My 2 cents about looting in Japan

Go read the rest of this article at the link below, seriously, it is worth a read. Crypt Rocket hits the nail on the head. It's all about respect, something we seem to have lost in this Country...

By Crypt Rocket - disaffected rabble rouser

I keep seeing talk of looting in Japan, or more accurately why there is no looting going on in Japan. It seems to have amazed people that there is an ongoing disaster and the Japanese have not reverted to some lower life form that starts taking what it wants from wherever it can get it by any means necessary. I guess that in America disaster and looting have become synonymous and we have a hard time grappling with civility even during a disaster. Or maybe civility isn’t entertaining enough and at some base level we want to see the emergence of the human animal to add additional chaos to the destruction of the quake/tsunami/meltdown. Riots get ratings, orderly lines do not. Looting gets ratings, sharing supplies and rations does not.

So what is the difference? Why have they not reverted to some lesser creature that is only concerned with itself? I am sure that media outlets are paying social scientists to delve into the phenomena, so I may as well chime in with my two cents worth.

I think the difference is respect. I am not saying that this applies to all Americans but it does to enough that it is relevant. It seems that in America we have lost respect for everything and everyone else but demand respect from everyone. In Japan there is respect for everyone and everything (except whales and dolphins but this is not the time or place for that argument). And what is neat about that is when respect is given it reciprocates and is returned. So where does this respect come from? I am not sure but I think that having a population half that of the United States, a land mass the size of California with a livable land area the size of Georgia has something to do with it. You shove 127 million people into Georgia and if they don’t have respect for one another, watch the shit hit the fan. Really. I don’t even have a degree in head shrinkery and can figure out that math equation. Oh wait, this is America, we fail at simple math.

I will give you two examples of this respect...

Fox News Poll: Despite Shock at Crisis in Japan, Half in U.S. Call Nuclear Energy Safe

Let's take a couple of things into consideration, first, the Japanese are using 1970's technology that has been safe and reliable until now. Second, the Country of Japan was

hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

There isn't much built on this planet that can survive that much abuse. Japan has known since there has been a Japan that they live on a fault line, therefore they build things to withstand earthquakes. But building to survive a 9.0 quake is more than can be asked of engineers or materials.

Nuclear power is clean, efficient and after the initial investment, reasonably priced. France gets about 70% of their electrical power from nuclear energy.

obama doesn't want us to have gasoline, he refuses to allow oil companies to do their job and drill, no matter what he and his talking suits say. They are a bunch of liars, their actions speak far more loudly than their words. He doesn't want to mine coal. And contrary to what obama has stated recently, he doesn't seem to be behind nuclear power either.

We can't base the future of our nuclear power on the disaster in Japan. The earthquake and tsunami were the perfect storm.

If we are ever to be free of the scumbags who currently provide us with oil, we have to help ourselves. We can sit around and talk about green this and renewable that, but until reliable technology is available at reasonable prices, we are kind of stuck with what we have.

I don't know about you, but my budget will not be able to sustain these fuel prices for long...

From FoxNews

Americans are shocked by the devastation in Japan after a massive earthquake and tsunami spawned a nuclear crisis, but about half of American voters still say they think nuclear power is a safe source of energy, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday.

In the aftermath of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, 49 percent of voters say the destruction is worse than they expected to ever see in an industrialized country. That includes 32 percent who say it is much worse and 17 percent who say somewhat worse.

Another 49 percent are not surprised by the scope of the devastation.

Japanese officials estimate the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami at more than 5,300. In addition, dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a damaged nuclear power plant have prompted the Japanese government to ask about 140,000 people living in that region to stay indoors.

The poll was conducted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, as Japan worked to contain further damage from the nuclear plant, and conditions at the plant steadily deteriorated over that period.

Go read the rest and see the full poll results at the link above...

Obama the invisible - Anti-leadership amid world crises

Everywhere I go I see the same story, it's all about the complete lack of leadership from obama. Am I the only one who isn't surprised by this? I mean the papers are making out like they are shocked or something. This guy has never shown any leadership. He talks a lot of shit but never backs it up with anything, never. Why would they expect him to man up now? He doesn't know what to do, he is clueless, spineless and in way over his head. He does know how to ruin the hell out of economy though.

He showed no courage in Illinois when he voted present most of the time. He showed no courage when he ran from rev. wright during the campaign. It's a pattern of behavior. Instead of taking the high road, he prefers the easy road. All you democrats got what you voted for, a fancy suit that can read a teleprompter and nothing else...

By John Podhoretz - New York Post

Where is the president? The world is beset. Moammar Khadafy is moving relentlessly to crush the Libyan revolt that once promised the overthrow of one of the world's most despicable regimes.

So where is the president?

Japan may be on the verge of a disaster that dwarfs any we have yet seen. A self-governing nation like the United States needs its leader to take full measure of his position at times of crises when the path forward is no longer clear.

This is not a time for leadership; this is the time for leadership.

So where is Barack Obama?

The moment demands that he rise to the challenge of showing America and the world that he is taking the reins. How leaders act in times of unanticipated crisis, in which they do not have a formulated game plan and must instead navigate in treacherous waters, defines them.

Obama is defining himself in a way that will destroy him.

It is not merely that he isn't rising to the challenge. He is avoiding the challenge. He is Bartleby the President. He would prefer not to.

He has access to a microphone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If he tells the broadcast networks in the middle of the day that he has a major address to deliver on an unprecedented world situation, they will cancel their programming for him.

And yet, since Friday and a press conference in which he managed to leave the American position on Libya more muddled than it was before, we have not heard his voice. Except in a radio address -- he talked about education legislation.

And he appeared at a fund-raiser in DC. And sat down with ESPN to reveal his NCAA picks...

Go read the rest at the link above...

Surgeon General: Buying Iodide a "Precaution"

As the nuclear nightmare in Japan worsens, we get the news that the United States surgeon general supports the idea of california residents investing in iodine tablets. But the california emergency management agency says not to worry? Hmmm, what to do, what to do...

I'm thinking two things, if I am in california, I'm gonna get the fuck outta dodge. If that's not possible, my ass is going to buy some iodine. Radiation poisoning is not to be taken lightly people. You liberals should probably hang out there though, just in case it is a false alarm, you wouldn't want anyone stealing your weed plants...

By Lori Preuitt - NBC Bay Area

The fear that a nuclear cloud could float from the shores of Japan to the shores of California has some people making a run on iodine tablets. Pharmacists across California report being flooded with requests.

State and county officials spent much of Tuesday trying to keep people calm by saying that getting the pills wasn't necessary, but then the United States surgeon general supported the idea as a worthy "precaution."

View more videos at: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/?__source=embedCode.

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is in the Bay Area touring a peninsula hospital. NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo asked her about the run on tablets and Dr. Benjamin said although she wasn't aware of people stocking up, she did not think that would be an overreaction. She said it was right to be prepared.

On the other side of the issue is Kelly Huston of the California Emergency Management Agency. Huston said state officials, along with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the California Energy Commission, were monitoring the situation and said people don't need to buy the pills.

Read the rest at the link above...

President Obama’s Trivial Pursuits

You know, I want to laugh but I'm afraid it would come out sounding like some crazy madman's laugh. I might scare the hell out of the dogs. It doesn't seem to matter how dire the situation, how out of control the world gets, obama continues to play golf and act like a spoiled little rich kid.

It's not funny. I know that. But I've been mad for so long that I just don't know what else to do. It's laugh or lose what's left of my mind. I'm not just mad at obama, I'm mad at all the people who voted for him because of his race. I'm mad at the people who voted for him because he could read the hell out of a teleprompter. It was no secret this guy was a left wing wacko, but 52% of the people in this Country voted for him anyway. It was no secret that he was totally unqualified for the job, yet more than half of the Country went in to the voting booth and cast a ballot for the guy. And what really boils my blood is that there are still a good amount of people who support him. How is that even possible? How can you possibly think he has done a good job? Can you point to one single thing he has done that has had a positive impact on this Country? No, you can't. You might be able to make some stuff up, but that is all it will be.

He got 52% of the vote but he is playing 100% of us for fools...

by Keith Koffler - White House Dossier

The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.

The newly installed tandem of White House Chief of Staff William Daley and Senior Adviser David Plouffe were supposed to impart a new sense of discipline and purpose to the White House. Instead, they are permitting him to showcase himself as a poorly focused leader who has his priorities backward.

This morning, as Japan’s nuclear crisis enters a potentially catastrophic phase, we are told that Obama is videotaping his NCAA tournament picks and that we’ll be able to tune into ESPN Wednesday to find out who he likes.

Saturday, he made his 61st outing to the golf course as president, and got back to the White House with just enough time for a quick shower before heading out to party with Washington’s elite journalists at the annual Gridiron Dinner.

With various urgencies swirling about him, Saturday’s weekly videotaped presidential address focusing on “Women’s History Month” seemed bizarrely out of touch...

Go read the rest at the link above...

Obama Urged to Seize Reins as Crises Pile Up

They can urge all they want, obama doesn't have the balls to seize the reins. He is in way over his head. Read the rest of the article. It's worth it...

From FoxNews

A conflict approaching civil war in Libya. An end-times tsunami in Japan. A Congress that can't reach a budget.

And ... gender inequality?

The topic of President Obama's weekend radio address has raised some eyebrows, as Obama has met mounting crises with the same restraint and cool that characterized his slow-and-steady campaign for president. To some critics, the tone set by the White House in light of recent upheaval may hurt the president's public image.

Amid chaos around the world and on Capitol Hill, Obama's Saturday radio address was devoted to Women's History Month and a call to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, a proposal meant to address the income gap between men and women. Then, the president went golfing at Andrews Air Force Base.

"I don't know if they don't realize the disconnect and maybe they don't care ... but it does matter," Dana Perino, former White House press secretary under George W. Bush, told Fox News.

Former Bush adviser Karl Rove said that he doesn't "begrudge" the president for taking time out for recreation, but Libya and the budget in particular demand more involvement on Obama's part.

Critics note that every time Congress works on a stopgap budget, it risks a government shutdown and does virtually nothing to cut spending, all the while creeping closer to a tricky -- and potentially disastrous -- vote on raising the debt ceiling; every day the administration defers to its international partners to weigh the best course of action in Libya, Muammar al-Qaddafi gains ground.

With the clock ticking, lawmakers and analysts are calling on the president to show a little more moxie on Capitol Hill and the world stage.

Go read the rest at the link above. And while you're there, look at the lower right side of the page. obama's poll numbers are tanking again. People are starting to smarten up...

Japan Earthquake Before and After - What if it happened here?

Go check out this page of before and after images of the Japan earthquake. The images are overlaid. If you hover over the image you can see the difference between the two.

The change between before and after is aweful. There are big lakes where there was farmland. Large areas that were populated have been wiped clean.

This is going to take a long time to recover from, if ever.

This is a good reminder of why we need to be prepared. If we suffered an earthquake of this magnitude, and it was near you, would you be able to survive the aftermath? Do you have any food stores set aside for an emergency? Water? Medical supplies? Do you have digital copies of all of your important documents?

If you had to leave your house today, and never return, what would you take? I don't think we could ever fully prepare for a disaster the size and scope of what the people of Japan are experiencing, but it gives us an opportunity to think about the things that would give us a chance at survival.

I know it's tough to think about a situation that would put your life in danger, but we have seen several examples over the past few months. Having at least a basic plan is better than nothing at all...

Earthquakes and Tsunami...

Unless you have been under a rock or in solitary confinement all day, you know there was an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I don't think they have any idea about a death toll at this point. If you haven't seen any video of the 23 foot tall wave that hit Japan, it is absolutely incredible. It was tossing cars, trucks and boats around like tinker toys. Imagine the force that is required to do that and then imagine that same force loaded up with lots of 3 and 4 ton pieces of ammunition. Check out this picture of the tsunami coming from FoxNews.

Houses and buildings had no chance so you can picture what the people were facing. The earthquake started lots of fires in homes and other structures many of which weren't accessible to any kind of fire fighting equipment because of the flood. Many portions of the island are completely wiped out.

The quake also damaged a nuclear power facility and people are being evacuated from that area now also. What a mess.

Here is a video of the tsunami wiping out everything in it's path from FoxNews.

The tsunami also hit Hawaii and the west coast of the United States. It seem to be as bad as was originally predicted in Hawaii. My parents live there. I called them at about 3:20 am their time. I woke them up so that was a good sign. They had been tracking the waves until about midnight then packed it in. I saw a couple of videos that showed some water  flowing over a seawall. While it may have trashed some stores close to the beach, in the grand scheme of things, they came out of it in decent shape.

The west coast States seem to have only taken a glancing blow. I haven't seen anything that indicated big damage.