We’ve just completed our Spring 2012 Granting Cycle at the RFC. We awarded over $185,000 to 69 families with 136 children in 23 states plus Puerto Rico. As is often the case the vast majority of our grants were “renewals” going to children who we are already aiding. This is in line with our objective of being a dependable source of multi-year support for those we help.

I find few things more disturbing than the idea of incarcerating human beings for the purpose of generating corporate profit. It has been more than ten years since I first did some research into Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a private company that does just that. Today CCA bills itself as “the nation’s leading provider of correctional solutions to federal, state and local government.”

I first met Judi Bari in November 1991, just a little over a year after I founded the RFC. We both attended a conference held at the Highlander Center at which 30 environmental and civil rights activists shared their experiences and alarm at the escalating campaign of what we dubbed “corporate harassment.”

This week’s deluge of coverage concerning the constitutionality of the 2010 health care law has overshadowed a case heard last week that is, perhaps, even more important to the long-term vigor of our democracy. On March 21st the Court heard oral argument on Steven Howards’ suit against the Secret Service agents who arrested him after he told Vice President Cheney in 2006 that he thought our country’s actions in Iraq were “disgusting.”

Watching the media coverage of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) just published book, The Evolving Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance – Options for Action, may teach us more about how the mainstream media operates than about this rapidly developing public health menace.