Events Calendar
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Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Complaints against officer keep coming
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Citizens United v. F.E.C. (Part 4): Kennedy's and O'Connor's Basic Approaches to Constitutional Decisionmaking – Top Down and Bottom Up
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
Track HR Research
Akron Gamer:
'Tecmo Bowl' recreation of Super Bowl XLIV
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Published on Thursday, Sep 04, 2008
End the war, invest at home
Congress should redirect the $720 million a day, or $500,000 a minute, it spends on the Iraq war to programs that reduce poverty here at home. About 37.3 million people — one in eight — in the United States are officially poor, according to new Census Bureau data. The poverty rate for Akron is 23.6 percent.
More than 45 million had no health insurance for all or part of the year.
The annual Census Bureau report represents poverty statistics for 2007. The U.S. economy has shed 450,000 jobs since January, so today's picture is likely to be worse.
One day of the Iraq war, according to figures compiled by the American Friends Service Committee, could provide more than 6,400 families with homes. More than 160,000 people could receive health insurance for an entire year.
These figures are based on an analysis done by Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. For more information, go to www.afsc.org/cost.
We can reduce poverty right now by reordering our federal budget priorities. A sane and humane federal budget is achievable by pressuring Congress and the president to immediately end the Iraq war and occupation, shut down all U.S. bases, bring the troops home, cut other military spending and shift funds to reduce poverty, create jobs, repair our infrastructure and address other threats to our economic and social security.
Greg Coleridge
Director
Economic Justice & Empowerment Program
Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee
Cuyahoga Falls
Too much about death
on the television news
The TV news media's obsession with death is beyond me. The reports about the Twinsburg police officer and, most recently, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones are the most recent examples.
Morning, noon and night, we are subjected to the unpleasant reminder of someone's demise. Certainly, it is a sad and tragic event, particularly for the families and relatives.
However, why visit this morbid event upon all the TV viewers for days on end or an entire week and more? It is constant repetition, with the same video clips.
Enough already. Get off it and get on with something else. The viewing public would be better served with other stories, and the TV media would gain more respect, which it sorely needs.
Dimitri Luksza
Stow
Kids are not fair game
It makes me angry that everyone is talking about Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter. There are many thousands of pregnant teens in this country.
Why not talk about Sarah Palin's oldest son, who is scheduled for deployment to Iraq in the coming months? This is so much more noteworthy. God bless him and all of our troops. Maybe his mother can help bring the troops home soon.
Fran Miller
Wadsworth
Camping joy relived
Mark Price's story ''Scouts honor'' on Aug. 25 brought back a delightful memory of my childhood in Akron.
I was 10 years old when the Akron Juvenile Center sponsored a 10-day retreat for youngsters to enjoy the day camp Manatoc.
We were picked up in an open, wooden-seated truck early in the morning and returned in late afternoon. What a thrill it was for me and my companions.
I remember well the pitchers of milk and the wonderful food in the dining hall. I believe the year was 1925. We had a sleepover with a camp fire and song-fests under the stars. For a child of the Depression, this was sheer magic.
Mildred Neiman Kovach
Akron
End the war, invest at home
Get the full article here.
I was raised in a coal mining town in West Virginia
where my father worked 40 years in the mines. I was
fortunate to complete Master and Doctoral degress,
teach at several major universities, and serve as
School Psychologist for public schools in West
Virginia. I love West Virginia but tonight is the
first time in my life I was ashamed of West Virginia for voting for Sen. McCain. Down deep
inside I search for the reason. The answer that
keeps raising it's ugly head is that many people
in West Virginia didn't vote for Sen. Obama is
because he is black. Tonight, I am proud of Ohio
for voting for Sen. Obama.
To: Teachers, educators, school board members.
I urge you to please consider carefully how your school will handle the upcoming web-address directed at the students. This is a president who has created a lot of debate, both positive and negative, and polarized many individuals.
Presenting this address may not only further enhance the polarization of his views and policies, but bring young children into the arguments at home. This may possibly even lead to an unhealthy, potentially harmful environment for these kids.
It is one thing to present this web-cast to high school students who are developing a broader view of the world. Use it to not only show how presidents interact with the public in the modern age, but as a topic for civics and history. However, presenting this to young k-3/4th grade, should be considered with caution.
I RESPECFULLY SUGGEST DELAYING THIS WEB-CAST, SHOW IT TO SCHOOL STAFF, BOARD MEMBERS, EVEN A PTA/PTO'S AND GET COMMUNITY INPUT AS TO THE VALUE OF THIS BROADCAST FOR THE CLASSROOM BEFORE PRESENTING IT TO THE STUDENTS.
