Arne Duncan Backs Away from Common Core

Posted on April 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

Brought to my attention via this tweet:

Major Common Core Supporter Now Running From It

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2014/04/in_a_hearing_before_a.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/confusing-math-homework-don-t-blame-the-common-core/360064/

 

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2014/04/03-four-reasons-reconsider-opposition-common-core#.Uz69g-wq_Vc.email

 

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Posted in Education, K-12, National Education

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Brad Pitt Buys Rights to Movie About Stuebenville, Ohio Rape Case

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Posted on April 8, 2014 in Activism, Aggregated, Culture, Gender Issues, Storify, Aggregated

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100 Studies on the Effects of GMOs

Posted on April 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Post by March Against Monsanto.

 

The Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance has partnered with March Against Monsanto to raise awareness about Agent Orange.

Contaminated corn field. (AP Images)

Contaminated corn field. (AP Images)

During the Vietnam War, the United States government approved the use of the defoliant to eliminate cover for the north Vietnamese.

According to a Monsanto blog, nine companies  fulfilled the government contract for Agent Orange.

Regarding their role in the alleged birth defects resulting from the dioxin in Agent Orange, Monsanto writes, “U.S. courts have determined that wartime contractors (such as the former Monsanto) who produced Agent Orange for the government are not responsible for damage claims associated with the chemistry. ”

A physically and mentally disabled child sits on the steps of a hospital ward at a "peace village" center in the village of Thuy An, Vietnam, which houses people suffering from illnesses and deformities associated with contact to dioxin in chemical defoliant Agent Orange on Tuesday, May 15, 2007. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A physically and mentally disabled child sits on the steps of a hospital ward at a “peace village” center in the village of Thuy An, Vietnam, which houses people suffering from illnesses and deformities associated with contact to dioxin in chemical defoliant Agent Orange on Tuesday, May 15, 2007. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

The company goes on to write, “While a causal connection linking Agent Orange to chronic disease in humans has not been established, some governments have made the decision to provide certain medical benefits to veterans and their families even though there has not been a determination that an individual’s health problem was caused by Agent Orange.”

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Posted in Food, Food Revolution

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March Against Monsanto 2014 Calendar

Posted on March 30, 2014 | Leave a comment

IMG_0688Portland’s March Against Monsanto Rally is on May 24 this year.

March Against Monsanto is an annual rally organized to protest against the chemical giant, Monsanto, known for making genetically modified seeds that are grown around the world. Representatives from water rights organizations also attended.

Biodiversity researcher and Seed Savers Exchange Board Member, Hope Shand, reported that in 2009, 53% of the globe’s see purchases came from genetically modified seeds purchased from three chemical companies: Monsanto (27%); DuPont (17%); and Syngenta (9%). The top ten biochemical companies supplied 73% of the annual seed purchase that year.

Biodiversity researcher and seed saver advocate, Hope Shand. (Photo hosted on Seed Savers Exchange website)

In that same year, only 21% of the purchased seeds came from farmer-saved seed.

In her report, Shand cites six crops that the largest six biochemical companies have bred for just two traits: herbicide tolerance and insect resistance.

  • soybean
  • cotton
  • maize (corn)
  • canola
  • sugar beet
  • alfalfa

In July of 2013, NPR ran a story follow up story about genetically modified wheat exports from Oregon that were rejected by Japan and other countries on the basis that the crops were found to contain genetically modified wheat.

Some protestors at last year’s rally blame the neonicotinoids in herbicides, like Monsanto’s Round Up, for declining bee populations. Bees, nature’s pollinators are critical to the success of each year’s crops. Monsanto held a “bee conference” this year to address the issue of colony collapse disorder.

This year the protest will be held concurrently at 568 sites around the globe. Last year there were just over 400.

Grassroots organizers facilitate the local events. Tiffany Ayers will be heading the project again this year in Portland, Ore. Interested parties can visit the Facebook page that Ayers and five others moderate to invite friends to the event.

Last year protestors used the Facebook page to organize carpools and sign making parties.

The following is a map to Holladay City Park, where Portland’s rally will be begin at 11 a.m.

A list of rallies that will be held concurrently around the globe is embedded below.

Google Drive

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Posted in Activism, Activists, Food, Food Revolution, Local

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Women Helping Rebuild Lives of War-torn Sisters

Posted on February 1, 2014 | Leave a comment
Being Fed up

Gender equality as a human right is far from established either in the United States or around the globe. According to Erin Downey, PhD, former fellow at the state department and adjunct professor at Tulane University, war and political conflict only aggravate the risk of violence and suffering for women and children in affected areas.

Zainab Salbi, knows firsthand about tyranny. Her father was a pilot for Saddam Hussein. She was eventually sent to the United States for an arranged marriage that turned out to be “another world of tyranny and abuse.” She started over and eventually founded Women for Women International with the goal of helping women in war-ravaged countries regain their lives.

Women for Women International accepts donations and sponsorships toward the goal of providing year long training programs and ongoing support for  war-torn women in the eight countries it serves. The program contains for modules:

To become part of the solution to bring peace and sustainability to our sisters around the world, please consider donating today. Since 1993, Women for Women International has helped over 384,000 women rebuild their lives.

For every women who becomes self-sustaining, she brings more peace to her children, her community, and our world. Won’t you help others make this a possibility? Click the button below to be directed to Women for Women International donation page.

 

“Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

                                                        - Leonardo da Vinci

Screenshot from embedded UNESCO video of a woman bound, signifies that the struggle for women to have full participating human rights remains.

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Posted in Activism, Activists, Culture, Gender Issues, Humans, Video

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