The drama in Japan, after the earthquake and tsunami, 
seems to have been kicked off the prime news slots on CNN. Two days ago, Japan’s struggle with the aftermath of the tsunami and the possible meltdown at a nuclear facility was literally part of the 24 hour cycle: yesterday and today Japan was ‘handsomely’ replaced with ‘Target Libya’. How, absurd: so after pumping the worst-case scenario (“impending nuclear disaster RIGHT NOW”) for over 7 days, one would say that the people working 24 hours a day in that nuclear reactor are doing a better job than CNN had been suggesting. CNN? That’s like watching a drama queen facing a meltdown.
Anyhow: that tsunami disaster, eh? By now you’ve seen the live video feeds, the photos and the relief response (even you, Google), before and after photos, scientific analysis of the event, conspiracy theories, online community response (Reddit) and what not. Here’s my major gripe: in one year, which of the links above will still be ‘alive’ or functional? What about two years? Three? Does anyone still remember the Indian Ocean tsunami?
While there’s obviously nothing we can do for people in disaster zones (except for giving monetary donations), it always appears that disasters are over after a week. This is not true of course: they just drift off the daily news cycle on the major US networks because they have better things to report about, like a “tomahawk cruise missile in a camel’s ass”.
04/08/2011: Massive Japanese tsunami debris field to reach North American westcoast by 2014 (CBC link).
03/11/2012: First anniversary of tsunami in Japan, prayers and protests against nuclear energy.