Japanese Government Guilty of Negligence in Deaths of Children in March 11 Tsunami - Guilty of Future Negligence too

Here we go again with government double-talk and obfuscation...


One day, the government says we don't have money so they need to raise sales taxes, the next day they give away billions of taxpayer dollars to their crony friends in other countries...

This is just a lesson in reading between the lines and knowing that whatever the government does or says there has to be some hidden ulterior motive. The government pronouncements that go along with their often scatological actions often mean the exact opposite of what they say... The government doesn't really do anything, except for finding ways to spend tax monies and posing like they are doing something.


You know, "War is peace. Freedom is slavery..." type of stuff... Orwell....


Don't believe me? Here's proof today. The government spent millions of dollars making a video to ostensibly protect children in the case of a natural disaster but when it comes to actually doing something concrete towards those ends, well, um... Not so much... They'll need to have decussions to decide if they need to decide to have further discussions.


That's how the government "works" folks. Today the government has announced that they have a plan but, if you read carefully, their plan isn't a plan at all.


The Yomiuri reports in Government adopts safety plan for children (as I often do, I'll comment between the articles paragraphs and point out the nonsense):

The government on Friday adopted a basic policy on safety education at schools for the next five years, with the goal of minimizing harm to children in the event of natural disasters and other situations.

So, far so good. The government "adopted a basic policy on safety?" Great. (One has to wonder where they were all this time in a country that has thousands of earthquakes annually and many natural disasters?)... Carry on....

The move was prompted by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region last year.

The basic policy urged schools to make time to teach children how to protect themselves in the event of a disaster. It also called for a study on the possibility of creating a new school subject focusing on safety education.

Wait a minute, here! "The basic policy urged schools to make time to teach children how to protect themselves!?" "Urged?" Not "ordered?" Also, a "study on the possibility?" What's that mean? 


So what they are saying here is that the "basic policy" isn't really a policy at all. What they are saying is that this is a request or advice to schools to teach something. How is that policy? I find the definition of policy at Merriam Webster Dictionary to say:

Policy: a definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions

"Urging" someone and a "definite course of action" sounds like two different things to me, folks. Then the article adds this gem that always proves the old adage and oft-repeated mantra of this blog; "...it is the goal of government, every government; to use any excuse, emergency or crisis to expand upon itself. It doesn't matter if that government is democratic, communist, socialist, fascist, or green. No matter the reason the government solution will be to grow itself."


This next sentence is so cynical that made me laugh out loud:

The basic policy underlined the necessity of safety education at schools, pointing out that students who had received thorough education on tsunami at their schools evacuated to safety on their own in the March 2011 disaster.

"Students who had received thorough education... evacuated to safety..."? Yes. Excellent. 


And whose responsibility is it that many who died did not receive a "thorough education" so that they could have "evacuated to safety" at a government run school? 


Consider: If you were head for the fire department in some town and a bunch of houses burnt down on your watch, you'd lose your job. On the other hand, if you are in charge of policy for government run public schools and a bunch of kids die, you get to make new policies and print textbooks and things like that.


Remember that post I wrote the other day about there being two rules in society? One rule for the ruling class and another rule for us peasants? Here it is, in action, again.


This begs the question again... I forwarded above about asking where the government was before the March 11, 2011 disaster? Why did just some schools teach their students (and teachers) proper evacuation procedures and others didn't? Could it be that government policy was nonexistent? Could it be that so many kids died in the tsunami because the government did not have strict guideline and policy (policy!? Oh there goes that word again!) to teach this policy and rules to all children and all school faculty? This is pretty damning, folks. This smacks of incompetence and criminal negligence once again. These people didn't do their jobs and so a bunch of kids died needlessly, yet these same people, these government bureaucrats don't lose their jobs? 

As the current safety education offered during gym classes is insufficient, a systematic method of training should be considered, it said.

And, who, pray tell, decided that safety education should be taught during gym classes? The government, that's who. Who sets curriculum? The government does.


But then there is another huge red flag in this sentence too.... "a... systematic method of training should be considered?" Considered by whom, may I ask? Should a twenty-five year old first grade teacher just out of college with her first job at some school decide or should this be decided by government officials consulting experts and be made official policy? "Should be considered?" Morons.

Ultimately, what this says is that the central government has decided that the children of the nation need to be protected. Hooray! So, in their eternal wisdom, they decided to make it a policy to urge schools to teach children something and to study the feasibility of starting a study to see if it is feasible to make some books.


Trust, folks, that the government will make these books and this cirrriculum. Why not? It increases their duties (to justify budgets) and is just another expansion of the government (read: your taxes)... This by the very same government whose inept "policies" led to no policy being in effect at many schools at the time of the tsunami so so many children died.


Why do I know they will create these items and this curriculum? They've already made one. Here is a report about one that was created by the Japan Meteorological Association:

Well, I'm sure they mean well, but, like most government run things, I'm sure this was poorly thought out. Now they have a video, super. But where are they going to show it? Most Japanese elementary school classrooms don't have TVs or DVD set ups. They say they are making copies to give to schools but I wonder how well this will sink into the head of a 6-year-old who is in a fit of panic...


Showing this to kids might help a bit.... But setting a policy for teachers and administrators is what is really needed... Nah, but that's too much work. It's much easier for some fat bureaucrats to sit on his ass and spend taxpayers money. 


I also bet you a half a donut they spent several million dollars making this video (the Japanese government has done that before many times). Wonderful! Millions spent making a video no one will see.... (Trust, that privately run TV stations in Japan, no matter how inept, aren't wont to broadcast government created productions without getting paid big money - so where will these productions be shown?)


If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a video that costs millions to be made is seen by no one, does it really cost anything?


Being paid millions to do something that no one sees? Great work, if you can get it... 


Almost as good as working for the government deciding "policy."

Japan's Missile Defense (that doesn't work) is Extremely Effective Against North Korean Missiles (that don't work)... At Least on Paper!

It's a comedy of errors! It never fails to amaze me just how incompetent the government is. What government? Oh, any government. Take your pick. Let's pick Japan's today.

As effective as today's defense system is against North Korean missiles 

It seems that the missile warning system that the Japanese government were bragging would alert the public about the North Korean missile launch as it happened (Japan spent hundreds of millions of dollars on when they bought the system from the United States) failed and the Japanese authorities had to rely on foreign news reports to confirm the launch.

Seriously, this comedian could probably run any department or agency in the government much better than any politician Japan has today... At least he'd be good for laughs...

Hilarious! I burst out laughing on this news.... Maybe they forgot to install the four AA batteries (not included) in the system?


Japan Today reports: Japan's rocket alert system failed due to lack of info from defense ministry

The alert system Japan promised would warn citizens of North Korea’s rocket launch had to rely on media reports because the defense ministry did not pass on the intelligence it had, an official said Friday. 

(You mean this high-tech warning system needs a low-tech telephone call to work? How about two cans and a string?) 

In what appeared to be a humiliating blow for the government after days of hype about the effectiveness of its warning system, security officials at the centre handling the alert were not told of the launch until 44 minutes after Tokyo had first learned of it.


Let's vote. Which government is more humiliated and seems more incompetent by yesterday's failed launch? Is it (pick one): 
        A) North Korea
        B) Japan

In the meantime, the center issued a vague warning, based on international media reports of the launch, some 23 minutes after blast off and when those watching still believed the rocket was headed over Japanese territory.

(No. I believe they read my blog. I scooped the world!)

“We didn’t have the information at that time we issued the message,” a security centre official told reporters on condition of customary anonymity.

How do you say, "Doh!" in Japanese?

I don't know why the Japanese government needs to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these systems that don't work for monitoring missile launchings that don't work either.... They could just read this blog as I reported an hour ahead of time that the missile launch was a failure...


In fact, both North Korea and Japan could nod and wink and just say they've built the systems and pocket the money. No one would know the difference! Genius!

Japan's missile defense that doesn't work is extremely effective against missiles 

that don't work either... At least on paper!

You know, the Japanese government also claimed that they were prepared for the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, yet they blew it. Now, this. I have a new motto for the Japanese government. Tell me what you think:

Japanese government motto for 2012 and beyond: 

Preparedness in the face of disaster yet dropping the ball just in time.

That works for me.

Holy Sh*t! Man Who Was Swept 15 Kilometers Out to Sea by Tsunami Survives Floating on His House!?

It's nearly one year since the terrible earthquake and tsunami disaster of March 11, 2011. There are probably many memorial services going on that day. I will go to Ishinomaki that morning.

Here's a story I just found from the Telegraph UK: The man who floated out to sea on his house remembers the tragedy:

Nearly one year after he was rescued floating on the roof of his destroyed home 10 miles out to sea, Hiromitsu Shinkawa says all that he wants now is a peaceful life. Shinkawa, 61, moved to an apartment in the city of Kawasaki in August of last year to be closer to his daughter and 2-year-old grandson, but will be returning to the town of Minami Soma for the anniversary of the event that made his miraculous escape front-page news around the world.

When he was rescued by a passing warship on March 13 - 43 hours after he was swept out to sea by the retreating tsunami - Hiromitsu gulped down an energy drink and immediately burst into tears. "I thought today was the last day of my life," he told his rescuers.

Shinkawa and his wife, Yuuko, had returned to their home after Japan's magnitude-9 earthquake on March 11 to try to save some of their possessions, but were caught by the tsunami. Shinkawa was on the second floor of the house when the wave crashed through the windows. (Read more here.)


What's also incredible is that, don't forget, it was winter and snowing when this disaster hit so it was freezing cold. It's a miracle that this guy didn't die from exposure.

By the way, my friends Michio Hashimoto and Ken Nishikawa who went with me to Ishinomaki right after the disaster last year (and Ken and I made the documentary) will be going up again on March 11 this year. We are going to go look for the Japanese couple who were in our documentary (below) and take them gifts and see how they are doing. We also plan to shoot another documentary about "one year after."


The original documentary, "Ishinomaki - The Black Water" is here:

"Japan's children of the tsunami " BBC program in full. First aired 1st March 2012

Thanks to EK-SKF Blogspot

Japan is Earthquake Capital of the World Visualization Animated Map

After the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, I was inundated with all sorts of ridiculous mails claiming that I was working for the nuclear industry or an "nuclear apologist." The more absurd ones were from people who claimed that the March 11 disaster was caused by HAARP or, as Benjamin Fulford claimed, "The USA detonating a nuclear bomb undersea off the coast of Japan."

All nonsense. I am no expert on HAARP but I like to think I know a tad bit about Japan. Japan has a hell of a lot of earthquakes. We had two yesterday that I felt. We have them almost everyday... Hell, we have hundreds of them everyday. Don't believe me?

Well, then watch this. Here is an animated map of earthquake activity in Japan in 2011. See if you can find where the nuclear attacks were:

First 100 Readers of This Blog Win Free Airfare for Two to Japan - No Hidden Catches! No Gimmicks! No Basis in Reality Whatsoever Either...*

"And, if you believe that..." the story goes...


"Dear winner! Congratulations! You've won $10,000!" At first you are surprised. Your heart skips a beat, then you read the fine print. It says,

"This could be you if you purchase over $250 of "Sports, Bikinis, Barbecue and Hiking Boots" magazine subscriptions over the next 6 months. As one lucky winner will...." Blah, blah, blah....

How many times has this happened to you? 

Your dreams dashed. Of course, it was too good to be true.


You know, in Japan, there is an old saying, "There's nothing scarier than something for free!"


Well you might remember a few months back the campaign announced in the Japanese media and all over the world about 10,000 people winning free airfare to Japan in a Japanese Government Tourism Bureau effort to support flagging numbers of tourists to Japan after the March Fukushima nuclear accident? Well the Japanese government was just kidding about the free vacation... (I reckon that you can deduce that I not the most dependable travel agent in the world either... Chuckle!)

Well, thank god I didn't write about that campaign when it was going on. Why? At the time, I thought something was fishy. Just like you thought something was fishy when you clicked to read this blogpost. Let me pat myself on the back and say that, in October of last year, at the time they announced this foolishness, my first thoughts were that the idea was waste of money; shouldn't we be spending that money on helping the people of Tohoku? What about the Fukushima disaster? And, with our finances in such disorder, where are we going to get this money from in the first place? I also thought, "Who's stupid idea was this?" 


Of course it is/was a stupid idea. A very stupid idea (too good to be true for anyone who "won" - and it was)... (No problem for the government idiots who thought of this... They aren't spending their own money. Why not?)  


But besides the practical concerns, think about the ineptitude: Talk about a BS contest! Imagine winning only to be told, "Oh yes, Mr. Something-or-other, congratulations but we were only kidding about the million dollars!"

The Wall Street Journal reports in Dream For Free Flights To Japan Over (article quotes highlighted in yellow, my snide remarks follow):


Back in October, Japan's national tourism agency floated a plan that seemed an ideal remedy to boost flagging visitor numbers in the wake of the March 11 disasters. 


What!? "..a plan that seemed an ideal remedy?!" What are the these people at Wall Street Journal smoking? Oh, yeah, I forgot. The Wall Street Journal are a bunch of big government wankers too. 


Free flights to Japan in 2012. A full 10,000 of them. 


Over flowing with cynicism: Cheap skates! I knew it! "Why stop at 10,000?" I said at the meeting, "Let's make it 100,000! No! A million, ten million! Free babies, bento and Banzai too!"


Now, as the country crunches through the detail of tight budget numbers for next year, the hope many had for visiting Japan in 2012 has evaporated into a pipe dream: There won't be any free flights next year, period. 


Well, duh. There ain't no Sanity Claus either.


The budget for them has not been approved. Whatever tourism authorities thought a good idea, Japan simply can't afford it, the government's budget planners have concluded. 


Evidence that more government planing will make our lives better!


The Tokyo-based Japan Tourism Agency didn't sugar-coat the decision in a statement on its website late Dec. 26: "The project titled 'Fly to Japan!' (to offer flight tickets to 10,000 foreigners with high potential to communicate Japan's attractions), which had been covered in a number of media in autumn this year, was not approved as a governmental draft budget of FY 2012."  


How about not sugar-coating a message to the Einsteins in the Japan Tourism Agency on their website by writing something like, "You're fired!"


Regular readers of this blog will know that I am extremely skeptical of any pronouncements by the Japanese government (or any government for that matter) and, at the time of this campaign's announcement, I remember thinking, "These clowns have a debt that is over 225% of GDP and now the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster to contend with. Where in the hell are they going to get the money to pay for this?"


Funny that.


Now, what do we who live in Japan and pay taxes for have to show for this idiocy? Well, I haven't any figures, but I know we spent lots of money on promotional items like posters, TV ads, and advertising in publications all over the world (besides the silly posters advertising this campaign that were hung in my local bar in Tokyo - go figure!) so we dumped at least a few hundred thousand dollars on that. Small change, right? No problem. Then, on top of that, we got this bad promotion (or good depending on how you look at it). 


These types of dumb government planned promotions are always a boondoggle. Let me recall a few for you that I remember:


In 1979, at the height of the trade wars with the USA, the Japanese government made stickers and posters and placed them all over Japan's train stations and in taxis. The stickers and posters said, "Import Now!" (as if the average Japanese housewife reads English and/or has any say as to whether or not pots and pans and textiles and steel are imported into Japan from the United States or not.  


Which is much like this campaign that I've seen at my local pub recently. The posters say, "Visit Japan!" I think, "Wow! What a brilliant idea! Promote visiting Japan to people who are already here! Saves them the airfare! Brilliant!"

This poster hangs in my favorite restaurant ... in Tokyo!

The next campaign that I remember Japan spending an exorbitant amount of money on was the Yokoso Japan campaign. Japan must have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this campaign making videos that were shown (and viewed) a few hundred times on the Internet and seen on American and European TV at times like 5:00 am on a Sunday morning. In fact, I hosted the one about Hiroshima (even though I don't live there!). Uh, don't expect me to show you that one, it was embarrassing (many of the English subtitles were spelled incorrectly and lots of other problems):

Oh well, I suppose we can console ourselves by saying, "At least they tried..." I wish they'd try with their money and not mine next time. People might think I am complaining about the incompetent government, and I am. But, at least in canceling this dumb campaign, they made the right decision. Why in the hell should I have to pay for Joe Six-pack to visit Japan? Does he pay for me to go on vacation to his country?




*That's tue: This contest is a farce and not real... Just like the vacation to Japan contest was also. Sorry.

2011: The Year of Power Saving in Japan. Time Lapse Video of Tokyo After March 11 Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster

The March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster at Fukushima had a profound effect on, not just Japan, but also the world.

Locally, it caused the government and people of Japan to reassess Japan's dependence upon nuclear power.

After the nuclear disaster forced the reassessment and closure of 1/2 of Japan nuclear power plants, the entire nation has spent the rest of 2011 in what has been called, 節電 (setsuden) or "power saving." No matter where you go in Tokyo, you will see signs that say, "Setsuden chu" (currently saving power).

After this "Setsuden chu" campaign started up, all over Tokyo, you could see signs of companies and stores saving power. At some of the subways stations, 1/2 of the escalators were shut off; at department stores, many of the brightly colored and lit displays were turned off... The worst part of it all, and what everyone feared the most, was the hot and humid Japanese summer. Luckily for us, this year's summer was quite unseasonably cool (Man Made Global Warming, don't you know?) and even thought the air-conditioning was off or very low at most places, it was bearable.

I stumbled upon this very cool and interesting video of time lapse photography showing places around Tokyo before and after Setsuden. I thought it was beautiful and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SCREEN

Empathy Survey - How Do You Feel When You See a Child Suffering?

I just bought a book by one of my favorite political columnists, Ted Rall. In the foreword, he talks about compassion and empathy. 


He wrote about a time he saw a homeless man and thought, "Thank god, if it weren't for a few lucky breaks, that could have been me." I've thought the same thing before many times too.


How about you?


I agree with what Ted writes in the book and will have a review of "The Year of Loving Dangerously" soon... But, until then, this...


I wonder about people today and think there are far too many people who feint compassion and concern, but it's all an act. Take, for example, the disaster of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 in Japan. So many people I know were actually sincere and got off their asses and did something...


But I also thought there were way too many people who only helped and contributed because it made them look good doing so. There's nothing so wrong with that, I suppose, as long as people are honest with themselves and open about intentions.


There's a word for this and it's Crocodile Tears.


I also think that there is far too little compassion and empathy amongst people today as a general rule.


Take, for example, the poor people who have suffered in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Terrible situation indeed... But the mass media seem to have gone on and people are losing interest.


Is it human nature to do so? Or are we all just robots with heart strings being pulled by the mass media?


I wonder why people will get together to make (at least the appearance of) an effort to help people who are on TV and suffering far away, yet, in their own neighborhoods, they scorn and look down upon the unfortunate in their own neighborhoods?


For those ends and my own research, I've made a survey at the right of this blog. It is asking the question:


"When you see a homeless person, what do you think?"


I hope you will help me by taking 5 seconds to answer the question (as many answers as you wish)... I will post the results on 10/31/11. 


Note: I changed the name of this post from "When you see a homeless person, what do you think?" to "How Do You Feel When You See a Child Suffering?" Because I know that if I write "Homeless" that is a distasteful subject and many will not bother to read the post.

The Race for Japan's New Prime Minister is On and the Entire Country is Abuzz....ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz.......

Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan who was prime minister for just over one short year is resigning. The race for a new clusterf*ck prime minister of Japan is on. 


If you were to judge by the media, you'd think that the Japanese, as well as people all over the world, are gripping their arses in anticipation of who the next prime minister of the world's #3 (and dropping quickly) economy is going to be.


Will it be dumbf*ck number one or dillweed #2? The entire nation anxiously awaits the results of an election that they have absolutely no say in whatsoever.....So, I am....ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz.....


ZZZsnork! Where was I? Oh, yeah....


Kan, as you remember, was Japan's prime minister for just about 15 months. In that time, his infamy is often compared with that of many tyrants of the past. The destruction and devastation that occurred under Kan's rule will always be on the level of a Adolf Hitler, Chairman Mao, Attila the Hun, Caligula, Joseph Stalin and that Khan dude on Star Trek. 

The world will never forget the destruction they caused: 

Top (L to R): Hitler, Stalin, Mao

Bottom (L to R): Kan, Khan and Fine

See? Told you he's right up there with old usual suspects. 


Our own Naoto Kan, who, you'll remember singlehandedly was responsible for causing the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster will also always be remembered for his positive achievements such as... his, er.... ummmm... And then there's... the... uh... 


See?


Things will be OK if you just remember to keep repeating the mantra: "March 11, disaster, earthquake, tsunami, Fukushima Dai ichi and Naoto Kan."

Kan! Kan! Khan! Damn you, Khan! We'll get you for this!


AFP reports:

TOKYO (AFP) Japan's ruling party is to kick off a two-day campaign Saturday to choose a new leader for the disaster-hit nation, with trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda emerging as a strong contender.

Who the hell is Banri Kaieda?

Five candidates of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) have so far run for the party's leadership election on Monday to succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan as the nation's sixth premier in five years.

Awriiiiight! I think we should go for a new world record! You know that Italy has had more than 50 government's since World War II? yes. It's true. Come on, Japan! We can do better! Japan! Japan! Japan! Ganbare Nippon!

The party has set a deadline of Saturday morning for candidates to come forward for what is expected to be a close race.

Hoo hum....What? I missed the dealine for filing again?

Kan announced his resignation on Friday after nearly 15 turbulent months in power, during which his response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and resulting nuclear plant accident drew fierce criticism.

Remember to keep repeating: Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Genghis Khan, Attila and Kan (sounds like some 70's Hippie Prog Rock group doesn't it?)

Through debates and speeches this weekend, the candidates will seek support of 398 DPJ lawmakers who can vote for a new party president to replace Kan. Parliament will then vote the leader in as PM on Tuesday.

Debates and speeches this weekend? Oh goody. That sounds like how I want to spend my weekends with the family! Listening to old political pharts droning on and on about this or that....

Former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, who has topped the list of hopeful successors to Kan in opinion polls, and Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda were largely seen as pre-election favourites.

Is it just me or does the name Seiji Maehara sound like a horse racing jockey? 

But Kaieda, who has led efforts to contain the nuclear crisis, leapt into the front row alongside them late on Friday after party kingmaker Ichiro Ozawa, who controls the DPJ's biggest faction, voiced support for him.

And he lifted a pinky finger is his direction. Don't forget the power of the Ozawa pinky in your direction!

Ozawa, a divisive figure who faces a criminal trial over a donations scandal, leads up to 130 lawmakers, although he has lost his party membership following his indictment over the scandal.

This is great: divisive figure, criminal trial, donations scandal, leads 130 lawmakers...  think that pretty much sums up the political situation here in a nutshell.

"We need support of Ozawa at a time of crisis," Kaieda told reporters late Friday.

Ha! Ha! Ha! "We need support of Ozawa at a time of crisis"!? Tell me, Einstein, when is Japan not in a crisis?

Kaieda, 62, a well-known economist before he turned to politics, also won support of former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, a close ally with Ozawa.

Hatoyama? Oh, yeah. I seem to remember that name. He was the guy who promised to kick out the US military if elected and that he would..... ZZZZZZzzzzzzz.......

Kaieda came to be at odds with Kan, who made a policy shift away from nuclear power generation while Kaieda was trying to convince local governments to restart reactors that went offline after the disaster.

Maehara, 49, who stepped down as foreign minister in March over a donations row, could become the nation's youngest post-war prime minister. He is against raising taxes to ease Japan's fiscal woes.

Get it? Kaieda who has the support of a divisive figure who is involved with a criminal trail over a donations scandal and is supported by another loser who couldn't keep his election promises is up against another guy who has his own doantions scandal.... Ever see that British TV show, "Yes, Minister"? 

(and now for a short comedy interlude about government)

Back to the article:


Noda, 54, who recently courted controversy with statements supporting war criminals, has softened his earlier stance on hiking taxes.


Doh! How many times have I told these idiots that you don't talk about raising taxes before an election? See? This Noda guy is not completely and totally stupid. He's toned it down. Now, if he becomes PM that will only prove the rest of the nation is completely and totally stupid.

The winner faces the unenviable task of overseeing Japan's biggest post-war reconstruction, resolving the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago, and shielding the economy from a soaring yen.


...And the task of trying to stay in office for more than two weeks... With the even more daunting task of trying not to say something stupid once a day.

The new premier must also unite a divided parliament, decide on a new post-Fukushima energy policy and win market confidence that Japan can overcome a legislative quagmire to address the world's biggest debt mountain.


Read that last sentence again: "The new premier must also unite a divided parliament, decide on a new post-Fukushima energy policy and win market confidence that Japan can overcome a legislative quagmire to address the world's biggest debt mountain."


Bwa! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!


Just remember, no matter who becomes the next Japanese prime minister, he will look good is you just always repeat the mantra: March 11, disaster, earthquake, tsunami, Fukushima Dai ichi and Naoto Kan.


--------


NOTE: The international and local media are really turning up the gears on this new Japanese prime minister nonsense. Like I said, "who cares?" Nothing is going to change.


My good friend George Williams turned me on to this great British TV show, that I highly recommend that you watch. It is a wonderful documentary about how TV makes people stupid:

Tsunami Repercussions and the Court Trials Begin (part two)

In yesterday's post I blogged about some parents who were suing a school for sending the children home by bus only to have those children die in the tsunami as their homes were on the coastline. In Tsunami Repercussions and the Court Trials Begin (part 1) I wrote that I think the parent's are trying to placate their own guilt and ignore their own responsibility for their children's deaths:

Had the earthquake hit an hour later or at dinner time or at night or early morning or some other time of the year, where would these kids have been? At home. At their parent's home that those parent's bought along the coastline... A coastline that was engulfed by a tsunami and destroyed... And not for the first time either.

The parents suing the school will not bring those children back... Nor will it placate their guilt and responsibility in this matter. 

School's need to stick by the book and not allow parent's to shirk their responsibility. Parents need to take a more holistic view on their children's safety.

In fact, today's parents depend on school for far too much so this is why we have so many problems with the family and complaint's about "today's youth".

The parent's might win this court case, but they won't win any money. They can't. Japanese law does not allow for "damages." If they did, it's one more step towards Japan becoming screwed up like the USA with court cases like this popping up everywhere. What I mean by that is people make bad decisions on life and do irresponsible things (like driving with a hot cup of coffee on their lap) and then suing someone else for their lack of common sense.

In the case above, the school does hold some responsibility... But I think the vast majority of the children's health and welfare responsibility is held by the parents. In fact, I think that this is painfully obvious an just plain common sense. 

It is a tragedy that so many children and parents have suffered, but to place blame and try to take money seems shallow to me. According to charities in Japan over 100,000 children have been displaced by this disaster. Who can blame another human for this story of suffering? 

"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." - John 8:7

Here is an experience that another parent told me about concerning their child's school. In that case, the school wasn't about to allow the children to leave even though the parent had arrived to take that child home!


In our first case, the school is being sued by the parents. The school may have shirked its duties. In the case I will relate to you from now, the school may have way overstepping its authority. Here's the details as told to me. What do you, dear reader, think?


Here's the story related to me by my friend:


"Thirty minutes or so after the big shock ended, I drove the car to pick up our child from school. The children had been evacuated to the school sports field  and the school wasn't allowing any of the children to leave until the "all clear" was issued.

Upon coming to the school gate, a guard man stopped me. He said that the children were not being allowed to leave just yet. 

Even as the guard tried to explain, I smiled at him and politely - but firmly - said that I was there to pickup my child and I walked forward in spite of his protestations. He waved to a young woman who worked in the school office. She quickly approached me and told me that the children weren’t being allowed to leave because the “all clear” has not been given yet. Once again, I firmly told her that I am the child’s father and that I have the right and responsibility to decide if it is all clear for my child or not.

She protested. “Where do you have to go that’s so important?” she asked.

It was none of her business but I replied anyway, “My child has after school lessons.”

She was shocked and insisted that the children must stay where they were. I didn’t get angry at her but responded, “Alright then, who then has the authority to give the permission for children to leave?”

She said that the headmaster of the school did. I then approached him. I said, “Mr. Smith (not his real name) I appreciate everything that you do and I appreciate that you are protecting the children. But now I am here and there is no one who has more responsibility for my child’s safety than I do. Now I must take my child home.”

He politely countered, “But the all clear has not been issued!”

“Who issues the all clear?” I asked.

I didn’t get a straight answer from him. I gathered that it was possible that this had not been well thought-out before and even he didn't have a clear answer to that question. They were "playing it by ear". 

All the while we were having this conversation, there were dozens of parents standing around awaiting directions as to what to do. Another teacher then approached and he and the headmaster explained to me that they couldn’t let the children leave because, if they did let some children leave, they would have no way of knowing which kids were gone and which kids were still under their care. 

I said it wasn’t my problem if they had an accounting system in place for this problem or not.

For one, whether the school has a system to account for these kids or not, is their problem, not mine. And to extrapolate from that then, because they don’t have said system, why are we being held hostage for lack of this sort of paperwork problem? It is the school’s responsibility to hold drills and to make arrangements like this. Not mine. I have made my arrangements at home. 

I thought that this situation was absurd. I am the father. I am there. I am responsible for my child’s safety. I have the right to decide everything. My authority exceeds theirs in every sense of the word.


Of course if the parent’s are not present to take the children home, the school must take responsibility. But once the parent arrives, the school must completely relinquish control over the child to the parent. The school's responsibility to the child can never override the parent's. If necessary, the school needs to prepare some sort of paperwork and chain of responsibility as to who has the right to remove the child from school premises such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. They also need to implement the system so that proof of identity is required to take a child home in an emergency. If the school does not, the parent must arrange such with the school. 

As it was, the school quickly relented for me to take my child out of the school grounds. Upon going to the gate to leave, a young woman stopped me once again and asked for my child's name and class number so she could check a list and let us leave. Embarrassingly for her my child’s name was not listed on the computer print out she had. I told her the name. She wrote it down - incorrectly, I might add. 


Then she failed to ask for my name and ID and we walked out the gate. 

So much for not allowing children to leave because they "can’t keep track of which students have left and which have stayed."  

I explained the entire situation to my wife and child told them that if there ever was a very serious life-threatening situation that I would go to school and even if the school did not allow us to leave, we would find a way to escape. 


We were in Tokyo. The earthquake was nearly 250 kilometers away. We were most definitely not in a life-threatening situation in spite of how much people and the news sensationalize this crisis."


That's what this irate father told me about how his child's school handled the situation. 


Now, my take on this...


In the court case where the school allegedly shirked responsibility by sending children home too quickly and those children died in the tsunami: The children's homes were near the ocean. Is the school guilty of incompetence by sending the children home too soon? Yes. True, perhaps. But it is quite understandable in such a situation that the school would want to get the children back to their parent's custody as soon as possible.


For the school, this seems a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.


In the second example: The school over stepped its authority and wasn't going to release a child into parental custody. In this second case, where the school wasn't going to surrender the child to the parent, had that child died or been injured, then I think the parent would have every right to sue the school and win. The school's reasoning that they are responsible for the child's well-being even after the parent arrives to receive the child is confused policy and out and out wrong in every possible sense.


Seth Godin had a good comment about this on a recent blog. He wrote:

Of course, the hard-working folks doing the detaining feel like they're doing their job. It's easy to measure. It's in the manual. It feels like progress. It's actually a cargo cult, though, the sort of thing an organization does to simulate progress when it's actually distracting itself from the mission at hand.

Fear can be used as a tactic, but it's almost never the end goal of marketing. The problem with using it as a tactic is that it's so easy to do, organizations almost always forget the real point of the exercise.

Absolutely right; "...organizations almost always forget the real point of the exercise." 


The question is: "What is the real point of the exercise?" "What is the point of taking the children to an evacuation area while at school?"


The answer is: "To protect them until they can be delivered into the safety of the parent's custody."

School's should never forget the ultimate purpose of their emergency drills and services. The parent's right are always top priority. Following the rules until the parents relieve the school's of the responsibility of caring for the children is the goal. 


That should never be forgotten. Any other result opens the schools up for being sued in court. Any smart administrator would be wise to consider these cases.