tagged w/ Humanitarian Crisis
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YouTube has teamed up with will.i.am, and non-governmental organizations GCAP, Oxfam International, Save the Children and Comic Relief to help spread the message that poverty around the world needs to be eradicated.
YouTube has teamed up with will.i.am, and non-governmental organizations GCAP, Oxfam... more
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The injection of western food aid into poor countries is often criticized to be unfair competition for small farmers in those countries the international community is actually trying to help. The global food crisis rocketing the prices of basic food commodities, once again showed that the poorest in the world suffered the most, despite decades long efforts to eradicate hunger from the world.
Last week Bill Gates and Howard Buffett (Warren's oldest son) announced their private foundations will plow more than $75 million into helping small farmers in Africa and Latin America to sell their crops as food aid — a move which could potentially overhaul the decades-old global food aid system.The injection of western food aid into poor countries is often criticized to be unfair... more
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Most people in the UK are unaware of major conflict zones around the world, according to a new survey by the British Red Cross.
Less than one per cent of the people were able to identify countries such as Sudan, Somalia, and Central African Republic.
Most people in the UK are unaware of major conflict zones around the world, according... more
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The NY Time reports:
"A pitiable harvest this year has left small farmers all over central and northern Afghanistan facing hunger, and aid officials are warning of an acute food shortage this winter for nine million Afghans, more than a quarter of the population.
The crisis has been generated by the harshest winter in memory, followed by a drought across much of the country, which come on top of the broader problems of deteriorating security, the accumulated pressure of returning refugees and the effects of rising world food prices.
The failure of the Afghan government and foreign donors to develop the country’s main economic sector, agriculture, has compounded the problems, the officials say. They warn that the food crisis could make an already bad security situation worse."
Link to full story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/asia/19afghan.html?oref=loginThe NY Time reports:
"A pitiable harvest this year has left small farmers all... more
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Fourteen days after Tropical Storm Gustav made landfall, followed by Tropical Storm Hanna and then Hurricane Ike last week, many areas are still inaccessible in devastated Haiti.
Since arriving in the northern Haitian city of Gonaïves on September 4, one of the worst affected areas in the country, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have carried out 641 medical consultations and performed 25 surgical procedures. Half of the people screened so far by MSF have suffered at least minor injuries. The remaining patients are suffering from diarrhea (and related dehydration), respiratory diseases, infections, and skin problems linked to polluted water, with such cases on the increase. While most of the patients are adults, an increasing number are children.
With floodwaters now receding slightly, people are beginning to return to Gonaïves, adding additional stress on already strained health and sanitation facilities. Temporary health clinics in some schools are lacking basic materials and equipment. MSF teams have donated medical materials and plans are underway to open a field hospital in Gonaïves.
Currently, MSF has five medical personnel (two doctors and three nurses) and six logistical staff (three general logisticians and three water and sanitation specialists) in Gonaïves.
Clean Water a Priority
At the Rabouteau Health Center in Gonaïves, MSF has carried out over 150 consultations as of yesterday. One-third of the people examined were children under five years of age. Two water bladders were also set up at the center in order to provide clean drinking water, which is in very short supply in the city.
Limited Access to Other Devastated Areas
Access to other hurricane-affected areas outside of Gonaïves is extremely difficult; many roads and airstrips are flooded, bridges are destroyed, and there is a general lack of fuel, which is reducing, if not preventing, relief assistance—including clean water, food, or basic medical needs—from reaching many parts of the country. MSF is doing its best to access these areas to provide adequate care to affected populations and to monitor the health situation.
On Monday night, MSF sent an additional five vehicles and one truck to Gonaïves by boat. In the coming days, a team of four medical personnel and two logisticians will attempt to start mobile clinics and surveillance activities in the northwest area between Gonaïves and Port de Paix (including Terre Neuve, Anse Rouge, and Gros Morne) which has an overall estimated population of close to one million people. An additional 13.2 tons of medical and logistical materials (medical kits, pumps, tents, mosquito nets, water treatment kits, water tanks, generators, and blankets) are on the way from Europe and from Panama.
Existing MSF activities in Port-au-Prince are continuing. MSF provides medical and surgical care at La Trinité Trauma Center, emergency obstetrical care in Jude Anne Hospital, and emergency health-care services and essential health services through mobile clinics in the Martissant slum.
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To help the people of Haiti you can also do so through Doctors Without Borders
http://doctorswithoutborders.org
Fourteen days after Tropical Storm Gustav made landfall, followed by Tropical Storm... more
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With over a million people and 250,000 homes damaged due to the recent floods this prediction does not bode well for India, especially the poor of India. And without governments and social mores changing to accomodate a moral standing regarding this crisis, many will die and that is not an exaggeration. In the recent flooding, "untouchables" were either the last to be rescued or were not rescued at all. So how will that play out in the event of other major environmental climate change catastrophes? Those deemed unworthy of aid will simply be left to die?
From the article:
With over 2.7 million people affected by the floods caused by the change of course of the Kosi river in Bihar, researchers have now warned of more floods in northern India in coming years following changing stream flow patterns in the Himalayan rivers. The researchers from Pune University and College of Military Engineering, Pune, found an increase in the number of ‘high-magnitude flood’ events in four rivers - Chenab, Ravi, Satluj and Beas in northwestern Himalayas in the last four decades.
The researchers analysed the discharge of glacial melt into these rivers and found changing water flow patterns in the river due to global warming.
“The high-magnitude events in Himalayan rivers are generally in monsoons; hence they may lead to floods in plains too,” researcher M.R. Bhutiyani, professor at the College of Military Engineering, told IANS.
Bhutiyani said a “high magnitude flood event” is defined as an event when river flow at a particular point exceeds its average value.
“The data analysis shows that there was a significant number of high magnitude flood events in the rivers in the last four decades and the frequency of such events has been increasing,” he said.
The researchers found that due to global warming smaller glaciers in the Himalayas have receded at a relatively faster rate than the larger ones. This may ultimately lead to their disappearance in the near future.
“It is the glacier contribution which is going to be impacted because of global warming. There will be variations in response to the monsoon rainfall. Glaciers, which acted as natural regulators of discharge, will no longer play an important role in the hydrological regime of such basins,” Bhutiyani said.
The researchers found a significant increase in the glacial discharge in the Chenab and Satluj rivers, attributing this to a larger number of glaciers in the basin being on the retreat.
With over a million people and 250,000 homes damaged due to the recent floods this... more
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The images coming out of Haiti are as staggering as the statistics: four hurricanes in less than one month; hundreds dead, tens of thousands homeless, nearly a million people displaced. Eight of the country's 10 geographic departments are submerged in a blanket of brackish water, including Haiti's one remaining breadbasket, the Artibonite. Major arteries and bridges to the hardest hit areas have been wiped out.
Haiti is already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. There will be no tomorrow for many of its eight million unless food, water and medical supplies are made available immediately, then dispersed in a coordinated, efficient and expedient manner.
There is no way to head off natural disasters, but something could have been done to save lives. Haiti is the only country in the Caribbean and Central America where the United States hasn't built an Emergency Relief Center (ERC) or a Disaster Relief Warehouse (DRW). Every other country in the region has at least one, according to the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for security operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Two years ago $635,000 was approved for an ERC in Port-au-Prince. Last year $271,000 was approved for a DRW. But because the Haitian government has not granted land titles, the projects are on hold. The metal sheets needed to construct the buildings remain stacked up in a warehouse. Instead of pulling blankets, food, water and medical supplies from a DRW in-country, hurricane victims have had to wait for helicopter drops and supplies from the U.S.S. Kearsarge.
''Based on things we've seen in other countries, we can assume that having them would have made things easier,'' said Steve Carro, humanitarian assistance program manager for Southcom. Jamaica, for example, has two DRWs and one EOC. When Gustav made landfall last month rescue teams were able to pull supplies from a nearby source, shortening the response time and reducing dependence on outside assistance.
Say what you will about the Cuban government, only five people lost their lives when two hurricanes made direct hits in less than eight days. ''There was an evacuation plan,'' said Gladys Rodes in a telephone interview from Havana. ``The government has centers where we can go for food, medicine, everything we need. It's very well organized. No one is left on their own.''
Haitian residents have always been on their own. Four years ago, when Tropical Storm Jeanne flooded Gonaives -- Haiti's second-largest city -- residents had no warning. Several thousand people lost their lives. The government was forced to rely on international aid; there was neither a national plan nor supplies for disaster relief.
Gonaives is flooded again, perhaps unnecessarily. In 2005, the World Bank launched the $12 million Emergency Recovery and Disaster Management Project to provide for, among other things, the construction of levees, terracing and drainage works. The other components of the project, including the construction of an office in the Ministry of Interior, ate up 90 percent of the budget. To date no real flood works projects have been built.
The relief effort must become the No. 1 priority for the country's newly installed government of Michéle Duvivier Pierre-Louis. She replaced Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, who was ousted in April after riots sparked by rising food and fuel prices. According to the Family Early Warning Systems Network (composed of USAID, The European Union, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program), 2.3 million Haitians were al ready in a precarious food security situation in July. The Family Early Warning Systems Network predicted that this number would double by December. This was before Faye, Gustav, Hanna and Ike pummeled Haiti.
*********CONTINUESThe images coming out of Haiti are as staggering as the statistics: four hurricanes in... more
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This short video shows life in the quake hit Chinese village of Yaojin. For more info visit: www.chinaquakeproject.comThis short video shows life in the quake hit Chinese village of Yaojin. For more info... more
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After a recent line of devastating tropical weather, Haitians face catastrophic circumstance. Three more storms are lined, all with their eye on Haiti. Food is scarce to nonexistent. Shelter is merely a hope as flood waters devastate villages. One of the poorest countries in the world, there is little the Haitians can do for themselves. Rice crops and fruit trees have been devastated. A U.N. ship arrived with aid, but the circumstances will likely overwhelm them.
"There is no food, no water, no clothes," Arnaud Dumas, a pastor at a Gonaives church, told the Associated Press news agency. "We haven't found anything to eat in two, three days. Nothing at all."After a recent line of devastating tropical weather, Haitians face catastrophic... more
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Haiti faces a "catastrophe" after being hit by a series of storms in recent weeks, President Rene Preval has said.
Three storms in less than 21 days have killed 170 people and forced thousands to flee their homes in the Caribbean nation, officials say.
The latest, Tropical Storm Hanna, could prove even more deadly than one that killed more than 3,000 people in 2004, Mr Preval warned.
Hanna is now approaching the Bahamas, where storm warnings have been issued.
At 0030 GMT on Thursday, Hanna was about 355 miles (575km) south-east of Nassau and moving north-west, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.
Separately, storm Ike has strengthened rapidly into an extremely powerful Category Four hurricane in the open Atlantic, the NHC says.
See a map of Atlantic storms
However, it says it is too early to determine if Ike poses any threat to land.
'No water, no food'
"It is believed that compared to Jeanne, Hanna could cause even more damage," Mr Preval said.
The Haitian leader was referring to the deadly Tropical Storm Jeanne which hit the country in 2004.
Mr Preval said he would hold emergency talks with donor countries to appeal for aid.
Haitian officials say that Hanna has left at least 61 people dead when it struck on Tuesday, but there are fears that the death toll will rise further.
The northern city of Gonaives bore the brunt of Hanna's maximum sustained winds of 100km/h (65mph), with people on roof-tops screaming for help as floods reached depths of 2m (6.5ft).
"There are a lot of people who have been on top of the roofs of their homes over 24 hours now. They have no water, no food and we can't even help them," Haitian Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime told Reuters news agency.
UN peacekeepers and aid workers have been trying to reach stranded survivors.
"The situation is as bad as it can be," the UN's Vadre Louis told the Associated Press news agency.
"The wind is ripping up trees. Houses are flooded with water. Cars can't drive on the street. You can't rescue anyone, wherever they may be."
The impoverished Caribbean island was first drenched by Tropical Storm Fay, before Hurricane Gustav wreaked havoc last week, with torrential rainfall over heavily deforested and hilly terrain causing floods and mudslides.
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I can't imagine how the people of Haiti are surviving. This is beyond all human comprehension. I do know that Haiti needs help, and that this is more important than any bogus political campaign speech.Haiti faces a "catastrophe" after being hit by a series of storms in recent... more
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Mainstream Media is makeing us all look like fools when it is really just the fools at the White House and Pentagon.Mainstream Media is makeing us all look like fools when it is really just the fools at... more
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The China Quake project offers an exciting, innovative and interactive approach to disaster relief.
The goal: Rebuild an entire village of 55 homes destroyed by the recent China earthquake.
The innovation: Choose a family to “adopt” and watch your gift bring hope and a new home to a family who has lost everything. Throughout the course of the project, we will provide donors with video updates, blogs and other real time feedback, including a personal video message from your adopted family!
To get involved visit: www.chinaquakeproject.comThe China Quake project offers an exciting, innovative and interactive approach to... more
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These are the crises that go unreported by the MSM. The crises that show war, death, famine, and the daily struggle for survival that Doctors Without Borders does all in its power to combat with our help. I think these photos should be viewed as a reminder of the world we live in... a world that should be what we make it. And that should begin with basic human kindness, compassion, and responsibility not only to our planet but to each other.These are the crises that go unreported by the MSM. The crises that show war, death,... more
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The people of Somalia are currently facing a massive humanitarian crisis with unmet critical medical needs. In May alone, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams working in the Mogadishu suburbs of Hawa Abdi and Afgooye treated more than 2,500 children suffering from acute malnutrition, with admissions to MSF nutritional programs doubling in April and doubling again in May. Malnutrition rates have exceeded emergency thresholds for a year. The number of new cases is drastically increasing while external assistance is dwindling in quality and quantity due to high insecurity and increased targeting of humanitarian workers. Somalis attempting to flee the violence have few options for escape, as the main border crossings are closed.
“Somalia is no longer on the verge of a catastrophe, the disaster is happening now,” said Bruno Jochum, MSF director of operations in Geneva. “Last week alone, over 500 severely malnourished children were admitted to our nutritional programs. One out of six of these children needed to be hospitalized due to medical complications. If this trend continues, malnutrition may soon affect more of the general population such as children over five-years-old and vulnerable adults. The situation is tragic and we are unable to provide the aid necessary to prevent further deterioration of the situation.”
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And governments of the world continue to use their force in these regions to gain control over resources while the people continue to die.
The people of Somalia are currently facing a massive humanitarian crisis with unmet... more
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Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places in the world. Its refugee crisis is worsening. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, an estimated 4.7 million have been displaced both within and outside Iraq and for many the situation is desperate.
A new report by Amnesty International, Rhetoric and reality: the Iraqi refugee crisis, says that the international community continues to fail to respond to the crisis in a meaningful way. Countries like Jordan and Syria host most of the refugees but are simply not equipped to meet the needs of all those arriving.
Syria alone may be hosting more than a million refugees. As of 2007, only 1 percent of the total Iraqi displaced population was estimated to be in the industrialized world.
To mark World Refugee Day, Amnesty International has called on the international community and, in particular, those states who participated in the US-led invasion of Iraq, to take real steps to alleviate the suffering of those displaced. The organization said these countries must urgently act on their responsibility to assist the host nations and humanitarian organizations operating in the region to support the large numbers of refugees.
Many families are destitute and facing impossible choices and new risks, like having to resort to child labour and the prospect of being forced through circumstances to undertake "voluntary" return to Iraq.
Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places in the world. Its refugee crisis is... more
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MSF medical staff have in the past month carried out more 17,000 consultations, with an average of 500 per day in the last week of May. At first, more than half the patients were treated for injuries caused by the cyclone, but very soon other pathologies linked to the dire conditions in which people lived dominated the consultations. Some MSF teams have seen a high number of respiratory infections and cases of diarrhea, which could be linked to a lack of access to clean water, absence of shelters, and exposure to heavy rains in recent weeks.
"In many areas, especially where death rates have been high, we are seeing more and more people suffering from mental health problems," says Alena Koscalova, MSF medical coordinator in Yangon. "Some can not talk anymore, others are highly depressed after they lost their loved ones. In the coming weeks, we will try to address this problem by giving trauma counseling and psycho-social support with mental health specialists."
Over a three month period, MSF expects to carry out around 50,000 consultations at a rate of 500 per day. MSF aims to respond to any disease outbreaks within 24 hours of the reports and to ensure that any patients with severe health problems will be referred to secondary level health facilities. So far, no disease outbreak or alarming rates of malnutrition were reported by MSF’s 36 mobile teams in the delta.
Four weeks after the relief operations started, food, shelter, and access to clean water and remain the biggest needs of the victims. Food supplies have been largely insufficient as specialized agencies have not been able to set up proper distribution channels and in many areas, people have barely received enough to survive, if anything at all. Tens of thousands of people have seen their houses destroyed, lost all their properties and food reserves and have to rely on external assistance.
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Doctors Without Borders is truly one of the most extraordinary organizations on this planet. No matter where tragedy strikes they are there to give aid and life to those who suffer regardless of what they need. While I feel helpless in being able to do as much as I would like to help these people, I know that through helping DWB I am helping them and that gives me peace of mind.
If you wish to help the people of Burma, Doctors Without Borders is for sure a good way to get that help to them. This is another tragedy that I fear is falling out of the consciousness of people now that the initial news cycle is over. However, millions still suffer and the international community must then in my opinion step up and hold the military junta in Burma accountable for the deaths of those who did not receive aid in time due to their dictatorial rule of this country.MSF medical staff have in the past month carried out more 17,000 consultations, with... more
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A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in Myanmar exposed to heavy rain as the monsoon season begins, aid agencies said Saturday.
The United Nations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said there was an urgent need for tarpaulins to provide temporary shelter to an estimated 1.5 million homeless survivors. Otherwise, the threats of hunger and disease could intensify, they warned.
"Exposure to the elements five weeks after a disaster of this magnitude has to be a major concern," said John Sparrow, a spokesman for the IFRC. "People are in a weakened condition. They are sick; they are hungry. Without shelter, their whole situation is seriously exacerbated."
Sparrow estimated that only a quarter of those who need shelter materials have been reached.
The U.N. estimates 2.4 million people were affected when Cyclone Nargis hit May 2-3, and warns that more than 1 million still need help, mostly in the hard-to-reach Irrawaddy delta.
John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said "relatively few" of those survivors who were badly affected by the storm have not received any sort of aid. But he said the U.N.'s effort needs to be stepped up because many survivors still need help and supplies.
"I think people are getting to all the main places, although it's not always as easy as it should be," he said. "There's no evidence of starvation at the moment, although as I say many people are still in significant need of aid."
U.N. officials and aid groups have criticized the regime for hindering access to the delta, saying it has prevented enough food, water and shelter from reaching desperate survivors.
The U.N. also said Saturday that a lack of funding was hindering the aid effort, with only $20 million of the required $50 million received to finance logistic efforts that allow it to extend aid operations into remote regions.
A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in... more
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Burma's top leader has agreed to let all foreign aid workers into the country for relief work in cyclone-hit areas. UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon made the announcement after meeting with Gen Than Shwe and 10 other junta officials in Burma's capital. Ban was there for what was called "a last-chance effort" to persuade them to accept much-needed aid and relief experts.
About 78,000 people died and 56,000 are missing after the 2 May cyclone. Ban called Gen Than's decision "a breakthrough."
Yesterday, Burma's junta told Ban that the first phase of relief effort is over. Ban took a "carefully managed tour" of the Irrawaddy delta yesterday to see for himself the damage caused by Cyclone Nargis. It was reported that Ban was taken to a well-managed relief camp, known by locals as a "happy camp." The visit was filmed by state run media, depicting scenes that sharply contrasted the reports from international aid agencies on the ground in Burma that the majority of the 2.4 million affected had yet to receive aid.
The international community remains skeptical about the junta's optimism about relief progress in Burma. Ban Ki-moon said he was "very upset" by what he saw during his tour, and encouraged Burmese not to lose their hope and courage.Burma's top leader has agreed to let all foreign aid workers into the country for... more
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This is a shocking video of modern day genocide being commited by the church,the corporations, and government, today in the country of Canada. Unless you watch this,you wouild never believe that this is happening today, in our neighboring county. I love Canada. I love the land and the people,but after watching this shocking report of atrocities that are taking place today,I have no illusions about the government there,especially the government/church/ and corporation alliance
Most media outlets around he world, have caved into pressure about the viewing of the horrible trith,and the revelations of the ongoings of the church. I can only hope that current.com does not fall prey to the same tactics. For those of us that seek truth in everything that we encounter today, this a must see video,and please pass it on. This is a shocking video of modern day genocide being commited by the church,the... more
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Dr. Martin Luther King spoke out against America's involvement in Viet Nam after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway,December 10th.1964, for work and speech on Non-Violence. This angered the government of the United States,as well as vast majority of the population that felt that he being ungrateful after being awarded and unpatriotic in not supporting this country's involvement in southeast Asia. Most White Americans had favored Dr. King over the more Malcom X, who at that time,before his assasination,did not preach nonviolence. Malcom X, who after leaving the Nation of Islam, changed his name to El-Hadj Malik el-Shabazz, spoke of "by any means necessary". But while Dr. King was still considered the more passive and non-threatning of the two, America was not comfortable with Blacks speaking out on the international stage against American foreign policy. America has not expirienced changed as a nation the way it did in the late 60's and early 70's since then.. After the war and then Watergate,the nation was silenced. Why ?
Some believed that after a series of assasinations of JFK, Malcom X, MLK, AND Robert Kennedy Jr, most leaders,as well as most people had become afraid to speak out, that is until today.
The irony, in the eyes of Dr. King, was that he was awarded the peace prize for asking Negroes,(as we were referd to back then,) to be passive against Alabama Governor Bull Conner's vicious dogs and waterboarding, then denounced for praticing the same non-violent methodology against the North Vietnamese. Since that time, a pattern has developed. Andy Young, who was later Secretary of State under then President Jimmy Carter, was later forced to reisgn his post for his handling of a situation that involved Israel. Although he was Secretary of State at that time,and that was his role,politians at home sharply criticized for actions and he was force to resign. Today Condeleeza Rice assumes that role and is sharply critcized by both Blacks and Whites in America, as well people all over the world because she's apart of the George Bush regime, however because she is a woman,to most,she's always been considered non-threatning to the Whte male establishment and this leads us to today.Unfortunately, some Americans sadly still fill that," the sons and daughters of formers slaves should never speak on behalf of this great country.( See the Virginia Election results.)
If he were alive, what would Dr. King say about America's involvement in the middle east today , and would this country honor his presence the way we do in his memory ,or would that have changed also after his speech on War. It's obvious to some as to why John McCain voted against a National Holiday in his name, being a former POW of the Viet Nam war. Was immortalizing him in death the safest way out for this government ? In a nutshell, how would Dr. King feel about America today, and how would America feel about Dr. King ? Dr. Martin Luther King spoke out against America's involvement in Viet Nam... more
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