what are we recovering TO?

The number of people without sufficient food in the United States hit 45 million this year.

45 million.

That's nearly one in every six people in the United States going without sufficient food at least sometimes or frequently in the past year.


45 million is more than the population of 194 of the world's 223 countries.

Going without sufficient food doesn't mean that you ran out of chocolate or that you decided not to buy popcorn the last time you went to the movies. It means that you ran out of real food before payday. Or that you could get food, but it wasn't sufficiently nutritious. (I presume these statistics do not include former NBA head case Latrell Sprewell, who apparently found it difficult to feed his family on $7 million a year.)

This is acceptable?

The problem looks even worse when you talk about America's children, and it looks absolutely dire for specific populations when you break it down by race. (Read the article linked above.)

This situation is an indicator in so many ways it's difficult to count them all.

Only about half of the 45 million hungry people are actually considered in poverty, with household income at or below the federal poverty line. This means that our poverty and unemployment statistics are woefully inadequate and that a huge amount of the population are underemployed. It likely means that these households are not saving for the future. How can they? Why should they? The future has no opportunity for them, even with a trillion dollar "stimulus" package designed to shock new life into the DOW. We should call it the DOWfibrillator package.

Hunger also leads to health problems. The current Health Care Reform debate is all about whether the USA will become the United Socialists of America or we let the free market wreak its wonderful magic and keep the rich getting richer. Meanwhile our city hospitals are overrun by hordes of the poor looking for free medical care in the emergency room--bandages, cough syrup, Tylenol. Not only do they not have health insurance (who can afford that when you can't even keep Cheerios in your cupboard?), but their health suffers from lack of proper nutrition and overabundance of stress. We're worried about Death Panels in our health care reform? Why bother? We're already starving to death the people who would have to go in front of the Death Panels.

Our failing education system is another case of the rich getting richer and the poor falling into the abyss. Our top colleges, high schools, and primary schools continue to turn out some of the best educated people in the world. But on average, our school systems are sliding farther and farther behind other countries in critical areas such as creativity, analysis, and even the basics of reading comprehension and essential math. Yet the money continues to pour into the richest schools where property taxes are highest or where the richest donate to their own children's schools. I won't go into all the other things I think are fatal flaws in our system (tenure, centralized curriculum, NCLB, etc.). Instead, I'll just point out that children can't think clearly or retain knowledge when they're hungry. If we don't properly feed the children, how can we possibly expect them to learn how to lead the world in thirty years?

We've got a "recovery" that only a statistician could love. The DOW is soaring. Meanwhile, more people than ever in this country are going hungry.

We may be recovering, but to what exactly? How will we know when the recovery is over and we're back to normal? What is normal, and are we satisfied with it? If so, why are we satisfied? We were suffering and backsliding for decades before the bottom fell out of the financial industry and the economy.

haiku wednesday - November 4th, 2009

This week's words are
karma
obey
wither

I was psyched when I saw three short words this week. Only six syllables, giving me eleven all to myself! Well, guess what? This is a really tough trio. I'm not sure why. I think it's because karma is very specific, and obey and wither are both verbs... neither of which karma can really do or have done to it. Plus, this being NaNoWriMo, I am distracted and funneling my creative energy elsewhere. But here goes anyway.

---

grow, age, wither, die
leave all but karma behind
obey life's cycles

---

make your own karma
don't wither under pressure
but, obey your mom!

---

they obey conscience
bodies wither, karma soars
prison hunger strike

haiku wednesday - October 28th, 2009

This week's words are
incubate
nightmare
vanity

Egad! I missed two 3WW in a row. I am losing balance in my life. I must regain my balance, or I may fall off my chair. Incubate, nightmare, vanity? Sheesh, tough words for haiku. But here goes.

---

incubate ill will
with conquerors' vanity
endless nightmare war

---

please her vanity
with praise, incubate her trust
lies feed your nightmare

---

Swallow vanity!
They incubate your career,
those nightmare bosses.

4,351 and counting

It is worth saying until it stops.

thinking of going to South Africa next year...

train out of sacramento

silhouette ridge
carving black
under a gray-fire sky
as ghostly steeples float by
and anchorless lights
belie the emptiness

a white man
with a black cell phone
talks in gospel lyrics,
and a boy hunches
over a cardboard tray,
his fork pumping food
with the zeal of hobos
and college students

his blue earplugs
deny the gospel
and exile the haunting wails
of the train's whistle

haiku wednesday - October 7th, 2009

This week's words are
fallow
limit
vocal

Last week I missed 3WW for the first time in nearly a year. I didn't actually count, but I figure I was on a 40-something streak. Well, a new streak begins today. (No, sorry, I am not "streaking" in that sense, at least not without sufficient incentive.)

---

mattress limit reached,
vocal girl leaves bed fallow
'twas a pea, princess

---

watchdogs lie fallow
rich men limit our freedoms
without vocal foes

---

limit subsidies
above fallow fields of corn
vocal birds riot

haiku wednesday - September 23, 2009

This week's words are
eclipse
languish
velocity

Another insane week where I beg your indulgence with nothing offered in return. I apologize, dear friends, but this week I will be unable to make the rounds. I hope that either next week or the week after I will be back to my usual form and once again be able to enjoy all the wonderful 3WW posts you create.

---

languish on the couch
foot's velocity inspires
butts eclipse TV

---

velocity girl
does not languish in sad life
she will eclipse fate

---

sorrows eclipse joy
dampen life's velocity
languish in the past

The Bears go on the road to Minnesota

I tried really hard to score a business trip to Minneapolis to see the Bears maul the Gophers, but in the end I couldn't because I just have too many obligations at home--scout events, soccer games to coach, soccer games to play in... and something I'm forgetting... something... oh yeah! My wife's birthday.

Anyway, here's a summary of the matchup as I listen to Sick Puppies' "War" from the Tri Polar album. Appropriate.

The Bears are 14 point favorites. Jeff Sagarin's ratings put Cal at #7 and Minnesota at #46, with a spread of 9.26, or a one-touchdown spread if the home field advantage is factored in.

The Bears have faced two weak teams and clobbered them, opening the season with two 50+ point outings for the first time in history. They have been very solid nearly everywhere, though kick coverage needs to be cleaned up a little bit. Also, the defense has a tendency to give up a lot of yards early in the game as they're adjusting. The offense has stalled from time to time, but for the most part they've moved the ball at will, particularly late in the game when they've out-fitnessed their opponent.

The Gophers will undoubtedly be a more difficult test. They have a capable offense with an efficient quarterback and a receiver that was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff award last year. They are less experienced at running back, but there is talent there. More importantly, the Gophers lost only one offensive lineman from last year, and they return experience--44 starts among the other four lineman. That said, a lot of that experience may be sitting on the bench since two of the OL starters are transfers (one from JuCo and one from Notre Dame). Overall, though, their statistics are not impressive for the competition they've faced. They came from behind to win both their games this year--OT at Syracuse, and vs Air Force. They gained an average of 343 yards per game, and an OK 3.9 yards per carry rushing (just 110 yards per game on the ground).

On defense, the Gophers start nine seniors and two juniors. The two juniors are both in the Safety spot, and the DBs may be the strongest part of the defense. Much has been made of the Bears being unable to scout Minnesota's defense because they have a new coordinator. Regardless, they look very strong defensively. Their two DTs have each started 21 straight games, and they're both over 300 pounds. Their three LBs are all highly productive, whether it's number of tackles or causing turnovers. They've allowed only 13 and 20 points in their two wins. Granted, Syracuse and Air Force are not amazing offenses, but the Minnesota defense should not be underestimated.

With the size of Minnesota's offensive linemen (the OTs are 336 and 365), and the quality of their QB and WRs, it's no wonder they have weaker rushing and stronger passing. The fact that they came from behind in both their wins says that they also have overall fitness and can play all 60 minutes.

Minnesota will be a good test for the Bears before facing Pac-10 opponents. I think Cal will pass this test and will find ways to score. I do think that even if Minnesota gets a lead, they will have difficulty protecting it with their weaker rushing game. They also have not faced a team as strong and as complete as California is this year. They'll get a lift from their new stadium and a sellout crowd I'm sure, but the crowd will be in the 50,000 range.

After seeing both of the first two games, I don't think Cal is overrated. I think both defense and offense are as good as advertised, and the team has insane depth. If the special teams can hold it together, and if the Bears don't get overconfident, I think they'll take a lead by the second quarter and pull ahead late in the third. I see this game coming out in favor of the Bears, 34 - 18.

GO BEARS!

haiku wednesday - September 16, 2009

This week's words are
hanky
thick
drift

My thoughts and sympathies to ThomG, the curator and flashmaster of 3WW, who lost a family member this week.

---

winter's chill sinks deep
thick drift builds beside her bed
toss one more hanky

---

thick, goopy romance
hanky-snorker film for girls
boys' minds drift outside

---

yellow hankie drops
thick coach chases ref, screaming
players drift to sides