Disgusted with my Government

[Lulu]

http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/opinion/Full_Story/did-sgjBEbdai6zqYsgDQQ5wn3uAIg.asp

31/12/04

â?¬2m for tsunami victims and seven times more for an equestrian centre
By Pat Brosnan
AS the death toll spiralled by the hour in one of the worst ever natural disasters, the response from the Irish Government amounted to peanuts.

The immediate contribution tendered was a paltry 1m, which might have been alright just to help get the international aid effort going. At that stage, it was not appreciated how appalling were the consequences of the Asian tsunami.

By the time our parsimonious Government doubled its pledge to â?¬2m, the death toll was about 70,000 and rising. It has since gone over the 80,000 mark.

The world was left under no illusion as to the unimaginable scale of the catastrophe, and that it would take billions to help the stricken millions rebuild their lives.

The Government dug deep and came up with a risible â?¬2m. More than seven times that was allocated to an equestrian centre without batting an eyelid.


For God's sake, we're one of the richest countries in Europe - couldn't our exchequer have dug a little deeper :eek:

Shame on you :mad:

[kiwi]

;) Kia ora my friend....hope things are well with you and family...


Even tho New Zealand is only a small country our government have so far given $6 million and the people out in the public have donated over $2 million and it increases every hour. Words are just so hard to find to say how much of a tragic situation this is and we all need to do what we can for our fellow human beings....GOD BLESS ALL THOSE SOULS THAT WERE LOST :(

[RESiNATE]

Yes, Lulu...not only is the amount an affrontary to the value of life, but I was quite sickened to read most of the headlines on our papers.

There is already no small amount of 'back-slapping' going on, as most of the papers say things along the lines of "..this makes the UK government the biggest donator in the world...."

There is a self-appointed group of people who have raised cash and gathered aid supplies (blankets, food, etc) who only need two planes to fly the stuff out there.
MR JOHN PRESCOTT HAS REFUSED (last I knew) TO GIVE THESE PEOPLE THOSE PLANES TO ENABLE THE SUPPLIES TO GET THERE!!!!

WTF????

Two planes, that's all....why aren't the planes there for the use of?
What cost could be so hard to afford?

I agree, Lulu...this is a time when cost is (or should be) the last consideration....instead, it is (as always) the first consideration.

I wonder how much money will be spent on a fireworks display in London, this year?
:rolleyes:

Assholes..the lot of them!!!
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad
Res...

[Lulu]

During the Irish Famine, where Ireland lost a huge percentage of her population, where did the aid come from?

America, yes ofcourse
and





Turkey, another poor country that probably knew very little about us, other than the fact we were starving.

Our government is making a nation of warmhearted, generous people feel like penny-pinching, compassionless Scrooges.

Eaten bread is soon forgotten eh :rolleyes:

Really smacks of crumbs from the rich man's table

[RESiNATE]

I agree...it sucks!

Our government would rather waste £450Billion on supporting the arts (ie, Theater) than spend that much needed cash on bettering our society, or indeed, helping those that need it most!

I'm not one for causing societal unrest, but I really think that a revolution is called for!

Too many times does this government ignore the real issues of the world, the redistribution of wealth is scandalous, and priorities are so misplaced as to be ridiculous!
The law favours the criminal, whilst innocent victims of protocol are left to scrape a meager existence and contiue to suffer poverty.

They'd rather spend OUR money on hosting an Olympic games, in a country which is ill-equipped to handle such an event, than sort out the mess that is our system.
The 'Millenium Dome' is a prime example of how this government squanders OUR taxes!!!

And all the while, the poor get poorer, and the rich get richer.

And those who are in dire need of help, are used as a propoganda excersise...AGAIN!!!

[robert42]

rich get richer

poor get poorer

[Herbaholic00]

I read some where that the british government has been shammed into upping its donation from £16 million to £50 million................... how many billion has been spent on that war???????????



Peace

[daZenfmeister]

How much has the U.S. donated?

[Lulu]

How much has the U.S. donated?
36,000,000 I think

[daZenfmeister]

IMHO I think the U.S. should be donating billions upon billions of dollars so that way we may be spending at least half as much on saving foreign lives instead of ending them. Stupid Bush.

[duppy man]

How much has the U.S. donated?
however much it is it wont be enough, the brit Gov. gave 15 million the British people £20 m sounds about right, I wonder how much their spending on the war on terror///drugs///countrys with WOMD people with moles//disgusting!!!!! parasites the lot of them. :o Not people with moles goverments

[Garden Knowm]

quick note. while the Turkish government was Slaughtering the Armenians and Greeks in 1915 - 1.5 million of them - the French threatened war on any country that interfered or tries to stop the first genocide of the century.... Why you ask.... 'cause the Turks owed the French 170 million dollars and the French didn't want the UK to go in and kick the living shot out of the TURKS 'cause then the turks wouldn't have the $$$ to pay France back... Still to this day the Turks deny this ALLEGATION of GENOCIDE.. and untill they admit to it.. the EU says FU to you : )

[Lulu]

quick note. while the Turkish government was Slaughtering the Armenians and Greeks in 1915 - 1.5 million of them - the French threatened war on any country that interfered or tries to stop the first genocide of the century.... Why you ask.... 'cause the Turks owed the French 170 million dollars and the French didn't want the UK to go in and kick the living shot out of the TURKS 'cause then the turks wouldn't have the $$$ to pay France back... Still to this day the Turks deny this ALLEGATION of GENOCIDE.. and untill they admit to it.. the EU says FU to you : )
I don't know anything about that. I was just talking about the aid the Turks sent to Ireland in 1847.

Anyway, in the face of public outrage Bertie-boy upped the aid package to 10million euros, which I think is a lot more acceptable from a country our size approx 3.79 million population (26 counties of the Republic excluding Northern Ireland)

A Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the â?¬2m contribution had been an initial response and the aid package had been kept under continuous review.

[RESiNATE]

You know what the really sad thing is?

You can bet your ass, that any aid sent to Asia (monetary or otherwise) by any government, comes with conditions.
You know, like, "OK, we'll give you £15Million, but in return, we get the contracts to rebuild your country"...

Don't ever think that the government would just hand out the cash, out of the goodness of their hearts...nah, there aint no such thing as a free lunch -even in something as traumatic as this.

Governments, eh? :rolleyes:

Res...