Japan quake and tsunami

[Yoeddy1]

Unbelievable devastation.  Prayers for those in Japan and what may still be coming.

Watch the video footage here:

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/03/11/natpkg.tsunami.wrap.cnn

Jason

[knagl]

The video was like something out of a disaster movie, but it was very real.

[poppo]

Some of those videos were incredible. Sadly I think the death toll will be very high. And their nuke plant seems to be having issues which could make things even worse. 

[Magicslots]

Serious, and I mean SERIOUS aftershocks are occurring regularly. On the order of 6+ magnitude! 
There are even reports now that 4 persons along the California coast have been swept out to sea!
With hours of notice to get to safety, there is no excuse but stupidity for that!!! 

[Yoeddy1]

Video link added in original post.  Nobody ever knows when Mother Nature is going to get upset. 

Jason

[tacman]

7.4 aftershock today with another tsunami warning.

 Dan (tacman)

[morning_glory21]

7.4 aftershock today with another tsunami warning.

 Dan (tacman)

these people are getting slammed by Mother Earth right now.  so many have no shelter and are limited on food and water, not to mention it's still freaking cold around there.
i'm glad i'm in AZ, no major natural disasters ever happen around here.

[jay]

Japan is not Hatti.

Anyone who wants out of the area can pick up and leave.  Most people have insurance. Could go to hotels in Tokyo, Niko etc.
Much of the debris is being removed, cleaned up as quickly as possible, people are being housed in temporary shelters which are not refugee camps.
This is a retirement community and these people are receiving counseling etc. Their government is taking care of them.
An aged majority won't leave the area as this is their whole life and they would RATHER stay where they have a sense of community than live in the big city where they have nothing and know no one.
In six months the place is going to look 3x better than NewOrleans did after 6 years. You won't ever find cockroach infested fema trailers and welfare fueled druggies hanging about.

The red cross and other agencies are using this as a poster child for fund raising and the money will be spent in other relief zones assuming any of the money actually lasts long enough to be spent.
The red cross is audacious enough to send the Japan government a bill for their relief services on top of what they have collected.

I am not particularly religious but I would much rather give my money to a church lead posse of do-gooders where the majority of the funds make it to the street and the people it is intended for.
If you read the stats about UNICEF, Red Cross, etc you will sadly see that less than 10% of the donated funds actually go to those who do need the help and the rest is spent on high salaries, PAC (political action committees), lobbyists, and the like. Some of the good organizations are Doctors without borders, Engineers without boarders, habitat for humanity and Oxfam. None of which are currently involved in Japan.

The daughter of one of my friends was articling for a legal firm while she worked towards her bar exam. (She passed).  She has just spent her savings for the last six months to go build houses in Chili with habitat for humanity.She paid her own way there, pays for her camp accommodation - think soup kitchen type food etc and donates her time. Contrast this to the red cross that pays for first class flights and trucks salaried  people in from 4star hotels. By no means am I putting the people down that do the work but I would rather donate my money to the habitat people who will spend the money with local businesses in the areas that they serve and organize armies of volunteers because I know my money is actually going to people who need it.

 

[morning_glory21]

Japan is not Hatti.

Anyone who wants out of the area can pick up and leave.  Most people have insurance. Could go to hotels in Tokyo, Niko etc.
Much of the debris is being removed, cleaned up as quickly as possible, people are being housed in temporary shelters which are not refugee camps.
This is a retirement community and these people are receiving counseling etc. Their government is taking care of them.
An aged majority won't leave the area as this is their whole life and they would RATHER stay where they have a sense of community than live in the big city where they have nothing and know no one.
In six months the place is going to look 3x better than NewOrleans did after 6 years. You won't ever find cockroach infested fema trailers and welfare fueled druggies hanging about.

The red cross and other agencies are using this as a poster child for fund raising and the money will be spent in other relief zones assuming any of the money actually lasts long enough to be spent.
The red cross is audacious enough to send the Japan government a bill for their relief services on top of what they have collected.

I am not particularly religious but I would much rather give my money to a church lead posse of do-gooders where the majority of the funds make it to the street and the people it is intended for.
If you read the stats about UNICEF, Red Cross, etc you will sadly see that less than 10% of the donated funds actually go to those who do need the help and the rest is spent on high salaries, PAC (political action committees), lobbyists, and the like. Some of the good organizations are Doctors without borders, Engineers without boarders, habitat for humanity and Oxfam. None of which are currently involved in Japan.

The daughter of one of my friends was articling for a legal firm while she worked towards her bar exam. (She passed).  She has just spent her savings for the last six months to go build houses in Chili with habitat for humanity.She paid her own way there, pays for her camp accommodation - think soup kitchen type food etc and donates her time. Contrast this to the red cross that pays for first class flights and trucks salaried  people in from 4star hotels. By no means am I putting the people down that do the work but I would rather donate my money to the habitat people who will spend the money with local businesses in the areas that they serve and organize armies of volunteers because I know my money is actually going to people who need it.

 

 

good stuff jay,

it's truly f-d up how some organizations and people will take advantage of sh!t like this to make money.  H4H is a great organization, i've pounded a few nails locally for them.

[poppo]

The red cross is audacious enough to send the Japan government a bill for their relief services on top of what they have collected.

As I mentioned in another thread, when we had a flood here last year nobody got any help. The red cross did show up for a couple of hours and the extent of their 'relief services' was handing out a couple dozen rolls of paper towels and some small bags of potato chips. Seriously, that is all they did.