Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

After roe, women are no longer free.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

This blog will pay for itself.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Japan Earthquake / Pacific Tsunami Relief

Japan Earthquake / Pacific Tsunami Relief

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From the American Red Cross website:

The Japanese Red Cross Society has extraordinary disaster response capabilities, and has mobilized eleven teams to heavily-damaged communities to provide assessments and first aid and prepare to supply emotional support and relief. The American Red Cross is in communication through its global partners with the Pacific nations that sustained the most damage, and stands ready to provide assistance as needed. To date, the Red Cross has not received any requests for blood from the Japanese Red Cross, the Japanese government or the U.S. State Department.[…] __
The best way to contact or locate U.S. citizens living or traveling in Japan is to contact the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services, at 1-888-407-4747 or (202) 647-5225. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has offered to assist Japan with restoring family links.[…] __
Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org and donate to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. People can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

If you have other links, please add them in the comments. I plan to repost / update tomorrow, assuming one of the other FPers doesn’t beat me to it.

Reader Interactions

64Comments

  2. 2.

    Martin

    Fuuuuuuuuck:

    Japanese nuclear authorities say there is a high possibility that nuclear fuel rods at a reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPC) Fukushima Daiichi plant may be melting or have melted, Jiji news agency reports.

  5. 5.

    BR

    I don’t mean to be negative, but doesn’t the American Red Cross spend/waste a lot of its money? (As in, only a small fraction of donation money makes it to those who need it.) This is just a vague recollection.

  6. 6.

    Martin

    @JGabriel: Actually, if you think about this – earthquakes in 3 different parts of Japan, tsunami, nuclear reactor – this is exactly how a Godzilla movie ought to start.

  9. 9.

    Martin

    @JGabriel: Oh, and CNN’s headline all day has been ‘Monster Quake Devastates Japan’. Coincidence, or do they know something we don’t? See how easy this is: ‘Monster Quake Devastates Japan’

  10. 10.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    One of the Japanese corespondents that Anderson Cooper was talking to said that the tsunami reached six miles inland.

  11. 11.

    piratedan

    well it’s a good thing our fiscal responsibility crowd is still being penny wise and pound foolish, TRMS confirmed that the latest R budget proposal institutes cuts of 30% to the seismic warning system that handles warnings for volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunami’s!

  12. 12.

    Mnemosyne

    @BR:

    I think you’re remembering Bill O’Reilly’s post-9/11 “expose” of the Red Cross, which was, of course, pretty much all bullshit.

  13. 13.

    BR

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m not remembering O’Reilly, since I’ve never seen anything from him. I was remembering something from around the Haiti quake about how other groups were more effective.

  15. 15.

    piratedan

    @Martin: ahh yes, I forgot that God speaks directly to folks like Senator Coburn, in between his odd job as a hush money bag man for his buddy Senator Ensign.

  17. 17.

    PeakVT

    @Martin: Looks like we’re about to find out how well a BWR Mark 1 containment building works.

    Incidentally, Vermont Yankee has a Mark 1 containment building…

  18. 18.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Martin:

    We don’t need it. Jesus is looking out for us The Rapture is coming and we don’t need to waste money trying to stop it. Prayer doesn’t steal taxpayers hard-earned money.

    Fix’t.

    We went to the ARC site and sent $100 to the Japan relief effort. I wish we could give more but we have our own mess to clean up here and money is tight enough already.

    Thanks for putting this up!

  19. 19.

    FlipYrWhig

    I remember being skeptical about the Red Cross too, all the way back to when Elizabeth Dole was heading it up. But of course I can’t recall any specifics.

  20. 20.

    Martin

    @PeakVT: Well, I imagine that VT Yankee will perform a hell of a lot better than one that appears to be cracked and leaking material. I’m just astounded that this appears to be happening.

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I’m kind of curious — when you make donations to the American Red Cross for a country that has its own functioning Red Cross, do they just turn them over to the other Red Cross organization?

    If I were going Red Cross, I’d probably make my donation to the umbrella organization, IFRC, since Japan will probably be able to coordinate their own relief.

    Of course, that’s what foreign governments thought about us after Hurricane Katrina, and we know how that worked out.

  22. 22.

    Martin

    Explosion and smoke at Daiichi. Radiation levels now 20x normal. They’ve lost it. Fuck.

  24. 24.

    Martin

    Japan’s NHK TV showing before and after pictures of the Fukushima-Daiichi plant. It appears to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant is no longer there.

    @GregB: Bad, bad, bad indeed.

  26. 26.

    Narcissus

    Can someone suggest a good source to stay update? I just saw a video that looks like part of a nuke plant exploded, but none of the cable news stations are showing jack shit.

  29. 29.

    Martin

    Shit. They just extended the evacuation range around the reactor to the south of the one that just had the explosion.

    Man, I hope we’re sending all of our nuke guys. And the French.

  30. 30.

    Martin

    Oh, and anyone here along the Pacific coast – the Japanese are infinitely better prepared for this kind of disaster than we are. Take this weekend and seriously upgrade your earthquake prep.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: If they call my dad I’ll know shit is getting serious. He’s one of the higher ups in the clean-up at Hanford. And a long time Naval nuclear engineer before that.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    @Yutsano: Good for him. My dad served on a nuke attack sub. Said it was miles more comforting to be near that reactor than in the diesel he was on before that.

    I’m a bit shocked he hasn’t already been put on call. They’ve been struggling with this for 24 hours now.

  34. 34.

    Comrade Mary

    Good God, it did turn out horribly. I took most of the eve off, but am online again and words simply fucking fail.

    No links, but there have been some volcanic eruptions in Russia and Indonesia, too. WTF, world?

  35. 35.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: He may have been at least consulted. Truth be told I haven’t called home to see if there are any plans to ship him out. But I’m fairly certain they’d tell me because A) my mom would go with him unless it was too dangerous still and B) he’d most likely fly out of Sea-Tac. I’ll check on that sitch in the morning for sure.

  36. 36.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Yutsano:

    We got hit with a seven footer, it was the third wave that did the damage. Swept at least seven boats out to sea; three of which have sunk. What the wife and I saw through binocs (and thought) were boats outside the harbor that were waiting for the ok to return were those boats and two others that were trying to retrieve them.

    The harbor is smashed up and access to it remains closed even now. A police officer who is a friend of ours told us that it’s a real mess down there right now.

    The reactor blowing up in Japan is really horrible, and that’s an understatement. What’s worse is that all we can do is watch this horror unfold from a distance.

    @Comrade Mary:

    Cruise the web, the Rapture Ready crowd is drooling with happiness about this. These so-called christians make me sick to my stomach with their glee.

    Fucking animals, that’s all they are. Fucking sick animals.

  38. 38.

    stuckinred

    From a good friend

    Took off 36 hours ago from Bangkok for a connecting flight in Tokyo. Landed there, waited, and then the earthquake. 30 seconds of quake, people screaming and falling, light fixtures swinging, then hours sitting outside on the tarmack. Aftershocks continue. No one injured there. Now hoping to fly out in a few hours, having been awake for almost two days. What a layover.

  40. 40.

    stuckinred

    @JPL: (CNN) — An explosion sent white smoke rising above a nuclear plant where a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems in northeastern Japan, the country’s chief Cabinet secretary said Saturday.

    Four workers were injured after the blast at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters. It was not immediately clear where the blast occurred inside the plant, or what caused it.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    @stuckinred: I don’t have cable but I just put on BBC World online. Since there are two or three plants that were having trouble, do you have any idea if the other plants are now okay?

  44. 44.

    stuckinred

    @JPL: “Adding to worries was the fate of nuclear power plants in the region. Japan has declared states of emergency for five nuclear reactors at two power plants after the units lost cooling ability.”

  47. 47.

    JPL

    BBC online
    #
    1057: Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says serious damage to the nuclear reactor container is unlikely despite the explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant – Kyodo news.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    reporting accurately and non-sensationally about this blast will separate the best news organizations from the rest

    keeping the japanese people in my thoughts and prayers

    we are fortunate the us stock market is closed. do not mean to sound craven there, but that’s one less issue for the hysteria-inflaming press to scaremonger with

  51. 51.

    JGabriel

    JPL:

    Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says serious damage to the nuclear reactor container is unlikely despite the explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant – Kyodo news.

    Are they joking? Everyone who saw the tape saw a container get blown apart.

    .

  52. 52.

    JPL

    @Elizabelle: I thought about the stock market also, too.
    I’m reading through the bbc updates and came across this
    #

    0847: NHK TV carrying advice to people to protect themselves against radiation. Experts say people should cover their mouths and noses with wet towels. Exposed skin should also be covered and people should wash after coming indoors. People should also avoid vegetables and other fresh food, as well as tap water, until authorities give the all-clear.

    I’m sure they must mean don’t drink the tap water, but it would be difficult to wash up without tap water.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    @JGabriel: According to BBC news, the Japanese people are leery about some of the statements from the government. In the past the government has downplayed nuclear accidents.

  54. 54.

    anthony

    “By now the Japs oughta be immune to radiation.”

    “@freelancer: And what? Godzilla just woke up to battle Mothra again?”

    “@JGabriel: Oh, and CNN’s headline all day has been ‘Monster Quake Devastates Japan’. Coincidence, or do they know something we don’t? See how easy this is: ‘Monster Quake Devastates Japan’”

    Just STFU you ignorant fucking dorks. You think this kind of shit would have gone down about New Orleans?

  55. 55.

    stuckinred

    Gee, to you think there could be conflicting information coming out with a disaster of this magnitude?

  57. 57.

    JPL

    BBC online

    1122: A full quote from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano’s press conference: “As reported, we have been informed that there was some kind of an explosive phenomenon at Fukushima No 1 nuclear power plant, although it has yet to be confirmed whether [the explosion] was that of a nuclear reactor itself. At present, after the talks among political party heads held a while ago, government officials including the prime minister and the minister of economy, trade, and industry, along with experts, are making all-out efforts to get hold of and analyse the situation, and to take measures.”

    Shorter answer..We don’t know shit……….

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    Plus, the NY Times, which should know better, has this composite website banner:

    Nuclear Plant Explosion Confirmed; Japan Struggles to Reach Survivors

    which implies to me a conflagration. Think NYT actually meant “quake” survivors, and they need those 5 letters.

    Chicken Little reigns supreme on the overnight desks.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    @stuckinred:

    I’m a fan of nuance. LATimes website is clear on fears of a radiation release, which is plenty worrisome.

    Do note that BBC has gone with “Huge Blast at Japan Nuclear Plant”.

    A massive explosion has hit a Japanese nuclear power plant where a meltdown is feared as a huge relief operation continues after Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

    I am remembering Rudolph Giuliani and the breathless accounts of 20,000 body bags that would be needed immediately after the WTC attack.

    Bad is bad enough.

  63. 63.

    JGabriel

    anthony: Actually, my line was sarcastic. Which is to say that I was trying to make the same point as you. Apparently, I should have used more blunt and less irony.

    .

  64. 64.

    Ian

    Question about Red Cross donations:

    Contra Weird Al (“don’t you know that other kids are starving in Japan”) Japan is an exceedingly prosperous country, unlike Haiti. Their response to the disasters has been quick and efficient, unlike the response to Katrina. How badly do they really need Red Cross money?

    Obviously the need is great, but are the $ / lives saved and $ / misery alleviated ratios really lower than, say, donating to your local women’s shelter?

    (he says, while taking this as a reminder to donate to a local charity)

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