Witchy Woman

"Why is it that we, in America, can have telethons on 24 different channels for Haiti within a few days, but have so many of our own population without healthcare, employment, or food? And we couldn't do anything for New Orleans for fifty years?*" -A friend

"Fisheries biologists in the Pacific Northwest are cheering a record return of coho salmon this year to the upper and middle Columbia River basin, where the fish were virtually wiped out 20 years ago."

"Eugene taxpayers spend $42 million a year on a police department staff of 327, but the city insists it doesn’t have enough money and officers to keep downtown safe....
Much of the downtown task team report appears to focus on more cops as a solution to the “unpleasant behavior” of the homeless, many of whom suffer from mental illness. Only one member of the 15-member task force recommended a cheaper, more direct and humane solution — spending a few hundred dollars a month to find each homeless person an apartment."

"Farmer Craig Rowles remains unconvinced.

It's afternoon in one of his many rural Iowa pig barns, roaring with snorting and squealing pigs. Some snooze in corners, while others hustle toward their troughs, their slop laced with a steady supply of antibiotics.

"If there was some sort of crossover between the use of the antibiotics in animals and the antibiotics in humans, if there was in fact a real issue there, wouldn't you think we would have seen it?" said Rowles, also a veterinarian who sells 150,000 hogs a year. "That's what the science says to me.""

"As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network."

"California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - making last minute cuts to the budget - eliminated all of the state funding for domestic violence shelters. That's right - all of it.

Although the state Legislature submitted a budget with a 20 percent reduction to the $20.4 million the state provides to agencies that offer domestic violence services, Schwarzenegger slashed the funding by 100 percent Tuesday.

For Catalyst, which relies on state funding for nearly 35 percent of its operating budget, the affect will be "devastating," Executive Director Anastacia Snyder said.

"We're still in shock," Snyder said Wednesday afternoon. "We were bracing for the 20 percent cut, but did not believe the governor could, with a clear conscience, cut 100 percent of funding for services that keep women and children safe and alive."

If you're a resident of California, please click on Stop Family Violence's action alert to urge lawmakers to reinstate funding for the programs that save women's lives. If you're not in CA - pass this on to someone who is! You can also post the following message to your Facebook account, or tweet it: CA Gov Eliminates funding for Domestic Violence Programs. Lives will be lost. You can help! CA residents click http://bit.ly/3jKQSo"

"President Obama, continuing and broadening an initiative begun by former President Bush, has created a new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.Under Bush, the office had supported the federal government's investment of more than $2 billion a year in private, mostly faith-based charities providing social services.
Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington today, Obama said the office will help all community organizations -- religious and secular alike -- work on everything from helping people facing home mortgage foreclosure to providing job-training for those in need of work. "The goal of this office will not be to favor one religious group over another -- or even religious groups over secular groups," Obama said before signing an executive order establishing the office and an advisory council. "It will simply be to work on behalf of those organizations that want to work on behalf of our communities, and to do so without blurring the line that our founders wisely drew between church and state."

The president also addressed the role of faith in his own life and the need to bridge the many beliefs of Americans, including those without a religious faith -- as Obama, a Christian, has acknowledged he was raised. Under Bush, who had campaigned for president in 2000 with a plea to "rally the armies of compassion," the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives that he created early in office helped faith-based charities seek federal funding for the social services that they provide.
The office will have four priorities, the White House says:

* Making community groups an integral part of the nation's economic recovery and making poverty "a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete."

* Offering advice on supporting women and children, addressing teenage pregnancy and reducing the need for abortion.

* Supporting fathers "who stand by their families," helping young men find well-paying jobs and promoting "responsible fatherhood."

* Working with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world.

At the prayer breakfast, the president also addressed the role that faith plays in America."Too often, we have seen faith wielded as a tool to divide us from one another -- as an excuse for prejudice and intolerance," Obama said. "Wars have been waged. Innocents have been slaughtered. For centuries, entire religions have been persecuted, all in the name of perceived righteousness. There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same," he said. "We read from different texts. We follow different edicts. We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we're going next -- and some subscribe to no faith at all."But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate," he said. "There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know."

Faith, the president said, also demands that Americans "lift up those who have fallen on hard times. This is not only our call as people of faith, but our duty as citizens of America, and it will be the purpose of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships that I'm announcing later today. . . ."

This work is important," he said, "because whether it's a secular group advising families facing foreclosure or faith-based groups providing job-training to those who need work, few are closer to what's happening on our streets and in our neighborhoods than these organizations.""

“I don’t think witchcraft is a religion. I would hope the military officials would take a second look at the decision they made.”

"Wells Fargo, “once among the nation’s top writers of subprime mortgages,” has received approximately $25 billion in taxpayer money from the federal bailout. While other bailed-out firms — such as AIG — have canceled expensive junkets, the AP reports that Wells Fargo is sticking with them:

Wells Fargo…has booked 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and its sister hotel, the Encore Las Vegas beginning Friday, said Wynn spokeswoman Michelle Loosbrock. The hotels will host the annual conference for company’s top mortgage officers.
The conference is a Wells Fargo tradition. Previous years have included all-expense-paid helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 employees and guests. […] “Recognition events are still part of our
culture,” spokeswoman Melissa Murray said. “It’s really important that our team members are still valued and recognized.”"