Earthquake Open Thread

I have a busy day today — legal stuff — so blogging will be minimal until much later.  I figure, though, that news about the earthquake (which I’ve been reading between making breakfast and kid lunches), should be more than enough to keep people’s brains busy.

My thoughts are with those in the affected areas.  I’m just grateful that the Japanese have planned for this type of event, and that they didn’t suffer the devastating losses one always sees in Third World/Communist/Totalitarian countries (i.e., Haiti, Iran, China, etc.), when they’re hit by an earthquake.