Archive for December 3, 2010
Take a Fun Flying Tour of New York City
Take a mesmerizing close-flying tour of New York City as taken from the cockpit of an R/C plane, via NYMag.com.
WikiLeaks Didn’t Kill These People
WikiLeaks is endangering lives. WikiLeaks is endangering lives. WikiLeaks is endangering lives…
WikiLeaks didn’t kill these people:
Today, in cites and states across the United States, 123 people died because they lacked enough money to buy healthcare services. That brings the annual death toll for 2010 to 41,082.
WikiLeaks had nothing to do with the deaths of the 123 people who died today or any of the 41,082 who died so far this year.
The 123 who died today did so with the full knowledge of all who allowed their deaths. The 123 who died today might have lived if they had access to appropriate healthcare. The 123 who died got no mention on any news program or website – liberal, conservative or otherwise. So much for the value of 123 human lives.
So, American politicians and American media, where’s the urgency about this?
Bare Bones at the Food Bank
Just got back from my volunteer stint at the food bank. Really depressing.
I’ve volunteered there for two years now and this is the barest the shelves have ever been between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In the past that was such a fun time because members of the community would bring bags of free food in and we would have unusual things, like nuts and cookies and cakes and candy. It’s obvious people are less able to make donations because we’re back to the usual canned beans, canned green beans and soups.
Two years ago we had frozen turkeys, cases of “Stove Top Stuffing,” potatoes, gravy, eggnog and ice cream. This year we don’t even have the basics like canned tomatoes. Our pasta supply is limited to spaghetti. We have cases of orange peppers, a few dozen bunches of old celery, a few dozen old carrots, a case or two of half-slimy lettuce but no fresh fruit whatsoever.
One of the people I helped desperately wanted a shower cap. How much does a shower cap cost? Three dollars? We didn’t have one of course, though I have seen them there in the past (toiletries are usually in very short supply), so she said she’d check back next week.
How sad is that? How sad is it to think that someone is so poor they can’t afford a shower cap?
That’s why it’s so heartbreaking not to be able to offer people something special; something other than the same old stuff that we have week after week, month after month. They don’t have squat.
Oh, and President Obama, I invite you to take a tour. Come see what what’s happening at the bottom of the rung in the United States as you ponder extending tax cuts to the rich. Hell, the rich are so greedy they aren’t even donating to food banks anymore.
What Would You Do With $700 Billion Dollars?
An extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich will cost $700 billion dollars. What else could the government do with that money?
Christine O’Donnell Has a Book Deal
Yawn, Christine O’Donnell has a book deal:
The Delaware Republican and Tea Party favorite, defeated in last month’s voting for the U.S. Senate, will offer her take on the campaign and her “frustrations” with the political process, St. Martin’s Press announced Thursday.
Publication is scheduled for August 2011.
The only surprising thing about this is that the book is not being published by an arm of News Corp.
So Glad There’s No Censorship in the U.S.
Apropos of Joe Lieberman strong-arming Amazon into shutting down the WikiLeaks website, Glenn Greenwald tweets this sarcastic gem:
