Can you spare just $2.00?

Ranji is a 9yr old boy living in Namibia. He has only 1 leg, 1 arm and 1 eye. Each day he has to ride 7 miles to school along a narrow road on a rusty bike with bent wheels, no brakes and only 1 pedal. If you send us just $2, we will send you the video - its fucking hilarious!

OMG ur so bad...lol

dont worry , the first irishman driving by will stop and say "aye, you look 'armless, hop in"

Dammit, Sam. I thought you were just asking for donations so you could upgrade your machine.  I was about to contribute. LOL.

Searching franticly for my checkbook.

i'll double my 2 dollar donation to 4 dollars, so we can build a dam and flood the valley he lives in, hence saving his 3 year old sister a 6 mile walk to a crocodile infested swamp every morning to fetch the water in a rusty bath tub carried on her head and struggled back to wash her poor starving grandmother who is smoking HIV medicine bought with my  50 dollar donation last year...................

Sorry guys, this is not funny.

Number 1!!! More to follow ;)

:P

Laurie

Quote - Sorry guys, this is not funny.

Uhm, yeah, I had to wonder about the purpose of this thread.   Maybe I just don't get it.

Sarcasm. Ya either love it or ya hate it ;).

Laurie

LOL this IS hilarious

gallows humor and sarcasm all wrapped up in a neat little package

by the way i pirated your video from youtube!  no soup for you!

(now i hear a paper boy yelling "i want my two dollars!")

for information on this disaster, call this number.

for the first sick jokes, call this number.

Quote - Sorry guys, this is not funny.

Opinion, stated as fact.

Is any weapon in the political correctness arsenal more annoying?

I understand the concept of sarcasm and satire, I just don't find it funny.   It's rather after more of a "shock" response than laughter.   I reacted the same way to Johnathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" which suggest the Irish poor could sell their children as food to rich English families and proceeds to outline how best to cook them.   

I neither hate nor love sarcasm; in fact, I believe it's just meant to make you think.

Well, humans have a habit of laughing at misfortune. It keeps us from crying.

Laurie

Quote - Can you spare just $2.00?

Ranji is a 9yr old boy living in Namibia. He has only 1 leg, 1 arm and 1 eye. Each day he has to ride 7 miles to school along a narrow road on a rusty bike with bent wheels, no brakes and only 1 pedal. If you send us just $2, we will send you the video - its fucking hilarious!

:lol:

And to think I didn't bother with this thread for days because I thought it was a serious request.....

Quote - And to think I didn't bother with this thread for days because I thought it was a serious request.....

Erm, you did notice who posted it, didn't you?

You have read my sig line?

And you still thought it was serious?

O.o :) 

Quote - > Quote - And to think I didn't bother with this thread for days because I thought it was a serious request.....

Erm, you did notice who posted it, didn't you?

......

Um. Obviously not...   :biggrin:

I had the same problem when I told jokes here; the same jokes that would get a laugh when I was live, in a group of people. however, here most didn't get the joke, some were offended, others didn't bother.  after a few years I learnt to avoid jokes.  the deal with this one is to know one's audience.  whilst not an african myself, I can see how they would not like this one.

The joke here is not on Africans in need of financial assistance. The joke is on the absurd marketing of their circumstances which Westerners seem to find so compelling -- in other words, we are the ones which this joke is mocking, and the cut is sharp, as is appropriate, IMO, since I think we deserve it.

Quote - "Sorry guys, this is not funny."

Opinion, stated as fact.

Is any weapon in the political correctness arsenal more annoying?

Ditto, except for the correctness.

And yes Sam, I did read your sig line, and I do understand Latin. But I don't see how your signature line makes the "joke" acceptable. But don't worry about me, I am just a bleeding heart liberal South African with a bad case of white guilt. If I don't get your joke, it is of no consequence, as you have so eloquently stated in Latin.

half my inlaws are from Zambia, black african zambians, they see the joke now they live here, as this is not  how they wish to be portrayed and see the inherent corruption in the systems that see none of the money finishing up in the hands of those it was intended for.

The joke is that the corruption continues whilst we still willingly give in the forlorn hope it actually reaches somebody that needs it..........and we do nothing about it.....

Quote - The joke here is not on Africans in need of financial assistance. The joke is on the absurd marketing of their circumstances which Westerners seem to find so compelling -- in other words, we are the ones which this joke is mocking, and the cut is sharp, as is appropriate, IMO, since I think we deserve it.

Exactly this.

There's also a lot to be said for the nature of humour itself and the "bait and switch" technique used in the "advert".  

@ Miss Nancy - I'll take the laughs, the indifference and the criticism as they come. :)

Sam - keep 'em coming.  Hysterical!

Did you move?  How could you bypass lovely Rawmarsh?????

Quote - ...lovely Rawmarsh?????

:lol:  Yeah, a delightful place.  I went to the Godforsaken dump that is known as Mexborough today.  Ouch, what a place.

And yes, we moved in November last year.  

Those commercials are the ones that made me start disliking sally strothers, and now the guy they have shilling for them  is always on about  some kid with an asian name  who lives in a shack and sleeps on a floor mat, Well I am sorry to break it to him but in some places people still live in shacks and sleep on floor mats. Not everywhere has manufactured housing.

Quote - Ranji is a 9yr old boy living in Namibia. He has only 1 leg, 1 arm, and 1 eye.

And I thought arm controls in the US were bad.  :rolleyes:

Aye yaye yaye.

See kids, this is what happens when you run around with sicssors.  It's all good fun until you poke your eye out, step on a bear trap, and then accidentally sever your arm on a rather sharp rock.

I would send $2 if his bike had only one wheel.  But since it has two wheels he's OK.

Quote - Those commercials are the ones that made me start disliking sally strothers, and now the guy they have shilling for them  is always on about  some kid with an asian name  who lives in a shack and sleeps on a floor mat, Well I am sorry to break it to him but in some places people still live in shacks and sleep on floor mats. Not everywhere has manufactured housing.

Indeed, there are some channels that, in the wee hours of the night, seem to be dedicated to telling the various heartbreaking stories, in 90 second commerical bursts.  It gets bad when there is more than one organization competing, all using similar "techniques."

Here we have Sarah McLachlan crooning for Animal Rescue.  Exact same script, except the child we need to adopt is actually a puppy.

Finally, there's the apex of misfortune marketing, in which marketing to feed further marketing was, by all accounts, its main purpose -- in the Kony 2012 "viral" crash and burn.  Though at least the script was different ("Find the murderer! instead of, Laya has never had a teddy bear!) it was still not a bright moment for the bleeding hearts in North America.

Well in all honesty, I do feel for the poor kids and especially the animals. I seem to find more honor in animals than people :P Still, as a mother, it never feels good watching a starving child. If I had buckets of money I'd be throwing it at em, trust me ;).

Just had to toss that out there...lol.

Having said all that, I still find sarcasm funny, even tho it's gotten me into trouble more than once. I feel mostly that way because I feel if we didn't laugh at our problems we'd all be walking around bawling cause the world is an ugly, ugly place.

Laurie

Quote - Well in all honesty, I do feel for the poor kids and especially the animals. I seem to find more honor in animals than people :P Still, as a mother, it never feels good watching a starving child. If I had buckets of money I'd be throwing it at em, trust me ;).

Just had to toss that out there...lol.

Having said all that, I still find sarcasm funny, even tho it's gotten me into trouble more than once :P

Laurie

Oh, don't get me wrong, the world needs charity. I get the impulse.  It's strong.

But while the organizations that are doing the actual feeding are non-profits, I've been told that the fundraising that is done for some of those organizations  may well be done by distinct, for-profit fundraising firms.  And so I recognize that fundraising is an integral part of all charity work, but the thought of a business doing it for profit still makes me feel a little ill.  I guess, it's the kind of thing that requires some research so that you have a better idea where the money is really going.  Even then, as someone else in this thread pointed out, corruption also abounds.

It might be more helpful if we expended our energies lobbying our politicians to pass laws restricting our domestic companies from raping the environment overseas and exploiting child workers, etc, etc.

As for animals, well, why donate under some "adoption" scheme?  Just send a check directly to the SPCA.

I'm with Laurie.  I'd love to be disgustingly wealthy so I could give a large chunk of it to starving, homeless, mistreated people and animals.

I absolutely cannot abide cruelty to the defenceless and innocent and if I let myself think about it too much it would overwhelm me. 

Quote - I'm with Laurie.  I'd love to be disgustingly wealthy so I could give a large chunk of it to starving, homeless, mistreated people and animals.

I absolutely cannot abide cruelty to the defenceless and innocent and if I let myself think about it too much it would overwhelm me. 

When you look at people directly, you know, not in some slick advertisement, it's impossible not to want to do something drastic, RIGHT NOW.

I find it very hard to travel. I think about people in North America who may be struggling with debt and are in despair and what it would take to get them out of it -- $10k, $20K, $100k more?  And then if I go overseas and see people who are living on $3 a day or less, it is hard knowing that I, not rich by anyone's standards, do nevertheless have enough extra money to tranform someone's life completely.  Not by donating to some agency, but by giving the money directly to a family.  I've spent the global (poverty level) equivalent of years of income on Poser content alone.

This is hard to justify.  Puts a lump in my throat. It should, I guess.

Yeah, sometimes it's really easy to forget how lucky some of us are.

well the question is do you believe what they said when they are trying to get help for those who could die?

do you care?

do you want to?

is that who you are?

or could you say hey that is not me even though I made a joke about it, I know deep down I want to help but I really can't.

But what if  you did?

would you save a life?

would that be important?

will you feel regret if you don't?

if you don't what does that tell you about yourself?

if you make a joke about it does that mean you could care less if some child dies?

because it really is funny right?

then there is the big question, what if that was youre child?

however the joke was funny but i imagine it's probably true too somewhere in the world so on the other hand it;s a joke with the exspence of a dose of guilt.

but you know it's funny how much money got donated for 911 victoms and katrina victoms but i bet nowhere near what feed the children get, because it's outside america and the brittish don't help them in africa because of overpopulation concerns.

Quote - Oh, don't get me wrong, the world needs charity. I get the impulse.  It's strong.

But while the organizations that are doing the actual feeding are non-profits, I've been told that the fundraising that is done for some of those organizations  may well be done by distinct, for-profit fundraising firms.  And so I recognize that fundraising is an integral part of all charity work, but the thought of a business doing it for profit still makes me feel a little ill.  I guess, it's the kind of thing that requires some research so that you have a better idea where the money is really going.  Even then, as someone else in this thread pointed out, corruption also abounds.

It might be more helpful if we expended our energies lobbying our politicians to pass laws restricting our domestic companies from raping the environment overseas and exploiting child workers, etc, etc.

As for animals, well, why donate under some "adoption" scheme?  Just send a check directly to the SPCA.

I think charities are in a bit of a Catch22... the old adage "you've got to spend money to make money" is true for them too.

But, it certainly jars with me when I see what is clearly a lot of money being spent on advertising and / or fundraising schemes, by charities...

...money that is almost certainly being shelled out to advertising executives and the "jobs for the boys/girls"executive and non-executive quangoids who so often appear to be lurking in charity management roles...

...maybe it's not as bad as that. But this is the picture that a lot of the current charity advertising / fundraising tactics generates in my mind.

So therefore I hesitate to donate, to a lot of things... and therefore these tactics are failing, relative to me... as a demographic sample.

Yes I could spare just $2.00...

...but if Ranji doesn't get the money to buy that new arm, leg, eye and bike, because it all gets blown on the video production, do I really want to hand it over?

Attached Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF_UK

Sorry, but that's bullshit. And the US hasn't been British since 1776, as we are about to be reminded in 2 days. ;)

Quote - Yes I could spare just $2.00...

...but if Ranji doesn't get the money to buy that new arm, leg, eye and bike, because it all gets blown on the video production, do I really want to hand it over?

That's exactly it. And I believe that's a good part of the point of Sam's joke, too.

I'm remembering Jason Russell getting arrested after a nervous breakdown because of the pressure from the press.  Have a registered charity that manages to spend $9 million of the $13 million it makes in a year (with $4 million in expenses from film, travel, and compensation alone) does not make you look good to the media as a charity.

Quote - but you know it's funny how much money got donated for 911 victoms and katrina victoms but i bet nowhere near what feed the children get, because it's outside america and the brittish don't help them in africa because of overpopulation concerns.

You missed the ENTIRE point of the posts. Completely...lol.

If you laugh it doesn't mean squat. You can still care. Laugh or you'll cry. And if that was my kid I'd feel different because that's what people do.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled confusion...

Laurie

Quote - Now, back to your regularly scheduled confusion...

There's even a smiley for that:

I do contribute to charity on a regular basis, not a fortune but I hope it does make a difference.  That said I donate to charities that are local or that I have some insight into where the money goes.

I am all for helping starving children but I also worry that any donation I make could also end up funding some rebel or goverment forces that will help them wage war and increase the number of starving children and such thoughts weigh heavy on my mind.  I would be far more convinced by a charity somehow proving where the money is going than some slick advert.

I lost a swallow of coffee reading that Sam.   I heard that last line in Tommy Chong's voice.  :)  

How about this for a charity donation?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-18765015

Quote - How about this for a charity donation?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-18765015

Top lad. 

wait..... a modest proposal was sarcasm?  uh oh...

any way i ilike the st judes commercials-  they're like little real life soap operas.  some survive some dont.  it's very poignant.  it breaks your heart to get to know one of those little kiddies only to see the child not make it.  but enheartening to see the ones that do make it