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So, are your Photos good enough to WIN

05/24/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Submit your best travel photos and you could win amazing prizes, including a National Geographic Expedition to the Galápagos and an opportunity to be published in Traveler magazine. Plus, check in every week to see recent entries and our editors’ favorites, and vote for your top picks!

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People – to – People

05/24/2013 Nativegrl77

Cuba: Globus now offers people-to-people tours

Globus has joined the ranks of well-known tour companies offering trips to Cuba under a special U.S. Treasury Department license that permits people-to-people…

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Senate Floor Pro Forma Schedule :::::: CONGRESS ::::::

05/24/2013 Nativegrl77

The Senate will meet on the following days at the following times for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted, unless the Senate receives a message that the House has adopted S.Con.Res.17, the adjournment resolution:

– Friday, May 24^th at 12:30pm

– Tuesday, May 28^th at 12:00pm and

– Friday, May 31^st at 12:00pm

Senate Floor Schedule for Monday, June 3, 2013 2pmET

***************************************************************************************************

The next meeting in the House is scheduled for 2:00 p.mET on June 3, 2013.

May 2013
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

***************************************************************************************************

Last Floor Action:
2:37:46 P.M. – The House adjourned
pursuant to a previous special order

The next meeting in the House is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on May 24, 2013.

10:00:00 A.M.		The House convened, starting a new legislative day.
10:00:55 A.M.		The Speaker designated the Honorable Thomas E. Petri to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
10:00:56 A.M.		Today’s prayer was offered by Reverend William Gurnee, Blessed John Paul II Seminary, Washington, DC.
10:02:40 A.M.		The Speaker announced approval of the Journal. Pursuant to section 3(a) of H. Res. 232, the Journal stands approved.
10:02:46 A.M.		PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
10:03:00 A.M.		The House received a message from the Clerk. Pursuant to the permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. Representatives, the Clerk notified the House that she had received the following message from the Secretary of the Senate on May 24, 2013 at 9:06 a.m.: That the Senate agreed to S. Con. Res. 17.
10:05:25 A.M.	S. Con. Res. 17	Considered as privileged matter. S. Con. Res. 17 — “Providing for a conditional adjournment or recess of the Senate and an adjournment of the House of Representatives.”
10:05:45 A.M.	S. Con. Res. 17	On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to without objection.
10:05:55 A.M.	S. Con. Res. 17	Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
10:05:58 A.M.		The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn pursuant to S. Con. Res. 17. The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on June 3, 2013.

***************************************************************************************************

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If being sexually assaulted wasn’t bad enough…

05/23/2013 Nativegrl77


	Failing Our Girls



	Help us protect girls from sexual assault and bullying and continue other vital work with a generous donation.

When you see the news, it’s the same disturbing story. The four-letter word our friends, sisters and daughters face in school? Slut. Sometimes even after experiencing sexual violence. Here is the story of one Michigan high school student.
She was sexually assaulted at school in a soundproof band room by a star player on the basketball team and then felt discouraged by the principal from filing charges. The girl and her parents filed charges anyway. Despite an obligation under Title IX, which requires federally funded schools to ensure an environment free from sex-based discrimination, school officials took virtually no action. And the victim was subsequently subjected to intensive harassment and bullying by the assailant and other students — both at school and online.
The National Women’s Law Center has joined with a Michigan law firm to file a lawsuit in federal court to hold this school district accountable for its failure to adequately address the harassment and to send a nationwide message that sexual assault, bullying and harassment is never okay. Your help allows us to take on cases like this and continue our work to protect women and girls. Please donate $10 to support our work.
Sadly, this student is far from alone. Every two minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. As we’ve seen in Steubenville, Ohio and across the country, this problem is not going away. And often after a sexual assault, survivors are made to feel ashamed instead of supported.
The chilling message students are receiving from some schools is that they should remain silent in the face of sexual assault. It’s time to end that. Please donate $10 to support the Center’s work.
Thank you for helping us continue to stand up for women and girls.
Sincerely,

Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National Women’s Law Center

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Tom Coburn & Spending

05/23/2013 Nativegrl77

By ThinkProgress War Room

One of the more unfortunate developments in recent years is the new status quo within the GOP of demanding that emergency disaster aid be offset with cuts elsewhere in the budget, something previously only a minority of members of Congress like Sen. Coburn demanded. This callous new standard led Republicans, including Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe (R), to vote en masse against aid to the victims of Superstorm Sandy.

To justify his vote against Sandy aid in view of the clear need for aid to Oklahoma, Inhofe claimed yesterday that aid to victims of the Oklahoma tornado is somehow “totally different” than the Sandy aid he opposed.

Extending federal aid to victims of disasters like the Oklahoma tornado is obviously just the right thing to do, but it’s troubling that Republicans now hypocritically demand aid for their own states while attempting to withhold help other Americans who are the victims of tragic disasters.

Rep. Peter King (R), for one, got it right when he called out his fellow Republicans for “hypocrisy” while calling for immediate aid — without offsetting spending cuts — for the victims of the tragedy in Oklahoma:

I think they should get every penny they need. I’ve been through this. We can do the political games later on, the important thing is to get them the aid as quickly as they need it and not to make a political issue out of it.

BOTTOM LINE: Taking care of our fellow citizens when they are in need is what we do in America. Instead of playing politics with tragedies, we need to make sure people get the help they need when disaster strikes.

If you want to help the victims of this week’s tornado in Oklahoma and other disasters, you can make a contribution to the Red Cross HERE.