Disaster in Japan

Disaster might be an understatement.

The pictures are unbelievable and the video is beyond that. It was bad enough that they had the earthquake but then the tsunami. You literally got to see that as it happened. To see the wave off shore and then see it smash into land and sweep everything in its path.

You also got to see people trapped and swept away by the wave. There were cars on roads. Some of the people obviously saw what was coming and tried to get out of the way. I can't imagine that many people survived that. The feel of being trapped must be terrible.

When I was at GW there was a fire in my dorm. There was too much smoke in the hall way to get out. So we hung out the windows. It was terrifying but there were people on the sidewalk telling us what to do. They also told us help was on the way. I won't say I relaxed but that made me a little less afraid.

For the people in the path of the wave, there was no help on the way. It does sound like some people were swept up in it but somehow managed to survive. As I said the video is just stunning and not in a good way.

And now they have to deal with this:

Japanese authorities said Sunday that efforts to restart the cooling system at one of the reactors damaged by Friday's earthquake had failed, a major setback in the struggle to contain what has become the most serious nuclear power crisis in a quarter century.

Here's hoping the Japanese catch a break on this one.

An Oily Mess

That’s the only thing you can call the disaster that is playing out in the Gulf of Mexico.

The latest attempt to stop the leak seems to be doing something.

BP executives said that their efforts to capture the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico have begun to work and that a containment cap placed over the damaged well Thursday night sucked up about 441,000 gallons of oil -- on Saturday, up from around 250,000 gallons on Friday. That oil was diverted to a waiting ship.

Maybe this time it will actually work. One of the problems that BP has is that they over sold their ability to fix the problem. There was too much we know exactly what we are doing. Too much of this time this plan will work. After awhile BP became less and less credible. The longer this crisis goes on the more it shows that there really aren’t any quick and clean fixes for this problem. If this doesn’t give people pause for allowing this type of drilling to continue than nothing will.

It points to yet again the need for this country to loose its dependence on oil of any kind foreign or domestic.

Most of all you’re sadden by the lives that were lost on the explosion. The lives that are being ruined economically. The lives that are being ruined because a way of life is being destroyed. Haven’t these people been through enough? The ruin it is causing on the environment.

In the Post story today National incident commander Thad W. Allen said the cleanup will take at least several months. But the repercussions will be felt for years if not decades to come.

End of an Era

Walter Cronkite

There are times when the passing of an individual seems to sum up an era of time. I believe the death of Walter Cronkite was one of those times. His passing points to the passing of a way of journalism and a way of receiving. I remember the days of only 3 networks. You sat down and watched the news of the day usually over dinner. There was no CNN or internet just CBS, NBC and ABC. News seemed well for lack of a better way to put it more like news. There was fluff but there seemed to be a great deal less of it than today.

As for Cronkite, in particular one of my very first memories, is of him. Actually, of an event he reported on. It was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is something that is indelibly etched in my mind. I remember my mom and I were watching a soap most likely the Secret Storm when CBS interrupted the broadcast. After a while, I’m not sure exactly how long, Cronkite made the announcement of Kennedy’s death. I remember my mom crying. I also remember later in the evening my dad coming home and entering the house through our back door at the moment Kennedy’s coffin was being taken off Airforce One.

Cronkite might be best remember for his trip to Viet Nam and his report that followed. He concluded there was no way to win the war. Shortly after Lyndon Johnson announced he would not run for re-election. Did Cronkite cause that? He certainly was a major fact in Johnson’s decision. The oft quote from Johnson was after watching the report Johnson said to the effect if I’ve lost Cronkite I’ve lost middle America.

And in light of the 40th anniversary of landing on the moon today, you have to talk about Cronkite’s coverage of NASA. (Here's a link to a great story at USA Today.) I don’t think you could call him a booster of NASA. I think he showed what everyone thought when Apollo 11 landed on the noon. Wow this is really happening. Cronkite’s enthusiasm was great. He was like a little kid.

Cronkite’s passing is sad because it really is an end of an era.