Robert Young Pelton Profile picture
Feb 1 7 tweets 3 min read
The war in Biafra (July 1967 – January 1970) is a fascinating story of the conflict birth to relief agency Medecins Sans Frontier (MSF), modern African mercenaries and the battle over the use of desperate children for media exploitation. chindits.wordpress.com/tag/biafra/
"Recamier & Kouchner believed the world needed to know about the events they were witnessing: civilians being murdered and starved by blockading forces. They openly criticised the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their ... complicit behaviour." msf-me.org/about-us/histo…
This activism also inspired musicians to do something to raise fund. In 1971 George Harrison put on two concerts for Bangladesh. A place and disaster most people had never heard of. He raised $13.5 million.
In 1984, Bob Gelfdof saw a doc on the BBC about
"biblical" famine in Ethiopia. Geldof and Midge Ure wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?" it became the fastest charting single in UK history. Yes, there is snow in Africa.
Inspired Geldof did Live Aid, a 16-hour concert on two continents watched by 1.5 billion people and raised more than $140 million. A cultural watershed and not bad for a days work...but...
Geldof et al were just trying to help but were attacked by the same media that promoted the famine. When Geldof ressurected his original Band Aid song in 2014. Sir Geldoff's answer to the critics was.... "Fuck off" washingtonpost.com/archive/lifest…
What Geldof didn't know was that the scenes of horror in 1984 were just part of a long history of starvation as a weapon of war. Fast forward to 2022....the international community's answer to Ethiopia's Abiy is..."Fuck off" economist.com/leaders/2021/1…

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More from @RYP__

Feb 2
Donald blew through 8 Trillion we didn't have and I expect "I need a wheelbarrow of Biden dollars to buy a loaf of bread" stories from the right. The economy is about to hit a wall. So you could say Donald built a metaphorical economic wall and we are going to pay for it.
I could use "speed bump" or something less dramatic I guess. Much of the giddy spending was based on fear and then recovery. Pumping tax and future money in to get things going. Joe wanted 11 trillion, then 8, then 5 then 1.7 then ?.... theguardian.com/business/2022/…
The truth? In 2021 federal spending was equal to 30% of the total GDP, down from 44% in 2020. Yeah Trump pushed towards being a socialist nation. Faced with economic collapse, would Biden have done the same. Probably. datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finan… ImageImageImage
Read 11 tweets
Feb 1
Calling it. We have reached peak Wagner. All that is left is the Saturday morning cartoon series for African kids. meduza.io/en/feature/202…
The merch is so so. The movies predictable but in twenty years Russian MercMech will be a hot collectible. Like those Afghan refugee bazaars in Peshawar that sold brain stained Soviet helmets back in the 90s' instagram.com/rsotm_original…
"Quick-dry, breathable performance tee for the gym, the trail, or wherever; Comfortable fit with sport-friendly stretch" redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Wagn…
Read 7 tweets
Feb 1
Imagine the outrage if there were Jewish people in Florida. cnn.com/2022/01/31/pol…
I suppose Ron could focus on the positive things.
Ron DeSantis stars as a wise cracking death camp inmate who outsmarts his wacky guards
Read 4 tweets
Jan 31
The motivation and the plight of migrants has not changed. Nor have the incentives for them to seek work or betterment. It's like an endless argument about why the geese go south for the winter. You cannot stop the movement of humans. amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
A global reality needs a global framework just to respond to it productively. There is no such thing. Like most transnational events in a globalized world there is no mechanism to manage migration. So it both harms and helps depending on the application. migrationnetwork.un.org/sites/g/files/…
Migration is not one way. Nor is it linear. But this map tries to capture the energy of humans on the move. Mostly from poor to wealthy nations. Overpopulated, destroyed or harsh realms to more survivable ones. metrocosm.com/global-migrati…
Read 4 tweets
Jan 31
I am a poorly educated white male. That's why I never stop learning or challenging perceived beliefs.
Donald Trump is 75. The average lifespan of an American male is 78.79. His father lived to 93. So Donald has plenty of time to educate himself. Sadly Donald doesn't read books. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
"Reading is good for you because it improves your focus, memory, empathy, and communication skills. It can reduce stress, improve your mental health, and help you live longer. " oberlo.com/blog/benefits-…
Read 6 tweets
Jan 26
Three words, that when put together can only mean bad news "Florida" "ShockJock" and "MattGaetz"
2020: "grand jury is investigating alleged crimes “involving commercial sex acts with adult and minor women, as well as obstruction of justice” and seeks communications, documents, recordings and payments the individual had with Ellicott, Gaetz and Greenberg from Jan 2016 to now"
"The Signal messages were set to disappear after 30 seconds, but Greenberg—as he’d done with vanishing communications between himself and Roger Stone—screenshotted the message." thedailybeast.com/the-shock-jock…
Read 7 tweets

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