Yesterday, we posted a day early for Blog Action Day 2008, asking Barack Obama to talk about the poor and poverty in America at the last Presidential Debate. We’ll find out tonight whether either candidate or the moderator thinks poverty is important enough to be a debate issue.
By the way, if you’re in Chicago, you can join Obama supporters who are holding a “Blog Action Day & Debate Watch Party” this evening.
update (October 15, 2008; 11:30 PM): Sigh. Not one word on the poor or poverty from Barack Obama in tonight’s debate — even when talking about the inadequacies of our education system.
Over ten thousand weblogs have pledged to participate today, focusing on Poverty. For example:
- At Exploring the Matrix, Prof. James F. McGrath at Butler Universityy looks at “Poverty and Biblical Economics” (he wonders how so many Christians can ignore all the emphasis in the Bible on social justice)
- Martin Stone writes about getting “Out of Poverty with Dignity” in the underdeveloped world.
- Skellie at the Skelliewag weblog offers “30 Simple Ways to Battle Poverty With Technology“; Train for Humanity (which uses the web, social media, and blogging in tandem with everyday athletes in training to support organizations allevating the strife caused by genocide, internal strife or war), focuses on “Putting the ACTION into Blog Action Day 2008“
- and Web Teacher instructs us on “What is a Social Business?“
- Sandy G at the Mouse Trap reprises a piece on Poverty and IQ;
For more weblogs participating in Blog Action Day 2008, go to:
- the Featured Posts selection at the Blog Action Day website
- the Blog Action Day 2008 page at Technorati
- Technorati’s Blog Action Day Videos results
- “Blog Action Day” search results from Google
afterwords: (October 16, 2008): One of our favorite blawgers, Anne Skove of court-o-rama, posted an insightful piece yesterday on Poverty and Addiction —
“Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty or How Low Can You Go?“. It features excerpts from an article in the Cincinnati alternative newspaper Street Vibes by poet-storyteller Michael Henson.
Speaking of reprises, check out our story about the death of “Frenchie” Hamilton, and the rising tide of attacks on the homeless (September 8, 2008) by juveniles in the USA.
THE UNMADE BED
bus station hobo—
four plastic seats
and a tabloid pillow
on each dawn-frosted bench—
a full sleeping bag
a young cop rousts
the trestle couple—
cooing pigeons
in my pupils—
the mattress
in the storefront window
snores from the dumpster
at Executive Suites
dreaming of Dickens
on an empty belly—
one more vagabond
– “The Unmade Bed,” a rengay by David Giacalone (#1) & CarrieAnn Thunell (#2), in Lynx XXII:3 (October 2007)
Finally, Issa knew that the poor are often the richest in spirit:
at his house
though he’s dirt-poor…
plum blossoms
the world today!
umbrella-hatted princes and paupers
blossom viewing
… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue
cool to see another blog action day post here. :)
again, for my part, i turn to sites like freerice, kiva, and goodsearch, as ways to help alleviate poverty online.
saw this post via the front page of blog action day. :)
Comment by kouji haiku — October 15, 2008 @ 9:05 am