Comments for "Village at the Heart of Myanmar Cyclone Catastrophe" Video at VideoSift.com

By Zeph

Zeph (http://zeph.videosift.com) — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:10:12 -0700

Most of the deaths will not be caused by the cyclone, but by the Junta's complete lack of action.

By siftbot

siftbot (http://www.videosift.com/member/siftbot) — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:16:58 -0700

Tags for this video have been changed from 'myanmar, village, flood, cyclone, disaster, catastrophe, 2000 bodies, heartbreaking' to 'Burma, village, flood, cyclone, disaster, catastrophe, 2000 bodies, heartbreaking' - edited by Zeph

By RhesusMonk

RhesusMonk (http://www.videosift.com/member/RhesusMonk) — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:31:15 -0700

>> ^Zeph:
Most of the deaths will not be caused by the cyclone, but by the Junta's complete lack of action.

I understand what you're saying here, but this is a slippery slope. When we blame one another for lack of action during catastrophes (whatever the scale) we are simply taking the focus off the helplessness of our species in the face of certain circumstances. This need to blame is as much a destructive by-product of conflated human tendencies as is religious fervor. In this case, the deaths resulting from a "lack of action" by whomever would happen with or without that lack of action; they are still a result of the event's impact.

By eric3579

eric3579 (http://eric3579.videosift.com) — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:02:27 -0700

Very sad situation

By Zeph

Zeph (http://zeph.videosift.com) — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:38:10 -0700

^Have you been following the situation RhesusMonk? The UN, USA, Britain, Australia and many other nations and organisations have aid and people waiting on the tarmac but Burma's military rulers are denying them entry visas. That looks like a pretty direct cause of people dying due to lack of access to aid thanks to the Junta's stubbornness.

By grinter

grinter (http://www.videosift.com/member/grinter) — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:07:45 -0700

"they have not had clean drinking water since Friday, and there is little shelter from the rain."
At least the government could let in some buckets or something.

on a less insensitive note, another problem has been biased distribution of the relief supplies. The US has stopped some of their shipments because they believe that the Burmese government is hoarding them.