OT - The Greatest Disaster the World Has Ever Known.

I have two friends that are in Thailand right now. Thank God we just heard
that they are ok. This was a really bad thing to happen and I wish all of
them speedy recovery from something the rest of will not ever have to deal
with.
Roxan

"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
. giganews.com...
I'm sitting in my den, eating my breakfast of a banana and toast,
reading an online newspaper. Everything is pretty normal for a
winter morning he Sophie is begging for bits of banana and
anything else she can scrounge, Manda leans over me and grabs a piece
of toast. Bob is showering, getting ready for work, and I hear the
radiators hissing and clunking and doing their thing to warm the
house. As I said, a normal December morning.

A phrase in the newspaper pops up at me: "This is the greatest
disaster the world has ever known. It is beyond me why are we so
stingy, really. . . . Even Christmastime should remind many Western
countries at least how rich we have become." (partial quote of a
United Nations official's speech)

I think about his statement, and how many times I've heard the first
part of it. The Greatest Disaster the World Has Ever Known. This
tsunami is a total horror, and for those who have lost everything,
indeed it is, and will continue to be, the greatest disaster they
will ever know. Yet part of me wonders how many times this
individual has said these exact words, maybe even to some of the same
journalists, in his description of a natural disaster that has
devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Yet, this year alone, many thousands of people have died in
hurricanes that tore through the Carribean and the Southern United
States, famines, locusts and civil war have killed untold millions in
Africa, and the monsoon season is just beginning in Asia. War,
declared and undeclared, a "war on drugs" or "on terrorism" or
whatever cause is determined to be the most pressing today is killing
thousands or millions of people as well. AIDS will leave nearly an
entire generation of African children to grow up as orphans, without
any adult to care for them or teach them the skills they will need to
survive in a harsh world. But the words are echoing through my head:
The Greatest Disaster the World Has Ever Known.

I turn on the television news, looking for a little more information
on the tsunami, which I have just learned, means "harbor wave" in
Japanese. The more familiar term of "tidal wave" is a misnomer,
because tides have nothing to do with the horrific waves that cannot
be seen until they actually hit their innocent targets. Again, there
are a few films of a tropical, devistated beach, covered with blobs
that were people just a few days ago. I cannot look: the thought
that these disgusting rotting things were laughing, fighting,
ordinary people just like me is too much to watch dispassionately as
I eat my breakfast, or any other time.

The television news immediately skips to another story; this one
about the foot and a half of snow that has blanketed the local area.
The announcer sent out to get some film is a pretty Indian woman. I
wonder if she is worried that some friends or relatives have been
affected by the wave. A moment later, she is off my screen, replaced
by a grieving mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. She sits on the
flowered sofa that seems reserved for parents of such victims, a few
photos of her dead son at his prom, in his Marine uniform, looking
happy and focused on the future are mounted on the wall behind her.
It's a future that will never happen. I'm sure that for her, today
will be the day of The Greatest Disaster the World Has Ever Known.

I turn back to the newspaper. A Red Cross representative repeats the
phrase again, and talks about money. He seems almost angry, not
really asking or pleading, but demanding that people pay attention
and pay up. "We don't want clothing or food" he says, "it's much
easier for us to have cash so we can buy what we need locally."

My radar goes up. Of course, a snow parka or someone's outgrown,
worn out boots will do no good whatsoever in a tropical area, but the
insistance on cash and plenty of it, makes me wonder. I know how much
aid is skimmed before it ever reaches the victims of a tragedy, and
cash is a lot easier to spend than bottles of spring water, no?

I am not heartless, just the opposite. I know that for these people,
the wave that hit on Christmas Day will have repercussions that will
last the rest of their lives and beyond. Perhaps two or three
generations from now, there will be old people, talking about losing
their homes, boats and families in a huge catastrophic wall of water
that destroyed their lives in a moment, without any warning at all,
and receded just as quickly, leaving destruction behind under a
beautiful cloudless sky.

Many tiny towns, just barely clinging to economic survival before
Sunday, will simply cease to exist. The survivors will move on to
higher ground and better opportunities, and the wreckage of buildings
and roads, what there were of them, will be reclaimed by the jungle
and ocean. In a few years, it will be difficult to see any signs
whatsoever that humans ever inhabited this spot.

The Greatest Disaster the World Has Ever Known. The words are still
ringing in my ears and bouncing around in my mind. I'm sure that the
United Nations fellow was sincere, he certainly wasn't knowingly
lying when he said them. He said words he feels are true and
necessary to get money needed to help rebuilt these nameless places a
world away - places that will be wiped away by wind and water once
again some other time, simply by the bad luck of location.

The rest of his statement has become a cliche as well: "These Rich
Westerners are celebrating Christmas while so many suffer..." By
Westerners, he means Americans, of course, since everyone knows that
we are the cause of and solution to all the suffering in the world.
Cancelling Christmas because of a far away tragedy, while sounding
noble, wouldn't help matters, and our even knowing is merely a result
of the swiftness of communication.

When a third of the world died of the plague during the middle ages,
there was no way to communicate what had happened, or to ask for
help. Many places never knew that the plague that befell them had
also affected a village twenty miles away, and countries half a world
away. Hundreds of years would pass before anyone would realize that
a significant portion of the world's population had been erased in a
few horrific, confusing and terrifying years. There was no spokesman
to plead for money or to say that it was The Greatest Disaster the
World Has Ever Known. (although arguably, it could be called that.)

The UN spokesman's words are sincere, I believe, but they cheapen the
horror that these people have gone through, and ultimately, keep them
from getting help they desperately need. Disasters are intensely
personal things, from the Marine's mother who lost her son, to the
nineteen year old shot in a drive-by last night, to the hundreds of
thousands of people whose lives were washed away in an instant.

Disasters can also be global - the effects of massacre, civil war and
disease cannot even be comprehended, and will need the perspective of
history to tally just what we have lost as a region, as a world.
Perhaps that will turn out to be The Greatest Disaster the World Has
Ever Known. Some losses can never be measured - the grandson of a
Nazi Holocaust victim might well have been the person who would have
discovered a vaccine for AIDS, saving a billion or more people who
will die of this disease, so her loss might be The Greatest Disaster
the World Has Ever Known.

The chiding and anger cannot be helpful, either. I know what this
man is thinking: "In the face of The Greatest Disaster the World Has
Ever Known, the response isn't big enough or fast enough. Think of
how many lives are being lost while assistance groups get their act
together."

I hate to break it to him, but assistance is never quick enough,
generous enough, or able to prevent all horrors that take place in
the wake of a disaster. Sadly, assistance is rarely more effective
than a band-aid and a kiss on a boo-boo from a concerned mother in
such situations. All the assistance in the world will not undo a
tsunami, or a war, or an epidemic. It can help ease some further
suffering, but that's it. It will never turn back the clock, even
for a moment, and make sure that a bad thing didn't happen.

I will give money in the weeks and months to come, when the depth of
assistance needed has been determined, and the people responsible for
helping have been identified. I won't kid myself that I've saved
millions, or even one life. I will give because it is the right
thing to do, and perhaps I can alleviate the suffering of a person in
an unintentionally amusing place named Phucket. Maybe even a person
who has just experienced The Greatest Disaster the World Has Ever
Known.

Kathy N-V

In article news.com, Kathy
N-V writes:

I will give money in the weeks and months to come, when the depth of
assistance needed has been determined, and the people responsible for
helping have been identified.

Here's a partial list of groups sent to me by a local Imam:

The following organizations have announced that they will take part in relief
efforts to assist the victims of the earthquake:

ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE RESPONSE launched an effort to get medical supplies,
tents and sanitations facilities for the victims of the earthquake. To donate,
send checks to Islamic Relief, 1919 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506, call
(888) 479-4968, or visit: www.irw.org

ASIA RELIEF, a Maryland based nonprofit organization, is accepting donations of
nonperishable food items, clothing and toys for victims of the tsunami in Sri
Lanka. Cash donations are also being accepted. To contribute, drop off
donations anytime at 19409 Olive Tree Way, Gaithersburg, MD, 20879. Contact
Seyed Rizwan Mowlana at 301-672-9355 for more information.

ISLAMIC CIRCLE OF NORTH AMERICA (ICNA) Relief has established an Indonesia,
India & Seri Lanka Relief Fund to provide food, medicine, clothes, tents &
other urgently needed supplies. To donate, visit www.ReliefOnLine.org or send
checks to 166-26 89th Ave Jamaica, NY 11432, Tel.718-68-7028.

The INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT societies in south Asia have begun
to mobilize staff and volunteers to affected areas to assist with the immediate
needs. Emergency assessment and first-aid teams have already reached some of
the affected areas.

Call 1-800-435-7669. Contributions to the International Response Fund may be
sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross
International Response Fund, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet
users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org .

CARE Australia teams from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand are
traveling
to affected areas to gauge the impact of the disaster. Donations can be made
through the CARE Australia website (www.careaustralia.org.au ) or by phoning
1-800-020-046.

Other relief organizations that have established similar funds should notify
CAIR by sending an e-mail to: . Additional names will be
added
to a list on CAIR’s website, www.cair.com .

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has 29 regional offices and chapters nationwide and in
Canada.





Kaytee
"Simplexities" on
www.eclecticbeadery.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simplexities/

vj wrote:
okay - here i go again. i don't want to rain on anyone's parade OR
start an argument. but it worries me that that same list may be on
the government's watch list for terrorist support organizations. or
whatever. is there any cross-reference?????

Well, the government keeps all such lists secret lest terrorists
discover that their cover organization is on the list and is being
watched, so there's no way to know for sure.

Of course, even if said organization is not involved with terrorism,
they're probably on the list anyway, because, as conservative columnist
Cal Thomas wrote, all terrorists are Moslem. Therefore, all Moslem
charitable organizations must be terrorist organizations.

Of course, Mr. Thomas completely fails to note that *not* all Moslems
are terrorists, and *not* all terrorists are Moselm. After all, Tim
McVey of the Oklahoma City bombing was a "Christian" -- and Christians
aren't terrorists, are they?

Please don't feed the Prejudices. It's views like that which make the
Moslems of the world hate us in the first place.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

vj wrote:
i don't consider myself to be feeding prejudices. and i did NOT imply
that all Moslems are terrorists in any way whatsoever.

Perhaps not consciously, but your questioning of the good intentions of
Muslim charities with no facts to support your fears certainly reflects
the views of many Americans. Why else would the government have those
lists in the first place? If Americans and their government regarded
Muslim charities as innocent until proven guilty, then the lists would
not be necessary. Everything would be worked out on a case by case
basis, not covered with a blanket of fear.

We all pride ourselves on being without prejudices. Intolerance is a
terrible thing, and nobody wants to be guilty of terrible things. But,
prejudiced we *all* are -- one way or another -- like it or not,
consciously or not. It might not be Muslims, per se, but there is going
to be *something* that pushes your panic button.

In this case, it's a defense mechanism, not least because, if those
charities *are* on some Homeland Defense Bad Guy List, then you, too,
could be thrown in jail for providing material support to terrorists
even if all you really wanted to do is provide aid and comfort to
millions of desperate people in Asia. The law does not make that
distinction. It is a bad law and it feeds Prejudice.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

vj wrote:
actually, it's NOT without evidence. charities in general should
often be questioned a lot more than they are. and there ARE groups
who masquerade as Moslem charities who DO support terrorists. just
like there are Irish charities who support the IRA. other than CARE
and the Red Cross, several of the groups listed seemed to BE Moslem.
and i consider it a legitimate questions. and there ARE terrorist
organizations in that area.

IIRC, all of the charities aside from the Red Cross and CARE were
Muslim. And, yes, there are a *few* Muslim charities that do channel
money to terrorist groups. But, why should you be more supicious of
*all* Muslim charities than of Christian or Jewish charities?

The *first* thing you asked about the Muslim charities sited was: could
they be supporting terrorists? Would the first question you ask about a
Christian charity be: does it support groups that blow up women's health
clinics or groups that picket the funerals of gay people? Of course
not: you simply take it for granted that the Christian charity is going
to give help to the needy: there's no such thing as a Christian
terrorist. Did the possiblity that some Catholic charity might be
sending money to the IRA to buy guns and bombs even enter your mind?
Not until I mentioned it....

This is not a personal attack on you, VJ. The feelings and suspicions
that you are expressing are shared by many Americans. And, there are
some Americans who with one side of their mouths speak of bringing
religious freedom to the Middle East, while with the other side of their
mouths they call for the closing of all Muslim charities and the
deportation of all Muslim immigrants.

Caring for the poor, the orphaned and the elderly is one of the main
tenets of Islam. For devout Muslims, donating a portion of their income
to charity is not optional, it is a requirment. Imagine the shame they
must feel when the assets of their charities are frozen because of
goverment suspicion. Allah will be very displeased.

Another issue is that most of the countries affected by the tsunami have
large Muslim populations, and this is why all those Muslim charities
were on that list. Muslims (and Hindus and Buddhists) might be a tad
uncomfortable receiving aid only from american Christian charities on
the suspicion that the Christians are there to pass out Bibles with
their bottled water. They would, I suspect, prefer to receive aid and
comfort from charities based in their own faiths.

If you don't want to give money to a Mulsim charity, then don't; no one
is forcing you to do so. Send it to Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing.
Try a secular organization: If you don't like the fact that the Red
Cross puts some of the money aside for local emergencies, give to CARE
or UNICEF or Doctors Without Borders. You can even send money via
Amazon.com. There is no lack of ways to donate. It may be that
virtually everyone on the planet will give something, if only their
thoughts and prayers.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

vj wrote:
actually, it is. that's the way it comes across.
you obviously don't know me very well, or you wouldn't be attacking
me.

Have it your way, then. It's all about you.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

~~~This is not a personal attack on you, VJ.

actually, it is. that's the way it comes across.
you obviously don't know me very well, or you wouldn't be attacking
me.~~~

Wow, I didn't see the "attack" at ALL.

Arondelle, I think it's a very reasonable thing for the parent of someone
in military service "fighting terrorism", to ask if Muslim charities could
be supporting terrorism. It's less "prejudice" than looking out for their
children's lives. You did sound like you were attacking Vicki, but that's
not a thing you would do, and I'm glad it wasn't your intent.

Tina


"Arondelle" wrote in message
news:Fm3Bd.16213$2X6.6236@trnddc07...
vj wrote:
actually, it's NOT without evidence. charities in general should
often be questioned a lot more than they are. and there ARE groups
who masquerade as Moslem charities who DO support terrorists. just
like there are Irish charities who support the IRA. other than CARE
and the Red Cross, several of the groups listed seemed to BE Moslem.
and i consider it a legitimate questions. and there ARE terrorist
organizations in that area.

IIRC, all of the charities aside from the Red Cross and CARE were
Muslim. And, yes, there are a *few* Muslim charities that do channel
money to terrorist groups. But, why should you be more supicious of
*all* Muslim charities than of Christian or Jewish charities?

The *first* thing you asked about the Muslim charities sited was: could
they be supporting terrorists? Would the first question you ask about a
Christian charity be: does it support groups that blow up women's health
clinics or groups that picket the funerals of gay people? Of course
not: you simply take it for granted that the Christian charity is going
to give help to the needy: there's no such thing as a Christian
terrorist. Did the possiblity that some Catholic charity might be
sending money to the IRA to buy guns and bombs even enter your mind?
Not until I mentioned it....

This is not a personal attack on you, VJ. The feelings and suspicions
that you are expressing are shared by many Americans. And, there are
some Americans who with one side of their mouths speak of bringing
religious freedom to the Middle East, while with the other side of their
mouths they call for the closing of all Muslim charities and the
deportation of all Muslim immigrants.

Caring for the poor, the orphaned and the elderly is one of the main
tenets of Islam. For devout Muslims, donating a portion of their income
to charity is not optional, it is a requirment. Imagine the shame they
must feel when the assets of their charities are frozen because of
goverment suspicion. Allah will be very displeased.

Another issue is that most of the countries affected by the tsunami have
large Muslim populations, and this is why all those Muslim charities
were on that list. Muslims (and Hindus and Buddhists) might be a tad
uncomfortable receiving aid only from american Christian charities on
the suspicion that the Christians are there to pass out Bibles with
their bottled water. They would, I suspect, prefer to receive aid and
comfort from charities based in their own faiths.

If you don't want to give money to a Mulsim charity, then don't; no one
is forcing you to do so. Send it to Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing.
Try a secular organization: If you don't like the fact that the Red
Cross puts some of the money aside for local emergencies, give to CARE
or UNICEF or Doctors Without Borders. You can even send money via
Amazon.com. There is no lack of ways to donate. It may be that
virtually everyone on the planet will give something, if only their
thoughts and prayers.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

I think that one thing we should all realize is that, as many people
have died in these tsunamis, the potential for many times that many to
die of disease, starvation, exposure, and contaminated drinking water is
huge, and that is why aid is so desperately needed. 40,000 is actually
not that many people on a global scale, but this disaster could still
claim hundreds of thousands of lives if we (the global "we") don't get
it cleaned up fast enough.
--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay

Cheryl wrote:
Kathy
I have to agree -- I hardly think this is the "greatest Disaster the World has
Ever Known" - it's not even the biggest (in loss of life) tsunami disaster ever
to occur.
it's only about six or eighth on the list (depending on the current death toll
you read).

AS far as the "greatest Disaster The World has EVER known"
it's NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I see that the UN guy apologized for his comments today...
backpedaling really fast... and admitting the US has given the most already...

Hope someone served him "crow pie" for lunch.

As for disasters-- all disasters are personal to those who live them....
we can offer up our prayers for those who are suffering - but basically when my
government is giving away millions and millions in tax dollars, I hard think my
contribution is going to make much of a difference.
I kind of look on these world wide disasters where the US should rush in and
"rescue" everyone else like I did
the phrase "clean your plate, there are children starving in India."

yes - they are -but what has my plate got to do with it?

When the World Trade Center 9/11 happened - we did not have other countries
rushing into the US offering millions of dollars to help .... yeah - the sent
some search and rescue teams and such -- but pretty much we were on our own....
When the huge Earthquake hit CA a few years back - we didn't see MILLIONS of
dollars in AID get sent to this country to rebuild the infrastructure...

When FLORIDA was hit with FOUR hurricanes this year - with BILLIONS of dollars
in losses -- other countries did NOT rush in to help us rebuild.

We don't need it. Not the way other countries do... countries whose
cheap labor WE profit from.

I'm tired of being the world's charity organization...

Charity begins at HOME...
when there are no starving homeless shivering on our streets, and Appalachian
children living in shacks with little or no schooling, when American inner city
children all have a decent home, warm meals, warm clothing and DECENT EDUCATION
-- I'll worry about "all the starving children in India."

This is a good point. We do need to take care of our own first.

India has had nearly a century to modernize - and got a good start from the
British -- they have the means to get where we are today - if they would work
at it like the American people did.

I'm sure that the British would have done a much better job, like
America, had they butchered the natives and been able to start with a
clean slate.

I'm sorry - but I'm tired of it -- all of it.
I don't want our troops off in other countries playing "save the poor" -- we
aren't the world police.
WE have BILLIONS in unpaid debt notes to foreign countries (Japan and China
being the largest note holders) - and we are giving away more money every day
to other countries?
what kind of fiscal sense is that?
That's like me - being $80K in debt and standing on the street corner and
handing out $100 bills to every person who walks by - just so they will "like
me"

The US needs to give up this worry about public image - and stop spending us to
death...
sorry - the rest of the world should just suck it up and start trying to take
care of their own problems!
BAh.....

Cheryl
DRAGON BEADS
Flameworked beads and glass
http://www.dragonbeads.com/



--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay