Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 2004-12-30 05:38pm

according to the BBC, these are the latest figures of funds...

World Bank $250m
UK $96m
EU $44m
US: $35m
Canada: $33m
Japan: $30m
Australia: $27m
France: $20.4m
Denmark: $15.6m
Saudi Arabia: $10m

Pretty fucking poor picture that.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-30 05:43pm

In comparison, the US has spent only 0.23 percent on this of what it has spent in Iraq.

Fucking. Pitiful.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-12-30 05:47pm

Aren't most of the people in these affected areas muslim? So much for muslim brotherhood. Guess that oil wealth is better spent at home making car bombs and vests.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-30 05:50pm

I could point out that we've got military assets working through the area, or that this hasn't even been a week since the damn thing started.

But look, can we not carp over who the hell is spending what? We're all dumping money in via governments and our own pockets.

This isn't a national competition. Let's get the damned mess sorted out and help everyone we can, then we can resume our usual sniping at each other vis a vis politics and international relations.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2004-12-30 05:51pm

Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world. And by far the worst hit by this disaster.

But yes. Who needs to spend the record high oil wealth to help their brothers and sisters when the Great Satan is doing it for you....

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-12-30 06:04pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:In comparison, the US has spent only 0.23 percent on this of what it has spent in Iraq.

Fucking. Pitiful.

In all fairness, a bureaucracy can only move so fast. Give Congress as much warning on the tsunami as they had on Iraq and I doubt the discrepancy would be so large.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-12-30 06:14pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:In comparison, the US has spent only 0.23 percent on this of what it has spent in Iraq.

Fucking. Pitiful.

for the umpteenth time, that $35 mildoes NOT include any money spent by the pentagon: diverting two battlegroups and scrambling a fleet of c-130's filled with supplies. why the fuck does the media not include this!

The Third Man · Post by **The Third Man** » 2004-12-30 06:16pm

One of the fundamental pillars of Islam is "Zakah" - this makes it compulsory for a good Muslim to give - in addition to taxes and other optional charities - IIRC, 2.5% of their retained income to good causes. This applies to both individuals and businesses.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-12-30 06:16pm

At $4.8 million, Amazon.com has raised nearly half of what Saudi Arabia has sent so far...

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-12-30 06:18pm

Frank Hipper wrote:At $4.8 million, Amazon.com has raised nearly half of what Saudi Arabia has sent so far...

in a day!!

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2004-12-30 06:18pm

Frank Hipper wrote:At $4.8 million, Amazon.com has raised nearly half of what Saudi Arabia has sent so far...

Which puts them above Germany.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 2004-12-30 06:19pm

Frank Hipper wrote:At $4.8 million, Amazon.com has raised nearly half of what Saudi Arabia has sent so far...

It's going up quickly, $6,001,263.31 now... wow.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2004-12-30 06:31pm

That's a fantastic amout from Amazon - I'm sure business students will be studying this in ethics classes within a years time.

The Muslim political brotherhood is just a myth - it has not existed for years.

Lets hope that countries such as the US and Japan start pouring the vast amounts of money that they can afford into the relief effort. These countries should be spending noticably more than any other, considering their wealth.

Does anyone know how effected the navies of Indonesia and India have been by the tsunami?

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-30 07:00pm

One of the biggest problems is that Congress is not in session right now, so the amount of money we can give is limited to what we can scrounge out of existing relief budgets and discretionary funds without breaking the law. Supplies and equipment, however, are another matter, and that's undoubtably why we have sent countless loads of supplies and medical equipment over on aircraft already, deployed troops from Okinawa (or they are deploying), and have a carrier and three amphibious platforms responding. All of which, I note, is costing millions and millions more of dollars, and will actually be more immediately useful than the money.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-30 07:23pm

Also note that private American donations are up over 19 million, which isn't added into the US total.

As for .23% of Iraq, give us time. We got good and ready to bomb the crap out of them, it'll take us a while to get that much money together. What pisses me off is that the US has put together a coalition of 4 countris; Itself, Australia, India, and Japan, to coordinate relief efforts. What's the UN do? Bitch that we're not including them in it and not doing it their way. If we wanted to let Sudan hold up funds, we'd fucking call them.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-30 07:25pm

"With politics, nothing works right. Without politics, nothing works."

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-30 07:30pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote:In comparison, the US has spent only 0.23 percent on this of what it has spent in Iraq.

Fucking. Pitiful.
for the umpteenth time, that $35 mildoes NOT include any money spent by the pentagon: diverting two battlegroups and scrambling a fleet of c-130's filled with supplies. why the fuck does the media not include this!

Actually, they do (at least here), but it is the direct financial aid being given out that is inciting distaste with the global (read: Western) gov'ts. Given the G8 nations barely had near £200M donated between them until recently, people have a right to be pissed.

The highlight with Iraq is just another way of showing up the odd reasonings of these bureaucrats who love to throw cash at invading nations, yet when a real problem comes up, don't seem to have the go in them without a media frenzy stirring.

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2004-12-30 07:33pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Also note that private American donations are up over 19 million, which isn't added into the US total.

The £25 million ($48 million) British people have raised isn't included in the UK total either.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2004-12-30 08:04pm

So far the British government has contributed more than the US and EU (of which it is ALSO a contributor) combined.

This is some uncharacteristicly fast movement on behalf of our nation.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2004-12-30 08:06pm

Over at SB I've stickied the relavent threads, one being a list of useful places to contribute. I wonder if someone over here might do something along the same lines?

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-30 08:30pm

Tsunami death toll passes 125,000

Also stated here

It's rising so fast that the top story about five minutes ago said 120,000 confirmed dead and then I refreshed the page and two top stories said 125,000 dead. This will almost certainly surpass the Bangladesh typhoon disaster of 1991 and probably the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

A worrying fact is that, according to this report, the displaced people are becoming violent and fighting with government officials and troops in some cases. We could be on the verge of a large-scale breakdown in social order.

Jadeite · Post by **Jadeite** » 2004-12-30 08:43pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote:In comparison, the US has spent only 0.23 percent on this of what it has spent in Iraq.

Fucking. Pitiful.
for the umpteenth time, that $35 mildoes NOT include any money spent by the pentagon: diverting two battlegroups and scrambling a fleet of c-130's filled with supplies. why the fuck does the media not include this!

My personal guess is that it's because it's not tangible aid. Refugees aren't going to appreciate that thousands of dollars worth of fuel was spent getting supplies to them. Also, it's harder to do an accounting of what those supplies and diverting of military resources where worth. Besides, if you're complaining that the media isn't accounting for our non-monetary aid, then would you also be complaining that they aren't counting the non-monetary aid of those other organizations and countries?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-12-30 09:26pm

Jadeite wrote: My personal guess is that it's because it's not tangible aid. Refugees aren't going to appreciate that thousands of dollars worth of fuel was spent getting supplies to them. Also, it's harder to do an accounting of what those supplies and diverting of military resources where worth. Besides, if you're complaining that the media isn't accounting for our non-monetary aid, then would you also be complaining that they aren't counting the non-monetary aid of those other organizations and countries?

No, because Admiral Valdemar was specifically citing a US figure.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-12-30 09:49pm

Whats the death toll now? 117,000?

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-30 10:05pm

Vympel wrote:Whats the death toll now? 117,000?

The official death toll has surpassed 130,000 according to the latest Wikipedia update.