"Less than Chernobyl, worst than 3 Mile Island."

That's a direct quote from an NBC on-scene reporter, after he relayed that the third explosion from the Japanese nuclear power plants wasn't like the first two: This one blew up the dome that was supposed to be containing the radiation.

In a really fucked up, and I apologize in advanced for how wrong it is to go this direction, direction; How many of you played Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas?

As I was watching film of the one western reporter who got far enough north to see the worst of the damage from the tsunami, it looked startlingly like the wastelands in that game. Now, that area was not hit with radiation; Just buried under a 30 foot wall of muddy water, killing thousands, including "every patient I couldn't get to the roof.", said the sole surviving nurse, who unfortunately didn't get that many to the high ground.

So...

Even before this I'd been thinking of just how many measurably bad things have been happening on a global scale as of late. The riots/rebellions/insurrections in the middle east I would be tempted to call a good thing, if we over-look the beatings, deaths and sexual assaults of reporters that came with it. But I'm talking about, just for starters, the long list of shit that's led some hardcore believers to loudly and proudly pronounce that God hates New Orleans.

And if I was a believer, I think I'd be drinking the kool-aid and thinking that the end of days is coming. I'm not, of course. But I think I understand.

And now the earthquake in Japan, with it's resulting horrific tsunami, and the three explosions, two of which being described as the effect of "minor nuclear meltdowns." So far though, the experts have been using the qualifying term "minor." That's good.

Being a staunch atheist, I'm quite comfortable that the rapture is not upon us. That said, scientists say there's a 95% chance that an earthquake of roughly this magnitude will be happening in California sometimes in the next 20 years. And if that 5% happens, that just means it'll be coming in extra pissed a few years after that.

So "aenema" may be one of the most prophetic works of art of our generation. At least there's that. (Funny sidenote from the adwords consultants/obsessive: If you search for "aenema" today, you'll see someone's paying to show ads for their home "enema kits," because they don't know how to do keyword research, or what a "negative keyword" is.)

It really makes me think of "Escape from LA", anf the Fallout franchise. All of this. Kinda glorifies it... And it shouldn't. But that said, this situation has made me think the 100+ hours I spent in FO3 and FO:NV may actually come in handy at some point before I die. So, you know... Silver linings and all.

On an unrelated note, Javatank and I have been conversing on-and-off about this; Isn't Dragon Age 2 both awesome, and a horrible influence on productivity?