Horror in Burma

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A really tragic event has befallen this country! Not only are the monks and people fighting for democracy, now Burma has had a cyclone hit that has killed 15,000 people+. I feel for them.

 

Damn.
Horrible news.

 

Latest reports I saw on TV today suggested 22,000 + dead. When did they start calling this country Myanmar and why, if anyone could enlighten an ignorant geezer?

 

The death toll is much higher now -- over 22,000 with 41,000 missing.

And we in the US are still complaining about Katrina.

Edit: revmaf beat me to it. The English tended to butcher names whereever they went (Peking for example). As nations have gained independance they have changed their names to traditional pronunciations. The Union of Burma was changed to the Union of Myanmar in 1989 -- although many English speaking governments still refuse to accept the change. The name Myanmar is a derivation of Myanma and goes back to the Thirteenth century.

 

I think we still complain about Katrina because we had plenty of notice and still couldn't convince everyone to evacuate.

From what I have read, the people in Burma had no notice.

What I'm primarily concerned with is the possibility that their rice fields may be permanently destroyed by saltwater.

 

I feel for the people in third world countries at the best of times, and when something like this happens, my heart goes out to those thousands of people who are dead. I used to live in a town of about 6500 people and I try to imagine all of them dead in one day, then expand from there. It boggles the mind.

What concerns me the most is the fact that the government of this country has what the radio this morning called "strict border controls". I am not sure what that means after the doublespeak but the fact is that aid is not getting there as fast as it could. Any government officials delaying aid to their people should be taken out and their gonads fed to the wild goats. It pisses me off no end.

 

Well at least they said that they'd be willing to let us in to do our damn job...
"Us" *shrugs* meh, I'm just a fundraiser...

...I get to talk to people about this several times a day. It's not that they haven't heard about it...well, some of them haven't...but it's breaking my heart...the sadness of this news and how I'm dwelling in it with them. I must be getting sick or something...

 

T2Bruno, thank you for the explanation, which makes perfect sense.

Iku-turso, I don't think you're getting sick - you're getting real. Most of us, me included, manage to insulate ourselves from the reality of such a major tragedy. If all the missing turn out to be fatalities, the death toll is going to approach that of the great tsunami several years ago.

The possibility of permanently destroyed rice fields is truly terrible. With rice supplies short everywhere this is a major blow to future food prospects for Myanmar.

This just gets worse and worse.

 

That tsunami killed 200,000 people, so if all missing are dead, it will still only be half of that disaster.

 

Agreed. And how many more will die through disease and malnutrition? Like most parts of the world, rice is a staple in the diet of these people. I use "these people" because I'm not sure what the people of Myanmar are called. I think when it was Burma they were called Burmese. But what now? Myanmarese? Myanmaran?

 

Actually, when the name is considered, Myanmar is the junta's name for Burma. The people and everyone else calls the country Burma. They have been speaking about the name quite a bit in Swedish media where they have explained the reasons for them using Burma instead of Myanmar. As they tell it the name Myanmar has no foundation among the populace and is junta ploy of somekind, don't have all the details. The point is that using Burma instead of Myanmar is not incorrect and not "imperialistic".

 

I feel for the people who have lost a friend or a family member. I hope they find the strength to continue with their lives and a way to overcome this hardship.

TGS brings a good poing - the true impact of the cyclone also includes the damage it has done to the infrastructure of the country and its economy (I'm including the agriculture here in this case). There is little more one can do for the dead, but the living may need our help.

 

The government had two days' warning. The Burmese disaster is, therefore, at least in part a governmental failure.

Rather like Katrina, come to think of it. Unsurprisingly--though heartbreakingly--the people of poor countries suffer more as a result of natural disasters than do the people of rich countries.

 

Some areas of the world just can't catch a break.

 

Today's newspaper quoted the junta saying "just give us the money, we'll make share it with those in need of help"

Right. Who's believing them? Hands up and hand down the money, or else...well, here we go again, I'm getting cynical about them opening the border, why bother when they can use the situation for political (and financial) purposes...

 

The living certainly need our help, and I think that the vast majority of people in North America and Europe, as well as other developed countries, are more than willing to help the people who face possible death, starvation, or other privation. Whether or not we'll be able to help them in the face of political / criminal corruption is another matter.

I've always held that the real problem in the third world is corruption and human evil -- developed countries send billions of dollars worth of goods and other forms of aid, but evil warlords, thugs, and other degenerates steal it and very little gets to the people who truly need it. That's the real tragedy.

 

My on that is that yes, as we're putting a lot of money into helping those people and yes, as there are too many bad people stealing the benefits, the main problem still is that there's far too many people not giving a damn. It's understandable, there's plenty of reasons and I've heard almost every damn one of them.

One of the richest being "Oh, I'd like to help, but then I couldn't afford these designer clothes..." Yes. I'm sure her designer clothes are much more valuable to her than vaccinating someone against a disease or helping to build a well. It happens. I'm not cynical. I'm actually shedding tears for that little missy if she's not dressed in the latest fashion.

 

True, but sometimes it's better to offer help regardless of how much it reaches the people than not offer any. I think even the much-maligned oil-for-food might have made some improvements in the lives of the Iraqi, and the Saddam regime was about as bad in terms of oppression and corruption as you can get.

 

I think what's happening now is that help is being offered but the Myanmar government is just asking the offerers to leave the money at the door. The humanitarian aid workers are not willing to settle for that -- they want some reassurance that their aid will actually benefit the people in trouble. I hope that some sort of accomodation can be reached so the injured and endangered can get what they need.