Whoa you're strong - I'm not acheiving anything right now with the translator

hoax (fyi)

First, and I should've noted this, although I did manage to do the Paypal payment, I am trusting enough of the Gargamel site that this will work out for the recipient. I couldn't care less if they don't actually send me anything, but having these two figure would be just about appropriate mementos of mourning to come. But either way, I hope the money does end up helping somebody directly, instead getting mired down in channels..

As for the form, basically, I translated the labels for the red-star fields and put in values that looked ok. Picked one of the Perfectures just to get passed it, but the address entered is obviously non-Japanese, so they should pick up on that. Selected Paypal as the payment form and payed. Then just wishing for the best for the unfortunate victims of this whole thing.

I'd never stick up for Alex Jones or anyone who takes much from him, but, though I can't reference any of this at the moment, I am 100% certain, that Red Cross are one of the worst charities to donate to. A friend of mine worked at the WTC Victims RC thingy and had to sit there and give thousands, and at times, hundreds of thousands to people she KNEW full well were bullshitting and chancing it. But they filled the forms in right and lied to the right people. She wasn't talking about one or two lucky fuckers either.
Beyond that, I am (again, without references at hand) positive that the RC has been bogged down in some pretty serious bureaucratic bullshit over the years, I am leaning toward them doing some seriously dodgy arms related stuff.
They don't and never have sat well with me.

I also don't think that there is anything wrong with looking into where you send your money, whether you are sceptical, cynical or just want to know that your money is actually going to help those you want it to help.

Gargamel seems like the best option offered to date.

It should be said that Coop's initial response was 100% spot on "or just don't do anything" dont grumble, act. This thread depresses the fuck out of me. Alice's pictures are heartbreaking. I could ignore it, but it's happening to people who don't have that luxury.

I'm ranting again... sorry...

I'm pretty sure that fallout map image has been debunked as fake...

I'm not sure how much this matters but the last choice in the Prefecture drop down is "Other".

-Tania

We did a combined order here and no shipping was charged. Did anyone experience the same?

i just had celga handle it for me.... might have to pay a bit more in fees, but it's worry free. plus i already had stuff in their warehouse, so they can all ship together

I went with the Red Cross, because my company has a policy to match every dollar I donate to them.
You all should check with your employers, because I'm sure plenty of companies have the same policy.

Matt twitted 30 mins ago that his trash was cleared by city services. Amazing!
Respect!

Shit is getting real here:

There's been another explosion at the nuclear plant and there's a fire.
Some workers have been ordered to leave the site.
PM Kan has just told everyone from 20km to 30km to stay inside as a precaution,
and any remaining people in the 20km radius to leave.
"Radiation has spread from these reactors and the reading of the level seems very high,
and there is still a very high risk of further radioactive material coming out", he said in a televised address.

Reuters live updates:
http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

Everyone, whatever your believe, please pray. Extremely worrying.

When going through the check-out for the mitari-chan, what is "establishment" supposed to be?

News has it that Kanagawa radiation level is 9 times above normal. Kanagawa is further away from Tokyo to Fukushima, right? Not sure how accurate is this?!

I haven't check Skullbrain in a few days but I just want to say I hope everyone in Japan is OK. I will pray for them. God bless Japan.

I mean, this is just.. well..

I hope this comes off the right way, so I will preface this by saying this is all too horrific for words.

But the bizarre and insane destruction in pictures (like the above) remind of of the chaos of kids playing. Or in a Richard Scarry book where all the shit hits the fan.

Not making light of anything, but the the damage from this is going to last for years at least. And the nuclear reactor stuff? Forget it. All sick and sad.

You can give to the Japanese Red Cross through Google:

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

It was quick and painless,

Yes, Kanagawa is west of Tokyo. Yokohama is there.
The two cities are really contiguous, with Kawasaki sandwiched in between.

The wind is blowing towards Tokyo from Fukushima today.
Kyodo News reports radiation levels 2-4x normal in Chiba, south of the plant, and 33x normal in Tochigi, west of it.
Maybe 23x normal in Tokyo atm.
My wife says they measured it at 70x normal in Saitama, a little north of Tokyo,
but I can't verify this.
We're still being told these levels are not dangerous,
and the numbers mean nothing to me tbh.

Geiger counter in Tokyo:
http://park18.wakwak.com/~weather/geiger_index.html

Thanks for the update, Alice.
Outside of Japan, we really don't know what to expect. Really hoping to see the situation improve.

Shipping charges will be added later depending on location. You should receive a PayPal invoice including the total with shipping.

Here's a quick translation of the order form for Mitari-chan for those interested.

http://www.mitari.jp/MITARI_WEB/SHOP.html

Last Name
First Name
E-mail Address
E-mail Address (Confirmation)
Phone Number
Zip Code
Prefecture (Scroll down to the very last option その他, meaning "other")
Address
Comments
Payment (Select PayPal for orders outside Japan)
Delivery Time (Only for Japan residents)

After your order is placed, you will receive an invoice including total with shipping.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has said the level of radiation around the nuclear power plant
is high enough to affect human health: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

( http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2 still good, but kind of gossipy.)

IAEA update: http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsu ... ate01.html (Very slow page to load)

Video of this morning's explosion at reactor No.4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9oO4yiF-s

Thank you Koji for the info. On behalf of this group.
Hope everything is OK for you guys at this time.
And thanx again for doing this, it's great.