The "Christian" USA ??

[boutons]

The USA contributes a smaller percentage of its national wealth than any other industrialized nation to foreign/humanitarian aid, while having the largest, most expensive "killer" force in the world, year in and year out.

Now, with 52,000+ mostly Muslim/Hindu/Bhuddist/non-Christian lives lost and many more non-Christian lives in horrible need of every kind of assistance, will the "Christian" USA make a world-class effort to assist in the volume that only the USA has the resources to deliver?

My guess is that there will be, somewhere in the USA, some petty, self-rigtheous "Left Behind"-style of "Christian" sermons about these non-Christians being "Armegeddonly" punished for being non-Christian, and/or with aid from US "Christians' being delivered with "convert to Christianity" strings attached.

How about seriously re-deploying the USA's Indian Ocean and Pacifiic "killer" fleets, hardly under threat from Al Quaida, to the catastrophe zone?

Come on, shrub/ head, you've shown you know how to kill innocents on a massive scale and destroy countries. This tsunami catasrophe is a golden opportunity for the USA to show the non-Christian, non-white world that is not the Evil Empire the rest of the world considers it to be. Will you make the USA proud or ashamedl?

shrub/ head will run $trillions in deficits and for decades to cut taxes for the rich+corps and to conduct bogus wars, and then will almost certainly plead, by its inaction, "Sorry, USA is broke and can't afford to help in proportion to US wealth".

[boutons]

Compared to a $400B military "killing" budget, and a $3T economy, and the budget/donations for the inaugural festivities, a still trivial effort from shrub/ head.

"More than double" ... of peanuts.

"line of credit"? What's the lending rate? GMAFB.

==================================================

U.S. Relief Package to More Than Double

December 28, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:44 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Agency for International
Development is adding $20 million to an initial $15 million
contribution for Asian earthquake relief as Secretary of
State Colin Powell bristled at a United Nations official's
suggestion the United States has been ``stingy.''

Confirming the new assistance, Deputy State Department
spokesman Adam Ereli also disclosed Tuesday that a large
number of missing Americans had been found and were safe.
But Ereli said hundreds of others remained unaccounted for
and that seven had perished in Sri Lanka and five in
Thailand.

Describing the $20 million as a ``line of credit,'' Ereli
said ``we have identified an additional $20 million that we
will be working to make available'' to countries devastated
by the most powerful earthquake in 40 years.

This new total of $35 million is bound to be increased, the
U.S. official said. ``We know the needs will grow,'' Ereli
said.

At the Pentagon, meanwhile, the Navy said the aircraft
carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been in port at Hong
Kong, was ordered to head for the stricken area to provide
whatever assistance it could. Also, a five-ship fleet
headed by the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard
was directed to skip a port call in Guam and head for the
region.

Pre-stocked supplies of plastic sheltering, food and water
bags are on their way to Indonesia from Dubai in the
Persian Gulf.

Powell, irritated by the U.N. official's criticism, toured
morning television talk shows to say the Bush
administration will follow up its contributions with large
additional sums.

``The United States has given more aid in the last four
years than any other nation or combination of nations in
the world,'' Powell said when asked about the comments
Monday by Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian aid chief.

Initially, the U.S. government pledged $15 million and
dispatched disaster specialists to help the Asian nations
devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunamis that
claimed tens of thousands of lives.

On Monday, President Bush sent letters of condolence and
Powell called the disaster an ``international tragedy'' as
he laid out the initial American aid efforts.

Appearing Tuesday on ABC's ``Good Morning America,'' the
secretary said that at least 11 Americans have died in the
disaster and hundreds remain unaccounted for.

Powell chafed at statements that Egeland made at a Monday
news conference, at which the humanitarian aid chief
exhorted ``rich'' nations to do more.

``We were more generous when we were less rich, many of the
rich countries,'' Egeland said. ``And it is beyond me, why
are we so stingy, really ... Even Christmas time should
remind many Western countries at least how rich we have
become.''

Asked about this on ABC, Powell said, ``We will do more. I
wish that comment hadn't been made.''

``We'll make an assessment as the days go by, to see what
more is needed of us,'' he said. ``It will take us awhile
to make a careful assessment of what is needed ... to see
what the specific needs are and then we will respond to
those needs.''

Egeland said on Tuesday, however, that his remarks had been
``misinterpreted.''

``It has nothing to do with any particular country or any
particular disaster,'' he told reporters.

In an interview on NBC``s ``Today'' show Tuesday, Powell
said that ``clearly, the United States will be a major
contributor to this international effort. And, yes, it will
run into the billions of dollars.''

>From his ranch in Crawford, Texas on Monday, Bush had sent
letters of condolence to the leaders of the seven countries
wracked by the disaster.

``This is a terrible tragedy,'' White House spokesman Trent
Duffy said. ``There is a significant loss of life. And our
thoughts and prayers are with all those who are
suffering.''

Powell made condolence telephone calls and offered American
assistance to the foreign ministers of Thailand, the
Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

American ambassadors released $100,000 each to India,
Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, and Powell said $4
million would be given to the Red Cross.

U.S. government specialists in disaster relief were sent to
Thailand and Indonesia, and others will be spread out
through the region. Supplies of shelter, food and water
cans kept in reserve in the Philippines and in Dubai will
be distributed, according to Ed Fox, assistant
administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
Development.

Millions of people who were displaced will need shelter,
food and clothing, Fox added. The $15 million U.S.
contribution was an initial one, he said, issued while
surveys were conducted.

The Australian government pledged $7.6 million in immediate
aid.

A spokesman at U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii said Monday
that in addition to three Navy P-3 Orion surveillance
planes sent to Thailand, the military also is loading five
or six Air Force C-130 cargo planes with tents, clothing,
food and other humanitarian goods for delivery to Thailand.


Pacific Command also is assembling small assessment teams
that will be dispatched to three countries in the region to
assess how U.S. military resources can best be applied in
those countries.

Pacific Command spokesman Lt. Col. William Bigelow said he
was not authorized to identify the three countries, but
other government officials said they were Sri Lanka,
Indonesia and Thailand.

And James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, said
bank teams were discussing potential assistance with the
governments of the countries that suffered losses.

On Sunday, the managing director of the International
Monetary Fund, Rodrigo de Rato, said the Fund ``stands
ready to do its part to assist these nations with
appropriate support in their time of need.''

The U.S. Navy said it sent three P-3 surveillance aircraft
from Kadena air base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to
Utaphao, Thailand, to conduct survey operations, and
possibly aid in search-and-rescue efforts.

The Navy said it had no reports of damage to any of its
ships or bases in the region.

[Yonivore]

Oh please...

[Sec24Row7]

Oh please..."as percentage of GNP"

Toothless Joe,a Bum, finds $5 on the street and buys a 6 pack.

He gives 3 beers to his friend, Smelly Sal, another bum, as charity.

Bill Gates buys Smelly Sal a beer distributorship the next day.

Headline:

"Bill Gates spends less on Beer for Bums as percentage of net worth than Toothless Joe"

[boutons]

This sounds like shrub's do-nothing policy on climate change: "let's wait and see".

The US amount pledged is what?, a single morning's breakfast tab for our fiasco forces in Iraq?

shrub's "4-country coalition" is an interesting ploy for Repugs who are elsewhere intent on destroying the US Govt ("starve the beast") and going-it-alone in every other international sphere. The Repubs know it's another layer of bureacracy to slow down/minimize the US $$$ and to hide behind later.

================================================== ==

Aid Grows Amid Remarks About President's Absence

By John F. Harris and Robin Wright

The Bush administration more than doubled its financial commitment yesterday to provide relief to nations suffering from the Indian Ocean tsunami, amid complaints that the vacationing President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.

As the death toll surpassed 50,000 with no sign of abating, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to an earlier pledge of $15 million to provide relief, and the Pentagon dispatched an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in morning television appearances, chafed at a top U.N. aid official's comment on Monday that wealthy countries were being stingy with aid. "The United States is not stingy," Powell said on CNN.

Although U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland yesterday withdrew his earlier comment, domestic criticism of Bush continued to rise. Skeptics said the initial aid sums -- as well as Bush's decision at first to remain cloistered on his Texas ranch for the Christmas holiday rather than speak in person about the tragedy -- showed scant appreciation for the magnitude of suffering and for the rescue and rebuilding work facing such nations as Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

After a day of repeated inquiries from reporters about his public absence, Bush late yesterday afternoon announced plans to hold a National Security Council meeting by teleconference to discuss several issues, including the tsunami, followed by a short public statement.

Bush's deepened public involvement puts him more in line with other world figures. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cut short his vacation and returned to work in Berlin because of the Indian Ocean crisis, which began with a gigantic underwater earthquake. In Britain, the predominant U.S. voice speaking about the disaster was not Bush but former president Bill Clinton, who in an interview with the BBC said the suffering was like something in a "horror movie," and urged a coordinated international response.

Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling. Explaining the about-face, a White House official said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "

Many Bush aides believe Clinton was too quick to head for the cameras to hold forth on tragedies with his trademark empathy. "Actions speak louder than words," a top Bush aide said, describing the president's view of his appropriate role.

Some foreign policy specialists said Bush's actions and words both communicated a lack of urgency about an event that will loom as large in the collective memories of several countries as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks do in the United States. "When that many human beings die -- at the hands of terrorists or nature -- you've got to show that this matters to you, that you care," said Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

There was an international outpouring of support after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and even some administration officials familiar with relief efforts said they were surprised that Bush had not appeared personally to comment on the tsunami tragedy. "It's kind of freaky," a senior career official said.

The president of Bread for the World, a leading advocacy group lobbying for more U.S. assistance to suffering people abroad, did not criticize the Bush administration, but did urge the United States to play a central role in the relief effort. "This is a disaster of biblical proportions and one that calls for a global response, with the United States playing a key role," David Beckmann said.

Some of those lost in the carnage were Americans. The State Department, which is in the early stages of estimating both relief needs and the U.S. death toll, has received more than 4,000 inquiries about relatives not yet accounted for, although many may be calls searching for the same people, U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials denied that the overnight aid increase was a response to the U.N. complaint Monday that some countries were "stingy" with aid. Usually only about 10 percent of the final aid tally is given in the initial response to a natural disaster, with the bulk of aid provided after an assessment of long-term needs, according to the State Department.

"We know the needs will be greater. This was a disaster of almost unimaginable dimension, and it's going to require massive support for some time," State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli said.

Gelb said what appears to be a grudging increase in effort sends the wrong message, at a time when dollar totals matter less than a clear statement about U.S. intentions. Noting that the disaster occurred at a time when large numbers of people in many nations -- especially Muslim ones such as Indonesia -- object to U.S. policies in Iraq, he said Bush was missing an opportunity to demonstrate American benevolence.

"People do watch and see what we do," he said. "Here's an opportunity to remind people of the good we do, and he [Bush] can do it without changing his policy on Iraq or terrorism."

"My initial reaction is that it does not seem to be very aggressive," said Morton Abramowitz, a former ambassador to Thailand who has been active in humanitarian relief efforts, of the administration's response to the tsunami.

Besides USAID assistance, the Pentagon dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from Hong Kong to the region, and three Navy P-3 Orion surveillance planes and six Air Force C-130 cargo planes with humanitarian goods are being sent to Thailand.

A regional support center will be established at a military base in Utapao, Thailand, as a staging area for relief flights and for emergency and medical personnel providing assistance throughout the region, the Pentagon announced yesterday. The U.S. Pacific Command will deploy personnel mainly from the III Marine Expeditionary Force to set up the command, control and communication structure.

Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who as the military's top European commander helped supervise NATO's efforts to respond to a 1999 earthquake in Turkey, said the United States has unique military capabilities in reconnaissance and logistics management that can be useful in the current crisis. He urged Bush to take a higher profile. "Natural disasters happen," Clark said. "One of the things people look for is a strong response that illustrates America's humanitarian values."

Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), who is frequently outspoken in favor of U.S. humanitarian ventures, said he believes the initial U.S. response has been appropriate, even without a public role for Bush. "I think the world knows we're a very generous people," he said.

Still, the United Nations' Egeland complained on Monday that each of the richest nations gives less than 1 percent of its gross national product for foreign assistance, and many give 0.1 percent. "It is beyond me why we are so stingy, really," he told reporters.

Among the world's two dozen wealthiest countries, the United States often is among the lowest in donors per capita for official development assistance worldwide, even though the totals are larger. According to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development of 30 wealthy nations, the United States gives the least -- at 0.14 percent of its gross national product, compared with Norway, which gives the most at 0.92 percent.

Staff writer Jim VandeHei in Crawford, Tex., and political researcher Brian Faler in Washington contributed to this report.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

[Sec24Row7]

"Do Nothing Policy on Climate change"

You see those big white spots on the earth's poles? They are called ice caps. For the majority of Earth's history they haven't been there.

30,000 years ago there were Mastadons in FLORIDA and it was twice as big as it is today.

THAT my friend is climate change. THAT isn't caused by the "greenhouse effect" or industrial emmisions.

It's caused by the sun's varying rates of energy output.

What blows my mind is people blame the earth's new Man Made "insulation" of Carbon based emissions for melting of glaciers and the like when they have been melting for THOUSANDS of Years!

What's more likely to cause variations in temperature of the earth? A Species on earth or the hugely variant Fusion reactor that is litteraly Hundreds of thousands times as big as earth?

Please.

[Yonivore]

What's more likely to cause variations in temperature of the earth? A Species on earth or the hugely variant Fusion reactor that is litteraly Hundreds of thousands times as big as earth?

I pick the latter...

[NeoConIV]

Stingy American Infidels!! ARRRR!!!

[sbsquared]

Michael Crichton (sp) would say the later!

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GLOBAL WARMING - IT IS A MYTH PERPETUATED BY SCIENTISTS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS TO PUNISH "BAD" HUMANS!

[Sec24Row7]

That's true.

I have read that book, but I have a B.S. in Geology from Trinity so it's not exactly like I'm pulling my facts out of a work of fiction about EcoTerrorists.

[Clandestino]

yes, global warming that is why south texas was covered in up to a foot of snow on christmas eve and day... is it global warming or an ice age???

so, we shouldn't give money to iraqis to help build their nation, but we should to the countries that border the indian ocean??? the u.s. can't win with you liberals..

[Guru of Nothing]

What's wrong with a little global warming?

[Bandit2981]

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GLOBAL WARMING - IT IS A MYTH PERPETUATED BY SCIENTISTS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS TO PUNISH "BAD" HUMANS!

global warming is NOT a myth, but the term can be somewhat misleading to people. i prefer "climate change" but thats just me. global warming doesnt mean that the whole earth suddenly becomes hot either, but the arctic ice caps are melting at a dangerously rapid pace because of warming, which causes other earthly weather patterns to change, hence things like snow in south texas and mexico. this isnt all man made though(although i think we can make things worse or accelerated), i believe the earth naturally goes through these climate cycles, and severe weather changes will become even more prevalent in the near future because the magnetic poles are starting to reverse as well, which initiated our last ice age.

[Yonivore]

Okay, I'll rephrase for the poster..."There is no such thing as human-induced global climate change."

[Bandit2981]

i agree yoni, i mean there were ice ages, greenland was actually once green and had a mild climate, etc. long before anything technological was around(like production of greenhouse gases) to supposedly instigate these changes. that doesnt mean we shouldnt still worry about pollution and carbon dioxide emissions and such, since we still breathe the air and drink the water, but let's face it...earth has a shifting climate, there's nothing we can do about it, and we are just stuck on her for the ride!

[MannyIsGod]

I pick the latter...

Let me know when you're expertise overrides the vast majority of scientists who disagree with you on climate change.

[MannyIsGod]

Lmao, this thread is unreal. However, I've started to expect these things from this forum. Oh well, have at it.

[Guru of Nothing]

i agree yoni, i mean there were ice ages, greenland was actually once green and had a mild climate, etc. long before anything technological was around(like production of greenhouse gases) to supposedly instigate these changes. that doesnt mean we shouldnt still worry about pollution and carbon dioxide emissions and such, since we still breathe the air and drink the water, but let's face it...earth has a shifting climate, there's nothing we can do about it, and we are just stuck on her for the ride!

No, but, we should worry for the right reasons; otherwise it's disingenuous (a la nbadan mode).

[Sec24Row7]

Nevermind the fact Manny that there is no proof, absolutely none, that humans have had ANY MAJOR impact on the global climate.

As for the poles switching and causing an ice age, I have never read or heard anything that would suggest those two events have any correlation.

[sbsquared]

There was a great article in the Parade magazine a few weeks back that talked about all the "great catastrophes" that were going to befall the world - such as killer bees, population explosion, Y2K, etc. None of them came true - it was just the scientists and others who love to be chicken littles and scream "the sky is falling!" The was one group back in the 70's (I think) who said that the world's population would be so large that we would have already run out of food and the majority of the world would be starving! Instead populations have, for the most part, evened out and, in some cases, declined.

I think the Global Warming garbage is just the latest scam scare being perpetrated on the unsuspecting and uneducated masses!

[Yonivore]

i agree yoni, i mean there were ice ages, greenland was actually once green and had a mild climate, etc. long before anything technological was around(like production of greenhouse gases) to supposedly instigate these changes. that doesnt mean we shouldnt still worry about pollution and carbon dioxide emissions and such, since we still breathe the air and drink the water, but let's face it...earth has a shifting climate, there's nothing we can do about it, and we are just stuck on her for the ride!

Yeah, I agree, but pollution is a local and short-term transport issue, not a global issue to be addressed by the Kyoto Accord or something like it.

Let me know when you're expertise overrides the vast majority of scientists who disagree with you on climate change.

List the actual Climatologists who share the view of the "vast majority of scientists." Are you sure you didn't mean "Scientologists?"

There was a great article in the Parade magazine a few weeks back that talked about all the "great catastrophes" that were going to befall the world - such as killer bees, population explosion, Y2K, etc. None of them came true - it was just the scientists and others who love to be chicken littles and scream "the sky is falling!" The was one group back in the 70's (I think) who said that the world's population would be so large that we would have already run out of food and the majority of the world would be starving! Instead populations have, for the most part, evened out and, in some cases, declined.

I think the Global Warming garbage is just the latest scam scare being perpetrated on the unsuspecting and uneducated masses!

Couldn't agree more...

Read this on a blog somewhere... "You mean to tell me a 9.0 magnitude earthquake can move Sumatra 100 feet to the southwest, speed up the rotation of the earth, tilt it another inch on it axis with minimal consequence to the ecology or climate and I'm to believe my SUV will cause the planet to cease to exist?

[Opinionater]

IMHO, it's all over but the crying.

The heat!...My God the heat!!

[Hook Dem]

"Read this on a blog somewhere... "You mean to tell me a 9.0 magnitude earthquake can move Sumatra 100 feet to the southwest, speed up the rotation of the earth, tilt it another inch on it axis with minimal consequence to the ecology or climate and I'm to believe my SUV will cause the planet to cease to exist?" .................................True Dat!

[GoldToe]

Not just 1 SUV you idiot!!
It is the combined effect. Jeez Louise!!!!!

[Yonivore]

Not just 1 SUV you idiot!!
It is the combined effect. Jeez Louise!!!!!

Okay, 50 million SUV's...I still don't get it.