At least in the news…
I honestly have little or nothing to complain about on this day. Given the magnitude of the circumstances going on around the world, I have every reason to count my blessings. I should be a pretty happy guy.
What’s going on in the news is absolutely crazy.
The East Coast of Japan has been destroyed
For those of you who don’t keep track of current events, you may be surprised to learn that an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck some 230 miles off Honshu, the main Island of the nation of Japan. It was devastating. Most Japanese infrastructure has been designed to withstand 8.0 to 8.2, which is lot better than we good people of California have done. Nevertheless, it was not designed or built to withstand an 8.9 quake.
They say the quake itself lasted some 2 minutes. If that were not bad enough, some 10 minutes later the East coasts of the Japanese Islands were pounded by a titanic tsunami, that did nearly as much damage as the quake. If that weren’t bad enough, the coastal cities were then inundated by mudslides as the top soil on the hills began to descend towards the Pacific. The next thing you know, fires were burning in 80 different regions around the country. This was a very San Francisco-esque scenario.
If that were not bad enough, nuclear emergencies were declared at two of Japan’s key nuclear plants. The facilities themselves took damage in the quakes and tsunami waves. They automatically shut down, as per their computer-programmed SOP. The problem was that they were in full-swing when the devastation hit.
It is not that easy to simmer-down a controlled nuclear reaction. Authorities at the Fukushima nuclear plant were forced to release a huge blast of steam in order to avoid a complete meltdown. The problem was that this was radio-active steam. Radiation levels around Fukushima reached 1,000x normal background radiation levels almost immediately. Fukushima is already being called the Japanese Chernobyl.
This is absolutely horrible stuff folks. This is worst kind of Hollywood disaster crap, but for real. The horror… The horror…
How powerful was this quake? Well, let me tell you about that.
· Earth scientists say that this is the most powerful quake in the region in some 1,200 years.
· It ripped a new trench in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that is more than 150 miles long and 50 miles wide.
· The quake moved the entire Island of Honshu 8 feet to the east. That is astounding.
· Japan has literally lost land in this quake; as in land has slid off the islands and been subducted under the sea. Right now, geologists are trying to compute the quantity of land that Islands of Japan has lot as a result of this quake, but there is no agreement in these figures. I have read several conflicting estimates.
· The quake was so powerful it changed the tilt of the axis of the Earth by some 25 centimeters.
· The quake was so powerful it actually changed the speed of the rotation of our Earth; shortening our days 1.6 microseconds. You may laugh at the small figure, but the quantity of energy required to change the velocity of the Earth’s rotation by that minuscule amount is absolutely quantum and terrifying.
· It sent Tsunami waves that wrought havoc in small port cities like Santa Cruz and Crescent City.
· We don’t know how many lives have been lost, but the number has been growing all day, and it is going to be terrible.
· The quake was followed by aftershocks as large as 6.4 and 5.7 in magnitude.
I have to say that I am a big fan of the country of Japan. I love just about all things Japanese. I have since I was introduced to Shotokan Karate at the age of 11. I have to say, I am pretty depressed about this.
Small potatoes in the scheme of things
Not much to mention in comparison to what is happening in Japan or Libya, but the NFLPA is now the former NFLPA. They decertified today and launched law suits. This means the 2011 NFL season is now judge David Doty’s court of law… among other players.
I’d be lying to you if I told you I’m not disappointed. I thought there was actually a glimmer of hope. I thought we might hash something out today. It didn’t happen. The players dropped the law bomb.
I have to say that based on what I have read, the Players made an unreasonable move. It seems to me that the owners caved on nearly every key point. The only thing they won was a rookie cap and a rookie scale, something the NFLPA also wanted.
I went ahead and signed the players petition, but right now I have to say that you guys have disappointed me greatly.
Khadafy Duck is gloating
For those who don’t know, that grand sonofabitch bastard known as Moammar Khadafy managed to defeat rebles in the city of Zawiya near Tripoli. This was a key strategic victory for him when it was thought that the Rebels were knocking on his door. He’s bought himself some time.
If there is a silver lining here, it is found in the fact that Obama has now declared for the rebels. We await word on just what that means.
I look forward to a better day tomorrow
As you know, tomorrow is 3/12/2011. Tomorrow will be the 25th birthday of the theoretically perfect woman (for me), code-named La-La. Settle down cougars, I am the theoretically perfect guy for her also. Men born on 9/2/1966 crush all men of all other birthdays for women born on 3/12/1986. Our scores greatly exceed all others.
I have no idea whether I will ever meet or date a woman born on this date, but I intend to celebrate the day anyhow. For all I know, some outstanding Capricorn or Aquarius female may well intercept me on the way to finding La-La, by I do intend to begin a glass-slipper quest in approximately 3 months.
Incidentally, my brother and two of my cousins are dying to shoot this glass-slipper quest on HD video for publication as an inde-documentary. They insist the idea is so novel it can win multiple Oscars.
