A True, Truly Haunting Halloween Report: U.S. 2009 News Potpourri

When placed side by side, Halloween news reports take on a nightmarish quality. Some say that Halloween time is the season when the veil between the “worlds” [this world and the world hereafter] is thin. If we use this season as an opportunity to step back and regard our world from a different perspective, perhaps the subsequent haunting feeling that we experience merits our attention.

~Billie Greenwood

A True, Truly Haunting Halloween Report: U.S. 2009 News Potpourri

One of the spookiest parts of Halloween this year may be the amount people plan to spend on their celebrations. Retailers expect consumers to spend an average of $56.31 on Halloween. That’s down from $66.54 last year, according to a National Retail Federation 2009 Halloween survey. Total spending on the holiday is expected to reach $4.75 billion.

Nearly one in three (29.6%) consumers say the state of the U.S. economy will affect their Halloween spending plans. The largest majority (88.0%) of those who say they’ll change their spending plan to spend less.

Meanwhile, in other news:

Across the developing world, suffering and struggling for survival is a fact of life for poor people. Each day almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That’s one child dead every five seconds. And even those children who survive can be permanently affected by childhood malnutrition.

And this from the National Confectioners Association:

Back in the United States, nearly one?in?five adults say that a Halloween celebration without candy would be the spookiest thing of all this October! Savoring the classics, chocolate treats and traditional sweets will dominate trick-or-treaters’ selections.

Finally, from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

Tooth decay affects children in the United States more than any other chronic infectious disease, topping asthma and hay fever. More than half of children aged 5-9 have had at least one cavity or filling.

SOURCES:

As Economy Impacts Halloween, Americans Get Creative; Press Release: National Retail Federation 9/29/2009. No copyright restrictions.

World Food Day: Much Done, More To Do; Press Release: Church World Service. 10/15/2009. No copyright restrictions.

Americans Playing Tricks with Treats This Halloween; Press Release: National Confectioners Association. 10/8/2009. No copyright restrictions.

Fact Sheet: Children’s Oral Health; Historical Document: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated, 10/4/2004.

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not surprising

military recruits children- with video games

“When players walk into Army sponsored tournaments, the government knows more about them then they may suppose. The game records players’ data and statistics in a massive database called Andromeda, which records every move a player makes and links the information to their screen name. With this information tracking system, gameplay serves as a military aptitude tester, tracking overall kills, kills per hour, a player’s virtual career path, and other statistics. According to Colonel Wardynski, players who play for a long time and do extremely well may “just get an e-mail seeing if [they'd] like any additional information on the Army.”

first middle schools- now this.

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8 CHILDREN A DAY

Choosey Mutha’s choose….PEACE

Eight children a day are killed by guns in our country — for a total of almost 3,000 a year — and another 13,000 a year are wounded. Nearly 1.7 million children under the age of 18 live in homes with firearms that are both loaded and unlocked.

The Million Mom March will be focusing on this topic on Mother’s Day.

8 CHILDREN KILLED A DAY ~ NO WAY!

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It’s more important now: The world we want for our child

Donatra and PraetorOne had a lovely baby boy this winter. They have named him after BibleBelted, their dearest friend who is also currently undergoing Chemo for inoperable cancer. Love and hugs to all four of them~Dusty

By Donatra and PraetorOne

Having a baby can change one’s perspectives in ways that one never would have suspected. Throughout the summer, fall, and winter we knew that we did not want our child to be raised in the Republican cuckoo land that has become the United States, and now that our child, a healthy baby boy named Jeffrey Michael, has arrived in the world we are more determined than ever to turn this country around while there is still a country left to actually turn around. I don’t know if any of you out there are new or expecting parents, but as far as my husband, PraetorOne, and I are concerned we are even more dedicated to changing this country than we were during the run up to January 13th, the day that our first child was born.

So what do we want? That is a loaded question.

First and foremost we want to see an end to the war in Iraq–as quickly as possible. Thanks to George W. Bush we are now stuck in this quagmire and if John McCain has a say in the matter we’ll be there for at least another decade or two with even more American involvement. That is not a thrilling prospect. I suspect that on some level, McCain, who is well known for his occasional outbursts of temper, is STILL bitter about the time he spent as a POW during the Vietnam War; and far from making him more sympathetic to the horrors of war, I suspect that he believes on some level that since HE had to suffer that OTHER young men and women might as well suffer too. In other words, we need a Democrat in the Whitehouse who will do more than issue half-baked platitudes about how much he or she supports the troops. We need a Democrat in office who will support the troops so much that he or she is willing to stop the open bleeding and bring them home right now.

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A TALE OF TWO BOYS

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….

In the month of February in the year 1988 two boy children were born in this, our great city. One white, born with great physical limitations, condemned to a life of seemingly endless pain and sorrow. The second black, also born with what some consider a limitation but many more possibilities than the first boy. They both attended local schools, becoming part and parcel of this community.

The first was lucky enough to be born into a devoted family, extended family with many friends. He never lacked for love, care or such opportunities that his life afforded. He passed away in 2004 loved, quietly with dignity, after bringing laughter, joy, insight and tolerance into all the lives he touched.

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