Japan Thing's Got Me So Bummed Out, Man...

Thanks Mr. MF. Your words say it all. Sometimes we forget what's really important, and sometimes we need to forget the world. Lovely song.

I don't think our minds are intended to be able to take in all the disasters in the world which we now do thanks to the internet and national news. Many years ago, we had to deal with only local tragedies, and that was more than enough to deal with processing. Try dealing with only one death of a family member or friend, and you will quickly see that we can't really conceive the death of 10,000 people in one day.

The Japan disaster only goes to show how insignificant man is when compared to Mother Nature. If we garner nothing else from this horrible event we should remember this fact.

So right, Andy. A seawall has nothing on mother nature.

So right, Andy. A seawall has nothing on mother nature.

Maybe not and you're point is well taken. Our seawall was man's way of coping with the laws and declarations set in place by him and thus the responsibility of a board of volunteer homeowner's to their fiduciary responsibility to do their best to protect their homeowner's property. Life is more complex than making snide remarks about seawalls, SJ.

I don't think our minds are intended to be able to take in all the disasters in the world which we now do thanks to the internet and national news. Many years ago, we had to deal with only local tragedies, and that was more than enough to deal with processing. Try dealing with only one death of a family member or friend, and you will quickly see that we can't really conceive the death of 10,000 people in one day.

I agree. But I also think that one of the benefits of the technology is that it can really show us that we're not alone in dealing with these large scale tragedies. I think that it's really beautiful to see the outpouring of love and support coming from around the world.

Although it cannot fix the problem, or remove the pain, sometimes it just helps to know that there are lots of people out there--complete strangers--who are praying for you and thinking about you, and sending whatever support they can. And sometimes, for a moment or two, that can be enough to help you get through to the next step.

I know that I've been sending lots of good vibrations that way, and know that you all have, too. Remember that there's a lot of good in the world, even in the face of things we cannot change.

This all goes to show that if there is a god behind the wheel, driving the ship, a few days ago he was busy texting.

Andy, my remarks are not intended as "snide." It only takes seeing one photo from Japan to know that all man made things are not recognized by mother nature. Seawalls are built for man's appeasement, but in reality, they won't stop mother nature. I'm merely using what you said about mother nature and putting it into local terms.

This all goes to show that if there is a god behind the wheel, driving the ship, a few days ago he was busy texting.

That's funny Sam(love your sense of humor), but I think we have the wrong driver. I think Mother Nature was having a hoedown in the pacific ring of fire and I don't think she asked Jesus to take the wheel.


Pacific Ring of Fire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View attachment 19127


Further down the article is more information about Japan:

Japan

Ten percent of the world's active volcanoes are found in Japan, which lies in a zone of extreme crustal instability. They are formed by subduction of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. As many as 1,500 earthquakes are recorded yearly, and magnitudes of four to six on the Richter scale are not uncommon. Minor tremors occur almost daily in one part of the country or another, causing slight shaking of buildings. Major earthquakes occur infrequently; the most famous in the twentieth century were: the Great Kant? earthquake of 1923, in which 130,000 people died; and the Great Hanshin earthquake of 17 January 1995, in which 6,434 people died. On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 Earthquake hit Japan, the country's biggest ever and the fifth largest on record, according to US Geological Survey data[1]. Undersea earthquakes also expose the Japanese coastline to danger from tsunamis.


Mount Fuji at sunrise from Lake Kawaguchi
Mount Bandai, one of Japan's most noted volcanoes, rises above the north shore of Lake Inawashiro. Mount Bandai is formed of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, the largest of which is O-Bandai forming a complex volcano. O-Bandai volcano was constructed within a horseshoe-shaped caldera that formed about 40,000 years when an earlier volcano collapsed, forming the Okinajima debris avalanche, which traveled to the southwest and was accompanied by a plinian eruption. Four major phreatic eruptions have occurred during the past 5,000 years, two of them in historical time, in 806 and 1888. Seen from the south, Bandai presents a conical profile, but much of the north side of the volcano is missing as a result of the collapse of Ko-Bandai volcano during the 1888 eruption, in which a debris avalanche buried several villages and formed several large lakes.
Nearly a century ago, the north flank of Mount Bandai collapsed during an eruption quite similar to the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. After a week of seismic activity, a large earthquake on July 15, 1888, was followed by a tremendous noise and a large explosion. Eyewitnesses heard about 15 to 20 additional explosions and observed that the last one was projected almost horizontally to the north.
Mount Fuji is Japan's highest and most noted volcano. The modern postglacial stratovolcano is constructed above a group of overlapping volcanoes, remnants of which form irregularities on Fuji's profile. Growth of the younger Mount Fuji began with a period of voluminous lava flows from 11,000 to 8,000 years ago, accounting for four-fifths of the volume of the younger Mount Fuji. Minor explosive eruptions dominated activity from 8,000 to 4,500 years ago, with another period of major lava flows occurring from 4,500 to 3,000 years ago. Subsequently, intermittent major explosive eruptions occurred, with subordinate lava flows and small pyroclastic flows. Summit eruptions dominated from 3,000 to 2,000 years ago, after which flank vents were active. The extensive basaltic lava flows from the summit and some of the more than 100 flank cones and vents blocked drainages against the Tertiary Misaka Mountains on the north side of the volcano, forming the Fuji Five Lakes. The last eruption of this dominantly basaltic volcano in 1707 ejected andesitic pumice and formed a large new crater on the east flank. Scientists are saying that there may be some minor volcanic activity in the next few years.



Volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunami's, and typhoons.
I suppose if you like living on the edge, that would be the place to go. :shock:

I'm just fuming about what you know who had to say, and a couple of regulars on the View stood up for him.

'The View' Debates Glenn Beck's Japan Comments (VIDEO)

I'm just fuming about what you know who had to say, and a couple of regulars on the View stood up for him.

'The View' Debates Glenn Beck's Japan Comments (VIDEO)

yay Whoopi!

Beck isn't worth the fume, LS.

Looks like the women on the view were handling it well :lol:
I just watched the video with Whoopi's comments.
Whoopi Goldberg always has her boots on :clap:
I usually don't watch the view, but from what little I've seen, they usually call it the way it is.
Glenn Beck has questionable views to me so I don't pay attention to him.
Not trying to be mean, just not interested.😀

Today, I walked in the rain. Haven't walked in the rain in years.

Sang out loud - didn't give a crap who heard me.

It was great.

Today, I walked in the rain. Haven't walked in the rain in years.

Sang out loud - didn't give a crap who heard me.

It was great.

Ya better watch out M&M, the happy police will getcha :lol:

I qualify for that before my morning coffee :shock:

When someone is too happy, I just want to slap them 😱😀

I grumble like a cave woman and look like one too.

After my first cup of coffee, I turn into Angelina Jolie. ;-)

I love the rain and storms, especially strong ones.
:wave:

Sounds like from reading your posts you might have had a bit of a tumble lately- hope the road gets better for you.:bicycle:

The Law of Polarity and the Japan Disaster:

The Law of Polarity states that everything has an equal opposite. You cannot have an up without a down, an inside of a room without an outside of a room, a front of you without a back of you. More important......you cannot have a bad without a good.

To me, as I am sure with all of you, things look very bad in Japan right now. There are entire communities wiped out. There are nuclear power plants melting down, and there is debris and destruction almost everywhere. It is very easy to only focus on these horrible things, right?

Let's all take a step back and ask ourselves the question......"What's good about it?" and remember, the Universal Laws work the same all the time. What has happened in Japan, at least to me, looks very bad. I also know there has to be very much good in the situation. All I must do is find it. Instead of focusing on how horrible this all makes me feel, I should look for the good, find it and focus on it.

As I continue to sit here and think about "what's good" already some things come to mind. I have seen an outpouring of help being offered to the people of Japan. One of the first search and rescue teams on the ground was a team from New Zealand which is still recovering from its own earthquake. On the news feeds I have seen neighbors helping neighbors and sharing instead of hoarding and complaining about why nobody is helping them.

I cannot help but believe the world will come out of this with new and better ways to generate and store nuclear energy. This may even stir the creative juices into high gear to create better fuel and energy alternatives which won't harm the environment when Mother Nature flexes her muscles. Maybe we could even harness the energy generated from events like these, store it and use it to our benefit. I also believe this event will lead to improved warning systems for earthquakes and tsunami's in the future. This list can go on and on.

The only limits to our imaginations are those we impose on ourselves.

I challenge each of you today to stop feeling down and depressed about what has happen. Yes, have compassion and love for the people and what they are going through. Also ask yourselves, "What is good about it and what can I do to help?" If you open yourself up for the answer you will be surprised at what you hear (that little nudge inside from the Universe). Take action on that nudge! You will be so glad you did.

-Pyper-

That doesn't sound like an optimistic view of things nor do I buy into it. If I understand what you're saying, when something good happens, and society makes forward progress, we can anxiously await a major setback. So then tell me, since major disaster was averted in the gulf oil spill (up), what terrible tragedy awaits us (down)?

The Law of Polarity and the Japan Disaster:

The Law of Polarity states that everything has an equal opposite. You cannot have an up without a down, an inside of a room without an outside of a room, a front of you without a back of you. More important......you cannot have a bad without a good.

To me, as I am sure with all of you, things look very bad in Japan right now. There are entire communities wiped out. There are nuclear power plants melting down, and there is debris and destruction almost everywhere. It is very easy to only focus on these horrible things, right?

Let's all take a step back and ask ourselves the question......"What's good about it?" and remember, the Universal Laws work the same all the time. What has happened in Japan, at least to me, looks very bad. I also know there has to be very much good in the situation. All I must do is find it. Instead of focusing on how horrible this all makes me feel, I should look for the good, find it and focus on it.

As I continue to sit here and think about "what's good" already some things come to mind. I have seen an outpouring of help being offered to the people of Japan. One of the first search and rescue teams on the ground was a team from New Zealand which is still recovering from its own earthquake. On the news feeds I have seen neighbors helping neighbors and sharing instead of hoarding and complaining about why nobody is helping them.

I cannot help but believe the world will come out of this with new and better ways to generate and store nuclear energy. This may even stir the creative juices into high gear to create better fuel and energy alternatives which won't harm the environment when Mother Nature flexes her muscles. Maybe we could even harness the energy generated from events like these, store it and use it to our benefit. I also believe this event will lead to improved warning systems for earthquakes and tsunami's in the future. This list can go on and on.

The only limits to our imaginations are those we impose on ourselves.

I challenge each of you today to stop feeling down and depressed about what has happen. Yes, have compassion and love for the people and what they are going through. Also ask yourselves, "What is good about it and what can I do to help?" If you open yourself up for the answer you will be surprised at what you hear (that little nudge inside from the Universe). Take action on that nudge! You will be so glad you did.

-Pyper-

I like this a lot and have similar thoughts. We really shouldn't dismiss our sadness or sympathy - we need to feel these real emotions, but we can start to move away from the sadness, get involved, and look for the goodness (people helping people) and hope for some very meaningful outcomes.

Andy, my remarks are not intended as "snide." It only takes seeing one photo from Japan to know that all man made things are not recognized by mother nature. Seawalls are built for man's appeasement, but in reality, they won't stop mother nature. I'm merely using what you said about mother nature and putting it into local terms.

I appreciate what you say, and the context in which you put it. It depends on how mad Mother Nature is as to whether man can stop her. Sometimes she is more gracious than at other times. She was definitely furious about something in Japan.