Huge Earthquake Hits Japan

[luciole]

The more news I hear, the more depressed I get.



[quote name='PKyu' timestamp='1300138959' post='95330']

Donations to help Japan have been relatively slow to come, reaching about $12 million so far, according to an early tally by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper covering nonprofit organizations.



That number is far below the first four-day totals of other recent natural disasters, CNNMoney reports. More than $150 million was raised toward relief within four days of the crisis in Haiti, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, donations exceeded $108 million during the crucial first four days.



"Japan is not Haiti and it's not Indonesia, it's a developed country with a GDP somewhat similar to our country. It's not what people typically think of as a country in need of wide-scale international aid," said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy.

[/quote]



That's insanely low. I'm assuming that includes all of the private donations as well...?





I donated to the Red Cross, but I like the idea of the board putting something together.

I'm not sure what other groups would be best for donations. Any ideas?



(similar to what PKyu said, I'd rather know my money's going to Japan for sure)

[strawberryjam]

I'll look into setting something up. You guys try to decide on the charity. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[aine]

[quote name='Petit Melon' timestamp='1300139588' post='95332']

Is the BBS going to do a grand donation? I know it was mentioned earlier in the thread.

And there's the question of what charity. Not all charities are created equal....or spend your money like they say they will.

[/quote]

We're cooking something up, give it a day or two. The need will be there for weeks and months to come, so yeah.



Red Cross is probably the best West-based option, but perhaps there are more direct options in Japan.

[neshcom]

Gackt is launching a donation fund that will go to the Japanese Red Cross and T M Revolution will be turning his upcoming show planned for Zepp Tokyo into a charity event.

[Madara]

I'm ready to donate if we can all find a reliable, reputable place to send to that we can agree on.

[Melon]

[quote name='aine' timestamp='1300142599' post='95346']

We're cooking something up, give it a day or two. The need will be there for weeks and months to come, so yeah.



Red Cross is probably the best West-based option, but perhaps there are more direct options in Japan.

[/quote]



<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' /> u and sj



I shall wait and pad my pocketbook!

[Gerald]

[quote name='TnB' timestamp='1300127975' post='95321']

The support from celebrities and fans alike has been one heartwarming thing to hear about. George Takei has been tweeting away, helping raise awareness and distribute news.



A search and rescue team from near my hometown sent 72 people, search and rescue dogs, and 75 tons of supplies a few days ago. They're well trained and experienced - they went to Haiti, New Orleans, etc. It's nice to hear about some help finally getting out there.

[/quote]

Just said on the news that the UK team of men and dogs is working in Ofunato.

[Ap2000]

NHK is just holding a briefing.



A new explosion at Fukushima's reactor 2 occured, they say "it's not very serious though"...

Apparently the inner chamber is destroyed/cracked and the upper parts of the fuel rods are exposed.

Part of the staff had to be evacuated, I guess this is because they were hurt during the explosion.

[tsukinobyouin]

You can also donate directly to the Japanese red cross through google:



http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/ja ... e2011.html



HOWEVER, when I tried to do that today, my credit card was suddenly declined. I'm assuming my bank suspected fraud since it was a large amount of yen, as there are no other issues with the card. So heads up, you may have to call your bank/card company if you do it this way. But it's a great way to get money directly to the people already on the ground :)



The law firm I work at also started up their donations today. They donated $50,000 to the Red Cross immediately and will match up to another $50,000 raised by employees for a total of at least $150,000 (I'll be mad if people don't muster up the donations for the matching - not like some of these attorneys can't afford it xD). Hopefully this kind of thing will be happening at a lot of other large companies soon.

[Ap2000]

http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/03/15/to ... ra_damare/



Don't look at the troll video in the bottom of the news though.

[al kusanagi]

That eco-terrorist fucker that captains all that Whale Wars shit said the same thing.



There's not enough pain and suffering I can wish upon human trash like that.

[Shoujo Q]

Tsunku's doin' something.

[kira]

^



I think he mentioned something in this blog post.

[al kusanagi]

Sayumi posted about her feelings about it all on her blog. Sadly, Erika Miyoshi still hasn't been able to find her father.



Capcom is also using their games to help. Street Fighter 4 for iPlatforms has been reduced to one dollar and all proceeds will be donated to the relief.

[Noa]

I know we've heard about most of the members, but was anything confirmed about Eri?

[al kusanagi]

Eri's sister posted on her blog all the Kameis are fine.

[tsukinobyouin]

JAT is creating a list of volunteer interpreters, if you speak multiple languages and want to help. You can tele-interpret, so don't feel like you can't sign up if you're not in Japan! :)

[aine]

About the donations - so far it seems only Red Cross UK allows you to specify "Name of organisation (if making a collection/company donation)". No such option on RC US and Ireland. RC Japan provides bank account details for direct money transfer - that would be an option too, I just need to check if I can make transfers outside of Europe when I'm back from work.



So far the scenario seems to be like this: a) I set-up a PayPal donation button to my personal PP account; b) after a week or so the button goes down and I withdraw the funds from PP; c) at the same time I pay the amount to either RC Japan (bank transfer) or UK (with my credit card). I'd bear the withdrawal and currently conversion fees.



I'm leaning towards RC UK for convenience and because the payment cost (if any) will surely be less than the bank transfer fee.



I feel a wee bit uncomfortable asking people to trust me with their money, but that's the only way if we want to do it as a community and care to put the BBS name on it. The paperwork involved in registering the BBS as a non-profit organisation and then setting up a new PayPal account as a charity is something I don't even want to think about. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hatthe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whatthe:' /> Besides, you can't do it ad-hoc and it wouldn't make sense for a one-off thing.





Any objections? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />







PS. The link TnB posted allows to donate directly to RC Japan, but: a) it's google checkout and google is evil, b) it only allows to donate up to 50k Yen (= 440 Euro = 613 Dollars) and I hope we can do better than that, and c) it doesn't allow to put the organisation name on it.

[eri]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1300169416' post='95374']

Sadly, Erika Miyoshi still hasn't been able to find her father.[/quote]



Oh my god, that is so awful.



I need to stop reading earthquake news first thing in the morning. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' /> <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' /> <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />

[al kusanagi]

[quote name='aine' timestamp='1300190642' post='95385']

About the donations - so far it seems only Red Cross UK allows you to specify "Name of organisation (if making a collection/company donation)". No such option on RC US and Ireland. RC Japan provides bank account details for direct money transfer - that would be an option too, I just need to check if I can make transfers outside of Europe when I'm back from work.



So far the scenario seems to be like this: a) I set-up a PayPal donation button to my personal PP account; b) after a week or so the button goes down and I withdraw the funds from PP; c) at the same time I pay the amount to either RC Japan (bank transfer) or UK (with my credit card). I'd bear the withdrawal and currently conversion fees.



I'm leaning towards RC UK for convenience and because the payment cost (if any) will surely be less than the bank transfer fee.



I feel a wee bit uncomfortable asking people to trust me with their money, but that's the only way if we want to do it as a community and care to put the BBS name on it. The paperwork involved in registering the BBS as a non-profit organisation and then setting up a new PayPal account as a charity is something I don't even want to think about. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hatthe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whatthe:' /> Besides, you can't do it ad-hoc and it wouldn't make sense for a one-off thing.





Any objections? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />



[/quote]



Since I order so much from Amazon US and Japan, I used Amazonpayments when I made my Red Cross donation (it was an option on the Red cross page). I know it lets you set up fundraising, but I think you have be be registered as a non-profit organization to make use of it.

[Madara]

http://www.japansociety.org/earthquake



Japan Society in New York has set up a relief fund. A number of bloggers about Japanese film are urging their readers to donate. I was at Japan Society last Wednesday for a screening of THE YAKUZA, so I'll be donating there.

[neshcom]

About the donations - so far it seems only Red Cross UK allows you to specify "Name of organisation (if making a collection/company donation)". No such option on RC US and Ireland. RC Japan provides bank account details for direct money transfer - that would be an option too, I just need to check if I can make transfers outside of Europe when I'm back from work.



So far the scenario seems to be like this: a) I set-up a PayPal donation button to my personal PP account; b) after a week or so the button goes down and I withdraw the funds from PP; c) at the same time I pay the amount to either RC Japan (bank transfer) or UK (with my credit card). I'd bear the withdrawal and currently conversion fees.



I'm leaning towards RC UK for convenience and because the payment cost (if any) will surely be less than the bank transfer fee.



I feel a wee bit uncomfortable asking people to trust me with their money, but that's the only way if we want to do it as a community and care to put the BBS name on it. The paperwork involved in registering the BBS as a non-profit organisation and then setting up a new PayPal account as a charity is something I don't even want to think about. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hatthe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whatthe:' /> Besides, you can't do it ad-hoc and it wouldn't make sense for a one-off thing.





Any objections? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />

That sounds like some of the money would be lost in the conversions/payments/whatever, right? Is it so important that we have the BBS name on it? Plus, donating through an official non-profit would be legit tax deductible, right?

PS. The link TnB posted allows to donate directly to RC Japan, but: a) it's google checkout and google is evil, b) it only allows to donate up to 50k Yen (= 440 Euro = 613 Dollars) and I hope we can do better than that, and c) it doesn't allow to put the organisation name on it.

I think I'd feel better knowing the money is going immediately to RCJ than even through another RC (though marginally I suppose). I don't believe I'd be able to donate up to/more than $613. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/sigh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sigh:' />

[aine]

[quote name='neshcom' timestamp='1300203421' post='95394']

That sounds like some of the money would be lost in the conversions/payments/whatever, right? Is it so important that we have the BBS name on it? Plus, donating through an official non-profit would be legit tax deductible, right?[/quote]

You're right, and as I said, I would make up for that out of my own pocket. I'm fine with doing that. The tax-deductible part is also correct, and while it sucks, I'm also not much bothered by a few quid trickling out in this one-off thing.





[quote name='neshcom' timestamp='1300203421' post='95394']I think I'd feel better knowing the money is going immediately to RCJ than even through another RC (though marginally I suppose). I don't believe I'd be able to donate up to/more than $613. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/sigh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sigh:' />

[/quote]

Fair enough. Everyone is free to donate on their own if they prefer for any reason. We only want to do this because some people expressed interest in doing it as a community so we can donate a larger sum at once with "mm-bbs" slapped on top of it which is a nice idea. Which may or may not go unnoticed and it won't matter much in the big picture because money is money and this is mainly just to stroke our own egos. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... mellow.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':mellow:' /> Doing it via a proxy (my paypal account) will obviously induce some costs, but that's the price we pay if we want to pull this off.

[Madara]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone here received calls or e-mails from family and friends who know of your interest in/connection to Japan and want to see how this disaster is affecting you?

[al kusanagi]

At least with the US Red cross donations, you can give a name to make the donation in, so people could put "From mm-bbs" or whatever we decide.



One of the Rakuten baseball players apparently has a friend working inside the nuclear plant that everything is going so terribly at. He got an email from his friend saying "We know we're going to die, but there's no way we're letting a meltdown happen."



Damn. The people running the power company might be lying scumbags, but those workers are heroes.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1300205794' post='95398']



Just out of curiosity, has anyone here received calls or e-mails from family and friends who know of your interest in/connection to Japan and want to see how this disaster is affecting you?

[/quote]



I study Japanology, so I was talking with my parents and friends a bit about it.



[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1300206212' post='95399']

At least with the US Red cross donations, you can give a name to make the donation in, so people could put "From mm-bbs" or whatever we decide.



One of the Rakuten baseball players apparently has a friend working inside the nuclear plant that everything is going so terribly at. He got an email from his friend saying "We know we're going to die, but there's no way we're letting a meltdown happen."



Damn. The people running the power company might be lying scumbags, but those workers are heroes.

[/quote]



I donated via the Austrian Red Cross, but I didn't see an option to publizise your name in some way.

Though they should have my name since it was a bank transaction. (of course without "from mm-bbs" hah)



If that's true about the workers then that's very admirable.

[tsukinobyouin]

I'm okay with whatever organization we decide to donate to as a BBS - and I'm sure aine wouldn't do anything shady with our money.



Another community I'm a member at did a fundraiser last year for Haiti and managed to donate as "Arashi-on LJ community" to the red cross, I'm trying to find out how she did it and which Red Cross she donated too. While I do think it's great to donate directly to the JP Red Cross if you can, the google site is obviously better for personal donations than a large group one. In the end, most other Red Cross organizations have an earmarked Japan fund, so the money will still get there - and it's not like the need will run out any time soon. :(



Edit: Just found out, the above mentioned girl used the Canadian Red Cross, so I gues they're an option too - not that it much matters which Red Cross we donate to.

[Ap2000]

Radioactivity is going up in Tokyo again:

http://park18.wakwak.com/~weather/geiger_index.html



It reached 80 CPM (0,8 microsievert) yesterday after the latest blowout/explosion in Fukushima.

This is not risky for the health. At 130 CPM it starts to get dangerous however.

A normal value would be below 60 CPM, usually 15~30.



The risk level has been changed from 4 to 6 out of 7. (which 7 being the Tschernobyl incident)



EDIT:

Shit just got even worse...

The roof of reactor 4 just collapsed and reactor 5 & 6 are also having problems.

[eri]

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1300202275' post='95393']

http://www.japansociety.org/earthquake



Japan Society in New York has set up a relief fund. A number of bloggers about Japanese film are urging their readers to donate. I was at Japan Society last Wednesday for a screening of THE YAKUZA, so I'll be donating there.

[/quote]



Since we have a lot of taxes this year, I'm going to submit my donation directly to Japan Foundation. I know its nice to have a big group donation, but in the end the only thing that matters is getting aid overseas, right? Of course, one way our bbs can encourage donations is just to link the requests somewhere -- on ph, bp too.



@Madara, yup everyone seems to be asking me about it even though I don't really have family in Japan. I do have friends in Japan and study Japan-stuff and listen to Jpop...and I think emotionally this has hit me a lot harder than the Haiti disaster or whatever.



The weird question I get most often is..."are you still going to go abroad?" "does this change your plans/hobbies?" -- totally odd. I don't see how a terrible natural disaster somehow makes me less interested in, say, H!P. But maybe they are awkwardly trying to make conversation? Don't know.

[Ap2000]

Another fire in reactor 4 broke out.

Jim Walsh from CNN just said he wishes that they'd finally let in foreign professionals to help them. FUCKING DO IT YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT TEPCO ! It's as if they're ashamed of all the shit they've covered up and don't want to show it to others. They're not even thinking about the workers who've basically permanently been working at the Fukushima site for several days now.



I've went to the Tepco site and saw this as their most recent news:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-co ... 507-e.html

Such disgusting liars. Pretending everything is alright even on their website.



Even the gov now said Tepco's information policy is misleading.



Luckily the wind will not blow from North into the direction of Tokyo for quite some time now.