Last fall, I listened to Paul Scott, the new executive director of AIDS Services of Austin, talking about what your donations do & I wanted to pass this information on to you. Fifty dollars supplements food for 1 person for 1 month from the Helping Hands Food Pantry. One hundred dollars provides the Prevention Team with supplies to educate 370 people, a $250 donation assists 3 clients in financial crisis with support paying basic living expenses. A $500 donation provides 3 preventive oral hygeine visits at the Jack Sansing Dental Clinic. And when you - that's you people - have given a thousand dollars, you have: helped with more than 40 visits to the Food Pantry, a complete restorative treatment at the Dental Clinic and more than 20 hours of HIV Case Management to support clients living with HIV.
One of the organizations that benefits from donations to the Walk is:
The Wright House Wellness Center
Since 1988, The Wright House Wellness Center has offered care and compassion to Central Texans living with or at risk of HIV and other chronic illnesses and provided resources for support, education and empowerment.
come below the fold to find out more -- and for a matching donation challenge
here in Ellis County,we are the bastion of liberalism.(OK,I'm one of three)
One of my local papers demonstrates this:
http://www.elliscountypress.co...
http://www.elliscountypress.co... "Part of what Christian and conservative voters instinctively feel we must accomplish in this Midterm Election (now only five days away, with Early Voting ending on the 29th) is to remove and replace as many part-of-the-problem elected officials as possible, then complete the job in the 2012 Elections."
http://www.elliscountypress.co... Almost anyone can fully understand why any leftist, socialist, progressive, or whatever they choose to call themselves, would vote Democrat this election cycle. After all, the Democrat Party has little or no policy differences with their European Social Democratic or even Green Party counterparts. So, there is no question why those on the left would pull the lever for any Democrat.
There is, however, a legitimate question as to why anyone who does not fall into the leftist category would even contemplate voting for a Democrat this year. If you consider that Barack Hussein Obama and the Democrat majorities in both houses of congress have taken this republic in an unprecedented direction and given the federal government unprecedentedly vast powers,
http://www.elliscountypress.co... It was quite a surprise the past week to hear German Chancellor Angela Merkel say that "Our attempt to have ethnic groups and religions live side by side and enjoy each other has failed, utterly failed."
Not only is this from a major European leader, a socialist and one-world supporter.
It is also surprising that it is coming from a country with Germany's history, which makes this particularly encouraging.
There is MUCH,MUCH more at the site.Gay-hating,racial baiting,incitement of hate.Welcome to Ellis County,y'all.
This is a repost from the Equality Texas blog at EqualityTexas.org. But don't worry, I'll hang around.
Last night the LGBT and allied community suffered through some agonizing election returns. We won some. We lost a big one. How do you evaluate such a mixed bag of election results across the nation? Then, how do you apply those lessons to the movement for equality in general?
It's not as hard as you think.
We won.
No, we didn't win everything. The big prize of marriage in Maine got away. Still, we won. Let's take stock.
This is a repost from the Equality Texas blog at EqualityTexas.org. But don't worry, I'll hang around.
Last night the LGBT and allied community suffered through some agonizing election returns. We won some. We lost a big one. How do you evaluate such a mixed bag of election results across the nation? Then, how do you apply those lessons to the movement for equality in general?
It's not as hard as you think.
We won.
No, we didn't win everything. The big prize of marriage in Maine got away. Still, we won. Let's take stock.
This is a repost from our blog at Equalitytexas.org. I'll hang around to answer questions and comments. But, check out our website, and help us out.
Federal Hate Crimes Legislation - A Grim Victory
Today, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It is an important, yet grim, victory for the LGBT and other targeted communities. Among other important steps, the Act marks the first time federal law has referred to "gender identity" in a positive manner and offered transgender persons some form of protection.
It has taken 13 years, untold victims, multiple deaths, and the efforts of survivors, loved ones and activists to get the Hate Crimes Act passed. No one, of course, expects the Act to actually end hate crimes. However, the hope is that by granting the federal government the jurisdiction and resources to prosecute hate crimes people will become more aware, and educated, about hate crimes--eventually leading to an overall reduction in this, one of the most hideous forms of violence.
Over the past week I've been stopped and asked my opinion of President-Elect Barack Obama's decision to offer an invitation to Pastor Rick Warren, a supporter of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, probably more than I truly expected to be asked. When I first heard of the invitation I was puzzled, not really angry, but most certainly puzzled. Why, I thought to myself, why? I don't see the invitation as reflective of the spirit of hope and opportunity as has been the rather clear message that Barack Obama has been delivering for almost two years now on the campaign trail, so, why? I thought the Warren invitation would pass in commentary but instead it has seemingly grown in relevance and interest. So to has my opinion grown regarding the invitation.
Offering an individual such as Rick Warren, a man who believes that I as a gay-man am not entitled to the same equal rights and protections under the law, or even perhaps deserve the relevance of existence as a human being in this world, clearly represents a divide and not a bridge.
