S: Is for scary times

My friend Elizabeth just called me to tell me of something she just heard on TV. A homeless man was sleeping on the steps of a church on East 103 street and three people set him on fire while he slept. Many homeless people sleep outside the Army Recruiting Center and the church along 103rd St. It has become a haven to those in need, in a city that provides far less than what is called for. Gary Williams can't believe what's happened in his own neighborhood. Williams used to see the victim every morning on his way to work. "He doesn't bother anybody he just sleeps in the corner." The victim was taken to Cornell Medical Center where he has second and third degree burns on over 75-percent of his body. Witnesses saw three people running from the scene. They are said to be children. According to Mary Brosnahan, the executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, there has been a 65-percent rise in attacks on the homeless in the last year alone.

Last year a elderly women was beaten to death for $3. Gay bashing is on the rise. People trying to get help, are manhandled by the police and die. Children are being abused and though they make the news, what really is being done about it? Sure we all ohhh and ahhhh about it but what are we doing? Are we speaking out? Are we changing laws? Are we making waves? No!

I've actually been speaking about this for awhile. I use my life as an example because when things happen to me I can see the effects it will have on others. I've done two now three columns on Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. This film exposes Halliburton and its subsidiary, KBR, CACI International and Blackwater Security Consulting. "Iraq for Sale” is about unspeakable greed and fraud, misery and betrayal, and brazen waste of public tax dollars for private enrichment. It details the depth of control corporate war profiteers exert over our elected representatives and the danger these alliances have created for soldiers and innocent civilians. Grassroots financed “Iraq for Sale” was funded entirely outside corporate America. More than 3,000 people donated $367,892 to help Greenwald and Brave New Films produce and distribute this documentary. Finally people speaking are up.

It is a F.A.C.T. that we live in traumatic times, where the actions of the Government trickle down to it's people because the examples are few. It is a F.A.C.T. that for now, Freedom of Speech is still a right. It is a F.A.C.T. that actions speak louder than words. It is our right to search out the F.A.C.T.S. and make our own decisions. At the rate that our rights are being taken away and the multitudes seek to deceive now we be a good time to exercise your rights and that is a F.A.C.T.