I suppose I shouldn’t say this, but I think Luckovich much too kind. I wouldn’t blame starving people anywhere if they’ve ever contemplated dining on fat people, at least any and all fat descendents of ex- or current colonialists, living off the fat not only of their own lands but also African, Asian and South American lands as well (beef raised in Brazil, etc.). Leaving aside for the moment facts of farm subsidies, price floors. Otherwise known as: When a surplus happens, just burn it. Ain’t capitalism great? When the mythical free market fails, as it always does, governments step in to make up for the failure, invariably on behalf of businesses big or small, while all continue to pretend that free markets really do work, notwithstanding brute fact of starvation around the world. When the brute fact of starvation IS recognized, it’s deemed by mainstream econometricians to be due to a “market aberration.” Uh, huh. Much too theoretical for me.

I’m sure starving people don’t think of eating “fat friends,” but did they, I’d be hard put to object--at any level, intellectual or moral--much less feeling good indulging in well-fed luxury of moral outrage at the very thought. Thinking now of Abraham Maslow’s #1: which is FIRST essential prior to even the possibility of treating mental disease; namely, supplying of/by societies materials essential to life at all. (Interesting how most psychologists/psychiatrists practice in denial of the brute facts of material existence.)

Excellent work, Mike, as usual,

“FEED THE PEOPLE. ORGANIZE THEM.”

Speaking of wasted subsidized grain and more, Margaret:

A former farming boss would plant wheat, strain to grow it to federal required height, be paid by the government tens of thousands USDs not to grow it, plow it under then plant alfalfa like he always intended. And yes, having federal insider ‘buddies’ helped.

So far the past year, two bipolar friends were made manic by misprescribing doctors (docs didn’t even read the med insert), my dog’s been poisoned by OTC dog food, and my aging mother aged another five years by botulism-filled chili.

So much for globalization. And it’s making communist China rich! What moron calls this progress? Wouldn’t be surprised if K-Street and Gdubya weren’t already sending US-made chili to starving Africa.

This is just another example of the media scraping the bottom of the barrel for something to report.  Frankly, I’m really sick of all of this non-science being fed to the media and then reported by them as gospel.  Much of the time, it is deliberately planted by factions of the food industry to either scare you off from buying a certain food, or to make you believe that their product will make you healthier or even cure you of your maladies.  Then, when another food comes along that they want to push, it will be touted as the latest findings by nutritionists and doctors.  Even doctors buy into this rubbish.  Just keep an eye on the food trends.  I have lived long enough to have seen eggs, all fats, coffee, and even vitamins, just to name a few products, that have alternately been good for you this year and poison to you the next.  For a few years starch was good--then bad, then meat was bad--now good, vitamins were useless (according to the medical profession) now they are necessary.  This may seem like a digression from the point made by the cartoon, but it works just the same way; it is junk science.  I realize that the point being made is the idea that our friends make us fat, as reported last week in the news, is just stupid.  I have been fat and I have been slim and my friends had nothing to do with it.  I really don’t think that in this time of skinny worship, that anyone looks at their friend and thinks “wow, if she can be fat, I guess it will be just great to be fat, too.  I don’t know who did this study, but they could use the time and money to look for a cure (if that is possible) rather than accepting grants to study trends.  What a waste of an education and government funds.

In this country old bread is not sold at a lower price, it is just taken to senior centers where most of it will go stale and end up in the garbage, and people elswhere go hungry, I mean maybe not as much grain needs to be raised if too much bread is made by stores, and rather than sell it at a lower price give it away, I bet they probably get a tax break for doing this, in the mean time farmers who are no longer living get money given to them, I bet no one asks them if they really need it like the welware agency does to poor people, it seems the better you talk the more money is thrown your way.