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Last updated on August 9th, 2017 at 03:37 pm
Terrible stories emerge from Indonesia, where thousands are dead following Saturday’s earthquake:
Subarjo, a 70-year-old food vendor, sobbed next to his dead wife, his house destroyed.
“I couldn’t help my wife … I was trying to rescue my children, one with a broken leg, and then the house collapsed,” he said. “I have to accept this as our destiny, as God’s will.”
In Jakarta, Agustinus Widodo woke to this text message:
Your mother died in the quake. She was trapped under the debris of her home.
Australia has pledged $3 million in emergency aid. Also contributing: the US, China, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Canada, the EU, the city of London, Belgium, and Greece. Images of the disaster and aftermath here.
- Poor buggers.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2006 05 28 at 07:48 AM • permalink
- #1 Saudi Arabia can’t afford it. They have a googol of Crown Princes to support.
President Ahmagoodfella of Persia is busy with other things
Posted by Whale Spinor on 2006 05 28 at 08:12 AM • permalink
- 4 Whale
President Ahmagoodfella of Persia is busy with other things
Plus his stupid mismanaged isolated despoto-theocracy of a country is broke. The Saudis, though, they ain’t got that problem.
I’m not sure what their track record is on helping out with stuff like this. I’ll probably remember something as soon as I hit the Submit button … yeah, that usually works…Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2006 05 28 at 10:27 AM • permalink
- Dammit, people! How many times do we have to tell you to wait for the UN!Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 28 at 11:30 AM • permalink
- Oxfam was nearly apopletic when the US, Australia, India, and Japan rushed relief to victims of 2004’s tsunami without first “coordinating” with the UN.
Oxfam staff in Asia warned that further chaos and duplication would result unless the UN was allowed to lead and coordinate the global response…
Only the United Nations can do this, with the Government of Indonesia. The US-led core group must come under the umbrella of the United Nations to be effective.”
Because we all know how quick and efficient the UN respose was… Expect a similar NGO reaction to any non-UN efforts.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 05 28 at 01:19 PM • permalink
- So, if interesting parts of Iraq were to suddenly undergo ‘rapid de-molecularization’ we could expect the Muslim world to say, “Allah’s will”?Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2006 05 28 at 01:33 PM • permalink
- Allah’s Will is right! Let’s see now, everything that happens is Allah’s will. The Muslim countries have been hit time and time again with Allah’s will. Perhaps he is trying to tell them something, especially when it is the very Satan who is coming in to save them! Maybe he’s trying to tell them something.
Oh, hell, just beat a few more women. One of them probably showed a piece of flesh, tempting some male beyond endurance. That’s why Allah has killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims using nature’s wrath. BEAT THE WOMEN AND SAVE ISLAM!
Australia has pledged $3 million in emergency aid. Also contributing: the US, China, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Canada, the EU, the city of London, Belgium, and Greece.
And where the hell are the rich moslem Arab countries?
Never mind – we all know the answer. :^(
Posted by Barbara Skolaut on 2006 05 28 at 03:06 PM • permalink
- Rebecca said: ‘They aren’t the right kind of Muslims anyway. Too willing to live and let live, most of them.’
You forgot to put on the ‘sarcasm’ tag, right?
Indonesian Muslims have not been willing to let Chinese or Christians live. No Muslim country has murdered more infidels than Indonesia, both directly through government attacks and via freelances.
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2006 05 28 at 04:29 PM • permalink
- Dont’ forget,
it’s the “Salvation Islamic Army” Black Sheet Appeal this Week!
So donate generously!
and remember,(sing song)lend a hand, lend a hand the Salvoislamics lend them a hand, lots of people need a hand ( in saudia A) cause the salvoislamics lend them a hand… do be do..
Donate and put your hand out over the bucket and donate….
- A colleague told me this morning that a Balinese friend of his arrived in Mebourne Saturday.
When told of the earthquake in Java, he said “Good!”.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 05 28 at 09:25 PM • permalink
- Hmmmm.
Why is it that when a disaster strikes everybody looks at the West for free money but at every other time it’s ok for them to spout idiot nonsense about hating the West.
Frankly I’m becoming less and less inclined to give money to people that think I’d be better off with my throat cut.
Posted by memomachine on 2006 05 28 at 11:06 PM • permalink
- MentalFloss, if you’re Balinese friend of a friend said that then he’s an arsehole of the first magnitude. Taking pleasure in the death of five thousand men, women and children because they happen to live in a nearby island that you don’t happen to like is a pretty scumbag thing to do.Posted by Harry Flashman on 2006 05 29 at 12:35 AM • permalink
- Any money donated will probably end up in the pockets of the Indo military( international business types rank Indonesia as the most corrupt country on earth). Oh, and Indos like to burn witches, lots of witches( no, I’m not making this up). On the bright side, they make the best instant noodles I’ve ever tasted, so I’m willing to overlook the corruption and witch burning.Posted by Daniel San on 2006 05 29 at 12:44 AM • permalink
- Got any links for the witch burning thing Daniel?Posted by Harry Flashman on 2006 05 29 at 02:58 AM • permalink
- #23 Harry Flashman,
Sorry Harry, I don’t have any links(too lazy). I recall it was happening quite freqently a couple of years ago, it was reported in the msm at the time. The witches in question were a unique Indo-style sorcerer assasin type( ninja witches!), the burnings and killings took place in remote provinces, not large cities. This weeks homework is to find the locations and the name( local dialect) for “witch”. Assigment must be handed in by friday, or I hire ninja witches to steal your penis.Posted by Daniel San on 2006 05 29 at 03:18 AM • permalink
- I agree with you Harry. Indeed, my reply was “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
Turns out the Balinese guy’s family had suffered significantly at the hands of what he considered “Javanese Imperialists”.
Still, more than a bit harsh, I agree. I only posted it as an anecdote. Perhaps inappropriately.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 05 29 at 03:41 AM • permalink
- No problem MF, I sometimes think the Balinese play up the “We’re so nice, those Javanese are terrible people” angle a bit too much. From my travels around Indonesia I’ve never found any race to be any better or worse than another, on the whole the Indons are generally friendly easygoing folks no matter where they come from, there’s no doubt that there’s alot about their country that absolutely needs sorting out and there are no shortage of bad guys but generally you couldn’t hope to meet nicer people at an individual level.
Daniel, they’re called “dukun”, and now that you mention it there was some problem a few years back when old Suharto was being booted out. The “ninjas” were soldiers acting as agents provocateurs trying to stir trouble up so that everyone would ask the army to stay in power to protect them. The poor old “witches” (basically harmless oul’ dears who delivered the babies, doled out the traditional medicines and carried out the exorcisms as necessary, just like your own GP really) were singled out for harsh treatment, as to why I’ve no idea, and some of them did get killed. Thanks for that I had forgotten about that episode.
I agree about the noodles, couldn’t get by without Indomie myself.
Posted by Harry Flashman on 2006 05 29 at 05:56 AM • permalink
- #21, #25 & #26,
If you think the Indonesians make the best instant noodles then you should try the varieties from Vina Acecook out of Vietnam. Their Pho Bo is really, really, especially delicious. I used to buy Indomie all the time but now I only buy them for a change.
And apart from that I don’t think the Balinese guy is an arsehole for expressing satisfaction that so many Javanese are dead. He didn’t kill them. He’s just not sorry that they’re dead and he has his reasons for feeling that way. He’s human like the rest of us.
Ever read Russell Braddon’s “The Naked Island”? That fellow couldn’t bear to be anywhere near any Japanese after his experiences as a POW.
So it’s an adjustment disorder. Maybe Braddon eventually got over it and stopped seeing every Japanese through the lens of his personal experience. Maybe the Balinese guy will eventually get over it. But in the meantime it’s a bit harsh to judge him harshly. Qualitatively, if not quantitatively, it’s a little bit like saying that people who were pleased when Stalin died are arseholes. I don’t they they were. I think they were sensible. Just my opinion.
- Meanwhile, in Dili . . . . Tim Costello gets stuck into Aussie militaryPosted by Oafish and Infantile on 2006 05 29 at 07:03 AM • permalink
- #26 harry,
Your assignment has been recieved and I’m giving it top marks, your Googling skills are most impressive.
#27 Janice,
I’ll try those noodles if I can find them, though they must be something special if you think they’re tastier than Indomie, the King of Noodles!.Posted by Daniel San on 2006 05 29 at 07:57 AM • permalink
- Janice I’m not sure it’s fair to compare the Japanese treatment of their POW’s or Josef Stalin’s behaviour with the ordinary people of Java who haven’t done very much in a century or three to the Balinese or anyone else for that matter.
However that’s not important, what is important is where do I get Vietnamese noodles in Jakarta?
Posted by Harry Flashman on 2006 05 29 at 10:11 AM • permalink
- H. Flashman, Javanese haven’t done very much in centuries? Except murder 250,000 Chinese 30 years ago.
By far the largest outbreak in my lifetime, although the steady, year by year body counts add up to impressive totals over time.
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2006 05 29 at 01:34 PM • permalink
- Harry E,
A quarter of a million Chinese were murdered in Java in 1976? You’d need to provide a link or two for that one mate.
(If you’re alluding to the massacre of Communists in 1965, first of all only a very small proportion would have been Chinese, and secondly the murders happened all over the archipelago, one of the worst and most violent places was Bali where the lovely peaceful Balinese slaughtered about fifty thousand, so it ain’t all the Javanese fault)
Posted by Harry Flashman on 2006 05 29 at 10:46 PM • permalink
- #32 Achillea,
Thanks for the link, will read.Posted by Daniel San on 2006 05 30 at 12:12 AM • permalink
- Sorry, got the date wrong.
Communists=Chinese.
Yeah, all over but mainly on Java. You have to go back nearly a hundred years and to Turkey to find more infidels slain by Muslims.
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2006 05 31 at 01:54 AM • permalink
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We eagerly await massive Saudi contributions which will dwarf the donations by the Great Satan and should start rolling in any second now…
Any second now…..
Any second now……………….