Research & Rescue

Action Alert: Combat Sex Trafficking in the U.S.

Received this action alert via e-mail:

The FBI estimates that more than 100,000 underage girls are exploited for sex in the Unites States each year. Sex trafficking is a modern form of slavery, yet all too often victims are difficult to identify and trafficked persons are often prosecuted as prostitutes or deported as undocumented immigrants.

The Senate has already passed a bill by unanimous consent that would call victims of sex trafficking what they are -- victims -- and establish pilot programs which would provide counseling, education, and basic support for these young women. This bill, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act (S. 2925/H.R. 5575), would also mandate participation at all levels of law enforcement and educate officers and prosecutors in how to identify, investigate, and prosecute traffickers.

With just days remaining in the lame duck session, we cannot allow the House to fail to take action to support young women exploited by sex traffickers in our very own country. To act now is to make a real difference in the lives of thousands of women and girls.

Combat Sex Trafficking in the U.S.

Congratulations to the Silly Party

Bread for the World Applauds President Obama’s New Policy on Global Development

Washington, DC, September 22, 2010

President Barack Obama today will announce a new directive on global development, according to senior administration officials.

The presidential policy directive will provide a rational and more coherent policy that will work to reduce global poverty and ensure economic growth in poor countries.

“President Obama’s new development policy is a well-thought-out directive that will help make foreign aid more effective and provide assistance to people who desperately need it,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “This is a victory for Bread for the World members who have been working hard to reform U.S. foreign aid.”

Under the new policy, the U.S. government intends to elevate development as a priority and strengthen the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 

The administration's strategy places stronger emphasis on support for inclusive, sustained economic growth; innovation and technology; more country selectivity; working with partners, including both corporations and nongovernmental organizations; and strong support for multilateral agencies like the United Nations. 

Related White House Resources:

• Remarks of President Barack Obama

• U.S. Global Development Policy

• Global Climate Change Initiative

• Global Food Security

• Global Health Initiative

Under the new directive, the State Department and USAID will work together, but each will have its own distinct functions and competencies. 

“Implementation of this directive will require a lot of change, and details of the relationship between the State Department and USAID still need to be worked out,” added Beckmann. “It’s also important that the administration works with Congress to pass legislation needed to give these reforms the force of law.”

President Obama will announce the new policy during a speech to the United Nations today.

Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

Media Contact:
Kristen Youngblood, 202.464.8123
Racine Tucker-Hamilton, 202.464.8196

via bread.org

Posted via email from thinking aloud

Action Alert TODAY (8/2/10): NM is depending on more Medicaid funding

From Lutheran Advocate Ministry NM -

Please call both Sen. Jeff Bingaman & Sen. Tom Udall as well as your congressman this morning.  Urge them to support the extension of the federal stimulus funding for New Mexico's Medicaid program.  

Unless Congress acts, New Mexico will not receive $160 million in federal funds to support our Medicaid program for this state fiscal year.  About 500,000 New Mexicans depend on health care provided through Medicaid.  If this federal funding is not approved by Congress, deep cuts may be made to this essential program.

Phone today and urge your Senators and your congressman to support the extension of federal stimulus funds for Medicaid.

 

Sen. Jeff Bingaman -- 202-224-5521

Sen. Tom Udall -- 202-224-6621

Rep. Martin Heinrich (CD 1) -- 202-225-6316

Rep. Harry Teague (CD 2) -- 202-225-2365

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (CD 3) -- 202-225-6190

"Use only toilet paper. No Zimbabwean dollars"

When your economy is in the toilet, I guess there's only one thing to do. These folks would appreciate you find some other course of action, though. Before the decision to remove the currency, inflation meant a loaf of bread cost $1 million Zimbabwean Dollars. That's a lot of bills!

via goodmorningafrika.blogspot.com

Which Governments Demand Google Remove Information

I guess I have more US bias than I thought. I never would have thought we would be second worldwide in having the government demand information be removed from the web (or indexing). I also wouldn't have guessed Brazil would be at the top of the list.

via www.good.is

Obama's abstraction

Interesting piece at PBS Need to Know, regarding Obama's use of abstraction in speech and how it presents problems in the public connecting with the points of his addresses. What do you think? Are most people in need of concrete examples in speeches and should they be able to handle abstraction? I seem to recall a Stephen Colbert piece on Obama's speeches and how they are written at a 10th grade level, with the implication by the press that this was too much to ask of most people.

We are not arguing that Obama always speaks in abstractions, or that he does so more than other politicians or leaders. But we think these recent statements illustrate an aspect of his public speech that can cause problems for him. The reason lies in how our minds and brains process information. Concrete and abstract words activate different parts of the cerebral cortex. Concrete words like hammer, hit and hard are processed more by areas at the back of the brain that handle visual and spatial information. Abstract words like justice, fairly and render activate the frontal lobes, which process information independent of any particular sense (vision, hearing, touch).The frontal lobes typically are involved when a cognitive process requires effort and attention, which implies that we have an easier time interpreting the meaning of concrete words than interpreting abstract ones. We also have an easier time remembering concrete words because they can be stored in memory using two separate codes: a verbal code (the sounds or characters of the word) and a pictorial code. Abstract words don’t call a specific, universal image to mind. And, concrete words evoke stronger emotional responses, further strengthening our memory for them.

Listeners balk at hearing BP and 9/11 in the same sentence both because they bear little concrete resemblance and because the oil spill seems, at least on the surface, so much more like Hurricane Katrina. When people must compare two concepts, events or problems, they consistently pay attention to the superficial similarities and don’t see through to the deeper, more abstract commonalities. In a famous study, subjects had trouble drawing an analogy between an army attacking a fortress from all sides at once and a doctor treating a tumor by bombarding it with radiation from several different directions — because a fortress doesn’t seem like a tumor, and an army doesn’t resemble radiation beams.

Read the rest at www.pbs.org

Crises of Capitalism

Video: Mike Rowe on hard work

Those of you know me personally know what a TEDhead I am. Yesterday evening, I spent some time rooting around the TED site because I saw that there was something called an associate membership that included shipments of books (!). The price was daunting, so I decided to root around some more to find the book list. As far as I know, there isn't one. So, I set out to make one and will share when I'm done. BUT... while on my quest for speakers' books I came across this gem. Who would have thought that Mike Rowe would be a TEDster? Actually, it looks like it's a TED partner conference on entertainment but still.

It's a great video, though I didn't really care for his statements about OSHA and I have a feeling that many of the people to which he refers (saying they don't think it's important) agree with me. If you think I've misinterpreted what he said, set me straight. I may be oversensitive. At any rate, Rowe's anecdote about his show on sheep is hilarious and this one's well worth your time.

Action: Don't reduce Medicare payments to doctors

Received from Democrat Women of Sandoval County via e-mail today:

Doctors accepting Medicare are scheduled to receive a 21% reduction in reimbursements based on current Medicare law. AARP has been lobbying strongly to get Congress to stop this reduction – we believe that such a reduction will discourage doctors from accepting Medicare. AARP has been pushing Congress to take action before the upcoming summer recess.

Please call 1-800-944-6711 (toll free) to reach our U. S. Senators and provide the following message: "I need access to my doc. Please fix this before the recess!”