Thaidal Wave

PHUKET!

I'd like to give something to help those tsunami victims, but I've been played for a sucker too many times. It started back in the early 80's when I was touched by the Sally Struthers ads. I sent her a box of diet pills. She never got thinner.

I'll stick to what I know best: Giving advice and commentary, because I'm certain my monetary donation will be put down a sewer pipe to be sucked up by some bottom-feeding warlord or UN flunkie to be spent on teenage girls, black market oil and cocaine. I'd rather shell out some money to our military to take over the country and install a US government. We need to go over there and takeover several countries with Western sperm and know how.

It's not cold-hearted to read the lip we get from redistributionist schemers like this asshole from the UN and draw some conclusions:

The Bush administration yesterday pledged $15 million to Asian nations hit by a tsunami that has killed more than 122,500 people, although the United Nations' humanitarian-aid chief called the donation "stingy."
"The United States, at the president's direction, will be a leading partner in one of the most significant relief, rescue and recovery challenges that the world has ever known," said White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy.
But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.
The death toll still amazes me. No way any amount of money is going to make life there any better from now until the next disaster. Poverty and totalitarianism have metastasized there and only a takeover can end it. 120-something thousand people is now the latest estimate of the death toll and that sounds low after disease, mosquitos and stray animals go to work in the coming weeks. And the news media conveniently omits Stalin, Viet Cong, Mao Tse Tung, East Paki vs. West Paki in their accounting of worst human tragedies so that no one may detect a pattern and stop forking over their hard earned buck. It doesn't matter whether it's at the point of a weapon or tidal wave, that hemisphere really knows how to wipe out huge numbers of citizens.

San Francisco Earthquake, 1906: 3,000 deaths
Chinese Earthquake, 1976: 600,000 deaths

The pattern follows for virtually all comparable disasters in the western hemisphere and the eastern. Here's a translation of an article about the decision-making process from meteorological experts in Thailand as the tidal wave was about to hit:

Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Sunday morning, Thailand's foremost meteorological experts were sitting together in a crisis meeting. But they decided not to warn about the tsunami "out of courtesy to the tourist industry", writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation.
The experts got the news around 8:00 am on Sunday morning local time. An hour later, the first massive wave struck. But the experts started to discuss the economic impacts when they were discussing if a tsunami warning should be made. The main argument against such a warning was that there have not been any floods in 300 years. Also, the experts believed the Indonesian island Sumatra would be a "cushion" for the southern coast of Thailand. The experts also had bad information; they thought the tremor was 8.1. A similar earthquake occurred in the same area in 2002 with no flooding at all. We finally decided not to do anything because the tourist season was in full swing. The hotels were 100% booked full. What if we issued a warning, which would have led to an evacuation, and nothing had happened. What would be the outcome? The tourist industry would be immediately hurt. Our department would not be able to endure a lawsuit...

OY!

Anyone who does decide to give money through Amazon.com and other sites funneling to the Red Cross and other relief agencies should at least be able to put a note with their money that says: "Last chance, dude. Get out of there before your government gets you killed." Living in those countries is like playing football without a helmet or pads. I'd rather invite someone over there to be my live-in than send money. Where are those agencies? Save the children? OK.