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Here are some notes from the town we've been following since what is being called the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
A recent law passed by the embattled government of Prime Minister Kan allows the government to lease commercial space for free to hard hit businesses trying to recover. The caveat is that each municipality is supposed to find the vacant parcels eligible, and many of them do not have the wherewithal for the search. In Rikuzen, applicants were told that the government would lease for free, but the business owners would have to find the lots, since they were having enough problems finding unowned land on which to build the hundreds of temp houses needed. They added an additional caveat of each lot must be shared by two businesses. As of last month, 21 applicants had found lots, while others were growing frustrated, wondering how to do a search job the government was incapable of.
That same government just defeated another no confidence vote three weeks ago. Discontent over the lack of action and Kan's unfulfilled promises is growing.
Black tailed gulls have begun to make their nests in the still-piled debris, afraid of their old seaside nesting areas. Many residents are looking at this as a sign of encouragement- the birds keep on going, so must we.
Rikuzen is on of six towns in the area unable to provide school lunches. 27 more out of 69 in the area are only providing bread and milk, and malnutrition is becoming a growing concern.
In nearby and hard hit Sendai, the Tohoku Rakuten major league baseball team, which delayed its opener by two weeks due to stadium damage, will bring a ray of hope to their city with one of the JPB's three all-star games coming to Sendai on July 24th.
Design exec Kazuyoshi Kurosawa and former resident based in Germany Koshi Tagaki are volunteering time to comfort the survivors of the disaster by doing oil paintings of lost family members from photographs given them by the victim's relatives. The portraits seem to be taking a little of the sting of the loss from some of the mourners.
Finally, 100 graft sprigs were taken from the roots of that lone surviving tree in the nearby forest and grafted to rootstocks by the Forest Service's Tohoku Regional Breeding Office in Takizawamura, some 60 mi. NW. Four of these sprigs are now thriving, and once they are stronger and the area is safe, all but one of them will be returned to their original home to begin the rebuilding of the forest. The time of season was against all but the four hardy survivors, but due to the danger from erosion and salt water their progenitor was in, the botanists felt they had to move fast before the lone tree died and its dna was lost forever.
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Rikuzen Takata update #2
At this point we have an abundance of pictures from the city, showing what it looks like now. Before we go there, a fellow blogger posted pictures of her time there in the spring of 2006. You can see them at http://fightswithivy.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/memories-of-miyagi/. Another person commented on my last update and gives a link to more devastation, including a look at a still standing school they used to teach at. Other pictures can be seen at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-03/15/c_13779776.htm. Here are another couple I found.
The wide-angle view.
The scale of the disaster.
Yasunobu Sasaki is the school principal who is now basically in charge of the school-turned-shelter. He says, "The people are exhausted both physically and mentally." He says they can do nothing but shivver under blankets due to the hypothermia and low temperatures, and he cannot find enough food to give them the 3 meals a day they need to recover. Reporter Mark Mackinnon of Canada's Globe and Mail tweeted that he was told that 40% of the pre-quake population of the town is likely dead. That would be 9,200 to 9,800 in just this town.
I don't mean to make it appear that this is the only place people are suffering. The town of Minamsanriku has 1,000 confirmed dead and 8,000 still unaccounted for. In Otsuchi, 12,000 out of a population of 15,000 are missing. And it goes on.
The wide-angle view.
The scale of the disaster.
Yasunobu Sasaki is the school principal who is now basically in charge of the school-turned-shelter. He says, "The people are exhausted both physically and mentally." He says they can do nothing but shivver under blankets due to the hypothermia and low temperatures, and he cannot find enough food to give them the 3 meals a day they need to recover. Reporter Mark Mackinnon of Canada's Globe and Mail tweeted that he was told that 40% of the pre-quake population of the town is likely dead. That would be 9,200 to 9,800 in just this town.
I don't mean to make it appear that this is the only place people are suffering. The town of Minamsanriku has 1,000 confirmed dead and 8,000 still unaccounted for. In Otsuchi, 12,000 out of a population of 15,000 are missing. And it goes on.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Rikuzen Takata update
I've been combing the reports for info on the Town I decided to feature in the Japan tragedy, Rikuzen-Takata. One report said that only 5,900 of a population of over 23,000 had managed to find shelter before the tsunami hit. Police said Saturday morning that they had dug up 300-400 bodies already from the debris. Rikuzen-Takata, described by the Daily Yomiyuri online as one of six nearby communities whose "administrative functions are paralyzed" (no surprise since the wave reached to the third floor of the city hall), was flown over Saturday morning by Yomiyuri reporter Koji Yasuda, who gave this report:
" The next town south was Rikuzen-Takata, but almost no buildings were to be seen where the town should have been located. It seemed as if the port town had suddenly vanished. What I could see there were only medium-rise buildings believed to be made of reinforced concrete, such as a hospital."
Reading about it only gives a vague idea. Here's video from the town.
In the meantime I found this report, orignally in German, on the fate of the Asia League and the Anyang Halla team.
Asia earthquake prevented League final
Saturday 12 March 2011, 18:32
- Martin Merk
The severe earthquake in Japan left over 1000 dead and hockey not spared. The final series of the Asian league, which would have to start yesterday, was canceled until further notice. The two teams had this blessing in disguise, because they were both on the hard-hit east coast in Fukushima Prefecture. The home team, the Tohoku Free Blades trained in its ice rink in Koriyama, Japan when the earthquake struck. The players immediately rushed from the ice to shake as the earth and pieces of concrete started falling off. The crew spent the night in an office building because their hotel was damaged.
Even the visiting team, the defending champion Anyang Halla in South Korea, had a blessing in disguise. It was only just landed in Sendai and on the way to Koriyama, when the earthquake began. The team is now in Fukushima, and only a short time before there was an explosion at a nuclear power plant took place, took off and returned to South Korea. When the playoffs will continue is as yet unclear and especially for the Japanese probably currently not in the foreground.
Sounds like the Korean team dodged several bullets. I'll keep checking the updates on this, but let me go around to the league's Japanese cities and see how they fared.
Nikko (home of the Ice Bucks)- found nothing. No news is good news, eh?
Kushiro (home of the Nippon Paper Cranes)- in the north of Hokkaido, away from the damage.
Tomokomai(home of the Oji Eagles)- on the south shore of Hokkaido, some minimal damage to docks.
Hachinhoe (one of two home bases for the Tohoku Free Blades)- whole areas flooded, lots of ships washed ashore, including a fishing boat thought lost in the wave, from which 81 survivors were choppered out.
Koriyama (their other home)- plenty of damage, but standing enough that the FoxNews stringers moved there when the radiation evacs began.
That's the news for now. I'll keep following news from Rikuzen-Takata for a while.
" The next town south was Rikuzen-Takata, but almost no buildings were to be seen where the town should have been located. It seemed as if the port town had suddenly vanished. What I could see there were only medium-rise buildings believed to be made of reinforced concrete, such as a hospital."
Reading about it only gives a vague idea. Here's video from the town.
In the meantime I found this report, orignally in German, on the fate of the Asia League and the Anyang Halla team.
Asia earthquake prevented League final
Saturday 12 March 2011, 18:32
- Martin Merk
The severe earthquake in Japan left over 1000 dead and hockey not spared. The final series of the Asian league, which would have to start yesterday, was canceled until further notice. The two teams had this blessing in disguise, because they were both on the hard-hit east coast in Fukushima Prefecture. The home team, the Tohoku Free Blades trained in its ice rink in Koriyama, Japan when the earthquake struck. The players immediately rushed from the ice to shake as the earth and pieces of concrete started falling off. The crew spent the night in an office building because their hotel was damaged.
Even the visiting team, the defending champion Anyang Halla in South Korea, had a blessing in disguise. It was only just landed in Sendai and on the way to Koriyama, when the earthquake began. The team is now in Fukushima, and only a short time before there was an explosion at a nuclear power plant took place, took off and returned to South Korea. When the playoffs will continue is as yet unclear and especially for the Japanese probably currently not in the foreground.
Sounds like the Korean team dodged several bullets. I'll keep checking the updates on this, but let me go around to the league's Japanese cities and see how they fared.
Nikko (home of the Ice Bucks)- found nothing. No news is good news, eh?
Kushiro (home of the Nippon Paper Cranes)- in the north of Hokkaido, away from the damage.
Tomokomai(home of the Oji Eagles)- on the south shore of Hokkaido, some minimal damage to docks.
Hachinhoe (one of two home bases for the Tohoku Free Blades)- whole areas flooded, lots of ships washed ashore, including a fishing boat thought lost in the wave, from which 81 survivors were choppered out.
Koriyama (their other home)- plenty of damage, but standing enough that the FoxNews stringers moved there when the radiation evacs began.
That's the news for now. I'll keep following news from Rikuzen-Takata for a while.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Japan update
The Indiana attorney-general asks you to check out charities to give donations for Japan through www.CharityNavigator.org . This site gives ratings and charity by charity info. We chose AmeriCares, which was higher rated and gives more right to the project than Red Cross. Only drawback id the donation is collected through NetworkForGood, which charges a fee that can come off the top of your donation of get added on.
And don't forget, God doesn't charge a fee for prayer.
And don't forget, God doesn't charge a fee for prayer.
Eurohockey update
Lots is happening in our look at the international hockey competitions, including one new travelogue city and an update from the quake-shattered Asia League.
The Asia League website has the 3 games of the finals scheduled for yesterday through Thursday marked as Cancelled. The finals were to feature Anyang Halla, who upset regular season champion Oji 5-4 in OT to win the series 4 to 1, and the Tohoku Free Blades, who won consecutive 4-1 games to defeat the Cranes. However, Tohoku plays some of their home games in Koriyama (which is 60 miles south of Sendai) and some at Hachinohe (166 miles north of Sendai). The games were to be played in Koriyama; but a report from Canadian Tohoku player Brad Farynuk said that the Arena was ruined, with concrete falling and other damage. He said that he thought the games would be moved to Korea, but he thought that the Anyang team was stuck on a bullet train somewhere between Tokyo and Koriyama. In the meantime, his wife is stuck at their home in Hachinohe; she says they have no power or water, and that she can see boats that have been washed ashore.
The English EIHL and the German DEL are still playing, with the EIHL going till the 25th and the DEL finishing tomorrow. Sheffield's Steelers (a popular hockey name in Europe) still leads a three team group within 2 points of each other at the top; the DEL is led by Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg by 3 points. Their playoffs, which start with the 7-10 seeds playing a best of three to see who got the final 2 quarterfinal slots, start Wednesday.
In France, Amiens has a 2 to 1 lead on Briancon after winning the last 2; Gap also leads their series with Strasbourg 2 to 1, despite a 9-2 Strasbourg win in game three. Last season's finalists ripped through the round to advance to the semis; Rouen rolled to 6-2, 4-1, and 6-1 wins over Morzine-Avoriaz; Angers was even more dominant in 8-0, 10-1, and 7-5 wins over Villard de Lans. They will await the winners of the other two series.
In Switzerland, EV Zug finally finished off Geneve Servette in a 5-4 win that took over 110 minutes of OT to take that series 4 to 2. Zug will play season champ Davos while SC Bern meets Kloten in the semis which start Wednesday.
In Italy, Val Pusteria put up back to back OT wins to take a 3 to 0 lead on Valpellice in the semis, while Bolzano dominated in 4-2 and 5-2 wins to take the same lead over defending playoff champ Asiago.
In Austria, KAC finished off KHL Zagreb with a 6-5 OT win in game 5; they will play my VSV team, who finished off last year's playoff runner-up Black Wings Linz with a 5-2 win in game 5, in the semis. Also in the semis are defending champ Red Bull Salzburg who eliminated Olympja Ljubljana in 5 games with another OT win (three of 4 quarterfinal series were decided with an OT final); they'll play the Vienna Capitals, who downed the Graz 99ers in a 4 game sweep.
In the Czech Extraliga, Slavia Praha took 5-2 and 4-3 wins over White Tigers Liberec to take a 3-1 lead over the league's#2 team. Vitkovice Steel took a 3-2 shootout win in game five with Mountfield and a 3-2 lead in their series Friday. Litvinov Brezina recovered from 2 opening losses to season champ Ocelari Trinec with 5-3 and 4-2 wins to surprisingly tie the series at 2 games apiece. And Pardubice is at home waiting on the others after mowing down PSG Zlin in four straight.
In Slovakia, Kosice had already won into the second round, as had Poprad. Kosice will play Dukla Trencin, who upset Slovan Bratislava, with 6-3 and 5-2 wins completing a comeback from down 3 games to 0 to win 4 to 3. Poprad will face Banska Bystrika, who won 2 tight games at the end to avoid an upset by HK Zvolen 4 to 3.
In Norway, Sparta Sarpsborg rolled to 6-0 and 4-0 wins over Rosenborg to sweep their first round series. They will face Lillehammer, who downed Storhammer in 5 games. Second place Stavenger routed Frisk Asker 6-1, 8-4, and 5-2 to take their series 4 games to 1 and they will now face Lorenskog, who won three straight to upset defending champ Valerenga 4 to 1.
In Sweden, season champ HV71 is well on the way to an inglorious exit ; AIK has won all three games, including 4-2 and 3-1 wins in Jonkoping, and can sweep them with a home win Tuesday in Stockholm. Farjestad has won the first 2 against Brynas; Skelleftea and Linkoping are at 1 game apiece; and Lulea has notched consecutive 2-1 wins over Djurgardens.
In Denmark, SonderjsykE won their last three to advance out of the round robin. Blue Fox Herning smashed Fredrikshaven 9-4 in the RR finale, so it became SonderjyskE vs Fredrikshaven and Herning vs Rodovre in the semis. SonderjyskE took their opener 2-1 on Mike Grey's power play goal 1:51 into OT; BFH gave up the puck at center ice to Rodovre's Morten Andreassen 2 1/2 minutes into OT and he tallied his 2nd goal of the game to give the Mighty Bulls a 1 game lead in their series, 4-3.
In the KHL, Avangard clocked Neftekhimk 7-3 last Sunday to become the last team into the second round. And here again they are struggling, having lost 4-2 and 4-3 OT matches to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In the other Eastern series, Salavat Yulaev has took both of the first two games- a 3-2 OT opener, and 3-1 in a match where Ak Bars missed, not one, but 2 empty net chances. In the West, SKA has a 2 to 1 lead over Atlant after a 3-0 win this morning. Lokomotiv blasted Dinamo Riga 8-4 this morning behind three goals by Daniel Tjarnquist to retake a 2-1 lead.
Finally, JYP Jyvaskyla (39-13-8) finished off the S-M Liiga regular season as champs this week. The playoffs start today with a best of 3 round between the 7-10 teams for the last two quarterfinal spots. HPK faces the Ilves of Tampere, while Karpat faces the Blues of Espoo.
JYP was founded in 1977, and play in the 4,628-seat Synergie Areena. They have a championship in 2009 to their credit, and are in a trading partnership with the NHL's Boston Bruins.
Jyvaskyla is located dead center of the big southern "bulb" of Finland. Built between Lakes Paijame and Jyvasjari, it contains 37 lakes in the old town alone. Built by Russian Czar Nicholas I in 1837, it grew dramatically after the end of
the "Continuation War"- the battle fought between Finland and Nazi Germany against Soviet Russia from 1941-44- because of refugees from Karelia who fled the Soviet return. Finland's education center, it is often called "the Athens of Finland". It is the fastest growing city in the nation, with a population aproaching 131,000.
That's it for this round. Be back next week when we take a look at (presumably) the German city of Wolfsburg and (maybe) more info on the situation in Japan.
The Asia League website has the 3 games of the finals scheduled for yesterday through Thursday marked as Cancelled. The finals were to feature Anyang Halla, who upset regular season champion Oji 5-4 in OT to win the series 4 to 1, and the Tohoku Free Blades, who won consecutive 4-1 games to defeat the Cranes. However, Tohoku plays some of their home games in Koriyama (which is 60 miles south of Sendai) and some at Hachinohe (166 miles north of Sendai). The games were to be played in Koriyama; but a report from Canadian Tohoku player Brad Farynuk said that the Arena was ruined, with concrete falling and other damage. He said that he thought the games would be moved to Korea, but he thought that the Anyang team was stuck on a bullet train somewhere between Tokyo and Koriyama. In the meantime, his wife is stuck at their home in Hachinohe; she says they have no power or water, and that she can see boats that have been washed ashore.
The English EIHL and the German DEL are still playing, with the EIHL going till the 25th and the DEL finishing tomorrow. Sheffield's Steelers (a popular hockey name in Europe) still leads a three team group within 2 points of each other at the top; the DEL is led by Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg by 3 points. Their playoffs, which start with the 7-10 seeds playing a best of three to see who got the final 2 quarterfinal slots, start Wednesday.
In France, Amiens has a 2 to 1 lead on Briancon after winning the last 2; Gap also leads their series with Strasbourg 2 to 1, despite a 9-2 Strasbourg win in game three. Last season's finalists ripped through the round to advance to the semis; Rouen rolled to 6-2, 4-1, and 6-1 wins over Morzine-Avoriaz; Angers was even more dominant in 8-0, 10-1, and 7-5 wins over Villard de Lans. They will await the winners of the other two series.
In Switzerland, EV Zug finally finished off Geneve Servette in a 5-4 win that took over 110 minutes of OT to take that series 4 to 2. Zug will play season champ Davos while SC Bern meets Kloten in the semis which start Wednesday.
In Italy, Val Pusteria put up back to back OT wins to take a 3 to 0 lead on Valpellice in the semis, while Bolzano dominated in 4-2 and 5-2 wins to take the same lead over defending playoff champ Asiago.
In Austria, KAC finished off KHL Zagreb with a 6-5 OT win in game 5; they will play my VSV team, who finished off last year's playoff runner-up Black Wings Linz with a 5-2 win in game 5, in the semis. Also in the semis are defending champ Red Bull Salzburg who eliminated Olympja Ljubljana in 5 games with another OT win (three of 4 quarterfinal series were decided with an OT final); they'll play the Vienna Capitals, who downed the Graz 99ers in a 4 game sweep.
In the Czech Extraliga, Slavia Praha took 5-2 and 4-3 wins over White Tigers Liberec to take a 3-1 lead over the league's#2 team. Vitkovice Steel took a 3-2 shootout win in game five with Mountfield and a 3-2 lead in their series Friday. Litvinov Brezina recovered from 2 opening losses to season champ Ocelari Trinec with 5-3 and 4-2 wins to surprisingly tie the series at 2 games apiece. And Pardubice is at home waiting on the others after mowing down PSG Zlin in four straight.
In Slovakia, Kosice had already won into the second round, as had Poprad. Kosice will play Dukla Trencin, who upset Slovan Bratislava, with 6-3 and 5-2 wins completing a comeback from down 3 games to 0 to win 4 to 3. Poprad will face Banska Bystrika, who won 2 tight games at the end to avoid an upset by HK Zvolen 4 to 3.
In Norway, Sparta Sarpsborg rolled to 6-0 and 4-0 wins over Rosenborg to sweep their first round series. They will face Lillehammer, who downed Storhammer in 5 games. Second place Stavenger routed Frisk Asker 6-1, 8-4, and 5-2 to take their series 4 games to 1 and they will now face Lorenskog, who won three straight to upset defending champ Valerenga 4 to 1.
In Sweden, season champ HV71 is well on the way to an inglorious exit ; AIK has won all three games, including 4-2 and 3-1 wins in Jonkoping, and can sweep them with a home win Tuesday in Stockholm. Farjestad has won the first 2 against Brynas; Skelleftea and Linkoping are at 1 game apiece; and Lulea has notched consecutive 2-1 wins over Djurgardens.
In Denmark, SonderjsykE won their last three to advance out of the round robin. Blue Fox Herning smashed Fredrikshaven 9-4 in the RR finale, so it became SonderjyskE vs Fredrikshaven and Herning vs Rodovre in the semis. SonderjyskE took their opener 2-1 on Mike Grey's power play goal 1:51 into OT; BFH gave up the puck at center ice to Rodovre's Morten Andreassen 2 1/2 minutes into OT and he tallied his 2nd goal of the game to give the Mighty Bulls a 1 game lead in their series, 4-3.
In the KHL, Avangard clocked Neftekhimk 7-3 last Sunday to become the last team into the second round. And here again they are struggling, having lost 4-2 and 4-3 OT matches to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In the other Eastern series, Salavat Yulaev has took both of the first two games- a 3-2 OT opener, and 3-1 in a match where Ak Bars missed, not one, but 2 empty net chances. In the West, SKA has a 2 to 1 lead over Atlant after a 3-0 win this morning. Lokomotiv blasted Dinamo Riga 8-4 this morning behind three goals by Daniel Tjarnquist to retake a 2-1 lead.
Finally, JYP Jyvaskyla (39-13-8) finished off the S-M Liiga regular season as champs this week. The playoffs start today with a best of 3 round between the 7-10 teams for the last two quarterfinal spots. HPK faces the Ilves of Tampere, while Karpat faces the Blues of Espoo.
JYP was founded in 1977, and play in the 4,628-seat Synergie Areena. They have a championship in 2009 to their credit, and are in a trading partnership with the NHL's Boston Bruins.
Jyvaskyla is located dead center of the big southern "bulb" of Finland. Built between Lakes Paijame and Jyvasjari, it contains 37 lakes in the old town alone. Built by Russian Czar Nicholas I in 1837, it grew dramatically after the end of
the "Continuation War"- the battle fought between Finland and Nazi Germany against Soviet Russia from 1941-44- because of refugees from Karelia who fled the Soviet return. Finland's education center, it is often called "the Athens of Finland". It is the fastest growing city in the nation, with a population aproaching 131,000.
That's it for this round. Be back next week when we take a look at (presumably) the German city of Wolfsburg and (maybe) more info on the situation in Japan.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thoughts for today
Or "more February flotsam", if you prefer.
1. The situation In Christchurch, NZ. I send my prayers along with grief over "the darkest day in New Zealand". The CBS News report is running behind me right now.
2. The next thing on the news- Quaddaffiduck and the Libyan situation. Its hard to take much amusement out of such a catastrophe, but... The original nut job has stated A) the rebels are just youths who've been paid in drugs (Gosh, if that was possible, just think of all the fun they'd be having in Mexico. Cheech and Chong: Lethal Weapon); B) that they were "taking your children and getting them drunk ( man, he's got a thing about intoxication, don't he?) ; and C), the one I reeeeeally love, being a history buff, that "we will not let the Italians and the Turks take over our country." I like living in the past, too, but I generally don't go clear back to 1911.
I never mouthed off about the Egypt affair because I was too concerned about the aftermath, and am still waiting on that one. But here? Quaddaffiduck says he will die a martyr for Libya. I think that one's going to be arranged before the week's out.
3.My two cents about the pirates that killed those Yachters. ANY pirate ship should be blown to atoms, no questions asked.
4. Annnnnd now, the Wisconsin thing. I would like, without really debating the bill, to comment on two points.
First, my take on unions. I have watched at more than one place while unions let good workers hang while getting every break possible for the scum of the earth. I have watched as what once were proud American organizations become absolutely nothing but Democrat PACs. And I have watched while union workers who really aren't any more skilled or doing jobs that are any more important than mine make 2 and 3 times the pay that I do. And now, when they should be leading the fight to rein things in, make our government and our economy better, they have the nerve to say, "not out of MY wallet." They don't even want to take collective bargaining for pay away from them, just benefits. Meanwhile, these same people who are either being led by the nose or living with a sense of entitlement that says they're better than I, are on the warpath in Indiana too, because they are afraid to compete with non-union shops. I pity the poor people who will work in right-to-work shops in Indiana if we get them, because I'm sure they will do any inhuman thing to make them miserable if they decide not to be a union "brother". So, yeah, for all these reasons, I have utterly no problem with seeing all the unions hang. Since you are all about "what's in it for me", I'm sure you'll excuse me if I act the same.
Second, I think any teacher who isn't in the classroom should be terminated at the end of the year. The kids should be the important thing; the politics is what you pay your dues for union management to take care of. And any legislator too gutless to stay in the statehouse and fight for his position should find himself unemployed after the next election. Of course I realize that Wisconsin has been pseudo-communist for over a century, so that won't happen there. But I will put every state and National legislator from my district on notice: I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, or George Freaking Washington- if you flee the state to avoid a vote on ANYTHING, I will NEVER, EVER vote, support, or say anything nice about you ever again. I cannot properly express my contempt for these cowards. And like I said on the unions, if you feel that absence makes the heart grow fonder, you won't be upset if I express my fondness when you need my vote.
Rant over, time to make supper.
1. The situation In Christchurch, NZ. I send my prayers along with grief over "the darkest day in New Zealand". The CBS News report is running behind me right now.
2. The next thing on the news- Quaddaffiduck and the Libyan situation. Its hard to take much amusement out of such a catastrophe, but... The original nut job has stated A) the rebels are just youths who've been paid in drugs (Gosh, if that was possible, just think of all the fun they'd be having in Mexico. Cheech and Chong: Lethal Weapon); B) that they were "taking your children and getting them drunk ( man, he's got a thing about intoxication, don't he?) ; and C), the one I reeeeeally love, being a history buff, that "we will not let the Italians and the Turks take over our country." I like living in the past, too, but I generally don't go clear back to 1911.
I never mouthed off about the Egypt affair because I was too concerned about the aftermath, and am still waiting on that one. But here? Quaddaffiduck says he will die a martyr for Libya. I think that one's going to be arranged before the week's out.
3.My two cents about the pirates that killed those Yachters. ANY pirate ship should be blown to atoms, no questions asked.
4. Annnnnd now, the Wisconsin thing. I would like, without really debating the bill, to comment on two points.
First, my take on unions. I have watched at more than one place while unions let good workers hang while getting every break possible for the scum of the earth. I have watched as what once were proud American organizations become absolutely nothing but Democrat PACs. And I have watched while union workers who really aren't any more skilled or doing jobs that are any more important than mine make 2 and 3 times the pay that I do. And now, when they should be leading the fight to rein things in, make our government and our economy better, they have the nerve to say, "not out of MY wallet." They don't even want to take collective bargaining for pay away from them, just benefits. Meanwhile, these same people who are either being led by the nose or living with a sense of entitlement that says they're better than I, are on the warpath in Indiana too, because they are afraid to compete with non-union shops. I pity the poor people who will work in right-to-work shops in Indiana if we get them, because I'm sure they will do any inhuman thing to make them miserable if they decide not to be a union "brother". So, yeah, for all these reasons, I have utterly no problem with seeing all the unions hang. Since you are all about "what's in it for me", I'm sure you'll excuse me if I act the same.
Second, I think any teacher who isn't in the classroom should be terminated at the end of the year. The kids should be the important thing; the politics is what you pay your dues for union management to take care of. And any legislator too gutless to stay in the statehouse and fight for his position should find himself unemployed after the next election. Of course I realize that Wisconsin has been pseudo-communist for over a century, so that won't happen there. But I will put every state and National legislator from my district on notice: I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, or George Freaking Washington- if you flee the state to avoid a vote on ANYTHING, I will NEVER, EVER vote, support, or say anything nice about you ever again. I cannot properly express my contempt for these cowards. And like I said on the unions, if you feel that absence makes the heart grow fonder, you won't be upset if I express my fondness when you need my vote.
Rant over, time to make supper.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Great Indiana earthquake of '10
HUGE DISASTER IN INDIANA AS...
....oops, that ain't what happened. But since I saw some of our Facebook friends talking about it, I thought I'd tell our version.
About 7:45 this a.m., a deer came a-grazing into our back yard. Naturally, Scrappy wakes me up, and after a half-dozen aborted attempts, I got my eyes to open enough to see it, munching along in the tall weeds at the edge of the fence row. Acting swiftly, I went to the bathroom and then returned to bed. I knew that where one went, the other two had to be around, so I sat up and watched. Scrappy, tired of trying to watch a deer standing still in the gloaming, went back under the covers. Soon, the remaining 2 came out, slowly working their way along the exposed lawn where the snow melted overnight. They were just beginning to make their move to the cherry tree at the edge of the parking lot (and my view) when the quake hit. Now one of our neighbors occasionally shakes the building with what I can only assume is their washer or dryer. The slight tremor shakes my windows. Last time, when we were listening to Midnight Mass on Christmas ( and booooo to they what made the decision to boot Midnight Mass from TV this year), it shook so that I actually checked the IRIS seismic monitor FOR an earthquake. This was much lighter and much shorter- 5 seconds tops. The deer looked at the building, aiding in my assumption of a mechanical source. Scrappy leapt out from under the covers like Sant
a Claus was knocking at the window, but swiftly saw that the deer population had tripled and forgot all about it. It was only once I looked at the news 2 hours later that I realized what a harrowing experience we'd survived.
a Claus was knocking at the window, but swiftly saw that the deer population had tripled and forgot all about it. It was only once I looked at the news 2 hours later that I realized what a harrowing experience we'd survived.
(Evon Wainscott sent this pic of the real quake to Indianasnewscenter from near the epicenter.)
Not quite Santiago or Haiti, is it?
Saturday, February 27, 2010
February's Quake
Today was supposed to be an easy day of catching up on news, complaining about the latest stupidities at work, and mentioning the bunny rabbit we tracked this morning checking out each and every porch in the neighborhood until he got to ours, at which point he smelled Scrappy and fled to the woods.
Then I saw the news.
It seems God is developing a plan of one major killer earthquake a month this year, and February's hit last night at 3:34 am or thereabouts in Conception, Chile. At 8.8, it was aproximately 32 times stronger than the one that flattened Haiti. In other words, if this had hit in Haiti, we needn't have worried about rescue efforts. As I write, the death toll is 78, the quake hit the capitol of Santiago harder than the Haiti quake at 200 miles from the epicenter, and a 9 foot wave swept Robinson Crusoe Island, completely flooding the main village. Hawaii will sound Tsunami sirens in about 40 minutes. I watched some live stream from Chile tv, and much better built building and infrastructure than Haiti will ever have has been shattered.
Time to pray for Chile, RCI, Easter island (also in the wave's path) , and Hawaii.
Update: Wikipedia lists the Haiti quake as 4th deadliest all time, and this morning's Chile quake as 7th-strongest all time. All within 36 days.
Then I saw the news.
It seems God is developing a plan of one major killer earthquake a month this year, and February's hit last night at 3:34 am or thereabouts in Conception, Chile. At 8.8, it was aproximately 32 times stronger than the one that flattened Haiti. In other words, if this had hit in Haiti, we needn't have worried about rescue efforts. As I write, the death toll is 78, the quake hit the capitol of Santiago harder than the Haiti quake at 200 miles from the epicenter, and a 9 foot wave swept Robinson Crusoe Island, completely flooding the main village. Hawaii will sound Tsunami sirens in about 40 minutes. I watched some live stream from Chile tv, and much better built building and infrastructure than Haiti will ever have has been shattered.
Time to pray for Chile, RCI, Easter island (also in the wave's path) , and Hawaii.
Update: Wikipedia lists the Haiti quake as 4th deadliest all time, and this morning's Chile quake as 7th-strongest all time. All within 36 days.
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