Current Events Watch

Super Bowl XLII did not quite end as I had hoped or expected. Still it was exciting, particularly the Giant’s final offensive play with a mere 35 seconds left on the clock, taking the lead and effectively quashing the Patriots’ hopes for an undefeated season. Who doesn’t love football?

I took a bit of a power nap at half-time, though. I mean really, Tom Petty was the best they could do? Are you kidding me? Not being a fan of nasal caterwauling myself, I opted to grab a few z’s instead. I did, before nodding off, however, catch the half-time show’s sponsorship announcement — “Bridgestone, the official tire of the NFL.”

So the NFL has an official tire. Spare me (pun intended.) That makes about as much sense as Wilson coughing up a few mil for the privilege of being deemed the official football of NASCAR. Maybe they already have. Wouldn’t surprise me.

But I digress. Why I found the Bridgestone announcement noteworthy is that pre-game yesterday I read this article on The Nation’s website, which says that Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire spent more than $10 million dollars for the honor! Money well-spent? I guess that’s debatable. Remember, Tom Petty was the headline act.

Of course, saving face isn’t cheap, so when it becomes necessary to invest in attempting to polish a tarnished reputation, what better platform than the most-watched sporting event of the year? And with a class-action lawsuit for human rights violations hanging over corporate heads, it was probably money well-spent after all. Good PR is priceless.

According to The Nation, Bridgestone Firestone is being sued by the International Labor Rights Forum and several plaintiffs, accusing the company of committing human rights abuses in Liberia, one of the largest rubber-producing countries in the world. Not to mention one of the poorest.

A gold mine for Bridgestone Firestone, of course. Here’s this country practically oozing latex, with an economy ravaged by decades of war, and an 85% unemployment rate to boot! The perks just keep on coming.

HELP WANTED: Multi-billion dollar corporation seeking desperate desperately seeking tree-tappers. 15 cents an hour. Wage restrictions may apply.

For the bargain basement price of only $3.19 in daily wages, Bridgestone Firestone expects a typical Liberian worker to tap 650 trees a day, by company president Daniel Adomitis’s own admission on CNN. He also said that tapping a tree only took a couple of minutes. No big whoop.

Okay. So CNN took those 650 trees at two minutes per tap, and still calculated that one worker would have to spend 21 hours a day working to fill this quota. Not factoring in travel time, of course, carrying 70-lb buckets of freshly-milked latex for miles to the waiting storage tanks, prepped and ready for shipment to America, where the rubber meets the road.

And if the worker does not meet said quota? The paycheck is halved. Ouch. That’ll take a bite out of the family budget. So what’s a Liberian to do?

Make every day “Bring Your Wife And Kids To Work Day”, of course! Unless you want the family to starve. Gruel ain’t cheap. This calls for some quality family tree-tapping time.

This is the choice Bridgestone Firestone has forced their more than 4,000 Liberian employees to make. The 650-tree daily quota policy has led many of the workers to join up their own kids and wives to ensure that they meet their target goal. Or else.

But these extra helping hands get paid nothing. And the children whose families depend on their labor for survival? Forget about schooling and receiving an education. There’s work to be done.

A 2006 report by the United Nations Mission in Liberia found that during Liberia’s civil war, Firestone’s Duside Hospital, didn’t even bother with issuing birth certificates. Yet the company-touted free education (who has the time?) and healthcare for workers’ children depends on having one.

Of course, Liberia’s Ministry of Health will be more than happy to provide one. For a paltry $25, or nearly half of an employee’s monthly salary. What a bargain, that.

Click here to learn more about the company’s exploitation and abuses.

It’s quite sad, really. Nearly as sad as last night’s Patriots’ defeat.

bridgestone firestone, super bowl, bridgestone firestone tires, super bowl sponsors, liberia, rubber trees

Philanthropic wordsmiths, take note! This is cool. John Breen, a computer programmer from Indiana who operates the Poverty.com website, has now also developed an online game that teaches vocabulary … and helps to fight world hunger at the same time.

It’s fun, it’s free, and it feeds. Not to mention that you’ll also pick up a few new words along the way with which to impress friends and family.

FreeRice.com is quickly becoming quite popular. Breen said the idea came to him one day in his kitchen while he was sitting with his two teenage sons, preparing for the SAT, when he decided, as he said, “to do something on the computer to help my son learn vocabulary words.”

It’s a simple multiple-choice game. You’re presented with a word and four possible definitions from which to choose. Get it right, and 20 grains of rice are donated to the U.N. World Food Programme. The U.N. then distributes the rice worldwide.

Pfffft, you say. Twenty grains? Well, pfffft yourself. They do add up. And quickly. The game is quite an addictive pastime, and before you know it, you’ll find that you have earned several thousands of grains to help feed some starving kid or family somewhere, and every little bit really does count.

Consider the fact that FreeRice.com is up to more than 8.2 billion grains of rice since Breen launched the site just this past October. That is more than enough to feed 325,000 people, according to the spokesperson for the World Food Programme.

Given my addictive personality, I’ve no doubt fed an entire village already. I can’t stop playing the game. Okay, so I have way too much free time on my hands, but at least I spend it well. Sometimes.

freerice.com, free rice, world hunger, word games, john breen, world food programme

“There but for the grace of God go I.” Traveling preacher man John Bradford’s modified sixteenth-century quote has over the subsequent centuries, for whatever reason, become the catchphrase of choice when waxing philosophical, humble and compassionate about the misfortune of others. Sincerity, of course, is optional. I’m sure John really meant it, though, watching his fellow execution-bound inmate being taken away to meet his Maker.

He was simply thankful that, well, he wasn’t that poor bastard! Of course, ultimately, despite the grace of God, there John went, too. Burned at the stake. Yikes.

These days, most people generally utter such drive-by platitudes from airbag-laden, DVD player-equipped, OnStar-optioned SUVs, while passing a homeless person on the street. Or maybe when they hear about the plight of the sick and uninsured, the cold and hungry (still harping about yesterday’s post, sorry, but Bush pisses me off), in some random story they may have channel-surfed through on their satellite-fed digital HDTVs … there are just so many poor people for which to be thankful that they are not! So sad, too bad.

I was one of those sympathetic people. I thought I cared, even though I’ll admit that I did avoid eye contact with the guy at the corner of 47th and Oak on the Country Club Plaza (KC plug there … it might come in handy later, read on) holding the Hungry - Need Food cardboard sign, just thinking to myself, “Come on, light, turn green already! I’m running late for my dinner reservation!”

That was secondary, of course, to my compassion for the poor guy and his misfortune. If memory serves, I think my first thought was that obligatory “there but for the grace of God blah blah blah” thing. Yeah, I’m sure that was it, because I am a caring person, after all. I should have probably really spent a bit more time pondering how true that is, before moving on to more important things, like whether to order the tater skins or the onion blossom appetizer.

Because, you know what? Despite the grace of God, there go I now, too. Possibly to the street corner with the cardboard sign-wielding guy. I’m not there yet, but it’s getting close. Not being dramatic or bemoaning my situation but, yeah, I may have to eventually make eye contact with the guy after all, maybe partner up for the sign-holding events and such. Take turns or something. (Hence the KC plug link for the Plaza above … 47th & Oak. If you’re in town, look us up, and thanks for your support!) Poverty sucks.

Here’s the deal, though. I’ve been blessed with the best of fortune, but the rags to riches story we all love sometimes has a nasty plot twist. Believe me, I know, because here I am getting all raggedy. Still, when I sometimes feel like wallowing in my most terrible misfortune (boo hoo), I am reminded, as I was yesterday, that it’s true, I guess, that things really could be worse. Thanks, Oprah! (Okay, give me a break, I love my Oprah. I’m gay, remember?) The guests booked on yesterday’s show were people who are dying. It was kind of creepy in a way, actually, now that I think about it.

But, even if I ultimately have to hook up with Harold at the street corner (I don’t know his real name, but he looks like a Harold) in a couple of months, scheduling sign-holding shifts, at least I’ll still be around to hold that sign. Computer science professor Randy Pausch most likely won’t be passing by, though. He’ll probably be dead. He’s dying, he knows it, and yet he’s determined to be a Tigger and not an Eeyore in these, his final days. Quite an inspiration. You’ll have to watch the video at the end to get the Pooh reference.

If you’re not familiar with Professor Pausch, he’s the 46-year-old husband, and father of three small children, dying of pancreatic cancer. He’s down to the last few weeks, doctors can do nothing more. When he participated in the Last Lecture series at his university, he suddenly became something of a celebrity. These exercises are apparently not uncommon at various universities across the country, the challenge being for the professors to deliver the lecture they would present if it was to be their last, reflecting upon their personal journeys and lessons learned. In Professor Pausch’s situation, the rules here of course hit very close to home.

There have been snippets all over the Internet from his Last Lecture, the full thing being over an hour long. If you do want to watch his lecture (including all of the introductions, just like being there, only not!) here’s a link.

This video from Oprah’s show yesterday, though, pretty much sums it up. He was on, and gave a reprise of his original lecture. Watch the video. It’s true, things could be worse, no matter how bad things might seem. Even a street-corner beggar can hear rich guy Professor’s story and say, “There but for the grace of God go I.” Of course, Randy Pausch can also consider our charred friend Brother John B, who originally imparted such wisdom, and probably think the same. I doubt really if it could get much worse than that. Burned alive at the stake sets the bad luck bar pretty high.

randy pausch, cancer, pancreatic cancer, last lecture, oprah, homelessness, poverty

Well, the government is simply fiscally overextended. Short on funds. Empty pockets, that’s the bottom line. Even with Old Man Winter knocking at the door, about 30 million families will be left in the cold this season. The government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, only has enough funding to cover 16 percent of the low-income households eligible for the program. When you consider there are 38 million households needing assistance, well, that leaves about 32 million families who should promptly begin calling family and friends residing in warmer climes, making arrangements to crash at their place for the next few months.

Leave it to President Bush to reduce the budget for LIHEAP, by about half a billion bucks, despite the increase in energy costs. Of course, this is the guy who also earlier this month vetoed the bill that would have provided health care coverage for millions of children who currently are uninsured, to families unable to afford the absurdity that is their monthly family-coverage premium. Regretfully, the government can’t help you out, it’s just too expensive, no can do. Then again, in Dubya’s defense, we are kind of strapped for cash these days. He’s just prioritizing:

Sick kids? Not number one on the list. Sorry. Heat-seeking families with winter just around the corner? Nah. Heat-seeking missiles, though, that’s another story. Money well spent!

P.S. On a final personal note, speaking of the needy … the other day I mentioned that I was hoping to be able to volunteer to help feed the hungry this Thanksgiving. Well, I may not be on the food service team, but I’m pleased to announce that I have been granted dishwasher duty at the Salvation Army on Turkey Day, for which I am indeed thankful. Hey, someone has to clean up. I’m happy to do what I can to help.

health care, poverty, health insurance, uninsured children, george w bush, veto, iraq war, low income families, energy assistance

My starry-eyed fellow blogger Beth has recently suggested that with November just around the corner, Turkey Day (my favorite holiday!) being part of the Fall-package deal, that perhaps this is the perfect time to focus our attention on those who may not be quite so enthusiastic about the looming day of gluttony. Or is that the day of giving thanks? I never remember. Oh well, either way, it’s hard to be either gluttonous or thankful if you’re one of the 36.5 million in this country living in poverty who is barely able to feed the family on any given day, whatever the month. Or in Bush-speak, one who finds it hard to put food on the family.

Actually, those poor folks would probably be indeed thankful if able to celebrate the holiday with so much as an Oscar Mayer-processed-turkey-lunchmeat sandwich come November 22nd. After all, it’s called Turkey Day for a reason, and what better way to observe a national tradition than the gathering of family around the dinette set for that once-a-year special meal! Truly something to give thanks for.

Even a SPAM sandwich might work. There’s probably some sort of discarded fowl parts in there somewhere. Turkey lips or something. Mystery meat is always questionable, but it could probably do in a pinch.

Meanwhile, the rest of us, oblivious to the plight of those less-fortunate, will be gorging on our respective feasts of Honeysuckle turkey breast (unless you’re a leg man, of course), replete with stuffing, mashed potatoes (lots of gravy, please), and the ever-popular Campbell’s mushroom soup green bean casserole with those tasty French’s French Fried Onions on top. Yum! (One of my personal favorites, hence the recipe link.) But wait, there’s more! Unbutton the britches, because here comes the pumpkin pie!

So while that needy family downtown might be giving thanks for simply having food on themselves, as George would say, we’ll be most thankful for having the day off! No need to even call the boss with that contrived raspy voice and occasional coughing spell, explaining why you won’t be able to make it into the office today because of an overnight flu onset. Save the sick day for another time. I guess we all have our priorities.

I do love Thanksgiving. And I love the big meal, the day off, the tryptophan-induced nap that zonks you out usually just before the winning touchdown in whichever football-marathon-day game you happen to be watching at the time. However, in the true spirit of the day, it would behoove us to remember that everyone is not so fortunate, and that we should be sincerely thankful for the abundance and blessings that we normally take for granted. Even if you think your life sucks, be thankful that, if for nothing else, you probably don’t have to stoop to celebrating the holiday with a SPAM sandwich.

We should also remember that to whom much is given, much is required. (Okay, that’s getting Biblical, but I’m sure that there are similar Koranical, Book of Mormonical or choose-your-religious-bookical lessons as well.) As good as it is to enjoy the opportunity to spend the day with family and friends, it might be a nice change of pace to opt to forego just one indulgent Thanksgiving, and instead volunteer at your community shelter, for example, serving those less fortunate than ourselves a real turkey, stuffing, mashed potato with extra gravy meal. Maybe even a helping of green bean casserole, with no canned luncheon loaf in sight.

Who knows? It might just be the eye-opening experience that will give us the perspective we need to appreciate the things we should be truly thankful for, every day. I’ve already checked with my local Salvation Army to see what opportunities are available this year. There will always be another Thursday in November to hook up with the gang, pig out, take a snooze on the sofa. Thankfully.

poverty, thanksgiving, volunteering, hunger