29,000 Dead Children, but Nobody's Talking About It

[Truth2Tell]

FYI...

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/09/millions-are-starving-horn-africa

Millions Are Starving in the Horn of Africa, but Nobody's Talking About It

By Samantha Oltman| Fri Sep. 2, 2011 9:32 AM PDT

The United Nations has called the ongoing drought and famine in Somalia the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world. It's going to get worse in the coming months. Yet a new Pew Research Center study released on Thursday shows that news outlets have barely noticed: "In July and August the food crisis has accounted for just 0.7 percent of the newshole. Year-to-date the crisis registers at just 0.2 percent."

Aid workers say the current famine, which has affected Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, "is worse" than the one that hit Somalia in 1992—making it perhaps the most serious food crisis since the famine that devastated Ethiopia in 1985.

The statistics are shocking: In Somalia, at least 29,000 children died of starvation in 90 days. Some 2 million children are malnourished, and another 500,000 children are at great risk of starving to death. Some 12 million people in the region need emergency assistance. The crisis has been exacerbated by the al-Shabaab Islamist insurgent group, which has played a hand in causing the famine by forcing out aid groups and preventing starving Somalis from fleeing the country.

As you read this, you might be thinking, "Huh? There's a famine in Somalia right now?" If you haven't heard about the crisis before, it's because US news coverage has been focusing on other topics—a tabloid scandal, Congress' budget deficit battle, the economy, Middle East revolutions, and, most recently, Hurricane Irene. Some of these are important, attention-worthy stories, but they've drowned out almost any coverage of the famine. That matters: Relief organizations say their fundraising efforts have stalled because the media isn't talking about the famine. The United Nations recently announced that it needs $1.1 billion to adequately respond to the crisis...

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/09/millions-are-starving-horn-africa

[ZombieHorde]

1. Recommended. nt

[malaise]

2. Listen attenion must only be paid

to the unborn - step out of the womb and you're on your own particularly if you're black.

[PDJane]

3. I knew about it, and I know the depth of it.

It's been covered in the news media here. I will tell you what astounds me; the number of Canadians who talk about the fact that the famine is a black hole of aid, that the aid gets stolen, that we shouldn't support these people until they control their birth rate....that shocked me. I read those kinds of comments to the pieces in the Toronto star, and it left me absolutely outraged.

Conservative politicians take power, and this attitude comes to the fore? It's enough to make me into a Hermit.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. The famine is a creation of political bullshit. We send aid...

it gets stolen and the elite gets to stay alive. Same thing has been going on in Ethiopia for decades. Why is Somalia suddenly so much more special?

[one_voice]

4. I've been paying attention...

I've been donating what little xtra I have. It's not much, but it's what I can do.

I can't believe this isn't being blasted on every news channel....29,000 children over 90 days that's over 300 a day... :cry:

[Glimmer of Hope]

5. Not only has the media dropped the ball but I don't know of any

big name celebrities who have stepped up to plate. Where are the telethons and concerts? More attention was paid to that self absorbed talentless Kardashian who got married.

[Truth2Tell]

6. Where's Anderson Cooper?

:shrug:

[rhett o rick]

14. Anderson seems like a nice guy and not a bad journalist, but he is one of THEM.

He is a member of the upper, sociopathy class. He cant help it. He doesnt want to kill us, he just cant help it if we die.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. "Make no mistake: there's no oil in Somalia"

"The American people understand that without oil, there can be no crisis. Times are tough for everyone. The people of Somalia have to live within their means. Unless they can find oil, not even peas for them. This tragedy should serve to help the American people realize how generous the bankers are in allowing them to keep enough earnings to afford peas. For now. "*

*For the parody-impaired: this is not an actual quote.

[Truth2Tell]

8. Video

"In this report we bring you the first al-Shabaab interview with a Western news organisation since the UN declared famine in Somalia. They claim there is no crisis, but shocking images tell the real story."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8KQ36m6tvU

[Starry Messenger]

9. recommend.

[fasttense]

10. Somalia the libertarian paradise does not seem to be so wonderful.

People are starving. Exactly who are the people that are starving? When the idle rich are starving too, that's when you know it's really about food. As long as just the poor and weak are starving, no one gives a crap.

[joshcryer]

11. The neocons want their neoliberal free market experiment to go to its finality...

...before they give up on it.

[FarCenter]

13. As more farm production is converted to biofuels, this will get far worse

Also, as the population rises towards 10 billion, and as fossil fuels run out, the death rate will rise markedly.

[rhett o rick]

15. I wish one of the DU capitalists explain how capitalism is supposed to help in Somalia. nm

[jimlup]

16. I've been concerned about Africa and have been expecting this ...

but I have to say that I am expecting catastrophes like this to increase as climate change really goes full bore on humanity. The next few decades will not be pretty - we may survive as a species but we may not - that is honestly what I feel and I also have to say that I don't know that we can really help Africa at the moment. We had damn well better start helping ourselves. I'm not saying we shouldn't try and keep channels of aide open - I'm just saying it isn't going to be enough and we can't do anything about that because we have serious problems of our own and they are not as far away as many expect.