Debris from Japan earthquake and tsunami headed for U.S. west coast – including body parts and cars

When the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, tons of debris and bodies were washed out to sea. Sailors have spotted entire houses, cars , tractor-trailers, capsized ships and whole houses floating in the ocean.

"It's very challenging to move through these to consider these boats run on propellers and that these fishing nets or other debris can be dangerous to the vessels that are actually trying to do the work," Ensign Vernon Dennis of the US Navy's 7th fleet said. "So getting through some of these obstacles doesn't make much sense if you are going to actually cause more debris by having your own vessel become stuck in one of these waterways." 

The debris, including human body parts, is going to wash up on the U.S. west coast in about one year. It will then turn toward Hawaii and back again toward Asia. Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer is expecting human feet, still in their shoes, to wash up on the West Coast shore. While most body parts will come apart and break down in the water, feet in shoes will float and stay fairly well preserved.

"So you have to imagine a city say the size of about Seattle, put it through a grinder and what happens? You wind up with all kinds of debris - bodies, boats everything from a person's life including the living themselves and half that's probably going to float," said Ebbesmeyer. 

Predicted location of the Japan debris field

 

Related articles

• Japan Tsunami: Debris from Disaster Heading to U.S. West Coast (abcnews.go.com)
• Japan's Tsunami debris to (eventually) hit West Coast (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Politician seeking ban on McDonald's Happy Meals toys is a 335-pound tubby

Leroy Comrier

Do as I say, not as I do. This appear to be the motto of New York Councilman Leroy Comrier. Comrier, weighs in at a respectable 335 pounds and he is seeking a ban on McDonald's Happy Meal toys. His wife, Marcia, says he is a cautionary tale on the consequences of too many Big Macs.

"He doesn't do it in front of me - he knows it's the bane of my existence, but the results are there for anyone to see. He's not averse to healthy eating," she told the New York Post. "He actually enjoys when I make him a wholesome breakfast, and he likes when I cook him tofu. But by lunchtime he could be having spare ribs -- or a Big Mac."

In the bill that Comier introduced, fast food restaurants would be forced to pull toys from any kids meal with more than 500 calories.

The scary world of information brokers – your privacy is an illustion

We all realize that information about us is out there living in different digital databases and social web sites. This video shows how it is all collected and used. It doesn't go into how the government can use this data, but I think most of us are now realizing that "We Live in Public" has come to pass to some degree.

Twenty percent of Brits think Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Blackadder are real historical figures

Holmes (Wikipedia)

One in five British people surveyed believe that Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Blackadder are genuine historical figures. As well, others think that Clark Kent and Indiana Jones were actual people. It's a two way street with fictional and real: others believe Che Guevara, Florence Nightingale and outlaw Jesse James were fictional characters, not real.

Ask Jeeves commissioned the survey after seeing a rise in the number of questions it receives for biographies and details on the lives of fictional characters, such as a family tree.

A 2008 survey of British teens found that twenty percent of them believe Sir Winston Churchill was a fictional character, while many think Eleanor Rigby was real.

Speaking of the current survey, Ask Jeeves spokeswoman Nadia Kelly said, "Some of the confusion is possibly justified - a lot of people hadn't heard of Erin Brockovich until the movie."

Or possibly not.

Winston Churchill  (Wikipedia)

Drinking water in India a toxic, lethal brew

Image by Sree_ via Flickr

Scientists testing public drinking water in New Delhi found that it contained more than a dozen strains of bacteria, including ones that cause pneumonia and cholera. Even worse, the bacteria has mutated to become antibiotic resistant. I repeat that this is the public drinking water, not water found in a river or other open water. Drinking the water can lead to sepsis infection and death.

The bacteria have been found in patients traveling to Europe, North America, Asia and Australia since 2008, indicating that these mutant strains are now spreading around the world.

And now for the good news. Hmmm .... no good news on this. In fact it is plain scarey. Read more on Bloomberg.