Jet Li Escapes Tsunami

[red5angel]

don't you love that efist? We send over a "meager" or "stingy" 35 million dollars and we're cheap. That's regardless of the fact that we're fighting a war, and that the total contribution of aid to this whole debacle has yet to be determined. That's why I say we just need to follow my 4 step plan.....

[MoreMisfortune]

no couple should be allowed to have more than 2 kids
if they want more they should adopt

this will the law when i rule


and i agree with chinas "one baby only" policy, its good.

but i also think this got nothing to do with the tragedy

[GeneChing]

Not only did they get this posted earlier, their response has been more appropriate. Here on the main forum, y'all got muddled by the knee-jerk defensiveness over the accusations of stinginess - if that offends you, just give more. If it doesn't, why bring it up? Down on the Wing Chun forum, they've posted places to donate. Kudos to the Wing Chun forum members. They've shown true wude.

[red5angel]

bwahahahahhahaa Gene, your cracking me up. "Kneejerk reactions" "Wingchun forum" "True Wude" - apparently you don't get over to the wingchun forum all that often.....

[ZIM]

Originally posted by GeneChing
Not only did they get this posted earlier, their response has been more appropriate. Here on the main forum, y'all got muddled by the knee-jerk defensiveness over the accusations of stinginess - if that offends you, just give more. If it doesn't, why bring it up? Down on the Wing Chun forum, they've posted places to donate. Kudos to the Wing Chun forum members. They've shown true wude.

Come now. Check the "unbelievable" thread. I know I linked to aid agancies and first-person accounts, there.

As for "stinginess":

Australia: $26M, plus five military transports and 50 specialists
Austria: $1.36M
Belgium: One military transport to deliver UNICEF aid
Britain: 370K (pounds), $100K, plus $481K of materials to Sri Lanka
Denmark: 45 tonnes of supplies, $1.82M
EU: "Ready to release" 30M Euro, 3M Euro already released.
France: 100K Euros ($140,000)
Finland: 500K Euro.
Germany: 2M Euro.
Greece: 17 doctors and staff.
Italy: 2 helicopters and crew.
Japan: $30M.
Netherlands: 2M Euros.
Poland: $336K
Spain: 1M Euros pledged, 19 volunteers
Sweden: Two communications specialists and some tents and radios.
USA: $35 million, plus 12 US Navy vessels and 5,000 sailors.

By the way:
I do not mention this information to denigrate any other nation's aid to those affected by this tremendous disaster.
*Any* help is needed most urgently, and often showing up in person is better than simply throwing money.

Also:
None of the figures factor in private donations.

Israel was sending crews, but Sri Lanka rejected them.

It occured to me that, in addition to donating, supporting the local economies might be a great thing to do. Why not buy some imported coffee? Sumatra, Java & southern India has some of the finest coffees in the world.

[MasterKiller]

The stingy reference was made in regards to Gross National Product. All the guy said was that the richer countries in the world don't give that much in foreign aid in relation to their GNP. The U.S. ranks last at about 0.14%. Compare that with Norway, who gives 0.92%.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

Somehow, i sense that using the Iraq "war" as an excuse not to send money is laughable.. that is a war that shouldn't have been in the first place.. That is not to say that other wealthy nations shouldn't ante-up their fair share of compassion and currency for the unfortunate survivors.. it simply implies that to whine about the US funds expenditures in Iraq has nothing to do with the tsunami situation.. The US made a error of judgement regarding going to war with Iraq, it should not affect compassion for those involved in a tragedy of such enormous proportions..

I feel sorry for those suffering now. But the dead are dead. Money won't bring them back.

No, but money will help the survivors, aid will help prevent disease and epidemic, and less attention to militaristic ventures of opportunity will allow more attention to helping rebuild the US image trustworthy and reliable.. rather than marauding opportunists..

To assert "keeping things in perspective" as a means to justify a cold and impersonal perspective is one of the qualities that are less desirable in a situation where such a tragic loss of life and broad scope of suffering is imposed by any means including "natural" means..

The U.S. is presently engaged in a large task in the middle east relatively on their own (after one of the worst hurricane seasons on record)

It is noteworthy that it seems okay to lament our own "natural disasters", which according to some posters should be perceived as simple natural events and accepted as such.. but, consistency is important here.. as if the hurricanes somehow play into the US perspective along with its own ill-conceived war while a tsunami half way around the world is just a natural event that should be accepted.. of course it is true, it IS a natural event, we can't control it, nor should we.. we can only accept it in the end, but.. a display of sincere compassion and respectful attitude toward the unfortunate seems little to ask with much to gain..

If our collective memories are working, we can recall the weeping and wailing of 911.. massive loss of life by any means in any place is worthy of respect and compassion, not just on your own doorsteps but wherever man is separated from his spirit prior to a reasonable passage into one's "winter season"..

Be kind, it's cool..

[ZIM]

Originally posted by MasterKiller
The stingy reference was made in regards to Gross National Product. All the guy said was that the richer countries in the world don't give that much in foreign aid in relation to their GNP. The U.S. ranks last at about 0.14%. Compare that with Norway, who gives 0.92%.

So? Compare the amounts pledged/donated to the GDP of the areas affected. Comparing it to one's own is misleading, I think, since one cannot transfer the scale of one's own economy.

[norther practitioner]

With those #s however.. does that account for private donations....

I'd have to imagine, that the US, as an entity with both the private and government put together, puts in mo' money than anyone by a factor of 10 by the time this is said and done.

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by norther practitioner
I'd have to imagine, that the US, as an entity with both the private and government put together, puts in mo' money than anyone by a factor of 10 by the time this is said and done.

I'm not arguing that. Neither was he. All he said was that according to GNP, the richer countries give a much smaller percentage.

HE NEVER EVEN NAMED A COUNTRY.

It's really just been blown out of proportion. Anytime American's feel the tiniest slight by a foreigner they're up in arms and putting new bumper stickers on their SUVs....

[Ray Pina]

I think I'm being misunderstood a bit here. I love man, I love and respect life. But at the same time I also take the 'Heaven views man as nothing more than straw dogs" aproach. On the surface this does sound cold .... but there is substance beyond the surface.

As for natural disasters, I get the same, "O ****" feeling inside when I hear of several hundred dying from hurricanes or some surfer who drowned surfing big waves. "****, that sucks."

This recent tragedy is off the scale, but it's merely a matter of numbers. This Iraq war is terrible, right? Compare it to the deaths of WWI or WWII it's a joke. But it hurts just the same right? So numbers in tragedy don't make a difference to me .... they're all straw dogs, but so am I. But I also cultivate the light.

Now speaking of 9/11. That one was different in my eyes for a personal reason (this tidal wave IS impresonal to me because it is "over there" and I don't know anyone who died though I do have a friend who was in the area in Thailand two days before it hit --- he moved to hit a 48 hour party).

If the number of people who died during 9/11 dies because two planes accidentally crashed into each other, I'd say, "What a shame."

However, it was an attack that took place within my literal view -- I could see the buildings burning from across the street, I saw them collapse. I also know people who died in the attack. These were not mere deaths, these were victims of a violent attack. You can call them urder victims. But even that wasn't what really affected me. What affected me was the chaos of when it first happened. I didn't know if more planes were coming. If gunners would be unleashed on the streets. I also didn't have TV because I just moved so news was coming in over the radio. So for me, this wasa different experience just as the tsunami is a different experience for someone who lived near where that happened. This is just all common sense.

When I see a funeral prossesion drive past I lower my radio out of respect. But I feel differently when I am in the funeral prossession because I lost a friend..... can you fault me for that?

As for my views on the war, to sum it up:

Should we have? .... probbaly not. But we needed a staging ground to fight and we couldn't use Saudi Arabia or Pakistan because of politics so why not kick out the bad guy anyway? And it doesn't hurt to choose the war ground and to draw Jihadis there instead of here.

Its too late for could've and should've .... we're there. With that being said, no body has jumped at the bit to help us besides the U.K. In fact, everyone has been quite against us. So I think $35 million is quite generous of us already considering we have a lot of expenditures right now. You can't look at things seperately. AmEx still wants me to pay my bill, it doesn't care that I spent a fortune at Christmas, and my landlord still wants rent, and my girl still likes to go out to eat .... nothing is independant.

Also, let's not lose sight of the geography involved in this.... where is the money puring in from Muslim nations? Where's the Bin Ladin family with their money and construction crews? Where's the Saudis? ect. etc. And with all this disaster these nations turn down the help of Israel?

I know the folks who died have nothing to do with the nations politics anymore than I do. It's all just man being man in a natural world..... and sometimes I can cry and laugh about it but I keep going on living and breathing, living and breathing.

[SPJ]

With all the satelites in orbit;

With all the weather gatherning techno and mighty power of computers in the 21 century;

Where was the warning to all the people near the India ocean?

[Oso]

Nicely put, EFist....were I so eloquent....

[SPJ]

On 9-11;

I visited the WTO twin towers, everytime I went to China town.

There was a girl I acquainted who selling souvenirs on top of the building.

They were gone.

Chinatown was filled with flowers and pictures. Some companies moved to Jersey.

I was on my way to Immigration office near I-10 for the citizenship oral test on 9-11. I have been in the country over 14 years.

I heard on the radio. The twin towers were attacked. Everybody was not to go to LA, disneyland or hollywood. The Pentagon was attacked. Both president and vice president were in separate locations and --. All flights cancelled, ---

-----

[ZIM]

Originally posted by SPJ
With all the satelites in orbit;

With all the weather gatherning techno and mighty power of computers in the 21 century;

Where is the warning to all the people near the India ocean?

There was, but wasn't, one.
The Pacific tsunami warning service noted the quake and issued two bulletins, the first of which could've provided advanced warning.

The problem was three-fold:
First, the maritime & weather stations in the Indian ocean zone weren't used to tsunamis, and so didn't heed the bulletins. [no training]

Second, the bulletins were geared for the Pacific basin and noted that there 'wasn't a danger of tsunamis to the Pacific'. A lack of vetting on the Indian ocean side downgraded the bulletin to information-only. [no experience]

Third, there was no population warning systems in place, thus any warnings would have been sporadic in any case. [no infrastructure]

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MODS:
Any chance we could get the 'unbelievable' thread hitched to this one? It was covered there previously.

Thanks.