There were children killed in war today.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Iraqi, Lebanese, Israeli, American and from lands we never speak of here at DU (there are many below our radar?).

Small children, large children. All were someone's son or daughter. Just as Jonbenet Ramsey was. No less important.

Yesterday, I held the hand of a young mother as she pushed out her first child, Eli for short. I held that baby and cried as they vacuumed out his mouth and nostrils with a small blue rubber bulb...

And today I return to the "real" world and see the fuss over a child murdered heinously over ten years ago with little or no attention to the two dead American sons in Iraq or the children who have died in the middle east. I have read that over 4500 children have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since America has made her presence known there. We can now say that we have lost thousands of our own sons and daughters since we declared "war" on an idea rather than a country.

We have been led to these terrible truths by lies and deceit.

It's time we up it a notch now...

In the hopes that my grandson that was born yesterday does not have to face the same fate as those who have gone before him.

[Iwasthere]

1. Well said

Yes it is time. Get out your sign making materials everybody. I am getting out the paint and plan to freeway blog like a madman. IMPEACH IMPEACH IMPEACH (EM BOTH).

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

3. You go! ANd good luck... We need more organization and coverage.

The Bush Administration is a master at spin and it won't be easy but we need to start before the elections.

[The Straight Story]

2. It is about relations and expectations

People here relate to some things and not others. We expect kids to be killed in wars, iraq, israel, poor areas of the US where crime is higher, etc.

The talking heads on the news do not expect that wealthy people secure in their dream houses and jobs will have such issues.

Sad, but the only explaination I can come up with.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. Many can't think beyond their back yards... It's okay to kill if you

See them?

[The Straight Story]

7. I think people just don't care when it is outside of their

world. US is their world. Kids die, are kidnapped, starving every day all over the world.

Hell, we here at DU seem to only focus on the ones that help us demonize bush some might say while not showing pics of kids in iran, cuba, china, etc and so on.

The news would be 24x7 about kids dying if tried to cover it all....

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

8. And maybe then, more would care?

The American Sheeple are herded very carefully and seem to like their masters...

Even though the mutton house awaits.

[The Straight Story]

9. Well, not sure I can agree with that fully

Watching TV at night you see commercials for kids dying all over the world starving and folks pleading for financial help (christian org I cannot remember the name of I have seen many commercials from).

People ARE aware of the problems, they just don't see it as hitting home usually. The most they can do is send money, but they prefer (sadly) to gossip more about things relating to this country (as this is where they live and see it as being more relevant).

Sides try to manipulate people using kids (iraq/kuwait incubators, etc and so on) to get backing for their actions because kids are a sore point.

Which brings us to a problem. If we tell people they, as americans, are the reason these kids are dying and suffering they want to ignore it and not believe it. Blame someone for the problems of kids across the world and they kick in the defense mechanism (again, go back to the commercials I refer to, like adopt a kid, they don't blame, they present an issue and a solution and ask for help in implementing that solution - guilt free,unless you don't help....).

News like Jon Benet don't bring up guilt, but fascination. A mystery, no guilt, rich people getting theirs (ie, just cause you are rich does not mean you can escape the violence in US - and if you think it is so bad, why aren't you helping all the other folks here, etc), etc.

If we want to help kids the world over I would say the best method is to do so without always involving the government and working on private solutions where we can raise money and get out the messsage.

A church I went to as a teen had missionaries in third world countries and regularly raised money to help the villages they were in - and people helped a lot. Food, education, potable water, and so on. They got things done faster than the govt did (not saying we should not use the govt to help them, we should!)

This brings me to spreading the gospel: Folks do this well without a lot of dollars (ie, door to door ministries type of thing). We can help kids all over by empowering ourselves and saying screw the news stations who don't think it is worthy of their time (and even then, when they give it time - they don't tell how people can help. Folks need to see a problem defined and a solution given with how they can contribute to that solution).

[cornermouse]

11. I'm sorry, but there is a place for government to do things

One of those places is saving lives.

Your reference to churches saving the world from hunger, thirst, illiteracy. Certainly there is a place for them as well. But to state that churches do it better? Based on what evidence that you actually saw and verified or is it just what you were told?

Faith based charity, which seems to be where you're headed, was, is, and always will be a stupid idea.

[The Straight Story]

12. Red Tape

Not saying the govt can't do better - but has it???

My point was not that faith based folks can do better, but that we as a group and people can. We can raise money to keep this board going, and for issues that different people/groups here need - but have we come together to raise funds to help kids all over the world? If not - well we can.

I used churches as an example, there is no reason other private groups cannot do the same. If they don't, they should.

The govt is a group of people who pool their money for issues - there is no reason other groups cannot do the same. If the govt is failing we can try to change that, but in the meantime we can work as individuals to make needed changes.

[cornermouse]

13. Good.

When do you start your own Democratic Party Rent and Untility Assistance or Democratic Foreign Aid organization?

My suggestion would be that you start here in the U.S. though before moving across any oceans. The lines of people compelled to go to Food Assistance organizations on the weekends has been growing. Gas is incredibly expensive. The electric company notified me and everyone else they "serve" that they're giving themselves a 10% raise. ...Without so much as a thank you... ...I wish I was getting a 10% raise... Anyway, my point is that I think more people are going to fall behind this winter than ever have before.

[The Straight Story]

15. And where will the help come from, as opposed to where it should?

There are HEAP and other programs (iirc) govt funded. And while those did help me in my times of need in the past, I also got a lot of help from church food pantries and the salvation army.

Which makes me wonder - what other groups other then churches are out there offering help (not blasting anyone, just wondering actually)? I volunteered for the salvation army to help pay back the help they gave me over time (I helped teach troubled kids for awhile in Mt Vernon. Was not required, I requested it as I was off work with an injury but I could watch kids with other adults and help them stay off the streets).

If we sit around waiting on the govt to do the right thing, people will suffer for years while waiting. We need to act as individuals and groups to fix local problems (and if we wish, foreign ones).

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. As individuals AND as a group...

We all need to do what needs to be done, otherwise, it's okay to just "feed a child for a year for only $20.00"

[cornermouse]

5. 1200 dead Iraqis in Iraq last month, 100 bodies brought in today

according to NPR. A legacy of death, guilt, and shame.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. And there's never a story about them...

Bushco needs to keep them non-human.

[The Magistrate]

10. It Is A Hell Of A World Sometimes, Mr. Joad

"The Devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people any meaner."

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. Thanks. Magistrate,

Although I am sure you have heard this before, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

[sandnsea]

17. I disagree with your line of thinking

I have posted on kids from other lands on numerous occasions. In fact, I pretty much quit blogging because nobody really cares about anything except the mud-slinging of the day. If you don't figure out how to launch a blog war or participate in some other vitriolic exchange, nobody reads you, nobody cares. We shouldn't have to choose whether to care more about a sexually assaulted murdered child in this country than one killed by war or another killed by starvation. They're equally heinous and equally deserving of our attention.