This week, Fast Five's Paul Walker is headed to Alabama to help victims of the recent tornadoes, and you can help too.
Walker has traveled around the world helping those in need after natural disasters on behalf of the non-profit Reach Out Worldwide. Reach Out Worldwide, which is a network trained volunteers who act as first responders in the United States and abroad, is always looking for volunteers to help out on their next trip. ]]>
There's no reason in trying to disguise our love for New York restaurants or for Japan as we sure talk about both often enough, but rarely is it that these passions come together for anything other than excellent sushi; now, they're combining for charity. According to Crain's, restaurants around New York City have banded together to donate 5% of their total sales from March 23-30 and donate them to the Red Cross' efforts in Japan.
Participating restaurants are of all cuisines; there's the ramen restaurant Ippudo, trendy Mercer Kitchen in Soho, and French Rockefeller Center spot Brasserie Ruhlmann. The latter will be perfect for those who orchestrated this whole thing, because it's NBC Universal that's behind the warm-heartedness of it all. Maybe we'll see Jack Donaghy at the table next to us, hm? ]]>
In Japan over the last few days, there's been a massive earthquake, tragic tsunamis and even a volcanic explosion, but the news gripping the world is that of their ongoing emergencies at several nuclear plants. Note the word "ongoing," as the other three big events happened and are done with.
It was reported very early this morning that Lufthansa isn't taking the nuclear crisis and release of radioactivity into the atmosphere sitting down (or rather, flying high as normal). The German airline has begun scanning their planes out of Japan for radioactivity, and though nothing above a normal level has been found, Lufthansa is taking precautions by removing the Airbus A380 from Tokyo routes and putting most Lufthansa flight crew up in South Korea rather than Japan.
In addition, the two daily Tokyo-bound Lufthansa flights from Germany will be diverted to other Japanese airports through this upcoming Sunday. Specifically, Lufthansa Flight 714 from Munich will head to Nagoya and Lufthansa Flight 710 from Frankfurt will land at Osaka-Kansai. ]]>
They may be standing strong in the wake of both horrible earthquakes and the tsunami, but Japan does need our help, and badly. Think about all the enjoyment you've gotten from Japan—good sushi, awesome video games, breakthrough technology, superior customer service (for example)—and consider donating to relief efforts.
Cash is obviously the easiest way to contribute and it's the most in demand, since then charities can put it towards whatever is most needed. If you like the idea of getting a thanks for your donation, American Airlines, in partnership with the Red Cross, will kick you back AAdvantage miles for your donation: ]]>
Hawaii's tsunami warning still has a few more hours to go, but at this point, it appears as though the islands have escaped devastation. The waves that did arrive weren't recorded as cresting more than 6 feet (in Maui), though most seemed between 2 and 4 feet. There was no major damage reported, and today in Hawaii is progressing as normally as possible, even as Japan still still works to gauge the the amount of havoc Mother Nature wreaked on them earlier, following the 8.9 earthquake offshore.
Surprisingly its southern California that's seen the most of the North American results of the earthquake, with boats marinas swamped and small property damages. As a result, evacuation signs are being posted and residents of areas in danger are encouraged to stay tuned to the local news. Waves have been reported to be as high as 7 feet, though Santa Monica—where the surfers are still out—will likely only see around 3 feet.
Our recommendation? Don't stand at the beach and look out to sea, expecting to watch the tsunami waves. IF they're big enough to see, then they're large enough to wash over you pretty shortly after.
[Video: CNN]]]>
Last night, or after lunch if you were in Tokyo, a massive 8.9 earthquake hit off the western coast of Japan, causing a rolling of the earth felt though many cities, including Tokyo. The event also produced tsunami waves, which have caused immense destruction in Japan and are currently hitting Hawaii, though no damage has been reported there.
We've glued to our computer, watching tsunami videos as helicopters filmed it live. Watch them here and take a moment to reflect on the fragility of this Earth. We also bet you're on information overload, as are we, so here's what you need to know, straight from the news: ]]>
On Saturday, after the catastrophic earthquake in Chile, places that might be in the path of a resulting tsunami battened down the hatches and awaited the waves. One of these places was Hawaii, which instead of having everyone run inside and pray that the wave would leave then high and dry, sent reporters to the beaches and trained livecams on the surf so that the world could watch for the tsunami, too.
Although a massive wave never arrived in favor of some tidal ebbing and flowing, what Hawaii did get were millions of eyes trained on its gorgeous beaches and water. People were excited; their heartrates went up as they eagerly watched the water rapidly rush out of Hilo Bay, like seen in the livecam capture above, and we couldn't help but think what priceless tourism marketing this is for Hawaii. And we weren't alone: ]]>