On The Third Hand

Oriana Fallaci has died. May she rest in peace. (Thanks to wits0 for the heads-up.)

Update: Pajamas Media has a roundup of posts.

PJ Media has a good roundup of posts on the tsunami that killed so many people a year ago: Remembering the Tsunami.

Hundreds dead in Baghdad stampede

At least 600 people have been killed in a stampede of Shia pilgrims in northern Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.

The incident happened on a bridge over the Tigris River as over a million Shias marched to a holy shrine as part of an annual religious festival.

It was sparked by rumours of suicide bombers in a crowd. In the ensuing panic many pilgrims were crushed and some fell into the river.

As I detailed yesterday a claim has been filed in a NYC federal court seeking redress for those thought to be culpable in the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. The court brief claims the respondents are culpable and failed to act in a manner that afforded the best opportunity for those in the path of the tsunami to react and get to higher ground.

As a result of the lawsuit the expected has occured. Thailands public officials are running for cover. Thailand has shelved a detailed tsunami study to protect its government against the lawsuit.

The seismologist in charge of the Thai government’s investigation said yesterday that his report will now be kept from public scrutiny, and that its conclusions would never be put in writing. Samith Dhammasaroj told a Bangkok press conference that it was his patriotic duty to prevent leaks of information which might be used to substantiate the charges of “serious lapses” filed against the government of Thailand in a New York district court last week.
[…]
Mr Samith, who was ridiculed during the 1990s when he twice warned Thailand about the possibility of tsunamis striking its beaches, was appointed by the Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, to set up an early warning system and to investigate events in Thailand during the Boxing Day disaster. After the disaster, the scientist agonised in public about his inability to reach officials and raise the alarm after he realised the dire consequences of the underwater earthquake.

“I tried to call the director-general of the meteorological office, but his phone was always busy,” Mr Samith said. “I tried to phone the office, but it was a Sunday morning and no one was there. I knew that one day we would have this type of tsunami. Everyone laughed at me and said I was a bad guy who wanted to ruin the tourist industry.”

And a very big “thank you” (excuse the spelling, that should be FU) to Dr. Herwig Hasslacher, Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik and their fellow lawyer, err.. barrister… err… shyster (more commonly known as pettifoggers) Ed Fagan for delaying an important piece of the investigation, and also preventing the public airing of it’s contents. The results of which could reassure Thai citizens and tourists that preventive measures have been taken.

As a side note, the highlighted quotes also provide more proof the Thai government did receive warnings and relieves the the US based NOAA of culpability.

Take that pettifoggers!

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

Via CNN

Nearly 30 elementary school children in the Philippines have died after eating fried cassava balls obtained from a vendor, a spokesman for the local mayor told CNN.

Fourteen children died Wednesday before reaching hospitals and 13 died upon arrival, the spokesman for Mabini Mayor Eutiquio Bernales said.

Two more children also have died, but it was not clear when. Thirty-five more are in critical condition.

Fried cassava is a very common snack here and must admit I never associated it with the possibility of causing a death. As the article points out Cassava contains amino acid-derived cyanogenic glucosides and must be thoroughly cooked to remove toxic levels. If eaten raw, the digestive system will convert part of it into cyanide. Two cassava roots contain enough to be fatal.

To prove their is some justice, and stupidity, in the world the vendor who sold the cassava balls insisted nothing was wrong with them and ate a few to prove the point. Now she, too, is in critical condition.

Far be it from me to wish ill will on anyone but, as they say, “what goes around - comes around.”

UPDATE: (08:48am (Mla time) Mar 10, 2005) Via Philippine Daily Inquirer:

A TEAM of government doctors has flown to Bohol province on Thursday to investigate the food poisoning incident in Mabini town that has killed close to 30 school children.

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said the composite team from the Department of Health and the University of the Philippines’ Toxicology Department is expected to give its initial findings Thursday evening.

“They will determine the true cause of the poisoning,” Dayrit said in a phone interview. “We will have a clearer picture tonight.”

The local Dept. of Health is looking at two possible scenarios, first the aforementioned possibility the the cassava was served undercooked. Secondly that pesticides had seeped into the cassava.

Currently the official death toll is at 27. The condition of the over 50 others that are still in various hospitals is “stable and improving.”

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

Given the fact America is the most litigious society in the universe, and probably a parallel one as well, the news of another get rich scheme lawsuit isn’t newsworthy. But the headline searching radar gets tweaked when the lawsuit is instigated by a group calling itself the Tsunami Victims Group (TVG), the site is written in a foreign language and the suit is filed in New York City.

The front page contains an “Open letter to the Foreign Minister and the interior minister of the Republic of Austria.” The translated page can be read here courtesy of Bablefish. The basic gist of the letter are complaints about how the Austrian Government handled the Tsunami disaster and the repatriation of those living and dead. The letter is signed by two Austrian lawyers, Dr. Herwig Hasslacher and Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik. Not much unusual, many countries that had citizens in the effected area had similar problems. The fact there is a link to a claim (pdf file) filed in NYC did catch my eye.

The civil claim has been filed on behalf of 50 unnamed persons (all German or Austian citizens) against ACCOR North America; The ACCOR Group; SOFITEL Magic Lagoon Resort & SPA; National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association A/K/A NOAA; The Kingdom of Thailand; and the Meteorological Agency of Thailand. I won’t waste my time or bandwidth quoting the brief but in summary it says all the respondents are culpable in some way and failed to act in a manner that afforded the best opportunity for those in the path of the tsunami to react and get to higher ground.

More specificly, it claims NOAA, who operates the Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, failed to issue a tsunami warning and that contributed to the disaster claiming more lives.

I’ve covered this ground before in fisking an anti-American hit piece by the Guardian newspaper. In point of fact, while no official warning was given by Hawaii, both Indonesia and Australia received notice of the threat 16 minutes after the quake. Thailand’s Earthquake Bureau was in receipt of an email from the Hawaii warning center 60 minutes before the first wave hit, according to the London Times. The report quoted a Bangkok newspaper, the Nation, as saying the Bureau staff were too busy sending faxes about earthquakes. The report quoted the officer on duty at the time the e-mail was sent as saying he did not think of the waves because he was an earthquake specialist.

So the question is, who is culpable? If these public reports are to be believed cetainly not the NOAA. All together now: Can you spell N. U. I. S. A. N. C. E. lawsuit - I thought you could.

There is one other thing of note, it’s heralded by a bright red “new” graphic that links to US lawyer Ed Fagan (pdf file) and a transcript of a Q & A session that is an “interesting” (scare quotes intentional) read. Although personally I had not recognized the name, it would appear he has a long history of similar lawsuits. He was part of the law team that filed a suit against 34 international companies accused of profiting from South African apartheid. He was also successful in obtaining $1.25 billion in reparation from Swiss banks for descendants of the victims of the Nazi death camps.

He came under fire by many that were part of the death camp suit, among others, with claims of neglecting his clients:

But it’s not the first time Fagan has been accused of neglecting his clients. Just five years ago, he was deeply in debt, placing ads in the New York yellow pages seeking clients for personal injury lawsuits. A search of courthouse records and interviews by Barry Meier of The New York Times found five different cases in which Fagan appeared to have abandoned or neglected existing clients as he went after the higher profile, higher-fee Holocaust clients. One of them left behind, a truck driver seriously injured in an accident in 1992. “He was unaware until I told him a few weeks ago that his $35 million lawsuit in federal court had been thrown out. He said that he had been trying to call Mr. Fagan for two and a half years and had not received a phone call back from him,” said Meier. Fagan disputes that. But at the same time Fagan was living the good life, traveling Europe, preparing to ask for millions of dollars in fees for handling the Holocaust cases. “I know for a fact that the majority of these cases wouldn’t have happened without me. That’s not, that’s not from bravado, it’s just a fact,” said Fagan.

Given all of the above I’m going to step out on a very large branch - and call “Mr.” Fagan an international ambulance chaser.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

I didn’t agree with his politics but how could I be anything but saddened by the loss of someone who wrote things like this?

I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs, or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

A word to the wise is infuriating.

The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.

So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here—not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

The kind of people I spend time with–friends, readers, constituents, etc.–tend to share my uneasy conviction that Democrats are no better than Republicans.

We disagree so violently on almost everything that it’s a real pleasure to drink with him [about Pat Buchanan].

I can only quote Lileks on him:

” File under Capote, Truman – meaning, whatever you thought of the latter-day persona, don’t forget that there was a reason he had a reputation. Read “Hell’s Angels.” That was a man who could hit the keys right.”

Instapundit, whose wife is doing well following surgery to implant a pacemaker, also quotes Lileks. I’m in good company.

[update] The Moderate Voice has a roundup of what other bloggers are saying, and Outside the Beltway has even more.

[update] A good roundup here of some articles by those to whom HST was a ‘native son’.

A Snarl From The Den……..

If there is anyone left on the planet who is still not sure why it is imperative to help the Iranians free themselves from that too-tightly-twisted-turban-crowd™, then this line from a post at the ActivistChat Blog surely captures the essence of that battle: “Having allegedly become pregnant [read raped-ed.] by her 15-year-old brother, a thirteen-year-old Iranian girl by the name of Zhila (her last name has not been released), currently jailed in the city of Marivan, has been sentenced to death by stoning in the Islamic Republic. … “ [emphasis by ed.]

A GRRRRRR From The Den……..

This disgusting serial massacre never got the publicity and condemnation it should have, for “the powers that be” didn’t want to “stir the pot” after the Iraq-Iran War. Those politicians, faceless bureaucrats, and diplomats have the blood of 30,000+ secretly slain Iranians on their hands.

And we still have dealings with that too-tightly-twisted-turban-crowd™? Shame on us all. They should be wiped from the face of this earth before they have the chance to do that to us.

Like Yesterday, Please!

Via Iran va Jahan

A Moan From The Den……..

In Memoriam

The students of Iran wanted true democracy and freedom. What did they get-clubs, truncheons, whipping-chains, and death!

5 years ago they were demonstrating on the one-year anniversary of the death of students who had peacefully assembled to look for redress from oppression and cruelty. This year promises to be even more devastating and despicable.

The Cox & Forkum editorial cartoon and accompanying text say it all.

UPDATE: Follow all the latest news that is able to get out of Iran by whatever means can sneak past the censors!

Mourning in America: Ronald Reagan Dies at 93

Requiescat in pace.

I wish I had a flagpole so I could fly the flag at half-staff. [Edited from ‘half-mast’ because Misanthropyst,in comments, is right that half-staff is the correct term, and I do prefer to do things correctly at times like this. Even when the incorrect term is more commonly used and understood. ]

A Groan From The Den……..

Iran has suffered yet another earthquake; a favorite blogger of MB’s, Mehdi, from Sleepwalker, gave her some current local information about it. Apparently it will not be as devestating in terms of human toll or structure as the one in Bam, but still a terrible disaster for those concerned. A fairly good report can be found here. [Beware of the cookies, though]

One hopes that the too-tightly-twisted-turban-crowd™ does not treat those impacted residents in the same despicable manner as they have and continue to do to the residents of Bam. MB does not have any great hopes in that direction, however, for the mullahs and ayatollahs have no moral decency or faith-driven motives to behave well. Their claim to leading from religious convictions is all a bald-faced lie. Greed for power and riches is everything to them.