Tsunami News and Pink Elephants

Current numbers:

Country	Conf. Dead	Est. Dead	Missing
Indonesia	94,081	400,000+	unknown
Sri Lanka	46,225	unknown	4,000+
India	9,479	14,488	5,796
Thailand	4,993	11,000	3,810
Somalia	176	unknown	unknown
Myanmar	90	unknown	21
Maldives	74	unknown	30
Malaysia	74	unknown	unknown
Tanzania	10	10+	unknown
Seychelles	10	unknown	unknown
Bangladesh	2	unknown	unknown
Kenya	1	unknown	unknown
South Africa	2	unknown	unknown
Total	155,217	475,000+	--

Source:Wikipedia, 11:10am ET, 03 Jan '05


News and links:

• For comprehensive and trustworthy information on the state of Phuket, go here. (Note: the reason why the gypsies weren't harmed is because they know about this kind of stuff - they saw the sudden low tide as the water surged back, and knew that a tidal wave would come, and went to higher ground. Clever. Now why couldn't all those educated meteorologists tell us about that?)
• Democracy groups want the Thai elections in February to be postponed. I've been wondering for ages if the aftereffects of the tsunami and Thai-Rak-Thai's reactions to it will be beneficial for PM Thaksin's campaign or not. I hope not. Out, I say, out with Thaksin, his bribery, his control over TV channels like iTV (copycat! Berlusconi in Italy does that too!) and his phone company, and his ridiculous plan of buying shares from a foreign football club, and AARGH!
• ETA: Urgh. I just saw this. Please, it can't be true.
  
• People in disaster-struck areas are to stick to bottled and disinfected water to prevent outbreaks of disease. However, as many experts have been saying on TV, there is little chance of disease here in Phuket. Daniela's mum was worrying about that yesterday, but we're not going to die of some icky desease!
• A proper warning system is being set up and might be finished at the end of the month. Now, all we need is people with the brain capacity to read the results of the system and warn everybody!
• DNA centers have been set up to identify the victims.
• A central website to find victims, missing persons, and injured has been set up. Go here. And I have to admit, I got a fit of the giggles when I saw that the link was CSI:Phuket.com.
• Here is a pic of Patong beach, looking much much cleaner than the time me and Daniela did that survey on beach pollution and ran into a group of Dirty Old Men.
• Ah! Finally someone remembers this!
• In Phang Nga, two endangerd humpbacked dolphins were swepped into a 5m deep lake in Takua Pa and are trapped. Even after 10 hours, the Greek rescue divers and Thai conservationists couldn't get them out. (I saw it on TV last night, and they are such gorgeous creatures.) They'll only survive for another week or so because of lack of food, and because the water is brackish, but still mostly freshwater. T.T
• An environmentally friendly crematorium has been installed in Phang Nga because of the increased air pollution due to the cremation of so many tsunami victims.
• Japanese geologists have found that the tidal wave was 10m high in Khao Lak (wave speed 30km/h), and 6.5m high in Patong (wavespeed 15km/h). These are guys who have studied up to 9 tsunamis over the years, so I'm going to believe them.
• A 10 yeard old English girl called Tilly something saved 100 people in Mai Khao beach, because she paid attention in geography class, and noticed when the tide was receding and new that Something Was Not Right. I mean, for fuck's sake, if a 10 year old knows this, then why were meteorologists whining about not having the right machines to measure seabed movements, etc.? Pathetic excuse.
• Go to Cheese and Crackers for some tsunami videos and more news. He was recced at The Wall Street Journal as well :)
  
• And something that's been bothering me, my dad and many of the other expats here in Thailand: the double standard they have in tourist places. Foreigners are charged 10 times as much as Thais (yes, you read right, *10 times*) as entrance fees to national parks. Songdej Praditsmanont at the Bangkok Post had this to say on it:

"Equal in death, equal at tourist attractions

As a mark of respect to those tourists lost at our resorts along the Andaman Sea, may I suggest that we eliminate the two-tier pricing at all places frequented by overseas visitors? We could start with the entrance fees at the Grand Palace.

If this prohibition can be legalised, it would be a great monument to the foreign tsunami victims since their chance of survival was no better than the locals.

If the establishments are concerned about their income, they could have a donation box available for those thoroughly appreciating their attractions. I have the feeling this income might be higher than that earned from the current practice, which is the one area where I feel ashamed of our people taking advantage of our guests."

Ah, I heart this journalist.

And now for some decent journalist bashing (mwahahahahahhaa):

I don't know how many of you reading this can speak German and read German publications, but basically, there are two major rivalling magazines: Der Spiegel, and Focus. There is also Der Stern (from which a nice journalist emailed me about my lj about an article, but I think I replied too late to make it for the publication). I could never be bothered to read these,  but my dad does frequently. They're all serious magazines (Der Stern is popular with teachers and other intellectuals) so my dad cheerfully went to read what they had to say on the tsunami.

And he was shocked.

Why? Because they were describing Phuket to be a disaster-struck area (albeit it was), saying that *all* of Phuket was destroyed (which it quite obviously wasn't. If they had looked passed the Patong beach road, they could have seen people happily getting drunk in bars again). They threatened so much with deadly diseases, that even my levelheaded aunt called us up from Berlin and demanded to know if we were dying or  not.

Also, pictures are misleading. One magazine (I can't remember which) published pictures of the hull of a building, claiming that it had been destroyed. Er... riiiight. As it turns out, it was a construction site, and the building had not been finished yet. it had absolutely nothing to do with the tsunami.

Such sensationalist claims are seriously damaging the tourist business here, and Phuket's chances of reviving itself from this disaster will spiral downwards if it continues. To put it bluntly: people need money. People will lose their jobs if businesses don't make money. For money, they need foreigners. However, these magazines are calling Phuket's beaches "Leichenstraende", which basically means "Beaches of Corpses". Needless to say, many happy tourists are now not so happy at the image of suntanning next to a disgustingly bloated and disease-carrying dead body.

Tourists who said that they are staying and supporting the Thais, are being attacked by these publications. They're being accused of 'immoral behaviour'. I particularly like what this journalist wrote (quite a fancy piece of writing actually):

"In der Luft haengt noch der Geruch des Todes, Bagger schaffen Truemmer beiseite, doch manche Touristen scheinen sich daran ueberhaupt nicht zu stoeren."
Which translates to:
"The smell of death and decay still lingers in the air, diggers shove the wreckage and debris aside, yet some tourists seem undisturbed."

This is of course accompanied by a picture of a tourist suntanning, with a wrecked car behind him. More pictures of these 'insensitive' tourists are here, with riveting captions like, "Only a few days ago, was this beach littered with corpses", or "While these tourists enjoy a nice cool beer on the beach, the death toll is continually rising."

However, general opinion in Thailand is that these tourists are NOT being insensitive. They are helping. From interviews on television, I have seen how disturbed these 'immoral' tourists are, and how concerned they are with their friends here in Thailand. They are touched at how the victims of their countries have been treated. They like it here. They love the beaches (corpse-free, might I add), and they ARE STAYING. The Bangkok Post has also pleaded tourists to come again.

Of course, we're all still shaken up by the tragedy. We're all in mourning for the thousands killed. But we can't simply drape the whole country in black sheets and declare the beaches off limits because a natural disaster has occured. Have earthquakes stopped people living in Japan and Hawaii? Definitely not. We need to keep on going. People need an income. We need tourists.

However, there are other ways in which journalists are not being completely truthful. Do you remember how I was ranting about the lack of warnings we were given? There's more to that, than I realised.

While my dad was scavenging for information, he stumbled upon a dark and dusty corner of The Nation's website, where an article had been written on the psychological traumas victims of the tragedy were suffering. The article was from Dec. 30th, and is now impossible to find - it was actually impossible to find before; my dad found it by accident. I can't link to it anymore, because I can't find it at the site, but I do have a copy of the article on my harddrive if you want it (I can send it to you).

You may be wondering what it is about this article that angers dear Ellie so. The answer to that is right at the bottom of the article. You scroll scroll scroll down the article until you get to this:

 Fisherman tipped off by daughter

 Phang Nga - A fisherman and his son survived the onslaught of tsunamis on Sunday by heeding the advice of his daughter, an employee of the Meteorological Department, to head far out to sea.

 Prayoon Damrongsiri, 47, a resident of Phang Nga’s Takua Pa district, said he received his daughter’s warning at 5.30am on Sunday as he and his son were preparing to set out in their fishing boat.

 Prayoon said his daughter told him that a Meteorological Department seismic monitoring station had detected a series of irregular movements of the seabed that could cause giant waves.

 Prayoon said his son insisted they go out to sea because such a thing had never happened before, so his daughter advised them to head for deep water if they detected anything irregular while fishing.

 He first noticed something unusual at 10am, when the water became so clear that he could see to the coral on the seabed, which had never happened before.

 “Shortly after that, I felt waves passing under my boat. At first I thought other boats were racing each other but later, I felt that the seawater was rising higher and higher. This reminded me of my daughter’s warning so I headed out to the sea and waited until the waves had gone,” Prayoon said.

 Five other fishing boats belonging to his neighbours rushed back to shore as the waves arrived and he had not heard of them since.

 “I don’t understand why the director-general of the Meteor-ological Department came out to deny responsibility by saying the department had no equipment to detect the tsunami,” he said.

Mmmmh... perhaps the reporters at The Nation didn't deem this worthy information for their readers to know, oh no. While we were in shock at the fact that thousands of our people had died, one lucky lady had managed to save her father and brother because she had the courage to go against her boss and say something. Needless to say, I am disgusted at the Meteorological Department, and even more so at the reporters. While Yahoo!news had headlines about a Czech model hurting her pinky or whatever in the tsunami, this gem of information went unnoticed.

(Incidentally, akickinthehead has posted this hilarious webcomic about the Czech model story. I concur - it is ridiculous.)

Now, you say, "Yes, Ellie, we've heard about the tsunami, but what are these Pink Elephants you speak of?", or you might be saying, "What's that nutter going on about now?", or you might be saying, "More tsunami news! Sob!" If you're tea_and_biscuit, you might be saying, "Oh dear God, not more elephants!", and if you're my cat, you might be saying, "Feed me, slave."

The Pink Elephants are another Instrument of the Plot Bunny of Doom (yes, Ellie dear, stop speaking in capital letters). Inspired by an old lech who sent me an IM last night, saying something along the lines of: "So you like elephants, huh? I've got a pink one who wants to meet you." ::shudder:: Thank God you can block people on Skype.

So, my precious brain has been invaded and I am typing away at a Naughty Pink Elephant story. Ahahahahahahaaa... ahem. I should really be summarising my Spanish Civil War textbook... buuuuuut... I still have 5 days until school starts.

Have still not come up with a list of New Year's Resolutions that I can keep (well, that's never stopped me before). So far, the only one I think I can keep is, "Don't swear in front of the little kids on the bus" Others such as, "Stop obsessing", "Stop worrying so much", "Take the rubbish out on time", "Keep room tidy", "Be a nicer and more loving person", "Be less of a sarcastic and cold bitch", "Smile more", "Wear your retainers", "Don't leave glasses where you'll sit on them", and "Stop asking tea_and_biscuit about her sex life just because you like how annoyed she gets" are quite unattainable. Mmmmh... maybe I'll just make a list of easy Resolutions, so I can tick them all off the list and get a nice sense of achievement.

And gacked from alluneedisl0ve: Things to do before you die:

Bought everyone in the pub a drink (no. I am stingy and broke)
Swam with wild dolphins
Climbed a moutain (ok... so it wasn't all the way to the top, and it was a volcano in Bali, but I got pretty damn far)
Taken a Ferrari for a test drive (does a Porsche count?)
Been inside the Great Pyramid
Held a tarantula (and dropped it straight after. Icky ugly buggers, they are)
Said "I love you" and meant it
Hugged a tree
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Stayed up all night long, and watched the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa - (eh? I thought you weren't allowed to do that anymore)
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Changed a baby’s diaper
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
Watched a meteor shower
Gotten drunk on champagne
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Bet on a winning horse
Taken a sick day when you're not ill
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight
Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Enacted a favorite fantasy
Taken a midnight skinny dip
Taken an ice cold bath
Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a roller coaster
Hit a home run
Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (this happens pretty much every time I dance)
Adopted an accent for an entire day
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
Had two hard drives for your computer
Visited all 50 states
Loved your job for all accounts
Taken care of someone who was drunk
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Have amazing friends
Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales
Stolen a sign
Backpacked in Europe
Taken a road-trip
Been rock climbing
Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
Midnight walk on the beach
Been sky diving
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
Visited Japan
Benchpressed your own weight
Milked a cow (the joys of living in the German countryside!)
Alphabetized your records/cds (and my books, and my school notes, and all my computer files...)
Pretended to be a superhero (I was the all mighty GeekGirl!)
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day
Been scuba diving
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Played in the rain
Gone to a drive-in theater
Done something you should regret, but don't regret
Visited the Great Wall of China
Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
Dropped Windows in favor of something better
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Toured ancient sites
Taken a martial arts class (and skipped the rest of them in favour of going to the library)
Swordfought for the honor of a woman
Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight 
Gotten married
Been in a movie (er... do movies from drama class count? well, ok, I was on the local news once...)
Crashed a party
Loved someone you shouldn't have
Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
Gotten divorced
Gone without food for 5 days
Made cookies from scratch
Won first prize in a costume contest
Ridden a gondola in Venice
Gotten a tattoo
Rafted the Snake River
Been on television news programs as an "expert"
Got flowers for no reason
Got so drunk you don't remember anything
Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
Performed on stage
Been to Las Vegas
Recorded music
Eaten shark
Gone to Thailand
Seen Siouxsie live
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Buried one/both of your parents
Been on a cruise ship
Spoken more than one language fluently
Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone (if verbal fights count)
Performed in Rocky Horror (sadly no - tea_and_biscuit: WE MUST DO THIS BEFORE WE DIE!)
Read - and understood - your credit report (well, it was my dad's)
Raised children
Gotten lost in a character
Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
Created and named your own constellation of stars
Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
Found out something significant that your ancestors did
Called or written your Congress person
Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
Had plastic surgery
Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
Wrote articles for a large publication
Lost over 100 pounds
Held someone while they were having a flashback
Piloted an airplane
Petted a shark
Broken someone's heart (er... ok... I dunno about this. I don't think so though.)
Helped an animal give birth
Been fired or laid off from a job
Won money on a T.V. game show
Gone on an African photo safari
Ridden a motorcycle
Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph/160 kph
Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
Ridden a horse
Had major surgery
Had a snake as a pet (no, but I wanted one)
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Slept through an entire flight
Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
Visited all 7 continents
Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
Eaten kangaroo meat
Been a sperm or egg donor
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the newspaper
Had 2 healthy romantic relationships lasting longer than a year
Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
Gotten someone fired for their actions
Gone back to school
Parasailed
Changed your name
Petted a cockroach (and then squished the bugger)
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Read The Iliad (er... no... but I should. ahem)
Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read it 
Killed and prepared an animal for eating (it was just tuna though. At least I can proudly say that I know what tuna looks like in real life! ::Remembers Marylin Monroe quote from 'Some Like It Hot' - "How do they get those in the little cans?"::)
Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
Skipped all your school reunions
Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
Been elected to public office
Written your own computer language
Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
Had to put someone you love into hospice care
Built your own PC from parts
Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
Had a booth at a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
Written your own role playing game
Been arrested
Gotten a speeding ticket
Given up your New Year's Eve to take care of a friend who needed you

Random!News:
Franka Potente is annoyed about people's lack of punctuality in Los Angeles. Honey, that's something we Germans will have to contend with. Everyone is always late, simply because we are always early.

This is one whale (elephant? large foreign tourist?) of a post, and I shall leave you with some nice ...
Recs:

Web comics:

• CTR+ALT+DEL - this is abso-fucking-lutely hilarious, and I think I have a budding crush on Lucas the Cynic. Anyway, go read, even if you know nothing about the addictions of gaming. Ted the Penguin is a creation of genius. Happy Winter-eenmas!
• Sinfest - Because you will love God and his handpuppets and Squigley the Pig. This immediately hooked me to the comic.
• A Kick in the Head - I check this whenever I can to see if there's another hilarious update. I love this partly because of his  obsession with Apple (indeed, he is not the only one who hugged the new iMac and got weird looks at the store), and his love/hate relationship with iPods.
  

HP recs:

• Rain Puddle - by Cold Pixies is an absolutely gorgeous piece of art work. And it's D/G. Need I say more? Go looksy!
• Dolores' Sorrow - by Kagome-saga. This is an absolutely heart-breaking Remus-fic, and shows great insight into Umbitch - er, I mean Umbridge. :D I'm proud to say that I helped her with the Pensieve-Moon scene and gave her advice on Remus's reaction, and I am in awe of what she has done with the idea. So, read, review, and tell her Ellie sent you and that I worship her writing.
  
• Summary: Remus Lupin had always wanted to ask Dolores Umbridge why she hated half-breeds that much. But when he has the opportunity to know, he finds out he really didn’t want to see the skeletons Dolores hid in her closet.
• Blood Magic - by GatewayGirl. Yes, it is a Severitus challenge fic. Yes, it is over 80 chapters long. Yes, it is full of Snape. But it is brilliant and believable. If you er... like Snape muchly like I do :)
• Summary: Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry safe, but his relatives are expendable. Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry looking like his adoptive father, but it's wearing off. Blood, magic or not, is important to the wizarding world....
• Muggle Studies - by Slytherincess. This is a brilliant take on Pansy. Just brilliant.
• Summary: Fifth Year: Draco Malfoy loses a formal wizards' duel to George and Ron Weasley and is forced to take Muggle Studies as a consequence. Unable to resist bearing witness to Draco's shame, the Gryffindors and Malfoy's fellow Slytherins also decide to come along for the ride. Told from the view of Pansy Parkinson. Unexpected surprises and insights are in store for both groups. Oh, and of course snogs and more snogs. SHIPS: Pansy/Draco, Ron/Hermione, and we'll just have to see about the others! Realistic, Slytherin-centric story, with romance, humor, drama, and maybe a touch of angst here and there. Started before OoTP.
• This also goes well with Nancy Lorenz's picture of Pansy Parkinson, although, I think Pansy's described differently in Muggle Studies. Check out her other art - especially the H/Hr. :D
  

Now, I shall write more on Pink Elephants, listen to Macy Gray, and then finish my required reading for World Lit. :D