[QUOTE=xilman;402177][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32701385"]Nepal earthquake, magnitude 7.3, strikes near Everest[/URL][/QUOTE]

Interesting exercise in actuarial maths (if one can fairly dub it such) - compare the number (latest estimates) of how many have died in Nepal due to the recent quakage to the number of quasi-slave laborers who have died in Qatar die to that nation's feverish 'raising a soccer mecca out of the desert' efforts in preparation for the 2022 world cup. (Feel free to use plausible time-based extrapolations in both cases.)

[QUOTE=ewmayer;403163]Interesting exercise in actuarial maths (if one can fairly dub it such) - compare the number (latest estimates) of how many have died in Nepal due to the recent quakage to the number of quasi-slave laborers who have died in Qatar die to that nation's feverish 'raising a soccer mecca out of the desert' efforts in preparation for the 2022 world cup. (Feel free to use plausible time-based extrapolations in both cases.)[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/27/a-body-count-in-qatar-illustrates-the-consequences-of-fifa-corruption/[/url]

Gah - 'due', not 'die'. (Or was it 'due' or 'die'?)

[url=www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/29/us-quake-alaska-idUSKBN0OE0KW20150529]7.0 magnitude quake strikes offshore Alaska: USGS[/url] | Reuters

That made me realize that I clean forgot about the 50th anniversary of the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Earthquake]1964 Alaskan Good Friday Quake[/url] - now rated as a 9.3 - last year. (I've seen the commemorative marker in Kodiak harbor).

[URL="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002ki3#general_summary"]7.8 off the coast of Japan[/URL]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;403235][URL="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002ki3#general_summary"]7.8 off the coast of Japan[/URL][/QUOTE]

Approximately as reasonably expected.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;401043]BTW, for any of our readers contemplating sending money, the only relief organization I can support anymore (Red Cross? No thanks) is [url=http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/msf-sending-more-medical-and-relief-teams-assist-victims-nepal-earthquake]Médecins Sans Frontières[/url].[/QUOTE]

More on the Red Cross theme, in the context of the 2010 Haiti quake:

[url=www.alternet.org/investigations/how-red-cross-raised-half-billion-dollars-haiti-and-built-6-homes]How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars For Haiti ­and Built 6 Homes[/url] | Alternet

[QUOTE=ewmayer;403649]More on the Red Cross theme, in the context of the 2010 Haiti quake:

[URL="http://www.alternet.org/investigations/how-red-cross-raised-half-billion-dollars-haiti-and-built-6-homes"]How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars For Haiti ­and Built 6 Homes[/URL] | Alternet[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the detailed account. It reminds me the of United Way situation some years back. Lots of money going into executive salaries and benefits, or to "Development Costs", such as lavish parties.

Don't get me wrong. I would never give to any outfit with "cross" in its name, unless it was "The Cross Old Geezers' Club." :paul: :smile:

[QUOTE=kladner;403658]Don't get me wrong. I would never give to any outfit with "cross" in its name, unless it was "The Cross Old Geezers' Club." :paul: :smile:[/QUOTE]It is not religious. The origin of the name and emblem can be found on the IFRC's website:
[QUOTE]The Red Cross was born in 1863 when five Geneva men, including Dunant, set up the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, later to become the International Committee of the Red Cross. Its emblem was a red cross on a white background: the inverse of the Swiss flag. The following year, 12 governments adopted the first Geneva Convention; a milestone in the history of humanity, offering care for the wounded, and defining medical services as "neutral" on the battlefield. - See more at: [url]https://www.ifrc.org/en/who-we-are/history/#sthash.ISK2Jmxc.dpuf[/url][/QUOTE]Maybe [url]http://www.redcrescent.org.my/[/url] would be more to your liking.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;403659]It is not religious. The origin of the name and emblem can be found on the IFRC's website:
Maybe [URL]http://www.redcrescent.org.my/[/URL] would be more to your liking.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info, but I second Ernst's endorsement of Médecins Sans Frontières. This story makes it seem that Red Cross has degenerated into a money factory for itself and its subcontractors. Inflated and non-verifiable claims of helping people, while disdaining local expertise, and accomplishing next to nothing, does not sound promising.

7.0 eathquake near indonesia ( papua new guinea)
[url]http://earthquaketrack.com/quakes/2015-07-27-21-41-21-utc-7-0-48[/url]
[url]http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us200030kn#general_summary[/url]