Information Station...

Here is some information from TV and Internet reports, as well as some comments...

• In a previous blog, I had mentioned that Americans need more news and information on subjects that really matter, rather than about celebrities and scandals. Add one more name to my list of those mentions that we don't need to hear about: Chelsea Clinton (and her $2 million wedding).
• Excluding the cost of college, the cost of raising a child for an average middle-class family is $11,000 to $13,000 per year. (CNN)
• The Pentagon can't account for 95 percent of the $9 billion for Iraq reconstruction money. (CBS).
• The War in Afghanistan costs America $5.5 billion per month. (CNN)
• The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved $37 billion for continued Afghanistan War funding. (PBS) (Wow, you add a billion here and a billion there for the war machine, and then does any politician wonder why there's a large budget deficit?)
• British Petroleum (BP), the oil spiller in the Gulf of Mexico, could qualify for a $9 billion tax cut. (CBS)
• Pakistan receives $1 billion per year in foreign aid from the United States. (MSNBC)
• Facebook has more than 500 million users. Facebook also has been recently criticized for its blocking of certain words, such as "Palestinian." (I have also noticed that if you place something light and trivia on the site, it is added pretty immediately to the news feed for others to read. If you place something political or the least bit controversial, the gatekeeping blockers kick into gear. A positive comment I made about the Americans With Disabilities Act, which is celebrating its 20th year, took more than 24 hours before Facebook posted it. It is to say that Facebook definitely is a SOCIAL networking site, with preference of talk about picnics over talk about politics.)
• The more you sit, the shorter your life span, according to a study, which also noted that the effect is worse, percentage-wise, for women than men. (MSN on the Internet)
• The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are soon to expire. (What are the odds that the Democrats will cave and join the Republicans on keeping the tax cuts for the rich in place?)
• Last winter was the worst in the United States since 1979. This year so far is considered the hottest ever recorded for America. (CNN)

Quote: "My husband worked all his life to feed his family. He died hungry." -- Written on a paper plate at a soup kitchen in Ohio, July 2010. (CNN)