Tag: Hunger

Only In Mississippi Is Feeding Birds A Crime

My lovely state spends way too much time debate and enacting laws that are just flat out STUPID!  The state’s economy is in the crapper…..education is in the crapper…..health care is in the crapper…..and what do they do?

From site Mississippi PEP…………

New regulations passed by the state’s Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks removed an earlier exemption allowing feeders to be placed on or near residential homes. Under the new rules, all feeders would have to be located more than 100 yards from any property line or building.

Unless you’ve got a really, really, really big backyard, it’s tough to meet that requirement.

The state commission now says the regulations were not intended to ban backyard birdfeeders. They plan to review and correct the language at some point.

Until then, Mississippians should beware of overzealous park rangers and wildlife officers who could seize upon the opportunity to hand out citations for feeding mockingbirds — the state bird — in their backyards.

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Only in Mississippi would it be a ‘crime’ to feed birds in your own backyard.  They are ‘freeloaders’ and we know what Southerns think of freeloaders, huh?

And too many think I am unfair in my attacks against the state of Mississippi.  Take my word for it….it is a cultural wasteland…….and now they have moved beyond attacking the citizens to kove on to attacking birds……a lovely place to stay as far away from as you can get.

The Land Of Hungry Children

You have heard of the Land Down Under or the Land of the Free or possibly the Land that Time Forgot…..but there is another that is NOT reported so much by the mainstream media….poverty and hunger in the US….with all the crap that the economic collapse has given us there is one that is NOT acceptable, at least in my way of thinking……child poverty!

Black listed news was compiled an excellent list of horrible consequences……

#1 Child homelessness in the United States is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007.

#2 According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, 1.6 millionAmerican children “were living on the street, in homeless shelters or motels, or doubled up with other families last year”.

#3 The percentage of children living in poverty in the United States increased from 16.9 percent in 2006 to nearly 22 percent in 2010.  In the UK and in France the child poverty rate is well under 10 percent.

#4 A higher percentage of American children is living in poverty today than was living in poverty back in 1975.

#5 The number of children living in poverty in the U.S. has risen for four years in a row.

#6 There are 10 different U.S. states where at least one out of every four babies is born to a family living in poverty.

#7 Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent.

#8 According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.

#9 In the United States today, more than 35 percent of all African-American children are living in poverty and more than 33 percent of all Hispanic children are living in poverty.

#10 There are seven million children in the United States today that are not covered by health insurance at all.

#11 Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#12 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

#13 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.

#14 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

#15 In Washington D.C., the “child food insecurity rate” is 32.3%.

#16More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

These show the extent of how bad the recession is on the kids….yes, it is bad for everybody (with the exception of Wall Street) but how bad does it have to get to force our politicians to face this problem?  I thought children were our future, if so the future is pretty damn bleak!

We have an election coming up soon……now would be a good time to show your distaste for the policies coming out of Washington……

Hunger Is………

We have all heard the horror stories of the hunger in Haiti….but Haiti is NOT alone…

“Feeding America” said 37 million people, including 14 million children, needed emergency food aid each year, more than 10 percent of the U.S. population of 300 million. It based the figure on 61,000 interviews and 37,000 surveys of local charitable agencies.

That compares to 25.3 million people in 2005, when the group released its last quadrennial study.

Although the U.S. economy returned to growth in the second half of 2009 after nearly two years of recession, unemployment has remained stubbornly high at 10 percent. Feeding America reported last September that unemployment has played a major role in rising demand for emergency food.

A recent report has shown:

The “Great Recession” of 2008 and 2009 has spread poverty to millions more US children, according to a recent report by the Brookings Institute. The report, “The Effects of the Recession on Child Poverty,” estimates that a large number of states witnessed marked increases in child poverty in 2009.

In 2008, one in five US children under age 18 lived in families below the official poverty level, according to Census Bureau data released in September 2009. The figure now is significantly higher, according to Brookings researcher Julia B. Isaacs. The census poverty statistics for 2008 “lag considerably behind current economic conditions,” Isaacs writes. “Job losses and wage reductions occurring in 2009 were obviously not captured. In addition, many adverse events in 2008 were only partially captured.”

Between August 2008 and August 2009, food stamp use increased by a staggering 24 percent, and monthly caseloads increased by 7 million—from 29.5 million to 36.5 million people—a 24 percent increase. “This extraordinary increase means that roughly 3.4 million more children were receiving SNAP benefits in August 2009 than a year earlier,” according to Isaacs.

The report states that eight states were likely to have experienced a “particularly high risk” of poverty in 2009, “reflecting a combination of high child poverty in 2008 and very high increases in use of nutrition assistance between 2008 and 2009.” These states, all in the US South or Southwest, already had child poverty rates greater than 20 percent in 2008, even prior to the surge in food stamp use. They are: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The report warns that both “public agencies and private charities” will “face significant strain” in providing aid to these children in the near future.

There seems to be nothing done that is releiving the problem of growing hunger in the US….the US sucks and guess what?  We are NOT alone…..

A report commissioned by the charity Save the Children documents a sharp rise in the number children living in “severe poverty” between 2004 and 2008. According to the report by the New Policy Institute, “Measuring Severe Child Poverty in the UK,” more than 1.7 million British children were living in conditions of “severe poverty” and fully 4 million are living in poverty.

When the report is broken down into regions and the larger urban areas, a picture emerges of entrenched poverty. London, the centre of big finance, also “has the biggest proportion of children living in severe poverty, accounting for around one fifth of all children living in severe poverty in the UK—over 300,000 children.”

Severe poverty is defined as those families earning 50 percent below the average (median) income, after housing costs “where both adults and children lack at least one basic necessity, and either adults or children or both groups lack at least two basic necessities.”

The report states, “This means that families living in severe poverty make ends meet on less than £12,220 a year (for a couple with one child). That equates to less than £33 per day to cover all basic essentials such as food, utility bills and clothing. In addition, children and parents are missing out on the things that many families take for granted, such as celebrating a birthday or taking a week’s holiday away from home.”

The Save the Children report points to a situation in which measures to tackle child poverty have “slid into reverse.” The report calculates that 1.46 million children lived in “severe poverty” in 2004-05 and four years later the number had grown to 1.7 million. Save the Children said this “means that around two-fifths of all children living in poverty in the UK were living in severe poverty” in 2007-2008—an increase from 11 percent of all UK children in 2004/05 to 13 percent.

These are only two of the world’s major powers and if they are suffering you can imagine how hungry they are in say, Rwanda or some small third world country that has a problem anyway…..

No matter what you believe is the problems…the truth is that there is NO demand…consumers are NOT spending….and when that happens all economic activity ceases, with the exception of the speculators and gamblers in the stock markets…..someone has got to find a way to create demand……if not….it will be a very hungry recovery…..

Hunger Is Growing

As the economic crisis deepens, its human toll is becoming more evident. A new survey of food charities in the United States has revealed a dramatic increase in hunger. Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the US, says that a growing number of families face difficulties in securing adequate nutrition. Meanwhile food banks have proven ill-equipped to meet the increased demand caused by layoffs and increased food costs, and many have collapsed or have restricted the allotments of food they make.

In a nationwide survey of 160 local food assistance programs, with operations covering virtually every county in the US, Feeding America found that there has been a 30 percent increase in requests for emergency food assistance, and that every food bank has seen an increase in demand for food relief. An opinion poll commissioned by the organization and released simultaneously found that a growing number of low-income families lack sufficient nutrition.

In a chilling statement on social conditions in the US, 72 percent of surveyed food charities said that they are unable to meet the current demands of local communities for assistance. In most cases, the charities have responded by offering smaller distributions to the hungry, and some have been forced to close down.

In its survey of households, Feeding America found that nearly two thirds of low-income households—defined as having an income at less than 200 percent of the official poverty level—said that within the past year “their food didn’t last and they could not afford to buy more.” Forty percent “ate less than they felt they should,” and 36 percent “cut the size of meals or skipped meals because there wasn’t enough money for food.” A large majority of low-income respondents, 70 percent, said that they are reducing food spending, while 62 percent said they make multiple shopping trips for food “because they didn’t have enough money to buy everything at one time.” In New York City, in 2008, nearly 40 percent of all households said that they had faced difficulties in procuring sufficient food for their families, a sharp increase over figures from 2007.

Sad stats indeed.  But the worse is yet to come……

Poverty And Hunger–American Style

Is anyone out there paying attention?  You might want to keep track of this.  There is a storm coming and you may not have your storm prep ready.

The US Department of Agriculture will shortly release figures showing that a record number of Americans, some 30 million, now receive food stamps, benefits available to low- or no-income people. That total will surpass the previous record set in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.

Every statistic related to poverty and hunger, as well as anecdotal reports from food banks and charities, points to a sharp growth in social misery in America. The majority of the statistics do not take into account the rapid economic deterioration of the past several months.

The figure of 30 million people on food stamps is one sign of the social crisis—although only the near-destitute qualify for the benefits, which themselves are entirely inadequate. The maximum monthly amount for a single individual is $176, the minimum, $14. A family of eight can receive $1,058. The average monthly benefit per person is $95, while the average US household spends $184 per person a month on food.

The number of those using food stamps rose 9.6 percent, or some 2.6 million people, from August 2007 to August 2008. The total is expected to continue rising sharply. Already in 25 states, at least one in five children is receiving food stamps.

Those receiving the benefits must have an income under 130 percent of the federal poverty level ($21,200) for a family of four, or $27,600. Income levels necessary to decently sustain a family of four are estimated to be at least twice the official poverty level. In the New York City area, for a four-member family, the Economic Policy Institute’s “Family Budget Calculator” puts the figure at $68,000; in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area at $54,000; and in the Detroit-Livonia-Warren, Michigan, area at $44,000. If this more-accurate measure were used, the percentage of Americans living in poverty would be at least 30 percent.

A Rise In US Child Hunger

Some 691,000 children went hungry in America in 2007, a rise of 50 percent over the previous year, while one in eight Americans overall struggled to feed themselves. The figures are reported in a study on food security conducted annually by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Of the 36.2 million people who struggled with hunger during the year, almost a third of these adults and children faced a substantial disruption to their food supply, meaning they went hungry at some point. The number of these most hungry Americans has grown by more than 40 percent since 2000, rising to 11.9 million individuals in 2007.

These statistics are all the more alarming since they do not reflect the impact of the current economic crisis. James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, predicted the 2008 numbers would show even more hunger.

The USDA study covered about 45,600 households, selected as representative of the approximately 118 million households in the US. Households were classified as being “food secure,” having “low food security” or having “very low food security,” according to their answers to a set of questions, including:

• In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry, but didn’t eat, because there wasn’t enough money for food?

• Did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for food?

Households with children up to 18 years of age were asked additional questions, such as:

• In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children’s meals because there wasn’t enough money for food?

• In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn’t enough money for food?

Just how much is being spent on war? And we cannot find enough cash to make sure children are not humgry? That is truly sad and a monumental failure the US society.

The War On Coke

Billions and billions of dollars have been spent over the years trying to get coca farmers to turn away from the narcotic and move on to a more legal crop.  And now they have.  But it had little to do with the US War On Drugs and its policies.

Soaring food prices may achieve what the United States has spent millions of dollars trying to do: persuade Bolivian farmers to sow their fields with less potent crops than cocaine’s raw ingredient.

But rising grain prices and food shortages have made him reconsider. He’s now asking coca farmers to supplement their crops with rice and corn as a way of holding down coca production while helping to feed South America’s poorest country.

U.S. programs have often banned the planting of coca — a small green leaf sacred to Andean peoples and the base ingredient of cocaine — as a condition for farmers to receive aid to try new crops.

In his own twist on alternative development, Morales is willing to split the difference: Growers can maintain up to one “cato” of coca, or about a third of an acre, which earns them about $100 a month while they receive a loan to plant other products as well.

The cato limit — in practice since 2004 — is seen by U.S. drug officials as a questionably legal concession to drug smugglers, but it has become the linchpin of Morales’ strategy to fight narcotics while supporting the leaf’s traditional use as a mild stimulant with medicinal qualities.
If they limit their coca crop to just the cato, growers are entitled to $500 loans to plant rice, corn and other increasingly lucrative foodstuffs, and even a $2,000 grant to build a house.

Experts say Morales’ plan may help keep growers afloat while alternative crops have a chance to take hold — and global food prices continue to climb
But rice will have to compete with rising demand for cocaine in Brazil and Europe — both top destinations for Bolivian products. Bolivia’s coca crop, the world’s third-largest after Colombia and Peru, still increased 5 percent last year, though government officials say that’s a victory compared to 27 percent growth in top-producer Colombia.

Global Warming And National Security

This is one way to make global warming a prime program for funding–looks like an extension of the well used fear card.

Global warming is likely to increase illegal immigration, create humanitarian disasters and destabilize precarious governments and could add to terrorism, all of which could threaten U.S. national security, according to an assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies.

“Logic suggests the conditions exacerbated (by climate change) would increase the pool of potential recruits for terrorism,” said Tom Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, who testified before a joint House committee hearing Wednesday.

Climate change alone would not topple governments, but it could worsen problems like poverty, disease, migration, and hunger that could destabilize already vulnerable areas, Fingar told the committee.

But he warned that efforts to reduce global warming by changing energy policies “may affect U.S. national security interests even more than the physical impacts of climate change itself,” he stated.

“The operative word there is ‘may,’ we don’t know,” Fingar said.

“Climate change will provide the conditions that will extend the war on terror,” stated Adm. T. Joseph Lopez, who commanded U.S. and allied peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in 1996.

“Weakened and failing governments, with an already thin margin for survival, foster the conditions for internal conflicts, extremism and movement toward increased authoritarianism and radical ideologies,” the previous report said. “The U.S. will be drawn more frequently into these situations,” stated the report, which drew on 11 retired generals and admirals.

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said Congress’ call for the intelligence agencies’ report was “a dangerous diversion of intelligence assets.” He said the issue should be studied by climate scientists, not intelligence agencies.

Republicans on the committee used the hearing to argue for domestic oil drilling and nuclear power to reduce reliance on foreign energy.

Amazing how they trot out this after the calls for more offshore drilling.  I ask, if the proposal had not been made, would this report have been released?

Bush Veto Is Agreeable

President Bush promises to veto the five-year, $300 billion farm bill before Congress this week. The House and Senate have given him plenty of reasons to do so. The bill is so wrongheaded it’s the equivalent of beating swords into plowshares at the outbreak of a war that closely follows a bumper crop.

The bill enjoys broad support in both the House and Senate, where even free-market conservatives hypocritically vote to spare growers of food and fiber from the uncertainties of supply and demand. The bill would pay generous subsidies to farmers no matter how much or little they harvested.

U.S. crop subsidies hurt developing countries two ways at once. They discourage domestic food production and contribute to the high cost of imports. Result: more poverty, hunger and all the attendant social ills, not to mention riots and unrest. It reflects poorly on a Congress that could inflict such harm so blithely, with so little lost sleep.

Not only would the bill do nothing to ease global hunger, it does much to aggravate the crisis. The bill reported out by the conference committee rejects a needed increase in the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program; instead, it would cut money from the program. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. (no relation to former Sen. George McGovern), predicted that some poor countries would have to cease offering food to children as an incentive to go to school.

The final version of the bill retains the prohibition against buying food abroad, where it would be nearer to famine-stricken populations. This increases the cost and carbon footprint of food transportation and delays receipt of emergency supplies.

I would agree on the veto from Bush. This bill has enough earmarks to choke a horse. I do see where this bill will do that much to eliminate the hunger of the US and the world.  I know moist who know me are taking aback…that I would say anything good about the Prez….but on this bill, for now, I will agree on his action.