. . . it only seems fair that nature get some of its own back and teach us that there are forces greater than our own . . . — James Wolcott
24,000 dead and counting is pretty damned horrible to contemplate. There’s nothing I can report about the quake and tsunami that hasn’t been reported, and nothing I can say that hasn’t been said, but that doesn’t mean I feel nothing. Justin wrote a damned good post on tsunamis last night, and the blogosphere has been covering this every step of the way. Michele Catalano notes that the U.S. media gave the Michael Jackson trial about as much coverage (and that was when the figure was at 11,000). Twenty times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq ought to count for something, even if they’re not Americans.
The numbers will only get larger.
I wrote more about the Florida hurricane than I did about this — and what set me off was hearing people say that people shouldn’t have been living there. One leftist (James Wolcott, quoted above) actually said he was rooting for the hurricane, but I’ll bet he’s not sounding that meme now. (And not because he doesn’t like to quote himself!) Anyway, I don’t call this an act of God, nor am I rooting for “nature.” We should all help the victims to the extent we can, and do a better job of preparing for future disasters. It could happen almost anywhere.
UPDATE: James Wolcott has indeed remained silent about nature’s lessons this time. Don’t ask me why.
UPDATE: Charles G. Hill speculates that Wolcott’s “champing at the bit for that killer asteroid to show up.” Does that mean Wolcott wants a greater impact than he’s already had?
MORE (12/28/04): It now looks like the numbers will reach 45,000.
AND MORE: Kevin Aylward has a link to this amateur video of the tsunami. (If that doesn’t work, Kevin has alternate links.)
EVEN MORE: Via InstaPundit, I see that according to science, Wolcott may be right:
“Wheels of thunder-wagons wake up Big Earth Spirit-Mother, make to crazy tingle in hairy child-place. She now go to water lair of Tai-Waku, make big angry love on tectonic plate,” said Novak. “Big Earth Spirit-Mother say, ‘if ocean rocking, don’t come a-knocking.’”
Although they disagree on the precise causes of the wrathful spirit world, scientists were largely unanimous in recommending immediate global regulatory action. Remedial steps suggested in the report include ratification of the Kyoto treaty, elimination of automobiles, volcanic altars for virgin sacrifices, creation of a sustainable urine-based economy, and improved faculty dental benefits.
“If not act now, it too late,” said report editor Paul Erlich of Stanford University.
Um, am I allowed to say “Ugh?”
MORE: I’m busy tonight, but the stuff in these links from Glenn Reynolds is absolutely appalling, and show how utterly corrupt (if not evil) science has become. Claims Jeff McNeely, chief scientist of the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN):
….people have started to occupy part of the landscape that they shouldn’t have occupied…. (via Powerline.)
Man is considered the enemy. Might as well put Wolcott in charge of the IUCN.
Seriously. Move over McNeely. (And why not? He’s about as qualified as Wolcott anyway.)
Back in the 80s, I heard equally intelligent (and equally compassionate) remarks when gay men were dying from AIDS by the tens of thousands….
AND MORE: The death toll is now 68,000 and counting. Factoring in disease and the fact that many are still unaccounted for, it could reach 100,000.
UPDATE (12/29/04): It didn’t take long to reach 100,000.
UPDATE (12/30/04): The count is now at a sickening 125,000, and even Hurricane Rooter James Wolcott is calling the tsunami “catastrophic.” (From Tim Blair, via Glenn Reynolds.) Well, there is a difference between a Hurricane and a Tsunami. I’m sure “Hurricane Wolcott” is aware of the differences, so I don’t see why I have to supply them here.
Oh what the hell.
1 oz Spiced rum
1/2 oz Malibu Rum
1/2 oz Rum Dark
Fill with Pineapple Juice
Float Grenadine
1.0 fl. oz. of White Rum
1.0 fl. oz. of Dark Rum
0.5 fl. oz. of Triple Sec or Cointreau
1.0 fl. oz. of Lime Juice
0.5 fl. oz. of Sugar Syrup
2 Dashes of Grenadine
3.0 fl. oz. of Orange Juice
3.0 fl. oz. of Pineapple Juice
Ice
Sheesh! Do I now have to document and supply statistics for everything I say?
Comments
14 responses to “God didn’t do it (and nature sometimes sucks) . . .”
Like most lefties Wolcott can only wish the worst for Americans. By his lights wishing the same for another culture would be unseemly. I cannot fathom that algebra, but it is quite common among his sort. At least they are consistent, if a bit tedious.
If that sort of thing had happened in the Caribbean there probably wouldn’t be a Florida right now. Or a Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, etc.
So Nature, like God, exacts justice: “it only seems fair”. So I guess Wolcott is in some kind of bond with the Ideal, but then he is not “religious”?
The 12/26/03 Iran earthquake killed around 43,000.
Wolcott, and anybody who thinks like him, is an anal pore, if you’ll excuse my language. As for me, I can only say I’m glad I wasn’t there. I feel for those thousands who lost their lives, possessions, and/or loved ones in that disaster.
“James Wolcott has indeed remained silent about nature’s lessons this time. Don’t ask me why.”
Because only white people need lessons from nature?
Steven, such strong language! Clogged anal pores can lead to fistulas, you know…..
Hurricane Jeanne killed over 3000 in Haiti in September:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Jeanne
Is Wolcott singling out whites?
I think he’s trying to be fair to everyone, and unless I’m reading him wrong, he seems to be including himself in the “we.”
Perhaps he’s thinking of the “laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” but just can’t bring himself to say it.
🙂
If we’re going to go there, and bring God into this, we might as well take the Falwellian step of saying that God did this to punish the pedophiles and sodomites that congregate in Thailand, along with all the false-god following Muslim heathens.
Sure, Jerry didn’t actually say it, but you know he was thinking it.
The fact that the two hardest hit areas were terrorist sanctuaries (Ache, Sumatra and Sri Lanka’s predominately Tamil east coast), was just a coincidence…right?
Oh my god. I can’t believe you are turning this farking tidal wave into a partisan political issue. A little perspective please?
“turning this farking tidal wave into a partisan political issue?”
Gee, thanks for crediting me with such power, but I’m only commenting on what others have said — especially those who blame the victims.
I does ask the question?.
On the eighth day god dicided to fuck
eveyones headup.
If god created the world then surely he would not leave it to a evil woman called mother nature to destroy his creation, or even his brothers and sisters.
I read your post about asteroids, is it not about time that man and women came to there sense.
We made god up like a bed time story to get us all to sleep.
We are not kids any more and we see what destruction man does, never mind what nature throws at us.
If the big meteor hits the atlantic then how many hands are going to reach out for help, thing is we will all be fucked, there will be no hands left to pull us back, we will all be swept up on the shore.
It will come, just like the dinosuars.
Point is, it might not come while all of us are alive but then again we do not choose.
Instead of wasteing money throwing bombs at each other, a pointless exercise that only breeds hate, and keeps arms manufacturers on PHUKET hiding from the tax man, we should put our money in a pot that pionts our guns to the skys.
You will allways get greedy fat bastards that says, “I’m havin mine while i’m alive” but if any one lives afterwards, you ain’t gunna be a hero your gunna be food.
I think we have had a lesson this year, lets make the most of it and help each other. There is no option.
*shakes head* I haven’t been blogging on this for a number of reasons. For one, the sheer scale of the catastrophe is enormous – I literaly cannot wrap my head around it. Every time I look at the vids, watch the damage on the news, see the rising death tolls… the mind reverts to “oh my gods!” as a response. Words and language are overwhelmed – it comes out as a sheer emotional response… which makes writing about it hard.
For another, the sheer anti-rationality of the statements on this thing by everyone from columnists to UN officials to heads of state to commenters is equally mind numbing, as you noted. Those get a “oh my gods!” reaction for a different reason: my mind blanks at the concept that a human being can look at something like that and then make some of the political or “scientific” or “compassionate” statements that have been made.
My cynical side wants to react to both the event and the statements with a flip joke to push the horror away.
Bad juju, Eric. There is a very real part of me that looks at statements like some of the ones that you and others have linked to, and thinks that humanity on the whole needs to have the plug pulled on our entire experiment – we’re failing the test.
Luckily, we have enough people who’re reacting out of the very best we have to offer to mitigate that somewhat. But only somewhat…
allah is great allah is the one god, allah is obviously on our side because he just wiped out a large number of potential terrorists. funny how the saudies gave ten mill huh? funny how its was like a bunch of muslim countries hit….yeah whos worshiping the false god? the muslims..even if allah is god im sure hes pretty damd pissed at the garbage going on in his name.
Come to think of it…