Children's nutrition, home stability, and good jobs go hand in hand. We're failing at all three.

A couple of weeks ago, the USDA put numbers to the reality that has appeared, anecdotally, all over the country: more and more people in this country don't have enough food. Almost 15% of the country had at least some food insecurity last year. 5 million more kids faced hunger last year than the year before. That means the food banks that have helped such families fill the gap are slammed, facing far more demand than they can meet.

Sesame Street has always been out in front of issues that kids want and need to talk about, but that parents might think are above their heads. I can recall watching the show as a kid and picking up cues about racial tolerance and how bigotry can hurt someone's feelings. Or giving to others instead of being greedy.

Continuing to open yap and insert ass, the random wingnutty Obama school speech idiocy continues: After reading the text on Monday, even Jim Greer, the Florida Republican Party chairman who last week accused the president of seeking to use the speech to foist “socialist ideology” on schoolchildren, said he could find nothing to criticize in its text. "In its current form, it’s fine,” Mr. Greer said in an interview. “But it remains to be seen if it’s the speech he’s going to give.”

As a nation, we are failing the most vulnerable members of our society. The number of homeless schoolchildren, uprooted amidst the financial turmoil of the last few years is rising: There were 679,000 homeless students reported in 2006-7, a total that surpassed one million by last spring...

I couldn't help thinking about all those kids in America for whom the start of school means something else entirely: two meals every weekday. How tough would it be to be that young and already have learned that lesson?

Because of Buck O'Neil, I've got a warm spot in my heart for The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Obama's announced a new group of recipients, including Harvey Milk, Nancy Goodman Brinker, Mohammed Yunus, and Desmond Tutu. Buck would be proud.

More records falling, and that's not good. More food provided to those in need than ever, more needy folks coming than ever, and from the perspective of food pantries, the coming year will break the record again. Tell me again about the cost of health care reform.

And another potential Republican presidential candidate for 2012 spontaneously combusts on our teevees.

Last week, FOX pulled out all the teabags for their newest victim, a notorious water district in California's San Joaquin Valley. Meet their victim of the month, Westside Water District: half the size of Connecticut, laden with farmers who get triple Federal subsidies (crop, water, electricity), and in hock to us all for $480 million.