Breaking News: 7.0 Earthquake in Haiti

[Josquius]

JESUS CHRIST! How the fuck is that possible in such a tiny country?
Especially sad as Haiti has seen the first half decade of sanity and growth in a long, long time.

IIRC there was an Economist Podcast about the danger of mudslides and earthquakes to Haiti's growth sometime last year, seems rather prescient in retrospect.

Its like they've decided to take advantage of this natural disaster to officially register the deaths of a few thousand dead by other means.
Nah. Too North Korea.
I have heard Haiti is horribly crowded though, many of its problems are related to over population and a destroyed environment.

I didn't mean what I said here at all at face value.
I just don't have much to say on this, it isn't being reported very heavily (though yeah, it definatly would be if it was in a western country)  and earthquakes are of course bad so there's nothing that can be said.

[jimmy olsen]

The sad thing is that Slargos is probably right. If this was London or Paris there would be a lot more shock and awe. If it was New York there would be war declared on God. Haiti? None of us is going to lose sleep over it. Sad but true. This thread will be dead by the weekend.

How long did the Tsunami thread last on the old board?

The 2004 tsunami got press in Sweden because 500 Swedes died. No one cared about 200k people in Aceh or wherever.

Virtually no Americans died there and it was all over our news for weeks.

Slargos - I certainly care about the fate of the 3rd world and think about people there, even when there's not a disaster in the news.

[Tonitrus]

The tsunami got more coverage because while earthquakes happen all the time, it's not often masses of people die from unusually heavy surf.

[DisturbedPervert]

U.S. officials are laying out a massive military response to the Haiti earthquake, saying that ships, helicopters, transport planes and a 2,000-member Marine unit are either on the way or likely to begin moving soon.

Their government's already better than Burma.  At least they're not refusing aid because of Imperialist conspiracy theories

[garbon]

it isn't being reported very heavily

And yet new stories about Haiti are currently dominating most major American news websites.

[citizen k]

I just don't have much to say on this, it isn't being reported very heavily (though yeah, it definatly would be if it was in a western country) 

Euros:Raciss? 

[Fireblade]

Televangelist Pat Robertson said Wednesday that earthquake-ravaged Haiti has been "cursed" by a "pact to the devil."

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said on Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club." "They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal."

Robertson said that "ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other" and he contrasted Haiti with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.

"That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle; on the one side is Haiti on the other is the Dominican Republic," he said. "Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/pat-robertson-haiti-curse_n_422099.html

Goddamned Republican DOUCHEBAG.

[Martim Silva]

JESUS CHRIST! How the fuck is that possible in such a tiny country?

A hefty chunk of the population lived in the city. And their shacks were built in a way that ensured that a slide would take immense amounts of houses with it.

Also, not only did the quake hit at a time when many people were home, but more importantly, the epicenter was almost right on top of the city, and at a very shallow level (barely 6 miles under). At that range, a 7.0 quake is extremely dangerous, even for modern construction.

Combined with the shoddy or old construction of many buildings, the result is clear: MASSIVE damage to human lives and property. It's like a 9.0 quake on an advanced city.

In fact, I'd be surprised if the death toll is just 100,000. I fear it may fall more in the 300,000 range. Their buildings basically imploded - with them inside. And those who didn't got their buldings collapse on top of them had trouble leaving, because there were walls and houses falling all over the streets.

Even the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral, Ministerial buildings, Hospitals, Headquarters... - all fell. Their head of State is homeless, the Archbishop is entombed under tons of debris. Dead people fill the streets, survivors pray to God in the streets. Who knows how many are buried? There is no realistic hope of rescuing them.

This is also like a modern reconstruction of the way things happened in ancient times when an earthquake hit - now we may understand why these calamities were considered divine punishments and people described them in such a scary way. For them, a quake was truly the End of everything they knew - all was destroyed.

With one difference - the web remained in service. Appearently, it has become stronger than nature.

[Slargos]

The sad thing is that Slargos is probably right. If this was London or Paris there would be a lot more shock and awe. If it was New York there would be war declared on God. Haiti? None of us is going to lose sleep over it. Sad but true. This thread will be dead by the weekend.

How long did the Tsunami thread last on the old board?

The 2004 tsunami got press in Sweden because 500 Swedes died. No one cared about 200k people in Aceh or wherever.

Virtually no Americans died there and it was all over our news for weeks.

Slargos - I certainly care about the fate of the 3rd world and think about people there, even when there's not a disaster in the news.

I have no reason to doubt you, Timmay. A person who chooses to live in a totally alien culture is likely a lot more invested in the goings on of life outside their little bubble, but I think you're not among the majority in this.

[Slargos]

You guys are acting like somehow Haitians choose to be Haitians.  Or be affected by an earthquake.  Or that thousands of people didn't just die.

So other than my use of racist nomenclature when I stipulated my hypothesis, how is what I said racist?

So other than the fact that I'm a racist, how am I a racist?!

you don't need to look longer than this board.

We are usually a callous bunch, but I think most people have their limits.  Even Neil was pissed off during the Beslan massacre, for instance. 

As for wishing for my death, I think that makes you a pretty horrible person in your own right, but since you feel a sense of moral superiority when you make that judgement you probably don't even see it.

Actually, I think dying in a fire is probably preferable to dying with hundreds of your friends and family in an earthquake.  I'm better than you because I care if innocents are affected, even if they are Scandinavians.   

Come on, Queeq, I know you're not stupid. A bit slow, yes, but not stupid.

"The man on the street doesn't care if a hundred thousand third worlders die in a natural disaster" is a racist statement how exactly? And how is it racist to be oblivious to the suffering of third worlders? The ongoing genocide against white South Africans doesn't get much press, are we racist against them aswell?

As for your feelings towards my person, I don't give a shit, though I feel deeply sorry for you. Your bigotry may be of a different flavour, but it's still bigotry.

[Eddie Teach]

Stay classy, Slargos.

[Slargos]

Stay classy, Slargos.

Seriously. I'm curious to hear how not caring about the fates of people on the other side of the globe constitutes racism.

[jimmy olsen]

By the way, I read that the port collapsed and cargo ships can't dock, that's gonna make providing supplies difficult.

[katmai]

Stay classy, Slargos.

Seriously. I'm curious to hear how not caring about the fates of people on the other side of the globe constitutes racism.

Maybe when you phrase it thusly you retarded ass

What I think Tyr was hinting at was that no one cares if a couple of thousand mud people die in a natural disaster (especially since there's plenty more where that came from), while it's a big problem if educated people with souls bite the big one.

[DisturbedPervert]

With one difference - the web remained in service. Appearently, it has become stronger than nature.

Earthquakes can't take out satellites.  Hopefully Gaia doesn't control solar flares.