Tsunami Warning Ignored to Protect Tourist Industry?

A Swedish newspaper is reporting just that. Excerpts from Raw Story:

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 discussed if a tsunami warning should be issued.

The primary argument against such a warning was that there had 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.

One expert The Nation spoke with also noted that the department had only four earthquake experts among their

900-strong meteorological department. A second told The Nation that a tsunami warning was discussed but that because of the risk, they opted not to issue a warning.

“We finally decided not to do anything because the tourist season was in full swing,” the source said. “The hotels were 100 percent booked. 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.”

Somehow I wouldn't be surprised if this were true.

Fuck, It Happened Again

Who stole my idea?

There is a Link Between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and We Made It

From the Christian Science Monitor:

When Mr. Zarqawi's terrorist movement emerged in Iraq more than a year ago, intelligence analysts saw it as separate from Al Qaeda, with more ferocious rhetoric than the better-known terror group and a willingness to kill large numbers of Muslim civilians.

But now, the US and its allies face a grave and growing threat: an alliance of mutual interests and convenience between the group that carried out the 9/11 attacks in the United States and the one that has contributed so much to Iraq's chaos.

"There were certainly some differences between bin Laden and Zarqawi,'' says Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies. "But these differences were minor compared to the biggest things they have in common - their desire to hit at the US."

And probably one of the scariest realizations I've had in awhile:

"In some ways Al Qaeda as an organization is dying, but it is influencing other groups to become like Al Qaeda. Iraq is now the major recruiting center," he says.

He also worries of another trend that may mirror the Afghan experience. "These fighters have been practicing terrorist tactics, car-bombings, in Iraq from day one and now they're much more radicalized. They'll take their tactics home with them when they leave."

$35 Million Dollars

Is that all this country can find? Wow, we're really digging deep. I mean, we're giving less money to this crisis than the GOP is spending on Bush's inaugural activites over four days, or than how much we spend in Iraq every six hours.

P.S.
It was crass for the GOP to have all this inaugural stuff during wartime anyway (inaugural balls and the like were canceled during WWII because they knew the money could be better spent elsewhere, like, ahem, armor for the troops), but to continue going through with it now is even more disgusting. These faith-based supporters should put their money where their mouths are and take care of those in need.

Another Crazy Thing About the Earthquake

When I first heard about it, I immediately thought of the huge earthquake that hit Iran last year. Now I found out that it that this earthquake/tsunami hit Indonesia a year ago to the day that that earthquake hit Bam, Iran, killing 31,000 people. Can't wait till next year!

Almost 23,000 Dead

And more to come. Absolutely unbelievable. And of course the headlines are still saying "3 Americans Dead." I love how that's how we put things into perspective, that by talking about American deaths it will make the tragedy resonant with Americans. If that's what it takes to get this to hit home with us, that's pretty sad and fucked up.

On another note, did you know that the island of Sumatra was actually MOVED 100 FEET?!