he put his hands over his ears.”
SPQR,
In Australia you get a promotion for that.

Col Rouge said:
"We have activists like WWF and Greenpeace ailing that the west is responsible for the rape of Africa"

If they are saying that then that is quite interesting since the rather secretive WWF, has taken millions of dollars in corporate donations from the likes of Alcoa, Citigroup, the Bank of America, Kodak, J.P. Morgan, the Bank of Tokyo, Philip Morris, Waste Management and DuPont to name a few.

The problem with ignoring the plight of those starving, needing the stability is that the militant Islam group Al-Shabab, or of their ilk will continue to dominate with their cruelty, corruption and tribal based violence in Africa. It is also why previous attempts have failed, where we [a world] turned our backs favoring our failed justifications for complacency.... lost.

World peace is about universal values and numbers. It is also about power. If we as global citizens feel "powerless" then we also give in to unjustifiable out right corruption of power and violence.

I hope we keep the eye on the ball. Over population is a spare argument and has no context in the reality of proper [development economic] analysis. Worse is us pointing the finger here at over there ... prattling on any notion that their death is something... "natural".... given the term of sustainability. Rather, the degree is a matter of markets, the work required to be inclusive as well as politics.

Human Ecology is about the world we are making and what this means in the future. Our comments in the West reflect starkly, as a developed world, our level of humanity and where we as a population opportune... are at.

http://www.miacat.com/

*Question – how many generations of fishermen do we have to train before they “get it”?*

They don't need to train em, Col. I once followed an interesting
discussion between an Eritrean and an Ethiopian. The Eritirean
pointed out that the Ethiopians had it down to a fine art. Dangle
a starving baby in front of Western TV cameras and hey presto,
over the horizon come boatloads of food!

Miacat says:

<< The problem with ignoring the plight of those starving, needing the stability is that the militant Islam group Al-Shabab, or of their ilk will continue to dominate with their cruelty, corruption and tribal based violence in Africa. It is also why previous attempts have failed, where we [a world] turned our backs favoring our failed justifications for complacency.... lost.>>

Quite apart from any discussion about what should be done .The proposition that us providing aid will stop “Al-Shabab, or their ilk” from dominating is a nonsense.NO amount of aid will remove “AL-Shabab or their Ilk” from power. How much more supportive can we be than taking these people in and making them citizens, as we have ( all too often) done.Yet even when we do this, many –secure with their new found Western meal tickets – have returned to fight for Al-Shabab.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/somalia-jihad-drive-probed/story-e6frg6of-1111115033793
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2009/1230/A-US-pipeline-for-jihad-in-Somalia

<<Over population is a spare argument and has no context in the reality of proper [development economic] analysis>>
Over population is central to the problem. And unless over population issues are addressed, no amount of aid will solve the horns problems

An article on SBS gives some light on the background to the 'causes of the Somalia famine'.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1573479/Q&A:-The-causes-of-the-Somalia-famine

Also the news coverage page on SBS

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/specialcoverage/331/Africa-Famine

The word "lost" refers to us all with reference to our role in what we each do with our part in market capitalism. There are no surprises about this famine in Somalia, nor the conditions throughout Africa and other regions, where multi-nationals be they Western or from China demand entry to Africa's resources without giving much back. Wherever there is "poverty" - a lack of market distribution and diversity in trade there are high rates of crime, corruption and a dire imbalance of power.

The over population is out of context less we look at ourselves as well throughout the world. The footprint of these people is less then ours. Their needs are presently village based and basic compared to ours. With health, education and a proper government, there would be more opportunity for these families. As the article on SBS says.... "The biggest cause of the Somalia famine is the failure of the state to protect its citizens. Twenty years ago we saw a famine unfold and we saw a failure of the international community to intervene effectively to protect these vulnerable people who didn't have a government to look after them.

There are also foreign economic interests in Somalia. Take a look at the US and China for example.... The story is complex. It has as much to do with failed states as world markets. Given we are the consumers, it involves us too.

Hence at the very least now;

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1569337/East-Africa:-How-you-can-help

East Africa: How you can help

http://www.miacat.com/