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Berkley for Senate

03/27/2012 Nativegrl77

This Saturday marks one of the most important milestones of the election season — it will be the first opportunity in 2012 for campaigns across the country to display the depth of their support.

Midnight on Saturday is the end of the first FEC fundraising quarter of the year. Pundits and prognosticators everywhere will use this number as a measure of strength.

Nevada is going to be one of the closest elections in the nation — which means our numbers this quarter are even more important. That’s why I set a goal — $25,000 by the filing deadline on Saturday.

Don’t miss this chance to show our strength — contribute what you can today, and help us get to our $25,000 goal before the deadline.

Special interests back in Washington, D.C. don’t think a grassroots campaign can amass the strength necessary to take on their millions. They think they’ll be able to throw so many smears at us that we won’t be able to fight back.

I know they’re wrong, but I need you to help me prove it. We need enough resources to counter the barrage that will inevitably come in this race.

This is a critical test — and an opportunity for us to make a statement about our strength. Contribute today — even if it’s $5 or $10 — and help us hit our $25,000 goal before Saturday.

I’m running for Senate because I believe in strengthening our economy and the security of the middle class. But to win, we’ll need to show that we have a different kind of strength already within us. I hope you will stand with me.

Thanks for all you do.

Shelley

PS: Know anyone else who’d like to help us show our strength? Do your part and contribute today, then share our call with your family and friends on Facebook and Twitter.

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I am NOT Alissa … Alissa via Change.org

03/27/2012 Nativegrl77

When I was 16, I was sold for sex against my will on a website called Backpage.com, the biggest website for child sex trafficking ads in America. Tell Village Voice Media, owners of Backpage, to shut down their sex ads now.

Sign the Petition

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I am one of many girls who have been exploited and sold for sex online. And I was sold for sex on a website called Backpage.com, which makes $22 million a year from ads for prostitution.

You should know that my name is not Alissa. I’m afraid that if I use my real name, the pimps who used to sell me for sex will hunt me down and kill me. I am also afraid that Village Voice Media (which owns Backpage) will ruin my life and come after me as they have others who have stood up for girls who have been sold on Backpage.

But I’m even more afraid that if I don’t tell my story, no one will rise up to stop the people who buy and sell girls like me.

Now, there’s a petition on Change.org asking Village Voice Media to shut down its sex ads. Click here to sign the petition.

I was 16 when I met my first pimp — he told me I was pretty, that he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I was just a kid, and I believed him. But soon he was selling me for sex every day: I was raped 365 days a year.

I was sold to other pimps, back and forth between them like an animal. One pimp gouged my cheek with a potato peeler as a warning not to run away, but after two years I worked up the courage and ran anyway. He tracked me down and beat me and stomped on me, breaking my ribs and jaw. That’s when I went to the police.

It’s still hard for me to believe that this web page exists, that it’s so easy for pimps to sell terrified, unwilling girls like me. Can you go buy a child at Wal-Mart? Of course not, but you can buy me on Backpage.

There is some hope, though: Craigslist used to host ads for girls like me, but after people started speaking out, Craigslist shut down their adult section. A new study says that prostitution ads as a whole have gone down by 50% since Craigslist got out of the business. 50%! If men can’t use sites like Backpage.com to buy and sell girls, maybe fewer girls will be bought and sold.

Now, I’m in college, and work at a nonprofit, FAIR Girls, where I help other girls like me — I even got to tell my story to Nick Kristof at The New York Times. I got out, which makes me one of the lucky ones. But Backpage is still making millions a year off the ones who aren’t so lucky. I see these teenage girls, some as young as 15, every day now in my work, and it breaks my heart.

Click here to tell Village Voice Media to shut down all prostitution ads on Backpage.com.

Thanks,

Alissa

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Nothing left after the storm … Helene D. Gayle, CARE

03/27/2012 Nativegrl77

CARE -- The Stories of Global Poverty - Crisis in Madagascar -- Donate Now

The people of Madagascar were struggling to recover from Cyclone Giovanna when a second tropical storm,

Irina, took them by surprise last month. With nearly a quarter of the island’s population living in poverty,

these two storms made things worse.

In addition to causing more than 100 deaths, the storms ripped through homes and destroyed the few possessions families owned.
CARE is on the ground today working with our partners to provide emergency relief for 250,000 people

who now lack even the basics: food, clean water and shelter.
Will you make a gift today to help survivors of the storms in Madagascar and people all around the world benefiting from CARE’s lifesaving and life-changing programs?
Among the survivors in Madagascar is Jackie, his wife and 7-year-old daughter.

He told CARE about the night Cyclone Giovanna tore through his district,

“We saw a part of our roof blown away by the storm and our house collapsed after that.”
Nothing near where Jackie lived survived the storm that night

— not homes, stores or crops — but Jackie is thankful he and his family did.

Today, many people in his town are in a dire situation.

People are facing hunger as their food was blown or washed away and they’re living in inadequate,

temporary shelters that do little to protect them from the elements.
Irina’s heavy rains severely damaged roads, making them impassable and

preventing urgent delivery of emergency response services.

Flooding and broken infrastructure also threaten to increase the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera and malaria.
CARE is distributing food and emergency shelter materials as well as repairing roads so that aid reaches those who need it most.

However, much remains to be done before Jackie and his family can resume their normal lives.
Please give now and help CARE bring relief and much-needed hope to poor families and communities around the world.
Your gift to CARE can support disaster survivors like Jackie during their road to recovery,

help us prepare for future emergencies and provide people around the world access to tools,

resources and education they can use to help lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty for good.
Please give as much as you possibly can today.
On behalf of the millions of people CARE serves around the world, thank you for your generosity.
Sincerely,
Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH President and CEO, CARE

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VIDEO: In Arizona, A Latino Family Fighting Against All Odds “Axel Caballero from Cuéntame”

03/27/2012 Nativegrl77

Against All Odds, Stronger Than Ever!

Watch this Video | Share this Video

Dear Carmen,
The Moreno family knows first-hand what it means to fight against all odds in order to keep their family together. Living in Arizona, the emblematic state best known for its harsh stances on immigration and Latino educational culture, has been a challenge in it of itself.
Watch this powerful and honest conversation!
Honest and direct the Moreno family tell us their powerful story. One which is already changing paradigms and perspectives – from their conservative community to the entire nation. Today, Cuéntame’s video of the Moreno Family is the front page of The Huffington Post Latino Voices.
Their conversation is direct, funny, emotional, challenging yet hopeful and ultimately inspirational. The Moreno family is a perfect example of how an honest conversation changes the family dynamic – for the better.
Join in the conversation by sharing this video!

Yours, Axel Caballero and the Cuéntame team.