Japanese Gov't to Rent Land Near Fukushima? Nuts!

There's some things going on about the Fukushima disaster that I just cannot understand. These problems all involve the government handling of the situation. I've written much about my dissatisfaction with that. 

The problem with the entire situation stems from government incompetence and the desire to be all things to all people in this crisis.


Yesterday, it came to fore that areas near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants will be declared uninhabitable for many ears to come. Does that come as a surprise to anyone? I wouldn't think so.


Now, it seems that the Japanese government is going to reimburse land and property owners near the Fukushima plant by paying them rent for all the coming years that they won't be able to live in their homes. I am completely against this notion and think this is just another government boondoogle that makes the rest of us pay for something that we had nothing to do with.


The New York Times reports:

TOKYO — Broad areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could soon be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades, after a government survey found radioactive contamination that far exceeded safe levels, several major media outlets said Monday.

The formal announcement, expected from the government in coming days, would be the first official recognition that the March accident could force the long-term depopulation of communities near the plant, an eventuality that scientists and some officials have been warning about for months. Lawmakers said over the weekend — and major newspapers reported Monday — that Prime Minister Naoto Kan was planning to visit Fukushima Prefecture, where the plant is, as early as Saturday to break the news directly to residents. The affected communities are all within 12 miles of the plant, an area that was evacuated immediately after the accident.

Why is this a surprise? Didn't everyone expect this long ago? When the government announced a few weeks ago that they were planning to allow residents to return this year, didn't everyone think they were talking like the fools that they are?

The government is expected to tell many of these residents that they will not be permitted to return to their homes for an indefinite period. It will also begin drawing up plans for compensating them by, among other things, renting their now uninhabitable land. While it is unclear if the government would specify how long these living restrictions would remain in place, news reports indicated it could be decades. That has been the case for areas around the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine after its 1986 accident.

Like I said, under what twisted rules will the government determine the land value of these areas? Their current value must be zero, right? What is the difference between this and the US government buying all those billions of dollar of so-called "toxic-assets" from the failing uS banking system? There isn't any. It is just throwing public money down the toilet.

Since the Fukushima accident, evacuations have been a sensitive topic for the government, which has been criticized for being slow to admit the extent of the disaster and trying to limit the size of the areas affected, despite possible risks to public health. Until now, Tokyo had been saying it would lift the current evacuation orders for most areas around the plant early next year, when workers are expected to stabilize Fukushima Daiichi’s damaged nuclear reactors.

Ha! No one who has been paying any attention even thinks anything the government says is anything but a sick joke. Once again, they show their total incompetence and lack of common sense and delusion. Kan and his cronies keep hoping that things will get better but as a friend once told me, "Hope isn't a very good business plan." How in the world it is that Kan is still prime minister is astounding.

The government was apparently forced to alter its plans after the survey by the Ministry of Science and Education, released over the weekend, which showed even higher than expected radiation levels within the 12-mile evacuation zone around the plant. The most heavily contaminated spot was in the town of Okuma about two miles southwest of the plant, where someone living for a year would be exposed to 508.1 millisieverts of radiation — far above the level of 20 millesieverts per year that the government considers safe.

The survey found radiation above the safe level at three dozen spots up to 12 miles from the plant. That has called into question how many residents will actually be able to return to their homes even after the plant is stabilized.

The only good note that can be deemed from all of this is that, with everyone being so nervous and doing some serious checking and investigation, that no one has found any wide contamination in Tokyo is a good thing. Let's hope it stays that way and people remain vigilant.


Frankly speaking, in a nutshell, here's what I think:


1) The TEPCO nuclear power plant is a privately owned business. When they made profits, they kept them. When they lose money (as in the recent accident) I don't understand why the public has to bail them out. They make a profit, they pocket the money. They lose money and the public has to pay through increased taxation? Does that seem fair to you? It doesn't to me.


2) Once again, the government is easy to spread around public tax monies paid for by you and me.... After all, it's not their money.


3) This sounds really cold, but the people who lived around those nuclear power plants profited in their businesses and livelihoods for decades due to the business and economic benefits those nuclear power plants provided as a main source of jobs and revenue for the people living in the area. Why are they different than TEPCO? They profited for many years off of businesses and jobs created by the TEPCO plant. Now that there has been a terrible accident, why do the rest of us have to pay them rent for their houses that they can no longer live in?


4) Who will decide the amount of rent to be paid? Surely we will be paying way over current market value on those properties as their current value - since the disaster - must be close to zero.


5) Why are we, the public, being asked to pay for these properties? What is the purpose of private so-called "fire and marine" insurance? (Insurance for covering accidents and disasters befalling private property?) If the owners of property had no insurance, then that is their stupidity and loss. Why should the rest of us pay for that?  When, say, a property on a mountainside is burned down in a fire, are the rest of us expected to pay for that property owner's loss? No.


The disaster of March 11 is a tragedy for those who lost homes, family and livelihoods. These sorts of occurrences are why there is insurance. There is no good reason that the government has volunteered for the rest of us to pay for these people's losses. They profited from the good times, they must suffer for the bad. 


Paying these people, like paying TEPCO, is not fair. It is the same as the US government using tax monies to bail out the big banks when they were in trouble.


The rest of us didn't experience personal or financial gain from the good times, we should not be expected to pay for the bad.


I am against this sort of expenditure of public monies whether it is to be spent to help a private business like TEPCO or a private landowner like those who lived near the Fukushima reactors. People must have known the risk. They should have moved if they didn't like the chances. The rest of us should not be expected to pay for their poor judgement or bad luck.


That is what insurance is for.


As with all tragic events, I wish for good luck for those people and survivors of these disasters... But I can't see how you or I should be forced to pay for it.

Japanese Government Incompetent Resigns Over Abusive Remarks to Disaster Area Officials

Hot on the heels of my last two posts, the first entitled; Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Lather, Rinse, Repeat followed by Nuclear Radiation: No News is Good News  blasting the government of Japan (all government for that matter) for gross incompetence (among others things) another scandal hits the news.

Duh!

It seems that the boss of the newly created March 11 disaster reconstruction team, Ryu Matsumoto, that was just formed by soon-to-be ex-prime minister Naoto Kan has gone and done something really stupid within the very first week on duty. Matsumoto went up to some earthquake and tsunami ravaged areas in Northern Japan and was talking down and being extremely rude to local officials there. Now, after catching some serious backlash, the guy has been forced into resignation.


What a doofus! 

FOR FULL COMEDIC EFFECT, CLICK ON

THIS VIDEO BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING

This is hilarious. You just can't make this stuff up. A total and complete comedy of errors.


Yahoo Japan reports:

TOKYO – Japan's embattled government received a fresh blow Tuesday when the new disaster reconstruction minister resigned a week after his appointment because of criticism he was rude to officials on a trip to the tsunami-ravaged coast.

Hint: Japan. Rude. No.

The teary-eyed minister, Ryu Matsumoto, apologized and stepped down after a weekend trip in which he berated a local governor for being late to a meeting and threatened to withhold aid.

The guy was teary eyed? Bwa! Ha! Ha! 

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who created the new Cabinet position last week, had hoped it would help fend off critics who have questioned his leadership in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out much of the country's northeast coast.

Oh, this episode is really going to help out Kan. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, who hired this Matsumoto guy?

Kan has been under intense pressure to step down himself, but has said he will do so only after putting Japan on a solid recovery path. 

He will resign after "putting Japan on a solid recovery path"? Like how he's handled the debt problem and the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami? That means never.

Seriously, folks. I haven't laughed this hard in a loooooong time.

His government faces deep rifts in the ruling party and an increasingly emboldened opposition, which has denounced his response as dithering and poorly coordinated.

Poorly coordinated? Nah! Rubbish! I won't have it!

Matsumoto's brief performance is unlikely to help.

It may have been brief but it was a damned good show while it lasted.

In meetings with local governors over the weekend, the minister's words were regarded as arrogant and uncaring, angering local residents and political opponents. He told the governor of Iwate, one of the hardest-hit prefectures, that the government would not help municipalities that did not have good ideas about rebuilding.

Ah! Now we're getting to the nitty gritty. This idiot Matsumoto told the governor of Iwate that the government would not help unless the municipalities had good ideas? Yes. I see. Translation: "Yeah. We don't have a fricking clue as to what we're doing so someone has got to have a good idea. How about you guys?"

Gee, come to think of it, this is a representative of the same government who claims that they need to raise Sales Tax to pay for reconstruction of northern Japan! No one said that the people of northern Japan had to score at least 80% on a multiple choice quiz before they got the money!

To Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai, Matsumoto expressed irritation that he was made to wait for the tardy governor. Matsumoto refused to shake Murai's hand when he entered the room and scolded the visibly surprised governor.

Maybe Murai was late as the roads are all shot and the trains all fell off a cliff during the earthquake or something.

"When a guest comes to visit, do not call up the guest until you have arrived in the room," he told Murai. "Do you understand?"

Oh! Goody! He even yells at the people who were victimized by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster! I hope he steeped on their feet, farted and slammed the door on their butts on the way out too!

He then warned journalists in the room not to report his words. 

He then warned the journalists not to repeat his words!? Sensational! This is funny! Is this the same guy who was teary eyed when he resigned? Is this guy for real?

However, they were widely reported in the media, and a video of the exchange was posted on the Internet.

Oh! Juicy! Where's this video? I gotta see this... Oh lucky me! Here it is:

Pardon my French, ladies and gentlemen, but what an asshole this guy is. It may not sound like he is being rude because Japanese is such a very polite language, but if that we me on the receiving end, I'd probably tell this jerk to "get out!" What an arrogant worm!

Jin Sato, the outspoken mayor of badly damaged Minami Sanriku, said the minister's comments deeply upset disaster victims already frustrated with the recovery process.

Think so? Nah!

"I have been saying all along that this government has no sense of speed," he said on public broadcaster NHK. "My frank opinion is that this resignation drama is another misstep."

I'm beginning to think that this Naoto Kan guy is the best prime minister we've had since Mori. The mistakes these people make are hilarious and they give me a good hearty laugh every morning. Seriously, folks, this is unbelievable.

I'm going to be sorry to see Kan go. That guy and his posse make great  entertainment.

Most Japan Red Cross Donations Have Not Reached Survivors - Peace Boat Japan Sucks Too!

Unbelievable. The Japan Red Cross seems to be doing its best to retain its reputation as a scam. Peace Boat Japan is in second place, close behind. 

HANK WILLIAMS JR. - YOUR CHEATIN' HEART

The big earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster happened more than three months ago, and useless organizations like the Japan Red Cross have seen to it that most of the money collected have not reached the hands of those in need. The papers report that over 55% of all monies collected have yet to be distributed! The incompetence and bureaucracy are mind-boggling. 


The Yomiuri Newspaper reports about personal experiences of some of the survivors:

"We lost our car in the tsunami and we can't buy a new one to get on with our lives without money. I hope the donation money arrives as soon as possible," said a 64-year-old unemployed man who is living at a shelter in Higashi-Matsushima.

The prefecture's social welfare section said many municipalities lost their family and resident registries in the tsunami. Without these documents, it is difficult to decide who is entitled to a share of the donations. "The quake left us with a ton of clerical work, and we're short of staff who can handle making donation payments," one official said.

To be paid, a person needs a disaster victim certificate. To get a certificate, one must undergo an inspection. The problem is that there is not enough staff to handle the issuing of the certificates, which has severely slowed up distribution of the donation money.

Great! We have $1.6 billion dollars... And Red Cross spends $0.17 cents on the dollar for the actual charity programs and these clowns can't hire a few part-timers to do paperwork to get things moving along at a better pace? All the while in the Great Red Cross and General Charity Scam it was reported that the CEO of the Red Cross was reportedly paid: 

"Her salary for the year 2010 was $651,957, plus all personal, medical, & pension expenses. Less than 10 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause..."

Wonderful. People are suffering and they can't get their money "because there aren't enough volunteers" and we have $1.6 billion dollars and can't hire a few people to push papers for a few weeks? 

Yomiuri Newspaper continues:

The Tagajo city government said staff shortages mean it takes at least one week to issue a certificate. But even after a person gets a disaster victim certificate, the city said it takes even more time for them to get paid.

Tagajo resident Ayako Hirayama, 57, visited the city office Saturday to apply for a certificate. She lives in an apartment with her husband and her son's family because their house was flooded by the tsunami. They have no refrigerator, so they have to go shopping nearly every day. She said having a place to store food would be a big help, but a city official told her the donations would not be distributed for about a month.

"Without money I'm just wilting with worry. We're really having to tap our savings, so I'd like to get the donations as soon as possible," she said.

Don't worry, Hirayama san. The checks in the mail.... It's been that way for over three months. Just don't hold your breath.

God, Japan Red Cross is totally useless. People are in trouble now and it takes these idiots over three months to help some of them!?

But I write this post with an eye on objectivity. I think the Red Cross is a crap organization and I believe their track record all around the world shows it. But let us not hold our derision merely for the Red Cross. I am a fair person and am willing to hold another charity in equal distain. There's another that I must insist upon slapping up side the head and that is Peace Boat Japan.

Peace Boat Japan seems to be another shady scam operation.

I will never help Japan Red Cross again and I will not help Peace Boat Japan again. I suggest that you do not either. I am not sure about all of Peace Boat's hijinks, but I imagine that my recent experience is symptomatic of a larger problem. Concerning Peace Boat Japan, and my experience, here are the facts:

On Sunday, June 5, some friends held a charity concert for which the proceeds went to Peace Boat Japan ostensibly to help survivors and victims of the Tohoku disaster. On May 31, I stupidly allowed the Peace Boat Japan people on my radio show to promote the charity and the event.  By allowing Peace Boat on the radio show that gives them a defacto approval from a major Japanese broadcasting station that they are reputable. 


A broadcasting station has a responsibility to the public to protect them, provide them with proper information and to not be scammed. The charity who uses that position of the broadcaster to promote themselves have a responsibility to do likewise. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly.

This is why broadcasters will not allow, for example, mafia-type of organizations or scams to advertise their services on air with commercials. It's because the station has a responsibility to the public and for the public good. If something bad happens, and the station had promoted that service, product or event, in this country that station has responsibility.

"What's your assessment of Peace Boat, Sargent?"

"It's a clusterf*ck, sir!"

Let me make it clear that I have no problem at all with these sorts of charity events (like the one held on June 5) and I think it is great that wonderful individuals get together to help out anywhere they can. I merely have a problem with organizations like Japan Red Cross and Peace Boat. Read on and you'll see why I do have a problem with these organizations. I think anyone with an ounce of common sense will agree with me.

After the Peace Boat event ended, I met with one of the promoters yesterday and asked about the results of the charity. I want to know how much money was collected (actually, as program producer, I have a responsibility to report this to the station) and how it was or will be used. The promoter was upset. He told me that he, too, was angry at Peace Boat. He said that when he inquired about this, he was told that Peace Boat Japan cannot, and will not, give out that information.

Astounding! Something really stinks. Talk about ripping people off! How do we know that these Peace Boat reps didn't just pocket the money? What criminals! They have a responsibility to faithfully and dutifully report income and all usage of these funds!

That an organization like Peace Boat Japan would go on air, using (abusing) the good will of the public and a free broadcaster to make a monetary gain yet not faithfully report the results of their actions and the collective efforts of that promotion is nothing short of scandalous. This cannot be allowed to go without public notice and this simple blog post is a part and parcel of that.

The people at Peace Boat Japan that I dealt with have some questions to answer and, until they do, they will be considered by me as a scam charity in Japan and are banned from ever being on my show again. They also should be made to settle things correctly by other Peace Boat members for these people have shamed that organization.


Trust that, until it is rectified, I will make every effort that other broadcasters are aware of this sham.  

Pardon my French, but, Japan Red Cross and Peace Boat Japan, "Baise toi!"

NOTE: Probably Peace Boat Japan and Japan Red Cross don't care about this blog. Even though it is small, it still gets about 5,000 readers a day. My radio show has over 100,000 listeners a day in Tokyo alone. Both charities have the chance to respond fairly to the charges leveled against them.... Bet you a half a doughnut (spelled correctly in this case) they  are such conceited jerks that they do not respond.


SECOND NOTE: I don't know of many charities that I can recommend in Japan but I do support Rock Challenge Japan and Support Our Kids. I have worked with them and seen what they do and like it. You can trust, though, that if they ever do betray our trust, you'll be the first to read about it here.