More Wave Damage

Hmmmm--the Somali tsunami damage may actually be worse than let on in the previous article:

Tidal Wave Hits Somalia, Kenya

In the east Africa area, Somalia was hit particularly hard by Sunday's tidal wave, killing more than one hundred people and destroying several coastal villages. There was also some damage in neighboring Kenya.

Somali presidential spokesman Yusuf Baribari described to VOA Monday the effect that the tidal wave has had on his country.

"The loss of life, it's in terms of hundreds," he said. "The loss of properties, it's absolutely something that we cannot even describe. There are entire coastal towns and villages that have been submerged, and they are still submerged, by the sea. The fishermen that yesterday went out for their daily activity into the ocean, they haven't come back yet."

Very bad.

This article is a few hours older than the previous one, so I don't know which damage estimate is more accurate. They both come from VOA News.

The Big Wave Hits the Horn of Africa

Well, of course this is all over the news the past few days, the huge earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, 9.0 on the Richter scale (that's a biggie), the massive tsunami it set off, and the tens of thousands of people killed. I can't recall hearing about a natural disaster this huge, in my lifetime.

Big waves like that can travel for thousands of miles:

Government Officials to Travel Around Somalia to Assess Damage

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
28 December 2004

Somalia's new government plans by the end of the week to visit areas of Somalia most affected by the recent Asian tidal wave, while the International Committee of the Red Cross is sending out a relief shipment from Kenya to Sri Lanka to help victims there.

Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi announced in Nairobi Tuesday that he is set to head a delegation to tour the devastation wrought by Sunday's Asian tidal wave.

"Basically, my trip to Somalia is to assist the international organizations to support the affected people and the victims on the ground," he said.

Mr. Gedi says more than 100 people were killed by huge waves from Sunday's tsunami and more than 150 injured. He says the Puntland region is the most affected area.

Mr. Gedi, whose government is still based in Kenya because of security concerns, says United Nations agencies are already on the ground distributing food and other supplies to victims.

But, he says, more help is needed.

"The type of assistance I am requesting is food, shelter, and medicines, as well as water," he added.

Sunday's tidal wave, caused by an earthquake in the ocean near the coast of Indonesia, has killed more than 40,000 people in such countries as Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Maldives, and has wrecked massive devastation all over.

Huge waves radiated out to East Africa, hitting the islands of Mauritius, Reunion, and Seychelles in the process. The waves killed at least 10 people in Tanzania and one person in Kenya, with several injuries and destruction of properties.

[snip]

That tidal wave reminds me of trying to carry a big pan of water--the slightest little unsteadiness will send water sploshing over the edge. On a macro scale, the Earth's oceans are kind of like that. And we're all just a bunch of insignificant microbes swarming about the edge of the water.

Anyway, damage in Somalia hits a bit close to home for me--my fiancé's family is from there. I have not heard if any of them were affected, but I think they are probably alright.

(And frankly, the level of devastation caused by this tsunami in Somalia does not seem very large compared to the effects of years and years of violence, civil war, famine and anarchy. Other areas, closer to the epicenter, are obviously far worse off.)

Good Chomsky Article...

A friend on an internet forum I frequent posted a link to a long article by Noam Chomsky entitled Imperial Presidency. I haven't had a chance to read the entire thing yet, but the portions I have are pretty interesting. It also contains Chomsky's trademark optimism, almost as if in direct response to the pessimism of my previous post here. For example:

At the outset I mentioned the notable successes of popular struggles in the past decades, very clear if we think about it a little, but rarely discussed, for reasons that are not hard to discern. Both recent history and public attitudes suggest some pretty straightforward and quite conservative strategies for short-term activism on the part of those who don’t want to wait for China to save us from “ultimate doom.” We enjoy great privilege and freedom, remarkable by comparative and historical standards. That legacy was not granted from above: it was won by dedicated struggle, which does not reduce to pushing a lever every few years. We can of course abandon that legacy, and take the easy way of pessimism: everything is hopeless, so I’ll quit. Or we can make use of that legacy to work to create – in part re-create – the basis for a functioning democratic culture, in which the public plays some role in determining policies, not only in the political arena from which it is largely excluded, but also in the crucial economic arena, from which it is excluded in principle.

These are hardly radical ideas. They were articulated clearly, for example, by the leading twentieth century social philosopher in the US, John Dewey, who pointed out that until “industrial feudalism” is replaced by “industrial democracy,” politics will remain “the shadow cast by big business over society.” Dewey was as “American as apple pie,” in the familiar phrase. He was in fact drawing from a long tradition of thought and action that had developed independently in working class culture from the origins of the industrial revolution -- right where I live, near Boston. Such ideas remain just below the surface, and can become a living part of our societies, cultures, and institutions. But like other victories for justice and freedom over the centuries, that will not happen by itself. One of the clearest lessons of history, including recent history, is that rights are not granted; they are won. The rest is up to us. [emphasis added]

Hmm. Curious that he should mention Dewey--another guy who was thought to have won, based on early returns. (But I jest. I know next to nothing about that election and certainly have no cause to speculate that it was any more of a fraud than the typical American election.)

The future's so dim, I gotta wear nightvision goggles...

Eleven days, since my last post here, and that one was just that nice little picture of the fiasco in the Ukraine.

Politics, the ostensible focus of this blog, has gotten to be just too much for me to deal with lately. I am depressed with the futility of it all. The right succeeded in either 1) stealing yet another Presidential election, or 2) convincing several million additional fools to vote for the One Big Fool (aka The Shrub, aka The Chimp, aka That Fucking Moron, aka George W. Bush), and the left responds to this situation in it's usual fashion, namely splintering into a zillion different factions, none of whom can agree with each other as to where they went wrong. Not that it's particularly clear, in any case. I think a lot of things "went wrong." It would probably take hours to list them all.

I am not in the least bit optimistic about the American Left's ability to resurrect itself and turn this country around. It's my opinion, recently, that the American Left has been rendered impotent, and that this condition will remain in effect until some external force succeeds in enforcing its will upon the United States. My reasoning? Look at the various other fascist regimes which have existed in the 20th century. Have any of them simply gone away through peaceful means? Many, if not all, required massive external military intervention. A fascist movement, once it gains control of a country, will retain control until it is crushed, by force. Nicely and peacefully demonstrating is not going to work. Writing letters to the editor or to our "elected" representatives, including those who happen to be Democrats, is not going to work. Posting on blogs or internet forums is not going to work. Election reform is not going to happen. Media reform is not going to happen. The chokehold that American corporate oligarchs and fundamentalist fanatics currently inflict on the nation and the world is not simply going to cooperate and go away.

It may sound like I'm advocating violence here, but I'm really not. I hate violence. I'd rather just sit in front of the television and watch fake violence. I'm just saying how I think things might pan out. It's not looking good, and I wish I could go somewhere else. Hell, I wish I could take my entire extended family with me (those willing to go).

Meanwhile, I simply observe, keep up somewhat with my favorite blogs, follow the usual internet forums, to see if anything resembling good news shows up. So far, as far as I can remember, it hasn't. (Except for that Kerik guy withdrawing himself from consideration for the Homeland Security Czar post, but what are the odds that the One Big Fool and his advisors won't come up with someone just as bad, if not worse?) And, if the opportunity should present itself for me to lend a hand, I'll be around.

Happy Solstice (in case I don't post here before then).

Image Test

Found a fabulous little image on the Aljazeera site, and figured it'd serve as a good test to get a picture posted here:



Now is that photojournalism or what? Fantastic!

Source is here.

Rudeness

I just love The Rude Pundit.

Wait a second--I guess since this is The Rude Pundit I'm talking about, I should restate my option thus:

I just FUCKIN' love The Rude Pundit.

Sample:

Let's be clear here: "Christ" is shorthand for the fucked-up, backward ass, violent, hate-filled beliefs of Christian fundamentalism. It is not the Biblical "Christ" and his words of, you know, love, peace, and fellowship. The Biblical Christ never says, "Thou shalt exhort thine enemies to 'Bring it on.'" The Rude Pundit has said before that the Christ in the Bible is a liberal who invites us all to party on in a socialist heaven. That is a dude the Rude Pundit would like to break bread and fish with while suckin' down wine-from-water. That, however, is not the Christ who has been shoved in our faces by the evangelical right. They want Rambo Jesus, kickin' ass, a warring motherfucker who shows fags and secularists they better love the Lord or they're gettin' drop kicked into the fiery bowels of hell. Or voted out of office.

Fuckin' A! :-D