or Powell's or me• • •
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
May 01, 2008
The United States And Food
William "Blurbed by bin Laden" Blum points this out:
American writer Henry Miller (1891-1980) once asserted that the role of the artist was to "inoculate the world with disillusionment". So just in case you -- for whatever weird reason -- cling to the belief/hope that the United States can be a positive force in ending or slowing down the new jump in world hunger, here are some disillusioning facts of life.On December 14, 1981 a resolution was proposed in the United Nations General Assembly which declared that "education, work, health care, proper nourishment, national development are human rights". Notice the "proper nourishment". The resolution was approved by a vote of 135-1. The United States cast the only "No" vote.
A year later, December 18, 1982, an identical resolution was proposed in the General Assembly. It was approved by a vote of 131-1. The United States cast the only "No" vote.
The following year, December 16, 1983, the resolution was again put forth, a common practice at the United Nations. This time it was approved by a vote of 132-1. There's no need to tell you who cast the sole "No" vote.
These votes took place under the Reagan administration.
Under the Clinton administration, in 1996, a United Nations-sponsored World Food Summit affirmed the "right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food". The United States took issue with this, insisting that it does not recognize a "right to food". Washington instead championed free trade as the key to ending the poverty at the root of hunger, and expressed fears that recognition of a "right to food" could lead to lawsuits from poor nations seeking aid and special trade provisions.
The situation of course did not improve under the administration of George W. Bush. In 2002, in Rome, world leaders at another U.N.-sponsored World Food Summit again approved a declaration that everyone had the right to "safe and nutritious food". The United States continued to oppose the clause, again fearing it would leave them open to future legal claims by famine-stricken countries.
Much more from Blum's Anti-Empire Report here.
I mostly agree about the US and food, but not completely. For more, see an article on food aid I wrote last year.
—Jonathan Schwarz
Posted at May 1, 2008 04:16 PMWhy is the rest of the world so stupid? Is it just their resentment of the US? That MUST be the answer.
Posted by: Seth at May 1, 2008 05:14 PMMy family picked a bad month to rent "Soylent Green," with its over-the-top vision of food riots and an overclass that will do anything to maintain privilege while 99% of the world doesn't even remember what actual food used to look like.
We could still get some comic relief from Charleton Heston's overacting, odd sets/costumes (a gritty cop with a poofy neckscarf?), and one of the worst trailers of all time. But recent news kind of takes the Mystery Science Theater 3000 fun out of watching a movie like that.
Posted by: Whistler Blue at May 1, 2008 06:34 PMTime for me to wave my little flag; There is a difference between Legal right and Absolute right. The word "right" is not a good choice in this kind of context (unless the intent is to bait the US). It is a distinction worth making (not one of those fake ones like who v whom); don't do it for me, do it for George Orwell. "Number one priority on the list of things we would work to see in the world"; is there a language that has a word for that?
Posted by: Monkay at May 1, 2008 08:23 PM
