Here's compassionate conservatism for you: President Bush is threatening to veto legislation that would renew a program that assists with providing health coverage for poor children. His veto is based on "philosophical" grounds, in spite of bi-partisan support in the Congress. The Great Divider rationalizes that the continuation of the program is "really beginning to open up an avenue for people to switch from private insurance to the government." Earth to Bush: The program is for families who do not have private insurance and are too poor to afford one. Again, slowly: Poor. Children. If you're so "pro-life", Mr. President, how about helping kids who are already born to stay alive before worrying about the "unborn".

"To fight fleas and ticks, he has used a folk remedy. A tobacco chewer, he saves the juice and sprays it on the lawn."

Sometimes creativity and home remedies are the only things that allow people living in rural areas without free spay clinics to help an ever increasing population of stray or abandoned animals.

Link...

"Tina Churchwell, head of the humane society in McNairy County, where Finger and Selmer are situated, calls 12 dogs her own and has set up a makeshift shelter at her home, kennels holding 22 other dogs she hopes might be adopted. The society is searching for money to build a proper shelter on land the county has offered, but community support is lacking, Ms. Churchwell said."

The Humane Society does what it can, but too few vets and a population that can't afford to pay for their services is creating a potentially serious health situation. Tammy Rouse, the Applachian coordinator for volunteer service has her hands full.

“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gushing artery,” she said. “Spay-neuter has to go hand in hand with education and legislation.”

It sounds like the only thing that could turn this situation around would be to have a team of vets and volunteer assistants form a group similar to "Doctors Without Borders". There probably aren't enough of these here in Tennessee, so it would have to be an effort that would attract vets and vet students from all over the country. A kind of tent meeting of professionals that could set up for a week or two. There is a long history of tent revivals here. Why not use this old fashioned idea to save the souls and lives of all the unwanted dogs and cats in areas that are too far from vet services or owned by people too poor to afford them? This would of course take a combination of county, state, and federal monies.

Fat chance of that.

We've gone over this territory before, and some people will say there should be laws to stop poor people from having animals, but that is about as logical as expecting poor people to not have babies. Education is always the best answer of course, but in the meantime the crisis is growing.

It's really sad to know that local problems that only affect a few rural people can't be resolved because most of our state and federal money is going to large causes like homeland security. We are slowly becoming a bankrupt nation. Little is being done to improve employment in rural areas.

Domesticated animals are low on our priority list in spite of the fact that dogs and cats have been our loyal best friends for generations. In cases like this one it will take more than local resources to get the situation under control.

Fat chance of that.

A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 50% of advertising on television shows for children under 12 is for food.

According to the report:

The study found that tweens ages 8-12 see the most food ads on TV, an average of 21 ads a day, or more than 7,600 a year. Teenagers see slightly fewer ads, at 17 a day, for a total of more than 6,000 a year. For a variety of reasons -- because they watch less TV overall, and more of their viewing is on networks that have limited or no advertising, such as PBS and Disney -- children ages 2-7 see the least number of food ads, at 12 food ads a day, or 4,400 a year.

And as you might expect, the advertising is mostly for not-so-healthy foods -- 34% of TV ads aimed at children are for candy or snacks. Only 15% of the ads depict an active lifestyle. Not one of the nearly 9,000 ads reviewed was for fruits or vegetables.

In contrast, the report says that teens see only 47 public service ads per year promoting fitness or nutrition.

Read more after the jump...

Don't let the GOP rain on our parade.

Read more after the jump...

James McMurtry:There’s a Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on his wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing and both hands free
No one’s paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget’s just stretched so thin
And now there’s more coming back from the Mideast war
We can’t make it here anymore   [...]

The bar’s still open but man it’s slow
The tip jar’s light and the register’s low
The bartender don’t have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day
Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won’t pay for a roof, won’t pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far $5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one your stores
Bet you can’t make it here anymore  [...]

Now I’m stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
‘ Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can’t make it here anymore...

That last part doesn't turn into "hate the foreigners," by the way. Peter Anderson video and James McMurtry lyrics via riggsveda.  Really good music, too. 

I think it ties in pretty well with Andy Axel's post on Monday about Bredesen's Wal-Mart job training initiative, and one of mine about Wal-Mart's Monday announcement that they're freezing the pay level for long term employees (Wal-Mart: No careers here).  No wonder Wal-Mart stays on top; they get the most help, and pay the worst.  An economic model for all to admire.

Maryland's "Fair Share Health Care" act, which had required employers with over 10,000 employees to pay at least 8% of payroll to health benefits or make up the difference to a state Medicaid account, has been overturned by a federal district judge.  The RISA v. Fielder ruling said the bill (known popularly as "the Wal-Mart bill") conflicts with the Employment Retirement Income Security Act, aka ERISA.  I've written a post (RILA v. Fielder strikes down Fair Share Health Care) at my blog with details.

I think it's worth bringing up here because Tennessee Medicaid rolls are similarly flooded with Wal-Mart employees, and this ruling blocks one way of dealing with that, unless the ruling is overturned -- and stays overturned.  I think it's a shame, because realistically, national mechanisms for improving low income health care are unlikely any time soon.  And of course this should bother all the committed federalists among us.

Look forward to any comments!

Even in retirement, the Reverend Joseph Lowery still tells it like it is.

The financial disparity between the rich and poor is an issue that must be addressed in a religious context, the Rev. Joseph Lowery said in a fervent keynote speech to the National Baptist Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress Monday night.

"Poverty is a religious issue," Lowery said in a speech marked by applause and a standing ovation.

It is the root of many evils in America, he said, and he charged the church with the mission of addressing that problem.

"The church must help America rediscover herself," Lowery said. "We must move from charity to love."

You may remember Dr. Reverend Lowery from his remarks at Coretta Scott King's funeral, but you may also recall that he has a long history with civil rights here in the American South. He helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma march. He co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. And he is still very much active in the cause of civil rights.

He is in Nashville for the National Baptist Sunday School & Baptist Training Union Congress as, simultaneously, the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention meets in Greensboro, NC to discuss "issues of mismanagement, waning church contributions, dips in baptism rates and the authority of leaders to set stricter guidelines on Baptist faith and practices."

It's a real study in contrasting priorities, isn't it? One looks outward to work towards solving the immediate needs of all, while the other struggles from within to address its own concerns.

I'm not a God-fearing man, but I have deep respect for the continued efforts of Dr. Lowery, and for people of all faiths who take his message (the central message of Jesus himself, no less) to heart.

Them New Orleans people are killers," she said. "We got some killers in H-Town, but they're like some serial killers. I don't ever want to go to their city. I hear they kill like 10, 15 people a night."

..

Like many of the post-Katrina urban myths swirling across Houston, her number is wildly off the mark. In 2004, perhaps the best comparison because the year was not interrupted by a major hurricane, there were 264 slaying in New Orleans.

..
The city's (Houston) annual number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters had been inching up since a low of 230 five years ago, reaching 275 killings in 2004.

..

They weren't armed, he said, and the group remained calm. But he called for backup nonetheless.

"You're not going to believe this. It was about 2 a.m., and they were out there cooking gumbo. Gumbo," he said, chuckling. "Having a gumbo party at 2 a.m. while people are trying to sleep."

What can I say? By choice I have never lived in a really large city (metropolitan area). I know life is different whether big city or small town, whether north or south or east or west. I have visited every large city in the US and have felt comfortable in each one. But, I also know that visiting a city and living in it is no real comparison.

Why can't we get along? Probably because when you put destitute people in with an already abundance of destitute people the going gets really bad. Maybe someday we will be able to better help those in need without waiting for a disaster to knock on our door.