The end point of leadership is not just the position of power we reach, but the continual change and deepening we experience that makes a difference in our lives, our work, our world.
- Janet O. Hagberg
A report issued on October 27 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some recipients of grants from the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative—run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—have used the funds impermissibly for abstinence-only education.
"HHS officials told us that abstinence education was not allowable under the Healthy Marriage program," reads the report, "but we observed during our site visits and review of grantee data several Healthy Marriage grantees operating programs that focused on abstinence education."
The study, which was requested by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), also found that HHS—operating under a shortened deadline process—"did not fully examine grantee's programs as described in their applications."
Both programs are designed to serve low-income and minority groups. The Healthy Marriage programs, targeting teenaged youth primarily, are supposed to promote marriage and relationship activities; the Responsible Fatherhood programs, targeted at incarcerated parents, are designed to provide parenting skills. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 appropriated $150 million in grants each year from 2006 through 2010 to implement the Initiative. But it diverted funds from programs designed to support those living in poverty, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), to programs promoting marriage.
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Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin's name.
And here's the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her
name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has
been made in her honor. Here's the link to the Planned
Parenthood website:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/
You'll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send
the "in Sarah Palin's honor" card. I suggest you use the address
for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:
McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202
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There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them. -Phyllis Bottome This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 95 years ago.
We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.' Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party remember to vote. |
.§ Suppose your 14-year-old daughter Willow is brutally raped in her bedroom by an intruder. She becomes pregnant and wants an abortion. Could you tell the parents of America why you think your child and their children should be forced by law to have their rapists' babies?
§ You say you don't believe global warming is man-made. Could you tell us what scientists you've spoken with or read who have led you to that conclusion? What do you think the 2,500 scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are getting wrong?
§ If you didn't try to fire Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Baker over her refusal to consider censoring books, why did you try to fire her?
§ What is the European Union, and how does it function?
§ Forty-seven million Americans lack health insurance. John Goodman, who has advised McCain on healthcare, has proposed redefining them as covered because, he says, anyone can get care at an ER. Do you agree with him?
§ What is the function of the Federal Reserve?
§ Cindy and John McCain say you have experience in foreign affairs because Alaska is next to Russia. When did you last speak with Prime Minister Putin, and what did you talk about?
§ Approximately how old is the earth? Five thousand years? 10,000? 5 billion?
§ You are a big fan of President Bush, so why didn't you mention him even once in your convention speech?
§ McCain says cutting earmarks and waste will make up for revenues lost by making the tax cuts permanent. Experts say that won't wash. Balancing the Bush tax cuts plus new ones proposed by McCain would most likely mean cutting Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Which would you cut?
§ You're suing the federal government to have polar bears removed from the endangered species list, even as Alaska's northern coastal ice is melting and falling into the sea. Can you explain the science behind your decision?
§ You've suggested that God approves of the Iraq War and the Alaska pipeline. How do you know?
Power to Teton County, Wyoming! Do you know that Teton County had the nation's first all-woman town and county governments? In the early 1900s every town and county official from Mayor to Sheriff was a woman. Finally, some thoughtful, strong, sensible women are stepping up to the political plate to help fix local politics. Not one, but two great advocates for my home town have advanced to the general election in November. Louise Lasley is Public Lands Director at the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. Her participation on the Town Council is critical during the current Master Planning cycle.
Claire Fuller, a 24-year-old 3rd generation Wilsonite, couldn't be a better advocate and example to women of all ages. Fair, intelligent, and motivated, Claire will carry her ideas and values into the world. Her grandmother is one of my heroes. Ginny Huidekoper taught me how to drive a tractor on the ranch she homesteaded at the base of Teton Pass. With views of the valley from the bench, huge granite boulders dot her hay fields like a Wyoming Zen garden. Ginny's an author, homesteader, pilot (the first woman pilot in the state), entrepreneur (she started one of Jackson's news paper on a dare received at the Stagecoach Bar in Wilson), Olympian, and a no-nonsense liver of life.
If Claire has been smart enough to pick up one iota of the magic possessed by the women in her family (her mom, Zadie, is an outstanding musician and fantastic educator), then we'll be in damn good shape for her term of office. And I know she has been.
Oh, the glory of growth, silent, might, persistent, inevitable.
There was some speculation that Ivins had targeted Daschle and Leahy because he saw them as holding up funding that would have helped pay for his research into an anthrax vaccine. Now, officials close to the investigation say another possible motive could have been that Ivins saw the senators as bad Catholics because of their votes in favor of abortion rights.This news dovetails with what I'm reading in Jennifer Baumgardner's excellent new book, Abortion & Life. She notes:
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, abortion providers were struck with a sick recognition: They had already been receiveing death threats from fundamentalists on a regular basis. Innocent people had been murdered and stalked, letters that claimed to contain anthrax had been sent.Wish some of those "Homeland Security" dollars could go to protect clinic workers and patients..
House Passes the Paycheck Fairness Act
July 31st, 2008 by Jesse LeeThe House has just passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by a vote of 247-178. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. Furthermore, loopholes created by courts and weak sanctions in the law have allowed many employers to avoid liability for engaging in gender-based pay discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay.
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Plan B is an emergency contraceptive that can help prevent pregnancy after contraceptive failure, unprotected sex, or sexual assault. When taken within 120 hours, it can substantially reduce the risk of pregnancy. Plan B will not work if you are already pregnant. For more informaiton visit www.go2planB.com.
South Dakota Abortion Law Takes Effect
South Dakota abortion providers are now required to recite a script telling patients that the procedure will "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being." They must then warn the woman of a supposed increased risk of suicide.
The law additionally requires that doctors tell a woman seeking an abortion that there is "an existing relationship" with the fetus that "enjoys protection under the United States Constitution" and that, by having an abortion, "her existing constitutional rights with regards to that relationship will be terminated," reports to the Washington Post.
The law came into effect last Friday, after a 2005 court order that prevented the enforcement of the law expired. It will affect the Sioux Falls Planned Parenthood, the only recognized abortion provider in the state.
“It was 90 miles of dirt road to the county seat,” said Helen Graham, who was a teenager in 1930s South Dakota, a daughter of struggling homesteaders.And a modern-day ranch woman:
Jill Havert stirred 40 eggs for the guests and crew in a cast-iron pot as the gas burners hissed under the canvas and the creek rippled outside. Ms. Havert, a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, is being “initiated,” as she put it, into the Kerns family. Her boyfriend, Tyler Kerns, 20, is one of Ken Kerns’s grandchildren and a junior in architectural engineering at the university. He has been making cattle drives since childhood; she was on her first, and dark-before-dawn breakfast duty was part of the drill.
“This is a sink-or-swim family,” Ms. Havert said. “But I’m holding my own.”
We found out some truly disturbing news.
Just hours ago The New York Times reported that the Bush administration is proposing a new regulation that could discourage doctors and health-care clinics from providing birth control to women who need it.
Pro-birth-control members of Congress are calling on the Bush administration to reconsider this terrible idea. Please let your members of Congress know that you strongly oppose this attack on birth control!
This proposed regulation deliberately confuses the definitions of contraception and abortion and could seriously jeopardize state laws and policies that protect women’s access to birth control. For example, state laws that require hospitals to provide sexual-assault survivors with access to emergency contraception could be jeopardized.
This issue makes it all the more clear why we must elect pro-choice Sen. Barack Obama as our next president. Sen. John McCain has repeatedly voted against allowing women to obtain birth control and there’s no doubt he will carry on Bush’s anti-choice legacy. Sen. Obama has a consistent record in strong support of women’s access to contraception and is the chief sponsor of legislation to make birth control more affordable.
Fuller's new nonfiction novel tells of a Wyoming Everyman – his life, his family, his community, his world – and his end in an oil-field accident. The New York Times said the book contained "sentences that are as beautiful as anything you'll read in contemporary fiction."
Jackson Hole resident William Broyles Jr. will introduce his fellow Teton writer. The evening also will include a slideshow of a recent Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) conducted by the International League of Conservation Photographers in Sublette County, where much of Fuller's book takes place. The purpose of the RAVE is to shed light on pressing conservation issues in specific areas, and to bring the to the attention of the media.
.About ten years ago, for example, a friend and I rented a snug, inexpensive one-bedroom house in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from wealthy Jackson Hole, Wyoming. At that time, Driggs was where the workers lived, driving over the Teton Pass every day to wait tables and make beds on the stylish side of the mountains. The point is, we low-rent folks got to wake up to the same scenery the rich people enjoyed and hike along the same pine-shadowed trails.
But the money was already starting to pour into Driggs--Paul Allen of Microsoft, August Busch III of Anheuser-Busch, Harrison Ford--transforming family potato farms into vast dynastic estates. I haven't been back, but I understand Driggs has become another unaffordable Jackson Hole. Where the wait staff and bed-makers live today I do not know.
I had a great time at the screening of the homegrown film "Don't Fence Me In" at the film festival on Saturday. I was inspired by the quality of the film from the cinematography, to the audio to the editing, and mostly I was inspired by the stories of the women featured. Hearing the story of a young women elected county commissioner on the reservation, or the first female black legislator, or the rancher from Powell, or the rural doctor, or the young environmental activists from our neck of the woods, was a reminder that Wyoming does have diverse landscapes and experiences that shape women's lives. The discussion with the film makers afterward allowed the point to be made (thanks to Mickey Babcock) that this film was made because Wyoming is the Equality State (NOT!) and it is important that women's stories be told so that folks can take action to support equality. I hope this film gets good play time. Kudos to all of the folks involved: Bonnie Kreps, Amy McCarthy, Mickey Babcock, Charlie Craighead, and the cinematographer/editor (I can't remember her name, but she did a fabulous job). PS Charlie said this was the first time he worked with an all women crew and that the approach to movie making was very different and that he loved it!
CU: We've heard that a lot of the affordable housing goes to single women or female-headed families. Do you know any stats on this?
With respect to the Housing Trust only, 56% of all current homeowners are single people, 53% of all active applicants are single. I don't have any data that tracks single/female heads of households.
CU: Do you know if stats on Jackson's commuter workforce are broken down by gender?
I know that the Housing Needs Assessment found 33% of our workforce commutes to work each day.
CU: More generally, do you think affordable housing in Jackson is a women's issue? If so, how?
Generally speaking, I find social service issues and non-profit work to be dominated by women. The Board of the Housing Trust is made up of a near even split of men/women.
CU: What can women do to advocate for themselves as Jackson moves forward with its comprehensive plan?
Anybody and everybody needs to engage in the conversation. Affordable housing as an issue, in my opinion, has matured in Jackson over the last 15 years. We actually know a lot about what works and what doesn't work. Given the stage of development/growth we are in as a community, it is no longer helpful to have 30,000 foot conversations about where we build affordable housing and how we are going to make it happen. At this point in time, we need to be solution oriented and the solutions need to be practical. We have to understand that private property rights limit a lot of the opportunities that are discussed. Financial realities make many suggested solutions to affordable housing impossible. The conversations that I have been hearing, related to the comp plan in general and affordable housing in particular, seem to be framed in a bubble. I see a real lack of appreciation for the complete picture that needs to be discussed-the practical realities and the immutable truths that are simply left out of the conversation. It is not helpful to simplify the situation. We need to have a comprehensive dealogue that incorporates the trade offs of each option/alternative.
Ultimately, there are two ways to address the affordable housing problem: density or dollars. And there are real hurdles to both. We need a balance of both, we need to work together, we need to be really respectful of everyone at the table, and we need to think outside of the box; we need to be willing to try (and to fail!) at new ideas. The status quo is not an option.
CU: Do you think town and county leaders need to take women's issues into account as they move forward with Planning? (Wage differences, occupational demographics, need for proximity to health care...)
Absolutely. Women are an asset in the workplace and in elected office. We typically bring an entirely different skill set to the table that can't be recreated in any other way.
The barriers to entry for working women in Jackson (high cost of living) and working women with children (day care!) make it prohibitively expensive to run for office (or even remain employed when day care is as expensive and volatile as it is). I am a strong believer in mentoring and taking full advantage of the phenomenal women we have in this community to help us negotiate our way through life and through the workplace. We need to support each other and encourage each other to get involved, because our voices bring different perspectives nearly every time.
Cowgrrl Up! recently spoke with Jackson Town Council member Melissa Turley about how affordable housing issues impact women in our area. This is the first in an occasional series of conversations with women leaders about women and housing in Jackson Hole.MT: Across Wyoming, we know that seventy-one percent of single parent households are headed by women, and thirty-eight percent of these families live in poverty (Department of Family Services - 2003). We also know that Wyoming’s wage gender gap is the worst in the nation: women in Wyoming earn 66 cents to every dollar earned by men. (Status of Women in Wyoming - 2004). But in Teton County, affordable housing is an issue that impacts a large cross-section of our community - it certainly impacts single female heads of household to a great extent, but it also impacts families with two heads of household, singles, and the whole range of economic levels, ages, and careers. So while I understand that affordable housing is one of many challenges that is more difficult for female heads of household, it is definitely not an issue that is limited to women.CU: What can women do to advocate for themselves as Jackson moves forward with its comprehensive plan?
MT: It's important for all members of our community to get engaged and make their voices heard through the comprehensive plan update. I hope people will visit the comprehensive plan website, www.jacksontetonplan.com, or Town Hall, to learn more, and let us know what's important to them. This process will define how we want our community to grow for the next five to ten years, and we need to hear if people value more affordable housing, or better public transit, or so many other things!
MT: I would hope that as our community's local elected leaders plan for our future, they are creating a plan that supports a vibrant community for all citizens. I think our current leaders have been very supportive of social services that serve women and children, but they would appreciate hearing from women in the community about other steps they can take to support women's issues. Please contact them!
I just returned from a long weekend in Portland, Ore., aka the left coast feminist Mecca. Portland has a rich history of progressive politics. Recent years have seen an influx of feminist artists, activists, musicians, writers, and small business owners blossoming in the City of Roses. Here's just a brief list:
