http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/490/trends-with-benefits
This is one of the best explanations about the US disability program I've heard, in a way that informs intelligently without the name calling, cheap shots, and general insane ignorant rantings that permeate the "news".
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/world/africa/chinua-achebe-nigerian-writer-dies-at-82.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Did you have to read Things Fall Apart back in high school? W and I read it a couple years ago. So sad, but it's one that stays in your mind forever. The book was written in the 50's, and I had no idea the author was still living, until I saw his recent obituary.
http://garysthirdpotteryblog.blogspot.com/
I found this man's pottery blog from another blog I dearly love. He lives in Ithaca, and sells his stuff on Etsy. He seems like the kind of guy you'd love to have for a neighbor.
I heard part of the disability story on NPR. I don't agree with the doctor signing them up because they are uneducated and have pain. You lose your job, go to the doctor with pain, and say you can't work. Did you have pain while you had the job? Reminds me of when Sharon lived in Farmington and the Indians were on welfare.
ReplyDeleteMark lived in Lagos as a young child and (later) admired Achebe's post-colonial writings. I was not aware of him.
Original pottery. I like it.
Cute
They suffered from immense poverty along with a huge problem with alcohol. Lack of jobs, water, you name it. If anyone needed assistance, it was them.
ReplyDeleteLindsey loved the week she spent there helping repair a church and meeting the families.
I don't agree with the doctor, either, but it seemed like he thought it was their only way to barely survive. There are cheaters in every group. Jobs for these type of people are nowhere to be found, and it seems like no one has a good solution. The rest of the show was about the number of states who proudly proclaim they've taken their citizens off the state welfare rolls. The fact is -they pay huge amounts of money to companies that get these people and switch them over to federal medicaid. It's not about caring, it's getting rid of "their" problem. That seems to be the attitude of all sides to so many problems nowadays. I love This American Life. Ira Glass is amazing.
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