What can we do sitting miles away from the scene of disaster? Maybe nothing more than pray for those who lost their lives and those who will have to deal with their losses. But one thing that we can do is help out in the form of aid. Donating has never been so easy there are many sites that allow you to donate to the cause via the internet. Why donate though? Simple because that is the least we can do to express our sorrow and help repair the damaged areas.

The nations that suffered this horrendous disaster will – and do – need all the help they can get. So, giving a little of our money isn’t going to harm our pockets much but can truly make a difference in millions of lives. If we all donated even just as little as five dollars each I’m sure the money would add up. Already it seems like nation states are seeing their citizens step up to the plate and make up for where governments have been lacking. Its amazing that nations s
uch as the United States that claim to be the “richest” is merely giving a drop in the bucket: $35 million initially. However, where the US lacks the world makes up. Currently aid is up to half a billion, maybe this catastrophic event will be matched with an overwhelming response by the world in its grieving. It’s sad that we only remember these nations when the disaster strikes could you imagine a world where we could funnel aid all throughout the year.

Could you imagine if we were all donated on an annual basis? This money would be given to organization that would aid in developing the most needed. Money isn’t something we can take with us when we pass away. This tragedy illustrates how little control we have of our life and why the need to work together can be beneficial to all. Often times I wonder what kind of world would have inherit had the British and other European nations not gone out and “explored” the world. Many of our currently “underdeveloped” or “developing&quo
t; nations were actually a haven of wealth that was exploited to “develop” the nations we see before us today. Hence, isnât it fair for us to now repay our debt? Shouldnât we also be responsible for bettering these nations?

Make a difference and donate today!

• American Red Cross: International Response Fund
• AmeriCares: South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund
• Oxfam: Asian Earthquake & Tsunami Fund
• Sarvodaya: Relief Fund for Tsunami Tragedy
• Save the Children: Asia Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund
• UNICEF: South Asia Tsunami Relief Efforts

Update: President Bush announced today the amount is now $350 million.

I have missed Sampadhki a great deal, throughout these years there was just so much going on around the world and I wanted to get on the computer and write my thoughts and ideas and share them with you all. But my kids, who I love dearly, would always take first preference. Now though they are growing up, my eldest will be four next month, and I find I have time and I just couldn’t resist writing after the dreadful, heartbreaking event that has occurred recently in our world: Tsunami. Tsunami is a Japanese word, formed by tsu, meaning harbor or port, and nami, meaning wave or sea. The dictionary defines a tsunami as a ‘seismic disturbance of the ocean or
a great sea wave produced by submarine earth movement or volcanic eruption.’ I for one can’t even comprehend an earthquake of this magnitude. I remember when we were living in California and hearing about Earthquakes in the seven ranges being horrendous but to imagine one that hit nine on the Richter scale is beyond me.

Maybe this magnitude and certainly the devastation that occurred is a reminder to us all how powerful and controlling nature is. We live in a world where we tend to forget that no matter what we build or how we rearrange the world, partitioning it by nations, cities, villages, for Mother Nature we are all one. She is the one that can truly have the last say. Despite her power and strength I think this disaster has made many question their faith. How can God allow such a disaster to occur? As the toll rises, and with more than a third of those effected being kids, it seems hard not to question Godâs motives. Why would he do this to innocent children? As I see my kids playing and enjoying their safe environment here, I canât help but imagine what was going through the minds of those children as those waves overpowered them not giving them even a slight chance of survival. The images are still haunting to watch. The bodies laying in rows almost remind me of how insignificant we are really as life forms. It’s so true that in one split second He can take away our lives and our futures. I know many will argue that we will get over this, not forgetting but moving forward because that is what is in our nature. Truly it is as we see how these mass burials are taking place so as to allow those that are left behind to be given a chance to survive. Is this the loving God that we know? Is he the one that not only hits us witha disaster but then lingers us with more suffering even after the fact?

On the other hand, Iâm sure many will argue that disasters occur and that is part of life. Nature has struck in the past and will continue to in the future. But what has emerged from this disaster is a sense of how small the world is. Ma
ybe God wanted people to remember the fundamental fact that we are all the same. As donations pour in help is being administered from individuals from all around the globe, you canât help but think that we can truly be so caring. It’s touching to see that in a world where hatred breeds in full force, humanity is thrusting through. I can only hope that we all can learn and take away from this that life is so precious. Itâs sad that as we watch Nature destroy homes and lands we open our hearts, but daily around the world there are wars and destruction going on by man that no-one seems to want to put an end to.

It almost seems so silly to see man attempting to kill and destroy by spending trillions on weapons of destruction, when what Tsunami just showed us is that Mother Nature can do more damage than we can ever imagine. In a world were warfare and struggle over land and resources is so adamant, Tsunami proved that those lines are irrelevant.

I remember as a kids looking at those very old maps were nations that exist today were not present. Likewise in a few hundred years the maps may be completely different again. Why then do we have to spend so much time and energy on fighting over these issues instead of putting those resources to trying to prevent such disasters from occurring in the future? There were actually predictions made before this disastrous event but there was no means of distributing the information. It saddens me to think that had we had a better warning system in tack, may be the destruction would have been somewhat lower. Maybe just maybe those parents who lost their children would have had the opportunity to aid those innocent souls to safety. As Teng-fong Wong a geophysicist at the State of University of New York-Stony Brook, stated ‘It’s a people problem, not a technology problem. . . Governments just have to ooperate.’

Mr. Wong is so accurate in this assumption, since had the monitors been in place – monitors that have been around for decades ‘ maybe just maybe the tolls wouldn’t keep rising today. I just hope as these images of horror keep bombarding us we truly can learn a valuable lesson about life and death. My hope for my people of this world is truly to work in harmony. As we get ready to welcome 2005, the hope is there that along with a change in the year can come a change in our perception about each other. Maybe I am an optimist but I do hope and pray that there will be a day, and hopefully really soon, where we can at least stop all disasters creating by man and maybe spend more time and energy on those created by nature. I know we can not prevent earthquakes, hurricanes or other natural disasters but we can and do have the means to at least predict them to a certain degree of error.

You would think that we could have managed it now, but if you lift up any newspaper and see what is happening around us the reality is different. Peace still seems to be an ideal, a goal that we seem never to obtain. But is this goal really unreachable? If we go by our present global environment, the answer seems yes. Daily we hear about killings and conflicts, and daily they seem to transcend boundaries, customs, religions or any other factor. Hatred seems to prevail in a world that is becoming more globally interdependent, yet socially and culturally distant. As we are being exposed to a greater awareness of our world, as travelling is becoming less and less cumbersome, and as communication is bringing people closer together our world seems to continue to divide itself on other matters.

Hatred and violence seem to have engulfed themselves in our cultures. But these are emotions that have been programmed in us by our societies; hence, they are reversible. The fact is that today, although the possibilities of a third world war may be distant, the numerous ethnic risings seem to illustrate that we don’t need a world war to suffer an immense loss of human lives.

Why is there so much tensions, you may ask? Well, we have already touched on some of the causes in earlier write-ups on Sampadhki, but to sum up some of the causes are: population growth, limited resources, regionalism, multinationals and the growing gap between the rich and poor nationally, as well as internationally. However, now its time for us too look at the world with a much broader perspective. Instead of dissecting each reason separately, we are proposing a wide forum for your ideas. Now you tell us do you think peace should be a goal? And if yes, how do we obtain this goal? And if no, why shouldn’t we be trying to change our world?

After looking at these questions, ponder on more refined issues such as: what is the most important issue that is preventing peace? What responsibilities should nations house towards peace, and what about international organizations such as the United Nations? Then one should look at the time age question of man versus nature? Is it that we are failing at peace because of man’s inherit nature, or is because our social environment? And what effect has technology have on us both positively and negatively?

Historically, we have had great leaders as well as grassroot movements that preach the value of peace, yet we never seem to grasp the ideals and implement them in our hearts and lives. It is safe to assume that no one favors the killing of individuals, but we have in this century seen a dramatic switch from military casualties to civilian casualties. As we prepare for the turn of the twenty-first century, it is important for us to address these issues and propose solutions . . . conceivable solutions. So, what do you think: Is world peace a myth or a plausible reality?

Transnational Corporations (TNCs) play an essential role in our global community by impacting our lives daily. For a simple definition, TNCs are companies that operate in more than one country at a given time. These entities produce a wide range of products, and have over the years become very powerful economically and politically. It is safe to assume that TNCs are a vital player in the international arena today, but their importance will only enhance as time goes by.

The strength of TNCs is seen in their ability to influence the size and nature of cross-border transactions. In fact, in 1995 there were 40,000 TNCs, a rise from only 7,000 in 1970, and they accounted for two-thirds of the world trade in
goods and services. TNCs are so powerful that they control eighty-six percent of the world’s land that is used for cultivation of export crops, sixty percent of aluminum mining and sell ninety percent of the world’s agrochemical products.

For many TNCs, their power far extends that of nation-states. For example, their ability to move provides them with the flexibility to gain their goals with little to none accountability. These corporations, together with their host governments, are reorganizing world economic structures–and thus influencing the balance of political power. For example, there are numerous TNCs that are financially more powerful than nation-states: annual sales of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group oil company are twice New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP); annual sales of the British tobacco company, BAT Industries, are equivalent to the GDP of Hungary; the German electronics firm, Siemans AG, has annual sales that exceed the combined GDP of Chile, Costa Rica and Ecuador (1993). Furthermore, the combined
revenues of just General Motors and Ford–the two largest automobile corporations in the world–exceed the combined GDP for all of sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, fifty-one of the largest one hundred economies in the world are corporations.

Their growth can be attributed to inter-governmental trade and investment accords, via which TNCs are able to manuever their way around the globe. Treaties, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), serve as the foundation for companies to investment, and in turn for trade to flourish. These agreements allow corporations to circumvent the power and authority of national governments and local communities, and achieve their own objectives. In fact, TNCs have almost total control over the so-called process of “globalization.”

TNCs are aided in their quest for globalization vis-a-vis technology. Over the years, the speed of transportation and communication has increased, while the monetary costs associated with them has declined. For example, the cost of an international call has fallen by 80 percent between 1940 and 1970, and 90 percent between 1970 and 1990. All these factors have contributed to strengthening TNCs abilities to expand with minimum costs. Today, around ninety percent of all technology and product patents are own by TNCs worldwide. In the music industry, for example, six companies control the market:

• Polygram 19 %
• Time Warner 18%
• Sony 17%
• EMI 15%
• Bertelsmann 13%
• Universal 9%
• Others 9%

TNCs have been described by the United Nations as being “the productive core of the globalizing world economy.” These corporations account for most of the world’s industrial capacity, technological know-how and international financial transactions. They mine, refine and distribute most of the world’s oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. They build most of the world’s oil, coal, gas, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. They extract most of the world’s minerals from the ground. They manufacture and sell most of the world’s automobiles, airplanes, communications satellites, computers, home electronics, chemicals, medicines and biotechnology products. They harvest much of the world’s wood and make most of its paper. They grow many of the world’s agricultural crops, while processing and distributing much of its food. They are truly engulfed into every segment of our globe.

These corporations,further, have provided us with technologies that have altered our lives. They allow us to fly and drive across the earth, as well as communicate by telephone, television, computer and fax. Also, they played a role in promoting medical advances that have cured diseases previously thought to be incurable. In many parts of the developing world, TNCs have provided jobs, which in turn aids in providing a better lifestyle and raises individuals from below the poverty line. TNCs have truly aided in molding our current global world. They have provided us with numerous benefits and in the future they may even replace existing nation-states.

AIDS is one of the biggest killers in the world, with half of its victims acquiring the virus before they turn 25 and typically dying before their 35th birthday. According to the UN, AIDS now kills more than any other infectious disease – and is the fourth overall cause of death. Ninety-five percent of people with HIV live in the developing world, a proportion that is likely to grow as infection rates continue to rise in countries where poverty, poor health systems and limited educational resources fuel the spread of the virus. Currently, this disease is overwhelming the African continent where the number of AIDS related deaths have surpassed those of malaria. In fact, the numbers are astounding with one in five of all deaths in Africa last year being attributed to AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa, with 10 percent of the world’s population accounts for close to 70 percent of the total global AIDS cases. But the African continent is not the only one continent that is inflicted with a widespread of this disease; AIDS is also spreading rapidly across the continent of Asia.

Asia is now set to see the biggest AIDS explosion with numbers of HIV cases expected to double by the year 2000; thereby, making it the next hot spot. Cambodia currently has the most infected AIDS patients in Asia, with an estimated 150,000 individuals infected the virus. Of this figure, around 90 percent of these individuals are thought to have caught the virus through heterosexual intercourse. However, in different parts of the continent, as in different parts of the world, there are variations in the pattern of HIV spread. For example, in China and Vietnam, intravenous drug use is the primary means upon which the virus is contracted. The AIDS virus, hence, continues to plague the world and continues to kill people on a global scale.

The Asian scenario, however, is almost the opposite of what is happening in North America and Europe, where the rate of infection has been brought under some control thanks to massive prevention campaigns and more availability of anti-retroviral drugs. With the general consensus that a cure cannot be found for AIDS, concern for eliminating the virus through educational and informative means is essential and necessary. More importantly, however, is the fact that the virus is now literally impacting our future generations — that is – with an estimated 570,000 children currently living with the virus, AIDS has established itself as an ongoing contender for the new millennium. Furthermore, by the year 2000 AIDS will have made its presence felt in the homes and lives of at least 13 million children who will have become orphans, losing one or both parents to this disease.

These figures are alarming and have resulted with the theme for this year’s World AIDS day — on December 1, 1999 — being the role of children and young adults as a force for change on the ongoing fight against AIDS. This theme is appropriate since at stake is the future of our world. But a key problem, or issue of concern, is how will these children be sort? That is, with a majority of these children in the rural developing world, how will they be informed? How will the approximately 95 percent of children orphaned by an AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa be touched? In the developed nations the issue of disseminating information is much more simplified thanks to technology, but in the rural slums of Asia, Africa, Latin America or elsewhere how will the education begin?

It is obvious that the vast population of individuals who are in need of the facts are also the ones who are faced with limited resources. They are the ones who have little access to education and, hence, cannot read and write, and in many cases they have little, or no control over the circumstances of their lives. Do we then have a responsibility to promote find innovative ideas to educate, or do we merely sit back and allow the destruction of lives to continue? For many of us, thinking back to the beginning stages when this virus was made known we can recall, hopefully, the confusion that the general public had about this virus. Think then back to that time when the education of AIDS was put into full force, we had public figures making announcements, holding concerts and raising money. We had governmental announcements on televisions, in our schools, and anywhere else humanly possible. Now imagine a
rural village, where access to the television is a luxury; where young girls, who are greatly impacted by this virus, are forced to quit school because of household responsibilities; where the governments corrupt ways make much need resources diverted to other matters. In this such society, is the chance to listen, learn and live possible?