Burma Death Toll estimated at 22,000
polaris
Posts: 3,527
so many topics all filtering into one small country
here we see how the poorest countries are affected most by severe weather (whether you want to say this is climate change or not) - this is an example of how an increase in extreme weather events will play itself out especially in low-lying coastal countries ... also, the Junta's response of finally accepting help is a measure of the devastation as they did not want any during the tsunami ... the military is not doing nearly enough to help with the clean up and fixing roads to help the affected ... how long will this Junta last?
*************************
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/421877
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar state radio says the death toll from last weekend cyclone soared above 22,000. A broadcast on the government-run station says 22,464 people are now confirmed dead in cyclone Nargis.
Thousands more are missing.
The hurricane tore through the country's heartland and biggest city of Yangon early Saturday.
Relief efforts for the stricken area, mostly in the low-lying Irrawaddy River delta, have been difficult, in large part because of the destruction of roads and communications.
The first assistance from abroad arrived today from neighbouring Thailand. Canada has said it is setting aside up to $2 million in humanitarian assistance for storm victims.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, state radio reported that the government was delaying a constitutional referendum in areas hit hardest.
Myanmar's Information Minister Maj.-Gen. Kyaw Hsan confirmed at a news conference that some 4,000 people had died in Yangon and the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region. He added that another 10,000 people could be dead in the delta.
Kyaw said tidal waves killed most of the victims in that region.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted by state-run television as saying that more than 10,000 people had perished in Irrawaddy while a smaller number died in and around Yangon, the country's largest city.
"News and data are still being collected, so there may be many more casualties," he said.
It was not known why the two ministers presented different death tolls.
The World Food Program, which was preparing to fly in food, added its own grim assessment of the destruction: Up to one million people may be homeless, some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out.
A state television report gave two different numbers – 59 and 130 – for the dead in what is known as Yangon division. It did not explain the differing tolls.
The country's ruling junta, which has spurned the international community for decades, urgently appealed for foreign aid at a meeting Nyan Win held with diplomats Monday in Yangon.
Ottawa pledged $2 million in humanitarian aid on Monday and called on the Burmese authorities "to provide full and unhindered access to humanitarian organizations to allow them to assist with the relief efforts."
The UN's emergency relief co-ordinator said Tuesday the government had indicated it was ready to start accepting international aid. The UN, Red Cross and other aid organizations have been organizing supplies in preparation for shipping them to the country.
Some aid agencies reported their assessment teams had reached some areas of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large numbers of aid workers would be difficult.
A military transport plane flew from Bangkok to Yangon Tuesday with emergency aid from Thailand while a number of other countries and organizations said they were prepared to follow.
Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid, said Yangon's airport is the closest to the region hardest hit.
"For those places accessible by land, there will be cars and trucks from those areas to meet at the halfway point with vehicles from Yangon," he said. "For remote areas, assessment teams and assistance teams will need to go by helicopters and boats."
The delta is riddled with waterways but Horsey said they are not easily accessible, even during normal times.
Based on a satellite map made available by the United Nations, the storm's damage was concentrated over about a 30,000-square-kilometre area along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines – less than five per cent of the country.
But the affected region is home to nearly a quarter of Myanmar's 57 million people.
Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.
"More or less all the landlines are down and it's extremely difficult to get information from cyclone-affected areas. But from the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," said Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, in a statement.
State radio reported Saturday's vote on a draft constitution would be delayed until May 24 in 40 townships around Yangon and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the killer storm.
It indicated that in other areas the balloting would proceed as scheduled.
The appeal for assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of the international organizations and have closely controlled their activities.
Foreign governments were poised Tuesday to rush aid to the devastated nation.
The United States, which has slapped economic sanctions on the country, said it likewise stood ready. The U.S. Embassy is providing $250,000 in immediate aid from existing emergency fund. But first lady Laura Bush said Monday the U.S. would provide further aid only if one of its own disaster teams is allowed into the country.
The European Commission was providing $3 million in humanitarian aid while the president of neighbouring China, Hu Jintao, promised $1 million in cash and supplies.
The government had apparently taken few efforts to prepare for the storm, which came bearing down on the country from the Bay of Bengal late Friday. Weather warnings broadcast on television would have been largely useless for the worst-hit rural areas where electricity supply is spotty and television a rarity.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
here we see how the poorest countries are affected most by severe weather (whether you want to say this is climate change or not) - this is an example of how an increase in extreme weather events will play itself out especially in low-lying coastal countries ... also, the Junta's response of finally accepting help is a measure of the devastation as they did not want any during the tsunami ... the military is not doing nearly enough to help with the clean up and fixing roads to help the affected ... how long will this Junta last?
*************************
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/421877
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar state radio says the death toll from last weekend cyclone soared above 22,000. A broadcast on the government-run station says 22,464 people are now confirmed dead in cyclone Nargis.
Thousands more are missing.
The hurricane tore through the country's heartland and biggest city of Yangon early Saturday.
Relief efforts for the stricken area, mostly in the low-lying Irrawaddy River delta, have been difficult, in large part because of the destruction of roads and communications.
The first assistance from abroad arrived today from neighbouring Thailand. Canada has said it is setting aside up to $2 million in humanitarian assistance for storm victims.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, state radio reported that the government was delaying a constitutional referendum in areas hit hardest.
Myanmar's Information Minister Maj.-Gen. Kyaw Hsan confirmed at a news conference that some 4,000 people had died in Yangon and the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region. He added that another 10,000 people could be dead in the delta.
Kyaw said tidal waves killed most of the victims in that region.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted by state-run television as saying that more than 10,000 people had perished in Irrawaddy while a smaller number died in and around Yangon, the country's largest city.
"News and data are still being collected, so there may be many more casualties," he said.
It was not known why the two ministers presented different death tolls.
The World Food Program, which was preparing to fly in food, added its own grim assessment of the destruction: Up to one million people may be homeless, some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out.
A state television report gave two different numbers – 59 and 130 – for the dead in what is known as Yangon division. It did not explain the differing tolls.
The country's ruling junta, which has spurned the international community for decades, urgently appealed for foreign aid at a meeting Nyan Win held with diplomats Monday in Yangon.
Ottawa pledged $2 million in humanitarian aid on Monday and called on the Burmese authorities "to provide full and unhindered access to humanitarian organizations to allow them to assist with the relief efforts."
The UN's emergency relief co-ordinator said Tuesday the government had indicated it was ready to start accepting international aid. The UN, Red Cross and other aid organizations have been organizing supplies in preparation for shipping them to the country.
Some aid agencies reported their assessment teams had reached some areas of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large numbers of aid workers would be difficult.
A military transport plane flew from Bangkok to Yangon Tuesday with emergency aid from Thailand while a number of other countries and organizations said they were prepared to follow.
Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid, said Yangon's airport is the closest to the region hardest hit.
"For those places accessible by land, there will be cars and trucks from those areas to meet at the halfway point with vehicles from Yangon," he said. "For remote areas, assessment teams and assistance teams will need to go by helicopters and boats."
The delta is riddled with waterways but Horsey said they are not easily accessible, even during normal times.
Based on a satellite map made available by the United Nations, the storm's damage was concentrated over about a 30,000-square-kilometre area along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines – less than five per cent of the country.
But the affected region is home to nearly a quarter of Myanmar's 57 million people.
Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.
"More or less all the landlines are down and it's extremely difficult to get information from cyclone-affected areas. But from the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," said Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, in a statement.
State radio reported Saturday's vote on a draft constitution would be delayed until May 24 in 40 townships around Yangon and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the killer storm.
It indicated that in other areas the balloting would proceed as scheduled.
The appeal for assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of the international organizations and have closely controlled their activities.
Foreign governments were poised Tuesday to rush aid to the devastated nation.
The United States, which has slapped economic sanctions on the country, said it likewise stood ready. The U.S. Embassy is providing $250,000 in immediate aid from existing emergency fund. But first lady Laura Bush said Monday the U.S. would provide further aid only if one of its own disaster teams is allowed into the country.
The European Commission was providing $3 million in humanitarian aid while the president of neighbouring China, Hu Jintao, promised $1 million in cash and supplies.
The government had apparently taken few efforts to prepare for the storm, which came bearing down on the country from the Bay of Bengal late Friday. Weather warnings broadcast on television would have been largely useless for the worst-hit rural areas where electricity supply is spotty and television a rarity.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
-
This is certainly an awful and devestating story. This nation has a very sad recent history and these events promise to have a lasting toll, both on those who were lost and on the survivors. Hopefully, some small measure of good can come of this in the Burmese people further relaxing the grip of the socialist junta that has been strangling their country for the past 40 years.0
-
farfromglorified wrote:This is certainly an awful and devestating story. This nation has a very sad recent history and these events promise to have a lasting toll, both on those who were lost and on the survivors. Hopefully, some small measure of good can come of this in the Burmese people further relaxing the grip of the socialist junta that has been strangling their country for the past 40 years.
very true although modern day socialism isn't ruled by military force ... this is a military dictatorship ...0 -
polaris wrote:very true although modern day socialism isn't ruled by military force ... this is a military dictatorship ...
Ah yes, this isn't "modern day socialism". They must have a weird time machine over there. My mistake.0 -
What a tragedy over there. Hopefully this will renew pressure on the military junta over there because the struggle of the Bhurmese people was to easily forgotten after the monks protested last year."When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul0
-
farfromglorified wrote:Ah yes, this isn't "modern day socialism". They must have a weird time machine over there. My mistake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar#Government_and_politics
it's a military dictatorship - not socialism ... definitely not the kind we talk about here in discussing issues such as gov't and healthcare ...0 -
polaris wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar#Government_and_politics
it's a military dictatorship - not socialism ... definitely not the kind we talk about here in discussing issues such as gov't and healthcare ...
Burma is in many ways the kind of socialism you talk about here. Burma currently has a mixed economy, just like many advocate for here (they even have "free" healthcare). The primary difference is that they have had 40 years of heavy-handed socialism that turned one of the most prosperous nations in Asia into the poorest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Burma0 -
farfromglorified wrote:Burma is in many ways the kind of socialism you talk about here. Burma currently has a mixed economy, just like many advocate for here (they even have "free" healthcare). The primary difference is that they have had 40 years of heavy-handed socialism that turned one of the most prosperous nations in Asia into the poorest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Burma
the same people who advocate for socialist principles here also advocate for human rights ... burma is an example of elitist rule that coincides more with free economies where the select few harbour most of the wealth while the majority reap very little benefits ...0 -
0
-
polaris wrote:the same people who advocate for socialist principles here also advocate for human rights ...
Sometimes, yes. Typically, however, they fail to see the fundamental contradictions between "socialist principles" and "human rights".burma is an example of elitist rule that coincides more with free economies where the select few harbour most of the wealth while the majority reap very little benefits ...
You mean "free economies" like Western economies, wherein even the most poor have it better than the average Burmese citizen?polaris wrote:
You may certainly pick and choose your examples. Norway too has an economic structure similar to that advocated by many here. However, I'm a bit frightened that your "preferred" economic system largely hinges upon the value of a single commodity. You might as well have posted this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela0 -
farfromglorified wrote:Sometimes, yes. Typically, however, they fail to see the fundamental contradictions between "socialist principles" and "human rights".
You mean "free economies" like Western economies, wherein even the most poor have it better than the average Burmese citizen?
You may certainly pick and choose your examples. Norway too has an economic structure similar to that advocated by many here. However, I'm a bit frightened that your "preferred" economic system largely hinges upon the value of a single commodity. You might as well have posted this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela
those contradictions are perceived differently ...
yes ... that's what i mean ...
venezuela has it's own scores of problems that some would say originated from the influence of western policies ... and now it has another problem ... in any case - i don't subscribe to venezuela's socialism nor china's ...0 -
polaris wrote:those contradictions are perceived differently ...
Regardless of "perception", contradictions cannot be turned into reality.venezuela has it's own scores of problems that some would say originated from the influence of western policies ... and now it has another problem ... in any case - i don't subscribe to venezuela's socialism nor china's ...
I certainly don't think you subscribe to Venezuela's or China's or Burma's socialism. Subscribing to socialism is a matter of subscribing to ends, not means. And why would anyone who believes in socialism subscribe to places where the ends are so poor?
Regardless of my views on socialism or yours, the fact of the matter here is that there are now tens of thousands dead and millions more affected in Burma because of a lack of technology and wealth. I suspect that we can all agree in hoping that these events bring about some changes that will better the conditions for the tens of millions of Burmese living in poverty in what once was and still can be a very prosperous nation.0 -
farfromglorified wrote:Regardless of my views on socialism or yours, the fact of the matter here is that there are now tens of thousands dead and millions more affected in Burma because of a lack of technology and wealth. I suspect that we can all agree in hoping that these events bring about some changes that will better the conditions for the tens of millions of Burmese living in poverty in what once was and still can be a very prosperous nation.
absolutely ... especially for such a resource-rich country ...0 -
what will it take for people to understand that it's not called Burma anymore?Jam out with your clam out.0
-
long red wrote:what will it take for people to understand that it's not called Burma anymore?
It will always be Burma. Just because an oppressive government decided to change the name to erase any sense of history doesn't mean that the rest of the world has to comply."When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul0 -
long red wrote:what will it take for people to understand that it's not called Burma anymore?
Burma is still its recognized name. I've been trying to get people to call me Mr. Awesome for many years and it hasn't worked for me either.0 -
farfromglorified wrote:Burma is still its recognized name. I've been trying to get people to call me Mr. Awesome for many years and it hasn't worked for me either.
Change your screen name and then we can all be calling you Mr. Awesome."When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul0 -
Really? And here I always thought of you as more of a "Captain Wow."farfromglorified wrote:Burma is still its recognized name. I've been trying to get people to call me Mr. Awesome for many years and it hasn't worked for me either.0 -
Has anyone heard this, What do you think of it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7386695.stm
"She says the Burmese authorities were well aware of the threat from Cyclone Nargis, but failed to issue a timely warning to those in the path of the storm.
India's meteorological agency, which monitors cyclones in the Indian Ocean, says it warned the Burmese authorities 48 hours before the storm struck.
The agency says it told Burma where the storm would hit land and how severe it was expected to be. "Keep on rockin in the free world!!!!
The economy has polarized to the point where the wealthiest 10% now own 85% of the nation’s wealth. Never before have the bottom 90% been so highly indebted, so dependent on the wealthy.0 -
I'm bumping this for Heineken Helen."When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul0
-
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0507/p01s01-wosc.html
Seems like the Burmese government is dragging it's feet in allowing rescue workers into their country at the expense of the poor Burmese people."When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul0
Categories
- All Categories
- 148.9K Pearl Jam's Music and Activism
- 110.1K The Porch
- 275 Vitalogy
- 35.1K Given To Fly (live)
- 3.5K Words and Music...Communication
- 39.2K Flea Market
- 39.2K Lost Dogs
- 58.7K Not Pearl Jam's Music
- 10.6K Musicians and Gearheads
- 29.1K Other Music
- 17.8K Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
- 1.1K The Art Wall
- 56.8K Non-Pearl Jam Discussion
- 22.2K A Moving Train
- 31.7K All Encompassing Trip
- 2.9K Technical Stuff and Help