20,000 Feared Dead in Iran Earthquake

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Sava
unfortunately, as advanced as our weapons are, the people picking the targets aren't as smart as the bombs they are dropping.

Notice the

[Sava]

Originally posted by Uber KruX


i could give you a taste, but i'd get banned several times for a single post.

my PM box is always open

skywalker: ahhh.... and BTW, your avatar is awesome

[Kuciwalker]

[Starchild]

Twas listening to BBC Radio 4 today at work, usually a haven of intellectual commentary and discussion admist the part of the spectrum full of rather pointless drivel (I'm looking at you Radio 1!). They asked for listener responses to the news and I managed to hear this gem:

"Why should we help the Iranians? They never send the UK any aid when we have floods so why should we send them any aid now?"

When a supposedly educated person thinks that since Iran didn't send bundles of money they don't have when we had damp basements we shouldn't help them out when the ground swallows up entire cities, I get very sad for the future of civilisation.

So my solution? I turned on Radio 1 and listend to them talk about Britney Spears.

[Berzerker]

Sava -

you should head on over to freerepublic.com to see what your fellow right wingers are saying about it...

Are they saying things like this?

it was because our god is better than their god

Hmm... that is what you said.

[PLATO]

“I extend my condolences to all those touched by this tragedy,” President Bush said in a statement Friday. “The thoughts of all Americans are with the victims and their families at this time, and we stand ready to help the people of Iran.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3808904/

Good for you George

[Berzerker]

“The thoughts of all Americans are with the victims and their families at this time, and we stand ready to help the people of Iran.”

LIAR! George should visit Poly and FreeRepublic.

[Harry Tuttle]

Originally posted by Sava
according to Dennis Kucinich, the US was using a tectonic weapon...

You know, that idiot is actually my congressman. Those damn elderly keep electing the moron.

[VetLegion]

I am sorry for all the dead people

You know, I haven't read the entire thread yet (I will) so I don't know if this was brought up already - this is one of the rare examples where I see government regulation as a good thing and free market as something bad.

Imagine if government regulated housing so it had to withstand earthquakes? It would be more expesive to be sure but countless lives may have been saved

[VetLegion]

I've read it all. I feel silly for preaching but I can't help it: given the number of dead, the entire Iranian government has something to answer for. In my humble opinion. Big part of Iran is situated in an area prone to earthquakes, and they know this for a long time.

And especially if I was Iranian I would find this unforgivable, since I feel it could have been prevented with smart housing regulation.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by VetLegion
I am sorry for all the dead people

You know, I haven't read the entire thread yet (I will) so I don't know if this was brought up already - this is one of the rare examples where I see government regulation as a good thing and free market as something bad.

Imagine if government regulated housing so it had to withstand earthquakes? It would be more expesive to be sure but countless lives may have been saved

It does regulate housing

[Q Classic]

this has only reinforced my decision not to live in a place where the ground shakes for longer than a year.

[Berzerker]

VetLegion, they don't have insurance in Iran either. In a freemarket, insurance companies would have a hand in building codes. For example, we get a discount on our homeowners insurance because of our fire resistant roof that was not mandated by any government...

[VetLegion]

If you take a look on this map , you can see how strikingly Iran's borders coincide with "the red zone"

Safe housing should be their first priority. I can't shake off the feeling that this could have been prevented. The technology is there, the funds... are the funds there? The will should be there, right?

By the way here is some data I found about biggest earthquakes in history:

20. century - more than 240 000 lives (Tangshan, China, July 28, 1976, 242,419 killed - official figure)

All history - more than 800 000 lives (Shansi, China, Jan. 23, 1556, 830,000).


But just so you don't think this one is nothing in comparison: the number of dead in full scale war in Croatia that lasted in the first half of the 1990's was just over 20 000.

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by Berzerker
VetLegion, they don't have insurance in Iran either. In a freemarket, insurance companies would have a hand in building codes. For example, we get a discount on our homeowners insurance because of our fire resistant roof that was not mandated by any government...

Come on man, these people are too poor for insurance. I assume that most of their housing is self-made and not made by companies or govt. So the government is the only force that can do something. It should pour the money from oil into that, instead of reactors and ****.