Famine in Somalia

[Dandan]

This is just sad

World called to task on Somali famine​

http://youtu.be/CApG8IGyv5E

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- With famine declared for parts of the Horn of Africa, the U.S. State Department is calling donors to supply emergency aid.

The U.N. World Food Program said it welcomed an announcement from al-Qaida's affiliate al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia, that it would allow humanitarian access to drought-stricken citizens in the area.

The agency said it was preparing for what it said was one of its largest operations to address the crisis brought on by drought in the Horn of Africa.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said it could be at least four months before there will be any sort of harvest in Somalia.

"What we are seeing here is almost a perfect storm -- conflict in Somalia, rising fuel and food prices and drought and the loss of the rain," he said in a statement.

Scientists said the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in more than 60 years is likely the result of strong seasonal weather phenomenon in the region that could linger for the rest of the year.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a statement Wednesday said Washington was "deeply concerned" by the humanitarian emergency.

Clinton said Washington was providing $28 million in aid for people in Somalia and the rest of the region.

"But the United States cannot solve the crisis in the Horn alone," she said. "All donors in the international community must commit to taking additional steps to tackle both immediate assistance needs and strengthen capacity in the region to respond to future crises."

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/07/20/World-called-to-task-on-Somali-famine/UPI-86391311166997/

I really want to help. I think Unicef is probably the best way right now but holy shit, this is going to be a disaster

 

[Pulse]

Famine? In Africa? Preposterous!

 

[Dandan]

yeah I know there always seems to be something bad over there but this is the worst humanitarian crisis right now

 

[KiplingsCat]

It's humbling to think that only 150 years or so ago, this was happening in my country.

 

[Solaris]

I just thank **** I'm not African. Things are only going to get worse over there as well.

 

[Orcone101]

Sure, feed them.

Then their population increases some more.

And this shit happens again.

And then we feed them again...

 

[Schweppe]

They're not mushrooms, man. They need help.

Year round aid can be pretty devastating to the intrinsic health of local economies, but in such a time as this, the short term is crucial and in the short term these people need food.

Not that I'm personally giving anything. I'm too busy buying hessian tote bags.

 

[15357]

Sure, feed them.

Then their population increases some more.

And this shit happens again.

And then we feed them again...

Yeah, we should simply starve them so that they fight over food and kill each other, solving the food crisis.

I was being sarcastic here, but now that I wrote it down, it kinda looks valid.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Or, you know, put the infrastructure in place for them to create their own means of living and educate them on safe sex. It's really as simple as that!!! :v

 

[Stormy]

They need to take a big old truck of KFC down that way for sure.

 

[Dandan]

I think some desalinization plants would solve some problems but yeah some new emerging technologies could help. Solar powered humidifiers, wells that even children can gather water with, and so much more could simply be put into place to help.

 

[Raziaar]

I've never heard of such a brutal and shocking injustice that I cared so little about.







</quoke>

Really though, famine is awful. Genetically modified food products are the way of the future. AND NOT CORN GOD DAMMIT ENOUGH WITH THE ****ING INEDIBLE CORN AMERICA!

 

[Stigmata]

This the biggest load of manipulative horseshit I've seen in a while.

- NewsCorp is pinned in hacking scandal.
- Mainstream media (largely owned by, again, NewsCorp) quickly points to Somalia... as if Somalia hasn't been destitute for decades already.
- NewsCorp paper publishes this ****ing cartoon.

This isn't about Somalia.

 

[Maestro]

I've never heard of such a brutal and shocking injustice that I cared so little about.

</quoke>

Really though, famine is awful. Genetically modified food products are the way of the future. AND NOT CORN GOD DAMMIT ENOUGH WITH THE ****ING INEDIBLE CORN AMERICA!

What's wrong with corn? Barring rice and manioc it's the highest calories-per-acre of any crop.

This the biggest load of manipulative horseshit I've seen in a while.

- NewsCorp is pinned in hacking scandal.
- Mainstream media (largely owned by, again, NewsCorp) quickly points to Somalia... as if Somalia hasn't been destitute for decades already.
- NewsCorp paper publishes this ****ing cartoon.

This isn't about Somalia.

And yes, Rupert Murdoch is a savvy son of a bitch, ain't he?

 

[Raziaar]

What's wrong with corn? Barring rice and manioc it's the highest calories-per-acre of any crop.



And yes, Rupert Murdoch is a savvy son of a bitch, ain't he?

The majority of corn we grow in the United States comes from Iowa and the Corn Belt. Iowan corn is designed to be super high in starch and is basically inedible. For the first time in Iowan history the farmers can no longer live off the food they produce on their land.

The corn can only be consumed with heavy processing which turns it into corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. That's essentially what all that corn is used for... sweeteners. And most of it is used for livestock. The corn that we grow in the corn belt is not for human consumption, it's for animal consumption, and we eat the meat from the animals that consume it. Acre for acre, it's completely limiting our food production capabilities for human consumption. The corn grown in the corn belt is not the corn on the cob you eat or the sweet canned corn you eat.


It's not the only place I learned of this information, but this documentary was pretty enlightening. King Corn.

http://www.kingcorn.net/

 

[DEATH eVADER]

If there are to be supply drops during August, it has to be done during the twilight hours, as 1st August is the start of Ramadan. I don't know whats worse, the fact that there is a famine, or the fact that majority of these people will be fasting without water, food or aid during the daytime or I suppose its the combination of the two

 

[Maestro]

The majority of corn we grow in the United States comes from Iowa and the Corn Belt. Iowan corn is designed to be super high in starch and is basically inedible. For the first time in Iowan history the farmers can no longer live off the food they produce on their land.

The corn can only be consumed with heavy processing which turns it into corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. That's essentially what all that corn is used for... sweeteners. And most of it is used for livestock. The corn that we grow in the corn belt is not for human consumption, it's for animal consumption, and we eat the meat from the animals that consume it. Acre for acre, it's completely limiting our food production capabilities for human consumption. The corn grown in the corn belt is not the corn on the cob you eat or the sweet canned corn you eat.

Well, yeah, but what I'm confused by is why this makes all corn evil. There's a reason the South Americans have been eating it for hundreds of years. It's a matter of the right kind of corn, not a totally different plant. I mean, not much of anything grows in sub-Saharan Africa, so the bigger concern is what kind of plants could even survive that kind of climate.

 

[Raziaar]

When did I say all corn is evil?

And the corn the south Americans typically eat and especially in the past is absolutely nothing like the small handful of strains we have today.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Hahaha, Murdoch actually is Mr. Burns. God this is genius.

Make no mistake, he'll walk away from all of this no problem.