Free Republic

May 26, 2010 After $1 trillion in aid, African countries are still worse off Johathan Clayton: commentary Most Africans are poorer today than they were 50 years ago. This may not prove that aid does not work, but it poses some very difficult questions: why is it that a continent that has attracted about $1 trillion in assistance is much worse off than at independence about 50 years ago? Then, countries such as Sierra Leone and Ghana had GDPs the same size or even larger than South Korea or Vietnam. Why is it that an idea that seemed so right,...

The Swedish government has sacked the director-general of the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), Anders Nordström, and announced a major overhaul of the sternly criticised public authority. Development aid minister Gunilla Carlsson on Thursday announced a reorganisation of Sida and appointed Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, former head of Save the Children Sweden, to lead the agency in the interim. "I am very happy that we have been able to recruit Charlotte Petri Gornitzka as interim general-director," Gunilla Carlsson said in a press conference on Thursday. The leadership of Sida will be soon be further strengthened by the appointment of Bo Netz,...

Beijing’s rebuff made Kim cut China trip short Request for extraordinary aid denied, as China adhered to UN sanctions May 17, 2010 BEIJING - China told North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during his recent visit that it will respect international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang and refused to provide extraordinary economic assistance, an informed source here told the JoongAng Ilbo. According to the source, the Chinese government’s position prompted Kim to cut short his stay in China. “At the luncheon between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Kim on May 6, the Chinese government informed the North that China will not provide...

The recent argument made on a handful of websites, blogs, columns, and in college lecture halls that US military aid to Israel is damaging to the United States is not only erroneous, it hurts the vital national security interests of our country and threatens the survival of the Jewish State. In fact US support for Israel is essential not only for the Jewish State’s national security but for America’s as well. Every bit of that support—and more—withstands all reasonable scrutiny. Under the 2010 US budget about $75 billion, $65 billion, and $3.25 billion will be spent on military operations and...

KIRKUK – After helping Iraqi Soldiers deliver supplies to a village near here recently, U.S. Soldiers took a back seat as the Iraqis handled the distribution of aid and interacted with the people.Capt. Azad, an Iraqi Army platoon leader, hands out supplies to citizens in the village of Doskushman, near Kirkuk, Iraq, April 22, 2010. U.S. 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Soldiers, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, helped their Iraqi counterparts transport the supplies to the village, and then took a back seat as Iraqi Forces took the lead on the mission. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Jessica...

4/19/2010 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Members of the 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron here recently adjusted office space to accommodate more than 1,100 pounds of humanitarian aid sent to Bagram Airfield. The donation, 38 boxes of shoes, was facilitated by Tech. Sgt. Ronald Knight, an air transportation operations center data records technician from the 455th EAPS. Sergeant Knight said when he was here in November, he received an e-mail from Brig. Gen. Steven L. Kwast, the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing commander. "General Kwast put the word out that hospital personnel had noticed a lot of children coming in...

The following article is a ** MUST READ ** for anyone who wants to know how public opinion against Israel is fed by the media and academia. Israeli journalist Ben-Dror Yemini's article brilliantly demonstrates how the international community's slanted narrative -- which ignores Muslim and Arab violence against Muslims and Arabs -- does injustice to Israel, which is falsely painted as the ultimate source of all conflict and violence in the world today. http://www.mideasttruth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8877 http://www.mideasttruth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8878 http://www.mideasttruth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8894

After getting millions of dollars to fight AIDS, some African countries responded by slashing their health budgets, new research says. For years, the international community has forked over billions in health aid, believing the donations supplemented health budgets in poor countries. It now turns out development money prompted some governments to spend on entirely different things, which cannot be tracked. The research was published Friday in the medical journal Lancet.

The argument that American military aid to Israel is damaging to the U.S. is not only erroneous, it hurts the national security interests of this country and threatens the survival of Israel. U.S. support for Israel is essential, not only for Israel’s national security, but for America’s. Every bit of that support -- and more -- withstands all reasonable scrutiny. Under the 2010 U.S. budget, about $75 billion, $65 billion and $3.25 billion will be spent on military operations and aid in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan during this fiscal year, respectively. Israel will receive $3 billion, in military aid only....

Tennessee's six historically black colleges and universities will receive an estimated $34.5 million over 10 years in badly needed assistance as part of the student loan reform legislation President Barack Obama signed into law last week.

4/2/2010 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) -- Tech. Sgt. James Harrell Jr. was on his way home from here after a shift with the 81st Security Forces Squadron about 5:15 a.m. March 26. As he traveled west on Pass Road, he turned south onto Rodenberg Avenue -- not his normal route home to Gulfport, Miss. "I can't explain it ... I just decided to turn there," Sergeant Harrell said. Sergeant Harrell is assigned to the 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., but is on temporary duty at Keesler AFB. As he approached Irish Hill Drive,...

National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon today assured President Hamid Karzai that New Delhi will continue its developmental efforts in Afghanistan. But India has temporarily suspended its medical mission in Kabul that was the target of a suicide attack last Friday. While Menon, in his interaction with Karzai and top Afghan officials, made it clear that reconstruction efforts will not be affected, sources said India will take a more cautious approach after the third major attack on its establishments here in the last two years. The Karzai government assured Menon that security for Indian establishments across Afghanistan would be increased...

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – The death toll in the Haiti quake has swelled to 200,000, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said as angry protests over the slow arrival of aid flared on the rubble-strewn streets. More than three weeks after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, Bellerive said his tiny Caribbean nation had been ravaged by "a disaster on a planetary scale" and detailed the tragic toll suffered by his people. "There are more than 200,000 people who have been clearly identified as people who are dead," he said in an interview with AFP, adding that another 300,000 injured had been treated, 250,000 homes had...

Haiti's voodoo high priest has claimed believers have been discriminated against by evangelical Christians who are monopolising aid sent to the earthquake-stricken country. Max Beauvoir, Haiti's "supreme master" of voodoo, alleged his faith's opponents had deliberately prevented much-needed help from reaching followers of the religion, which blends the traditional beliefs of West African slaves with Roman Catholicism. "The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves," he claimed. "They have the advantage that they control the airport where everything is stuck. They take everything they get to their own people and that's a shame. "Everyone is suffering the...

January 30, 2010   A barge carrying 400 tons (800,000 pounds) of Samaritan’s Purse emergency relief supplies arrived in Haiti on Friday. An assortment of heavy equipment was also on board, including a bulldozer, dump trucks, skid loaders, and flatbed trucks to help with debris removal, access clearing, hauling, and other difficult tasks.“One of the first things I want to do is help rebuild secure perimeters around churches to help them be established as distribution points for the community,” said Ken Isaacs, the vice president of projects for Samaritan’s Purse. “One of the first jobs we’ll tackle with the excavator is...

When it comes to any analysis of the problems facing Africa, Western society, and particularly people from the United States, encounter a logical disconnect that makes clear analysis impossible. That disconnect is the way life is regarded in the West (it’s precious, must be protected at all costs etc.), compared to the way life, and death, are regarded in Africa. Let me try to quantify this statement. In Africa, life is cheap. There are so many ways to die in Africa that death is far more commonplace than in the West. You can die from so many things--snakebite, insect bite,...

I do not know if what I’m about to write makes me a monster. I do know that it makes me a part of a miniscule minority, if Internet trends and news stories of the past weeks are any guide. “It”, is this: I haven’t donated a cent to the Haitian relief effort. And I probably will not. I haven’t donated to the Haitian relief effort for the same reason that I don’t give money to homeless men on the street. Based on past experiences, I don’t think the guy with the sign that reads “Need You’re Help” is going...

The truck was scheduled to arrive in Davie, FL. Tuesday afternoon, where all the items are to be transferred to a shipping container and loaded onto a boat for shipping on Feb. 1. Once there, folks from Cross Intl. and the Orphan Grain Train will make sure it gets into the hands of those who need it most. Many, many people will be blessed through the collective efforts of the people of Cypress.

Faiths unite in South Florida to help Haiti The Haitian earthquake has brought together different religious communities in South Florida, including some unexpected pairings. Like many who lost family during the earthquake in Haiti, Jude Pierre turned to his faith for solace and wanted to find a way to help. On Saturday, Pierre, a Christian from Miramar, found himself among shouts of Arabic prayers as he packed boxes of canned goods in a Miami Gardens warehouse, affixing stickers to packages that read ``Muslim Americans Help Haiti.''``I found out through a friend who sent me a link on Facebook,'' said...

Israel Aids Haiti While Arab Nations Are Noticeably Absent The Jerusalem Post just characterized Israel’s prompt response to Haiti’s earthquake victims as the Israel’s “public relations knight in shining armor.” That couldn’t be further from the truth. Israelis and non-Israeli Jews have a long history of helping those in need.