8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Japan!

[skater]

Those pictures are incredible. The emotions that come through in those pictures are huge.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Update!!!!!!

Now they are saying that there is an emergency in a second reactor in the same facility where there was an explosion at one of the other reactors. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm very worried that we might have another Chernobyl on our hands here.

If the people in Japan didn't have enough to worry about with after shocks and such, now they have to worry about a possible power plant melt down. I don't care what the public officals over in Japan are saying, an explosion at a nuclear power plant is never a good thing.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/0...anese-nuclear-plant-facing-possible-meltdown/

 

[klj27]

My friend and I were also discussing how differently the Japanese people are handling this than the general US population would. It makes me very sad, but I agree that there are large sections of people who would sit around and wait for the government to take care of them, those would be looting and rioting, and the smallest number would be those looking out for each other and taking care of themselves. These are the evils of becoming a society that is all about me and what the government can do for me. I have been so impressed with all that I have seen from the Japanese and offer them many prayers.

 

[Swalphin]

My nephew who is in Tokyo for a week was able to get through to his sister, it is just mess. She is in NYC and is trying to get information for him on what is going on in Tokyo! He needs to get to the airport and all the trains had been down now some are running, I don't know what he will do if he can even get to the airport.

 

[RadioNate]

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/03/12/nhk.japan.before.after.nhk&iref=NS1

Before and after video from CNN.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

This is getting worse and worse as time goes on. Now they are saying a meltdown is very possible and in fact maybe under way, but conditions at the plant won't let workers get near the reactor to find out. I sure hope not, but I fear the worse, not that the quake and tsunami weren't bad enough.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake.nuclear.failure/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

 

[Imzadi]

Honestly, I believe a person from Japan would starve before they stole food from a fellow citizen. Their moral/ethical code is extraordinarily high.

Yes, as a culture, they don't loot.

When the first library kiosks were set up on their subway platform, for people to take free books and bring them back - on the honor system, no library card needed, it actually took a while for it to take off. People weren't used to taking free stuff. When it finally did take off, it got popular and it works. The Japanese people do bring back the borrowed books on their own. Some people even donated & left their own books for others to borrow.

Yes, however, they aren't going to watch their kid starve.

There is a difference to me in looting, for the fun of it, as is done here in the U.S., and having to steal because the infrastructure of electricity and open stores and gone. The first is for pleasure and greed, the second is for survival.

 

[hereyago]

Yes there is a difference for me as well. However, another poster wrote she thought they would rather die then to take from another. hence me writing that they wouldn't watch their kid starve for honor.

Japan is going to have skyrocketing food,etc prices because they import so much stuff into there. It is just horrific damage there not counting the nuclear reactor.

 

[Planogirl]

It's like some kind of continually changing horror story over there. My heart breaks for those people.

 

[Rora]

Any status on the nuclear reactor? Everything I've been reading just says that it "may occur"?

Guess we won't find out until after it happens?

Poor Japan.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Nope, have not watched yet this morning. I was watching late last night and the stories and info are like some fantastical horror.

I am a guru of apocalyptic movies and nothing comes close to the reality of what really happens.

 

[Bilberry]

I'm a fan of the sun and the substance it creates in our skin, vitamin D3. Once I began supplementing and getting into the sun more often, D3 improved my health considerably.

I have been a bit surprised about another possible effect the sun might have. Have been reading information about the sun and solar flares being a possible cause for earthquakes on earth.

One article about this theory found on scientists Piers Corbyn's twitter sight.

"Japan Earthquake And Tsunami Caused By "Solar Flare""

http://twitter.com/Piers_Corbyn

If the theory is correct, we might be looking at greater numbers of quakes around the world over the next couple years.

Don't know what to make of this. As far as I can tell, not much has been done to research the connection between sun flares and earthquakes. Guess it is a wait and see. One researcher for vitamin D3, Dr. Holick,

http://www.vitamindhealth.org/

,has a good line about why little attention is paid to the sun and the effects it can have on health and now maybe health of the earth - "there is no sunshine lobby".

 

[Magpie]

My friend and I were also discussing how differently the Japanese people are handling this than the general US population would. It makes me very sad, but I agree that there are large sections of people who would sit around and wait for the government to take care of them, those would be looting and rioting, and the smallest number would be those looking out for each other and taking care of themselves. These are the evils of becoming a society that is all about me and what the government can do for me. I have been so impressed with all that I have seen from the Japanese and offer them many prayers.

Here's what I've been told by some folks who work in the Social Sciences...

Part of the calm, orderly response of the Japanese to this disaster has to do with the fact that they are a very homogeneous society. The Japanese people tend to see themselves as "all in it together" - a single group, working toward a collective goal. As a result, their crime rate is extremely low, and they can be altruistic in their dealings with each other. On the downside, they can also be quite zenophobic, in their attitudes towards non-Japanese peoples. While the Japanese "code of honor" applies in their dealings with each other, it does not necessarily apply in their dealings with outsiders.

The US, by comparison, is a very heterogeneous society. It's a mash-up of many different groups, most of whose primary loyalty is to their own segment of society. Occasionally, they'll all pull together as Americans, but more often than not they see themselves as Black versus White, White versus Hispanic, rich versus poor, the right side of the tracks versus the wrong side of the tracks, consumer versus retailer... etc. When a disaster strikes, there's no guilt in looting from the rich. After all, it's not like you're stealing from your own people. On the upside, however, a heterogeneous society is usually quite vibrant, flexible and adaptable. With more conflict, comes greater potential for growth.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Here's what I've been told by some folks who work in the Social Sciences...

Part of the calm, orderly response of the Japanese to this disaster has to do with the fact that they are a very homogeneous society. The Japanese people tend to see themselves as "all in it together" - a single group, working toward a collective goal. As a result, their crime rate is extremely low, and they can be altruistic in their dealings with each other. On the downside, they can also be quite zenophobic, in their attitudes towards non-Japanese peoples. While the Japanese "code of honor" applies in their dealings with each other, it does not necessarily apply in their dealings with outsiders.

The US, by comparison, is a very heterogeneous society. It's a mash-up of many different groups, most of whose primary loyalty is to their own segment of society. Occasionally, they'll all pull together as Americans, but more often than not they see themselves as Black versus White, White versus Hispanic, rich versus poor, the right side of the tracks versus the wrong side of the tracks, consumer versus retailer... etc. When a disaster strikes, there's no guilt in looting from the rich. After all, it's not like you're stealing from your own people. On the upside, however, a heterogeneous society is usually quite vibrant, flexible and adaptable. With more conflict, comes greater potential for growth.

That says a lot.

 

[skater]

Here's what I've been told by some folks who work in the Social Sciences...

Part of the calm, orderly response of the Japanese to this disaster has to do with the fact that they are a very homogeneous society. The Japanese people tend to see themselves as "all in it together" - a single group, working toward a collective goal. As a result, their crime rate is extremely low, and they can be altruistic in their dealings with each other. On the downside, they can also be quite zenophobic, in their attitudes towards non-Japanese peoples. While the Japanese "code of honor" applies in their dealings with each other, it does not necessarily apply in their dealings with outsiders.

The US, by comparison, is a very heterogeneous society. It's a mash-up of many different groups, most of whose primary loyalty is to their own segment of society. Occasionally, they'll all pull together as Americans, but more often than not they see themselves as Black versus White, White versus Hispanic, rich versus poor, the right side of the tracks versus the wrong side of the tracks, consumer versus retailer... etc. When a disaster strikes, there's no guilt in looting from the rich. After all, it's not like you're stealing from your own people. On the upside, however, a heterogeneous society is usually quite vibrant, flexible and adaptable. With more conflict, comes greater potential for growth.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting that.

 

[Northstar]

The Shinmoedake volcano in southern Japan has begun spewing smoke and lava... oh, please no major eruption, Japan has enough disasters to cope with right now.

 

[DaParkers]

The Shinmoedake volcano in southern Japan has begun spewing smoke and lava... oh, please no major eruption, Japan has enough disasters to cope with right now.

It erupts fairly often. Probably won't be too much of an issue. It's almost 1000 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.

 

[Northstar]

It erupts fairly often. Probably won't be too much of an issue. It's almost 1000 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.

I know what you mean, but in late January, when the volcano had a burst of activity, they urged 1000 residents to evacuate the area... now, with all resources and emergency efforts focused on the north, it would be much harder to cope with even a small scale evacuation and cleanup here.

 

[Magpie]

That says a lot.

On the other hand there's definitely something to be said for having a murder rate that's a hundred times lower than the US's. It's among the lowest in the world.

 

[OceanAnnie]

On the other hand there's definitely something to be said for having a murder rate that's a hundred times lower than the US's. It's among the lowest in the world.

There are many reasons for their low crime rate. Not all of them are good.

Japan has a lot of problems right now, which I hope they can surmount. This particular offshoot ventures into an area of, " that which shall not be named".