5 minutes in the car listening to The World on NPR gave me two sad thoughts....

[NRaleighLiberal]

both stemmed from an interview with someone regarding conditions due to the devastating typhoon.

The first - that BIG NEWS has a shelf life of - what? - a week...no, day...no hour....because short attention span theater makes people need to be repeatedly stimulated with something new. we move on to the next shiny object before the problem that spurred the BIG NEWS is even digested, never mind fixed. Those of us who follow weather at all, once we saw the radar images, knew that this would be unimaginable in the damages done (just as we knew watching Katrina approach NOLA). The damage is so bad that it takes a long time just to figure out what happened, due to loss of so much infrastructure, access - and people. And by then, we've moved on - the media has moved on - to the next big event.

The second - that people who wish to open their hearts and wallets and bank accounts with generosity have to be so careful as to where the money goes - the interviewee made a plea for help, but also a warning for corruption - of the victim government itself. And we've all been through local challenges where the scammers come out at once.

I am normally an upbeat person - but am amazed at how quickly I can become disillusioned these days. Just 5 minutes is all it took.

I know that this is a generalization and of course there are shining exceptions....but it does seem to be the trends...to me, anyway.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

1. Isn't The World produced by PRI?

They have some good programming such as Marketplace and This American Life.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Yes, but comes across on our local NPR outlet. I think it is collaborative bet. BBC and NPR?

I don't catch it often, but usually enjoy it when I go.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Yes; it's on the BBC World Service in the middle of the night here

PRI’s The World crosses borders and time zones to bring stories home that matter. It’s about the things that connect us around the globe. We’re heard on over 300 stations across North America. Hosted by Marco Werman, The World is a co-production of WGBH/Boston, Public Radio International, and the BBC World Service.

http://www.pri.org/programs/the-world

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I hear you, my dear NRaleighLiberal...

All I have is this:

[KoKo]

4. Agree.......

and what you say in your last part as a "caution."


The second - that people who wish to open their hearts and wallets and bank accounts with generosity have to be so careful as to where the money goes - the interviewee made a plea for help, but also a warning for corruption - of the victim government itself. And we've all been through local challenges where the scammers come out at once.

I am normally an upbeat person - but am amazed at how quickly I can become disillusioned these days. Just 5 minutes is all it took.

I think "caution" is the "better part of valor" these days. (It's an old expression...but one I grew up with). We've all been through so much and we care so much. But, "caring" is not in "VOGUE" these days for what it's true essence is.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. thank you.

[jakeXT]

7. Santa costumes, 4-inch high heels, and cocktail dresses ?

After the tsunami, similarly well-intentioned people cleaned out their closets, sending boxes of “any old shoes” and other clothing to the countries. I was there after the tsunami and saw what happened to these clothes: Heaps of them were left lying on the side of the road. Cattle began picking at them and getting sick. Civil servants had to divert their limited time to eliminating the unwanted clothes. Sri Lankans and Indonesians found it degrading to be shipped people’s hand-me-downs. I remember a local colleague sighed as we passed the heaps of clothing on the sides of the road and said “I know people mean well, but we’re not beggars.” Boxes filled with Santa costumes, 4-inch high heels, and cocktail dresses landed in tsunami-affected areas. In some places, open tubes of Neosporin, Preparation H, and Viagra showed up. The aid community has coined a term for these items that get shipped from people’s closets and medicine cabinets as SWEDOW—Stuff We Don’t Want.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/11/how_to_help_typhoon_haiyan_survivors_in_the_philippines_the_only_donation.html

[KoKo]

8. Sadly..I have neighbor across street from me...and they donate

everything they don't want to relief efforts. They belong to a local Country Club for Golf/Tennis/Swim. Whenever there's a DISASTER ....they bag up their STUFF and send it off taking a healthy tax deduction (which they brag about) along with wiping a tear for those "poor people" who are so devastated that they think they want their Country Club Party Clothes and their old cosmetics and "stuff" because "those poor people are hurting so bad."

They never speak about it again.

I hate to condemn them...for what "My Arrogance" thinks is Their Ignorance and Insensitivity. But, they really BELIEVE that they are donating to "those poor people" is what they need to "Feel Good about THEMSELVES after such a Tragedy" and, also, to feel good about their Donations as their "Duty" to serve their Faith.

Look...to me they are clueless...but, then what can one do? Am, "I" maybe more clueless than them?