The Silent Majority Starves

And you ask me what renders me Speechless?


With the eyes of the western world fixed on the horror in London, quietly another bomb has killed another 23 in Baghdad. Like the multitude of bombs before it since the US invasion of Iraq, this latest attack is reported but goes largely unnoticed. 49 dead in London, and 23 more in Baghdad

That was from Truthout's editors on news of the suicide bomber who detonated his explosives in a line near a military recruiting station today. And in America, where is the horror? Where is the outrage? Or do we sympathize best with people who look like, worship like us, consume the earths resources like us?

On the other side of the Truthout page we see a photo of a child in Nigeria, a living skeleton, his skin stretched so tightly over his bones you wince when you look at him. --Woe to Nigeria, a country of vast oil reserves where children starve. War may overtake Nigeria and only the oil baron robbers will notice or care.

Other African nations aren't so "lucky" to have oil, but of course they have debt. The G-8 summit, co-sponsored by some of our nation and the world's "super citizens" Ford Motors etc, has talked much and given crumbs to Africa.

Though all eight nations promised $50 billion a year in aid by 2010, the U.S had pledged no new money. And many activists said that the amount itself was inadequate - $25 billion was needed now with another $50 billion in 2010 if poverty targets are really going to be met. Groups also pointed out that no agreement had been reached on a deadline for eliminating agricultural export subsidies, which greatly hurt poor countries.

"It's a start and it's real progress" Tony Blair simpers. What a lie. We should be ashamed to live in these "G-8" nations. The blood of Africa is on our hands.

Meanwhile, in the USA we'll continue to clutch our purses, our back packs, the hands of our children. We'll ride the subways in fear or on the highways in oblivious peace, lapping up the airconditioning on the hot days, seldom concerned that war rages and children are turned to living skletons, just to feed our addiction.