Tsunami toll tops 100,000

[twospirits]

Whoa, that pic speaks volumes. Man that is so sad.

Strange that they all are lying on their stomach. Gives me goosebumps.

TS out

[YogsVR4]

Originally Posted by twospirits

Its Pfizor, Inc. Good for them, I am proud of them, especially being a NY based company. Its quite pitiful that one company can send 35 million while one of the richest countries in the world (the US) is only contributing 35 and yet Spain is sending 65 million. Go figure.

Good grief. The amount pledged does not mean that it is all that the government is going to give of our taxpayers money. Manpower and materials are also being sent. Once the logistic and assessment teams can do their jobs, more money will be sent. Throwing a billion dollars at the problem out of the gate wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference right now. The problem isn't a lack of money. Its a lack of time to get the assets where they need to be.

Wait for a few years and take a look at the contributions that each country sends. Both in government (ie - taxpayers) and private organization money, manpower, materials and emergency trade rules. I think you'll find that the US will be among the most generous.

[taranaki]

What matters right now is not who sends how much, it's how quickly the right aid gets there.Its not simply a matter of sitting back and waiting for politicians to act, the people with the real skills are already onto it.Aid agencies like Oxfam and the Red Cross are experts in disaster relief,and the most useful thing that any government can do is to fund them and assist in whatever way they can.Be grateful that this kind of horror doesn't happen too often, and make a cash donation to the experts who are always there regardless of political allegiances.

[my3rdskyline]

Originally Posted by Zaphod Beeblebrox

Your joking right? If not, have you ever seen Lethal Weapon 4? Craddle to the grave (complete crap) or Hero?

no i'm not joking.

[carrrnuttt]

Originally Posted by twospirits

Strange that they all are lying on their stomach. Gives me goosebumps.

The torso floats, while the limbs, with more muscle/bone mass, hang down.

[Neutrino]

Soory to reply so late, I was on a trip away from AF.



This even is simply heart wrenching. The death and destruction are absolutelly unbelivable. I cannot even imagine what people that lost loved ones are going trough around the world.

One of the saddest story's i've heard so far is about the australian mother that had to let go of one of her sons to hold on to the other. I cannot think of a harder decision that the one of chossing which of your kids will live and which will die. Fortunatelly the kid she let go lived by holding onto a door to keep his head above the water (keep in mind that he was also afraid of water and cold not swim). In the airport footage the 5 year old seemed devastated, its unimaginable what the boy must've gone trough when his mom let go of him, it might have been the logical solution but one that its hard to live with.

[my3rdskyline]

terrible. 135,000.

[my3rdskyline]

could you imagine if this happened in the US? damn.

[Neutrino]

tons of before and after high rez pics from digital globe:

http://www.digitalglobe.com/tsunami_gallery.html

[Kurtdg19]

When disasters like this happens, it only reveals how fragile life really is. I read in the paper that the US is going to give 350million in this effort, but I think we should still be giving more. Japan from what I've seen is giving out 500mil. As said earlier its not just about the money, its all about what can be done at the moment. I pray that everything possible is being done to mend this tragic event as much as possible.

[DVS LT1]

Originally Posted by Kurtdg19

When disasters like this happens, it only reveals how fragile life really is...

Scary thing is one of the plates is still on top of the other (along the fault line). Whats going to happen when that plate shifts again???

You're right about how much we take life for granted. As strong or technologically advanced our civilization might be, we are still at the mercy of our planet. Nevermind, our current history (recorded anyways) from say the time of the ancient Greeks, Japanese, Chinese, etc... to the present is a mere fraction in our planets history. When will our ice age or meteor impact (or planet wide Tsunami) come along and wipe out this latest version of life on the planet?

[youngvr4]

i hope what i'm about to type doesnt offend anyone

Life............... shame on me for turning my head and continue doing what i'm doing when i first heard what happen, but for some reason the number at hand didnt sink into my head at first. then i turn back to my buddy and said "what did you say" and he reapeted the number dead.
in the year 2004 i had 5 close people die on me, and i've had time to think and think. well in my belief, the end of a thing is better then its beginning. even a life.

i can't even somewhat relate to how the survivors feel. i feel for them more then anything of course. because in my eyes they are set free, there family's are who i weep for.

we dont know why it happen, it almost seems as if the earth itself............ i don't know.................. death

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by youngvr4

i hope what i'm about to type doesnt offend anyone

Life............... shame on me for turning my head and continue doing what i'm doing when i first heard what happen, but for some reason the number at hand didnt sink into my head at first. then i turn back to my buddy and said "what did you say" and he reapeted the number dead.

Shame on all of us.
We all did the same thing..........when bad things happen far away, we don't all help. How many people gave when the city of Bam, Iran collapsed (earthquake) a year to the day before the tsunamis? That killed 40,000 in one country alone.
We all make decisions about how and when to give. If its further away, or more remote its easier to justify not giving. If it's on the news less, its easier, too. Remember the massacre in Rwanda about 10 years ago? 850,000 people died in avoidable civil unrest. Did we spend 800 million to send troops and stop it? No.......because the media had not jumped onto a giving bandwagon back then. Nor had they done so for Iran.
It is this bandwagon, for lack of a better word, which encourages us or more likely, shames us into giving.

[YogsVR4]

Nobody should be shamed into giving. There are to many worthy causes to feel guilty about. Its appreciated when people help in whatever way they can, but no amount of generosity by everyone on the planet can prevent disasters or eliminate the misery that follows.

Most people help those closest to home and most people have only so much they can give - time or money.

[-Davo]

I donate all my shrapnel to places here where I live. And don't think it's just 5 cents here and there, that's scabby as, I have 15 bucks in shrapnel that I put in the box today, and 9 bucks friday.

It's for a good cause, but I think it's a little weird how the governments are donating millions, and millions, and millions, and millions to them, but cut funding for cancer research, and heart research etc, that they have to beg the public for money to help fight a worldwide cause