June 2010

As Hurricane Alex churns through the Gulf of Mexico toward south Texas and Mexico, the American Red Cross is positioning workers, shelter and feeding equipment and emergency vehicles in Texas. The storm is bringing strong winds and torrential rain to the area, and coastal residents are being evacuated, as well as crews on oil rigs and platforms in the area. An additional concern is that the Rio Grande delta region is prone to flood during heavy rain. "We could see significant flooding from this storm, forcing people to stay in our shelters for longer periods," said Joe Becker, senior vice president for Red Cross Disaster Services. "People should take any evacuation orders seriously and leave when told to do so." Full release.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) today announced the Dream Machine Summer Recycling Challenge, a national call-to-action asking Americans to commit to recycle every can and bottle at summertime cookouts, starting with Independence Day. The more Americans recycle in Dream Machines, the more support PepsiCo will provide to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national program offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities. Full release.

Amid fears that two Iranian women may be executed imminently, including one by stoning for adultery, Amnesty International renewed its demand today that Iranian authorities immediately halt all executions and commute all death sentences. The human rights organization is also urging the authorities to review and repeal death penalty laws, to disclose full details of all death sentences and executions, and to join the growing international trend toward abolition. Full release.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service today announced more than $5 million in grants to aid homeless female veterans and veterans with families. Twenty-six grants in 14 states and the District of Columbia will provide job training, counseling and placement services (including job readiness, and literacy and skills training) to expedite the reintegration of homeless female veterans and veterans with families into the labor force through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. Full release.

Caring for someone with Alzheimer's or dementia can be a daunting task, even for the most experienced of professionals working with seniors daily in assisted living and memory care. Now there is help and guidance from the experts at Best Friends Approach Virginia Bell and David Troxel. The Best Friends Bill of Rights outlines 12 rules that when adapted, can make a world of difference in the quality of daily life to the one suffering as well as those acting in the role of caregiver. Full release.

Cuba's government continues to stifle dissent through arbitrary arrests, surveillance, intimidation and harassment of journalists, dissidents and activists, despite recent assertions that freedom of expression is respected inside Cuba, Amnesty International said in a new report released today. "Restrictions on freedom of expression in Cuba are systematic and entrenched," said the 35-page report, Restrictions on Freedom of Expression in Cuba, which highlights cases of journalists, writers, government critics and others who have been harshly dealt with by a government intent on silencing their views. Full release.

Attorney General Eric Holder met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Minister of Justice Habibullah Ghalib and Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko today to discuss the department's ongoing efforts to foster the rule of law in Afghanistan. At the conclusion of the meetings, the Attorney General made the following statement: "I am pleased to be in Kabul today and to have had the opportunity to meet with President Karzai, Minister of Justice Ghalib, Attorney General Aloko and other distinguished Afghan officials. The United States is committed to succeeding in Afghanistan and breaking the Taliban's momentum. As we heard President Obama say on June 23, the United States will "persist and persevere" and "we will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorists who want to destroy Afghan security from within, and launch attacks against innocent men, women and children in our country and around the world." Full release.

"Safety systems should be designed to protect workers and the environment first, not exploration and production budgets," according to congressional testimony today by a conservation group that has worked on Gulf Coast restoration for more than three decades. "The loss of 11 lives on the Deepwater Horizon was the tragic beginning of a series of losses that continue to mount, including the accelerated loss of wildlife and wetlands, the impacts on sport and commercial fishermen and their associated industries, and the loss of tourism," testified Elgie Holstein, oil spill response coordinator for Environmental Defense Fund during a hearing on draft legislation, the "Blowout Prevent Act," before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee. Full release.

E-commerce merchants, one of the fastest-growing segments of the retail and service economy, will not be protected by new Congressional legislation, according to merchant rights advocate Robert Livingstone, president and founder of IdealCost.com, a consulting firm that reduces credit card acceptance fees for merchants without switching their existing provider. "It is a tragedy that Congress is forgetting about the rights of e-commerce merchants conducting business on the Internet," said Robert Livingstone, president of IdealCost.com. "Consumers won't save any money and e-commerce merchants will wind up paying higher fees." Full release.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after the House passed the Homebuyers Assistance and Improvement Act, which will extend until October 1 the deadline for closing a home sale in order to be eligible for the first-time homebuyer tax credit. The legislation passed by a vote of 409 to 5. "As a part of our efforts to strengthen America's housing market, Democrats created the successful first-time homebuyer tax credit. With the help of this credit, more than 4 million families have been able to achieve the dream of homeownership, and in doing so, given a boost to our economy." Full release.

Fred McCallister, an investment banker with Allegiance Capital Corporation, will testify tomorrow before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in a hearing titled "The Deepwater Horizon Tragedy: Holding Industry Accountable". For weeks, McCallister has labored to pierce the red tape involved in bringing oil skimmers and other equipment from Europe to the Gulf of Mexico to assist in cleanup efforts. "We submitted proposals for oil skimming vessels to BP on Monday, June 14th-25 million gallons of oil ago-and were promised they would be reviewed on an expedited basis. To date, we have received no meaningful response," said McCallister. Full release.

A Senate committee amendment that would authorize the performance of elective abortions at military hospitals in this country and around the world is "misguided" and should be removed from the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3454), said the Chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a June 29 letter, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston urged Senators to remove this amendment on the grounds that it breaks with longstanding federal and military policies on government promotion of abortion. Cardinal DiNardo said it was disingenuous to suggest, as the amendment's proponents have, that the amendment is "moderate" in requiring patients at military facilities to pay for their abortions. Full release.

Gulf State health and fisheries officials joined with senior leaders from several federal agencies to affirm a shared commitment to ensuring the safety of seafood coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, through closures of affected waters, surveillance, and with an eye toward reopening closed waters as soon as possible, consistent with public health goals. Representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) met last week in New Orleans with state health officers and state fisheries directors from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to coordinate implementation of a joint protocol for sampling and reopening that will apply to both state and federal waters. Full release.

A groundbreaking initiative that brings Jewish and Muslim social entrepreneurs together to collaborate on finding innovative solutions to socio-economic challenges like healthcare, gender inequality and education disparities kicks off July 5, 2010 at Columbia Business School in New York City. The Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship & Cross Cultural Network is the only program in the world that works to improve Jewish-Muslim relations by building a transatlantic network of innovators who all strive to apply business-driven tools to create sustainable social change. Part of the program's objective is to test a model for bridging the divide that exists between conflicting communities. Full release.

Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the District of Columbia (D.C.), according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010, a report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. The report highlights troubling racial, ethnic, regional and income disparities in the nation's obesity epidemic. Full release.

Adding to its industry-leading multicultural communications suite of services, PR Newswire today introduced its Hispanic MEDIAbase service, a newly designed media intelligence tool that catalogues over 4,500 journalists and 2,000 media outlets catering to the Hispanic community. "The Hispanic MEDIAbase service is an essential tool for PR professionals looking to develop relationships with the increasingly influential Hispanic media," said Dalia Paratore Salazar, director of PR Newswire's Multicultural Products and Services. "Leveraging Hispanic PR Wire's deep industry contacts, the Hispanic MEDIAbase service provides robust and up-to-date information for thousands of Hispanic media outlets that exist in the United States and Puerto Rico." Full release.

Since he has taken office, the global economic crisis has been one of the main problems confronting President Obama and his administration. Unfortunately, U.S. adults do not see the president as doing a good job on this issue as two-thirds (68%) give him negative ratings for the overall job he is doing on the economy, while 32% give him positive marks. This is a drop from last month when 36% of Americans gave him positive ratings and 64% gave him negative ones. Almost all Republicans (95%) and three-quarters of Independents (75%) give the president negative ratings for his handling of the economy. One problem for the White House is that almost two in five Democrats (38%) also give President Obama negative ratings. Full release.

Consumer Watchdog today asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to turn back health insurance industry lobbying against a chief early benefit of the new health reform law, a requirement that insurers spend more on patient care and less on administration, overhead and profit. Consumer Watchdog noted that current investigations of Wellpoint and Aetna premium increases in California found that both companies' proposed rate increases were significantly higher than they should have been, because of mathematical errors in the insurers' favor. Full release.

To reduce smoking and combat budget deficits, five states will implement cigarette tax increases on July 1. The five states are: New York, $1.60 increase to $4.35 per pack; Hawai'i, 40 cents to $3 per pack; New Mexico, 75 cents to $1.66 per pack; South Carolina, 50 cents to 57 cents per pack; and Utah, $1 to $1.70 per pack. On May 1, Washington increased its cigarette tax by $1 to $3.025 per pack. Full release.

Eight individuals were arrested Sunday for allegedly carrying out long-term, "deep-cover" assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation, the Justice Department announced today. Two additional defendants were also arrested Sunday for allegedly participating in the same Russian intelligence program within the United States. In total, 11 defendants, including the 10 arrested, are charged in two separate criminal complaints with conspiring to act as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States. Federal law prohibits individuals from acting as agents of foreign governments within the United States without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General. Nine of the defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Full release.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a public law school can legally deny recognition to a student group if it fails to admit any interested student, in violation of the school's anti-discrimination policy. The League called the 5-4 decision in Christian Legal Society (CLS) v. Martinez a "ringing affirmation" of the right by public universities to implement and enforce policies that reject discrimination by officially sanctioned school clubs. Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director issued the following statement. Full release.

In a landmark study, scientists from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) have discovered a startling 19.6-year gap in life expectancy between poor black men and affluent Asian women. According to the research, Asian females with the highest socioeconomic status had a life expectancy of 84.9 years, whereas the life expectancy for African-American males of the lowest socioeconomic status was 65.3 years. These results come from a first-of-its-kind, block-by-block analysis of the population of California-a project originally designed to look at cancer survival rates in the state-and reveal differences significantly larger than any previous study based on U.S. Census data. Full release.

Kiwanis International and UNICEF have joined forces to save the lives of babies and their mothers by eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT), a disease that kills an estimated 60,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers each year. UNICEF Ambassador and actor Tea Leoni delivered the announcement at the 95th Annual Kiwanis International Convention. Kiwanis believes that no baby or mother should have to suffer the devastating effects of MNT, said Kiwanis International President Paul Palazzolo. Kiwanis will mobilize its nearly 600,000 family members to become tireless advocates for these children and raise needed funds to defeat this deadly disease. Full release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued draft guidance intended to help reduce the development of resistance to medically important antimicrobial drugs used in food-producing animals. Today's draft guidance outlines the FDA's current thinking on strategies to assure that antimicrobial drugs that are important for therapeutic use in humans are used judiciously in animal agriculture. The FDA acknowledges the efforts to date by various veterinary and animal producer organizations to institute guidelines for the judicious use of antimicrobial drugs, but the agency believes additional steps are needed. Full release.

On Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., the House Committee on Small Business will hold a hearing entitled, "Recovery in the Gulf: What the $20 Billion BP Claims Fund Means for Small Businesses." The hearing will examine the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and its impact on small businesses. The Committee will hear testimony from Kenneth Feinberg, the recently appointed administrator of the $20 Billion BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund. Full release.

A revered botanist at the Academy of Natural Sciences who first profiled and then named the delta bulrush says the plant has natural properties that could help reduce the impact of the Gulf oil spill on the Mississippi delta. Dr. Alfred Ernest Schuyler, the Academy's curator emeritus of botany and a prominent botanist in the international science community, is urging all sides involved in the crisis to give this slender sedge family member a hard look as they weigh their spill-fighting strategies. Full release.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today mourning the passing of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving Member in the history of Congress: "Senator Robert Byrd's extraordinary life has been shaped by service to his state, love of his country, and commitment to the common good. Throughout his historic career in the House and Senate, he never stopped working to improve the lives of the people of West Virginia. While some simply bore witness to history, Senator Byrd shaped it-and strove to build a brighter future for us all." Full release.

According to updated findings from Experian and Oliver Wyman, strategic defaulters, who are defined as remaining delinquent for six months after the initial date of delinquency, continued as a high percentage of all mortgage delinquencies at 19 percent in the second quarter of 2009. While, overall, the broad trends observed in the first Experian Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Report on Strategic Defaults have continued into 2009, there is reason to believe the phenomenon may have peaked, or be close to peaking. Full release.

As a result of the Senate's failure to pass its version of jobs legislation, Maryland won't receive $273 million in federal assistance, forcing even deeper spending cuts than we've already endured in the face of an unprecedented drop in revenues brought on by the recession. Full release.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision has upheld a federal law that makes it a crime to provide "material support" to the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) and other violent groups designated terrorist organizations by the United States. The decision is a victory for the Government of Sri Lanka and other nations that have cautioned that any support for groups such as the LTTE encourages terrorist activity. Full release.

Dennis Lane, single store 7-Eleven Franchise owner and national spokesman for Reform Swipe Fees NOW!, released the following statement regarding today's House-Senate Conference Committee decision to include the swipe fee reform compromise as part of the financial regulatory reform package. Full release.

Mounting voter frustration is evident at the ballot box as incumbents are turned out of office and anti-establishment candidates win election. Had defeated politicians kept track of their job approval ratings at CongressRatings.com, they would have known exactly what their constituents thought of them. Full release.

As leaders of the G8 nations meet in Canada, the plant science industry calls for clarification and a reiteration of the pledge to address food security made in L'Aquila last year. In the year since the G8 committed to addressing food security and sustainable agricultural development through a US$22 billion[1] dedicated fund, little clarity has been gained over how much new funding is actually being committed, and how the funds will be channeled to make a difference to the one billion hungry today, and the food and nutrition needs of the coming decades. Full release.

During a visit to Olvera Street in Los Angeles, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced $78,410,000 in grant funds through the National Farmworker Jobs Program. The program provides training and employment services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. It is authorized by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and is designed to counter the impact of chronic unemployment and underemployment experienced by migrant and seasonal farmworkers who depend primarily on agricultural labor jobs. Full release.

United for a Fair Economy (UFE), which has worked since 2000 to preserve a strong estate tax, announced their support today for the new Sanders-Harkin-Whitehouse Responsible Estate Tax Act. "This is the kind of common sense solution that balances the desire to protect small businesses and farms, while ensuring that the super-wealthy give back to support the country that made their prosperity possible," states Lee Farris, UFE's estate tax policy coordinator. Full release.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this morning in support of H.R. 5175, the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, which the House will vote on later today. Full release

During 2009, the number of prisoners under jurisdiction of state correctional authorities decreased by 2,941 inmates (down 0.2 percent), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today. This was the first decline in the state prison population since 1972. Full release

InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on the world's poor and most vulnerable people, believes the Canadian government has created an unnecessary issue with international civil society organizations by breaking with recent Summit tradition and denying them space in the G8 and G20 Summit International Media Center. Full release

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has released a video of its CEO commenting on the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 and its effect on wildlife, companion animals and food safety. The video can be viewed at www.AVMATV.org. "Like a lot of you, I am deeply concerned," said Dr. W. Ron DeHaven, chief executive officer of the AVMA. "This disaster affects almost every one of the areas that we are concerned about—the health and safety of companion animals, our precious yet vulnerable wildlife and the safety of our nation's food supply. The AVMA will do our part to help in any way we can to meet the challenges this problem presents." Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement on the House passage of H.R. 5481, which provides the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling with subpoena power. The House passed the bill by a vote of 420 to 1. Full release

Last night at the 38th annual Jefferson Awards, Mark W. Kline, M.D., physician-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and chair of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, was honored with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for "Outstanding Community Service Benefiting Local Communities" for his dedication to treating children affected by HIV/AIDS around the world. Full release

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement regarding the results of the Republican primaries in Utah and South Carolina: "The significant victories of Mike Lee in Utah and Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, and Trey Gowdy in South Carolina continue an impressive string of victories by Tea Party favored candidates against Republican establishment supported candidates." Full release

Microsoft Corp. and Get Game Smart, in cooperation with several members of Congress, will host the first Capitol Hill Family Game Night tonight. Members of Congress, congressional staff members and their families will gather to learn helpful tips on managing their family's digital media use. Full release

A proposed one percent Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) cut would cost seniors as much as $54,954 throughout a 25-year retirement, according to a new analysis released today by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Full release

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could turn out to be a terminal blow, not just to the economy but to an entire way of life in Louisiana's coastal parishes. Still only just beginning to inhale its first gasps of recovery after nearly five years of post-Katrina trauma, the livelihood of these coastal communities has once again been stifled for breath by the spill. Full release

On the first anniversary of the new law giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products, we applaud U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd for his leadership in passing this law and his continuing fight to protect America's children and health from the devastating toll of tobacco use. Senator Dodd has supported strong enforcement of the tough new rules on the marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products that take effect today. Full release

The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has launched the Recovered Oil Fund for Wildlife, made possible with proceeds from BP's share of net revenue from oil recovered from the Deepwater Horizon site. With an initial commitment of $5 million, the fund will support immediate actions to safeguard the populations of species most at risk from the Gulf oil spill, notably shorebirds, waterfowl, marsh birds and sea turtles. Full release

Spending in the federal information technology market will grow from $86 billion in 2010 to $112 billion in 2015, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4 percent, according to Federal Information Technology Market, 2010–2015, a new report from INPUT. Full release

As part of the Obama Administration's launch of the first-ever Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, Attorney General Eric Holder today emphasized the Department of Justice's ongoing commitment to protecting U.S. intellectual property as central to America's economic prosperity and public safety. Full release

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced approximately $67 million in grant funds to 256 organizations through the Workforce Investment Act Indian and Native American Program. These grants will support job training and placement services for adults and at-risk youth. Full release

ShareThis

Archive of Previous Posts