Free Republic

'Malnutrition' deaths in Colombia Colombia's indigenous communities total about one million people Colombia's officials are investigating reports that dozens of children have recently died from malnutrition in the north-western province of Choco. One hospital in the region has said that 37 babies and children died from illnesses linked to malnutrition in a two-month period. The victims were believed to be mainly from indigenous groups living in inaccessible jungle regions. The consumption of unfit drinking water is said to be one of the main causes. "About two months ago, our children started showing symptoms," indigenous leader Diocelina Chocho was quoted as...

Private Kim, one of the two N. Korean soldiers who accidentally strayed into the water off the coast of Sokcho, Kangwon Province, on Dec. 9, on a wooden boat is being handed over to N. Korea at Panmunjum on Dec. 27.

Obesity has reached pandemic proportions throughout the world and is now the greatest single contributor to chronic disease, an international conference was told here. "This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world," Australia's Monash University professor Paul Zimmet, chair of the 10th International Congress on Obesity, said on the opening day of the conference. The spread of the problem was "led by affluent western nations, whose physical activity and dietary habits are regrettably being adopted by developing nations," Zimmet told more than 2,000 delegates. The world now has more fat people than hungry ones, according to...

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday North Korean IQs are feared to be falling due to prolonged malnutrition. "The people have had so little food over much of their lives," Rumsfeld said at a National Press Club luncheon in raising North Korea as an example as to why he said political and economic freedom is needed. "There's a concern that their IQs are going down because of malnutrition and insufficient diet," Rumsfeld said. "People in the North Korean military...are 4 foot 10 inches (145 centimeters), these are men, and less than 100 pounds (45 kilograms)." "That's a tragedy,"...

CHICAGO -- A study of a famine in China more than 40 years ago found that children born to severely malnourished women are more likely to develop schizophrenia. The research bolsters the evidence that environmental factors can trigger the devastating mental illness. Compared with children born before or after the 1959-61 famine, those born during the disaster faced double the risk of becoming schizophrenic later on. The results are nearly identical to a previous study of a famine in Holland resulting from a Nazi food blockade toward the end of World War II. "Since the two populations are ethnically and...

GENEVA (AP) - Almost twice as many Iraqi children are suffering from malnutrition since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a U.N. monitor said Monday. Four percent of Iraqis under age 5 went hungry in the months after Saddam's ouster in April 2003, and the rate nearly doubled to 7.7 percent last year, said Jean Ziegler, the U.N. Human Rights Commission's special expert on the right to food. The situation is "a result of the war led by coalition forces," he said. Overall, more than a quarter of Iraqi children don't get enough to eat, Ziegler told the 53-nation commission,...

Islamo-Fascists Bring Malnutrition, and U.S. Invasion Gets the Blame  Old Media have as much difficulty with war-torn Iraq as apologists for slavery had for Civil War and Reconstruction. Why, things were much better when there was an autocratic authority and there was no opposition. This WaPo piece, that goes against the grain of the overwhelmingly good news from most of Iraq, cites the decline in health care and the rise of malnutrition "since the war." True, U.S. forces have nothing to do with these unfortunate developments, which are chiefly caused by terrorist attacks on doctors, hospitals and groups like...

Malnutrition early in life predisposes infants to aggression and antisocial behavior as they are growing up, USC researchers reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Psychologist Adrian Raine and his colleagues studied more than 1,000 children living in Mauritius. They found that those who suffered from malnutrition in the early postnatal years, when compared with those who were adequately fed, showed a 41% increase in aggression at age 8, and a 51% increase in violent and antisocial behavior at age 17.

A 15-year-old’s weight dwindled to only 49 pounds while he was allegedly kept chained to a bed – often wearing only a diaper – as punishment for being a “troublemaker,” resulting in charges against his father and stepmother.Lebanon police made the shocking discovery of the badly malnourished teenager while responding to a request from the state Department of Children Services about a possible case of abuse and neglect, authorities said.“It’s the worst case of child abuse or neglect that most of us have seen,” Lebanon Police Chief Scott Bowen remarked.Abuse and neglect charges have been filed against stepmother Christie H....

/begin my translation "Can't Stand Hunger"- Desertion Rampant in N. Korean Military Recently, desertion has become rampant among N. Koraen soldiers, which is a headache for N. Korean authorities. Kim Young-gil(alias), a N. Korean military officer who came to China on a mission to earn foreign hard curreny, told this reporter on June 24th, "The desertion of ordinary soldiers is on the steep rise at military units, due to food shortage and harsh training. In some units, it has deteriorated to the point where they worry that the military formation is in danger of a wholesale collapse." He added, "Up...

CORE to hold teach-in, demand end to “Eco-Imperialism”; Greenpeace co-founder to denounce his former colleaguesThe Congress of Racial Equality, one of America’s premier civil rights organizations, will convene a teach-in on Tuesday, January 20, at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, to condemn the global green movement’s oppression of poor people in the Third World. “The environmental movement I helped found has lost its objectivity, morality and humanity,” says Greenpeace co-founder and conference panelist Dr. Patrick Moore. “The pain and suffering it inflicts on families in developing countries can no longer be tolerated.” Moore will be one of eight...

A jury in Kew Gardens, N.Y. convicted a vegan couple of nearly starving their baby to death with a strict diet that the prosecutor described as "a path to hell." Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 32, were found guilty in Queens Supreme Court of assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. The couple fed their toddler daughter, Ice, a homemade soy bean and herb infant formula that left the little girl with the appearance of a Third World famine victim and the developmental abilities of a newborn. At 15 months, Ice had no teeth and could not...

Nearly half of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are suffering from chronic malnutrition due to Israeli curfews and blockades, according to a Palestinian survey released Thursday. The survey found that 45.5 percent of Palestinian children aged 6 months to 5 years are suffering from chronic malnutrition, meaning their growth has been stunted as a result of poor diet. Another 32.5 percent have acute malnutrition, meaning they weigh less than they should for their age or height groups, the study said. Compared to statistics from 2000, the survey found a 22.6 percent increase in the number of...

Couple 'hated' starved boy, 4 Aunt says child's father and stepmother didn't hide abuse, disdain 05/19/2002 By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News The aunt of a 4-year-old boy who nearly died from malnutrition says the child's father and stepmother "hated" the boy and didn't hide the abuse they inflicted upon him. Confronted about cruel treatment and what appeared to be systematic starvation, Johnny Ray Edwards Sr. and Monica Edwards spoke frankly about their dislike for the child yet refused suggestions that they return him to CPS caseworkers, said Mr. Edwards' older sister, Felicia Randall. "She'd always call...

Christines guilty of robbery, acquitted of kidnapping By LANDON HALL The Associated Press 5/10/02 10:54 PM ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- An Oregon couple accused of taking their children from state workers at gunpoint were found guilty Friday of robbery, custodial interference and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. The Douglas County jury found Brian and Ruth Christine innocent of kidnapping. The Christines, both 29, face minimum prison sentences of 7½ years on the robbery charges. Brian Christine will face an additional five years for pointing a gun at child welfare workers last August to take his three daughters -- Bethany,...