Switzerland announced that they are moving their embassy to a hotel in Osaka.
This is because of the ongoing nuclear disaster. Germany announced they are doing the same.
All posts by Hutchins AAron
JSDF NBC unit monitoring personnel at Fukushima Daiichi
Japanese Self Defense Forces Combat Nuclear Biological Chemical monitoring teams have been monitoring radiation levels to help protect workers fighting the nuclear disaster.
The military NBC units have been using lead suits, that weigh 48 pounds, and special armored cars that are equipped with NBC monitoring gear. They are trying to make sure workers are rotated in and out of the plant for short time periods because of high radiation levels.
Most developed countries have NBC units in their military. Mainly because they also have WMDs, and have planned for their use on the battlefield. Military NBC units can be used in a secondary role in case of something like what is happening in Japan. I hope budget cutting here in the U.S. hasn’t affected our military NBC units.
Routine nuclear plant maintenance made things worse when Tsunami hit
Workers evacuated from Fukushima Daiichi immediately after the 9.0 quake/tsunami, say the reactors were already in trouble.
One worker said Reactor 1 suffered a hydrogen explosion the day after the tsunami. He saw white smoke coming from reactor 1 while the tsunami swept by. He also said because reactors were undergoing maintenance they were more susceptible to damage by the tsunami.
NBC Tanks to be used against nulcear plant
Officials dealing with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, said they will use military battle tanks as bulldozers, to clear away debris from around the reactors.
Japan’s military tanks have NBC protection. In the western militaries NBC stands for Nuclear Biological Chemical. They have filtration and sealing systems to help prevent crews from contamination on the battlefield, in case of NBC attacks.
The damaged reactors have too much debris around them, and the sacrificial workers need it cleared way in order to complete their missions.
Another example of being ripped off by Insurance Companies
The 9.0 quake that struck Japan could very easily cost more than $100 billion in damages. Don’t expect that insurance policy to cover it.
Insurance companies might cover as little as $12 billion of losses.
Eqecat, a catastrophe-modeling firm, estimated that the quake may trigger only $12 billion to $25 billion of insured losses.
And the government of the United States wants a health care system totally controlled by the insurance industry?
Sushi Bars don’t like the smell of the nuclear fish
Fears of radiation contamination in fish supplies has Sushi restaurants dropping fresh fish from their menus.
So far, the prevailing winds have been blowing radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, out over the Pacific Ocean, prompting concerns by those who rely on fish from the ocean.
Those concerns are also being expressed by the governments of South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Singapore and the Philippines.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration claims it’s monitoring Japanese food for contamination.
People still can’t get their money out of Japanese banks
A week after the 9.0 quake, computer system problems continue for Japanese banks.
Mizuho Bank is unable to process salary payments for more than half a million people.
Also, Internet banking and ATMs would be offline over Japan’s upcoming three-day weekend.
On Thursday, Mizuho bank’s nationwide ATM network of more than 5,600 machines went offline until midday, then failed again in the evening, and more problems on Friday.
Like I said before, another good reason to keep your money under the mattress (unless you think it’ll float away in the flood).
General Motors continues to get hit by Japan disaster
As a result of the ongoing disaster in Japan, General Motors suspended all nonessential spending and global travel, a GM spokesman announced.
In addition, GM will suspend production in Spain, and cancel two shifts in Germany.
Even a small supplier of products that are fed to a bigger supplier that feeds the automaker’s assembly plants can delay or halt vehicle production.
Think of the “always a bigger fish” example, but in reverse. If there are no little fish to eat, what can the bigger fish do?
Japanese public television better prepared than nuclear plant?
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation in English) has covered hundreds of natural disasters in Japan. NHK has eight broadcasting centers, 46 local stations, 14 helicopters on permanent standby all over the country, and 460 remote-controlled cameras at ports and other key locations from which it can beam live footage at any moment. (wow, I wish the stations I worked for here in western U.S. had that stuff!)
There’s also a hotline to the Meteorological Agency and automated access to the earthquake early warning system. In fact NHK viewers got a 90 seconds warning before the 9.0 quake struck.
One reason why NHK is so prepared to cover disasters: NHK holds emergency broadcast drills every night at midnight.
More proof you can’t rely on the government
Kazuhiro Takahashi could be taken for a transient, scavenging for food, but he is just another hungry victim of Japan’s tsunami trying to find food for his family.
“I am so ashamed, but for three days we don’t have enough food. I have no money because my house was washed away by the tsunami and the cash machine is not working.”
Other tsunami survivors dig through smashed-up supermarkets, hoping to find food to supplement the meager government rations.
“This is so shaming, but I have given up on the government. We cannot rely on them so we have to help ourselves.”