Victims of the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago are still living in tents because....
they live in a culture that does not seem to support study of concepts like engineering and seismology - and because they live in a geologic hot zone that is prone to substantial earthquakes on a regular basis.
Mr. Bush said yesterday that the $35 million we've now pledged "is only the beginning" of the United States' recovery effort.
How in the world could it have been interpreted by any sentient being as other than "only the beginning"? As he spoke the surveys of damage and casualties were just beginning. Those who wish to criticize the president for not establishing an accurate and final estimate of the required relief roughly 48 hours after the disaster - have an obligation to name the precise figure that they believe is knowable and have themselves judged by the accuracy of that number. Otherwise, we would have to believe that they are the bitching, carping, whiners who simply do not like the Bush administration and will use any excuse, even this tragedy, to criticize them.
Liberals are with money as monkeys are with feces. The scream, jump around and throw it everywhere. It is their nature.