tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242237432024-03-13T16:05:26.130-04:00Cranial SoupPeas, carrots, green beans, and gray matter.Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-72131163353920747092017-08-17T08:17:00.000-04:002017-08-17T08:17:50.448-04:00When an Invention Doesn't Need to Be Invented<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rjr5r0UWq4Q/WZWHc73Lh4I/AAAAAAAAGeo/8FFmLB42d10-JiMI2j7gDaTgzfKQWe2OwCLcBGAs/s1600/soccer-ball-lamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="621" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rjr5r0UWq4Q/WZWHc73Lh4I/AAAAAAAAGeo/8FFmLB42d10-JiMI2j7gDaTgzfKQWe2OwCLcBGAs/s400/soccer-ball-lamp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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According to this <a href="https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/using-soccer-to-supplant-kerosene-use/" target="_blank">New York Times article</a> from January 2010, a group of Harvard students decided to tackle a problem in developing nations, replacing dangerous kerosene lamps for indoor lighting with a much safer LED alternative, powered by the energy of children that love kicking soccer balls.<br />
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This eventually lead to the launch of a for-profit company (<a href="http://www.unchartedplay.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Uncharted Play</a>) to produce these soccer balls, and a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unchartedplay/soccket-the-energy-harnessing-soccer-ball" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kickstarter campaign</a> to fund it.<br />
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With backing by the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Ashton Kutcher and other celebrities and philanthropists, these soccer balls were placed in the hands of poor children in Puebla, Mexico, in 2013.<br />
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<h3>
Were these impoverished children's lives changed for the better?</h3>
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No.<br />
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Investigative journalists <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-04-08/impoverished-kids-love-soccer-ball-powers-lamp-until-it-breaks" target="_blank">traveled to Puebla, Mexico</a> in 2014, to talk to the children that received these soccer balls, to find out how well they were holding up and if the kids still liked and used them, a year after they were distributed. What they found out was that nearly all of these soccer balls no longer worked. Many of them stopped working within a few days to a few months after the children received them, not anywhere near the 3 years that Uncharted Play said they would last.<br />
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The cost of putting one of these stupid soccer balls into the hands of these impoverished children, was about $60 each. <br />
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<h3>
Was there a better way accomplish the same goal?</h3>
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Could these impoverished people been provided with a source of light, that would be more reliable and cost effective than these silly soccer balls?<br /><br />Yes, and it did not require inventing something new to accomplish it.<br /><br />For example, you could buy a <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Whetstone-36-LED-Solar-and-Dynamo-Powered-Camping-Lantern/31427748" target="_blank">36 LED solar and dynamo powered camping lantern</a> at Walmart for $15.57. <br />
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You could probably get them much cheaper if you bought them in bulk, straight from the manufacturer.<br /><br />That's more LEDs and more light than the lamp that came with the novelty soccer ball.<br /><br />And I am pretty sure that if you distributed these to the same kids that received the soccer balls, they would like the camping lanterns better, and after a year of use, there would be more kids still using their camping lanterns, than the soccer balls.<br /><br />Even better, if you had asked the families in Puebla, Mexico if they could have spent that $60 better, they would have told you that it would have cost them less than that to be hooked up to the electrical grid, which would have provided them with much more than just light, for many years to come.<br /><br />
<h3>
Think before you act.</h3>
<br />If you are going to invent something to solve a problem that has the potential to change people's lives for the better, make sure it is the best possible solution to the problem, before you begin collecting funding, manufacturing, or distributing it to those that need the solution. And make sure you involve the people that need the solution, in your research. You really can't understand their needs unless you talk to them about it, first.<br /><br />Because sometimes a better solution already exists and just needs the right people to get together and make it possible to get that solution into the hands of those that need it, rather than someone running off half cocked, to invent a brand new implementation of a useless novelty soccer ball.Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-63321460951059835852011-09-25T23:12:00.001-04:002011-09-25T23:12:46.284-04:00What Republicans Do Not Want You To Know About Poverty and Taxes<p><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="skinny piggy" alt="skinny piggy" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Rar7ukm2X1M/Tn_trdokQGI/AAAAAAAAB-4/MgLPiiuiRKw/skinny%252520piggy%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="261" /> </p> <p> </p> <p>The poverty line in 2010 for a family of four was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/14census.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">$22,314.</a> </p> <p>The Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, is one of the most violated of all the federal labor laws.</p> <p>About 15% of all wage earners in the US are earning at or below the minimum wage.</p> <p>The average full time minimum wage worker earned about $15,000. ($7.25 per hour x 40 hours x 52 weeks = $15,080) </p> <p>She paid at least 20% of her income in taxes. </p> <p>Even though it might be true that she had no federal income tax liability, she still had other taxes to pay. </p> <p>Payroll taxes such as</p> <ul> <li>Social Security </li> <li>Medicare </li> <li>Disability </li> <li>Unemployment </li> <li>State income tax </li> <li>sometimes local income tax </li> </ul> <p>She also had additional taxes such as</p> <ul> <li>sales tax </li> <li>excise tax on fuel </li> <li>USF surcharges on <ul> <li>telephone service </li> <li>natural gas </li> <li>electricity </li> </ul> </li> <li>property taxes, even if she rents (it would be hidden in the cost of her rent) </li> </ul> <p>Additionally, she pays for her healthcare out of her pocket because minimum wage jobs do not come with healthcare benefits.  She pays a higher price for a doctor's office visit than the insurance companies do. ($75 self pay vs. $35 paid by insurance) If she ever needs to go to the hospital, it could easily cost her over $4500*, even more if she has to be admitted.</p> <p>She also does not get retirement benefits and is looking at a reduction in her income down to about $600 per month when she is too old to work and begins collecting Social Security, and will be expected to pay a portion of that to receive Medicare benefits. And that is only if there is still a Social Security system by the time she is old enough to collect. </p> <p>A typical minimum wage worker is not a teenager from a middle-class family flipping burgers for some extra pocket cash to buy CDs, movie tickets, lipstick, nail polish, and video games. </p> <p>Most minimum wage workers are women, standing on their feet all day working various jobs within the service industry. They are some of the hardest working people in this country.</p> <p>Many are single mothers with more than one child, and many of those are receiving little or no child support to help offset the costs of raising those children. They also have the additional costs of child care, if they have no family support system capable of providing free care so that they can work.</p> <p> </p> <p>And Republicans think they make too much money and need to have their wages cut, by either reducing or eliminating the minimum wage. They also want to cut or eliminate the social programs that help them to survive. They actually think this will help the poor and lift them out of poverty.</p> <p> </p> <p><em>* I do not have medical insurance. I pay out of my pocket for all of my medical care. Back in 2006 I passed out in my kitchen, which resulted in a head injury requiring 8 staples to close the wound. I was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, which resulted in a bill that was just over $3000. This did not include the additional charges for physicians fee, lab work, or the MRI. Those were billed separately and were an additional $1500. My town is one of the small number in this area that provides a free ambulance service to its residents, but if they didn't, the ride would have been an additional $300. </em></p> <p><em>If you don't pay these bills, the hospital may sue you, which could result in garnishment of your wages, which has the potential of knocking a minimum wage worker's pay down to about $150/week until the debt is paid off (with interest, court costs, and lawyers fees). There is also the very real possibility that instead of or in addition to garnishment, the court may seize your bank account (woe to you if you just made a deposit to pay your rent) and/or the local Sherriff may come in, seize and sell off the contents of your home, leaving you with no more than $1000 in personal assets and possessions.</em></p> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px" class="zemanta-pixie"><img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; float: right; border-left-style: none" class="zemanta-pixie-img" alt="" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=983063d3-660d-4d13-a925-ab35b148221d" /></div> Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-66403586544423404992008-10-15T12:45:00.010-04:002012-10-03T23:43:08.189-04:00[Blog Action Day] The American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 2 (Our Nation's Starving Students)<a href="http://blogactionday.org/" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257429965677706034" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/SPYkst-2uzI/AAAAAAAAAfA/iNhvmy4od38/s400/b2008.png" style="float: left; margin: 20px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a><br />
I touched on this issue before in a <a href="http://cranialsoup.blogspot.com/2008/06/american-spaghetti-crisis.html">previous article</a> about out of control food prices and how it is affecting the poor of this country, but one group that I did not take into consideration when I wrote it, was college students.<br />
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This is why I felt the need to write a Part 2. (<a href="http://blogactionday.org/" target="_blank">Blog Action Day</a> was the reason why I delayed publishing it till today.)<br />
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Due to the rise in student poverty, you may now add them to both the group of kids sufferring from malnutrition, unable to concentrate in school due to their growling stomachs, and also to the group that is struggling with unemployment and the lack of available jobs.<br />
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College students are a group of people that are traditionally strapped for cash and live on tight budgets, with ramen being a staple of many of their diets. (It's not just a joke...it's real!)<br />
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It is difficult to make ends meet when you have to go to school all day, spend a substantial amount of time studying, and make sure you get enough rest in order to perform well in school the next day.<br />
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It doesn't leave that much free time for employment, and if students are employed, it's usually only part time for minimum wage. And with many businesses currently feeling the crunch and cutting their workforce, those jobs are becoming more scarce and the competition for them rising.<br />
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In many communities, students are competing with low income families that have kids to feed, for those fewer available low paying jobs. And during the summer, they may even be competing with their temporarily unemployed teachers, who also need more money to make ends meet and survive through the summer, till they return to work again in September.<br />
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Forget the stereotypes of the typical college student wasting all their money on booze and partying it up all the time. It just isn't true, any more (if it ever even was). The vast majority are working themselves to death and rarely have the time, money, or energy for booze and parties.<br />
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And forget the stereotypes of students being able to just hit mom & dad up for more cash. Most parents have set a strict budget for their kids in college, if they are even willing or able to give them any help at all with personal expenses. And the parents that are willing to help, are feeling the squeeze themselves, with the rising food and gasoline prices eating into their extra cash they might normally have and be willing to contribute to support their children away at college.<br />
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The truth is, most students are more or less on their own for providing for their personal needs above and beyond their tuition, books, and housing; with many living well below the poverty line, and drowning in debt. The rising cost of fuel is eating away at whatever extra cash they may have on hand to feed themselves. The cost of gasoline is also affecting their ability to hold a job and earn anything at all, to cover their cost of living.<br />
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And because their parents can still claim most of them as dependants, statistics are based upon the income of the parents and not the actual cash the students have available at their disposal, so most of these poverty stricken young adults are not even included in the statistics that refer to students living below the poverty line. They are this nation's hidden poor.<br />
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The rise in food prices isn't helping things, and are driving students to drain the already scarce supplies of the local food pantries that are already struggling to keep up with the burden of demands from poor and out of work families, while donations dwindle, as the middle class cuts back on "unnecessary" spending.<br />
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This is adversely affecting the already poor, the ones that were relying on food pantries long before the students started showing up. There is only so much food available, and it's not enough to go around. The rising number of students in need, is making the problem much worse.<br />
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The current economic crisis is going to seriously aggravate the problem further this winter, and it is likely that contributions will dip even lower, and need will increase even more, as the unemployment rate rises even higher.<br />
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Your local food pantry will need your help, more than ever, during this time of economic crisis. If you can spare anything at all, please consider making regular donations of food to the one closest to you. A little bit can go a long way and help a lot of people get by this winter, and beyond.<br />
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These are the kinds of items they would always be in need of:<br />
<ul>
<li>spaghetti and other pasta products</li>
<li>spaghetti sauce (preferably with vegetables or meat)</li>
<li>canned meats (like tuna or chicken)</li>
<li>shelf stable milk that doesn't need refridgeration (something like <a href="http://www.farmlanddairies.com/Parmalatmilk.htm">Parmalat</a>)</li>
<li>canned and dried beans</li>
<li>peanut butter & jelly</li>
<li>hot &cold cereals</li>
<li>pancake mix & syrup (get the "complete" kind that doesn't require eggs)</li>
<li>rice</li>
<li>canned fruits and vegetables</li>
<li>soups and stews (stuff with lots of meat & vegetables)</li>
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Just think healthy & nutritious, and don't give anything that you wouldn't eat. This is not an invitation to clean out your pantry of all your unwanted crap. They don't want your dust covered cans of gourmet liver paté and jars of pickled baby corn, that neither you nor your dog would eat.<br />
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If you are giving anything that requires something else to make it a complete meal, be sure to buy the other item to go with it, such as is the case with stuff like pasta & sauce, pancake mix & syrup, peanut butter & jelly, and cereal & milk.<br />
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When in doubt, contact your local food pantry and ask what they need most, or if they are willing to accept an item you may want to provide, before you make your purchase.<br />
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Probably about the easiest way you could do this, is to just pick up at least one extra non-perishable meal each week, when you do your shopping for your family. Then drop off the food you bought at your local pantry, on your way home.<br />
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If you are having trouble locating a local food pantry near your home, pick up your phone and call churches in your neighborhood. Many of them serve their community by running a food pantry.<br />
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Most do not require the people they serve to be a member of their church or even hold any religious beliefs, at all. And they don't use it as an opportunity to preach their flavor of religion to the people they serve, either. So if you are an athiest/agnostic, this shouldn't be an issue for you. Don't let it stand in the way. (Who cares why churches help, as long as they help and do it fairly.)<br />
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Read More:<br />
<a href="http://cranialsoup.blogspot.com/2008/06/american-spaghetti-crisis.html">American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://delicious.com/app103/American-Spaghetti-Crisis" target="_blank">Other articles, news, and information resources</a><br />
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<a href="http://blogactionday.org/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://blogactionday.org/img/759b27736f6bc720a6605b7d415d4fffd6dbe448.jpg" /></a><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: 85%;">Thank you, <a href="http://keywebdata.com/" target="_blank">Chris Lang</a>, for reminding me that I forgot the college students.</span></i></div>
Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-25540746782581379202008-07-05T11:30:00.010-04:002008-12-11T02:24:12.763-05:00Freedom Sandwich<img style="margin: 20px 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/SG-cHMTvCCI/AAAAAAAAAWo/h27PGsyrRyc/s400/liberty.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219562140522711074" border="0" /><br />Yesterday, on the anniversary of America's indepencence, I wanted to write a piece on freedom, but kind of got stuck.<br /><br />At first I wanted to write about the countries that still are not free, like China, where bloggers are now resorting to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121493163092919829-b_PctCCtBc8gRRAFxiXjVld6hJY_20090702.html">writing backwards</a> in order to beat censorship and report about what is really going on behind the Great Firewall.<br /><br />Or perhaps focusing on <a href="http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2008">who is and isn't totally free</a> yet.<br /><br />Then thinking about the US, the myth of freedom here, and the reality that we aren't totally free as some may believe, maybe focusing on why we are not free, as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0742562905&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">this report</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=ur2&o=1" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> may explain.<br /><br />Or go more in depth about the freedom of the press, and what responsibilities come along with it in relation to self-censorship and <a href="http://cranialsoup.blogspot.com/2008/02/mainstream-media-and-censorship.html">its ethical and moral implications</a>, focusing on the list of <a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2008/index.htm">censored news stories</a>.<br /><br />Or perhaps a piece on economic freedom and what organizations like <a href="http://thegreenchildren.org/tgcf/">The Green Children Foundation</a> are doing to help people living in third world countries overcome poverty, while still keeping their dignity, in the form of microcredit loans.<br /><br />Or perhaps how the <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-institutions_government/democracy_energy_3637.jsp">price of oil can threaten democracy</a> in places where the whole concept of freedom is still fairly new and still on shakey ground. The article is from 2006, when the price of oil was much lower than it is now, so most likely the situation is much worse today than it was at the time the article was written.<br /><br />Or artistic and educational freedom, and focus on <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.cfm">books that have been banned</a> throughout history, for one reason or another.<br /><br />Or psychological freedom, and how the <a href="http://www.way2hope.org/Illnesses/atychiphobia-fear-failure.htm">fear of failure</a> holds so many people back and prevents them from living up to <a href="http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2006/04/20.html">their full potential</a>. (Unfortunately, something I have first-hand experience with)<br /><br />Or the desire for financial freedom, and the rising number of "get rich on the internet by blogging about how to <a href="http://www.google.com/search?num=100&q=make+money+blogging">make money blogging</a>" websites that are popping up every day.<br /><br />Or freedom of information, and the threat of censorship from ISP's and their desire to do away with <a href="http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/internet/26829res20070405.html">net neutrality</a> to boost profits, cut costs, and control what you see and do on the internet, and decide who can and will be able to profit online.<br /><br />Since I couldn't make up my mind as to what direction I wanted to go with this freedom piece, I decided to give you a little slice of everything I was thinking about yesterday, just in time for lunch.<br /><br />Enjoy your "freedom sandwich".<br /><br />Take it slow, one bite at a time, don't eat too fast...it's ok to save some for later.Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-53121163943195935762008-06-26T14:46:00.011-04:002008-12-11T02:24:14.039-05:00The American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 1<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216265212441748146" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 20px 10px 10px 0pt" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/SGPlkuHRYrI/AAAAAAAAAWA/pnVA8HNtu-c/s200/00007098.jpg" border="0" /><br />While the world's eyes are focused on the global rice shortage, skyrocketing rice prices, and how it is affecting 3rd world countries, there is another issue that seems to have slipped by relatively unnoticed: the skyrocketing price of pasta in the US.<br /><br />Over the last year there has been an extreme increase in the price of spaghetti and most other macaroni products. In some cases it has been an almost 300% price hike.<br /><br />Around this time last year, I was able to purchase 3 packages of spaghetti for $1, regular price. Now I am lucky if I can get 1 package at that price, on sale.<br /><br />And the price for a box of macaroni & cheese has gone from $0.49 to $0.89..<br /><br />A case of ramen used to be $1.99. It is now $2.50.<br /><br />All of this within the last 12 months.<br /><br />While rice may be the staple food for the poor in many 3rd world countries, pasta is also a food heavily consumed by the poor, in the US. And even though the price of rice has increased drasticly, it is still by far much cheaper to buy than spaghetti currently is.<br /><br />I believe that it is quite possible that the rising cost of macaroni products can make the global rice shortage even worse than it already is, as more lower income families switch from pasta to rice, to save money, thereby increasing the demand for rice.<br /><br />What is even worse, is that the rising prices of food in general will cause a rise in prices that restaurants charge for a meal, causing more middle income families to eat at home rather than going out to eat. This loss of business to restaurants translates to a loss of jobs and income for many lower income families that depend upon minimum wage restaurant jobs to support themselves.<br /><br />The poor that rely on the Food Stamp program are running out of money before the end of the month because of the increase in food prices, but no cost of living increase in their monthly allotment of funds. They are being forced to turn to local church run food pantries for help feeding their children.<br /><br />Pasta is a staple of many local food pantries that supply the poor with free food. As prices go up, the poor can afford less, and rely on these food pantries more & more to keep from starving. And as prices go up, donations made by the middle class to these food pantries decreases, and then they don't have enough to meet the demands of the poor they are feeding.<br /><br />Poor children are eating cheap, high fat, high sugar, low nutrient junk food to keep from being hungry. They are not getting the nutrients they need to grow strong & healthy. They are getting sick and missing school more. The ones that are in school are too busy thinking about their growling stomachs to pay attention to their work. Their health & education are sufferring, and they will pay for it in the future by never acquiring the means to rise above their current poverty status. At the same time, as a result of bad nutrition, they are becoming a bigger burden to the free government provided Medicaid healthcare system, that is paid for by the tax dollars of the middle class.<br /><br />And why exactly are the food prices so high? Could it be the price of gas affecting the shipping costs and driving everything higher? Could it be that the economy really sucks right now and businesses are raising prices in order to turn a profit and keep their doors open? Bad weather killing off crops? A combination of things?<br /><br />Whatever the reason for the increase in prices, this much you can be sure of: the prices are not going to come back down, whenever the problem that is driving the increases goes away. I have never known a business to lower prices after an economic slump. They usually just keep them at what they are, raising them again when the next crisis hits, that eats their profits. Your dollar is shrinking fast, and it's likely to stay shrunk, even when the economy improves.<br /><br />The amount of low income families in America is increasing, the bar that marks the poverty level is rising, the middle class getting smaller as they slip down below that bar, the number of elderly increasing, the amount of tax dollars needed to support social services & healthcare for the poor and elderly increasing, the amount of tax dollars available to fund it all decreasing, the amount the middle class needs to make ends meet increasing, the amount in their paychecks after taxes decreasing.<br /><br />This is a serious long term crisis, and a $300 economic stimulus check ain't going to fix it.<br /><br />Read More:<br /><a href="http://cranialsoup.blogspot.com/2008/10/american-spaghetti-crisis-part-2-our.html">American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 2</a><br /><a href="http://del.icio.us/app103/American-Spaghetti-Crisis">Other articles, news, and information resources</a>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0