Not to mention....<br><br>Really, there are quite a bit of resources pouring into the area. If somebody really wants to make a difference, buy some groceries for a needy family in your town. <br><br>

There are no places to hide from tsunami nor their mother eathquakes. All we can do is consider ourselves lucky that the earth has not swallowed us faster than we can swallow our pride. Those of us unaffected by such events. <br>Whilst war and genocide are nasty and yes many of us discuss them and try to help to prevent people spreading the disease of greed and division that causes such things. They are still slow and steady disasters that take time to fester and destroy. <br>If shooting the breeze is all you want to do, then will it come as no surprise to you if the breeze happens to shoot you while you are not watching?<br><br>

Oh yes. Of course. Anything to make Mr. TB happy. And, of course, the best way to illicit a positive response from someone is to throw a little crap in their face. An assumption here. An accusation there. And — most importantly — a blanket insult.<br><br>Abso-fookin-lutely, I'll write "This is dedicated to TreeBeard" on the memo line of my check.<br><br>Yeah. A crazy lot we are, indeed.<br><br>

I understand what you are saying, but... WTF? Why not just create a thread about it and see what kind of responses you get? You know, that's how its usually done around here. You might find that people care a lot.<br><br>Oh, well, nevermind I guess. Just assume what you want and go off and pout. That attitude reminds me of some of the girls I dated in high school. They didn't last long either, thank god.<br><br><br><br>When did the National Guard turn into the foreign legion?

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>Well now, that is a positive response. I am sure this was what TreeBeard wanted to see.<p><hr></blockquote><p>I don't care what TreeBeard wanted to see! I did it because I wanted to. I just happened to be on Amazon and I decided to contribute. TreeBeard hand *nothing* to do with it, I would have donated anyway. I'm pissed that, instead of trying to be helpful and post information about the tragedy or links to help out with relief efforts, he decided to start a flame war. Totally uncool.<br><br>

Hooboy. Now he's especially not gonna be talkin' to youse! <br><br>

Yes, thank God, there are important stories and then there are important stories.<br><br>

Watcher, why do you come across with this 'better than thou' approach? You sound like you're ljudging people becasue they aren't wailing loud enough for you.<br><br>If people choose to focus on the positive in the world, or even their lives, why does that bother you? I get the impression you walk through the terminal cancer floor and tell people they should feel really bad because they're going to die. <br><br>It's one thing to haggle back and forth about politics, but expecting people to meet your expectations of how they should deal with this terrible disaster, the way TB has, is insulting.<br><br>

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>but expecting people to meet your expectations of how they should deal with this terrible disaster, the way TB has, is insulting.<p><hr></blockquote><p>Not to mention it makes one a louse of a human being.<br><br>BTW, I've organized a fund drive here at work for the disaster. I'd like to see $100K out of it. There are plenty of $100+ donations so far, with a few thousand people throughout the divisions hopefully that'll keep up. No, the money won't arrive there right away, but it'll get there long after people will have forgotten about the disaster... just when they'll need it the most.<br><br>WTF has TB done? :)<br><br>

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>Things that you hear may or may not be true but at least these organisations are there attempting to distribute aid. There will need to be more than 16 billion spent before this event begins to look like being repaired.<p><hr></blockquote><p>Yes, it's staggering to think about the money required to get the region "back to normal." But why are you/we/they looking at America to do this? <br><br>This is one of my fundamental complaints about how the rest of the world feels about America. They hate us when we go into Iraq and rid the world of that scumbag who was running it. They hate the "dirty American tourist." They hate the lax, immoral "American way of life." Yet they are more than happy to blame us for the problems of other countries not having good common sense, they are more than happy to EXPECT us to finance the recovery of every "disaster" in every corner of the world, and they're more than happy to ask us to supply them with military arms & support every time they want to have their little religious wars – then complain about it after "cashing the check."<br><br>I'm all for the U.S. helping out when they can, within reason. Yes, I understand that there are a lot of homeless, starving children over there right now... but you know, there's an awful lot of homeless starving children in every major city of this country right now too – just because it wasn't a natural disaster that got them there doesn't change the fact that they are just as hungry, just as scared and just as in need as anyone over there right now. <br><br>I would rather my tax money help Americans in America, and I don't apologize for thinking that way. If I were Canadian, I would want my tax money spent in Canada first, etc...<br><br>