Media, Asia Earthquake, Bird Flu and Ignorance.

Ok, where to start...

I was watching the news the other day and I was absolutely appalled. The recent earthquake to hit Asia has been totally devastating. 80,000 people have already been killed by the earthquake that struck on October 8th 2005. Kofi Annan describes the quake as;

The scale of this tragedy almost defies our darkest imagination

So we get the idea, this is big, millions of people are at risk from the coming winter months where temperatures across the affected region will drop to un-liveable temperatures, remembering how many people have been left homeless.

So what's being done about it? Not enough.

My question...why?

Well it seems the world is too busy worrying about bird flu, something that we don't even know is going to effect us. Yes it is a scary thought and yes it could really mess us up, but the point is the earthquake has already hit Asia and has already killed people and many many more people are still at risk. Put down the bird flu dossier and let's go help people who actually need the help, right not. If things don't step up a pace it will be too late, there’s no "hold on we did that bit wrong lets go back and donate a bit more" because people will be already be dead.

Watching the news I saw coverage of bird flu non-stop;

'What should we do?'
'How to be prepared'
'We're all doomed'
etc

Why isn't there non-stop coverage pledging for more donations to the emergency relief fund? Because if it doesn't effect us we don't care. Sounds harsh but I really can't think of any alternative suggestions.

When we see the Middle East on the news we see nothing but war, disaster and death. The media is controlled and broadcasts what we want to see. Seeing images and videos of the middle east being a war-stricken disaster zone it makes us think "wow we're lucky to be living here, I'm glad we're not over there", people in Africa and countries struck by famine are made out to look alienated to us, they are still human beings - they are the same as you an I. Unfortunately things aren’t shown to us like that, if they were we're start to give a dam, and we can't have that now can we?

/Rant.

*barrel of hay rolls past thred*

*catches roll of hay and eats it...damn in this desert can't be choosy, not to many oasis

and answer.....because of where it happened of course, inaccessible, hard to get news crews in to film full on to stretch our heartstrings with sad images.... and umm h...hrmmm... isn't pakistan that nasty place near Osama.... grrrrr

can't see don't bother.....

its terrible thats what is is... 73000 dead so far and who cares...... no one sheds even a tear ..not even the ones that cried buckets over the tsunami....

the tsunami was filmed and replayed over and over, imprinted on our minds... how many images have come out of Pakistan to do the same, to induce that same ooh i will help quality....

This is a truly scary phenomenon. Does anyone remember Bam, Iraq?
No telethon, little to no advice from the MSM on ways to donate, what gives? Disaster burnout? Apathy? Gee, if one believed in conspiracies it would be easy to believe that this is a co-ordinated downplay of the seriousness of the situation. Last time I checked, weren't those parts of Eastasia, (oops Pakistan/India) allied with Oceania(oops U.S/C.O.T.W). Shame, first world, shame..

*cue: sound of whistling wind*

*watches fingapointa and phixion blowing around in the desert storm...what is it they call those storms...

I too think the world was bummed out after Katrina. Everyone rushed to the aid of America. who didn't really need it at all. America is rich enough to fund it's own relief effort, although with that national debt you dudes have got ...well umm..

I don't know the answer to the world relief. I really feel that the UN should have a fund, contributed to by all member countires. That sits there, gaining interest and more funds until a disaster, funds can then be dished out to disaster areas. This is open to rorting though....

Along with that there should be international relief teams co ordinated by the UN huge rescue and relief teams from each country. Each country can then activate the team members and send them to the relief areas. Not just medics but people to set up temp accom and so on. Huge teams of volunteers that are normal people working normal jobs until they are called out for disaster relief. This has probably been done and rorted too.

And the added problem of two disasters in the one year that have killed over 300 000 people and destroyed lifestyle and whole civilizations..... not just little disasters either. I am not degrading Katrina here by saying it was a teeny disaster on the scale of disaster and many of the deaths and issue were caused by the governments poor handling of the crisis.

Originally posted by Mayet
*watches fingapointa and phixion blowing around in the desert storm...what is it they call those storms...

Sandstorm or Dust Devil and it's tumbleweed, not a barrel of hay. I'm a desert rat.

Anyway, I think what we're seeing (or not seeing) is indicative of what's going on in the world today. Even in the last year there's been a marked increase in the attitude of taking care of one's self first. We don't think far beyond our own state or country because we've got so many problems of our own.

Our leadership is going down the toilet (thankfully) we have hurricanes and terrorism and now bird flu to think about. People are losing their jobs, the national debt is out of control, we're at war, soldiers are dying. Regardless whether these things are real or imagined, they're on the minds of the American people.

I don't know about you but right now, I'm a little concerned about my future. When we're secure and in a time of peace and wealth, it's easy to think about helping others. When we're concerned about our own safety, it's harder.

Also, the government (hence the media) wants us to focus on bird flu. Fear is a much more motivational factor than is sympathy or compassion. They want us to be focused on ourselves and our own fears. That's the best way to control people...

Did anyone from the UK see the metro front page earlier in the week? Trying to find a link to the story but can't find anything...

It said something along the lines of 'each victim in the Asian earthquake disaster has been donated $50, whereas each victim in the Katrina disaster has been donated $70,000'.

Meaning that all the money donated to the Asian earthquake appeal, divided by the number of people affected equals each person to be worth $50, whereas if you do the same for the Katrina disaster each person is worth $70,000.

the Pakistan quake was close to being as bad as the Tsunami in the Indian sea.

Yet Katrina got more attention.

The Bird-Flu crisis is a highly over-inflated situation, you can only get the flu if you eat undercooked poultry/eggs, handle an infected bird or role in their feces.

I hate to say it, but I will, this is the Skunk forum after all.

It's a racist, elitist kind of thing. How many westerners, Brits, French, Aussie, Canadian, Americans were affected by the earthquake in the Pakistan/India border? How many were affected in Iran? How many in the genocide in Somalia and wars in Africa?

But think of the Tsunami and all those "personal" stories. The effects of the tsunami were too widespread and many nations were involved. Think of where the Bird Flu could possibly affect? We only care about the Bird Flu so much because it can come to us, where we live.

The truth is: The world doesn't really care unless it is directly involved. We hear news and then forget. Unless it's our boys and girls, or our land and property, why worry.

I can tell you a tragic story about an all girls school that was destroyed for the third time by the earthquake. The first was by floods, the second by a terrorist bombing and the earthquake destroyed it again, killing most of the girls that attended it. I can tell you that good hearts are hoping to rebuild it for a fourth and final time, but you'll only listen and forget in a few more clicks.

i saw this thread and figgered to my 2 cents in. someone i know locally keeps tryin to convince me that the H5N1 and possibly H5N2 are caught via human to human contact. this person insists they saw it on CNN. now i have checked with W.H.O. and the CDC and cant find ant sign of human to human infection. if any one can point me to a reliable source to refute this i'm open to the research. and yes the tsunami and earthquake were great trgedies. as was Katrina. we americans have become complaicent. thats how we ended up with bushler in office.

no your friend is confused, there were several cases of bird flu in china recently.

Trust me if this happend, we'd all know real quick