4 ms·

In [1] I hosted Hugh Sinclair, who spent 10 years on the front lines of microfinance lending. What does that have to do with this? As he says: The first thing

In [1] I hosted Hugh Sinclair, who spent 10 years on the front lines of microfinance lending. What does that have to do with this? As he says: The first thing a lot of the microfinance outfits in Africa do is buy new SUVs for the staff. Because, you know, they can't be taking a bus to go give loans to the poor, now can they? This is the same sort of thinking: first take care of yourself. If there's any more needs you can't fill, ask for donations. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhdZ2RfmiXo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhdZ2RfmiXo

0xy 4y ago
It's the same for any form of aid. For example, an NGO source on the ground in Ukraine said that before US auditors showed up (6 months later), only 30% of the US hardware made it to the frontlines. [1] That means tens of billions of dollars of aid, equipment and weapons was effectively stolen by corrupt officials. Where is it now? Probably in the hands of European crime gangs & cartels, who will use it to tear Europe up. Similarly, the Red Cross (a supposedly trustworthy organization) pilfered 25% of aid bound for Haiti and squandered the rest building effectively zero infrastructure/housing. [2] [3] Charities and aid should be assumed a massive scam until proven otherwise. [1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-front-lines/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-fr... [2] https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-fin... [3] https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-...
- _kbh_ 4y ago
  > It's the same for any form of aid. For example, an NGO source on the ground in Ukraine said that before US auditors showed up (6 months later), only 30% of the US hardware made it to the frontlines. [1] This is simply not true and requires a lot more nuance to even discuss. There’s a reason that CBS retracted nearly everything to do with it, it’s because they were misrepresenting the words of the people they spoke to.
  - 0xy 4y ago
    No, they retracted it because it goes against prevailing narrative. The source said 70% of the hardware wasn't making it AT THE TIME, that's irrefutable. Whether it's improved since then is irrelevant, because I clarified my original comment with "before US auditors arrived". Guess what: TENS OF BILLIONS in weapons were delivered prior to US auditors arriving. So I guess we just gave billions of dollars of military hardware to Euro crime gangs through corrupt embezzling but it's fine because it doesn't happen anymore? They DID NOT retract his original comments in the context of the time they were made.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      Remember the three phases of denial: 1) It's not true 2) It's true, but it's not important 3) It's true, and it's important, but we already knew it and then we can add #4: 4) It's true, and it's important, and we didn't know it, but we're not doing it anymore
      - chillbill 4y ago
        Or the 4 stages of a government responding to whatever.
    - qqqwerty 4y ago
      You clearly don't know how war works. If you send your newly acquired equipment straight to the front lines, with troops who have not trained on that equipment and an army that does not have the logistics to support the equipment, then you will quickly find all that shiny new equipment being used as target practice by your enemy. Here is a pretty good article debunking your mis-info: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/8/2115258/-Author-of-discredited-Amnesty-Int-l-report-featured-in-discredited-CBS-documentary-Arming-Ukraine https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/8/2115258/-Author-of... And here is the money quote: "Ohman’s nonprofit collects and distributes non-lethal aid such as night vision goggles, body armor, helmets, and commercial drones through unofficial networks developed by his organization. His quote was based on his own experience at the time: His organization was dealing with damaged roads, collapsed bridges, Russian drones and artillery strikes, and other obstacles. Most importantly, Ohman wasn’t in a position to know about official channels used to deliver military aid to Ukrainian troops at the front lines, and we have seen plenty of evidence that HIMARS and other long-range artillery are being utilized quite effectively." So yes, at one point (8 weeks) into the war, only 30% of material for one particular nonprofit was making its way to the "frontlines". That particular nonprofit was an independent organization and had no knowledge about official US military aid. And no, their equipment wasn't getting stolen and sold off to crime gangs. It was sitting in warehouses waiting to be deployed.
- twelve40 4y ago
  microfinancing (aka payday loans) in some countries is considered the most aggressive for-profit ripoff business you could run. How is that related to charity and aid?
  - unmole 4y ago
    > microfinancing (aka payday loans) Microcredit is extended to poor entrepreneurs who invest it in income generating activities. That is very different from payday loans for consumption.
    - richbell 4y ago
      It can be equivalent, in practice. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-microfinance-banks-profit-off-developing-world/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-microfinance-banks-p...
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      You're right that they're not the same. However, watch the video or read the book. Reality is not the same as the concept.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    > How is that related to charity and aid? "considered" by whom? It's been featured on 60 Minutes. Muhammad Yunus won a Nobel for it: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2006/yunus/biographical/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2006/yunus/biographi... And it's eligible for IRS charity treatment in the US. You are seriously misinformed. microfinancing is NOT also known as payday loans.
paganel 4y ago
Thanks for the YT link, very interesting and very enlightening presentation. I knew about some of the facts in there, or at least I could sense them, but seeing them laid out so clearly form a person that knows the microfinance system from inside out helps a lot. And to think that Nobel prizes have been given for stuff like this, stuff which it was proved that it does not work.
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  Thanks, and Hugh was denied a chance to go on Fresh Air. Contradicts the narrative, as they say.
Aachen 4y ago
And this relates to the article how? I'm not in the loop on celebrity news / don't know who this Hugh is. They're not mentioned in the, uh, submitted "article".
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  So you didn't bother researching it at all before responding? It's another form of charitable grifting. That's how it relates.

0xy 4y ago

It's the same for any form of aid. For example, an NGO source on the ground in Ukraine said that before US auditors showed up (6 months later), only 30% of the US hardware made it to the frontlines. [1] That means tens of billions of dollars of aid, equipment and weapons was effectively stolen by corrupt officials. Where is it now? Probably in the hands of European crime gangs & cartels, who will use it to tear Europe up. Similarly, the Red Cross (a supposedly trustworthy organization) pilfered 25% of aid bound for Haiti and squandered the rest building effectively zero infrastructure/housing. [2] [3] Charities and aid should be assumed a massive scam until proven otherwise. [1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-front-lines/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-fr... [2] https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-fin... [3] https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-...

_kbh_ 4y ago
> It's the same for any form of aid. For example, an NGO source on the ground in Ukraine said that before US auditors showed up (6 months later), only 30% of the US hardware made it to the frontlines. [1] This is simply not true and requires a lot more nuance to even discuss. There’s a reason that CBS retracted nearly everything to do with it, it’s because they were misrepresenting the words of the people they spoke to.
- 0xy 4y ago
  No, they retracted it because it goes against prevailing narrative. The source said 70% of the hardware wasn't making it AT THE TIME, that's irrefutable. Whether it's improved since then is irrelevant, because I clarified my original comment with "before US auditors arrived". Guess what: TENS OF BILLIONS in weapons were delivered prior to US auditors arriving. So I guess we just gave billions of dollars of military hardware to Euro crime gangs through corrupt embezzling but it's fine because it doesn't happen anymore? They DID NOT retract his original comments in the context of the time they were made.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    Remember the three phases of denial: 1) It's not true 2) It's true, but it's not important 3) It's true, and it's important, but we already knew it and then we can add #4: 4) It's true, and it's important, and we didn't know it, but we're not doing it anymore
    - chillbill 4y ago
      Or the 4 stages of a government responding to whatever.
  - qqqwerty 4y ago
    You clearly don't know how war works. If you send your newly acquired equipment straight to the front lines, with troops who have not trained on that equipment and an army that does not have the logistics to support the equipment, then you will quickly find all that shiny new equipment being used as target practice by your enemy. Here is a pretty good article debunking your mis-info: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/8/2115258/-Author-of-discredited-Amnesty-Int-l-report-featured-in-discredited-CBS-documentary-Arming-Ukraine https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/8/2115258/-Author-of... And here is the money quote: "Ohman’s nonprofit collects and distributes non-lethal aid such as night vision goggles, body armor, helmets, and commercial drones through unofficial networks developed by his organization. His quote was based on his own experience at the time: His organization was dealing with damaged roads, collapsed bridges, Russian drones and artillery strikes, and other obstacles. Most importantly, Ohman wasn’t in a position to know about official channels used to deliver military aid to Ukrainian troops at the front lines, and we have seen plenty of evidence that HIMARS and other long-range artillery are being utilized quite effectively." So yes, at one point (8 weeks) into the war, only 30% of material for one particular nonprofit was making its way to the "frontlines". That particular nonprofit was an independent organization and had no knowledge about official US military aid. And no, their equipment wasn't getting stolen and sold off to crime gangs. It was sitting in warehouses waiting to be deployed.
twelve40 4y ago
microfinancing (aka payday loans) in some countries is considered the most aggressive for-profit ripoff business you could run. How is that related to charity and aid?
- unmole 4y ago
  > microfinancing (aka payday loans) Microcredit is extended to poor entrepreneurs who invest it in income generating activities. That is very different from payday loans for consumption.
  - richbell 4y ago
    It can be equivalent, in practice. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-microfinance-banks-profit-off-developing-world/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-microfinance-banks-p...
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    You're right that they're not the same. However, watch the video or read the book. Reality is not the same as the concept.
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  > How is that related to charity and aid? "considered" by whom? It's been featured on 60 Minutes. Muhammad Yunus won a Nobel for it: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2006/yunus/biographical/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2006/yunus/biographi... And it's eligible for IRS charity treatment in the US. You are seriously misinformed. microfinancing is NOT also known as payday loans.

paganel 4y ago

Thanks for the YT link, very interesting and very enlightening presentation. I knew about some of the facts in there, or at least I could sense them, but seeing them laid out so clearly form a person that knows the microfinance system from inside out helps a lot. And to think that Nobel prizes have been given for stuff like this, stuff which it was proved that it does not work.

AlbertCory 4y ago
Thanks, and Hugh was denied a chance to go on Fresh Air. Contradicts the narrative, as they say.

Aachen 4y ago

And this relates to the article how? I'm not in the loop on celebrity news / don't know who this Hugh is. They're not mentioned in the, uh, submitted "article".

AlbertCory 4y ago
So you didn't bother researching it at all before responding? It's another form of charitable grifting. That's how it relates.