7.8 earthquake in China

Never would have pegged you as a Speidi fan... I'm just saying...

 

As opposed to an awesome disaster?

In a way, Mizzou and Alma are right. Our attention span for even the most horrific of things is very limited. Of course, much, if not all, of that blame falls on the media, which will quickly move on from this and completely forget about it once the next big thing comes along. Even if the next big thing the latest development in Britney Spears' custody case.

 

Mizzou can claim that was his point, but he did NOTHING to make that point. He went for the easy gag, the "I'm an asshole" thing he's got down pat, then hid behind Alma's explanation to try to make him look like he was one step ahead of us.

I refuse to give him any credit for that idea at all.

 

I am an asshole. And I was one step ahead of you...

 

Reading through the posts, you're right, IJAG. I'm agreeing solely with Alma's point, which I believe to be true. Of course, that takes nothing away from how terrible the quake tragedy is. As for death toll, I'm guessing, much like Myanmar, the government will ensure the real numbers are never known, either because it doesn't have the resources to make an accurate count or simply doesn't trust others with the information.

 

Sounds like some residents think the local government isn't blameless in this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/13/china.naturaldisasters3

 

The really important news, of course, is that none of the Olympic venues were damaged.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aOeBtMs6zSJ4&refer=home

 

8,500 plus dead? No big deal.

Olympic venues still in good working order? That's all that matters. On with the Games of Human Rights Violations!

 

Heck of a job, Brownie-Chan.

 

And this goldfish is OK!

(Quake hits at 5 minute mark)

 

Katrina and Sept 11th combined do not even come close to the fatality level of this quake.

This is nothing to joke about.

A lot of bad news this week. I'm looking forward to hugging my daughter today.

 

Unfortunately, the priniciple of diminishing returns comes to play. 10,000 dead in China in a 1996 earthquake? Holy shit, that's bad. In 2008, three and a half-years after the tsunami and weeks after a cyclone whose death toll, according to the UN, is more than 100,000? That's ... a shame ... yeah. You get numb to it.

By the same token, who thinks of Oklahoma City when they think of terrorist attacks anymore?