I saw this photo online and cracked up! I want some of these seats for our yard!! This photo was taken in China. Speaking of which ... things are not looking good in Sichuan Province right now.
An addition to the world food crisis: if any of you have seen the bread shortage in Egypt in the news, you will be appalled by this article documenting OPEC nation's and particularly Saudi Arabias indifference to their plight (people dying while waiting to get bread, murders for bread)
Also yesterday, I posed this question: If a country had 3 major problems with these criteria, which should be a priority?
1. This thing has killed approximately 4,000 people in 4 years. The people knew there was that risk and accepted it.
2. This thing has killed 17,000 people per year (about 68,000) . The people knew there was some risk and accepted it.
3. This thing has killed 17,000 per year (about 68,000). The people killed were unaware of the danger - basically, they were innocent bystanders.
For most of us, it would seem logical to tackle problem #3 first - that ties for 1st place for most deaths and the deaths are innocent people. So what are these things? The first is the number of deaths from the wars in Iraq and Afganistan in the past 4 years (approximate numbers!). The second is the number of deaths attributed directly to illicit drug use (for example, a heart attack due to cocaine ingestion). The third is the number of deaths due to DRUNK DRIVERS in the United States. Yes, approximately 68,000 people in 4 years.
While I am certainly no fan of war, I'd say it is a small problem for us in terms of human life when compared to how many of ourselves we are killing and allowing to be killed simply because our courts do not take drunk drivers off the road the first time. I'm always amazed when I see protesters with signs reading the body count out of Iraq and Afganistan ... I wonder why they don't care, don't get worked up about 68,000 people killed here. People who did not volunteer for that type of risk, as our men and women in the armed forces do. People that may be children. 17 times the number of people!
So I hope all of us continue to hold those in dire need in our thoughts and prayers. The citizens of Myanmar, Sichuan, Egypt, and many other African nations are in desperate need of food, shelter, and clean water.
On a positive side note, I did about 2 hours work on my dissertation today! Yahoo! I still need 80 more participants - persons either born in Haiti or of Haitian descent. I've worked with groups in Florida, Washington DC, New York (city and state), Detroit, and Chicago so far. If anyone knows any Haitians, meets any Haitians or persons of Haitian descent, or knows somebody that knows someone, please let me know!!
And last (but certainly not least!) please take a moment to watch this excellent and short video about President Ford and Davenport University: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H7HeAt0XDQ
4 comments:
Hi Aunt Laura! I love your blog, and I've been reading it pretty regularly for a couple of months now. So, I thought I'd drop you a comment.
To respond to your comments about the number of deaths from three different causes, I would say two things. First, I agree with you that people are overly worked up about the number of casualties from the war in Iraq. As I recall, 7 of 10 Americans were in favor of initiating the conflict in the first place (I was in the other 3), and casualties are one of the costs of waging a war. Plus, the number of deaths is very small compared to past wars. Look at the number of deaths from WWII and Vietnam. This pales in comparison. I think a better reason to protest the war is the amount of money it costs and how the deficit has exploded since it began. That's the main thing that bothers me about it. (I'm speaking from the standpoint of an effective protest about policy, not suggesting that the lives lost are insignificant.)
Second, look at the disparity between the deaths caused by alcohol and those caused by illegal drugs. While I'm not in favor of legalizing all drugs, I do think people are too quick to dismiss alcohol as a dangerous substance and equally as eager to condemn marijuana, a relatively innocuous drug, as the devil's own creation. Statistically speaking, alcohol is much more dangerous.
The last thing I wanted to say is that I know of several Haitians I could try to help you recruit. I have TWO friends whose sisters married men of Haitian descent and those men's families live here in the Chicago area. If you could send me a little information about how you would need to interview them, I'd be happy to pass that on. Let me know!
Hey Martha - as always, using your brains! You are absolutely right; the war is costing us a ton. I read somewhere (I wish I could remember now so I could link) the amount we've spent could have fed everyone on the African continent and sent every child to school.
And, yup, alcohol is much more dangerous. What yanks my chain is when you see an alcohol related death, like the one in Chicago last week where the dad protected his child from being killed by the driver, it seems like 9 times out of 10 the driver has already had several DUI's. What's up with that?!
I think the number of people driving with repeated DUIs is so high for several reasons. I think the judicial system is probably too lenient for repeat drunk drivers. That being said, this country is sorely lacking in mass transit, so if people can't drive, how are they supposed to get to their jobs? That could be one reason for the leniency, but I'm not really sure. Another reason is probably that people with several DUIs struggle with alcoholism. Of course, alcohol inhibits good decision making, and deciding to drive while under the influence may be a product of the disease. I also think a lot of people get DUIs when they genuinely aren't that drunk - they probably were belligerent with the cop and blew a .09 or something. The big problem is with DWIs. People should go to jail for that!
Also, to follow up on the comment about the spending on the war in Iraq, it exemplifies the huge problem I have with the Republican party - hypocrisy. Since Regan, Republicans have been preaching fiscal responsibility and smaller government, but the national debt has vastly increased in all of the Republican administrations in the past 28 years and the size of government has also dramatically increased (Bush II is the administration with the greatest amount of deficit spending the the largest increases in the size of the government in American history). I don't know why people don't see this fact. I think it's very hypocritical to preach one thing and do precisely the opposite. Not to mention, it's irresponsible and it takes the country in a bad direction.
To clarify something: I am not unequivocally opposed to the Republican party, and my dislike of the party's governing style doesn't mean I think the Democrats are all that great either. I just really resent the lying and deceiving of a public that I think generally isn't politically savvy enough (and doesn't care enough) to find out what's really going on. I wish people were more involved in this sort of thing, but it doesn't excuse the behavior of our politicians.
Thanks for engaging your readers in a debate like this! I think it's really exciting to have the opportunity to express opinions about this in a forum that is much less cutthroat than many of the blogs that I've seen out there. Hopefully other people will contribute.
Hey Martha -
I doubt I would ever participate in an online political forum!! I also think many would agree with you that BOTH major parties are not so great ... we were just discussing this weekend how awesome it would be to have a viable third party! I think most Americans, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being extreme Republican and 10 being extreme Democrat would fall in the 4,5,6 range! The 4's get pulled to the right, the 6's to the left and the 5's all over the place. It just seems our polical parties and leaders are much more extreme than our population! Thanks for commenting!!
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