Aid To Food Bank, Life Bans In Soccer

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Barter Nights to benefit food bank

Patrons of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon donated 1,550 pounds of food to the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank by bartering their way into several shows in June. The majority of the food was collected June 2, when audiences traded 1,400 pounds of food for admission to “The Wizard of Oz.” Last Saturday, patrons gave another 150 pounds of food to see presentations of “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

Patrons were asked to barter their way into the shows by donating dry or canned food items for the food bank. The events play off the history of the Barter Theatre, which in the 1930s allowed patrons to barter vegetables, meat and other goods for show admission. Jeremy Butterfield, public relations director for the food bank, said the partnership between the food bank and Barter Theatre began about 10 years ago and has grown each year.

The food provided this year represents about 1,172 meals. If you missed the barter events, but still want to make a donation to the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank, call (276) 628-9266 or go online to www.swvafoodbank.org.

The barter nights are a great way to celebrate the theater’s history and to help neighbors struggling through this prolonged recession.

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Growing unemployment in Tennessee

Tennessee’s unemployment reached a 26-year high this week. Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development James Neeley announced that the jobless rate for May reached 10.7 percent. That’s up eight-tenths of a percent from the April rate of 9.9 percent.

A year ago, May’s unemployment rate in Tennessee was 6.2 percent.

Neeley said the jobless increases are outpacing the national numbers and a big piece of the problem is job losses in manufacturing and construction.

“Our goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction, only makes up about 16 percent of Tennessee’s economy,” Neeley said. “Those industries, however, have seen more than half of the total job losses in the past year.”

The last time Tennessee’s unemployment rate was as high was in November 1983.

While some signs of economic pain appear to be slowing nationwide, it could take months to see real turnaround. In the meantime, Tennessee is hurting from loss of manufacturing and construction jobs, just like the rest of the nation.

Life bans for Iranian soccer players

It is a mild punishment compared to being beaten or losing your life, but the steps taken against members of the Iranian soccer team who wore green wristbands during a World Cup soccer match in South Korea are undeservedly harsh and make clear the hard line Iranian leadership intends to take against any dissent.

The players who wore the wristbands have been “retired”– in actuality banned for life from soccer.

The players’ gesture attracted worldwide attention to the turmoil surrounding Iran’s recent political election. That country’s authorities extracted revenge by permanently taking soccer away from these men, who were protesting against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election. Green is the color of the defeated opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the June 12 election was rigged.

An estimated 18 people have been killed following the June 12 election, based on information shared by Iranian citizens with cellular phones and computer links despite their government’s attempts to shut out foreign media.

We salute the bravery the soccer players displayed in showing dissent in Seoul earlier this month. Certainly they are lucky the punishment was not more severe. But they have lost their ability to compete and travel and represent their country. They have paid a price too high for a small act of free-thinking.