Japan vs. New Orleans

This train is never late.

There are many comparisons and contrasts that reporters and punditry could make between the disasters in Japan and the disasters in New Orleans. A short list could include a comparison where officials ignored warnings of impending danger, you could contrast the differences in response, or you could examine the parallels of energy safety failures.

Instead of those policy failures at the hands of highly placed officials, who have so often let us down while serving as mouthpieces for well-moneyed interests let us focus on the "real" story here - why there isn't any "looting" going on in Japan.

You don't have to wonder what they're trying to say.

But if we're going to go down this road, maybe we should ask why certain Japanese citizens and local police didn't start gunning down other citizens for "looting".

Update: You knew the narrative would get busted (at least in some quarters). The news is just in - the Japanese people are just as human as the rest of us, and while they might be more "culturally resillient" in the face of many natural disasters, they still experience thieves at a fire like all other cultures.

Update 2: Yet another comparison between Japan & New Orleans and the corners cut that made local energy infrastructure unsafe. More deregulation, anyone?

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