i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

[thesightless]

1. technically, GW is smarter than John Kerry. redneck VS WASP in trivial pursuit anyone?

2. no matter what this country does, we still get are at fault. some critic was complaining that the US isnt doing anything to help Africa with the Aids crisis when in fact we are the largest donor throughout the world, not figuring in the money Bill Gates (US citizen BTW) put in. actually, the opposing critic gave figures that showed that the USA was giving more than the next two countries together and he even said we should do more. I guess we are obliged to solve the worlds problems without actually solving them, cause you know if we went in troops to stop the genocide and help with the civil wars, we would be accused of securing our interests. how about another country putting some action into thier wishes?? oh yeah, they would end up being zionist and capitalist pigs then...............................


can you tell i had a rough morning watching TV while waiting for court?

[davetlv]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

zionist and capitalist pigs then...............................

ohhhhhhh my fav two words together. . .

[superdave]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

I thought it was funny that Kerry's grades FINALLY came out and his grades were nearly the same as Bush's at Yale.

[thesightless]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

yeah, ironic the whole ""bush is dumb" part of thier campaign came back to make him look stupid. and world turns.

[cltbdcentersnare]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

In my opinion, the Africa situation is a lose-lose situation. America is the number one giver of aid, but no matter what, we will always be critisized for not giving enough. Nobody ever seems to think about the fact that giving large sums of money to unorganized, corrupt, ever-fighting tribal governments may not be the best course of action. There is probably billions of dollars that are lost and embezzled every year that the average poor starving African doesn't get to see.

[face]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

maybe if we just stopped all the missionnaries from going to africa--the ones who encourage the population NOT to use contraceptives--there wouldn't be such a rampant epidemic!

also, who cares what bush or kerry got at yale? their families both paid their way through the system, and you all know it. and just because kerry got 4 Ds his freshman year or whatever doesn't mean he's not smarter than bush.

hell, i got some Ds my first semester in college, but that was a long time ago and i got my act together. and you all should know that grades are not always a reflection of one's intelligence or mental capacity.

[thesightless]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

oh, i was just referring to the democratic party's point that bush is stupid being a big part of the campaign, but now it shows that ""technically" bush is smarter.

Irony, its a wonderful thing.

[Yao]

Re: i learned two things from MSNBC and CNN today

In my opinion, the Africa situation is a lose-lose situation. America is the number one giver of aid, but no matter what, we will always be critisized for not giving enough. Nobody ever seems to think about the fact that giving large sums of money to unorganized, corrupt, ever-fighting tribal governments may not be the best course of action. There is probably billions of dollars that are lost and embezzled every year that the average poor starving African doesn't get to see.

You're right about that, unfortunately. However, the idea of Europe and the US just pouring money in a bottomless pit without even looking to see where it ends up, is not entirely true. There has been a major change in the Aid sector, mostly focusing on 'demand based' aid: governments and civil interest groups have to point out what they need and why, show what they're going to spend the money on.
Governments and groups that apply for fundings also have to be really transparent about their methods and financial situation. This is in general what has happened.

not perfect, but more effective than what it used to be.

Most of the aid to Mugabe's Zimbabwe for instance has been frozen at the moment, same goes for a number of fundings for Angola, pending and investigation that showed the money missing on the payment balance was almost exactly the amount that had been received as 'aid' in that same period the investigation covered. And there is more examples, but I think you get the point. We're not there yey by a long shot, but we're improving bit by bit. Effective financial aid has been a process of trial and error over the decades after independence, just like everything else.

maybe if we just stopped all the missionnaries from going to africa--the ones who encourage the population NOT to use contraceptives--there wouldn't be such a rampant epidemic!

Those kids are the only way of securing your old day in most of those countries: this is simply a matter of non-existent social services...the kids are there to take care of you when you grow old. Contraceptives won't change this much until the economic situation improves and people can fall back on things like a pension fund after they stop working, or health insurance when they get sick. But those things are only available to those who have the cash...

There is a different reason though why I am opposed to people still going that way and playing the missionary: the church is still putting too much of a financial strain on those people. If they put their donations aside for a whole year, they might even be able to start up local projects from their own money, generating jobs and a moderate income. Instead, the church plays on their feelings and makes them give what they actually can't miss, and has church buildings built from it.

This actually made me raging mad when I was in Ghana, seeing people who couldn't send their kids to school because they couldn't afford the tuition fees paying what they have in fucking donation competitions...women against men, monday-born against tuesday-born and shit like that. The only decently dressed guys in the village are the goddamn clergy.