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Will this be the "3am call".....

You're just itching to make some really dumb Obama jabs huh?
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NO Spence I'm asking a serious question. If I wanted to jab I would have said I think the guy is an idiot already. There's enough of that here.

The US has been asked for help. There's always been talk about him handling a "3am" telephone call which many don't feel he's ever had in office.

Is this the 3am phone call.....

Let's hear your input Spence.

Scott;
What should he do beyond monitoring the situation and sending ships and supplies from neighboring areas? The US has survival and search and rescue efforts over there already. update: 12 ships and millions of pounds of food and medical supplies, plus they have been helping to ferry Japanese rescue teams around.

Beyond blind dislike/trust of this administration, WHAT should they be doing? Fly over there and hold their hands? go over and fix the reactors himself?

I'd rather the administration take a wait and see on a lot of the current issues. One of the best things this administration has been to not rush into Lybia, when many on both sides were pushing for it....

give me a break. damned if he does, and damned if he doesnt....

What do I think should be done? I think they need to assemble a panel of nuke guys with the military and come up with a best case solution to present to these people that could help them end this disaster.

I got to believe that a Hercules could start flying some Quints in there to start dropping the mother of all water streams in there to cool this. Even pumps, they said yesterday that 4 out of 5 pumps they used were out of commission.....I'm sure pumps aren't growing on trees over there right now...

But your right Brian damned if he does something or doesn't...

1. I would wager that we already have our nuke experts offering opinions.

2. Have they been asked to do that? If this was happening at Seabrook would you expect Japan, or France, Germeny, (or any other country with Nuke power) to just start 'helping' with out being asked? Or should it just be we're the USA and we're here to help?

You mean like this....

US experts to help battle Japan's nuclear crisis

Mar 15 11:27 PM US/Eastern

Eight experts from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission were to arrive Wednesday to help Japan battle its nuclear crisis, the foreign ministry said.
It said they would provide technical advice on managing the situation at the Fukushima No 1 atomic power plant 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

A fresh fire broke out at the plant early Wednesday, compounding the emergency. It went out of its own accord later in the morning.

"The government of Japan will cooperate closely with these experts as it makes utmost efforts to solve the problems" at the plant, the ministry said in a statement.

Washington, a close ally of Tokyo, earlier sent a naval task force led by the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to assist in relief after last Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The disasters knocked out cooling systems at the plant, causing fuel rods to overheat.

1. maybe I dunno.

2. I personally wouldn't sit and watch on the sidelines...esp if it has a serious effect on my country.

I'd be there offering regardless. Maybe he has.

I'm still interested in hearing though if people think this will be "the call" that everyone has previously said has never happened.

Brian btw I had a nice conversation with your buddy at the show the other day. Don't remember his name now but nice guy.

They're a major ally and we should be doing all we can to help. we step in to help every dirt country where half the people want to see us dead. Maybe we are, I dont know. But I do feel that there seems to be less of a cry to help Japan than there was with Indonesia or Haiti. Maybe its just perception. Lets see if there are a bunch of relief concerts or hollywood lib do-gooders heading over there. That will tell me a lot. I hope so. I feel this is a time when we should step in, this is the good fight we should be fighting. Lets help those that deserve it.

this is good
United States

.

-- White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said U.S. officials "stand ready to assist the Japanese ... in any way that we can."

.

-- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is coordinating the overall American response. The United States is also sending experts from the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to offer technical assistance to the Japanese government.

.

-- Eight U.S. Navy ships are now at work off the Japanese coast, with five more on the way in coming days and weeks, Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said.

.

-- Two search-and-rescue teams from the United States are working in the hard-hit coastal city of Ofunato, which was severely damaged in the quake.

Someone from S-B? Did they say how they knew me? No one mentioned talking to some ugly bald guy at the show.... :biglaugh:

Jimmy: on top of what they (Administration) are doing now, what else would you guys like to see? Do you really think that this is it? hands washed, good luck Japan, see you when you recover? This is going to be a grind.

I'd like to see a full court press. Tripping over ourselves trying to help Japan. Maybe we are, so I'm not being critical.
I think the US will be a partner in their recovery.

I don't remember except he said he knew you and was going to hook up with you. Talked to too many people this weekend.

Bryan's next question - "gee, was he cute?" :love:

No, rich. I'm a whore.

best comeback ever. :uhuh:

'Military flying in US Navy pumping equipment in a last ditch effort to cool those rods in the nuke plant. Flying out of Yokota Air Base. Wish us luck!'

This isn't a 3am call...while this is an epic disaster the simple fact that it's "over there" changes the game dramatically for Obama. The US will likely see global economic impact but I'm not sure this will be dramatic.

And it also seems like we're doing about all we can. This isn't one of those situations where you can just throw resources at a problem. It's quite possible that doing the wrong thing could be worse than doing nothing. It does sound like we've sent a lot of expertise already.

Additionally, Japan is a sovereign nation after all...

Let's just hope the remaining 50 can work some magic, from what I hear they're getting a lot of radiation and probably won't be around much longer. My heart goes out to them...

-spence

i was just watching a report on the news service about falsified
reports on the reactors cooling systems for the last decade. :doh:

This goes a long way to show why there is such
a big problem to correct.... when the sh1t hits the fan

Yup, if Tepco is guilty of many violations and not informing the public
in Japan, where the people are very fastidious in what they do,
I wonder what safety violations have occurred in our country.

The new generation reactors are close to zero fallibility. Time to
rebuild our generators built in the 60's and 70's and build more to the new specs.
Keep them away from faults like where Indian Point was built.

[QUOTE=RIROCKHOUND;844673]
What should he do beyond monitoring the situation and sending ships and supplies from neighboring areas? WHAT should they be doing? Fly over there and hold their hands? go over and fix the reactors himself?

QUOTE]

actually, at trip to Rio would be really sweet right now.....:uhuh:

Obama Heads to Rio Sunday; Maximum Security Awaits
Mar. 14 2011 - 7:16 pm

:rotf2: I SO wanted to post this earlier. I didn't want to get Spence more irritated :hidin: :hidin:

EPIC leadership :hee:

Can't wait to see how Spence spins this one. Probably some new trade agreement that they're going to sell 300,000,000 condoms to the people who live in Rio.

Ok now I'm poking the dragon :rotf2:

[QUOTE=scottw;844834]

Right... he should be over there in Japan with a hammer and a shovel helping out.

damn straight :hee:

he'd break a fingernail for sure, that would be a National tragedy...probably be out of commission for 8 weeks...

Right. it's much better if he don's a flightsuit for a photo-op.

so, maybe he should have had hourly press conferences, keeping the Scott's updated on everything the US is doing to help... of course, then he'd be criticized for too much podium time, or using a telepropter, or maybe Booger should just go kick his dog.... :biglaugh::smash:

Obama is the George Costanza of American presidents :uhuh:

Now, really, George was much better at scheming than Barry.
Do you think there are pencils in the Oval Office Ceiling?

I'm pretty sure he sleeps under the desk when everyone thinks he's actually working :uhuh:

When does the President really work?

I mean phone calls and speeches, well even a teleprompter can do that.

Why aren't the Marines in Japan like they were with Haiti?

FLIGHT SUIT? Didn't you know he only needs to go in the closet and pull out his cape?

Kick his dog I love it :hee:

HOW is he going to find out his secret information now...the Japanese have blacked out around the reactor MAKES SENSE HUH>>>>>>

U.S. radiation experts try to decipher reports from Japan - USATODAY.com

U.S. radiation experts try to decipher reports from Japan - USATODAY.com

Screw the dog I'm goin straight for the dragon :wave:

See you guys in a few days. Off to Somerset. If I don't die from radiation sickness first.

You mean like this....

KESENNUMA, Japan—The plight of Japanese evacuees from tsunami-devastated regions north of the Fukushima Daiichi plant grew more intense as supplies of water, food and fuel began to run low, even as attention in Japan focused on the critical issues of extinguishing nuclear fires.

After nightfall on Wednesday, a joint team of U.S. Marines Corps and Japanese Self-Defense Forces delivered essential items such as water, food and blankets to relief centers in two hard-hit areas north of the city of Sendai.

Some of the aid materials had been trucked in from as far away as Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast and the Japanese military unit included troops from the western Japanese city of Kyushu, who drove up to the area on Saturday.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0315230136.jpg
A U.S. Navy crewman delivering bottled water in northern Japan Wednesday; a team of U.S. marines was also heading to the disaster area.

Progress was slowed by intense snowfall and partial road blockages from debris washed inland from the tsunami or rocks dislodged by Friday's massive quake. Highways were closed to all but military vehicles and private trucks ferrying in supplies. On other roads, few cars were in evidence, a reflection of low gas supplies.

In the city of Kesennuma, which suffered some of the worst damage, local city officials staffed a warehouse that was nearly barren before the joint U.S.-Japan military force unloaded four truckloads of supplies. From there, the aid was to be distributed among 60 shelters in the area.

But even with the extra supplies, the Kesennuma official overseeing the central distribution center said the level of supplies was still insufficient as some 14,000 meals were needed each day. "These supplies are a lifeline for thousands, but we have nowhere near enough," said Kunio Hatakeyama, 52 years old, a city tax-department chief who is in charge of about a dozen colleagues at the facility. "We need more help from outside."

Mr. Hatakeyama added that one of the most critical items in short supply was infant formula.

En route to the warehouse in Kesennuma, the wreckage from the tsunami was evident more than a mile from the ocean. A Toyota dealership's cars were scattered all over the lot and the showroom windows had been shattered. Retailers' parking lots in shopping strips were filled with silt as much as three feet deep. Many traditional wooden homes were crushed and partially washed away. An inset riverbed was littered with debris such as washing machines and wooden boards.

At another makeshift facility—a covered gateball center about the size and height of a basketball court—about 80 evacuees milled around a single kerosene stove or wrapped themselves in multiple layers of blankets, the only defense against the freezing weather outside.

"It's very, very cold and we're running low on kerosene," said Takeshi Kumagai, 75, a lifelong resident of Rikuzentakata, a coastal community in southern Iwate prefecture that suffered the brunt of the tsunami.

Mr. Kumagai said he and 10 friends were playing a leisurely game of gateball, similar to croquet, on Friday afternoon when the earthquake shook them more violently than they had ever been shaken. They ran outside to huddle in the parking lot until the tremors subsided, then about half of the group fled home to pick up loved ones or possessions despite fears of a tsunami. "They never came back," Mr. Kumagai said.

These evacuees, along with about 1,200 others at a nearby junior high school, spent a fifth day Wednesday without running water, electricity or natural gas.

Many evacuees feared it might be weeks or even months before they could arrange to leave the center and live with relatives. With major roads closed and gas stations sold out for miles in every direction, the evacuees said they were stranded.

Some said the tsunami struck nearly two miles inland and that most homes not directly on the coast were only covered by earthquake—not tsunami—insurance. However, it was the human toll that seemed to weigh heaviest. "First we have to find and bury our dead," said Mr. Kumagai.

The Marines and Japanese military stacked hundreds of boxes of food and beverages on one side of the facility, while evacuees' few possessions and blankets were spread out on blue tarpaulins sitting on top of the worn green artificial turf. While those in the shelter welcomed the supplies—many younger evacuees pitched to lend a hand with offloading boxes from trucks—they worried how long they would last, especially since another several dozen evacuees were expected to arrive Thursday.

Despite their many travails, the evacuees were grateful to have survived and tried to keep up each other upbeat. "I survived World War II, so we'll survive this, too," said Kaoru Ninuma, 86, who wore a baseball cap stitched with the words "Japan Gateball Union" across the bow. "The war was tougher because unlike now no one was delivering food to us back then."

Or maybe like this.....

Yuma Marines expected to arrive in Japan within next several days
March 15, 2011 4:59 PM

BY JAMES GILBERT - SUN STAFF WRITER

Marines and sailors from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which includes a squadron of Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, continue to move toward Japan to take part in humanitarian assistance operations taking place throughout the country.

The 2,200 Marines and sailors are expected to be off the coast of mainland Japan within the next several days. Local Marines from Marine Attack Squadron 211 are currently attached to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) aboard the USS Essex.

According to a news release issued by the USMC's Consolidated Public Affairs Office in Okinawa, Marines and sailors from the III Marine Expeditionary Force continue to provide support for foreign humanitarian assistance operations from Okinawa to mainland Japan.

The operation, known as Tomodachi, means “friends” in Japanese and was chosen by Japan.

On Tuesday, III Marine Expeditionary Force personnel and gear departed the Naha Military Port at 9 a.m. on the High Speed Vessel en route to mainland Japan. The HSV will deliver a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) for use in the assistance operations.

A FARP is a temporary facility normally located close to the area of operations that allows aircraft to conduct continuous operations without having to return to an established airport to obtain fuel. This capability enables helicopters to fly rescue and transport missions almost non-stop.

The news release also stated that the high speed vessels are also transporting additional supplies, communications equipment and personnel that will be used in the relief operations. The FARP and other supplies will arrive at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni for further transportation to the identified FARP location.

Two KC-130J cargo aircraft returned from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni to MCAS Futenma at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday to pick up a Deployable Joint Command and Control (DJC2) system and transport it to Naval Air Station Atsugi.

The DJC2 system provides an integrated, rapidly deployable, modular Joint Command and Control system to support Joint Task Force command and control operations.

A third KC-130J cargo aircraft is scheduled to depart MCAS Futenma Tuesday evening with personnel from the maintenance detachment of Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III MEF to MCAS Iwakuni to support the aircraft flying on mainland Japan during the assistance operations.

The location of MCAS Futenma and its close proximity to Marine units and supplies supporting the relief mission has proved critical to the III MEF disaster response effort.

Eight CH-46E transport helicopters of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265, MAG-36, 1st MAW, III MEF normally located at MCAS Futenma are now positioned at NAS Atsugi and available to conduct relief operations. The mission of the Marine Corps rotary wing aircraft in support of relief operations is survey, recovery and humanitarian assistance support.

The news release stated that humanitarian assistance survey teams are in place and ready to begin assessing the damaged area and assisting the government of Japan with providing accurate information to disaster relief planners, both military and civilian.

The HASTs are capable of distributing supplies and providing basic medical care for those in immediate need of aid.

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where are the Chinese?

they are a hell of allot closer

so what did they do .... just ....
shoot a photo op and then say
awww...frig it.... :huh:

You mean like this.....

and remember the US is an Ally of Japan....China is not

China aid to quake-hit Japan continues to rise
08:24, March 17, 2011

China on Wednesday boosted aid to Japan by announcing the offer of 20,000 tonnes of fuel and additional government donation while the support from the public continued to mount.

The fuel -- 10,000 tonnes of gasoline and 10,000 tonnes of diesel -- will be transported to Japan by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), parent of PetroChina, and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), the central government said in a terse report.

Details of the offer are not disclosed. Beijing said it would further provide assistance pending on the request of the Japanese government.

Also Wednesday, an eastern Chinese city followed the lead of other local Chinese governments by donating money to earthquake-hit areas in Japan.

The municipal government of Wenzhou, in east China's Zhejiang Province, will donate 2 million yuan (about 307,692 U.S. dollars) to Ishinomaki, its Japanese sister city in hard-hit Miyagi Prefecture, Wenzhou Mayor Zhao Yide said in a letter of condolence.

Zhao said the government of Wenzhou and its people are sad about loss in Ishinomaki and are concerned about rescue and recovery efforts.

Wenzhou is latest Chinese local government to pledge donations to quake-hit areas in Japan.

Previously, the provincial government of Jilin said it will donate 100,000 U.S. dollars to the prefectural government of Miyagi while the municipal government of Changchun, capital of Jilin, pledged 500,000 yuan to the municipal government of Sendai.

China's Red Cross Society on Tuesday said it had donated 6 million yuan in emergency aid to Japan following last Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that have left thousands dead or missing in northeastern Japan.

China sent a 15-member international rescue team to Japan on Sunday, while the Ministry of Commerce said it will provide 30 million yuan worth of emergency humanitarian assistance.

The first relief package -- composed of 2,000 blankets, 900 cotton tents and 200 emergency lights -- has been delivered.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday offered condolences to Japanese Emperor Akihito, saying the Chinese government and people "stand ready to offer necessary help."

Chinese billionaire and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao is currently in Japan to participate in the rescue operation. He said he would donate cash and emergency medicine.

In China, fund-raisers were held in universities and public plazas over the past few days. Banners with words of support were seen in many places including a sports stadium in Tianjin where a Japanese football team was competing in an Asian Football Confederation Champions League match.

Chinese have mixed feelings about Japan due to the atrocities committed by the Japanese aggressors upon Chinese people during the World War II. But the outpour of support from China's government and public triumphed after the earthquake.

According to a survey conducted by Ji'nan University, based in southern Guangdong Province, 90 percent of the 505 interviewees said they support Chinese government's decision to send a rescue team to Japan. Nearly 70 percent said the move would help the two countries develop better ties.

More than 80 percent of the interviewees also said they are willing to provide various forms of humanitarian assistance to the Japanese.

"When China suffered earthquakes, Japan gave a helping hand. Now, it is time for us to help them," said a Chinese surnamed Liu who participated in the survey.

"The spirit of helping and caring for each other in hard times would undoubtedly draw feelings of closeness between Chinese and Japanese," said Columnist Li Kaisheng.

Mori#^&#^&#^&#^&a, a Japanese national who works for an advertising company in Shanghai, said he received many phone calls from his Chinese colleagues and friends after the earthquake.

Mori#^&#^&#^&#^&a said though his hometown is far from the quake zone, he was moved by the care and concern shown by the Chinese around him.

Hashimoto Tomohiko, who works for Isetan shopping mall in northeast Chinese city of Shenyang, said he was glued to China's news channel these days to learn the latest rescue developments.

Japan's earthquake dominated the front-pages of China's major newspapers and magazines while state television channels and radio stations kept airing the news on the rescue and recovery around the clock.

China's Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, is also flooded by news on Japan's earthquake and the rally of support from Chinese Internet users.

"I feel really sad for the Japanese people," said netizen Weixiaoshao. "I hope they could be adamant and optimistic, as depicted in Japanese cartoons."

In universities in Shanghai and Shenyang, the school authorities consoled students from Japan's quake-hit areas and promised assistance.

Staff of Shanghai-based Fudan University were ordered to provide psychological counselling to Japanese students in need.

Inoue Nozomi, who studies education management at Shenyang Normal University, said many Chinese students came to her to ask how she was faring and the school's teaching staff have told Japanese students not to hesitate in informing the school of their needs and demands.

Thank you, I hadn't seen any news of it on CNN.com. Just that the Reagan was offshore with its escorts.

good stuff DadF!