Tag Archives: Thomas Jefferson

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Fix VA facilities

05/23/2014 Nativegrl77

VoteVets.org

What happened at the Phoenix VA is a tragedy, it deserves an investigation, and an appropriate response.

Unfortunately, it has become a political football, with the loudest voices often the same people who voted against better funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs just three short months ago.

This is grave situation that requires an investigation, and action … not a partisan witch-hunt.

In the days and weeks ahead, the Department and Congress will look into what happened in Phoenix and VA facilities around the country. Both have a role to play, but for the sake of our veterans at home, and those who will soon return, the goal should be to determine what happened, who is responsible, and how to fix it – not the easiest way to score political points in an election year.

Sign our petition calling on Congress to conduct an investigation – not a witch-hunt – into what’s happening in VA facilities across the country and we’ll share your signature with leaders in each chamber.

Earlier this week, VoteVets polled our veterans and military family members about the issue.

Out of over 3,000 responses, 83% said Secretary Shinseki should not resign before an investigation determines how these mistakes happened and who is to blame — it was an even higher percentage for our members who receive VA care.

The President said directly that anyone found who manipulated or falsified records will be held accountable, and that any additional misconduct will be punished.

Tell Congress a real investigation – not a witch-hunt – is the only way to make those determinations and improve care for future veterans.

http://action.votevets.org/va-investigation

Many Republicans have yet to forgive General Shinseki for speaking up about the force size needed to secure the kind of victory in Iraq neoconservatives were saying would be easy in 2003.

But it’s time for them to put that aside and focus on getting the answers our veterans — many of whom are seeking care after returning from Iraq — have earned and deserve.

Thanks for signing,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets.org

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America’s great outdoors

05/23/2014 Nativegrl77

America’s great outdoors

Two years ago, President Obama set an ambitious goal: to attract 100 million international visitors to the United States each year by the end of 2021. Here’s where we are:

More than 70 million travelers from around the world visited the U.S. in the last year alone — and they spent more than $180 billion. That’s huge, and it means big things for our economy.

It’s part of the great news the President is sharing at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York today. And it’s one of the reasons he designated a new National Monument in New Mexico yesterday — permanently protecting nearly 500,000 acres as part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks.

In honor of the occasion, the Department of the Interior took over our @WhiteHouse Instagram account yesterday to share some of their favorite photos of our great American outdoors.

See these incredible photos — and learn more about President Obama’s plan to grow America’s economy through tourism.

Stay Connected

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A Disgraceful Attack On An American Hero

05/23/2014 Nativegrl77

Some other things I’ve read this week: Ta-Nehisi Coates on reparations, Amanda Marcotte on conservatives and rape, Anna Holmes on her new job, Tim Wu on net neutrality, and Jared Bernstein on income inequality.

John Whitehouse
Twitter: @existentialfish

Benghazi And Trust

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) was an American hero before ever entering politics. She was one of the first women to fly combat missions in Iraq, where she lost her legs and partial use of her right arm when her helicopter was hit by an RPG. But now that she is serving on the House Benghazi committee, Fox’s Allen West doesn’t know if Duckworth can be trusted: http://mm4a.org/1jxJKB9
Related: Fox News shamelessly misled about what Nancy Pelosi said about the House Benghazi committee: http://mm4a.org/1kq6Oli

James O’Keefe Latest Lies

James O’Keefe uses tricks and deceptive editing to create fake stories for right-wing media. The latest example involves fracking, and O’Keefe again used deceptive editing to make his point. But this time, another filmmaker secretly recorded O’Keefe’s operation – and caught him in a lie. http://mm4a.org/SlekDH
Related: Check out Green The Press, the new tumblr from our climate and science team: http://greenthepress.tumblr.com/

School Lunches For “Urban” Children

House Republicans are looking to cut school lunch programs — specifically for low-income kids in urban areas. This comes after years of conservative media, led by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, pushing Republicans to cut the programs: http://mm4a.org/1i4KysQ
Related: Fox’s newest host routinely attacks the poor – and he’s also been fined by the SEC and paid to push now worthless stocks: http://mm4a.org/1j61RJI

FEATURED VIDEO

The Roberts Court is poised to dismantle a key tool used to fight against gender and racial discrimination. We spoke to expert Paul Bland about that and consumer rights: http://mm4a.org/1hVhcx9

CONSERVATIVES ATTACK AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES

It’s not just one attack on Tammy Duckworth. Conservatives simply do not understand disability in America. We created two charts to correct them – including our longest chart ever. http://mm4a.org/1k5sNi0

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Former CNN Science Reporter And Neil deGrasse Tyson Call Out Media Enablers Of Climate Denial

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My dad will die in prison ~~

05/23/2014 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

My dad was sentenced to die in prison for a non-violent drug charge. Please sign my petition asking President Obama to grant him clemency.

Sign Taylor’s Petition

Petitions on Change.org are started by people like you who care deeply about an issue. It takes only a few minutes, and can change something big.

For the last 25 years, my entire life, my father has been behind bars serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. Over the years I’ve cried myself to sleep many nights, knowing that I’ll never have my father in my life.

My father’s name is Michael Palmer and between 1987 and 1989 he made the wrong decision to get involved in selling drugs. In 1989, ten days before I was born, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine and given a life sentence because he was painted as “a kingpin” — he was not. He was only 25 years old.

Throughout my life I can honestly say I was embarrassed of my dad for selling drugs and ending up in prison. He left our family. But he is now 50 years old and not the same man he used to be. He was convicted along with four other men — three have been released and the other will be soon.

My father doesn’t deserve to die in prison, he has served enough time. Will you sign my Change.org petition calling for President Obama to grant him clemency?

The mandatory minimum sentencing laws that sent my father to prison for the rest of his life have since been reduced by Congress. Those laws created a 100:1 sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine and were based on assumptions about crack cocaine now known to be false. The impact of that disparity fell disproportionately on African-American families.

My father committed a serious crime and deserved to be punished, but life without parole means he will die behind prison bars. After 25 years in prison, he has spent more of his life in prison than outside of it. He has paid his debt to society, been rehabilitated, and deserves to reunite with the grandchildren he has never met.

He can only be free if President Obama grants him clemency. With your support, I believe that he will — just four months ago President Obama granted clemency to 8 non-violent crack-cocaine offenders.

My dad is a good man who, even as a prisoner, has motivated me to be where I am at today. With his encouragement I graduated at the top twenty five percent of my class and I am now in medical school, soon to graduate in 2016. It’s time for my father to come home.

Please click here to sign my petition calling on President Obama to grant clemency to my father Michael Palmer.

Thank you,

Taylor Palmer

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Eye on the Amazon: Photos from #AntiChevron Day around the world

05/23/2014 Nativegrl77

What Happens When an Oil Company Actually Chooses to Be a Sociopath?
#AntiChevron Day

You gotta give Chevron’s management credit for bringing people together – across oceans, continents, and borders. Not because the company is a good neighbor; quite the opposite. Communities on five continents who live where Chevron operated, operates, or seeks to operate, came together yesterday in a worldwide day of protest to denounce the oil giant’s environmental and human rights practices.

View more photos and read the rest on Eye on the Amazon »