Daily Archives: 10/18/2013
Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese: 
Make your locations “fun for all” and comply with the American with Disabilities
 |
|
|
We are humbly asking that you will sign this petition to let Chuck E Cheese know that it is a violation of the American Disabilities Act to deny my disabled daughter and her father access to an empty women’s restroom.
OUR STORY: My 9 year old, Marley Eschoe, was attending another child’s birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese location in Georgia this May when her father, Mark Eschoe, who brought Marley to the party, was not allowed to take her into an empty women’s restroom, when the men’s restroom was occupied.
Marley, who suffers from lupus, had been recently released from a 3 month stay in the hospital after suffering her 2nd stroke in 8 months. She was using a wheelchair and needed assistance walking and going to the restroom. This was one of Marley’s first time out for an event after her hospital stay and our family was so excited for a fun day as we were still adjusting to our “new normal.”
Marley’s father, Mark Eschoe, was denied access to an empty female restroom and told he would have to take his then 8yr old daughter to the men’s restroom regardless of it being overcrowded. Knowing that Marley needed to use the bathroom urgently, my husband even requested that a female Chuck E. Cheese employee who was exiting the restroom stand by the door while he took his daughter into the empty female restroom. That request was also denied by Chuck E. Cheese management. Mark informed Chuck E. Cheese management about Marley’s medical condition and asked for assistance. The manager’s response was, “I don’t care if she has special needs, I’m not going to treat her any differently from my other patron. I’m done with you.” Then, she abruptly walked away after threatening to call the police to have him removed.
Our family was shocked. We informed the national management of Chuck E. Cheese about our experience and the company said it would conduct an internal investigation. After months of “investigating” (which did not include reaching out to us), Chuck E. Cheese informed us that they stood by the local manager who they feel did nothing wrong.
But what Chuck E. Cheese hasn’t said is that not only was the way their employee handled this situation offensive and hurtful to a vulnerable child and her family, it was also illegal. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires access to bathrooms for people with disabilities. We’re concerned that Chuck E. Cheese did not comply with the ADA — and that other families will be affected by this attitude as well.
We don’t want any other family to have to go through what we went through. We’re asking Chuck E. Cheese to ensure that its locations across the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and that staff are appropriately trained to handle these situations. Chuck E. Cheese says its a place for “fun for all” — we’re hoping your company will make this motto a reality.
Share this:
The GOP’s Default Caucus
162 Republicans Vote for Default
Republicans’ first act in their latest manufactured crisis was shutting down the government in a failed and mean-spirited bid to deny affordable health insurance to millions.
We know that the shutdown resulted in some 800,000 federal employees being thrown out of work, hundreds of national parks and other federal lands closed, cancer treatments denied, food assistance cut off to low-income women and children, and countless other painful consequences for people across the country.
It also cost the economy at least $24 BILLION. Just to give you an idea, here are just a few examples of what else you could get for $24 BILLION:
- The net cost of to the government from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP): $24 billion
- The Department of Agriculture’s proposed budget: $22.6 billion
- NASA’s approved budget: $16.6 billion
- All air transportation programs, including the Federal Aviation Administration, security, research, and other costs: $21.9 billion
- The Child Tax Credit: $22.1 billion
- The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (formally known as welfare): $17.7 billion
- The cost of Head Start, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Women Infants and Children (WIC) program combined: $25.2 billion
The $24 BILLION sucked out of the economy thanks to the government shutdown comes on top of an estimated $700 BILLION cumulative hit to the economy thanks to the GOP’s years-long effort to govern by crisis.
Despite admitting that they got “nothing” as a result of the painful and damaging shutdown, Tea Party Republicans say it was somehow still “worth it” for them.
In fact, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) won’t rule out another shutdown, adding that he will still “do anything” to stop Obamacare. Another House Republican, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), said, “we’re going to start this all over again.”
It gets worse.
After inflicting this painful and unnecessary shutdown on the country for 16 days, during which time they sometimes seemed to forget why they even shut the government down in the first place, Republicans voted en masse last night in favor of a catastrophic default and continued government shutdown.
The GOP’s Default Caucus — 18 Republican Senators and 144 House Republicans — apparently preferred a default that threatened to collapse the entire global economy to allowing millions to get affordable health insurance and re-opening the government at spending levels Republicans themselves proposed.
Supporting a government shutdown is bad enough, but supporting an economic shutdown by refusing to pay the nation’s bills is a stunningly extreme position. Unfortunately, it’s a position that a majority of Congressional Republicans apparently support. Even GOP budget guru Paul Ryan voted for a reckless economic shutdown on top of the government shutdown.
As National Journal noted today, “several of those who might be considered serious GOP 2016 contenders for the presidency also voted in favor of the first default in American history in order to stay in the tea party’s good graces.”
BOTTOM LINE: It’s time for the GOP’s brinksmanship and manufactured crises to end. Instead of shutting down the government, voting to default on our obligations, and proclaiming their pride in job-killing austerity spending cuts, Republicans should sit down with Democrats and agree to a budget that protects important programs and makes the investments we need to grow the economy and create jobs.
The Center for American Progress has a balanced budget plan that will replace the damaging sequester cuts for the next three years and make badly needed investments in job creation. You can check it out HERE.
Share this:
Trapped in a Russian jail
Ana Paula and 29 of her Greenpeace crewmates are trapped in a Russian jail for trying to save the Arctic from oil drilling. But our community could set them free if we help Greenpeace build a massive global outcry targeting Russia’s biggest global partners. Let’s reach 1 million to free the Arctic 30 — sign now by clicking below:  |
Ana Paula is a 31-year old from Brazil who wanted to peacefully protest Russia’s plans to drill the Arctic. Now she, along with her 29 crewmates from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, is locked in a Russian jail with no release in sight. But we can throw her and the rest of her crew a lifeline.
The Greenpeace staff, some in solitary confinement, are now facing fifteen years in prison on trumped up charges of piracy. Their crime? Hanging a banner on a Russian oil rig to protest dangerous deepwater drilling in one of the earth’s most beautiful and fragile places. Many western governments have already spoken out, but now Ana Paula and Greenpeace are asking the Avaaz community to help build a truly global outcry.
Together we can call on some of Russia’s strongest trade and political partners — Brazil, India, South Africa and the EU — to call for the release of the Arctic 30. Let’s reach 1 million to free Ana Paula and her friends. Once we hit that mark, Avaaz will project their faces in key public places to keep this story at the top of the news:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_the_arctic_30_loc/?biEWLbb&v=30328
This is what Ana Paula’s sister said about her: “In many ways, my sister is a typical Brazilian — talkative, friendly, and full of life. But she’s also simply extraordinary, passionate about nature since she was little, and never hesitating to stand up for it even at great personal risk.”
Now Ana Paula and her crewmates could lose 15 years of their lives, all for trying to hang a banner on a Gazprom oil rig, the first of its kind in the Arctic. This is an aggressive backlash against defenders of our environment — stopping oil drilling in the Arctic is about protecting the last great wilderness on earth, where oil spills are almost impossible to clean up.
Greenpeace has hired great lawyers who point out that the 30 were arrested in international waters, making Russia the one violating the international Law of the Sea. But being on the right side of the law may not be enough to regain their freedom, and their dreadful fate may be sealed soon unless the international community lets Russia know that this is a scandal that’s not going to go away.
Avaaz has a particularly powerful voice in many of these countries with huge memberships — 5 million in Brazil alone! If we all weigh in now and build a one million strong petition, Avaazers in Brazil, South Africa, India, and the EU can ramp up the pressure. Sign now to help build 1 million people to help free the Arctic 30:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_the_arctic_30_loc/?biEWLbb&v=30328
These Arctic 30 were brave enough to confront the oil industry in one of the last untouched places on earth. They are being silenced and intimidated by the oil industry for their bravery. Our community has stood strong for campaigners across the world — now let’s free these 30.
With hope and determination,
Jamie, Alex, Emma, Lisa, Ricken, Marie, Julien, Diego and the rest of the Avaaz team
MORE INFORMATION
Russia accuses Greenpeace crew of ‘piracy’ in Arctic (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24222392
Dutch sue Russia to recover ‘pirate’ Greenpeace crew (France24)
http://www.france24.com/en/20131004-netherlands-russia-greenpeace-oil-arctic-piracy-justice
What Russia’s Treatment of Greenpeace Activists Reveals About its Arctic Policy (The Atlantic)
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/10/what-russia-s-treatment-of-greenpeace-activists-reveals-about-its-arctic-policy/280352/
Legal analysis by International law professor Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirchner
http://fr.scribd.com/doc/173374193/Comment-on-the-institution-of-arbitration-proceedings-between-the-Kingdom-of-the-Netherlands-and-the-Russian-Federation-concerning-the-case-of-the-shi
Black Ice: Russia’s ongoing oil spill crisis (Report, Greenpeace)
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/arctic-impacts/The-dangers-of-Ar…
Share this:
Help save the last remaining wild orangutans
 |
|||||||||
 |
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
To get cheap palm oil, top snack food brands are doing business with companies that are driving the last 60,600 wild orangutans to extinction, committing human rights violations and destroying rainforests.
|
|||||||
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.