<p>Agreed on all counts, ccreader.</p>
<p>And don’t use cynicism as an excuse to not give, early and often. Sure, you may disagree with some actions by some organizations, but that doesn’t mean you should stop giving. </p>
<p>A for instance: I was shocked to hear my elderly aunt say she didn’t support the March of Dimes b/c they supported abortion (in selected cases of obviously terminal fetal defects.) For 99.99% of the population, I’m sure the March of Dimes are the good guys.</p>
<p>If they need help NOW, make sure to give to organizations that can provide help now. (Red Cross is not among them.) And do give.</p>
<p>Here’s an excellent explanation of the situation from an American engineer living in Japan. He offers a different perspective that I found very helpful in understanding the scope of the disaster.</p>
<p>[Some</a> Perspective On The Japan Earthquake: MicroISV on a Shoestring](<a href=“http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/03/13/some-perspective-on-the-japan-earthquake/]Some”>Some Perspective On The Japan Earthquake | Kalzumeus Software)</p>
<p>thanks for that, patsmom. Very interesting and with many excellent points about the value of preparation and good engineering.</p>
<p>Patsmom - that is an enlightening article. I am now doubly impressed by Japan and its emergency preparedness. Got a lesson in geography too. Thanks for posting it.</p>
<p>I love the outpouring of support for each other across national boundaries. I wish we could rescue these people from their tragedy. But at the same time, it just feels a bit inappropriate and pointless to be writing a check (which seems more for us, than for them). I wish there was something else we could do.</p>
<p>[Japan</a> Can Draw From $3 Trillion Hoard If It Must Repatriate Funds - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110314-714042.html]Japan”>http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110314-714042.html)</p>
<p>[BOJ</a> Offers Additional $61.2 Billion Injection - WSJ.com](<a href=“BOJ Expands Offers of Funds - WSJ”>BOJ Expands Offers of Funds - WSJ)</p>
<p>Our Navy’s 7th fleet is currently redirecting ships to offer humanitarian support for Japan. My son’s friend will be arriving in country in a day or so.</p>
<p>I find it mind boggling that one can compare Japan and India as “rich” countries. Rich is relative. Japan is a modern country with an educated citizenry with access to health care and the latest technologies. They are very prepared for disasters such as this. As one network report pointed out, there was relatively little catastrophic damage from the 9.0 earthquake. Buildings generally withstood the shaking, the nuclear reactor shut down as it should have, the bullet trains stopped. It was the tsunami, 40 ft high in some places, that caused the devastation. It was the tsunami that drowned out the generators at the nuclear plant. As Katrina showed us, the scope of water-born devastation is immense. As Haiti showed us, the scope of earthquake devastation where building codes and engineering have not addressed the issue can be equally as devastating.</p>
<p>India, however, is a different story. While there are wealthy people and a large middle class, there is also unimaginable poverty that Americans cannot even imagine. It is no accident that Mother Teresa set up shop in India. </p>
<p>Every country needs help in a time like this because of the extent of the destruction. We will see in five years how Japan has responded, whatever it’s economic difficulties. I predict that they will put other countries to shame in how they (the government and the poplace) respond to this tragedy and rebuild.</p>
<p>SIL who was going to visit to check out a postdoc position has decided it’s not a good time to visit Japan. Both from potential hazards and from the aspect of they have enough to do without trying to entertain a foreigner. (Though he wouldn’t be going to a devastated area.)</p>
<p>I think it’s a wise decision. Actually I’m quite relieved!</p>
<p>Mini: I do have to set the record straight on one thing: Neither the U.S. or Japan are “rich” countries! The U.S. borrows forty cents for every dollar it spends currently! We can and should help with humanitarian needs and nuclear expertise, but we can no longer afford to pay our own bills!!! Japan currently borrows even more than the U.S. And their country has had stagflation for years. So they have no money either!</p>
<p>“India, however, is a different story. While there are wealthy people and a large middle class, there is also unimaginable poverty that Americans cannot even imagine.”</p>
<p>Well, I happen to have a second home in India, and have been going back forth for 33 years, working on land reform/housing projects among Dalits - [url=<a href=“http://www.friendsoflafti.org%5DHome%5B/url”>http://www.friendsoflafti.org]Home[/url</a>] </p>
<p>India is almost unimaginably rich. There isn’t a single member of Parliament, not one, and doesn’t matter what party, who isn’t a millionaire. Housing in Mumbai is more than in Paris, and Chennai isn’t far behind. There are more middle class people in India than in the U.S., and the middle class is growing very rapidly.</p>
<p>Following the tsunami (and I was there!) the assistance was so useless, and so unneeded, that after the first week, the local governor forbid the international agencies from leaving the grounds of the government offices without special permission. While we dug bodies out of local schools and villages, not a single aid agency brought a single volunteer to pick up a shovel. There were some occasional good efforts - UNICEF had water available in about three hours, World Vision did have some all-in-one aid stations (which, however, Dalits couldn’t get aid from), but, all in all, international aid was a nightmare, and made matters worse, in many cases, much worse. And over time, even worse. Feeding the international aid agencies caused the price of basic foodstuffs to double, causing malnutrition and starvation among agricultural workers. So-called “translators” left their steady jobs to chowdown with the aid agencies, only to get left behind without income at all when the agencies moved on. One U.S. agency chartered a plane and brought a plane load of white bread, in plastic bags, which it then dumped on the shore (no one would eat it), with birds being caught in the plastic. My d. personally was involved in trying to figure out how to get rid of the stuff. Missions built schools - without latrines, without places for kids to wash their hands, and without access to clean drinking water - hence spreading diseases that hadn’t been there previously. I personally was approached by an agent of a Christian “relief” agency from the U.S. (business card in hand) asking me if I had “any orphans” (to sell). Cement was requisitioned to build “international compounds”, driving up the price for local use (we help villagers build their own houses, and it was a nightmare. The Red Cross decided to distribute water. Only thing was, everyone already had water (thanks to UNICEF at first, then the local government.) There were two tanker trucks filled with water - on the back, in small letters and symbols, it read “International Red Cross”. On the sides, in big 5’ letters, it read “Coca-Cola”. These two tanker trucks (we have pictures) drove up and down the streets of the destroyed town of Nagapattinam, getting in the way of relief efforts, doing nothing but advertising Cola-Cola. That’s where your Red Cross money went. (Would you like to hear about the Red Cross in Santa Cruz, following the 1989 Quake? I lived through it - as did Elizabeth Dole, and boy did she make out well.)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a new group of corrupt politicians got rich off the aid agencies. There was a “swami” who was appointed to head the “long-term religious aid missions” (in the local governor’s compound), who was not only NOT a swami, but didn’t even speak the local language (he came from 2,000 miles away.) He made a very good living. </p>
<p>These countries are very, very rich, KSM. No one is ever going to call the debt (as in the U.S.), and no one is ever going to pay it back. It’s just paper. (And as for the U.S., my feeling is our debt is too low - what we spend it on has been a problem - but if you’ll loan me money at 3-4%, with no expectation that I’ll ever pay it back, I’ll take all you’ve got, and then some.)</p>
<p>The article linked in post #23, from the American engineer living in Japan, was quite interesting. But the young man is incredibly cavalier about the death of thousands and the suffering of tens of thousands. And he is really off base about the risks posed by the ongoing nuclear accidents. Comparing the radiation exposure from failing reactors in Japan to exposure from eating a banana (potassium has a naturally occurring radioactive isotope that is present in all of our bodies) or flying (cosmic rays at high altitude) is ludicrous. No one really knows what the radiation levels are now, or will be in the future. It seems unlikely, to say the least, that they are or will be minimal. Some of the isotopes being released have half-lives on the order of 30 years. </p>
<p>Presumably, he has been listening to the nuclear industry spin? I am a supporter of nuclear power, but let’s not gloss over the fact that this is a nuclear disaster. I only hope it won’t progress to a catastrophe.</p>
<p>I was in Baton Rouge after Katrina, week 3, with the Red Cross. What a mess and how ineffectual they were. Many stories but some too disturbing to be told. They had no idea what they were doing with the many lay volunteers they had.
This is not the organization we will donate to.</p>
<p>Not to be an alarmist, but a friend & I were just discussing on the phone that yes, it’s nice that the radiation is blowing away from Japan, but it is still being disbursed throughout the air and away from Japan means toward HI & elsewhere. We sure hope that the radiation can be contained so it will pose the least possible danger, but it remains a huge danger.</p>
<p>We have also heard updated estimates of damage to HI from the tsunami. It’s still early days but estimates are now in the tens of millions, considerably higher than earlier predictions. Our economy is taking a significant hit from all of this as well, as there are close times between HI & Japan.</p>
<p>On Teri’s link, the Food Bank of Hawaii earned a pretty good score as a very efficient charity. If anyone is still looking for a place to send money to help out the (perhaps indirect) victims of tsunami, this pllace will definitely appreciate your help. I will talk to DH about sending our check there.</p>
<p>Thanks to this thread, my concerns are receding. It seems that things are much better than the picture the media is painting and my admitted ignorance about nuclear things. Am still glad S opted not to take the job he was offered to work with nuclear stuff–it didn’t interest him, tho it would have been in HI.</p>
<p><a href=“http://japannuclearsituation.wikispaces.com/[/url]”>http://japannuclearsituation.wikispaces.com/</a></p>
<p>Does anyone, especially someone who is/was on the ground know what is a good organization to donate to?</p>