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Grim search for dead three weeks after Japan quake

Thousands of Japanese and US troops launched an intensive air and sea operation on Friday to recover bodies still left from the huge earthquake and tsunami three weeks ago.

The grim search came as the government revealed radiation from a nuclear power plant crippled by the twin disaster had been found in groundwater, with contamination already reported in the air, ocean and food.

Japan is still struggling to cope with its worst post-war crisis three weeks after the seafloor quake struck on March 11, leaving about 28,000 people dead or missing.

In the search for bodies, Japanese and US armed forces deployed 120 aircraft and 65 ships for a three-day operation along the northeast coast, where houses, ships, cars and trains still lay scattered across the muddy wastelands.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan was to address the nation and then on Saturday fly to the devastated port of Rikuzentakata, and "J-village", the base for hundreds of emergency crew who have battled at great risk to prevent a nuclear meltdown at the crippled Fukushima power plant.

Kan, who had donned emergency worker uniform since the disaster, switched to business attire Friday, showing that he now was looking to "the next stage" of restoration, government spokesman Yukio Edano said.

At the Fukushima plant, which has been leaking radiation, workers readied to spray resin on the rubble of blast-hit reactor buildings as part of their tense stop-and-go effort aimed at shutting the plant down.

The environmental impact was worsening, with high levels of iodine-131 found in groundwater 15 metres (50 feet) below the plant's reactor number one, and at more than 4,000 times the maximum safe level nearby in the Pacific Ocean.

Vegetable, dairy and other food shipments from four prefectures in the area have been stopped because of radiation, which the health ministry said has now also been found in beef from 70 kilometres (40 miles) away.

The government has issued assurances that no water or food contamination had yet reached levels that would have an immediate impact on public health.

Japan's nuclear safety agency said Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the much-criticised operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, had for a time not had enough radiation meters for workers battling to stabilise the facility.

The agency had admonished TEPCO, instructing it "to do the utmost to manage workers' exposure levels," and by Friday it had sourced enough meters for its emergency crew, said agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.

TEPCO, one of the world's largest utilities, could face huge costs and compensation claims, but it may end up receiving taxpayer money because of the need to maintain a stable power supply, local media said.

"It's not an option we've ruled out so far," Yukio Edano told a regular press briefing, responding to media reports stating that a fund injection was under consideration.

Japan has resisted a nudge from the UN nuclear watchdog this week to widen the 20-kilometre evacuation zone around the nuclear plant and clear people out of the village of Iitate, 40 kilometres northwest of the facility.

Of the village's 6,000 residents, 3,800 were still there on Thursday, said local official Takashi Kobayashi by telephone.

"We are aware that a high level of radiation has been detected. But residents feel it's best to stay home... They need to take care of their cattle and other livestock," he said.

Up to 1,000 bodies were still lying amid the tsunami's muddy debris on the coastline within the 20-kilometre exclusion zone, out of reach of rescue workers who cannot enter because of the high radiation, Kyodo News reported.

The bodies had been "exposed to high levels of radiation after death", one official was quoted as saying, and there was concern that they were now too contaminated to be safely recovered, or even to be cremated.

In Tokyo, meanwhile, cherry trees started to blossom, usually a treasured spring event that symbolises the fragility of life, but any celebrations in the capital promised to be muted this weekend.

Tokyo's Ueno park, which usually attracts some of the largest crowds to revel below the "sakura" trees' pink canopy, has cancelled the parties for the first time since World War II, organiser Masahiro Kayano told AFP.

Anderson Seafoods Announces Fresh New Selections For Spring And Summer

s most trusted seafood source for over 30 years, announces their latest selection of the freshest seasonal fish for spring and summer.Now available for the first time to home cooks across the country, Anderson Seafoods (formerly a wholesale-only operation) ships restaurant-quality seafood directly to consumers’ doors via overnight delivery. Seafood lovers across the country can shop and place orders from home or office simply by logging on to .

From the cold, clear waters of Scotland to the Hawaiian tropics and the Pacific Northwest, Anderson Seafoods works with a direct network of suppliers around the globe to obtain specialties including Loch Duart Salmon, Alaskan Halibut, Fijan Ono and Jumbo Crab Meat.

All products are hand-selected at the Anderson Seafoods’ state of the art facility, and packaged in an eco-friendly container designed to maintain its contents at or below 38°F.Deliveries ship overnight and right to the consumer’s door.All Anderson Seafood’s facilities are inspected by the USDC (United States Department of Commerce) and are HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points) approved, in order to ensure the highest quality seafood available.

Consumers no longer need to make a trip to a specialty store in order to get fresh fish with Anderson Seafoods delivering restaurant-quality seafood right to your front door.

The website also features testimonials from consumers who love the convenience and quality of the products they have received.

“Most people do not realize that the seafood purchased from Anderson Seafoods is 3-8 days fresher than what is available at the typical grocery store,” says Dennis Anderson, President of Anderson Seafoods. “With the simple and delicious recipes featured on our website by Executive Chef Kelly Mullarney, you can create an amazing meal to rival the finest restaurants in your own kitchen.”

When entertaining guests or barbequing with your family, order from Anderson Seafoods’ unparalleled assortment of fresh, frozen and smoked seafood, as well as prepared entrees and specialty items. Orders placed online Monday through Thursday before 1:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time will ship to arrive the following morning by 10:30 a.m. To view today’s fresh selections, seasonal recipes, and more, visit .

About Anderson Seafoods:Anderson Seafoods was established in 1979, with the goal of providing premium seafood products and superior service to our valued clients in sustainable and innovative ways. Starting from a small family venture in Orange, California, Anderson Seafoods has evolved into a full-scale, state-of-the-art operation and is recognized as a leading authority in the seafood industry. Anderson Seafoods has established its own network of direct sources for fresh and frozen products from around the world including Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, the East Coast, Asia and South America. With wild caught seafood, the company refrains from doing business with those who engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated methods. All facilities are USDC (United States Department of Commerce) inspected and seafood sources are HACCP approved.

***Recipe for Seared Salmon with Summer Succotash follows. Photos are available.

Recipe for Seared Salmon with Summer SuccotashServes 2

Ingredients2 Pieces             6-7oz Anderson Seafoods’ Salmon Filets¼Cup                 Pure Olive Oil1tsp                    Salt & Black Pepper Mix (3 parts Kosher Salt / 1 part Black Pepper)1TBSP             Extra Virgin Olive Oil¼tsp                 Flakey Sea Salt (Fleur du Sel)

Accompaniments¼ Cup Herb Salad (Chop Dill, Parsley, Chives & Tarragon and toss lightly with Olive Oil, Salt & Lemon)1Cup Summer Succotash (Fresh Corn, Haricot Verts and Cherry Tomatoes, tossed lightly with Olive Oil and Salt & Pepper)

DirectionsSeason the Salmon Filets with Salt & Pepper Mix.Drizzle the Olive Oil over the Salmon to completely coat the filets.

Allowing the Salmon to marinate with this mixture, prepare the Herb salad and Summer Succotash.

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F. Heat a heavy skillet on a medium flame.

Place the oiled and seasoned Salmon Filets into the pan with the meat side down first.

Allow to cook until a brown crust forms around the edges. (Approximately 2 Minutes)

Turn the Salmon over and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes until the skin begins to crisp. (NOTE: If you are cooking Skinless Salmon, look for the same brown crusted edges as before)

Place the skillet into the pre-heated oven for an additional 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the filets.Salmon is done when it flakes easily with a fork but is still moist.

PlatingSpoon the Summer Succotash mixture into the bottom of the bowl.Lay the Seared Salmon Filet on top of the Summer Succotash.Drizzle some Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the Salmon Filet.Arrange the Herb Salad on top and serve.Finish the dish with a sprinkle of Flakey Sea Salt. (Fleur du Sel)

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Julie Lyons858-523-9020Email Information

In search of the 'Obama doctrine'

Obama doctrine” to explain why the United States was suddenly pursuing a third conflict in a Muslim nation.

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser and one of Obama’s most highly regarded speechwriters, ticked off the factors that led his reluctant commander-in-chief to act: Muammar Qadhafi’s threat of a massacre against his own people, support from an international coalition and “the provision of humanitarian assistance” to rebels.

Yet after 800 words, the eloquent Rhodesas compact or pithy as the “Bush doctrine” Obama ran against in 2008, a black-and-white commitment to supporting democratic movements and using unilateral American firepower to back them when necessary.

That difficulty in succinctly describing the intellectual framework for Obama’s approach to U.S. foreign policy and national security issues has long bedeviled anyone trying to impute a concrete agenda from Obama’s soaring pronouncements about supporting democracy and fostering international human rights.

Republicans, especially the neo-conservatives who gave enthusiastic support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, have sought to paint Obama’s nuanced approach as fundamentally weak. “We used to relish leading the free world. Now, it’s almost like leading the free world is an inconvenience,”(R-S.C.) said on Fox News Sunday.

Obama’s reluctance to embrace an easily definable approach to the world stands in stark contrast to many of his predecessors, such as Richard Nixon, who relied on regional surrogates, like the Shah-run Iran, and Ronald Reagan who was committed to anti-communist “freedom fighters” on several continents.

In a debate against Graham’s good friendin the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Obama declared he was “not going to be as doctrinaire as the Bush doctrine, because the world is complicated,” and he’s often railed against the oversimplified world view he believes led to the war in Iraq.

But on Libya, Obama’s opacity is , as critics fromon his rationale for taking action and for a more specific articulation of his vision for American goals and aspirations in the Mideast and elsewhere.

“There’s just no quick way to define it,” said Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation, who is generally supportive of the president’s foreign policy. “He’s genuinely committed to human rights but in actualizing those principles he’s fundamentally a pragmatist. He runs against cookie-cutter approaches. So he knows what you do in Egypt isn’t the same as what you do in Libya and that isn’t the same as what you do in Bahrain.”

The problem, added Clemons, is “so far he hasn’t come out with a new strategy for all of what this means for America… But every president eventually has a ‘doctrine’ because every president has a track record. And Obama’s defining his now.”

In an interview with CNN Tuesday, Obama suggested that many Americans have trouble reconciling his sharp opposition to the Iraq War – and his acceptance of a Nobel Peace prize — with his .

“I’m accustomed to this contradiction of being both a commander-in-chief but also somebody who aspires to peace,” Obama told CNN late Tuesday.

Over the past several years, observers have strained to weave a consistent worldview from the filaments of Obama’s high-impact speeches and articles, starting with his 2007 Foreign Affairs article calling on America to “lead by deed and example” following the bloody Iraqi insurgency.

During the 2008 Democratic primaries, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton – who prodded Obama towards taking action in Libya as his Secretary of State – tried to paint his foreign policy as one of appeasing dictators after Obama expressed a willingness to talk directly to Iran’s leadership during a primary debate.

A few months later Obama told the Associated Press that “preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn’t a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.” Tufts University professor Daniel Drezner has thus used the term “Obama doctrine” to describe the president’s belief in discarding “useless conflicts” like Iraq for more important ones, like Afghanistan.

And in fact the broad definition of Obama’s approach has been a desire to scale back the role of the U.S. from its Bush-era embrace of being a global cop capable of solving every problem that crops up.

“The United States remains the most powerful, wealthiest nation on Earth, but we’re only one nation, and the problems that we confront… can’t be solved just by one country,” Obama told the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago two years ago.

Nonetheless, there’s always been an aspirational countercurrent in Obama’s exhortation of democratic movements. During his famous speech in Cairo in June 2009, he expressed his support for “all elected peaceful governments [that] govern with respect for all their people.”

The wave of democratic unrest and revolutionary fervor sweeping North Africa and the Gulf has tested that commitment. And in response, Obama, along with National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, has added a very significant new point — a call on all repressive regimes, from Mubarak to Qadhafi, to allow peaceful protests and a free press.

From there, it was a single, significant step to providing military protection for demonstrators at risk of being slaughtered by their rulers, like the rebels in Libya.

Obama, speaking to reporters in El Salvador on Tuesday, argued that he was serving American interests by supporting a military operation that over the weekend prevented, at the 11th hour, the possible massacre of thousands of civilians in rebel-held Benghazi.

“[W]ith respect to our national interests, the American people and the United States have an interest, first of all, in making sure that where a brutal dictator is threatening his people and saying he will show no mercy and go door-to-door hunting people down, and we have the capacity under international sanction to do something about that,” he said.

For the first time, he also envisioned a domino effect scenario in which other autocratic regimes would be emboldened by the success of the kind of violent tactics practiced by Qadhafi.

“We have a huge national interest in making sure that those are successful because if Egypt can make a transition from an autocratic regime to a democracy, if Tunisia can make those same changes, they become models for a peaceful transition that at some point may be adopted by other countries in the region,” he said.

“If on the other hand, they spill into chaos…that could have spillover effects in the entire region,” Obama added.

“So not only do we have a humanitarian interest, but we also have a very practical interest in making sure that the changes that are sweeping through that region are occurring in a peaceful, nonviolent fashion.”

An Obama aide gave POLITICO a simpler explanation: “We want to be on the right side of this… If we didn’t act, those kids [pro-democracy demonstrators] would have viewed it as a betrayal.”

Yet this is no blanket doctrine: Neither Obama nor anyone else in his administration has so much as whispered about a military response to the brutal crackdowns that are also taking place in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Iran.

“We’re going to go after dictators who are vulnerable, not countries with nuclear weapons or Iran with a population of 70 million,” says Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former Defense Department official who is now an analyst with WikiStrat, an international consulting firm.

“But,” pointing to Libya, “a country with 5, 6, 7 million people, all clustered on the coast in a few cities? Sure. Why not?”

In Libya, Obama’s decision to embrace a military solution was motivated less by hard-and-fast philosophical principles than by answering “yes” to four threshold questions:

First, could the U.S. stop a potential massacre without straining overstretched American military assets?

Second, was Qadhafi vulnerable enough to be seriously impacted by military action?

Third, could the U.S. get out fast?

Lastly, and most important of all, Obama asked if other countries could take the lead, at least publicly – a condition met late last week, only after the fractious Arab League, and then the U.N. Security Council, signed off on a no-fly zone.

That’s a point Obama has made repeatedly, thereby provoking the criticism of Graham and other Republicans who say the U.S. should always be in the lead.

There is still, of course, a still-unanswered fifth question: Can the operation actually oust Qadhafi?

Obama begged that question on Tuesday – saying the operation was already a success because it has “already saved lives,” regardless of whether a weakened Qadhafi managed to hold onto power.

“Our hope is that the first thing that happens once we clear this space is that the rebels start discussing how they’re able to organize themselves, how they articulate their aspirations for the Libyan people,” he told CNN.

Read More Stories from POLITICO

'Wimpy Kid' knocks out 'Sucker Punch' at box office

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules," the second screen adaptation from the popular kids book series, earned $23.8 million at the weekend box office, industry data showed Monday.

The original film, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," was released just last March, opening to $22.1 million and ultimately grossing $64 million in the United States.

Box office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported that second place went to "Sucker Punch," an action fantasy flick about a group of young vixens busting out of an insane asylum, which debuted at $19.1 million dollars.

Last week's box office winner "Limitless," a sci-fi film starring Bradley Cooper as an author who taps his brain's full potential after sampling a revolutionary new drug, fell to third with $15.1 million in sales.

Fourth place went to the Matthew McConaughey-starring drama "The Lincoln Lawyer" which grossed $10.8 million.

Paramount's eccentric animated film "Rango," with the voice talent of Johnny Depp in a tale about a chameleon who becomes sheriff to clean up the town of Dirt, was fifth with $9.8 million in ticket sales.

Science fiction romp "Paul" took in $7.9 million to make sixth place, followed by "Battle: Los Angeles" about a unit of alien-fighting US Marines, which made $7.6 million in tickets sold across North America.

The gothic fairytale retelling "Red Riding Hood," was eighth with $4.3 million in sales.

The ninth spot went "The Adjustment Bureau" with $4.3 million, while "Mars Needs Moms!" fell two places to take the number 10 spot, with $2.3 million.

We R’ Moms Has a Free, Global–Wide Solution to Help Fight Astronomical Gas Prices

Moms has a free, global-wide solution to help families fight the astronomical gas prices and also help the environment! Whether in Los Angeles or Paris, the tool works because it is used to coordinate carpools with friends. Families are always on-the-go, whether to school or the kids’ sports games, the list of activities never ends – but there’s no need to coordinate getting there alone. The We R’ Moms private, carpooling tool helps organize, coordinate participants and also sends reminders to pick up the kids. GO GREEN! We R' Moms is a social network with purpose.

Coto de Caza, California (Vocus/PRWEB) March 27, 2011

has a free solution for that queasy feeling when families see the latest gas prices.Use the We R’ Moms carpooling feature to organize, coordinate participants and send reminders to the drivers.Just as important as ease of use, is the fact that their carpooling tool is private – participating is by invitation only, so trusted friends and families drive the kids to their events.Its’ features uniquely benefit families on-the-go, whether coordinating rides for soccer games, field trips or rides to church.In this day of school budget cuts when the buses have been eliminated – coordinating those safe rides getting to and from school is made easy with this tool!Another benefit – it’s green.We R’ Moms continues its efforts to improve life in the world community by promoting green awareness for families, providing Mom-i-nars (webinars for moms) to help moms learn about topics dear to their hearts and suggest worthy organizations to support.

The next two Mom-i-nars offered by We R’ Moms are:“Understand Your Child – Temperament Matters” and “Moms, Put Your Oxygen Masks on 1st! Preserving Moms’ Health.”The Mom-i-nars are interactive and affordable. Timing Conflict? No problem. We R' Moms understands that life happens while you are making other plans. All Mom-i-nars will be recorded and accessible to you 24/7, for the first 7 days after each Mom-i-nar. Listen to it when YOU can. Additionally, if moms want to see a previously recorded Mom-i-nar, they can be accessed in the We R’ Moms Library.Got questions?Contact We R’ Moms at:info(at)wermoms(dot)com

How to Register: Go to: Decide on how many Mom-i-nars you wish to attendEnter those in the text boxClick on the Drop down Paypal button and choose 1, 2, or 3 Mom-i-narsClick on Buy NowMake your Paypal paymentPrior to the Mom-i-nar, you will receive an email with access information.Remember, the recorded Mom-i-nar will be accessible for 7 days following the live Mom-i-nar!

is a free moms’ social network whose mission is to help moms get through their busy days. We R’ Moms provides social networking functionality with a purpose – whether arranging a carpool and thereby reducing society’s footprint on the planet, assembling experts to help moms learn about topics that interest them with Mom-i-nars (webinars for moms), or supporting organizations like Second Harvest to feed the hungry, We R’ Moms cares.

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Penny TeeWe R' Moms714-271-5434Email Information