As the struggle continues at Japan’s malfunctioning nuclear plants, this news item from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun looks at the challenges being faced by Japanese and international rescuers as they scramble to save as many lives as possible in the aftermath of last week’s incredible tsunami. The article from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbum says in part: In the earthquake-affected areas of northeastern...

Silly, of course they do — they just have them covered up (emphasis is in original):

While it appears that France and Britain are taking the lead in imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, this dramatic action — growing out of a United Nations resolution — has implications for the U.S. Some random thoughts to kick start a (hopefully civil) discussion: * If you believe that a no-fly zone is necessary, explain why. If you believe that a no-fly zone is not necessary, or alternately a dangerous...

After three disasters of such monumental proportions, Japanese newspapers are urging people to bind together to help those most in need, and expressing thanks to people around the world for coming to their aid. This editorial from the Akita Sakigake Shimpo, from Japan’s main island just south of the disaster zone, urges people to help others and take heart that they are not alone. The editorial from the...

UPDATE, 6:30 AM ET March 19 The New York Times Reports: Forces led by Moammar Gaddafi entered the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi Saturday after airstrikes and fierce fighting as the United States and its allies prepared to launch military attacks on Libya. A warplane was shot down over Benghazi. Government troops — some reportedly in tanks — entered Benghazi from the west, in the university...

An image arrives, the cover of a new book in French showing American icon Marilyn Monroe 56 years ago in a legendary Irish saloon, a convergence of cultures for St. Patrick’s Day. In that place, where my generation learned about life, Tim Costello was our teacher. One of us, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a budding sociologist and later U.S. Senator, would famously say when JFK was killed, “To be Irish...

Irish Need Not Apply by Tom Purcell Well, this takes the Irish cake. The Irish “need not apply” in America all over again. Ireland, you see, is not doing so well. Prior to the global economic meltdown, its service industry soared as global companies took advantage of its well-educated, English-speaking citizens. Emboldened by its good fortune, the Irish government, and many of its citizens, carried on like...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

I came across “Ode Magazine” a couple of years ago and it has appeared on my screen almost daily since then. It is a rather unusual publication. It is “a print and online publication about positive news, about the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better.” I know, such a publication should not at all be “unusual,” but these days, alas, it is. Ode was founded in 1995 in Rotterdam,...

A bleak assessment from the chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission: radiation from Japan’s earthquake-caused nuclear crisis is “extremely high,” rose than the Japanese government acknowledged and the outlook is ominious. The New York Times: The chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave a significantly bleaker appraisal of threat posed by the Japanese...

Each day the news from Japan gets more grim, in terms of the death toll and the nuclear power plant crisis. Here’s the latest grim news: the death toll could reach 25,000: The death toll in the double disaster to hit Japan is expected to reach 25,000, according to reports. The number of those who lost their lives following the earthquake and tsunami currently stands at 3,676, while those missing is more...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

What’s the connection between the women of Rio’s Carnival and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg? For Brazil’s O Globo, Mônica Geraldi Valentim writes that even if women have become more financially independent in recent decades, the lengths to which they’ll go to look attractive is proof that catching a mate still requires good old-fashioned thin waists, full lips and silky hair; and...

In the wake of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, the challenge facing Fukushima has been keeping the nuclear cores covered with water, which is needed to cool the fuel rods, the heart of a reactor. The most serious damage is at the Unit 2 reactor, where there was a hydrogen explosion on Tuesday; the suppression pool has been damaged. Only 50 employees remain on site, and they have been exposed to high...

Half a century ago, Americans feared atomic weapons of a nation that long longer exists, the Soviet Union, and its potential to destroy us. Now, as devastation spreads in Japan, anxiety arises about the original Faustian bargain to unleash a power that can’t be fully controlled. If this sounds like the start of a Luddite tract, not so. Nuclear power will be not be disinvented but, as we now know, can not...

UPDATE, March 17 From the Stars and Stripes: U.S. military personnel have delivered 40 tons of supplies to the hardest-hit areas of Japan, as humanitarian aid continues in the face of an ever-increasing threat from the failing Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant. The U.S. 7th Fleet reported that aircraft from the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group flew 15 sorties Wednesday, delivering food, water, clothing,...

There are serious problems at all reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. But, as of 10.00 pm PDT Monday, there has been no “nuclear explosion” even though you may have seen headlines or tweets that imply or say that. The challenge facing Fukushima is keeping the nuclear core covered with water, which is needed to cool the fuel rods, the heart of the reactor. The most serious damage...

With President Obama about to travel to Brazil [March 19], it looks as though Brazil’s new president may be keen to show a change in direction in regard to Iran and the United States. Days ago, off of the radar screen of most of the world, Brazil’s new government took the bold decision to dissociate itself from its past policy of looking the other way when Tehran commits human rights abuses by...

The insurance company Alfac didn’t think comedian Gilbert Gottfried’s wise quacks on Twitter about the Japan earthquake and tsunami were just ducky. So they’ve cooked his goose: they fired him. Gottfried thus becomes the latest talented show biz type who for about branding (and good taste, although that matters little in today’s comedy). You can’t just wing it on Twitter and not...

The tragedy of Japan’s earthquake in which 1900 are official dead but police estimate could wind up being more than 10,000 is now shifting to another kind of ominous story: a tale of explosions at nuclear power plants and possible long range cancer risks. And here’s the latest: there has been a third explosion at a Japanese Nuclear Power plant. And it’s now being said that it is worse than...

Cam Cardow, The Ottawa Citizen This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

The paradox of material and technological progress is that we seem to become more risk-averse the safer it makes us. Thus begins the close of a must-read op-ed in Monday’s Wall Street Journal. It’s not a surprise that the WSJ would lament risk-aversion. What was a surprise is that many of the arguments put forth are the same ones I have been making for two days: There is no “clean”...

Ed Morrissey thinks that “The White House acted appropriately in kicking Crowley out at State …” in response to Crowley’s public criticism of Pfc. Bradley Manning’s abusive treatment in detention. Then he defends the abuse itself (although of course he doesn’t consider it to be abuse) thusly:

The BBC offers this powerful video showing the moment the tsunami hit in Japan.

I have a post up at Liberty Street.