Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has named RICHARD THOMPSON to the 2011 Honours List as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. The honour was bestowed by The Queen during an Investiture Ceremony at Buckingham Palace 28 June 2011.Yes, I love Richard Thompson, but I despise the British Monarchy...
National HIV Testing Day, on June 27, is an annual campaign coordinated by the National Association of People with AIDS to encourage people of all ages to "Take the Test, Take Control." Early HIV diagnosis is critical, so people who are infected can fully benefit from available life-saving treatments. Currently, almost 40% of people with HIV are not diagnosed until they have already developed AIDS. That can be up to 10 years after they first became infected with HIV. Finding out whether you are infected with HIV is the first step to improving your health and the health of your partners. Find a testing site at www.hivtest.org 
CT Sierra Club’s South Central Group, Act New Haven, and Friends of Edgewood Park invite everybody to join them Hands Across the Sand is an international movement of people from all walks of life. It is about protection of the air we breathe, the water that sustains us, our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industries. This movement is about embracing energy sources that will sustain our planet. The image is powerful, the message is simple. NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.
Hands Across The Sand’s mission is to change our energy policy away from its dependence on fossil fuels and into the light of clean energy. The aim is to convince our leaders to abandon expanded offshore oil drilling and adopt policies that encourage clean and renewable energy sources.Parking at Silver Sands State Park is free. Glass bottles and animals are not allowed on the beach. The sponsors of the event will supply some snacks and water, "therefore feel free to bring your eco-friendly refillable water bottles".
[Suzanne Manning is] The popular publisher of Milford Living Magazine, a former member of the Board of Aldermen, member of the United Way Board of Directors as well as the Get In Touch Foundation, Manning is a favorite of Democrats and Republicans alike in the city.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. [...]
Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another, is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another, is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.
Following announcements that 4 state Senators who previously voted against the marriage bill in 2009 will now support the freedom to marry this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo has introduced a marriage bill in the New York Senate. A bill has already been introduced in the State Assembly, which has previously passed marriage bills in three separate legislative sessions. Upon introducing the bill, Governor Cuomo remarked (via the New York Daily News):
With the end of the legislative session drawing near, swift action on the marriage bill is expected in both chambers. New Yorkers should contact their legislators now to urge support by clicking here.
"For too long, same-sex couples have been denied the freedom to marry, as well as hundreds of rights that other New Yorkers take for granted," Cuomo said. "Marriage equality is a matter of fairness and legal security for thousands of families in this state – not of religion or culture."
Will you take a moment to write to your legislators? You could be the voice that helps Freedom to Marry and our coalition partners win marriage in New York [...]
By contacting your legislators in support of marriage, you will be taking one of the most effective actions possible to win marriage. And, with such a short time before the legislative session ends, we don't have a moment to waste. [...]
Even if you know your legislators are supportive, please contact them anyway. We want to inundate Albany with constituent contacts [...] so that Albany gets the job done once and for all.
Contact your legislators today and help Freedom to Marry win marriage in New York this month:http://freedomtomarry.org/NY-Speakout
Japan, where I was born and lived for 25 years, has been experiencing, right now, massive natural and manmade disaster and lost huge amount of lives/things. It is not the matter of one country any more. I would love to hear what is valuable for us, what is reality of our life. "Imagine here is a pocket. If you may find any you like, what would you wish?"
Sixties, in Tokyo, my brother, mother and I laid down on Futon on Tatami as shape of Chinese character River, “川”. Talking how was the day in the school, classmates, Bento lunch etc, while finding snakes and faces among growth rings of wood of the ceiling before to sleep in. My brother and I wanted mom to know all what happened in the day, tried to remember every little things.
Now, 2011. Although time and situation could be different, would you feel like sharing what you want to say or know what others may want to share? Imagine here is a pocket. If you may find any you want in a pocket but only one, what would you wish?For those looking to provide direct financial assistance to Japanese individuals and families impacted by the disasters, the Japan Society (www.japansociety.org/earthquake) is one several reputable charity organizations that may be contacted.
Money? What do you like to buy with it? Why?
Camera? What do you like to shoot with it? Why?
Try to think what you really think important for you. Write it down. Draw it. Create it in 2D or 3D. E-mail it. It will be printed out and put in one of many pockets on the wall of installation POKETTO. I will be working at the site sometime, sewing pockets on the wall filled fabric tarp with needle and thread. […].
You can peek what others left in pockets.
Therefore, the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) calls upon Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which builds upon the 1963 legislation, and was reintroduced this year by Connecticut’s Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd) and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland). In the last Congress, the Paycheck Fairness Act passed the House of Representatives but failed to pass the Senate by two votes. It was reintroduced in both the House and the Senate this year, but no major action has been taken.HARTFORD – Friday, June 10, marks the 48th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s signing into law the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The bill was aimed at eliminating the disparity between the wages of male and female workers. Since that time, the gap between women’s and men’s earnings has closed at an infinitesimal rate. In 1963, women in America made, on average, 59 cents for every dollar earned by a similarly qualified man. Today, women earn about 76 cents. Black women and Latinas earn considerably less.
“It is unacceptable that forty-eight years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, which was supposed to ensure all Americans receive equal pay for equal work, women in this country still earn only 77 cents on the dollar as compared to men,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “That is why I have proposed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would enforce and strengthen the Equal Pay Act. I will keep fighting to see this bill passed into law, and to ensure that woman get the respect and compensation they deserve.”
______________________________________This is a photo of three smart Connecticut women: Teresa Younger, Executive Director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women; Nancy Wyman, Lt. Governor of the State of Connecticut; and Rosa DeLauro, Congresswoman, 3rd Congressional District, CT.
______________________________________
Provisions of the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1519, S.797) are:
- Clarifies the “any factor other than sex” defense so an employer trying to justify paying a man more than a woman for the same job must show the disparity is not sex-based; is job related and is necessary for the business;
- Prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who discuss or disclose salary information with their co-workers;
- Strengthens the remedies available to include punitive and compensatory damages. Under the EPA currently, plaintiffs can only recover back pay or, in some cases, double back pay. The bill would ensure that women can receive the same remedies for pay discrimination that are available under other laws for discrimination based on race and national origin;
- Requires the Department of Labor to improve outreach and training efforts to work with employers in order to eliminate pay disparities;
- Enhances the collection of information on women’s and men’s wages in order to more fully explore the reasons for the wage gap and help employers in addressing pay disparities; and
- Creates a new grant program to help strengthen the negotiation skills of girls and women.
“What’s significant about the Paycheck Fairness Act is that it really puts teeth into the original law,” said Teresa C. Younger, executive director of the PCSW. “It removes any ambiguity, holds employers accountable and has provisions for training and employee protections.”About the PCSW: The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women was formed in 1973 under Sec. 46a of the Connecticut General Statutes to study and improve Connecticut women’s economic security, health and safety; to promote consideration of qualified women to leadership positions and to work toward the elimination of gender discrimination. As a non-partisan arm of the General Assembly, the agency monitors, critiques and recommends changes to legislation in order to inform public policy, and assesses programs and practices in all State agencies for their effect on the state’s women. The PCSW serves as a liaison between government and its diverse constituents, and convenes stakeholders, including the business, non-profit and educational communities, local governments, and the media, in order to promote awareness of women’s issues.
Chances are you've never heard of Estelle Griswold. But she radically changed the lives of women in America. Forty-six years ago today[6/7/11], her courage secured a basic right that many of us take for granted today: the right to use birth control to plan and time our pregnancies and to keep our families healthy.
As the stiff-spined director of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut, Griswold had spent years challenging an archaic state law that barred anyone, including married couples, from using "drugs or instruments" to prevent pregnancy.
The police obliged, raiding the clinic, arresting the operators, and setting in motion a series of convictions and appeals that ultimately led to the United States Supreme Court. On June 7, 1965, the Court settled the matter -- declaring the Connecticut law unconstitutional and opening a new era in reproductive rights and social progress.
The decision paved the way for subsequent rulings that have legalized birth control for unmarried couples, secured women's right to choose abortion, and overturned myriad restrictions on the sale and marketing of contraceptives. Together, these decisions have transformed women's lives.[…]
Access to birth control has made it possible for generations of women to pursue the education and careers they want. The proportion of women who complete four years of college increased fivefold between 1965 and 2008. So did the proportion of PhDs awarded to women. And the number of women in the workforce surged from 26 million to nearly 72 million.
It's an impressive legacy -- handed down by a brave woman in a local Planned Parenthood health center.
[…]
As we celebrate the legacy of the Griswold decision, let's recommit ourselves to building on it. We can improve the nation's health by investing in family planning programs and ensuring that birth control is within reach for all women.
But wait...there's more...A fringe anti-abortion group, Personhood USA, has been startlingly successful at pushing forward legislation across the country that would redefine life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, effectively outlawing contraceptives like birth control pills. Although the medical community has long been in agreement that fertilization does not mark the beginning of a pregnancy — fertilized eggs must first be implanted, and only about half of fertilized eggs actually result in a pregnancy — a growing number of lawmakers are supporting Personhood USA’s efforts to buck medical expertise and legally define life as the moment a sperm meets an egg. [...]
Photo above from Scienceray.com
According to 2008 numbers. around 11 million American women use birth control pills and another 2 million use intrauterine devices (IUDs).
An abstract painting of a person by Paul KleeContraceptives like the pill and IUDs not only act to prevent fertilization, but, if fertilization does occur, may prevent that fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus. Personhood USA considers this tantamount to abortion, and wants to make it a punishable offense for women to control their own fertility. Worse, because the proposed legislation could make any effort to terminate a pregnancy a criminal act, it could also bar doctors from saving the lives of women with ectopic pregnancies, which are never viable and need to be terminated as soon as possible.
In the landmark privacy case Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that made it illegal for married couples to use contraception. It’s difficult to imagine that the justices would overrule Griswold, but not as difficult as it once was. Justice Thomas’ dissent in Lawrence v. Texas leaves little doubt that he would overrule Griswold if given the chance, and Chief Justice Roberts disparaged Griswold in an article he drafted in 1981, although he claimed to have backed away from that view in his confirmation hearing.
AN ACT MANDATING EMPLOYERS PROVIDE PAID SICK LEAVE TO EMPLOYEES.
To require employers with fifty or more employees to provide paid sick leave to certain employees for use for the employee's sickness, the employee's child's, parent's or spouse's sickness, or to deal with sexual assault or family violence issues.
SB-913 Roll Call Number 273
Taken on 06/04 AS AMENDED
The Speaker ordered the vote be taken by roll call at 3:04 a.m.
The following is the result of the vote:
Total Number Voting 141
Necessary for Passage 71
Those voting Yea 76
Those voting Nay 65
Those absent and not voting 10
AN ACT CONCERNING DISCRIMINATION.
To prohibit discrimination in various contexts on the basis of gender identity or expression.Co-Sponsored by: Rep. Geoff Luxenberg, 12th Dist., Sen. Beth Bye, 5th Dist., Rep. Gary A. Holder-Winfield, 94th
Vote for HB-6599 Sequence Number 377
Taken on 6/ 4 PASS
The following is the result of the vote at 0:26 a.m.:
Total Number Voting 36
Necessary for Adoption 19
Those voting Yea 20
Those voting Nay 16
Those absent and not voting 0
Last week, the Connecticut state Senate, by a single vote, 18-17, passed historic legislation requiring businesses with 50 or more workers to offer employees paid sick time.
The significance of this landmark legislation -- passed in the face of implacable, lock-step opposition from big business lobbyists and local Republicans -- can hardly be overestimated. If passed by the state House, Governor Dannel Malloy has promised to sign the measure, which would make Connecticut the first state in the nation to offer paid sick days, a major step forward for public health and worker rights. As the Center for Economic and Policy Research has pointed out, the United States remains the only one of 22 top industrialized countries that fails to guarantee sick workers some form of paid sick leave. […]
A report released in 2010 from the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, D.C., shows that implementing a paid sick leave bill would actually save Connecticut businesses nearly $73 million each year in reduced workforce turnover and the prevention of communicable diseases such as influenza. […]
If enacted, paid sick leave legislation would send the message that employees deserve to be treated like human beings when they (or their families) are sick, and that giving them the time to recover is the civilized thing to do, instead of having to come to work sick, and endanger the health of their co-workers.
Due to the hard work of thousands of Connecticut residents, and the efforts of diligent Democratic legislators (and one brave Republican legislator, John Kissel), paid sick leave legislation is close to becoming a reality. Residents of the Nutmeg State should be proud to enact such common sense progressive legislation that benefits employers and employees alike.
Former Libyan oil minister Shokri Ghanem defected to Italy on Wednesday, telling journalists in Rome that he could no longer work in the current situation in his county.
Ghanem, who used to represent Libya at OPEC, said he was joining the rebels fighting Moamer Gaddafi.
He said he wanted to work for democracy in his country.
On Tuesday, eight Libyan military officers, including five generals, appeared in Rome to say they were part of a group of up to 120 military officials defecting from Gaddafi's regime.
Nanotechnology leverages super-small particles (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter) to create products with amazing properties. These materials can make better batteries or lighter and stronger bike frames, as well as new medical instruments and medicines that can save lives.
These "nanomaterials" are believed to hold great promise for a wide variety of applications. But shrinking these substances can change their properties, and scientists are struggling to figure out whether, how and why that shift can make them dangerous in the process.
Physical sun blockers like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been in use for decades, but were less attractive because they were opaque when applied (think the classic white blaze on a lifeguard’s nose).
Shrinking them to the nanoscale makes them go on clear, a big selling point for anyone who’s not interested in looking like a mime. But what does that change do?
Researchers from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration found that nano-sized titanium dioxide didn’t get into the bloodstream of laboratory pigs when they were slathered with sunscreen. A scientist in Australia, however, found that mini-particles of zinc oxide did get into the blood, albeit at minuscule levels.
When you watch government officials, it’s a good idea to follow the money. In ALEC’s case, the trail is pretty clear. A state legislator pays only $50 a year to join. Corporate sponsors put up $5,000 to $50,000 -- for which they are privileged to write “model” laws that ALEC distributes to legislators nationwide. Legislators attend ALEC's conventions in touristy locales, where they rub elbows with the corporate benefactors who subsidize the whole shebang.
Ghostwriting the Law
Indeed, lawmakers sometimes have no idea that they are voting on bills that have been drafted by industry. Fred Bosse, a Democrat in the Texas House, says he discovered ALEC's pro-business bias when he attended one of the group's conferences. "I saw that one of the talks was on the greenhouse effect, which was one of the issues I've always been interested in," he recalls. "There was this professor from someplace, and the theme of his talk was that the greenhouse effect is nothing but a scam being advanced by environmental terrorists to destroy business in America."
The ALEC acronym has appeared in numerous articles and blogs pertaining to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his agenda to end collective bargaining rights for unions -- and not only in Wisconsin. The similar bills - some even more extreme than Wisconsin's - in states like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Maine, all include very well organized and very closely worded bills that mirror the "model bills" of ALEC.[16] Although varying in the degree of severity, these bills have the common denominator of corporatizing state government.
