Dear West Coast of the USA (Re Tsunami debris)

[Bonobo]

Dear West Coast of the USA: I know it is all thrilling and titillating to talk about nuclear power as the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of Japanese people wash up on your teeming shores, but please try to remember that the lives of 20,000 people were lost and many more destroyed on 3/11/11 and your whining about invasive crabs and mollusks really isn't particularly moving by comparison, nor is your breathless fear about your leafy vegetables.

As Tsunami Debris Crosses Pacific, Dangers Emerge
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/19/155380945/officials-wary-as-japanese-tsunami-junk-washes-up

Tsunami debris and its arrival on the West Coast
http://www.mercurynews.com/pacifica/ci_20893572/tsunami-debris-and-its-arrival-west-coast

As Japan debris washes up in the US, scientists fear break in natural order
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/09/japan-tsunami-debris-marine-life

Japanese tsunami debris proves dangerous: Invasive species found
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-tsunami-species-20120614,0,2872217.story

[XemaSab]

1. Some of us

can be depressed that 20,000 people died AND worry about invasive mollusks.

[eShirl]

2. information is "whining" and "breathless fear"

The news should simply fail to mention it, then?

[Scootaloo]

3. That's right folks

It's either walking or chewing gum.

One or the other! And you damn sure better pick 'chewing gum!' Don't even think of doing both, else Bonobo will clobber you with a sack of nickels.

[pnwest]

4. fuck you. we can't be heartbroken for the

lives lost in Japan, AND for the environmental and ecological damage happening here? We can't feel compassionate sorrow for the Japanese and what they're going through, AND for our own fishing industries and beautiful coast? Who ARE you?

[opiate69]

7. This ^^^ Bravo

/

[Iggo]

10. Word.

[Auggie]

12. +1

[rufus dog]

5. DUUUUUUUUUUUDE

I have NEVER alerted on a post, but this one is the closest I ever came. ..... and the horse you road in on.

[Generic Other]

6. Some of my relatives are among the dead

I will not forget that fact as the debris washes onto my beaches. I only wonder how much will wash ashore.

I have read with great interest how the great Cascadia earthquake of 1700 in Washington state sent an unexpected tsunami to Japan. We have a long shared history of contact. And loss.

[Arugula Latte]

8. What is your problem? It's not either/or, and it's not like we didn't get the massive tragedy

of thousands of deaths, and comment on that extensively. We can hold more than one thought in our heads simultaneously, you know.
Also, nuclear disasters know no boundaries, and the poisoning of our oceans is NOT a trivial concern.

In addition, the people who died in the tsunami are, well, dead. That's a cold, hard fact. There's nothing to be done to bring them back. Nothing. But environmental issues are ongoing for survivors and other beings who still live on the planet.

[Iggo]

9. Excuse the fuck out of me?

[Marrah_G]

11. Please tell me you forgot the sarcasm tag

[pnwest]

17. and if he did, and i'm a thick-headed dolt who

missed that it was sarcasm, then I sincerely apologize for my f u reply above. But, I surely didn't read it as sarcasm.

[Retrograde]

13. They're most likely your leafy vegetables, too

Most of the lettuce - and broccoli, and brussels sprouts, and other vegetables and fruits - consumed in the US are grown near the California coast. Botanically speaking, California is an island, being cut off by the ocean, mountains and deserts, and we're very concerned about the potential damage new varieties of animals, especially insects, can do to our biggest industry.

Any California who was around for Loma Prieta or Northridge has an inkling of what Japan went through, which was far worse than we experienced. We had a small reminder shortly after, when the tsunami itself caused some damage in Santa Cruz and Crescent City, an ocean away. We know we're connected.

We can still worry, though, and do what we can about keeping our - and your - food supply going.

[slackmaster]

14. We can't do anything about the human tragedy of the tsunami. It happened, it's over.

We who live near the coast CAN do something about the debris.

I really don't care whether you are "moved" or not, Bonobo.

[Spike89]

15. Don't need to pile on, but want to anyway

Whatever is the point of this OP? Will those who died rest easier if we pretend the long-term effects of the disaster aren't happening? Should the Japanese people who survived stop discussing (whining in your parlance) how to clean up? After all, some people died and either you do nothing but mourn or you dishonor them...geez, this is perhaps the worst logic I've ever seen here.

[hunter]

16. I'm not going to criticize this post.

There's been some nasty and dim-witted responses to this continuing catastrophe posted here on DU.

Whatever fallout we get is NOTHING in comparison to what Japan is suffering. We ought to be cleaning up whatever lands on our own shores with feelings of sadness and deep respect for the people who were lost.

[AsahinaKimi]

18. chigaimasu, Bonobo san..

Chigaimasu. shiyou ga nai.

[Make7]

19. All this crazy talk about Japan (Mar-12-11)

[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.4615em; box-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #bfbfbf;"]All this crazy talk about Japan, from a DUer in Japan

The general tone I perceive is one of extreme alarmism, panic and an-almost palpable sense of being 'turned on' by disaster -no, not in an obvious way like "I am so glad this happened", but in a subtler way, like a person that subconsciously gets hooked on bad news, or like an adrenalin junky that needs more and more and bigger and bigger thrills to get off.

There are a few ways you can look at this, I suppose. But here are a couple of possibilities. I am sure it is not a simple al or nothing answer, but thinking about this may give you some insights on the subconscious ways you have all be affected by living for so many years in a culture that thrives on creating and whipping up fear and loathing and then using it to 'sell product'

-Perhaps we here in Japan are just dupes that don't know how bad it is. Perhaps we aren't 'panicking' enough. Because I can tell you that you guys sound WAY worse than anyone I have spoken to all day whether they are in Kansai or the Tokyo area.

-Perhaps, though, it is you guys (no offense, really - I find it kind of sweet) that are living in a state of some kind of near-panic, having been weened on fear tactics for so long, and you need something more horrible to look at in order to feel normal and explain the internal feelings built up in you. In other words, something in you feels deep stress but you can't fully account for it - so you naturally seize on something external to try to balance out your inside and outside??? Something like that.

Anyway, whatever it is, it is a little disturbing to see you all reading into the situation and then adapting it to suit your own personal and political belief systems.

It is like a rorsach test in that way I guess.[font style="font-size:0.8462em;"]


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=622572&mesg_id=622572#622572[/font]