U.N. to distribute very special humanitarian aid to Burma cyclone victims
If I had read this story on a conservative parody site like Scrappleface or The Nose on Your Face, I’d think, “come on, guys, that’s a little heavy-handed.”
But, it’s real:
The United Nations will send nearly a quarter of a million condoms into cyclone-hit Myanmar to help needy survivors with no access to contraceptives, a UN official says.
So far, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said it had sent 72 800 condoms to survivors struggling to maintain their family planning after the storm hit in early May.
If any one story sums up what the U.N. has become, this is it. It’s at once so clueless and out-of-touch to be darkly comical (Hey, you know these people rebuilding their lives amid the bloated corpses and amoebic dysentery and famine really need? Some condoms!) while at the same time being sinister and malevolent, and redolent of Margaret Sanger’s eugenics movement. Somewhere poor brown people are multiplying, UNFPA notes with alarm, and primly resolve to help them stop.
They’re a very C.S. Lewis sort of villain, thoroughly dangerous and yet still laughable, especially because of the deadly seriousness with which they take themselves. If you’ve read The Screwtape Letters or especially That Hideous Strength, you’ll know what I mean. What is the United Nations but the National Institute for Coordinated Experiments writ large?
Hat tip to Vanderleun. One of his commenters speculates that there may be even more in those “reproductive health” kits than reported in the article:
Hmm, they’ve stopped mentioning the manual vacuum aspirators included in the standard “reproductive health kits” the UN sends into disaster areas. The probably focus-grouped even worse than the condoms. (Seriously, there was some complaining when the full contents of the “RH Kit” was mentioned in news reports after the Indian Ocean tsunami a few years ago.)
(What are the aspirators for? Well, when your country is hit by a natural disaster, isn’t the first thing you think of the urgent need to restore proper abortion services? But alas there is a lack of electricity, hence the manually-operated aspirators.)
I don’t find any mention of that RH Kit backlash after the tsunami, but the kits with the vacuum aspirators for abortions were being discussed by the UN last year for refugees in Tanzania. (.pdf link; ctrl-f for “aspirator”.) More on the UNFPA’s abortion-machine handouts to Kosovar refugees here. Interestingly, UNFPA was invited to share this technology with the Kosovars by Slobodan Milosevic, who saw it as sort of a pre-emptive continuation of his ethnic cleansing program.
Seriously, read that last one. It may be some small consolation to you that the Bush Administration has, for the past four years, withheld any U.S. funds from going to UNFPA. Good for them.
__________
{Post by See-Dubya}
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Trackbacks
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Breakthrough in Burma: Shwe allows outsiders to save lives
- Shocka: The UN Does Something Useful » Pursuing Holiness
- ridin’ with the king » U.N. aid to Myanmar??
- The Mahablog » Blinking Over Burma
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » The United Nations will send nearly a quarter of a million condoms into cyclone-hit Myanmar
- The Marshian Chronicles » Cyclone Nargis & Myanmar, 5-23-2008
- LOL: UN sending condoms to storm victims in Burma
- Yet Another Reason To Try And Ignore News From The U.N. « Tai-Chi Policy
- Someone at the UN needs their head seen to « Something should go here, maybe later.
- The Federalist » Dude, Where's My Emergency Ration
- Michelle Malkin » Report: U.N. wasting billions on carbon offset scam
- Michelle Malkin » Report: U.N. wasting billions on carbon offset scam
- Michelle Malkin » Burmese tyrants: Aid? We don’t need no stinking foreign aid!
- Michelle Malkin » Introducing “Panties for Peace”
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Well, at least they’re not sending chocolate-covered cotton balls.
Oh, condoms, is the UN sending in peacekeeping forces?
These people have perverted the idea of humanitarian aid. The only solution is public opinion in light of our present house/senate makeup.
I guess the Useless Nations decided after their last humanitarian disaster in Africa that it would be safer for the young female children to practice safe sex when they are raped by their peace keeping troops. Provided the Burma Junta will allow them to send some in so the Burmese troops look better than what the UN use. We really need to get out of this organization and throw the bums out of this country. I’m sure Donald Trump can turn the real estate into some very nice condos.
Good grief.
I dunno. Maybe the thinking is that when a natural disaster strikes, the first thing people want to do is run out and have lots of sex. Erm, or whatever. It’s only a theory.
Next time, protect your condoms more carefully so the UN can focus on more important thingies, like food and water and medical services.
That was my first thought. Before the UN’s *ahem* generous donation, there might has been a lot of unprotected sex going on. How long before they send in a mass of abortionists to “humanely” vacuum out those “unwanted” babies?
When will people wake up and see that the UN is NOT humanitarian but just plain evil.
This is probably the only kind of “humanitarian aid” the
MyanmarBurmese government will allow in. They certainly won’t allow in food.so they can considerate when raping the local population..
Just when I think the U.N. cannot become any more idiotic, they go and surprise me, like this!
The U.S. should have bailed out of the UN and sent them packing years ago. Why remain a member of a body politic that does nothing but disparage the USA?
However, they want to be the “peace keepers” in war torn areas of the world (where it’s safe) yet they can’t even get proper humanitarian aid to the areas where it’s needed.
They do have the wherewithal to send a delegation to the United States, of all places, to inspect human rights violations and specifically voting and racial infractions they’ve heard so much about in the mainstream media and Democratic HQs.
Can we not evict the U.N. from our soil. Let’s set them up in some Third World country where they really should be anyhow.
When I think back to the tsunami, Katrina and the various other disasters that have made the news in my lifetime for some reason “…survivors struggling to maintain their family planning…” does not come to mind.
Will they be setting up field hospitals to provide disaster related abortions as well?
This is the organization that the liberals would hand over our sovereignty and our protection to?
God help us.
And both Hillary and Barack would have us submit to the whim and whimsy of the Useless Nations. What has the UN ever done well? Or even done sorta right? Condoms? So that there will be no future Burmians for the next disaster?
nuf sed
Added to the above- The Useless Nations didn’t donate condoms to the poor victims of Hurricane Katrina. How racist of them!
nuf sed
Hey, who needs food, water, electricity, proper housing and shelter, sanitary conditions, or anything else that might be equal to some semblace of a normal life?
Honestly people, if it makes you feel that bad … just remember … they were more likely than not paid for by the unwitting and unwilling American taxpayer. We the People! (C’mon, you did not really think they were going to take it from the retirement funds of such heroes as Kofi Annan and Jimmy C now did you?)
Somebody please show me where this is in the Constitution again? My copy of the Constitution seems to be missing that part.
U.N. = Wormwood
___________________________________
You can’t make this stuff up!
Cue Rusty or lgm to swoop in and explain why these people need condoms at a time like this… 3…2…1
Is a condom the answer to everything for these people?!
At the risk of being banned:
Well, any time they come in to “help”, you can be certain somebody is going to get skrooed in the end.
Condoms are useful for all sorts of things, ask any Vietnam Vet.
78,000 condom to starving people. Get. A. Clue.
And people wonder why I think the UN is worthless.
On the bright side, thay can use them to store water. Now all they need are some carbon-neutral solar cookers.
Does this mean that everytime my country has been screwed by the UN, that I can assume they were considerate enough to use a condom?
There is a bright point here, at least when the wives and daughters of the oppostion in burma are raped, they will be protected. /sarcasm off, sort of.
Not pleasant I know but unfortunitly probably true.
Just sayin’
The spelling and grammer part of my brain has not received caffine yet.
30, here I am.
That’s a bit much, is it not. To say that distribution of condoms is an attempt to prevent “brown babies” is absolutely ridiculous. Condoms are a poverty preventing mechanism and Burma has quite a bit of poverty in its midst right now.
This would be a story if the U.N. were only sending contraceptives. They’re not. They’re sending tons and tons of humanitarian aid. Who cares if they send condoms too? Why care? This harms no one. It only allows people to make slanderous accusations of eugenics.
Anyone want to bet on when the nutroots and other Democrats will start clamoring for an investigation of the no-bid contracts award to Big Rubber?
Is something wrong here? Did they send condoms instead of food and clothing? Maybe a little condom usage will pick up people’s spirits.
I told ya so.
Wealth is a poverty preventing mechanism. Condoms are contraceptives, not contraliabilities.
Only culturally-insensitive American and European lefties consider children to be liabilities. The rest of humanity believes that children are gifts.
Hmmm. lgm may be onto something. If he stretched a condom over his head and held his breath, my spirits would pick up!
lgm and rusty, The point is with so little aid actualy getting there, why didn’t they send food instead of condoms? Sending even this many probably meant someone died of starvation at this point. Yes things are that bad.
Well, they can double as floatation devices in case of flood. The U.N………always thinking ahead.
Yeah, tens of thousands die…send in condoms to prevent a regrowth of population.
No mention of the role of the junta in creating economic disaster, or the UN’s failed policies - blame poverty on babies and make sure people don’t reproduce.
Disgusting.
The money spent on condoms could go to more supplies…so then perhaps the junta wouldn’t hoard it (because that’s what they were doing with the earliest aid, wasn’t it?)
The UN staffers can always swallow a several heroin-filled condoms before their return flights to Geneva. God knows that these underpaid humanitarians need to supplement their meager incomes.
On May 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 am, lgm said:
Is something wrong here? Did they send condoms instead of food and clothing? Maybe a little condom usage will pick up people’s spirits.
ugh
I know your entire family just died but why not just go have sex with a radom stranger? You will feel better, here is a few condoms…. /sarcasm off.
Ya know LGM, I wish your folks would’ve used one.
You mean to tell me people are starving to death, drinking sewer water, living in filth, have no homes, but they just can’t stop humping like dogs? I don’t believe it for a minute.
ROFLMBO
Ditto x’s 1000000
Rusty has solved the world poverty problem, prevent the poor from procreating. Now, poor being a relative term, what is the income cutoff before you cannot have children? I would be interested to know. I would also be interested if this falls under UN jurisdiction. Should we put Rusty in charge to oversee this effort? SHEESH
I understand those things don’t work with bananas.
Survivor in Myanmar:
“You know I’m pretty hungry, but I can’t wait to get my groove on, but you know what, I can’t really afford children, so maybe I’ll wrap it up.”
UN stop pushing an agenda. You are supposed to be delivering food and medical supplies. I don’t think getting it on, is on most people’s mind right now.
If they did that in this country, there would be no more democrats.
Isn’t this akin to a summarized version of Sanger’s eugenics “solution” for reducing poverty in American slums?
On May 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 am, Rusty said:
To quote J. Jonah Jameson, “Slander is spoken; in print it’s libel.”
And no, Rusty, it’s not “a bit much.” Margaret Sanger was a racist eugenicist. Whether people in Planned Parenthood and other organizations dedicated to birth control and abortion actively think of themselves as eugenicists barely matters, because they’re infected with the thinking that the population reduction has to come from somewhere, and the implication is that someone else’s children are somehow “surplus”.
I am actually against no bid contracts. I believe the government should provide, heres a strange idea, equal opportunity to all capable competitors with regard to the bidding process. So a nutroot(I dont know what that)I am. The idea that only one company can do a certain type of work is ridiculous. If you can get multiple companies to make satellites, you can get multiple companies to do transport and cement work as well as all the other things needed.
P.S. Keep it quiet. Halliburton Corporate is down the street and ya know how those guys are.
Well…he just might be the person for the job. I understand he recently abandoned his newborn son in the woods.
Wait a minute, now! The Junta is not letting relief supplies to reach the masses. So…the UN sends condoms to the area, with the knowledge that the military Junta will intercept them, and use them to; a)cover the barrels of their AK’s to prevent the storm water from entering the barrels; b) don’t want the Junta’s soldiers to rape without protection; or, c) sending the Burmese people a message to F-off.
There are dangers in using no-bid contracts, but there are situations where they are entirely justified–usually when speed is essential.
Having until recently been involved in the government contracting process, I can attest to the needless lethargy inherent in the system.
Given the time lag between the cyclone and the condom drop, I doubt that the UN solicited bids from condom suppliers. But who knows? Maybe the UN has forward-deployed stocks of condoms around the globe? Probably the brother-in-law of a mid-level procurement bureaucrat received the contract.
Because the first thing that comes to mind when I see piles of rotting corpses is, “hey lets get it on!!!” /sarcasm off.
SHEESH is right.
I’m thinking the UN had “Life Raft Construction” in mind. C’mon! They don’t call it a “raincoat” for nothing!
I don’t mean to sound like a tinfoil hat nut here but the UN is full of eugenicists, and it really is high on their agenda. Just look through the history of the UN’s population control initiatives, both public and that have been exposed.
I swear to god the this Global Warming sham will be used to advance the eugenics agenda of these international bodies. Remember, the highest form of elitism is thinking you have the right to say if someone lives or dies.
Speaking of which, since the libs claim that biofuel consumption is the great creator of GHG’s, what is the OPEC nations position on global climate change? I’ve heard nary a twitter from them, unless you count the fact that they have refused to increase output to meet demand. Where’s the INT’L condemnation from AlGorites of these Islamic/Socialist Pollution Czars?
Ouch!
Soon my friend, that will be updated to human beings.
They love it, just like the Oil Companies. Environmentalists are the perfect scapegoat for high oil prices - that’s why their biggest contributors are always the energy companies or their surrogates. Global Warming is simply collusion at the top to facilitate more government control due to artificial scarcity (through either high prices or actual supply scarcity).
Condoms. Of course. Because when a catastrophic disaster strikes, having kid-free sex is everyone’s primary concern. Yeah, Baby, forget the food, water, and medicine; let’s get busy!
“Yeah! That’s the way we roll at the U.N.“
Barry F:
It’s worse. Father’s Day is coming up. I bet he doesn’t get a card. Or even a tie.
Maybe a card made out of recycled wet leaves?
How soon is “soon?”
Aside from carbon dioxide, which is a plant fertilizer, what other GHG’s do human bodies produce (don’t say methane! That’s a bovine contribution.)
This is nothing new. After the 1994 post-Christmas tsunami, UNICEF and a few other politically correct organizations diverted several millions in much needed relief money to go on a scavenger hunt for human traffickers who proved to be phantoms. (UNICEF at the time was run by a lesbian feminazi named Carol Bellamy, who changed that organization’s mission from healing sick kids to “advocacy work for children” in her own words.) A spokeswoman couldn’t identify who or where the traffickers were, but “We know they’re out there,” she said.
Come to think of it, the Burmese junta has been accused of human trafficking. What is the UN doing to investigate this and take appropriate action?
That’s it, evil carbon dioxide - remember that the only way to control your carbon footprint is to not breath, or not exist.
Why they are setting up peacekeeper camps next to the brothels of course. What else?
In fact thats where the 750,000 condoms come in.
idiots.
The Good News: the lubricated, flavored, french tickler and glow in the dark UN condoms are flowing into the emergency nutrition and triage camps as fast as they can unload them.
The Bad News: millions of copies of “Naing Has Two Daddies” are still languishing in the hull of the USS Essex, due to misplaced priorities and Myanmar Junta red tape.
On a more serious note:
After Hurricane Ivan in (2004?) Teresa Heinz-Kerry admonished a relief center by mandating:
I don’t know if rubbers would have made the Top-10 had Mama T been allowed to keep speaking, but I certainly hope that the UN doesn’t forget to dispatch thousands of clean needles as well.
After all, Burmese junkies are people too.
You know, that least they could have done was give out some edible underwear with the condoms too.
Sending these poor, devastated people condoms is like sending after dinner mints. Have all of the worlds leaders gone insane? That’ like sending earthquake victims JELL-O so they can watch it shake during after shocks.
I think this is another little scam the U.N. has. You see, they go to a company like this that provides all kinds of medical products and the company tells them, “we’ll donate this if you agree to buy our Lifestyle”. They take the bait. Money switches hands left and right all to help Michelle Obama’s children.
Alright folks, lets just think about this one minute.
At the risk of being accused of siding with LGM and Rusty I will make this statement up front:
The UN’s primary focus should be sending food and aid, not condoms. Furthermore, I *DO* think the UN is more or less worthless.
That said, consider this:
73,000 condoms will ammount to what? Lets say 20 condoms cost $10 (which is likely grossly overestimated), throw in a few extra bucks for transport. So let’s say, this is costing the UN $40000. Yay.
Then, let’s see if we can get a rational and accurate figure of just what they are spending on other aid.
I really do not think this is about abortion or eugenics. Is it a really hard stretch to imagine that some folks MIGHT want to have sex and that having condoms might prevent VDs?
To me, that isn’t such a terrible thing. I really don’t think the UN spending what is probably a paltry fraction of thier total aid on curbing VDs is bad.
Does that make me evil? I think not. The UN does a great deal of terrible things. This is just silly.
It was a risk, ZA.
Sending condoms to an area devastated by cyclones where thousands upon thousands of lives were lost, when they are in need of food, potable water, etc. is “silly”. Pointing out the idiocy of sending them is not.
The UN sending them condoms is the 21st Century equivalent of “Let them eat cake.” Could you imagine desperate people opening a box, hoping it is bread, and seeing instead, a box load of condoms.
#69 (no pun intended) Barry said:
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have been one of the most vocal critics of “Big Edible Underwear” ever since I learned about their deceptive levels of trans-fatty acids, and what they are doing to polar bears and the ozone layer.
Keep an eye out for my upcoming documentary, “Panty Raid-Me” in which I courageously illustrate the results from eating a diet of nothing but edible underwear (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for a month straight.
Mister P said (#74):
Well, not exactly cake, . . .
The article didn’t say this. Obviously food and clothing come first. But it does seem like a good idea to put a condom or two in a care package.
#72 said:
You know, you may be right. I can personally attest that, right after September 11, 2001, when we were sifting through four city blocks of rubble and carnage, not knowing if up to 50,000 of our neighbors and co-workers perished, and not knowing when the next building was going to fall on our heads…the first thing I remember thinking was, “Damn, I hope those free condoms arrive soon, because I’m about ready to get my freak on.”
Barry / et al.:
I reserve judgement until I know what the condom-cost breakout is. As I said, I suspect that compared to other very important aid, they are spending very little on condoms.
On that note, anyone know what they are spending on teddy bears? Teddy bears are also pretty useless to starving children, but they do make them happy. Sex makes adults happy, and condoms stop nasty things like Herpes, Genital warts, Syphillis, etc. from spreading.
I really don’t think this is so stupid to be honest. If the UN were spending 20% of its money on condoms it would certainlly be stupid, I sincerely doubt that is the case.
When you care enough to send less than the very best?
So, if “obviously food and clothing come first”, why didn’t the U.N. send that instead of condoms?
BrianNY:
That is a poor comparison and you know it, the reasons should be self-evident.
BarryF:
Are you saying the UN ONLY sent condoms? If that is the case I agree with you.
Why, ZA? Those people are over there sifting through rubble and carnage trying to find the remains of their friends, families and loved ones. Why would they be wanting to bump uglies more than Brian’s example?
Whoo hoo! EVERYONE should read both these books. Thanks Michelle for giving them both a nod. Entertaining, insightful, both pieces of prophetic fiction you will remember for the rest of your life.
Actually CS Lewis’ entire space trilogy is just as good. Michelle’s right; the UN seems to operate just like this. Professional, cultured evil.
BarryF:
Firstly, people will bump uglies even in the worst situations and it DOES make ppl happy
Secondly, in the NY example, you don’t need to go far to find condoms. The whole city wasn’t destroyed.
Come on folks. I am open to an honest discussion, let’s be fair about this thing. I want to know what the UN has spent total. THEN, I will form my full opinion. Until then, I am working on the assumption that this thing was next to nothing in thier budget.
Well…since you ask, yes. Yes, it is.
Actually we should probably cut these guys some slack. My opinion is…they’re only doing unto others as they would be done by. They’re not lacking for food water and shelter, so it doesn’t occur to them how desperately others need it. Condoms, OTOH, speak to these radical liberals’ constant obsession. Why wouldn’t they assume the first need someone would think of in an emergency would be a condom?
Oops! Saw too late that see-dubya wrote this post, not Michelle. WTG see-dubya!
#80 said:
If by “poor comparison” you mean that Burmese and American victims of horrendous devastation are more likely to want to mend themselves, assess their situation and start rebuilding their infrastructure BEFORE they start dabbling in sexual intimacy or the karma sutra…then sorry, I guess I don’t “know it.”
I’m not there yet. I want to know why the UN is sending condoms to a region where lack of food, shelter and medical aid results in more dead people with every passing moment.
I’m guessing the rubbers are for the UN personnel, if they’re behavior in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Congo and various other places around the world is any indicator.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/081zxelz.asp
What fun is helping poor people if you can’t abuse the women and children?
US out of UN, UN out of US.
s/b “their behavior” in my previous post. Darn it.
BrianNY:
I think its a poor comparison because in the NY example, condoms aren’t hard to find. I also think you are working on a false assumption in that it is my opinion that people will have sex and no less so under devastating circumstances.
If the UN spends a fraction of a penny on the dollar to help stop the spread of VDs (which would be even harder to treeat in a crisis), then that is not a bad thing.
If we want to have a UN hate fest it isn’t hard, I just think this is just quibble.
Give it up zero. A team of 20,000 forensic accountants couldn’t tell you what the UN spends. If you want to wait for that answer…
The UN doesn’t care about stopping the spread of VDs, they care about stopping the spread of people.
#90 said:
I am working on nothing less than the laws of logistics. If people are still dropping from an immediate lack of potable water, nutrition and triage aid, then population control, STDs, teddy bears, bibles, tooth paste, etc. can wait until later.
The “well, the UN is already sending food, water and medicine” argument - in defense for condom deliveries, when people in that region are continuing to die from lack of food, water and medicine tells me two things. It tells me that more food, water and medicine are still needed…and it tells me that the UN’s logistics are not being prioritized.
BrianNY:
To tag on your comment, no one could posit that VD is the greatest health threat facing the Burmese people at this time. Kinda rules out that rationale for the rubbers.
BrianNY:
I understand what you are saying. You are saying that even if the UN spent $100 on condoms they shouldn’t have. That should have been an extra $100 for food.
I get it.
Suffice it to say, I disagree. Furthermore, I don’t think we have enough information on just what the UN’s logistics, cost-analysis, estimates on what costs VDs could cause, etc. are to make an informed judgement.
That said, I am inclined to say, this whole thing is just silly and there are far more serious things to attack the UN over.
Tiger:
No one is saying its the greatest health risk.
Isn’t the junta confiscating and hording most all of the aide and distributing it as they see fit? Maybe the UN is trying to prevent the junta from getting VD’s at the brothels?
All sarcasm aside, I do see it as a waste of money and resources. When you’re living in an area with bloated corpses swelling the waterways and lack basic water and food and shelter any extra penny spent on getting that food and water and shelter is better spent than protecting against VD. But it doesn’t surprise me who is defending the actions of the UN in the slightest.
You people just don’t understand the good intentions of the UN! They sent the Conehead chewing gum to these people to help take their minds off of food while they starve to death. If the UN sent food instead, they would not be able to boast about a reduction in world population due to their condom program. Aren’t the priorities of the UN obvious to you people yet?
How biodegradable are condoms?
Why is it that the ecochondriacs complain about balloons being bad for the environment but are silent when it comes to condoms?
Great post. You have no idea how much truth is in that one little statement.
But I am questioning why the UN, rather than addressing health priorites 1 through x chose to address priority x+1.
Any numbers in yet on UN spending? Bueller? Bueller?
Blah! Just another excuse for liberal morons in the UN to force their secular values on other countries.
So when the situation is desperate and it’s essential that food and medicine be brought in to a ravaged country, what does the UN send?
The same thing that the Luftwaffe sent to German soldiers trapped in Stalingrad in 1942.
Condoms must be the 8th Wonder of the World, no? Evidently they’re nutritious; they can prevent and cure virtually any disease or injury; they can keep you warm in the winter; and you can even use them as weapons or ammunition.
What can’t you do with them?
Are they edible????? Sounds like more typical UN waste to me. You have people without food or water and they send these.
We have people starving, dehyrated and in desperate need of medicine, so the UN sends condoms. Sad part about this is some people are defending the U.N.. Trust me, the last thing these people are concerned about is unprotected sex.
Why on earth do people assume that the victims are even remotely interested in sex right now?? Let me give a personal anecdote, here… The worst natural disaster I’ve ever been through was Hurricane Ivan in ‘04. For about a week after the hurricane, our world revolved around removing enourmous fallen pine trees from our yard, re-shingling the roof, and other myriad tasks in an attempt to get things back to the way they were. The furthest thing from our minds was sex– we were too exhausted, plus no electricity meant no air conditioning, so extra body-heat just wasn’t something we were interested in. We’re lucky in that we experience natural disasters in the US. These people do not have that benefit. They are not just trying to clean up their yards and get their homes put back together. They’re trying to find their missing friends and relatives while coping with the loss of so many such people. They can’t just drive to the closest distribution center and pick up bags of ice and MRE’s when the food in their refrigerators starts to spoil. They need food. They need clean water. They need shelter. TRUST me, they are not all thinking about “doing it” the first chance they get.
Someone commented above that the UN is basically just projecting their priorities on the Burmese people, and I have to agree. People who don’t have to worry about where they are going to sleep, where their water comes from, or where their next meal is coming from tend to have a hard time understanding the priorities of people who do.
ZA,
Have you ever delivered HA supplies? Have you ever packed a truck, helicopter or other relief vehicle? 72,000 condoms come in boxes. Boxes take up lots of space. Space is what we look at when packing these supplies more than weight or the cost of the item. It does not matter how much the condoms cost in comparison with the rest of the relief supplies sent in. The room that they took up prohibited water, food, medicines and clothing/blankets from being delivered. If in two months after the area was stabilized and there was progress being made, not probable, then go ahead and waste your time. Don’t do it now and don’t use my tax dollars more importantly.
It’s the UN version of:
“Let them eat cake”.
Be careful Michelle, now that you mentioned the Bush Administration’s refusal to fund this program….Juan McCain will fund it now!
Maybe the UN thought the condoms could be used as flotation devices?