I Got A Worse Feeling: Part 2, Mother Nature

I don’t scare easily, but when fish start turning up dead on the banks of rivers (pictured) and birds start randomly falling out of the sky, something is going on in our environment. It happened in several places too, not just one. Maybe even nature’s way of sending us some kind of warning. Then natural disasters hit Indonesia (volcano, earthquake), Australia (floods), New Zealand (earthquake), and most recently and dramatically Japan (massive earthquake and tsunami). I had never given the 2012 apocalypse theories much thought. But in light of these events, it’s crossed my mind and has gotten my attention more than ever before. I give Japan a lot of credit for the class with which the general population has kept their composure and held chaos at bay; we remember how anarchic New Orleans turned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (special “fuck you” to the New Orleans Police Department for their part in that debacle). The Japanese people have seemed to help one another even in the anxious wait for aid and supplies which did not come instantly. Talking to the Japanese architect (he prefers the term ‘concept designer’) of the project I’m working on, it sounds like the insurance companies don’t really cover natural disasters, which is preposterous and will cause more problems going forward than the wrath of Mother Nature which took almost 20,000 lives. Where are all these people supposed to go? How are they supposed to restart their lives when they will get no insurance money on houses, cars, and other valuables that were taken away by the earthquake or tsunami? How will those who manage to come out okay even bury the dead or rebuild their neighborhoods? Finding this out truly upset me on a few levels because it defeats the points of having insurance. But beyond all of is another way that this natural disaster can snowball into a man made catastrophe: the destabilization of the Fukishima nuclear power plant. Japan, the only country in history who has truly known the effects of large-scale nuclear devastation before, now must figure out how to keep this plant’s core cool and stable in the aftermath of a disaster that knocked out most of its resources and utilities. Furthermore, there is a leak enabling radioactive material into the ocean, which at least one attempt to seal has already failed to seal. The only comparison most of us know to make is the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in the 80’s, which has become known as the worst nightmare for any nuclear plant. I truly hope that that can be avoided and no more devastation will befall the strong and classy population of Japan. Not to mention, the world in general. It’s not a very comfortable time from where I’m sitting.

I Got A Bad Feelling: Part I, Man Made

I'm got a bad feeling about this. In the past year, the world is changing in a way that I don’t like at all. This is one of those years that countries are addicted to unrest and revolution; we’ve already seen all throughout the Middle East including Egypt (pictured), Bahrain, Iran, Libya, and more. Even Canada and England have protested their dissatisfaction with the recent actions of their countries’ governments. Revolution is not always a bad thing (especially places like Egypt and Libya where one man who rose to power by force has been in place for years and added more to their personal wealth than the well-being of their nations) but when the pro-government forces start slaughtering their own people to quell the rebellion, it’s an issue. I will give America credit letting it’s revolt-supporting opinion be forcefully known but not acting militarily. Even in Libya, where things got hands on (drawing widespread criticism as a show of double standard), the US didn’t get its hands too dirty before they handed things over to the UN and European countries. I know we have been seen as obligated to play police to the world, but we can’t afford another full-scale war in an unstable Middle East; especially against a country that never actually attacked America or its forces. As far as the criticisms, I don’t put much credence into the opinions of countries that do a lot of talking and never take action, period. I just hope whenever things are stable, we might actually have an ally or two in that region. But I still wouldn’t bet on it though. Just because they don’t want Mubarak of Quaddafi doesn’t mean they want democracy forced onto them unfortunately; especially by us and the anti-Muslim reputation that precedes us everywhere we go. Furthermore, the Ivory Coast is in the midst of a bloody civil fighting and unrest (pictured) that doesn’t seem to have a quick resolution. All of this comes as the world was recently on the brink of a potentially nuclear war with North Korea and South Korea (backed by the US and other Western powers) playing a game of “My dick is bigger than yours.” It didn’t gain the world’s captivity as much as the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960’s but make no mistakw, North Korea is not someone I would like to see at war with anyone right now. They’re the little guy at the world’s car table with a nuclear ace or two in its hand and an attitude forged on making a splash more than actually winning the game. But those are just the man-made travesties of the moment. That doesn’t scare me nearly as much and the disgruntled nature of Mother Nature. This blog is up next...