Last year, Sister Simone Campbell made quite a splash on national television when she took her mission on the road. She went from around the nation, neighbourhood to neighbourhood, raising awareness about those among us who live in poverty, and she took her fight to congress when she brought attention to how their budget adversely impacts the most vulnerable in our society.… [Read more]
The 39th G8 summit is being held in the United Kingdom today and tomorrow.
Representing approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, 65 percent of the global gross domestic product and two thirds of international trade, the G8 is an informal group of advanced economies that meets once a year at a Summit of Heads of State and Government.… [Read more]
This week’s “Say It In Song” pick is ”Homeless,”performed by Paul Simon on the album Graceland.
“Strong wind destroy our home
Many dead, tonight it could be you
Strong wind, strong wind
Many dead, tonight it could be you”
On any given night in this country, 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless.… [Read more]
Hungry children are less likely to develop properly and they are far less likely to be able to pay attention and focus on educational pursuits. So, given how pervasive hunger is for children in this nation, doesn’t it seem all the more incredible that children would be forced to throw out school lunches because of an inability to pay?… [Read more]
Part of the fallout from our current recession has been the growth of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), neé ‘Food Stamps,” participation throughout the nation. This Federal program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food & Nutrition Service and the states, provides non-cash food assistance to households in impoverished financial distress.
Republican conservatives regularly use SNAP as a poster child for lambasting ‘welfare’.… [Read more]
Beginnings, endings and periods that mark great changes occur during every moment of every day. Wrapping up this week, a few events in history that took place on February 24th caught my attention:
“Poverty” was not represented in the State of the Union address by President Barack Obama. As I watched and listened, I realized the address is not intended to speak to all Americans but just a select few. There were gun supporters, gun opponents, CEOs and many more in attendance when the President gave his speech, but not one person represented the 50 million Americans who live in poverty.… [Read more]
Try to stay with me here: According to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, the food stamp program has quadrupled in the last ten years hence the food stamp program is clearly being abused hence the food stamp program should be cut back.
“One in six Americans are now receiving food stamps,” Jeff Sessions told Soledad O’Brien. ”.… [Read more]
I met a woman recently and she asked this question: Why should the government have the right to tax people and tell them how much they should pay in taxes for things they do not want, like feeding the poor?
She did not believe the government should be in the business of taking care of poor people.… [Read more]
“Fly Like An Eagle“….the lyrics mean as much today as they did when the Steve Miller Band released this song in 1976. The political parties have spoken and their platforms are clear; it is now up to the citizens to decide which party plans to address the needs of the hungry, the elderly, and the homeless…not just the select few at the very top of the economic ladder.… [Read more]
Monday night, I knew exactly what I was going to write about: The third and final presidential debate on foreign policy, with Romney acting a fool and a typical blunderbuss (when, that is, he wasn’t telling the American public that, when it came to President Obama’s foreign policy, he wouldn’t change a thing). And then there were the post-debate Tweets from conservatives which demonstrated, without question, that right-wingers are in the grip of demonic possession. … [Read more]
Make no mistake about it: despite Mitt Romney’s changed tone and policy flips during his debate with President Obama, the fact remains that although they will never state it directly, a major political party, the GOP, has built its platform on the backs of the poor, middle-class, civil servants, veterans, elderly, disabled, ‘working stiffs’ and ‘non-elite’ people of this nation — even though unemployment, poverty, illness and disability affects people of all political affiliations.… [Read more]
The news in Pakistan has brought forth two stories that makes you wonder whether some aspects of Islam place a higher value on saving innocent lives or getting a sinner killed. The first tells of two children starved to death in the Sindh province where torrential rains caused considerable destruction, particularly to the poor part of the population.… [Read more]
This week’s Say It In Song choice features Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam” — still as timely now as it was then.
How’s voting against your own interests working out for you, Mississippi?… [Read more]
The Republican attack machine has been in full force this election season and their number one target is Barack Obama, but pulling a close second are poor people. The GOP has been attacking poor people for some time now in their policies but now the poor are attacked almost daily by their rhetoric. Wednesday at the Republican National Convention, GOP operatives hammered the President and the poor relentlessly.… [Read more]
I was talking to an acquaintance the other day; she was telling me how tired she was after her week of work. She told me that after being laid off from her job of 28 years with a carpet company in Georgia, she now makes minimum wage on a factory floor standing for eight hours a day on her fifty-something legs.… [Read more]
Poverty is the worst form of violence. – Mahatma Gandhi
Almost two weeks ago 57-year old Moshe Silman, a social protester from the northern city of Haifa, set himself on fire at a demonstration for social justice in Tel Aviv. Standing before a crowd of people, Silman read a letter explaining how the State of Israel had “robbed” him, poured flammable liquid over his body then set himself alight.… [Read more]
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret Mead
When was the last time you saw an advertisement for a charity, non-profit or NGO that said “Stop the Pity”? Wait, what…you have never seen one like that? Well neither had I, that is, until someone shared a video produced by MamaHope.org with me:
.… [Read more]
In case you aren’t painfully aware that the student loan situation has gotten terribly out of hand, consider this: the average college graduate owes $25,000 in debt—what do you say to someone in that situation? Add to this the sublime impossibility of finding a job (days and days spent, dozens of CVs sent out… it’s like a ritual of sorts) and the proliferation of unpaid, or “for credit/experience/exposure” internships, and moving back home to your parents seems like more of a dire necessity than a sensible decision.… [Read more]
Why are people so angry at those in need?
Every day, quote after quote pops up on social media sites. Often it’s the words of Ben Franklin* (inaccurately accredited to the Bible): ”God helps those who helps themselves.” Yesterday I read “You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.” These are the words of a Presbyterian minister, but had been falsely presented as a quote from Abraham Lincoln as “proof” that our 16th President had much in common with today’s Conservative agenda.… [Read more]
