Comments on: Help Iranian quake survivors

Help Iranian quake survivors

hoder — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:40:35 -0800

Iran quake death toll hits 50,000. 150,000 survivors are homeless, hungry, and freezing. They really need your immediate help.

$110 can provide a tent for a family of five

$60 can provide drinking water to 30 people

$45 can provide space heaters to three families

$25 can provide blankets to a family of five

Mercy Corps has raised $188,397 so far, but this is far from enough.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:02:38 -0800

Pray & hope: more.

By: devbrain

devbrain — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:10:05 -0800

Metafilter headline: Iran quake death toll hits 50,000 Linked article headline: Iran quake toll could hit 50,000

By: xmutex

xmutex — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:17:30 -0800

Yeah, good call devbrain, it's only 25,000+ at this point, I mean; what a bunch of babies.

By: MrBaliHai

MrBaliHai — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:18:11 -0800

Thanks for posting this, hoder.

By: nyoki

nyoki — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:31:25 -0800

i don't know much about Mercy Corp . . . but from what they say about themselves on their site, it doesn't look like they are affiliated with any religious organizations . . . does anyone know if that is true or not? i always feel better donating to neutral relief agencies - especially as the political landscape stands in the US right now.

By: victors

victors — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:32:36 -0800

Thanks hoder. it up to: $191,392

By: stonerose

stonerose — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:45:45 -0800

nyoki, I'm not sure about Mercy Corps, but I can vouch for the competence and neutrality of MSF/Doctors Without Borders, and they are currently mounting a very robust response to the Bam earthquake.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:45:47 -0800

dubyuh and pals have all the money, let them clean it up.

By: Tryptophan-5ht

Tryptophan-5ht — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:23:16 -0800

25,000 people dead. I can't even imagine a crowd of 25,000 people... all dead. :-T thanks for posting. would be nice if the american public used this opportunity to show arab nations that we aren't muslim hating bigots....

By: victors

victors — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:25:47 -0800

quonsar -- I guess your effing around... right?

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:26:10 -0800

Doctors without Borders is also my relief charity of choice...I too can vouch for their impartiality and competence.

By: callmejay

callmejay — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:36:12 -0800

xmutex, I was going to post what devbrain did. It's not to belittle the dead, but to correct an error which seemed like it might have been intentional (albeit for a good cause.) I gave to Doctors Without Borders too.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:04:30 -0800

quonsar -- I guess your effing around... right? not really, i'm looking to my leader to set an example. how much is he giving, personally?

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:09:47 -0800

what is the figure which jesus, in his infinite mercy, is whispering into georgie boy's ear?

By: uosuaq

uosuaq — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:15:50 -0800

This might be a good thread for posting a link to the aid organization involved with this earthquake that you most trust or support...just an idea.

By: victors

victors — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:57:47 -0800

what is the figure which jesus, in his infinite mercy, is whispering into georgie boy's ear? ok well, this thing is over my bitterness threshold -- I guess not yours. <preach>They just went over $207,947 at the site. Mercy is mercy. Christian, republican, asshole, you, me... these folks need help. I'll ask them if they can eat snarky, but I doubt it.</preach>

By: victors

victors — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:02:18 -0800

This might be a good thread for posting a link to the aid organization involved with this earthquake that you most trust or support I guess that's a redundant qualifier for me -- if they are there I'll help them out -- if one is slightly more effective than the other then so be it. I'll spread it around to any link that seems half reasonable. Any one of them can turn out to be fucked up in the end.

By: titboy

titboy — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:14:02 -0800

i'm with stonerose on this one, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders is the choice org to donate to.

By: Eloquence

Eloquence — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:15:21 -0800

I'm personally somewhat disappointed that the Dean campaign isn't using some of their proven fundraising capability to help Iran out. It would make for good PR and be very effective. Perhaps it's for legal reasons.

By: BlueTrain

BlueTrain — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:15:50 -0800

quonsar, how you can possibly turn such a noble thread into your personal soapbox against Bush is beyond me. I hope threads like these become more common.

By: titboy

titboy — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:18:32 -0800

médecins sans frontières

By: tapeguy

tapeguy — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:33:25 -0800

I was watching the TV news earlier, and I have no way to verify this, but the UK has sent over one plane with £50,000 of aid on board. I was fucking disgusted with myself, considering the billions of pounds the country spent on celebrating Christmas. £50,000 works out at about 0.1 pence for every ten people in the British Isles. That really, really fucking sucks. I was looking for a way to donate. Thanks. If anyone can find a relevant charity that takes donations via paypal, let us know. Cheers.

By: victors

victors — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:48:51 -0800

tapeguy (or anybody in a similar situation) if you want paypal to me, I'll charge it. Just email me and we'll proceed from there...

By: mosch

mosch — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:58:30 -0800

Thanks for posting this hoder. I didn't give a lot, but I guess that blankets for a family of five is better nothing at all.

By: wendell

wendell — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:26:16 -0800

Don't badger quonsar so much. (Although you can quonsar a badger if you like.) If he's anything like me, he's just suffering a letdown after the Department Store Santa gig ends. The relief effort is only beginning, and you know how long it sometimes takes for The Powers That Be to decide to take action. But I hear the Administration is working on a tracking poll as to whether giving a rat's ass about earthquake victims in Iran will be appreciated by voters in the swing states and if the results show a 2% upward trend in the next two weeks, we'll be sending them all our surplus beef by MLK Day. </cynicism>

By: kablam

kablam — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:37:58 -0800

Sadness. "Many Iranians are remembering the fraud which followed the Roodbar earth quake of the last decade and how most foreign aids were stolen by officials in order to be sold on the black market. Indeed, many of the materials sent especially by the US, such as, medicines and tents were seen later as being sold in Tehran's streets while thousands died due to lack of the same necessary materials in the Roodbar region." The Iranian Regime's Incomptence (sic) 'Orders have been issued to arrest or shoot on any protester in the devastated areas under the label of "fighting looters".'

By: swerdloff

swerdloff — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:40:52 -0800

Quonsar: how much did you give? The US Military is helping at the instance of the President, despite Iran's government. More here. ---- Hoder - thanks for posting yet another important thread here.

By: LowDog

LowDog — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 20:28:23 -0800

would be nice if the american public used this opportunity to show arab nations that we aren't muslim hating bigots.... But we are...

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 20:58:41 -0800

quonsar: how much did you give? i gave in the 1990 iran quake (40,000 dead, half million homeless). i skipped the 1997 (1560 to 4000 dead, reports vary) iran quake. in the 1978 (15,000 dead) and 1972 (5,374 dead) iran quakes things were rather mild by comparison. but so it goes, back through the decades and centuries. for it's 856 (150,000 estimated dead) and 893 (200,000 estimated dead) and 1780 (100,000 dead) quakes, iran made the list of worst recorded earthquake disasters in history. whole lotta shakin' goin' on. as i stated, i'm waiting for my cue from the boy king. will dubyuh save this noble thread?

By: IshmaelGraves

IshmaelGraves — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:44:12 -0800

I hope threads like these become more common. Call me a heartless asshole, but personally I hope that trolling for donations on the front page of MeFi does not become commonplace.

By: gluechunk

gluechunk — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:16:48 -0800

For some info on why U.S.-based people should donate through Mercy Corps, check out some of the postings over at www.eyeranian.net, a blog from a guy in the iranian-american community.

By: plep

plep — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 23:57:29 -0800

Thanks for the thread, as ever, hoder. Iranian Truth is another blog with donation links.

By: suprfli

suprfli — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:28:11 -0800

i guess i'm short sighted but if i'm going to donate money, regardless of the situation, i'd prefer to donate it to the many many people in the US that need it just as much.

By: digiboy

digiboy — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 04:53:17 -0800

We live in relatively affluent countries. It's my own belief that our governments should ensure that none of their countries' inhabitants have the same need as those living in a third-world country hit by an earthquake that has killed at least 30,000 people. If they aren't already doing this, then I believe they are misusing resources.

By: victors

victors — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:40:20 -0800

selfhatefilter

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:46:33 -0800

if i'm going to donate money, regardless of the situation, i'd prefer to donate it to the many many people in the US that need it just as much Regardless of the situation, huh? In other words, any difficulties that US citizens are in are inherently worse, more deserving of alleviation, than anything that happens to furriners—say, tens of thousands of homeless Iranians in desperate need of food, shelter, and medical attention. There are words for your attitude, but I don't want to contribute to the degeneration of the thread, so I'll just say I'm pleased to disagree.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:52:31 -0800

Mercy Corps is hands down one of the best emergency relief agencies in the world. Doctors without Borders is also good. If you want to objectively compare groups in this category look at CharityNavigator. Mercy Corps gets 4 stars, Doctors without Borders gets 3. There are also many other 4 star groups. Anyway, it's all good pick your team and support them. I wish I knew someone there as the overhead would %0 and efficiency %100 (or more) sending money directly to someone in need and let them figure out how to spend it.

By: fishbrando

fishbrando — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 22:10:53 -0800

Any DBAs out there willing to help Doctors Without Borders? Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers (0x80040E14) [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Could not perform the requested operation because the minimum query memory is not available. Decrease the configured value for the 'min memory per query' server configuration option.

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 12:49:51 -0800

US citizens are in are inherently worse, more deserving of alleviation, than anything that happens to furriners foreigners are Un-American