Blogger notes differences in US, Japan media reactions to disaster

Updated on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 8:16PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

Map of Japan from US Gov./CIA World Fact BookI read a blogger's account of what's happening in Japan after the quake and tsunami, and it naturally brought back memories.

Watching the waves lift cars and trucks as though they were made of paper, I couldn’t help thinking of the aftermath of Katrina when the words “water, water everywhere” from Coleridge’s iconic poem came to mind. Perhaps because there was a Republican unpopular with media in the White House, US news outlets covered Katrina with drama that bordered on soap opera.

Katrina was an epic tragedy, but we should admit Katrina was also a preventable disaster. Much suffering could have been avoided had those who live in the city and govern the city prepared for a failure all knew was possible. The quake in Japan, however, doesn’t fit that scenario.

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Bloggers in Japan note 2009 anime warned of big earthquake

Updated on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 10:23AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

Mt. Fuji on the island of Honshu as seen from the space shuttle. The snow-capped inactive volcano, surrounded at lower levels by clouds in this image, lies several miles south of Tokyo.The quake's magnitude near the east coast of Honshu was 8.9 said the USGS in a computer generated announcement not yet reviewed by a seismologist. (Image courtesy of NASA;from CIA World Fact Book)

Blogs related to Japan are teeming with comments related to the earthquake on March 11, and one commenter at Japanator said the quake brought to mind an anime from 2009. ‘Tokyo Magnitude 8.0’ won the Excellence Prize in the Animation category at Japan’s Media Arts Festival in 2009 according to Wikipedia.

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Ampontan puts North Korea—and global Democrats—in context

I’ve praised the blog Ampontan for quite awhile because the author is an excellent writer who manages to put Japanese culture in context for us Americans. In a Thanksgiving Day post, Ampontan explains the intricacies of politics in Japan and the effect of the left of center government. There’s a striking similarity between what’s going on in Japan today and what’s happening to us in the US as Democrats push for the DREAM Act. The US is certainly not the only country with an immigration issue.

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China news says N. Korea ‘countered’ artillery firing by South

Updated on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 11:19AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

US media may view a conflict between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North) an act of aggression by the communist North. But China’s official news service Xinhua is characterizing the exchange of fire between the two countries as a response by the North to ‘counter’ artillery firing by the South.

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Does Obama want to lead US, or the UN?

President Barack Obama is dealing with a fairly typical decline in approval ratings. Like former president Ronald Reagan and despite media acknowledgment, George W. Bush, Obama has likely realized the problems of running a sprawling republic are not simple. But certain actions by Obama warrant questions as to intent. Is our commander-in-chief acting more like the leader of the UN than of the U.S.? [Article continues after video.]

The video about President Barack Obama's bow to the emperor of Japan was produced by the College Republicans at the University of Connecticut. H/T to Newsbusters for publishing it.

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North Korea’s rocket launch shows Japan hero, UN useless

North Korea launched a rocket Sunday morning as promised, and the renegade country’s decision elevated Japan to hero status but further highlighted the uselessness of the United Nations when it comes to dealing with rogue nations. The Japan Times (Apr. 5) said, “The missile, which Pyongyang claimed was carrying a satellite, blasted off from the Musudan-ri launch facility at 11:30 a.m. despite warnings from Tokyo and Washington that it would violate U.N. resolutions banning the North from ballistic activity. The Defense Ministry said the rocket's first booster fell into the Sea of Japan approximately 280 km [approx. 174 miles] west of Akita Prefecture at around 11:37 a.m.” It’s not hard to imagine what residents in one of America’s most important allied countries must have been thinking. Comments from a top Japanese blogger reflect justifiable frustration.

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