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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: GigaShadow on December 28, 2004, 05:19:35 AM
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U.N. official slams U.S. as \'stingy\' over aid
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Bush administration yesterday pledged $15 million to Asian nations hit by a tsunami that has killed more than 22,500 people, although the United Nations\' humanitarian-aid chief called the donation "stingy."
"The United States, at the president\'s direction, will be a leading partner in one of the most significant relief, rescue and recovery challenges that the world has ever known," said White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy.
But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.
"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters. "Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become."
"There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It\'s not true. They want to give more."
In response to Mr. Egeland\'s comments, Mr. Duffy pointed out that the United States is "the largest contributor to international relief and aid efforts, not only through the government, but through charitable organizations. The American people are very giving."
Offers of aid have poured in from around the world in the past two days, with the European Union\'s executive arm releasing $4 million in emergency aid and pledging an additional $27 million. Canada and several European nations — including Spain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium — each pledged about $1 million yesterday.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell hinted that the $15 million U.S. offer was only the first installment of a larger aid package to those countries devastated by 30-foot waves triggered by a massive underwater earthquake.
"We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing," he said. "Some 20-plus thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years.
"The damage that was caused, the rebuilding of schools and other facilities will take time," he added. "So you need a quick infusion to stabilize the situation, take care of those who have been injured, get immediate relief supplies in, and then you begin planning for the longer haul."
If that planning calls for significant food aid, the United States might have to scramble.
"Even before the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, the demands for food aid were stretching capacity: demands in Sudan, demands in West Africa, demands in other areas hit by drought and fighting," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"So even though we\'re giving a lot, the demand is very high," he added. "We\'re going to have to look at, as we move forward, what we can do to meet that demand."
Money and food are not the only types of aid being sent by the Bush administration. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also is sending a 21-member disaster-relief team to the region.
Also, the Pentagon has dispatched military patrol planes from the Pacific Fleet. President Bush has written letters of condolence to seven of the affected nations — Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, the Maldives and Malaysia.
Besides the United States, the largest single national donor was neighboring Australia, which offered $10 million and transportation aid.
"Australia will and should give more," Prime Minister John Howard said.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies made an initial appeal of $6.7 million, which the federation says it will probably increase.
Officials from relief agencies, including the Red Cross and other nongovernmental organizations, met yesterday in Geneva to coordinate their efforts. In New York, diplomats from six of the affected nations met with U.N. officials.
The United Nations and other aid organizations have deployed hundreds of disaster-recovery and humanitarian-response teams to the region, and officials warn that the cost of the disaster could quickly reach "many billions of dollars."
"We may only know the full effect of this emergency weeks from now," Mr. Egeland told reporters yesterday at the United Nations in New York. "The disaster affecting Southeast Asia is not the biggest in recorded history, but the effects could be the biggest because more people live in exposed areas than ever before."
The tsunami-ravaged nations are particularly susceptible to epidemics as authorities struggle with thousands of corpses in unsanitary conditions. International organizations and nations including France, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, Hungary and others are sending medical personnel to some or all of the affected countries.
"The principal danger is that of diseases transmitted through water, especially malaria and diarrhea, and infections caught through respiration," said Hakan Sandbladh, a Red Cross official in Geneva.
Groups such as Doctors Without Borders warned that catastrophes tend to help localized illnesses turn into full-blown epidemics.
The destruction of water and sewage pipes, the disruption of vaccination programs and the lack of attention to disease-carrying pests such as rats and mosquitoes exacerbated the risk, they said.
In this situation, the stagnant pools of water created by the tsunami could boost the numbers of mosquitoes and other insects that transmit tropical maladies such as malaria and dengue fever.
"The risk of epidemics is also linked to concentrations of people whose houses have been destroyed," said Pauline Horrill of Doctors Without Borders.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported that a tsunami alert system in Hawaii that warns Pacific countries about devastating tidal waves detected the earthquake that led to the destruction across Indian Ocean nations.
But the absence of an alert system in Asia meant the information could not be sent out fast enough.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\'s (NOAA) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, established in 1949 after a huge wave killed more than 150 people in Hawaii, issued a bulletin at 3:14 p.m. local time or 8:14 a.m. in the affected area, when it detected an earthquake off Indonesia.
The NOAA\'s information bulletin said there was a possibility of a tsunami near the earthquake\'s epicenter, but that no destructive threat existed in the Pacific. The huge tidal waves instead swept across the Indian Ocean, killing people in 10 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
• Betsy Pisik, reporting from the United Nations in New York, contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
Now the UN, led by this socialist European bureaucrat, think I want my taxes raised to pay for any and every crisis that happens around the world. Think again! "Give more" :laughing: The UN is lucky we are sending any aid at all IMO.
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Bah.. I think all countries need to give more.
I just donated 700SEK ($100), I suggest you all do something (over what your country is already doing) to help all these people.
Its about helping fellow people, stop thinking about politics for just one minute.
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I agree. THe US government will certainly do it\'s fair share of relief effort, but don\'t raise freaking taxes for it. Let the people give money themselves. This is a WORLDWIDE relief effort. It\'s not just the freaking US who has to swoop in and hand out cash. Let the people give money. You\'ll probably end up raising more money in donations than you would by the government taxing.
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That is the whole point Fastson. Don\'t raise my taxes - tell the Euro socialists to stop thinking politics.
As for helping people half way around the globe... as the saying goes... charity starts at home.
IMO this is just another piece in the master plan to redistribute the wealth of prosperous and independent nations.
F the UN and its hidden agenda.
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Just ignore them, do what YOU can to help. This is the biggest catastrophe to hit the world in modern time.
Right now I think these people need our money more than alcoholic Sven around the block.
Red Cross is accepting money (thats where I put my money), Plan International also, Diakonia, Unicef. There are many many orginisations, Médecins Sans Frontières are sending medical staff down there, they\'ll need equippnet urgently.
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Charity starts at home. biggest catastrophe in modern times? That remains to be seen.
I find it hard to feel sorry for Sven the tourist on "holiday" just as much as you find it hard to feel sorry for Sven the alcoholic around the block.
What they need is to not build resorts and villages in areas that weren\'t meant to be built on.
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
What they need is to not build resorts and villages in areas that weren\'t meant to be built on.
are you saying the ocean is a bad place for a resort to be located???
:stick:
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
Charity starts at home. biggest catastrophe in modern times? That remains to be seen.
Over 55 000 people are dead, the UN said something like its one of the biggest catastrophes in size and cost of human life. Also the rebuilding costs will be huge, but that is probably secondary right now (at least fixing hotels etc. will, it will be a long time before they can take on any tourists)
I find it hard to feel sorry for Sven the tourist on "holiday" just as much as you find it hard to feel sorry for Sven the alcoholic around the block.
Im not saying I dont feel sorry for Sven, Im saying, who needs the money mostly now? The people living in Phuket, Khon Lan is MY bet. Médecins Sans Frontières are urging governments across the world to help out, if not many many more people will die.
What they need is to not build resorts and villages in areas that weren\'t meant to be built on. [/B]
Perhaps, but right now the money is going towards the people, medical assistance, food, building temporary living spaces for the people living in Sir Lanka, Thailand, India etc.
That’s all I have to say, at least I have tried to help out, even if its just a small part.
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Originally posted by JBean
are you saying the ocean is a bad place for a resort to be located???
:stick:
Uh yeah, in this case it was and I doubt it is the first tsunami to happen in the Indian Ocean considering there is a major plate there. I read that when the resorts were built, no villages had to be relocated because they were further inland. Gee... I dunno maybe there was a reason for this? Like this may have happened before?
Also one more thing... if the ocean receeds half a mile something is definitely wrong - I repeat the moon DOES NOT cause the tide to receed a half of a mile. These people saw this and didn\'t see it as a danger sign.
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CNN has put up a site with organisations that accept money right now to help out in region. For those of you who wish to help out with whatever you can.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/quake.aidsites/index.html
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NM Saw your amount above.
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As for this being the worst disaster in modern times, I don\'t think so.
There are dozens of events in world history, mostly quakes and tsunamis, that have claimed 25-75K lives.
And even more recently, who is even aware of the terrible tsunami that took well over 200,000 lives in 1970 in Bangladesh and India? Or even worse, the 1976 China quake that "officially" listed over 200,000 dead, but much more likely is more like 660,000? And I don\'t have it on me but I seem to remember the horrible mudslides in Columbia in the 90\'s or late 80\'s that took over 100,000 lives.
This is indeed a terrible tragedy, but actually far more reported than some other more devastating disasters because this one occurred in many tourist destinations. Plus, like it or not, the international resources of cable TV (most especially CNN, which is still the most widespread international news force) have been able to report this disaster much more closely than those mega-disasters from even 20 years ago.
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Even if its not the worst (yet, 59 000 dead they claim now), its still one of the worst, Im sorry if I cant check my sources as I am far to upset!
They havent even been able to contact some of the islands closest to the earth quake.
1500 of my countrymen are missing, its just a small figure of all the people. It makes you think of the scale, 59 000 people is more people than currently living in my county!
EDIT: While on the subject, the worst earthquakes.
23 januari 1556: 830000 döda i Shanxi, Kina.
28 juli 1976: 255000 döda i Tangshan, Kina.
9 augusti 1138: 230000 döda i Aleppo, Syrien.
22 maj 1927: 200000 döda i Xining, Kina.
16 december 1920: 200000 döda i Gansu, Kina.
1 september 1923: 143000 döda i Kwanto, Japan.
6 oktober 1948: 110000 döda i Asjchabad, Turkmenistan.
28 december 1908: 100000 döda i Messina, Italien.
27 september 1290: 100000 döda i Qili, Kina.
döda i = dead in
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United States = scapegoat of the world
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Originally posted by fastson
1500 of my countrymen are missing, its just a small figure of all the people. It makes you think of the scale, 59 000 people is more people than currently living in my county!
EDIT: While on the subject, the worst earthquakes.
döda i = dead in
County or country? Are you referring to provinces? I thought only the US used counties. Anyway 59000 is about the size of my county.
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We have: Län = County and Kommuner = municipality
Kalmar has a population of 59k , it makes at least me think of how many people are in fact dead.
Anyway, we still dont know how many of my countrymen are dead, only six are confirmed dead, but many more are still missing (1500).
When M/S Estonia went down in 1994, the whole country was effected, we only have a population of 9 million so most people knew of at least one person effected by Estonia (852 died, 501 of them were swedish).
I cant imagine what the effects will be if the figure his higher than 500!
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100,000 now and there are over 1000 Americans missing as well.
After watching some of the video of it, some people were just wandering around in the water when it first started to get high... makes you wonder what the people up high who were watching were thinking as opposed to those who just thought it was a "high tide".
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From cnn.com:
The United States is offering $35 million, Japan $30 million and the United Kingdom $28 million. Australia and Germany have pledged $27 million, France $20.4 million and Saudi Arabia $10 million.
Spain will approve a $68 million line of credit as emergency aid, the Foreign Ministry announced late Wednesday.
Spain also has sent a plane carrying medical kits and other aid material. Those aboard include representatives of the Spanish government, the Spanish Red Cross and the organizations Doctors of the World and Messenger of Peace.
Many other nations are also reportedly planning to participate in the relief effort.
Mental health would go along with long term aid and rebuilding, which Yvette Stevens of U.N. Emergency Relief, said would likely cost "billions" -- and completing the job "could take years."
-Dan
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I read the French are giving something like 130,000 bucks.
I wonder what that\'s for?
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People are giving away money like crazy, I saw a report on the news, the Red Cross people were standing in the streets collecting money for the "Victims of the tsunami" and people were happily putting 500 Kr notes in there.
The Swedish part of the Red Cross usually collects about 400 000 a year, in a few days they have collected 5-6 million!
Also on the radio they are collecting money for "Radiohjälpen" (Radio Help), one car salesman and his firm gave away 150 000 Kr, that\'ll do a lot. Im really happy to see this.
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While it sucks, I sure have bigger problems like having no food in the house and no money, I can\'t be worried about some ****ing tourists and foreigners dying.
Oh, and **** the ****ing UN, those ****ers. Tell them to use all those private funds they\'ve collected over the years from being corrupt to fund the relief effort. What\'s that? They wont? That\'s right, because they don\'t give a **** either, this was just a chance to bash America.
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...
Anyway, more money coming in.
Sverige avsätter inledningsvis 500 miljoner kronor till bistånd i de drabbade länderna i södra Asien, enligt ett pressmeddelande från utrikesdepartementet.
Insatserna hanteras via Sida. I första hand kommer pengar att gå till olika FN-organ, Internationella Röda Korset, Räddningsverket och svenska frivilligorganisationer, uppger TT.
My government is giving 500 million SEK (75,341,063 USD) to help out.
The money will be distributed by SIDA to different UN bodies, International Red Cross, and different volunteer organisations.
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EThugg =
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F141.157.157.99%2FGary%2FTroll.jpg&hash=b4c3952bee8819fda8e91bd25e7f737ab74b80df)
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lol :D
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meh to be fair i think the u.s. is the biggest contributor of supplies and aid in the world.... it\'s understandable that they only gave an initial 15 million, then added another 20 million on top of that...the war in iraq is already costing us billions....sheeit and 15 million is nothing to sneeze at....it was wrong for anybody to criticize any amount of contribution....
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and in about a year we will see a news report on how money was embezzeled by "insert name of organization here".
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
and in about a year we will see a news report on how money was embezzeled by "insert name of organization here".
heh heh..no doubt!..and can you blame them?...millions are coming in from everywhere,...i\'m sure whoever is in charge of the funds will probably think "they sent us over 500 mil...who\'s gonna miss a mere 100-200 thou..."
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Originally posted by Black Samurai
EThugg =
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F141.157.157.99%2FGary%2FTroll.jpg&hash=b4c3952bee8819fda8e91bd25e7f737ab74b80df)
Don\'t hate me because I\'m right.
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Worst disaster in modern times? I think WW2 has it beat by a long shot, but I guess for natural disasters easily.
Originally posted by EThuggV3
While it sucks, I sure have bigger problems like having no food in the house and no money, I can\'t be worried about some ****ing tourists and foreigners dying.
Oh, and **** the ****ing UN, those ****ers. Tell them to use all those private funds they\'ve collected over the years from being corrupt to fund the relief effort. What\'s that? They wont? That\'s right, because they don\'t give a **** either, this was just a chance to bash America.
Dude will you marry me?
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for natural disasters easily.
One thing is for sure. it is going to require the largest help operation that the UN has ever launched.
China is giving 60.5 million USD (Canada 40 Million USD)
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Originally posted by Jumpman
Dude will you marry me?
You can\'t just pop the question like that! You gotta romance me, old school first. ;)
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Originally posted by EThuggV3
While it sucks, I sure have bigger problems like having no food in the house and no money, I can\'t be worried about some ****ing tourists and foreigners dying.
Oh, and **** the ****ing UN, those ****ers. Tell them to use all those private funds they\'ve collected over the years from being corrupt to fund the relief effort. What\'s that? They wont? That\'s right, because they don\'t give a **** either, this was just a chance to bash America.
Are you related/do you know/do you live with Giga?
Holy crap. Thousands have died. The place is hell. And all we get from "proud" Americans, such as yourself, is a list of how ****ing great we are and that it\'s not a big deal. Then we get your stupid "**** the UN" bullshit, just because they don\'t approve the crap that our retarded president has done.
I wouldn\'t mind paying taxes to help those people. But shit, you people cry a river when you have to pay taxes to help out your own Americans.
People like you make people all over the world "Bash America". It\'s only bad if it happens to American right?
Screw you and your selfish ideals.
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Originally posted by SirMystiq
Are you related/do you know/do you live with Giga?
Holy crap. Thousands have died. The place is hell. And all we get from "proud" Americans, such as yourself, is a list of how ****ing great we are and that it\'s not a big deal. Then we get your stupid "**** the UN" bullshit, just because they don\'t approve the crap that our retarded president has done.
I wouldn\'t mind paying taxes to help those people. But shit, you people cry a river when you have to pay taxes to help out your own Americans.
People like you make people all over the world "Bash America". It\'s only bad if it happens to American right?
Screw you and your selfish ideals.
No he isn\'t related me or even knows me.
Ethugg is right about the UN - the UN is corrupt and needs to be abolished. Let them vacate Manhattan and move to a third world country they say they love so much - I am sure there is some great shopping in Rawanda.
Americans don\'t like taxes. That is why the Revolutionary War was fought... or don\'t they teach that anymore. The rest of the world bashes the US - even when they want money from us, but they and you fail to realize the US pays 40 percent of the worlds aid - almost half of the entire aid paid out by other countries!
Donate your whole tax return this year to the victims and put your money where your mouth is. I bet you won\'t.
Lastly do you want to know what retarded is? Someone who posts a picture in this forum of some webcam sex site girl and tries to pass it as his girlfriend - now that is retarded. Hmmm I wonder who that could be?
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You don\'t know each other? Sounds like you two are twins.
Holy crap. That was along time ago. And besides, I would rather be known for that than let you guys do crazy crap to my girlfriends picture. I saw what you did to Swif\'s but he was cool about it. I wouldn\'t have been.
My tax return? Yeah. Sure, I don\'t care. But how am I going to prove it to you Giga?
American\'s don\'t like taxes. Duh. Who likes losing money, only to watch your president spend it all?
The Revolutionary War wasn\'t fought over a tax. The tax just set things off.
You and people like you make this country the worst place on earth in the eyes of others. This isn\'t about pleasing other countries or trying to get along with other countries. This is about people like you placing yourself high among others-like those in Rawanda-then try to pass yourself off as a true American.
And you wonder why this country was attacked..
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I\'m sure Giga will lose sleep over some country being mad over his ideals.
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So now I am to blame for 9/11? :laughing:
Giga > Mystiq
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And these are the people we are giving aid to? This is a NY Times photo of man in Sri Lanka wearing a Bin Ladin shirt cleaning up after the tsunami.
I agree with Ethugg - f\'em.
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
And these are the people we are giving aid to? This is a NY Times photo of man in Sri Lanka wearing a Bin Ladin shirt cleaning up after the tsunami.
I agree with Ethugg - f\'em.
Why do you post stuff like this that you obviously don\'t believe? You\'re not stupid enough to find one picture of one idiot with a bin laden t-shirt, and then damn millions of other innocent victims who need our assistance. That is utterly insane. If you\'re trying to make a point, I don\'t understand it. Let\'s try to keep things rational.
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Personally - I couldn\'t care less about giving them aid. When was the last time anyone gave the US anything? All I heard right after 9/11 was "we are praying for you." :rolleyes:
These people hate us, yet we still help them. Let Osama with his millions help his fans.
BTW nice to see you back Core - I thought you drowned in all the rain that CA got over the holidays. ;)
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
Personally - I couldn\'t care less about giving them aid. When was the last time anyone gave the US anything? All I heard right after 9/11 was "we are praying for you." :rolleyes:
These people hate us, yet we still help them. Let Osama with his millions help his fans.
Gee, do you think maybe they hate us because we were propping up Suharto\'s Indonesian government with arms sales all those years? The same US weapons he used to murder civilians? We owe them a hell of a lot of financial aid and support for causing all that suffering. That\'s to name just one example.
BTW the reason we didn\'t get hundreds of millions of dollars rolling in after 9/11 is because we only lost a few thousand people, and we have a highly sophisticated emergency response infrastructure. WE DIDN\'T NEED THE HELP. THEY DO. I\'m sure you already knew that. What\'s the REAL reason you don\'t want to help them?
BTW this weather blows. I\'m supposed to go to San Diego in a couple weeks. It better be sunny by then.
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The real reason I don\'t want to help is:
It\'s not our problem. Yet we are carrying the burden along with Australia and a few other countries.
As for the UN and the EU... they are proving themselves useless once again.
The Dutch Get It:
Well, dear friends, we\'re now into the tenth day of the tsunami crisis and in this battered corner of Asia, the UN is nowhere to be seen -- unless you count at meetings, in five-star hotels, and holding press conferences.
Aussies and Yanks continue to carry the overwhelming bulk of the burden, but some other fine folks also have jumped in: e.g., the New Zealanders have provided C-130 lift and an excellent and much-needed potable water distribution system; the Singaporeans have provided great helo support; the Indians have a hospital ship taking position off Sumatra. Spain and Netherlands have sent aircraft with supplies.
The UN continues to send its best product, bureaucrats. Just today the city\'s Embassies got a letter from the local UN representative requesting a meeting for "Ms. Margareeta Wahlstrom, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Secretary-General\'s Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in Tsunami-afected countries." Wow! Put that on a business card! And she must be really, really special because she has the word "coordinator" twice in her title!
The letter, in typically modest UN style, goes on to explain that "Ms. Wahlstrom\'s main task will be to provide leadership and support to the international relief effort. She will undertake high-level consultations with the concerned governments in order to facilitate the delivery of international assistance." Oh, and she\'ll be visiting from January 4-5.
Once, again, a hearty Diplomadic "WOW!" She\'s going to do all that in two days! The Australians and we have been feeding and otherwise helping tens-of-thousands of people stay alive for the past ten days, and still have a long, long way to go, but she\'s going to wrap the whole thing up in a couple of days of meetings. Thank goodness she\'s here to provide the poor lost Aussies and Yanks with leadership. The Diplomad bows in awe to such power and wisdom. The letter is signed, by the way, by the same UN official who suggested a couple of days back that the Australian and US air traffic controllers in Aceh should don UN blue (see our post of January 2.)
Ok, enough with the UN; you get the picture. Now to the EU. The EU could copy the Australian-American model of acting quickly and effectively to save lives, or they could copy the UN model of meeting at a leisurely pace to plan for the possibility of setting up a coordination center that will consider making a plan for the possibility of an operations center to consider beginning to request support for the tsunami\'s victims. Ah, my wise friends, guess which model of "action" the EU chose? No need to emulate those "cowboys" from Australia and the USA with their airplanes and loading crews working round-the-clock; oh, no, much too tacky, sweaty and dirty. No need to feed into the system those goofy Aussiyankeebushowardian New World Anglo-Saxons already have created. No, they\'ll follow the much more elegant Kofi Annan model. A couple of EU planners have shown up to begin making arrangements for an assessment team to arrive, etc., etc., you know the rest. Meanwhile, people die.
But all is not lost. The Dutch, who on occasion show the great common sense for which they were once justifiably famous, have signed up with the Aussiyankeebushowardian Core Group. Thanks to a European Diplomad (Yes, The Diplomadic insurgency has gone international!) we have in our possession a short situation report circulated by the Dutch at the most recent EU meeting here in this corner of the Far Abroad. This January 2 report is written by local Dutch diplomats who traveled to Aceh and saw the reality on the ground. We will cite the two principal paragraphs, and leave them unedited in their original rather charming Dutch-English,
The US military has arrived and is clearly establishing its presence everywhere in Banda Aceh. They completely have taken over the military hospital, which was a mess until yesterday but is now completely up and running. They brought big stocks of medicines, materials for the operation room, teams of doctors, water and food. Most of the patients who were lying in the hospital untreated for a week have undergone medical treatment by the US teams by this afternoon. US military have unloaded lots of heavy vehicles and organize the logistics with Indonesian military near the airport. A big camp is being set up at a major square in the town. Huge generators are ready to provide electricity. US helicopters fly to places which haven\'t been reached for the whole week and drop food. The impression it makes on the people is also highly positive; finally something happens in the city of Banda Aceh and finally it seems some people are in control and are doing something. No talking but action. European countries are until now invisible on the ground. IOM staff (note: this is a USAID-funded organization) is very busy briefing the incoming Americans and Australians about the situation.
The US, Australia, Singapore and the Indonesian military have started a \'Coalition Co-ordination Centre\' in Medan to organize all the incoming and outgoing military flights with aid. A sub-centre is established in Banda Aceh."
Isn\'t that nice? Europeans with a sense of reality.
http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/
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OK, you say "it\'s not our problem" and we shouldn\'t be doing anything or spending anything on this disaster. Yet President Bush seems to disagree with you. And it seems you think it IS our problem to make sure the poor Iraqis were rescued from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein (since that\'s the only remaining reason for our invasion of that country).
Are you an isolationist, or not? Please clear this up for me.
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I have seen some reports on CNN. The US is doing a great job from what I can tell, flying helicopters with food,water etc. into the Ache province, the Indonesian military guys that were there had been cut off for SIX days without any food.
Also, my country one of the nations to have been effected the most of the western countries have gotten all its known injured home, FINALLY!
The military has also rented the Russian super transport plane, so they are going to fly down freeze containers and A/C coffins to keep the bodies from decomposing further.
The first bodies of my countrymen are coming home tonight, at around 2 in the morning (it was supposed to arrive here 23:45 but it has been delayed).
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The forensic teams from the Nordic countries have arrived and have started identifying all the dead bodies (1903 Swedes are missing, over 1000 Norwegians, about 400 Danes I think and 200 Finns), they are doing DNA samples and taking dental xrays. China is helping out and are doing all the DNA tests for free! Im really happy to see how most of the world has come together and are working together, this is now the largest help operation since WW2!
Some sickening news, it seems pedofiles are finding a heaven in the chaotic Asia. They have kidnapped many children, among them a Swedish-American boy (12) and a Danish boy (3), not to mention the native children. Quite sickening! I only wish death apon these people.
EDIT: That guy is writing about Ache province in Indonesia? It isn’t very surprising that the EU countries are not there, they are up in Thailand because that is where the majority of their own people where.
Most of the government people from my country have gone to Thailand to help out there, but also Sri Lanka IIRC. Other countries will have to take care of different parts, its not all that shocking if the US and Australia are doing the most work in Indonesia while EU countries are helping out elsewhere!
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Im glad everyone does not think like Gigashadow and EThugg. :)
Private U.S. Aid for Tsunami Tops $200M
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=3&u=/ap/20050104/ap_on_re_us/tsunami_americans_respond
No need for Clinton or Bush now! :D
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Originally posted by Coredweller
OK, you say "it\'s not our problem" and we shouldn\'t be doing anything or spending anything on this disaster. Yet President Bush seems to disagree with you. And it seems you think it IS our problem to make sure the poor Iraqis were rescued from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein (since that\'s the only remaining reason for our invasion of that country).
Are you an isolationist, or not? Please clear this up for me.
No I am not an isolationist - that is unrealistic in the modern world, but the UN needs to be abolished and a new world body needs to be created led by the US and not by bureaucrats from "old Europe" and Third world nations. Keep NATO and toss out France. Every other country in the world relies on us for economic aid, peacekeeping or disaster relief. Without us, the world economy would collapse.
Where are the Arab nations in this tragedy? I mean a lot of nationals from the countries that were hit work for nations in the Arab League.
In regards to Iraq - I have said it before... I think it is perfectly fine to take out any threat to the US before they have a chance to attack us.
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You didn\'t "cause 9/11", people with your mindset help others hate us more. As a result, more attacks, more deaths and more hate.
And you\'re "The US should rule everything" BS would hopefully never happen. I don\'t think you would be ready for the responsibilies your plan has. It would require the US government and it\'s people to give up alot more and be way more thoughtful about what other nations think. It would be pretty hard when you want the US to rule the planet, yet you have the mindset of an isolist who only wishes the better for himself. That is no way to live in this planet.
Unless, you want the US to rule everything and anyone by invading and putting our troops as bait.
With the deficit we have now and the dollar struggling. If the world economy collapses, the US economy wouldn\'t be so far off.
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This is a natural disaster. Politics (wars, terrorist acts etc.) have NOTHING to do with this, so leave it out of the discussion ! :mad:
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but saying all those ppl do not deserve your help is just inhumane. Here in the Netherlands, ppl are donating lotsa Euro\'s for the good cause and so did I.
To the ppl who are not helping or thinking Asia deserves no help : Go and help yourself !
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Seriously, Mystiq the top 3/4 of that post has no business being in here. Way, way way off topic. This topic is about foreign aid (and whether the US should or should not give it) NOT North Korea. You want to post about North Korea - make a new thread.
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US donations, private and government, is about $1.4 BILLION!!!
Who dares call the US stingy?
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I think the humanitarian aid thing has become an international pissing contest.
It\'s kind of lame, but I guess South East Asia is the winner, so that\'s good for them.
-Dan
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y\'know if the u.s. has all this money, why don\'t they recycle some of that s**t in the good ol u.s.a.?...like tupac said "got money for wars but can\'t feed the poor"...like i stated earlier no country should complain of anyone\'s contributions,...it just baffles me how the u.s. can come up with currency for wars and mass aid of this nature yet..there\'s no money in the budget to upgrade our schools or no money to help rebulid poor communities or more money to help companies afford better medical benefits...s**t is just backwards....
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WORD!!!
Let\'s take care of OUR needs first before anyone else\'s...
Upgrade our military & all law enforcement, for one...
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Originally posted by clips
y\'know if the u.s. has all this money, why don\'t they recycle some of that s**t in the good ol u.s.a.?...like tupac said "got money for wars but can\'t feed the poor"...like i stated earlier no country should complain of anyone\'s contributions,...it just baffles me how the u.s. can come up with currency for wars and mass aid of this nature yet..there\'s no money in the budget to upgrade our schools or no money to help rebulid poor communities or more money to help companies afford better medical benefits...s**t is just backwards....
^^^
Exactly.
More FAFSA money damn it!
Shit. All of the three colleges I was accepted into are above 30K per year. The other colleges(Texas Tech, Texas A&M and UT) are half of that.
Who cares?
All of the guys making the stupid decisions are put out the bait(our soldiers) already have their kids in Ivy Leagues!
I hate my parents. They didn\'t work hard enough!!!!
(^^Sarcasm. They worked their ass off)
Back on topic.
Giga. Do you truly belive that your view on the Tsunami and the "**** them, It\'s all about us" mentality is truly the "American way" you want to show the world?
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You\'re a minority how are you complaining about price of schools? :rolleyes: If you did well in school and were a minority you should be looking real well off!
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Originally posted by Bozco
You\'re a minority how are you complaining about price of schools? :rolleyes: If you did well in school and were a minority you should be looking real well off!
Holy crap. QUIT YOUR BITCHING!
Just because I\'m a minority doesn\'t even come CLOSE to a guarantee that I will be able to pay for even half of college.
How many scholarships are outhere for "minority only" that would even come close to paying for that kind of tuition. NONE. I\'ve only come across 1,000 and the max was around 10,000 for "minority only". Or in my case "hispanic only"
I\'ve become sick and tired of the endless, disgruntled and useless bitching that comes from people like you.
"Well you\'re hispanic. That\'s why you got into ND. "
WTF?!
No, I worked my ASS off for those AP credits and I busted my head with 13+ AP classes. That\'s how I got in.
Damn Bozco. Do you honestly believe that because I\'m Hispanic college is some how more available to me? Why? What do I have that you don\'t? A darker skin color? A label?
The REAL scholarships (President\'s scholar, Merit and private) are open TO ALL THAT HAVE ACHIEVED, PASSED AND PROVED TO BE READY FOR COLLEGE. Not just "minority"
So, I get a few scholarships. What\'s your point? That you should just give it up? That it\'s unfair and racist? We\'ll prove yourself.
Skin color is not the only way to pay for college.
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You really should be a lot more thankful for being that different color. Scholarships ARE available to all that have achieved the work needed but you best ****ing believe it\'s going to a minority that is equally qualified, or even less qualified.
The funny thing is the new quarter started for me this week so I was talking to some friends of mine, the friends being macedonian and african american. Both of their classes are completely payed for while mine is not in the least but I did way better than both of them in school. They both found it as big of a joke as me but atleast they are grateful.
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Mystiq - you constantly bitch about the "white man" and constantly bring up your race in your posts. It is quite hard to overlook your race related whining. The sooner you resolve your racist issues, the happier and more successful you will be.
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I got into ND because I wrote a really good essay. Oh and my mom is Spanish.
*flexes*
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Originally posted by SwifDi
I got into ND because I wrote a really good essay.Oh and my mom is Spanish.
*flexes*
:)
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I wish I was black 6"3 and can\'t even dunk in basketball. I have trouble outrunning cops too.
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Originally posted by GigaShadow
Mystiq - you constantly bitch about the "white man" and constantly bring up your race in your posts. It is quite hard to overlook your race related whining. The sooner you resolve your racist issues, the happier and more successful you will be.
You\'re right Giga.
I forgot I was a racist/Hispanic.
I don\'t have "racial issues"
I have issues with people that want to treat and speak of others as if they were disposables. Those who have their head up their butt so deep they put others aside.
Like you Giga. And you\'re "F\'em" view. Very American, very patriotic.
The minute I get the President\'s scholarship I will inform you. I probably won\'t. I was nomitated. But, I find it hard to beat a girl who came from a private high-school, all girl and valedictorian. She just happens to be of a Middle Eastern background.
As long as the "white kids" keep on looking at things from a "I can\'t do anything about it" view. Things will stay the same.
I am thankful for being a different color. I do have access to many scholarships. But, how many hispanic students are out there hunting for that same scholarship? How many will get it?
Please, your skin color doesn\'t mean shit when you have to go against others and academically compete with them also.
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Originally posted by SirMystiq
Please, your skin color doesn\'t mean shit when you have to go against others and academically compete with them also.
Get serious
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The only person labeling here is you Mystic
And here is my arguement: if there were scholarships being handed out openly to people because they were white, would that be ok?
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Originally posted by SirMystiq
You\'re right Giga.
I forgot I was a racist/Hispanic.
I don\'t have "racial issues"
As long as the "white kids" keep on looking at things from a "I can\'t do anything about it" view.
Yes, thank you for proving my point once again.