(UPDATED with additional information) Video of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Crash-Landing at SFO

(UPDATE) According to Reuters, one of the two Chinese girls who died may have been run over by an emergency vehicle. According to another Reuters article, this was the very first landing on San Francisco Airport on Boeing 777 for the Asiana pilot, who was training on 777 with 43 hours so far. The co-pilot who had significantly more hours (3,220) on 777 and overall was assisting the pilot.

In an CNN interview, an American on board Asiana Flight 214 said ambulances didn't come for more than 20 minutes, and when they did, the crew ignored his word that there were people behind the plane who fell out of the back of the plane.

That's where the girls were.

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from CNN:

Just heard on the radio news: the plane was coming in at a speed significantly lower than the speed for landing. So the plane stalled.

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(UPDATED) 2,500 US Walmart Stores Selling "Japanese" Cuisine Pushed by Japanese Food Giant Ajinomoto

(Update 1/20/2012: According to the customer service of Ajinomoto USA, the "Simmering Samurai" line of frozen food currently uses ingredients from China, Japan, the US and other countries, depending on the seasonality and availability.)

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since September 2011. There is no critical thinking behind the CNN article below; if there were, the writer would have asked questions like "Where are the ingredients coming from?"

It looks Ajinomoto, of MSG fame, makes "Simmering Samurai" frozen food in its Oregon manufacturing facility, according to the article, but it's not clear from the article. So I went to Ajinomoto's site, and it is still not clear. All they say about ingredients (for pot stickers, not for "Simmering Samurai" line of frozen food) is:

Before accepting any ingredients, they are thoroughly checked for freshness & quality. If they pass Ajinomoto's strict quality standards, they are received.

Looking at the package, "Simmering Samurai" looks more Chinese than Japanese.

(What a stupid naming.)

From CNN (9/12/2011):

Walmart bringing 'real' Japanese food to the United States
Millions rejoice on discovering it's not going to be sushi rolls again

Spend any time in Japan and you’ll soon realize that the local cuisine is the Best In The World (there, we said it). But return home and the old “What next?” question arises all too soon.

Luckily, if you’re in the good ole U.S. of A, Japanese catering giant Ajinomoto is riding to the rescue and pushing its Japanese culinary expertise to the masses through a new deal with Walmart.

Country-wide deal

Later this month, Tokyo-based Ajinomoto will start selling its existing “Simmering Samurai” range at 2,500 Walmart outlets across the United States, giving it what it hopes will be a fast track to the American stomach.

The frozen lineup will include Chicken Fried Rice, Orange Chicken and Beef Broccoli, each selling for about $9, and enough to feed three or four.

Changing tastes

Ajinomoto says it’s looking to growing U.S. demand for ethnic foods to help it sell more Japanese lines. Previously, it had concentrated on mostly niche products with typically expensive price tags.

Now, however, the firm is able to team up with a big-box retailer like Walmart as it has a manufacturing base in Oregon that helps keeps costs down.

Bonus fact: Ajinomoto also holds naming rights to the 50,000-seat Ajinomoto Stadium soccer arena in Chofu, Tokyo, which is home to two pro soccer teams.

Update: Yes, we know full well the dishes aren't particularly Japanese -- one would assume Ajinomoto has done trials to see what works well in the United Stated and planned accordingly. Food has a long history of "adapting" to fit the target market, after all.

(H/T anon reader)

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CNN Has the Most Details in "Radioactive Iodine, Cesium Found in Urine Samples of 15 Fukushima Residents" News

For reference, the information contained in the Kyodo News Japanese reporting the same news (final version) is highlighted in blue (not in the exact words but content).

From CNN (6/27/2011):

(CNN) -- Japanese researchers have found radiation in all 15 people tested last month from the area near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Cesium was found in the participants, ranging from 4 to 77 years old, through two rounds of testing conducted by Nanao Kamada at the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine of Hiroshima University.

Kamada insisted that the cesium numbers are minute and do not represent a health threat.

The people tested lived in the towns of Iitate and Kawamata, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the nuclear plant.

The participants were also tested for radioactive iodine, which was found in the urine of six Fukushima prefecture residents.

The urine samples from a 77-year-old man in the first round of tests indicated radioactivity as high as 3.2 millisieverts. However, no iodine was found from the urine of the same man in the second round of tests, ruling out the possibility of air contamination.

"The cause might be that they ate contaminated vegetables and mushrooms before the restrictions, not by inhaling contaminated air," Kamada said, referring to a large scale restriction on Fukushima produce following the incident at the plants on March 11.

The data indicated that accumulated external exposure was between 4.9 and 13.5 millisieverts for the two months after the accident -- a number which could exceed the government limit of 20 millisieverts per year if they continue living in the area.

"From the perspective of protecting human health from radiation, it is clear that they unfortunately cannot continue to live in their homes," Kamada said. About 7,500 people were evacuated from the communities by the end of May, although some folks continue to live in Iitate.

The first test was conducted May 5, while the second was conducted at the end of the month. The results were announced to the residents June 19.

Kyodo added extra (in red, below) which is not in CNN, and which, it turns out, the doctor never said:

"If they do not eat contaminated vegetables from now on, there is no need to worry. But they cannot continue to live in their homes if the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident doesn't wind down," Kamada said, indicating agreement with the national government's policy that designated the area as "planned evacuation zone".

Kyodo News never mentioned radioactive iodine, never mentioned external exposure. It did mention the age of the subjects (4 to 77), radiation of about 3 millisieverts and the dates of the tests in the earlier version of the news, but deleted the information in the final version. In the earlier version, there was no mention of Professor Kamada agreeing with the national government policy or commenting on the Fukushima plant.

Of course, CNN in turn could be making up the stories...

(h/t doitsujin for CNN link)

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CNN's Ben Wedeman from Inside #Libya: Benghazi Celebrates

This is a still shot from CNN's Ben Wedeman's video report from #Benghazi on February 23, 2011. This is just awesome (for lack of more flamboyant word). Click on the photo to go to the Youtube video.

It's almost better that the West and the international organizations like UN have managed to stay out of Libya (not by design but by incompetence) while determined people in Libya take back one city after another, though with immense sacrifice.

I have no doubt that they will reclaim all of their country from Gaddafi and his dwindling but still very deadly followers.

CNN's Ben Wedeman tweeted that storeowners in Benghazi are refusing to take money from journalists, as they are just happy to have them there. Also, "Heard in Benghazi: "Ben Ali of #Tunisia fell on a Friday, Mubarak of #Egypt fell on a Friday, Qaddafi will fall this Friday."

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First Western TV Journalist into #Libya: CNN's Ben Wedeman

From CNN's This Just In (2/21/2011):

In eastern Libya, citizens buoyant and cautious as they await Gadhafi's move

(Editor's note: CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from eastern Libya after crossing into that country from Egypt. He is the first Western television correspondent to enter and report from Libya during the current crisis.)

"Your passports please," said the young man in civilian clothing toting an AK-47 at the Libyan border.

"For what?" responded our driver, Saleh, a burly, bearded man who had picked us up just moments before. "There is no government. What is the point?" He pulled away with a dismissive laugh.

On the Libyan side, there were no officials, no passport control, no customs.

I've seen this before. In Afghanistan after the route of the Taliban, in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Government authority suddenly evaporates. It's exhilarating on one level; its whiff of chaos disconcerting on another.

The scene on the Libyan side of the border was jarring. Men - and teenage boys - with clubs, pistols and machine guns were trying to establish a modicum of order.

Hundreds of Egyptian workers were trying to get out, their meager possessions - bags, blankets, odds and ends - piled high on top of minibuses.

Egyptian border officials told us that 15,000 people had crossed from Libya on Monday alone.

"Welcome to free Libya," said one of the armed young men now controlling the border.

"Free Libya" was surprisingly normal, once we got out of the border area. We stopped for petrol - there were no lines - and saw some stores were open. The electricity was working. The cell phone system is still functioning, though you can't call abroad. The internet, however, has been down for days.

On the other hand, we did see regular groups of more armed young men in civilian clothing, stopping cars, checking IDs, asking questions. All were surprised, but happy, to see the first television news crew to cross into Libya since the uprising began February 15.

They were polite, if a tad giddy. Having thrown off the yoke of Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule (longer than most Libyans have been alive), it's understandable.

Read the full article at the link.

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US Express "Dismay" at the Sentencing of a US Geologist While Making It "Class D Felony" to Film Oil Cleanup in the Gulf

Irony is sweet. The Chinese-born US geologist's sentence is eerily similar to what the federal Class D felony charges may involve.

First, the geologist:

China Court Jails U.S. Geologist for Eight Years on State Secrets Charges (7/5/2010 Bloomberg)

"A U.S. geologist was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Chinese court after being convicted of violating the state secrets law by selling a database on the country’s oil industry.

"The U.S. said it was “dismayed” by the sentence given to Xue Feng and remains concerned about his rights to due process under Chinese law. Xue was also fined 200,000 yuan ($29,550) today by a Beijing court at a hearing that was attended by U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Richard Buangan, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said. Calls to Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court and the Foreign Ministry weren’t answered today." [Emphasis is mine. The article continues.]

Now, our own Class D felony charges:

BP plc And The Administration Replace First Amendment With $40,000 Fine And Class D Felony (Tyler Durden, 7/3/2010 Zero Hedge)

"CNN's Anderson Cooper, one of the few people who apparently hasn't or isn't leaving the troubled news network (surely Ted Turner has learned by now from CNBC that his female anchors should wear transparent body suits, show belly button deep cleavage, and install a stripper pole or seventeen for those ever more elusive Nielsen points), reports some troubling developments out of New Orleans. "The coast guard today announced new rules keeping photographers, reporters and anyone else from coming within 65 feet of any response vessel or booms, out on the water or on beaches. In order to get closer you need to get direct permission from the coast guard captain of the Port of New Orleans. Shots of oil on beaches with booms - stay 65 feet away. Pictures of oil soaked booms useless laying in the water because they haven't been collected like they should. You can't get close enough to see that. And believe me, that is out there. But you only know that if you get close to it, and now you can't without permission. Violators could face a fine of $40,000 and class D felony charges. The coast guard tried to make the exclusion zone 300 feet before scaling it down to 65 feet."" [Emphasis is mine. The article continues, and includes CNN's clip, which is linked below.]

Here's federal Class D Felony sentencing, according to Wikipedia.org:

Maximum prison term: Less than 10 years but 5 or more years
Maximum fine: $250,000
Maximum supervised release term: 3 years
Special assessment (to fund the federal Crime Victims Fund): $100

Listen particularly to the two Parish Presidents fighting against the feds to get the job done.

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