Tag Archives: LGBT

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Mayor Rauner … seems to be against his constituents


  Rauner suspends $26 million in social services, public health grants

Rauner suspends $26 million in social services, public health grants

Apr 5, 2015
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Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office worked with the Departments of Human Services and Public Health “to see which grants could be suspended and prioritized essential services.”

Associated Press

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner suspended $26 million in social services and public health grants as part of his push to whittle away at a $1.6 billion shortfall in the current state budget.

The Republican’s office released a list of targeted programs late Friday that included funding to pay for the funerals and burials of public-assistance recipients, smoking cessation, teen programs, autism, and HIV and AIDS programs, among other things.

Rauner also froze $3.4 million in funding for immigrant integration assistance as part of ongoing efforts to keep the state rolling through the June 30 end of the fiscal year.

Rauner’s office said the check-writing halt – he also interrupted $180 million in parkland grants in March – is necessary because the expenditures were based on the assumption a temporary income tax would be extended past January, but it wasn’t after Rauner won the election.

“Part of the solution to solving the inherited $1.6 billion budget hole without raising taxes or increasing borrowing is to continue to evaluate the current fiscal year’s budget,” Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said. “The governor’s office worked with agencies to see which grants could be suspended and prioritized essential services.”

The cuts will save the state $21.8 million in Department of Human Services Grants and $4.5 million in unexpended funding through the Department of Public Health. The suspensions only affect this year’s funding, Kelly said.

But there’s always another price – this one paid for by constituents who, as soon as Monday morning, will be told through closed doors there’s no more money to help them.

Breandan Magee, senior director of programs for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said dozens of organizations assisted 102,000 legal immigrants in 2014 with applications for citizenship, English as a Second Language classes and health and nutrition programs for low-income immigrants.

“There are 299 jobs across 60 different immigrant-services agencies at risk” with funding ceasing, Magee said Saturday. “There are workshops scheduled for citizenship, applications for citizenship pending, ESL classes hallway through.”

Immigrant integration programs – which Rauner proposed eliminating entirely in the 2016 budget – will forfeit nearly half of their $6.7 million budget, according to figures provided by the governor’s office. Magee said he hopes the state will cover expenses he’s already incurred.

A copy of Friday’s letter from Human Services, obtained by The Associated Press, notifies the recipient to “immediately cease incurring additional obligations, costs or spending any further grant funds.” Agencies must submit records of all spending for the year. Jimi Orange of Children’s Home and Aid faces the unenviable task of telling up to 25 of the 100 children in Chicago’s impoverished West Englewood neighborhood they can’t come to Earle Elementary School for after-class tutoring and cultural activities because the state has recalled the remaining $3.1 million of Teen REACH money for kids ages 7 to 17.

“The staff’s concern is how to tell the families? What to tell the kids? How to tell the kids?” Orange said. “These are kids who already have abandonment issues, trust issues.”

Parkland-related grants Rauner has suspended this year include $90 million for park facility construction, $56 million for local governments to purchase open space for future parkland, and $30 million for museum capital-construction grants.

Grants suspended by Rauner include:

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Funeral & Burial, $6.9 million

Rauner’s ‘turnaround budget’ has cuts called ‘reckless,’ ‘wrong priorities’

You be the judge. Look at the list below and decide if grants for the Homeless or for HIV assistance, Addiction  prevenetion, and so on are reckless.

Immigrant Integration Services, $3.4 million

Welcoming Centers, $191,300

ARC Lifespan, $118,100

Best Buddies, $250,000

Autism, $1 million

Group Home Loans, $20,000

Compulsive Gambling $406,000

Westside Health, $94,200

Addiction Prevention, $1.6 million

Assistance for Homeless, $300,000

Community Services, $2 million

Teen REACH, $3.1 million

Coalition F/Tech Assist-Child, $250,000

For Children’s Health Program, $231,600

Outreach to Individuals to Engage in Services, $380,700

Regions Special Consumer Support, $277,700

SMRF Training, $420,100

Transportation, $43,900

DD Latino Outreach, $87,500

Microboard Development and Outreach, $47,500

Epilepsy, $514,700

DHS TOTAL: $21.8 million

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Brothers and Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS, $789,800

Increasing Access to Health Care-Wellness on Wheels, $180,000

Wellness on Wheels – Mobile Administration 2015, $135,000

Illinois Tobacco Quitline, $3.1 million

Project Safe Sleep Education and Outreach, $250,000

MidAmerica Regional Public Health Leadership Institute, $75,000

IDPH TOTAL: $4.5 million

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES*

Park and Recreational Facility Construction, $89.5 million

Open Space Lands Acqusition and Development, $56.3 million

Museum Capital Grants, $30.4 million

Bike Paths, Mud-to-Parks, others, $2.6 million

IDNR TOTAL: $178.8 million

*Grants suspended in March

~ FDA/USDA ~~ Alerts & Safety, ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FDA/USDA ~~ Alerts & Safety April 2015 p.2


USFDA_footerB & R Meat Processing Recalls Pork Products Due to Possible Processing Deviation and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin Contamination
B & R Meat Processing, a Winslow, Ark. establishment, is recalling approximately 2,129 pounds of pork products due to a possible processing deviation that may have led to staphylococcal enterotoxin contamination.

04/17/2015 11:20 AM EDT Schnuck Markets, Inc. of St. Louis, Mo. is recalling its Chef’s Express California Pasta Salad sold in its Deli/Chef’s Express departments April 2 – April 14, 2015 because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting in the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms, endocarditis and arthritis.

 

B& R Meat Processing, Inc. Recalls Products Due to Nitrite Levels in Excess of Regulatory Limit
B & R Meat Processing, Inc. is recalling approximately 569 pounds of pork products due to nitrite levels in excess of regulatory limit.

Beech-Nut Nutrition Recalls Baby Food Product Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination
Beech-Nut Nutrition, an Amsterdam, N.Y. establishment, is recalling approximately 1,920 pounds of baby food products that may be contaminated with small pieces of glass.

04/08/2015 10:04 AM EDT  These products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Corn Maiden Foods, Inc. Recalls Beef and Pork Products Due To Misbranding and an Undeclared Allergen Corn Maiden Foods, Inc., a Harbor City, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 15,600 pounds of pork tamales, pork Yucatan, and beef brisket taquitos products due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen (hydrolyzed soy protein).

 

Cargill Recalls Beef Products Due To Possible Foreign Matter Contamination
Recall Notification Report. Cargill Meat Solutions, a Wyalusing, Pa. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,294 pounds of ground beef product that may be contaminated with blue string.

Updated information is now available. A list of retail consignees has been posted for recall 056-2015, Vern’s and Sons Food Service Recalls Beef and Chicken Products Produced Without Benefit of Inspection (Apr 8, 2015).

La Guadalupana Wholesale Co., Inc. Recalls Pork and Chicken Products Due To Misbranding and an Undeclared Allergen
La Guadalupana Wholesale Co., Inc., a Chicago, Ill. establishment, is recalling approximately 34,923 pounds of pork and chicken tamale products due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen. The products contain egg whites, a known allergen, which are not declared on the product label.

Vern’s and Sons Food Service Recalls Beef and Chicken Products Produced Without Benefit of Inspection
Vern’s and Sons Food Service, a Milwaukie, Ore. establishment, is recalling approximately 450 pounds of beef and chicken products that were produced without the benefit of federal inspection and outside inspection hours.

 

Leader Slaughterhouse, LLC Recalls Veal Carcasses Produced Without Full Benefit of Inspection
Leader Slaughterhouse, LLC, an Imler, Penn., establishment, is recalling approximately 1,800 pounds of veal carcasses that were produced without the full benefit of federal inspection and outside inspection hours.

04/10/2015 08:56 AM EDT Kanan Enterprises announces the voluntary recall of macadamia nuts due to potential contamination with salmonella.  The supplier of the macadamia nuts has asked us to issue this recall because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
04/09/2015 08:07 PM EDT Texas Pecan Company Inc. of Dallas, Texas, is voluntarily recalling the items stated below; (refer to Table in Paragraph 3), because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune
04/08/2015 07:08 PM EDT Today Sabra Dipping Co., LLC announced that it is voluntarily recalling approximately 30,000 cases of its Classic Hummus due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. This measure is limited to five SKUs of Classic Hummus sold nationwide.
04/07/2015 10:42 PM EDT
Blue Bell Creameries is expanding its recall of products that were produced in the Broken Arrow, Okla., plant to include Banana Pudding Ice Cream pints which tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, and additional products manufactured on the same line. These items have the potential to be young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

I am a veteran, and I am dying


I’m 31 years old, and I’m dying of ALS. Please tell the FDA to grant accelerated approval for a new drug that could save my life.

C –
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Indiegogo removed ALL the fundraisers


Indiegogo took down all Officer Slager fundraisers from their platform!Image

Now urge the company to take the next step and change its policy.

Take Action

 

After 54,000 ColorOfChange members raised their voices, Indiegogo met our demand and took down all Officer Slager pages from their crowdfunding platform. In short: we won.

Quick wins like this are rare, but they happen when a community is able to come together at a moment’s notice and put strategic pressure on a company or politician. Collectively, we tweeted @Indiegogo thousands of times and flooded their Facebook wall. Everywhere Indiegogo employees and executives looked, they saw our message: that they shouldn’t enable Michael Slager to profit in the aftermath of murdering Walter Scott. And that they shouldn’t perpetuate a toxic culture that roots for and supports illegal police conduct while criminalizing Black victims, and justifying their killings.

We’re currently in talks with Indiegogo and will be meeting CEO Slava Rubin soon to discuss the company’s policies. We want to ensure that the next time a hurtful and hateful fundraiser like this is started on their platform, that it’s taken down immediately without any hesitation or delay. That’s why we need you to speak up.

Tell Indiegogo to officially change its policy. No one should ever be able to use their platform to profit from such horrendous actions.

We’ll take your signatures and comments into the meeting with the CEO. We’ll bring the voices and power of the ColorOfChange community into the room with us. Add your name.

Thanks and peace,

—Arisha, Rashad, Matt, and Bhavik for the ColorOfChange team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Explaining The Gender Pay Gap


By

Today is Equal Pay Day, the symbolic day marking the point at which women’s earnings have finally caught up to what to men earned in 2014. According to the latest data, full-time year-round working women earn 78 cents for every dollar a full-time year-round working man earns. The pay gap is even worse for Latina and African American women: African American women earn just 64 cents for every dollar a white man makes, and Latina women earn just 54 cents.

There’s a lot of confusion about these numbers. What do they mean? Where do they come from? To answer these questions, the Center for American Progress has an excellent 3-minute explainer video on the pay gap: click here to watch!

In addition, CAP has put together social media graphics that share some key facts and drive home the importance of why we need to demand equal pay for equal work. Take a minute to share them with your networks!

Unfortunately, the slate of current Republican presidential hopefuls has a terrible record on equal pay. All of the current or prospective GOP candidates have taken steps to undermine laws requiring equal pay for equal work.

Be sure to check out these other important resources on equal pay:

BOTTOM LINE: Women earn 78 cents to the dollar, and it’s even less for Latina and African American women. Systemic issues lead to this gap, and policies we support, including paid maternal leave and other measures that support women and families, can help close it. It’s long past time for equal pay for equal work.

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