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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
In the heat of a late September day in Mozambique, southern Africa, we started filming a meeting of young charity volunteers. They had poured heart and soul into an ambitious project aimed at combating HIV and spreading a message about contraception in the province of Gaza.
Then, out of the blue, and as our cameras rolled, came an unexpected announcement: the volunteers' work was to end because of a new policy from the United States.
Under US President Donald Trump's "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance" policy, any foreign aid organisation that wants US funds cannot "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in foreign countries".
Sebastiao Muthisse from AMODEFA, the Mozambican Association for Family Development, outlined the dilemma the aid organisation faced. They were not prepared to sign Trump's so-called 'global gag rule 'forbidding mention of abortion, and, as a result, projects had to close. For the youngsters it appeared to make no sense. Surely lack of advice on family planning would lead to unwanted pregnancies? Why should they be censored when it came to speaking about abortion?
AMODEFA, a member association of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, has worked in Mozambique since 1989. Now, the stance both organisations have taken on the Trump rule means they face losing millions of dollars in US aid, and for AMODEFA in Mozambique two-thirds of their total budget, a sum of $2m.
It's led to hard decisions, particularly when it comes to critical work on HIV prevention.
In a suburb of the capital Maputo, we met Palmira Tembe. Members of Palmira's family have died; five grandchildren are now dependent on her, along with her 13 year-old-son Nelson.
AMODEFA has received funds to help people like Palmira disclose to their families that they have HIV, and to support their care. Palmira told us that prior to the charity's involvement she couldn't tell her son Nelson why he was sick. Now both take HIV medicine together.
We will have generations that are sick without knowing what they have – they will run the risk of transmitting HIV to other people because they do not know their HIV status. In a country where it's estimated that up to 13 percent of people aged between 15 and 49 live with HIV, the support of organisations like AMODEFA can be a lifeline. But the work AMODEFA does with families like Palmira's is under threat, due to their refusal to sign up to the Trump policy.
Project leader Dr Marcelo Kantu is concerned about the future. "We will have generations that are sick without knowing what they have - they will run the risk of transmitting HIV to other people because they do not know their HIV status," he told us.
Visiting those supported by charity work in Mozambique, there was a recurring question: With the heavy price organisations could pay for defying the new US policy, why not forget about the abortion issue, sign up to the Trump rule, and keep American aid money?
Activists and charity workers told us it was not only about upholding a principle of choice, it was about free speech and a law introduced in Mozambique to save lives.
Mozambique liberalised its law on abortion in 2014, not least due to the high numbers of maternal deaths from illegal terminations. Since then, abortion is a legal option up until 12 weeks of pregnancy, and in cases of rape or incest during the first 16 weeks.
But there is Mozambique's new law on the one hand, and the Trump policy on the other.
It has long been understood that aid donations are sometimes an integral part of foreign policy; aid can be given in the hope that the recipient will favour the donor further along the line, perhaps with trade agreements or regional political support.
But is this a case of the donor wanting to influence a law that has been passed by a democratically elected government? Should aid be used as a way of dictating 'democracy' to follow the donor's views rather than allowing each democratic nation to evolve into the nation that its own citizens want?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 10 2017, @12:11AM (10 children)
Heh, actually we should deport all the white people back to Europe so they can learn what's it's like to live with real enemies right at their doorstep, not safely across that 3000 mile wide moat.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday December 10 2017, @06:21PM (9 children)
If your implicit assumptions are true, that would be a retarded thing to do. How about we not do that, eh?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 11 2017, @05:29PM (8 children)
If your implicit assumptions are true...
You have evidence to indicate otherwise?
How about we not do that, eh?
Scared of a little truth, are you?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 11 2017, @05:52PM (7 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 11 2017, @08:54PM (6 children)
Sure, if we don't move back to Europe, then we don't have "enemies at our doorstep"
Looks like y'all are trying to change that...
Problem solved by not becoming a problem in the first place.
Too late. You are bringing all that balkanizing feudal bullshit here.. If it weren't for the feds, all the states would still be at war with each other, just like Europe was for thousands of years until the Americans finally stepped in and told them to STFU! So that's why white folks need a little education, maybe a little experience on the matter, which might include you. Y'all need to be told to STFU occasionally too. Now would be good time, before you have that Trump bastard destroy everything that was gained after World War 2.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:10AM (5 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @06:29AM (4 children)
I'm not "beating around the bush", you are. I said exactly what I wrote. The first people to deport from North America should be whitey. Send 'em back where they came from. That's what you all say about the Mexicans and shit. I'm just throwing it back at you.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:31PM (3 children)
No one is arguing that Mexicans should be deported from Mexico, which is part of North America, thus no one is arguing that Mexicans should be deported from North America. Stupid argument number one dealt with.
As to most "whiteys", those in North America are mostly native to their countries of residence. That ship sailed. Nor is it clear anymore where a good portion of "whiteys" came from. Plus, a considerable portion of Mexicans are white too. A proposal to deport "whiteys" to "where they came from" is going to fail hard, if only because you don't have a clue what a whitey is, because most of them are already in the country of their origin, and because of the unintended consequences like deporting Mexicans from North America and the country of their birth because they are whiteys. Stupid argument two dealt with.
You can find outliers who say all sorts of stupid stuff, such as you. Does that mean all of them are saying whitey should be deported to "where they come from"? Of course not. I don't confuse your idiocy with idiocy of any groups you happen to belong to or merely think you belong to. I'm sure that there are a fair number of people who advocate deportation of native US citizens because they don't like the ethnic group that the person belongs to. So what? It's a free country. You're welcome to be as stupid as you would like. Just because they have some sort of ethnicity (and it's not going to be native US citizens who identify with Mexican culture who back this particular flavor), doesn't mean that the overall ethnicity ("whitey" or whatever) is responsible. Stereotyping the whole from the actions of a few is not my job to police. Stupid argument number three dealt with.
As to beating around the bush, we still don't know what you meant by "enemies at the gate" in the very first post. I believe that indicates you still aren't being square with us. Nor did your apparent opinions on "whitey" and the desirability of deporting said "whiteys" come up in your earlier posts. So sure, you can claim you didn't beat around the bush, but you behaved so. Behavior trumps empty words. Stupid argument number four dealt with.
I was hoping there was something interesting here hidden under the surface. But alas, it's just another idiot on the internet. Oh well.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday December 13 2017, @06:00AM (1 child)
You are the immigrant, khallow! White as the driven snow! Defective genes from the initial Teutonic digression. You need to return, to the Urquell, the original source. It is the only way to cure your whiteness. Or, you could just become an American, like everyone else. Your choice, you crypto-racist neo-nazi libertariantardish idiot!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 13 2017, @07:39AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 16 2017, @04:33AM
Obviously you didn't read what (and who) my original post was in response to. First, calling Europe civilized? Please.. They are savages, every bit as horrific as the cannibals in the Congo. They are at peace only because the irresistible force of the US is there to protect them from each other. Whitey needs to feel that pressure also to understand why the Europeans are so crazy, and why the most common reaction to a threat is fascist nationalism, to avoid the same problem here, which is already starting to happen. So yes, my implicit "assumptions" are more than right on the mark. And your response was typical of people who care not about context, probably because of the personal bias you exhibit in all your posts.