Famine in Africa

[Jagger69]

We are selfish pigs. Arguing about nonsensical issues like politics, indulging our greedy and narcissistic selves in a decadent world of pornography,....etc.....

In the meantime, thousands (many of them children) are at immediate risk of starvation in the horn of Africa:

Somalis flee famine along ‘roads of death’

By Sudarsan Raghavan, Published: July 25

DOLO, Somalia — The displaced first began coming through Dolo, just a few miles from the Ethiopian border, in March. Now, the trickle has become a flood. The new arrivals clutch small bags of clothes and other meager possessions. Their children are thin, some emaciated. Almost every child appears small for his or her age. But they are the fortunate ones: They have survived their journeys, at least for now.

To get here, many have walked scores of miles, some more than a hundred. Almost everyone has passed bodies of mothers, children and the elderly — anyone too weakened by hunger to escape with their lives.

Tens of thousands of Somalis, mostly women and children, are on the move, fleeing the worst famine in a generation in this Horn of Africa nation. Resilient Somalis have endured two decades of civil war and two consecutive seasons of failed rains. Now, after their livestock and crops have died, and with their babies suffering from malnutrition and food prices skyrocketing, they have given up any pretense that they can survive on their own.

Any hope of the world helping them has also faded. Al-Shabab, the militia linked to al-Qaeda that rules large swaths of famine-stricken southern Somalia, has barred international aid agencies from delivering assistance to regions it controls. It has heavily taxed ordinary Somalis on food and other goods, exacerbating the crisis. In fact, the militia denies that a famine is taking place, disputing the United Nations’ contention that tens of thousands of Somalis, mostly children, have died because of it.

Yet nearly 170,000 Somalis have fled to already crowded refugee camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia since January, according to U.N. figures released Monday. In Kenya, about 1,300 Somalis are arriving daily; an average of 1,700 are entering Ethiopia. Most emerge from their grueling journeys bearing scars that probably will not fade anytime soon.

Waiting in vain for help

Xukun Muhumed walked more than 130 miles to seek help for her thin baby, sickened by hunger. As she trudged slowly across the bleak landscape, choked by famine and drought, she wondered whether her infant son, Sadik, would survive.

“If Allah wants him to die, he will die,” said Muhumed, her voice dropping. “I have seen many people who have died along the way.”

“These are becoming roads of death,” Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told reporters in Nairobi over the weekend. “Over half the women I talked to had to leave children to die or had children die.”

“In the Horn [of Africa], we could lose a generation,” she added. “Those that survive could be affected deeply.”

On Sunday, Muhumed held her frail son in this border town, where they had arrived a day earlier after a month-long journey. Sadik was listless, his eyes half closed, his skin leathery from malnutrition. Moments earlier, he had vomited the little milk he had swallowed.

There were no doctors, no aid agencies distributing food. Many of the new arrivals sat under trees or on vacant patches of land, waiting for help.

Even more tragic, Al-Qaeda and its many affiliates are preventing aid from being brought in. Just another reason to despise their doctrine and everything they represent. If "Allah" supports these types of efforts, he can go fuck himself as far as I am concerned (I'm not saying he does....they are ).

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ads-of-death/2011/07/25/gIQApW0VZI_story.html

Still, if you care to donate, here is a reference to consider any options:

http://blog.givewell.org/2011/07/25/somalia-east-africa-famine-relief-donations/

Such a dichotomy....America throws away enough food every day to feed the entire population of these impoverished people and yet we seem incapable of availing them the relief they so desperately need. This would be a totally justifiable cause to declare war instead of the economic, geopolitical and ethnocentric reasons we dream up whenever the jingoistic urge strikes us. People starving? Fuck 'em I guess.... Too bad they don't have any oil....

 

[ragincaucasian]

this is how America thinks

unfortunately for those folks, they have no natural resources we could rape deserving of out 'help'

 

[Tittyman5000]

Poor people This world has its priorities all F'd up! If only I didn't give up my Superpower's :cussing: Damn you Kal El!

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

Until these countries have a stabilized infrastructure there will always be famine. And you realize you're on a porn forum where the demographic is generally selfish and looking for either something to rub one out to or give them a giggle.

Gentlemen, I present to you Buzz Killington.

 

[ragincaucasian]

Until these countries have a stabilized infrastructure there will always be famine.

thats like saying you can't join a gym unless you're already in shape...


The fundamental issue that will always be ignored is the conditions in which other countries help out (true in Haiti, Indonesia, Africa, etc) is the financier equation

If you can't make a buck off the deal (of the land), there is no incentive to "help" your fellow man. Exploitable natural resources would help

 

[Legzman]

We are selfish pigs.

:clap:

 

[Mr. Hyde]

We have tried to help these people. Need I remind anyone of Black Hawk Down?

Until that area has some stability and the people there are willing to help themselves, I'm afraid all the help in the world isn't going to matter.

And you know what I love about posts/threads like this? How the rest of the world, and even some freakin self-loathing Americans, will rail about how America tries to stick its nose in where it doesn't belong...and then complains when we don't.

 

[ragincaucasian]

will rail about how America tries to stick its nose in where it doesn't belong...and then complains when we don't.

i'm not real sure people complain that we don't, just that when we DO we're all sold some altruistic humanitarian song and dance bullshit for why we get involved (Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Nicaragua, etc)

I believe you can speak honestly about the situation without getting all butthurt about it ("self loathing Americans") - the fact remains there is no incentive to be involved in 3rd world countries unless we (the Western world) can string out their indebtedness to us.


Just because a car salesman won't sell you a car below cost doesn't mean he's trying to fuck your wife and butcher your children.

 

[hedonis]

The state of Africa, as a continent, is very sad. As some have mentioned, a large part of the problem is that there is no stability there, and the good people that live there are under a very large boot of warlords, thugs, gangs, and dictators.

 

[Trident1]

i'm not real sure people complain that we don't, just that when we DO we're all sold some altruistic humanitarian song and dance bullshit for why we get involved (Bosnia,

Wow we agree on something.:eek:

 

[Juliuscaesar]

Most of Africa was better off under the British.

RULE BRITANNIA!

 

[Jagger69]

And you know what I love about posts/threads like this? How the rest of the world, and even some conscientious and empathetic Americans, will rail about how America tries to stick its nose in where it doesn't belong...and then complains when we don't stick it where it DOES belong.

Fixed.

And if you're calling me a "freakin self-loathing American" simply because I point out the inequities in our international priorities, you're totally off-base, Mister. America....right or wrong, huh? :dunno::wtf:

 

[Zolf J. Kimbly]

Most of Africa was better off under the British.

RULE BRITANNIA!

true

i would argue that Africa was better off before then as well

 

[Straight Shooter]

We're all Africans

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Fixed.

And if you're calling me a "freakin self-loathing American" simply because I point out the inequities in our international priorities, you're totally off-base, Mister. America....right or wrong, huh? :dunno::wtf:

At least two people here have said nothing, NOTHING at all about Operation Restore Hope.

There was nothing about that effort that anything but altruistic.

I'll admit the US has its faults, but I love my country.

 

[Jagger69]

At least two people here have said nothing, NOTHING at all about Operation Restore Hope.

There was nothing about that effort that anything but altruistic.

I'll admit the US has its faults, but I love my country.

I didn't say anything about Clara Barton either. Operation Restore Hope was almost 20 years ago!

I love my country too, Mister. I suggest you research some of my past offerings here if you doubt that in any way but I would ask you to consider this in the interim:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke

 

[Mr. Hyde]

I didn't say anything about Clara Barton either. Operation Restore Hope was almost 20 years ago!

I love my country too, Mister. I suggest you research some of my past offerings here if you doubt that in any way but I would ask you to consider this in the interim:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Yet you seem all too willing to jump on our faults and not recognize our good.

That was almost 20 years ago and nothing has changed. Nothing would change if we went in there now. That place is broken. What would you have the US do to solve this problem? Throw food down there, like we tried to do 20 years ago? That was a complete failure, and for our efforts, our soldiers were dragged through the streets and killed.

Again....what would you have the US do? How are we selfish in this, as you suggest in your first post here? You think we are. Tell me how.

 

[mrtrebus]

We're all Africans

Yes.

 

[Jagger69]

Yet you seem all too willing to jump on our faults and not recognize our good.

That was almost 20 years ago and nothing has changed. Nothing would change if we went in there now. That place is broken. What would you have the US do to solve this problem? Throw food down there, like we tried to do 20 years ago? That was a complete failure, and for our efforts, our soldiers were dragged through the streets and killed.

Again....what would you have the US do? How are we selfish in this, as you suggest in your first post here? You think we are. Tell me how.

The USA does plenty of good but I'm not writing a book here and that's not the purpose of the thread. We're selfish as a people because there seems to be little, if any, concern about this issue, that's why. I'm not necessarily blaming the government....they have plenty to worry about right now but the general (yawn!) "gee, ain't that a shame" type reaction and then back to business as usual apathetic attitude is what bothers me. That's why we're selfish....because, overall, we just don't care enough to do anything about it. Look at the response to this thread....weak compared to "who's ass would you fuck?" (I know, I know "it's a porn board") but exemplary of the general indifference nonetheless. It's not just the USA either....don't see many people period overly concerned about what's going on over there.

If the USA wanted to take over Somalia and we made a full-scale commitment to a major campaign using overwhelming force we could take control in no time. Our previous adventure over there was not anywhere close to being on that scale.

That's not what I am suggesting however....simply pointing out that if it were to our economic or geopolitical advantage to do so (ala Iraq, Afghanistan) it would greatly increase the chances that we'd go in with military force. Hell, we went into Libya for a helluva lot less so don't give me this "what can we do?" stuff. We've already shown we can impose our will whenever and wherever we want with relative impunity no matter what the rest of the world thinks or does. The truth is....Somalia is a wasteland when it comes to resources and its people have little or nothing in common with us here in the West other than they happen to be human beings. I guess that isn't enough to conjure up much concern.

What would I have us do? I gave you a link to a number of charities to which you can choose to contribute or not. We cannot individually do everything to fix the problem. However, if we all do something, we can do anything. If you choose to do nothing, you simply provide validation for my original argument.

So....did you make a contribution? :dunno:

 

[D-rock]

It's not that everybody here just doesn't care. A lot of it's that a lot of people here don't have any practical way they would help.

The state of Africa, as a continent, is very sad. As some have mentioned, a large part of the problem is that there is no stability there, and the good people that live there are under a very large boot of warlords, thugs, gangs, and dictators.

I could also add that a lot of Africa's problem with food shortages are due to the fact that they seem unable or unwilling for a variety of reasons as a society to restrain their population growth and there are areas that are just unable to handle the number of people living in them. (Although the way the U.S. is headed we will be there someday to.) Add on a famine on top of things like that and it will be even worse. Even modern farming technology and techniques wouldn't completely solve the problem if they could get them right away, which they can't.