A regular, non-comprehensive roundup of current news links on hunger and poverty issues from around the Web.
“‘Troubling’ report finds growing number of US children living in poverty,” by Alan Yuhas, The Guardian. “A growing number of US children are living amid poverty and stark racial inequities in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, a new report has found, suggesting the economic recovery has not helped families return to their pre-recession security.”
“Jeb Bush Stiffs Christian Group on Poverty Video,” by Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones. “More than 100 Christian leaders from the right and the left working under the umbrella group Circle of Protection recently asked all of the presidential candidates to make a three-minute video answering this question: “What would you do as president to offer help and opportunity to hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world?” Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and Carly Fiorina each responded with videos specifically produced for this project that to varying degrees answer the question. Jeb Bush replied by sending the group a stock campaign ad.”
“Suzanne Bonamici pushes to feed hungry kid,” by David Sarasohn, OregonLive.com. “Wearing their green smocks for finger-painting, the eight toddlers sat around the table, like a committee called to order. To Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, the scene must have looked at least a little familiar.”
“Poverty May Hinder Kids’ Brain Development, Study Says,” by Dennis Thompson, U.S. News & World Report. “Poverty appears to affect the brain development of children, hampering the growth of gray matter and impairing their academic performance, researchers report.”
“Pope Francis Reminds the World To Care About Poverty,” by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Time. “Jesus was born into poverty, he lived with people who were poor, and he was poor when he died. Sometimes it seems that the church has forgotten that.”
“America needs a justice system worthy of the name,” by Leonard Pitts Jr., The Baltimore Sun. “The United States does not have a justice system. If we define a justice system as a system designed for the production of justice, then it seems obvious that term cannot reasonably be applied to a system that countenances the mass incarceration by race and class of hundreds of thousands of nonviolent offenders. Any system that vacuums in one out of every three African-American males while letting a banker who launders money for terrorist-connected organizations, Mexican drug cartels and Russian mobsters off with a fine is not a justice system.”
