Mary O’Grady on Haiti

The link to the video isn't working for me. Am I the only one?

My connections in to the Cafe have been behaving funny the last four or five days, I get different presentations of the individual threads, one from the past and the other with just comments and no posting ability.

Anyway, this topic of foreign aid is one that was part of BS sessions among my shipmates (and me) going back to the early 60s. We had our eternal question of, WHY? Billions of aid was being sent to nations and nothing ever came of it to improve the nation receiving the aid, nothing visible at all, after years and years of it.

We laid it at the door of the cold war and the USA membership in the U.N., where the US needed a majority of votes to slather that patina of approval on its global actions. So the USA bought countless number of slimy brutal dictators with tons of taxpayer cash, so the vote would be cast as directed.

Foreign Aid is one of the most cynical programs ever devised by government, and extremely costly to the taxpayer.

Even doltish socialist in the country could see that the money wasn't getting to the people in the nations being bought. No, the money was being skimmed to go into the dictator's Swiss account as that hedge against the day he was over-thrown and he needed to flee if he could do so before being captured and killed.

Haiti is just one of many where this cynicism was displayed.

Also, we should not forget the 300 Billion that was sent to Iraq and just disappeared to where no one knows today.

I think it is wise to remember that all that money being sent in foreign aid was with the expectation of getting something back, and it most of the cases the only thing the recipient had to give back was support in the U.N..

Did you see what J. Sachs allegedly called for?
http://bit.ly/6SKgMh

BTW sir,

Meant to comment on the link you posted. I'd bet my next week on saying J. Sachs is a government lover and supporter regardless of what it does.

His government and its policies contributed most to the devastation of Haiti, a contribution going back many decades. Yet he has no problem with suggesting that laying a tax on specific private individuals and their private rewards is the way to finance aid to Haiti.

Where are the J. Sachs of the world coming from, I thought all cess pools had to be capped.

I don't want to hi-jack the thread, so just take this as further evidence of the ability of government to screw things up.

Another Island devastated.

Of course the topic has also been discussed here many times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LaPGIIAyk4

My school teacher sister in College Station sent this to me with the comment that she had been watch 60 Minutes when they made the comments about this topic, but they just made it and slid right on by it. So she did some searching and found the video linked above.

You can search CBS.com, choose the CBS news link, and look for the Samoan football segment to see the whole thing.

"On the evening of 29 September 2009 a powerful submarine earthquake measuring 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale shook the Samoan Islands region resulting in a tsunami which caused considerable damage and loss of life in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center recorded a 3-inch rise in sea levels near the epicenter, and New Zealand scientists determined that the waves measured 14 metres at their highest on the Samoan coast. The Government of Samoa estimates the damage at US$ 147.25 million.

Four tsunami waves, 4.6 to 6.1 m high, and reaching up to a 1.6 km inland hit American Samoa shortly after the earthquake.

The Guardian reported 189 deaths; 149 in Samoa, 31 American Samoa, 9 Tonga"

-------

Two Island nations, suffering some what similar natural disaster, only the lesser (less intense and no Tsunamis) caused the most death and will take the longer to rebuild.

Any one care to speculate as to why the world ignored Samoa hit by an 8.0 Earthquake and resulting 4 tsunamis reaching up to a mile or more inland, wiping the coastal slate clean; yet, the world is engaging in such teeth gnashing and angst over Haiti?

Maybe for some strange reason, Samoans just don't fit the template of victim that the world loves to gnash its teeth over?

Another anomaly in this strange world of ours.

I am a Samoan born and bred in Auckland, New Zealand. Samoans probably only number 600,000 worldwide. However we are split along to migration paths. One was noted in the CBS item, where American Samoa was annexed by the US in 1899, and since then Samoans have migrated to Hawaii and mainland US. The other migratory path is that of the western Samoans. What the CBS didn't mention was that Germany took over the western islands of Samoa in 1899 in agreement with the US and Britain. At the outbreak of WWI, New Zealand captured western Samoa to bring it within the realm of the British commonwealth. Since then Samoans have migrated to New Zealand, Australia and Britain.

There are currently 180,000 Samoans in the Independent State of Samoa (western islands), but 120,000 Samoans in New Zealand. While not a significant number, compared to only 4 million New Zealanders, it is a substantial ethnic group here (and a growing group in Australia). There are Samoan members of parliament, Samoan sports heroes (we've had three Samoans captain the national rugby team, the All Blacks), Samoans in entertainment and the arts, Samoans in business and academia etc.

So when the tsunami hit Samoa, it was big news here in New Zealand. The New Zealand Prime Minister flew to Samoa to see the devestation and offer assistance. In the first few days New Zealanders had donated over $3million dollars. Community fundraisers, national tours with celebrity acts to help the tsunami aid effort, sports teams and school children organised to raise funds.

The large Samoan community in New Zealand and our visible participation in New Zealand society saw a massive response from the New Zealand public during the tsunami disaster. Samoa is in New Zealand's back yard. New Zealand's history is part of Samoa's history.

Samoa to New Zealand is what Haiti is now to the United States.