sketchley

Some news stories: Take proper steps to avoid exposure to fallout: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110316a7.html Japan nuclear alert at Fukushima - Q&A: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12732015 (updated interactive graphic) Lessons learned in Kobe aid relief effort: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110315a9.html

That part did come fast, and wasn't dwelt on for very long. For a long time I thought that the future Rush and Destiny would disappear because the events leading up to their appearance had changed. However, some time after the end of the episode, I realized that the 1st season episode that dealt with time travel had set a precedent and there's no chance of any of these future versions from disappearing. Of course, now we get

Mentioned here: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=34787&view=findpost&p=902504 If you do come, I recommend a direct flight to KIX. There's no telling how the electrical disruptions are affecting the operations of Haneda or Narita.

They did explain it. Something about the wormhole going through a solar flare while the 9th chevron was activated while the ship was in the middle of a star caused the entire ship to go back to the past. Telford was sent 12 hours into the past...

S02E12 Grrrrrreat. Bizarre, truly "out there", but also fun, and lots of stuff to smile and laugh at. I'd say this one catches the mood of both SG1/SGA and SGU quite well. There's lots of stuff going on in this episode, and pretty much everyone (main & minor characters) are given something to do. Recommended.

<sigh> Images without context are meaningless. Caption of image: More information: Japan nuclear alert at Fukushima - Q&A (with animated slide show of reactor interior and what went wrong) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12732015 'Radiation' text message is fake: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12745128

<sigh> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12740843 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110315a1.html http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/

Shindo 6.0, magnitude 6.0 at 22:31 at a depth of 10 km. There is NO risk of a tsunami. Power lines were knocked over, and some areas have lost power. The two nuclear plants in the area are continuing to operate and have not been shut down. mentioned in this thread from the bottom of the linked post: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=34787&view=findpost&p=902568

News anchors are wearing hardhats again, and train services are being stopped (Tokaido Shinkansen, etc.). Try the BBC and World Nuclear News. The only clear thing about the situation is that the Japanese authorities are deliberately trying to avoid the term "meltdown", because it has nuances that containment has been breached.

Yup. http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/20110315223637391-152231.html I think this has been the largest (aftershock?) in the past 36 hours... If I'm reading the map right, it might be an unrelated event. http://cais.gsi.go.jp/Virtual_GSI/Tectonics/Niigata_Kobe/niigata_kobe.jpg

I think the epicentres of the aftershocks have been steadily getting closer to the Tokyo area. I've felt that, too. I'm hoping that there won't be any more bad news about them from here on out. Truly scary stuff. I believe there's another angle that hasn't been addressed: supply vs. demand. The per-item cost may remain constant, but as production falls off (eg there's at least one weekly publication that I follow which wasn't on the newsstands today), prices will go up. The other thing to keep in mind is that the situation in Japan is only one factor in the world market. The USD is still falling compared to the JPY because the USD is performing poorly compared to the other major world currencies. For a more accurate gauge on the effect the disaster has had on the JPY, it's best to compare the JPY to the other major currencies. There's just been a rather large earthquake in Shizuoka Prefecture (opposite side of Tokyo from Sendai). Shindo 6. Was felt down here in Osaka - much more strongly than the large one at Sendai.

Then you've misunderstood the situation. Japan is a rich country, it's people are comparatively "poor". Sure, things like the GDP, exchange rate and so on look high, but the PPP of the currency within the country is quite different. But don't take my word for it. Try these articles: http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=77ZqNbU_Y74C&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=japan+is+a+rich+country+with+poor+peopl&source=bl&ots=5nZwx7AnT1&sig=IvIccVbE0UpgtmvtjyUMYUUxlfc&hl=ja&ei=TmN_Tc3UBZCrcZbUvd8G&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false http://www.wordpress.tokyotimes.org/?p=3920 http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001660638 http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/poverty-japan-approaches-one-six-158714 One must also keep in mind that the areas that have been most affected have experienced total destruction. From an egalitarian standpoint, the disaster has rendered everyone effectively equal within the most affected areas. Sadly, the state is well below the poverty line and that a lot of people are unable to meet even their basic needs. All that said, how you respond to the disaster is your choice. I humbly submit that you let other people make up their own minds regarding their response to the disaster.

Just saw on the news that in the Tokyo and environs there is a 1,000 MW shortage during peak demand periods. It looks like the rolling blackouts will be in effect for the immediate future (remember: this is limited to the Tokyo & environs. The Tohoku region is served by a separate utility with a different situation.) I believe at least 1 MW member indicated that they were planning to travel to Tokyo in the next 2 weeks. I humbly submit that they modify their travel plans to either an area of Japan that's not affected (ie Kansai), or delay their trip. The line-ups to get on the trains before their power is cut are truly mind boggling.

Correction: only the Tohoku region is in shambles, with areas next to it partially to majorly disrupted. Other parts of Japan (ie Kansai, Chugoku, Kyushu, etc.), are physically unaffected. It's unclear what the food shortages et al in the most affected regions will have on the unaffected parts right now. Correction: Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12732335 NHK (or another news program) interviewed an elderly survivor. And he literally said, "the faster you fled the tsunami, the greater your chance of surviving it." I think those people who weren't running simply weren't aware of the danger they were in until it was too late.

Helpful websites, phone numbers: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110314b2.html

Agreed. But it must be stressed that the majority of these are off shore, and are of a scale similar to that which hit Christchurch earlier this month (and the main reason why that earthquake was particularly devastating is because it's epicentre was pretty much right under the city.) This is by no means a dismissal of the seriousness of these aftershocks, just that they are not in the same order of magnitude as the main event. The most immediate effect of these aftershocks is the disruption to the search efforts from the ensuing tsunami warnings. (And it should be noted that today is the first day since the main event that the tsunami warning graphic has not appeared on TV.)

ATTN MW members in the Tokyo region: The TV news has just announced that the rolling blackouts in the affected areas are starting. Parts of Tokyo (or at least some of the private rail lines) WILL be affected for at least 2 hours or more hours. I may be mistaken, but I believe it was from 16:00 to 18:00. Candles were sold out yesterday. Today, bread, instant noodles and batteries are sold out. Gasoline is currently being rationed at 20 L per customer at (some?) gas stations. These are in the Tokyo area.

Partially correct. The main systems went down because of the disruption to the infrastruction and the automated deactivation of the reactors because of the earthquake. The backup generators were working for about an hour, until the tsunami hit. At that point, they stopped working. Emergency measures have been undertaken to first get enough light water into the reactor core to keep the fuel from being exposed to the air (which at the minimum will provide a quicker medium for the radiation to spread, at worst will cause the fuel to melt). After it became clear that those emergency measures weren't enough, they proceeded to attempt to release the built-up pressure (causing a small release of radiation that is deemed to not be hazardous to humans). This release caused a buildup of hydrogen in the sub-facilities immediately above the containment vessel, and that is where the explosions have occured. So far, in both cases, it's been reported that the containment vessels have not been compromised in either explosion. Currently they are pumping sea water into the reactors to assist in cooling. I believe they are doing it with 3 of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Plant. 6 self-defence force personnel deployed to the area during the explosion at reactor no. 3 were injured. So far, it's unclear if they have been contaminated. During the last two major earthquake cycles that I've experienced since being here, aftershocks continued for the following 2 weeks to 1 or 2 months (earthquakes in Kansai and Niigata). Sorry, I wish I could give better news, but believe the news broadcasts when they say that the aftershocks will continue for a month. The good news is that there shouldn't be any as large as the main event. Linky to map of the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Sendai_Earthquake_2011.jpg Oh... I don't know if it's been mentioned yet in this thread, but there's a concurrent, separate series of earthquakes occurring in Japan. Tōhoku region Pacific Ocean offshore earthquake: 9.0 Mw (the one that caused the tsunami); 05:46 UTC (14:46 local time) on 11 March 2011 Niigata Prefecture: measured magnitude of 6.7 by JMA occurred at 18:59 UTC, 11 March (03:59, 12 March local time); which has also resulted in numerous aftershocks. The Niigata one is no where near as destructive as the Tohoku one (and it's subsequent tsunami), but there are some terrible pictures of houses with up to a metre of snow on their roofs that have crumpled. This concurrent earthquake does make one wonder if the Niigata earthquake is related, as the Tohoku quake was caused by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk plate, which is pushing into the Amurian plate. EDITed for formatting clarity. This board's auto-combine feature isn't very good at formatting...

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Explosion_rocks_third_Fukushima_reactor_1402111.html The use of sea water is terminal to the reactor core (meaning: they won't ever be used again. Period.) If I understand what is being said correctly, there isn't a chance of a meltdown, and any use of the term meltdown in English news sources is based on a mistranslation.

ON Japan might be a better word. A sizable number of containers were swept out to sea. Even some container boats at sea were swept ashore by that monster tsunami.

Why? He wasn't the one who made the current policies (they were most recently revised after the Tokaimura JCO Criticality Accident), and a large part of the response (especially the oft confusing announcements and general dearth of information) is due to TEPCO. The Yokosuka based CVN-73 (George Washington) has been sent up the coast to help, and the CVN-76 (Ronald Reagan) was redirected from exercises off the Korean peninsula to the Tohoku region.

Before I forget, motherload Shirow website has a news article with screen caps to Appleseed XIII: http://shirowledge.sblo.jp/ As well as the production's homepage: http://appleseed13.jp/ Edit: Playing around with the homepage, and the background image of each of the categories changes. There are a quite a number of images that are quite faithful to the manga. I think I'm starting to like the finishing render of the mecha - as it's very manga-esque in some instances. If I'm reading it correctly, it's going to be releasing in 3 mediums (simultaneously?): Blue-ray, Net Distribution, and theatrically. So far it's slated to play only in 3 theatres (Shinjuku Pikaderii (Tokyo), Namba Parks Cinema (Osaka), and Nagoya Midland Square Cinema (Nagoya).) There's also a blog: http://ameblo.jp/appleseed13/

Interesting that you should say this. The last two times I've gone to the local Animate, he's had a new publication on the shelves. Pieces 4 Hellhound 01; 2010.12.06 Koukaku Kidoutai 2: Man Machine Interface Bilingual Edition: 2011.03.29 (I really don't get this publishing date, especially because there was a sticker on the book saying "new! 2011.02.08"!!!) The former may or may not have had the artwork touched up (stress on the may). So far, the artwork in the later looks like it's the same as that in Koukaku Kidoutai 2: Manmachine Interface; 2001.06.28; albeit with the artwork shrunk 10 to 15% to get more room in the margins for the bilingual text. Nevertheless, it's intriguing that there's a new publication of his work roughly every 3 months. (I can't be bothered to look at the publication dates of the other art collections and whatnot published over the preceding 2 or 3 years. Especially because I missed Pieces 2 & 3. ! Just trust me that I've got a bookshelf with a steadily growing selection of his new publications.) Found the info motherload: http://www.shirowledge.com/index.html#comic (scroll down to 2010/2011 releases. Apparently I completely missed Pieces 5, too! )

Who are you asking this question to? Context would help considerably.

It's OK. As long as it's positive, us residents would appreciate a bit of escapism (blanket coverage of the earthquake is on 80% of the TV channels.)