H
HHGT
Guest
Slide your mouse across the satellite image
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm
Empty Pockets
ex-GT Owner
SteveA
GT Owner/B.O.D
GTJack
GT Owner
2112
Blue/white 06'
Neilda
GT Owner
Absolute devastation and a tragedy for the people of Japan..... I have no idea how the country will recover from such a catastrophic event.
gtinmyblood
GT Owner
daytrayd
GT Owner
Neil,
Don't sweat it, because of the good old U.S.A. the nation of Japan has past experience cleaning up and rebuilding after a major nuclear blast and untold devastation unleashed from the sea!! Tasteless jokes aside, the damaged areas amount to less than 2% of Japans GDP, the nuclear plants release of radiation will be trivial, despite the hype in the media, and Japan has one BIG trump card. They are a proud and homogeneous society (kind of like we were up to the late 1950's) who will not loot or look upon this act of God as an opportunity to take advantage of others. The USS Ronald Regan is there to help and is creating half a million gallons of drinking water A DAY from it's nuclear reactor powered desalinization water treatment equipment and it's helicopters are delivering food and medical help. God bless modern day Japan.
Chip
Last edited:
The Real Story
I just received this e-mail from my friend, Ed Matsuishi -
"Dear Friends,
A description of what it is like in Tokyo after the quake.
Sent to my brother, Ron, from a friend who lives in Tokyo now.
Ed"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tokyo Is Stoic Amid Japan-Is-Doomed Reports: William Pesek
By William Pesek - Mar 18, 2011 4:00 AM GMT+0900
Of all the things I expected to experience in Tokyo, hugging three Japanese female strangers in their 70s was never part of the plan.
This city is no-public-display-of-affection central. The anti-Paris when it comes to spontaneous gestures of intimacy. When the ground begins to shake, protocol is the first casualty. So, when a big aftershock hit Shinjuku train station, we four panicked strangers joined arms and squeezed for dear life.
We quickly came to our senses when the shaking stopped, giggled nervously and parted ways. The point is that Tokyoites are out and about. We are all living our lives as best we can, notwithstanding the hyperbolic international news coverage of Japan’s plight. Frankly, when I watch CNN I feel like I should buy guns, flee to a cabin in the wilderness and find God.
Then I step outside my place in Tokyo and see that school kids are still off to class, my local coffee shop is open, the neighborhood ramen shops are abuzz with noodle-slurping patrons and taxis are picking up fares. Joggers and cyclists still zoom by, the hair salon on the corner is doing brisk business and the trains are running on time.
The newspaper still comes. The mail, too. The sweet-potato guy still drives by every hour. Touts still pass out fliers for this eatery or that pa*****o parlor. The young Chinese massage ladies still try to coax me into some dodgy spa. Nigerian men still angle to drag me into girlie bars.
“Beautiful honeys! Special earthquake price!” they proclaim.
Young hipsters in Shibuya are as jaunty as ever, no doubt mulling an earthquake-chic look. Police in low-crime Japan look as bored as ever.
Aware of Dangers
Look, we’re dealing here. We are worried, of course, and taking precautions. Flashlights, candles, bottled water, canned food, blankets, radios, change for pay telephones, you name it. Not everyone is scurrying to the airport or jostling for a bullet-train to safety. We aren’t being complacent; we know full well that dangerous radiation leaks threaten us. Really, we do. We choose to stay and do our best.
So please, no more alarmist e-mails suggesting we are going to die -- that Chernobyl 2.0 is afoot. It’s amazing to me how everyone is suddenly a nuclear expert. Do this, eat that, rub this on your skin, read this report, run for the hills, are you bonkers? We appreciate the concern. We genuinely do. But when I turn on international TV channels and scan my e-mails, I suddenly feel like I need a drink or a hug or something.
Movie Action
Japan’s 126 million residents could be excused for wondering if we’ve been cast in some bad end-of-the world action flick. Yes, there was an almost biblical quality to the way the nation shook on March 11 and the waters did rise with supernatural speed to swallow entire towns. Trains were thrown into the air like something out of a Godzilla film, roads turned to jelly and nuclear power plants coughed out radiation.
At times, it feels like producer Jerry Bruckheimer might suddenly yell “cut!” as he finished up his latest apocalyptic box-office smash starring Nicolas Cage or Bruce Willis. Maybe John Cusack is in town filming “2012, the Sequel.”
In the past week I’ve heard many comments and seen many sights one would never expect in wealthy, cosmopolitan Tokyo -- like long food lines.
“I’ve lived in this city all my life and I never thought I would be fighting for milk, bread and beer,” said Toru Kobori, a 51-year-old accountant. “It’s like some action movie -- where the world ends.”
Absurd Yen
Then there’s the surreal financial news. Take the yen’s surge. Normally, I would revel in its gains to merrily plan an overseas holiday. The yen hitting a postwar high amid this level of uncertainty -- radiation, aftershocks, a coming recession -- is beyond absurd. It’s another challenge for Japan’s economy, not to mention the global one.
You know the interest-rate increase for which some Federal Reserve officials are itching? Well, you can forget that for a while. The same goes for the European Central Bank. You know that Apple Inc. iPad 2 you had your eye on, the one that’s already sold out? Good luck getting it now that Japan, where factories produce about one-fifth of semiconductors and 40 percent of electronic components, is offline for a while.
The losses will grow with each rolling power outage, each businessperson leaving and each over-the-top Japan-is-doomed TV report.
True, things are far from normal. Prosperous Japan isn’t accustomed to humanitarian crises. It’s a shock to see shantytowns popping up in the northeast -- hundreds of thousands huddled into overcrowded shelters without enough water, food, blankets, medical supplies and other essentials.
Yet the stoicism one sees in Tokyo, even as prospects for safety dwindle, is truly remarkable. It’s not that we in Japan don’t get what’s afoot. We’re just doing our best during turbulent times that we hope will soon end.
Amid such uncertainty, one thing is clear: Rumors of Tokyo’s death are wildly premature.
(William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
I just received this e-mail from my friend, Ed Matsuishi -
"Dear Friends,
A description of what it is like in Tokyo after the quake.
Sent to my brother, Ron, from a friend who lives in Tokyo now.
Ed"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tokyo Is Stoic Amid Japan-Is-Doomed Reports: William Pesek
By William Pesek - Mar 18, 2011 4:00 AM GMT+0900
Of all the things I expected to experience in Tokyo, hugging three Japanese female strangers in their 70s was never part of the plan.
This city is no-public-display-of-affection central. The anti-Paris when it comes to spontaneous gestures of intimacy. When the ground begins to shake, protocol is the first casualty. So, when a big aftershock hit Shinjuku train station, we four panicked strangers joined arms and squeezed for dear life.
We quickly came to our senses when the shaking stopped, giggled nervously and parted ways. The point is that Tokyoites are out and about. We are all living our lives as best we can, notwithstanding the hyperbolic international news coverage of Japan’s plight. Frankly, when I watch CNN I feel like I should buy guns, flee to a cabin in the wilderness and find God.
Then I step outside my place in Tokyo and see that school kids are still off to class, my local coffee shop is open, the neighborhood ramen shops are abuzz with noodle-slurping patrons and taxis are picking up fares. Joggers and cyclists still zoom by, the hair salon on the corner is doing brisk business and the trains are running on time.
The newspaper still comes. The mail, too. The sweet-potato guy still drives by every hour. Touts still pass out fliers for this eatery or that pa*****o parlor. The young Chinese massage ladies still try to coax me into some dodgy spa. Nigerian men still angle to drag me into girlie bars.
“Beautiful honeys! Special earthquake price!” they proclaim.
Young hipsters in Shibuya are as jaunty as ever, no doubt mulling an earthquake-chic look. Police in low-crime Japan look as bored as ever.
Aware of Dangers
Look, we’re dealing here. We are worried, of course, and taking precautions. Flashlights, candles, bottled water, canned food, blankets, radios, change for pay telephones, you name it. Not everyone is scurrying to the airport or jostling for a bullet-train to safety. We aren’t being complacent; we know full well that dangerous radiation leaks threaten us. Really, we do. We choose to stay and do our best.
So please, no more alarmist e-mails suggesting we are going to die -- that Chernobyl 2.0 is afoot. It’s amazing to me how everyone is suddenly a nuclear expert. Do this, eat that, rub this on your skin, read this report, run for the hills, are you bonkers? We appreciate the concern. We genuinely do. But when I turn on international TV channels and scan my e-mails, I suddenly feel like I need a drink or a hug or something.
Movie Action
Japan’s 126 million residents could be excused for wondering if we’ve been cast in some bad end-of-the world action flick. Yes, there was an almost biblical quality to the way the nation shook on March 11 and the waters did rise with supernatural speed to swallow entire towns. Trains were thrown into the air like something out of a Godzilla film, roads turned to jelly and nuclear power plants coughed out radiation.
At times, it feels like producer Jerry Bruckheimer might suddenly yell “cut!” as he finished up his latest apocalyptic box-office smash starring Nicolas Cage or Bruce Willis. Maybe John Cusack is in town filming “2012, the Sequel.”
In the past week I’ve heard many comments and seen many sights one would never expect in wealthy, cosmopolitan Tokyo -- like long food lines.
“I’ve lived in this city all my life and I never thought I would be fighting for milk, bread and beer,” said Toru Kobori, a 51-year-old accountant. “It’s like some action movie -- where the world ends.”
Absurd Yen
Then there’s the surreal financial news. Take the yen’s surge. Normally, I would revel in its gains to merrily plan an overseas holiday. The yen hitting a postwar high amid this level of uncertainty -- radiation, aftershocks, a coming recession -- is beyond absurd. It’s another challenge for Japan’s economy, not to mention the global one.
You know the interest-rate increase for which some Federal Reserve officials are itching? Well, you can forget that for a while. The same goes for the European Central Bank. You know that Apple Inc. iPad 2 you had your eye on, the one that’s already sold out? Good luck getting it now that Japan, where factories produce about one-fifth of semiconductors and 40 percent of electronic components, is offline for a while.
The losses will grow with each rolling power outage, each businessperson leaving and each over-the-top Japan-is-doomed TV report.
True, things are far from normal. Prosperous Japan isn’t accustomed to humanitarian crises. It’s a shock to see shantytowns popping up in the northeast -- hundreds of thousands huddled into overcrowded shelters without enough water, food, blankets, medical supplies and other essentials.
Yet the stoicism one sees in Tokyo, even as prospects for safety dwindle, is truly remarkable. It’s not that we in Japan don’t get what’s afoot. We’re just doing our best during turbulent times that we hope will soon end.
Amid such uncertainty, one thing is clear: Rumors of Tokyo’s death are wildly premature.
(William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
It is truly shocking, devastating and unimaginable. One thing that isn't shocking is the innate ability of Americans to instantly turn international disasters and humanitarian crises into navel gazing pity parties.
You can donate to the American Red Cross with funds that will go directly to their Japanese counterparts at the following link. Please take the time to do so. The donation totals for this ongoing series of catastrophic disasters lags far behind the response for Hurricane Katrina or the Haiti earthquake disaster, so there is room for significant improvement.
https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052
You can donate to the American Red Cross with funds that will go directly to their Japanese counterparts at the following link. Please take the time to do so. The donation totals for this ongoing series of catastrophic disasters lags far behind the response for Hurricane Katrina or the Haiti earthquake disaster, so there is room for significant improvement.
https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052
Sinovac
GT Owner
My son left for Thailand last Wednesday and had a layover in Tokyo. Imagine my surprise at the news of the reactor problems that developed just before he left. He flew out of Detroit and the 747 to Toyko was 1/3 empty (no surprise). He said Narita airport was a madhouse with people leaving the city.
H
HHGT
Guest
Updated Unmanned Aerial Pictures of the Nuclear Plant....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...drone-stricken-reactor.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...drone-stricken-reactor.html?ito=feeds-newsxml