Thoughts

Some flight of idea after the earthquake:

• Muammar Gaddafi should be very happy – nobody would now have the time and pay any attention to his doings.
• It was Chile (February 2010), then New Zealand, and now Japan. Following the geography of the earthquake belt, the next stop should be Los Angeles. (Oh, I may have exaggerated a bit. By serious geology, the more likely next should be in the middle of Pacific Ocean, at the opposite side of the Philippine Plate, or the Alaska, which is over the other side of the Pacific Plate.)
• The price of petroleum (and coal) would rise despite a (transient) downturn of the economy, not only because much is needed for the rebuilt of a country, but, more importantly, there would be a halt in the increase in usage of nuclear power.
• Impressive political leaders tend to emerge from an admirable people after a catastrophe. Adolf Hitler was elected by the Germans in the despair of the Treaty of Versailles. Our friends also had Hideki Tojo (and a list of other prime ministers from the navy and army) after the Great Kantō earthquake.
• In fact, the most efficient way to boost up the economy is, unfortunately, to start a war – or, to say the least, to be involved in one. (See how the Americans came out of the Great Depression.)