After last night's Little Miss FAUX News Bimbo's "Wall Street Execs Work Harder Than Teachers" comment, I'd promised last night to do some research into her storied career; however, after today's horrible & incredible events in Japan, she's just not worth it. She's not worth the time & energy any day - especially today. Thoughts of strength & compassion to everyone affected by Mother Nature's powerful display...
I know I said above I wasn't going to waste time & energy about...well...you know who, but a couple of "this day in history" items are birthdays that earn THE cake because of what their craven bat$hittyness has wrought upon this country & all over the world. Supreme Court "Justice" Antonin Scalia is 75 years old today; Rupert Murdoch is 80 today. I'd invite these "gentlemen" to GO CHENEY THEMSELVES while sticking this treat down their pie holes, but the SCOTUS "justice," especially, has probably already done that to himself & with DICK more times than my fragile little brain can comprehend.
I'm going to change things up ever - so - slightly & move on to SPARK but end with another "this day in history" item that's actually for tomorrow, but we won't "be here" tomorrow, and noting the event will be a lovely way to end a rather $hitacular week. Another piece of Lost Wages' history has gone "boom goes the dynamite." A new Rat Pack will have to gather some place else. This weekend is my every - 6 - month opportunity to listen to my fellow Hoosiers kick, scream, "witch," and moan into the 20th century about something else. It's all well & good to pack heat with or without a permit in the "Show Me Your Papers" state, but a line IS drawn at packin' this; maybe, there's hope! ;D Our brilliant "resident" Rhodes Scholar, Rachel Maddow, spent lots of time at the real Oxford University. If I was her, I'd complain to their alumni office for blackballing THIS guy! I mean, c'mon, do ya' have to be so damn elitist all the damn time?! ;D
Finally, to end with my "this day in history" item for tomorrow, Jack Kerouac was born 89 years ago tomorrow.
On with The Rachel Maddow Show...
"Disaster in Japan" AKA "State of Emergency for 5 Reactors at 2 Nuclear Power Plants" - Wow, Rachel probably knows more about nuclear power than Homer Simpson does. ;D Another horrible effect of today's earthquake is the possibility of radiation exposure to people living near these power plants. OK, I ask this question in all seriousness, but Japan's history of nuclear power - or what nuclear power did to Japan thanks to our country - is well - documented. What brainiac there decided that nuclear power plants IN JAPAN would be a good idea?! *&^%$#@!
Dr. Edwin Lyman is here to explain the ramifications of today's earthquake & tsumani with the nuclear power plants in Japan. He's very concerned about what the citizens of Japan are NOT being told about possible radiation exposure & power plant damage. These quake & tsunami images continue to just amaze me, and I've been seeing them all day like the rest of y'all. A meltdown on the scale of Chernobyl is not out of the question. Lovely... Rachel repeated a theme that I've heard very frequently today - beginning actually with my morning radio silly guys, which is how I found out about what happened in Japan. If something like this horrible earthquake HAD to happen somewhere, Japan was the best place for it to happen.
"The 5th Largest Earthquake Ever Recorded" - 8.9 on the Richter Scale, boys & girls...And, Japan's better prepared for this kind of stuff than just about anyone or anyplace else is. They've got some of the most strict building codes in the world, and Japan's citizens are constantly prepared. Nathan Layne is the Tokyo Bureau Chief for Reuters, and he's in Japan tonight. Even people who've lived there awhile knew immediately that what they were experiencing this morning was something WAY different. Heaven help THIS country if an 8.9 event happens on the west coast or New Madrid fault area because we will be looking at thousands of deaths & chaos nearly unimaginable because the GOBP don't believe in anything like regulation or building codes or anything like that!
It seems at least at this early stage of events, the Japanese government & the people are coping and doing the best they can with rescue efforts, recovery efforts, communication & transportation issues, etc.
"After the Earthquake: Tsunami" - Hawaii & west coast states got tsunami warnings early, and, thankfully, the damage was minimal. However, 1 man was swept away in Crescent City, CA. Tsunami early warning systems are facing budget cuts by guess who!
"Disaster in Japan" - A third of all Japan's energy comes from nuclear power????!!!! ARE YOU $HITTING ME?????!!!!! OK, that is just wrong on so many levels. Japan refuses to have nuclear weapons because of that whole Hiroshima & Nagasaki "stuff," but the government allows nuclear power plants? Wow... President Obama made clear his intention for the United States to be as much help as we can be. Joe Cirincione is with Ploughshares Fund (never heard of him or them), and he's not really confident about the implications of the nuclear power plants' safety & radiation levels. Instead of a Chernobyl scenerio, we could be looking at a Three Mile Island scenerio in Japan. Well, I feel better now! Mr. Cirincione is confident in the Japanese government's ability to be "on top" of this nuclear power plant issue.
"Attempt to Use a Weapon of Mass Destruction" - About a half dozen people in Alaska were arrested for plotting assassinations of a federal judge & some state troopers. Those arrested belong to some "Sovereign Citizens" group that doesn't believe they have to follow federal laws. Is that the same group the former First Dude used to belong to that wants Alaska to be its own country? Also, an arrest was made in the bomb plot during a MLK Day event in Spokane, WA. The man arrested is a member of a white supremecist group - what a damn shock.