The USO said about 200,000 U.S. personnel are being evacuated from Japan to U.S. West Coast cities

[flamingdem]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/27248974/detail.html

The News Tribune reported that about 240 military members and their families evacuated from Japan arrived at Sea-Tac Saturday morning, the first of a wave of several thousand expected to arrive in the Puget Sound area this week.

"There’s about 190 children and 50 adults who just passed through customs," said Don Leingang, executive director of the local USO, which is helping feed the arrivals and help the to connecting flights. "It's pretty eye watering, if you really want to know."

The USO is seeking donations as they plan to support an influx of people in the coming days. Donations can be made online at www.usopsa.org.

The USO said about 200,000 U.S. personnel are being evacuated from Japan to U.S. West Coast cities including San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle/JBLM.

[Poll_Blind]

1. The second paragraph, not quoted above, stopped me in my tracks:

The USO confirmed Friday that 15,000 U.S. personnel and their dependents will be hosted at USO centers at SeaTac and JBLM in the coming days. The evacuation is part of the U.S. State Department's voluntary evacuation of U.S. personnel following growing concerns at nuclear plants in Japan.

15,000 people is a shitload of people to be holding at USO centers.

I think the rest of the article is worth considering carefully, as well, assuming this is being accurately reported.

200,000 people is a huge number of people to move almost 5,000 miles. Think about the logistics of food, fuel, housing. Damn.

PB

[flamingdem]

10. I'd like to see an estimate of the costs

Note that this news has not gone mainstream but indicates how the military views the situation. They have radiation monitoring devices over there, wonder what they see.

[Botany]

2. The situation @ the Fukushima Daiichi power plant must be worse ...

... than what is being told to the world.

[Windy]

5. Kyodo news service reports that a nuclear chain reaction is feared

"Renewed nuclear chain reaction feared at spent-fuel storage pool, fire at building housing containment of reactor Tuesday and Wednesday, only frame remains of reactor building roof, temperature in the pool reached 84 C on March 14, water sprayed at pool on Sunday."



http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79849.html

[Botany]

7. I spent 2 + years reading and looking into nuclear power years ago ....

.... I hope it turns out to be all taken care of but the shear volume of nuclear material @
Fukushima Daiichi power plant is staggering and some of the by products (radionuclides)
they have been detected are the by products of melt down or some sort uncontrolled nuclear
reaction.

[flamingdem]

6. Yes. It looks like they fear a meltdown in No. 3 and criticality in No. 4

-- Reactor No. 3 (Operation suspended after quake)

Partial melting of core feared, cooling failure, vapor vented, seawater being pumped in, building housing containment of reactor badly damaged by hydrogen explosion, seawater dumped over spent-fuel storage pool by helicopter Thursday, water sprayed at it from ground for four days in a row through Sunday.

-- Reactor No. 4 (Under maintenance when quake struck)

Renewed nuclear chain reaction feared at spent-fuel storage pool, fire at building housing containment of reactor Tuesday and Wednesday, only frame remains of reactor building roof, temperature in the pool reached 84 C on March 14, water sprayed at pool on Sunday.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79844.html

[Botany]

8. What is not spoken of is that there is plutonium @ the site.

n/t

To evacuate 200,000 people tells me a lot.

[flamingdem]

9. Exactly. That's hugely expensive and they are keeping it quiet

It might be just in case, but I think they know more than is being stated.

Many of these people live outside of the radius that could be effected at all so there is more concern that our politicians let on.

[Botany]

11. it would take 180 fully loaded 747s to move 200,000 people .....

... Something is up.

[flamingdem]

12. That's quite a large number, I guess it will take a couple of weeks

in the meantime I imagine they've moved them out of the Tokyo area, probably further South.

[Botany]

13. i want to be wrong about what I am thinking what is really happening ...

... in Japan. It would make very happy to be dead wrong about the size and
scope of the problem but for the U.S. Government to evacuate 200,000 people
from Japan makes me very worried.

[flamingdem]

20. This should be main stream news, but keep your eye on Libya! nt

[Hannah Bell]

26. you are reporting false information. already been corrected on several threads.

that link = a timeline of each significant event at each reactor.

the "fear of chain reaction" occurred on the 15th/16th.

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbs=nws:1&source=hp&q=fear+%22chain+reaction%22++4&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=fear+%22chain+reaction%22++4&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=4902021d154fb488

it is not happening NOW.

why do you continue to post this misinformation.

i don't get it.

the military made the offer to evacuate military families days ago.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/711221

[Hannah Bell]

27. uh, no. the offer to evacuate military families was made days ago.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/711221

http://www.stripes.com/news/nearly-8-000-military-family-members-signed-up-to-evacuate-japan-1.138362

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/19/2123792/us-military-families-torn-over.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/japan.us.military.families/?hpt=T2

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703818204576206912742553124.html?mod=googlenews_wsj




the ones who *chose* to leave have just been arriving the last couple of days.

it is not a mandatory evacuation. not all military a/o military families are leaving.

[msongs]

3. good time to close all our bases in Japan and save money for deficit slashing? nt

[musiclawyer]

29. That's what I've been saying for years

Why the F do we have any military in japan. There's plenty in Korea Slash these costs yesterday. It's sad that a catastrophe for japan is the reason

[xchrom]

4. Wow - very interesting. Nt

[malaise]

14. I asked whether they would move them last week

This is much worse than they have said

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. What about US folks in So. Korea?

I have heard nothing about So. Korea reaction to being so close to Japan.

[TBF]

16. Not good. nt

[shanti]

17. wow

how many military bases and which ones? i lived at yokota air base as a child. it's about 30 miles north of tokyo.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. They are evacuating non essential personnel

that is the translation. Dependents I expected... non essential... what do I keep saying... watch what they do... not what they say

[flamingdem]

21. Now I see what you mean by that.. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. AJE update

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

2:02am
The UN atomic watchdog says there have been some positive developments at the disaster-hit nuclear power plant in the last 24 hours but that the overall situation remains very serious.

Graham Andrew, a senior official of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also says radiation levels in major Japanese cities have not changed and remain below dangerous levels. He says the IAEA can confirm that in some areas near the plant radioactive iodine has been detected in some freshly grown vegetables.

There have been some positive developments in the last 24 hours but overall the situation remains very serious.

[flamingdem]

22. So AJE has it. Also on Google News local stations are carrying the news

U.S. Personnel Evacuate Japan
WSAW - Phil Levin - ‎2 hours ago‎
Saturday more than 200 family members of military and civilian defense workers arrived at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, Washington. Of those in the group, 190 of them were children. Phe Puget Sound USO says they expect 6.700 US personnel to arrive at ...
Evacuees fly in to Sea-Tac from Japan; thousands more expected KOMO News
Thousands of US Military and DOD Evacuees to Return from Honshu Japan KWCH
Thousands Of US Personnel Evacuated To Puget Sound From Japan KIRO Seattle
KMAS - Seattle Post Intelligencer

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. But I have yet to see it on the MSM

therefore it never happened.

:sarcasm:

Like a few demos in Madison, it never happened if it is not on TV...

Squirrel... shiny.

[kickysnana]

24. Twin Cities TV is on it and surprisingly local Fox has pro-labor commentators on.

They had a non-embedded reporter at the GOP convention and had commentary that what was going on was so wrong. The station was bought out a few years ago and the original people were not propagandists and they knew better then to get rid of the popular news cast. I watch the 9pm news during commercials.

One was talking about the judges ruling staying the law, she could have just fined them but told them they had to do it over.

He said if they had the votes they would have but right now they are buying time for cover to get out of backing down on it.
Says the recall, the continuing strong show of protests and other actions and upside down polls do have some of the GOP Congress critters scared. Not Adolph Walker however.

[Hannah Bell]

28. um - what?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=698119&mesg_id=702529

the wall street journal, on the 17th, for example.

just because you weren't paying attention doesn't mean it didn't happen.

i've been aware that the us offered to evacuate military families for days. because i've been following closely. that they are now arriving is thus not so much a shock to me as it is for others, & thus i have no need to blame my lack of attention on the failure of the msm to report.

btw, kiro-tv owned by Cox Enterprises, very much a part of the msm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIRO-TV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox_Enterprises

Anne Cox Chambers (born December 1, 1919, in Dayton, Ohio) is a media proprietor, who is primary owner of Cox Enterprises, a privately held media empire that includes newspapers, television, radio, cable television, and other businesses.<3>

She is the daughter of James M. Cox, a newspaper publisher and 1920 Democratic Presidential nominee, and his second wife, Margaretta Parker Blair. She owns and controls her father's business interests, through Cox Enterprises. For 33 years she co-owned the family company with her sister, Barbara Cox Anthony, who died on May 28, 2007.<3> She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Her net worth has been estimated by Forbes at $12.4 billion in September 2010,<2> based principally on her equity interest in Cox Enterprises. She is the 20th-richest person in the United States and 53rd-richest person in the world.<4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Cox_Chambers

[gristy]

25. 200,000? Who are all these people? Wikipedia tells me there are 35,688 U.S. military personnel

stationed in Japan and another 5,500 American civilians employed there. :shrug:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forces_Japan

So are we really withdrawing our entire miliary presence from Japan? Don't you think we might stick around and help out our ally?
Who are these other 160,000 people?
And why is everyone being moved to "west coast cities"?

Too much of this is just not adding up.