I would be interested to hear exactly how much money Africa (or any nation/continent(?!)) needs in FA to achieve whatever objective we might be speaking about. Otherwise, it is simply throwing money at a problem, by definiton.

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"I have been made victorious through terror" ~ the profit mohammed (Bukhari 4:52:220)

The truth hurts, but not as bad as a being beheaded.

You have got be kidding me. HE'S BORROWING THE (*)(*)(*)(*) MONEY. You guys act like he's "funding" all this stuff from a coffer overflowing with money. I've seen some pretty bad spin on this board, but that one takes the cake. He's not raising taxes because he's spending your grandkid's money. If you guys are actually proud of that it just shows how far the GOP has fallen from its fiscal conservatism perch (as if we needed another example of that). Pathetic. Simply pathetic.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

This is kind of what I was thinking...just like Iraq, What's the Strategy? We all know Bush can throw money around, he's proved that. The question is what is being done with the $15 billion that will help Africa stop AIDs? Maybe they could print up a brochure or poster that says, "Just because he's your best buddy doesn't mean you have to sleep with him!"

I am feeling pretty cold hearted as well. In the past, disease and drought were Mother Nature's way of keeping the population in check. Why should my tax dollars go to pay to keep the population growing in Africa and make all the problems even worse? It seems like that place has pretty much reached its population limit. Do we really need more people in the world? I don't think so.

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Hobo
Charter member of 'Republicans Who Hate Bush" Club

...

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Hobo
Charter member of 'Republicans Who Hate Bush" Club

I think the $15 billion was pledged, but not yet actually given in its entirety.

And much of that money came out of other aid money; it wasn't all new money.

The reason the number of AIDS cases continues to rise is twofold: $15 billion isn't near enough to stop a continentwide pandemic, but it is enough to keep alive a lot of victims who otherwise would have died. The key statistic is new infections, and overall the new infection rate in Africa appears to have peaked and stabilized (albeit at a fairly high level). Notably, the rate is lowest in countries that establish and sustain effective prevention programs, and highest in those that don't.

Aid works. But changing cultural behaviors and attitudes, especially in societies as conservative as those in Africa, can take a very long time, a lot of money, and a lot of political will.

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Man up.

How much is needed then?

Is that the point of the FA? To simply keep ill folks alive?
That would raise a number of other ethical questions:
how many of these folks continue to spread the disease? Why is their life more important than the lives of cancer sufferers or any other ill person in the states? The list is virtually endless.

OMG! It's called the saturation point.

What is notable that the countries receiving the highest amounts of FA are not the ones with either the lowest overall rates or the highest rates of decline.

This is simply wrong.
Below I linked to a valuable albeit ideological essay. Nonetheless, the stats are accurate and the unintended consequences dire and viscously circular.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj26n1/cj26n1-1.pdf

All reasons why outside forces cannot play the driving role in such change. Western FA has merely subsidized bad decision making from the governmental level to the personal level. Sad but true.

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"I have been made victorious through terror" ~ the profit mohammed (Bukhari 4:52:220)

The truth hurts, but not as bad as a being beheaded.

And you're absolutely right. Most foreign aid ends up lining a dictator's bank account. Now if you'd just start giving your money, your time and your vote to a third party, and make the Republicans pay for inacting stupid policies, they'd stand up and take notice. But if you keep voting for them, they don't have to listen to you.

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

Don't worry - your Republican masters want to do just that:

Totalization Agreement with Mexico

Press Release

June 29, 2006 (Washington, DC) – Illegal Workers Could Receive Billions When Bush Signs Social Security Agreement with Mexico: Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit Filed Today Against State Department, Social Security Administration to Learn Extent of Giveaway

http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/102697.asp

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

Yeah, while giving a miniscule tax cut AND RAISING THE DEFICIT AND NATIONAL DEBT EVERY SINGLE YEAR - placing a hidden tax on future generations of Americans. Yeah, that Bush is a swell guy... ROTFL. Is there anything your Republican masters spoon feed you that you won't swallow?

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

How about we send over $15 billion worth of condoms?

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America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.
- - - Charlie King