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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
By Heather Miller
How the federal justice system incentivizes questionable and often unreliable witnesses, including jailhouse snitches, to prosecute the War on Drugs
"Just because the United States of America accuses somebody of being guilty of a crime doesn't make it so." — Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Jarzabek, chief criminal deputy of the Western District of Louisiana, speaking to U.S. District Judge Tucker Melancon at the conclusion of a high-profile public corruption trial in Monroe.
Mike Wyatt is, by trade, a master mechanic. He's an artisan of all things auto who transforms factory features on vehicles into customized pieces for car and stereo enthusiasts alike. A hard-working small business owner, Wyatt spends 60-90 hours a week at his Jefferson Street auto and sound shop, a 9,000-square-foot haven for a specialized craft he's been perfecting for more than 20 years.
Mike Wyatt is 44 years old and has no criminal record. He's a family man, the husband of a nurse practitioner, a father who spends his weekends outdoors with his wife and son. And now, Mike Wyatt may spend the next 10 years in a federal prison — and the rest of his life paying up to $4 million in fines to the federal government.
On July 20, 2006, a few minutes after B&M Auto Sound and 4x4 opened at 9 a.m., federal agents armed with assault rifles stormed the local business, searching every person, every vehicle and every inch of the building. A few months later, Wyatt was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused by the U.S. government of conspiring with 12 other people to traffic mass amounts of cocaine and marijuana from South Texas to Lafayette over a four-year period. His role? The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana claims Wyatt installed secret compartments for a group of customers who used them to stash drugs, guns and money as they crossed state lines. The feds have never said Wyatt ever possessed drugs, distributed illegal substances or dealt with proceeds from drug transactions. If convicted, Wyatt's prison time could be close or equal to that of the kingpin who's pleaded guilty to leading the lucrative drug ring.
What's even more compelling than the seemingly excessive charges against Wyatt is that hidden compartments are legal to possess and install under federal law and in most states, Louisiana included. The hideaways can be used to store almost anything — purses, jewelry, guns, valuables — and are just one small component of services — wheels, speakers, TVs, etc. — that a business like B&M provides.
The key to the government's charges against Wyatt is proving the business owner had direct knowledge of how the compartments were being used.
Court documents reveal that the only person so far who has made that claim against Wyatt — aside from a federal prosecutor — is Eric Alexander, the drug ring's mastermind whose testimony has been proven false — and whose prison sentence depends on him providing "substantial assistance" to the prosecution of the three remaining defendants who have refused to accept a plea agreement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
No doubt, hidden compartments are problematic for law enforcement officials working to combat heavy drug traffickers. An FBI bulletin published on its website in October 2010 examines the use of hidden compartments and outlines the very limited legal measures available to punish the installers. Because there is no federal law "specifically addressing the design, manufacture or use of a trap ... charges must be addressed through a statute dealing with drug paraphernalia."
According to the FBI circular, investigators trying to secure a criminal charge for an installer must prove that the suspect in question designed the compartment knowing it would be used for illegal purposes. To prove such knowledge, the FBI bulletin says the investigation involves more than just physical evidence linking the target to the installed trap. The procedure, according to the FBI, also calls for recorded conversations between the installer and an undercover agent or informant, "in which the suspect is placed on notice that the device will be used for concealing a controlled substance."
"Unfortunately, this appears to be the only way that the required elements may be proven," the FBI literature states.
No court documents in Wyatt's case reveal any such recording, and Wyatt's charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (crack-cocaine) and marijuana is strikingly more severe than the six- to nine-month prison sentence and $250,000 maximum fine he could receive for a federal paraphernalia conviction.
Yet as the government continues on its mission to link the secret compartments to Wyatt's widespread conspiracy to distribute drugs he never possessed, his case highlights a hidden playbook of the federal government's own secret maneuvers that raise allegations of government misconduct — and unveil a choir of convicts contaminating the judicial process in exchange for a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.
|Mike Wyatt at B&M Auto Sound
In January 2009, Wyatt and the two remaining co-defendants were three days into their jury trial when one of the defense attorneys collapsed before court due to pre-existing health problems. The presiding judge declared a mistrial, but opening statements had already been put into the record — and kingpin Alexander had already taken the stand.
According to court transcripts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Grayson never claimed in his opening statement that Wyatt was aware of the drug activity. He told the jurors that B&M was "where Eric Alexander and a number of his associates ... would have secret compartments built into their motor vehicles, which they utilized to carry controlled substances, drug proceeds, and firearms."
Wyatt's defense attorney, William Goode, didn't dispute Grayson's assertions.
"Eric Alexander was a customer of B&M. He was a repeat customer of B&M. He referred people to B&M for services. He bought wheels and stereos and TVs for his vehicle. He had some woofer boxes built in. He was a customer just like any other customer," Goode said in his own opening statement to the jury. "But what Mike Wyatt did not know was that he was in a drug situation with some other people. He didn't have a clue. Eric Alexander dressed nicely. He spoke nicely ... He did nothing that would allow them to stereotype him as a person that deals in cocaine. But when he got caught and is facing 20 to life, he's a two-time loser. He is going to rat out everybody he can to try to get them to serve his time."
When Alexander testified against Wyatt, he told the court that Wyatt must have known about his role in the drug trade because he stopped by B&M to scope out the shop in late July or early August of 1999 — a few weeks before Alexander was set to begin a prison sentence in Texas for marijuana trafficking charges. Alexander claims to have told Wyatt that he was en route to prison for a drug conviction; he'd have to wait until his return to have any work done on his vehicle.
The story flowed from Alexander's lips with no hesitation, no reason for jurors to believe anything else. But there was one minor flaw in his statement: B&M wasn't open for business in 1999. The government's own evidence seized in the 2006 raid includes documents that show B&M's incorporation wasn't granted until August 2000. Other records obtained by the government reveal that B&M didn't even begin leasing the building until February 2000. Alexander was lying under oath — and according to the defense, the government knew it when he took the stand.
The feds didn't withhold the evidence from the defense. It was given to attorney Goode in pre-trial discovery as it should have been and could have been addressed during cross-examination. But in the highly competitive game of criminal justice, knowingly placing a liar on the stand marks a personal foul.
Goode immediately asked the court to declare a mistrial on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct. Although Grayson argued that he had not sifted through the many volumes of files collected during the raid, according to the transcript it was a moot point. The government received a second copy of B&M's incorporation papers from the Secretary of State's Office in November 2006, four months after the raid. Someone from the government double-checked B&M's timeline of existence.
Alarmed by the revelation, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty told Grayson she had "grave concern" over what she just heard.
"This should not have happened," she said. "It's as simple as that."
Judge Doherty ordered a brief recess to see what, if any, sanctions were warranted for Grayson's actions. When she returned, however, Grayson was better prepared.
|Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Grayson
Wyatt, who still owns B&M, founded the auto and sound shop in 2000 with a business partner, Barry Neveu. Goode says in court records that "at B&M Barry Neveu ran the front office. He did the sales. He was in contact with the people. He collected the money. Mike Wyatt is the guy in the back turning the wrenches and running various jobs that went on. The lift work. A specialty in stereos and customized speaker boxes, window tinting, all those things."
While Wyatt spent his days in the garage, Neveu wasn't the only employee at B&M working the front office. And not everyone who worked for B&M Auto at the time of the federal investigation has claimed innocence. Neveu's then wife, Jennifer McKnight, was heavily involved in the front office work from the start. Her mother, Deborah McKnight, was also a B&M employee at one time.
Neveu was explicitly aware of Alexander's chosen profession. According to Neveu's own court records, he was a closet cocaine user whose personal supply relied on Alexander. And when Neveu needed money to "float B&M's operations," he went to Alexander for help.
Alexander gave Neveu cash and drugs, and when it was time to be repaid Neveu instructed B&M office employees to write checks to Alexander through the company. The deal created an illusion that Alexander was working for B&M. As a drug dealer, he needed to appear gainfully employed.
Neveu, who was among the 13 people charged in the drug conspiracy, pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and tampering with a witness (his ex-wife). He was sentenced to five years probation; Wyatt was never implicated in the money laundering scheme.
Jennifer and Deborah McKnight have been cooperating witnesses since the start of the investigation, according to court documents, which may explain why the two haven't been indicted in the conspiracy despite their knowledge and participation in the money laundering. With the defense alleging that federal agents threatened the McKnights with statements like, "We can come and arrest you at any time," and "You don't have immunity," the two have no reason to dispute the government's case.
But Goode, in court filings, says Jennifer and Deborah McKnight have repeatedly told investigators and Grayson that Wyatt had no idea what was taking place in the front office — and no knowledge of illegal activity. And when federal agents approached Deborah McKnight while she was sitting in the witness waiting room at the courthouse in January 2009, she told them she couldn't testify to the business operating in 1999, according to court filings. She didn't know. She wasn't involved with B&M until 2002. The two federal agents pressed on, insisting she take the stand and corroborate the 1999 theory. She couldn't.
So one of the agents, as defense records claim, phoned Deborah McKnight's daughter, who was on standby and not required to be at the courthouse during the first trial. He asked her again if the business was in any way operating in 1999. When he hung up the phone, he told Deborah McKnight that her daughter confirmed it was true. She believed him.
When court returned from recess, Grayson informed the judge he had another witness willing to testify that B&M was operating in 1999. Deborah McKnight took the stand and corroborated Alexander's false testimony, telling the court that although B&M officially opened in 2000, preparations were under way in 1999. It was enough to satisfy the court and deny Goode's motion for a mistrial.
But when Deborah McKnight left the courthouse, defense records say she learned the truth: Her daughter, when pressured by federal agents who called her earlier that day, again told the investigators there was no possibility that the business was operating on Jefferson Street in 1999.
Because the co-defendant's attorney was too ill to proceed with trial, Wyatt's case has been pending in federal court for five years. His second jury trial is set for February 2012, though Goode has filed a motion to have Wyatt's charges dismissed with prejudice due to the government's misconduct. In his court filings, Goode attached an audio recording of the McKnights attesting to the government's coercion and lies that sparked the fateful testimony.
Prosecutor Grayson did not return calls for comment.
Goode declined to comment on the charges against Wyatt, citing the pending trial and motions to dismiss, but when asked how the federal indictment has impacted his client, he says, "As I have stated in open court and in my pleadings, Mike Wyatt is an innocent man. As would be the case for anyone in his position, the fact that he has been criminally charged in federal court for something he did not do has been devastating to him and his family."
When The Independent visited Wyatt at B&M on a recent Friday afternoon, he thanked the newspaper for stopping by but declined to comment on his case.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has responded to the misconduct allegations by way of William Flanagan, counsel for the U.S. attorney who served as interim U.S. attorney before Stephanie Finley's appointment. Flanagan denies any wrongdoing by the government or its agents, while never specifically addressing whether agents suborned false testimony from Deborah McKnight. The government claims it is ready to support its actions if the judge calls for a hearing but reiterates its stance that even if there is evidence of "egregious prosecutorial misconduct," previous precedents have ruled that the indictment can only be dismissed if it's shown that the government's actions will impede the defendant's right to a fair trial.
"In this case, the defendant has not been convicted of anything," Flanagan says in the government's response. "Factual issues related to the issue of the defendant's guilty knowledge, as well as an assessment of the credibility of trial issues, are best left to the jury."
Fortunately for Wyatt, a mistrial barred the first jury from having to decide his fate without knowing the extreme lengths to which the government went to secure a conviction. Others who have faced prosecutor Grayson in court haven't been so lucky.
|Alan Bean and Mary Ann Colomb
In October 2001, an Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office task force, again armed with assault weapons and a battering ram for the front door, raided the Church Point home of Mary Ann and James Colomb and recovered a handgun and 72 grams of crack cocaine — a measurable success for a small-town, local bust.
The drugs were found in a dresser in the guest room of the home, where Mary Ann Colomb's daughter, Jennifer, was spending the night with her boyfriend, Timothy Price. Alan Bean, a Tulia, Texas, minister turned justice reform activist who founded the nonprofit Friends of Justice and brought the case to light, says Price left the home amid the raid to take James Colomb to the hospital for a severe panic attack and abnormal heart beats caused by the stir. Price later drove to the police station to claim the drugs and firearm.
As for Mary Ann Colomb, she was handcuffed at gunpoint while police searched her home and subsequently arrested her in connection with the drugs. Investigators ignored Price's confession despite his statements to local authorities, who later confirmed that the gun found alongside the crack cocaine had been taken from Price's mother, a police officer. He eventually hired an attorney and invoked his Fifth Amendment right when asked about the drugs in court, but Price has since reaffirmed his original confession in a 2008 report by Reason Magazine, a monthly publication of the nonprofit, libertarian research group the Reason Foundation.
Not long after Mary Ann Colomb's arrest in Acadia Parish by a local agency, Grayson decided to take the case to the federal level, bringing three of Mary Ann Colomb's four sons into a drug conspiracy indictment that spanned a 10-year period.
The federal government accused Colomb and her sons of running one of the largest cocaine rings in South Louisiana. The indictment was based on four other run-ins her sons had with law enforcement, only one of which ended with a conviction. The other three charges were dismissed before they ever reached a jury or judge in state court, but in federal court those "overt acts" equated to a high-level conspiracy. The one conviction, according to Reason Magazine, stemmed from an arrest in 1993, when Sammy Davis Jr. (Colomb's son from a former marriage) and Edward Colomb were in a car that was pulled over and eventually searched for contraband. The two other men in the vehicle were carrying marijuana and cocaine; all four in the car were charged with felony drug possession.
Those facts didn't sway Grayson in his quest to bring down the Colomb-Davis cartel kings, one of whom, as noted by U.S. District Judge Tucker Melancon, drove a car with no reverse. "Now, I'm not saying drug dealers are all flashy and drive big cars … but when you tell me … over whatever period of time … this drug conspiracy in a little bitty house in Church Point, Louisiana, there were $4 million worth of drugs going through there," Melancon says in a court transcript. "I'll tell you that defies any kind of credibility at all based on my 61-plus years on the planet."
But Grayson's narrative was backed by more than 30 federal prisoners being housed from Texas to Mississippi, all willing to testify to just how much the Colomb boys were trafficking through the tiny town of Church Point. Since parole has been abolished in the federal justice system, the only option inmates have for reductions on lengthy, federally mandated drug sentences is to provide "substantial assistance," i.e. damning testimony, to federal prosecutors.
Judge Melancon had his reservations about the government overwhelmingly relying on prison witnesses to go after the Colombs. He presided over a previous drug conspiracy case in which inmates who testified were later linked to a network of federal prisoners caught selling and sharing court info and photos of people with pending drug cases. Melancon barred Grayson from calling all of the 30-plus witnesses, but Grayson appealed and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Melancon's ruling.
"Grayson had a real zeal for prosecuting these cases," says activist Bean, who also shed light on the racially polarizing Jena 6 controversy that made national headlines when a noose hung on school grounds prompted acts of youth violence. "He found them to be very easy if you didn't use the critical judgment that prosecutors are supposed to use. And mostly white juries tend to believe anything that law enforcement has to say. I kept telling Ann Colomb the feds won't go to court with a case this flimsy. I was caught unprepared when they did."
By the time the trial began in 2006, Grayson had decided to call only half of the 30 snitch witnesses he originally planned to use.
The witnesses began lining up one after another, each pinpointing Mary Ann Colomb and her sons as major cocaine distributors.
The same day the trial started, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mickel, one of Grayson's colleagues in Lafayette, received a letter from federal inmate Quinn Alex, who was concerned about some dealings he had with his former cell mate at a prison in Three Rivers, Texas. Alex said in his letter that his cell mate, Charles Anderson, offered to sell Alex pictures of the Colomb-Davis family and key documents pertaining to their case.
"I told Mr. Anderson I wouldn't get on the stand and lie on someone I didn't know, then he began to tell me how it would work for me to get a time cut," Alex says in the letter.
Alex had his mother wire more than $2,200 to Anderson's girlfriend as payment for the help Anderson offered. But Alex wasn't writing because the Colomb-Davis family was tugging at his conscience. He was livid because Anderson was transferred shortly after the arrangement was made and Alex never received what he was promised.
Grayson waited three days to present the damaging letter to the court. Former U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, now in private practice, tells The Independent the delay stemmed from the U.S. Attorney's Office trying to verify the allegations. Several witnesses had already testified by the time the letter was revealed. Melancon denied the defense attorneys' motion for a mistrial. He later admitted that he should have.
"Frankly … I fell on the sword in that case," Melancon said in court transcripts.
A jury convicted Mary Ann Colomb and her sons based on the testimony they heard, and the Colomb family was sent to jail while they awaited sentencing. Ironically, those few months behind bars are what eventually set the Colomb family free.
While in the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center awaiting sentencing, Sammy Davis Jr. befriended an inmate who had been transferred from Beaumont Low, a federal prison in South Texas that housed several of the witnesses who testified in Colomb-Davis. After realizing who Davis was and how he ended up in jail awaiting a lengthy prison sentence, the inmate, referred to in court documents as "John Doe," wrote a letter to the court that prompted even more scrutiny of the testimony given at trial.
"John Doe" says while at Beaumont Low, he witnessed a group of the inmates who testified in Colomb-Davis huddling over documents and reviewing pictures. His descriptions were precise enough to prompt action by the court.
"It was obvious to me that these persons and others were preparing to testify against people for something that they did not do," the anonymous inmate says. "I'm willing to testify in court about what I saw because what they did was just cold. However, I am concerned about the danger I am putting myself in, and request that the court protect me."
On Aug. 31, 2006, five months after the Colombs were found guilty, Melancon set aside the jury's verdict — a move he calls "extremely unusual."
"Had the facts ... been known to the jury when it began its deliberations ... some, and possibly all of the defendants would have been acquitted," Melancon says in his ruling. "The defendants were adversely impacted and denied their basic right to a fair trial, not a perfect trial, but a fair trial."
Melancon told the government he would allow prosecutors the chance to retry the case — but only after the government complied with his court order to investigate the practice of prison snitch testimony and report back on its impact on the criminal justice system.
Three and a half months later, the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to revisit the charges. Mary Ann Colomb and her sons were dismissed with prejudice.
When news of the Colomb family's freedom made headlines in The Daily Advertiser, then U.S. Attorney Washington publicly reiterated the government's stance, telling the daily "though we continue to believe these defendants were, in fact, trafficking drugs, we have decided not to pursue the case because of witness issues."
That's a stark contrast to Mary Ann Colomb's account of what Washington told her in 2008 when she met him while with Bean at a town hall meeting in Bunkie. She confirms that Bean's blog was accurate when he recalled the following conversation between Washington and Mary Ann Colomb:
"I'm sorry ma'am," Washington says, "but you look awfully familiar. Have we met?"
"No, Mr. Washington," Ann responds. "We haven't met. I was the woman you put in jail for dealing drugs."
"Oh, Mrs. Colomb," he says. "I am so sorry about what happened to you and your family. And I want you to know that the men who lied about you and your sons are being punished to the full extent of the law."
While not disputing the account, Washington now says his words to Mary Ann Colomb were more a courteous gesture than an apology. "I didn't apologize for my office indicting her and her sons," he says. "The United States decided not to re-pursue the case. We could have, but decided not to — for reasons that are not going to be publicly known for a long time."
Washington says inmate Anderson, who failed to deliver on his paid-for promise to his former cell mate Quinn Alex, received additional prison time for his actions.
None of the witnesses who testified against the Colombs were ever punished for their alleged Colomb-Davis sharing scheme, though several of those witnesses were set to testify in another drug conspiracy case, U.S. v. Winters, which followed the Colomb-Davis sequence.
Melancon was presiding over that case, too, and told former Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Clemons that the court needed some very specific information about the 20-40 inmates he planned to call. Before they could testify, Melancon first wanted to know what each of the inmates had been convicted of, where they had been imprisoned and when each of the inmates served time.
That list was never given to the judge because Clemons left the U.S. Attorney's Office amid the case to pursue private practice. The conspiracy charges were eventually dismissed, but the defendants were later recharged and convicted. Bean, however, shared letters he obtained during the first Winters case that proved information-sharing in prison was still a popular way to shorten sentences.
"Honey, see if you can get Melba to get a picture of these people here," says one letter from an unidentified federal prisoner that Bean received, in part thanks to the girlfriend of the prisoner who grew a conscience about helping to convict innocent people. "I hope she can do it with just they name ... send me their picture ASAP. That's my free-flying tickets!!" The five names listed at the end of the inmate's letter include Perry Leday, one of the men indicted in U.S. v. Winters.
In response to the court's request for an investigation into snitch witnesses, Washington says he sent other prosecutors from the Western District to various prisons to study the issue. Their conclusion, he says, is that prosecutors under his watch were no longer going to rely solely on the testimony of inmates.
For Clemons, incarcerated witnesses exemplify one "inherent problem" in a federal criminal system that relies on convicts, most of whom are criminals by their own admission.
"Guidelines and criminal code dictate stiff sentences," Clemons says. "To get that sentence reduced, they have to cooperate. The government has to be on guard. Especially in the drug cases, the entire system is designed for people to feel pressured to cooperate with the government."
Despite the forged relationship between prosecutors and prisoners and the general assumption that a jury should be able to decipher the truth, Clemons says it's still the duty of a federal prosecutor to perform due diligence in determining the veracity of their testimony.
"I would never call a witness that I didn't believe was telling the truth," Clemons says. "Prosecutors want to verify and need to verify that the information is credible."
|Former U.S. Attorney Donald Washington
Grayson's tactics in Wyatt's case and his use of snitch testimony in both the Colomb-Davis and Wyatt cases paint a dark portrait of the feds' role here at home, one that, based on these two conspiracy indictments, has clouded the judicial process with questionable acts and tunnel vision in the name of justice.
Washington argues that it's just not that simple. And it's not. According to Eric Sterling, who served as legal adviser to the congressional committees that enacted extensive federal drug reform laws in the 1980s, the "tough on drugs" political game that erupted 25 years ago created haphazard statutes that have tripled the number of inmates in federal prisons nationwide. In an interview published on PBS' website, Sterling says mandatory minimum sentence laws, which are based on the amount of drugs the government can prove was involved, were passed with the intention of putting away high-level drug traffickers, but the calculations were done with no input from judges, the bureau of prisons or the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled that judges have a little leeway when it comes to mandatory minimums, but the federal Sentencing Guidelines are used as a foundation to determine the punishment. And as for "conspiracy," Sterling says the word was added to the massive drug bill in another attempt to target big-time dealers by making "everyone in a conspiracy liable for every act of the conspiracy."
"One result of the conspiracy amendment is that low-level traffickers can get very long sentences. They can also be the victims of lies by codefendants who have figured out how to cut a deal and manipulate the sentencing laws to their advantage," Sterling says in the PBS interview. "High-level traffickers often get lower sentences than Congress anticipated. Only 10 percent of all the federal drug cases are high level traffickers ... You have drugless drug cases. You don't need powder; all you need is the witness to say, 'I saw a kilo.' DEA agents and assistant U.S. attorneys are misusing the statute. They're doing it because it's easy. These are the easiest cases to prosecute. Families are wrecked. Children are orphaned. Taxpayers are paying a fortune."
And while the case of Mike Wyatt — who faces a lengthy prison sentence for doing his life's work — may just localize a nationwide need for criminal justice reform, Washington admits that if the accusations against Grayson in his prosecution of Wyatt are correct, it's a problem.
"There are occasions when [a federal prosecutor] steps out of line and he has to be brought out," Washington says. "Are they all perfect? No. Are most of them pretty damn good? You bet. Are most of them pretty damn fair? You bet. Brett's personality is not always appreciated by the federal judiciary. As a result, there is sometimes a bit of acrimony that has to be attended to. When there were problems, appropriate steps were taken to remedy the problem. The sanctions are private. You're not going to have any company standing on their steps saying we just fired Amy or Melinda or whoever, or we just sent her home for two weeks. Those don't occur publicly unless there's a reason or statute requiring that they do occur publicly."
The "acrimony" Grayson caused Mary Ann Colomb, who claims she was wrongfully and maliciously prosecuted by Grayson and the federal government, is outlined in a lawsuit she filed against the government in 2008. She's seeking damages for the turmoil that ensued because of the federal charges and jail time, but a U.S. district court judge has already ruled that she can't seek civil relief from Grayson.
As a federal prosecutor, an official of the court, Grayson has absolute immunity, a court precedent that protects federal prosecutors from civil suits to ensure their actions within the court are not done to protect themselves from monetary damages.
"Withholding exculpatory evidence from the defense, knowingly allowing perjured testimony, preparing to initiate a judicial proceeding, presenting evidence in support of a search warrant, and even introducing misleading evidence into a proceeding are all activities which fall squarely within the immunity," says the court's ruling that dismissed Grayson from the lawsuit.
Federal investigators, however, are only granted qualified immunity, and DEA Agent Jerry Stutes, as lead investigator of the Colomb-Davis case, has not been dismissed from the civil lawsuit. The case is pending.
A trial date has not been set for Mary Ann Colomb's civil action. But the charges she faced for five years can never be brought on her again.
Meanwhile, back on Jefferson Street, Mike Wyatt spends almost every waking hour doing what he loves — customizing cars — despite a very uncertain future.
And B&M Auto Sound and 4x4, the business he has poured into for more than 10 years? The feds are trying to take that, too. If convicted, Wyatt's business assets are up for grabs by the government, which by law is able to seize all property involved in drug crimes. The proceeds from federal asset seizures are divided among all the agencies that investigated the case, including local law enforcement.
It's a "powerful incentive" for the feds to seize property, says Sterling, now the head of a criminal justice reform foundation. "Even in unmerited cases."
For more local coverage on the civil side of wrongful federal prosecutions, check out The Independent's web exclusive account of one man's fight to regain more than $5 million dollars in lost income and legal fees for a federal environmental indictment that reads more like a soap opera than a criminal case.
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Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration will use $130 million in patchwork financing from a tax amnesty program, insurance settlement, uninsured motorist penalties and other excess funds to close most of the state's midyear budget deficit.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu said she disagrees with President Barack Obama's actions on immigration, hoping the latest controversy doesn't worsen her campaign difficulties.
NOV 25 Here's a link to the petition that has been created to save Zeus, a family dog who is targeted for death by the learned fathers of the Avoyelles Parish village of Moreauville. They passed an ordinance based on nothing that outlaws pit bulls and Rotweillers. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had more than 230,000 signatures - a number that's a wee bit higher than the village population of 929.
NOV 25 Blogger Tom Aswell is writing about the latest in a federal lawsuit against Du Pont that claims the chemical company's Ascension Parish plant has been leaking toxic fumes on a regular basis for years without reporting it. The company is asking the court to prevent the plaintiff from talking about a fatal toxic leak that happened in Texas, Tom writes.
NOV 25 Louisiana Democrats are limping, but don't count them out, Jeremy Alford writes in this post on LaPolitics. They've come back before; but the one thing the D's can't do is just twiddle their thumbs while waiting for the pendulum to swing left, Alford opines. They need to rebuild and rebrand, he says.
NOV 25 Blogger Mike Deshotels offers this primer on predatory charter schools and how they operate, specifically in Louisiana. They're not just profiting from our tax dollars, they're using children and shortchanging them to do so, Deshotels says.
NOV 25 Blogger Rod Dreher is writing about the increasing number of retail establishments who are open on Thanksgiving in this post. He's got a list of stores that will be open and a list of stores that won't.
NOV 25 Edwin Edwards took off the gloves on Monday, this post on WAFB tells us. At a Press Club appearance, he wondered how his 6th Congressional District opponent, Garret Graves, could be an expert in all the areas in which he claims to be - when he has no college degree in anything. (Five years - FIVE YEARS - in college, but no degree. Huh?)
NOV 25 This story in the LSU Reveille assures students that the Jindal administration's removal of millions from the TOPS fund won't affect students. Oh, ah. K. Is that like the raid on the OGB wasn't going to affect state employees? Who is the adviser for this paper?
NOV 25 Apparently the Jindal administration can't handle old folks, either. This post on The Advocate outlines a legislative auditor's report critical of the administration's handling (or not handling) of the state agency that oversees services for the elderly.
NOV 24 Blogger Bob Mann is blogging about race and the Senate campaign in this post. Sure, everybody knows that Mary Landrieu doesn't do too well with white folks, but how come the GOP can't get arrested in the black community? Bob is asking.
NOV 24 The GOP has a boogie-man for anybody thinking about voting for Mary Landrieu: President Obama. But the Dems have one for Bill Cassidy, too, Melinda Deslatte writes in this AP post on The Reading Eagle -- and his name is Governor Jindal.
NOV 24 Columnist Stephanie Grace is writing about Bobby Jindal's continuing refusal to accept federal funding for the expansion of Medicaid. It's purely an attempt to benefit him politically, meaning the decision is "cruel, short-sighted and remarkably self-centered." Well, yeah. Have you met him?
NOV 24 Because of a town ordinance, the police will come to a disabled girl's home this week to take away her service dog and kill him. Sound like a bad Lifetime movie? Nope - it's real life in Moreauville, blogger Lamar White Jr. tells us in this post. The dog's crime? Being born a pit bull. What's the reason for this ordinance? Well, the town fathers are a little vague on that one. Maybe Obama?


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Congress Recommends Cuts to Poverty-Focused Development Assistance Funding
Recently, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees passed their annual funding legislation for the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other related agencies, known as the State-Foreign Operations (SFOPs) bill.
Each year, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees meet to determine funding levels for vital programs that affect hungry people here in the United States and abroad. On the international front, Bread for the World specifically follows the parts of the budget known as poverty-focused development assistance (PFDA) accounts, which includes funding for various programs related to food and nutrition security, global health, basic education, water and sanitation, maternal and child care, refugee assistance, and emergency humanitarian response, to name just a few.
While the House and Senate decided to recommend the same overall funding level for PFDA programs ($21.9 billion), this funding is slightly lower than current levels ($22.3 billion). Both the House and Senate made recommendations to cut global health programs, which includes funding for maternal and child health, nutrition, family planning, vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis, and tropical diseases, and HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
The Senate specifically approved a $100 million cut to Feed the Future. In the House, a 21 percent cut to International Organizations and Programs was also made. Funding in this account is used to support U.S contributions to international organizations like the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program.
Thanks in large part to Bread for the World members and their advocacy efforts, we have helped prevent even more severe cuts from being recommended, but we continue to call on Congress to provide additional funding for PFDA programs before finalizing funding levels for the next fiscal year.
Additional resources will help us support humanitarian aid efforts in places in conflict like Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Looking beyond emergency aid, we hope to not backtrack on the many investments we have made to long-term development programs over the years, such as with child survival.
These programs save lives. Due in part to American commitments, the number of deaths of children under five has dropped by half since 1990. In the past 12 years alone, 700,000 fewer children have died from pneumonia, 300,000 fewer children from malaria, and 100,000 fewer children from AIDS.
As these children grow into adults, their survival has the potential to translate into even greater stories of improved economic and social well-being, with benefits felt far beyond their households and country borders—even back on American shores. Congress must continue its vital role in ensuring this becomes a reality by increasing PFDA funding levels in the upcoming fiscal year.
Posted by Bread on July 07, 2014 in Foreign Aid, Global Hunger, Hunger and the U.S. Budget / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
Helping Neighbors in Need Is an Act of God
Producing High Quality Seeds (USAID).
We often use the phrase "an act of God" to describe natural catastrophes. Would it not be more appropriate, however, to refer to the work we do to mitigate hunger before and after disaster hits as an act of God? In the United States, we have a set of programs categorized as poverty-focused development assistance (PFDA) that is doing just that. When we help our neighbors build resilience against future crises in poor countries, we are acting out God's compassion for humanity.
Recent reports on climate change indicate we are facing an increase in global food-insecurity, which makes programs that build resilience even more critical. Currently, both chambers of Congress are writing spending bills that determine fiscal year 2015 funding for foreign assistance. The Senate plan could cut funding by 7 percent from current base funding levels.Such cuts would hinder our ability to continue making progress against worldwide hunger.
In "Morality of preparation," a piece published in The Hill this week, Rev. John L. McCullough, president and CEO of Church World Service, and Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, urge Congress to fund programs at levels comparable to, or higher than, those enacted in the previous year. They also call funding foreign assistance a moral imperative.
"We don't believe there is a choice here," they write. "How can we stomach the desperate looks on children's faces and refuse to help when we know we are able?" McCullough and Beckmann stress that advocates must reach out to Congress and show their support for foreign assistance. "Each of us, citizens and elected representatives, reflect the priorities of this great nation and among the most important is hope and compassion for all God's children."
U.S. programs addressing long-term solutions to poverty have been instrumental in making progress against global hunger over the last decade. The reduction in child mortality rates are evidence that smart nutrition investments work. Increases in global literacy rates are a result of injecting aid into primary-school education.
These small investments have huge returns. Increases in a country's literacy rate correlate with increases in its economic productivity. Sixty years ago, South Korea, now an example of the power of effective aid, was one of the world's poorest countries. U.S. foreign assistance helped South Korea become Asia's fourth-largest economy, as well as a major consumer of U.S. goods.
In May 2009, a cyclone devastated Bangladesh. In the village of Sutarkhali, Mohammad Mofizul Islam Gazi saw his livelihood disappear when the small plot on which he grew rice to support his family was ruined. "Cyclone Aila nailed the last pin in the coffin," he tells USAID Frontlines. "There was nothing left." In 2012, as the village was struggling with malnutrition, a U.S. funded program supplied Gazi and other farmers with a special rice seed that could withstand future cyclones. Today, the community produces 50 percent more rice than before the disaster.
In urging our members of Congress to fully fund PFDA, we are moving toward the sacred vision of a world where everyone has enough. Helping neighbors escape hunger and poverty – helping when we are able – is a true act of God.
Posted by Rstephenson on May 30, 2014 in Climate Change, Development, Foreign Aid, Hunger and the U.S. Budget / Comments (1) / TrackBack (0)
Ryan Budget Threatens International Programs that Save Lives
Children inside a classroom at Za'atri refugee camp, host to tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by conflict, near Mafraq, Jordan. (UN Photo/Mark Garten)
By Alyssa Casey
Since the crisis in Syria began more than three years ago, nearly 9.5 million people—almost half of Syria's population—have fled their homes. More than 2.5 million Syrian refugees have relocated to neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq. Their needs—for shelter, food, medical care, education, and employment opportunities—are great. At this critical time, what Syrians do not need is reduced support and assistance from the international community, including the United States. Unfortunately, under the budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), this would likely be the case.
Ryan's fiscal year 2015 budget resolution, released this week, proposes deep cuts to programs that provide relief to those affected by conflict in Syria, and other parts of the world. Ryan's proposal cuts the International Affairs budget by a devastating 11 percent. As the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition points out, this funding level would mean a 24 percent decrease in the total International Affairs budget since 2010.
We all acknowledge the current tough fiscal environment, but we cannot let the poor and hungry bear the largest burden during these difficult times, as they so often do. As Bread for the World has previously noted, sequestration has already cut funding for life-saving international efforts, such as child and maternal health and international food aid. Now is not the time for additional cuts.
The International Affairs budget funds poverty-focused development assistance programs that provide emergency relief to those affected by conflict and disasters, saving countless lives. Last month, the World Food Program reported that food aid is now reaching previously inaccessible areas of Syria, providing much-needed relief to tens of thousands. The U.S. Agency for International Development helps fund critical programs that provide immediate needs such as food, water, shelter, and vaccinations to Syrian refugees. This funding also achieves longer-term goals such as education, psychological care, and job training to help refugees rebuild their lives.
Unfortunately, Syria is not unique. Crisis and conflict continue to fan the flames of hunger and poverty in South Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, and other countries across the globe. Fortunately, we can help. As a nation, we must continue to offer life-saving assistance, and as individuals, we must continue to urge our members of Congress to support robust funding levels for international humanitarian and poverty-focused development accounts.
At a time when U.S. foreign assistance is saving lives every day, we cannot risk the progress that has been made by abandoning the funding that makes it possible. Rep. Ryan's budget resolution is not the solution.
Alyssa Casey is a government relations intern at Bread for the World.
Posted by Bread on April 03, 2014 in Food Aid, Foreign Aid, Hunger and the U.S. Budget, Poverty / Comments (2) / TrackBack (0)
A Gem Worth More than $800 Million
Here in Washington, D.C., safely secured in a Smithsonian museum, is the supposedly cursed — but still famous — Hope Diamond, valued as high as $350 million. But today there is a newer gem in the capital city, worth even more. This gem is buried in the thousands of pages and in the trillions of dollars that comprise the fiscal year 2014 federal budget and is a victory for Bread for the World and its members.
Despite gradual cuts to the overall international affairs budget in the last three years, poverty-focused development assistance (PFDA) accounts grew in FY 2014 by more than $800 million. In fact, PFDA funding has steadily increased over the past few years. This year, Congress appropriated more than $24.1 billion for PFDA programs, adding $800 million since last year.
The increases come at a time when Congress has been trying to cut the federal budget. We would not have been able to keep a circle of protection – much less increase it – were it not for the persistent advocacy of Bread members and partners.
In general, the dollar amounts for PFDA funding have more than tripled since FY 2000. Despite these increases, the overall PFDA funding by the United States still stands at less than one cent for every dollar the government spends.
Bread measures poverty-focused development assistance by examining the International Affairs Budget of the U.S. government (called the 150 Account). In addition, we include appropriations for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture Departments. They include funding for such programs as the Millennium Challenge Account, the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative, Enterprise for the Americas, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Food for Peace Program, and the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program.
Photo: Khato Rana plays with her daughter Rita, 2, at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Home in Dhangadhi, Nepal. The facility, run by Nepali NGO Rural Women's Development Unity Center (RUWDUC), restores malnourished children back to health. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)
Posted by Bread on February 17, 2014 in Foreign Aid, Hunger and the U.S. Budget / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
#StopTheMyth That the U.S. Sends All Its Money Overseas
Watch Bill Nye, the Science Guy, dispel more poverty myths in this short Gates Foundation video.
By Robin Stephenson
Three facts:
- The United States does not send "all" of its money overseas.
- We invest a small amount of our budget in international poverty-focused development assistance (PFDA) programs.
- That investment does not increase poverty in America.
Programs categorized as poverty-focused development assistance, or PFDA, help alleviate hunger and poverty abroad, and also support trade, national security, and job creation here in the United States.
In the fiscal year 2014 budget spending bill, overall PFDA got a modest boost over last year's funding levels, although some programs saw reductions. The increase is good news, but PFDA remains mired in misunderstanding, where the general public is concerned. PFDA myths must be debunked in order to support continued investments in global hunger and poverty reduction.
One PFDA myth I've previously written about was recently addressed by Joe Cerrell of the Gates Foundation on Devex, in the piece, "It's our responsibility to #stopthemyth on foreign aid." Cerrell, like most anti-hunger advocates, has defended PFDA investment in response to the false belief that we send all our money overseas while America's poor go without. It's simply not true.
Cerrell thinks the myth's persistence is due to public misunderstanding of the size of overseas investment and what it provides. In a recent survey, a large number of Americans said they believe 28 percent of the U.S. budget goes to foreign aid, which is a gross inflation of the actual number. PFDA comprises less than one percent of the federal budget, and has a tremendous impact.
With benchmarks such as the Millennium Development Goals and program design that includes country participation and partnership, more progress was made against hunger and poverty in the 2000s than during any other decade in history. With smart investments, we will continue to see a global exodus from hunger — unless we pit domestic and international investments against one another and reduce PFDA funding.
"Quite simply," Cerrell writes on Devex, "if 1 percent of the budget was redirected back to domestic issues in a donor country, it would only be a drop in the bucket — but invested in the developing world, it is helping to spur historic progress and prosperity."
In our churches and communities, faithful advocates must remove the shroud of misunderstanding surrounding PFDA. A study commissioned by Bread for the World in 2013 makes it clear that ending world hunger is something Americans care about. In fact, 37 percent of Americans think the U.S. government is doing too little to end hunger in developing countries around the world. Only one in five of those polled believe we are doing too much.
"Americans want to help their brothers and sisters end hunger, and become self-sufficient," said Rev. David Beckmann at the time of the study's release. "Congress should embody and reflect this compassionate spirit as it deliberates on our federal budget."
As we move forward in addressing 2015 funding levels for PFDA, we must focus on development assistance programs in particular. Through faithful advocacy, we can ensure these programs are robustly supported, thereby ensuring thousands of people throughout the world have the opportunity to enjoy a more prosperous future.
Robin Stephenson is Bread for the World's national lead for social media and senior organizer, Western hub.
Posted by Rstephenson on February 04, 2014 in Development, Foreign Aid / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
Investing in Foreign Aid Puts Food on U.S. Tables
Produce from 1 in 3 acres on American farms is exported to foreign consumers. Of the top 50 consumer nations of U.S. agricultural products, 43 of those countries have been recipients of foreign assistance (Photo of a farmer in the Mississippi Delta by Todd Post).
By Robin Stephenson
As an anti-hunger advocate, I often hear this sentiment: "We should not be sending all our money overseas when people are hungry here." This statement sets up a false one-or-the-other scenario: the fact is, in proportion to our overall budget, we send very little money overseas to help hungry people. That little bit does a tremendous amount of good— it invests in peace and goodwill, promotes trade and job creation at home and abroad, and saves lives. What that investment doesn't do is take food off of American tables.
I wasn't surprised to read about a new Kaiser Poll, mentioned on the WonkBlog last month, reporting that Americans believe that about 28 percent of our budget is spent on foreign aid. I often conduct a similar poll when I speak in churches. The responses I get usually range from 15–50 percent. Jaws drop in shock when I tell audiences that the international affairs budget comprises about 1 percent of our federal budget, and aid for poverty-focused development assistance (PFDA) is half of that.
I asked Bread's international policy analyst, Beth Ann Saracco, how she responds when presented with the "either-or" scenario. "When the argument is made that we must choose between feeding our fellow Americans and our brothers and sisters abroad, clearly we fail as a people morally," she said. "But equally as important, we are choosing short-sighted public policy, as well, which gravely threatens America's economic and national security interests, both in the short and long term."
PFDA has helped cut extreme poverty in half over the past decade. But knowing what foreign aid does isn't always enough to deter its detractors from pitting international against domestic investments — a false choice that shows a lack of understanding about the root causes of poverty and hunger. PFDA is an investment that helps the U.S. economy. The best defense against hunger is a good job, and jobs that help put food on American tables are often directly, or indirectly, tied to the global economy.
Businesses rely on consumers to buy their products, and owners add to their workforce as demand increases. Ninety percent of consumers live outside of the United States, and one in three manufacturing jobs depends on exports. Farmers need foreign consumers—one in three acres of their produce is exported. Of the top 50 consumer nations of American agricultural products, 43 of those countries have been recipients of foreign assistance. Statistics show fifty percent of our domestic exports currently go to developing nations. These numbers show that the vitality of the U.S. job market requires foreign consumers, and foreign assistance helps build a foundation for the development of future trade partners.
Since 2010, foreign aid has been reduced by 19 percent. These cuts to PFDA jeopardize the lives of our brothers and sisters abroad and our economic stability at home. As Congress continues to work on a 2014 budget deal, we must tell our representatives and senators to protect poverty focused foreign assistance for the good of all.
Robin Stephenson is national social media lead and senior regional organizer, western hub, at Bread for the World.
Posted by Rstephenson on December 06, 2013 in 2013 Offering of Letters, Foreign Aid / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
A Window of Opportunity
As Congress uses a vote on a continuing resolution as a political football and a possible government shutdown looms, there are important anti-hunger issues at stake. This video, "The Power of a 1,000 Days," is a reminder of the potential children hold for the future when they are given the opportunity to thrive. We could lose ground on the strides that have been made toward ending global malnutrition if the sequester is not replaced. The partisan conversation will likely continue as Congress debates the debt ceiling in mid-October, so every opportunity to remind our legislators that ending hunger must be part of the debate is critical.
If passed, the continuing resolution would keep the government running through mid-December, but the automatic across-the-board cuts of sequestration would not be replaced. In the next year, sequestration will mean:
- More than 570,000 children in developing countries will be denied nutritional interventions during their first 1,000 days of development. These interventions save lives and help prevent the irreversible damage caused by malnutrition.
- Roughly 2 million people around the world will experience reduced or denied access to lifesaving food aid.
The 1,000 days from the start of a woman's pregnancy through her child's second birthday offer a unique window of opportunity to shape healthier and more prosperous futures. Similarly, we have a window of opportunity that we can use to tell Congress funding food aid must be a priority.
As the video states, "malnutrition robs children of the ability to grow, learn, and thrive." Will our members of Congress forget the children in the din of political rhetoric this week? Or will the 870 million malnourished children worldwide who can be helped by simple and small investments in targeted nutrition be remembered? It's up to us to remind them.
Use our toll-free number, 800-826-3688, to be connected to the Capitol switchboard, or send an email.
In June, with Concern Worldwide, The Bread for the World Institute co-hosted the event Sustaining Political Commitments to Scaling Up Nutrition. A report of the summary and highlights in now available online.
Posted by Rstephenson on September 26, 2013 in 2013 Offering of Letters, Foreign Aid, Global Hunger, International Food Aid, Sequestration / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
Sequestration Threatens Lifesaving Food Aid
Tohomina Akter attempts to feed her daughter Adia, 17 months, in Char Baria village, Barisal, Bangladesh, on Thursday, April 19, 2012. Tohomina finished 7th grade and hopes she can help educate her daughter to be a doctor. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)
"The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little." (2 Corinthians 8:15).
Famine is difficult for Americans to truly understand. Although poverty rates in the United States have surged with the Great Recession, programs like SNAP have helped put food on the table for those who have been hit the hardest. But famine — a perversion of God's vision for humanity in the midst of global abundance – slowly and painfully withers life in the wake of human and natural disasters. For people who live in the world's poorest countries, the safety net is often weak or nonexistent.
Both the Old and New Testaments show a special concern for the poor; God's people are called to change the systems that create poverty. Amos 5 tells us that we also are called to respond immediately to the groaning at the gates—an outcry exemplified by hunger. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul understood that the Christian call included responding to the need in Macedonia with a generosity that crossed borders (2 Corinthians 8-9).
Today, that humanitarian assistance often comes in the form of U.S. food aid and programs administered by USDA and USAID. For more than 50 years, U.S. generosity has saved lives. In fiscal year 2010, the United States spent about $1.5 billion on emergency food aid that benefitted about 46.5 million people in poor countries.
In 2011, famine in Somalia led to the death of more than 250,000 people in Southern Somalia, but many survived because of food aid and global generosity. Although rains and lowered food prices have helped, security issues still plague the region and continued vigilance on the part of the international community is vital. IRIN reports that an estimated 870,000 will need food assistance by December of this year.
As we have previously reported, the crisis is regional and the Horn of Africa has the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world. Programs targeting the nutritional needs of nursing mothers and infants are working. Last week, the UN reported that Ethiopia has reduced by two-thirds its child mortality rate, which is the rate of infants and children who die before age 5.
The less than 1 percent of our budget that is invested in poverty-focused development assistance is saving lives and helping us answer our faithful call to love our neighbors, regardless of borders. The investments, however, are being diminished by sequestration, the automatic and indiscriminate budget cuts currently in place. If these cuts aren't replaced by a balanced approach, sequestration will deny nutritional interventions to 57,000 children and deny or reduce food aid to 2 million people. Congress must take action.
Congress is facing some big choices this week—lives are at stake. Ask your senators and representative to pass a responsible budget that provides robust funding for international poverty-focused development assistance programs and puts an end to sequestration. Use our toll-free number, 800-826-3688, to be connected to the Capitol switchboard, or send an email.
Posted by Rstephenson on September 18, 2013 in 2013 Offering of Letters, Action Alert, Foreign Aid, Global Hunger, Horn of Africa, International Food Aid / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
Cuts Cost Lives: Nutrition Funding in Danger
Khato Rana plays with her daughter Rita, 2, at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Home in Dhangadhi, Nepal. The facility, run by Nepali NGO Rural Women's Development Unity Center (RUWDUC), restores malnourished children back to health (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World).
That four in 10 Nepali children are stunted because of malnutrition is outrageous. We have the knowledge to solve widespread malnutrition — but will we?
The 2013 Offering of Letters video "Malnutrition is Everywhere" shows targeted investments in nutrition work. The short video, shot at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Home (NRH) in Dhangadhi, Nepal tells a story of hope. Nutrition interventions result in positive outcomes for mothers and their children in the first 1,000 days between pregnancy and age 2.
"Within a month or so, you can see the change in a child,"said Pinky Singh Rana, board member at the Rural Women's Development Unity Center. "You can see the positive attitude of the mothers in how seeing a child who had almost died overcoming that. It's really a such a satisfying feeling for us also."
The NRH and organizations like it are saving lives and helping children reach their full potential with support from U.S. development assistance. Each year, 3 million children die from causes related to malnutrition and 165 million suffer from its consequences. Food aid, currently in danger of severe cuts, not only mitigates and prevents hunger but also shows that our nation values children all over the world—something Christians strongly believe.
Food aid does more than just save lives; it's an investment in a stable and peaceful future. In the briefing paper "Sustaining U.S. Leadership and Investments in Scaling Up Maternal and Child Nutrition," senior foreign policy analyst Scott Bleggi writes, "There is solid evidence that demonstrates that improving nutrition – particularly early in life, in the 1,000 days between a women's pregnancy and a child's second birthday, has a profound impact on a country's long-term economic development and stability."
Progress on improving nutrition for vulnerable children like those in Nepal would be undermined if proposals to slash food aid become law. In the House version of the farm bill, food aid would be cut by $2.5 billion dollars. The Senate version would reform the food aid program, making it more flexible and able to reach more vulnerable mothers and infants in the first 1,000 days.
Sequestration is also chipping away at global anti-hunger programs. This year has already seen a $1 billion cut to poverty-focused development assistance (PFDA) because of these automatic across-the-board cuts. A recent appropriations bill approved in the House would further slash PFDA by a devastating 26 percent.
Our nation's leaders have an opportunity to make history with small investments in anti-hunger programs – PFDA comprises less than 1 percent of the federal budget. Reforms to food aid could save even more lives. But, Congress needs motivation. They need to hear from their constituents that investing in human lives is a priority. During the month of August, reach out to your members of Congress and let them know that cuts can and do cost lives.
Posted by Rstephenson on August 14, 2013 in 1,000 Days, 2013 Offering of Letters, Foreign Aid, Global Hunger, International Food Aid / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
Recap: July Grassroots Conference Call and Webinar
Pastor Charlotte Schmiedeskamp of Thompson Falls, Mont., talks about proposed SNAP cuts and sequestration during a visit with her member of Congress during Bread for the World's June 2013 Lobby Day in Washington, D.C. (Robin Stephenson)
July and August offer plenty of opportunities to talk about hunger and poverty with your members of Congress.
Yesterday, during Bread for the World's monthly grassroots conference call and webinar, members of our policy and organizing staff emphasized that it is important to act now. Director of government relations Eric Mitchell encouraged advocates to take advantage of in-district meetings and town halls during the August recess, a time when members of Congress return to their home districts. "This is the time they need to hear from constituents," Mitchell said. "After August, things will move fast."
Bread staffers reviewed the last six months and also looked ahead to what may transpire between now and the end of the year. The bottom line: your phone calls make a difference and will continue to be needed.
Noting that the media has largely ignored the effects of sequestration on vulnerable people, Bread policy analyst Amelia Kegan said, "We know if it's not front page news, it doesn't mean it's not happening and isn't important—if Congress doesn't hear from you, they won't think it's a problem." Kegan went on to point out that a long-term replacement of the sequester is unlikely at this point, but a short-term fix is still possible this fall, especially as more defense spending cuts take their toll. The question moving forward is how Congress will choose to replace the spending cuts—whether they decide to cut programs like SNAP or taking a balanced approach that includes increased revenues may depend on the pressure that anti-hunger advocates put on their lawmakers.An examination of recent House farm bill activity showed that two wrongs don't make a right. The first draft of the bill, which included $20.5 billion in cuts to SNAP, failed in a floor vote. The version of the bill that the House passed last week does not include the title that authorizes the SNAP program. SNAP will continue to operate at existing levels under current rules and can still be included in a conference with the Senate farm bill (which cuts the program by $4.1 billion). But, as policy analyst Christine Melendez-Ashley cautioned, the way forward for the nutrition title is not yet clear, and that leaves the SNAP vulnerable to cuts in both the farm bill and the appropriations process.
Staff members also provided an update on the latest threats to international food aid, which delivers emergency assistance to hungry people overseas. House proposals in the farm bill and spending bills would slash the program. The Foreign Assistance Transparency and Accountability Act, introduced in the House by a bi-partisan group of representatives, was also discussed.
Mitchell also stressed that Bread members must put pressure on their representatives to craft a comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a path to citizenship. The Senate passed a comprehensive bill late last month, but is in unclear how the House will come up with a comprehensive bill or a piecemeal approach to reform.
The next monthly conference call and webinar will be held on Sept. 17.
Posted by Rstephenson on July 17, 2013 in 2013 Offering of Letters, Farm Bill, Foreign Aid, Hunger and the U.S. Budget, Immigration, International Food Aid, SNAP / Comments (0) / TrackBack (0)
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announcing the follow-up to the 2012 action-RPG last month, Almost Human's Petri Häkkinen mentioned a "big engine update," and that looks to have gone into something very outdoorsy. Check out a larger 1080p sample here.
Last week, Häkkinen revealed some of the rejected ideas for Legend of Grimrock 2, namely a roguelike amalgamated with the first game's ethos, and, more pertinently, a much more exploration-based game in the outside of the Northern Realms. Grimrock's world. However, Häkkinen noted that Almost Human believes the charm of Grimrock is "compactness, tight focus and emphasis on fun core gameplay."
Based on that, it sounds like Grimrock 2 isn't going to deviate too far from the first game's style, but it looks like it may offer a bit more fresh air.
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POWER HAWK Technologies
Getac Rugged Notebooks
WatchGuard Video
Sun Ridge Systems Inc.
Code 3, Inc.
By Graeme Roberts Just-Auto Global News
New rear drive Chevrolet Caprice police patrol vehicles will be available again from April 2011 for the first time since GM discontinued its full-size body-on-frame Caprice in 1996. This time, the design is unibody and Holden will build the cars in Australia.
Full story:
Video: Chevy releases details on the 2011 Caprice cruiser


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Alright, who has a forest that needs some work? I am equipped and ready.
Video Game Character Regrets
Staying Home on Black Friday Was a Good Choice
Misogyny in Video Games
That Kid Has Their Priorities Straight
Explaining the Bible in One Easy Image
Get Your First Look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Why Do You Run?
What You Rarely See When Cool Guys Walk Away From Explosions
It Doesn't Get Any Clearer Than This
Super Cut of the Day: Black Friday Shopping Chaos
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Brooklyn Nets
Print without images
Saturday, March 15, 2014
W2W4: Nets at Wizards
By Mike Mazzeo
WASHINGTON -- The
Brooklyn Nets
will try to wrap up an impressive week with a 3-0 record when they face the
Washington Wizards
on Saturday night at Verizon Center. Here's what we'll be watching for:
The Nets (33-30) beat the Atlantic Division-leading
Toronto Raptors
on Monday at home, then squeaked out a one-point victory over the two-time defending champion
Miami Heat
two days later at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Nets lead the Wizards (34-31) by a single percentage point (.524 to .523) for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Brooklyn is 0-2 against Washington this season.
The Nets have won seven of their past eight overall, holding their opponents to 100 points over the duration of that stretch. But in those two losses to the Wizards, they've surrendered a total of 225 points. That just can't happen if they want to win Saturday night.
The Wizards have a dynamic young backcourt in
John Wall
Bradley Beal
. As Nets coach Jason Kidd put it, Wall has been playing as well as any point guard in the NBA right now. Wall is averaging 19.6 points and 8.8 assists per game this season. Beal sprained his right ankle on Friday night in Orlando, but will start. Meanwhile,
Deron Williams
Joe Johnson
are coming off a combined 4-for-18 shooting performance in Miami. Granted, Williams did hit a huge shot in crunch time.
Kevin Garnett
will miss his eighth straight game due to back spasms.
Andrei Kirilenko
is active after missing the last two games due to a sprained right ankle.


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Thank you for your views, comments and favouritings
Right Spot – CHECK
No Boats – CHECK
Enough Cloud – CHECK
That Consistency to the Water – CHECK
Lights in varying colours – Check
Reflections on Water – Check
Run for the D300 and the tripod – DEFINITELY
Caught a range of shots on this Friday morning reached my vantage point about 5.30am. I saw these reflections and ran for the camera.
Sydney Harbour like a mill pond before the many vessels start their morning trips and disturbing it's surface. The other factor is that look to the water surface that landscape photographers might know it's like a oily look to the water that lends itself to wonderful reflective surface.
It took many shots of Sydney Harbour this morning, if, and you should have seen the sunrise that followed . WAIT ! yes i have photos of that as well.
Equipment: Manfrotto Tripod, Nikon D300 Nikon 18-200mm Lens
Technique: 5 Bracketted Exposures, Photomatix 3.2, Capure NX
See Also
Oh What A Beautiful Morning:
Phenomenal work, Philip. You truly are a master at HDR.
Looks as if a hand-colored etching, don't you think?
I think you are the real wizard of Oz.
I see what you mean, it looks so different every time. Nice work Philip …
The tones here are excellent. Love this vantage point of the Syndey Harbour. Well done. Congrats on your feature. Cheers, S.
Beautiful creation.
Wow! Awesome shot!
Amazing work!
Beautiful work
another stunning HDR Philip. Cheers Jan


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Eric Holt-Giménez: What's wrong with the industrial food system and the challenges facing food justice movements
In the industrial or corporate food regime, hunger is a staple commodity. Agrarian and food justice movements have come a long way in building an alternative system, but there are still many challenges.
We talked to Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First / Institute for Food and Development Policy, about hunger, food and agroecological alternatives, during a day-long colloquium at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, The Netherlands, on Monday 12 December 2011. The event brought together some of the world's leading radical thinkers and activists working on the issues of food and the future of farming. Speakers included Olivier de Schutter, Frances Moore Lappé, Miguel Altieri, Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, Eric Holt-Giménez, Robin Broad and Tony Weis.
Presentations addressed the following questions: How do we understand and tackle the interlinked agrarian and environmental crises? What types of policies create sustainable development that guarantees justice, equality and autonomy for poor and marginalized communities? What types of food movements have emerged and why, and with what challenges?
Video 1. How will the dominant industrial food system solve the problem of hunger?
Eric talks here about the persistent problem of hunger, and how it is a product of the industrial corporate food regime, rather than an anomaly or the result of scarcity. Since hunger, as well as environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, increasing carbon emissions and climate change are produced by this system, new ways of thinking and acting are needed to bring about real change.
Video 2. What challenges do food and farming movements face going forward?
Eric argues that real change in the food system needs to be brought about by people - the farmers, producers, consumers and communities who want equal access to healthy food and a healthy environment. There needs to be both practitioners - people who are building alternatives, and the advocates - the educators and policy researchers.
Recent publications from Agrarian Justice
Beyond the BRICS' Rhetoric: An Inquiry on South-South Land grabbing
BRICS countries' investors play an increasingly crucial role in land investments. Just as the global trend of increased interest and investment in land has led to a surge of land grabbing, BRICS investments have proved no different.
Pro-Business or Pro-Poor?
What are the potential implications for Myanmars majority rural working poor now after the unveiling of the much-awaited draft national land use policy?
Five sites of struggle and potential transformation
Corporate control of the food system in the US continues to undermine the livelihoods of farmers, farmworkers, fisherpeople, communities of color, and indigenous peoples in the US, but there are also increasing examples of community-based resistance, grassroots solidarity, and broad-based alliances that are resisting the corporate takeover.
Women Agricultural Workers
While access to waged agricultural work can bring about benefits to women, this paper aims to shed light on the discriminatory working conditions women agricultural workers endure in industries where women have traditionally constituted a significant share of the workforce.


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Im not a fighter, im a drinker. funny st patricks pub tshirt
This great custom product in black from our department Men and T-Shirt category can be printed just for you in the size and style you like. The design im a drinker 2 was created by Jamin and uploaded to Spreadshirt for you to have printed on a T-Shirt. Next to a host of other great customized designs, you can find this im a drinker 2 design in Spreadshirt's St. Patrick's Day category. If you are interested in topics like Fight or clover, then you'll love im a drinker 2 designs by Jamin. Spreadshirt also offers a huge selection of custom t-shirts, hoodies and accessories for the category St. Patrick's Day as well as top drunk clothing. Jamin's designs have already impressed many of our customers, so we are sure that we've got right stuff for you! Spreadshirt is your destination for great designs of all kinds – whether it's Fight, clover or drunk. We are sure that you will find something nice in our shop, there are many amazing custom St. Patrick's Day t-shirts, hoodies, or accessories for you to find! Tags: Design ID: 2590130
I want my site to have alot of t-shirts about sports and all the macho stuff cool designs, tribal, anciant masks, butterflies and anything else I end up drawing up.
Rollerblading, Shopping, Movies, and im a bit of a geek, but im a hot geek and have no shame. Raaw!
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Designed by Katsuhicon
Ash Flying Seagul T-Shirts Designed by jobby
Dill with it T-Shirts Designed by eat
Elf Costume T-Shirts Designed by flavored
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner T-Shirts Designed by THATSHIRTCRAY
Damn Gina Men's T-Shirt Designed by rouzdesign
White Shark T-Shirts (Short sleeve) Designed by BreakingBizzar
This relaxed fit cotton t-shirt for men has a seamless rib collar with double-needle cover-stitching, shoulder-to-shoulder taping, double-needle sleeve and bottom hem. The shirt is made from 100% pre-shrunk cotton and has a relatively light fabric weight of 5.3 oz. Light oxford is made from 99% cotton/1% polyester.
still to fill


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Related quotes
"We have to play a much more intelligent game then what we played the last three games. We've been sloppy for three straight games now and you can't hope to win at this level making those types of mistakes."
"It was our first game and it was still a little sloppy. Hopefully we'll clean that up for next week since we go on the road."
"A little sloppy at times, but we knew it was going to be a tough game. We're a team, with the tempo we play, lots of times we play in runs. We felt like we eventually could go on a run and get a pretty good lead."
"It was a pretty sloppy game. We turned it over 17 times and they turned it over 16 times. Nobody was really scoring are on fire. Both teams played good defense. It's just the free throw line that made the big difference."


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REVEALED: The Boston Marathon Bomber Twitter Account
BroBible has confirmed with more than one of his classmates that the Twitter account @j_tsar is owned by the one remaining Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev.
Some of the tweets are rather noteworthy, like these two from April 17. One is a retweet from a mufti.
Attitude can take away your beauty no matter how good looking you are or it could enhance your beauty, making you adorable.
— Mufti Ismail Menk (@muftimenk) April 17, 2013
That followed this tweet.
I'm a stress free kind of guy
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 17, 2013
Then there's this Boston Bombing related conversation.
@imrealted fake story
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
It would be interesting to see what this conversation was about.
@therealabdul_ #heavy I've been looking for those, there is a shortage on the black market if you wanna make a quick buck, nuff said..
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
Same goes for this conversation.
@mellochamp and they what "god hates dead people?" Or victims of tragedies? Lol those people are cooked
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
Here's another tweet of note.
Ain't no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
Not all of them were ominous though. This one is kind of funny.
Dreams really do come true, last night I dreamt I was eating a cheeseburger and in the afternoon today, guess what I was eating…
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 12, 2013
Most of his tweets appear to be goofy, silly tweets of the sort you'd expect from a young kid his age.
Got me a haircut, I don't usually do those
— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 13, 2013
I was gonna go for a 6am run aha I'm joking I woke up to eat some Nutella
— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 22, 2013
This kid certainly doesn't seem to fit the disconnected, socially awkward loner pattern that we've seen from people like James Holmes and Adam Lanza. He also seems to be a fan of Game of Thrones and Nutella, which again, doesn't sound like an Osama Bin Laden wannabe. So, was his brother the bad guy and was he just following along? Did he join "TEAM JIHAD" at the last moment? Is this something that he has been planning for a long time and this is all part of a carefully calculated front? We just don't have those answers yet. Hopefully in time, we'll get a fuller picture of what really happened.
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After his 20-year old son overdosed on drugs, Mike Stollings decided to post a photo of his body at the funeral home on Facebook out of grief and guilt. The...Read More
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...Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect from 7 am Wednesday to 7 am EST Thursday...
* locations...include eastern and southeastern Massachusetts as well as northern and central Rhode Island.
* Hazard types...snow.
* Accumulations...ranging around 3 to 6 inches with a trace of ice.
* Timing...rain initially beginning around daybreak changing over to a wintry mix of snow and sleet by midday into afternoon before changing to all snow by evening. Snow tapers off into Thursday morning.
* Impacts...this storm will significantly impact Holiday travel making driving dangerous at times. Visibilities in heavy snow expected to be significantly reduced to one quarter mile or less at times.
* Visibilities...one quarter mile or less at times.
* Winds...north 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
A Winter Weather Advisory is issued when snow and/or ice is forecast to develop in the affected areas...but accumulations are expected to be light. Any snow or ice would result in slippery conditions on untreated roadways and sidewalks. When temperatures are below freezing...motorists need to be especially careful on bridges and overpasses where slippery spots can easily develop.
For the latest updates...please visit our webpage at www.Weather.Gov/Boston
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text: Strict Standards: Redefining already defined constructor for class XML_Parser in /home/sites/www.americanpoems.com/web/store/aom/includes/os.php on line 1188 Strict Standards: Declaration of XML_Parser::raiseError() should be compatible with PEAR::raiseError($message = NULL, $code = NULL, $mode = NULL, $options = NULL, $userinfo = NULL, $error_class = NULL, $skipmsg = false) in /home/sites/www.americanpoems.com/web/store/aom/includes/os.php on line 1604 Strict Standards: Declaration of XML_Unserializer::startHandler() should be compatible with XML_Parser::startHandler($xp, $elem, &$attribs) in /home/sites/www.americanpoems.com/web/store/aom/includes/os.php on line 3503 Strict Standards: Declaration of Cache_Lite_File::get() should be compatible with Cache_Lite::get($id, $group = 'default', $doNotTestCacheValidity = false) in /home/sites/www.americanpoems.com/web/store/aom/includes/cache.php on line 1020 American Poems: Kindle eBooks: Meant To Be Home Apparel Appliances Books DVD Electronics Home & Garden Kindle eBooks Magazines Music Outdoor Living Software Tools & Hardware PC & Video Games Search All Products Apparel Appliances Arts & Crafts Automotive Baby Beauty Books Computers DVD Electronics Gourmet Food Grocery Health Home & Garden Industrial & Science Jewelry Kindle eBooks Kitchen Magazines Miscellaneous Mobile Apps MP3 Downloads Music Musical Instruments Office Products Outdoor Living Pet Supplies Photo & Camera Shoes Software Sporting Goods Tools & Hardware Toys VHS Video On Demand PC & Video Games Watches Wireless Wireless Accessories Advanced Search Sitemap View Cart Checkout Location: Home » Kindle eBooks » Meant To Be Meant To Be enlarge Author:Edie Claire Publisher:Edie Claire Category:eBooks In Stock Sales Rank:7,740 Format:Kindle eBook Language:English (Published) Media:Kindle Edition Edition:3 Pages:272 Publication Date:April 10, 2011 ASIN:B004W48XMC Similar Items: Borrowed Time The Mud Sisters Wraith: Book One (Hawaiian Shadows 1) Empath: Book Two (Hawaiian Shadows 2) Never Sorry: Volume 2 (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series) Editorial Reviews: Synopsis4.5 STAR, ROMANTIC TIMES TOP PICK and Winner of the Romance Reviews Today PERFECT TEN Award!!! Originally published in 2004 by Warner Books (Warner Forever). When nothing is as it seems, all you can do is trust your heart... On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Meara O'Rourke can't help but feel alone. With her last remaining relative newly buried and her potentially disastrous engagement freshly broken, she makes a resolution to begin her life anew--only to have an unexpected phone call turn her whole world upside down. Her biological mother Sheila, whom she met only once six years before, lies in critical condition in a nearby hospital. And though the woman once refused to see her daughter ever again--her last wish is just the opposite. A few whispered words, and Sheila is gone. But the questions she has put into her daughter's head, and the historic stone inn she has unknowingly bequeathed, sweep Meara up into the whirlwind of another life--and a legacy of deception. When Meara begins to have memories of a place she's never been, she realizes that while finding out the truth about her birth and adoption could answer all her questions--it could also tear her apart. "A marvelous story that skillfully interweaves romance with the mystery...Claire makes each element of this terrific tale count." June 2004 Top Pick -- Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine "An absorbing family mystery…there's no denying that this story is suspenseful."-- Publisher's Weekly "One of the best books I have read this year...An element of suspense runs through the pages, and the endearing tale builds to a crescendo of excitement and thrill while warming the heart. Meant To Be is a powerful story of love, healing, discovery and truth...I closed the covers wishing I could stay inside the green world of Meara and Fletcher's mountain. Ms. Claire has woven a tale that touched my soul and will live as a cherished keeper to read again and again. I am pleased to award MEANT TO BE our finest honor, RRT's Perfect 10" Perfect 10 Award -- Romance Reviews Today "Intriguing and thought provoking...don't be surprised if you need a tissue or two along the way. Edie Claire has written another keeper." Rating: 9/10 -- Contemporary Romance Writers "Edie Claire has a flair for creating a strong and suspenseful narrative that still contains satisfying elements of love and romance... the suspense which continues unabated through the length of the novel holds readers utterly captivated while the compelling story and growing romance tug at their heartstrings...richly imagined and very insightful, Meant To Be is destined for the keeper shelf." -- Road to Romance "This very involving novel combines the best of suspense and romance...The revelations continue almost until the final pages, and will keep the reader thoroughly engrossed." -- Romance Reader's Connection "A wonderful book! The story displays a depth of emotion and character that is truly refreshing...a joy to read." -- Fallen Angel Reviews "The feel of a thoroughly modern subject with a slightly Gothic mood." -- New and Previously Owned Books "A story that will tear at your heart...excellent offering from a premier author." -- Writers Unlimited "Meant to be written, read and remembered in your heart decades after you've turned the last page. Edie Claire is an exceptional author and keeper of the heart." -- Writers Room Magazine "A paragon of superbly written, compelling women's literature." -- My Shelf CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED 'AS IS' AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. 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