Brazilian city declares food a right of citizens, substantially solves pervasive hunger problems with civic & neighborhood solutions. Another case of it taking little effort to make big changes, if it's targeted just right.

Many other cities desperately need similarly creative approaches, and some people are working on them. There are no grocery ( Read more... )

Why Working Women Are Stuck in the 1950s

Excellent article about the unfinished women's rights revolution, childcare, and poverty. Link thanks to ozarque.

From kyra_ojosverdes via samvimes: Author Stan Goff, a retired 26-year veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces, sounds a warning call that many of the historical precursors of fascism-white supremacy, militarization of culture, vigilantism, masculine fear of female power, xenophobia and economic destabilization-are ascendant in America today.

William Raspberry wrote about a study showing a vast gap in early exposure to language between upper- and lower-class children, correlating with their 3rd-grade language achievement and IQ. This study has been widely cited, and is surely very important work. However, Language Log provides some criticism of how the information has been used, given ( Read more... )

A post on poverty, and on compassion. Link thanks to gramina.

Yahoo News has a piece about poor people in Haiti eating mud pies. Kevin Sites reports that they say: it's not so much out of hunger that they eat them, but "sometimes, you just crave dirt." I am irritated that there is no mention of the fact this is actually a known disorder, and generally signals a need for particular minerals not present in ( Read more... )

Bill & Melinda Gates and Bono have teamed up to tackle world poverty and health problems. You may have to look at an ad to read the full article.

The Gates Foundation spends about the same amount per year as the WHO, and, as far as I can tell, spends it much more effectively.