Video : Tohoku, Japan tsunami emerges

Entertainment News : Gilbert Gottfried Fired As Aflac Duck After Japanese Tsunami Tweets

With some wildly inappropriate tweets, the quack has been silenced.
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried sent out a slate of offensive twitter missives about the tragic Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and instead of drawing laughs, it cost him his job. The longtime voice of the iconic Aflac Duck, Gottfried was fired by the insurance company on Monday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac," the company, which does 75% of its business in Japan, said in a statement. "There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times."
Gottfried's tweets certainly didn't show compassion. Buzzfeed compiled screen captures of the tweets, which were later deleted from the comedian's feed. Amongst the worst:
"I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, "They'll be another one floating by any minute now."
"I was talking to my Japanese real estate agent. I said 'is there a school in this area.' She said 'not now, but just wait.'"

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Videos of Surfers Shredding Waves from the Japanese Tsunami

As you know by now, yesterday's 8.9-magnitude Sendai Earthquake sent a devastating tsunami surge across the Pacific. The waves caused  $17 million in damage to harbor facilities and boats in Santa Cruz, California, sinking at least 17 boats. Further north along the California coast, in Crescent City, eight-foot waves tossed boats like toys in the harbor and claimed the life of a 25-year old man who was swept away while photographing the surge. With damage estimated over 24 million dollars, it's a huge big blow to the economy of a coastal town that relies on its fishing industry. In Hawaii, where authorities are stating they "dodged a bullet," the waters flooded streets, swept away cars, and destroyed at least three homes, reports the LA Times. Meanwhile, the news in Japan remains dismal at best, with 686 confirmed deaths from the catastrophe. After a pumping system failure, a nuclear power plant in Fukushima exploded and seawater is being pumped into the facility as a “last-ditch effort” to avoid a meltdown.

Despite the doom and gloom, where there's big waves, there's surfers. Especially on the Left coast. Fortunately for us, a few of them grabbed their GoPros for the ride.

In Southern California, Orange County beaches were closed on Friday morning. Further north, near San Francisco, Vimeo uploader Andrei Soen got a Tsunami Day session in, writing he had "a great session of fun waves (about shoulder high - 1 ft overhead)," with no one else in the water except two other buddies. Here's how he describes a once-in-a-blue-moon surfing experience.

Watched the surge happen for abit in the bay but the waves looked too good, so a couple buddies and I decided to sprint across the highway, into the jetty.


No cops came after us, and it was a great session of fun waves (about shoulder high - 1 ft overhead) and no one else out but the three of us. =)


You could feel the tsunami surge every 30 mins or so, as the whole ocean would calm down and all of a sudden swell from all directions come inshore real fast. Then the surge would suck everything back out into the ocean again. It was weird.

B-day Tsunami from Surf Victorian on Vimeo.


Surfing during the Tsunami Warning 3.11.2011 from andrei soen on Vimeo.

Update : Sony, Subaru, and Toyota close factories in wake of earthquake, other companies check in

Our thoughts this morning are with the folks in Japan and the other Pacific areas affected by the massive 8.9 earthquake that struck about 230 miles East of Tokyo. Reports of damage are flooding in from the country, and indeed many familiar manufacturers are checking in. Sony and Toyota have both stopped operations in their factories due to damage. Tragically, one Honda worker lost his life after a wall collapsed, while several Panasonic workers are said to have suffered minor injuries. It remains to be seen exactly what impacts this will have on consumers, but Sony's closed factories were responsible for the production of Blu-ray discs and batteries, while the numerous automotive shutdowns could result in short-term shortages. This bad news sent stocks downward, with German share prices for Sony dropping 2.5 percent and Honda 4.5 percent. We're still watching with concern to see what other impacts the resultant tsunamis could have, but for now we'll keep hoping for the best.

Video : The Tsunami Rolls In Fast At Japan’s Sendai Airport