Millions to starve in East Africa
- added July 23, 2008
- 48 responses
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- constantdisregard
- added this
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"The cost of food has escalated by up to 500% in some places, leaving people who have suffered drought after drought in utter destitution," says Oxfam's Rob McNeil, who has just returned from the Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia.
"Some of the roads we travelled on were littered with dead livestock. There is little or no pasture or water for the animals that people rely upon. People are increasingly becoming desperate.
"I saw people in one village reduced to pounding the food pellets intended for their animals into porridge to feed their families. We fear that the worst could be yet to come as the crisis deteriorates across East Africa."
They reckon 9-14 million people could go hungry.
There's more at the link.
"Some of the roads we travelled on were littered with dead livestock. There is little or no pasture or water for the animals that people rely upon. People are increasingly becoming desperate.
"I saw people in one village reduced to pounding the food pellets intended for their animals into porridge to feed their families. We fear that the worst could be yet to come as the crisis deteriorates across East Africa."
They reckon 9-14 million people could go hungry.
There's more at the link.
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- constantdisregard
- 1 month ago
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Who's still crying about $4 gas?
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- constantdisregard
- 1 month ago
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Yeah. Starvation does kinda trump $4 gas, especially when we have 4 bucks to spend on gas.
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4 dollar gas
how about the 6 dollar starbucks most of us get while we are driving our 4 dollar gallon gas -
This makes me so sad. I will pray for them.
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obviously , their own prayers haven't worked , but give it a go anyhow .
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Maybe instead of prayers we could try and work on the removal of unreasonable protectionist barriers that don't actually make sense and try and work on a proper market system to allow these people reasonable access to food.
American and EU farm subsidies are a joke. -
With all we have some people still live like this.
That 180 billion would be better spent feeding the hungry -
And not just the US the world needs to help for now .
This part of Africa has been in a drought for many years
AS the earth changes humans need to adjust by moving
to where the wayer is. -
Not to be cynical, but people have been starving in Africa and reporting on said starvation, since before most of the members of current_ were born... myself included. Nothing has changed, and sending up prayers to God is not going to solve the problem either. If you really want to try and effect change, try sending over a food or donate money to an organisation who provides aid, and then pray that it actually reaches them.
Further, just because they are starving does not mean that people cannot cry about "$4.00 gallon" petrol prices when they only make $12.00 an hour and have other expenses on top of that i.e. feeding themselves. The Starbucks comment is more appropriate because petrol could be considered a necessity. However, we have no idea what those people do with their money aside from purchasing S.B. They may donate to amnesty international, the red cross, a breast cancer organisation, or pay their 10% in tithes every week.
That said, there are starving people right there in America who need your help... where is your bleeding heart for them. And when you purchased your computer, did you buy the lowest model possible and then donate the remaining money to a charity; or, did you really need that flat screen TV or monitor. Who is planning on giving up their vacation this year to work in Africa and/or donate the money they would have used for a trip for aid. Very few if any.
I for one thought nothing of them when purchasing my Mac, spent 5k on a 52' TV to hang on my wall, used 40k of my parents money to buy my car or when I go to the pump to fill it up. I am more concerned with the problems and issues affecting Australians more than Africans. -
Sending money is the wrong answer. 3-4 trillion have been spent on aid in africa the past 50 years. the three countries that have received the most aid are somalia, sierra leone, and the congo, and look where they are. Africa needs encouraged trade with the west and responsible leaders. if you plan on blindly donating money to african causes, you might as well burn it. it'd be better for the people there.
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I hate to be cold-hearted about this, but what's new?
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- SLindsayM1991
- 1 month ago
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I wish Lisa Simpson was real. We would have HUGE tomatoes by now.
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- Cuddlebones
- 1 month ago
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we need to wake up and start caring about people in need, not these movie stars that take up all the spotlight
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Not a solution to everything but i still think advocate a diet like iam not on with great success and enjoyinging it.
I call myself an almost Vegan.
I am not overboard with it. I probably am 95% Vegan..happen to have a leather purse my daughter passed down to me..so I keep it..I try not to eat any animal product like fish or dairy or ice cream but if i do i don't worry much...don't miss regular food much now..the products are great.-
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- CarolynGillis
- 1 month ago
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This is certainly a sobering and eye-opening look into REAL issues that, without a doubt. overshadow our shallow cries about gas, politics, and Reality TV... I thank you for sharing this, this is what makes Current so great!
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Olympian Carl Lewis on being vegan..
I have recently become what i call an almost Vegan.
I am not totally religious about it but am about 95% or so.
it would give all of us more food if just some of us would go tis way..is healthy..better for the planet.
I am enjoying all the yummy new products and local veggies very much..my meat eating family is reaching their forks over more and more to my plate these days.
I hope to eventually become 100% Vegan.-
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- CarolynGillis
- 1 month ago
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if you end starvation, then more people will live to reproductive age, which will lead to more children, which will lead to the need for more food, which will lead to starvation... the only way that this cycle can be broken is for people to stop having children. It's called birth control. One irony is that many of the organizations that collect donation for food for starving people are organized by christian people that will not pass out condoms with the rice... thus the cycle goes on forever...
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- mechanico7
- 1 month ago
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"The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it" -George Kimbel
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- hollowman218
- 1 month ago
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some recent sad numbers;
“Every year, 10 million children die before their fifth birthday, nearly all of them from preventable causes.” one.org
That’s approximately 30,000 children dying globally per day, from simple things such as: lack of food, clean drinking water, common medications and vaccines.UNICEF
With an estimated 2.2 billion children in the world, 1 billion of them live below the poverty line. UNICEF -
Prayers, "aid", Vegans!? Lets be real... Global issues of poverty & starvation have their roots in the inequality of our international trade systems. The WTO, IMF & World Bank... they all perpetuate savage marginalization of the Global South. Real change requires transparency and democracy at the highest levels, not just prayers and "aid". Humanity should put an end to this age of the 'world oligarchy'; it accomplishes nothing but devastating inequality and inhibits true progress for humanity.
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So the long term solution seems to be:
* Pure vegetarianism (a Vegan is someone native to the Vega star system).
* Birth control.
* Ending subsidized agriculture.
* Freer trade but no high-risk loans (either to individuals or countries).
* Intervention (military or otherwise) of non-democratic governments.
Wow. The wisdom of the collective. Seems spot on to me.
On a tangent: since it is obvious we know how to govern ourselves better collectively than with our current representative democracy (oligarchy), does any one have any ideas on leveraging current technology so we can have a direct (Athenian) democracy instead? -
Cannabis Hempseed as a Basic World Food
In 1937, Ralph Loziers, general counsel of the National Institute of Oilseed Products, told the Congressional committee studying marijuana prohibition that “hempseed... is used in all the Oriental nations and also in a part of Russia as food. It is grown in their fields and used as oatmeal. Millions of people every day are using hempseed in the Orient as food. They have been doing this for many generations, especially in periods of famine.”
That was over 70 years ago. Today we know hempseed is the plant kingdom’s richest source of life-giving essential fatty acids, and may well be the cure for cancer and heart disease.
Hempseed: Humanity's Best Single Food Source
Of the 3 million plus edible plants that grow on Earth, no other single plant source can compare with the nutritional value of hempseeds. Both the complete protein and the essential oils contained in hempseeds are in ideal ratios for human nutrition. Only soybeans contain a higher percentage of protein. However, the composition of the protein in hempseed is unique in the vegetable kingdom. Sixty-five percent of the protein content in hempseed is in the form of globulin edestin. (The word “edestin” comes from the Greek “edestos,” meaning edible.)
The exceptionally high edestin content of hempseed combined with albumin, another globular protein contained in all seeds, means the readily available protein in hempseed contains all the essential amino acids in ideal proportions to assure your body has the necessary building blocks to create proteins like disease-fighting immunoglobulins -antibodies whose job is to ward off infections before the symptoms of sickness set in.
Cannabis seed protein even allows a body with nutrition-blocking tuberculosis, or almost any other nutrition-blocking ailment, to get maximum nourishment. -
some would say there is never a good answer to these problems and to help is pointless, whatever way you do it. But you can't get around the fact that if you can help someone and you do, you did help that one person get through the day.
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so can anyone tell me what we can do to help?
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- currentlyme
- 1 month ago
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This person here has something to say that's quite worthwhile to listen to, just to get an idea about what the challenges are and what one possible solution is.
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- constantdisregard
- 1 month ago
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Thanks for the info and the post constant.
What's really sad is that the "current" generation is so well informed, intelligent and opined that they are too busy to actually and genuinely care.
Moreover, too busy posting or responding to pods and articles to ever really take action on issues that affect larger humanity.
P.S
if it doesn't apply..... let it fly.-
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- Ras_Yuhanna
- 1 month ago
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Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
BUk dOwn bAbyLon!!!-
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- Ras_Yuhanna
- 1 month ago
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I totally agree with mechanico 7. But we have these religious entities getting in the way of real progress in just about everything. Guess what, all those religious fairy tales worked once for humanity but for the future we need less religion and more education. Education leads to a lower and more sustainable birth rate in all cultures across the world. It would also help them obtain the tools to feed themselves.
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And people are trading and wasting millions in a bullshit cyber world? Piss off Half Life.
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