VABills Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 Just curious for our Bills fans in Florida. How much aid did Sri Lanka, India, etc... give the US during the string of hurricanes this year?
RkFast Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 Just curious for our Bills fans in Florida. How much aid did Sri Lanka, India, etc... give the US during the string of hurricanes this year? 192729[/snapback] And what's the over/under AFTER the dust settles and the waters recede for when the anti-American BS in these victimized contries starts up again? I say a week.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 And what's the over/under AFTER the dust settles and the waters recede for when the anti-American BS in these victimized contries starts up again? I say a week. 192741[/snapback] Looks like Pete's looking like a jackass on this one. $350 mill and counting.
RkFast Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 Looks like Pete's looking like a jackass on this one. $350 mill and counting. 192750[/snapback] And 13 THOUSAND troops on site or headed to the area. Of course, by doing that, now we are not stingy, we are "imerialistic"!
Alaska Darin Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 You can't blame Pete, after all it was the media who told him we were stingy and the Japanese are "benevolent" (that's a hoot!).
Kevbeau Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 Following up on my previous post... (I cut and pasted this from an email discussion I had with a friend of mine) Humanitarian aid in general? Yeah... http://www.aafrc.org/press_releases/trustr...ricansgive.html That's just private donations... we're the number one giver of aid in real dollars in terms of governmental aid as well... but if you look at it as a % of GDP, our governmental donations are not that great, something like .13% of GDP (Norway is the best, at .92% of GDP). You can find info on our governmental aid here: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/trade/tradeovr.htm#aid In terms foreign aid... Americans privately give at least $34 billion overseas -- more than three times U.S. official foreign aid of $10 billion: from: http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/USAid.asp Some highlights.... -- International giving by U.S. foundations totals $1.5 billion per year -- Charitable giving by U.S. businesses now comes to at least $2.8 billion annually -- American NGOs gave over $6.6 billion in grants, goods and volunteers. -- Religious overseas ministries contribute $3.4 billion, including health care, literacy training, relief and development. -- $1.3 billion by U.S. colleges are given in scholarships to foreign students -- Personal remittances from the U.S. to developing countries came to $18 billion in 2000
Jon in Pasadena Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 You haven't ever been to Japan. Japan is a very racist nation who could give a sh-- about anyone else. Go to Japan sometime they have signs in bars that restrict it to Japanese only. No Americans, Chinese, etc... had better try or the JP's will throw you in jail. Hell in Okinawa, a territory of Japan, they have Japanese only bars and the Okinawans aren't allowed in. They couldn't care if all Indians, Sri Lakans and everyone else died. They would just claim the deserted land as their own. This is how their government and 100% of their people think. You really lost a lot of credibility claiming Japan as benevolent. 186909[/snapback] While there is some truth to these remarks, I would contend that they are not completely fair or accurate. Certainly racism has been from ancient times deeply ingrained in the Japanese people (who considered themselves to be members of a single huge tribe, which is basically accurate). Obviously this has had some tragic consequences, historically, both for themselves and many of their Asian neighbors, not to mention a whole lot of U.S. servicemen. As you say, there are still some "Japanese only" establishments. However-- these days they are becoming BY FAR much less common. Sentiment IS changing. Change is not instantaneous, especially in a society far more conservative and homogeneous than our own. Things take time. (In my lifetime there were "white-only" establishments right here in the wonderful U.S.A. There's still places where you can get killed for being the wrong color, etc. ) It is certainly untrue to say that 100% of Japanese care nothing for anyone but themselves. I have seen plenty of evidence of good things that they have accomplished elsewhere in the world. In (north) Vietnam, over by the Laos border, there's a little farming community that I stopped in. To my surprise, they had a top-notch bridge over the river. When I inspected the base of the bridge, I found a small plaque indicating that it was a Japanese foreign assistance project. In Uzbekistan, there are Japanese agricultural experts helping the local farmers to learn modern farming techniques to increase the productivity of their land. In the Rif mountains of Morocco, there is a hospital founded and staffed entirely by Japanese. The local Berbers and Arabs love them and raved to me about how compassionate and caring they were. These are just a few examples; it's easy to find many more. The younger generation of Japanese is much more interested in the outside world than were their parents or grandparents. I know many, many Japanese who have ventured out into the outside world to engage it constructively. The number of international marriages in Japan is increasing quite a bit. There's actually a bit of a craze right now for other cultures, especially for (formerly despised) Korea. Now if only the government would swallow its pride and finally deal with the WWII reparations issue once and for all. That's still a big thorn in their side.
Pete Posted January 4, 2005 Author Posted January 4, 2005 I am damn proud of the way America and the world have responded to this tragedy! USA private donations have exceeded $200 million alone. Sandra Bullock donated $1 million. I love the way the world is responding and how it is help unifying the world. My initial post was made 3 days after the tragedy and I was dead on. $15 million was a joke. Dont tell me we didnt know the extent then(we still dont)-at the time of my post the number was over 50,000 dead and that it would get worse. I knew the USA would contribute more but took umbrage with how we dealt with it initially. Evidently Bush and Powell concured with me that the $15 million was ridiculously low. I feel it was great that Egeland accused the USA of being stingy. In doing so it allowed Powell to respond and explain just how much the USA does in humanitarian aid. I think most of the whole world now has an idea how benevolent we are. I am very proud to be American and have high standards for my country. I want America to lead the world and be an example.
Pete Posted January 4, 2005 Author Posted January 4, 2005 192820[/snapback] You have to read between the lines what is considered foreign aid. I remember reading over 50% of foreign aid is military. I did a lot of research on this last year and will look up exact numbers later. 13% of our total foreign aid goes to Israel. That does not sound humanitarian to me. I support Israel but counting that as foreign aid seems stretching it to me. I do think Americans are some of the most generous people on the planet and that we do not count their private contributions as foreign aid. I will get back to this in the next day or two
philburger1 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 And 13 THOUSAND troops on site or headed to the area. Of course, by doing that, now we are not stingy, we are "imerialistic"! 192756[/snapback] I wonder if Al Jazera (Terrorist News Network) is covering the US army helping out the largest MUSLIM country in the world. I what the hell is china doing to help. Their army is way bigger than ours, their economy is booming, and this happened in their backyard. Hello, China? You there? And not much coming from the oil rich muslim countries. Not many people signing up to help. Yeah, let's just go ahead and bash Bush the day after this happened. Pravda( the Russian News Wire) even thinks the US created the earthquake with a secret weapon. Maybe an asteriod will hit the earth in 2030, and then they can all blame Bush.
blzrul Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 Before all this chest thumping gets out of hand everyone would do well to remember that the aid coming from governments (not just ours) is PLEDGES. Just that. Someone with some time on their hands could do some research and find out that many times those pledges don't come through, or don't come through in their entirety. The money donated by individuals is "real money" insofar as it goes to the various relief agencies, although once again how much of it gets to the point of need will vary. That's why a thinking person will do a little research on these agencies before selecting one. In any event to argue over who is and isn't helping is childish and stupid. Those people over there are human beings who probably spend much of their time like us - working to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. And probably working a LOT harder.
KD in CA Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 In any event to argue over who is and isn't helping is childish and stupid. 193422[/snapback] It sure is. Which makes anyone who would write something like "All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers" a complete fuggin moron, right?
philburger1 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 In any event to argue over who is and isn't helping is childish and stupid. 193422[/snapback] I agree. Now can you please tell this to the turd at the U.N. who started this conversation? Or are they too busy stealing aid money, to buy Annan's son a new pimped out 300?
Kevbeau Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 You have to read between the lines what is considered foreign aid. I remember reading over 50% of foreign aid is military. I did a lot of research on this last year and will look up exact numbers later. 13% of our total foreign aid goes to Israel. That does not sound humanitarian to me. I support Israel but counting that as foreign aid seems stretching it to me. I do think Americans are some of the most generous people on the planet and that we do not count their private contributions as foreign aid. I will get back to this in the next day or two 193164[/snapback] -- International giving by U.S. foundations totals $1.5 billion per year -- Charitable giving by U.S. businesses now comes to at least $2.8 billion annually -- American NGOs gave over $6.6 billion in grants, goods and volunteers. -- Religious overseas ministries contribute $3.4 billion, including health care, literacy training, relief and development. -- $1.3 billion by U.S. colleges are given in scholarships to foreign students -- Personal remittances from the U.S. to developing countries came to $18 billion in 2000 I was listing non-governmental aide. Possible some of these private donations are targeted towards military aide, but I would be suprised if it is any significant percentage. My point was that while our gov't may be criticized for it's aide amounts, the American people are some of the most generous in the world.
blzrul Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 It sure is. Which makes anyone who would write something like "All those defenseless natural resources may need protecting from evildoers" a complete fuggin moron, right? 193486[/snapback] Only to A-holes who lift quotes from different threads which have nothing to do with the generosity of any nation, person or other entity.
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