Jet Li Escapes Tsunami

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

EF: Understood and appreciated..

My point was that an opportunity was presented and responses were made.. personal choices as to how to state opinions regarding an obvious natural tragedy.. This tragedy needed no links to other tragedies, no comparisons to wars or individual issues.. it stands on its own both in scope and intensity.. and, here i state my own personal opinion, that any link to other issues is disrespectful.. i am solely concerned with the well-being of my fellow man regarding the tsunami, that i am compelled to write the checks and if i had the resources i would travel there to help (and maybe check-out some local breaks).. here, in central Florida, after the first hurricane, Charley, the aid and relief pouring in from around the country was a moving and greatly appreciated display of compassion.. crews from as far away as St. Louis were working around the clock to restore our services.. our school took them snacks and drinks as often as was possible.. it's my turn to "pay it forward", so.. i write my check and send it to the relief center for Sumatra, and as funds permit i will write another..

War is preventable cause and effect.. not relevent in the context natural disasters.. regardless of its perceived "natural inevitability" (which i disagree with) it is controlable.. our species just hasn't figured that out yet..

Be well..

[ZIM]

Speaking of 'inevitability', its maybe a good time to look ahead a bit.

One natural disaster the population of Indonesia is quite familiar with is erupting volcanoes. Sometimes the region is referred to as the "ring of fire". There are several large and very active volcanoes on Sumatra, at least two within spitting distance of Jakarta itself.

If the maps are at all accurate, there is a faultline which runs up the Bay of Bengal and continues in a great arc into Eastern Mongolia having intersected or joined others along the way.

Were I a betting man, I might put my money on a major volcanic outburst in the next few months, or a large quake somewhere under Bangladesh or in South West China.

[SPJ]

Yes;

There will be aftershocks in days, weeks, months and years.

President Bush said in an address that in these past few days, the loss and tragedy are beyond comprehension.

Big sigh!

Sympathy and condolense!

[ZIM]

good link

[red5angel]

well said efist.

taichibob - you've obviously misunderstood. no one is trying to draw similarities to the Iraqi war and What is going on in the Indian Ocean, what I said was that because of the Iraqi War (notice the lack of emotional reponse in that phrase) much of the US budget is currently tied up, whether you believe in the war or not, it's a fact.

[Kristoffer]

Red - of corz I would. Where did I say I wouldn't?
I don't get you're post man

[GeneChing]

Listen, I pay taxes like every good American making less than 100K a year, and my tax dollar goes to a lot of things I don't beleive in - don't get me started on that. Helping the needy in crises is something I do believe in. You can bemoan the international reactions of the American government's response all you want. Or you can simply donate your time, energy and money to whatever cause might provide some relief. Arguing about whether or not America is pulling its weight as an international benefactor does little for those in need. If you're really sensitive about this, just donate to any of the many worthy relief efforts that are springing up out of this tragedy. What America does with our taxes is one thing. What we do with our own resources after taxes is up to us.

[red5angel]

my wife and I donated what amounts to about a months pay for both of us. She has been doing the christian chidlrens fund for a while so has an interest in the area personally.

[David Jamieson]

these are very good points from gene and red.

it is two questions:

do you care?

what will you do?

It has nothing to do with what our governments do. It is not our governments purpose to look after other countries. But in times of need, there is money aside for these things and every country gives to or borrows from the IMF or the IDRF, the red cross, the red crescent and of course the funds in place by teh effected countries that already exists.

Back to those two questions. And something we threaded about a while ago in regards to compassion and charity. These two things are necessary to ones Kungfu. Without them (compassion and charity) there is something missing from "kungfu".

Help with what you can, if you can. These people are some of the worst off in the world and they certainly won't turn shy on a helping hand in this time.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

Originally posted by Oso
well, the problem is that no one ever wants to talk about the reality of overpopulation.

actually its one of my favorate topics. i even thought the same thing as you in the back of my head when i heard about this. i even read this whole site pretty much: http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/snuffit4/reading.html

i think they are psychotics but i read it.

i just dont think it's cool to go there just yet. i guess im not one to preach about cooth, but it would be like me brining up overpopulation at your grandmothers funeral. but instead of her being laid out in a funeral home shes rotting on the street. and instead of having one dead grandmother you got about 80 thousand.

or like calling the earth 3k people lighter on 9-12.

i dunno .... i just seen too many dead kids and it makes me feel worse than i have in a long time.

[fa_jing]

My 2 cents: I don't think this natural disaster helps the overpopulation problem. Both people and resources were destroyed. It's not like any people suffering from starvation are suddenly going to eat because of this disaster. If anything, the opposite is true. It may eventually have a positive impact 1000 years from now, but that is pure speculation, and furthermore I don't believe that man really can care what happens 1000 years after his own death. I think we have evolved or whatever to be compassionate to others living in the same time that we do.

OTOH, I don't think Oso is coming from a bad place or anything. I actually think that man naturally wants to rationalize away tragedy, as a way of coping with it. I see it all the time. We do need to go on with our lives. Anyone that takes this pain too close to their heart is going to be out of commission.

To sum up: Nature happens. But everything should be done to alleviate the current problem and try to keep it from recurring again if possible, according to our capabilities.

[MoreMisfortune]

hmm i liked that site GDA

xepct the part where a dude humped another dude and the part where a dude drank pizz

[MoreMisfortune]

this is good stuff man
http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/snuffit1/police.html

[Ming Yue]

over 120,000 now


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7208303

[ZIM]

...And naturally the email scammers are trying to cash in on the tragedy....here's one:
--------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

With sympathy and heavy laden hearts, we hereby appeal to your sense of generosity to assist by donating any amount you can afford towards The "TSUNAMIS DISASTER HELP FUNDS", which is aimed at assisting the victims of the Asians Tsunamis which took place on Sunday the 26TH December, 2004 .

We are a non- governmental charity organisation with offices and members across 5 continents namely Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Our goal is to assist poor, innocent survivals of both man-made and natural disasters. Our officials and members are scattered in places in needs of human and material relief as seen in cases of Sudan ( Darfur ) and Haiti etc.

We would appreciate it, if you can send us an email. For further enquiries on how to make donations towards the Tsunamis Disaster Help Funds ( T D H F )

Yours Sincerely
Mr. Cedric Hyzy
Chief Coordinator
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Needless to say, ignore these jerks.