With today's lull in red-meat local news, we'll take this opportunity to announce two community events, geared toward our ever-generous Weber County Forum readers' propensity toward Christmas season charity.
Marshall White Center. As our long-time readers will recall, over the course of the previous two years we've strongly supported the Marshall White Center Sub for Santa program. Alas, it appears (at least at this juncture) that MWC will not be sponsoring such a program this year, however. On the bright side, the folks at Marshall White will be sponsoring a Community Christmas Dinner; and MWC is thus in need of donations and volunteers.
The MWC has fallen on "lean times" ever since Boss Godfrey decided this wonderful community resource ought to be privatized. The Center needs all they help that it can get.
One of our gentle readers has sent us information about this upcoming event, which we make available here. For those readers who've gotten into the habit of supporting MWC during the Christmas season, this event provides the opportunity to carry on the tradition.
Firefighters' Christmas Events. We've also been asked by our local firefighters to provide some info on their several holiday events. The Professional Firefighters of Ogden and the Ogden Firefighters Association are sponsoring several Miracle Trees throughout the City with ornaments to help some of the children in Ogden who may not have a Christmas. The ornaments are basic items needed by the kids, shoes, underwear, pajamas -- nothing frivolous.
One of our Firefighters is having a concert too. It’s free to the public, and Santa will be there for the kids. It will be a great activity for the families, and help the less fortunate at the same time.
For more information, click this link.
During the short history of Weber County Forum, our readers have managed to contribute donations to local charities totalling in the thousands of dollars. In 2005, one of our readers actually donated $10,000 to help this woman avoid a pre-Christmas home foreclosure, in response to a plea for help published on this blog.
We hope that our gentle readers will once again respond with their usual holiday generosity to the needs of those in our community who are less fortunate than we. Time to again reach into our hearts, gentle readers... and into our pocketbooks, we think.
And whatever you decide to do... don't be this guy this holiday season:
16 comments:
Alberto Gonzales named lawyer of the year
HAHAHAHAHA!
According to the papers, Utah Food Bank is way low on donated food this year, for some reason. Another opportunity to help out this Christmas season.
Hey, the Salvation Army is also in Dire Need of SHOES & BOOTS ...
there are still some shopping days left to fill the need
TLJ
Everybody needing the basics like the kids at Marshall White Center but Gov. Huntsman is talking about giving the teachers a 7% raise.
Politicians find it impossible to see what is really needed for people just to live.
missus:
Well, the problems with that kind of calculus are two: (a) it assumes that if the money didn't go into teacher raises it would go into poor relief and warm clothes for kids... an assumption wholly at odds with the facts. This being Utah, if it didn't go into teacher raises, it would go into road projects or more tax cuts for the wealthy. And (b) as generations of immigrants who have come to the US since the late 19th Century could tell you, good public education is the way up, and out of poverty for the children of the American poor. So starving Utah public education of funds intended to bring it up to at least the national average [which is what Gov. H. is aiming to do, though he concedes doing even that will take another three or four years of increases] would, seems to me, probably guarantee more poor kids down the road than would otherwise be the case.
That said, buying coats, hoodies, and other warm things to contribute to children --- and adults --- in need in a Utah winter would be a wonderful thing for those not hard up against it right now to do. They're our neighbors, folks. And this particular Yellow dog Democrat, where children without a warm coats to wear against the cold or who are hungry are concerned, doesn't much give a damn where those children were born or whether their parents have the right papers.
[NB: I'm not suggesting at all, Missus SC, that you think otherwise. Your post just gave me the chance to make the general point.]
Thank you Rudi for placing the reminder up that there are some who are not as fortunate as many of us who read the forum.
I for one believe in helping those in time of need, we are all in this world together, if we cant help our neighbors, then we should all give up.
I made a trip to the Miracle tree at the Public Safety Building and picked up a half dozen some ornaments, I didnt see any for toys or high priced items, they were all for basics, socks mittens, underwear, etc.
I went shopping, and it me feel a lot better knowing I could help some kids out this year.
Thanks again Rudi, and please everyone try to do something nice for a neighbor or a less fortunate person in our community.
Before Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey gets himself set in bed tonight to rest his weary -- but gargantuan, in stark and direct contrast to the rest of his Lilliputian Lord Littlebrook crook of a person -- Forehead, he will ask Santa to bring him:
$40 million from Wayne Peterson and his famed Squirrel Patrol, THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE's $35K car sponsorships, the moneybags of many local trust fund gravytrainers, including Jay Asquith Cavendish, and Israeli insurance fraud hoodums, as well as the residuals from asshat, self-important, moronic queens from Van Nys who "produced" Jaws 3D so that he might be able to realize his Divine Mission of building the URBAN GONDOLA to nowhere.
What?
When a lying municipaligoon child of a crook leaves $2 on a $50 dinner tab, he sure as hell ain't giving any dough to charity. But he will take a taxpayer-funded plane ride to Europe with his potential gay lover (Wayne) to look at GONDOLAS and, perhaps, some fecund Norse onion fields.
Dream the sweet, acrid oilstain dreams of gondola cars gliding above blighted and neglected urban thoroughfares, brave patrollers, because that is as close as you children are going to get.
More good.
THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE
Jason:
Kind of puts a new spin on "Monica in her 'kerchief, and Matt in his cap," doesn't it?
How this for the big Christmas present. Godfrey in jail in 08. Patterson in jail in 08. abe shreeve in jail in 08. It is coming down the pike and then we can get them some toys for ol bubba.
Ah, The Bookshelf is going out of business. And another bit of downtown Ogden's uniqueness evaporates. Sad to see. Never good to see an indy bookstore go under. Sad.
Republican County Commissions like to play games with our tax dollars. So they send the little old lady that is the current County Assessor to go and jack up the entire home assessments in valley, because of most of them don’t vote republican anyway. Then the Republican Commissioners lower the tax rate, for entire people who live below the valley. Knowing that if they didn’t lower the tax rate, their ring wing wacko constituents that live below the valley will revolt against them.
All three Republican Commissioners live below the valley that had their taxes cut also. (Rob Peter to Pay Paul)!
Then they claim they gave us a Merry Christmas!!!
Well I get mad when someone pisses on me and tells me it’s raining, and then claims that they prayed and it stopped raining.
Wake up… Vote for the Democrats next time. They won’t lie to you about jacking up your taxes. They’ll hold a truth and taxation hearing before they jack up your taxes. And they’ll tell you why and what the money is for.
Mean while my taxes still went up of a total of $85.00.
Way to go…Republican County Commissioners Deardon, Bishoff and Zagmaster.
Merry Christmas to you too….
Last week, Mitt Romney delivered a speech about his religious faith and the faith of all Americans that the values of our beliefs should influence our government. But because of the religious bigotry that exists in the Republican Party, Romney felt he had to do a “JFK” type speech to convince GOP voters that the LDS Church will not dictate the office of a U.S. President.
In reality, this was a speech that should not have been given. After more than 200 years of religious freedom and the right to worship as we please, we still find some Americans who cannot accept certain Christian religions as Christianity. Many of the evangelicals in the Republican Party believe that members of the LDS faith are not Christians and believe that the church is a cult. But the description of a Christian is someone that follows Christ. And the dictionary definition of a cult is a system of religious rites with zealous devotion to a person, ideal or thing. In other words, the overzealous practices of the right wing evangelicals may suit the definition of a cult better than the title conservatives give Mormons.
Even though Romney gave a great speech, nothing has changed. In fact, his Iowa poll numbers have dropped his position to third in the GOP Presidential Primary race. The problem Romney has is his party affiliation with the Republican Party. Sadly, the Zealous Right has taken over the GOP and has pushed aside the reasonable, moderate party faithful.
Ironically, this type of discrimination that LDS Republicans are feeling from National GOP members is similar to a political bias in Utah politics. The discrimination in this state has been against LDS Democrats. It is interesting to watch Mormon Republicans wanting the country to accept them as Christians. Yet over the years, those same Mormon Republicans have rejected Mormon Democrats with statements like, “You can’t be a good Mormon and be a Democrat.”
Most Democrats believe that religion should shape the character of a person, but religion should not be used in determining an election. In fact, Romney mentioned Article Six in the Constitution where a religious test is not to be used in any election. However, party affiliation and religion has been a part of voting for decades, especially in Utah. In today’s politics, religious bigotry mostly exists in the Republican Party. An example is Senator Harry Reid. The most powerful elected Mormon Democrat in the country lives in a state where only 7% of the population is LDS. Clearly it is because most voters, especially Democrats, look for someone who will represent the people.
Likewise, Democrats in Utah feel it is more important to represent hard, working families rather than submit themselves to an over zealous group of self-interested attitudes.
Hopefully, Romney’s speech will be a wakeup call for voters. We need to elect competent and ethical leaders rather than vote for one’s religion or political party. The time is now to unite rather than divide our communities.
Looks like the master financial planner for peterson and lying little matty's silly gondola to nowhere is headin back to the big house again, maybe for a very long time. This would be of course, the other famous Wayne, Wayne Ogden.
Richard w, wasn't most of Wayne Ogden's local business conducted in church? Is that how he met the Allens and Kent Peterson?
If Mitt Romney's presidential fate was not already sealed by the right-wing of the Republican Party before Wednesday's speech, it certainly would've been had he closed the way Sen. Harry Reid did on Oct. 9 at Brigham Young University:
“I bear testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the foundation for the blessings we now enjoy laid by the young boy and assassinated Prophet Joseph Smith and with certainty, I testify of Gordon B. Hinckley as our modern day prophet.
“It is finally my plea and prayer that we will follow the teachings that we know to be true, and in so doing create a better world.”
This closing, a public testimony and benediction in front of 6,000 students and every news camera and reporter of significance in Utah, coming from Romney could never have happened because he is a Republican. It could and did happen coming from Reid because he is a Democrat.
Democrats have many issues. Some of the most pressing and historically significant involve Sen. Reid because of his position as majority leader. But his faith and his expression of it are not on the list.
The Grand Old Party, the so-called “party of family values,” seems to prefer Rudy Giuliani, a poster boy for moral decrepitude.
Here’s one snapshot from bad-boy Rudy’s family album courtesy of Slate:
Rudy's first marriage was annulled on the grounds that the couple didn’t get the dispensation from the Catholic Church they needed to marry as second cousins, once removed. To unbelievers annulments seem to be an effective strategy to marry again and still be in the good graces of the church - but after 14 years of marriage, Rudy’s can only seem squirrelly. That’s a venial sin, though, compared with the crash and burn next time around. Rudy's second wife found out he was divorcing her during a press conference. She then accused him of carrying on a longtime affair with one of his staff members. Rudy’s defense was that she identified the wrong woman. In fact, he was involved with Judith Nathan, his current wife who is not showcased on the stump (Except for weird cell-phone calls interrupting speeches).
Through this messy process, Rudy inflicted lots of pain on his family. To hear him shrug the whole thing off with “I don't think any of us have perfect lives,” as he did to Barbara Walters, is like watching Tony Soprano play down his little violence problem.
National polls indicate that Republicans prefer this kind of guy to Romney, a businessman and public servant who projects an All-American, can-do, straight-laced persona.
What gives?
Romney has an insurmountable political problem within his Republican Party, a problem that would not be given a second thought if he were a Democrat: Mitt is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Many members of one of the most influential wings of the Republican Party – "born again" Christian evangelicals like the ones who gathered recently in Salt Lake City for a meeting of the secretive National Council on Policy – believe that the LDS Church represents heresy and competitors in the race to save souls. A not so insignificant number believe Mormons are cult members destined for eternal damnation.
Lord have mercy.
Meanwhile, there's Leah Daughtry, who gave the keynote address at the Utah Democratic Party's recent Eleanor Roosevelt Luncheon. She is a Pentecostal pastor and one-woman hurricane of a political operative. When not speaking English in slow, soothing tones, she can sometimes be found speaking in tongues.
Within the world of Democratic politics, the "black chick from Brooklyn," as she calls herself, is a power player. In her job as chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee — No. 2 to Chairman Howard Dean — she runs the party's day-to-day national strategy. Daughtry is also in charge of planning the Democratic convention next summer in Denver.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans is the difference between Rev. Daughtry and Pat Robertson. The difference between inclusion and exclusion - if not religious bigotry.
Curmudgeon,
.....good public education is the way up.......
As GW Bush said, "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." -Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001
I agree with your fine words about helping all of our neighbors.
Rudi,
Thanks for the Marshal White Center info, it’s a great organization. Marshal White made the ultimate sacrifice, as one of Ogden’s finest, and should be remembered appropriately. The volunteer co-ordinator is Betty Foyer, at 393-0162.
Thanks for the Fire Department info. They deserve our support, and a raise.
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