Nuclear Heartbreak

The situation in Japan is worse still. It is heartbreaking to contemplate what the Japanese people are going through--those suffering from cold and inadequate food and water, with lost loved ones, and in jeopardy from radiation, or just riven by anxiety and shock. In terms of technology and public health systems, Japan is better prepared and better organized than almost anywhere else. In public health specifically, far better than the U.S. But in terms of history and tradition, they are bearing additional burdens. As David Sanger and Matt Wald say in the New York Times:

"In a country where memories of a nuclear horror of a different sort in the last days of World War II weigh heavily on the national psyche and national politics, the impact of continued venting of long-lasting radioactivity from the plants is hard to overstate."

In this informative story, they say that the crisis could go on for months, and the effects for many years.

If you are trying to follow this but don't have much time, I suggest you spend a TV hour watching Wednesday's Rachel Maddow. If you have another TV hour (less commercials), watch Tuesday's Maddow. Or the bits of both available with her blog.