8.9 Earthquake hits Japan

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:09 pm

I thought I'd be moving this month, so I have a bunch of cash saved up (moving is almost hilariously expensive in Japan). Turns out, I'll probably be keeping this same apartment for the next 12 months, so all that money is suddenly freed up.

Which led to my thinking, "I could just buy a plane ticket with pocket money."

But, instead, I think I'll just continue making donations to different charities to help out those directly impacted by these multiple tragedies.

This is where my old anti-religiousness comes into play, though. I have no problem donating to religion-based charities. However, only if none of the money donated goes towards "ministering to the victims." Because, seriously, come on. This is Japan. 90-something percent Buddhist. I'm not putting any money towards sending somebody to preach Christ's love to people who didn't want to hear it, even in the best of times.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:36 pm

Today was White Day (basically Valentines Day). My GF has been wanting to try the chocolate at this new place in Hakata, but the line is usually more than an hour long. I made the four-hour bus ride, then waited in that line to buy her chocolate. When I finally arrived at her place and gave her the box, she said, "I can't believe you did this. You didn't have to. Why did you go to all this trouble for me?"

I finally lost it when I said, "I just wanted to see somebody smile today."

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:41 pm

smooth, I am thrilled you are ok. I remember your concern for me when I was involved in a disaster. I wish there was something more I could do than send some cash to Japan. If I had the means, I would be helping with any relief efforts over there and finding a way to have a drink with ya.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:34 pm

Remember what I said about not wanting to deal with those church groups? Flipped on that. The gf and I are now working on translating updates for one of them.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:51 am

Professor Smooth wrote:Remember what I said about not wanting to deal with those church groups? Flipped on that. The gf and I are now working on translating updates for one of them.

What's that like then? And how did that happen?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:02 pm

Predabot wrote:
Professor Smooth wrote:Remember what I said about not wanting to deal with those church groups? Flipped on that. The gf and I are now working on translating updates for one of them.
What's that like then? And how did that happen?

Not exactly sure how it happened. But basically, they send me bulletins in Japanese (and a very rough English version) and I turn them into something that can be read/understood by English speakers.

It's easy, helpful, and at least allows me to contribute something other than just money.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:04 pm

How close did you say you were to those reactors?

I think it's admirable to assist in the recovery effort, but if you're anywhere near that site, I'd say it's time to come home.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:48 pm

Professor Smooth wrote:Remember what I said about not wanting to deal with those church groups? Flipped on that. The gf and I are now working on translating updates for one of them.

Holy [composite word including 'f*ck'], good work fella. I gave some money to the Red Cross appeal today, not much else I can do from here. Hope things improve for you.

saysadie · Post by **saysadie** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:13 am

I did the same a few days back. Will probably return to volunteering on my return to the city.

The news just gets worse and worse. At the very least, air currents are currently pushing anything airborne out to sea. Well, mostly out to sea I guess.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:39 am

Last night, I got to do a little bit of research for one of the groups on the ground. I'm glad for the opportunity to do anything.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:17 pm

I've been meaning to give some money to a fund-raiser for Japan for a while now, but my new Internship-money was far lower than I had expected.

( Half-month pre-payment which I got was 167£, meaning my full wage is 344£ (which I don't get until next month)... I was expecting a raise to the life-sustaining golden number of 511£)

Ever had one of those moments, lads? Where you want to give to something good, but you're absolutely knackered economically, so giving or not giving can be a matter of some severity?

Maybe I'll just borrow some money and give that... Yah, I think I'll do that.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:48 pm

At least you want to give. I was watching a clip of Bill O'Reilly who was essentially trying to convince American not to give due to Japan "not needing our help because they're a wealthy nation."

Post by **Best First** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:01 pm

Bear in mind he is literally going top get raped by Satan's massive spikey multi pronged death c0ck forever the moment he shuffles off and you feel a bit better

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:57 am

Best First wrote:Bear in mind he is literally going top get raped by Satan's massive spikey multi pronged death c0ck forever the moment he shuffles off and you feel a bit better

Yeah, shouldn't you have read that part of the Qur'an, Yaya?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:36 am

The outpouring of support (inside and outside the country) has just been amazing. I truly have never seen anything like it.

The yakuza are sending trucks full of tons of food/diapers/water/etc to the area. When asked for a quote, one guy said:

"Right now, there are no yakuza, katagi (non-yakuza), or gaijin. We are all Japanese. We all have to help each other."

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:33 pm

I will say this. Going by my limited time and experience in Japan, I doubt there is a people that can bounce back from a crisis such as this better than the Japanese.

Their sense of commitment and dedication to who they are seems to be unparalleled, except for maybe Israel. I have always admired their practicality in the way they approach, well, just about everything.

Contrast the response to this tsunamai with the response here to Hurricane Katrina. No comparison, really.

I'm fully confident that Japan will bounce back from this crisis far quicker than we might think.

The sad thing is, even with the greatest of intentions and efforst, that whole nuclear fallout is what really worries me. How do you combat that?

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:16 pm

Yaya wrote: that whole nuclear fallout is what really worries me. How do you combat that?

Rad-X. Remember to pay attention to your geiger counters kids. "tick tick tickity" means "run your ass out of there"

sorry couldnt resist.
Great game

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:01 pm

We just got hit by another quake. This time a 7.4. The news anchors are wearing hardhats because the studio they're in was shaking.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:35 pm

Just saw this. Stay safe, Smooth.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... ing-issued

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 2:47 am

How mind blowing is this?

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ ... 410a3.html

In the disaster-stricken areas, people have been turning in the tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of dollars) in cash to the authorities.

Think about that for a second. In the US (and elsewhere) after a major disaster there are riots, violence, and looting. After this disaster, no riots, no violence, no looting, and when people find bunches of cash strewn in the streets, they pick it up and turn it over to the authorities in hopes that the owners can be found.

And, keep in mind, a lot of these people have just lost EVERYTHING. They could use the money and I doubt that many people would think less of them for keeping it.

I'm proud of my adopted country. I really am.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:51 am

I am so sick of foreign news coverage of the nuclear problem.

Today's Yahoo headline: NUCLEAR INCIDENT AS BAD AS CHERNOBYL

From the 2nd paragraph of the article: ...the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant ... around 10 percent of the Chernobyl accident.

People will keep watching/reading our news if we make them too scared to do anything else. To hell with the facts!

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:27 pm

Yeah, just read that two minutes ago.

On the flip side, I think the smart thing to do would be to assume the leak is worse than what the Japanese media are saying. Anytime there's money and reputation involved, and I would assume in this instance there probably is mucho bucks at stake here as well, companies will downplay the extent of things just to save face.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:29 pm

Professor Smooth wrote: Today's Yahoo headline: NUCLEAR INCIDENT AS BAD AS CHERNOBYL

From the 2nd paragraph of the article: ...the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant ... around 10 percent of the Chernobyl accident.

People will keep watching/reading our news if we make them too scared to do anything else. To hell with the facts!

I suppose it's a letter of the law kind of truth, in that's it's officially on the same scale as Chernobyl but the ranking seems to include a massive range for that top level.

Post by **Kaylee** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:39 pm

Wise words from The Reg http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/12/fukushima_ffs/

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:54 pm

I don't buy the downplaying of the ongoing nuclear incident in Japan.

The facts are that the incident at Fukushima Daiichi remains far and away the most minor of the various consequences which have followed the initial, devastating magnitude-9.0 quake and tsunami which struck northeastern Japan nearly a month ago.

Currently, yes. He talks of it almost as if it's a thing of the past, almost hand waving it off as inconsequential. The effects of this nuclear instability aren't felt now. They are felt later. It's the potential disaster that could arise from this whole thing that worries me more than the standard destruction caused by an earthquake coupled with a tsunamai. The Japanese people can bounce back from the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunamai.

But how can any people bounce back from nuclear fallout, even with the greatest of efforts? That's the point I think this guy is missing.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:09 pm

Yaya wrote:
But how can any people bounce back from nuclear fallout, even with the greatest of efforts? That's the point I think this guy is missing.

Take a quick look at my location. People can bounce back.

The contamination in the area may only be a problem for a short time. There are existing ways of cleaning it up.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:44 am

That's assuming things remain stable and don't progress. I think it's possible things will stabilize and in the end, it will all be a close call. That's what we're hoping for. I know the people of Japan can bounce back from the current situation as it is.

From the very beginning though, the situation and the interventions sounded desperate and iffy, with the whole dumping sea water, etc. My concern is, just how tenuous is this situation? Who are we to believe? A major meltdown would significantly impact the economy of Japan. Call me a skeptic, but when big business stands to lose, I have a hard time trusting anyone. Some news channels make the situation out to be on the point of disaster, others, like the link above, make it out to be something well under control.

All I can do is pray for the people of Japan, I guess.

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:54 am

I understand what you're saying, but fretting because it 'might' go wrong because 'they' are lying to us is a mug's game imo.

you have to make decisions based on facts and with the exception of single interest pressure groups like Greenpeace most advisers are of the opinion this thing is mostly under control and not a threat.

Yes it could all go horribly wrong.

Yes there are risks but the media are sensationalising this long past the point of reason: the tsunami is the tragedy, but that's gotten lost in this voyeuristic coverage of Fukushima.

Half of the journalists seem to be almost willing it to get worse so they can report on it more.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:29 am

My company put my new contract in front of me today.

The perks offered were...considerable. My last contract expired on March 31st, so I've been "off" since then. This new contract offered full pay for those last two weeks, nearly a month of future paid vacation, and few other nice incentives.

With everything going on Japan now, nobody could blame me for walking away now. Foreigners who left due to the crisis have been labeled "fly-jin," but even that's been denounced by the majority. There are a lot of problems with my American friends and family at the moment. I don't want to get into it, but every single day of the last few weeks I've been "working" without a contract, I've thought about going back.

But, god damn it, I signed the ****ing contract. I imagine that people who successfully commit suicide by slitting their own wrists or throats feel like this.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:43 pm

Karl wrote: Half of the journalists seem to be almost willing it to get worse so they can report on it more.

Oh, that I believe.