"Every 15 days" happened in the 1990's. Today -- July 24th, PBS is premiering a movie about what happened in one of the small towns where the prisons were built.
Prison Town, USA highlights the tragedies suffered by both town residents and the prisoners. What's saddest about this story is that the U.S. has imprisoned more people than anywhere else around the world. Check your local listing for the exact time, and flip your TV set on to PBS. It's well worth watching.
Let us know what you think about America's failing criminal justice system, too.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Where the Rubber Meets the Road and Rhetoric No Longer Matters
The Senate stayed up all night, resulting in 52 votes for a new direction in Iraq. Senator Joe Biden called for finding a political solution "...So when we leave Iraq, we don't have to send our grandchildren back."
Four Republicans stood with the Democrats -- Senators Gordon Smith of Oregon, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Susan Collins of Maine.
In his Washington Post column, OpEd writer Harold Meyerson began like this, "Anyone searching for the highest forms of invertebrate life need look no further than the floor of the U.S. Senate this week. These spineless specimans go by various names -- Republican moderates; respected Republicans; Dick Lugar, John Warner, Peter Domenici, George Voinovich."
Read for yourself: The column is called "Spineless Sages."
Four Republicans stood with the Democrats -- Senators Gordon Smith of Oregon, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Susan Collins of Maine.
In his Washington Post column, OpEd writer Harold Meyerson began like this, "Anyone searching for the highest forms of invertebrate life need look no further than the floor of the U.S. Senate this week. These spineless specimans go by various names -- Republican moderates; respected Republicans; Dick Lugar, John Warner, Peter Domenici, George Voinovich."
Read for yourself: The column is called "Spineless Sages."
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Welcome to My Rural America's New Blog
Welcome. This new blog is for you. We invite you to comment ... share your opinions, and let us know what subjects you're most interested in.
We had hoped to open this blog with good news, saying that we promise to highlight what's going well for rural America, as well as to emphasize Washington policy making ... and how these action's affect rural America's "bread & butter", i.e., economic well-being.
Instead, today's news highlights how sad it is that, quite simply, the President has failed to hear the voice of the American people, as they spoke so strongly only eight months ago in the 2006 elections.
Americans understood then ... the endless Iraq war has made things worse instead of better, and we are now in a position that our soldiers are dying to honor those who died before them. A new National Intelligence Estimate re-emphasizes that Al Qaeda is growing stronger while we remain focused on Iraq. The Report says we are in a "heightened threat environment." Overall, the assessment underlines the need to force the President to change the mission, so that our nation's resources can be redirected toward Al Qaeda, rather than be caught in Iraq's civil war.
Congressman Ike Skelton of Missouri, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, puts it this way, "We must responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq, handing responsibility for security over to the Iraqis and leaving only those forces required for limited missions. This will allow us to concentrate our efforts on Afghanistan and the al-Qaida terrorists who attacked us on 9/11."
We had hoped to open this blog with good news, saying that we promise to highlight what's going well for rural America, as well as to emphasize Washington policy making ... and how these action's affect rural America's "bread & butter", i.e., economic well-being.
Instead, today's news highlights how sad it is that, quite simply, the President has failed to hear the voice of the American people, as they spoke so strongly only eight months ago in the 2006 elections.
Americans understood then ... the endless Iraq war has made things worse instead of better, and we are now in a position that our soldiers are dying to honor those who died before them. A new National Intelligence Estimate re-emphasizes that Al Qaeda is growing stronger while we remain focused on Iraq. The Report says we are in a "heightened threat environment." Overall, the assessment underlines the need to force the President to change the mission, so that our nation's resources can be redirected toward Al Qaeda, rather than be caught in Iraq's civil war.
Congressman Ike Skelton of Missouri, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, puts it this way, "We must responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq, handing responsibility for security over to the Iraqis and leaving only those forces required for limited missions. This will allow us to concentrate our efforts on Afghanistan and the al-Qaida terrorists who attacked us on 9/11."
TIME TO SAY STOP!! Too Many Rural Americans Are Paying the Ultimate Sacrifice
Today -- Tuesday, July 17th, we ask you to join in saying "enough is enough." It is time for a new strategy ... time to say to the President STOP OBSTRUCTING an end to the Iraq war.
If you live in the Washington, DC region, we urge you to join us in a candlelight vigil.
Tell them rural Americans have already paid too high a price, with rural soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan at a 60% higher rate than urban soldiers.
Why? According to the Carsey Institute's analysis of U.S. Department of Defense data, this higher rural death rate reflects the fact that rural areas have higher rates of military recruitment, and a lack of good rural employment and educational opportunities.
Vermont has the highest death rate in the country.
Tragic ... to say the least. You can find out about your state's soldiers, and more about how we are losing our rural soldiers at the following website: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/RuralDead_fact_revised.pdf
If you live in the Washington, DC region, we urge you to join us in a candlelight vigil.
Tuesday, July 17th
8:30 PM
8:30 PM
(Across from the U.S. Capitol and next to the
General Senate #: 202-224-2131
Tell them rural Americans have already paid too high a price, with rural soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan at a 60% higher rate than urban soldiers.
Why? According to the Carsey Institute's analysis of U.S. Department of Defense data, this higher rural death rate reflects the fact that rural areas have higher rates of military recruitment, and a lack of good rural employment and educational opportunities.
Vermont has the highest death rate in the country.
Tragic ... to say the least. You can find out about your state's soldiers, and more about how we are losing our rural soldiers at the following website: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/RuralDead_fact_revised.pdf
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
My Rural America Applauds Gov. Sebelius
Before My Rural America opened its doors, we researched Rural America's needs, and here's what we found:
Governor Sebelius frames it this way, "First and foremost, rural communities have lost their ability to constructively call their citizens to a common table to discuss their future."
Using the coffee shops as an example, she emphasizes how rural Americans have lost the skills necessary for productive and progressive communications, since many times the only information available is misinformed, discouraging or very negative.
Sebelius also points to rural America's media, saying, "The small community newspapers -- which 40 or 50 years ago served as a 'conscience of the community' -- are no longer serving that purpose and in many cases have disappeared altogether. So called 'local' TV broadcasts originate from hundreds of miles away, and supposedly 'local' radio stations are increasingly owned by nationwide conglomerates that pipe in programming from the other side of the country."
My Rural America applauds Governor Sebelius. She's gotten it right, emphasizing how for rural development to be effective, it must begin with leadership development, strategic planning and communications.
Communications!! That's this new blog's goal -- to increase communications, to offer facts about what happens in Congress and in local communities while we give rural Americans the opportunity to speak out.
We invite you to participate.
- Home Broadband Adoption Lags Behind -- PEW Internet and American Life, 2-26-06
- Study Finds More News Media Outlets , but Less News Covered -- Kellogg Foundation ... The State of the New Media 2006, 3-14-2006
- Rural Citizens Have Less Than 4 Percent Chance to Read How Their Elected Member of Congress Votes -- My Rural America Action Fund Study, 9-1-05
Governor Sebelius frames it this way, "First and foremost, rural communities have lost their ability to constructively call their citizens to a common table to discuss their future."
Using the coffee shops as an example, she emphasizes how rural Americans have lost the skills necessary for productive and progressive communications, since many times the only information available is misinformed, discouraging or very negative.
Sebelius also points to rural America's media, saying, "The small community newspapers -- which 40 or 50 years ago served as a 'conscience of the community' -- are no longer serving that purpose and in many cases have disappeared altogether. So called 'local' TV broadcasts originate from hundreds of miles away, and supposedly 'local' radio stations are increasingly owned by nationwide conglomerates that pipe in programming from the other side of the country."
My Rural America applauds Governor Sebelius. She's gotten it right, emphasizing how for rural development to be effective, it must begin with leadership development, strategic planning and communications.
Communications!! That's this new blog's goal -- to increase communications, to offer facts about what happens in Congress and in local communities while we give rural Americans the opportunity to speak out.
We invite you to participate.
- For more detail on Governor Sebelius' testimony, please see the following: http://www.kansas.com/205/story/116887.html
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