BBC: 'US pledges $350m in tsunami aid'

About frickin' time.

Fred Phelp's take on the tsunami disaster

Fred Phelp's take on the tsunami disaster
Originally uploaded by unspeakable_grooviness.

The Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kansas, is headed by a a man named Fred Phelp's. Being a pastor, he is a kind and caring man, sensitive to the needs of his flock and for those in the greater community. Definitely the kind of man who votes Republican based on his moral values, for surely he is against abortion and such, although abortion isn't his main concern. His main concern is the evil of homosexuality. He runs a little website called God Hates Fags. I wish I were making this up. But I'm not. He picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, to share his view that he simply got what was coming to him, being a fag and all. Mr Phelps also makes it a point to try to picket as many funerals of AIDS victims as he can. To share his view. The picture with this post is taken from his website. Apparently the tsunami was a good thing. I really don't know what to say. What can you say in the face of such horrible ignorance and intolerance?

PS You can click on the image to make it larger if you want to actually read more than just the headline.

President Clinton Leads While Bush Vacations...

Ah, the Clinton years. How I miss them.

The brief on this one is that Bush still hasn't made any kind of official statement about the tsunami. Clinton has talked about it on the BBC. German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder cut his vacation short and returned to work in Berlin to co-ordinate Germany's response. Bush is still in Crawford, TX. He spent Tuesday clearing brush and riding his bike.

May he fall off and break his neck.

Update: Apparently Bush has telephoned his support to various national leaders. This NY Times Editorial, entitled 'Are We Stingy? Yes', still criticises Bush for the 'miserly drop in the bucket' of $35m and points out that US promises of aid often fail actually to materialise.

Also. Go here: http://donate.ifrc.org/ I just did. I don't need that other DVD and neither do you.

Update the Second: Apparently Paul Martin is also still on holiday.

Another reason I'm pissed off.

This is a brief little article about a story on 'Good Morning America' about the children-victims of the tsunamis. All of the children featured were WHITE EUROPEANS. Those brown-skinned kids don't count, I guess. Probably a 1/3-1/2 of those affected by this disaster are children. But only the white ones count.

When will people get over their insular little selves? I've realised that over the past four years, I have had many many lines of thought that begin with the words, 'If I were president...'. It finally this morning started to piss me off. I don't want to have to think about what I would do if I were president because the US should be able to elect a reasonable person to hold the job. A horrible disaster like this ought to bring the world together. I don't know exactly what's going on locally in Sri Lanka but I know that the president (of Sri Lanka) has called upon the nation to come together, for the rebels to lay down their arms for the moment, and help to rebuild the nation. Even if the rebels pick up their guns again after the rebuilding is done, it would be a powerful message that they came together to help to rebuild.

This is what the world ought to be doing. Coming together. Obviously nations cannot give unreservedly--it's fair that they need to take care of their own populations first. But the US contribution currently stands at $35 million. Likely a drop in the bucket. The US currently has a population of 293,027,571. 35,000,000 divided by 293,027,571 equals 12¢/person. TWELVE CENTS. Even if it were increased to fifty cents/person, they would then be sending $145.5 million. The annual US government budget is measured in the trillions of dollars. One would think that they could divert some money from less important things like, say, missile defence (whose budget is measured in the billions) to something that actually matters, like human life.

On the topic of presidents, Kennedy once gave a speech in which he pointed out that no matter what our differences, we are all human, we all share the same basic goals and desires. Most simply, we are all mortal. Each life is as precious and valuable as the next. Our own mortality is staring us in the face right now. Not simply because of human stupidity but because of an act of nature. Human stupidity is a painful thing to witness, but acts of nature ought necessarily to be humbling. They should reminds us all just how delicate the entire planet is, how lucky we are to be here at all.

Sadly, in the old guns versus butter debate, guns always seem to win out. I have no reason to believe that 2005 will be any different, but I can always hope. As Harvey Milk once said, without hope, life is not worth living.

Just to continue with the current theme...

Each week, Josh Brown offers up sad but often far too accurate looks at life during wartime.

Wave toll 'could exceed 100,000'

US President George W Bush pledged to set up an international coalition, with Australia, India and Japan, to co-ordinate the relief effort.

The US earlier said it was more than doubling its pledge of funds to the region to $35m.

Does anyone else feel like the international aid coalition should be headed by something like, um, the UN or the Red Cross or something? I guess I'm just silly in thinking that international organisations ought to play the central role in situations like this, rather than individual national governments. It's an international disaster after all. Just a thought.

It's nice to know...

...that the US can spare $15 million for the tsunami victims. Especially when the Chimp-in-Chief's inaugural a month from now is estimated to cost between $30 and $40 million, exclusive of security costs. At least America has their priorities in order. I'm sure they figure that South Asia doesn't give them much but cheap labour. And I'm sure that land will be really cheap now in certain areas and that people will be desperate for work once the rebuilding gets underway. Hey! Let's build a factory and keep them in a cycle of poverty!

Can you tell I'm in a bitter mood?

Christmas Morning

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

I'm spending my first Christmas morning away from home listening to David Sedaris's SantaLand Diaries and watching the cats play. Later, I'll head over to a friend's place for Christmas dinner and movies. It will be wonderful and relaxing. Not being with my family, it feels like just another weekend. Nothing too special. And I'm okay with that. The only Christmas-y thing that I did yesterday was to keep a long-standing Christmas chat date with a good friend. But without my family there was none of the usual attendant stress. It was just nice. I'll probably call my mother soon since I'm sure that they've been up for hours now. The gifts have been ripped open ungratefully and whines have been uttered over the fact that my little brothers didn't get something they'd asked for. Although that rarely happens--they almost always get everything they ask for. In the grand scheme of things, gifts seem like a silly thing. They're nice, of course, but I could do without them. The overt commercialism of Christmas has always bothered me--at least since I was in high school, anyway, and began thinking about these things.

A final thought on John Lennon: why don't more people want war to be over?

Hallmark

'When you care enough to send the very best.'

I just realised how condescending the Hallmark motto is. Think about it.

Merry Fucking Christmas

From Daily Kos

So, who is to blame for all the deaths in Iraq? Let's mull this one over a bit, shall we?

Bush claims Saddam is a threat. Bush claims Saddam has WMDs. Bush claims Saddam has ties to Al Qaida. Bush and his administration promote questionable intelligence that supports their preconceptions and prejudices, and reject that which counters it.

Bush puts Rummy in charge of the war. Rummy fires general who says 'we need more troops'. Rummy says we can do more with less. Rummy says 'lighter is better than armored'. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld say we'll be met with flower petals. They say the war will be entirely paid for by oil revenues. They say the reconstruction will be paid for entirely by oil revenues.

Bush says he's giving diplomacy a chance, but he's giving the world a middle finger. Powell says he's showing the Security Council evidence of Saddam's duplicity, but he shows them pictures of warehouses. Bush claims a coalition of the willing, that's really a coalition of the billing -- a mish-mash of third-world nations with token contributions. Only England offers tangible support.

Bush sends the troops into battle, claiming he had no choice. But Saddam had caved on every Bush demand (inspectors were allowed back in, his long-range missiles were being destroyed).

No WMDs are found. No ties with Al Qaida are found. No military capable of threatening Iraq's neighbors is found. Saddam's army collapses quickly and the country's defenders retreat into 'insurgency' mode.

Bush declares mission accomplished. Bush taunts the insurgency. The insurgency kills our men and women. The commanders on the ground scream for more troops. They scream for armor. They scream for protected mess halls. Those screams fall on deaf ears.

More soldiers are killed. 1,320 Americans, 74 Britons, seven Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 19 Italians, one Latvian, 16 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and nine Ukrainians. The wounded number in the five figures.

Nevermind the innocent Iraqis who have been 'liberated' to death. And while we scream about Saddam's torture chambers, we create new ones of our own.

So thousands die, for a war built on false justifications, managed poorly, with underequipped, undermanned, and under-armored forces. And to add insult to injury, we've had to pay for this mess, to the tune of $200 billion.

So who sent our troops into Iraq on false pretenses? Who sent them in unarmored? Who refused to provide enough troops to stabilize the country effectively? Who taunted the Iraqi opposition with 'bring 'em on'? Who approved the American-branded torture chambers? Who has rewarded the secretary of defense who has negligently ignored the armor shortage in Iraq?

And who keeps them there as they continue to die?

Forgot to post this one yesterday...

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas. Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Too much time...?

You Are a Liberal for Life

You've got a bleeding heart - and you're proud of it. For you, liberal means being compassionate, pro-government, and anti-business. You believe in equality for every person, and you consider yourself universally empathetic. Helping others is not just political for you ... it's very personal too.

What political persuasion are you?

Your Element Is Water

A bit of a contradiction, you can seem both lighthearted and serious. That's because you're good at going with the flow - but you also are deep. Highly intuitive, you tune in to people's emotions and moods easily. You are able to tap into deep emotional connections and connect with others. You prefer a smooth, harmonious life - but you can navigate your way around waves. You have a knack for getting people to get along and making life a little more peaceful.

What's Your Element?

You Are Green Tea Pocky

Your attitude: natural and zen Peaceful yet full of life. Deep and thoughtful. You're halfway to tantric bliss!

What Flavor Pocky Are You?

You are 93% Cancer

How much do you match your zodiac sign?

You Are a Pundit Blogger!

Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read. Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few.

What kind of blogger are you?

Okay...I think that's enough for today. Maybe more later! :-P

Praying to the Financial aid gods...

...for a differential tuition waiver. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! IT'S MY LAST SEMESTER.

In other news, I'm done with the semester...yay! Although still worried about the last paper that I handed in. I may write another one over break to supplement it. Just because I'm an over-achiever like that.

But I haven't started that yet because I've been staying up until 2 every night playing Sim City 4!

Burnt by the usually non-political comic!

Yay.

'Canada "can permit gay marriage"'

How much do you think this is going to piss of our neighbours to the south?

Kittens

Tiggy is SO interested in the pointer on my computer screen. And is also very interested in the text that is popping up as I type.

AWWWWWW!

A Call to Arms

And that's the problem with our coalition: it's mostly made up of leaders counting on rewards, rather than of nations that are really behind us. Tony Blair genuinely believes in the Iraq war as a matter of principle, but the other members of the coalition are mostly opportunists trying to buy good will in the Bush administration.

That's because a White House that proved immensely sensitive to public opinion in Ohio has been oblivious to public opinion abroad. To his credit, Mr. Bush has tried to mend relations lately, but the damage is done: Americans are dying in Iraq, largely on their own, because Mr. Bush's bulldozer approach has so alienated potential allies.

But don't give up. I'll continue my mission on behalf of Mr. Bush by traveling to two more giants in our coalition: Latvia and Lithuania. Will I find more troops for Iraq? Stay tuned.

I wasn't sure if this guy was serious or tongue-in-cheek when I started reading. Definitely tongue-in-cheek. See what happens when a NY Times Op-Ed columnist travels to Estonia to see if he can help drum up some more troops for Bush and the Coalition of the Willing. He points out that if each of the nations sent an additional 5,000 troops, the presence of non-US troops would almost double. Too bad Estonia only has an armed forces with 4,000 troops and 60% of the nation is against being involved.

This is, um...

...yeah.

Back at the beginning of October Bush gave a speech at which he introduced Mike and Sharla Hintz, proud Bush supporters, particularly of his tax cuts and his stance on terror and society/culture. Mike was quoted as saying, 'The American people are starting to see what kind of leader President Bush is. People know where he stands. Where we are in this world, with not just the war on terror, but with the war on our culture that's going on, I think we need a man that is going to be in the White House like President Bush, that's going to stand by what he believes.'

At the end of October, Mike Hintz was charged with the sexual exploitation of a child (a 17-year-old, yes, but still underage in Iowa) with whom he came into contact through his youth ministry at the First Assembly of God Church in Des Moines.

Go Republican family values!

*blink, blink*

So, I just slept for twelve hours.

I think my body is trying to tell me something: Drink more coffee.

Mending fences?

Read the text, or, if you want to be really pissed off watch the video in which Anne Coulter says that Canada is 'lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent' with us and in which Tucker Carlson tells Caroline Parrish, 'Without the US, Canada is essentially Honduras.'

Bonus Link! The Reverend Jerry Falwell says that the Iraq war is going pretty well 'if you watch it on Fox.'

Berkeley/Michigan fiasco update

So, it's going to be okay. They're each going to keep the transcript and writing sample and send each other the letters of recommendation. The woman at Michigan was like, I don't know why no one noticed this when they opened the envelope. There's even this whole extra supplemental application for Berkeley!

Pentagon sending more troops to Iraq to provide security before election

The Pentagon has decided to bolster U.S. forces in Iraq in advance of elections scheduled for late January by sending elements of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., and extending the tours of duty for other units already in Iraq, officials said Wednesday.

At least two Army brigades now operating in northern Iraq will have their tours extended by about two months, until after the election, an Army official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But I thought they were ready for elections. Why on earth would we need more troops?

Secondly, I find it interesting/bothersome that the army official talking about extending tours of duty spoke only on condition of anonymity.

In a related piece, apparently serving in the US Marine Corps doesn't count as military duty.

What to say?

I received this email today.

December 1, 2004

Dear Anthony,

Yesterday the Department of History at UC Berkeley received an express package.
The inside  large brown envelope is addressed  to University of Michigan.  Inside it are letters from Bourne and DelBourgo in envelopes addressed to UMI and one from Lewis in a plain envelope with no address.  Also enclosed are two copies of the McGill transcript and a writing sample.

We have not opened the letters and transcripts.  What do you want us to do with this mailing?
We can send it first class to U Michigan or you can call around and see if U Michigan got the package intended for us and we can each  keep our respective items.  What you've sent us inadvertently is also required for your Berkeley application.

Please advise.

Karmic pay-back?

Universities may bar military recruiters from their campuses without risking the loss of federal money, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, found that educational institutions have a First Amendment right to keep military recruiters off their campuses to protest the Defense Department policy of excluding gays from military service.

The 2-to-1 decision relied in large part on a decision in 2000 by the United States Supreme Court to allow the Boy Scouts to exclude gay scoutmasters. Just as the Scouts have a First Amendment right to bar gays, the appeals court said, law schools may prohibit groups that they consider discriminatory.

I believe this deserves a proper and dignified response.


(That's an orang-utan giving the finger to the military.)

Checklist

Independent study paper - check.
Dante paper - check.
Grad school applications - CHECK!

To do:

Paper on élite marriage practices in colonial São Paulo.
Paper on colonial American perceptions of Native American gender.

Then:

Sweet blissful sleep.