“Nuke the Whales” is an attention-grabbing bumper sticker that my dad had at home (he wouldn’t dare put it on his car) because he found it to be so ironic. He loved pumper stickers. I’ve been meaning to chime in about the devastation caused by Mother Nature in Japan. I’ve shed many tears watching so much of the footage. I know more people died in the Indian Ocean calamity a few years ago, but I don’t think there was nearly as much footage or visible understanding of the death toll (the numbers were mind boggling) and the shoreline damage.
It’s amazing to me how the politics in Japan have sought to blame the privately-owned power company that owned the nuclear plants and the executives and their families in particular who cared more about profit (which is what private companies do by definition) than safety and contingencies such as this. I don’t think death threats are warranted, but there have been many because of the sheer frustration and lack of accountability. I don’t think there should be any protest by the entities to the power utilities becoming government-run going forward, so that the safety of Japan’s people is put before everyone. It still remains to be seen just how much death and illness will result from the radioactive fallout, but my heart goes out to the people and entire families that were simply washed away to their deaths.
It’s unimaginable, but I’m very happy to see many countries come to Japan’s aid, just as we came to Haiti’s aid. Last night I spoke to my friend who works for the Red Cross about the challenges to helping these countries in the crisis periods and he said that they have people on the ground, but at times like this while the best thing they can do is channel money to the areas. I know Japan is probably the most high-tech country in the world, but with their electricity output seriously compromised, there is still a “need” for other countries to gather resources and concentrate on the immediate crises at hand.