Photo credit: New York Post

With P.T. Barnum’s adage in mind “There’s a sucker born every day,” it’s fairly sad that nobody had ever confronted P.T. for doing the sucking. Too often, we hear of non-profit organizations caught profiting – their controllers sucking away the funds that should be put forth to help fix what they were intended to fix.

We’ve heard of corruption running through such organizations as the Shiloh International Ministries, who spent over 96% of the money they raised on management and fundraising, when their donors thought they were giving their money to help veterans, needy children, and the homeless in California. In South Carolina, Big Hope was founded to raise money for orphans, sick children, and needy families, though it was found to have less than 9% of the $3.24 million they raised actually applied to the cause. Likewise, The Foundation for American Veterans, Inc. in West Bloomfield, Michigan also spent less than 9% of $4.1 million on promoting social and recreational welfare for current and past U.S. Armed Forces members, dependents, orphans, widows, and widowers. In the most recent case, suckers in New York were taken for a ride by the United Homeless Organization.

Notorious on the NYC streets for their water jugs resting on tables draped in red cloths, and with the collectors adorned in red aprons, the nonprofit organization worked for decades gathering funds as a charity for the homeless – or so a mass of suckers were led to believe. Actually, those who dropped their change into the giant plastic vessels were only giving money to the guy in the apron, who paid a $15-$25 flat-fee for the use of that apron, the tablecloth, and the water bottle owned by UHO.

Back in the UHO office, Stephen Riley and Myra Walker, the founder and director respectively, were using the collections for personal living and travel expenses, and Riley was alleged to have four company vehicles transferred to his name as well. A June 18th ruling by Judge Barbara R. Kapnick has left Riley and Walker banned from working within a non-profit framework again, and their organization has been shut down. All UHO assets have been frozen, and a future hearing will determine the amount of damages and restitution owed to the public by the defendants.

“The Court’s judgment will permanently prevent UHO, Riley and Walker from exploiting the trust and good will of New Yorkers and visitors to New York City,” said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who also added, “This organization’s bad behavior should not undermine the public’s willingness to donate to legitimate charities.”

What’s most troubling is not that the spare change given by the public has vanished, but that there were many who were counting on those funds for basic needs, as it’s always the people these charities are built for that are the most damaged by the corruption and greed practiced by the leaders. Though in this case the homeless fall right in the middle of the public suckers, and Riley and Walker who just suck.

When ranked against Britain, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand, the United States finished in last place in a healthcare report released Wednesday by the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund.

American citizens pay nearly double of what citizens of the other developed countries are paying, and to add insult to injury (no pun intended) the care we receive is of lower quality, the report shows.

The data, taken from national patient and physician surveys, showed that in 2007 Americans paid an average of $7,290 annually, whereas in the comparative countries the people spent less than $3,900. Yet we receive less for our money, according to the fund’s Cathy Schoen who told reporters, “We rank last on safety, and do poorly on several dimensions of quality. We do particularly poorly on going without care because of cost, and we do surprisingly poorly on access to primary care and after-hours care.”

The report which judges quality, access to care, efficiency, equity, and the ability to lead long, healthy, and productive lives, showed that Americans are more likely to receive the wrong diagnosis or treatment, and that we’re most likely to be given the wrong tests.
The fund’s president Karen Davis was quoted, “As an American it just bothers me that with all of our know-how, all of our wealth, that we are not assuring that people who need healthcare can get it.”

Currently, the United States is the only developed country without public healthcare. Consequently, 46 million Americans are still without insurance. Many Americans still believe that the higher costs equate to having the highest quality healthcare, yet the report shows that out of the 7 countries the US finished 6th.

Perhaps the most surprising find came with regard to quality where England topped the list. England’s healthcare system is often used by conservative Americans as an example of a failed healthcare system. Of course, those who deride the English system rarely present valid examples to back up their convictions, yet they have a great influence on many Americans who are generally confused about the methods of health coverage offered throughout the international community.

When city officials and heads of state bid for global sporting events, it seems the desire of winning titles such as “home of the 2010 World Cup”, becomes the priority over the welfare of the public who live and work in the shadows of the sporting venues. With the kickoff of the World Cup 2010 today in South Africa, the news coming from the country that has been socially, politically, and economically ravaged for many years is that this trend of popularity over human dignity continues to thrive.

The inhabitants of Mataffin – a district of shanties in the northeastern town of Nelspruit, with many who live everyday without electricity, running water, and who use any hollow vessel they might have to scoop water from mud puddles, watched on helplessly as their two primary schools were closed to their children, and taken over by construction engineers for the zoning of a 46,000 seat soccer stadium. Decked in safari flare with zebra striped seating, and being suspended by 18 metal structures stretched to resemble giraffes, the nearly $150 million Mbombela Stadium will be host to 4 cup matches totaling 6 hours of soccer. Without a national team of their own to use the stadium once the games have ended, the townspeople will be left with a monstrous reminder of an unattainable life of opportunity, and waste; a hollow super-structure born from hollow promises.

When the land owners sold the grounds, the people in Mataffin were told they would be given improved infrastructure, with new roads, electricity, plumbing, and new schools for their children. Instead they spent three years learning in boxes like trailers made of tin before a new school was built. The roads were never built, and the electricity and plumbing were never installed.

James Maseko, deputy chairman of the ward committee for Mataffin, said, “The authorities still say they will keep their promises, but the community is not sure it’s going to happen. When tourists visit, I think they will try to keep them away from the poor. I feel bad about that because this situation needs to be improved. The only way to improve it is to let others in the world see the situation.”

The situation worsened, however, when the people started holding public protests. One instance, in which the police interfered, turned violent as the protesters burned tires and a police car was torched. The police fired rubber bullets into the crowd, wounding many elderly and children who mingled amongst the protesters. Nhlesiphi Mathebula, an elderly woman whose only crime was to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, was beaten with the butt of a police officer’s rifle, as she stood at her front gate concerned and only trying to spot her grandchildren. And as if this wasn’t ugly enough, the violence spiraled further as a string of murders of people related to the situation were later uncovered.

Sadly for the hopes of Mr. Maseko the world is largely unaware of the situation, because the news that came from the host nation as they prepared for the World Cup 2010 was hardly reported upon. Besides, most people have grown so accustomed to the inhumanity that seems to plague the African continent that most reports pass right through our consciousness like water through a sieve. And many of the neighborhoods that lie adjacent to the other stadiums hosting World Cup matches scattered across South Africa were by no means immune to the pre-games strife.

Just outside of Cape Town is a shanty-town called Blikkiesdorp – the “tin can town”, to where thousands of the urban poor are being forcefully relocated so as to avoid being a blight on the landscape en route to Cape Town Stadium, where 9 cup matches are scheduled. Four families must share one toilet and a water tap in Blikkiesdorp, and those who refuse to move there are under the threat of imprisonment. Though ensured by the authorities that the relocation would only be temporary, many of the inhabitants have been there for years now, without any sign they’ll be able to return from where they came.

The practice of disguising reality is common amongst nations holding sporting events that will be broadcast worldwide. Who could forget the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, when the authorities grew embarrassed by the homeless people living in the vicinity of the event-grounds, and so used some of their budget money to purchase suits and ties in which to disguise them. If only the officials in South Africa could be as peacefully humiliating.

On this “National Day of Prayer”, I wonder exactly what so many people pray for. World Peace, or perhaps a sick loved one to finally find comfort in healing? Is some child praying for a new doll, while across the nation another is praying for a new bike? I can only imagine that the focus of these prayers are as numerous and vastly different from one another as the people doing the praying.

For the boxer who thanks God for helping him knockout his opponent, and the basketball player who is praying for a playoff victory, I have to wonder why many aren’t praying to give thanks to this god – granter of all touchdown passes, and bulls-eyes. I wonder how many are praying to be sent home alive from the middle-east, and how many have been praying endlessly for the miracle of a limb to regrow in place of the one that was blown off along some roadside in Iraq. Likewise, I wonder how many are praying for a plague to afflict those of a different religion, or of no religion at all.

In recent news we’ve heard of a new War on Religion, when a court in Wisconsin deemed the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. Those most upset by the news often complain about their rival religions, and show tremendous fear and uncertainty over the future of their faith. It is understood that many of them believe the National Day of Prayer to be more exclusive to their own religion, especially when directly faced with the prospect of praying along side of someone with opposing views on the subject.

In 2003 the American Humanist Association along with the Washington Area Secular Humanists co-sponsored the National Day of Reason, and set the celebratory date for May 6th – right in the face of those seeking national recognition for praying to omnipotent beings. Though many might see this as a petty act of defiance, some of us view it as more of an instructional alternative. Truly the Day of Reason should be recognized moreso, if only because there are more people in this nation than there are religious people. Since freethinkers generally hold the “come one come all” stance, and openly invite all walks of earthly life, this is a celebration for all as opposed to some. It is a day to recognize the power of humanity when it works toward a common goal, as opposed to breaking off into exclusive groups and worshipping god(s) that are only your own.

The UK Parliament voted to allow the creation of human-animal embryos in an effort to give scientists the necessary “tools” in stem-cell research. Due to a lack of donated human embryos, researchers believe the creation of these “admixed” eggs will allow them to continue to work at finding cures for some of our worst afflictions.

Some say it’s unethical, and one Catholic cardinal went so far as to deem it “Frankenstein science”, but it could be argued that tossing a perfectly good embryo into the bin that could otherwise have been used to possibly cure a person suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, or even cancer is truly unethical.

Click here to read about how our planet may one day have centaurs roaming freely beside, what could be considered completely immoral, human grocery stores called “Savior Siblings”.

The United States is currently detaining at least 59 people in Guantanamo Bay that intelligence officers have deemed to have never been of any threat to our security. Bakers, farmers, and a man called “half-head Bob” are some of those originally placed on “recommended for repatriation” lists prior to them being sent to the maximum-security prison camp on the southern shore of Cuba.

Click here to read why intelligence officers should not always take the blame for decisions made by the paranoid people running our country.

Is it a deep-seated love for others that drives peace-making intervention, or is it sparked by the hatred of war? Could it be the self-motivated desire to accomplish, or could it be a selfish act to gain notoriety? Could it be a sub-conscious plunge to fulfill a great dream, or might it be just another attempt at protecting safe passage into the Holy Land? Whatever the reasoning, it appears that some men will just never learn that trying to broker peace-deals in the Middle East is like trying to stop a cockroach infestation with Chinese Miracle Chalk.

Click here to read why Jimmy Carter, the great humanitarian, should put the remnants of his precious energy back into building homes for those without shelter.