8/30    Am I the only one who finds comparisons of this hurricane to the
        Boxing Day tsunami as tacky and out of proportion? --expat alum
        \-  "I can only imagine," Gov. Haley Barbour said slowly,
            "that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago."
           \_ wow, now if they'd just try a holocaust simile we
              could have a truly tacky trinity.
        \_ A city of about 500K is underwater.  Sorry, I think you're an idiot.
        \_ A city of about 500K is underwater including many white people.
           Sorry, I think you're an idiot. -emarkp
           \_ Hundreds dead vs. hundreds of thousands dead.  Days of warning
              vs. minutes of warning (if at all).  Hmm ......
              vs. minutes of warning (if any).  Hmm ......
              \_ I'm sorry, I didn't know there was an accurate count of the
                 dead.  Did you know they're painting black marks on houses so
                 they can go back and collect the dead when cars can get
                 through?
                 \_ "Hundreds" is not an accurate count.
                    \- the biggest difference is whether yo live in a society
                       with a social safety net or not. the best comparison
                       is to various bay of bengal monsoons and the effect
                       on bangladesh. the hiroshima "comparison" is just dumb,
                       but it is pretty much "free" for pols to make comments
                       but it is pretty much "free" for people to make comments
                       like this [or for pat to make comments like he made
                       recently]. --somebody who has done a fair amount of
                                    travel in societies without soc safety nets
                       recently].
           \_ what the hell does "including white people" mean??  I slightly
              modify my orignal impression, as the news here in S.E. Asia
              was talking about 70 dead when the tsunami simile appeared. But
              I still wonder about comparing it to an event that killed at
              least half a million people w/ an hour's warning. -op
                    \_ I enjoy spending time with white people.
                       Do you have a problm with that? Are you white? -emarkp
                       \_ I have a problem w/ people assigning more value
                          to lives wrapped in one skin color or flag, yes.
                          And yes I am a white American.
              \_ Yeah, but WHITE PEOPLE died in New Orleans. Even worse,
                 conservative white people. Oh the humanity!
              \_ Where did you get the 500k number?
                 \_ I mispoke and should have said "up to" half a million.
                    Those were the trends being reported here in SEA when
                    people seemed to stop counting.  Indonesia alone lost
                    whole towns and cities and cannot count accurately
                    but was being estimated at a quarter million as I recall.