Oklahoma Disaster Relief

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Vatican corrects infallible pope: atheists will still burn in hell


That didn't take long!

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CBC News: Canadian relief for Moore tornado victims denied at border

American officials will not allow the 20,000 kilograms of food, blankets and diapers into the country until every item on board is itemized in alphabetical order and has the country of origin of every product noted.

Dennis Sauve, the volunteer co-ordinator for Windsor Lifeline Outreach and the food bank co-ordinator at the Windsor Christian Fellowship, the two organizations that gathered the goods, said it's a "physical impossibility" to do the paperwork required in time to get the perishable food to Oklahoma before it spoils.

Because U.S. President Barack Obama hasn't declared Moore, Okla., tornado a disaster area, the 52-foot trailer of goods is considered a commercial shipment rather than humanitarian aid.

[bannination]

CBC News: Canadian relief for Moore tornado victims denied at border

American officials will not allow the 20,000 kilograms of food, blankets and diapers into the country until every item on board is itemized in alphabetical order and has the country of origin of every product noted.

Dennis Sauve, the volunteer co-ordinator for Windsor Lifeline Outreach and the food bank co-ordinator at the Windsor Christian Fellowship, the two organizations that gathered the goods, said it's a "physical impossibility" to do the paperwork required in time to get the perishable food to Oklahoma before it spoils.

Because U.S. President Barack Obama hasn't declared Moore, Okla., tornado a disaster area, the 52-foot trailer of goods is considered a commercial shipment rather than humanitarian aid.

Because `Merica. Fuck yeah.

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Because U.S. President Barack Obama hasn't declared Moore, Okla., tornado a disaster area, the 52-foot trailer of goods is considered a commercial shipment rather than humanitarian aid.

Because `Merica. Fuck yeah.

Because unintended consequences. Show me a legal system where exceptions are easily made, and I'll show you a legal system where the rich and powerful get away with murder.

And because - mostly not in a bad way way - globalization. Until 45 years ago a quick response with perishable food from across an international border half a continent away wasn't practical. Until 35 years ago the crisis wouldn't be on most people's TV screens across an international border half a continent away the same day. Until 20 years ago imports were small enough that few would care about country of origin issues. Until the recession five years ago country of origin wasn't a hyper-sensitive political jobs issue.

The globalization that made country of origin a hyper-sensitive political jobs issue, at the same time made that international-scale relief effort happen for an incident not even considered a disaster area. It's a new kind of problem. This incident will probably prompt some tweaking of the rules.