Over the weekend I called a friend of mine who lives in the US but is a citizen of Japan. I wanted to make sure his family and his mental state were okay after the tragedy that has unfolded in his mother country.
He had spoken to his family on Friday and they're doing fine, understandably shaken and nervous, but they weren't near Tokyo and all its destruction and death. He seemed to be in good spirits,considering.
It wasn't until the next day that the impact of the real devastation hit him as he sent me emotionally whipped texts through tears and expressed an appreciation for my concern.
Later, we discussed the Japanese government's decision to instruct residents near the evacuated perimeter of the Fukushima nuclear power plant to seal themselves up inside their homes, and the ridiculousness of the request, as if this will actually prevent exposure to radiation. We both marveled at the incompetent solution of the request.
Yesterday, at the encouragement of Greenpeace, I wrote a letter to our president and to our congress to cut the $38 billion proposed budget that the president wants to allot to the nuclear energy industry, pointing to Fukushima as an example of the real possible dangers of relying on this type of energy as a major replacement of fossil fuel. There are alternatives to both. Things happen, and as safe as our senators want us to believe nuclear energy is, its a thousand times more dangerous.
My thoughts and sympathy go out to the families of those who've lost their lives and are missing in this tragedy. Recovery will be a hard one, just as New Orleans has not yet recovered from Katrina. However, the Japanese public have two more demons to contend with that could possibly create even more devastation: a radiated atmosphere and a lethargic governing body.
I wish the people well.
