Up-to-date Japan tsunami and radiation information from the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of State and other agencies can now be found at USA.gov/Japan2011.
The death toll one week after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck exceeded the figure for the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.
Officials of the National Police Agency have confirmed 7,197 deaths as of 9 a.m. Saturday, surpassing the 6,434 deaths in the 1995 earthquake that devastated Kobe in western Japan.
The Great East Japan Earthquake is now the deadliest natural disaster in postwar Japan.
Yeah sure Rush. It was a teensy harmless little 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami. No biggie.
Water spraying operation has started - to cool down no 3 reactor at Fukushima - NHK World
I hope this works.
The Japanese government is by all accounts remarkably well organized and prepared to respond to this kind of disaster. All of the failures in New Orleans, by comparison, have their origins in the crooked, incompetent crony politics of the local government and the non-existent Federal response. Japan is among the many non-American nations that recognize that government is not inherently useless and evil. If government takes its responsibilities seriously (which requires the preliminary step of recognizing that responding to an unthinkably large natural disaster is a government responsibility) it is possible to see that the animal-level needs of its people are met. Japan does have the advantage of being a small, dense country, but nonetheless its public sector has managed to shelter, feed, and rescue itself admirably. Why? Because its government is not devoted to the idea that government should be abolished.
Beyond that, Japan hasn’t build its entire society on the principle of every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. Their idea of disaster preparedness is not hoarding enough bullets to shoot their neighbors who run out of food. When America has a natural disaster, the private sector immediately focuses on profiteering and jacking up prices. In Japan the prices are lowered and in some cases basic necessities are even given away gratis. Japanese are more willing to look out for and help one another because unlike the U.S., their social dynamics focus on group harmony (critics say “conformity”) rather than constant reminders that You are responsible for yourself and no one else. If your neighbor needs help, the American response is to lecture him about failing to better prepare himself for the crisis.
That, and Japan hasn’t created a massive, impoverished underclass that interacts with government primarily at the end of a police baton.
ginandtacos.com » Blog Archive » CULTURAL DIFFERENCES (via robot-heart-politics)
I was going to post something similar about the differences between the Japanese mindset and the American mindset, but this sums it up pretty well.
In Japan, it’s not usually about “ME ME ME” but rather “US US US”. It’s not always the best mindset to have, but in situations like this one it’s damn near perfect.
![shortformblog:
thedailywhat:
End Of An Era of the Day: Following Gilbert Gottfried’s series of ill-conceived tweets poking fun at the devastation in Japan, Aflac informed the comedian, who has voiced the Aflac Duck for over a decade, that his services would no longer be required.
“Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac,” the company said in an official statement. “Aflac will immediately set plans in motion to conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice of the iconic Aflac Duck.”
[reuters / tmz.]
AGAIN, this is the shaky ground you tread upon if you try to make light of the crisis in Japan. Good God, how can people be so stupid?
I’m not sure how much of it is stupidity and how much of it is just a lack of empathy or sensitivity. I have a theory that may apply here, if I may be so bold.
I was just talking to my son about how the majority of people seem to forget (or not care) that their actions affect other people. I’m sure many of these people are perfectly intelligent in conversation, but you release them into the wild and they appear stupid because their actions make no sense to people who do have common courtesy. If my theory is true, then one could even say that this is probably the main problem with the world today.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_li2kjvmaWF1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
End Of An Era of the Day: Following Gilbert Gottfried’s series of ill-conceived tweets poking fun at the devastation in Japan, Aflac informed the comedian, who has voiced the Aflac Duck for over a decade, that his services would no longer be required.
“Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac,” the company said in an official statement. “Aflac will immediately set plans in motion to conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice of the iconic Aflac Duck.”
AGAIN, this is the shaky ground you tread upon if you try to make light of the crisis in Japan. Good God, how can people be so stupid?
I’m not sure how much of it is stupidity and how much of it is just a lack of empathy or sensitivity. I have a theory that may apply here, if I may be so bold.
I was just talking to my son about how the majority of people seem to forget (or not care) that their actions affect other people. I’m sure many of these people are perfectly intelligent in conversation, but you release them into the wild and they appear stupid because their actions make no sense to people who do have common courtesy. If my theory is true, then one could even say that this is probably the main problem with the world today.
Fuck yeah Wil Wheaton.
Now he has to respond to the “Karma because of killing whales and dolphins” angle.
(Source: ohsillytwigg)
I could have told you that. Japan is one of the least religious countries in the world, demographically.
But Mike, obviously that’s why Jesus decided to punish them. It’s for their sick non-Christian values.
Including lower violent crime rates, higher literacy rates, and longer life span than every “Christian” country you can name? Man I must have this religion thing all wrong.
(Source: meow--zedong)
Josef Oehmen, an MIT scientist with some strong cred, says that the situation in Fukushima isn’t that big a deal. “There was and will *not* be any significant release of radioactivity,” he writes. ‘By “significant’ I mean a level of radiation of more than what you would receive on — say — a long distance flight, or drinking a glass of beer that comes from certain areas with high levels of natural background radiation.” He was also very critical of the mainstream media’s coverage of the disaster, going so far as to say some articles had errors in every paragraph (ouch!). Oehman wrote a lengthy piece — initially as a personal e-mail to members of his family — explaining exactly what is going on. Now, the first question, of course, is wether or not this guy is legit. He appears so. He has a Twitter. And a long list of research. Lots of people have read his explanation but it hasn’t been picked up by the mainstream press yet. Rather than summarize it, we feel you should read everything. It’s pretty well-explained. (thanks Benjamin Harrison) source
