why has their been such a poor response (donation-wise) to the pakistan floods?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are interested in a charity that is there on the ground and has low admin costs, I recommend Catholic Relief Services.

For those who are not interested in helping, where is your heart?

As I said before, my heart is in other places. Who are you and the OP to say whose needs are more important? My family has many breast cancer victims so my heart is in donating towards a cure. My heart also goes out to the local schools where the children don't have the basics needed to get a decent education. I can go on and on, but my heart is somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and by the way, I watch and like Fox News, and am a conservative.

It really is not hard to understand that among the gazillion charities and people in need across this county and the world and without unlimited resources people have to make decisions on where to donate based on something. Usually it's a charity or need that has somehow touched their life.

Then again, you actually watch Fox News AND like it. You may be a conservative, but your also probably not that smart.

I'm sure that poster is smart enough (and I hate Fox news, so I have no dog in that fight). But more importantly s/he's kind. And you're not. What an ugly post.

[Anonymous]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnm_PWIvniU&NR=1&feature=fvwp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are interested in a charity that is there on the ground and has low admin costs, I recommend Catholic Relief Services.

For those who are not interested in helping, where is your heart?

As I said before, my heart is in other places. Who are you and the OP to say whose needs are more important? My family has many breast cancer victims so my heart is in donating towards a cure. My heart also goes out to the local schools where the children don't have the basics needed to get a decent education. I can go on and on, but my heart is somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and by the way, I watch and like Fox News, and am a conservative.

It really is not hard to understand that among the gazillion charities and people in need across this county and the world and without unlimited resources people have to make decisions on where to donate based on something. Usually it's a charity or need that has somehow touched their life.

Then again, you actually watch Fox News AND like it. You may be a conservative, but your also probably not that smart.

It is you're. If you're so smart, then why don't you know how to properly use your and you're?

You might want to also look up there and their.

[Anonymous]

Just a few pointers:

Much of the $1B aid we give to Pakistan is military, not humanitarian, aid. So I'm not sure I would count most of it.

Pakistan recently had a leading woman candidate - and extremists assinated her (I went to college with her press secretary, FWIW). So while I agree that lots of Latin and Asian countries do better than the US on putting woman into power, it's not totally clear in Pakistan, especially as a lot of Bhutto's position was due to her famous father and her own enormous personal wealth relative to the average Pakistani.

[Anonymous]

OP here again - thanks for the healthy debate - i never meant to imply that EVERYONE in the Dc area should be donating the Pakistan, I was just curious as to why save the children, mercy corps, and unicef were all reporting record-low numbers of donations such that their ability to help and intervene was being severely constrained. I know Americans have the most open, generous hearts - just look at the wonderful and on-going response to Haiti - a poor nation that few of us donators have any personal connection to - and wondered what made pakistan different.

unsurprisingly, it seems as if both the media and general public feel that because most pakistanis are muslim, it makes them equivalent to the terrorists who attacked on 9/11. (of note, few muslims would consider those people as muslims - killing innocent people is entirely unislamic, and as an american and a human being, 9/11 was one of the most painful days in my memory).

for those who wanted more info:

economic repercussions of the floods:
http://www.piie.com/realtime/index.cfm?p=1725


how aid can weaken the taliban's influence in pakistan
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/8/23/can-us-disaster-aid-weaken-the-taliban-in-pakistan

npr:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129318793

mercy corps website info:
http://www.mercycorps.org/project/pakistanflooding

for Jeff, i hesitate to encourage donation to any one charity - I have no stake in any particular charity, and can not claim to know exactly how any particular charity spends its money.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Pakistan recently had a leading woman candidate - and extremists assinated her (I went to college with her press secretary, FWIW). So while I agree that lots of Latin and Asian countries do better than the US on putting woman into power, it's not totally clear in Pakistan, especially as a lot of Bhutto's position was due to her famous father and her own enormous personal wealth relative to the average Pakistani.

You do realize that Bhutto had been elected twice previously to the post of prime minster, don't you? She was a candidate when she was killed, but she had previously served two different times as prime minister. Yes, like George W. Bush, she benefitted from her famous father.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course. I just wanted to limit the length of tge lecture. My point is that family dynasty plays a big role, and at a certain point Benazir, a woman, became the best Bhutto candidate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[

Then again, you actually watch Fox News AND like it. You may be a conservative, but your also probably not that smart.

Fantastic that when insulting someone, you use poor grammar. Nice work.

Sorry, grammar police - I was typing fast and on my way out the door so I made a MISTAKE...the horror.......pp purposefully watches FOX news....yikes!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are interested in a charity that is there on the ground and has low admin costs, I recommend Catholic Relief Services.

For those who are not interested in helping, where is your heart?

As I said before, my heart is in other places. Who are you and the OP to say whose needs are more important? My family has many breast cancer victims so my heart is in donating towards a cure. My heart also goes out to the local schools where the children don't have the basics needed to get a decent education. I can go on and on, but my heart is somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and by the way, I watch and like Fox News, and am a conservative.

It really is not hard to understand that among the gazillion charities and people in need across this county and the world and without unlimited resources people have to make decisions on where to donate based on something. Usually it's a charity or need that has somehow touched their life.

Then again, you actually watch Fox News AND like it. You may be a conservative, but your also probably not that smart.

I'm sure that poster is smart enough (and I hate Fox news, so I have no dog in that fight). But more importantly s/he's kind. And you're not. What an ugly post.

I didn't think it was kind that she was questioning people's "heart" just because they don't believe in donating to the SAME causes as her. If you think my post was ugly you must not have been on DCUM for too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my friends who happens to be Muslim, was listening to fox news. She said " I can't believe Americans hate us so much".

"The U.S. government has provided about $18 billion in civilian and military aid to Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks made this country America's most essential, and vexing, ally. Yet according to a Pew Research Center survey released last month, half of Pakistanis believe the United States gives little to no assistance here. Everyone here hates the American government," said Shah, a spirited 71-year-old with a stark white beard and a sharp tongue. "I haven't seen a penny of this U.S. assistance."
from a Washington Post article Tues on the front page.


A little gratitude might go a long way.