POLITICS: If I Spell Antidisestablishmentarianism Can You Make It A Steak?

So I stumbled upon this Web site called FreeRice. Their tag line says "For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program." When you visit the site you are presented with a word--for example, "wizardry"--and you are given four definitions--in this case, "fixation," "sorcery," "bureau," or "twelve." If you get it right (by choosing "sorcery" in this instance) the people behind the Web site donate 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program.

My first reaction to this site was "Wow! Pretty cool!" because I love words and I love helping people (especially if they are poor or hungry). But then I was like, well, why do you have to make people come to your site and play a little game before you donate this food (and very little food at that). On the site's FAQ they have this answer:

If FreeRice has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now?

FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

Honestly, I understand how they work and if there were a site where people could go and play a game and earn money for Autism research you bet your ass I'd be on that site all day playing. But, I guess I just like to look at the bottom line of things or cut through the proverbial crap with this sort of thing and that's why I read their answer and still ask, okay, then why don't the advertisers just directly give money for food for the poor?

There's another quote on the site that really got to me:

The United Nations estimates that the cost to end world hunger completely, along with diseases related to hunger and poverty, is about $195 billion a year.

$195 billion a year. That's nothing! Look at how much this buffoon in Washington is spending on his illegal war in Iraq and his bogus "War On Terror" and no, they are not related...get over it!

I'm not saying the U.S. should be the only ones to pay for this "War On Hunger" but we could if we wanted to. And there are other rich countries in the world that could help fill the pot.

Actually, I truly, truly believe, that if all of us, all of humanity, worked together (and I'm not even saying we have to like each other), if we worked together we could end so many horrible things in this world. Hunger, poverty, disease, war, racism...these are not challenges that humans are beyond solving.

Am I on my soapbox...nah...not even close! But, as strongly as I feel about helping Mikey and other autistic children I am equally strong-willed in changing the entire world for the better.

Are chance, in our small part of the globe, is coming in a year. I'll write more about that soon but I think it's something we need to think honestly about. Even-tempered, clear-headed, fearlessly...think.

Don't let doing the right thing seem like my next word on FreeRice (Imposition).