<p>nomad, the earthquake was in Indonesia. Was it really felt all the way in Chennai or are you talking about the resulting tsunami?</p>
<p>A 9.0 earthquake can shake the entire world. I wouldn't rule out some nasty tremors in Chennai.</p>
<p>""And secondly, maybe you should be grateful that they're receiving ANY aid. It isn't an innate right that countries should receive aid from other countries because of a natural disaster. The US doesn't have to give anything to those countries. Talk about how "ungrateful blah blah blah" the US is, YOU people are the ungrateful ones."</p>
<p>A few developed countries that represent less than a 20% of the world's population control 80% of the its wealth. Not everyone gets to live like you, uc_benz. The majority don't have safe food or water. When a tidal wave comes and kills 60,000 and leaves millions homeless, the rich countries are EXPECTED to help.</p>
<p>I don't think countries like begging or being ungrateful, but they don't like bodies washing up on the beach and being unable to do anything about it either. It's you who should be grateful. Grateful for not being born into poverty in a third world country and then getting screwed over by some freak natrural disaster."</p>
<p>woot woot Gshine!!!!! Exactly what I was going to say!!!!!!</p>
<p>Ha! Ungrateful! I've lived in insect infested apartments while having basically no food to eat while my mother had to work all day because no one else would help us with anything. Compounded by the fact that we moved 4 times in a span of two years doesn't help either. So don't even talk to me about what ungrateful is! I don't sit around and complain about how my life was, but that seems to be what people of the affected countries are doing. Complaining isn't going to bring them any more money; going out there and efficiently using the money they were given sure would be a start. If they worked on containing the disease that is becoming rampant as much as they were complaining, it would suppress the potential death toll by a large amount.</p>
<p>Death toll stands at 80,000</p>
<p>No one has the right to judge others. No one has lived in some one else's life.
For example, according to some, because I am an American, I am an ungrateful subhuman. As well as being an American, I am Haitian. Hatians are the poorest people in the western hemisphere. I have traveled to Haiti many times. Not as a missionary or a tourist, but as a fellow Haitian. I have witnessed the poverty and pain in this country and, I lived the same way without special treatment as my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Now, how can someone call me ungrateful when I have experienced the two worlds which you guys are arguing about. Live it before you talk it.</p>
<p>glad to hear your family's okay nomad... i'm on vacation so we've been listening to bbc on the radio. i dont know too much about whats happened, but i'm scared to get back to nyc and read about all the destruction.</p>
<p>thanks for the links, iplayoboe</p>
<p>"Ha! Ungrateful! I've lived in insect infested apartments while having basically no food to eat while my mother had to work all day because no one else would help us with anything. Compounded by the fact that we moved 4 times in a span of two years doesn't help either. So don't even talk to me about what ungrateful is!"</p>
<p>Being poor in America is NOTHING compared to being poor in India or Indonesia. India's GDP per capita is $500 compared to America's $37,000. You have no idea how far apart developed and third world countries are. Ever seen those Chrisitan Children's Fund commercials? Thats what it's like. Be glad you even had an apartment.</p>
<p>"I don't sit around and complain about how my life was, but that seems to be what people of the affected countries are doing. Complaining isn't going to bring them any more money; going out there and efficiently using the money they were given sure would be a start. If they worked on containing the disease that is becoming rampant as much as they were complaining, it would suppress the potential death toll by a large amount."</p>
<p>The countries are asking for aid money to do exactly what you said, not to improve their people's daily life. But they didn't get enough money to get that done. That's why this whole issue started.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You have no idea how far apart developed and third world countries are.
[/quote]
India is not a third world country. They have the 12th largest economy in the world. Get your facts straight.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Be glad you even had an apartment.
[/quote]
I've been over to Asia genius! And, no, it's not ALL like that. The majority of people do have some kind of shelter, whether it be a building, hut, or whatever. You make it seem like they're all running around in the streets which is not how it is in general.</p>
<p>Anyways, back to the original argument. The United States is donating more money than any other country. Enough said.</p>
<p>yeah um uc.benz, if you did your research before asserting a dumbfounded comment such as "what are you talking about?", you would be able to comprehend that yes, this earthquake was equal to detonating 1 million atomic bombs....</p>
<p>second of all, uc_benz and private joker, I totally agree with your ideas, and yes i, too, have lived through the exact conditions you have in my lifetime (both worlds), but as i said before, i do not think this is a time of complaining, and expressing how we lived through our obstacles, it is a time of just providing as much aid as possible to the areas in need...and sucharita i never said that no one is donating, i said that the people that are arguing and complaining should stop right now, read the whole thing before you say that i am critizing everyone for not donating...my family as already given funds to a buddhist temple in new jersey..</p>
<p>Because I AM dumbfounded! I think the world would be destroyed if one million atomic bombs were set off. The bomb set off in Hiroshima killed 135,000 people and the one in Nagasaki killed 64,000 people. Using the same ratio of people killed, a million atomic bombs would equal: 99,500,000,000 people killed. Seeing how there is not even close to that amount of people in the world, I don't think it would equal one million atomic bombs.</p>
<p>alright hotshot...i'm sorry that someone cannot use google.com to their advantage...</p>
<p>Here it is:
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/27/tech/main663188.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/27/tech/main663188.shtml</a>
Better yet....i'll even point out to you the easy to read paragraph that says exactly what i'm "talking" about...
"Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute, likened the quake's power to detonating a million atomic bombs the size of those dropped on Japan during World War II, and said the shaking was so powerful it even disturbed the Earth's rotation." </p>
<p>yes...it is 1 million atomic bombs...anywayz i dun have time to argue with you, it would be hypocritical to my own assertion, and btw your comment earlier on how America shouldn't have to donate anything, my friend if you think that then America should have its butt in Iraq fighting a war for who knows what, why the hell don't we liberate ****ing Cuba huh? Don't try me man...it is OUR RESPONBILITY, AS AMERICANS, IF WE WANT TO START WARS THEN WE SHOULD ALSO WANT TO HELP WHEN A NATURAL DISASTOR HAS WASHED AWAY THE POTENTIAL LIFE OF MILLIONS!</p>
<p>"India is not a third world country. They have the 12th largest economy in the world. Get your facts straight."</p>
<p>Which is exactly why I stated GDP per capita rather than total GDP. India may have a large economy, which is still $600 billion compared to America's $11 trillion, but it also has 1 billion mouths to feed.</p>
<p>"I've been over to Asia genius! And, no, it's not ALL like that. The majority of people do have some kind of shelter, whether it be a building, hut, or whatever. You make it seem like they're all running around in the streets which is not how it is in general."</p>
<p>Did this place in Asia happen to be Japan, Korea, Singapore, or Thailand? If you really saw the conditions the poor live in, you wouldn't be so insensitive about it.</p>
<p>Also from CBS.com that you selectively left out: "Other scientists said it was early too say whether the rotation was affected by the quake. " I'll go with the popular opinion and say the guy is wrong or at least exaggerating (for now at least).</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you really saw the conditions the poor live in, you wouldn't be so insensitive about it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm not being insensitive about the ACTUAL conditions. I'm being insensitive about the exaggerated conditions that you are talking about. Anyways, I could care less about their regular living conditions right now, it has nothing to do with the argument. Sure they are not very good, I agree with that; however, we're talking about the disaster.</p>
<p>I'm saying they shouldn't be complaining about how much money are getting. Be grateful that you ARE getting money.</p>
<p>I am not exaggerating anything. America beats India 18:1 in wealth and India beats America 3:1 in population. As a nation that controls atleast a fourth of all the money in the world, America is excepted to contribute a lot when poorer nations are hit with disasters. This money isn't for building roads or schools, it's for immediately saving thousands from death.</p>
<p>ok my friend, i'm sorry that you had to bring the slight arguement all the way down to whether or not the earth's rotation was affected by the quake, i was simply taking the conclusion that the quake was equal to detonating 1 million atomic bombs, if you read in my FIRST post on this topic, that is ALL i had said, never once did i state anything of the earth's rotation...</p>
<p>Good News:</p>
<p>U.S. ASSISTANCE: Amid criticism, aid boosted by $20 million
<a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/29/MNG7VAIDUE1.DTL%5B/url%5D">http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/29/MNG7VAIDUE1.DTL</a></p>
<p>We've had to remove a few links to sites seeking donations to assist in the tsunami recovery effort. Unfortunately, we can't evaluate these links as to the quality of their charitable efforts, or even if the site is actually who it purports to be. We ask your cooperation in not posting links or recommending specific charities in our forum.</p>
<p>At College Confidential, we certainly share the concern of our members about this enormous tragedy. If you are able to donate to the relief effort, please do so. In selecting the right place to send a donation, though, we encourage you to choose a charity with a long and positive history, and preferably one with which you, a family member, or someone you trust, has had personal experience. Perhaps a reputable organization with a presence in your local area is accepting donations.</p>
<p>We extend our sympathy and support to the tens or hundreds of thousands of people directly affected by this tragic disaster.</p>
<p>I'd suggest that people not get to worked up about this "measly" contribution to the disaster by the US government. As of now, the current aid is an initial amount that will only increase as credible situation reports come in. So soon after a disaster of such magnitude, it is nearly impossible to fully comprehend the extent to which people need certain amounts of aid and where they need it. Besides, the aid will come in more ways than just money. Already, disaster relief teams and volunteer organizations are being organized to go or are already on the way to help.</p>