Hi Diesel
Most of the world this time asked the US(and UK) not to act in Iraq but wait till the full facts were known.
On 08/02/05 11:23 ET, diesel said...
The US reaches out its hand to help more countries in
this world than any other, as soon as the ones
we are helping take the money/food/whatever out
of that hand, they slap it away.
I agree with the helping hand and being slapped or the fact that the governments of the peoples we are trying to help are spending money on other things such as weapons
Take India for example
India still has the world’s largest number of poor people in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 350-400 million are below the poverty line, 75 per cent of them in the rural areas.
More than 40 per cent of the population is illiterate, with women, tribal and scheduled castes particularly affected.
It would be incorrect to say that all poverty reduction programmes have failed. The growth of the middle class (which was virtually non-existent when India became a free nation in August 1947) indicates that economic prosperity has indeed been very impressive in India, but the DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH has been very uneven.
The main causes of poverty are illiteracy, a population growth rate by far exceeding the economic growth rate for the better part of the past 50 years, protectionist policies pursued since 1947 to 1991 which prevented large amounts of foreign investment in the country.
But hey India can still afford to spend on weapons in 2001
Russia sold India a large package of weapons reportedly worth $8 billion. The Russian weapons deal includes 140 Sukhoi SU-30 strike fighters(built under licence), 300 T-90 battle tanks, and a pledge to build a new 2,000-megawatt nuclear reactor at Kundankulam, Tamil Nadu.
$8 billion sure feeds a lot of crying fly infested skinny kids on appeal adverts.
A lot of nations suffer from natural disasters; I’m not talking about freak tidal waves but predictable yearly events. At the age of three I was taught the song the wise man builds his house upon the rocks. Some countries have built there houses and cities to withstand such natural disasters such as Japan against earthquakes guess what Japan has a smaller military than India. The annual monsoon rains that sweep the Indian subcontinent from June to September routinely kill hundreds of people in India and cause widespread devastation. $8 Billion well spent on military equipment? I don't think so!
Oh and in the news today...3/8/05
The families of the 52 victims killed in the July 7 bomb attacks will be eligible for just £11,000 each under a Government-funded compensation scheme.
By contrast, each death claim made to the US Government by families of the September 11 victims was worth around £1.13m.
Families of London victims will have to apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which pays out to victims of crime.
If more than one family member of a 7 July victim applies for compensation they will only get £5,500 each.
People will also be entitled to "reasonable" extra payments to cover funeral costs, while dependent children are entitled to £2,000 a year until they turn 18.
Under the scheme, a maximum figure of £500,000 can be paid to survivors who are seriously debilitated and claim for loss of earnings and care costs as well as compensation.
The scheme has existed since 1964 and is run in England, Scotland and Wales by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and is funded by the Home Office.
Supporters of the scheme argue that the sum given to victims' families should not be seen as the value of a life but as a "token of public sympathy".
But victims' groups have condemned the level of compensation as "a pittance".
A spokesman for the Victims of Crime Trust said: "Families should be given probably 100 times as much because, let's face it, they have to live with this tragedy for the entirety of their lives. It has to be more than £11,000.
"This is only supposed to be a token but it should be more than a token."
This message was edited by Mr Griffiths on 08/03/05 12:04 ET.
