My new job as a Highly Successful Fortune-Teller

I really try to not watch the Japanese news anymore.
It's not because of the smothering censorship though. Being able to speak and read Japanese fluently I could find the information on what is really happening if I looked around for it. The fact is I already saw it coming.

What I predicted back in April, low and behold, is happening now:
* mass numbers of people suffering from heat exhaustion/stroke because of the "energy saving" measures.
* planned/unplanned blackouts because there isn't enough energy to go around.

August 11 - In just ONE DAY, almost 1 thousand, or specifically more than 900 PEOPLE were sent to the hospital for heat exhaustion/stroke. (TBS)

August 12 - Another day, another city, a blackout of 2+ hours in the middle of 95+ degree summer day. (TBS)

If we were still in Japan, Ranmaru would be DEAD.

I stuck it out through a lot, A LOT of 5h1t, but when it became apparent that these kinds of situations were on the horizon (not to mention another M9 for our region), I packed him up and bid a sad and final farewell to a country I had loved for so long.

The fact is there's simply not enough energy to go around even with all the "energy saving" actions.  And even through the highly, extremely censored news, you can find the the government admitting that there will be over a 6% shortage through summer and the coming winter.
(Makes you wonder what the Flu epidemic will be like this time around.)

Now, admittedly, the August 12th blackout in the middle of 95 degree weather was unplanned.  TEPCO, however, is calling for even MORE CONSERVATION or there will be the infamous(ly fuddled) Planned Blackouts that we saw right after 3/11 to look forward to again by the end of August.  (Sankei,)

Oh, and I hope you have been following the recent August earthquakes.
Already, two rated at Magnitude 6+.
We saw those coming, too.
(Again, just August.  This is the July list of biggies ..)

So consider this my official application for a position in the fortune-telling business.
So far, we've been right on the dime.  :p

(Seriously, get out of that country if you can. )



 Cheers! (^_-)-☆

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Donations for Japan's Voiceless

Got a very nice list of donation sites worked up so reposting!
(You repost and pass the word too. ;) )


THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE has direct and credible online donation abilities.

The Humane Society International (HSI) is now prepared to accept donations for the welfare of animals affected by the recent disaster in Japan. Secure donations can be placed to their International Disaster Fund. (Paypal, in addition to credit cards, are accepted.)

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) finally has a fund specifically dedicated to fund rescue efforts in Japan. Accepting secure online donations through credit cards only.

CARE2.com has a a collection of links for donating offsite.

PETA is also finally on the ground in Japan and offering help. Onsite donation abilities.

A group of 3 local JAPAN animal welfare societies have created this site for donations. Credibility not assured.

FBCusa, the largest importer of American home products, food stuffs and various necessities for the foreigner in Japan has also opened up donations for pets. FBC is offering a way for you to purchase items that will go directly to shelters and those they identify with needs.

Global Animal Foundation functions like a Red Cross for animals, distributing donations to established and vetted animal rescue organizations worldwide. Donations received during the ongoing crisis in Japan will be donated to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue & Support (JEARS), a coalition of three animal rescue groups that are on the ground providing rescue and supplies to animal victims of the earthquake and tsunami. (Paypal, in addition to credit cards, are accepted.)

Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS) is a collaboration of three established and registered no kill animal rescue NPOs in Japan. The intention behind the creation of JEARS is to coordinate rescue and support efforts for animals in crisis due to the March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami in Northern Japan.

MANY ways to donate including tax deductible donations for US citizens.


Finally, there is WorldVets.org (the non-human version of Doctors without Borders). They don't specifically have a donations for the Japan Earthquake fund, but they are on the ground working in affected areas.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

radioactive Reporting (2)

Just so no one feels bad, here's a curious(?) followup to this previous article.

This article about the evac zoning was published in the Japanese equivalent to the Wall Street Journal. I posted it back on March 30 on my other major site, (Don't worry no one reads that either.) but as it has been brought up again, I will repost it here.

I know most can't read this, but it said at the time that the British are recommending an EVAC zone around the reactors of 50 K and the Americans up to 80 K. The Japanese government were still holding to their measly 30 K radius.

Interestingly enough there is actually an English "version" of the article; however, only paying members can read the likely propag#==% can read IT.

I would like to have read the English version for comparison particularly now that the evac zone has come back under discussion in the news. Last night's news was broken into with a live announcement from the Japanese government officials we've all grown to love and anticipate. The "emergency" in this case was that IAEA had sent their own people in to test for radiation levels around the site and found the Japanese evac recommendations WAY below what they should be. (NHK TV news. Reuters Online News. Also reference 03/20 article above.)

Naturally, the Japanese officials have since been repeating constantly that the IAEA measurements are done differently from the way the Japanese do their measurements for radiation levels. As a result, the recommended evac zones were different. And, as an additional result of their differences in measurement, the Japanese way of doing it is a more accurate to measure of the effects of radiation.
It naturally came with pretty graphics and charts and a pointy stick.

I can more or less go along with that. Think of it like measuring in meters compared to measuring in feet. Neither is necessarily more right than the other, just one is much more wide spread and far easier to manipulate.

What I would really like to know is what kind of proof the Japanese can stand on allowing them to say their way of measurement is a far more accurate measure of the effect of radiation on the human body leading to their recommended evac zones being perfectly within the safety zone. (NHK TV news. Also, Yomiuri Shimbun. )

If someone has a link to an actual scientific paper or non-government agency research, please do share it.

It's not impossible that this could be true. But given that it is government officials trying to sell another of their ideas ....

Like we've never seen that before.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

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All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

radioactive Reporting

I am rather tired of hearing about the latest American sensationalist news.

Radiation over 100,000 times the normal limit?!?!

When did minuscule become synomynous with 100,000?
Or NINE even?

Being very very distant from the site, I find the rampant fear-mongering and exaggeration to be far more frightening than the actual radiation itself. Did CNN or FOX bother to mention how much radiation you get just passing through La Guardia security these days? Or how much you are exposed to every time you get a CAT scan?

Incidentally, compliments of Reuters, FACTBOX: Japan's nuclear crisis and radioactive half-lives.

That aside, there are other things to consider.

As much as people urge me to leave, in the first place, we are NO where near the site. In the second place, it's "radioactive material".
"radioactive iodine has been detected in a milk sample from the U.S. state of Washington"(Reuters)
"extremely small amount of radioactive iodine was found in the air samples taken from 12 regions across the nation, including Seoul and Daegu."(KBS, Korean Broadcasting)

There is no escaping radiation.

And what is this about Japanese news isn't reporting the truth?
Remember those Cold War safety films compliments of the U.S. Government?
It's radiation.
DUCK and COVER was never going to help anyone and they sure as hell knew that much about nuclear reactions, but that didn't stop the U.S. Government from selling that lie to the masses.

Or if you would prefer something more recent...
Remember the intense reporting of fearful massive stockpiles of WMD in Iraq??

Maybe too political for some.
How about non-political and even MORE recent?

Remember the whole TOYOTA cars are dangerous and wildly accelerate out of control insanity? I believe there were two weeks when it was almost nothing but that news.
And yet, how much coverage was given on the final testing results conducted in joint by NASA and NHTSA confirming there was NO electronic errors or malfunctions?

Having lived - not merely visited - but LIVED in three different countries in three differing cultures, there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty:

There is no chosen people.
There is no chosen religion.
There is no chosen country.

Humans are the same everywhere.

For every non-truth in the Japanese news or propagated by the Japanese government itself, I can find you just as many perpetrated from the American side.

Be selective. Be doubtful. And most importantly, please be educated in your choices.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Social Surivial

Tonight's CLOSE UP JAPAN was about the use and effect of twitter (and facebook) after the earthquake-tsunami disaster.

reporting back later....

Cheers! (^_-)-☆


Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Information Gap

I was called in for a little chat with the VP this morning AGAIN. (That woman seriously scares me.) Fortunately, it was a harmless session, but after reading this below, I have a feeling it was more for her to check on my emotional stability with the ongoing news of earthquakes, reactor failings, tsunamis, REACTOR FAILINGS.

The U.S. embassy in Tokyo has urged citizens living within 80 km (50 miles) of the Daiichi plant to evacuate or remain indoors "as a precaution," while Britain's foreign office urged citizens "to consider leaving the area." Other nations have urged nationals in Japan to leave the country or head south.

Towards the end of the meeting she mentioned that the French government was officially telling its citizens throughout ALL of Japan to flee the country because it was going to sink or some such nonsense. (I thought California was supposed to be the one sinking into the Pacific?)

Anyway, a well written article, not the enflammed sensationalist crap that is usually present by today's so-called reporters. Breaks rhythm by inexplicably jumping into finance towards the end, but then refinds its original path and sails on to a smooth finish. Worth the read.

Again.
It's Friday.
It's a day for drinking, not sinking.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

DONATIONS for Japan ANIMALS

Finally some donation sites poping up.

THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE has direct and credible online donation abilities.

The Humane Society International (HSI) is now prepared to accept donations for the welfare of animals affected by the recent disaster in Japan. Secure donations can be placed to their International Disaster Fund. (Paypal, in addition to credit cards, are accepted.)

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) finally has a fund specifically dedicated to fund rescue efforts in Japan. Accepting secure online donations through credit cards only.

CARE2.com has a a collection of links for donating offsite.

PETA is also finally on the ground in Japan and offering help. Onsite donation abilities.

A group of 3 local JAPAN animal welfare societies have created this site for donations. Credibility not assured.

FBCusa, the largest importer of American home products, food stuffs and various necessities for the foreigner in Japan has also opened up donations for pets. FBC is offering a way for you to purchase items that will go directly to shelters and those they identify with needs.

Global Animal Foundation functions like a Red Cross for animals, distributing donations to established and vetted animal rescue organizations worldwide. Donations received during the ongoing crisis in Japan will be donated to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue & Support (JEARS), a coalition of three animal rescue groups that are on the ground providing rescue and supplies to animal victims of the earthquake and tsunami. (Paypal, in addition to credit cards, are accepted.)

Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS) is a collaboration of three established and registered no kill animal rescue NPOs in Japan. The intention behind the creation of JEARS is to coordinate rescue and support efforts for animals in crisis due to the March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami in Northern Japan.

MANY ways to donate including tax deductible donations for US citizens.


Finally, there is WorldVets.org (the non-human version of Doctors without Borders). They don't specifically have a donations for the Japan Earthquake fund, but they are on the ground working in affected areas.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

P.R.E.C.I.S.E.L.Y.

People always wonder why I would rather more or less take my chances over here than in the USA. The comments you see below, it's what I keep telling people about Japan. Yeah, they definitely have their issues, but this, too, is all soooo true.

The comments are updated regularly as new people post, but here is a sample of some of the most recent comments:

I find it amazing how orderly the Japanese people are in facing this catastrophe. They aren't finger pointing, yelling for others to take care of them, looting, or waiting for handouts. They are tending to the business at hand and taking care of EACH OTHER. I am so more likely to contribute to them than to those sitting on their rumps, stealing and screaming for OTHERS to do something.

Imagine for a second if this happened in New York .....the chaos looting murder and craziness would be totally out of control. The Japanese have an amazing CULTURE we should all be watching and learning as they deal with this tragedy!!!!!

You cant compare New Orleans to Japan. The Japanese people are raised to have the most respect for their fellow man. They are taught that saving face is very important. You wont catch then stealing and looting because they know that whatever you do there is a price to pay and they wouldnt think of stealing from their fellow man. They are very bright people. God bless them and sorry for all those that lost their lives.

Of course there was no looting in Japan. You will also find the survivors actually cleaning up after this big mess. Unlike New Orleans where you still find trash in front of many yards of homes that haven't been touched. They're still waiting for me to come by and pick it up for them.



Original Article from Yahoo News


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

EVACing pets in JAPAN

Much to my disappointment, less than 20 hours after the first earthquake and tsunami waves, a reporter in the air reported spotting dogs left wandering around in the wreckage.

Japan is by far the far-most advanced? modernized? Asian country in terms of its attitude to non-human family members, but much like with Hurricane Katarina, animal companions are being abandoned at home to fend for themselves while their families flee to higher ground.

I will translate later today or this weekend, but this was posted for EVCing pets if u live in Japan:
http://pet-clinic.info/toppage/saigaijunbi.htm
#tsunami #pet #earthquake #emergency #evac

There is also a general disaster preparedness kit for FERRETS (list) compiled by the experienced members of F.E.R.R.E.T.

The American Humane Society offers a general list for disaster preparedness for general pets and livestock.

The ASPCA offers a general list for disaster preparedness for general pets.

The United Animal Nations also offers a general list for disaster preparedness for general pets. They also offer a wonderful list of sites to search for pet-friendly hotels covering the USA, Canada, and International hotels.

Pet Hotels / Boarding in Japan.

If you have lost your pet OR you have found a lost pet, here is a place where you can post the information sponsored by the Veterinarians Information Network.
It's all in Japanese so if you want to post, either send me a comment here (It won't post automatically. Confidentiality is respected.) or you can try google's web auto-translate.

FERRETS WORLD HELP on Facebook is a place to post and share SOS for ferrets (urgences, lost/found, etc... ) everywhere in all the languages.


May or may not have anything (so far nothing), but these are the two major Ferret Societies in Japan:
JFA (AFA counterpart in Japan)
IFS (International Ferret Society)


Please, PLEASE share any other information, suggestions, or notifications of dead links.
As any expat overseas knows, the only one helping us is US.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆
Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.