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Goddamn it , Five million Burmese are going hungry, warns UN, and no one gives a shit now,

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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-20-07 02:13 AM
Original message
Goddamn it , Five million Burmese are going hungry, warns UN, and no one gives a shit now,
Edited on Sat Oct-20-07 02:16 AM by babylonsister
because it's not news? Yea,and Vets from Iraq are going nuts with PTSD, no one cares, there's too much to care about now, or not enough people to do so.

Here's a different take on the undies:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2093688&mesg_id=2093688


Five million Burmese are going hungry, warns UN
By Peter Popham
Published: 19 October 2007

One in ten Burmese is going to bed hungry and an estimated five million people do not have enough food, UN officials said yesterday. The hunger gripping rural communities has spread to cities because of the steep increases in the costs of fuel and other commodities which provoked last month's nationwide protests against the ruling military junta.

Burma used to be known as the rice bowl of Asia and, on paper at least, it still has a food surplus. But according to Paul Risley, an official with the World Food Programme, who has just returned from the country, many people are struggling to survive on meagre meals. "We can presently only provide food to about 500,000 vulnerable persons – far less than is needed," Mr Risley said. "There are points of real poverty and food insecurity in parts of Burma's urban areas.

"This has happened before but it is becoming a larger problem, for example, among particularly vulnerable groups such as HIV and Aids patients. We haven't yet talked to the regime about alleviating this but we are receiving requests from non-governmental organisations and other groups working in urban areas to investigate the problem."

In a visit planned before last month's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests, a WFP team including Mr Risley and Tony Banbury, its regional director for Asia, spent five days in Burma and visited the southern Shan stateat the heart of the Golden Triangle – once one of the world's most important areas of illegal opium cultivation. There, they found desperate poverty among the former opium farmers.

"Southern Shan state has a food surplus and we saw corn being harvested. Outside every house, corn cribs were brimming with corn and the rice was on the point of being harvested as well," Mr Risley said. "But the tragic thing is that, just minutes away from the main road, there are traditional mountain communities without access to land and without enough food.

"These are tribes who traditionally carry their wealth on their bodies in the form of silver and gold bracelets. In several villages we were told they were selling their bracelets to obtain food. We believe some of them are going back to opium production because they don't want to lose all their wealth."

more...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3075692...

And for the curious, the story:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2093688
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-20-07 02:19 AM
Response to Original message
1. A lot of pain and sadness in the world...
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-20-07 02:27 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. And I get so angry at people who respond to 'undies' instead of despair.
That's me, and I'm going to bed. Bon soir, and thanks.
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Perseid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-20-07 02:29 AM
Response to Original message
3. five million
five billion

five gazillion.

we are led by freaks who don't give a damn.

Think. Tomorrow, it could be you or your family.
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Dark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-20-07 02:30 AM
Response to Original message
4. How many times do we have to go over this? They're NOT white people, so they're not people.
In case it is needed:

:sarcasm:
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Yukari Yakumo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-20-07 02:35 AM
Response to Original message
5. Unless you involve China and/or Russia...
...there ain't shit anybody can do.

Sucks, but it's true.
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