priorities out of whack?

The U.S. government estimates that each year, 50,000 people (mostly women and children) are trafficked through the United States for the purpose of sexual and physical slavery.

Last year Nike paid Tiger Woods the same amount to appear in its advertisements as it did 35,000 Vietnamese workers to make its shoes. Levis, Reebok, and Gap Inc. (owners of Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy) weren’t far behind.

Last week a fourteen year old black boy was murdered by guards in a sheriff’s boot camp in Tampa Florida. During the first autopsy, a sheriff’s coroner attempted to cover up the truth by suggesting that he had died from sickle cell disease. A second autopsy confirmed that he had definitely not.

Everyday, 30,000 children die from preventable illnesses and malnutrition.

While America falls further and further into dept over the war, its new budget cuts food stamp and Medicaid programs, housing assistance for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities, and cuts to community social service programs, while giving a 600 billion tax cut for anybody in American that makes over $1 million a year.

In schools with a high percentage of poor children, 53% of classes are taught by teachers who are not qualified to teach that particular class.

According to the American Lung Association, more than half of all Americans live in counties with unsafe levels of smog and particle pollution, which leads to many lung and respiratory illnesses.

Every hour, 150 children are abused in the United States alone.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a controversial bill—backed by the food industry and supported by several key lawmakers whose family members or close friends are food-industry lobbyists—which will wipe out more than 200 state laws that mandate local inspections and require safety labels on food products to warn consumers about everything from mercury in fish to pesticides in vegetables.

Right now your child, or a child you know, is being targeted by a sexual predator over the internet. Sites like myspace.com are being bombarded by sexual predators posing as teenagers in order to coax erotic and, sometimes, nude photos from teenage boys and girls.

“On Monday a conservative Christian activist group launched a campaign urging Christians to boycott Ford Motor Company for its role in ‘supporting gay rights groups, offering benefits to same-sex couples, and actively recruiting gay employees’.” cnn.com

Sigh. Are these people paying attention at all?