Dear Bill: Thank you so very much for your off the subject post. I agree 100%, this needed to be said. While other countries are making pledges (welcome to be sure), and bad mouthing the USA (*#$*& to all of them) The US is doing something.
Vance Wood. ----- Original Message ----- From: "bill kilpatrick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Jon Murphy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Lute List" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 10:34 AM Subject: Re: Happy New Year > dear jon - > > had some friends around for dinner last night and had > to listen to varying degrees of "yanqui go home" from > everyone, my nearest and dearest included. after a > while i stopped contributing to the conversation and > began to think about the nature of evil - relative and > genuine - and just how necessary it was for people to > have a boogeyman in their lives. i'm not all that > anxious to have anyone but us in the driver's seat but > whenever the united states was mentioned i pretended > they were talking about communist china or russia or > the koran-thumpers of iran ... how about a foreign > policy based on domestic practices from one of the > african countries ... ? - it helped pass the time. > > i don't think the u.s. will ever stop supplying aid to > those who need it but i'm afraid it will never ... i > mean never, ever, ever - be perceived as anything > other than an ill-defined and highly suspicious plot. > > eleventhofseptemberismybirthday - bill > > --- Jon Murphy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Monique and I have had our usual quiet celebration > > with champaigne and > > caviar at home. With you all we welcome the new year > > and whatever it brings. > > > > I am going to break the rules of each of these > > lists, the rules that say > > postings must be music/instrument related. > > > > We have all seen the devastation of the recent > > tsunami (and for any that > > wonder why those waves didn't look like the > > Hollywood "wall of water" I'll > > explain). > > > > There has been some controversy as to the levels of > > relief offered by the > > various nations. That is a canard! The instant > > relief, to save lives, can't > > be done by designated international authorities - it > > has to be done on site. > > > > It is not appropriate to be political in such a > > disaster, but for our > > international friends - and as a proud former US > > Naval officer - may I say > > that within hours of the tsunami (I don't know how > > many, but at soon as the > > destruction was evident) a US Navy battle group > > (flag ship the nuclear > > fueled carrier Abraham Lincoln) of 13 ships (the > > others would be DLGs, > > attack carriers with lots of trained US Marines on > > board) was sent at > > maximum speed for relief. For those who may be > > anti-military let me say that > > this is the Navy. You will have noted that the > > doctors who are on site, and > > those sitting in TV studios, all say that pure water > > is the key to stopping > > disease. > > > > Long before there was any talk of money, or forms of > > relief, that Naval task > > force was underway to the area (and that immediately > > authorized by the > > senior constitutional military officer). But what > > good is a military force? > > As a retired Naval officer I can tell you that a > > Naval ship is the most > > prolific producer of fresh water one can move. Those > > 13 Naval ships will > > bring fresh water, and hospital facilities, to the > > coastal communities long > > before any international organization could get in. > > The ship's boats will > > come into shore where there is no harbor remaining. > > > > My Navy will do its best, and its best will be > > better for immediate disaster > > relief than any administration. The long term is > > another thing. But there > > will be a lot of Marines there very soon, as soon as > > it takes to sail the > > distance (I'd estimate they'd be covering about 450 > > to 500 miles a day, my > > old ships could maintain about 360 mpd. > > > > My apologies to all for getting on the topic, the > > tremendous loss of life is > > something we each must consider. But us all remember > > that numbers are > > irrelevant in a way - the numbers magnify the grief > > of the survivors as > > there are more - but the individual is not only one > > death, but the death of > > a person. Let one million die, or just one, the loss > > to the world is the > > same - but the loss to that soul is special. There > > we in the west often > > confuse statisitics with people. Our press is > > tracking the missing Swedish > > tourists (and French and Norge, and whatever), but > > each of those unnamed > > fishermen had a life to live. > > > > Disaster is ours, we all know that when we see it > > hit us. And I hesitate to > > make political of such. And wouldn't if others > > hadn't. Forget the pledges > > you hear on the media. The US Navy is on the way, > > with more water > > purification capacity than anything an agency can > > fly in (for those who > > might wonder at that, USS Abraham Lincoln supports a > > complement of over > > 3000, plus all the ship's functions, by turning sea > > water to fresh. Even my > > little WWII era destroyer, a tenth the size, could > > support a community with > > fresh water. > > > > I don't give a damn if you like Bush, or the US. I > > don't give a damn if you > > hate them. But the US Navy has ships approaching the > > disaster area with > > Marines trained in disaster help, medics and > > doctors, hospital facilities, > > and most importantly pure water, and tha twas > > ordered immediately. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > ===== > "and thus i made...a small vihuela from the shell of a creepy crawly..." - Don Gonzalo de Guerrero (1512), "Historias de la Conquista del Mayab" by Fra Joseph of San Buenaventura. go to: http://www.charango.cl/paginas/quieninvento.htm > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > > >
