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March 13, 2011 at 3:18 am #598288
JiggersMemberI’m surprised here how little, if any, very little repsonse or conversation about the earthquake and tsunami.
March 13, 2011 at 3:22 am #720182
inactiveMemberMe too Jiggs.
If folks happen to read the thread, here’s a way to donate to Redcross via text msg.
Text REDCROSS to 90999
This will be an automatic $10 flat-rate donation which will show up on your monthly phone bill, regardless of your carrier. You will be able to confirm and then will receive a txt confirming donation.
$.25 of the $10 gift of goes to the company which is administering the fund drive for Red Cross. All the rest will go to Japan’s Relief.
Japan is one of the most technologically-innovative countries, if not the most, and has been brought to its knees before the world by this tri-fecta of devestation: the largest quake in its history, the tsunami which encroached six miles inside the coastline and, now, the second reactor is failing.
I’ve seen this link only once out on Facebook or Twitter, though it is likely spreading wider. If you are able, send one of the following out to the world.
Text REDCROSS to 90999
or
http://craigconnects.org/2011/03/text-cash-for-japanese-quake-survivors-via-red-cross.html
PS. For local people, send the link to West Seattle Be Prepared to get information on how to put together a 3-day emergency kit, at a minimum.
March 13, 2011 at 3:38 am #720183
JiggersMemberGood idea. dood..
March 13, 2011 at 5:06 am #720184
ToddinWestwoodMemberI am still waiting on a statement from The Westboro Baptist Church……..
March 13, 2011 at 5:11 am #720185
pigeonmomParticipantI’m just sick over the whole situation, especially the nuclear reactors. I don’t know what else I could say.
March 13, 2011 at 5:20 am #720186
MookieMemberTIME has a list of Six Ways You Can Help Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan which includes info/links to the Red Cross, Shelterbox, and others.
A couple Twitter users worth following during this: Arclight and TimeOutTokyo.
My “Maybe this will convince you…” thread here is related to the earthquake in Japan – well, earthquake preparedness, anyway!
March 13, 2011 at 5:26 am #720187
dobroParticipantIts just a heartbreaking event. The nuclear situation seems to be changing too rapidly to make a relevant comment on just yet.
March 13, 2011 at 5:55 am #720188
CaitParticipantTodd – it’s messed up, but I thought the same thing. You’re going to happen upon it yourself because I won’t give it credence here, but there is a lot of messed up crap being said out there that Westboro can’t even take credit for.
March 13, 2011 at 5:05 pm #720189
JoBParticipantjiggers…
Sometimes the only appropriate response to human tragedy of this scale is respectful silence followed by assistance.
Cait…
we saw the same thing in the US after Katrina:(
I was stunned by what i heard then from supposed Christians.
I am even more stunned by some of what i have heard now.
So far.. none of that has been said here…
and that’s a good thing.
I feel enough sorrow without feeling shamed by my neighbors.
March 13, 2011 at 8:29 pm #720190
WSBKeymasterWe had an early post with side notes in the initial hours. Frankly, I’m waiting for a local followup till tonight – including another reminder for West Seattle Be Prepared on the main page – to see where the fundraising focus is really going. Sometimes acting fast isn’t acting best (pardon the grammatical contortion there) … Red Cross of course usually a good bet, but it won’t be clear for a few days at least what kind of help is absolutely MOST needed, whether money or actual goods. Rest assured we’ll bang the drum loudly too.
March 13, 2011 at 9:05 pm #720191
captainDaveParticipantwestseattledood: Good call on the Red Cross link. It’s easy. They are going to need a lot of help which the Japanese people are not accustomed to asking for.
Seattle is the closest major port in the US. It will be good to know what businesses locally will be involved with helping the people of Japan to recover. It looks like substantial damage was done to their fishing fleet, regional shipping, port facilities and coastal agriculture.
Seattle’s economy is linked to Japan more than any US city I think. Japan buys 20% of Washington wheat, a huge portion of our apples and seafood too. Without port facilities and warehouses to receive our goods, trade will suffer.
The Japanese are proud and humble people. They are not big on asking for charity. Helping them to save face is showing them that we want to help because it is also a benefit to us.
Surplus equipment like barges, tugs and coastal freighters would probably be very useful over there in the coming weeks to help move freight and equipment ashore. Perhaps there is some local maritime organization that can raise donations to buy some of the surplus equipment we have on the west coat? I had seen some reasonably priced giant spud barges on Craigslist a couple weeks ago that would make great temporary docks for offloading ships.
With all the restaurants that have closed lately around the state, there’s probably a lot of used food handling equipment that could be brought over there too.
In situations like this, people need to think out of the box to find the most effective ways to help. The emergency relief organizations will help in recovering from the initial shock, but we need to help get things going again for our friends across the pond.
March 13, 2011 at 9:17 pm #720192
inactiveMemberRegarding the nuclear reactors situation, this is a very long article written by credible scientist to explain what headlines are missing so laypersons have a proper understanding.
It is VERY good, high quality writing and I am VERY glad I took the time to read it. I encourage all to read it and perhaps find some reassurance based on lots of facts.
March 13, 2011 at 9:26 pm #720193
cjboffoliParticipantGoing the TEXT route with making a donation may seem convenient. But I’m told there can be significant delays in that money making it through the billing systems of the cellular companies. Telecoms aren’t really known for their efficiency.
Making a direct gift, to aid groups that are already established in the country needing aid, is always a superior way to maximize the power of your donation and to make sure it gets there as quickly as possible.
March 13, 2011 at 10:41 pm #720194
inactiveMembercjb –
have you seen a list of those orgs anywhere? I’d like to take a gander, if you have.
[edit: and which orgs have been vetted? I wonder]
March 13, 2011 at 11:49 pm #720195
DPMember‘dood: you’re right; that was a good article on the nuclear situation in Japan.
Two conclusions I take away from it:
1) Don’t panic, BUT . . .
2) Don’t assume that nuclear energy can ever be made safe.
All questions of phyics aside, nuclear energy can only be made as safe as our textbook “worst-case-disaster” scenarios allow us to make it. If we guess any of the major variables wrong, though, we could be toast . . .
Here’s a curious tidbit from the beginning of the main blog article: “The earthquake that hit Japan was 7 times more powerful than the worst earthquake the nuclear power plant was built for . . .”
—Well what do you know about that? The engineers planned for a worst-case 8.2 quake, but what Mother Nature handed them instead was an 8.9 quake. In other words, the quake that actually happened was seven times more powerful than the one they planned for!
Then Mother Nature had the audacity to go and throw a tsunami in there that knocked out the backup power system and possibly contaminated the system. Then, on top of that, some of the safety engineering just . . . well . . . failed. Mysteriously.
Oh well, shucks. You can’t plan for every little contingency, can you?
—No, indeed you can’t. And that is precisely why we should be turning away from nuclear power and toward safer energy sources. Energy sources that don’t depend on us getting all the worst-case-scenario variables exactly right, every time.
March 14, 2011 at 12:06 am #720196
cjboffoliParticipantwsdood: I haven’t seen any good short lists. Most searches bring up a range of different charities. The choices can be a bit overwhelming.
I made a gift to Save the Children as I have a friend and former colleague who used to be one of their VPs and I happen to know they have very low overhead and that most of their donations go right into action. (Good charities generally have overhead below 10%) They’ve also been well-established in Japan for about 25 years. And children are particularly vulnerable in the wake of a disaster.
March 14, 2011 at 12:52 am #720197
Genesee HillParticipantAnother group vulnerable is the elderly. God forbid we should ever get old.
March 14, 2011 at 1:06 am #720198
inactiveMemberThanks cjb
March 14, 2011 at 1:39 am #720199
sam-cParticipantcharity navigator also had a list related to aiding others in this tragedy:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1221
thanks for the info and links on the reactors.
March 14, 2011 at 1:41 am #720200
JiggersMemberThe sad thing is the scammers are already up and running using the tragedy as their way to get to your dollars.
March 14, 2011 at 6:18 pm #720201
JoBParticipantCaptainDave…
i am with you…
in a disaster of this magnitude..
i think the most useful solutions are going to come from those who are looking outside the box…
great ideas btw.
March 14, 2011 at 6:19 pm #720202
JoBParticipantdood…
maybe not so safe when the US military is pulling troops in the vicinity of the nuclear reactors due to positive skin tests for radiation :(
March 14, 2011 at 6:37 pm #720203
andreaParticipantCNN is reporting that the following charities are currently active and on the ground helping in Japan (if you prefer to contribute to them directly):
-Salvation Army in Japan
-World Vision
-AmeriCares
-International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
-Save The Children
-The Salvation Army
-Doctors Without Borders
-Convoy of Hope
-ShelterBox
-International Medical Corps
March 14, 2011 at 6:43 pm #720204
JoBParticipantandrea..
that echoes the list KIRO 7 published as being safe places to donate to relief efforts..
March 14, 2011 at 7:05 pm #720205
WorldCitizenParticipantJoB: re: post #22
Go read the link posted in #12 above. It’s an excellent read (one I was about to post as I stumbled upon this thread).
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