l gave an awful feeling

Thanks MCEM I suppose it is inevitable, it seems so sad to me that personal egos become more important than the actual thread , especially with this particular topic & we are all of a certain age !! ,?. not a good example to set for our grandchildren

Nothing wrong at all with mentioning mental health issues.
But it does seem to be a bit pointed to do so when it's quite obvious which poster is being referred to.

You are not suggesting the diversionary tactic might have been deliberate, thatbags?
I don't know about "freaking out" but mental health is a sensitive issue and to suggest otherwise shows a lack of awareness. The days of dismissing someone's views in cavalier fashion by saying they are "barking" or "bonkers " are happily behind us (unless one is writing a Sun headline.)
I don't know whyAnkers can't just say "sorry, didn't mean mental health, meant emotional stress, or end of your tether" or whatever and no more need be said.

But I agree that the subject of the thread should be paramount, especially in this case.

Sorry ana not that obvious. Just thought it was another attention-seeking diversionary tactic and was annoyed to see yet another thread hurtling off down the road of 'speaking to GN' etc etc.
Agree with bags that by now we should spot it coming and simply stop it in its tracks.

x posts Mawbroon

I think if you go back 100 or more years ago you will find that the birth rate in Britain was quite high, despite the fact that many more children died in infancy, for a number of reasons including malnourishment. Or perhaps many more children were born because of high rates of infant deaths - the tendency to try to replace children that are lost seems to be a natural phenomenon. And the availability of effective contraception also plays a huge part.

War does play a part in these famines but I would have thought that the fact that Africa is experiencing the worst drought for 60 years is also a major contributory factor. I seem to recall that the media here recently went into a tailspin because there was a shortage of salad stuff in the supermarkets, due to weather conditions. There was a rush on the shops, with people bulk buying lettuces, tomatoes, etc. And we have the cheek to sit in judgment on people whose livestock have died and whose land is parched.

As for wars, as luckygirl says we could stop manufacturing and profiting from arms sales and hosting arms fairs.

We could do that Eloethan and it would salve our conscience, but someone else would rush in to plug the gap because there will always be a demand for arms.

I'd rather have my conscience clear, thanks. I don't care whether anyone else would rush in.
Perhaps they wouldn't. Perhaps they would take a lead from the UK which everyone wants to be the best. It's a good thing to be best at.

I have spoken to gransnet and I have pmed Ana.
I asked gransnet whether it was ok for posters to lie about others on gransnet.

But I have also told gransnet, never mind, I am a christian and God will sort it out.

I forgive you Ana.

I sometimes wonder if it's the planet's way of culling us all and if we are a dying breed. David Attenborough said the human race is a plague on the planet and when you look around, it makes you wonder.
The birth rate across much of the world is very low, that's why Angela Merkel opened the doors to so many refugees. Germany has the lowest birthrate in the world. It used to be Japan but it's Germany now.
Africa is the only continent still populating above the average.

Like Chewbacca says, 50 years ago, Oxfam was running adverts to pipe water into Africa and help with famine. In 50 years you would have thought they would have dealt with water systems by now so where has 50 years of money gone? Also, I see these starving babies but the mothers all look healthy and robust? Has anyone noticed this. An ample weight woman holding a skeletal child on camera?
Plus, there used to be only a handful of charities, Oxfam and Save The Children were two. These days there are so many new ones popping up. Surely they must all dilute the effects of each other?

I do give and believe it or not, I give to animal charities too. But I think the problems are never going to end while we have corruption, war and an endless lack of birth control.

No. What I've seen on TV has been extremely emaciated women, with stick-like arms who've walked for a week, through dry scrubland, varying their starving child to reach help.

Carrying

I've been watching the news Anya and the reports have shown a bleak side but the women at this point look OK. There is no getting away from the fact that it is horrendous. I do give to several charities but how do they stop the tribal infighting? I have no answers.

How can you tell whether the women are starving when most of them are covered up? An adult, even a thin one, has much more body weight to lose than a baby.

Also, if starvation wasn't part of their lives, why would they walk miles in an attempt to find food?
The issue of tribal infighting, wars won't go away and neither will the famine. The rest of the world has to help the starving people and our politicians and diplomats must continue to attempt to work to improve the way politics works in Africa. I know, my heart sinks as I type that.

I work with women's bodies so i notice things. In past years, I remember seeing very thin mothers and naturally a mother would feed her child before herself so this made the situation appear as bleak as it really was. But today, I think the TV camera is staged. My observations tell me that it looks wrong so I'm not as convinced. The government also has concerns because they've recently changed the foreign aid budget.
I think it's right to ask questions so the money actually does go to those who need it.

I agree about what needs to happen, iam, but I think it will happen. I don't feel hopeless about it in the longer term. Admittedly, the short term is distressing

Stopping the supply of weapons would end most wars. We should look closer to home as the source of the problem.

I know what you mean Iam64 because all that you mention has been going on( help on a massive scale) for so very many years now.It's the land itself and the weather conditions, plus the big money projects never seem quite to reach the rural areas, where improvements are most needed.It's also the way of life there ( which hasn't changed) tribal customs and attitudes.
I read a book a few years ago, written by a man who in the mid sixties had been teaching and helping in the villages, who went back there about ten years ago ( thinking to see things improved) and it was far worse than it had been in the first place.
There are no easy answers, but governments must ( and do) step in, along with the main charities to provide food in times of famine.

I understand the enormity of the problem and unlike thatbags I do despair as we seem to be making little progress BUT (big shouty but) I also despair at the corruption in politics in many African countries, the impoverishment of their own people by political leaders, the deliberate stirring up of tribal warfare and the blatant disregard for human rights.
Mugabe's "birthday celebrations" being a case in point.

That's what I'm saying Rosearered. How come it never gets any better? Why does David Miliband need to pay himself 666,000 annual salary as CEO of Actionaid?

We pay all this money but how come there's no improvement?

660,000

www.dw.com/en/mugabe-celebrates-93rd-birthday-with-extravagant-party/a-37715156

And his people are starving? A former flourishing economy in shreds?