Suddenly there's information overflow with all the events happening around the world. Japanese quake, tsunami, nuclear crises. Insurgencies in Tripoli, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemem, Libya, Syria, Iraq and on and on and on. Now comes the bombing of Libya.
Japan - Let's hope for more electricity, warmth, food and water for those destitute in northern Japan. They are battling unusually cold, snowy weather for this time of the year. As for the sad news of deaths, the death toll reported by Japan's NHK English (direct link: [Link] NHK English ) is up to 7,500 or so. They are not counting those that are reported missing, only those that have been found dead firsthand. Preliminary reports coming out of the tsunami ravaged Northeast coasts report half of the coastal town populations missing. That's at least 10,000 deaths in Sendai, Miyagi, and Iwate. So that's at least 30,000 deaths right there.
[Video] Model of how the tsunami got created by the quake, Professor Takashi Furumura
[Link] University of Tokyo: Models of Quake and Tsunami
And the nuclear disaster that has no immediate conclusion... Let's hope those coolant pumps and pipes still work once AC electricity gets reconnected. The pictures of the blown up buildings at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant eerily resemble those of Chernobyl. Brave, sacrificial workers trying to cover up the radiation in the mist of it also bear resemblance, along with the ultimate possibility of entombment. I suspect radiation is leaking from underneath into the ocean where Japan's food supply might now be toxic. Btw, I'm in the middle of watching the Discovery Channel documentary on Chernobyl on Youtube.
Out of curiosity, I looked up what some of the biggest power plants in the world to see what they look like. Boy, does the world use a lot of electricity! Some of the biggest plants are dams that make nuclear plants look tiny! We need to start funding decentralized power generation (solar and wind) along with treating it as a limited supply resource. We need to stop abusing the use of it and become more efficient in the use of it. After all, I suspect 70%-80% of it wasted. Some examples are always on PCs and monitors in offices and homes, food imports from other states and countries (average miles food travels: 1000 miles), really counterproductive subsidies to GMO, ethanol, and agriculture (sugar), and subsidies to oil and oil infrstructure.
[Link] Top 100 power plants in the world
What have I learned? I've learned what a prefecture is. I've learned that the business class have cut corners, exposing the population to natural disasters around the world. Money needs to go into more solidly planned, designed, and built infrastructure, not into the business and financial classes' pockets. We need to better prepare for things that happen once in a 100 years. We can't keep ignoring this fact of life.
Libya - Another invasion for oil by the United States has begun! The oil executives and investors can't stop! Libya will face the same lowering of quality of life that Iraqis face after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. The Libyan insurgents and Qaddafi need to come to an agreement and work together to keep the NATO and US military out. Will this happen? Qaddafi will have to choose between appeasing the insurgents or his ultimate death. What will be choose? And do the Libyans have a choice? Their choices are whittled down to keeping a dictator or welcoming in the US takeover, suppression, and lower quality of life in their own country.
By the time I watch and read everything out there, I no longer have the time to write for this blog anymore. I will write once in awhile. I urge you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. More and more outlets are popping up. In fact it is getting harder and harder to keep up with all the information. What am I following everyday? The Al Jazeera English Youtube channel, NHK English, Kyodo News, Max Keiser, Catherine Austin Fitts, PrisonPlanet.tv are the main sources for information for me right now.
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