The Spirit of Assisi:  the 25^th anniversary celebration on Oct. 27 religious gathering

On October 27, 1986, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Patriarchs of many Eastern Churches, leaders of native religions - 70 religious leaders in all - made history when they gathered in Assisi, Italy to talk and pray together for peace in the "Spirit of Assisi."

This year, on October 27, religious leaders will again gather in Assisi, home of St. Francis and St. Clare, patrons of peace and reconciliation, to continue their dialogue.

The Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, will also commemorate the "Spirit of Assisi" with a public prayer service at their home, The Canticle, 841-13^th Ave. No., on Thursday, Oct. 27, beginning at 6:30 pm.

"In the footprints of Francis and Clare, we are all called to walk the path of peace as pilgrims" said Pope Benedict in inviting other religious leaders to join in the commemoration, "to pray and fast for justice in our world, and to dialogue with one another in an effort to discover creative ways to build peace in our own day."

"Just as persons of many faiths will gather in Assisi as 'pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace,' we invite all our neighbors to join us in prayer on Thursday evening," said Clinton Franciscan Sister Joan Theiss who is coordinating the service.

"The Spirit of Assisi carried an important message," she said.  It affirmed that the desire for peace is shared by all people of good will; but taking into account the situation of the world today and the relationship between peoples, it recognized that real peace can only be achieved through an intervention by God.  That will be the hope of our prayer."

John Paul II, who initiated the original gathering, said that he chose the city of Assisi as location for this day of prayer due to the special significance of the saint venerated here, St. Francis, who is known by many all over the planet to be a symbol of peace, reconciliation and community.  So the Pope decided to promote this initiative "in the name of St. Francis, the man," he said, "who breaks down barriers, who knows how to open doors and who is brother to all."

"Today," noted Sister Joan, "religions are not only asked to dialogue among ourselves, but to reach out to all people whether they are believers or not.  Even more, we are now being challenged to reach out beyond humanity, because violence is being visited on God's creation as well.  There is an ever-growing consciousness in all religious traditions that respect and peaceful relations must be fostered between people and between people and all creatures."

Sister Joan explained:  "Our hope is that if we come together in the Spirit of Assisi and pray as believers in the way our respective religious traditions have taught us, we will be strengthened to commit ourselves to concrete actions that will allow us to work together to confront the threats to peace and to the environment that we face in our world today."

For more information call Sisters of St. Francis, 563-242-7611 or visit www.clintonfranciscans.com.

Friday, Oct. 21, 2011

WASHINGTON - In an effort to ensure greater accountability in the Justice Department's distribution of money to grant recipients, Sen. Chuck Grassley offered an amendment to the appropriations bill being debated in the United States Senate that would include an 11-point accountability plan for federal grants administered by the Department of Justice.  The amendment offered Thursday was defeated by a vote of 46 to 54 on mostly party lines.  Grassley said he will continue to pursue the measure, despite the special interests that worked hard to defeat his amendment and protect their continued stream of federal funds.

"We have non-partisan audits showing that taxpayer money is being abused and wasted  in federal grant programs." Grassley said.  "We need transparency, accountability, and performance from both the Justice Department and individual grantees who are trusted with federal dollars.  It's a shame we're wasting taxpayer dollars like this when we can immediately do something to begin to remedy the problem.

"And it's a shame that something this basic fell on partisan lines when this shouldn't be a partisan issue, but it just goes to show that reforms to Washington's spending addiction will be hard to come by, given the continued power special interests have.  It also reinforces the need for the Deficit Committee to come up with big and bold ideas.  The outcome also tells me I need to continue to educate my fellow members about the problems that come from granting money without enough accountability and to consider whether it's fair to grant taxpayer money to non-profit groups as long as they have their own money parked offshore to avoid federal taxes."

Grassley said the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the national umbrella group for hundreds of clubs around the country, continued receiving tax dollars while using off-shore tax shelters, paying generous executive compensation and lobbyists' fees, and simultaneously closing clubs due to an alleged lack of funds.   "I support the mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs.  The local clubs help thousands of children every year," Grassley said. "However, given our current fiscal crisis, I can't support federal taxpayer dollars being awarded as grants to those who hold millions of dollars in rainy day funds off-shore.  My amendment doesn't prohibit charities from investing offshore.  It just says they can't get federal grants if they invest offshore to avoid taxes on their investment income.  When organizations have funding and resources available to them, it's not clear why they shouldn't be dipping into those rainy day funds before seeking federal money."

A nearly identical version of the accountability package was included as part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act Reauthorization Act voted out of the Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan basis just last week.  Select pieces were previously approved as part of the Second Chance Act reauthorization this past July.

Grassley also submitted last week a similar plan, along with several other ideas, to the Deficit Reduction Committee.  Grassley's letter can be found here.

Grassley's 11-point accountability plan:

o   required the OIG to audit 10 percent of grantees,

o   required mandatory exclusion for those with negative audit findings unremedied after 6 months, with priority placed to those with no past negative audit findings,

o   required reimbursement for funds awarded erroneously to grant recipients that should have been excluded,

o   required a mandatory 25 percent match with no less than 60 percent of the 25 percent constituting cash,

o   prohibited non-profits that hold money off-shore for purposes of avoiding unrelated business income tax from receiving federal grants,

o   capped administrative expenses at 8 percent, limited conference expenditures, prohibited grantees' lobbying, and

o   required the Office of Justice Programs Assistant Attorney General to certify to Congress annual compliance with these provisions.

Grassley said an audit of the Government Accountability Office of nine Trafficking Victims Protection Act grants over the last five years found fraud in all nine grants, including more than $1.4 million in questioned costs on a $1.7 million grant.

Violence Against Women Act grants were also susceptible to fraud; 21 of 22 randomly selected grants over 10 years revealed significant fraud and abuse, including one audit where 93 percent of grant funds were questioned by the Inspector General.

So far in 2011, the Inspector General has audited 21 grant recipients with grant funding totaling $54 million and has questioned the use of more than 26 percent of these grant dollars.  If the random audits the Inspector General has conducted were extrapolated to all 3,467 grants DOJ has awarded in 2011, totaling more than $2 billion, that would mean more than $500 million of grants administered could have questionable costs.  "That's just an extrapolation but it reinforces the need for a higher percentage of grants to be audited, as my amendment would require," Grassley said.

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Give Better Trick-or-Treating Goodies

Neighbors can promote healthier habits and offer alternatives to candy, so kids can enjoy the spooky evening without sacrificing nutrition.  Here are some ideas to give to trick-or-treaters:

Skip the sweets and sugar and provide healthier options.
• Animal crackers
• Granola bars
• Snack-size bags of pretzels
• Trail mix
• Graham crackers  
• Microwave popcorn
• Sugar-free gum
• Small boxes of raisins

Throw a Healthy Halloween Party

• Replace sugary treats with nutritious party snacks. Apples with caramel or yogurt dip, roasted pumpkin seeds, apple cider, pumpkin muffins, a vegetable "skeleton," a melon carved like a brain, and seasoned pretzels are some fall-themed options that everyone can enjoy.

1. Gather red pepper, a handful of carrot sticks, broccoli, some green beans, cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, celery sticks, cauliflower, or other vegetables.

2. Get creative and assemble the skeleton.  You could use the sliced red pepper as its rib cage.  The cauliflower can serve as the skeleton's hands and feet, and the carrots and celery could form its shoulders, arms, and legs.  Use the bowl of dip as its head.

• Shift kids' focus from food to an activity. Have craft stations where children can create masks out of paper plates, make slime, color, and more.

1. Materials: Two mixing bowls, measuring cups, spoons, glue, borax, green food coloring, and water.

TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) is the original weight-loss support and wellness education organization.  Founded more than 63 years ago, TOPS is the only nonprofit, noncommercial weight-loss organization of its kind.  TOPS promotes successful weight management with a "Real People. Real Weight Loss." philosophy that combines support from others at weekly chapter meetings, healthy eating, regular exercise, and wellness information.  TOPS has about 170,000 members - male and female, age seven and older - in nearly 10,000 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

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