Comments on: Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2006

Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2006

kimdog — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:27:50 -0800

Top Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2006 from Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders

By: homunculus

homunculus — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:10:15 -0800

Depressing, but thanks for posting this.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:01:19 -0800

Thanks for posting this. Please remember that just because there are very few comments on a story, doesn't mean that people didn't read it and learn from it!

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:30:18 -0800

Good reading. The message is underscored by the 200+ comment fpp discussing a new cellphone.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:21:50 -0800

Important reading. Anyway, the number of comments is never a good indication of the quality of a FPP. On the contrary, I'd say that the favorites/comments ratio is a much better indication. I just favorited this...

By: liquorice

liquorice — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:23:32 -0800

Unfourantely, the suffering of the "other half" of the world often goes unnoticed. So thank you for this.

By: amyms

amyms — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:40:22 -0800

Thanks for posting this... The Somalia article is particularly noteworthy since we (the U.S.) just conducted an airstrike there within the last 48 hours... In our misguided foreign policies there's always plenty of money for punitive measures, but never enough money to help innocent citizens.

By: pedantic

pedantic — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:52:49 -0800

It reminds me of a new magazine I did a small amount of work for a year and a half ago151;NEED. They're doing some good work; humanitarian stores are oft missing. Thanks for the post.

By: sveskemus

sveskemus — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 17:04:46 -0800

Good post. Thanks, kimdog.

By: kimdog

kimdog — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:19:26 -0800

I think it can be hard to comment on something like this... it's just so fucking grim. The more I understand about the world beyond my backyard, the more I appreciate what I have. It's not wrong to be excited by the iPhone (cause it is pretty awesome), but I also hope that I can somehow affect change, even at a miniscule level, for these people. I don't have a wealth of time or money, but I give what I can.

By: Parannoyed

Parannoyed — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:11:45 -0800

I'm pickin up what you're puttin down kimdog... As I expected, the majority of these stories come from central Africa. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I want to help the Africans. It just seems like no matter how much money and effort and good-will the world pours into that continent, it never seems to do enough good. There's always another political coupe. There's always another warlord or tyrant out to raise hell and get his. And when it's not war, it's poverty that's killing people. And when it's not poverty, it's HIV and other diseases. or flooding. or drought. And I think about all those little kids, dying every day, never having done a damn thing to deserve it. I just... it... it makes me want to break down and weep.

By: QIbHom

QIbHom — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:52:36 -0800

MSF are good people. They aren't perfect, but they do a lot more good than a lot of other, perhaps more famous charities.

By: hadjiboy

hadjiboy — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:38:45 -0800

Thanks for this.

By: the cydonian

the cydonian — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 22:32:38 -0800

In central India's Chhattisgarh state, clashes between Maoist insurgents, Indian security forces and anti-Maoist militias, also known as Salwa Judum, has been occurring for more than 25 years

That is incorrect and misleading. Salwa Judum came into operation only in 2004, and the militias became "Maoists" only in 2003. In fact, Chattisgarh the state itself came into being only in 2000. The militias were left-leaning before, but they didnt have a single unified command, as it were. Besides, their main theater was further south, in Andhra Pradesh; they didnt venture into the Dandakaranya forests until very recently. The districts have become "sensitive" (government-speak for the-local-police-cant-do-jackshit-anymore-so-lets-suspend-some-civil-rights-and-go-crazy) only the last three years; there was virtually no _displacement_ of people before that. From a governance (and I mean, _all_ governance services, including healthcare) perspective, Manipur and Assam are the real underreported stories here, not just Chattisgarh. There's been a genocidal mass-killing a few days back in Assam, a scary prospect for a state that was supposed to be bouncing back to "normalcy".

By: Phanx

Phanx — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 04:48:35 -0800

The more I hear about MSF, the more I like them. I wish there were a better adjective for this kind of thing than 'humanitarian', though.

By: hadjiboy

hadjiboy — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:26:29 -0800

the cydonian: From a governance (and I mean, _all_ governance services, including healthcare) perspective, Manipur and Assam are the real underreported stories here, not just Chattisgarh. Links here here and here.

By: aacheson

aacheson — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:46:17 -0800

Parannoyd, I totally agree. I feel like it's just hopeless. No matter what, it's just a mess. I don't see a way out....sort of like the middle east political messes (and not just the US messes.)

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 16:55:24 -0800

God damn. I already had much respect for MSF, and that's more or less doubled after reading the article. My despair has more or less doubled, too, but these stories are vital to know about. Thanks kimdog.