# Some more tasteful words about the earthquake in Iran.. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 30, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850 "2003-12-30T22:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/1 "2003-12-30T22:48:00Z")
**FUCK YOU, TECTONIC PLATES!** Pansy-ass buttmunchers. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/2 "2003-12-31T00:06:36Z")
But…but… I _like_ mountains… ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/3 "2003-12-31T00:53:44Z")
I thought you were going to post some of the more choice entries from a moron-magnet message board I sometimes frequent. We had everything from “That’s what they get for living in 2000-year old buildings without modern safe building codes” to “good, serves them right after how they celebrated 9/11” to “Yay, more dead Arabs.” Of course, it doesn’t matter if one points out that Iranians aren’t Arabs. Because STUPIDITY RULES on Moron Central. ---
**Author:** ![Bandanaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Bandanaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bandanaman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/4 "2003-12-31T01:01:41Z")
28000 people. Jeebus. But then again, living in an area with a propensity for quakes, and it’s named “BAM” Allah’s funny that way I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/5 "2003-12-31T01:27:45Z")
> [@](#): > > But…but… I _like_ mountains… Okay, fine. But there are already tons of mountains, folks! And if they’re worried about mountains, fine. There are plenty of uninhabited areas, though, that tectonic plates could do their thing in. Why not inland Canada? This country would be nice with a few more mountains in it. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/6 "2003-12-31T01:28:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*I thought you were going to post some of the more choice entries from a moron-magnet message board I sometimes frequent. > > We had everything from “That’s what they get for living in 2000-year old buildings without modern safe building codes” to “good, serves them right after how they celebrated 9/11” to “Yay, more dead Arabs.” Of course, it doesn’t matter if one points out that Iranians aren’t Arabs. Because STUPIDITY RULES on Moron Central. \*\* Sounds like Fark. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/7 "2003-12-31T04:10:02Z")
The fundie boards I read (yes, I’m a masochist) have been positively chortling over this sign of God’s vengeance on the Muslims. One thing you can always count on from fundies is _schadenfreude_ (a word I am certain they do not know) and smug self-satisfaction when non-Christians suffer. Ah, Christian love and compassion! ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/8 "2003-12-31T04:39:41Z")
If it wouldn´t be for the tectonic plates activity, there wouldn´t be any life here, just trying to look at the bright side… =/ ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/9 "2003-12-31T06:54:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*I thought you were going to post some of the more choice entries from a moron-magnet message board I sometimes frequent. \*\* Were you thinking of [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=232120)? > [@](#): > > Use the fucking oil to build something that won’t crumble when a fly farts! Let’s all go over there are stir up trouble. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/10 "2003-12-31T07:12:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*I thought you were going to post some of the more choice entries from a moron-magnet message board I sometimes frequent. \*\* Were you thinking of [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=232120)? > [@](#): > > Use the fucking oil to build something that won’t crumble when a fly farts! Let’s all go over there are stir up trouble. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/11 "2003-12-31T11:31:53Z")
O Gawd, our uppity friend **Lynn** ’s gonna come over here full of New Year’s spirit any second now. Quick, somebody cuss some more… ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/12 "2003-12-31T12:10:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*O Gawd, our uppity friend **Lynn** ’s gonna come over here full of New Year’s spirit any second now. Quick, somebody cuss some more… \*\* You can’t have meant Lynn Bodani. Please, please, please tell me it was someone else. I hate to lose your posts. Oh Jesus, please tell me it was someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/13 "2003-12-31T14:07:47Z")
And what do tectonic plates get out of all of this? I mean, the _Modus Operandi_ of a tectonic plate basically equates to: Move -\> ??? -\> Profit. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/14 "2003-12-31T16:19:19Z")
I don’t get out much, internetively speaking. A few news sites and the SDMB is about it. People are celebrating the distress of Iranian peasants whose families were killed and whose homes were destroyed? I’m really at a loss. That kind of ignorance saddens me beyond words. There are places in nature that allow themselves to be read by the observant… Arrow Canyon in Nevada for example. It’s deep in the desert, nary a drop of water to be found most years. Yet, the large boulders that populate the canyon floor and complete absence of any large (read old) vegetation, only pervasive groupings of small trees and shrubs suggest that periodically massive floods run through the canyon, destroying everything in their path. True, normally it’s a great place to die of thirst but those who are willing to read the signs can see that occasionally floods of biblical proportions come roaring through the place. Cut to Bam. You look up on the hillside and see a 3000 year old fortress made of mud standing intact. What a deceptive indicator of the stability of nature that must have been to all those arriving in the area. Earthquakes would understandably be way from the forefront of your concerns. Mudbrick homes? What in the hell else do they have as a building material out there? There’s not a tree in sight. It’s been the convention for centuries. Why the heck not use it? Were any of us to have been born to the region, we’d be doing the exact same thing. That someone would make fun of these people’s lifestyle or delight in their misery goes beyond being sad. It’s ignorance of an apalling magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/15 "2003-12-31T20:21:12Z")
For those who have no knowledge of what they speak of, some information about the architecture they don’t understand a clue about, yet permit themselves to talk patronising/denegrating about in their complete ignorance. The construction of the ancient city of Bam amazed the experts (of UNESCO and others) because of the genial methods the architects used to protect the buildings against the effects of earth quakes. Buildings were constructed “floating” on a layer of sand who worked as a shock absorber. Arches were not made of stones but of palmwood because of the flexibility of that material in case of a shock. That way the city survived many earth quakes. This one was the one who was too much, with its epicenter right under the city. So instead of assuming arrogantly that your ideas of how to construct buildings would have been a life saviour there, you would better be thinking that the knowledge of the ancient architects, when applied to newer constructions, could have made a lot of difference. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/16 "2003-12-31T20:25:02Z")
Oh… forgot: I refer in my post to the arrogant ignorants posting on the thread that is to be found under the link of Demostylus. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/17 "2003-12-31T20:32:17Z")
…which begs the question of why modern Iranians did not use the methods apparently known to their ancestors? Not that I think it’s something to celebrate. It ain’t. But one is inclined to wonder why, after some of the disasters there in recent history, people continue to build homes out of stuff that suddenly becomes a giant divot with you inside it when a tremor happens. I say this in all ignorance, of course, never having been to Iraq and knowing very little about it aside from the unfortunate events of the late seventies. I was quite disturbed to see the place on television after the recent quake. “I thought this place was a city,” I said. “Every time we see any footage, the people seem to be out in the desert. Why aren’t they in town?” It took me a bit to realize that what I thought was sand dunes was, in fact, piles of pulverized mud that used to be buildings. They WERE in town. At least, what USED to be town. Why do they continue to build in this manner? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/18 "2003-12-31T20:33:58Z")
> [@](#): > > never having been to Iraq Whoopsie. That should have been “Iran.” Just showcasing my shameful American ignorance here, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/19 "2003-12-31T20:37:14Z")
One of the most plausible answers: most probably this knowledge got lost over time. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Palewriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@Palewriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palewriter)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850/20 "2004-01-01T06:32:50Z")
I hope we’re big enough to mourn the deaths of some 25,000 people. Sure, the buildings weren’t safe. Sure, the Iranians have been a pain in the ass for years. Sure, their government is shit (for example, refusing help from Israel when their people need it most). But most of the victims, as I understand it, were relatively ordinary people. A natural catastrophe of this magnitude should, regardless of politics, lead to an onslaught of help. I believe this is happening. Let the anti-everywhere-else faction at least have the decency to shut the fuck up until the bodies have been counted. - PW [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-more-tasteful-words-about-the-earthquake-in-iran/221850.md?page=2)