Why are we helping every other country in the world

[Denny]

Yet they force us to pay these unconstitutional taxes or be jailed and/or asset seizure.

[Grimpala]

Let's just keep sending shit overseas, because we all know it's helping out.

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-somalia-famine-aid-stolen-un-investigating-143004341.html

.MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Thousands of sacks of food aid meant for Somalia's famine victims have been stolen and are being sold at markets in the same neighborhoods where skeletal children in filthy refugee camps can't find enough to eat, an Associated Press investigation has found.

The U.N.'s World Food Program for the first time acknowledged it has been investigating food theft in Somalia for two months. The WFP said that the "scale and intensity" of the famine crisis does not allow for a suspension of assistance, saying that doing so would lead to "many unnecessary deaths."

And the aid is not even safe once it has been distributed to families huddled in the makeshift camps popping up around the capital. Families at the large, government-run Badbado camp, where several aid groups have been distributing food, said they were often forced to hand back aid after journalists had taken photos of them with it.

Ali Said Nur said he received two sacks of maize twice, but each time was forced to give one to the camp leader.

"You don't have a choice. You have to simply give without an argument to be able to stay here," he said.

The U.N. says more than 3.2 million Somalis — nearly half the population — need food aid after a severe drought that has been complicated by Somalia's long-running war. More than 450,000 Somalis live in famine zones controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants, where aid is difficult to deliver. The U.S. says 29,000 Somali children under the age of 5 already have died.

International officials have long expected some of the food aid pouring into Somalia to go missing. But the sheer scale of the theft taking place calls into question aid groups' ability to reach the starving. It also raises concerns about the willingness of aid agencies and the Somali government to fight corruption, and whether diverted aid is fueling Somalia's 20-year-civil war.

"While helping starving people, you are also feeding the power groups that make a business out of the disaster," said Joakim Gundel, who heads Katuni Consult, a Nairobi-based company often asked to evaluate international aid efforts in Somalia. "You're saving people's lives today so they can die tomorrow."

WFP Somalia country director Stefano Porretti said the agency's system of independent, third-party monitors uncovered allegations of possible food diversion. But he underscored how dangerous the work is: WFP has had 14 employees killed in Somalia since 2008.

"Monitoring food assistance in Somalia is a particularly dangerous process," Porretti said.

In Mogadishu markets, vast piles of food sacks are for sale with stamps on them from the World Food Program, the U.S. government aid arm USAID and the Japanese government. The AP found eight sites where aid food was being sold in bulk and numerous smaller stores. Among the items being sold were corn, grain, and Plumpy'nut — a specially fortified peanut butter designed for starving children.

An official in Mogadishu with extensive knowledge of the food trade said he believes a massive amount of aid is being stolen — perhaps up to half of aid deliveries — by unscrupulous businessmen. The percentage had been lower, he said, but in recent weeks the flood of aid into the capital with little or no controls has created a bonanza for businessmen.

The official, like the businessmen interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals.

The AP could not verify the official's claims. WFP said that it rejected the scale of diversions alleged by the official.

At one of the sites for stolen food aid, about a dozen corrugated iron sheds are stacked with sacks. Outside, women sell food from open 110-pound (50-kilogram) sacks, and traders load the food onto carts or vehicles under the indifferent eyes of local officials.

Stolen food aid is not new in Somalia — it's the main reason the U.S. military become involved in Somalia during the country's 1992 famine, an intervention that ended shortly after the military battle known as Black Hawk Down. There are no indications the military plans to get involved in this year's famine relief efforts.

WFP said in a statement that it has put into place "strengthened and rigorous" monitoring and control in Somalia.

"However, given the lack of access to much of the territory due to security dangers and restrictions, humanitarian supply lines remain highly vulnerable to looting, attack and diversion by armed groups," WFP told the AP.

Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said the government does not believe food aid is being stolen on a large scale but if such reports come to light, the government "will do everything in our power" to bring judicial action.

The AP investigation also found evidence that WFP is relying on a contractor blamed for diverting large amounts of food aid in a 2010 U.N. report

Eight Somali businessmen said they bought food from the contractor, Abdulqadir Mohamed Nur, who is known as Enow. His wife heads Saacid, a powerful Somali aid agency that WFP uses to distribute hot food. The official with extensive knowledge of the food trade said at some Saacid sites it appeared less than half the amount of food supplied was being prepared.

Attempts to reach Enow or his wife for comment were not successful.

[jdgregory84]

Why am I always seeing car washes and donation drives to send shit to other countries to help them out when we have people right here at home, and I'm not talking some major city, I mean right down the street, that need help. There are tons of kids who need shoes for school, and food for lunches and all kinds of other stuff that kids should have, yet people are raising money to send to fucking Africa so that it can be spent on more guns and bullets.

Who the fuck cares about other countries? I don't see kids in France raising money to help out homeless kids in America. Let the other world leaders lead some shit for a while, while we take care of our own. We've got enough shit on our shoulder to keep us from having to go out and provide for everyone else who doesn't want to help themselves.

Because we'd rather send money somewhere and just assume that we're making a huge difference with our 26 cents a day instead of facing the reality that it doesn't really do shit. Why help a neighbor that you still have to see struggle when you can help a stranger and be told that you're making a difference?

[71chevellejohn]

This is the shit I'm talking about...

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplifier/89638/kanye-west-and-jay-z-auctioning-off-mutilated-373000-maybach-for-charity/

These 'artists' trash a car and then send the proceeds overseas, and then I'm sure later, as if they haven't already, they'll bitch about the American government not doing enough to help those in the US that need it.

Turns out kanye only likes certain black people.... and they aren't the ones over here.

[Grimpala]

This is the shit I'm talking about...

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplifier/89638/kanye-west-and-jay-z-auctioning-off-mutilated-373000-maybach-for-charity/

Kanye West and Jay-Z Auctioning Off Mutilated $373,000 Maybach for Charity

Posted Mon Aug 15, 2011 10:46am PDT by Caryn Ganz in Amplifier

In "Otis," the first video from the Kanye West and Jay-Z (a.k.a the Throne) joint album Watch the Throne, the two hip-hop moguls oversee some unconventional body work to what appears to be a brand-new Maybach: The German luxury car -- base sticker price approximately $373,000 for the cheapest model -- gets sliced and diced with a blowtorch and power saw. In the first 30 seconds of the clip, the automobile loses its roof and doors and gets remixed into an open-air Jeep-style vehicle perfect for joyriding around a parking lot with a quartet of young ladies in the back seat while fireworks blast off, which is exactly what Jay and Kanye proceed to do in the Spike Jonze-directed video. .

MTV News asked an expert to appraise the cost of the damage (or improvements, depending on your take) to the car, and the price ranged from $20,000 for a quickie job -- just the welding and painting -- to $150,000 for a fully reinforced frame. Expensive? Sure, but Jay allegedy spent $250K on a bar tab last night, so it probably didn't break his bank. "The thing is, the value of that car is nothing now, you couldn't drive it on the street," DUB magazine's Myles Kovacs told MTV. "It would start malfunctioning bigtime.".

Jay-Z and Kanye West are certainly presuming the car is worth far more than "nothing," however -- according to a note posted at the end of the video, they're planning to auction the Frankenbach off for charity: "The vehicle used in this video will be offered up for auction. Proceeds will be donated towards the East African drought disaster." AllHipHop confirmed the auction is legit with the rappers' reps. (The group's publicist hasn't yet responded to The Amp's request to confirm the Maybach is the real deal.) No word how or when the vehicle will be sold off, but potential buyers should presumably plan to host lavish Watch the Throne listening sessions in the car rather than go cruising in it.

These 'artists' trash a car and then send the proceeds overseas, and then I'm sure later, as if they haven't already, they'll bitch about the American government not doing enough to help those in the US that need it.

[Johnny Armijo]

Damn, all those people living under the bridges sure do a good job of concealing their power wires and TV's in their card board boxes.

those people living under a bridge can also go get a job instead of asking for money...I dont see any of them at a day labor center or doing anything to help themselves except for standing on the corner waiting to get a few bucks for a snack and a tall boy

[CJ]

At least on the technology aspect, that's just the beginning man. I could tell some stories about things I've seen and stories I've been told by people I trust.

When you generally hire lowest bidders, you employ people and don't pay them enough and/or train them properly - a lot of bad things happen.

An example is for one small district I know - 4-5 million in a set of equipment. Staff never installed it then they bought the same equipment 3-4 years later with labor.

Or spending millions of dollars to replace the exact same gear they already have. (No model number changes or anything)

Then other schools have crap gear and no budget to provide decent connectivity for their staff or students.

From what I've gathered a lot has to do with districts competing for federal funding. And inner city under-performing schools sucking up the money. As a whole it's a great example of how bad the government is at managing anything. I believe if education was privatized, everyone would benefit.... or, as a first step the department of education was eliminated, and the states had complete control over funding and the money, instead of competing for federal subsidies.

[Broncojohnny]

Life is about choices so I really couldn't care less about the poor in this country and the shitty choices they have made. Now, if they have been handed a disability or illness beyond their control, its different. If they are children, its different. But able bodied adults who can't make the correct choices in life, that is their fucking problem and they need to handle it.

[ceyko]

No Hobie, how about we make the fucking school board responsible for that shit? We spend more money per student than any country in the world, and our students are MORONS comparatively. Money being wasted on ridiculous shit - Millions of dollars on white boards that sent in basements.. I could go on.

At least on the technology aspect, that's just the beginning man. I could tell some stories about things I've seen and stories I've been told by people I trust.

When you generally hire lowest bidders, you employ people and don't pay them enough and/or train them properly - a lot of bad things happen.

An example is for one small district I know - 4-5 million in a set of equipment. Staff never installed it then they bought the same equipment 3-4 years later with labor.

Or spending millions of dollars to replace the exact same gear they already have. (No model number changes or anything)

Then other schools have crap gear and no budget to provide decent connectivity for their staff or students.

[CWO]

Then that's why you did it wrong.

The "?" should be it's own line item, then the next one is "profit".

My wittiness is borrowed from South Park. I have no idea what you're talking about.

[71chevellejohn]

Then that's why you did it wrong.

The "?" should be it's own line item, then the next one is "profit".

[CWO]

don't do 4chan or OT, just here and the local Audi board

[03mustangdude]

chinas rich cuz it doesn't care it hasn't ventured past its own borders since recently and doesn't spend money unless it has something to gain just like any other country.

If we pulled back everything and let the troops relax and be with family the world would not fall apart. Close down bases in the middle east let them kill themselves.

[71chevellejohn]

Guess I'm not the nerdiest user here afterall.

I guess I'm not smart enough, but I've never been into 4chan. Too much anger, weird shit, and peddos.

I don't frequent it, but I remember seeing the "?, profit" posted a lot last year.

It's nothing special. And from what I've seen on there, intelligence not a prerequisite for usage. Most of the anger has no backing, the weird shit comes from weird people , and the pedos are disturbed individuals.

[Hobie]

fixed

Guess I'm not the nerdiest user here afterall.

I guess I'm not smart enough, but I've never been into 4chan. Too much anger, weird shit, and peddos.