Cheers to the USA

Captain-Rolex · #1 (**permalink**) 12-29-2004, 11:47 AM

Boy, I really hate to say it, but I do have to applaud the US government for their generosity to South East Asia that was hit by disaster. Our EU didn't contribute much, which really pissed me off.

Cheers to the US. They have their flaws, but they also have their good side.

Shame on the EU!

stekim · #2 (**permalink**) 12-29-2004, 12:13 PM

keep in mind that with the exception of just a couple charities (Doctors Without Borders, UN charites, etc.) nearly all the private money and supplies are coming from U.S.-based non-profits.

Captain-Rolex · #3 (**permalink**) 12-29-2004, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stekim";p=&quot

keep in mind that with the exception of just a couple charities (Doctors Without Borders, UN charites, etc.) nearly all the private money and supplies are coming from U.S.-based non-profits.

Don't push it dude.

stekim · #4 (**permalink**) 12-29-2004, 12:41 PM

I know it hurts, but we are a generous people by and large.

Printer2 · #5 (**permalink**) 12-29-2004, 04:12 PM

Umm, last time I checked the US was preparing to send like 2o million dollars.... so shut up, and as a European go do something useful for the world.

Darken · #6 (**permalink**) 12-30-2004, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Printer2";p=&quot

Umm, last time I checked the US was preparing to send like 2o million dollars.... so shut up, and as a European go do something useful for the world.

It's actually more like 35 million. And that amount is simply formal government aid. (plans are actually to double it) Not to mention the numerous aid agencies that are collecting money.

Darken

Captain-Rolex · #7 (**permalink**) 12-30-2004, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Printer2";p=&quot

Umm, last time I checked the US was preparing to send like 2o million dollars.... so shut up, and as a European go do something useful for the world.

Why must I shut up when I applaud the US on this matter?

catzmeow · #8 (**permalink**) 12-30-2004, 06:26 AM

In the past 2 days, Americans have donated 4.2 million to the Red Cross for relief efforts in Southeast Asia on the amazon.com website (that total is ONLY for amazon.com donations).

The private dollars that will be sent to Southeast Asia via private charitable entities will ultimately be far more than the public dollars we send.

Yeah, that's right. Thanks to our low taxes, Jan, we can CHOOSE to allocate funds to agencies that we personally believe will best serve the interests of those in Southeast Asia AND DO.

Catz

catzmeow · #9 (**permalink**) 12-30-2004, 06:29 AM

Quote:

UN officials said dozens of airplanes are carrying food, medicine, water purification tablets and body bags to Indonesia, Thailand, India and other nations. Governments pledged at least $220 million in cash and an equal amount in supplies, transport and military help, according to the UN.

New York-based Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, said it will donate $35 million in cash and medication, including its Zithromax, Zyvox and Diflucan anti-infectives, matching the aid the U.S. government has said it will provide.

Other U.S. companies that have announced donations include Citigroup Inc., the world's biggest financial services company, which said it will provide $3 million in aid. Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said it will provide $4 million in funding and prescription drugs and nutritional aid.

Cisco Systems Inc., whose equipment conducts 70 percent of the world's Internet traffic, said the San Jose, California-based company and its employees are donating at least $2.5 million to relief efforts. PepsiCo Inc. said it has allocated $1 million to relief work in the region.

Product Donations

Merck & Co., the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker, today said it will make an initial donation of $250,000 to the American Red Cross and is in discussions with relief agencies to make a ``substantial product donation,'' spokeswoman Anita Larsen said. The company will also match employee contributions.

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday it is giving $2 million in cash and sending packages of supplies, including wound-care and pain-relief products. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said yesterday it is donating $100,000 to the Red Cross and will send antibiotics such as its Tequin drug and other medicines to the region.

Wells Fargo & Co., Computer Associates International Inc., First Data Corp. and Symbol Technologies Inc. also announced donations today or yesterday.

In addition to Amazon.com, other Internet businesses, including Google Inc., the most used Web search service, placed links on their sites for people wanting to make contributions.

``They're playing a huge role,'' American Red Cross spokeswoman Kara Bunte said. ``Corporate partners like Amazon and MTV are coming to us and asking ways they can support our relief efforts.''

Other Web companies, including Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN either collected donations or provided links to sites where people could make contributions. Mountain View, California- based Google made a rare exception to its policy of maintaining a Spartan main page by adding a link titled ``Ways to help with tsunami relief'' and giving it prominent display.

EBay Inc., the largest Internet marketplace, was working on how it could help in the best way, spokesman Hani Durzy said. He said the company's foundation will make a gift to relief efforts in Asia and that EBay was informing sellers of ways they can place items up for sale with proceeds going to charitable organizations

From Bloomberg.com

Catz

KLang · #10 (**permalink**) 12-30-2004, 06:37 AM

The government stated yesterday that for fiscal 2004, the US had provided 2.4 billion in disaster relief, accounting for 40% of the worlds total. Someone on one of the news shows last night mentioned that for the same time period private and corporate donations had totaled 5 Billion. Stingy? I think not.

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