Japan, Jamaica's OUR and Net Metering - When Disaster Strikes Don't Hold It Against Me

Today, Saturday March 19^th 2011 is the night of a Super moon as stated in the article “Super full Moon to Shine on Saturday”, published Friday March 18, 2011 9:23 pm ET, Associated Press, when the moon is at its closest, its gravitational tug at its strongest and it looks so large in the sky, you could push a stick through it and make it into a gigantic lollipop.

I haven’t written an article since Wednesday March 16^th 2011, as I am still taking in the odd Media reporting of news relating to Japanese triple-tragedy of an Earthquake, ensuing Tsunami and Nuclear accident worse than Chernobyl as described in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Japan Nuclear Reactor Meltdown is the Asian Tiger Chernobyl” and the gradually deteriorating situation in Libya.

Both have me shaken up badly, but the Media seems to be ignoring Japan, as apparently the lack of sensationalism associated with disasters is apparently lacking. This, as Japanese people, despite the tragedy, are showing the discipline and breeding of their much coveted First World Status, and are NOT running around looting but hidden in shelters, resolute.

This even as people fear to venture out on the streets as stated in the article “As death toll mounts, nuclear scare widens evacuation”, published March 12, 2011 12:31 PM PST by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, Health Tech - CNET News.

Tokyo is now a ghost town – or at least empty like Sunday Morning, with people in masks and walking around with hastily purchased Geiger Counters as stated in the article “Thriving Metropolis or Ghost Town? Crisis Transforms Tokyo”, published March 16 2011 by Jason Szep, Reuters.

Japan fears the invisible poison of Radiation, with the older folk having replays of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from WWII in their minds. A Timeline of the Fukushima nuclear accidents helps to put the week’s events into perspective.

I have stopped watching American-centric TV, focusing mainly on reading internet articles and video snippets from Reuters, Associated Press, BBC News, with CNET News and Yahoo! News as news aggregators of choice to track these stories.

Firstly, Japan and its people…...

The death toll has surpassed ten thousand (10,000) and two hundred and twenty one thousand (210,000 ) evacuated from a 12.5 km “hotzone” around Okuma since Sunday March 13^th 2011 as stated in the article “Japan Quake death toll expected to top 10,000”, published March 13, 2011 7:00 PM PDT by Steven Musil, CNET News - Business Tech.

Please note: the Nuclear Reactor that blew its top is Fukushima Dai-ichi (“Number 1” in Japanese) Nuclear Power Plant, 270km (170miles) North East of Tokyo City in Okuma due to a failure of the Cooling System as described in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Japan Nuclear Reactor Meltdown is the Asian Tiger Chernobyl”. It was run by Tokyo Power Electric Co. The Reactors were built by General Electric. Neat facts in a line!

Strangely, heard or saw no news of Japanese robots being used in the rescue of cooling down efforts. Even more ironic, the Japanese had to rent robots from American company iRobot to assist them with their cooling down efforts as mentioned in the article “Where are the Robots' in Japan’s Nuclear crisis”, published March 19, 2011 4:28 PM PDT by Tim Hornyak, Crave - CNET News.

Apparently their show of robotic prowess is merely research and only for display, but the Government of Japan, like the American Government under George W. Bush, did not take Science and Technology seriously enough to encourage their development in their use at Nuclear Power Plant.

Not surprisingly, safety issues were paid a blind eye by Japanese Government Safety inspectors in a culture riddled with corruption akin to their Western counterparts as stated in the article “Bungling, cover-ups define Japanese Nuclear Power”, published Thursday March 17 2011, Associated Press.

Loved ones can get in touch with relatives in Japan, as the Internet withstood the Earthquake, with no fiber optic cables being broken as stated in the article “Despite quake, Japan's Net connections strong”,, published March 12, 2011 3:50 PM PST by Arik Hesseldahl, CNET News - Business Tech.

Already, there is report of Radioactive Nucleotides, possibly via Rain or wind, reaching California as stated in the article “Traces of radiation surface in California”, published Saturday, March 19, 2011, The Jamaica Observer via the Associated Press.

Thus fears of Radioactive fallout reaching mainland US of A as stated in the article “In Japan, damaged nuclear plants create fears of radioactive threat”, published Saturday, March 12, 2011; 6:58 PM By Andrew Higgins, Washington Post Foreign Service were not Media imagination run amok after all!!

So the Caribbean may soon be getting some showers of the Blessed Radioactive Rain. Glow-in-the-dark looks good on you and may be the new fashion trend this Summer!!

Not to mention the more serious issue of possible long-term contamination of our vegetables and other food items imported from the Far East.

Products such as Rice and Wheat as is the case in Japan with radio nucleotides in their Veggies and dairy products as stated in the article “Japan cites radiation in milk, spinach near plant”, published Saturday March 19 2011 By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Yahoo News via Associated Press.

Wafted across the ocean as to arrive in Jamaica and the Caribbean as early as Wednesday March 23^rd 2011!

Now where it hurts us gadget lovers and technology types the most: Consumer Electronics!

The Japan ‘quake means that, unless you had done like Apple Inc and pre-ordered your supply of LCD Screens, Flash Memory and other components months in advance, you will be affected by the quake as stated in the article “How quake disrupting supply of batteries, LCD displays”, published March 16, 2011 4:56 PM PDT by Arik Hesseldahl, CNET News - Business Tech.

Ditto for Flash Memory used to make MacBook Pros and MacBook Air’s as stated in the article “Japan quake may hit flash memory chip supply”, published March 11, 2011 1:47 PM PST by Brooke Crothers, NanoTech - CNET News.

For the sake of accuracy, Apple Inc had secured a large multi billion dollar component pre-order contract with Samsung, who are based in South Korea months prior as stated in the article “Apple securing US$7.8 billion worth of Samsung displays, memory”, published February 14, 2011 10:03 AM PST by Erica Ogg, Circuit Breaker - CNET News. So your Apple iPad and Apple iPhone 5 are still coming on schedule come June 2011.

Interestingly, as Japan vows to rebuild after the 9.0 shaker that was worse than Kobe (1995) as stated in the article “A week after quake, Japan's leaders vow to rebuild”, published Saturday, March 19, 2011, The Jamaica Observer via the Associated Press in Jamaica, the conversation has now swung around to diversifying not only Jamaica’s Energy Sources, but opening up the debate for Net-Metering as stated in the article “Want to sell light back to JPS?”, published Friday, March 18, 2011, The Jamaica Observer.

Not sure if all this talk of Alternative Energy sources is a result of the Japan Nuclear Disaster, now starting to look like Chernobyl on June 2^nd 1986, when Reactor No. 4 blew its top and irradiated 100km radius of Ukraine in the then USSR!

Or maybe, it’s because of a previous blog article I had written on the subject entitled “Alternative Energy and Residential Solar Power - The Social Network” and sent out via email. Whoever or whatever the source of this sudden appreciation by JPS Co and the OUR for Net Metering, its coincidental timing is great.

Competition in the Power Sector is needed not only to drive prices down, but to offer alternative off-the-grid money earning potential to encourage homeowners to see Alternative Energy as a Benefit and not a technological marvel for the Young and the Restless Crowd. It also fortifies us against disasters on the scale of that in Japan.

It would diversify our Power Utility Company Network enough to make our Power Systems more resilient in the face of a disaster of that scale and magnitude. An Earthquake is as sure as the Radioactive Showers of Blessing are to come to Jamaica. Radioactive food months later in our Chinese imports!

I just hope that this time, the Government of Jamaica heeds the words of former Minister of State, Dean Peart back in 2007 and established a Tsunami Early Warning Center as stated in the article “Jamaica Tsunami alert centre on Fast track” published Wednesday January 24, 2007, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Otherwise we might end up like the buccaneers at 1962 Jamaica Earthquake in Port Royal that sank the Pirate Haven nearly three hundred and nineteen (319) years ago at 11:43 am on June 7, 1962.

My opinion on this matter, now made evident by the Tragedy in Japan is poignantly expressed in my blog article entitled “Tsunami watch needed urgently for Real this time”, as like Japan, we sit on the edge of a very large Tectonic plate, the Caribbean Plate, now overdue for another Big One. I just hope Mother Nature does not choose to Hold it Against Me (2011), Britney Spears Style!!