This story strikes me as hideous. Growing up as a poor person who went hungry on occasion, the deliberate act of destroying perfectly edible food angers me greatly. I STILL eat everything on my plate. How insulting to the generosity of Britons that we would destroy their food aid. Even if the article is incorrect about people starving here (I know that they're not) the act of destroying food the Brits paid good money for while there are, in fact, starving people in this world... well, I already said it... it makes me FURIOUS. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16147117%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=exclusive--58--up-in-flames-name_page.html
What the hell. Let's ignore USDA sanctions and let em eat it. They might not die. The Brits should collect money. Food is not scarce here.
yeah really i doubt a single person starved or even came close to it. for all i know that story has everything else wrong too. then again the government is always stupid and does everything wrong. fema should probably be abolished entirely. it shouldnt suprise anyone that the government messes everything up. that is the nature of government. if i was bush i would say: "it appears that fema isnt that great. maybe more things should be handled by private organizations. tax breaks for everybody".
While I agree with these statements, they bring up an interesting question of transition. If these federal agencies are abolished (as many of them should be), how is their phasing out, coupled with the implementation of new entities, expected to go smoothly and without consequence? Most government work (at least on a local level) that I've had experiences with through my job and other things (DMV, etc) is incredibly unmotivated and lackluster. There is no doubt in my mind that the transistion to privatization would be met with severe dissent and an even more nonexistent standard of achievement. Certainly, transitions such as these would take many years to complete. And within that time frame, their need is just as certain to arise (FEMA). How do you propose this situation be handled?
Don't get too worked up, it is from the Mirror after all. If anti-American propaganda from Britain is your thing these days, you should stick to the Guardian. At least they make some effort to disguise it and try to present themselves as a newspaper, not just a supermarket-style tabloid.
"Unfit-for-human-consumption" rations do exist and somebody needs to be watching for them. They have expiration dates and short-tme rations seem to be the ones that countries (including us) donate to relief efforts, presumably because they will be consumed quickly. However emergency rations often end up being warehoused and stockpiled beyond their expiration dates. The notion that this is an intentional snub at the British themselves seems farfetched.
arent you suppposed to be libertarian? imagine if the post office shut its doors. consider how quickly UPS or fedex would be able to do everything the post office used to do. thats the transition. simple, fast, and costs us nothing. right, i dunno if i blame bush at all. i expect fema to fail. after all, they are the government. thats what the government does. they screw up, and what they do right, they do incredibly inefficiently. bush or no bush, fema is terrible.
And if you read closely, you'll see where I favored abolishing many of these agencies. Moreover, what's that got to do with the logistics of the transition? Never once did I use it as a reason to not abolish any of them. Don't misinterpret reasonable inquries as opposition. Understaffed, underequipped, and 'underinformed.' Talk about a fiasco.
