By Beauty Damned

Revenge makes some of us feel better. I say we all grab some aerosol cans and run out and spray them at the sky. We can yell:" Hahahah take that on your fuckin' Ozone layer bitch!" Vengence for the earthquake!!!!

Glad your back safe. :-)

How nice to poke fun at one of the most devastating disasters in human history.
Hey, while we are at it, how bout that holocaust! Boy what a hoot that one was, eh Rose? Hitler sure was a funny dude!
And what about that Pol Pot fella? I sure would like to hang out with him for an evening - such a goofy guy!

Was that what I was doing?

I thought I was poking fun at the human need/desire for revenge.

.
Welcome back to the "real" world, Maria...

Nice to see a bit of "normalcy" out there, for Christmas.

Yeah, you've put it in perspective. Revenge. And we spend $1 billion a week killing people who had nothing to do with 9/11, but we only offer $15 million to help millions suffering from this tsunami in 14 countries? Hm. Some "Culture of Life," eh? Some "compassionate conservatism." Some "moral values," there, so-called "Christians." Christ should get him a "trawl loyah" and sue them for slandering his name. Hey, isn't there a Commandment... ?

I have some more links to tsunami relief agencies, if anybody's interested. Living in the middle of the ocean, in a State that's been hit, hard, by several tsunami's, in the past 60 years, this is all too real to me. And scary... I hope the Chinese come help us when we get hit again. We might not be able to wait for the Republicans.

Hey, you old folks out there: Remember when America used to be a great country? Ah, those were the days, hunh?
.

Glad you're home safe and sound.

No, Rose, that wasn't what you were doing. Nunya the humorless just needs a Republican to argue with or he's not content. I, for one, am incredibly happy that he's come out of his hole. Life is just so boring without him around.

Actually girl, I did not come to argue with anyone. I am sorry if I don't find humor in 67,000 people dying and many millions more whose lives were ruined. If that is what being Republican is all about, than it even more so cements my decision to run fast and far away from that side of the ticket.

Cosa put it very well. Spending a billion a week to kill and give a paltry 35 mil for one of the worst disasters in human history. If you canoot see how fucked up those priorities are, then you deserve everything you have coming to you.

and trust me, I am not "back" as you put it. I am standing up for those who are suffering the greaest loss they could ever imagine while assholes like you find "humor" in their situation. Shame on you.

Our government offered more than any other country. And it was just the start by the way. They plan to donate more. I am sure they appreciate the $136,000 from France though. And now watch what the American people take out of their pockets to help out.

Glad you had a good time on your vacation. Do you still have a few days off before you go back to work?

I don't find ANY humor in this and neither does Rose. As she said, she was speaking about the need to seek revenge, not about this tragedy in particular. Stop reading what you want to read and trying to make people look like assholes.

As Pam said, the money that's going to come directly out of the pockets of the American people will be enormous, I'm sure. I'm going to do whatever I can to help (as I've already posted on our blog). I'm sickened by this and very bothered that by the lack of attention it's gotten from other bloggers and from the media as a whole. 9/11 was all we heard about for months (more like a year) after it happened, but when the tragedy is not on our soil, it doesn't seem to be as big of a deal to the average American. That saddens me more than I can express.

and not tot ake away any respect for the loss of life on 9-11, but this disaster is far far greater and more tragic than 9-11. No matter what the cause of loss of life is, it is still loss of life. It is still as tragic no matter how the person died. Especially if it was all avoidable.

No one is making light of the situation in South Asia nunya you numb nuts.

1irst – Welcome back, Maria. I trust you had a warm and kindhearted Christmas with the kinfolk.

2econd – She’s about 4+ billion years old, weighs in at 600 billion trillion pounds, and hurls through existence at a speed greater than 66,000 mph. (Never say you ‘didn’t go anywhere today.’)
She doesn’t try to kill anything, or keep anything alive. She does what she does.
I’m fairly certain the Sumatra earthquake and its effects is the most devastating single natural disaster in my lifetime so far. It’s likely the toll in human lives will surpass 100,000 even before disease and starvation enter the equation. We feel loss, mourning, and the fear of when and where it *will* happen next. And yet all this, from Earth’s perspective, was a twitch during sleep.
We have a tendency to presuppose our ‘power’ over our environment. And there are some understandable reasons for this. We build great bridges, tunnel through bedrock and send machines soaring through the atmosphere. We fight viruses, cure diseases and provide artificial limbs and replacement organs. Wonderful stuff.
But it is well to remember that we aren’t at all necessary to save the planet. She’s doin’ just fine with or without us. Save life, save ourselves – that’s the job.

how nice, maria deleted my comments while leaving mad mikey's up there....pitiful

Nunya, learn how to act or kick rocks buster. If you don't understand why I deleted your comment and not Mad Mikey's, then you just prove once again that you have no sense of what constitutes crossing the line. You came and jumped all over the other people commenting in this thread without any good reason. Settle the fuck down or take a hike.

maria, if you cannot see the sheer rudeness in the comments of rose which started this whole mess, than my fighting back against your love bunny mad mikey, is the least of your problems.

its sick that you allow comments of people throwing jokes about death of this magnitude.

delete me, ban me, i don't give a fuck. at least i feel like a human being for feeling sick about what is happening in the world and not laughing at it.

Nobody was laughing about it. You're being hypersensitive. Get a grip.

Rosemary, your witty comment made me smile. You exemplified perfectly the human desire for revenge. I don't know why some people here are accusing you of making light of the situation in Asia; I understood what your comment was about.

And Maria, how true that such an absolutely horrific natural disaster, we begin to put things into perspective. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the tragedy and destruction of Asia. It really makes our administration's rabid wars of vengeance look so childish and, well, useless.

With regards to the US's aid, Norbizness puts it into perspective:

Daily cost of Iraq occupation: about $165 million

Last missile defense test, shut down by "system anomaly": $85 million

One hour of interest accumulation on the national debt: $78 million

Cost of the Presidential inauguration, this year with a military theme: Over $40 million

...love bunny mad mikey

That's MISTER Love Bunny to you sport. Remember: MISTER Love Bunny Whom You Fear....

...at least i feel like a human being for feeling sick about what is happening in the world and not laughing at it.

From this you are implying that the rest of us could give a rat's ass about the magnitude of this disaster - that's awfully PRESUMPTUOUS of you. Just cause those that 'don't feel human' and wave their arms in the air frantically about this doesn't mean we don't care; it just means we don't care to your standards.

Get a grip and realize that not everyone reacts as you do.

but it is NOTHING TO LAUGH AT. That isn't asking to follow a very high standard. That is called being respectful to the horror that happened.

you would have launched a nuclear holocaust if anyone made fun of your precious 9-11.

No one was making fun of it. CRIPES. Relax with the self righteous crap already.

Whitters - You make mention of the cost of the presidential inauguration:

Cost of the Presidential inauguration, this year with a military theme: Over $40 million

What you failed to mention is that the taxpayers aren't FULLY footing this - private citizens are

From the original source:
The final bill for all the celebrations will be a cool 40 million dollars - a record in US history - mostly financed by donations.

Don't try to spin this like the U.S. is decadent.

nunya: Who's laughing? Oh, that's right: NO ONE.

I'm laughing! At this!:

Don't try to spin this like the U.S. is decadent.

Whatthefuckever Mad Mikey. Clueless again.

Ahem - what I meant was that he/she shouldn't try to protray the situation as though the people putting together the inauguration aren't like King Louis XVI, i.e., lavish parties while people are starving in the streets.

And don't tell me that this wasn't the intent, especially when comparing it to other government expenditures.

the people putting together the inauguration aren't like King Louis XVI, i.e., lavish parties while people are starving in the streets.

Actually, that's precisely what it's like.

But you miss the point of my initial comment: it's mostly privately funded and as such, there should be no stigma associated with it when compared to disaster relief.

At least, that's the way I see it. Your mileage may vary.

"but it is NOTHING TO LAUGH AT. That isn't asking to follow a very high standard. That is called being respectful to the horror that happened."

When I was in junior high, a good friend passed away from a completely ironic, stupid, and tragic accident, I remember my response when I, along with the kids in my class, first heard about it: I laughed. Hysterically. So hard, in fact, that tears came to my eyes and I didn't stop through the entire 50 minute class. I couldn't stop myself.

This, of course, made the kids say awful things about me, because of course, it's Nothing To Laugh At. I should instead be gripping my face and shrieking with tears, because that's what they do on TV, right?

The human response to grief, suffering, or anything else of magnitude, can't be filed away into appropriate/inappropriate or any other form of Emily Post.

The human response to grief, suffering, or anything else of magnitude, can't be filed away into appropriate/inappropriate or any other form of Emily Post.

That's true. I tend to make jokes when I'm nervous.

Ahem - what I meant was that he/she shouldn't try to protray the situation as though the people putting together the inauguration aren't like King Louis XVI, i.e., lavish parties while people are starving in the streets.

And don't tell me that this wasn't the intent, especially when comparing it to other government expenditures.
For the record, I'm a woman. And, had you read my comment carefully, you would have noticed that I was not the person who initially posted these numbers; they are quoted from someone else's blog. If you have a problem with the numbers, take it up with Norbizness.

Also, as Maria says, yes, this is precisely like some European aristocracy partying their asses off while people lie starving in the streets. It doesn't matter that taxpayers aren't footing the entire (or even the majority of) the bill. What matters is the message it conveys. Of course, Mac of Pesky'Apostrophe worded it much better than I ever could in her post on the subject, but you get the idea.

I know you got the numbers from another blog. However - you re-posted them with the same intent.

And what does it matter that (from mostly private donations) that the inauguration will cost $40 million and that they're gonna party like rock stars?

Had Kerry won, would you be making much ado about nothing still? I doubt it....

Glad you made it back home safe & sound, hope you had a wonderful holiday!

As for all the other grandstanding self serving bullshit in this comment thread, tsk tsk.

Maria, I'm so sorry to hijack your comments thread. And Cupie, I assure you I'm not grandstanding or self-serving--just defending myself.

And what does it matter that (from mostly private donations) that the inauguration will cost $40 million and that they're gonna party like rock stars?
Because this administration has been urging military families to curb their spending because soldiers' pay is not exactly what one would call "adequate." Because this administration will not seek out money for soldiers to be appropriately armed and protected. Because this administration takes away money from the lower classes and gives it to the upper classes and big corporations. Because this administration mocked the Democratic National Convention for being a "rock concert," with all celebrities and no substance.

But most of all, because it's a flagrant, hypocritical, outrageous means of flaunting the wealth of those who put this administration into power while Americans are losing jobs, family members, and money, and while 100,000 people in Asia have died and the rest need funds for recovery.

I don't give a shit WHERE Bush got the money. It still sends out the wrong message. Why doesn't he urge his supporters with the big bucks to turn those millions over to disaster relief instead of to a gawdy Texas hoe-down?

Had Kerry won, would you be making much ado about nothing still? I doubt it....
While I appreciate your assumptions (both that I supported Kerry, which happens to be true, and that you can somehow read my mind and know what my reaction would be, which is false), I must tell you that you are wrong. Had Kerry won and thrown an ostentatious inaugural bash, I would be very disappointed in him and think it was wrong and hypocrital of him to do. Just because I support someone doesn't mean I will agree with everything that person does.

"Just because I support someone doesn't mean I will agree with everything that person does."

then you would never survive as a bush supporter. to them, he can do no wrong.

Well then - stamp your feet a few more times because of all this.

stamp? don't you mean stomp? my my, for such a self absorbed and seld proclaimed scholar, one would think you would know the difference.

stamp, stomp....it's like nunya & horse manure - it's the same thing

Seeing Nunya correct someone's spelling is like hearing a goat tell a pig that he stinks.

Whitter's on point.

Seeing Nunya correct someone's spelling is like hearing a goat tell a pig that he stinks.

Maria, I seriously just spit water on my monitor.

Awesoooome! ;o) At least it was just water...coulda been hawaiin punch, then you'd be in trouble.

well, the likelihood of me spitting Hawaiian Punch on anything is pretty low considering I haven't consumed that sugary schlock in at least 10 years. that stuff is diabetes waiting to happen. I feel guilty enough after drinking a regular Dr. Pepper instead of my usual Diet.

.
I had a friend who used to mix vodka with Hawaiian Punch. He'd drink a quart of vodka, and two quarts of Hawaiian Punch every day. The Hawaiian Punch finally killed him. Well, I warned him about that shit...

BTW, there's no such thing as Hawaiian Punch in Hawaii. It's like French toast, or French fries, in France. Yeah, they have 'em. They just don't call it that. So, the whole "Freedom Fries" thing was like... lost on them?

When in the Sandwich Isles, try our "Fruit Punch": Ask for it by name. (It's the same crap, not even made here.)
.

*hugs*

Nunya is a troll who goes from blog to blog being an ass.

The only bigger as I know is Geoffrey.

It's your blog, you can opine if you want to.

p.s. I hope W and all his guests get diarrhea as they party at his inaugural that is costing about $30 MILLION dollars.

It's $40 million and it's mostly from private donations (see above).

Maria you're outta your fucking mind. You must be the most deluded individual who's ever walked the face of the earth. To ever make a comparison between those two events is amazing.

What's so amazing about it chump?

While I rarely agree with Maria when it comes to politics, I actually saw the point she was making regarding the idea of revenge for death. I'm still pissed off about 9/11 and would like terrorism to be a thing of the past and certainly don't feel badly about dead terrorists. However, an event like the tsunami in SE Asia just kind of puts things into a little more perspective for those who are not globally conscious. 3000 just seems like very few people when you compare it with the most recent death toll of 117,000+ which will likely keep rising. For once, I think everyone needs to just back the fuck off of each other and do what they can to help out with the relief fund. Sitting on our asses arguing isn't doing a damn thing to help the survivors over there who have lost basically everything.

It's too bad we're still in Iraq, killing the inhabitants of a country that never attacked us in the first place. I'm still wondering how that is going to benefit us in the long run.

Not to mention that as far as I'm concerned, Osama Bin Ladin works for the U.S. government and if we really wanted to get rid of the terrorists that did this to us, we would start with the shitheads that are running this country or AT LEAST capture Osama if he did, in fact, coordinate the attack.

Lashing out in vengeance against those who didn't even perpetrate the crime in the first place is what truly strikes me as insane. Children get blown away in the streets of Iraq. Did they attack us? Did those children kill the 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11? What about all the other innocent "collateral" damage of this war? Is that just the price they have to pay for us to have our revenge?

That's like saying "there's a serial killer in that neighborhood! Blow up the whole block." It's only collateral damage if it happens to someone else. If what is happening in Iraq was happening here we would be full of outrage. We would be doing exactly what "insurgents" in Iraq have done, go out in the streets and fight for our fucking lives. Even if there was a terrorist on every corner of NYC, the tactics being used in Iraq would not be an acceptable way to deal with terrorism here. So why is it acceptable there? At least I can respect the Iraqi insurgents because they're actually defending themselves! Don't forget who the aggressors are in Iraq.

Why is it acceptable to make war in another country for reasons that we think are rational and it's declared that we must do it for our freedom, our liberty, our safety (and if all else fails, THEIR freedom, THEIR liberty, and THEIR safety), but if they turn around and make war in our country for reasons that they think are rational, then they are simply terrorists. Actually, if they even FIGHT BACK in their own countries, they're called terrorists! That is the definition of arrogance.

This is why killing for vengeance is never right. Killing to protect yourself from further attack, okay. But that's not what's happening, so you can all probably stop trying to fool yourselves into believing that line of bullshit.

.
"VENGENCE IS MINE, SAYETH THE LORD," meaning, it ain't yours. Ours. Especially when it's an "any-nigger-will-do" lynching, which is all Iraq is. Which is why our people are acting out of mob rage over there. Sheriff Dubya told 'em that it was AY-RABS done 9/11, so they're torturing Ay-rabs, and slaughtering thousands of their women and children for revenge. It's worse than an old-fashioned lynching. They rarely lynched more than a dozen at a time. This is your REAL "high-tech lynching": 100,000 dead Iraqi CIVILIANS and counting...
.

"A disaster like that immediately dwarfs manmade devastation such as 9/11."

Obviously, a liberal at play - playing with people's emotions and quite naturally for this species, picking numbers at the drop of a hat as to be taken seriously. You also forgot to count the foreign aid ALREADY given by those evil people who didn't vote for 'that' war, either..

The only relevance to the numbers you have compared, is that you can count. You can't associate; 9/11 was not a "natural" disasters at all, and therefore cannot be compared to this killer wave that took so many lives. You're also implying that the wave carries more weight because more people were killed..hmm, what a wonderful person you are. What would make your day I wonder - a tidal wave hitting New York, killing millions?

You need to rephrase your perspective, because you're upsetting an awful lot of people who have lost loved one's in 9/11. Must make you very proud..but do liberals have sense of balance...proof is in the pudding: knee-jerk opportunism that's destroying the nation from within.

You're also implying that the wave carries more weight because more people were killed

Ummm...YEAH!!! Very fucking perceptive of you.

I don't actually need anyone to tell me about the emotional impact of 9/11 since I live in NY and watched the motherfuckers burn.

And I certainly CAN make the comparison between a natural disaster and a manmade one. In fact, that was the exact purpose of the post Poindexter. Perhaps if your mind was capable of more complex and thoughtful analyzation, you could grasp the point I was making, which is that killing others for revenge is useless and destructive to the shared purpose of all: PEACE AND LIVELIHOOD. How truly useless and destructive it IS can be brought into focus and perspective after a great natural disaster when you come to realize that we are all going to the same place one way or another and the purpose we strive for is peace. (Oops, unless that's not your purpose...) The fewer people who must face an untimely loss of life, the better. We all want to live. Why kill eachother when it's not necessary?

What would make your day I wonder - a tidal wave hitting New York, killing millions?

No but I was really hoping some big arrogant country full of fat, uneducated white people would come and bomb the shit out of my Brooklyn neighborhood while gleefully waving their flags in the air and bowing down occasionally to praise the Almighty, taking breaks only to watch their daily dose of raunchy reality tv, scarf down their Big Macs and clean their guns.

Dingle Berry: clueless again.

Oh p.s. if we didn't spend a billion dollars a day to kill the inhabitants of a country that didn't even attack us, perhaps our country would have a little more to contribute to the victims of the greatest natural disaster in decades, or feed the starving in our own streets, or educate our citizens so that they could learn to think for themselves, or provide healthcare to those who don't have any, or salvage our social security, or to research alternative energy sources so that when the oil that we siphon out of Iraq and every other hole in the earth disappears within the next forty years, we'll have something to fall back on. BUT NO. What are we spending that incredibly useful money on? Killing other human beings to make ourselves feel as if we've exacted some kind of revenge for the deaths of 3,000 Americans. Meanwhile, more Americans die in the process, in addition to thousands and thousands of Iraqis. Many of them 100% innocent of any crime against the U.S. or anyone else. Gotta love it.

Go Bushies! Way to be frugal, compassionate conservatives.

.
Well, Maria, at least tonight they can all go unnoticed in their neocon tinfoil hats, and really tie one on with Bush Kool-Aid. Their response, or lack of one, to this tsunami really defines them. Reality will out!

Happy New Year, humans! (Not you, Cons!)
.

That was very beautiful, Maria. It made me cry.

Oh, and Nunya -- you are so stupid. Always looking for a fight. Talking shit. Pretending to care. I bet I know who sits on your altar at home: Eris.

Rosemary -- I thought your initial comment was brilliant.

I agree mom, Rosemary's comment was on the nose.

Thank you. I knew the smart people would "get it".

;-)

I love it! You got two facists over at dog shit calling your whole family "nutcases" but I am the stupid one.
Talk about some fucked up priorities.....

Remember this maria - I am not the one who called your sister a whore and a horse face. I am not the one who degraded what you do for a living. I am not the one who said slanderous things about your father. I am not the one who publicly put down your entire family.
Remeber that the next time you defend those scum bags.

You need to chill. ONE: I don't defend them and never have. TWO: I don't read or comment at dogsnot.

Take a hike dude. Your obsessive behavior is on my last nerve.

p.s. They can talk about me and my whole family as much as they want over at their little shithole. All they do is prove that no matter how much they hate me, they keep coming back. Why is that? Because talking about me and my family is more interesting than anything else that is going on in their dull, pointless little lives.

No, you do the next best thing which is talk to them like they are your buddies just because at the time they aren't attacking you.

For example, Geoff sits there trying to be civil in a statement about your going back to school. And you respond to him like there is nothing to it, like you have been buddied all along. Meanwhile, back at his toilet of a blog, he comments on how your sister is posting porn of herself to pay for college.

I equate this whole scene A Jew who doesn't mind hitler at the time because on that given day he wasn't gasing other jews, he was an OK guy.

Either he is going to be nice all of the time and treated as such, or a dick all of the time and treated as such. But I keep forgetting, females tend ot migrate towards guys who are flaming assholes and treat them like shit. They are more of a "challenge"

Remember, I stuck up for you ans your family. You want to call that obessive, than be my guest. I don't give a fuck any more if he slanders your family and you take it.

Nunya, I will be having no further communication with you as long as you choose not to leave a valid email address. I've grown very tired of YOUR public attacks.

Thank you,

Maria

And who have I attacked publicly? Perhaps you should go visit dog shit and see who is attacking who publicly.

(notice, the email address I entered IS valid, yet I still fail to see what it has to do with anything and why blogs are so damn snobbish about it).

Just because I think Maria is a looney doesn't mean I dislike her, or like her for that matter.

People don't have to be rude to each other all the time. If the topic allows, I'm perfectly capable of having, and have had, perfectly reasonable conversations with Maria.