TOKYOMANGO

Kim Jong Il is dead - bizarre mourning video + testimonial on successor from his former sushi chef

The Korean Central News Agency announced Kim Jong Il's death on its web site today. The news was accompanied by this strange three-minute montage showing lots of people mourning, and one solo interview with a woman who works at the capital's electric wire factory at the very end.

The dear leader will most likely be succeeded by his son Kim Jong-Un. We don't know too much about him, except that he's about 28 or 29 years old and he appeared to be KJI's favorite son.

A snippet from the NY Times quotes the Kims' Japanese sushi chef as follows:

“When Prince Jong-un shook hands with me, he fixed me with a vicious look,” Kim Jong-il’s former Japanese sushi chef wrote in a 2003 memoir describing his first encounter with the boy, then 7, dressed in a military uniform and known as a “prince” among his father’s aides. “I still cannot forget the look in his eyes. It seemed to say, ‘This is a despicable Japanese.’ "

Minister of State for Conclusion of the Nuclear Incident and Prevention of Reoccurrence

I was in a government building conducting an interview a couple of weeks ago and noticed that a new role had been created: Minister of State for Conclusion of the Nuclear Incident and Prevention of Reoccurrence.

Video: Fukushima residents address government official about radiation

I'm deeply disturbed and saddened by this video, which shows a room full of Fukushima residents asking a government representative some fundamental questions that remain unanswered four months after the earthquake + subsequent radiation leak: Do Fukushima residents have the same right to safety from nuclear threat as the rest of humanity? Will you please do as you said earlier and test our children's urine for radiation levels?

The official's response--blatant and apathetic dismissal of the people's concerns--is simultaneously abhorrent and not surprising. But most of all, it made me really sad that things have gotten to this point.

via

The Skilled Veteran Corps, a team of pensioners ready to save Japan from radiation

A group of 200 old people in Japan, organized by 72-year old Yasuteru Yamada, are volunteering to work at the Fukushima power plant.

Volunteering to take the place of younger workers at the power station is not brave, Mr Yamada says, but logical.

Mr Yamada has been getting back in touch with old friends via e-mail and even messages on Twitter. "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live," he says.

"Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer."

There's a video interview in English here. The stupidest part of the interview is when the BBC reporter asks: "Are you kamikaze pensioners?" I love how the guy being interviewed politely says, no, not at all. "We are not kamikaze. The kamikaze were something strange, no risk management there."

via the BBC

Watch my Web 2.0 Expo keynote online (updated)

Hey guess what? I'm giving a keynote presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco this Thursday, 3/31 at 10:15am PST about how the earthquake could jump start innovation in Japan. You can watch the live stream of my talk here. Oh, and right here even! (Updated with recording)

This is what I'm going to be talking about, roughly:

My speaker page