Week of events. Satirical wit restrained for now

No.

**** off.

Dappa1


Revoked emission restrained!
 
While the world is mourning the loss of citizens we remember the plight of those in Somalia and Norway not to mention the everyday onslaught on our members (race in general)
 
Times like these we remember that all life is precious, although we should acknowledge this everyday.
 
 

Thanks for that, Dappa1.  I appreciate your discretion. 

While the world is mourning the loss of citizens we remember the plight of those in Somalia ...

What happened in Somalia? I just searched the net and can't find anything in the news?

That's horrible.

I did another search for Somalia + Famine and the only site that came up with anything (at least on the first page) was The Christian Science Monitor's web site.

Bub


I just read the comments on Yahoo ... I gotta say I agree with most of what I read.

Well at least you can't be accused of duplicity.

btw on my search for Somalia + Famine on Google I got About 9,060,000 results.

I guess that's one reason why the British public up until a few days ago had contributed more to the relief effort (£24,000,000) than the US government toward this specific crisis.

Which certainly makes this particular comment complete crap.

Yesterday 

Looks like another situation where the USA steps up to help and everyone else does nothing.

The people dying of starvation aren't the enemy, it's the same people that shot down your helicopters that are helping to cause these people so much strife.

This is a humanitarian crisis, largely caused by drought where kids die, don't confuse it with the boundary issues and anarchic warzone in the area.

I admit I only looked at the first page of results, mainly because the results usually get more and more irrelevant the more pages deep you go. There was only 1 mention of it and it was on a Christian web site, which I find ironic seeing how they are being compared to Hitler these days.

I saw that comment about the guy complaining about the U.S. stepping up and nobody else helping so I did a little more digging on it because it seemed like a stupid thing to say, and now I somewhat agree with him. Comparitively, we've done a lot more than many other countries.

I'm assuming he's deriving that from these quotes ...

"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced last week that the U.S. will provide an additional $28 million in aid for Somalis suffering from hunger, on top of more than $431 million in emergency assistance to the eastern Horn of Africa this year."

and

"The United Nations' top humanitarian and relief official, Valerie Amos, told reporters that so far just under $1 billion has been received from donors so far, but that "we need another billion."

So if you add everything we've donated together, we've donated half of what they've received. So I can see where he would feel that way. Now that I know the facts, I feel the same way. We are in serious trouble in our own country and as cold as this sounds, we need to start taking care of ourselves before we get in to such a downward spiral, it sucks everyone else with us.

There are permanent solutions to this, such as build a desalination plant and either pipe or truck the water where needed. Problem is, al qaida is there and they would destroy anything like that. They are blocking some of the aid. So, there's really nothing anyone can do unless another war is started to get rid of the muslims who are controlling what goes on.

"Al-Shabab signaled earlier this month that it would accept aid groups it had previously banned, but changed course last week, saying groups like WFP are not welcome. The militia denies there's a famine, disputing the U.N.'s assessment that tens of thousands of people have already died."

Those lists such as 'caring' nations are meaningless in my opinion for the same reason I don't listen to other political polls here and abroad ... it's just the opinion of a relatively few people that someone with an agenda polled and they don't hold any weight imo. The figure they gave were 2,000 people were polled plus 400 who work for the orginizations that the HRI data is compiled from. Uh ... ok.

As for the PDF link, sorry, but I give that no merit, especially after I saw the 'climate change' agenda lumped in there at the very end of the document, and the list of people on the advisory board. And if you go by the figure they give the most weight to 'Responding To Needs', we are ranked 5th in that category which is surprisingly good in my opinion considering the financial crisis we've been in for quite some time now. Keep in mind, the HRI is only a few years old ... it's not a long term assessment, so again, it holds very little weight.

Fact ... we gave half of what has been received so far by Africa for famine relief. The rest of what you posted is just a select few people's opinion's with a political agenda and I'm sorry but it just doesn't hold any weight in my opinion.

Beagle


Here, guys.  Maybe this will settle it.    

Ooo...  Pretty witty there Beagle!  Giving them such a short ruler just adds to the dig. 

Bub

While the world is mourning the loss of citizens we remember the plight of those in Somalia ...

What happened in Somalia? I just searched the net and can't find anything in the news?

You know Bub I don't even want to debate this, I have no argument with you.  At least you are taking an interest that makes you one of the good guys in my book.

It's a hell hole out there just now and big numbers are going to die there unless ALL of us give a **** whatever way you frame it. 

You asked what was going on there hopefully I've illuminated the issue a little, you at least are taking an interest, most of the world is shutting its eyes and hoping it goes away because it's spoiling the nice time we are all having.

Jonbouy ...

Thought you might be interested in this ...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/abc-claims-only-american-reporter-covering-famine-violence-180423280.html

It's unbelievable.

Zoom in and look at the headline on the front page of the NY Times. I tried to find the full article but couldn't.

Please don't pay attention to the comments on Yahoo.

Jonbouy

I guess that's one reason why the British public up until a few days ago had contributed more to the relief effort (£24,000,000) than the US government toward this specific crisis.

That's probably because the UK still enjoys a tradition of journalistic integrety ... threatened to be sure, but still in intact.  In the US it has effectively disappeared.  Walter Cronkite must be weaping in his grave.

This is not an issue that should ever have the opportunity to escape being reported or pass by our hearts without a missed beat. I'm deeply distressed over so many lost lives that have and will continue to be lost to this famine. I don't see how it would be any less of a tragedy if it were to occur in our own backyard, but it certainly would have an entirely different impact on our lives? I applaud the efforts here to enlighten us of this tragic event. I guess we will see how this plays out in time. 

Bub


So what is the answer to this? Seriously, I'm not being a smart alec about it.

Do we send in Marines and snipe out the people who are blocking aid? Do we send in tanks and start another war? Should it be an international effort?

It seems you guys are really coming down on the U.S. but honestly, what can we do? We sent in troops once and it was not well received. So I'm at a loss.

Money is not a problem, there's already been close to 2 Billion in funds raised if my math is right.

If nobody is allowed in, the only option is military, or am I thinking wrong?

Or is that muslim group telling the truth and there is no humanitarian crisis?

There's only one thing any of us can do.  What we can, in the light of our own consciences.

I'm certainly not coming down on the U.S. we've all taken our eye off this ball and the U.S. current financial policy in the horn of Africa is already a massive commitment.

Raising awareness like I've tried to here is one way, each individual contribution might seem feeble as this one does to me, but maybe it all adds up.  I don't have any answers to these kinds of things.

Now wouldn't that be the most ironic of circumstances .....