International News

[thisficklemob]

Or, as Stephen Colbert might say, stuff you don't care about. But I find it interesting.

Riots in France. As the news keeps telling us, these riots are happening in largely North African immigrant neighborhoods. They're not really about the two boys' accidental deaths running from police - that was just the trigger.

Comments

[photosinensis]

Yeah, it's kinda sad that every time I walk over to McDonalds, I see a hobo who just wants to buy something to eat. Half of the time they start by saying that they mean me no harm, which is quite obvious from the fact that they're emaciated and obviously unarmed. I usually give these people five bucks, which is enough for a meal at the local McDonalds (a college/ghetto area one BTW), and they'll usually be right behind me walking in and ordering.

I'm in favor of this kind of humiliation, too. At least it would symbolically admit that even we have a poverty problem, which, in a country as wealthy as ours, is a supreme embarassment. But try telling that to the Bushies and the billionaires.

[thisficklemob]

At least it would symbolically admit that even we have a poverty problem, which, in a country as wealthy as ours, is a supreme embarassment. But try telling that to the Bushies and the billionaires.

It's not just that there is poverty, it's that Bush administration policies seemed determined to perpetuate and deepen it. A million more people have become poor in the last year. The solution? Why, cut programs that keep low income children fed, of course. And on and on like that. When I think of what we could have done with the hundreds of billions spent in Iraq... most of it charged to the national credit card, but still... I don't know whether to rage or weep. We could have fully funded the World Health Organization's needs, all by ourselves, including their avian flu containment programs that could (have) saved millions of lives. We could have provided every citizen with health care.

Now, we're reduced to ineffectual complaining when the Republicans cut food stamps to fund another millionaire's tax cut.