WEEK IN REVIEW
Senate Democratic leaders invite President Obama and Vice President Biden to
Capitol Hill the week of July 5 to move deficit-reduction talks forward.
Democratic leaders say progress will depend on Republicans‘ willingness to end
tax breaks for the wealthy.
Senate Democrats ask Republicans to stop protecting frivolous tax breaks for the wealthy, such as loopholes for corporate jet owners, and work with Democrats to reduce the deficit
I know we’ve been asking a lot of you.
In the first major test of this campaign, you delivered.
More than 475,000 people decided to own a piece of this campaign in just our first quarter — a promising sign of what’s to come if we all stay focused and work together.
We’ll be in touch with more information as we continue to crunch the numbers. But for now, I wanted to pass along a quick video I think you’ll like.
If you missed it, the President held a press conference earlier this week. The last few minutes were really something special. It’s a good reminder of why we’re fighting so hard to get him re-elected:
Thanks again. Hope you have a great holiday weekend.
Messina
Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
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Human occupation of the Great Dismal Swamp began nearly 13,000 years ago. By 1650, few native Americans remained in the area, and European settlers showed little interest in the swamp. In 1665, William Drummond, a governor of North Carolina, discovered the lake which now bears his name. William Byrd II led a surveying party into the swamp to draw a dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina in 1728. George Washington first visited the swamp in 1763 and organized the Dismal Swamp Land Company that was involved in draining and logging portions of the swamp. A five-mile ditch on the west side of the refuge still bears his name.
Logging of the swamp proved to be a successful commercial activity, with regular logging operations continuing as late as 1976. The entire swamp has been logged at least once, and many areas have been burned by periodic wildfires.
The Great Dismal Swamp has been drastically altered by humans over the past two centuries. Agricultural, commercial, and residential development destroyed much of the swamp, so that the remaining portion within and around the refuge represents less than half of the original size of the swamp. Before the refuge was established, over 140 miles of roads were constructed to provide access to the timber. These roads severely disrupted the swamp’s natural hydrology, as the ditches which were dug to provide soil for the road beds drained water from the swamp. The roads also blocked the flow of water across the swamp’s surface, flooding some areas of the swamp with stagnant water. The logging operations removed natural stands of cypress and Atlantic white-cedar that were replaced by other forest types, particularly red maple. A drier swamp and the suppression of wildfires, which once cleared the land for seed germination, created environmental conditions that were less favorable to the survival of cypress and cedar stands. As a result, plant and animal diversity decreased.
The swamp is also an integral part of the cultural history of the region and remains a place of refuge for wildlife and people. The dense forests of the Great Dismal Swamp provided refuge to runaway slaves, resulting in the refuge becoming the first National Wildlife Refuge to be officially designated as a link in the “Underground Railroad Network to Freedom” in 2003. For more information click here.
Establishment of the refuge began in 1973 when the Union Camp Corporation donated 49,100 acres of land to The Nature Conservancy. This land was then conveyed to the Department of the Interior, and the refuge was officially established through The Dismal Swamp Act of 1974.
This weekend we’re celebrating our freedom and the nation’s birth with parades, fireworks and BBQs with friends and family. American women may soon have even more to celebrate — our independence from co-pays on prescription birth control — thanks to the new health care law!
Declare your independence! Join the campaign to make prescription birth control available in all new health plans without a co-pay! www.nwcl.org
Women need access to birth control to prevent unintended pregnancies, plan the timing and size of their families, and protect their health. Women know the preventive health benefits of birth control, but we also know the cost to stay on it throughout our childbearing years. Birth control can be expensive, and the high cost of birth control can affect whether women use it consistently.
Help us move women’s health forward, so we can say — we’ve got you covered! www.nwlc.org
We’ve been working on getting contraception covered in health plans for many years, and we are finally within reach of achieving this critical goal. In the coming months, the Department of Health and Human Services will decide which preventive services should be covered in new health insurance plans without a co-pay or other out-of-pocket costs.
Sign our petition and be part of the campaign to make prescription birth control more affordable and accessible to all women. www.nwlc.org
Thank you for all that you do for women and girls.
Sincerely,
Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center
P.S. Your generous donation allows us to continue to work for women and their families. Support our work on reproductive health and other issues today.
Road to Avonlea is rich in historical detail about the lives of the settlers of Prince Edward Island just after the turn of the 20th century. But, much like the rest of Canada and the United States, the residents of Avonlea were not the initial founders of the land. Here is a short summary of the history of one of the most culturally and physically beautiful islands in the world.
– For thousands of years, it was the Micmac (or Mi’kmaq) people who lived on Prince Edward Island. They originally called it Epekwit (pronounced Abegweit), which means “land cradled on the waves”. Their legend says that the Great Spirit first created the universe, then the Micmac people, and then saw that there was extra clay left over. So he molded the clay into a crescent form, which became the island – “the most beautiful jewel in the universe”. Today, the Micmacs represent a very tiny percentage of the main population.
– The first explorer to find the island was Jacques Cartier in 1534. When he first saw the land, he was overcome with its beauty and, standing on his ship, described it as “…the fairest land ‘tis possible to see!”.
– The first white settlers – who were Acadian, of French origin – settled themselves at Port La Joye in 1720. This was right across the harbour from Charlottown. They named the island Île Saint-Jean, but due to the ensuing war between the French and English, the island’s name and occupiers changed many times.
– In 1758, when Britain was occupying the island, they deported many of the Acadian people back to Europe. Some of these people were then sent from France to settle Louisiana, which makes them the “Cajuns”. Those who stayed on the island had to find a safe place to live.
– Captain Samuel Holland was sent in 1764 to survey the land. He then divided it into 67 different townships, and land grants were bid on by rich British subjects back in London. For about a century after, the settlers and farmers of these townships had to deal with landlords that were not present and unwavering rent collectors. It wasn’t until 1853 that the Land Purchase Act was passed, which allowed the Island government to buy back these lots and sell them to the tenants.
– In 1873, Prince Edward Island officially joined the confederation of Canada.
– PEI became very prosperous and experienced a “golden age” in the mid-nineteenth century due to its ship-building industry. Within 50 years, 3,100 vessels were built there.
– Throughout the 18th and 19th century, the island accepted Scottish settlers fleeing from hardships in their own land, as well as thousands of Irishmen hoping to find a better life there. It also saw many Americans – the United Empire Loyalists – move up north to the island during the American War of Independence.
Source: Prince Edward Island Visitor’s Guide
Photo: The Micmac tribe of PEI.
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