 has been found on the West coast of the United States.  Yes, it's so small and minimal...for now.  What harm is drinking a glass of milk with my pb& j and why should I think about it?  Well, it affects your thyroid gland but at least as adults the older we get, iodine 131 doesn't affect us as much as it does for the kids as our glands are much larger than theirs.  But while our children are growing, one of the many things the thyroid does is it affects the development of their bodies as the thyroid over sees certain growth hormones that determine how tall, or how small they will be as adults.  Not sure if I want to risk my children's health like that over a pb& j and a glass of milk.  Another daily decision, thanks to nuclear power.  And that's only one plant in the entire world that's causing all these daily decisions!  

I have given you a couple of examples of daily decisions that I know will be part of my day.  As a Homeschool Mom, we dig for information.  We don't compromise on one source of information to be our guide, we use several and make decisions on what we have found.  As a Mom, we make sound decisions based on what we know and what we've learned.  I hope you will dig and make sound decisions for you and your family.  We are resourceful, knowledgable, and prepared.  We are Homeschool Moms.   TM : )