Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Artwork Clearance II

"Brass on Red" - original photograph by Debbie Buchanan Engle

I'm cleaning out my art studio!  

If you'd like to bid on a piece of my original artwork:

1.  Go to the "Artwork Clearance" Facebook page
2.  Select "Photos" in the left-hand column
3.  Select the "Place Bids Here" album
4.  Choose an artwork, and place your bid in the the "Comments" section!  

Bidding closes at midnight, February 28, 2011 CST.  

Friday, February 11, 2011

"Do not assume that he who seeks to comfort you now, lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good.  His life may also have much sadness and difficulty, that remains far beyond yours.  Were it otherwise, he would never have been able to find these words." 

Image from "Judge Not" art exhibit
by Debbie Buchanan Engle/Alan Dyson (2007)


Federal Proposal Would Cut $75 Million from Legal Services

February 9, 2011
Source: PRNewswire | 

"For the Hungry" - Debbie Buchanan Engle (2010)

A congressional proposal, announced Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee would shave $75 million from the budget for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). The reduction would be a cut of 14 percent from last year's appropriation and is a 17 percent reduction from the White House's 2011 budget.

LSC distributes 95 percent of this federal money to fund 136 programs that annually provide legal aid to millions of low-income people across the country. The cut would likely result in the laying off of 300 legal services attorneys at a time when the legal needs of poor people are extremely intense. These programs help people resist foreclosure proceedings, they help veterans and disabled people complete applications or appeal denied applications for public benefits, and they help the elderly with consumer fraud, among many other things. These programs are critical components of any community's safety net.

This cut comes at a time when there have already been serious reductions in other monies upon which these programs also depend – specifically in the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Fund Accounts (IOLTA). That funding is derived in large part from the funds set up for escrow in real estate transactions – when housing is slow the funds wither. Nonprofits need to make themselves heard on this appropriation or our sector will lose absolutely critical capacity.
—Ruth McCambridge

Our Louisiana Representative, Rodney Alexander, sits on the House Appropriations Committee. An email or phone call campaign to him may rally support AGAINST this proposal. 

Email him @
rep.alexander@mail.house.gov
Phone - D.C.: 202-225-8490 

LA Offices - Alexandria: 318-445-0818, Monroe: 318-322-3500

Senator Lydia Jackson is the Louisiana Legislature Champion for these issues.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011





"Artists Wanted is a collaborative project between several New York City artists and creative organizations working to build new lasting opportunities for emerging talent. We have experienced first hand the difficulties in breaking into the professional art world and it is our mission to make this process more welcoming, dynamic and open-ended." 

Vote early & vote often!

Click on the photo above, then cast your vote by selecting the stars in the top right-hand corner.

Redefining Rape: The Anti-Choice crowd vs. American women.....Again.














Original artwork by Debbie Buchanan Engle

The text of the bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-3

An explanation of the uproar over the rape/incest clause: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/whats-behind-the-drive-to-redefine-rape_n_816967.html

"Essentially,... it makes allowances for abortions only in the case of 'forcible rape.'
 
I'd be worried about that second clause, as well, seeing as we live in a world where Bill O'Reilly, anti-abortion warrior, has apparently never heard of an 'ectopic pregnancy' or 'pre-eclampsia.'

What's off the table? Well, if you are a woman coerced, drugged or otherwise incapacitated by a rapist, too bad! Also, if you are a young child, statutory rape is off the table, too, unless incest is involved. (The incest exception lapses for adults, crazily.)

Per Nick Baumann: For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion....

Given that the bill also would forbid the use of tax benefits to pay for abortions, that 13-year-old's parents wouldn't be allowed to use money from a tax-exempt health savings account (HSA) to pay for the procedure. They also wouldn't be able to deduct the cost of the abortion or the cost of any insurance that paid for it as a medical expense....

But 'forcible rape' still qualifies, which is good, right? 

Well, the problem here is that no one can really define what 'forcible rape' is. As Sady Doyle points out in Salon today, "The term 'forcible rape' actually has no set meaning; legal definitions of 'force' vary widely. And every survivor who finds herself in need of abortion funding will have to submit her rape for government approval."

alexandra's oval room