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From: scw@cepu.UUCP (Stephen C. Woods)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: poor starving people
Message-ID: <416@cepu.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Nov-84 16:39:07 EST
Article-I.D.: cepu.416
Posted: Mon Nov 26 16:39:07 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 29-Nov-84 03:42:13 EST
References: <642@amd.UUCP>
Reply-To: scw@cepu.UUCP (Stephen C. Woods)
Distribution: net
Organization: VA Wadsworth Med. Center; LA CA
Lines: 28
Summary: 

In article <642@amd.UUCP> phil@amd.UUCP (Phil Ngai) writes:
>I feel like starting a flame here.

Sorry, you'll not get one here.

>
>BACKGROUND
>Many people are starving in Ethiopia. Many countries are giving food aid
>and this cause has made even the USA [...] farmers not to produce to keep
>prices up.
>
>But that's not what I want to [...] too many people living in Ethiopia.
>I think there probably isn't any birth control there.
>
>PROPOSAL
>The United States should send more food to Ethiopia, but all recipients
>must consent to sterilization.

The problem is not that there are too many people in Ethiopa (for normal times),
The problem is that Northern sub-Sahra Africa is in the throws of what may be
the WORST drought in recorded times (I believe that they are now starting on the
9th year). This drought is caused in part by a mild climate shift (much like the
fabled 'El Nino'  but of longer
duration) and in part by deforestation in central Africa.
-- 
Stephen C. Woods (VA Wadsworth Med Ctr./UCLA Dept. of Neurology)
uucp:	{ {ihnp4, uiucdcs}!bradley, hao, trwrb}!cepu!scw
ARPA: cepu!scw@ucla-cs location: N 34 3' 9.1" W 118 27' 4.3"