It's hard not to see how Bowser and Lindy's minds work when they are confronted with stories like this. It is pretty much the same way folks reacted to Sally Struther's feed the children ads back in the seventies: shock, horror, helplessness and a desire to make a difference.

That these organizations were making a buck off of these 'victims' was not quite at the level of perception within which most readers operated.

So remember they mean well. Even when they accuse you of heartlessness, etcetera - they are really only lashing out because of their own sense of helplessness at changing perceived injustice.

In Tintin there's a classic scene where Captain Haddock and Tintin take over a gun running slave ship filled with negroes who are going to be sold when they arrive at a certain port. Haddock is beside himself as he tries to explain why they can't go to port without them being sold into slavery. They keep repeating mindlessly, "Me good Muslim effendi, me just want to go to Mecca". Finally one of them realizes that they are not trying to harm them by not going to port near Mecca, but save them from a life of slavery.

Tom, here you're cast into the role of long-suffering Captain Haddock trying to explain stuff that requires a different perspective to understand. You merely have to replace "cripes!" with "Blistering barnacles!" for the correct rhetorical accents to your posts.

;-)