Tag Archives: Cesar Chavez

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Refugee children …. Republican political footballs


Children fleeing violence are seeking refuge in the United States in record numbers. Every child is entitled to an immigration hearing, but there is no guarantee these children—who may have experienced unspeakable trauma—will have legal support.The MoveOn community is raising funds for much-needed legal support for these children—donating every penny to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the leading organization providing legal representation to children entering the U.S. alone. Can you make a donation to KIND to ensure these children have the legal counsel and support they need when they face an immigration judge?

Chip in $3

Dear MoveOn member,

Thousands of children fleeing violence from their home countries have come to the United States—sometimes traveling long distances without their parents—seeking refuge. This humanitarian crisis has overwhelmed the existing support the United States provides for children who have been victimized by violence.

These children—some just barely older than toddlers—are crowded into temporary shelters, detention centers, and even facilities on military bases.

United States immigration law guarantees all children from certain Central American countries due process, including an asylum hearing in front of an immigration judge. These hearings are crucial to protecting refugee children. Sending some of these kids back could be, in the words of Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, “to send them back to certain death.“1

During the hearings, an immigration judge hears from each child and determines if that child is eligible for refugee status or humanitarian protection. But these children aren’t guaranteed legal representation when they face the court and could find themselves alone in the hearing that will determine the rest of their lives.

That’s why we’re coming together as a MoveOn community to raise funds for Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization dedicated to providing legal support to children. We’ll give every penny of your contribution to KIND.

Can you chip in to make sure these refugee children get the legal counsel and representation they need?

Yes, I can contribute $3 to help a child seeking refuge from violence receive legal support.

Since 2012, the number of children seeking refuge in the United States has soared from three Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Stories of the violence these children are fleeing are chilling. This region, known as the Northern Triangle, has some of the highest murder rates in the world, and children may come to the United States having witnessed family members and friends hurt, raped, or killed in rampant outbreaks of gang violence.2

For many of these children, what happens during these immigration hearings could be the difference between life or death. No child should be forced to appear in court alone.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that nearly two-thirds of the children and families from Central America may be eligible for humanitarian protection under international guidelines3—but we are treating them like criminals.

Can you contribute $3 to make sure these children have legal representation when they appear before an immigration judge?

MoveOn members across the country have stepped up before to provide support for those impacted by major humanitarian crisis. When Hurricane Sandy left thousands without power, food, and shelter, MoveOn members opened their homes to help. And MoveOn members helped provide temporary housing for more than 30,000 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

By making a contribution now, you can help again, and make sure children looking to the United States for protection from deadly violence receive the chance they are legally guaranteed to share their stories and plead their cases.

Thanks for all you do.

–Anna, Stephen, Matt, Maria, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “O’Malley: U.S. shouldn’t send immigrant children back to ‘certain death,'” CNN, July 11, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=299998&id=98878-17809870-QP8qysx&t=4

2. “Why are so many minors fleeing Central America for the U.S. border?” KSHB, July 16, 2014 

http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=299999&id=98878-17809870-QP8qysx&t=6

3. “Children on the Run,” United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, March 12, 2014 

http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=300000&id=98878-17809870-QP8qysx&t=8

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Help launch the Ark


 


Companies like Monsanto have taken over the world’s seeds, but now farmers want to build a Noah’s Ark to save them. Pledge what you can to launch the Ark:$2    $4    $8    $16    $32
Pledge another amount

The source of our planet’s food is under threat. Ten agro-chemical firms own 73% of the commercial seed market, and as many as 93% of seed varieties have gone extinct. In the US alone 85% of apple varieties have disappeared.

Monsanto and co. are privatising the genesis of nature. And this corporate takeover is decimating sustainable farming, destroying the diversity of our crops, and making them vulnerable to diseases that could threaten our food security.

But farmers are resisting, saving seeds in banks and barns across the world. Now they have devised a revolutionary project — the first ever, non-profit “eBay” of seed where any farmer, anywhere can source a wide variety of plants cheaper than the genetically modified seeds from chemical companies. This global online store could re-flood the market with all kinds of seeds and slowly break the monopoly that is putting our food future at risk!

This could be the most innovative agricultural idea in decades — a Noah’s Ark of seeds. But chemical companies often bully and sue those that get in their way, and farmers are calling on us to support them. If we raise enough now we can help them launch the online site, support seed storing in key countries, finance marketing and advertising, and fund the legal defence to fight back.

Pledge to help kick start the Noah’s Ark — Avaaz will only process donations if we raise enough to launch the whole initiative:

For thousands of years agriculture was driven by farmers selecting, replanting, and breeding seed varieties. Then the agro-chemical companies persuaded many governments to promote a corporate system of industrial, single-crop farming. Companies promise farmers higher yields and bigger earnings, and often lure them into multi-year contracts for GM (genetically modified) seeds and pesticides. Then they rely on patent laws and use agreements to strong-arm farmers to abandon their traditional practices of seed saving and innovation.

There is still no consensus on the long-term effects of GM crops, but experts say that the lack of independent scientific studies means there may be serious risks to our health from some GM foods. And there isn’t clear evidence that the introduction of GM seeds has improved farmers’ incomes or provided more food for the world’s people — in fact in many cases it has driven small independent farmers out of business and in extreme cases to suicide to avoid debt.

The dire consequences go way beyond the farmers. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation more than three-quarters of the genetic diversity of our crops has been lost due to seed consolidation and industrial practices. This matters because when we cover large swathes of land with just one cash crop — instead of rotating or diversifying them — our farms are more susceptible to diseases. While genetic modification may increase some crop yields, it’s clear that without seed diversity and locally-tailored sustainable practices to confront changing environmental conditions — our global food security could be at risk.

But this crisis isn’t insurmountable. The takeover is only decades old, farmers have saved seed everywhere, and if supported widely, this online seed market could help recover our food. A coalition of more than 20 groups and leaders in the field of sustainable agriculture like the Center for Food Safety and activist Vandana Shiva are standing by ready to launch the project. Here’s how our funds can help:

  • directly support seed-saving initiatives in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
  • create a world class website for the online store that connects farming communities everywhere, allowing them to legally sell seeds and share best practices globally.
  • help fund legal defence of this non-profit seed market from legal attacks by Monsanto and others.
  • market and advertise the exchange so that farmers all over the world join up.
  • campaign for better protections for our existing seeds from corporate takeover and patents.

Monsanto’s been forcing their GM seeds and vision of mass industrial agriculture on farmers (and all of us) for years, but if we all pitch in we can build this Noah’s Ark for our remaining seed species! Chip in now and Avaaz will only process the pledge if we raise enough to make this plan work:

“To plant a seed is to activate the deepest mysteries of the Universe.” These seeds hold the origin and mystery of so much of life as we know it. Let’s support this movement to protect that mystery from complete corporate control and help bring back thousands of food plants we thought were already lost.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Maria Paz, Nick, Emma, Ricken, Antonia, Patricia, Mais, Emily, Diego and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION:

2013 Report: Wake Up Before It’s Too Late (UN Conference on Trade and Development)
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditcted2012d3_en.pdf

On India’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/asia/19india.html

How many farmers plant GM worldwide? (EuropaBio)
http://www.europabio.org/how-many-farmers-plant-gm-worldwide

Ministry blames Bt cotton for farmer suicides (Hindustan Times)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ministry-blames-bt-cotton-for-farmer-suicides/article1-830798.aspx

Monsanto Lawsuits Pile Up as American Farmers Demand Rights (Mother Earth News)
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/monsanto-lawsuits-from-family-farmers-zwfz1302zkin.aspx#axzz36IwTZWF7

Life in the Rural Police State of Monsanto (Truth Out)
http://truth-out.org/news/item/16985-life-in-the-rural-police-state-of-monsanto

From 1903 -1983 the world lost 93 percent of key seed varieties (National Geographic)
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/07/food-ark/food-variety-graphic

The pernicious characteristics of monocultures (PBS)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hackers/blame/threat.html

Norway invests $23.7 million in crop diversity to help farmers face climate change (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197662/icode/

World Food Day 2004 highlights the importance of biodiversity to global food security (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/NEWSROOM/EN/news/2004/51140/index.html

Political Power of the Agribusiness & Crop Insurance Lobbies (Taxpayers for Common Sense)
http://www.taxpayer.net/images/uploads/downloads/Political_Power_of_Farm_And_Crop_Insurance_Lobbies_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Putting the Cartel before the Horse (ETC)

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New RFP opportunity from Public Health – Seattle & King County


Public Health – Seattle & King County is offering interested organizations an opportunity to apply for funds under Part A of the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. Funds will be used to support HIV-related care services located in the Seattle Transitional Grant Area (King, Snohomish and Island Counties) and made available to eligible residents of these counties. Funding may be used to provide services in categories defined by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the federal grantor of Ryan White funds, and prioritized by the Seattle Transitional Grant Area (TGA) HIV/AIDS Planning Council.

See details and links to all RFP documents at www.kingcounty.gov/health/rfp 

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Health Care Mythbusters


By The Progress Report Banner

 

Six Pieces of Great News In The Latest Research On The ACA

We’ve heard the conservative critics of the Affordable Care Act express their skepticism of the law’s successes many times. Not enough uninsured Americans are signing up for coverage. Individuals with coverage through the ACA can’t access the doctors that they want. People with ACA insurance coverage are worse off than they were before the law went into effect.

Turns out, new research from The Commonwealth Fund dispels these myths — and finds that even Republicans with new health coverage through the ACA exchanges are happy with the results.

Here are six key findings from the survey:

1. The Uninsured Rate In America Has Fallen From 20 Percent To 15 Percent. According to the Commonwealth survey, the uninsured rate for adults under age 65 dropped from 20 percent before the ACA marketplaces opened last September to 15 percent in their April-to-June 2014 survey period. That amounts to 9.5 million fewer uninsured adults. More than three-in-five (63 percent) who selected a private plan or enrolled in Medicaid said that they were uninsured prior to gaining coverage. This isn’t the first report to make the case that millions of uninsured got covered thanks to the ACA: Gallup has also seen a precipitous drop in individuals without coverage.

2. People Who Signed Up For New ACA Insurance Plans Are Happy With Them–Including Republicans. Overall, 78 percent of new enrollees were very or somewhat satisfied with their new health insurance, including 73 percent of those enrolling in private plans and 84 percent of those enrolling in Medicaid. What is even more noteworthy is that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of Republicans reported being satisfied with their coverage, too.

3. In States That Expanded Medicaid, The Uninsured Rate For Those In Poverty Plummeted. The percent of uninsured adults with incomes at 100 percent of the federal poverty line or below dropped sharply in the states that expanded Medicaid, from 28 percent to 17 percent. But the other side of the story isn’t as positive: in the states that have continued to put politics over people and refuse to expand health care to low-income Americans, there was no significant change in insurance coverage among those in poverty.

4. The Groups Most In Need Of Coverage Are Seeing The Biggest Gains. Plenty of the law’s followers, both supporters and opponents alike, were unsure at the beginning if young people would sign up for insurance. The Commonwealth survey reaffirms that they did. In fact, young adults ages 19 to 34 the largest decline in uninsured rate among all age groups, from 28 percent to 18 percent. And among racial groups, Latinos were the most likely to be without insurance coverage; they are also the ones seeing the biggest gains, with the percent uninsured falling from 36 percent to 23 percent.

5. Most People Are Finding The Doctors They Want And The Care They Need. Among adults who enrolled in new coverage, more than half (54 percent) said that their plan included all or some of the doctors they wanted. Of the new enrollees who tried to find a primary care doctor, three-quarters found it easy or somewhat easy. And of those who found a doctor, two-thirds got an appointment within two weeks. Perhaps even more importantly, three in five enrollees have already used their new coverage for health care services (either doctor/hospital visit or filling prescription) and 62 percent of these people couldn’t have accessed or afforded this care before the ACA.

6. People Agree They Are Better Off. The majority of people in the survey (58 percent) thought they were better off with their new health coverage. A minority (27 percent) thought they were basically the same as they were before. Just 9 percent of respondents thought they were worse off with their new coverage.

In other related news, it turns out that all that anti-Affordable Care Act advertising by the Koch brothers may have actually helped the law.

BOTTOM LINE: The latest research takes a close, scientific look at the before and after of the first enrollment period and offers a lot of good news for the law. The Affordable Care Act is working: the stronger the evidence gets, the harder the conservative myths about it fall.

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a message from Garrett Holeve via Change.org

 

My name is Garrett, and I have Down syndrome. My whole life, people have treated me like I was weird or different. But I’m not.

Growing up, I hated my Down syndrome. I didn’t even want to be called Garrett, because I knew Garrett had Down syndrome and I didn’t want to think about that. I tried to be included in sports like baseball and basketball. But it wasn’t until I found Mixed Martial Arts fighting, or MMA, that I found a place where I belonged.

I have trained for years to compete in MMA, but now the Florida State Boxing Commission won’t let me because I have Down syndrome. I know I deserve a chance to compete just like everyone else. Please sign my petition to help me with my dream.

In 2010, my dad asked my brothers and me if any of us wanted to try MMA with him. I was the only one who said yes. For the first time in my life, I found something that was easy for me. I picked up on the moves just as fast as everyone else. I worked hard to train for MMA. Before I started to train for MMA I was 175lbs and out of shape — now I’m 140lbs and a rock solid muscle guy!

When I went into the ring for my first fight, my mom was scared. She wanted me to quit after she saw me get punched. But I took that punch as a man. At the end of the fight when they raised my hand, I felt proud of myself. All the crowd cheered for me.

The Florida State Boxing Commission wants to define me by my Down syndrome, so I can never fight again. But Down syndrome doesn’t change who I am. I ignore it. I will not ever back down from a fight. I will keep going. Fighting has changed me, and I’m never going back.

Please sign my petition asking the Florida State Boxing Commission to give me a fair chance to compete.

Thank you for supporting my dream.

Garrett Holeve
Cooper City, Florida