I sure hope they shut down their freaking nuclear plants NOW and be prepared this time, instead letting all their waste float out to the West Coast of the United States!!!

Whats wrong with you people?

American Girl, there is a pretty big difference between a storm surge and a tsunami. To bad all of you (except J.H) don't have any concern for those that are going to die, because inevitably, some are going to.

Brace for it! Hope for the best which I'm sure will turn out just fine.

Margie must be a real winner - every post she/he/it makes gets deleted. Who you really mad at Margie?

Doesn't look like the place to be - no major inland to flee to.

My brother was stationed there in the 1970's - I can still picture that Tux he bought...omg, Jimi Hendrix would have been proud to own it.

Godzilla coming.

Most of the buildings on Okinawa are built to withstand Typhoons though, they should be fine. All the troops will be having "Typhoon Parties" all weekend, good times :-)

Brokinarrow,

"Most of the buildings on Okinawa are built to withstand Typhoons though"

That's true. I was in at Kadena AB, Okinawa, in 1976 during super typhoon Fran there. Super typhoon Fran had winds of 150 MPH. We just sat around the barracks getting drunk since there is not much else to do during a typhoon. They called that having a "typhoon party" as you mentioned in your post. There wasn't much real damage to anything, though; just the sound of the wind howling outside.

The only things that might be knocked down are some fences and trees with mudslides.

Japan has been hit hard enough in recent years, and I sincerely hope that this is the non-event you think it's going to be and that you guys are right!

I was stationed at MCAS Futenma in the early '90's, and we had a couple of smaller typhoons there. We were given MRE's (Meals Rejected by Everyone), and told to stay indoors. However, we had a really good set of snack machines in the lounge also. There were a couple of guys who took a mop bucket with wheels, fashioned a poncho into a sail, and were taking turns going across the barracks parking lot with the wind catching the poncho sail. Most of the time, they ended up wiping out, but one actually did make it across the barracks parking lot. Okinawa should be fine, their buildings are the best at being hurricane ready.

Andrew,

"MRE's (Meals Rejected by Everyone)"

That's funny! I never heard that before. Is that really what you guys call MRE's?

somebody summon Gamera!!

With the latest improvements to the MRE's they are now known as Meals Ready to Exit... Or Meals Refusing to Exit.....But when its all ya got...its all ya got! Eat and be merry my friends!

JustanotherVeteran,

"But when its all ya got...its all ya got!"

That's right. MRE's taste delicious when you are starving just as there's nothing like plain old water when you are dying of thirst.

Karma is a bitch...

Woo hoo Okinawa typhoon parties were the best!

Mre's stand for meal ready to eat btw.They replaces sea rations.

Erock

C- Rations as in Combat Rations. They were replaced by the MRE, Meal Ready to eat, Meals Refused by Ethiopeans et alia. Even though GIs will always grumble, if it is all you have, you eat.

MRE's were also well known as "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians". That name wasn't by accident either, as I seem to recall during the time I was in the military the federal gov't was trying to help out the starving people in Ethiopia by helicoptering in these boxes of MRE's. I don't think the Ethiopians knew what to make of that, but yeah, "Meals Rejected by Everyone", and "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians" were the more comical ones. When I was on desert deployments in Arizona/California, we would be living in MASH tents, and we'd have two MREs plus one hot meal sent in by the base mess hall. If you had a way to heat up the main courses in them (with a Sterno and a metal canteen cup, for example), then they were o.k. For those here who are adventurous, MRE's are still sold in Army/Navy surplus stores. Only problem is they are sold by the case, not the individual meal packets.

I never had MRE's but can attest to the C Rations (guess you could say I am an old timer compared to you young whipper snappers (LOL), but even with the grumbling, there were some pretty darn good c rats, especially the canned tuna. For those of us that smoked cigarettes (have since become a non-smoker) you even got a small 5 pack, more often you got newport cigarettes or if you were lucky, you got lucky strikes or marlboros.

I do hope that those in harms way are fortunate to survive with minimal damage or injury, I have no clue as to how prepared they are in South Korea.

Andrew,

"I seem to recall during the time I was in the military the federal gov't was trying to help out the starving people in Ethiopia"

I know what you mean. I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant one time in Washington DC, and having heard about the starving Ethiopians, I was half expecting them to put an empty plate in front of me. It was actually very good, though. It was very spicy food.

Voiceinmyhead,

"I have no clue as to how prepared they are in South Korea."

Neither do I. I was stationed in South Korea back in 1980. But I was stationed at Osan AB which is near Seoul and not by the sea coast. So I have no idea how well prepared they are for typhoons.

I've been to Osan AB before on deployment. Nice base there. They are more inland (being close to Seoul and the DMZ). The typhoon is expected to come up from the south over land in South Korea, so it should weaken quite a bit, as that area is pretty mountainous. That tends to weaken hurricanes/typhoons considerably.

Yes, it is mountainous, Andrew. Which branch of the service were (or are) you in? The Marine Corps?

Yep, I was in the Marines (active duty). I did two tours of Japan, the first one on the mainland (MCAS Iwakuni for those who know the bases) in the mid '80's, then in the early 90's was stationed at MCAS Futenma for about six months with a reserve helicopter squadron. The first tour I did a deployment to Osan AB. We were living in MASH tents not far from the base golf course. We'd have to look out for golf balls when we were exiting the camp, as the road went past the driving ranges. They had buses from the base that went back and forth into Seoul's Itaewon shopping district. The big thing back then was brass bed frames. Many service people bought brass bed frames dirt cheap and shipped them stateside to their wives.

Andrew,

"Yep, I was in the Marines (active duty). I did two tours of Japan, the first one on the mainland (MCAS Iwakuni for those who know the bases) in the mid '80's"

That's interesting. My younger brother was in the Marine Corps, and I know he was also stationed in Japan, but I'm not sure of the name of the base. That was back during the Vietnam war, and his job was avionics. He got out around 1974, though, so it isn't likely you would have met him.

Why do we even have bases over there? In case the muslims come after us, we will be that much closer? Do these asians have our back? They've got their own problems. We've got service people getting envolved with these back-wards a$$ people, getting married then coming to the states, it's a free ride for them, makes me sick that we can't mind our own damed business. Stop marrying these outsiders and giving them a free stamp in their pass-port to enter our country. Do you know how many asians spys we have in this country? A service man or women probably married them and let let enter legally.

To be followed by dec. 22, 2012 no doubt!

Note to everyone who thinks the world will end this year: Send me your stuff.

And there will be a 2013, 2014, 2015 date, etc. In reality, only our creator knows when the world will end, unless humans artifically end it prematurely.

For an interesting read go to the religious tolerance web site. There have been more than 20 end of the world predictions just this year. So unless I missed it I am still here as are you. Since Christ left 2,000 years ago there have been over 2,000 end of the world prophesies. They have one thing in common, they have all been WRONG!

denver bill 2,

"Note to everyone who thinks the world will end this year: Send me your stuff."

The world will definitely end this year for anyone who dies this year. When you die, the world ends for you.

You do realize that the thing with the Dec 21, 2012/Myans, says nothing about the end of the world. It states that life would change as we know it. This... coming from SCIENTISTS, not religious people, states that the earth will align between the sun and the milky way, affecting the earth's gravitational pull. Christians know that no one can predict the end other than God himself. So, it is not the Christians screaming the end of the world. It is idiots like you who treat the msn news reports as your bible. You believe anything the media tells you.

Well what ever I'm throwing a party on the 20th.

Jennifer: Be aware that this planetary allignment happens on a rgular basis. This is not the first time. If this allignment was going to end the world it would have done so a very long time ago!

Jennifer: Be aware that this planetary allignment happens on a rgular basis. This is not the first time. If this allignment was going to end the world it would have done so a very long time ago!

Agian.. the "End the world" comment. Nowhere in my statement did I say it was going to end the world. I am commenting on the posts above who say the Christians are claiming the world is going to end. Pay attention and keep up.

Jennifer-858849, thanks for the great laugh! Ha, ha, ha

Christians know that no one can predict the end other than God himself. - You believe anything the media tells you.

Yes some will believe the media and look like fools but not as big of fools as someone who believes a mythical story creature such as God.

Ha, ha, ha

the world should have ended about 5 months ago, as leap years were introduced after the Mayan calendar was written.....sorry to break it to everyone.

The funniest part about the end of the world theory based on the Mayan calendar is that when first asked about it, the Mayans had no idea what people were talking about!

Prior to that the calendar year had only 360 days for about a thousand years until we started using the system we use now for keeping dates.That would put the event 16.39 years in the future not factoring in leap years. 2 years even had 465 days in them back during the Roman times. So what does this do to the 12/21/2012 math?

Now I might be wrong about this, but I thought the date was irrelevant and that the Mayan calendar was simply referring to a planetary alignment, which will occur on 12/21/2012 by our calendar. Again, I might be wrong about that.

Having said that, I do believe they predicted a "transformative" event, not necessarily the end of the world just a change in the world. I however am with Space Cowboy on this one and am having a party on 12/21 :D Hey, it's the Friday before Christmas break, why not!

Sigh. The biblical meaning of Apocalypse is synonymous with REVELATION. You guys gotta realize the different between what the MEDIA says is going to happen and what our SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS HISTORY says is going to happen.

December 22nd will come to be, but thats not to say nothing is going to happen and thats not to say that something obvious is going to happen. Its going to be subtle. Its going to be a slow change. But soon we will hopefully break free from our hold on 'western society, the status quo, and making money'

that's just as stupid as believing the Mayan calendar. Why does anyone believe in a calendar created by a DEAD society and some book written a long time ago. The bible was probably written by a guy like L. Ron Hubbard, a drugged out criminal who wrote crappy books.

Hey Jennifer858-849;

I AM paying attention, and keeping up. What the heck was that gobble d gook about scientists, the earth, the sun, and the milky way?????????????? The earth cannot "align" between the sun and the milky way, unless maybe you're referring to the candy bar. Do you even know what the milky way is? It is a galaxy that has approximately 200 million star systems, containing approximately 400 to 500 million stars, of which our sun is one. Our planet cannot be aligned between the sun and the milky way because both of them are IN THE MILKY WAY!! When you make things up, don't attribute them to "scientists". There is going to be no astronomical alignments of any real consequence on that date. It takes 250 million years for our sun to orbit the center of our galaxy, the milky way. The sun has only made that orbit twenty times since its conception.

In reality, only our creator knows when the world will end, unless humans artifically end it prematurely.

Uhh, so wouldn't your all knowing creator know when humans are going to "artifically" end it, thus not making it premature?

<christian crickets chirping>

Come on now Jennifer, do you have to use inflammatory name calling (idiot) and make this post hateful?, please take a deep breath and a chill pill.

No one treats news reports as bibles, but I have to admit there are a lot of right wing fox news listeners who I would say have definitely been brainwashed. They even do that crazy fat man dance that Rush invented (he thinks he is so cute as he lumps and bumps his fat around for all to see). He gets so red in the face that sometimes I think his head is going to explode. I watch all the stations to get a clear perspective on who is shoveling the most bull and fox is clearly the winner.

Where are these Christians that you speak of saying the world is coming to an end? Only the creator knows when that will be. Who is the Creator? What is your proof. When was the last time you saw someone in this coutry yelling "in the Name of Christ" and then blowing up an abortion clinic? You must have been in another country, because I know that wasn't here. Just because the dollar says in God we Trust. Doesn't mean thats what we live by. Fighting for our freedom doesn't really apply either. No one has conquered this land since over 200 years ago. We arn't fighting for our freedom on this land-mass. We need new slogans. A good one would be. How dare you mess with us in the Middle-east. Yes. we are free. everyone else isn't Thats not our business.

They won't need that overpriced crap. The buildings are made to withstand these things.

Been there...Done that! MCAS Futenma....

Too bad it's hitting on the weekend instead of middle of the week heheh :-)

Been There Done that MCAS Futenma was Built by Sea Bees.. I worked there with MCB # 3 1960's

Been there done that! Kadena AB party on boys and girls. Don't go body surfing you will get smashed on the seawall.

i have not been there and i have not done that.sounds like fun though.

Been there done that Camp Foster '78. Our typhoon locker was a few bottles of Suntory whiskey in the back of a 5 ton used as a wind block to protect the camp data center.

You mean SUPER typhoon party!!!

woohoo! Kadena AB, 2 tours, plenty of those ;)

we need to close our bases up over there too. What is the reason that we are over there. Isn't this the same country that was responsible for Pearl Harbor? and we've been kissing their a$$ ever since. America needs to grow a pair and just leave these countries alone. They aren't doing anything for us. I don't see them sending troops to the middle east to fight for America's interest.

It must be Mothra flapping its wings...

Typhoon has come to unbury Mothra's egg.

I was actually thinking of King Ghidorah myself...

Could be Rodan flapping his wing too.

Read your history. The same kind of storm capsized two American destroyers in 1944.

1976 super typhoon Fran, go ahead and prepare yourself... Maybe you can get lucky and get on the show that National Geographic has going for the people preparing for all the take overs, economic collapse and apocalypse.

HOW - BRING IT ON :)

A typhoon also destroyed the Chinese invasion fleet in ancient times (Twice!).

That was the best. Good for them

Typhoonadicane! third typhoon, third tornado, third hurricane. In my neck of the woods fractional measurements are based on one unit, not one and a half!

Here's another for you.

Typhoonaradicalmuslim! half typhoon, half protesting Muslim over a stupid movie!!!

What is interesting is a typhoon and hurricane are one and the same. Hurricanes west of the international dateline in the Northwest Pacific Ocean are called typhoons.

John, you apparantly don't pay attention to your pop culture, Al Gore wouldnot be pleased. Watch out for ManBearPig, half man, half bear, half pig.

Ryan - do you know if the manbearpig will be looking for those 3-letter JOBS?

John1779666 - trust you to make this a Muslim bash, I think we should ship you to the Sudan so you can gain some first hand experience. Topic was Typhoon/Okinawa/South Korea/MRE's and Typhoon Party, plus a mop bucket with a poncho sail, sprinkled with lots of wind and some heavy rain. NOT A MUSLIM BASH THREAD, that is on a different board so please go there and I can plug you into my ignore feature.

John ... again you are out of touch, our troops have been there over 65 years, I do not believe President Obama was even a gleam in his dads eye yet.

Nope, no maximum wind limits set on a hurricane. 120 mph would only be a Cat 3 hurricane. 157 mph and over is a Cat 5 or, as they call them in pacific, a super typhoon.

So, this has never happen before?

happened tons of times. Okinawa is in "typhoon alley". they can handle it... the GIs stationed there will have big parties while they are locked down...

Ironic thing is that Okinawa DEPENDS on typhoons to supply their aquafers with water. During the time I was on Okinawa, we had a stretch of drought where we were only allowed to take showers on certain days of the week, as there would be rolling water brownouts to conserve water. How strange is that??

Who came to our aid after Katrina.... Thats what I thought.

Many countries sent help and volunteered aid. OUR Government refused to let them help in any way.

Too bad it is not coming to YOUR home town PMoscatelli :(

What do they know about structural engineering that we don't? Why are we incapable of building structures here in the US that can withstand a Cat 5? Or do we, and I'm just uninformed? :)

Here in the USA everything goes to the lowest bidder. the one thing you can count on nowadays is Cheaper the Better. The USA use to take pride in quality craftsmanship, the back of my business card read "If you are looking for cheap and fast, call me last", the front logo stated "Quality, the way it use to be"

no reactors on okinawa