almost 60 000 dead and increasing....

[mat]

This is so, so horrible.. My fellow countrywoman held his two children by hands when the wave came. He lost his strenght and the wave took both boys away. She was lucky. The boys survived, but so many did not..

mat

[SeanCostello]

Just a reminder for those of us in the US: Check with your employer to see if they will match donations. My employer will, up to a certain point.

Sean Costello

[Alpha579]

i no, thats so horrible...luckily some friends of ours were alright when it struck, but so many were less fortunate...

[1wahfreak]

My wife is from Thailand and my boss is from Sri Lanka (vacationing with his wife and 2 kids over Christmas) nobody has heard from him yet.
We were in Thailand this time last year at the same place the waves hit in Phutek and Phi Phi. They are almost completey wiped out. My family (in-laws) are located inland so no bad news there, but still waiting on word from my boss. Keep the faith....whatever faith you believe in.

[jrc4558]

Scary, man... Just plainly scary. God help them.

[Nasse]

Tsunami has power

This is huge bad accident, tragedy is not over

120 000 and going up

[ESPm2M]

100,000 Dead.

Give what you can even if only $5.


http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/my-pay-page/PX3BEL97U9A4I/002-9056224-4757604

[petemoore]

500mph wave coming at you, I can't begin to truly understand how fantastically frightening that would be.
 Sometimes when Mother Nature Kicks, she Kicks Very Hard.
 Unbelievable tragedy / horrible mess and continuing horrors...WOW.

[MartyMart]

I saw the news on boxing day, what a tradgedy, then I felt really guilty for having a nice family christmas, with that going on . .
Not much we can do, except for giving whatever we can afford.
So many more will still lose their lives . . .

Peace,
Marty.

[petemoore]

Humans...we could have curtailed our fossil fuel consumption and followed the advice of guys like Jaques Cousteau, and Nader, and others, back in the 60's. They had great advice, but no-one knew much about tectonic plate movements back then [that I recall].
 If we stopped using and drilling all fossil fuels right now...would that help the ecosystem survive the effects of our long term assault on it?
 "Americans were killed, and the Am News now talks of early warning systems for that area...lol.
 I'd like to hear once "PAkastani's were killed, so we need to get a system in place to warn of future incidences like this that could, in the future, save lives of Pakistani's".
 Instead when it comes to decisions that require contemplation of sacrifice, we argue the whether or nots, and continue to not sacrifice/use.
 This IMO is an example of what to expect in the next decade or so.
 I've only seent he trailers to 'The Day After Tomorrow'...I'm not ready to see the whole thing yet...trailers look to tell the movies tale well enough...I see this stuff coming decades ago anyway.
 We're inextricably linked and addicted to life and death...whether we choose to believe it or not.
 Everyone and everything is linked, and part of a balance, or imbalance unfortunately, as the case often seems to be.

[MartyMart]

These events really make you think, long and hard about what we are doing to this little planet of ours.
I have a lot of sympathy for all those people who's lives are destroyed by natural dissasters, but i have none for us as a race.
We just seem to move ever closer to "screwing" up the whole planet, year on year and its very sad.
Whilst the "Day after tommorow" movie is a "Hollywood" sanitized version of events, it contains a lot of truth and most things contained therein are possible.
I fear we are closer to that senario than we all think.
Hope thats not too "Down" for everyone, if so I appologize.
We still have time to make a difference, dont we ?

Marty.

[petemoore]

Here's a good one: Only if you feel aware of a 'down' does it actually exist.
 Hollywood...lol.
 How do we know we're not In the Matrix and all awareness is not illusion and test ?
 I don't really understand the fantastic attachment to this plane of existance that most people seem to have anymore. What exactly is so great about it when you think of it this way. It's an ego thing...'some' people just can't 'feel Right' about existing unless it has some greater than thou purpose.
 Saldor is Winning. He will have it all it seems finally, and soon. His forces seem unstoppable. Anything can happen and usually does, and we're still no better at plotting the coure an electron 'chooses' to take than we are plotting what the future may actually see.
 I think as a whole, the human race sin't all that smart, at least in applying the knowledge they do have access to, and fail the 'non-ego' test regularly, daily selfishness driven by competetion ... I try not to fail so much these days, but I know I do anyway. It's just part of being here I guess.
 One person's vision of Armageddon, is another's vision of 'the Cleansing'.
 I just don't like the knowledge of pain, suffering and loss. It is bothersome to me even to try to envision it. Very disturbing even with the 'Matrix Attitude".
 "World Vortex"...it's sucking me in.   I gotta stay out!!! gotta stay cool...gotta stay wild yeah...

[Mark Hammer]

While there are certainly instances where human-produced outcomes are to blame, I don't think there is much to the notion that human activities play any role in the earthquake and tsunami of this past week.  It would be a mistake to think of the earth as a mechanically and geologically stable entity.  It shifts around, and blaming ourselves for such events makes as much sense as ants deciding that maybe if they had laid out their colony a little differently, the municipal workers tearing up the sewage line would not have happened.  We are mere pawns with respect to what happens under the surface of the earth.

Of course, while we play no role in the causation of tsunamis, we clearly play a huge role in their potential impact, both in terms of adequate warning systems, where humans live, play and work, and the structural integrity of buildings and facilities near the ocean.  The horrific tragedy we see unfolding is a product of the huge population that lives and vacations so close to the water in the region, the bare-bones construction of what stands near the shore, and the absence of any coordinated warning system and evasive action.

Fortunately, the political openness of the countries so seriously affected means that media attention has been able to bring out such overwhelming good will and generosity in people the world over.  The 1976 earthquake in China killed at least 240,000 and likely more.  Sadly, a much more closed and defiant culture at the time, the event was barely mentioned in the media, and it earned a "tsk, tsk, isn't that awful" from the rest of the world.

Have to admit, those steadily escalating numbers sure make the Fallujah car bombings seem insignificant, don't they?  They shouldn't, but they do.

[Paul Marossy]

In my book, there really are no words to adequately say just what a terrible thing this whole tsunami incident is. Who would think that an earthquake under the ocean hundreds of miles from any shores could cause such destruction and death? I understand the dynamics of the tsunami, but it's still hard to imagine such a thing.

This ranks up there with 9/11 for me, in a different way.

[ragtime8922]

It's now over 135,000! IT's been said that disease from all those bodies is going to bring that number over 200,000! The Tsunami could not be helped but the 2nd number (deaths by disease) CAN be helped. This is where we are all needed. This is a time to all pull together as a whole planet and give these people some help. Disease in a developing 3rd world country is a bad thing. REAL bad. Just a couple of bucks makes a difference. We ALL can afford it. I just lost my job but a few dollars won't make a difference to me either way but to them it will.

[petemoore]

http://co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/sltrends/slrmap.shtml
  http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ResourceCenterPublicationsSeaLevelRiseIndex.html#US
 The earths unique [very rare to have an electromagnetic generator core planet like Earth is] magnetic field, produced by it's rare magnetic core, has changed polarity many times. As it swings during inversion [were just coming off the top of a max output portion of the 60,000 year per cycle or so waveform], just like a waveform with like' + and - swings, between peaks there is 0 magnetic activity...that's if it's not influenced by a SuperNova or Blackhole in that period of time.
 The point I choose to use from many, is that human populations will have influenced the climate directly to speed melting of the Ice Caps [solid at the earths spinning Axis], causing rising sea levels 'prematurely' [I believe it has been catylized but was bound to happen] and the wobbling added liquids near the equator Are imparting increased loads on tectonic plates, causeing them to move, creating events like tsunami's and volcanic activities. All I'm saying is, I believe there is a cause and effect for everything, perhaps this event would have been worse had it occurred later. It is such a tragedy it makes it hard to look into objectively. Events are events. Those who follow them may notice trends, maybe not. There is scientific evidence to support the increased volcanic and tectonic plate movements we're now experiencing at greater frequency and magnitude.
 Things are as they should be. We learn as we go. I would like it if all I purport about human inflence on Terra is wrong.
 Nuclear underground testing released MASSIVE energies in the form of inertia, heat, electromagnetic and radioactive dissipation. Is that 'worse' than the burning of fossil fuels? Do they 'add up' or mix to have a combined effect?
 Anything could happen. We still understand little about our environment. Science could easily break the space time continuum as far as anyone really knows.
 Old ideas are the only ones that work many times, I like to review them and introduce new ideas, if it makes the sorting easier.
 Things are as they should be, even a spub like me can type things others chosen not to show.
 Everyone sifts through the garbage to find soemthing once in a while, if you think it's all bunk, then it is !!! I only do it because I think someone may value it.

[JamMan]

...  How do we know we're not In the Matrix and all awareness is not illusion and test ?
 I don't really understand the fantastic attachment to this plane of existance that most people seem to have anymore...      
.
.
'Matrix Attitude"...

Kind of OT -post, but...

That "Matrix attitude" is a great term! It sums up pretty well my philosophy of life...For me, music, sounds and guitargear are the closest links to this world of senses around us.
There aren't many things we actually know: I know that I exist, and I know that logic is true...what else?

[petemoore]

I'd love to time warp. I've thought and said this, as have others, I know.
 But to when and into what circumstances ?
 How can I think the future or the past will be prefferred to the present, when the present is continually changing, as does my perception of how 'good' it is.
 I'm having enough trouble trying to figure this time out, I think I'm doing well , but how would I judge my efforts if I could look back from the future.