Yelling at the World

Ah me.

While I trip along to work, smelling roses and enjoying my little microcosm, elsewhere people struggle against The Man. In China, a group of farmers rose up against the government who wanted their farm land to expand a power plant. It harkens back to Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. Land is important; it's everything. In Communist China, the farmers technically lease their land from the government, who can take it back when they want for as little compensation as they feel like doling out. A group of farmers decided, no, I work this land, I've worked this land for years, it's mine. The result: brutality receiving far too little notice.

I tried watching the video that was posted along with the article, but my less than stellar computer here at work couldn't view it.

If one stands back from the injustice of the situation, and views it from a journalistic standpoint, this story is immensely interesting. These farmers, cognizant of the power of the international media, and wielding digital technology, not only smuggled in a journalist from the Washington Post, they also caught footage of the injustices on camera. It's incredible, really, and perhaps the only silver lining that can be gleamed from this story.

In other irritating news:

Politicians, in an effort to justify cuts to Medicaid, are once again spreading lies about Medicaid recipients abusing the system and accessing "excessive" amounts of health care. Never mind that studies going back to the 70s show this to be false. Medicaid users don't use more healthcare than the average, privately insured consumer. In fact, Medicaid users pay proportionately more out-of-pocket expenses already which actually discourages them from accessing health care until problems become serious (and thus more expensive). If the government would pull its bureaucratic head out of its bureaucratic behind, it would recognize that ensuring proper preventive and maintenance care would actually save Medicaid money.

You know it's going to be a tough day when you start yelling at news broadcasts before 7:00 am.