Afternoon News Bytes: Feb. 29, 2012 | Sojourners

Afternoon News Bytes: Feb. 29, 2012

REUTERS: GDP Revised Up To 3 Percent In Fourth-Quarter
The economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter on slightly firmer consumer and business spending, which could help to allay fears of a sharp slowdown in growth in early 2012.
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FOREIGN POLICY: Why Foreign Assistance Is Still Important
Secretary Clinton will testify tomorrow [Feb. 29] before the House Foreign Relations Committee, "Assessing U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities Amidst Economic Challenges: The Foreign Relations Budget for Fiscal Year 2013."
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REUTERS: Syrian Army Assaults Rebel Districts
Syrian troops launched a ground attack in Homs on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to overrun the rebel-held Baba Amro neighborhood that has endured 25 days of siege and fierce bombardment, opposition sources said.
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PEW RESEAERCH CENTER: Public Views Of The Divide Between Religion And Politics
Recent comments by presidential candidate Rick Santorum have brought renewed attention to the role of religion in politics. In both 2010 and 2008, narrow majorities said that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters rather than express their views on social and political questions, according to polls by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: What Did Congress Do To Combat Poverty In 2011? Virtually Nothing (OPINION)
What has been the legislative response of the United States Congress to the increase in poverty? Virtually nothing. Only one bill that will reduce poverty -- legislation that will expand job opportunities and training for veterans -- passed the Senate and House and was signed into law by the president in 2011. This contrasts with 2010, when Congress passed and the president signed the landmark Affordable Care Act national health care reform.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: Environmental Justice A Form Of Social Justice (OPINION)
Republican presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, questioned Barack Obama's "theology" in an Ohio campaign stop, February 19, by asserting that Obama believes in "some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology."
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THE GUARDIAN: Occupy LSX May Be Gone, But The Movement Won't Be Forgotten
You cannot evict an idea. Such is the message of defiance from Occupy. But it is not entirely true. For the whole point of Occupy is that it's not just an idea bouncing around the internet. Occupy is stubbornly about the physical reality of space. Others may write books and organise seminars. Occupy puts up tents. It takes up space. It is there.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: World’s Extreme Poverty Cut In Half Since 1990
The share of people living in extreme poverty around the world continued to decline in recent years despite financial crises and surging food prices, the World Bank said today.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: Poverty Resolutions, Microloan Nonprofit, Shows How Far $1 Can Go To Provide Jobs For Poor
When Matt Jones tells an auditorium full of students that he's rich, they usually laugh. The 32-year-old doesn't quite give off the millionaire impression. Jones looks young, dresses casually and runs a modest nonprofit that's using microloans to create jobs in Haiti.
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FOX NEWS LATINO: Alabama Lawmakers Calls For Immigration Law Repeal
Alabama's harsh immigration law can't be fixed and needs to be scrapped, a member of the state legislature said Monday.
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