There is a big time tsunami warning for Japan, Fox News Reports:
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the first tsunami to reach Japan after the magnitude 8.8 quake off Chile was recorded in the Ogasawara islands. It was just 4 inches high. There were no reports of damage.
Japan put all of its eastern coastline on tsunami alert Sunday and ordered hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying areas to seek higher ground as waves generated by an earthquake off Chile raced across the Pacific at hundreds of miles (kilometers) per hour.
It was the first such alert for Japan’s coasts in almost 20 years.
Towns along northern coasts issued evacuation orders to hundreds of thousands of residents. Japan’s national broadcaster NHK switched to emergency mode, broadcasting a map with the areas in most danger and repeatedly urging caution.
The 8.8-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that swept across the Pacific on Sunday, but little damage was being reported as nations evacuated their coastlines well in advance of the waves. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center already lifted its warning for every country but Russia and Japan, though some countries in Asia and the Pacific — including the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand — were keeping their own watches in place as a precaution.
Thought and Prayers continue for those in the affected area.
President Michele Bachelet declared a state of catastrophe in central Chile after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck early Saturday.
The most powerful quake to hit the country in a half century cut electricity, water and phone lines to many areas, meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.
There have been conflicting reports on the death toll, with some placing the count as high as 122, a number Chilean officials expect to rise.
Early Saturday, Bachelet appealed from an emergency response center for Chileans to remain calm.
“Despite this, the system is functioning. People should remain calm. We’re doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately,” Bachelet said.
President-elect Sebastian Pinera said the earthquake caused serious damage to the country’s infrastructure. The historic center, filled with buildings of adobe mud and straw, largely collapsed, though most of those were businesses that were not inhabited during the 3:34 a.m. quake. Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.
In the Chilean capital of Santiago, 200 miles northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building’s two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.
Santiago’s airport will remain closed for at least 24 hours, airport director Eduardo del Canto said. The passenger terminal suffered major damage, he told Chilean television in a telephone interview. TV images show smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.
The city’s subway was shut as well and hundreds of buses were trapped at a terminal by a damaged bridge, Transportation and Telecommunications Minister told Chilean television. He urged Chileans to make phone calls or travel only when absolutely necessary.
A tsunami set off by the quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe. Warnings were issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands.
It appears that Hawaii is on alert, video story story via MSNBC:
EWA BEACH, Hawaii – A tsunami threatened the Pacific Rim on Saturday, with an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Chile sending potentially deadly waves across the ocean at the speed of a jetliner.
Sirens blared in Hawaii to alert residents to the impending waves, with authorities asking people living near the water to evacuate. On several South Pacific islands hit by a tsunami last fall, police began evacuations of the coast.
The first waves in Hawaii are expected to hit shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday (4 p.m. EST; 2100 GMT) and measure roughly 8 feet (2.5 meters) at Hilo. Most Pacific Rim nations however did not order evacuations, but advised people in low-lying areas to be on the lookout.
Thoughts and prayers for all of those in the affected areas. I am monitoring the Amateur Radio Frequencies and looking out for Emergency nets and so forth.
In this country, we had slavery for God knows how long. And now we look back on it and we say “How brave were they? What was the matter with them? You know, I can’t believe, you know, four million slaves. This is incredible.” And we’re right, we’re right. We should look back on that with criticism. It is a crushing mark on America’s soul. And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by policies of slavery. And I think, What does it take to get us to wake up?
Man, Election 2010 cannot come quick enough time to get the stupid people out. 😡
Democrats are rightly pissed:
Frank’s comments raised the ire of Democrats.
“To compare the horrors and inhumane treatment of millions of African Americans during slavery as a better way of life for African Americans today is beyond repulsive,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Deputy Press Secretary Stephanie Young said in a statement. “In 2010, during the second year of our first African American President, it is astonishing that a thought such as this would come to mind, let alone be shared.”
…and naturally this damned genius is hiding. 🙄
Frank could not be reached for comment because he is currently on a plane back to Arizona, according to his spokesperson.
So, not only is this man an idiot; he’s a coward too! 🙄
WASHINGTON–White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers told me Friday she will step down next month, after presiding over 330 events in the White House in 14 months.
Rogers is departing after achieving a major goal of President Obama and First Lady Michelle — opening up the White House to make it the “peoples house.”
“As we turn the corner on the first year,” Rogers told me, “this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world.”
Rogers told me it has been “an honor and a privilege to serve this president and First Lady, in what has certainly been a historic presidency.”
Rogers, a friend of the First Couple for years, was one of the first Obama administration appointees.
“When I took on this assignment, we talked about the importance of creating the people's house. My work was really to create this framework,” she told me.
“I think I completed that work. Our office has been able to lay the foundation for what will be known as the “people’s house”; and it has already taken shape.”
Rogers tenure was marked by high points–she was a moving force behind a White House music series–and a low point, when the Obama;s first state dinner was crashed by a publicity seeking couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Though the Secret Service immediately said it was their fault–agents did not follow security protocols–Rogers got some of the blame.
Japan’s meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning tonight following a powerful undersea earthquake off the coast of the southern island of Okinawa.
The agency said the tremor, at about 8.30pm GMT, was centred about 50 miles east of the city of Naha. They said it measured 6.9 on the Richter scale.
The US Geological Survey reported the quake at a stronger 7.3.
The Japanese agency warned of a possible tsunami of up to 2 metres around the Okinawan coast, Reuters reported.
While some might construe this as an attack on conservatives, I submit that the villains in the effort to reform health care are numerous, and multi-partisan. While Sarah Palin initiated the “Death Panel” hysteria, it was the mainstream media that abetted her, and a handful of Democrats who lacked the sac to leave the provision in the bill. The same dynamic holds true of the larger picture of health care reform.
No matter your point of view on health care, you would have to at least agree that Keith’s story is effective at conveying the idea that we have to do something, that the status quo is unacceptable. When the bravado and the posturing are set aside, we agree more than we disagree.
There may be some who will accuse Keith of manipulation here, or worse, exploitation. This has become a popular way of dismissing powerful stories that challenge our worldview, and it’s cheap. Keith Olbermann, whether you agree with him or not, is obviously exposing something deeply personal, in a sincere effort to make this ordeal have some meaning. How you take it in is your business, not his.
I think this also demonstrates why Keith Olbermann should make an effort not to lower himself, not to be petty or cheap. In this case, many people who could have benefited from hearing the story of Keith’s father now will not. The idea isn’t to be neutered, witless, and inoffensive, as much as it is to use the passion and the biting wit on worthy targets, in a worthy fashion.
Finally, it’s my hope that everyone who reads this will keep Keith’s dad in their thoughts and prayers, just as you would hope for the same were it your loved one who was suffering.
President Barack Obama’s top advisers are quietly laying the groundwork for the 2012 reelection campaign, which is likely to be run out of Chicago and managed by White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions.
For now, the planning consists entirely of private conversations, with Obama aides at all levels indulging occasionally in closed-door 2012 discussions while focusing ferociously on the midterm elections and health care reform, the Democratic sources said. “The gathering storm is the 2010 elections,” one top official said.
But the sources said Obama has given every sign of planning to run again and wants the next campaign to resemble the highly successful 2008 effort.
David Axelrod, White House senior adviser, may leave the West Wing to rejoin his family in Chicago and reprise his role as Obama’s muse, overseeing the campaign’s tone, themes, messages and advertising, the sources said.
This could be taken a number of different ways. Perhaps the White House knows that they might be in trouble and are getting ready to plan the attack now. Either way, it does seem to be a bit early on. However in the interest on fairness, I will point this out:
Even though the planning is still very preliminary, the campaign is likely to launch in just over a year. President Bill Clinton opened his second presidential campaign in the March after his first midterm congressional elections, and President George W. Bush opened Bush-Cheney ’04 a month later in the political cycle.
So, unlike some of the partisan Bloggers, I will not sit here and act like this is some sort of a new thing with Barack Obama. However, it does show that possibly the White House and the President know that the winds are changing and they are wanting to be ahead of the game.
There is a possibility that this could be a violation of the Hatch act.
