Bongobongo land

Giving international aid is good, what is not so good is giving it to leaders who will use it for purposes for which it was not intended, not for helping the ose who need it most.

Bingle, bangle, bungle,
I don't wanna leave the jungle.
I refuse to go.
Don't want no civilisation, demobilisation,
I refuse to go.

No Bongobongoland. That stereotype came from somewhere else.

I took the term "Bongobongland" to mean where the hell ever (meaning I don't want to go through the entire list).

I am convinced that this is being turned into a racist rant (when it was never meant to be) for the benefit of the big political parties who are scared that UKIP are slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with.

One of the great things about doing international aid work with Rotary is that we deal direct with other Rotarians, in Africa, say, or India. So we know where the money goes. But it's not in the same league as governmental overseas aid - just a drop in the ocean.

I felt the term 'Bongobongo land' was intended to imply that African nations were uncivilised and all his ridiculous explanations have not convinced me otherwise. I am afraid this buffoon may be right on one point - that very many people agree with his attitude to foreigners.
I thought Cameron was quite good on TV this morning when he pointed out how much Britain gained in return for overseas aid.

No jings that is not what I want at all. I would like to see a foreign aid policy that monitors the aid and ensures it goes to the right places and the people for whom it was intended. Charities are now multi million pound corporations with perks run exactly th same as multi million pound coroprations without the perks. It makes me sad to see someone giving a few pounds that they can barely afford thinking that their money is helping someone in more need than themselves when infact it is going towards paying the fat cat salaries, expenses and company cars, of the directors and staff .

So, according to this thread, we don't want the government to give our money in overseas aid AND we as individuals are best not supporting the charities either?

Because Tory Party members are leaving and joining Ukip. Getting worrying.

Re foreign aid getting to the people who need it (or not, as the case may be), there is this article in Telegraph today highlighting recent increases in charity CEO pay.

We've had nothing BUT a diet of UKIP over the last few months.

Was what he said worth reporting? Who reported it? Why did they do it? Who is getting worried about the party? Do they appear to be representing the things that the majority are concerned about? Are they being studied microscopically and any mistake, however small or irrelevant,being pounced on? (a bit like GN)
You didn't hear a lot about them when they were not rocking the boat, did you?

I just listened to the Bongo song with the Andrew sisters, also googled it's origins.

Comes from a 1947show and is actually called 'Civilization'. It is meant to be satirical and is sung by a person from the Congo whose village has just been 'invaded' by missionaries. The singer is saying he does not want to become 'civilised' and goes on to list all the evils of civilization.

It didn't seem particularly racist to me.

Just another example of how foreign aid is used.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2387338/As-Cameron-attacks-Bongo-Bongo-MEP--How-1billion-cash-used-help-Nigeria-join-space-race.html

May I quote !Charity begins at home? And look at the mote in your own eye? (Loose quote)

It does start bongo bongo, is this where he the phrase comes from I wonder?

I cannot understand why this has become a racist argument and I have no objection to foreign aid IF the aid was getting to the poor people who needed it the most. The corruption in the counties in receipt of the "aid money" (india, rwanda, pakistan, uganda, sierra leone etc) is rife and much of it is known to be spent on private planes, luxury estates, villas and mansions for those at the top of the tree.

Uganda ...38million pounds of aid used to buy a private jet. They have also just ordered 500 million pounds worth of fighter jets from Russia.

Sierra Leone... 1.2 million aid money missing and unaccounted for .

Congo.... 133 million in aid. The president has a multi million pound Paris property portfolio (purchased with aid money) he also owns 16 of the most luxurious properties in Paris. UK tax payers will give them another 250 million by 2015 !

Rwanda . 75 million in aid in 2012 . The president has just purchased 2 luxury jets worth 30 million pound each .

I could go on and on and on .

They were different times

Thanks! I can sleep tonight now!

You can now all return to serious discussion.

My feeling is that nations that can afford weapons, space research etc: should not be receiving aid from us!
I also feel that we should be spending more on social reform at home rather than on nuclear weaponry etc:

I have no quarrel with immigrants who are already here, but do feel strongly that future immigration should be curbed.

Bingabangabongo I don't want to leave the congo................

Galen it was the Andrews sisters - BBB, I don't want to leave the Congo. Google the rest at your peril

Being more frivolous, wasn't there a song that went ' Bongobongobongo I don't want to leave the jungle?'
I think it may have been in Walt Disney's Jungle Book, but I could be wrong?
(Not trying to trivialise, but it's driving me crazy trying to remember! Must go and have hot chocolate )

Television news in New Zealand reminded us this morning that this was the man who praised France for bombing and sinking the Rainbow Warrior (Greenpeace ship) in Auckland harbour. I should have thought that regardless of a UK politician's attitude towards ecology activists, global warming etc., he would invariably agree that bombing a ship (rush-hour train, nightclub) is wrong. The man is an outright stinker in every way.

I agree about the need to debate what this country gives in foreign aid, and to which countries. I believe this should extend to which countries we sell arms to, but of course that links to diplomacy, the need to keep communication open and more significantly, to how much cash we get from selling arms.
I do believe that Mr Bloom is an unpleasant individual, with views that are as Sel expressed it "so golf club". That's another stereotype, which my lovely son in law would disagree with. When our daughter brought him home, we were taken aback by his employment (sales) and golf club membership. I was (sadly) proud, when at the first club dinner she attended as his guest, she described it as being present at a meeting of a cult. This was 46years ago, they are now very happily married, and I love my son in law. We have discussions about politics, including golf club politics. As others have commented on this thread, the younger generation aren't as stuck in stereotypes as perhaps we were (are?) .
I do feel that many of the Ukip representatives are self promoting, self seeking, rather bigoted individuals. They appeal to the worst aspects of fear in our community, about "others" changing our way of life. My own feeling is that this tends to stifle debate, and result in polarised positions, that don't take the debate any further.

And the UK do very well out of our investment in aid, we get payback in all kinds of ways that are not obvious from foreign student fees to huge arms deals.

But it is not the fault of the poor people in less economically developed countries that their governments are letting them down. We cannot let people starve, or die from lack of clean water, or adequate health care because we do not approve of the politics.

I think that it is our duty as human beings to help those less fortunate. A child dies every 30 seconds from preventable causes somewhere in the world - very often as a result of poor sanitation or polluted water.

(Some of you know that I do have some experience of work in poverty stricken areas of Africa - just to give my credentials!)

This is not to say that the governments of such countries should not be subject to international censure; I don't think enough publicity is given to this situation. But then, we'd have people crying out again for aid to be with held. And who would suffer, as usual....?

I still think it is very hard for someone on a very low wage struggling to make ends meet to accept that we (as a country) give so much in foreign aid. Taking Pakistan for one example we are giving £1.4 Billion in foreign aid within 5 years, whilst only 1% of Pakistanis pay any income tax at all. The government dont seem to be concerned and make no effort to increase this. Why should they?

And atomic submarines.
Trouble is the mayor of London gets away with saying outrageous and tactless things (like his recent comments about Malaysian women) and manages to bounce back, maybe this (possibly less intelligent) man thinks he can do likewise and people will forgive him?