Recently, we joined the Welfare Mothers led by Pat Gowens, Amada Morales and Mikel Komba and others, to protest the taking of children from their moms for what we believe to be for selfish gains. The U.S. child welfare industry spends $29.4 billion each year, and this figure does not include the billions spent on lawyers, Medicaid, drugs and other salaries and profits. Some 93% of the families who adopt a child receive monthly subsidies for minor children up to age 18. In Wisconsin they receive $4,188 to $5,424 a year. They also receive a tax credit of $13,119 per adopted child, and the $60 per child per hourly visit with his/her mom is split between a private vendor’s visitation supervisor and the child welfare industry state staff. There are 500 privatized child protection workers in Milwaukee alone. The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare’s annual budget is $121 million. They detain and place about 2,500 children in foster care and another 3,500 under home supervision each year. Certainly children who are being abused or left without supervision must be taken care of by the community, but we have found cases in which a child is not in danger of any sort, and the parent(s) have their child taken from them because the Bureau of Milwaukee Child welfare and the private agencies, who subcontract with about 170 smaller agencies, want to continue receiving money on the backs of children and their parents. The more children they place, the more money they get. When the children are taken away, it is difficult for the parents to get them back. The legal expenses alone prohibit them from going to court to get their children back home. A good friend of our’s, is Lucille Berrien, a civil rights activist for many years. She is a great, great grandmother to 9 children, a great grandmother to 23 children and grandmother to 13, 7 of whom are still living with her since their mother died .She has had a total of 103 foster children so far, and she has been an advocate for the rights of children her whole lifetime. She too believes that children are taken from their parents for any reason simply for the sake of making money for child welfare institutions and their employees. There are about 400,000 children who live in foster care in the U.S. Some 53% of the children, who are forcibly removed from their homes into foster care, are children of color; though they make up only 37% of the U.S. population. Some 22,500 children in the U.S. will die of abuse or neglect, most before their 5th birthday. More than 10.5 million will spend some time in foster care. Some 75,000 former foster youth, who aged out of the system, will experience homelessness. (FosterClub.com) It is a big business. Greed and prejudice is a dangerous combination. Please call us at Casa Maria (344-5745) to see when the next demonstration is to demand justice for mothers and their children. Thanks. ------Don Timmerman
“People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian.” Pope Francis
JOKES
Did you hear about the two bed bugs who met in the mattress? They got married in the spring. What do frogs order when they go to a restaurant? French flies. Why were butterflies not allowed at the dance? Because it was mothball. If roaches can survive a nuclear blast…What the heck is in Raid?
TV commercials now show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you’ve got a T-shirt with blood stains on it, maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem.
Little Amy was in the garden filling a hole when her neighbor peered over the fence. He politely asked, “What are you up to there, Amy”” “My goldfish died,” replied Amy, “and I’ve just buried him.” The concerned neighbor said, “That’s an awfully big hole for a goldfish, isn’t it?” Amy patted down the last heap of earth then replied, “That’s because he’s inside your cat.”
A pastor had asked the congregation for a raise. Each time he and his wife had a child there was an increase in his pay from the congregation. He had 7 children now, and he was expecting more. The congregation declared that it would put the church in the hole if he had more children. The Pastor defended himself saying that children are the Lord’s gift, and we shall have as many as He chooses to give us. This did not go well with an old woman who piped up, “Rain is also God’s gift, but when there is too much of it, we wear rubbers.” Can you imagine a seeing-eye cat? The first person with an untied shoelace, and you’re history.
She was outside pulling weeds one hot summer day when her husband walked up and asked her what’s for dinner. Irritated by the thought of him sitting in the air conditioned house while she labored away on the weeks, she snapped, “I can’t believe you’re asking me about supper right now! Pretend I’m out of town, go inside and make dinner yourself!” So he went to the house and fixed himself a big steak, potatoes, garlic bread and a tall beer. His wife walked in just about the time he was finishing up and asked, “Where’s my dinner?” “Huh? I thought you were out of town.”
Why can’t you tell puns to kleptomaniacs? Because they take everything literally.
INTERESTING FACTS
Last December, Congress handed over sacred Apache land to 2 foreign mining companies. The land, Oak Flat, is an important ecological, recreational, and spiritual site, but now its future is at risk. The Apaches are asking us to help them stop foreign mining corporations from destroying history and unspoiled landscapes. Please tell Congress to support the Save Oak Flat Act and restore the Apache land. ----Earthworks
The Indian Point nuclear power plant, just 38 miles north of New York city, has 2,000 tons of radioactive waste packed into leaking pools and relies on a poor evacuation plan. The plant is 40 years old and is now a danger to New York and surrounding states. The plant has killed millions of fish in the Hudson River and will continue to do so in the future unless alternative forms of energy are used.. ----EcoWatch
There are many myths about food stamps. There is the myth that the food stamp program is riddled with abuse and fraud. Actually, food stamp fraud is at an all time low, less than 1%. ( More fraud is found in the government, military and business world) Another myth is that people who get food stamps do not want to work. Actually, 80% of households work within the year of receiving food stamps. The average person gets food stamps for only 8-10 months. Another myth is that food stamps are a waste of taxpayer money. Actually, food stamps are an economic stimulus since $1 of food stamps creates $1.76 in economic activity. (The military is the most wasteful use of tax money.) ------Food Stamp Facts
Several Republican presidential candidates received significant donations from a leading white supremacist who helped inspire Dylann Roof, the person accused of killing nine people in Charleston, South Carolina, last week.----- The Guardian, 6/23/15
George W. Bush is raking in millions with senseless $175,000 speeches a pop to audiences who have bought the lie about the reason for invading Iraq. He had given at least 140 talks in 2011. ----Politico Why are we sending troops again into Iraq? It is so obvious.
The oil conglomerates do not want to lose their oil to Isis. After all, the invasions of Iraq are all about oil and never for freedom for the Iraqis that the media keeps telling the people.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International said Thursday that laws in all 50 states governing use of force by the police violate international agreements.---WSWS.org June 19
President Obama has plans to reorganize and strengthen the U.S. military presence in Asia by using the Pacific islands to build military bases and practice military drills at the expense of the people living on the islands. -----Change.org, 6/21/15
Years ago, black slaves were given 40 acres and a mule as compensation for their work without pay. Those 40 acres and mule would be worth $6.4 trillion today. Slavery made America wealthy, and racist policies since have blocked African American wealth-building. -----Yes Magazine, 6/16/15
If “global violence were to decrease by 10 percent uniformly, an additional $1.43 trillion would effectively be added to the world economy.”----AlterNet, 6/21/15
A new report released Friday said that the global cost of war was soaring as it was $14 trillion in 2014.The report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) also claimed that conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were responsible for most of the deaths in the world. If the world decreased violence by only 10% there would be $1.43 trillion that would be available to help people with their basic needs. ---- RSN, 6/20/15
Mark Rossini, a former FBI special agent who was assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center at the time of 9/11, maintains that the U.S. government has covered up secret relations between the agency and Saudi individuals whomay have stopped the attacks
.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a failed effort to crash into the Capitol, were Saudis. The CIA could have stopped 9/11.----Newsweek,6/20/15
The Obama administration’s military spending request comes in at $625 billion, about $38 billion higher than the caps imposed by the Budget Control Act. The jobs created with $1 billion in federal investment show that the military would produce only 11,200 jobs while 16,800 jobs would be created by clean energy technology, 17,200 by health care and 26,700 by investments in education. ----National Priorities
Dickerson writes: "While the Pentagon admitted decades ago that it used American troops as test subjects in experiments with mustard gas, until now, officials have never spoken about the tests that grouped subjects by race." ----NPR Failing to make peace with Palestinians could cost Israel $250 Billion over the next decade. For profit hospitals mark up prices by over 1,000%. ---AlterNet
`labels: Acadia, Acme, Big Y, Best Yet, 7-Eleven, Niagara, Nature's Place, Pricerite, Superchill, Morning Fresh, Shaws, Shoprite, Western Beef Blue and Wegman's. These brands have been found to have e-coli in them. ----CNN, 6/23/15
CASA MARIA IS IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS. PLEASE HELP, IF YOU CAN. THANKS SO MUCH!
NOTE
TUESDAY, JUNE 30 4:15pm----- Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare to protest their subcontracting to 170 different agencies, help us stop the privatization of children's welfare (635 N 26th St)
Tues July 7 8am Ross W-2 agency to stop their denials of services for people in poverty (6550 N 76th)
THURSDAY, JULY 9 ----STOP DEPORTATIONS AND SEPARATION OF FAMILIES PRAYER VIGIL at ICE Office Bldg., Broadway & Knapp Sts. Starting at noon
JULY 13-17===- STOP THE WAR ON THE POOR week of action focusing on lobbying state legislators and encouraging an audit of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare
Tues July 14 8am SaintA, a child welfare agency that subcontracts with the Bureau and illegally takes children from their homes (8901 W Capitol Dr)
TUESDAY, JULY 14 ---- YW Works, a W-2 agency that sanctions (cash denials and kicks people off of W-2) families more than any other agency (1915 N Dr Martn Luther Kng Dr)
THURSDAY, JULY 23 ------STAND FOR NONVIOLENCE at Brew City Shooter’s Supply, 43rd & Lincoln., starting at 12:30 p.m There are more than 5 times as many Americans killed by guns per capita than in any other wealthy nation, and more than 10 times the rate in comparable larger countries such as Britain, France and Japan. Guns are rarely used for self defense in the U.S. There are 32 criminal homicides for every 1 shooting for self defense.- As more and more guns are made available there will be more murders with guns. ------AlterNet, 6/18/15 Since the gun’s only reason to be made is to do violence to another gun sellers are indeed accomplices of the violence done with them.
TUEDAY, JULY 28, 7:30 TO 9 A.M. -----Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (635 N. 26th St) to help us stop the privatization of child welfare agencies that leads to more children being removed from loving homes for reasons that do not meet the state statutes for abuse and neglect.
TUESDAY, JULY 28 ----STAND AGAINST WEAPONIZED DRONES starting at 3 p.m. at Volk Field in Mauston WI. People are being trained to use drones at this national air force base to kill people by the use of a computer. We gather at the wayside outside Volk Field military base at 3 p.m. Call Joy at 608-239-4327.
Other justice and peace events can be found on the websites of Peace Action Wisconsin and Wisconsin Network for Peace and justice. Thank you!
Don and I went to our annual family gathering last week. We were concerned about how the family would cope with the loss of three of the family members. Don’s sister, Rose, and his sister Carol’s two sons, Rich and Paul. We did well. We hugged more, listened more closely to each other and were aware of how precious each person’s life is. When we returned home Saturday we heard about the tragedy in Charleston, the killing of 9 African Americans while they were participating in a bible study in their church. The sorrow our family has felt with the death of three members from illness has been terribly hard, but to lose loved ones to hate-filled racism must be double sorrow. We are all part of the fabric which makes up our society. If we are to honor the lives of the 9 innocent people who were murdered, we need to reflect on any racist attitudes we might have. We also have to speak out clearly when we hear racist remarks or behavior exhibited by friends, relations or strangers. It is only when all people realize that racist behavior is not acceptablee that we will see change. To honor the 9 in Charleston and the 26 children killed in Newtown we have to implement stringent gun control. May we all work to mend the tear in the fabric of our society that racism and gun prevalence has created. I pray that this time we all vow to be part of the change. Peace, Roberta
CASA CRY
CASA MARIA CATHOLIC WORKER
1131 N. 21ST ST.
MILWAUKEE WI 53233
414-344-5745
“People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian.” Pope Francis
JOKES
Did you hear about the two bed bugs who met in the mattress? They got married in the spring. What do frogs order when they go to a restaurant? French flies. Why were butterflies not allowed at the dance? Because it was mothball. If roaches can survive a nuclear blast…What the heck is in Raid?
TV commercials now show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you’ve got a T-shirt with blood stains on it, maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem.
Little Amy was in the garden filling a hole when her neighbor peered over the fence. He politely asked, “What are you up to there, Amy”” “My goldfish died,” replied Amy, “and I’ve just buried him.” The concerned neighbor said, “That’s an awfully big hole for a goldfish, isn’t it?” Amy patted down the last heap of earth then replied, “That’s because he’s inside your cat.”
A pastor had asked the congregation for a raise. Each time he and his wife had a child there was an increase in his pay from the congregation. He had 7 children now, and he was expecting more. The congregation declared that it would put the church in the hole if he had more children. The Pastor defended himself saying that children are the Lord’s gift, and we shall have as many as He chooses to give us. This did not go well with an old woman who piped up, “Rain is also God’s gift, but when there is too much of it, we wear rubbers.” Can you imagine a seeing-eye cat? The first person with an untied shoelace, and you’re history.
She was outside pulling weeds one hot summer day when her husband walked up and asked her what’s for dinner. Irritated by the thought of him sitting in the air conditioned house while she labored away on the weeks, she snapped, “I can’t believe you’re asking me about supper right now! Pretend I’m out of town, go inside and make dinner yourself!” So he went to the house and fixed himself a big steak, potatoes, garlic bread and a tall beer. His wife walked in just about the time he was finishing up and asked, “Where’s my dinner?” “Huh? I thought you were out of town.”
Why can’t you tell puns to kleptomaniacs? Because they take everything literally.
INTERESTING FACTS
Last December, Congress handed over sacred Apache land to 2 foreign mining companies. The land, Oak Flat, is an important ecological, recreational, and spiritual site, but now its future is at risk. The Apaches are asking us to help them stop foreign mining corporations from destroying history and unspoiled landscapes. Please tell Congress to support the Save Oak Flat Act and restore the Apache land. ----Earthworks
The Indian Point nuclear power plant, just 38 miles north of New York city, has 2,000 tons of radioactive waste packed into leaking pools and relies on a poor evacuation plan. The plant is 40 years old and is now a danger to New York and surrounding states. The plant has killed millions of fish in the Hudson River and will continue to do so in the future unless alternative forms of energy are used.. ----EcoWatch
There are many myths about food stamps. There is the myth that the food stamp program is riddled with abuse and fraud. Actually, food stamp fraud is at an all time low, less than 1%. ( More fraud is found in the government, military and business world) Another myth is that people who get food stamps do not want to work. Actually, 80% of households work within the year of receiving food stamps. The average person gets food stamps for only 8-10 months. Another myth is that food stamps are a waste of taxpayer money. Actually, food stamps are an economic stimulus since $1 of food stamps creates $1.76 in economic activity. (The military is the most wasteful use of tax money.) ------Food Stamp Facts
Several Republican presidential candidates received significant donations from a leading white supremacist who helped inspire Dylann Roof, the person accused of killing nine people in Charleston, South Carolina, last week.----- The Guardian, 6/23/15
George W. Bush is raking in millions with senseless $175,000 speeches a pop to audiences who have bought the lie about the reason for invading Iraq. He had given at least 140 talks in 2011. ----Politico Why are we sending troops again into Iraq? It is so obvious.
The oil conglomerates do not want to lose their oil to Isis. After all, the invasions of Iraq are all about oil and never for freedom for the Iraqis that the media keeps telling the people.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International said Thursday that laws in all 50 states governing use of force by the police violate international agreements.---WSWS.org June 19
President Obama has plans to reorganize and strengthen the U.S. military presence in Asia by using the Pacific islands to build military bases and practice military drills at the expense of the people living on the islands. -----Change.org, 6/21/15
Years ago, black slaves were given 40 acres and a mule as compensation for their work without pay. Those 40 acres and mule would be worth $6.4 trillion today. Slavery made America wealthy, and racist policies since have blocked African American wealth-building. -----Yes Magazine, 6/16/15
If “global violence were to decrease by 10 percent uniformly, an additional $1.43 trillion would effectively be added to the world economy.”----AlterNet, 6/21/15
A new report released Friday said that the global cost of war was soaring as it was $14 trillion in 2014.The report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) also claimed that conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were responsible for most of the deaths in the world. If the world decreased violence by only 10% there would be $1.43 trillion that would be available to help people with their basic needs. ---- RSN, 6/20/15
Mark Rossini, a former FBI special agent who was assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center at the time of 9/11, maintains that the U.S. government has covered up secret relations between the agency and Saudi individuals whomay have stopped the attacks
.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a failed effort to crash into the Capitol, were Saudis. The CIA could have stopped 9/11.----Newsweek,6/20/15
The Obama administration’s military spending request comes in at $625 billion, about $38 billion higher than the caps imposed by the Budget Control Act. The jobs created with $1 billion in federal investment show that the military would produce only 11,200 jobs while 16,800 jobs would be created by clean energy technology, 17,200 by health care and 26,700 by investments in education. ----National Priorities
Dickerson writes: "While the Pentagon admitted decades ago that it used American troops as test subjects in experiments with mustard gas, until now, officials have never spoken about the tests that grouped subjects by race." ----NPR Failing to make peace with Palestinians could cost Israel $250 Billion over the next decade. For profit hospitals mark up prices by over 1,000%. ---AlterNet
`labels: Acadia, Acme, Big Y, Best Yet, 7-Eleven, Niagara, Nature's Place, Pricerite, Superchill, Morning Fresh, Shaws, Shoprite, Western Beef Blue and Wegman's. These brands have been found to have e-coli in them. ----CNN, 6/23/15
CASA MARIA IS IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS. PLEASE HELP, IF YOU CAN. THANKS SO MUCH!
NOTE
TUESDAY, JUNE 30 4:15pm----- Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare to protest their subcontracting to 170 different agencies, help us stop the privatization of children's welfare (635 N 26th St)
Tues July 7 8am Ross W-2 agency to stop their denials of services for people in poverty (6550 N 76th)
THURSDAY, JULY 9 ----STOP DEPORTATIONS AND SEPARATION OF FAMILIES PRAYER VIGIL at ICE Office Bldg., Broadway & Knapp Sts. Starting at noon
JULY 13-17===- STOP THE WAR ON THE POOR week of action focusing on lobbying state legislators and encouraging an audit of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare
Tues July 14 8am SaintA, a child welfare agency that subcontracts with the Bureau and illegally takes children from their homes (8901 W Capitol Dr)
TUESDAY, JULY 14 ---- YW Works, a W-2 agency that sanctions (cash denials and kicks people off of W-2) families more than any other agency (1915 N Dr Martn Luther Kng Dr)
THURSDAY, JULY 23 ------STAND FOR NONVIOLENCE at Brew City Shooter’s Supply, 43rd & Lincoln., starting at 12:30 p.m There are more than 5 times as many Americans killed by guns per capita than in any other wealthy nation, and more than 10 times the rate in comparable larger countries such as Britain, France and Japan. Guns are rarely used for self defense in the U.S. There are 32 criminal homicides for every 1 shooting for self defense.- As more and more guns are made available there will be more murders with guns. ------AlterNet, 6/18/15 Since the gun’s only reason to be made is to do violence to another gun sellers are indeed accomplices of the violence done with them.
TUEDAY, JULY 28, 7:30 TO 9 A.M. -----Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (635 N. 26th St) to help us stop the privatization of child welfare agencies that leads to more children being removed from loving homes for reasons that do not meet the state statutes for abuse and neglect.
TUESDAY, JULY 28 ----STAND AGAINST WEAPONIZED DRONES starting at 3 p.m. at Volk Field in Mauston WI. People are being trained to use drones at this national air force base to kill people by the use of a computer. We gather at the wayside outside Volk Field military base at 3 p.m. Call Joy at 608-239-4327.
Other justice and peace events can be found on the websites of Peace Action Wisconsin and Wisconsin Network for Peace and justice. Thank you!
Don and I went to our annual family gathering last week. We were concerned about how the family would cope with the loss of three of the family members. Don’s sister, Rose, and his sister Carol’s two sons, Rich and Paul. We did well. We hugged more, listened more closely to each other and were aware of how precious each person’s life is. When we returned home Saturday we heard about the tragedy in Charleston, the killing of 9 African Americans while they were participating in a bible study in their church. The sorrow our family has felt with the death of three members from illness has been terribly hard, but to lose loved ones to hate-filled racism must be double sorrow. We are all part of the fabric which makes up our society. If we are to honor the lives of the 9 innocent people who were murdered, we need to reflect on any racist attitudes we might have. We also have to speak out clearly when we hear racist remarks or behavior exhibited by friends, relations or strangers. It is only when all people realize that racist behavior is not acceptablee that we will see change. To honor the 9 in Charleston and the 26 children killed in Newtown we have to implement stringent gun control. May we all work to mend the tear in the fabric of our society that racism and gun prevalence has created. I pray that this time we all vow to be part of the change. Peace, Roberta
CASA CRY
CASA MARIA CATHOLIC WORKER
1131 N. 21ST ST.
MILWAUKEE WI 53233
414-344-5745