BABY CEREAL IN BOTTLE

U.S. Government - AP
AP
$1B Given to Faith-Based Groups in 2003
By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The government gave more than $1 billion in 2003 to organizations it considers "faith-based," with some going to programs where prayer and spiritual guidance are central and some to organizations that do not consider themselves religious at all.

All told, faith-based organizations were awarded $1.17 billion in 2003. That is about 12 percent of the $14.5 billion spent on social programs that qualify for faith-based grants in five federal departments. White House officials expect the total to grow.

Elected with strong support of religious conservatives, Bush came to office promising to open governments checkbook to religious groups that provide social services. Often, Bush says, religious groups do a better job serving the poor.

Civil libertarians fear the government will wind up paying for worship, eroding the constitutional separation between church and state.
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Jim Towey, who directs the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said the Bush administration has been clear that "government money is not to fund religious activities."
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In the past, government has refrained from giving money directly to religious groups, but has required that they set up independent, secular organizations to get taxpayer dollars. Bush tried to get Congress to change that. Congress refused, so he unilaterally put many of his changes into effect.

To entice religious groups to apply for grants, the White House hosted several conferences explaining the relaxed rules and put out a book listing programs they might want to apply for.
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"We feel much more at ease," said Louis Wonderly, past president of the Luther House Foundation of Southern Chester County, Pa. The group was awarded $10.3 million to build an apartment building for low-income older people.
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In New Haven, Conn., Women in Search of Health Education and Spirituality got almost $500,000 to help AIDS (news - web sites) patients who are just out of drug treatment. Each session begins with a daily affirmation, where each participant chooses something to read, religious or secular.
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At the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., Life Connections got more than $50,000 to help inmates who are about to be freed and who volunteer to participate and pick one of six religious programs to follow. Activities include a two-week spiritual retreat and six weeks of intense religious study.
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The White House declined comment on whether these particular programs were appropriate.

The grants on the White House list were not specifically targeted to religious organizations. Rather, the list includes all groups believed to be faith-based that won competitive federal grants open to all applicants.

Specifically, it includes recipients of competitive grants administered by five federal departments: Health and Human Services (news - web sites), Housing and Urban Development, Education, Labor and Justice. Not included are the billions sent to the states for distribution.

"We intentionally avoid references to God and his works in our educational material so that no one will feel intimidated or avoid our services because they`re of a different religion," said Sue Ortiz, a home ownership counselor at Inner City Christian Federation in Grand Rapids, Mich., which got $65,000 in 2003 and $150,000 in 2004.

But religion inspires their work, she said: "We do what we do because of God`s love."
Guestbook

pcdoc @ 2005-01-02 14:50 said:

President Bush is a liar and a decietful person, giving money only to those faith-based groups that his fundamentalist right-wing Christian bosses tell him to. What about Islamic Faith Based Organizations. What about Jewish Faith Base Organizations. What about Buddhist Faith Based Organizations. And On, And On...

THERE IS A DAMN GOOD REASON FOR THE BUSINESS OF POLITICS TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE BUSINESS OF RELIGION, AND BUSH KNOWS DAMN WELL THAT HE IS SHREDDING THE CONSTITUTION, REVERSING PRO CHOICE, REVERSING THE EASING OF BIGOTRY IN AMERICA, AND COMPLETELY INTIMIDATING AND DEMOLISHING HIS OPPONENTS, BE THEY RIGHTEOUS, OR CORRUPT LIKE HE IS.

delete

buster @ 2005-01-02 15:02 said:

american taliban. backward-looking fundamentalism.

delete

ann279 @ 2005-01-02 15:09 said:

It is interesting to me that Bush is trying to avoid a theocracy in Iraq while trying to foster one here in the United States. He is, however, so stupid, that I doubt that he knows what he is doing

"The unexamined life is not worth living." -- Socrates

I don't take many self-portraits, and the ones I do take will be few and far between. This one was inspired when I noted the light coming through our bedroom window and wondered if it might make for a good portrait. I would have very much preferred using some pretty woman as my model, but I had the day off work and was home alone because my wife and children were in Utah for a few days. Thus, I was the only subject available.

But as pictures of me go, I sort of like this one. I am getting older now, and while my hair is on the sparse side, I'm noticing more and more gray in what hair I do have, and it shows up in this image. And I have earned every one of those gray hairs, let me tell you!

Update for the "Portrait 50" group:
1. I once recited a lengthy passage from Dante's Divine Comedy, in the original Italian, during a job interview. (I was a member of the panel interviewing the candidate for the position.)
2. I'm terrified of heights, but love to fly.
3. I hated practicing law, but take comfort in the knowledge that while I did it, I helped a lot of battered women.
4. When I was 8 years old, my father made me memorize the names of all U. S. Presidents in chronological order, and I have never forgotten them, although I've had to add eight more names since then. (Kennedy was in office at the time.)
5. I took up ballroom dancing because I wanted to give my wife a romantic surprise, then became hooked on it myself.
6. I hate being photographed, even by myself, which is why there are few self-portraits in my Flickr photostream.
7. A friend of mine, who has lived in Rome for about the past 25 years, once told me I had done well to learn Italian because it was a language that lended itself very well to verbosity.
8. My favorite song is "O mio babbino caro," from Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi."
9. I am convinced that country music is one of the plagues foretold in the Book of Revelation.
10. I love to cuddle.
11. My favorite TV programs of all time are "Bonanza," "M*A*S*H*," and "Touched by an Angel."
12. I was very skinny when I was young, and weighed 90 pounds between ages 9 and 13, even though I grew several inches in height during that time.
13. Ever since I was about five years of age, I have always loved old silent comedies, especially those starring Harold Lloyd.
14. I once spent most of a day wandering alone around East Berlin back during the Cold War era.
15. I have read the entire Bible, as well as the other scriptures of my church, in English, Spanish, and Italian.
16. I know several Mad Magazine parody songs by heart, and enjoy singing them occasionally, usually for the benefit and edification of my wife and children.
17. I dislike facial hair, and shave nearly every single day, including Saturdays. I also figure it makes my face more kissable.
18. I hate tattoos and body piercings.
19. I rarely get sick, and once went for three years without even catching a cold.
20. I love to travel, and wish I could do more of it.
21. I regret never having been a Boy Scout.
22. My best decision in life was to become a Mormon, and my worst was to become a lawyer.
23. I am quiet and reserved around people I don't know, but warm and effusive around those I do.
24. My wife once remarked that she didn't quite know what to make of a husband who loved Dante, AND "Calvin & Hobbes."
25. I once did a live, on-air ad (in Spanish) for a lumber yard on a radio station in El Salvador.
26. I had a very hard time with dating when I was younger, for reasons I now recognize were mostly my own fault; yet the overwhelming majority of my really close friends today are women. (They are all trustworthy, by the way, and my wife doesn't mind.)
27. A number of people want me to be a "Jeopardy" contestant, but the idea of appearing on national television absolutely horrifies me.
28. I once made up a song about Mao Tse-tung while I was taking a shower.
29. As a preschooler, my favorite obsession was cars, and I could look at a car a block away and correctly identify its make.
30. The human qualities I most admire are courage, sensitivity, and humor, in that order.
31. I once worked in a chicken slaughterhouse, as a result of which I was unable to eat chicken for more than a year.
32. My favorite fantasy is to be President of the United States and serve something really messy at an official state dinner -- tacos, spaghetti, or prime rib, perhaps.
33. My favorite kinds of music are classical (including opera), movie soundtracks, and "oldies" from the 1950s and early 1960s.
34. If I am late coming home, my wife never has to look very hard to find me, as I am most likely going to be at the public library, Border's, or Barnes & Noble. (She has recently added the nearby Fred Astaire studio to that list, and has in fact tracked me down there a couple of times.)
35. I have read