best article title ever

you cannot tell me that the person writing this article did not mean for this to happen...

HNIC theme song meets The Colbert Report

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-colbert-report/full-episodes/june-10-2008/#clip59078

i laughed so hard when i saw this. watch the whole thing. it takes about 2 or 3 minutes before our national anthem is stolen from us.

Arrested for Feeding the Poor (by Alan Clapsaddle)

Unconscionable: adjective
1. not guided by conscience; unscrupulous.
2. not in accordance with what is just or reasonable: unconscionable behavior.
3. excessive; extortionate: an unconscionable profit.

I have had some "unconscionable" things on my mind a lot lately as I have been working with the 20-somethings who make up Orlando Food Not Bombs and University of Central Florida’s Rock For Hunger. All three of these definitions of the word apply to the actions of the city of Orlando, in enacting an ordinance to try and stop these groups from sharing food with the poor and homeless in downtown Orlando.

Orlando Food Not Bombs (FNB) has been sharing food with the poor and homeless in Lake Eola Park since the summer of 2004. Some local business owners and residents, who were upset with seeing the poor fed in the park, complained to city government leaders. The mayor and city council reacted by passing an ordinance specifically designed to stop FNB from sharing food. The ordinance limits a group that is going to feed 25 or more people to no more than two such feedings in a park per year, and requires that a permit be obtained.

When the ordinance was first passed, the groups moved to the sidewalk and streets a block or so away from the park, but after continued city harassment moved back to the park. FNB, acting with churches and groups such as Code Pink and the ACLU, began sharing food in a manner that strictly complied with the ordinance. Each group would serve no more than 24 people, had a table clearly labeled with its name, and the dishes (which are collected and washed) were counted to make sure there were no more than 24.

Despite all of this, on April 4, 2007, at the conclusion of an Orlando police undercover investigation that, according to the Orlando Weekly, cost taxpayers $65,000, FNB member Eric Montanez was arrested. His alleged crime: feeding more than 24 people. His weapon: a ladle.

The result was twofold. One: A jury who understood the concept of "unconscionability” found Eric “not guilty.” Two: The arrest scared away groups and people who were participating, especially some of the church groups, who were afraid of being labeled "law-breakers."

Yes, it is unconscionable to let people go hungry, in a city of plenty in a nation of plenty. It is a higher magnitude of unconscionability to persecute those who feel called to serve the poor and subject them to arrest and prosecution.

A month later, six more FNB members were arrested for violating another city ordinance, “disturbing … (the) repose of any individual ....” The specifics of their offense: protesting the anti-feeding ordinance outside a restaurant venue where the mayor was holding a campaign fundraiser. Again, even in a country with a president who confines dissenters to fenced-in “free-speech zones” out of the line of sight of where he is appearing, last month an Orlando jury who understood the concept of “unconscionability” found them all “not guilty.”

Orlando Food Not Bombs and Vagabond Church of God have filed suit in federal court in Orlando to overturn this unconscionable ordinance. This matter has been working its way through the courts for more than a year and has survived all of the city's legal challenges to stop it. The federal court trial begins in Orlando this week. Let us pray for a court that understands “unconscionability.”

we only got 4 minutes to save the world

i'm trying something new as of a couple weeks ago.
i'm becoming a vegetarian. not a hardline vegetarian. not a vegan. i just want to consume less.

i had a revelation a few weeks ago. i realized that i was a consumer. not just a consumer. an over-consumer. a consumption monster if you will. i devour my food. without even thinking about it, really. and i have my entire life. i get a plate of food and enjoy it immensely. i'm not saying there is anything wrong with that. food is meant to be enjoyed. but i found myself on a more regular basis eating until i felt sick, and i was losing that enjoyment. i was losing my appreciation. because when you can eat as much as you want on any given day, you lose your sense of awareness about the world around you. maybe you think i'm being extreme. but when i would find myself staring at a plate of food, i found it difficult to think about those who had none. and i found it difficult to think about sharing my resources. all i found myself thinking about was how i could consume more. how can i get the most out of this food. maybe you don't analyze your food so much, but i do. when i go to eat, i get excited. especially with my meats. i loves my meats. ham, turkey, hotdogs, burgers, steak, chicken, turducken (a ridiculous new invention which has a duck stuffed inside of a turkey. i've never actually tried it and would be ashamed of myself if i ever spent 100 bux to buy such an elaborate waste of food. sorry, i'm not judging you if you have had it, just my thoughts on turducken), etc...anyway, i like to pound my food back like there is no tomorrow. it reminds me of the munchies when you are stoned. you will be having a blast and laughing for hours on end for no particular reason, but the second that food comes into play, there is dead silence. i found myself devoted to my food. not that i have experience with that...awkward pause. just kidding. you all know what a loser i used to be/still am. this is the main reason i am trying to be a vegetarian. i want to consume less. i want to appreciate what i have. i don't want to just mindlessly pound back the food until i can't think.

i say that i am not becoming a hardline vegetarian, because if i come to your home, and you offer me a steak, i won't turn you down. that would defeat the whole purpose. this isn't about meat. this is about mindless consumption and me trying to get a handle on my impulses. so if you see me eating meat with a friend, don't judge me. or go ahead and judge me, but i won't care. relationships are more important than eating habits, so i won't let it get in the way of friendships. but i must stop myself before i start gnawing off my own leg. seriously, it almost happened once on that fateful night in august 04'.