rantlust

Posted by riyer on February 27th 2006 in Disasters, Humor
::  [Print This Post]

For those of you not in the know, it is common among friends in India to split a cup of coffee. Where I come from, the concept is dubbed ‘by-two’. It is common among my friends to simply say “Let us grab a by-two” in the local language to mean “Let us share a cup of coffee”.

I wonder if Mr Eriksson had similar thoughts when driving his Ferrari over the weekend. Check out this story. Don’t miss the photo gallery on the right side of the story. If there ever was a worth while ’slow-down-and-rubber-neck’ for a car-crash this would be the one.

PS: I didn’t know how to categorize this story Disasters? Humor?

Comments(13)

Posted by riyer on December 30th 2005 in Disasters, History, Politics, USA
::  [Print This Post]

If you are a student of middle-east politics and if you have followed the ups downs and tragedies in the middle-east this one is for you. David Samuels has written a brilliant piece titled In a Ruined Country that is available for a limited time here

It is long and it is compelling. It was picked by David Brooks of the NY Times as the best essay of 2005. While I don’t agree with that charecterization, I do agree with Mr Brooks that it is an excellent piece.

Comments(0)

Posted by riyer on December 24th 2005 in Developing Nations, Disasters, India, Politics
::  [Print This Post]

Since the mass media may never get past the ‘war on christmas’ and their own navel gazing, this piece of news is offered without any editorial comment

Comments(0)

Posted by tafkap on November 01st 2005 in Developing Nations, Disasters
::  [Print This Post]

Tonight, on News Hour with Jim Lehrer, there was a UN representative warning of a second wave of deaths. Large numbers of people are still essentially isolated owing to the fact that the roads have all collapsed. The only way to reach them is by foot, mule or helicopter. The tsunami effort had 1000 helicopters, in this case, they only have 100. The UN does not have enough money to contract helicopters which could have been invaluable in flying in supplies and getting people out.

The numbers are truly staggering. About 60,000 people are confirmed dead. Another 70,000 are thought to be injured (I’m not sure if these people have access to help or not). 3.5 million people in 15,000 villages are thought to have been seriously affected by the quake. 200,000 people are living above the 5000 foot level, meaning they will be in deep trouble because of the cold, which is expected in 3-5 weeks. The Pakistani army expects to have some major roadwork done in 2 weeks. The UN has 140,000 tents, only one fourth or the required amount. It is surmised that there isn’t enough tent supply in the world at present and it is unknown how much production capacity can be brought on-line.
(Read more…)

Comments(1)