dr.e

Dorian

SO STOP WITH THE LIE RHETORIC ALREADY!

thank you Spirasol.

Dorian

One way to respond is to just respectfully disagree. In fact, my
original post on that issue was a supportive response to a former vet
who expressed his opinion that more often than not the gratitude
expressed was experienced as superficial. I was trying to add to that
and point out that opinion about this was not fixed. I do by the way
express gratitude for their service, including my brother's, I just
think it is more nuanced and the gratitude expressed could be expressed
more concretely.

No need to carry this further, D.E., we are out of sync with the current
post, so best end it here as well. Thanks for the resend,, and have a
great day!

Thank you for your comments, and welcome back.

Reading your comment on “reflexive emotional patriotism” (something I am afraid I may suffer of), reminded me that my response to your latest comment on the “Thank You for Your Service” post has now scrolled down into the never-never cyberspace. I did not see any more comments from you, so, I wanted to let you know that I did have the courtesy to answer your last comments wherein you were so gracious as to tell me a little more about your brother.

Here it is:

Spirasol:

I have thought long and hard about how to respond to your comments, and it seems to me that no matter how I respond, my comments may not be accepted by you as sincere and well-meaning.

Well here they go.

First, thank you for providing a few details, publicly, about your brother. You didn’t have to do this, thus it’s appreciated.

If I understand the circumstances correctly, your brother—for whatever reasons—decided not to serve out his military commitment. I will be the last one to condemn him without knowing all the circumstances. But I hope that the military justice system did consider all the facts and circumstances and acted in a correct and just manner. If the military justice system didn’t mete out justice, I hope that his lawyers and judges who are involved in his case will be able to bring a satisfactory end to what you call a “long and complicated story.”

With respect to thanking those who have served, let me first tell you—and you may call me old-fashioned, stupid, naïve or whatever—that I believe in patriotism, honor, serving our country. That does not mean that I believe or support every war that comes along. God knows how much I have protested the Iraq invasion and occupation. But, by God, I honor and support those who have served in that war, as I honor and respect those who have served in the Vietnam war and other wars. And I will always thank them for their service, for whatever reason they did so. Yes, I understand that some do it for economic reasons, some do it “to stay out of the brig,” some “because they feel powerless,” “some because they can't get out of it,” etc.

But those who serve, nevertheless, especially when our country is at war, face the same risks, make the same sacrifices, face the same rigors, face the same bullets and IEDs (and many of them make the ultimate sacrifice) as their gung-ho buddies who have volunteered for patriotic reasons. And, because of that, I will thank even those young men and women for their service.

Yes, there are some who refuse to serve because of religious reasons, or “matters of conscience.” I will not attack them, especially when they are willing to pay the price our society demands for such actions and protests. But I firmly believe that the vast majority of our young men and women who serve do so willingly and knowing the risks—and the rewards.

Whenever I meet a person who has served (or have the opportunity on these comments boards), I will continue to thank him or her for his or her service, and am willing to take my chances with the “nuances,” or the reaction that I may get.

In that spirit I, again, thank your brother for his service and wish him well.

Just waking up here in America and just read your very gracious e-mail—and your comment here.

Again, very flattering, and especially nice of you to comment on The Moderate Voice.

Hope you will have the chance to peruse some of the other pieces by my co-contributors. I am sure most of them would be “quicker on their feet” in front of that intimidating microphone. Their bios are under “About TMV Authors.” If the occasion arises, please give a couple of them an opportunity.

By the way, to our readers, the BBC's “World Have Your Say,” is a superb live, worldwide program, where you'll get to hear the opinions, not only of Americans, on the important issues, but by people all around the world.

Give it a listen, and perhaps a “Say”

Dorian

dduck12 is right, guests will always think they came across worse than they actually did; and there are always more points to make than time allows!

Thanks for posting your thoughts on your experience and we look forward to speaking to you on the programme in future. Best wishes, the WHYS team

country total funding// $ percapita // % of total

Sweden 18657792 // 2.017 // 2.24
Luxembourg 722900 1.487 0.09
Denmark 7376543 1.349 0.88
Guyana 1000000 1.312 0.12
Norway 4939341 1.026 0.59
Estonia 1000000 0.746 0.12
United Kingdom 29371581 0.477 3.52
Australia 8992806 0.422 1.08
United States 114632301 0.364 13.75
Finland 1803752 0.339 0.22
Switzerland 1941748 0.257 0.23
New Zealand 1000000 0.234 0.12
France 14398778 0.231 1.73
Netherlands 2886003 0.174 0.35
Canada 5491330 0.164 0.66
Germany 10822512 0.132 1.3
WORLD TOTAL 833649757 0.122 100
Spain 4329004 0.096 0.52
Brazil 15530000 0.080 1.86
Belgium 651876 0.061 0.08
Italy 2675568 0.045 0.32
Japan 5327154 0.042 0.64
Morocco 1000000 0.031 0.12
Poland 1089466 0.029 0.13
Czech Republic 288600 0.028 0.03
Greece 290000 0.026 0.03
China 10405286 0.008 1.25
Russian Federation 700000 0.005 0.08
Indonesia 1000000 0.004 0.12
South Africa 134904 0.003 0.02
Private (individuals & organisations) 212839080 25.53
Others 210064336 25.2
World Bank (emergency grant) 100000000 12
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) 25781609 3.09
UN & agencies 10000000 1.2
European Commission 4329000 0.52
Donors not specified 2111391
Inter-American Development Bank 200000 0.02

Showing latest available data.
Rank Countries Amount
# 1 Norway: 30.263 per 1 population
# 2 Luxembourg: 23.476 per 1 population
# 3 Australia: 9.607 per 1 population
# 4 Sweden: 9.553 per 1 population
# 5 Netherlands: 9.508 per 1 population
# 6 New Zealand: 9.17 per 1 population
# 7 Finland: 8.424 per 1 population
# 8 Denmark: 7.548 per 1 population
# 9 Ireland: 6.474 per 1 population
# 10 Canada: 5.365 per 1 population
# 11 Japan: 4.717 per 1 population
# 12 France: 4.006 per 1 population
# 13 Switzerland: 3.872 per 1 population
# 14 Germany: 3.797 per 1 population
# 15 Austria: 3.421 per 1 population
# 16 Greece: 3.093 per 1 population
# 17 Belgium: 2.895 per 1 population
# 18 Spain: 2.826 per 1 population
# 19 United States: 2.678 per 1 population
# 20 United Kingdom: 2.465 per 1 population
# 21 Italy: 1.618 per 1 population
# 22 Portugal: 1.23 per 1 population
Total: 156.006 per 1 population
Weighted average: 7.1 per 1 population

DEFINITION: Total amount of funds commited to Tsunami aid. Fund commitments refer to the amount of money governments have officially set aside for Tsunami relief. Funds pledged (click here to view the statistic) refers to the amount countries have publicly announced they would contribute. Hence, pledges can often fall far short of the final commitment. Per capita figures expressed per 1 population.

It is not to disparage the entire American effort but the whole world both welcomes and fears American involvement………..because we have a big footprint, sometimes our military never leaves. Other countries contribute what they can (The Cubans were there training doctors and sending doctors before the quake). It is also true (I'm sure you can find the stats on the web) that the big dollar amounts are posted in the millions, it has been written that the USA is “cheap.” It was said after the Indonesian tsunami too. when one looks at contributions per capita. The smaller social democratic Scandinavian countries tend to be much more generous in this regard.

But hey, I certainly hope that all the money and effort and compassion and supplies by all the countries involved will reach the people in need. I had been wondering vis-a-vis the airport bottleneck, wonder why they don't just parachute the supplies down………….and lo and behold that is what I witnessed in the tv news today. Yes!