"Never Again? Again..." by Fly on the Wall | The Pilot: Southern Pines, NC

Never Again? Again...

July 22, 2011

Those pictures are on the news again: emaciated babies with bloated stomachs and lips drawn behind their gums, flies picking at their unblinking eyes. A drought- induced famine in Somalia and other African nations has reduced populations to the same horrible suffering as the bubonic plague, in the Middle Ages. "The images you are about to see may be disturbing...." the nattily dressed news anchor warns. Moving right along, the wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, went on display in London today. Tickets: $28. And shuttle Atlantis has landed for the last time, ending the gadzillion-dollar program that collected immensely valuable data. Can you name one piece of that data? Will that piece affect your life or save the lives of those pathetic African children? Here she goes again...that bleeding-heart simpleton who thinks one plus one should equal two. It's so much more complicated. Relief efforts must be coordinated through channels. Organizations must be set up, directors appointed, local governments dealt with. Funny thing is, a civilized nation -- the richest and most powerful in the world -- can play war games with a country that has not declared war on it without batting an eye. Just takes a pow-wow with the commander-in-chief and his advisors, a mumur from elected representatives and.....fait accompli.. I wish the commander-in-chief would issue an order to mobilize whatever it takes (last time I priced basic food and transport they cost less than ammunition and troop deployment) to alleviate this human catastrophe so I wouldn't have nightmares about those babies with death-heads, bony limbs and not enough strength to cry. I'm not against space exploration, within limits. Shuttles make wonderful museum exhibits. That probe tracking the asteroid sends back spectacular photos. I'm not against defending human rights in far-away lands, within reason. If Kate Middleton wants to spend an obscene $400,000 on a dress that's her business. Rule Britannia! But c'mon, world: somebody besides Angelina Jolie and Sean Penn has to set priorities. Bake sales and golf tournaments won't do it. This requires a surge. "Never again" was the post-Holocaust watchword. Starvation, genocide, epidemics of preventable disease -- lessons learned, right? Just ask those children....

Alistener 1 year, 10 months ago

Amen...

Courseaire 1 year, 9 months ago

Sad to say, but billions of $$ have been given to those countries in Aid and little is shown for it. You might want to read the following: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123758895999200083.html

debsalomon 1 year, 9 months ago

Thanks for the link. The information was, of course, all-inclusive and terribly discouraging...but proved one point: CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN!!! The "corruption" cited derails aid. Relief organizations must find a way to place food in the hands of starving people. Why does what sounds so simple get mired in machinations? Worry about boosting the economies of African nations later. Address today's problem today. Remember the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the hole in the dyke? But, as I said, I'm a hopeless simpleton treading water in the cesspool of world economics. Still, if the media chooses to show those suffering children, somebody should react before clicking the remote..