I know this is going to sound like I'm some kind of conspiracy nut, but I think this whole cover story about a freak earth quake causing this tsunami is utter bullcrap. It's obvious Al Qaeda has gotten their hands on nuclear weapons and are using them to trigger earth quakes throughout the world. I wouldn't be suprised if the next tsunami washed away most of the eastern seaboard of the United States. This was just a test of the true destructive power of their weapons... you can count on that. Who needs to sneak a nuke into NYC when you can wash it away with a nuke detonated hundreds of miles away out in the middle of the ocean?

2004-12-29 08:44:41 PM drsoran

you're giving al qaeda too much "credit"
1. they're nowhere near clever enough to build a bomb and test it
2. the earthquake set an amount of energy free that's greater than 100s (1000s?) of atomic bombs

why would al qaeda bomb indonesia? it is very much islamic.

I'm always entertained by people like Jonny.the.Q, who are smart enough to have heard of a Tesla coil, but too stupid to know how to spell it

At any rate, Aunt_Jemimas_flapjacks's post from metafilter was amazing. That's one hell of a guy, if he's telling children and old women to just grab onto him and hold on while he pulls them all to safety. Goddamn thats badass. Is this him?

I know how these people feel. My toilet overflowed the other day. It wasn't pretty.

Very late to the game but have to chime in for my Oceanography prof's sake. A tidal wave and a tsunami are not the same thing. Just look at the root...tidal..tide. A huge wave generated from water displacement (pick your disaster..earthquake, explosion, comet, whatever) obviously has nothing to do with tides. If I remember correctly, one true "tidal" wave is the difference between high and low tide. A "tidal" wave is a effing huge (width not height) but very slow wave. I'm sure some oceanography farker can clarify.

That being said, thanks to the talking heads and the uninformed it has almost become commonplace to use the improper term.

madmonkey: tsunami != tidal wave...

argh...
get your google on peoples...


Use dictionary.com then brainiac:

tidal wave
n.

1. The swell or crest of surface ocean water created by the tides.
2.
1. An unusual, often destructive rise of water along the seashore, as from a storm or a combination of wind and high tide.
2. A tsunami.

tsunami

n : a huge destructive wave (especially one caused by an earthquake) [syn: tidal wave]

They are the same thing you assbag.

Erie to look at the local Phuket website, aside from the headlines, there are still articles on upcoming events.

http://www.phuketgazette.net


/It's time like these I learn the true meaning of the word lucky. and it aint no charm around my neck.

Jonny.the.Q, m0loch, Arnold T Pants I always hear the British bag on Americans for butchering the english language...

I question the actual quoting. I can believe an English woman might say "didn't see no water" but her boyfriend Mark is quoted as saying "messed up real bad". Sorry, but no-way. I think this is just bad journalism, where the guy has written his story based on personal accounts and then quoted it as he has re-written it.

Jesus Christ. Enough with the Phuket (Hard p, long u sound) jokes already. Its only good for up to the 100 casualty mark. 85k+ means grow up and think about it.

India rejects aid

"I am not knowing."
"I am standing beside myself"
All I could hear in my head when I read this story.

Question: why the hell is it spelled (in english) PHUKET if it sounds like poo-KET? Why the hell isn't it just spelled Pooket?