Yes I know, nothing can be done about it. But I can't stand seeing hungry and neglected children. I wish something could be done.

Ummm hate to pose an inconvenient question but who's hiring them?

Secretary of homeland security?

one can be a beautiful woman who has a terrible attitude. men may take advantage of your beauty and try to have sex with you while not necessarily respect an attitude that is rank.

sure, america is an ok country, better than some, in terms of wealth, opportunity and your kickass films ( ) but the national character and the foreign policy isn't something that a lot of us respect. in our schools in history class we were taught how arrogant and imperialistic america has a legacy of being, in class i had to challenge my teachers at the time because i couldn't understand why i was being taught such an obviously slanted view of america.

it's only when i grew older that i understood why.

And, who do you think is buying the drugs!?

*COUGH* yes it's all drugs

HA HA HA

Check the facts

I dunno

coughcough, 'ere, coughcough

Sometimes, we suck.

hah Okay, I don't smoke dope anymore.

Not really relevant to the discussion but I just want to clear it up lest someone decide to chuck a few stoner comments at me...not that there's anything wrong with that.

If I did get high I'd go for a domestically cultivated product. American standard and all...

Evil pot smokers..us and them...we have morals they don't..

Evil...

Be afraid...

Do not be concerned while we take away what made this country great...

Be very afraid...

Sometimes it is difficult to avoid appearing arrogant when you are the top dog.

Being serious for a moment. Sure America has its faults and makes mistakes now and again, but in the history of the world you will be hard pressed to find any other superpower that has been nearly as benevolent as the USA. Americans may be arrogant at times, but they are also generous. The American people give more to the poor of the world than any other nation... and they should give even more.

It is a good thing that other countries are willing to point out when the US makes a mistake, and also that people on the internet from other countries are free to share their opinions about the USA. I welcome constructive criticism both personally, and regarding my country. However, I do sometimes grow annoyed at constant attacks by certain people (not in this thread) who never admit to any of the wonderful things that the US does.

Ever watch a pack of dogs or wolves?

When the alpha dog is in his prime they demure to him but as he ages and begins to fail the others who aspire to lead notice.

They nip at his kills, they challenge his rights to mates and food.

Has there ever been a time in history where the entire world demurred to the USA?

People aren't wolves and evil scum are going to conspire to defeat the good guys. That goes both from within and outside of the USA.

Gosh do you really thing that the government here in the United States are the good guys?

agreed. america can be charitable.

but usually it is charity for the sake of fulfilling an ulterior motive. Strategy, if you will. to spread american ideology or to get a foot in the door in order to acquire some power in recipient country. or even as a public relations exercise ("hey everyone! look how generous we're being with our excess wealth to these inferior societies we look down our nose at. make sure you remember how awesome america is!")

america only cares about human suffering globally when it affects or has the potential to affect itself. otherwise, leave it to the UN.

if i am incorrect, if there are instances where america has been truly benevolent in motive as well as in deed then i retract this post and stand corrected.

http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-05/growing-problem-food-waste
THE GROWING PROBLEM OF FOOD WASTE
Despite food shortages worldwide, a culture of waste pervade the U.S. and Britain
By Matt Ransford Posted 05.09.2008 at 6:08 am

In the current climate of rising gas and food prices, it should stand to reason that people would find ways to change their most wasteful habits. According to new research from the UK, we need look no further than our own refrigerators. Fully 18 percent of all food purchased for household use in England and Wales is thrown away. The number is even higher for families with children at 27 percent. A now four year-old study of similar measure in the U.S. puts the American number around 14 percent, with nearly half of all food readied for harvest never making it to a dinner table. It is hard to imagine that just two generations ago these numbers would have been unthinkable.

While some measure of food will always be ruined due to environmental factors on its way into the market, much of the food wasted on tables in the UK and the U.S. is due to poor planning and over-purchasing on the part of consumers. The effects of all that waste reach far beyond a monetary loss on the consumer's end; when the packaging, shipping, production, and waste management costs are factored in, the overall financial consequence skyrockets. What was most illuminating to the researchers was that ultimately the problem is a cultural one. We have grown accustomed to an uninterrupted bounty and the economic impact has not yet grown severe enough to change peoples' habits significantly.
Via BBC


http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/24/food.leftovers/index.html
• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• 5 percent of American's leftovers could feed 4 million people for 1 day
• Disposing of food waste costs the U.S. $1 billion a year
• Rotting food releases methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2
• Methane can be harnessed to create clean energy for heat, light and fuel

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20041122/foodwaste.html

Food Waste Epidemic in America
By Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News


Nov. 24, 2004 — Americans are tossing out at least $75 billion in food each year, according to an extensive study that follows foods from farms through retailers and into the mouths and waste bins of consumers.
The eight-year study reveals that restaurants, convenience stores and most families could help their bottom lines if they just learned to buy, store and use food more wise



http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/FoodReview/Jan1997/Jan97a.pdf

Recoverable for human
consumption
Edible crops remaining in farmers’
fields after harvest.
Produce rejected because of
market “cosmetics” (blemishes,
misshapen, etc.)
Unsold fresh produce from
wholesalers and farmers’ markets.
Surplus perishable food from
restaurants, cafeterias, caterers,
grocery stores, and other foodservice
establishments.
Packaged foods from grocery
stores, including overstocked
items, dented cans, and seasonal
items.

According to the new ERS estimates,
about 96 billion pounds of
food, or 27 percent of the 356 billion
pounds of the edible food available
for human consumption in the
United States, were lost to human
use at these three marketing stages
in 1995 (fig. 2). Fresh fruits and vegetables,
fluid milk, grain products,
and sweeteners (mostly sugar and
high-fructose corn syrup) accounted
for two-thirds of these losses (fig. 3).
ERS does not know the share of
these losses that are recoverable.
However, we can get an idea of the
significance of loss by calculating
the potential benefit of recovery. On
average, each American consumes
about 3 pounds of food each day. If
even 5 percent of the 96 billion
pounds were recovered, that quantity
would represent the equivalent
of a day’s food for each of 4 million
people. Recovery rates of 10 percent
and 25 percent would provide
enough food for the equivalent of 8
million and 20 million people,
respectively.

It's estimated that the average amount of food consumed by every American is 3 pounds.

I work out almost every day. I'm a full time student and I have a p/t job that requires manual labor and being on my feet 6 to 7 hours at a time.

I DON'T CONSUME 3lbs of food a day. I am not overweight, but I am not a model nor am I skinny.

Keep in mind, Obesity and smoking are the major causes of medical disorders in the United States.

Here's another article - also keep in mind that food "donations" internationally, cost a lot of money. When the government can't or won't pay the cost for the food, the packaging and the shipping - WHO will?


http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1310033/world_food_program_seeks_donations_as_costs_limit_us_aid/index.html

World Food Program Seeks Donations As Costs Limit U.S. Aid

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 March 2008, 06:00 CDT
By Andrea Stone

A United Nations food program sent out an emergency appeal for donations Monday as the amount of food sent abroad by the United States is dropping because the $2billion in annual U.S. aid is buying less food.

Aid organizations around the world face budget shortfalls because of a rise in global food prices. The Rome-based World Food Program (WFP) will have to reduce food shipments to disaster-hit places such as Darfur unless it can close a $500 million deficit.

Food prices have soared 55% since June alone, according to the WFP. The higher costs have resulted from rising oil prices, the use of crops for biofuels and skyrocketing demand for food in developing economies such as China and India.
The amount of food aid delivered abroad by the U.S. government has fallen 43% from 2002-07, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

The report blamed the decline in part on soaring transportation costs and inefficient management by U.S. aid agencies. It said nearly two-thirds of the $2 billion the United States spends every year on food aid -- far more than any other country -- goes to transportation, storage and handling costs.

The Bush administration has sought to modify a 1954 law requiring all such aid to be donated in food rather than cash and mandating that the food be grown on American soil.

Those rules prevent U.S. agencies from following the example of other organizations in Europe and elsewhere, which have tried to cut costs by buying cheaper crops from countries that are closer to the areas in need.

Harry Edwards, a spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said buying food from third-party countries could save up to 25% of ocean shipping costs alone.

Proposed changes have made little headway in Congress. The Senate recently passed a farm bill that would allow some third-party food purchases but the measure was left out of a House bill.
Opponents such as Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., say providing cash donations to buy food could lead to fraud and abuse.

Others disagree. Current law "is a very serious impediment" to feeding the world's hungry, says Chris Barrett, a Cornell University development economist. He blames "a few very large agribusinesses that provide huge financial support" to members of Congress for stalling efforts to change the law.

CARE, an Atlanta-based aid group that plans to meet with USAID officials today about the food crisis, is among groups that support revising the law to allow cash donations.

"We have to really rethink how to provide support to millions of poor and hungry people," says Bob Bell of CARE, who expects to see cuts in the amount of food donated in the future. "We need a range of flexible resources available." (c) Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

So now we know that the U.S. and Great Britian not only have an over abundance of food, but the people in these two countries, overbuy AND because so many are "able" to eat in restaurants, the portions they pay for are too large and end up as waste.

We also know that people are overeating, causing a great deal of health problems.

All of these things say to me, if we can afford to overspend on food we won't eat, and over eat what we don't need, while others in the world are starving, then, as a whole the poeple of the U.S. and G.B. either have a very limited view of the world or a limited compassion for those in need.

Finally, we know that even more food is wasted, let me repeat that - EVEN MORE FOOD IS BEING WASTED - because the cost of the food, the packaging and the shipping is "too costly."

Too costly to whom? What if every family cut their food budget by just 5 or 10% and donated that savings to pay for those food shipments????

Another thing to consider - a 700 billion dollar bail out - and who are the major benefactors of that bail out? The corporations, all of whom OWN some part or pacel of territory (in one way or another) outside of this country, many of them own businesses in the very countries food donations benefit.

What part of that 750 billion will feed a single hungry person.

But Americans (and Great Britian) keep going to work and keep buying too much food, eating in restaurants and then become indignant becuase some other country views us as elitists, greed mongers and discompassionate.

Imagine that!

JUST TELL THEM TO GROW THEIR OWN FOOD.............