Wednesday, December 29, 2004
The color of love: We were surprised to see on ABC's Good Morning America a segment about the children who have been victims of the tsunami. Total casualties are (currently) estimated to be 60,000. One third are children, or 20,000. The ABC report began with the usual talking head.  It was followed by four stories about affected children. They were all white Europeans. (Swedish, prob Swedish, Swedish, German) The segment ended with pan shots of native kids amongst general destruction, but they were not identified, nor were any details of their trauma reported. It got us thinking about the whole relief operation. Since most of the victims - natives of south Asian countries - are pretty dark skinned, it's no surprise that Bush - a man from the Confederacy - was niggardly with the aid money. updated insert
posted by Quiddity at 12/29/2004 08:00:00 AM
60 comments
Oooo. Good one. Heh.
But meanwhile, Bush had this smug look on his face like people should be beaming as much as he was for the paltry $35mil (which he misprounced as $35 BILLION).
So embarassing...
www.livejournal.com/user/nemesisbecoming
You are a vile piece of shit.
Good point, and good post, Quiditty.
Being called bad names by morons always makes my day, too.
Well, let's be fair. The kids are wearing corn rows, so they are *representing* the colored victims. Why would we want to be prejudiced against colored folks because these white children wear corn rows? I think ABC's nuanced piece covers all races, and frankly, I find the corn rows a little too representational, if you know what I mean.
I noticed this on CBS and CNN too, so typical, and thanks for pointing it out.
As far as the US being 'cheap', I don't think those accusations really help anyone, and just give the right another reason to point the finger at the left and accuse us of hating America and Christmas and that sort of shit.
Unfortunately, this is the only way to get Americans concerned about the disaster. A year ago, the Iran earthquake in Bam killed 50,000 people. It was a story in the States for maybe a day.
Now, since according to the Times, "thousands of those missing are European tourists" this will be a huge story. Donations will roll in from America, because, doggone it!, white folks are involved.
Frankly I don't give a shit. As long as Americans pay attention, so does the world, and we may be able to prevent an even further catastrophe.
C'est la vie.
As far as the US being 'cheap', I don't think those accusations really help anyone, and just give the right another reason to point the finger at the left and accuse us of hating America and Christmas and that sort of shit.Can we at least point out that Japan, a country with half our population and 1/3rd our GDP, pledged $30 million when Bush was still saying, "Fifteen million, that sounds about right."?
The "only showing white people" thing is especially annoying with India and Sri Lanka, where most people speak English. We can't complain one day about how they're stealing all of our telemarketing jobs and then pretend the next day that we can't communicate with "the natives."
Feh. The media coverage of this whole thing sticks in my craw. And Doctors Without Borders is getting my donation once I get my Christmas finances straightened out.
-- Mnemosyne
I just want to share this post from Little Green Footballs. Regular 'piglet' (1000+ posts) asks:
#3 piglet 12/26/2004 07:02PM PST
Am I the only one wondering how many muslim women drowned in these waters because they were wearing islamic dress and were weighed down by their clothes?
You stupid schmuck!
Cost of Presidential PArty for the swearing in ceremony: 45 million and counting....
Cost of relief to the biggest natural disaster: 35 million + Bush telling the world they should be thankful we even give that much.
Now, i dont know much about KArma, but boy is USA due for a heaping steaming pile of karma right about now.
I'm so sick of hearing about the number of causalties from this disaster. Everytime a talking head shakes his or her empty head in sympathy I want to scream, "How many civilians have died in Iraq? Where's the head shaking on those innocents, fucktards?!!"
Natural disaster vs. manmade disaster.
That LGF post pretty much sums up the stupidity of virtually every LGF post ever written.
That LGF post was the third post? On the very day of the tragedy?
Yes, and it was followed by other posts hoping that the tsunami got some 'turrists'.
Please post the 'piglet' post elsewhere. It deserves to be famous. It defines Little Green Footballs perfectly.
Oh, and in the 500 posts that followed that one, not one questioned piglet or rebutted it. 'piglet' is one of their regulars.
Well, wow. Let's hope a tidal waves never hits the home of those LGF posters. Their slow wits and fat fucking asses would doubtlessly drag them down.I think the fuckwit that puts up LGF is out of SF so I don't wish any tsunamis on him - can't we just stick them all in a shark tank or something?
Are you poep[le just stupid or ignorant....If you ignorant basdtards havnt noticed, Bush is not the CEO af any mainstream media organisation....It's you Bullshit liberal activists that want to spread racisnm and bigotry cuz If There Wasn't Any.........you would'nt have anything to bitch about and you would be out of a job.......instead of out of your minds.
"just gives the righ another excuse to point the figer and accus the left of hating america..."
if helping for the Iraq peeple to be governed by there own Iraq peeple makes them hate us, then theres probly nothing we can do about it.
Just a passing comment.
Maybe the reason for the white faces is because the intended audience is white? Part of any formal briefing is to adjust your report for the intended audience. If there were non-whites, there would be little interest. But seeing the face of a white child, bruised and battered, probably will get the intended audiences response.
Remember, Bush's base is white-christian.
regards -- Moad-Dib
Yeah, WTF is with these comments that take the form of, "Hey, it's completely understandable that the media is doing this because Americans are bigoted scumbags on the whole. That's cool! America! Fuck yeah!"
I, for one, am sick of living in a bigoted cesspool. If you aren't, you're probably either one of the bigots, or a capitalist pig reveling in how the prevailing bigotry of your countrymen allows you to exploit brown people for profit.
Hey Piglet!
You have posted that lame muslim dress thing everywhere! Jesus General, here, Little Green Worms; hey, remember that fight over at Atrios with the crew? You're a busy bushy girl! Surely a CONSERVATIVE LIBRARIAN WHO SUPPORTS SHUSH could come up with something alittle more creative. Just sayin'
Hey Piglet!
You have posted that lame muslim dress thing everywhere! Jesus General, here, Little Green Worms; hey, remember that fight over at Atrios with the crew? You're a busy bushy girl! Surely a CONSERVATIVE LIBRARIAN WHO SUPPORTS SHUSH could come up with something alittle more creative. Just sayin'
This has pissed me off since the first day of the tragedy. The top two stories on the left hand side of CNN.COM were "U.S. begins tsunami relief: 3 Americans amoung dead" and 'Oprah' regular survives tsunami devastation The Oprah regular was some interior designer and they did a 300 word story on him!
I was very pissed and wrote them a letter (as if they will read it). To be fair, the main story was about the disaster, but with over 10,000 dead (at the time)they still decided to devote prominent space to a minor celebrity.
http://s88172659.onlinehome.us/2004/12/cnn-to-asians-over-10000-of-your.html
Dear Piglet,
Are you wondering like I am how many nuns from Mother Teresa's order may have drown in these waters because they were wearing their good Christian habits? Oh, heaven forbid!
No no no... witches float, Christians sink, piglet.
I was watching the "Today" show this morning (actually, my boyfriend was...I hate it), and their top story of the 9:00 hour was an interview with the agent of a supermodel who was vacationing in one of the affected areas. Yeah, we can't bother to talk to any of the hundreds of thousands of people who live there and are going to have to deal with crushing hardship for weeks, months or years to come, but OMG! HOW IS THE SUPERMODEL??? Turns out, you'll be horrified to know, she was "bruised." Oh, the humanity.
Dearest Anonymous Trolltard,
You've just written something that speaks for itself.
Sincerely,
Assamite
A few months ago some asshole Indonesian statesman was fulminating about Jews & how they were responsible for everything bad that happened. Wonder how long till they figure out a way to blame the Jews for the tsunami??
come on - don't you folks get it - if the interview locals they'll just say uggabugga,uggabugga thus giving guiddity way more hits than he deserves
(/)snarkasm(/)
Point taken about how our media is playing up the angles that they think will appeal to more of the audience.
Australian media is probably playing up the story of the Australian-Rules Footballer (Troy something) who was washed away while on his honeymoon, German media is talking about how ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl was evacuated, and Thailand is talking about the loss of the Premier's American-born Grandson who was jet skiing at the time, and we here in Northern CA are talking about the missing Stanford Grad student.
Both the Oprah designer (Nate Berkus) and the supermodel lost their partners.
Not to defend the media too much, but sometimes the forest is so overwhelming, you need to just focus on the trees. Our local media here is spending plenty of time talking with family members of those from India, Thailand, Sumatra, etc.
Gee, Rush, I guess this sort of puts Bhopal and 911 in perspective, doesn't it.
"Wonder how long till they figure out a way to blame the Jews for the tsunami??"
Probably not as quickly as Jews asking when they are going to be blamed and wanting to be the center of attention as usual.
Just FYI...most of us down here in Texas don't consider ourselves as being in the "Confederacy", especially those of us on the left. Those of who feel that way don't take kindly to the Stars and Bars around here; only the Stars and Stripes and the Lone Star should fly around these parts. Also, some of us don't consider Bush a Texan either, and are fed up with his boots and cowboy hat act, his damn ranch in Crawford, and BBQ inaugaration parties.
You are a sick individual to have penned such a hateful diatribe so firmly entreanched in a desire to manipulate events to your own ends.
This is one of the most disgusting manipulations of events I've seen yet.
The problem with the "paltry" 35 million is simple
The US is spending more on security for the upcoming coronat... , er... inauguration ceremony. Just for the SECURITY detail, more than 35M.
Now what ever happened to all that reconstruction money for Iraq which remains unspent?? Like, MOST of it. I'm sure the figure ends with a "Billion", a real on, dozens of them, actually, unspent by frightened contractors who left or never came.
Give some of THAT money to the Tsunami victims.... they want it, and the Iraqui's clearly do not.
Couldn't hurt.
I posted the bit about the supermodel story on the "Today" show earlier, and I just want to make clear: I do have tremendous sympathy for her for losing her partner. My point was the insipid mentality of the Today show in focusing on that story because of its celebrity appeal. I guess I could have made that point with a little less snark, however. Apologies.
"Bush - a man from the Confederacy"
Confederacy? Oh, come on. He was born in a manger unto a rich, east coast "good" family. Bush as a fake southerner, a fake Texan, and a fake President.
"Regarding Bush, what was the dollar amount that would satisfy you? And how can you believe that the US, one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to foreign aid, would do anything other than pledge its considerable fortunes to helping in this disaster?"
Oh, I'm thinking of a certain $20 billion pledge to New York after 9.11, and how it took some hated liberal pinatas like the dread Hilary Clinton (turn away from your monitor! I'm invoking the name of the Librul Bitch Goddess From Hell!!!!) to raise enough Hell to get the little bastard to deliver.
Americans must be ashamed of how much foreign aid they give in general. Even though the sum is quite large, among a list of 28 industrialised countries USA ranks last with 0.1% of GNP. Other countries give over 1% of their GNP.
Don't confuse this with generosity. Learn from the story of the widows mite.
I hear the Americans pay some of their athletes more than the amount of aid they are giving to help the lives of millions of people. It's good your priorities are sorted out.
No Indonesian statesman ever said such a thing, idiot. You are just another geographically challenged 'Murican, who if asked to point out these countries without a Fox News map, couldn't.
As for the US being stingy. It is. As for it being bigoted and racist and only caring about white children, it's not surprising from the side of the country that thinks that their foreign policy actions in the last 4 years have made 'Murica stronger, more stately, safer and a prouder country. Furthermore aid is needed now as disease and famine set in for those that survived in the more remote regions, where roads and rail links have been severed by 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. As the Busheviks fiddle and diddle, more people die. And the blood is on the hands of people like Powell and the Little Green Raelians here, saying the US is doing the right thing by fiddling and diddling. How long does the world need to wait for the Busheviks to act in a time of crisis? 7 minutes? Until his advisors get off vacation and tell the puppet what to say and do?
-Tom - Daai Tou Laam
An American expat in Hong Kong
"The United States is the largest international economic aid donor in dollar terms but is the smallest contributor among major donor governments when calculated as a percent of gross national income."
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/trade/files/98-916.pdf
Gee piglet, a Conservitard from Mars. How original.
I hope Disney doesn't decide to sue, I think the name "piglet" may be trademarked or something.
I too wonder whether he'd be able to get his fat ass out of mommy's basement in time to avoid an incoming wave. I hear that sweatsuits get heavy when waterlogged.
Regarding the "stingy" U.S. contribution dollar amount, Matthew Yglesias posted this comment:
"... a word on the "stingy" issue. What the UN official actually said was that rich countries including the US are stingy with aid money. Whether out of anti-UN malice, or simply demented America-centrism, this has been widely reported as the claim that the United States is stingy which has pissed people off. But no one said that. The US government is stingy with official aid relative to the size of our economy, but the karmic balance is evened by the fact that our citizens are much more generous than the rest of the rich world in terms of individual donations. We also provide some global public goods -- clear shipping lanes and the like -- for self-interested reasons that wind up benefitting everyone. Which isn't to say we shouldn't do more. Indeed, virtually every rich country should do more. We're all stingier than we ought to be, especially in terms of doling out aid that history teaches would be effective like to fight disease and provide clean water in rural areas."
uggabugga turning it in to a political issue? You obviously haven't been reading the posts and commentary at the mothership of the Little Green Raelians or the InstaParrot and the InstaClones the last few days. Bash the UN at every chance. Bash muslims at every chance. Cheerlead for Bush at every chance. And then CNN (and other US media outlets) think they can gain a larger market share by focussing solely on white kids. Crass commercialism.
As for the US citizens being so generous, lets see the breakdown on the amounts given for what activities? Do you count religious proselytising by fundie Charlatans as charity for the third-world?
Tom - Daai Tou Laamstill an American expat in Hong Kong
p.s. check my site for a new post on how the 7 million people of Hong Kong are putting the 300 million Americans to shame, when it comes to charity this time.
Oh, for pity's sake, people. Choose the charity you feel most comfortable with, and *SEND MONEY*. This is what people do for each other. Save the rest of the verbal fisticuffs for at least some kind of decent interval. And maybe take it to your own websites, if you've got vitriol that just has to be spilled.
Right now, let's just do the right thing. Let's just simply do what we hope people would do for *us* in similar circumstances.
Even the most contentious among y'all *know* that if you had a chance to grab hold of a child and pluck him or her from the torrent, you'd totally do it, without hesitation, and you wouldn't care one little damn bitty bit about color.
Larkspur
What a gaggle of ne'r do wells we have here, it's the bash America first crowd. May I so humbly suggest that if you think that the U.S. hasn't given enough that you personally step up to the plate. Nice biggoted statements coming from the party of slavery. What a miserable lot you all are.
"Be the change that you want to see in the world". Gandhi
Hint: This doesn't mean your carping the same biggotry you claim to abhour!
"But critics noted that the U.S. aid so far is about the equivalent of what the United States spends in seven hours for its military operations in Iraq. "We spend $35 million before breakfast every day in Iraq," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33290-2004Dec29?language=printer
Americans have such a warped view of themselves. I'd recommend a book called "Why Do People Hate America?", especially to Americans. Can't remember who by. Just look it up at Amazon. You may learn to know why the rest of the world tolerates you at best.
I think we all need to take a big breath and wait for the private donations to be tallied before we start talking about how the citizens of Hong Kong are more generous than we are.
Yes, I'm proud to be Irish. By the way, you said "niggardly" heh, heh.
Party of slavery? Don't you mean the party of civil rights and voting rights? The party of slavery switched affiliations and Trent Lott and his ilk are Republicans, which stopped being the party of Lincoln with the election of Ruther-fraud Hayes and the deal to end Reconstruction.
As for doing things, we are. It's the American Exceptionalism crowd that keeps suggesting that those suffering from a horrible natural disaster to take a number and wait.
Tom - Daai Tou Laam
Nice biggoted statements coming from the party of slavery. What a miserable lot you all are.That changed hands for the most part in 1964, and especially under "Tricky Dick" Nixon. Republicans are almost all racist, in my experience. Or didn't you get the memo?
Try googling "Strom Thurmond" and "Klan", Or "Trent Lott" and "Klan", before you start sliming others with the good you wipe off your own self, all right?
As for waiting and seeing about Hong Kong contributions, after 4 days of donations they are already over US$1 million per capita.
So has the Free Republic cancelled their Inaugural Ball to donate the money for tsunami relief?
Tom - Daai Tou Laam
Probably not as quickly as Jews asking when they are going to be blamed and wanting to be the center of attention as usual.By Anonymous, at 12/29/2004 04:10:15 PMHow does a hate-filled bastard like you live with yourself?
KDR
Try Googling "Robert Byrd" and Klan, I mean he was a recruiter for the Klan, got 'disinterested' with it, and finally leader of the Democrat Caucus in the senate for 11 years.
Don't start insinuating people are racist members of the Klan, when he is still a leader of your party.
Ooooops. Ignore my million comment above. Monumental catastrophic cock up in the calculations.
Tom - Daai Tou Laam
Did Pat Robertson pray this on into land and if not, in the hours before the disaster hit, why didn't Pat just pray this one away like he did the hurricane?
(sarcasm, for the ones who miss such things)
>Regarding Bush, what was the dollar amount that would satisfy you? And >how can you believe that the US, one of the most generous countries in >the world when it comes to foreign aid, would do anything other than >pledge its considerable fortunes to helping in this disaster?
Well, actually, it is taking us only about 4 hours to go through $35 million in Iraq. Also, $35 million is just about what W. is planning for us to spend on his coronation, um, excuse me, inaugural ball.
Actually, the US is one of the stingiest of the rich countries when it comes to foreign aid, giving less than 1% of our gross domestic product compared to about 3% for many of the other rich countries. Much of that less than 1% is military aid, or has other strings attached, such as requiring the recipient nation to buy from less competitive American companies, or to accept products that they may not want such as genetically modified foods.
The ignorant piece of s#%@* is the idiot who first posted this. I was in the U.S. Navy. I was a first responder to three natural disasters. We were the first to arrive with aid, and the last to leave. I am a proud american, and I will always volunteer my time to any country that needs help.
Despite our paltry contribution, of course we're making things difficult by wanting to set up our own parallel organization to distribute the funds. I guess good old american pride makes it impossible for us to work under the UN, never what's best for the victims.
Going back way up the comment thread to the actual topic: It might have been understandable if ABC found 4 American children of whatever color. It would be an understandable angle for an American TV network. However, to painstakingly pick out four white children from the sea of brown ones affected by this disaster is egregious. The unspoken premise is: because these children are white, their plight is more important to us.
10,000 people die every day from hunger. That means in a month 300,000. Every month. From something that can be stopped (we have enough food on this planet - it just isn't distributed fairly).
Let's keep the Tsunami in perspective, and give generously all the time until we have solved this #1 problem - hunger.
The right-wing British press were on the case too...
http://www.bigdaddymerk.co.uk/mailwatch/index.php?p=156
"In the year 2004, our government provided $2.4 billion in food and cash and humanitarian relief. … That's 40 percent of all the relief aid given in the world last year," he (Bush) said.
Not counting American "individual" contributions totalling hundreds of million$.
The Bush administration announced late on Friday that it had increased its aid package (re the tsunami) to $350 million.
thanks a lot
bye
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