Something In The Water

So my blog is no longer anonymous. In reality it never was. I'm sure anybody who read it certainly did so because I mentioned it to them. But now my name and face are attached. I ultimately don't know if that's an improvement, but Katelyn's forehead is a nice touch.

So there it goes. The debate surrounding the aftermath of Katrina is whether it's "holding those responsible accountable" or "finger pointing/the blame game." Not many words in the mainstream about it being evidence of a systemic problem. Not many people thinking it odd that the richest nation on earth would have so many poor people, or that this is how they are treated. There is this:
"To be poor in America was to be invisible, but not after this week, not after those images of the bedraggled masses at the Superdome, convention center and airport. No one can claim that the post-Reagan orthodoxy of low taxes and small government, which does wonders for the extremely rich, also inevitably does wonders for the extremely poor. What was that about a rising tide lifting all boats? What if you don't have a boat?"

- Eugene Robinson, columnist.
Washington Post via Sojomail.

The thing about being invisible though, if you're eventually seen, you're a novelty more than a person.

Sojomail also has an editorial in which Jim Wallis mentions the providence of this media coverage coinciding with the recent Census report on the 4th annual increase in the poverty rate. He doesn't seem very upset about the latter though. Who am I to say he's getting soft- I live in in Glendora. But there is no mention of the arbitrary nature of the poverty line. He doesn't mention that the poverty threshold is an unrealistic number set by politicians who have no interest in realistically representing the number of poor people in the US. It does not account for differences in health care costs. It doesn't reflect the needs of a family that might have two working adults contributing to the gross income of the household but creating unrepresented needs and expenses. And that whole issue of it being a measure of gross income doesn't account for the effect government policies will have on net income- like the cost of higher education increasing because of diminishing funding or the increase in rent or fuel costs because of housing and energy policies. (Ugh that's wonky). I am not bad mouthing Jim Wallis. It just seems that used to be the kind of thing that would get him going.

Cyndi is adjusting to teaching in public high school after five years of private. I don't want to say anything that might misrepresent how she really thinks about the situation, but she has mentioned some challenges. I'm adjusting to her not being here and being as busy as I've been. The paychecks should help us adjust though.

This afternoon's playlist:
Maria- Rage Against the MAchine
Train In Vain- The Clash
Good Morning Heartache- Billie Holiday
Church On Sunday- Greenday
No Ordinary Love-Sade
Kiss-Prince
Hang On To Yourself-David Bowie
Don't Change Your Plans-Ben Folds Five