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Spiritual maturity is measured by your attitude before people different from you.


“Spiritual maturity is not measured by the years that you have spent in church, rather by your attitude before people different from you.” 
― Paul Gitwaza



TRUMP  







ACTIVISTS






ADDICTION


















U.S. MILITARY








2018 FARM BILL MAY EXPAND MILITARY SNAP BENEFITS: Advocates for service members and anti-hunger groups are eyeing the 2018 farm bill as an opportunity to expand the number of active military personnel who are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway last year committed to working on the issue. Groups including Blue Star Families and MAZON are urging Congress to include in the next farm bill provisions in the Military Hunger Prevention Act, H.R. 1078 (115). The bill calls for excluding the value of housing allowances - known as Basic Allowance for Housing - from a service member's income when determining eligibility for food stamps, reports Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau. The housing allowance fluctuates based on the cost of living in any location, so it can rise to levels that disqualify military families from SNAP. The two advocacy groups were on a panel on Capitol Hill on Friday that focused on what federal agencies are doing to increase job opportunities for veterans and to reduce food insecurity among both veterans and military families.
The reality of the problem: It's probably surprising to many Americans that members of the military would have to rely on food stamps to feed their households. But money issues can be triggered by unexpected emergencies, spousal underemployment or unemployment, and the costs of moving frequently, according to Greg Douquet, a Marine Corps veteran and an advisory board member to Blue Star Families. The federal government doesn't have comprehensive data on food insecurity among active duty members and their families because the Defense Department isn't compiling it, according to the Government Accountability Office. Blue Star Families conducted a survey of more than 8,000 military members in 2016, and 43 percent reported that they had participated in social welfare programs that year.

Failed attempts: Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), who sponsored the Military Hunger Prevention Act, has tried to pass the bill several times without success. She had recently planned to offer it as an amendment to the fiscal 2018 spending bill for defense programs. But Conaway refused to waive the Agriculture Committee's jurisdiction over SNAP because he disagreed with the way it was being paid for. Instead, he told Davis during a markup in July that he would work with her on the issue. [POLITICOS Morning Agriculture, January 22, 2018]










READ












NO INPUT FROM DHS ON TRAVEL BAN 1.0, SAYS REPORT: "The Homeland Security Department's internal watchdog released a controversial report Friday that described far-reaching confusion during implementation of President Donald Trump's first travel ban," POLITICO's Ted Hesson and Josh Gerstein report. "U.S. Customs and Border Protection - the agency tasked with implementing the policy - had virtually no advance notice that the executive order would be issued or what it would contain, according to the 112-page report, compiled by the DHS Office of Inspector General." [POLITICO's Morning Shift, January 22, 2018]



FAMINE





Famine experts at the US government are now predicting that four countries – Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria – could face famine in 2018.
Last year, we saw natural disasters and other emergencies strike the most vulnerable among us. But in times like these, I draw strength from of the millions of people fighting each day to build a better life for themselves, their children, and their communities. 
They're people like Richard, a pastor who fled devastating civil war and severe hunger in South Sudan. The decision to uproot his family and head to Uganda was not easy: He wondered what he would do for work, how he would feed his family, and where his kids would go to school. 

It's the kind of choice none of us want to imagine. But for Richard, when there was no food left and his daughter fell sick, he fled. He took his three children, his wife, and three orphans the family was caring for. The week-long journey through violent conflict toward the border was marked by a lack of clean water or nutritious food – but they persevered and made it safely across.

Abby Maxman
President, Oxfam America







JPMorgan Chase: America's largest bank announced it would pour $20 billion worth of investments into the U.S. over five years, including increasing wages for around 22,000 (out of 240,000) employees and opening hundreds of more branches that would require around 3,000 staffers. As The Washington Post noted, JPMorgan expects its effective tax rate to get slashed almost in half, from 35 percent to 19 percent, and that it, too, expects about $4 billion in savings this year. Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive, was a big cheerleader for the tax law as chairman of the Business Roundtable. [POLITICO's Morning Tax, January 24, 2018]



U.S. AGRICULTURE 

NFU'S TOP FARM BILL ASK IS MORE CASH: The National Farmers Union has 14 recommendations for the next farm bill. Most of them will require more money than Congress has to work with - but that is the point. The next iteration of the farm bill is going to be "extraordinarily difficult" to pass if Congress doesn't authorize spending levels above the Congressional Budget Office's 10-year cost projections for farm and nutrition programs, known as the baseline, said NFU President Roger Johnson. "If no one asks for the money, there is zero chance of getting it. So we need to at least raise the issue and build support for it." Every general farm and commodity organization wants certain parts of the farm bill changed, Johnson notes, and in every case, the proposal would increase costs. That is one reason NFU opposed the Republican tax overhaul. The new tax law will add an estimated $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over a decade. Thus, farmers fear that Congress will be under more pressure to cut funding for existing programs, including those in the farm bill, Johnson said.

NFU's priorities: The group's board adopted a resolution calling on Congress to increase reference prices for commodities in the Price Loss Coverage program, which would lead to larger subsidies for enrolled farmers. NFU also calls for creating a dairy supply-management system -- something Congress rejected during the debate over the 2014 farm bill. Among other changes it seeks from Congress: making cotton eligible for Title I subsidy programs; expanding crop insurance options for livestock farmers; adding programs that improve beginner, veteran and socially disadvantaged farmers' access to land and capital; paying for climate change mitigation research and assistance; and increasing acreage under the Conservation Reserve Program. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, January 23, 2018]




NOTE: The news sources here vary.  Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here.  This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased.  Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value.  Thank you

NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as  a "community service" announcement.  These again are shared for their varying perspectives.

Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post.  Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse.  They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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