Tag Archives: Government

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Ricken Patel – Avaaz.org


AvaazpixThousands of Maasai families in Tanzania kept their homes.

Convicted criminals were barred from office in India and Brazil. Bees across Europe  were protected with a pesticide ban.

It might not have happened over the last year without the Avaaz community acting together.

Let’s take a moment to think together: what shall we win next?

Click below to take the annual Avaaz all-member poll, and let’s decide together what we most want to win this year:

(or check poll results as they come in here) 

Last year we ran hundreds of campaigns and, on top of the Bees and Maasai wins, played a key role in dozens of victories, including:

  • Many cases in the war on women, such as stopping the flogging of a 15 year old rape victim in the Maldives and getting a rape victim in Dubai released from prison for extra-marital sex.
  • Ending the corrupt practice of secret voting in the Brazilian congress.
  • Getting H&M and other leading clothing companies to sign an agreement making their factories in Bangladesh safe for workers.
  • Getting top Indian political leaders to sign an election “Womanifesto” protecting women’s rights.
  • Winning dozens of other battles, from closing Dutch ports to whale meat shipments, to saving an important park in Italy, and much, much more.

With the world undergoing profound change, and our community TWICE the size it was last year, imagine what this year’s wins list could look like. Take the poll now or see the results, along with a snapshot of our community and who we are, at the results page here.
The challenges may be coming thick and fast, but when we stick together, we can transform them into opportunities to build the world we all dream of. Here’s to building dreams in 2014.
With hope,
Ricken, Meredith, Ben, Lisa, Luca, Rewan, Alex and the whole Avaaz team

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Is the food Pyramid gone ?


Dept. of Health & Human Services

Healthy eating means getting nutrition from all the right food groups. Focus on fruits, make at least half your grains whole, go lean with protein, and more.

ChooseMyPlate.gov has tips on healthy eating for kids and adults. Before you eat, think about what goes on your plate or in your cup or bowl.

Share this with a friend, family member, or neighbor.

Choose My Plate Logo

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Five Ways the CFPB Can Help You With Your Student Loans


WethepeopleThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a new government agency created after the financial crisis

– Their mission is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans

— whether they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products.

Above all, this means ensuring that consumers get the information they need to make the financial decisions they believe are best for themselves and their families—that prices are clear up-front, that risks are visible, and that nothing is buried in the fine print. In a market that works, consumers should be able to make direct comparisons among products and no provider should be able to use unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.

StudentDebtCrisis.org wants our members to know that there is help available for student loan borrowers. Here are 5 tools that can help you with your student loans, whether you are a first time borrower, or even if you’re in default. Check out these great tools provided by the CFPB to help you navigate your own loan situation:

1.  If you are a new borrower, or you’re considering taking out student loans, check out the CFPB tool for New Borrowers – Paying for College.

2. If you already have student debt, use this tool for Existing Borrowers Repaying Student Debt.

3. Suffering in Student Loan Default? What are your rights as a defaulted borrower?  Click here to find out.

4. If you are having trouble with your lender, or feel that something illegal has taken place regarding your student loan – Submit a complaint to the CFPB.

5. For general inquiries, check out the CFPB’s Q & A section  Ask CFPB.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support!

Sincerely,

StudentDebtCrisis.org

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Clocks Go Forward on March 9

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USA.govWe’ve got a time change coming up in the United States. Clocks go forward one hour on Sunday, March 9, which is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time (DST).
Most of the U.S. follows DST, but there are a few exceptions. These states and territories do not observe DST:

  • States – Hawaii, most of Arizona
  • Territories – American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
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A simple way to save lives


My name is Rory Graves, and I am from Bothell.

I know more than most how gun violence can affect families and the communities they live in.

I know, because my mom’s husband of more than 20 years shot her in 2012.

Thankfully she survived, but far too many women in Washington — and far too many women in the rest of America — aren’t so lucky.

But there’s something we can do THIS YEAR to help reduce the number of people murdered by their intimate partners, and that is to pass House Bill 1840.

The Washington state Senate will be holding committee hearings Wednesday — click here now to tell your senator to support this lifesaving bill.

Contact your senator today!

As a young mother, I had hoped to look to my mom for support and advice raising my kids. Instead, I spent more than a year helping her recover and lived in fear that her attacker would show up at my door to finish what he’d started — or, even worse, kill me and the rest of my family.

We know that the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent — that’s right, 500 percent.

And House Bill 1840 would make it illegal for anyone subject to an order of protection to own a firearm.

Given the dysfunction in our state legislature, I figured there was no way this could pass — but the state House passed it unanimously last week. Now we have an incredible opportunity to make a simple change in the law — and save a lot of lives. My mom and I are going to Olympia to demand they support this legislation. Will you raise your voice with us?

Speak out now, and tell your state senator to support House Bill 1840.

We need to give police officers the tools they need to keep guns out of the hands of known domestic abusers.

Thank you for your support.

Rory Graves