Things Keep Improving

Hello all, I took a break from blogging this weekend to monitor the news about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Good news! Things keep stabilizing at the plant and it appears that many think this is a turn for the better. I feel confident that in a few more weeks, things will have stabilized as much as they can.

So, let's jump into this good news and address a few issues:

Voluntary Evacuations at the Military Bases Surrounding the Tokyo Area

According to this article in the LA Times, radiation in Tokyo and the surrounding areas remains relatively low. There have been trace amounts of radiation found in Tokyo's drinking water, but experts are saying the levels are not enough to harm human health.

Before everyone gets all up in arms about radiation (as apparently 90% of the Yokosuka base has), we are exposed to radiation on a daily basis. They call it "background" radiation and the government dictates how much is good for us. On an airplane? Then you're exposed to more radiation than what they're receiving in Tokyo now.

Okay, so now we know two things (and so does the US government) 1) The radiation levels in Tokyo and it's surrounding areas have not been deemed harmful and 2) The situation at the power plant has begun to really show signs of improvement.

At the beginning of last week there was some urgency about the voluntary evacuations. The military was saying they could evacuate 10,000 people in one day. So far, 8,000 people have signed up to be evacuated. They've actually evacuated about 500 people....most of them pregnant women or women with infants. There's even reports of the base schools opening up on Tuesday, so many families are changing their minds about leaving and will return to life as normal.

The sad part is, people still want to evacuate now knowing the danger of anything happening is relatively low. Why? Well...for one you and your family get a free trip back to the US (retail price for one ticket is about $1300). Then once you arrive in the US, in addition to military pay, you and your family will receive a per diem to cover the cost of living while you are displaced....even if you're staying with family, which will be $0 cost to you, but apparently a per diem cost to the government. So, yeah, as a tax payer, I'm a little upset by people seeing this as a free ride.

There's an article here you can read where one woman admits she's doing it for the extra money. She says people are telling her she'd have to be stupid not to cash in.

Poor News Reporting

So, a newspaper in New Zealand has come out saying the foreign media should be ashamed of themselves for the way they reported the nuclear disaster in Japan. Their words, imagery, and lack of knowledge really stoked the fire on this "things are horrible everyone must leave NOW" mentality.

Things WERE hairy there for a few days, but there certainly wasn't going to be a Hiroshima like mushroom cloud devastating half the coast of Japan..okay, I guess that COULD have happened, but it's highly unlikely.

Amongst the list of grievances leveled against foreign media are:

- Showing the image of a popular Tokyo night club and labelling it as "Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant"
- Calling the power plant a "nuke plant"
- Sensational Headlines
- Erroneous comparisons to World War II
- interviewing one person and then calling it a day

You can read the article here and I have to agree with the statements it's making. Also, here's a blog (scroll down to the bottom) that lists spreadsheet style the name of the publication and their offense in reporting the Japanese nuclear plant problems, most of it is just outright sensationalising the nuclear plant problems in Japan.

Oh, and by the way, people in Japan wear those face masks NOT to prevent inhaling radiation (yeah right, what are those going to do?) but because pollen is SO bad.....and it helps keep your allergies in check.

Our situation

So, with all that said, where does that leave John and I? Well, we're still playing the waiting game. The moving office on base was supposed to confirm the date of our move on Friday and as of today we still have no confirmation. I called this morning and they said we should receive word this afternoon. Our stuff was supposed to be picked up tomorrow, but now I don't know...

Today we have to sell our car (and pick up the rental) and John is going to try to start his leave of absence this week as well. So, yes, our situation still remains very frustrating.

Final Thoughts

Sorry for the long blog post, if you made it this far, congratulations :) The situation in Japan remains very serious. While the nuclear plant problems have likely been blown WAY out of proportion, there are still people there fighting a slow fight to stabilize them. I continue to monitor the news almost hourly to see if there have been any updates.

The earthquake and tsunami victims still remain homeless and the death count keeps rising. I read somewhere last night that at this point rescue workers are not allowing family members to see the bodies of their loved ones because the bodies are so far gone. This is really sad.

Even though Japan is one of the greatest economies in the world, even they are struggling to provide food and supplies to those who have been left homeless by the tsunami and earthquake. Food shortages continue as do power shortages as they restore conventional power to many areas.

If you can, please think about helping in some way. I have some ways here that you can peruse....even a small donation can help:

You can click the "Give Now" button to donate through Global Giving

This Etsy site is a lady who is making I heart Japan buttons.

Or you can text a donation and the donation will appear on your phone bill:

In the U.S.:

—Text “JAPAN” or “TSUNAMI” to 20222 to donate $10 (Save the Children Federation, Inc.)

—Text “4JAPAN” or “4TSUNAMI” to 20222 to donate $10 (World Vision, Inc.)

—Text “MERCY” to 25383 to donate $10 (Mercy Corps)

—Text “SUPPORT” to 85944 to donate $10 (ADRA Relief for Japan tsunami victims)

—Text “MED” to 80888 to donate $10 (Assist International Medical Corps)

—Text “JAPAN” to 80888 to donate $10 (Salvation Army)

—Text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to donate $10 (American Red Cross)

—Text “TSUNAMI” to 50555 to donate $10 (Convoy for Hope)

—Text “JAPAN” to 50555 to donate $10 (GlobalGiving)

—Text WAVE to 50555 to donate $10 (World ReliefCorp of National Association of Evangelicals)

In Canada:

—Text “ASIA” or “ASIE“ to 30333 to donate $5 (The Canadian Red Cross Society)
—Text “QUAKE” to 45678 to donate $10 (The Salvation Army in Canada)
—Text “GIVE” to 45678 to donate $5 (UNICEF)