Fire in NSW, Australia

kuuleimomi · #1 12-26-2001, 06:49 AM

New South Wales had a wonderful Christmas.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapc...ing/index.html

Fireys are the people of the year. 'nuff said.

Finn :fire:

**pluckyduck** · #2 12-26-2001, 08:28 AM

Quote:

The city of Sydney has been cut off from the rest of the state by a circle of fires

Wow.

What a year this is.

Andrea
looking forward to "was"

kurt_messick · #3 12-26-2001, 10:05 AM

Sounds rather dramatic. The western U.S. experiences this kind of thing frequently. I hope it is contained soon. I have visions of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...

poseidon · #4 12-26-2001, 05:33 PM

If my memory serves, this isn't exactly the first time this has happened. I've heard stories about Sidney and Melbourne both being encircled by fires in the past. They've handled it before, and they'll handle this one fine, too. You won't see Sidney burned to ashes.

kuuleimomi · #5 01-02-2002, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by poseidon
They've handled it before, and they'll handle this one fine, too.

It all depends on your definition of "fine".

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapc...ney/index.html

Finn

poseidon · #6 01-02-2002, 06:24 PM

I suppose it is. This really doesn't seem any different than what we go through annually in Colorado. It sucks, but that's part of life out here.

kuuleimomi · #7 01-02-2002, 06:52 PM

We go through that in Siberia annualy, and? Oh, and two years ago, the fire came 2km close to the Northern border of St. Pete where I live, and?

I hope you can see not just another fire that is burning down some piece of land, but the rarest nature in the world, the most populated state in Australia [which is a materic itself, remember?] There are populated areas and there are deserts. If the populated areas are burnt down, then what is left from Australia? I'm not being paranoid here, I just wonder why this board is so damn local, while that phenomenon, what's going on in Australia is so darn global? Yes, I'm sorry, it's not Colorado, it doesn't happen in the US of A, so what? Burn the hell down?

Finn

poseidon · #8 01-02-2002, 07:04 PM

Finn,

Perhaps you've heard of Denver. It's the largest city in Colorado. I'm not talking the sticks, either, just like you.

I understand that the fires aren't in the middle of nowhere and are threatening property and lives. All that I am saying is that this happens every year in other places, too. It happens right here in my backyard annually.

What would you like for me to do about it while I'm 15,000 miles away? I'm not trained to fight fires. When a proven charitable organization takes in funds, I'll be sure to donate.

Other than that, what exactly are you wanting me to do?

Jeff

kuuleimomi · #9 01-02-2002, 07:07 PM

I'm not asking anyone to do anything. I just expect people not to be cynics when tragedy happens in the other from theirs part of the world.

Finn

poseidon · #10 01-02-2002, 07:14 PM

Who is being cynical? I've said they will handle it.

Good gravy... am I supposed to have the same morbid outlook on life as the rest of the doomsayers in the world? Sorry, 'tain't me.

kuuleimomi · #11 01-03-2002, 12:04 AM

I'm not a doomsayer. I'm just irked by the attitude on this board.

Finn

wivabef · #12 01-03-2002, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by poseidon
I suppose it is. This really doesn't seem any different than what we go through annually in Colorado. It sucks, but that's part of life out here.

"From this Reuter's article

"Up to 10,000 firefighters, many of them volunteers, have battled blazes on fronts 1,250 miles long across New South Wales (NSW) state over the past 11 days, in an operation which state premier Bob Carr has likened to war."

Wow. I didn't realize you guys had it so bad in Colorado.

The real issue with Australia has more to do with rapid, uninhibited growth decimating the land. Australia is a tribute to man's willingness to mess with mother nature.

Plus, the arsonists, all 21 of them, have significant blame in this.

But, Finn, in defense of seeming indifference, check out the news reports from Brazil (nasty floods), Argentina (nasty anarchy) and the yearly death tolls from Bengladesh during Typhoon season (numbers in the thousands). As stunning as the fires are, the end of the world seems to keep getting postponed. The earth and humans are amazingly resilient.

Not cynical. More faithful.

#13 01-03-2002, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kuuleimomi
I'm not being paranoid here, I just wonder why this board is so damn local, while that phenomenon, what's going on in Australia is so darn global? Yes, I'm sorry, it's not Colorado, it doesn't happen in the US of A, so what? Burn the hell down?

Finn

Finn Babe,

I'm tellin' you....when I finally got myself out of the good ole USA last year (and over to Europe), my eyes really opened up. The U.S. is very ego-centric on news. What do I mean by that? Things that are going on in other parts of the world, barely - if at all - get mentioned.

Since 9/11, I was sort of hoping that the media would take a more broader look and adopt what other countries do which is to look at the news from a more global perspective. They tried, for about - of a couple of days - but now it's back to the me me me reporting.

I can't speak for anything going on on this board, but I can tell you about my perspective. Any time I read or watch television and I see tragedies going on in other parts of the world, it SO makes me sad. As Jeff mentions, we Do have fires going on all the time in the U.S. however, I think the difference is is that other countries aren't like the U.S. They don't always have the resources to fight them, to clean the mess up, and let's not even mention the destruction of historical items (okay, now I will). We're only a couple of hundred years old here. If something architectural burns to the ground, it's sad but people always think, "It can always be rebuilt". That attitude doesn't really exist in the countries where architecture is thousands of years old.

So, I'm just rambling. I don't know if this means anything. I did want you to know that I'm keeping an eye on all of my international friends

.

**pluckyduck** · #14 01-03-2002, 08:43 AM

Quote:

I'm just irked by the attitude on this board.

One or two posters does not an entire board make. You'll notice that many, many more people read a thread than ever respond to it.

I read the entire article the day you posted the link. I was amazed... told several friends at work, spent quite awhile telling the story to DH. I started to respond to the thread, but "Wow. That's amazing." seemed so lame, I didn't post.

There's no question, no debate, no doubt that Americans are extremely ethnocentric. The most enlightened American is still extremely ethnocentric, and not just in relation to the good ol' USA, but regionally as well.

The members of the board here tend to respond greatest to issues that involve either their own regions or the regions that other board members reside in. I double, triple guarantee you that if you had posted that story about Russia instead of Australia, the thread would have been over run with folks asking questions, expressing concern, asking how things were going, etc. etc.

As it is, I took it as a news story and related it to RL folks as such.

Andrea

edited to add -- just reread the thread -- oops, I did make a lame response.

Finn, I just didn't have anything more to say than that. I cared, but, there just wasn't anything more to say.

kuuleimomi · #15 01-03-2002, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wivabef

But, Finn, in defense of seeming indifference, check out the news reports from Brazil (nasty floods), Argentina (nasty anarchy) and the yearly death tolls from Bengladesh during Typhoon season (numbers in the thousands). As stunning as the fires are, the end of the world seems to keep getting postponed. The earth and humans are amazingly resilient.

I'm watching Argentina's chaos from my own coach and wondering why no one bothered to post a discussion here. You're talking how it now scary to fly and I'm basically feel quilty to break the American harmony

The only reason why I did not post that, is that I knew exactly what would be the response. Plus, if you don't post things like that, either you don't care or don't want to know.

Besides what you've mentioned, there was a week when Europe was freezing to death; in Greece was colder than in Russia, how cool is that? But on the other hand, why would an American site need to know that, aye?

Finn

kuuleimomi · #16 01-03-2002, 09:57 AM

Andrea, let's put it this way: I did not mean you,

Finn

**hadassahchana**[$] · #17 01-03-2002, 10:53 AM

Quote:

I'm watching Argentina's chaos from my own coach and wondering why no one bothered to post a discussion here. You're talking how it now scary to fly and I'm basically feel quilty to break the American harmony The only reason why I did not post that, is that I knew exactly what would be the response. Plus, if you don't post things like that, either you don't care or don't want to know.

Several things on this, Finn:

First of all, if I were to read a Russian board similar to this one, I'm betting that roughly 90% of the stories discussed would be Russian stories, of interest mostly to those living in Russia. That's just how things work- people who hang out together discuss those things which most affect them first, then after that, they discuss other topics. What a surprise.

Second of all, yes, Americans are very ethnocentric. So are Japanese- I've traveled there, and done loads of reading. So are Brits- I'm on a UK board, and I really have to stay on my toes regarding current events in the UK, because that's mainly what is discussed. And, get ready for this- so are Russians. I had to sit through term after term of Russian language- which, I was repeatedly told, is far more expressive than English. Russian literature - you guessed it, better than American literature. And guess what happened in Russian history? "We Russians have suffered more in ten years than any other country has suffered in its entire history." Yep, my prof was Russian, an emigre, and we had to write an essay on that statement for our final- and would have failed had we disagreed. So FYI, although Americans are ethnocentric, we don't have the market cornered on this commodity.

People on this board have a fairly wide variety of interests. Those who are interested will respond to a thread. Those who are moderatley interested will read a thread. Those who aren't at all interested will go read something else. News flash- there are people in the world as well as on this board who aren't at all interested in things which you find fascinating. Another news flash- there are countless threads on this board which I might find interesting that don't appeal at all to you. And that's ok- what is not ok is to start throwing a fit because you don't like the responses you're getting or are not getting.

Finally, I find it sort of startling, your admission that you are a psychic:

Quote:

The only reason why I did not post that, is that I knew exactly what would be the response.

How on earth could you 'know' what the response is going to be? That is rather condescending, in my opinion. If something interests you, start a thread. If you don't start it, don't bitch because no one is starting any meaningful threads.

Cindy