Myanmar update

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Myanmar refugees resettling in Fort Wayne are waiting months to receive Medicaid, food stamps and other welfare benefits that used to take an average of just two weeks, a newspaper report said.

Not cool.

Poverty Increases In Concentrated Areas

New York - One less visible aspect of the economic boom of the 1990s was a decline in the number of low-income working people who lived in very poor neighborhoods.

But that trend has reversed during the first five years of this decade, according to a new analysis by the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington. It found that the number of poor people who live in areas of concentrated poverty increased by 41 percent since 1999.

"Many of these neighborhoods that made these great gains in the 1990s – with the downturn in the beginning of this decade and the weak recovery – have been hit hard by this economic change," says Elizabeth Kneebone, lead author of the report and a senior research analyst at Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program. "We've lost a lot of ground and see poverty again increasing in these neighborhoods." - Christian Science Monitor

Trickle-down economics summed up: the rich get richer and the poor get...wait for it...richer. Did I let you down? We need trickle-down again. But really, in times like these how can one expect the poor to flock to the suburbs?

Woman Found In Tokyo Man's Closet

TOKYO - A homeless woman who sneaked into a man's house and lived undetected in his closet for a year was arrested in Japan after he became suspicious when food mysteriously began disappearing.

Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top compartment of the man's closet and arrested her for trespassing, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday.

The resident of the home installed security cameras that transmitted images to his mobile phone after becoming puzzled by food disappearing from his kitchen over the past several months. - Chicago Tribune

WTF?!

Giving To The Homeless

They began lining up in front of the synagogue well before sunrise.

The homeless, elderly and poor of the Pico-Robertson district -- 100 of them -- held up white registration cards as they shuffled through the doors of B'nai David-Judea.

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, a man of 44 more prone to blue jeans than black suits, greeted each by name. One by one, he handed out $15 Ralphs gift cards to everyone except four newcomers who hadn't registered.

They swarmed him outside the synagogue after he finished with the others.

"Sir, I would like a gift card," said a man in a hooded sweat shirt.

"I'm sorry," Kanefsky answered.

"Sir, why can't you go back in there and get me a gift card?"

Kanefsky stood firm. "I can't do that," he said softly.

Like Jewish leaders elsewhere, this Modern Orthodox rabbi has long exhorted his congregants to give tzedakah, or charity.

Providing for the poor, he says, is not only a mitzvah -- a good deed -- but a holy act and a religious obligation. The message frames the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur, when worshipers are reminded that charity is among the deeds that can avert an evil decree in the year to come. - LA Times

Simply acknowledging homeless people as human beings is a great first step for the many people who don't treat hobos with respect.

Protesters storm Bear Stearns HQ

NEW YORK—About 60 protesters opposed to the U.S. Federal Reserve's help in bailing out Bear Stearns entered the lobby of the investment bank's Manhattan headquarters Wednesday, demanding assistance for struggling homeowners.

It's those struggling homeowners who could use the help.

The agreement has raised concerns that the U.S. government is prepared to help rescue a failing Wall Street bank while declining to bail out millions of home owners facing the possibility of foreclosure.

Wakefield man to head vet's housing committee

BOSTON - Tom Lyons, MassHousing’s Manager of Community Services, has been selected by Lt. Governor Timothy Murray to chair a committee on veterans housing.

Congratulations to Wakefield's own Tom Lyons! Hopefully we can get those vets off the streets and into the homes they deserve.

FreeRice: Build Your Vocabulary Whilst Giving

FreeRice is a not for profit organization whose mission is to feed the hungry. How?

FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

In other words, the more words you get correct, the more you feed the hungry. It is a pretty fun game and is especially helpful in preparing students for standardized tests like the SAT.

FreeRice.com

Think This: November 15th, 2007

Don't just "Think This"..."Do This"

The Social Awareness and Responsibility Club is sponsoring an event during this Thanksgiving season to call attention to those who do not have enough to eat. The Fasting for World Hunger for Ox Fam America will be on Friday November 16th. Participating students will give up their lunch for a day and donate the equivalent of their lunch fee for the cause of those who may go hungry daily. Anyone signing up can go to the Library during heir lunch where water will be supplied. Signups will begin next week in the cafeteria and donations to Ox Fam can be made in cash or a check.

OxFam is a pretty legitimate organization; I like their platform.