Morning

Yesterday morning I arose early, 4:30 a.m., because that is when I awoke. I’m at my absolute best when I first wake up in the morning. My mind is instantly active, my ideas racing and my focus intense. So I took all that and organized my email account so that I can easily access critical messages that must be dealt with in a timely manner. That done, I copied important messages to the new mailbox and dealt with each one consecutively.

My desk was piled high with bills and all sorts of unopened mail from my week away. As soon as the email account had been organized I tackled the desktop, not the virtual desktop on the computer, but the real desktop in front me. Hours later I had opened the mail, sorted bills, filed important documents, entered important dates onto the calendar and set aside a few of the larger projects for Saturday, which is today.

Attila eventually emerged from the bedroom made coffee, built a fire in the masonry heater and we shared a quiet cupa in front of the fire; Mist on Attila’s lap. We ate a leisurely breakfast.

Then we sprang in to action. Attila attended to firewood for the next fire, I jumped into the shower. We changed into presentable clothing and then jumped into the car and headed for Helena’s house for an Easter dinner. It is a three hour drive to Helena’s place, the roads were good and we had a pleasant journey. It was great to see Helena, Caitrìona, Harriet and the younger generation, all assembled for a delicious turkey dinner. I overindulged.

We arrived home by midnight and still managed to get a good night’s sleep.

This morning we are both off to work; me to my old part-time job and Attila to his full-time job.

I accidentally published this entry before completing it! I had intended on attending to the entry when I returned from work today, but the universe has intervened and here it is, such that it is.

Japan Nuclear Catastrophe

“The authorities’ chief concern is the accumulation of radioactivity in areas near the plant, where livestock have been left to die and the contaminated bodies of an estimated 1,000 people remain uncollected.

Last week, the government added five locations outside the evacuation zone to the list of areas that could pose a long-term threat to health.

“The plant is not stable,” Edano said. “We have been asking residents not to enter the area as there is a huge risk to their safety…”
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0421/Japan-officially-declares-no-go-zone-around-Fukushima

“The large-scale dumping of radioactive water from the Fukushima plant has now stopped, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), but for Todokoro and many other fishermen, the damage is done.

“The government has set the safe level for fish at 500 becquerels per kilogram. The kounago [an eel-like fish known in English as the young sand launce] that I catch are registering 580 becquerels,” says Todokoro.

“The catch is being tested every other day but the truth is that even if they are declared safe, nobody will buy fish from Ibaraki now,” he says. “Who knows how long it will be before people will want to eat fish from around here again…”
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0414/Long-path-to-recovery-for-fishermen-in-Japan-s-northeast

“Under the order, which goes into effect at midnight local time, people living within a 12-mile (20km) radius of the atomic plant will be given up to two hours to enter the area to collect belongings.

The move came amid concern over the long-term health risks posed by high levels of accumulated radiation, despite signs of progress in bringing the stricken facility under control.

The 245 workers battling to stabilise Fukushima have fallen ill due to the harsh conditions inside the plant, experts warned.

Some are suffering from insomnia, dehydration and high blood pressure, and risk developing depression or heart trouble, Takeshi Tanigawa, chairman of the public health department at Ehime University’s medical school, told Associated Press.

The government has also extended the evacuation zone to several locations outside the 12-mile zone, including areas in which as many as 130,000 people had initially been asked to leave voluntarily or stay indoors. Residents in those areas will be given a month to evacuate.

The government’s chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, urged people living inside the no-entry zone to abide by the order for the sake of their health.

“The plant is not stable,” he told reporters. “We have been asking residents not to enter the area as there is a huge risk to their safety. We beg the understanding of residents…”
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/21/japan-declares-fukushima-no-go-zone

“While the levels of radioactivity in the evacuated area have been quite low, the government wants to keep people away out of concerns that long-term exposure can be dangerous.

As of Thursday night, about 40 people remained in the area, many of them dairy farmers who are refusing to leave their cattle, and elderly people who cannot move, the government said. Local officials were working to persuade them to leave, rather than punishing them, according to Kenji Kawasaki of Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

About 3,400 cows, 31,000 pigs and 630,000 chickens were left in the zone, according to government figures, though most were assumed to have died by now…”
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13423601

“More than 130,000 people are living in school gymnasiums and other shelters more than a month after the March 11 quake and tsunami that left some 28,000 dead or missing.

“HOW DO YOU THINK WE FEEL?”

“Are you leaving?” one man shouted as Kan and his entourage headed for the door at a Fukushima evacuation center. “We are evacuees. Are you just going to ignore us?”

Kan turned back and apologized, only to be berated again.

“You should bring cabinet ministers here and let them try living here themselves. How do you think we feel? We want you to somehow get the nuclear plant under control,” one woman said.

Later, Kan told reporters he had been out of touch with the needs of those who had lost their homes…”
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/21/us-japan-idUSTRE72A0SS20110421

Worldly Distractions

Weather

4 °C
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 100.4 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: 4.0°C
Dewpoint: 3.7°C
Humidity: 98 %
Wind: SE 30 gust 42 km/h

Quote

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
Thomas Jefferson
1743 – 1826
[let it be true for all of us, let it be true for all of us, let it be true for all of us!]

Note

Thomas Jefferson

“…third President of the United States (1801–1809) and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). An influential Founding Father, Jefferson envisioned America as a great “Empire of Liberty” that would promote republicanism…

“The third of ten children, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 into the Randolph family that linked him to some of the most prominent individuals in Virginia…

Historians have disagreed on how to interpret Thomas Jefferson’s public and private positions on slavery. He opposed slavery as an institution and said he wanted it to end, but he depended on enslaved labor to support his household and plantations…

Jefferson did not believe that African Americans could live in American society as free people together with whites. For a long-term solution, he thought that slaves should be freed after reaching maturity and having repaid their owner’s investment; afterward, he thought they should be sent to African colonies in what he considered “repatriation”, despite their being American-born. Otherwise, he thought the presence of free blacks would encourage a violent uprising by slaves’ looking for freedom…”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson