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Ear to the Ground

Crisis Deepens in Burma as Cyclone Toll Passes 22,000

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Posted on May 6, 2008
cyclone aftermath
AP photo

The damage from last weekend’s cyclone is evident in this photo, taken Sunday in Yangon, Burma.

As more details of the devastation left by Cyclone Nargis in Burma emerge, it’s becoming clear that the storm is one of the worst disasters in years. The Burmese government is being criticized for responding inadequately and too slowly to the crisis, and President Bush, himself no stranger to this kind of criticism, is calling on Burma’s “military junta ... [to] allow our disaster assessment teams into the country” in order to help.


BBC:

State media reported on Tuesday that 22,464 people had now been confirmed as dead and an additional 41,054 people missing as a result of the cyclone.

Almost all of the deaths occurred in the Irrawaddy river delta region, where more were killed by the tidal wave than the cyclone itself, Minister for Relief and Resettlement Maung Maung Swe told reporters in Rangoon.

“The wave was up to 12ft [3.5m] high and it swept away and inundated half the houses in low-lying villages,” he said. “They did not have anywhere to flee.”

Some 95% of the homes in the city of Bogalay in the Irrawaddy delta were destroyed and most of its 190,000 residents are now homeless, he added.

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By Purple Girl, May 7 at 6:46 am #

Airstirikes in Somalia, stravation do to Oil Hoarding, Real discussions about what ails, and is undermining Our country,Treason,War crimes and Crimes against humanity apparently are not acceptable topics for news these days. Just mind numbing ‘shiny objects’ to keep the ‘natives’ subdued.And a Good dose of Censorship (HUFFPO) to avoid the possiblity we would actually hold criminals accountable for their immoral and Unethical practices. But hey - we can bash a Rev who actually speaks th etruth about what our Gov’t & Incs have been doing for the last 3 decades all day long- over &over;& over again - an attempt to divert our atttention away from real Religious zealots who are hell bent on destroying mankind- Bush’s ‘spirirual’ Advisor, ‘Pastor’ Armegeddon.
Now we know why they seem unconcerned about the future of this country or the World- they plan on Ending it, so THEY may be ‘Raptured’ Terrifying doctrine’ with people in high places to make it All come true! Absolute Sociopaths Run this Country

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By Douglas Chalmers, May 6 at 4:30 pm #

Amazing how the first topic disappeared off the front page so quicky http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080505_c yclone_death_toll_tops_10000_in_burma/

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By Douglas Chalmers, May 6 at 3:15 pm #

Just watching the video clips on CNN and the U.S. government’s Charge D’affaires woman in Myanmar seemed incredibly laconic when describing the damage and attendant issues. She even laughed at one stage, uhh.

Is there something wrong with Americans these days that they are now so unable to relate to to others’ suffering? Or is it just the people in the US administration (even globaly) that are so inept and “having to wait on experts” to tell them the obvious?

See “Vast devastation in Myanmar “ http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/05/05/ beeper.myanmar.eyewitness.cnn

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