I've been to Muir Woods the last two days. The stream is running and the hills are green. It is renewing to be there and everyone is in awe with the beauty. Children stand and look and say, "Wow".
It is a Holy Place.
Though my understanding is that there is no danger of radiation reaching this coast, I continue to receive emails on preparing for this danger. My local community in preparation for emergencies now has a kit I can buy for my car and home. A two-person car/truck kit is $60.00 and a two-person Household kit is $100.00. I think it is good to be prepared and I wonder where preparation stops.
Japan was prepared for an earthquake and lives were saved. Lives also were lost. There is a balance on what we can do and choosing how to balance is complex, and yet, our news sources continue to simplify.
This is an interesting article on how our U.S. news sources were not prepared to report on what happened in Japan.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/18/DDFN1ICTA0.DTL
Part of it is simple. It is about cost. News is now a for-profit, for big profit, business and yet it is sad to see how little some of the reporters and newscasters actually know. What happened to curiosity, expansion, risk?
I don't expect newscasters to know everything about everything but I do expect a basic level of knowledge, and in this world of instant access to so much information, I don't expect a newscaster who seems ignorant on the location and composition of Japan.
Perhaps we used to idolize those who delivered the news. Maybe they earned it. I think some sensitivity training is now in order as to how to approach those who've just lost everything. Isn't this obvious? And yet the movie Broadcast News pops to mind. Dumbing-down and emotional manipulation have been going on for a long time.
We have seen politicians, priests, newscasters, and actors taken off their pedestals. John Wayne was not a rugged cowboy. He was an actor. All of this is a way to say I think it is important for each of us to dip into our own curiosity and need to know and balance like the rushing water our specific need to prepare.