I see this headline, "Quake Kills More Than 18,000 in South Asia", and I think, "Wow, another big disaster like New Orleans." The feeling lasts for a second, maybe, until I remember that our media blew the casualty predictions by an entire order of magnitude. This isn't Anderson Cooper or Shepard Smith reporting, this is Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, who isn't likely trying to get his 15 minutes by reporting exaggeration and rumor. The count actually started around 3000 instead of 200,000, can you imagine that?
This Kashmir earthquake is literally 20 times worse already than the real (as opposed to portrayed) Katrina but somehow I'm so numb from it already being the end of the world that I don't notice it quite as much. It makes me wonder if any of the countries that sent aid for us are irritated that we blew it so far out of proportion.
So when you choose to donate, keep in mind the real magnitude of this disaster. These figures are likely to rise as they find more people. As a first step, you can give to the relief effort here: Salvation Army South Asia Zone Fund. Let's get it going. You know, all three of you that see this.
Update: The figures keep climbing, at this point no one knows where it'll stop, but it's terrible. Donate if you can.
2 comments:
That was right on!
Everything in America is showbiz.
As in showbiz, you make a mountain out of a motehill. So, Hurricane Katrina was the spectacular for the American media to blow things out of proportion and the opportunity for the NGOs to raise funds.
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