Tag Archives: Senate

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Today’s Social Progress – SCOTUS does the right thing


Dear Progress Report subscribers, we are so excited about the Supreme Court decision today! We wanted to share the good news with you right away and encourage you to share it with others too. And if you haven’t already signed up for our new email newsletter Social Progress, click here.
Problems viewing this email? View it in your web browser.
Social Progress
#ACAHERETOstay
Wow. Today is a great day in America. In a strong endorsement of the Affordable Care Act and the rule of law, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in King v. Burwell to uphold health care subsidies. Millions of people will be able to keep their insurance coverage and thousands of lives will be saved as a result. Writing the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts put it simply: “Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them.” The decision did not just save subsidies; it strongly defended the law. The high court sent a message that serious legal challenges to the health care law are done. Over. Kaput. The ACA is here to stay. Scream it from the mountaintops: THE ACA IS HERE TO STAY.
GRAPHIC - GOOD DAY FOR HEALTH CARE
Bottom line: This decision saves lives and affirms the rule of law. #ACAHereToStay #ACAWorks
SHARE THE GRAPHIC: TWITTER | FACEBOOK
GRAPHIC - ROBERTS QUOTE
The nail in the coffin of repeal. #ACAHereToStay
SHARE THE GRAPHIC: TWITTER | FACEBOOK
GRAPHIC - 16.4 MILLION COVERED
The greatest expansion of health care in half a century is here to stay. #ACAHereToStay
SHARE THE GRAPHIC: TWITTER | FACEBOOK
FOLLOW CAMPAIGN PARTNERS AND EXPERTS
@Imillhiser
Follow
@CAPhealth
Follow
@Drsforamerica
Follow
DON’T FORGET: THE OTHER HUGE DECISION FROM SCOTUS
TWEET - HUD SECRETARY ON FAIR HOUSING DECISION
read more
Center for American Progress Action Fund
Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook
Did someone forward this to you?
Subscribe to Social Progress to get these stories every day.
Produced by The Progress Report. Unsubscribe from Social Progress.
1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor | Washington, DC 20005
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Quote of the Day …


“Because of the groundwork that you and so many of you laid before, from sophisticated national campaigns to small, quiet acts of defiance — together, we’ve been able to do more to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans than at any time in our history.”

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

~ FDA/USDA ~~ Alerts & Safety June 2015 pg.2


USFDA_footer
06/29/2015 03:12 PM EDT
Rocky Mountain Foods, Inc. is voluntarily recalling certain lots of Island Fruit and Nut Trail Mix packaged under the Free Range Snack Co. Brand and certain lots of bulk Macadamia Nuts due to possible Salmonella contamination. Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems
06/25/2015 02:30 PM EDT
FDA is warning consumers about problems with mammograms at Coastal Diagnostic Center, Calif., and illegal Ebola Virus Test Kits.
06/23/2015 05:51 PM EDT
La Mexicana Food Products of Vernon, CA is recalling Spinach Dip because product labels failed to declare the food allergen, Milk, as a sub-ingredient of the listed ingredient, Sour Cream. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to Milk run the risk of a life threatening allergic reaction, anaphylaxis, that requires immediate medical attention should they consume products containing allergens.
06/23/2015 05:32 PM EDT
Good Seed Inc. of Springfield, VA is voluntarily recalling all packages of soybean sprouts and mung bean sprouts because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections to individuals with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
06/26/2015 09:34 AM EDT

Whole Foods Market is voluntarily recalling packaged raw macadamia nuts due to possible Salmonella contamination. Salmonella is 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.

06/27/2015 03:29 PM EDT   GRAND BK CORP. of MASPETH, NEW YORK is recalling 450 CASES OF GOODIES CASHEW RAW 9OZ, 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.
06/26/2015 11:15 PM EDT   OFT, Inc, a Henderson, Nev., establishment, operating asWhakyung Foods, Inc., is recallingapproximately 67,232 pounds of commercial-use beef leg bone extract and beef concentrate products produced in Australia and New Zealand that were not presented at the U.S. point of entry for inspection.
.
06/26/2015 07:05 PM EDT

H-E-B, committed to the quality of its products, is issuing a voluntary recall for H-E-B brand hamburger and hotdog buns and Hill Country Fare hotdog buns due to the possible presence of foreign material that might impact the quality of the product. A terry cloth glove used for handling hot pans could have broken up in the dough, resulting in a potential choking hazard.

06/20/2015 04:15 PM EDT
Shirk’s Meat, a Dundee, N.Y. establishment, is recalling approximately 2,478 pounds of pork and beef products that may be contaminated with Listenia monocytogenes.
06/19/2015 05:36 PM EDT
United Salad Co., the distributor of Portland, Oregon, is initiating a voluntary recall of Champ’s Sliced Crimini Mushrooms, product of Canada, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
06/19/2015 04:33 PM EDT
Boulder Dog Food Company, L.L.C. is voluntarily recalling the Chicken Sprinkles (3 oz.) with a “Best By” date of “05/04/16”, a Lot Number of “998”, and a UPC Code of 899883001231 (the “Product”), because the Product has the potential of being contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella can affect animals eating the Product, and there is risk to humans who handle the Product, especially if the handler does not thoroughly wash his or her hands after having contact with the Product or any surfaces exposed to the Product.
 
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Writing the rules for 21st century trade


whitehouselogo

My top priority as President is making sure more hardworking Americans have a chance to get ahead. That’s why we have to make sure the United States — and not countries like China — is the one writing this century’s rules for the world’s economy.

Trade has an important role to play in supporting good-paying, middle-class jobs in the United States. Unfortunately, past trade deals haven’t always lived up to the hype. That’s why I’ve made it clear that I won’t sign any agreement that doesn’t put American workers first.

But we also should recognize that 95 percent of our potential customers live outside our borders. Exports support more than 11 million jobs — and exporters tend to pay their workers higher wages. Failing to seize new opportunities would be devastating not just for our businesses, but for our workers too.

That’s why my Administration is currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership — so we can benefit from trade that is not just free, but also fair.

Watch this video my team put together, and then share it with anyone who needs to know exactly what’s at stake.

We have the chance to open up more markets to goods and services backed by three proud words: Made in America. For the sake of our businesses, and American workers, it’s an opportunity we need to take.

But beyond greater access to the world’s fastest-growing region, the agreement will establish enforceable commitments to protect labor, environmental, and other crucial standards that Americans hold dear.

Right now, China wants to write the rules for commerce in Asia. If it succeeds, our competitors would be free to ignore basic environmental and labor standards, giving them an unfair advantage over American workers.

We can’t let that happen. We should write the rules, and level the playing field for our middle class. The first step is for Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority.

Watch the video, and then pass it along.

After years of shipping jobs overseas, our manufacturing sector is creating jobs at a pace not seen since the 1990s. Rather than outsourcing, more companies are insourcing and bringing jobs back home. Today, more than half of manufacturing executives have said they’re looking at bringing jobs back from China.

Let’s give them one more reason to get it done, by giving me the tools I need to grow our economy, boost exports for our businesses, and give more hardworking middle-class families a chance to get ahead.

Thanks,

President Barack Obama

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Southern Rites: The Heartbreaking Story of Justin Patterson’s Death


Wh<i>Best viewed in full screen mode</i><br>Julie and Bubba, 2002en Gillian Laub started photographing the racially divided town of Mount Vernon, Ga. — with its segregated homecomings and proms — she stumbled onto the story of Justin Patterson, a 22-year-old black man who was killed, on Jan. 29, 2011, by Norman Neesmith, a 62-year-old white man.

posted in Time

Patterson’s story, which further divided Mount Vernon, is the subject of Southern Rites, a HBO documentary premiering on May 18.

Dedee Clarke, Justin’s mother, spoke to TIME.

In HBO’s Southern Rites, photographer Gillian Laub goes to Mount Vernon, Ga., a racially divided town

Gillian Laub:Sha’von, Justin and Santa, 2012

“When I got the call, it was around 3.45 in the morning and my youngest son, Sha’von, said that Justin had been shot and he was dead… For a long time, Sha’von wouldn’t talk about it, he would only tell me things in bits and pieces. It wasn’t until 2013 that he told me the whole story. I think that the thing that bothered him the most was that the gun was actually aimed at him. Justin looked back, saw that and pushed Sha’von out of the way and took the shot himself. It’s something I don’t think he’ll really recover from. He just has to learn to live with it. It’s a day-by-day process, but I don’t think anybody can ever be the same.

The first time I met Gillian was in 2010. My youngest son, Sha’von, was attending the prom that year, and she was photographing it. I thought the work she was doing was great. But I didn’t know that much about her, I just knew that the pictures that she was taking were important. I didn’t get to know her on a deeper level until my son, Justin, died.

[When Gillian shifted her focus to what had happened to Justin], I was, at first, a little reluctant. But I could just see her passion and drive as she talked to me and I knew at that point that she really cared. I was more relaxed around her and I began to open up. But I just remember saying that it wasn’t going to be pretty sight because I was just not in the right state of mind, and she understood that.

You have to feel some kind of compassion when you do this. And Gillian had that; she felt it. And because she felt it, I believed that shows in her work.

Of course, it was very difficult to see Norman Neesmith in Gillian’s film. I had always made it a point not to really look directly at him. And to see him up close and personal in the film, it was very hard. It was hard to watch some of the things that he said. It’s just hard to hear that he never really acknowledged that his daughter invited them into his home. I felt that he thought he was a victim. I don’t think he understands that Justin had a life. He had a daughter. And she will never have her father.

Gillian’s work makes me feel that my son’s death was not in vain. That’s the one thing that I can hope for. I’m hoping that it will help someone. It’s too late for my son, but maybe it can help somebody else.

I’m hoping it will help other mothers to see that you can still survive that kind of pain and. I’m a survivor because God says I am. Everything that I believe in is because of God. He’s the reason that I’m here because there’s no way I could have done any of this by myself. I felt like nobody really cared because the story wasn’t out. It was a while before it was even in a paper. To see it now and to know that people really care, it does make me feel supported. It definitely does. I’m thinking that everyone will have an idea of what happened. This is real life. These people are real people; they feel that pain continuously every day.

My goal here is for people to know and understand that there’s still, very much so, a lot of injustice in this world and something has to be done about it.”