Original image from The Daily Beast media gallery. Here young children are tested for radiation.
I can barely bring myself to turn on the TV. All these awful images from Japan are too much to bear. Last night we were watching CNN and they kept playing the same images over and over again. I was weighed down but couldn’t turn away.
Events like these always leave me with a gazillion and one thoughts so in a mind clearing effort, some thoughts (if you just want informative links, skip this mind dump and keep reading):
- I know it’s never easy for anyone to survive something of this magnitude. Even if they didn’t lose any loved ones, their reality is forever shaken. How do they ever take a confident step without worrying their world might collapse at a moment’s notice? It’s an entire generation changed.
- I watched rescue workers on TV and it was agonizing as the anchor chimed in to say these workers were no longer on a rescue mission but more of a retrieval mission. Strength and love and hope to the people who have the job of finding the dead.
- It fascinates me the realness of images of world changing events. Just ten years ago I don’t think images were so clear and sharp. It’s like watching a movie in HD. I’m not making light of it but it disturbs me and fascinates me. I also wonder if people make more financial contributions because they get such a real life look at the intensity of it all. If they’re drawn in more emotionally, by the images, the immediacy of the information, the firsthandness of the events, do people open their pockets more?
- I imagine in a few weeks, Japan will fall from the front pages. We won’t be connected to it on a constant basis. But how long will it take for life for these people to regain any semblance of normal?
- I don’t know much about the history of tsunami occurrences but their ferocity scares me to pieces. The ocean rising to mammoth heights and rushing inland. Biblical type sh*t.
- What happens to people who are in the hospital receiving care, going under the knife when an earthquake hits? Then when things settle and a tsunami rolls in? How does the doctor, the nurse hold it together?
- Animals. I don’t know why but the story of pets being lost and killed in natural disasters always breaks me.
Catastrophic events always awe me. They crush my heart and shake my spirit. They leave my mind reeling. So I do what I’ve always done and drown the emotion with information.
- PBS offers up a great article on how much information children need regarding news events. They’ve even broken out in to age groups so parents can share information developmentally appropriate for your child’s age.
- It freaks me out that someone might try to take advantage of a person’s charitable intentions during a time like this. But I suppose it’s the nature of our times. Social media just makes it easier to prey on good people. I’ve heard Charity Navigator is a solid resource to make sure your donations are going to trusted organizations.
- Just watched this nerd on CNN and learned some interesting bits about how social media has helped during this awful disaster. For instance, Google launched PeopleFinder as a resource for people looking for loved ones. She also led me to discover CitizenTube, a channel on YouTube specific to news and politics, which I’ll be scoping out on the regular. Interesting bits.
- The nuclear threat scares the crap out of me.
- Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, P. Diddy, Jack Johnson – just a few celebrities making moves to raise money for Japan. Also, just learned the American Red Cross has a National Celebrity Cabinet who will work in times of great need such as these.
- Can’t stop reading about earthquake-resistant design. From what I’ve gathered, not a single building in Tokyo collapsed. Read up on it, fascinating.
- I almost missed this story on a California town who has work to to recover from tsunami aftermath.
- And if you’re a data junkie, the pros at BBC have it all for you.
Are you thinking about Japan?
