Cassi Creek: Sunny
and expected to be above freezing today.
No good weather goes unopposed in nature. Tonight we will be treated to more high winds
and rain. Both are expected to continue
into tomorrow. I believe we have had
more high wind conditions this year than any other since we moved here.
Cruise ships
should be carrying backup generators sufficient to maintain, at the least, life
support functions. They should have some
form of emergency food supplies that can be stored at ambient temperatures and
eaten without heating.
The cruise
industry would be well advised to improve their planning for such contingencies
as have presented in the last couple of years.
United Arab Emirates helps Joplin ‘think
big’ in rebuilding tornado-scarred schools
The
article linked above details the provision of foreign aid to the city of Joplin
MO by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE
provided a MacBook laptop to every high school student in the Joplin school
system as a replacement for books destroyed by the 2011 tornado. The UAE is also funding a Neo-natal ICU at
the under reconstruction Mercy Hospital in Joplin.
According
to the article there is far more foreign aid being sent to the U.S. than most
of us realize. The process is fairly
quiet and is being channeled to many hospitals including Johns Hopkins.
Since
there are many areas of the United States that lack only location to be
classified as “third world “ in terms of poverty and poor education and health
care services, the UAE may make considerable improvements possible for
relatively little money.
I was
not aware that the UAE was involved in funding such programs within the U.S.
borders. This should be more widely
known.
“The
gifts are part of an ambitious campaign by the UAE government to assist needy
communities in the United States. Motivated by the same principal reasons that
the U.S. government distributes foreign assistance — to help those less
fortunate and to influence perceptions among the recipients — the handouts mark
a small but remarkable shift in global economic power.
For decades, the
United States has been the world’s largest provider of foreign aid, paying for
the construction of schools, health clinics and vaccine programs in
impoverished countries. It still is, but the level of donations has been
increasing among nations with new financial clout, including China, India and
oil-rich Persian Gulf states. And at least one of them now sees poor parts of
the United States as worthy recipients for that same sort of assistance.
“We spot needs and we
try to help,” said Yousef al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States.
During the past two
years, the UAE government has paid for the construction of all-weather
artificial turf soccer fields in low-income parts of New York, Los Angeles,
Miami and Chicago. The embassy wants to build three more fields this year.
Otaiba hopes to break ground on the first of them this spring in the Washington
area, although the embassy is still in discussions with potential partners and
has not settled on a location.
Otaiba said he also
has promised New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) and New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie (R) about $5 million apiece to help rebuild their jurisdictions in the
wake of Hurricane Sandy.”
Those who
insist upon complaining about foreign aid to other nations should be referred
to this article. So should ever member
of Congress.
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