Thousands of anime (Japanese animation) fans hoping to hit one of the world’s biggest anime conventions will have to wait another year. The event in Tokyo, Japan, was canceled after the 9.0 quake/tsunami. The event center is now being used to house survivors of the disaster.
Convention officials are now working to refund money to those who already bought tickets, and to more than 190 vendors.
Taiwan is checking mail from Japan for radiation.
They are also testing imported goods such as electric appliances and household utensils.
Taiwan started monitoring radiation levels on farm produce, marine products and processed food from Japan on March 15th.
So far no abnormal radioactive material has been detected.
The Japanese government has told people not to eat the vegetables, and not to drink the water, because of radiation contamination. At the same time they say “There is no immediate threat.”
What they mean by that is, that the levels, and types, of radiation contamination is such that you will not notice any bad effects “immediately”. However, if you continue to eat, drink, or expose yourself to even the lowest levels of contamination, over time you will suffer bad effects.
For example: Iodine-131 is a short life span radioactive isotope. It collects on your thyroid glands (just like iodide), and if it builds up will cause cancer. Even low levels of iodine-131 will build up on your thyroid if you keep eating, drinking, or exposing yourself to the contamination. This is why the Japanese government is telling people to stop eating the vegetables, and stop drinking the water, even though there is no “immediate” threat.
In other words, it’s still bad, bad, bad!
Officials, at all levels, are admitting that they did not think they would ever be dealing with a 9.0 quake, then tsunami, and now nuclear disasters.
Officials at the national level didn’t expect a triple whammy of disasters, and based on the majority of past disasters, thought the local governments could handle it.
The local governments never prepared for a 9.0 quake, followed by a massive tsunami. Their 10 meter high sea wall barriers failed. The planned emergency safe places for tsunamis proved to be death traps, as the tsunami was far higher than what was expected. There are reports of people rushing to schools, and other buildings that were designated as safe places for tsunamis, then being killed by a wave that was taller than the building. Many local officials say they never thought this could happen.
Another problem; local officials thought that if a disaster was worse than they planned for, they could rely on the national government, which has proven to be another faulty assumption.
Officials relied on disaster planners when making their plans. Disaster planners have admitted they didn’t see the post-disaster problems coming. One fault of disaster planners is they assumed that, some how, everyone in a disaster zone would make it to designated emergency shelters. Relief supplies were to be sent to the shelters only, because of that assumption. They are amazed at how many people are not able to get to designated emergency shelters. Also, some emergency shelters were destroyed.
As far as getting supplies in, the utter destruction in the worst hit areas makes it impossible to use roads or rails. Even helicopters had trouble finding places to land. Add to that the lack of fuel.
Other problems that are affecting all of Japan’s industries include lack of fuel, lack of electricity, lack of employees. The result is that many companies are shut down, or have cut back on production. Also, banks are having trouble making transaction, like cashing payroll checks, and ATM problems.
This is all exacerbated by the ongoing nuclear disaster.
Volunteers groups made up of individuals, and local businesses, are proving to be the best hope for Japan. They have been working to help those in the hardest hit areas. Many are bringing supplies into the disaster areas. In one case one man is trying to help the hospitals with their drug shortage problem. He has called all the hospitals in the hardest hit areas. At least 20% of the hospitals are not responding to his calls, so he is working his way to each hospital to find out their situation. The volunteer says what he notices is that there are no emergency “base camps” set up in the disaster areas. There are no emergency medical teams in place. It appears that hospital/medical issues were not considered in disaster planning.
Medical officials say the problem they see is there are no established priorities, there is no standardized emergency system in place in Japan. This lack of priorities and standardization is also having a bad effect on donated supplies that are arriving in Japan. Apparently there isn’t a plan in place to address material donations.
At the beginning the Japanese military was involved in search and rescue/recovery only. This was due in part to the faulty assumptions on the national level. Now, after it became clear that more needed to be done, they are working to clear access to the hardest hit areas, and help with supply efforts (they are also being involved in fighting the nuclear disaster).
Lessons: Officials made too many assumptions about what other levels of government would do. No priorities established. No standardized emergency response system established. Major aspects of the community were ignored, like what happens if the hospitals and emergency shelters are destroyed? What happens if all modes of transportation are shut down? The biggest problem is that most people made the universal assumption that a catastrophic disaster could never happen to them. After all, isn’t that what preparing for the worst case is all about?
“We have exported a 1,000-ton cargo of gasoline to Afghanistan this (Iranian year), and we are amidst negotiations to export the second and third cargoes to the country,”-Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeiqami
Ironically, Iran’s refined gas industry has gotten a boost from U.S. and European economic sanctions. So much so that Iran is negotiating new contracts with surrounding countries.
The latest sanctions against Iran forbids companies from selling refined gas to Iran. As a result Iran increased its own fuel refining, and found out that its neighbors, like Afghanistan, wanted to buy it.
Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazzemi said their fuel refining has increased so much that that Iran no longer needs foreign imports. So much for sanctions.
By the way, does anyone like the idea that were throwing billions of U.S. dollars down the drain in Afghanistan, while other countries make money off Afghanistan? Where did Afghanistan get the money to buy the Iranian gas?
Almost from day one of the so called revolution in Libya, President Obama said “It’s time for Gaddafi to go.” He didn’t say that about Mubarak, not for several weeks of the Egyptian Revolution anyway.
Obama has said many times he wanted Gaddafi out. Then Gaddafi’s compound is bombed by coalition forces, and the official statement from coalition leaders is that they were not trying to bomb Gaddafi. That’s one dumb smart bomb then.
Here is what Obama said today: “Now, I also have stated that it is U.S. policy that Gadhafi needs to go.” President Obama has basically admitted that trying to get rid of Gaddafi IS what he’s trying to do. Obama then goes on to admit that UNSCR 1973 does not allow him to do that: “But when it comes to the military action, we are doing so in support of U.N. Resolution 1973 that specifically talks about humanitarian efforts, and we are going to make sure we stick to that mandate.”
Obama also says he’s hoping that other “tools” will be used to allow the Libyan people to kick Gaddafi out. Remember, UNSCR 1973 is supposed to be about protecting peaceful civilians, not regime change. Lies. lies and more lies!
Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission recommended that people near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant should take iodide. That recommendation was made to local officials on 16 March 2011.
Japan government officials announced that efforts will be made to get stranded patients out of hospitals in the evacuation zone, as well as other people who did not have a way to self evacuate (remember Hurricane Katrina?).
Local city governments are now joining together to help each other, now that it has become clear the national government is not prepared to help them.
Just like people in the United States are justified in questioning their government’s ability to help after a natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina), the Japanese have every justification to lose faith in their government.
I’ve said this before, it is clear that the most prepared nation in the world was NOT prepared.
Every now and then, a new law enforcement officer in Idaho mistakenly arrests someone for OPEN possession of a gun. As well, sometimes a citizen freaks out and calls in the police after seeing someone in OPEN possession of a gun.
In Idaho OPEN CARRY of guns is legal. Open carry, as opposed to concealed carry, means you can carry a gun in public as long as it is visible.
Idaho Constitution, Article I Section 11: “….No law shall impose licensure, registration or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition….”
Of course they are limits to Idaho’s open carry law, like being a convicted felon, being intoxicated and being under the age of 18.
As far as Idaho’s concealed carry licensing, it seems it applies only to handguns.
A Japanese newspaper (Sankei Shimbun) has named the workers fighting the nuclear disaster ‘Kesshitai’. It means ‘unit that expects to die’.
A daughter of one of the workers says her father told the family that he will die. The wife of another worker received a message that said: “Please continue to live well, I cannot be home for a while.”
So far, at least 20 people are confirmed to have radiation contamination.