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Politics "Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule -and both commonly succeed, and are right."
-H.L. Menken |
09-06-2005, 03:29 PM
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#1
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,111
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The Red Cross
*I'm posting this in whining because I have no idea where it would go, and, when in doubt, whine. ^^*
This is an article sent to me via another website by another gothic.net member:
Quote:
As the aftermath of hurricane Katrina continues to wreak mayhem and havoc amid reports of mass looting, shooting at rescue helicopters, rapes and murders, establishment media organs are promoting the Red Cross as a worthy organization to give donations to.
The biggest website in the world, **********, displays a Red Cross donation link prominently on its front page.
Every time there is a major catastrophe the Red Cross and similar organizations like United Way are given all the media attention while other charities are left in the shadows. This is not to say that the vast majority of Red Cross workers are not decent people who simply want to help those in need.
But what the media fails consistently to remember in their promotion of the organization is that the American Red Cross have been caught time and time again withholding money in the wake of horrible disasters that require immediate release of funds.
The Red Cross, under the Liberty Fund, collected $564 million in donations after 9/11. Months after the event, the Red Cross had distributed only $154 million. The Red Cross' explanation for keeping the majority of the money was that it would be used to help 'fight the war on terror'. To the victims, this meant that the money was going towards bombing broken backed third world countries like Afghanistan and setting up surveillance cameras and expanding the police state in US cities, and not towards helping them rebuild their lives.
Then Red Cross President Dr. Bernadine Healy arrogantly responded when questioned about the withholding of funds by stating, "The Liberty Fund is a war fund. It has evolved into a war fund."
Despite the family members of victims of 9/11 complaining bitterly to a House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel, the issue seemed to be brushed under the carpet and the mud didn't stick.
The Red Cross' scandalous activities reach back far before 9/11.
After the devastating San Francisco earthquake in 1989, the Red Cross passed on only $10 million of the $50 million that had been raised, and banked the rest.
Similar donations after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the Red River flooding in 1997 were also greedily withheld.
Insight Magazine reported,
“The first days after the bombing,” says one family member, “people from all over the country were sending checks in lieu of flowers and we were getting a lot of checks and cash every day — hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Then the Red Cross went down to the post office and made arrangements to collect the mail and they would deliver it to us in bulk. All the mail had been opened, and from that point on there never was a dime, even in letters that said money was enclosed.”
The Red Cross has been caught engaging in rampant corruption on an all too regular basis.
3,000 people died after thousands of Canadians were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from tainted blood supplies.The Canadian Red Cross pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this year after they had been directly caught knowlingly shipping out the infected blood.
Smaller charities that were involved with the 2004 Tsunami relief project went public to say that large charities like Red Cross and United Way were engaged in secret backroom negotiations with each other that meant a large portion of the donation money was purposefully restricted from reaching the most needy areas affected by the disaster.
The history is clear, the Red Cross and other large so-called charities are in actual fact front group collection agencies for the military industrial complex.
Many informed historians have even alleged that the Red Cross was used as a Skull and Bones cover to overthrow The Russian Czar and pave the way for the rise of the Bolsheviks.
Do not give any money to the Red Cross unless you support the expansion of empire abroad and police state at home. Find a smaller trustworthy organization in the local area of New Orleans and make your donation to them.
Full Article can be found here:
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/sep...05redcross.htm
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Is anyone else here really angered by this? When we're in a time of national crisis, politics has to come between victims and charities. It's insane how many scandals and little things like this go on in the world of "charity". Whatever happened to a non-profit organization that was *actually* non-profit? Whatever happened to a charities that put PEOPLE (not politics) first? This whole mess really makes me sad. I don't know what happens to people in power positions- they forget what's important. If I had the money and the man-power, I'd drive down there and *help*, not sit on millions of dollars of donations.
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09-07-2005, 04:32 AM
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#2
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 3,793
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teapot -
i have to believe that the red cross would be called on blantant, egregious behavior such as this by more sources than just prisonplanet.com.
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09-07-2005, 06:32 AM
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#3
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Posts: 1,608
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Will you stop trusting the White House altogether because of a Clinton or Bush?
Doesn't make sense, does it?
The International Red Cross (and Red Crescent in muslim countries) is the most reliable non-government relief organization without religious ties (in spite of the cross and crescent).
If the American branch needs "cleaning", by all means do it, but to withold funds from people in need because you doubt it will get there in time, seems more like the bickering the local and federal government are having, but on a smaller scale.
Do you really think that the money raised by USA FOR AFRICA in the 80's reached Ethiopia? Nope, it didn't. I mean, it did reach Ethyopia, but it was taken by the government and sold in the black market to the highest bidder.
Bob Geldoff nearly went mad trying to put it all together, and then governments and interest groups just took charge.
Crap like this happens all the time. Well, people are in dire straits right now, so just donate to whoever you trust and clean house afterwards, when you're sure that all the people that could have been helped really have been helped.
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09-07-2005, 06:35 AM
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#4
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Posts: 1,608
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Oh, and I'm moving this to politics.
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09-07-2005, 09:09 AM
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#5
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,130
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If they are lining the pockets of executives that's one thing. Stockpiling money for future tragedies so that it's there right away when the next one hits, as opposed to having to wait for a new batch of donations, isn't so bad.
When I showed you a political cartoon some guy did where it had a 9/11 widow saying how she lost her husband but that was okay because she had millions in donations, you saw nothing wrong with that.
A few clicks elsewhere on that site has a whole section bashing the FreeMasons! Yay! Missing is the work the Shriner's Children's Hospital does everyday. Or that even Clinton was a FreeMason.
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09-08-2005, 05:28 AM
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#6
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,242
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__________________
"You had a tough day at the office, so you come home, make yourself some dinner, smother your kids, pop in a movie; maybe a have a drink. It's fun, right? ...wrong.
...don't smother your kids."
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09-08-2005, 06:03 PM
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#7
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: new england
Posts: 144
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This is why I've decided to donate what I can to Poppy Z. Brite's Cats Fund. She has 26 formerly unwanted or stray cats, who were given a second chance (as well as necessary vet care, including a spay/neuter procedure) in her home in New Orleans.
She and her husband left NO last week; thankfully, many of her cats (and the snake) were retrieved today by an animal rescue organization. One hopes that the rest will be saved as well.
As far as I'm concerned, she's a legitimate "charity" in addition to being a great writer.
At least I know where my dollars are going.
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09-08-2005, 08:10 PM
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#8
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Seattle
Posts: 408
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You donated money to help a fairly well-off writer save her cats? Wow. How very fucking cog-like of you.
Did you ever stop to think "does Poppy Z Brite REALLY need my money, or could this money be put to better use as far as the NO thing is concerned....say, feeding and clothing starving people?", because I think the gene that makes you human got short-circuited somewhere along the line.
Did I call you inhuman? Yes I did, and here's why-your post was a perfect example of what psych students call "cognent dissonance". "Excuse making" in laymens terms. And you justifyed not giving much of a shit about the people in NO by saying "well, I helped out a few cats". Sorry, but if saving cats was more important than saving people, I don't think you would have bragged about it. But you did, and that points towards a sense of....discomfort, perhaps? I can't really answer that. That's up to you to answer....if you ever fucking admit it in the first place.
Al-if you're curious as to where the money goes, you can just get a financial statement from them. If the policies are the same as they were 4 years ago, you can just call them up, and they'll point you to the right direction.
As far as Prisonplanets claims....there are too many things that are exageratted, and even outright false, for me to take the article seriously. However, I'm suprised it hasn't been circulating amongst neocons, considering that they were the ones that kept the Red Cross out of NO in the first place.
__________________
I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out.
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09-09-2005, 06:11 PM
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#9
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: new england
Posts: 144
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I suppose my reply to this will sound defensive... so be it.
I never meant to brag about any donations I've made to various relief organizations. I apologize if that was how my post came across. If I wanted to do that, I'd give you a dollar figure and a list. Screw that.
I have spent the last four years working for the Humane Society in various capacities, mainly as a vet tech. "Helping out a few cats [or dogs, or rabbits, or ferrets, or what have you]..." is my mission in life. I'd be a lousy nurse for people, but I'm a pretty good tech with critters. We all have our bailiwicks.
That said, do I value animals over people? No. And rightly, most monies are directed to humanitarian relief. But a great many people (including myself) feel that their pets are family members, and frankly, if I'd lost all of my material goods in a disaster, knowing that my pets were safe would be of great comfort to me.
That's why HSUS, Noah's Wish, AHA, and many others are in the Gulf Coast.
In PZB's case, I simply calculated how much I would likely spend on books in the next two months, resolved to go to the library more often, and sent the difference.
I'm lucky, I know. Call me an asshole if you want to.
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09-09-2005, 11:45 PM
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#10
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Right Here
Posts: 3,442
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnossos
I suppose my reply to this will sound defensive... so be it.
I never meant to brag about any donations I've made to various relief organizations. I apologize if that was how my post came across. If I wanted to do that, I'd give you a dollar figure and a list. Screw that.
I have spent the last four years working for the Humane Society in various capacities, mainly as a vet tech. "Helping out a few cats [or dogs, or rabbits, or ferrets, or what have you]..." is my mission in life. I'd be a lousy nurse for people, but I'm a pretty good tech with critters. We all have our bailiwicks.
That said, do I value animals over people? No. And rightly, most monies are directed to humanitarian relief. But a great many people (including myself) feel that their pets are family members, and frankly, if I'd lost all of my material goods in a disaster, knowing that my pets were safe would be of great comfort to me.
That's why HSUS, Noah's Wish, AHA, and many others are in the Gulf Coast.
In PZB's case, I simply calculated how much I would likely spend on books in the next two months, resolved to go to the library more often, and sent the difference.
I'm lucky, I know. Call me an asshole if you want to.
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I can't speak for Loy, and wouldnt try to if I could..
But I know we are all really messed up about this nightmare, and many of us, you included are doing what you feel is right and just to do in the wake of this catastrophe..
I spent hours on the phone yesterday making calls for people who were being told by the Army that they were going to be forced out of their homes against their wills, and that they would have to abandon their animals to die, because they were not going to be able to bring them..
I even got the Press Secretary for Senator Landrieu on the phone, somefrigginhow and told her what the Army was telling these people about their animals..I called the SPCA, Noah's Ark, you name it, I called them..
Today I read on www.nola.com that the Army apparently had a change of 'heart' and people are going to be allowed to take their animals with them when they are forced out of their homes..
Now I'm sure that all my ranting wasnt responsible for that, but it was something I guess, and at least I felt like I was being useful..
Now some people would say, " You have family members missing, why in the Hell would you give a crap about what happens to pets that belong to complete strangers?? "
All I can say, is you have to do what feels right inside..
I couldnt sit here and do nothing, and I cant be there now searching for my family, but I could do this small thing..
You did the same...
You care, and your heart pointed you in the direction you were meant to go..
There is so much help needed, any help, of any kind, can't be wrong, or misplaced..
You did the right thing, and your actions reflect the loving and compassionate person that we have all come to know you as the last couple of years..
Dont feel the need to defend your choices or your actions, to anyone..
You know yourself better than anyone else, and you totally did the right thing..
We all show our pain, our fear, our compassion, differently..
And it is good and necessary that each of us is motivated in a different direction to help..
At least that facet of our humanity still remains..
No worries ok? You just keep being you..
We wouldnt have it any other way..
Hugs..
Last edited by Empty_Purple_Stars; 09-09-2005 at 11:54 PM.
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09-10-2005, 09:35 AM
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#11
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Posts: 1,608
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My dog IS a family member. Ask my mom.
But to donate to Poppy's cats NOW? I dunno... (licks his balls without the aid of a bunjee cord) ...I just dunno... (purrrrs)....
__________________
Undead again...
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09-10-2005, 10:18 AM
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#12
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Nor Cal
Posts: 182
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Yahoo is the biggest website in the world? I highly doubt that. Nobody uses Yahoo with Google around...but just for the record, I switched over BEFORE it was trendy to use Google.
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09-10-2005, 03:03 PM
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#13
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: new england
Posts: 144
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Thank you, EPS. I hope that you find your family soon. *hugs back*
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09-22-2005, 10:52 AM
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#14
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: California
Posts: 135
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I've experienced Red Cross fuckery on a few of occasions now, been on the recieving end of it twice actually. Given actual proof that has come to light concerning the Red Cross and things that I've seen happen in real life, I don't trust them one dammed bit.
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