Japan coverage

@ Jim, (although straying off topic) I have no gripes about businesses wanting or needing necessary finance to exist.

Commerce with a tangible product to sell is what makes the world go round, simply as it becomes sustainable for every party concerned, provided folk trade with a sustainable ethos.

[F11]

Blime me Keith your knowledge of Planet Earth is amazing. If all what you are saying is fact, and I don't doubt it at all, then a Canon L series lens won't be any good to man or beast. We all need to take stock of what our priorities in life are really. We will all continue to love our photography but shouldn't be worrying about whether gear is going to be coming out of Japan. I don't think the repercussions of this disaster have hit at all yet and will be massive to everyone on the planet. As the disaster unfolds lets hope a miracle can prevent the nuclear power station exploding into oblivion.

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by KeithT

I think common sense will tell us that there is going to be a shortage of all products manufactured in Japan. This catastrophe is on a scale that we couldn't possibly imagine. My heart goes out for the elderly and confirmed and for the children who must be scared witless. This will definitely not be the last disaster in that 'Ring of Fire' that we will hear about, and it will come sooner than we think. After the Chiliean earth quake of 8.8 on the Richter scale in March 2010, the earth moved off its axis enough for us to lose 1.26 micro seconds in a 24 hour day. It doesn't sound a lot, but it was enough to knock planet earth off balance by 3 inches. This has caused the Tectonic plates to readjust and thus cause further earthquakes. It wouldn't take much more imbalance to flip the poles, and many scientist are now expecting this to happen. In view of that, who cares that our beloved gear might be in short supply. Perhaps the old war time saying of 'Make do and Mend' will be the new philosophy of the decade.

This reminds me of the film 2012 except its not fiction but reality. If you look at human existence in comparison to the age of the earth on a 24hr clock isn't it something like a mere 5mins? When you consider how many millions of years the dinosaurs were here before becoming extinct it makes our own presence seem so short on this planet. Japan's disaster is really beyond words and very terrifying.

Karen

[KeithT]

I only know as much about our planet as Google allows me to research, F11.

I think films like 2012, and the latest film Los Angeles - 2011 are all based on a certain amount of fact. Obviously Hollywood has added their usual dose of imagination and artistry to them. But the truth is we are residents on a living planet, which is part of a living universe and changes do occur and always have. Some are minor and some are great enough to wipe out a whole species of animal like the Dinosaurs. Since the Biblical Flood, which, according to some Biblical scholars, was 7000 years ago this May, we have enjoyed a fairly stable planet. The problem with most of us is that we have taken this stability for granted, and drawing from that, we think we are invincible. For those who have been touched by these disasters, I would imagine their attitude has changed dramatically. I honestly don't think that mankind has caused enough damage to count though, but obviously, it's time to re-think the way we live when it comes to consumerism.

[Stormsong]

It is very, very sad what is happening in Japan, but the government was warned TWO YEARS ago that their nuclear reactors were sub-standard and it was a disaster waiting to happen. They did nothing really to protect the citizens of the country. And the response from the government to the country's current crisis (thousands killed, hundreds of thousands without food, water, shelter, the real threat of millions being exposed to nuclear radiation etc) has been shockingly lackadaisical. For allowing the situation to reach such critical proportions, the Japanese government should be tried for crimes against their own people and against humanity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...bles-show.html

Regards,
Denise

[KeithT]

You may well be right, Denise. But President Bush was even more so after Hurricane Katrina virtually destroyed New Orleans. And there are lots of doubts and unanswered questions with regards to 9/11. I wonder how our Government would react to such a disaster? And nothing has been learned about building houses on flood plains, yet our Government still allows builders to get planning applications passed regardless of the flooding and personal misery it causes. We should all wake up and smell the coffee I think.

[HinFrance]

Denise, you seem to have been successfully fed the hysterical line regarding Fukushima that I'm afraid almost all western mass media has been peddling since the earthquake.

The fact is that tens of thousands of people have been killed, more than half a million rendered homeless as entire towns were annihilated, and yet what do our media drone endlessly on and on about?- an awful mess at a nuclear power plant which has survived one of the most severe earthquakes ever recorded and being hit by a 10 metre high tidal wave and which, at worst, is going to be very expensive for the power company to clean up and a an inconvenience to those nearby. The sheer level of pig ignorance about radiation being spouted by the majority of our media is as disgusting (for ignoring the real problems and suffering) as it is absurd (for in many cases being just a pack of lies mixed with deliberate misinformation).

Just about the only succinct rational article about the whole situation I have found is HERE. If you make a real effort and search for scientific blogs you will find much more detail, but all along the same lines. Chernobyl this isn't, and couldn't be.

If you really are scared of the level of radiation around Fukushima, I strongly advise you steer clear of the banana display in your supermarket. You will then know why nuclear engineers refer to the BED - Banana Equivalent Dose - of radioactivity. As for taking a flight anywhere, that's tantamount to suicide, apparently.