Geldof back in Ethiopia (praises Our President...slams Clinton and the EU)!

The Guardian ^

[bethelgrad]

I've been listening to Savage lately on this whole issue. He comes off pretty uncaring when it comes to Africa.

[bethelgrad]

I understand your position. In some respects I am sympathetic with it. My biggest concern is that the money is going to line the pockets of some would be warlord/ politician.

[Delta 21]

Geldofs' been smokin' that camel sh!t again.

[thegreatbeast]

'"You'll think I'm off my trolley when I say this, but the Bush administration is the most radical - in a positive sense - in its approach to Africa since Kennedy," Geldof told the Guardian.'
What does Geldof know of JFK? What did Kennedy do except maybe have a few African poobahs assassinated or deposed? Geldof is thinking magically here methinks.

God bless them but we can not save the African continent. Just as throwing money at the Education Department hasn't forestalled the dumbing down of America, throwing 15 or 150 billion dollars is not going to solve the problems at work in Africa. And as a poster suggests this kind of charity should start at home.

[thegreatbeast]

Tragically, this is all too often Africa:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/920013/posts

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I love it - one of the Holly-weirdos has finally figured out that Clinton was a fraud - all talk and no action.

[ladyinred]

I like that he feels this way, but it is an underhanded compliment at the same time. He put out disclaimers in the beginning, and basically called him a weirdo, and did the extreme right wing wacko routine. Why didn't he just say how thankful he is without all of this garbage!

[ladyinred]

BJ Bill did what was popular, Our President does what needs to be done.

And gets blasted by his own when he does, unfortunately. He is a good man, and no good deed goes unpunished I guess.

[Southack]

You'll notice that the media NEVER talks about how many specific Dollars/Euros that the Europeans are contributing to Africa.

Suffice it to say that they haven't come close to $15 Billion, lest we would have heard from them non-stop calling us "cheap".

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[DoughtyOne]

I share your hope that this will be the outcome. Money that we donate should be used to help folks become self-suficient. But look what we do in our own nation with welfare. Oh well, keep the faith.

[JoeSchem]

I was there in 1990, listening to co-workers etc, as well as statistics from knowledgeable agencies, it wasn't overblown even then so I'm sure it's much worse now.

My fault for being less specific: Africa has a serious health crisis, but many anti-establishment medical R&D scientists suspect that the AIDS lobby is using its political clout to label non-AIDS health problems as AIDS, which ensures that money that might otherwise be spent in improving public hygiene and general medical care is instead spent on wear-a-condom awareness campaigns.

As I recall, the contrarian argument works this way. HIV, they say, is actually a harmless virus. But when it randomly correlates with TB in the same individual, it is assumed that the TB is the result of HIV infection. So there is no African AIDS crisis, but there is a TB crisis. And not just TB, but many other diseases get factored into the AIDS equation on the assumption that HIV damages the immune system and thereby 'causes' the infection to occur.

When you speak of 'knowledgeable agencies,' perhaps the people you spoke with are sincere, but the agencies themselves might be beholden to a NASA-like 'we can do no wrong' mindset which ensures that any medical opinion that would take funding away from their coffers is automatcally wrong.

I guess, after Watergate and Monicagate, the more I'm told not to question a person's idealism and integrity, the more I suspect their idealism and integrity. One wonders how Africans survived for thousands of years without the UN to meddle in their affairs. Then one wonders how Africans will survive for a few more years with the UN to meddle in their affairs.

I will now end my message of knee-jerk cynicism.