Unloved people in need

Why has the most devastating natural disaster in recent memory generated such a tepid response from the international community?

Do you know what disaster I'm referring to? How about if I give the hint that it has to do with flooding. Still no? Well, I didn't know about any natural disaster either until I just read the article I'm quoting: Why Doesn't the World Care About Pakistanis?

Apparently, the floods in Pakistan are causing more damage than "the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake combined."

Obviously, lack of media coverage has a lot do with it. I don't know any one in Haiti or Pakistan... but I certainly knew about Haiti earthquake the day after it happened. Yet I didn't even know about the floods in Pakistan until now, 3 weeks later! And think of all those campaigns to "donate $10 now via txt msg" - Red Cross raised $31 million from those campaigns for Haiti. A similar campaign for Pakistan has barely raised $10,000.

It's donor fatigue. It's Pakistan fatigue. It's because the Pakistani government is corrupt and can't be trusted. It's because the victims are Muslim. It's because people think a nuclear power should be able to fend for itself. It's because floods -- particularly these floods -- spread their destruction slowly, over a period of time, rather than instantaneously. It's because of the tighter budgets of Western governments. It's because of the lingering effects of the financial crisis.

There's a degree of truth to all these explanations.

But there is something more going on... somehow there is a lot of ingrained contempt or at least suspicion towards the country of Pakistan. And unfortunately the people in need there are suffering for it.

The loss of life, disease, poverty, and human misery themselves are going to take years to overcome. But the costs of desilting, cleaning up, and reconstructing Pakistan's most fertile and potent highways, canals, and waterworks will be exhausting just to calculate. The actual task of building back this critical infrastructure is a challenge of unprecedented proportions.

As always, mass media loves focusing on negative events and perspective.

You'd be hard pressed to find a news story anywhere that celebrates the country's incredible scenery, diversity, food, unique brand of Islam, evolving and exciting musical tradition, or even its arresting array of sporting talent, though all those things are present in abundance.

I'm gonna go do some reading about Pakistan now. And see if there even is an aid organization that I can donate to who is or will be working in Pakistan on the recovery effort.

Twenty million people are now struggling to find a dry place to sleep, a morsel of food to eat, a sip of clean water to drink -- and the questions we are asking have to do with politics and international security. The problem is not in Pakistan. It is where those questions are coming from.

"Ground Zero Mosque"

In case you haven't heard, read about "Park51" - or "Cordoba House" as it used to be called - which has been dubbed the "ground zero mosque" because it is proposed to be built 2 blocks from the WTC twin towers site.



Unfortunately, a lot of people have stereotypically assumed several things about this mosque and the people who are supportive of it. No, a mosque is not inherently a hideout of terrorists. No, most Muslims do not want to kill you. No, allowing a mosque to be built near the WTC site is NOT disrespectful... Oh, and yes you are being disrespectful and unhelpful by using emotional and extreme rhetoric as arguments against the people, the building and the location.

I don't know what the best way to confront this is... sign a petition? contact the individual people and organizations who are making racist or stereotypical statements? or do some research about the sponsors/owners/investors to get the truth about their purpose for the mosque?

Arrested for... public photography??

Yep, police are now arresting people for using video cameras in public if you happen to catch some footage of a police officer in action. "The Freeman - Ideas on Liberty" wrote an article titled "Are Cameras the New Guns?" which gives some disturbing examples of people arrested and criminally charged for catching a police officer on duty.

A recent arrest in Maryland is both typical and disturbing.

On March 5, 24-year-old Anthony John Graber III’s motorcycle was pulled over for speeding. He is currently facing criminal charges for a video he recorded on his helmet-mounted camera during the traffic stop.

These people are getting charged with violating the rule that all parties must consent to being recorded and also a felony charge of wiretapping and/or eavesdropping!

I think the real issue is that police are afraid of being caught doing something wrong (i.e. over extending their authority) and then having a video as evidence against them. Or that somehow being recorded diminishes their authority.

When the police act as though cameras were the equivalent of guns pointed at them, there is a sense in which they are correct. Cameras have become the most effective weapon that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse. And the police want it to stop.

One comment on that news article breaks down the sequence of events like this:

1. Bad cops broke the law, and hurt people.
2. We know this BECAUSE we have video that depicts it.
3. No more filming police on the street.

narrative of the 'other'

This article is about a prominent Palestinian lawyer, Elias Khoury, who has incurred significant losses from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His family lost 750 acres of land when the Israeli government confiscated it for "security reasons" and he lost members of his family in two different Palestinian terrorist attacks.

The Palestinian terrorists who "accidentally" killed his son apologized saying that they assumed he was a Jew. That is such a completely meaningless apology to hear in response to such loss. I suspect this is what shook Mr Khoury's identity so much that he began to see the Palestine/Israel conflict as a deep-seated misunderstanding of "the narrative of the other" as he calls it.

Amazingly, he is able to work with an Israeli author to publish in Arabic an autobiography that has emotional ties to the founding of the nation of Israel. He hopes this story will increase awareness and openness in communication between the two groups. I'd go so far as to say that his story can inspire openness and understanding between any opposing groups.

Here is a much more inspired and insightful article about Mr Khoury:

http://orientdaily.blogspot.com/2010/03/tale-of-love-and-darkness-from-other.html

living proof

From livingproofproject.org:

Investments in global health are achieving real, demonstrable results. These investments are saving lives, preventing and curing disease, and helping people to escape from poverty.

The Living Proof Project is a multimedia initiative intended to highlight successes of U.S.-funded global health initiatives. By reporting success stories back to the people who funded them - American taxpayers and their representatives - we hope to reframe the current global health conversation.

At first when I heard about this, I have to admit I was more than a bit skeptical... seeing as my last post exclaimed how "european" I feel, this "Living Proof Project" seemed something like American propaganda: "Ooooh, look at how much money America can spend on foreign aid!" If anything, it was just a diversion away from all the typical news of how high our federal budget deficit is, or how much money we spend on war/military each year...

However, last night I saw a talk given by Bill and Melinda Gates about this project, and it was being advertised by the ONE campaign, which I am a member of. Now, just to be clear, the fact that a technology guru was giving the talk wasn't enough on its own to sway me: I'm first a linux fan, and a Mac user, and lastly I have to support Windows because it's my job.

But after watching/hearing what the Gates' had to say, I felt something pretty unusual... I actually felt a little bit better about being American! And sadly, if I understood what they were saying correctly, even though America only gives about 1% of our federal budget to foreign aid (and only about .22% goes to Global Health initiatives, like vaccines/medication), that is still more than what Europe gives. As the wealthiest nation, the USA has stepped up its foreign aid, and that has been followed by increased giving in other "first world" countries. So at least that is something.

More importantly, I did grow to appreciate that even with as little as we do give to Global Health issues, an impact is being made, as the video above summarizes.