Lisa Simpson follows Donald Trump as US President

The Simpson episode 'Bart to the Future' is often cited as a predictor of a Donald Trump Presidency or a warning against such an event. However it's another line that caught my ear, what did the writers mean by the line that Lisa Simpson was the 'first straight female President'?

Lesbian cartoon characters

Marge Simpson



Lois and Bonnie from Family Guy


And these are aimed at children? Of course they aren't but cartoons still make me think of children.

Japan earthquake update

Brave New Climate explains what's really happening in Japan's nuclear power plants and it's a tad more complex than the BBC make out! Here's an extract:

'Now, where does that leave us?

• The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
• Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.
• Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants’ chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.
• There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve” in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
• The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main” nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
• The seawater will then be replaced over time with the “normal” cooling water
• The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.
• Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.
• The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse)
• I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. About half of Japan’s nuclear reactors will probably have to be inspected, reducing the nation’s power generating capacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. That will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages during peak demand, in Japan.

If you want to stay informed, please forget the usual media outlets and consult the following websites:

• http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html
• http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/12/japan-nuclear-earthquake/
• http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/03/11/media-updates-on-nuclear-power-stations-in-japan/'

Here's a rather low-key piece of video showing how the earthquakeimpacted some way away from the epicentre; the moving earth from 1:28 is seriously weird.


Meanwhile this link takes you to some seriously scary video of the tsunami flooding through Kesennuma, in Miyagi Prefecture.

PicassaWeb has some interesting photos from Japan and Boing Boing has an interesting 'Nuclear energy 101: Inside the "black box" of power plants' for anyone whose knowledge of nuclear power begins and ends with Homer Simpson's workplace.

Googling (update 30)

krusty jewish walk of fame klingon - This blog is number 3 for this article; obscure!

New Simpsons title sequence

The Simpsons gets its first new opening titles sequence for 18 years and only the third in its 20 year run. The new sequence is a variation on the current one with extra bits and more characters. A welcome sight of Sideshow Bob will no doubt cheer me up every time I see it and the knowledge that the price Maggie rings up when she is scanned by the grocery clerk has doubled, from $243.26 to $486.52 is a damning comment on inflation.

Possibly the most obscure Simpsons joke ever

I was just watching "Today I Am a Clown", the sixth episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season and think I have spotted the most obscure Simpsons joke ever. Maybe I am the only person to have ever have spotted it, but then again probably not.

Anyway the joke set-up is when Krusty walks down the Jewish Walk of Fame to find he is not there but Chaim Potok is ("who's he a Klingon?"). The pay-off is the board outside the Jewish registration centre which says "Where the chosen get chosen".

Why so funny/clever, well Chaim Potok's best known novel is "The Chosen", obscure but it made me chuckle in a sort of "I get the in-joke" way.