Baghdad Stampede Kills Hundreds

[Sava]

this sucks

what sucks more is that its not I don't hear about it anywhere on US media...

aren't Muslims always stampeding each other?

does anyone remember my old sig about the Ha'ajj?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Sandman
I don't think India is a grain importer.

You are correct. India is apparently neither an importer nor exporter. It is projected to become an importer as incomes grow, but presumably NO will be dealt with by that time.

Increasing grain prices COULD cause a shift of incomes within India however.

The notion that the this is comparable to the missing girl story, or that US media focus on a disaster which is causing the at least temporary abandonment of a major American city is somehow US navel gazing, is simply absurd.

And if you live outside the USA and dont want to watch US media, you are of course free to watch BBC, or Al jazeera, or whatever.

[C0ckney]

wow 15 posts and we're already in to an in-depth discusion on the finer points of the indian grain market :/

[Az]

Gotta love poly

[VetLegion]

So, is Tigris deep or fast or cold...? If people fell in it unhurt, I'd expect a majority to swim to the shore...?

CNN's site is very terse on the whole story...

[Sava]

Originally posted by VetLegion
So, is Tigris deep or fast or cold...? If people fell in it unhurt, I'd expect a majority to swim to the shore...?

well FOXNews is reporting the people died instantly from hitting the water because that's where Saddam dumped all his chemical weapons

[VetLegion]

How high is the bridge anyway?

[Sava]

30 meters

link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

[Sava]

from the CNN story:

The attack didn't stop pilgrims from continuing their rituals, marked in part by self-flagellation

[germanos]

Originally posted by Sava
30 meters

link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

ouch!

[VetLegion]

Ouch. Survivable though, I think.

[C0ckney]

635 people would disagree with you.

[VetLegion]

This one is 23 meters and people jump from it every year.



How many people fell in the water, did they all die?

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


You live in India, and you think the loss of the US's major grain shipping port is trivial? What impact will it have in India when world grain prices increase?

First - I explicitly said that I am trying not to trivialise the Now Orleans disaster .

Secondly , it will have no domestic impact on the Indian grain market . None . Zilch . Nada . In fact ( though I hate to say it ) , it might be actually benificial to the exporter of food - they'd get better margins . India is an exporter of food . In fact , India could swamp the US market with grain if protectionist policies and subsidies were removed .




But let's not threadjack here . I don't really know what to say about stampedes - the affected people can't be called victims , as , to be a victim , there has to be some entity which is causing the victims' problems . Now what happens when the entity causing the suffering is inflicting it on itself ( as usually happens in stampedes ) ?

[VetLegion]

I think they are victims. Who's at fault?

MY preliminary guess, in order of importance:

1. The ones who shot at them with mortar
2. The one who started the rumor
3. The city authority for allowing such large gatherings in dangerous times

And I must say that this is a huge tragedy... it's somewhat disturbing even to discuss it if you stop for a moment and think about the number of dead.