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Soundtrack "Push My Buttons" Focuses on Exploitation of the Vulnerable |
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| Published on 8/20/2007 |
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| By Stephen M. Apatow |
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The soundtrack "Push My Buttons" (MySpace Music: Humanitarian, Artistopia) starts with the beginning of the Star Spangled Banner as an introduction to verses that express the anxiety associated with exploitation of the vulnerable:
1. Homeless Veterans:
The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says the nation's homeless veterans are mostly males (4 % are females). The vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45% suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era. More than 67% served our country for at least three years and 33% were stationed in a war zone. -- Background & Statistics: National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. www.nchv.org/background.cfm
Note: Having Run Across America (www.runacrossamerica.org) for Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty in 1993, I personally had a chance work on the front lines with these issues/massive gaps associated with unmet needs. Some of the most traumatic experiences were the homeless youth (14-17), who are neglected because of their age. According to the National Men's Resource Center (Running Away: www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/runaways.html) "Every day, between 1.3 and 2.8 million runaway and homeless youth live on the streets of America."
2. The National Foreclosure Crisis:
According to the Center For Responsible Lending, from 1998 to 2006, subprime lending enabled 1.44 million people to become first-time homeowners - but it led to 2.37 million foreclosures, a net loss of nearly 1 million, the center reported (Set up for a fall, New York Daily News, 28 March 2007).
See: Communities in Crisis: Pushed Beyond the Economic Limit, Humanitarian Resource Institute. www.humanitarian.net/law/assistance/senior_crisis.html
3. The Global Humanitarian Picture: Hyperinflation crushes United Nations member countries
Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate surged to an unprecedented 3,714 percent at the end of April, the official state newspaper reported Thursday, as the government set up a commission to try to bring prices down to single digit levels. -- Inflation in Zimbabwe Hits 3,714 Percent, Breibart, 17 may 2007. www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8P69QLO0&show_article=1
IN describing how the response to a systemic banking crisis evolves, let's look at it in three phases: first, measures to stop panic and stabilize the system; second, measures to restructure the financial system and resolve financial institutions and next week we touch on the final one: The stabilization phase. -- Zimbabwe: The Banking Crisis - Responding to Banking Crisis: Financial Gazette, AllAfrica.com, 10 July 2007. http://allafrica.com/stories/200706140911.html
Be creative, live for others, serve as a bridge, impact,
Stephen Michael Apatow
http://www.myspace.com/apatow
http://www.artistopia.com/StephenMichaelApatow |
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| Article Credits and References |
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| No Credits or References were provided by publisher |
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