Handing out the Bula stamp of approval, one post at a time!

So because all of the news is no longer on Japan and is almost entirely focused on the conflict in Libya, I wanted to just take the time to post a bunch of pictures that I found on a Flickr photostream that I used last week to display pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan.

My thoughts and prayers still go out to the families out there who have been struggling to rebuild their lives. Slowly but surely our aid will bring them back on their feet. If you haven’t been able to donate your money to the reputable organizations lending aid to the victims of the tragedy in Japan, please find it in your heart to do so. If you already have, I thank you and I am sure the people of Japan thank you as well.

As of this posting, the current stats in terms of lives lost, people missing, and cost of damage is as follows:

The death toll from the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan’s northeast coast has topped 10,000, two weeks after the disaster struck, Kyodo news reports.

From the Herald Sun
The National Police Agency, responsible for compiling statistics from different prefectures affected, could not immediately confirm that figure.

There are fears of a much higher toll from the disaster, which flattened entire towns along the Pacific coast of the country’s main island of Honshu.

In its report yesterday, the National Police Agency said that 9811 people had been confirmed dead and 17,541 officially listed as missing – a total of 27,352 – as of 9 pm local time (11pm AEDT) as a result of the March 11 catastrophe.

From BBC UK
The Japanese government has put the rebuilding cost of the March 11 earthquake at $309bn(£191.8bn).

Let us also not forget that the aftereffects of the disaster still looms in the form of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant that was heavily damaged during the tsunami. The radiation is so bad that although there hasn’t been a total meltdown, the fumes that had to be released into the air to cool down the reactors have gotten into the food and water supply, which is now running low. Also, because of the fear of harmful contamination, sales of seafood (which Japan’s economy heavily relies on) have plummeted severely. I cannot feel guilty that I’m doing fine here in the United States, but people in a rich country like Japan cannot get the basic necessities to survive. I hope our donations are serving them well.

Here are all of the pictures from the photostream. I thought it would be best to just link all 150+ of the pictures because it would be faster to scroll down and view them all at once, rather than to go through a Flickr slideshow:

*DISCLAIMER* I am pretty sure all / a lot of these images are not taken by the owner of the photostream I took the pictures from. I didn’t really want to go take the images from Yahoo! news or something but I will have to say it was convenient for me to find all of the pictures on the Flickr.

One of the many fallen citizens of this great country.

Stranded.

As if time stood still.

Even in the worst of times, they keep their tradition.

The sadness in her eyes… 😦

Like legos…

Honda Jazz vs. Ship

Bye bye Hondas 😦

Growing up in the aftermath.

So after seeing all of the images, it’s hard to imagine what has happened. I hope that everything will be good in the end. Prayers to the victims in Japan once again.

There are a lot of automotive blogs who have been raising money for the relief efforts. Here are just a few:

Love and Support From the Aftermarket Industry

Save Japan

Heartbreakers for Japan

For Japan

If there are any more, feel free to comment.

Thank you for reading.