Last night, Bill Moyers reported on The Congo in his Journal. He followed Dominic McSorley, the same man who we profiled a couple of days ago when we talked about Afghanistan. Last night, they followed McSorley, a man named Tutu, who made a living biking the food to remote villages in The Congo, and did a report on food relief efforts in one of the most neglected areas of the world.
In what Moyers described as a "perfect storm" around the globe, food prices are skyrocketing, with the price of bread going up ten times in some places. It is even affecting the US, with the number of people needing food stamps the highest since the program was started in the 1960's.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was the land formerly known as Zaire. It was ruled for a long time by a dictator named Mobutu Sese Seko. But in 1996, his government was toppled shortly after the turmoil and genocide in Rwanda. The result was that five million people in the DRC died in the resultant fighting in a three-cornered war between Rwanda, The DRC, and a rebel group known as the Mai Mai. Although there is a fragile cease-fire that has taken place, there are still sporadic outbursts of violence as late as this January. Even today, 45,000 people a month die of either starvation or preventable diseases.
McSorley, who is part of the organization known as Concern Worldwide, has flown four different missions into Congo in an effort to find the areas that were the least-served. The area that he chose for this news report is in the northeastern part of the DRC, which is three times the size of Texas. The infrastructure there is completely broken, and only two foreign aid groups are working there -- Doctors Without Borders, and Concern Worldwide.
This was the front line for the forces that were fighting there. The infrastructure is completely broken, as all of the roads and bridges there have been completely torn. All three armies used the scorched earth policy to deny their opponents the ability to move effectively in a brutal war. The mission was to deliver food and seeds by bike.
People have returned to their villages and returned to start totally from scratch, with nothing left. The area was known as the Triangle of Death. "We were on the run; there were a lot of people who died and there was a lot of suffering," said one resident. A related problem was chlorea, a disease that is 100% curable if it is detected in time and treated.
It is the arrival of groups like Concern that prompt people to return to their villages. But the challenge was to bring food to an area that had no food for the last two years. There had been a lot more agriculture in the area before the fighting resulted in the destruction of all the roads and bridges there.
McSorley discussed the logistical problems of getting the food to the area. Since all the roads that go to that part are dirt roads, it is impossible to use trucks -- most of the trucks there are broken down, and likely to get stuck. Flying in food with planes is three times as expensive as biking it in. Furthermore, biking has another benefit -- Concern can hire local people to deliver the food and put money back into local villages; thus, the people become part of the solution. It takes three days for his bikers to deliver 7 tons of food to villages.
Since the new government is not there to rebuild the roads, the task of rebuilding the infrastructure falls to groups like Concern. McSorley hires groups of local work crews whose job it is to fix up roads and bridges by hand, without any kind of modern machinery or equipment, so that trucks can get through.
Doctors Without Borders' services are essential to this part of the DRC, because there are no doctors that are left in the area. The show interviewed Mai-An Le-Van, a doctor who treated people for chorea. Common symptoms of the disease are extreme thirst, nausea, and the inability to drink fluids. By the time that they are located, over 15% of patients need IV care. The majority of the 5 million deaths in the DRC were caused not due to the fighting directly, but to the resultant malnutrition and disease.
Even a basic necessity such as water is hard to come by. As a result, villagers treat each other like family and go to each others' houses to get needed water. This is similar to the Great Depression, when neighbors helped each other get through the famine and hardships.
Some of the worst days of the fighting were in 2006, when the population got caught up and 160,000 were displaced. Camps of tens of thousands of people sprang up, and relief agencies had the task of just keeping people alive. Some people had to go and live in the forest with no clothes, soap, or food, dig up yams and other food, light fires by rubbing sticks together, and sleep on the ground without covers like their ancestors did. During the rains, most of them could do nothing but stand up and wait. During the trip to the DRC, they came on human skulls, which were of the soldiers who were killed in the fighting.
The environment was very deceptive. For instance, throughout the trip, there were always villagers lined up by the roads when the trucks went by, smiling and waving. But everyone had lost someone in the war and went through living hell. Armies tortured people, burned homes and fields, and left nothing.
Concern and other such groups get their food from the UN's World Food Program, which gives enough food to last for 21 days. The solution to famine relief has to come from the recipients themselves; therefore, they are given seeds so that they can plant their own food. They are given tools as well.
While there is a lot of uncertainty, there is also a lot of hope as well in that part of the region. The show concluded by interviewing an elderly villager who had lost her husband, who talked about the fighting and the future. "All we could do is grab our kids and leave," she said. "We were hopeless. But some day, we will get our lives back if God hears our prayers."
Moyers then interviewed David Beckmann, who is the president of Bread for the World, and the Alliance to End Hunger. He is also an ordained minister. Beckmann said that the thing that struck him was the dignity of the people that were shown as well as the fact that the people were still able to share food, a strong work ethic, and hope. This is despite the fact that 37 million people are malnourished in the DRC.
Beckmann addressed the stereotype that hungry people are lazy. In fact, he said, it was a matter of survival; the body becomes increasingly less productive the more that it is malnourished. Children who are hungry frequently have behavior problems, many who survive are, in his words, "stunted for life." He said that people can and should send money to relief organizations, but that the most effective way for people to change things was to lobby their leaders and "let them know that people in South Dakota care about world hunger."
There is progress on that front as the US has doubled its food aid over the last eight years. However, Beckmann said that there was a lot more to be done as the UN needed $500 million right now simply to meet their present commitments because of the increase of food costs.
Explaining the reason for the rise in food prices, Beckmann said that it was a blessing in disguise because that meant that hundreds of millions of people did not have to go hungry anymore. That created a lot more demand for food, leading to the rise in food costs.
He said that keys to famine relief were building roads and getting people food, seeds, and fertilizer so that they could get their lives back on track. He said that Universal Education, especially that of girls, was also important so that they could provide for themselves. Many of the men were killed in the fighting; therefore, women will play a much bigger role in the revitalization of places like Congo. Another way to help was for the US government to stop subsidizing wealthy farmers and giving them an unfair advantage over people around the world; that would open more markets for people.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Thursday, we were treated to the bloodcurdling diary about a McCain staffer who roasted dogs on a spit in his youth. This goes to the core of what is wrong with George Bush, John McCain, and the GOP in general -- people have gotten to the point where they desensitized themselves from any kind of compassion or awareness of suffering. And when you desensitize yourself from the suffering of animals, you desensitize yourself from human suffering as well. And we see this sort of behavior in John McCain, who is extremely flippant in his dismissals about Martin Luther King day. Clearly, he has no regard or compassion for the suffering of Blacks, even though Jim Crow has been seared into our national consciousness many times over.
In the meantime, we can do things to combat the cruelty and callousness of people like John McCain and his sidekick Fred Malek. We can take action, for instance, against puppy mills:
Puppy mills are cruel, factory-style breeding businesses that produce puppies in large numbers and sell them to unsuspecting consumers. They are designed to maximize profits, and commonly disregard the physical, social, and emotional health of the dogs in their facilities.
Dogs kept for breeding have almost no hope of ever being part of a family. They are kept caged and bred constantly. They get no love, or the chance to be clean or walk on solid ground.
We should no longer permit dogs to be treated and regulated like an agricultural "crop," and we need tougher laws and strong enforcement of those laws to protect dogs.
The kind of cruelty that Malek showed as a kid has translated into cruelty towards other people as well. And from his remarks, it is clear that he has no regard whatsoever for what people like Elizabeth Edwards are going through.
But we would be wrong to say that this sort of cruelty is an individual problem. Greg Mitchell, whose book is being featured on Kos this weekend, had this to say on Moyers five years ago:
MOYERS: Do you think the public knows that the reporters who are embedded had to sign a contract with the Pentagon in order to be accepted for this role? That they had to agree to play by the rules?
MITCHELL: Well, it's a good question whether they know but also whether they care. I think, as we found in polls over the years, that the American people... believe that there should be all sorts of restrictions. And, of course, everyone agrees that in war time there should be more restrictions. But the question is, to what degree? And we've seen in our interviews with editors in the past couple weeks, many cases of editors getting a lot of mail from readers who are upset about their coverage. And it shows that the people have a really different view about what the rights and the responsibilities of the press are.
MOYERS: I saw your story about USA TODAY the other day... the editor of USA TODAY got in trouble for this photograph, didn't he?
MITCHELL: Well, they ran a photograph of some dead Iraqi soldiers on the front page. And a large number of readers, they told us, complained because on the same day they ran a photo inside of a U.S. soldier surrounded by happy Iraqi children. And so these people were saying, "Why wasn't that photo on the front page instead of the dead Iraqi soldiers?"
And the executive editor of USA TODAY told us that, yeah, the reason was simple. It was a day of great bloodshed. One of those days of great pessimism. And he thought it would have been inappropriate and misleading to show this happy photo on the front page. So he went with the more grim photo.
Another example I'll give you, the DALLAS MORNING NEWS editor told us that they've gotten a lot of complaints for showing dead civilians or damaged civilians of Iraqis on the on the front page. And he says that it's viewed by the readers as an anti-war statement... showing the casualties on the other side is an anti-war statement. And that really goes against all the principles of press coverage that we believe in which is, you know, showing what is happening. And letting the people deal with it as they can.
MOYERS: Do you think that journalists can be objective about what they're reporting when they are alongside the troops who are protecting them as they move forward?
MITCHELL: Well, I think that's one of the problems. These reporters have been living with these troops. Reporting with them, getting to know them. And, of course, that's all terrific. You know, no one could really be against that.
But in practice it could modify or adjust what they report about the actions....One of the problems in this whole campaign has been that originally we were told that the embedded reporters would only make up maybe half of the reporters who would be covering the conflict. The rest would be independent. But what's happened is because of the dangers over there-- almost all the reporters are the embedded reporters. So there's very few free-roaming reporters who can report without any restrictions whatsoever.
But the problem is that the commentators on TV have almost from the beginning adopted a "we" attitude. They now are reporting, "We are advancing. We are taking fire. We are taking prisoners."
So all objectivity has been dropped. And, as human beings, I think we could agree it's understandable in this situation. But, as journalists, it's not the best situation where commentators, anchormen-- reporters in the field -- are talking about this as a "we" rather than a U.S. mission or the U.S. soldiers.
MOYERS: Fox News has become the cheerleader for the government. What does it do to other news organizations when Fox proves that jingoism is more popular than journalism?
MITCHELL: I think the problem with that is that a lot of the other-- particularly the cable news networks have-- felt that they have to keep up with that. I think there's a certain competition to show that they're not soft on the war, that they don't have any less patriotism than Fox. And we've seen it just this morning. I saw an interview on CNN with an Australian woman who had been in Baghdad and had just left. And the woman kept saying that, you know, she was amazed how much the Iraqi people, although they may not like Saddam Hussein, were very angry about the bombings.
Many of their children had been injured or killed....And the person who was the interviewer back in the U.S. asked her one aggressive question after another. After he finished talking to her, he then sort of editorialized on the air, saying-- "Well, we've talked to countless people who say that the Iraqi civilians will welcome with open arms the American soldiers."
Now that may or may not be true. But the point is that even after one of the rare kind of dissenting or contrary opinions was expressed, the anchor felt he had to then jump in and editorialize, saying, "You can disregard what this woman said. You know, we have other information."
The press should report straight down the line. You know, let the people see all sides. Let the people get all the information as quickly as they can. And let the chips fall where they may....
MOYERS: What concerns you about what's not being covered?
MITCHELL: My complaint is with the cable news networks that are on 24/7 and yet have found virtually no time to interview psychologists and theologians and other observers who could talk about what this is doing to us what this is doing to us as a country.
MOYERS: Do you see as much cheerleading in the print press as you do on television?
MITCHELL: No, I think the print press has played it more straight down the line. They've had a more variety of stories. They have had reports from Baghdad itself. More reports on what people are saying around the world. More reports on protests pro and con about the war. More range of editorial opinions. So I think the print press and newspapers have done a much better job, a more reflective job.
MOYERS: What do you think is stake for democracy and how we journalists cover this war?
MITCHELL: Edward R. Murrow had a quote on his wall in his office from Thoreau in which he said something like, "To speak the truth, you need two people. One to speak it and one to hear it." And I think that sums up the relationship not only between the military and the press but the press and the American people. You know, the press often is reporting factual matters. And the public sometimes turns away from it. We entered this war, with upwards of half the people in the country believing that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attack.
Now, how did that happen? Was that the media's fault? Was it the government's fault for putting out the stories? Or is the public sometimes not receptive, and the public wants to believe what the public wants to believe?
MOYERS: Last question. Do you have a sense that when the battle is over, this story's only begun?
MITCHELL: I don't think most Americans understand that this is going to be something that's with us for years and decades, and I'm not sure we get a sense of that from the coverage which seems to be oriented towards next week or next month, when the battle will be over. The boys will start to come home, and it will be a glorious episode in our past rather than something that's just the beginning of this story.
The cruelty of Malek, the collective cruelty of the Republican Party, and disastrous policies like Iraq are directly related. When a person like Malek decides to commit such a barbaric act of cruelty, he sells his soul and becomes part and parcel of the Machine just as surely as Saurman sold out his soul and personality and became a slave to Sauron when he lusted after the Ring of Power for himself.
And that is why Republicans freak out when graphic pictures of war are posted on the front page of a newspaper or the names of war dead are posted. People like that do not want to face up to the fact that what they are doing actually has consequences. The less that they can be reminded of the horrific suffering that their actions caused, the better for them. This is compounded by rationalization, such as the claims that the Iraqis welcome us there (demonstrably false), or the claim that democracy is breaking out in the Middle East (also false).
The National Landscape Preservation Act,sponsored by Obama supporter Barbara Lee and a group of 67 bipartisan Congressmen, would protect 800 different locations from any kind of drilling or development.
The bill is intended to protect places like
The Steens Mountains
The Vermillion Cliffs
The Snake River
Kasha-Katuwe
The Ironwood Forest
and MANY others.
Since its creation almost nine years ago, the NLCS has languished from lack of funding and lack of attention. While the Bush Administration’s BLM has turned nearly its entire focus to issuing drilling to permits to multi-billion dollar oil and gas companies, volunteers have done their best to pick up the slack when it comes to managing public lands. Grijalva’s bill would be a big step towards changing that situation for the better.
A few weeks ago the Christian Science Monitor laid out exactly what Grijalva’s bill would do:
The congressional stamp of approval also would create a systematic way to manage these areas. Currently, the 860 disparate units don't have the same designations or protections. Some were created by states, others by various departments of the federal government.
says Elena Daly, BLM's director of the NLCS in Washington. "It gives us legislative authority to exist and would require legislative action to undo. It would put us on par with National Park Service."
Obama has been a strong supporter of land preservation:
Barack Obama believes that we have a responsibility to our children to leave this Earth better than we found it. All Americans have an interest in the protection and proper maintenance of our irreplaceable national treasures. Conservation is also vitally important to providing clean drinking water, cleaning our air and reducing greenhouse gas pollution. Barack Obama believes we need a new vision for conservation that both protects our existing publicly-owned lands while dramatically expanding investments in protecting and restoring forests, grasslands, and wetlands across America for generations to come.
Protect National Parks and Forests: For too long, America’s National Parks and Forests have been threatened by lax protection. Barack Obama fought efforts to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Obama supports the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which keeps over 58 million acres of national forests pristine. As president, he will repair the damage done to our national parks by inadequate funding and emphasize the protection and restoration of our National Forests. Barack Obama is also an original cosponsor of the Combat Illegal Logging Act, which would prohibit the importation of illegally harvested wood products. This would make foreign companies much less likely to engage in massive, illegal deforestation in other countries. Saving these endangered forests preserves a major source of carbon sequestration.
Conserve New Lands: Barack Obama is a strong supporter of increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports land acquisition and maintenance of parks. As a state senator, he supported the creation of the Illinois Open Land Trust Act, which allowed the state to buy property from willing sellers for conservation and recreation purposes and make grants and loans to local governments for acquiring land for open spaces. While Americans can take great pride in our National Parks and other public lands, there are many landscapes and ecosystems which do not have adequate protection. As president, Barack Obama will lead efforts to acquire and conserve new parks and public lands, focusing on ecosystems such as the Great Plains and Eastern forests which do not yet have the protection they deserve. Partner with Landowners to Conserve Private Lands: Because most land is privately-owned, private landowners are the principle stewards of America’s land and water. As a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama has supported conservation programs that serve as a resource to landowners and assist them with sustainable environmental planning and best land management practices. As president, Obama will put an unprecedented level of emphasis on the conservation of private lands. He will advance legislation that works with landowners and follows in the tradition of the Wilderness Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act to focus federal attention and increased resources for this key environmental issue. He will also increase funding for the Conservation Security Program and the Conservation Reserve Program and will create additional incentives for private landowners to protect and restore wetlands, grasslands, forests, and other wildlife habitat.
Encourage Farmers at the Cutting Edge of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Farmers realize that they can help their bottom line and the environment by using more wind and solar power production systems and sharing energy with other users. They are using new irrigation practices to conserve energy and water. Barack Obama will encourage the use of methane digesters that are being used to produce power from animal waste. "No till" and other agricultural practices are reducing energy input and keeping the health of our soil sustainable. As president, Obama will expand USDA projects that focus on energy efficiency and conservation.
John McCain is in a major state of denial over the state of the economy:
Bush and McSame (or is that McBush and McCain?) refuse to face what’s hit the rest of us in the face. Some 81 percent of the American public say the country is on the wrong track, according to a poll released yesterday by The New York Times/CBS. And 78 percent of respondents say the country was worse off than five years ago—only 4 percent say it was better off.
Yet in recent months, McCain has asserted:
And by the way, I don’t believe we’re headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong, and I believe they will remain strong.
This is a complete and total denial of reality:
McCain ought to take a look at this week’s newspapers, which in the past few days alone show a seriously troubling list of failing economic indicators:
U.S. new home sales fell to a 13-year low, a seasonally adjusted, annualized pace of 590,000 in February 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Consumers fell behind on car, credit card and home-equity loans at the highest level in 15 years, according to the American Bankers Association’s quarterly survey. Payments at least 30 days past due increased across all eight categories of loans tracked during the fourth quarter.
The number of Americans on food stamps is at a stunning high: The Congressional Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1—to 28 million, up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007. Already, 10 percent of residents in some states, like New York and Ohio, are on food stamps, and from December 2006 to December 2007, more than 40 states saw recipient numbers rise, and in several—Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota and Rhode Island—the one-year growth was 10 percent or more.
Consumer confidence plummeted to a five-year low in March.
The Conference Board, a New York-based industry group, said its consumer confidence index dived to 64.5 in March, down dramatically from February’s 76.4.
And let’s not forget about the ongoing shame of poverty in this country, as too many policymakers have. One in eight Americans—approximately 37 million people—now live below the federal poverty line of $19,971 for a family of four. That’s 4.9 million more people than in 2000 and the poverty rate for children is the highest of all age groups. (As The Nation writes: The current poverty measure is "a woefully inadequate measure that is 42 years old and fails to account for basic necessities.") Nearly 60 million people live just above the poverty line.
Is John McCain saying that the poor and the middle class do not matter?
Check out the film Garbage Warrior, about a man who builds sustainable houses and communities from recycled trash:
What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of "Earthship Biotecture" by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians hum and ha, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.
Here is the Obama plan to create sustainable communities for the 21st century:
Build Healthy Communities: How a community is designed – including the layout of its roads, buildings and parks – has a huge impact on the health of its residents. For instance, nearly one-third of Americans live in neighborhoods without sidewalks and less than half of our country’s children have a playground within walking distance of their homes. This lack of a safe place to walk and play is a major contributor to the growing numbers of overweight children. Barack Obama introduced the Healthy Places Act to help local governments assess the health impact of new policies and projects, like highways or shopping centers. Once the health impact is determined, the bill gives grant funding and technical assistance to help address potential health problems. Minorities in America are significantly more likely to be affected by toxins and pollutants. To focus federal attention on this environmental health problem, Barack Obama introduced the Healthy Communities Act, which would expand research on toxins and provide the resources to clean up blighted communities.
Sustainable Agriculture: Organic food is the fastest growing sector of the American food marketplace. Demand for sustainable, locally-grown, grass-finished and heritage foods is also growing quickly. These niche markets present new opportunities for beginning farmers because specialty operations often require more management and labor than capital. To support the continued growth of sustainable alternative agriculture, Barack Obama will increase funding for the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program to help farmers afford the costs of compliance with national organic certification standards. He will also reform the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency’s crop insurance rates so that they do not penalize organic farmers.
Obama draws 17,000 to North Dakota State Democratic Convention.
Officials said more than 17,000 people joined, for a few hours, the North Dakota Democratic Party’s convention, cheering, stomping and yelling like a crowd at a rock concert when Obama took the stage, and throughout his 45-minute speech. Minutes before the speech started, a thousand or more still waiting in line were allowed to hurry in to stand on the floor after all the seats were full.
This was the largest political rally in the state since 1934, when President Franklin Roosevelt visited the state.
George Bush pissed off his Iraqi allies by renewing the contract with Blackwater and war criminal Erik Prince.
Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 people, including women and children, last September, prompting an outcry and protest from Iraqi officials.
"This is bad news," al-Maliki adviser Sami al-Askari said. "I personally am not happy with this, especially because they have committed acts of aggression, killed Iraqis, and this has not been resolved yet positively for families of victims."
About 25,000 private contractors from three companies protect diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials in Iraq. Under a provision put into place in the early days of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, security contractors have immunity from Iraqi law.
Al-Askari said he would push for the Iraqi government to contest the contract renewal.
"The U.S. government has the right to choose what contractors it chooses, but Iraq should also have the right to allow or ban certain contractors from operating on its territory," he said.
What people like about Barack Obama:
At the start of his run for the presidency, Barack Obama would explain the positive reaction he was getting from admirers by saying "this is more about you than about me." Now that Mr. Obama is the front-running Democratic candidate, an in-depth look at how voters are reacting to him — and the reasons for those reactions — lends considerable credence to his characterization of public opinion. It turns out, however, that the "it’s about you" phenomenon is a little broader than the Mr. Obama might have imagined. It pertains not only to reasons for liking and supporting him, but is also relevant to reasons for disliking him and for supporting Hillary Clinton.
Overall the polling found that Mr. Obama has a glowing image. Huge majorities see him as honest, inspiring and down to earth, and only very small percentages express negative opinions of him.
Personal views of Mrs. Clinton among white Democrats are quite different. Many fewer Democrats say she is inspiring, honest and down to earth and many associated negative qualities with her — 3 in 10 say they view her as "phony," while 4 in 10 say she is "hard to like."