China to the rescue....

[HisSelf]

China has had a massive earthquake. Chinese rescue workers are crawling over the place. The torch relay in the area has been put on hold - and if you have been watching the progress of the Olympic torch, you know that this is a big thing. The Chinese community in Canada has mobilized and has set up a 1.800 number to co-ordinate contributions...

Compare that to the junta douche-bags in "Myanmar" who took two weeks to process the paperwork.

[Regulus de Leo]

Shame on China, the Burmese Junta would have kept that torch photo op moving.

[Shady]

China has had a massive earthquake. Chinese rescue workers are crawling over the place. The torch relay in the area has been put on hold - and if you have been watching the progress of the Olympic torch, you know that this is a big thing. The Chinese community in Canada has mobilized and has set up a 1.800 number to co-ordinate contributions...

Compare that to the junta douche-bags in "Myanmar" who took two weeks to process the paperwork.

The junta douche-bags are supported in large part by China. So shame on both of them.

[HisSelf]

Yes, the Chinese do support the junta. They also cleared a space for Aung Sang Su Kyi.

It's difficult to figure out where the Forbidden City is coming from at the best of times, but my guess is that right now they are looking at the Burmese Junta and wondering how they could have become so helpless, given the complete control they have been afforded under China's umbrella. I imagine the Chinese are looking at the Junta not as a prudent ant, but more as a squandering grasshopper.

[HisSelf]

Compare the Chinese response to the earthquake to Junior's response to Katrina. Any way you look at it, just not lookin' too good.... the cradle of Jazz. A place the entire world looks to.... Who has not heard of N'Awlins jazz? I have read stories of bands in every corner of the world playing N'awlins jazz... Shanghai, Berlin, Toronto...

Man. Just not good at all. What is there to say about a leader who does not take care of their own?

Edited May 13, 2008 by HisSelf

[guyser]

Compare the Chinese response to the earthquake to Junior's response to Katrina. Any way you look at it, just not lookin' too good....

At this point one cannot compare the response. Chinese govt will do whatever they want, good or bad, in this case good. There are no systems in place for permission needed from the provinces.

Bush and Co dont have the permission to override States right and must be invited to aid. That was delayed by Gov Blanco and the wonderful chocolate mayor.( his words not mine)

As for what transpired in the next few weeks....well one is hard pressed to argue.

Brownie, you are doing a heck of a job ! ( by the way, you're fired)

[buffycat]

Yeah, I hate to say it but the Chinese have mobilised far better than the Americans did for Katrina - which says alot.

But then again the Chinese aren't waging war on innocents on two fronts, with a third coming up - while homeless vets sleep on the street and the infrastructure crumbles all around...

So bloody sad that the US government(And OUR OWN - see Harpercrit's comments) has been hijacked - oh how easy it was to dumb down the masses.

(And people still wonder how Hitler could have been elected to power!)

pfffft

(edited to add Canada to the fold)

Edited May 13, 2008 by buffycat

[Regulus de Leo]

Yeah, I hate to say it but the Chinese have mobilised far better than the Americans did for Katrina - which says alot.

It says a lot of about the advantages of tyranny over a litigation-mired advanced Western bureaucracy.

[buffycat]

It says a lot of about the advantages of tyranny over a litigation-mired advanced Western bureaucracy.

No, the levees around New Orleans were is dire need of repair - but with all the budget slashing to make up for the 'war effort' things got left undone.

If anyone is to be sued it should be all those responsible for maintaining the infrastructure of the levees and also those responsible for making sure that emergency support is meeted out in a proper way.

[Regulus de Leo]

No, the levees around New Orleans were is dire need of repair - but with all the budget slashing to make up for the 'war effort' things got left undone.

If anyone is to be sued it should be all those responsible for maintaining the infrastructure of the levees and also those responsible for making sure that emergency support is meeted out in a proper way.

The levees were a municipal responsibility and were ill funded for decades. Like most city counsels, New Orleans chose bike paths and more glamourous projects over safety.

[Regulus de Leo]

But then again the Chinese aren't waging war on innocents on two fronts, with a third coming up - while homeless vets sleep on the street and the infrastructure crumbles all around...

No they are too busy suppressing political dissent, bashing Tibetan skulls and threatening to invade Taiwan.

BTW China has HUGE social problems: huge inequalities of weath, migrant worker populations, pollution and environmental degradation and a shortage of women due to selective abortion and the one child policy.

[buffycat]

The levees were a municipal responsibility and were ill funded for decades. Like most city counsels, New Orleans chose bike paths and more glamourous projects over safety.

Here, from a mainstream source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/01/...in1675244.shtml

A contrite U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took responsibility Thursday for the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina and said the levees failed because they were built in a disjointed fashion using outdated data.

[buffycat]

No they are too busy suppressing political dissent, bashing Tibetan skulls and threatening to invade Taiwan.

BTW China has HUGE social problems: huge inequalities of weath, migrant worker populations, pollution and environmental degradation and a shortage of women due to selective abortion and the one child policy.

Hey, I am no big fan of China - believe me! But I'm not going to go accusing them or dismissing them due to some wierd partisan belief which was ingrained in me by the state - unlike you.

China is a nasty place - but no worries - we are catching up!!!

[Regulus de Leo]

Nowhere in the article is the war to blame for the failure of N' Orleans levees. Maintenance for levees was done by local wards. The design flaw had nothing to do with the war.

[Regulus de Leo]

Hey, I am no big fan of China - believe me! But I'm not going to go accusing them or dismissing them due to some wierd partisan belief which was ingrained in me by the state - unlike you.

China is a nasty place - but no worries - we are catching up!!!

You are a little fan of China then?

What are you talking about? You seem to confuse a free society with a tyrannical one. You seem to be saying Canadian society is no better than Communist China and that we are blinkered by state propaganda.

The 'wierd' [sic] partisan belief is the fact that China is corrupt, nasty dicatatorship that crushes political dissent.

[sharkman]

At the time of Katrina, I actually found a story of previous levee upgrade being rejected there because it would harm the natural habitat of some local bird. I can't find it now, however, I wonder why.

Comparing the Katrina response to China's earthquake is apples and oranges, but since buffy brought it up, the building codes in the US save thousands of lives every time there is an earthquake unlike China, where life is cheap enough to discard baby girls at birth. In the US some protested the Katrina response. In China, they get beaten and arrested for protesting anything.

[M.Dancer]

At the time of Katrina, I actually found a story of previous levee upgrade being rejected there because it would harm the natural habitat of some local bird. I can't find it now, however, I wonder why.

Comparing the Katrina response to China's earthquake is apples and oranges, but since buffy brought it up, the building codes in the US save thousands of lives every time there is an earthquake unlike China, where life is cheap enough to discard baby girls at birth. In the US some protested the Katrina response. In China, they get beaten and arrested for protesting anything.

No kidding....would you live in a home made in China?

[bush_cheney2004]

Yeah, I hate to say it but the Chinese have mobilised far better than the Americans did for Katrina - which says alot.

Not really...the post disaster body count will favor the Americans because of better preventive actions and building codes.

But then again the Chinese aren't waging war on innocents on two fronts, with a third coming up - while homeless vets sleep on the street and the infrastructure crumbles all around...

Really? I think Tibet and Darfur would disagree with you.

So bloody sad that the US government(And OUR OWN - see Harpercrit's comments) has been hijacked - oh how easy it was to dumb down the masses.

Would it have made any difference? Should only the smart masses bomb people?

(edited to add Canada to the fold)

Salute!

[AngusThermopyle]

where life is cheap enough to discard baby girls at birth.

Glad you mentioned that, I didn't think anyone was going to.

Comparing Canada to China is at best absurd. In Canada for instance we don't starve our baby girls to death because we want male children.

For those who dispute this practice I recommend a documentary called "The Killing Rooms". It's terrible what they do to baby girls and simply reinforces the fact that Human life is the cheapest and most worthless commodity in China.

[DogOnPorch]

Red China is quick to respond to student protests, as well.

----------------------------------------------------

One alone in a Chinese square

confronted tanks, while others fled.

He stood for freedom for us all,

but few care now if he’s jailed or dead.

---Jimmy Carter

[Borg]

Hey, I am no big fan of China - believe me! But I'm not going to go accusing them or dismissing them due to some wierd partisan belief which was ingrained in me by the state - unlike you.

China is a nasty place - but no worries - we are catching up!!!

I was wondering, is there ever anything positive in your world?

Or do you hate every ruling party and every leader equally?

China mobilized - but then again they have the largest standing army in the world - surely they have the ability to do a little demolition / construction.

Borg

[Oleg Bach]

I was wondering, is there ever anything positive in your world?

Or do you hate every ruling party and every leader equally?

China mobilized - but then again they have the largest standing army in the world - surely they have the ability to do a little demolition / construction.

Borg

When someone tells me "I was wondering if there is anything positive in your world" - YOU know what I think about that type of statement? What they are saying is that pointing out the unpleasant truth is negative and bad..actually to judge and point out the dark failings of man and his systems is VERY POSITIVE.

Just because you are hard nose and bravely critize does not make one a hater...as for China blocking aid workers from abroad..it's plain to see that they are primative and do not want the embarssment internationally that with the void of human rights - human rescue must be inferiour also. What are they doing during the earth quake..digging with second rate gardening tools that bend at the handle like the ones you get at Walchinamart?

A vast army does not guarentee affectiveness- its the quality not the quantity - this is not the middle ages where superiour numbers vanquish all.

[Borg]

When someone tells me "I was wondering if there is anything positive in your world" - YOU know what I think about that type of statement? What they are saying is that pointing out the unpleasant truth is negative and bad..actually to judge and point out the dark failings of man and his systems is VERY POSITIVE.

Just because you are hard nose and bravely critize does not make one a hater...as for China blocking aid workers from abroad..it's plain to see that they are primative and do not want the embarssment internationally that with the void of human rights - human rescue must be inferiour also. What are they doing during the earth quake..digging with second rate gardening tools that bend at the handle like the ones you get at Walchinamart?

A vast army does not guarentee affectiveness- its the quality not the quantity - this is not the middle ages where superiour numbers vanquish all.

They are doing the same thing we would be doing until the heavy equipment could be brought up - they are using their garden tools. It takes days to muster the appropriate equipoment and get it in place - simple logistics hampered by Mother Natures damages to road, rail, power, water and so on.

Primitive?

Let me see:

Large modern navy - rivalling any nation.

Nuclear weapons program.

Space program - very successful.

Huge standing army.

Modern Air Force including heavy lift both fixed wing and rotary wing and very capable UAV's

Excellent military manufacturing capability

Excellent computer and software abilities - mind you they stole most of this tech.

Your closing comment is quite accurate - however they happen to have both quality and quantity.

It simply remains to be seen how serious the China government is about this rescue effort.

Do not think for an instant these people are either helpless, primitive or for that matter that they give a damn about world opinion over what they consider "internal matters".

They are very smart, play the political game to win, are masters at intrigue, think of long term as hundreds of years vs 5-10 years, patient as hell and are quite willing to tell the world to F&^%$ off in a heart beat - they march to their own drummer.

They can and will complete this rescue and recovery - on their terms. And those terms may not be palatable or even close to what we in the west believe they should be. And China really does not care what we think.

Borg

[Oleg Bach]

They are doing the same thing we would be doing until the heavy equipment could be brought up - they are using their garden tools. It takes days to muster the appropriate equipoment and get it in place - simple logistics hampered by Mother Natures damages to road, rail, power, water and so on.

Primitive?

Let me see:

Large modern navy - rivalling any nation.

Nuclear weapons program.

Space program - very successful.

Huge standing army.

Modern Air Force including heavy lift both fixed wing and rotary wing and very capable UAV's

Excellent military manufacturing capability

Excellent computer and software abilities - mind you they stole most of this tech.

Your closing comment is quite accurate - however they happen to have both quality and quantity.

It simply remains to be seen how serious the China government is about this rescue effort.

Do not think for an instant these people are either helpless, primitive or for that matter that they give a damn about world opinion over what they consider "internal matters".

They are very smart, play the political game to win, are masters at intrigue, think of long term as hundreds of years vs 5-10 years, patient as hell and are quite willing to tell the world to F&^%$ off in a heart beat - they march to their own drummer.

They can and will complete this rescue and recovery - on their terms. And those terms may not be palatable or even close to what we in the west believe they should be. And China really does not care what we think.

Borg

I don't care what you say but when you take a helpless man and pop him in the head for speaking his mind then "harvest" his heart and kidneys...then that is primative..China does not impress me. Watch a documenary on their way of labouring - it looked like a horrific science fiction movie - any moment I was expecting to see a young Charlton Heston dash to the forefrount and deliver the catch phrase (they are eating people) - No my friend..communism and secularism and the murdering of their superiour genetic pool during the revolution left only a shadow of what China should have been - I blame the Europeans and the British who poisioned the youth and what was to be the future leadership with opium. The place is an ant hill.

[Borg]

I don't care what you say but when you take a helpless man and pop him in the head for speaking his mind then "harvest" his heart and kidneys...then that is primative..China does not impress me. Watch a documenary on their way of labouring - it looked like a horrific science fiction movie - any moment I was expecting to see a young Charlton Heston dash to the forefrount and deliver the catch phrase (they are eating people) - No my friend..communism and secularism and the murdering of their superiour genetic pool during the revolution left only a shadow of what China should have been - I blame the Europeans and the British who poisioned the youth and what was to be the future leadership with opium. The place is an ant hill.

Cannot argue some of your points - but when you have the population numbers china does - I suspect they do not value life as much as we do - therefore they will do what they see fit.

Mark my words - within the next decade we will be seeing a china that is on the march for more ground.

They are dangerous and they are very advanced - they simply do not care what the world thinks of them.

Borg