19 Comments

1. Charlie (Colorado):

Yeah. The same week we started OTAS, a project that could be done for a few thousand dollars, thd UN had a conference in Kobe to talk about tsunami warnings, at what must have been a cost of a couple of million dollars. Maybe more, given the UN’s idea of appropriate accommodations.

The conclusion, as far as I can tell, was that something ought to be done, and the UN should start having meetings to plan what to do. Soon.

Jun 24, 2005 - 8:59 am 2. flenser:

The tsunami may have been unprecedented, but what followed was business as usual ? the sloth and corruption of government, the feebleness of the brand-name NGOs, the compassion-exhibitionism of the transnational jet set. If we lived in a world where ?it?s what you do that defines you?, we?d be heaping praise on the US and Australian militaries who in the immediate hours after the tsunami struck dispatched their forces to save lives, distribute food, restore water and power and communications.

This sounds like the old debate over salvation by faith versus good works. For the tranzi’s, faith in the transnational institutions is the only real good. And actions which serve to undermine these institutions are the only real evil.

Jun 24, 2005 - 9:02 am 3. Dymphna:

Well, Mr. Simon, great minds and all that…

I posted on the same thing. A slightly different take. Kind of a “No NGO Left Behind” program…

How Avout Some SOLs for the NGOs?

~D

Jun 24, 2005 - 9:06 am 4. Skookumchuk:

This is glass half empty thinking. Now, vertical integration is often a wonderful thing (see Navy, US). Efficient providers like the US and Australian navies will perform superbly until they are stopped by those seeking to muscle their way in. The NGOs of course can’t keep others from muscling in, no matter how many bribes they give.

The trick is to accomplish as much as you can until they kick you out.

Jun 24, 2005 - 9:38 am 5. David Thomson:

I never hesitate to list the U.S. military as major aspect of our altruistic endeavors. We are the ones who provide a lot of free defense—and disaster relief to the rest of the world.

Jun 24, 2005 - 10:02 am 6. Kyda Sylvester:

I’ve been reading accounts like this for weeks now. This is why I’m very careful about where and to whom my charitable contributions go. UN, NGOs–2 sides of the same meretricious coin.

Jun 24, 2005 - 1:01 pm 7. Skookumchuk:

Kyda:

Plus the governments in the various countries. An NGO, no matter how high their standards, is only a small part of the chain. That is why I was so happy to see our guys and the Aussies on the job.

Door to door service with a smile.

Jun 24, 2005 - 1:34 pm 8. Kyda Sylvester:

Indeed, Skook; we need a 3-sided coin.

Jun 24, 2005 - 1:38 pm 9. Terrye:

What you do may define you, but it does not buy you love. At least according to a Pew poll I saw on LGF.

Hell, even China looks good compared to us.

I have to say I have no faith in these kinds of polls but if I did I would question why we bother to help anyone anywhere anytime.

oh yeah right, it is all about Bush. Just get some nice Democrat in there who could give a damn about things like liberty and all will be well.

Jun 24, 2005 - 2:51 pm 10. Skookumchuk:

terrye:

We can’t do it to be loved. In fact, the more efficiently we do it, the more the impotent Euroleft and the Islamofascists will come to despise us for it.

We do it because it is the right thing to do.

Jun 24, 2005 - 3:05 pm 11. Kyda Sylvester:

In the greater scheme of things, it’s also the expedient thing to do. I love it when right and expedient coincide.

Mark Steyn is da Man. So much to chew on in a Steyn piece. He closes with a word about something that makes me very happy:

Any large gathering of world leaders is a waste of time, especially if there’s any kind of permanent secretariat or bureaucracy involved. Mr Bush will be polite at Gleneagles, but it’s no coincidence that his closest relationship is with a man he hardly ever meets in person, and never at the big talking-shops–John Howard of Australia, who doesn’t get to go to the G8 or Nato or the EU and yet works more effectively with America than Canada or any of the so-called ‘major European allies’ like France and Germany. Summits are, so to speak, one huge bluff.

According to my favourite foreign minister these days, Australia’s Alexander Downer, ‘Iraq was a clear example about how outcomes are more important than blind faith in the principles of non-intervention, sovereignty and multilateralism…. Increasingly multilateralism is a synonym for an ineffective and unfocused policy involving internationalism of the lowest common denominator. Multilateral institutions need to become more results-oriented.’

Jun 24, 2005 - 3:26 pm 12. Terrye:

skook:

I am sure you are right….but when I hear something like the Pew poll I just kind of want to give up.

Jun 24, 2005 - 4:39 pm 13. Rick Ballard:

This CRS FAQ sheet makes me happy that I recommended them. They even have pictures of people standing in new houses. Maybe they should forward some to the UN so that they can see what a new house looks like.

.96 on the dollar to the victims sounds pretty good to me.

Jun 24, 2005 - 4:41 pm 14. Skookumchuk:

terrye:

I know how you feel. You just caught me on one of my optimistic days, thats all.

Jun 24, 2005 - 4:46 pm 15. Buddy Larsen:

Years ago, GM had a lot of trouble selling the Chevy Nova in the Spanish-speaking world–finally someone pointed out that “no va” means “won’t go”. On that “tried-to-tell-you” note, please note the bad smell of the Pew poll.

Jun 24, 2005 - 4:47 pm 16. Rick Ballard:

For heaven’s sake, the questions for the P-EW poll were probably vetted by George Soros. P-EW’s last political survey was the worsrt that I’ve ever seen them produce. I suppose Ryan Sager’s outing of their political activities has led them to drop any pretense of objectivity.

P-EW – the tranzi’s polling organization.

Jun 24, 2005 - 4:58 pm 17. MattJ:

Buddy Larsen:

That ‘no va’ thing is an urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Jun 24, 2005 - 8:19 pm 18. Buddy Larsen:

MattJ–shucks, I loved it. But thanks!

Jun 24, 2005 - 9:25 pm 19. Charlie (Colorado):

Jeez, MattJ, can’t you tell when something is too good to check?

Jun 25, 2005 - 11:48 am

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