Damn. Well, nothing wrong with free bread!

Considering it costs at least $5 for a loaf of real bread, with real volume that doesn't fall apart when you touch it, I'd get in line for some free bread too.

Free bread is free bread. I'm down for it.

FYI: Discarded pizza boxes are an excellent source of cheese.

Onion did it.

@krispykrink: I have to agree with you! Real Bread costs way to much...

This is what happens when Communism marches in and everybody has to have the same share of everything; suddenly people have to wait in line for food and in East Germany it was also cars. Sounds like a party I don't want to be a part of.

@MarleneMops:

Wow Intellectual dishonesty at its finest, or the end product of home schooling. Take your pick. The lines in East Germany was because there was nothing on the store shelves, and the people in California cannot afford to buy bread at the store.

@krispykrink: Gee, that's a lot for a loaf of bread. Isn't cake cheaper?

[/Marie Antoinette]

@Mike Turner: Shorter MarleneMops:

"GET A JOB YOU LAZY LEECHES!!!!!!!"

@catnapped: When all you have is a hammer, every Republican looks like a nail?

I think MarleneMops ascribes the trouble in Southern Cali to redistributive policies that fail to redistribute adequately. I'm not saying I agree--in fact I disagree, but I won't go into that here; I think Mike Turner is right--but gee, cat, it sure would be nice if you upped the tone, insightfulness, and intelligence of criticism around here, instead of tossing off non-sequiturs.

@Mike Turner: And as for you, if you have documented proof that home schooling by itself, as opposed to home schooling that is an adjunct to religious child abuse, produces stupid children, you're invited to produce the evidence. Now.

@MarleneMops: Bread lines in communist countries were from people who had money but there were product shortages due to government price controls on the products.

The lines in communist countries are similar to what happened in 1973 when Nixon put price controls on gasoline and we ended up with gas lines.

It's not the same thing at all as what is happening in California. Those people have no money, but there's not a shortage of bread itself.

Free bread as in doughnuts? Free doughnuts...count me in!

I hear there are jobs working the rich farmland of Oklahoma for the people of California looking for a little dignity.

I find it hard to believe that this is the first time since the great depression that 1) a charity has been handing out free bread and 2) there have been more than one person at a time wanting free bread, thus causing a line to form.

Yes, the economy is in a slump, but the media seems to be going out of it's way to find parallels to the Great Depression.

if you compare this to socialism you are not well educated or lack the rails for a train let alone the train of thought. Why are people considering fox as a news source is beyond me...

@speedwell, avatar of snark: With what yeast costs, very possibly! lol

@Eyebrows McGee: Roger that. A few weeks ago I bought two bags of bread flour and a jar of instant yeast, and my bill was $24.

Next time, I'll go stand in a line.

@krispykrink: Where do you live? I'm going to export some bread to wherever it is and make a fortune.

2017...

America has lost it's freedom. All art is censored. The government controls us all. To keep us from mass uprising, they give us sensationalized brutality in the form of shows like "Climbing For Dollars", "The Hate Boat", "Confess", "Captain Freedom's Workout" and the most popular show on the air... "THE RUNNING MAN"!

This is completely sensationalist. I know the economy is bad, and there's a good chance the lines have gotten bigger.
However, about 4 years ago I worked for a food pantry in a small upstate NY town.
We had lines. Lots of lines.
There was a constant threat of running out of food because we had so many people who needed it. "The poor" are not new. People are just starting to take notice because it *could* be one of them someday.
Oh, and it sells.

Of course they're in the bread line,they know that" The cake is a lie"!

@madanthony: Exactly. It's the Salvation Army; they were handing out food years ago when I was volunteering at our local branch and saw a warehouse of canned goods and, yes, bread. I assume it's the same kind of deal, and maybe there are some people in the line who weren't there a few years ago, but the fact that there are people who are poor and hungry and that they have to wait in line for food isn't really a sign of Depression-era destitution.

(Of course, all this ignores the fact that there are people in this country who need to stand in line for food, but that's another discussion...)

Well, eventually we'll just have to start dining on bankers and CEOs

@krispykrink: I missed the part of the story where they said they were giving away good bread and not the "Great Value" brand I buy at Walmart. Can you show me where it says that? :)

@rpm773: Heh I think I'm the only one who got that.

A "bread line" of days gone by was caused by a shortage of foodstuffs, even when people had money and were willing to pay for it. Last I checked, flour and yeast were still readily available. Americans will stand in line for almost anything that's free; that was true in the "roaring 90's" as well. But if it bleeds (hearts), it leads, I guess.

@tsume: If that's the case, then that's depressing :)

I like how it's the Salvation Army. Where is the crowd of "I don't donate to the Salvation Army because they are a church whose beliefs preclude endorsing homosexuality"? I wonder if the people standing in line to feed their children would be overjoyed to know that someone's moral indignation might be standing in the way of their getting more, or getting it faster (since I'd be willing to bet these same anti-SAs aren't willing to volunteer their time either). Specifically, I love how being a Christian charity entitles everyone else to try to dictate to you how you run your church and what you are allowed to believe, or at least what you are allowed to tell people you believe.

So right, Short Bus.

Ben Stein was on CBS News this morning with an interesting thought: on a positive note, 92% of us ARE employed, and 90% of us ARE making our mortgage payments. I think Ben is right on this one...a few positive words from Obama or Bernanke would go a long way. [www.cbsnews.com]

I wonder if they would be reporting this if McCain had won?

"We are not in a recession." -- GWB April, 2008
"The tax cuts are working." -- GWB, meaning times before 2008.

@madanthony: Things sucked so bad in the late 80's in South Dakota, when they gave out govt. cheese there was a massive line. This was the same year that 275 people showed up to apply for 10 jobs at a Taco Johns (like Taco Bell). There were no freaking jobs,even crappy ones.
Those two factors were enough. I appealed to the pity of some relatives and moved to civilization.

@windycitygirl68: Telling us that were not all falling into the abyss doesn't sell air time.

I try to be a glass half full type of person about it. This current mess has created some huge opportunities. We just need to act on it and get things rolling. The sooner we do the sooner more jobs come back.

Honestly the people I hear wailing about doom and gloom the most are the die hard Rush Limbaugh Republicans.

I had a similar situation. My g/f wanted to buy me a blackberry bold for Christmas. She was willing to pay $550 for it in the ATT store. They would not sell it to her w/o a new contract even though she wanted to pay the unsubsidized price. She ended up buying one of of scambay, and the phone was stolen...

@krispykrink: I don't know where you're buying bread, but the co-op a few towns over from me has loaves of amazing, small-batch fresh bread for about three-fifty a loaf. It's fantastic and well worth the short drive to stock up a few times a month.

@chuck0008: The place where my family donates goods gives out food without a side helping of homophobia despite being a religious organization. Funny how that can work!

@rpm773:
I pay $2.79 for a 5 lb bag of bread flour, and I paid $3.69 for 2-1lb. bags of instant yeast (fleichmans's) in a club store, you need to shop around.

@rpm773: Well played, sir.

Friends,

Maybe I'm missing something in the comments.

I periodically work the local food pantry, helping to bag/distribute bags of free non-perishables. The lines are getting longer, the shelves are becoming more bare sooner than normal.

So what's the deal here? We're in a rough economic situation in the country, and we have people in this country that don't have enough to eat. How is this political?

@JulesNoctambule: Of all of the interactions I've had with the Salvation Army, I've never seen them speak out against homosexuality. Their statement of beliefs just includes it. It would be one thing if they used the kettle donations to support Prop 8 or something, or adopted "Feed the Hungry, Hate the Fags" as their slogan or something. It's ok though. I don't deny anyone their free practice of self-righteousness. Oh, also, you say your local charity is a religious organization, but that is extremely vague. Could be Methodist for all I know. Or Scientologist.

Well, it would be cheaper if you stayed at home and baked it yourself.
Oh. Wait.

@N.RobertMoses: 2009: America has lost the ability to use the proper form of "its".

@Doorslammer: As much as that phrase gets on my nerves... well played.

You know what's cool...when you hit page 2 and it take's you back to page 1 . Why does this happen at least once a week? Suckage.

It's free. Look at the enormous lines over the $.23 pizza at Papa John's awhile back. Nobody *needed* that pizza. They just wanted it because of its perceived value, and they were willing to wait ridiculous lengths of time to get it.

Similarly, there's a big difference between a line of people waiting for free bread because hey, free stuff... and a line of people waiting for free bread because they're not going to eat tonight otherwise. It would have been nice if the author of this article had made some effort, *any* effort to determine which this really was.

@Nate128: Progress?

@ShortBus: You're thinking of the Soviet bread lines. Capitalist American bread lines have always been for people who couldn't afford the bread.