I'm sure everyone here on dA has heard about the earthquake in Japan, but I've also noticed that there is a lot of misinformation flying around.
Everything that can be said about Japan has already been said by various artists on dA, from the numerous "Pray for Japan", to the "Don't pray, donate!", and even the "No need to help Japan, they're used to earthquakes and can totally handle this by themselves.", and also the "Oh stupid anime fans should shut up about Japan."
Whether you agree or disagree with any of these statements is your right. However, the tremendous amount of unnecessary drama between deviants arguing amongst each other is getting out of hand. Instead of actually helping Japan, people are harassing each other about how or even why we should or shouldn't be helping.
There are some things I would like to point out that I think some people are forgetting in the midst of all this drama. Natural disasters like the one Japan is going through can not be grouped with other world problems like malaria or starvation in impoverished countries. While malaria and famine are just as big, if not bigger, problems right now, they are fairly stable, killing about the same number of people each year at a constant rate. When the earthquake first struck, Japan suffered some comparatively minor casualties, but the hundreds of ensuing after shocks and tsunami killed thousands of more people. The death count went from 400 within the first few days to 7,000, but that's just the actual confirmed deaths. The estimated death counts just climbed from over 10,000 to over 20,000 because even though they haven't found the bodies yet, there is very little hope that they will find the missing people alive. There is also the nuclear meltdowns, with the resulting nuclear fallouts causing unknown amount of damage. The radiation effects will last over 30 years, so children 30 years from now can also be born with problems.
This is just the information I have right now, but who knows how wrong my numbers will be by tomorrow, the estimated deaths may go up to 30,000 by then. My point is, unlike malaria or famine, you can not debate about the issues without constantly getting updated with the latest news. There are drawings and comics made about how we don't need to help Japan because only a few hundred people died, so we should concentrate on other world problems. While these works have good intentions of helping other countries in need, we need to keep in mind that the information in these works are outdated. We know now that it's not just a few hundred, but actually over 20,000 people have died. So for those who are arguing that we should stop worrying over nothing, I beg to differ.
You can disagree with me, but with the latest death toll, and 2000 bodies washing to shore, I believe Japan needs help. The national government is trying to keep everyone calm but downplaying the situation, but the local government is having huge problems dealing with the dead bodies that have no where to go. While praying has all good intentions, donations will actually make a difference. People are welcomed to pray if they want, but please donate if you can.
You can donate to Red Cross at their website
american.redcross.org/site/SPa… or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. You can also help all the poor animals in Japan by donating to
japanearthquakeanimalrelief.ch… You can even help by viewing this Nigahiga's video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cciUXp… who will donate $600 for every 1,000,000 pageviews (he's not doing this for fame, he's doing this for awareness and for people who can't donate themselves).
If you don't want to help Japan, that is your right, but please refrain from arguing with people who do want to help. Instead of wasting time arguing, you can do something more productive, like helping children who are dying from malaria and famine. Here's also a link where you can donate to that cause
www.freedomfromhunger.org/land… If you don't care about these issues either, there are plenty of other world problems waiting for you to help. Instead of more dA drama, we can be making a real difference.
I feel so flattered, Thank you!!! 
Hahaha 
and one for 1000 Words 
