The three minutes silence for the Tsunami victims...

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Cutter

Cutter

Carbon Allotrope
Oct 8, 2001
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Came across this on Radio Free Europe website:-

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/01/cc04b256-453b-4fed-a79b-0186b96ebf70.html

Contributions by Muslim nations dwarfed by those of Christian/Secular European nations. Why is that I wonder?

Have to say, I generally do not agree with this whole 3 minutes silence business so far. A chance to wallow in introspection and faux grief about an event which could not have been prevented - unlike the 2 minutes silence we observe for the victims of the two World Wars - which were preventable.

If people feel that strongly, calling the donation phonelines, or clicking on the donation websites or whatever would have been a far more productive use of those 3 minutes than just sitting there thinking.

I'm probably going to piss loads of people off with this, but it strikes me that this 3 minutes thing is just so that those not doing anything can keep quiet for 3 minutes and not feel guilty about how they are not doing anything else. What the disaster victims need is supplies, rebuilding help and better meteorological cover for the area. Not silence.

Silence will not make things better, only actions will.
 
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doubt that keeping 3 minutes of silence would make anyone even think to suddenly not donate. Either you were going to from the start or you change you're mind to do it while feeling sorry for em for 3 minutes *cough* but you'r not gonna change back surely.
 
Well as there is a Sri Lankan lady who I work with who lost half of her family in the disaster it was a somewhat poignant and moving silence.

I don't think you can really moan about a mere 3 minutes. Actions do speak louder than "silence", but I don't think the 3 minutes really cut out any 'action' which could, or can still, take place...

As a side note, although it's nice to see so many people rallying around to help the victims, why is it that there are still tens of thousands of people dying from starvation per week, maybe even per day, whom we ignore? Surely if we can give money the past few weeks for this disaster, we can definitely give the same, if not more, each week to help the ignored people in the world?
 
good point ck , we have a minister who promised darfur 100 miljon euro's to help those people, unfortunately now that the tsunami hit asia he is saying they need it more so tough luck darfur.

Now i dont think his colleagues would allow him doing this but it justs shows what media coverage can do, imo to prevent such things from happening the countries which are being affected by this should get international help in learning how to govern a country, this would also help political relations with other countries and thus they can keep telling the world how bad it really is and that they should get help /rant
 
Me and my m8s stopped playing football yesterday to stand in a freezing field for 3 minutes to keep silent. Not out of sadness, hope, anger etc. Just out of a bit of respect.

But most of us prolly know by know that the asian leaders met in 2003 to discuss an early warning tidal system like South America has, and they deemed it too expensive. I wonder how much money they are going to be down now.


Work sucks btw :P
 
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Indeed, out of respect and to show that we care. I think, if anything, that it's fucking cool that an entire continent and beyond can be unified for 3 minutes, with the same thoughts. Those same people also raised as much money in donations as the goverments themselves. We have shown up our own goverment by raising more money in "extras". And by looking at it, it isn't even the majority of the population. Most people I have spoken to about this didn't really care or know a lot about it. Let alone donated a very small percentage of their money to other people in the worst conditions conceiveable

For me, this disaster puts life into perspective, and the things we posses and have. It makes me exceptionally grateful. Not to god or something like that, but just to be alive, relatively very well off compared to some people in this world and to have a good life.

Whats the point in action if there is no compassion?
 
maybe slightly off topic but on the radio ppl were saying the usa knew about it but didnt share information, tbh i dont believe such rumors but it got me thinking on something else

if such a thing would have happened in the usa / western europe dont you think there would have been better information / organisation to evacuate ppl before the tsunami hit?
 
imo there's something fundamentally wrong with the whole giving money idea as well, it feels a bit like "we're raping you 364 days a year, and on the 365th day, because half ur land is flooded, we give a little back and feel proud about ourselves"

If our country's are so sincere about the affected countries in south-east Asia, wouldn't it be far more helpfull to raise the coffee and tea price twicefold? or banana's, or any other crop that comes from those regions. And what about the meat and dairy products we dump in afrika with huge subsidies?

Off course these people need help now, but wouldn't have been a structural chance much more helpfull? Isn't the western world's raping of those countries that what caused this disaster to be 100 times more destructive then it should have been in the first place?

This whole giving aid thing is just to make ourselves feel better, and there are times when i detest it
 
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i am totaly your opinion ! it's like... everyday children die because they have realy fuckin nothin to eat and than 1 day all stars and celebreties get together and collect money ?! What the fuck is that ? Is it a WE-ARE-IN-THE-MOOD-TO-DO-SOMETHING day ? Well...it's better than nothing but if you see what football players or formual one drivers own on one day it's a shit what those children get.And now it's kinda the same with the flooded countrys...how you said
t feels a bit like "we're raping you 364 days a year, and on the 365th day, because half ur land is flooded, we give a little back and feel proud about ourselves"
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thats exactly the point.
________
HotStella
 
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Let's face facts: India has enough money to produce a nuclear bomb, but not enough for a tidal warning system.
 
ProPain said:
maybe slightly off topic but on the radio ppl were saying the usa knew about it but didnt share information, tbh i dont believe such rumors but it got me thinking on something else
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i wouldnt have a hard time believing that.
something else i heard was that apparently short after the flood colin powell visited the region and to ensure his security the US air force blocked the air traffic in the whole region, which also means deliveries of help goods.
i dont know whether this info is true or wrong, it sounds a bit exagerated, but if its true then its indeed a fucking outrage.

Miner said:
Let's face facts: India has enough money to produce a nuclear bomb, but not enough for a tidal warning system.
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it doesnt really need a lot of manpower, knowledge or money to build a nuclear bomb if you have the radioactive material which a country as large as india is almost bound to have.
a working tidal warning system on the other hand is somethign far more complicated and expensive.
 
Miner said:
Let's face facts: India has enough money to produce a nuclear bomb, but not enough for a tidal warning system.
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even if you have a warning system, you got like what? 30~60mins maximum to act upon it.. how the hell do you act upon a tsunami? Duck n Cover?
 
ProPain said:
maybe slightly off topic but on the radio ppl were saying the usa knew about it but didnt share information, tbh i dont believe such rumors but it got me thinking on something else

if such a thing would have happened in the usa / western europe dont you think there would have been better information / organisation to evacuate ppl before the tsunami hit?
Click to expand...

Thailand for example, knew about the tsunami a few hours before it hit them. They didn´t do anything because they didn´t wanna "scare away" the tourists. Tourists bring in about 7% of their yearly income which made them take this decission. 7% doesn´t sound much but it´s a hell lot of money we´r talking about i´m telling you. Very stupid decission though. (If it´s true, at least it´s been said on tv and in the papers quite a lot).
 
I was in an airport in Norway during the silence which was a total farce - there was a loud tannoy announcement in the middle of it, and then quite a few people burst out laughing. The culprits were English businessmen in suits!
 
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