Between a rock and a hard spot: When horse racing goes against the veterinary oath

 

Only after Bourbon Bandit broke a leg racing last November did his owner, Susan Kayne, learn the full extent of prescription drugs that veterinarians had given him at Belmont Park on Long Island.

Until then, Ms. Kayne had believed that Bourbon Bandit was “sound and healthy,” because that is what her trainer told her, she said. But new veterinary bills arrived, showing that the horse had been treated regularly with clenbuterol, a widely abused medication for breathing problems that can build muscle by mimicking anabolic steroids.  

“If a horse is sound, why does it need all these drugs?” she asked. “I never gave consent.”

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Shocking studies show school segregation increasing dramatically

 


The Civil Rights Project at UCLA just released three reports — “E Pluribus . . . Separation: Deepening Double Segregation for More Students,” plus two regional studies — that analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics and found that segregation is growing based on both race and poverty.

Fifteen percent of black students and 14 percent of Latino students attend “apartheid schools” across the nation in which whites make up zero to 1 percent of the enrollment, the researchers found.

The studies found that in 1970, nearly four out of every five students across the nation were white, but by 2009, just over half were white — and in the South and West, students of color now constitute a majority of public school enrollment.

The research shows that segregation is substantially increasing for Latino students across the country but most significantly in the West, and that for black students, segregation also remains very high and is most severely growing in the South. 

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Portland AIDS walk beats fundraising goal, in the hopes of beating Stigma

 

People packed Broadway curb-to-curb on Sunday, carrying rainbow flair and wearing red and white in the 2012 AIDS Walk Portland in a dramatic display of support for people with HIV and AIDS.
"This is about education and eliminating the stigma," said Andrew Shayde, special events coordinator with Cascade AIDS Project, which provides HIV services, housing, education and advocacy.

He said the group still has clients who are asked to eat on paper plates and drink out of straws "because people still think the disease is spread through saliva."

More than 11,000 participated, raising $525,000 -- the most in the walk's 26 years -- for the Cascade AIDS Project's free testing, support and education services. Gov. John Kitzhaber and Mayor Sam Adams spoke, rallying walkers before the 2 1/2-mile course through downtown.

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Wags 4 Warriors aids veterans with service dogs

 

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - Many war veterans have returned home facing new challenges. Physical and mental disabilities, like post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, have surfaced.
Medication can help many, but the use of a service dog can make a world of difference. Marine Leo Robinson returned home from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Robinson suffers from high anxiety.
"Angel allows me to got out in public and not have to worry about watching my back. That's what she does for me," Robinson said.

Angel is a service dog provided to Robinson from Wags 4 Warriors . The Brecksville-based non-profit organization  has been providing service dogs for qualifying veterans free of charge.

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Deepens Commitment To Fair Trade

 


Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, announced it has increased its impact in coffee-growing communities through its coffee purchasing, community investments and stakeholder engagement, in line with its ongoing sustainability efforts. GMCR continues to strengthen its commitment to fair trade as part of its sustainable coffee sourcing strategy. The company sees fair trade as a way to provide its consumers with high quality coffee, and help ensure a higher quality of life for coffee farmers.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Mongolian Children's Rights before and after divorce

 


Child abuse is one of many abuses in the world, and one of the many social issues that are ignored in Mongolia. Divorce rates may be up every year but the real victims are not the mothers or fathers but the children. It is not easy for children to find their position in society when they have never experienced the warmth of a loving family or parents; not to mention the severe psychological problems they could develop.

There is a study showing that most divorces are initiated by men. Researchers interpret that young couples separate after marriage because they do not realize their duties as citizens before their society. Once a family is separated, not only does the child suffer psychologically, but with child custody issues, court orders and such, the child’s rights are violated.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Myanmar's Censor-in-Chief finally caps his red pen

 

His office was once the site of an interrogation center run by Japan’s feared military police during World War II. And that is how U Tint Swe got his nickname: the literary torturer. 

“We didn’t arrest or torture anyone, but we had to torture their writing,” Mr. Tint Swe said, his serious expression yielding to a faint smile. 

Mr. Tint Swe was Myanmar’s last censor in chief, the powerful arbiter of what the public would read — and what was deleted from official history. 

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

 

Celebrating the Family Farm in Hershey, PA.

HERSHEY, Pa. - If you thought Farm Aid went the way of the Sony Walkman or the Grateful Dead, you weren't in Chocolate Town USA on Saturday, when 30,000 people turned HersheyPark Stadium into an organic oasis celebrating the family farm and the healthy food movement - not to mention homegrown American music.

Now in its 27th year, the all-star benefit concert, started by country-music legend Willie Nelson to help farmers survive the mid-1980s foreclosure crisis, is still going strong.
No longer a one-day event, Farm Aid has evolved into a national organization promoting the interests of family farmers.

The event returned to Pennsylvania, where agriculture remains the number-one industry, for only the second time in its run.

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Haworth's Greengrocer John dies at 84

 


A well-known Haworth character has died, aged 84, following a short illness.
John Snowden ran a greengrocers in Mill Hey for 60 years. He died in Airedale Hospital last Sunday evening.

He was born in Haworth’s Main Street to parents who also managed a greengrocers and general store. He began working at his parents’ business then set up his own shop in Mill Hey when he married. He continued working until he was 83.

His partner, Barbara, said: “He was extremely well known and very kind. He’d do anything for anybody – he was a real character.

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Mona Shores starts first district-wide recycling event

NORTON SHORES, MI -- Even though its school colors are blue and white, Mona Shores is going green.

From community gardens to districtwide recycling and kitchen waste composting, Mona Shores Public Schools are embarking on an initiative to raise environmental awareness.

After just three meetings, a “Green Team” of parents, students and staff has established three priorities: districtwide recycling, addressing the use of Styrofoam lunch plates and establishing community gardens at the schools, said Chris Smith, the district’s energy specialist.

“Schools are a great place to do this,” Smith said. “The kids get real excited about it and they then push the adults.”

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Clean Energy gathering momentum as big business

Judging from the number of financiers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and corporate managers at this week’s Maryland Clean Energy Summit, the renewable energy business and companies that reduce use of carbon fuels are becoming larger and more profitable.

Bill Van Hoene, senior executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Exelon Corp., which recently purchased Constellation Energy, made this growing importance clear. He told an awards lunch his corporation sponsored that Exelon had proved that a commitment to clean energy is “not just good environmental policy, but good business.”

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Larry Gibson, W. VA Environmental Activist, dies at age 66

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A prominent West Virginia environmental activist died at a Charleston hospital on Sunday, a family member confirmed.

Larry Gibson, a vocal opponent of the controversial practice of mountaintop removal mining and organizer of the long-running Mountain Keeper Music Festival, died of an apparent heart attack while working at his cabins on Kayford Mountain, his daughter, Victoria, said Sunday night.

He was 66 years old.

He was working up on the mountain Sunday morning with his wife, Carol, and a cousin. He was moving lumber from a porch when he began to feel odd, Victoria said.

He sat in his truck to rest but still didn't feel right, she said. Family members called for help and emergency crews made the decision to fly him by helicopter to Charleston Area Medical Center's Memorial Hospital in Kanawha City.

He died at the hospital.

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Fracktivism!

Before there was such a thing as the environmental movement, Mohandas Gandhi warned of the dangers of industrialization and espoused living in balance with the earth.

Fittingly, the Rochester-based institute that bears his name is stepping into the fracking debate. From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, September 21, the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence will hold an event to raise awareness of hydraulic fracturing and to inspire people to take a stand against it. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Rochester group of the Sierra Club, is at Cobbs Hill Park.

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Yard Sale to benefit animal welfare group

 

Shoppers scoured through thousands of donated items and purchased truckloads of merchandise Saturday during a large-scale yard sale to benefit animal welfare organizations in Las Cruces.

The Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley (ASCMV) and Animal Welfare and Responsibility Education (AWARE) collaborated to host the sale, proceeds from which will support shelter operations and animal care for canines and felines awaiting adoption.

"It is unfortunate, but there are so many unwanted animals and animals whose owners simply cannot afford to care for them in our community," said Lana Payne, who volunteers with ASCMV. "This sale and the support of the community allows us to provide that care for animals waiting to find forever homes."

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Sister Helen Prejean - Challenging the Death Penalty

Sister Helen Prejean, an anti-death penalty activist and author whose legal and religious arguments against "state-sanctioned executions" have sparked international dialogue, spoke at Emory's Oxford College campus this week about her life's work.

Prejean began her prison ministry in 1981, when she dedicated her life to the poor of New Orleans. She went on to become a spiritual adviser to Patrick Sonnier, a death-row inmate at Louisiana's Angola State Prison. After witnessing his execution, she wrote "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States," which has been adapted into an award-winning film, a play and an opera.

She has since served as spiritual adviser to several death-row inmates and has accompanied six people to their executions.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Demi Lovato becomes face of the 'Mean Stinks' anti-bullying campaign

Pop mega-star and “X Factor” judge, Demi Lovato has become the new ambassador for an anti-bullying campaign and reveals that she was a victim of bullying at school. Lovato joined the Secret's “Mean Stinks” campaign on September 21, which encourages girls to “gang up for good” to end bullying in schools.

Demi revealed to People magazine: “I had a really tough time when I was in middle school. People would write 'hate petitions' [about me] and send them around to be signed. They'd have CD-bashing parties of my demos. They'd come to my house, stand across the street and yell things. It was a very emotional time for me, and all I wanted to do was get away.”

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'Poverty Resolutions' for Haiti's poor

 



When the young men first decided to experience poverty by living in earthquake-ravaged Haiti on a dollar a day in 2010, they could not have imagined how transforming the monthlong experience would be.

The trip was more than a heartfelt attempt to open the Doylestown-area men's eyes to the life of the impoverished, it was the beginning of an effort to change the course of poverty in the third-world country.


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Ray Fitz honored for championing social justice on Dayton Walk of Fame

Orville and Wilbur Wright. Paul Laurence Dunbar. Father Leo Meyer, S.M.

Bro. Ray Fitz, S.M., has joined some of the giants in Dayton history on the Dayton Walk of Fame. He is being honored for his lifelong commitment to social justice.

"Bro. Ray's passion for helping the poor and marginalized in our community has never wavered over the years," said Deborah Feldman, former Montgomery County administrator who now leads Children's Medical Center of Dayton. "He has truly been relentless in his commitment to the most vulnerable citizens of our community."

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

LBGTQ online journal raises social justice awareness

Profiles, essays and narratives dedicated to women’s and gay rights issues fill the pages of “A New Queer Agenda,” the latest issue of “The Scholar & Feminist Online.”

The online journal, created by the Barnard Center for Research on Women, publishes three times a year and presents women’s issues through writing, criticism, activism and technology. The latest issue was co-sponsored by The Center for Gender and Sexuality at NYU. “A New Queer Agenda” debuted Thursday, Sept. 20 with a launch party preceding it on Sept. 19 at the Center for Social and Cultural Analysis.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Green Business Marketing Advice

 

Marketing is a key component of getting any business off the ground, especially a small green business, such as a green building or green roofing business, with a limited budget to spend on reaching an audience and growing a customer base. I talked with Sarah Bodnar of Social Media Sisters, who does a lot of work with environmentally-conscious companies, to get some tips and tricks on developing an integrated marketing strategy that will take full advantage of the tools at your disposal, and won’t break your pocketbook in the process.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Young Social Entrepreneurs changing the World

Having spent an intense nine days in the company of 14 European social entrepreneurs, I have seen at first hand the potential of young people to change the world.

I was one of the judges for Ben & Jerry's Join Our Core competition, which included accompanying all the shortlisted candidates to Uganda to spend a week living with local farmers who supply the ice-cream maker with Fairtrade vanilla.

The easiest option in business is to take the path of least resistance, which in our current culture is to maximise profits and remain blinkered to the consequences of our actions.
It therefore takes determination and self-awareness to be able to create an enterprise that integrates doing good with doing well, or – on a deeper level – merging heart and mind.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

How door to door business can empower women

A little-noticed outcome of the microfinance movement has been the proliferation of rural sales networks in developing countries, where poor women earn an income by selling products door-to-door. Usually billed as entrepreneurship, these systems are typically assembled by outside parties such as banks offering microloans or social entrepreneurs selling products deemed prosocial, such as solar lanterns.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Victory for Students in Quebec

After a year of revolt which became known as the "Maple Spring"—including massive street protests that received global attention—university students across Quebec were celebrating victory on Thursday night following the announcement from newly elected Premier Pauline Marois that the government was cancelling the proposed tuition hike that led to the student uprising and nullifying the contentious Bill 78 law which was introduced to curb the powerful protests.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Valencia: A city without medicine

 

The Spanish regions are heavily in debt. People rely on them for free health and education, but they can no longer pay their bills - and they can't expect much help from central government, as it too struggles under a huge financial burden.

You always know if an interview is going to be fun if the interviewee has a sharp, diagonal fringe.
Paula, the pharmacist, has such a fringe, and a grin that suggests she not only understands English but could crack a few jokes in it. But she chooses to speak in Spanish. Because what is happening in Valencia is no fun.

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"Youth Making Change" by Bryant Terry

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Sister Anne Montgomery: A life remembered

Anne Montgomery died on August 29th. This was in 2006, and Anne had waited three weeks for a visa to enter Iraq as a peace witness. Anne had crossed into zones of conflict more times than any other activist I’d known. During these weeks with us, she’d been meeting and working with Iraqi refugees, many of them undocumented and struggling to eke out a living in Jordan.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

From Kabul: International Peace Day

On this International Day of Peace I am sitting in Kabul, Afghanistan, with a handful of youth that want nothing but peaceful coexistence in their lives. Their entire lives have been surrounded by war, death, corruption, and struggle. Peace has been in short supply. For three years the Afghan Peace Volunteers have worked to develop friendships across ethnic lines in Kabul and various provinces throughout Afghanistan. The work has been difficult, trust is hard to come by in this war torn land, but they are adamant that nonviolence is the only way forward.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Kiribati: A habitat worth saving!

You’ve probably heard of Kiribati by now. If you haven’t, then you know, it’s one of those Pacific Island atoll nations that are facing being wiped off the map by climate change. Well at least that’s what’s in store in the longer-term for them if we continue with business as usual. Here’s the deal: by 2030, sea level in Kiribati is projected to rise between 5-14cm, and by 2100 it’s likely to be at least 1 meter – which would be enough to swamp most of the islands.

Over the last 20 years, sea level has risen 1–4mm per year across Kiribati, which is below the global average of 2.8-3.6mm per year, but it is still significant enough to cause salt water intrusion into groundwater in places at king tides, and coastal erosion. How much of that sea level rise is due to climate change is not clear either – because phenomena like the El Nino-Southern Oscillation cause natural fluctuations in sea level that are hard to quantify. So relocation is on the horizon, but probably not for another decade or two at least.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

Biker organization helps children and homeless

The Considered Bikers Association and Brotherhood against Totalitarian Enactments is a motorcycle rights organization focused on child abuse prevention, said coordinator Tim Smith.

“Connect, Commit to Change has given the CBA/ABATE a platform to get the word out about motorcycle safety and has also allowed for contacts to be given for the homeless shelter ride coming up in early December,” said Smith.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit:  www.WeSurge.org

HNSA partners with liquor stores in West Oakland to offer fresh produce

Alshea Mitchell pedaled toward the Sav-Mor Liquors store in West Oakland, hauling a box filled with organic produce on the back of her bicycle. Mitchell, 20, was delivering the fruit and vegetables to the corner store so that, for the first time, alongside its shelves full of liquor and cigarettes and convenience foods, Sav-Mor would also be offering its customers fresh produce.

“I’m really excited about this delivery,” Mitchell said.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Pre-Roe advocate for Women's Rights: Reverend Howard Moody remembered

Reverend Howard Moody died this week, a Texan-turned-New Yorker who helped thousands of women obtain safe abortions before Roe v. Wade. I have long known about the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion Reverend Moody co-founded, but I still marvel at its success.

Think of it: the year is 1967. Abortion is still illegal in New York State (and everywhere else in the United States) The word “abortion” is only whispered in secret—never even said on the radio or TV. Then a group of ministers and rabbis announce in a press conference that they are establishing the “Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion,” that they will talk to pregnant women about abortion and tell them where to go if they wish to have an abortion. And for three years they did exactly that—no one was arrested, no government agency tried to close them down—right up to the legalization of abortion in New York State.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Former President of PFlag dies at 93

Elinor Lewallen, a longtime champion of equal rights for LGBT people, and President of PFLAG National in the late 1980s, has died, the organization announced Friday. She was 93.

Lewallen was a resident of Denver, Colo., and continued to attend local PFLAG meetings long after her tenure as National President had ended. As recently as last month, she attended a meeting of PFLAG Denver, where the members there celebrated her 93rd birthday. At the event, in support of her excellent work over three decades, the Office of the Mayor of Denver proclaimed June 3, 2012 Elinor Lewallen Day.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Why your city doesn't have curbside composting

While short of the full-service composting in places like San Francisco, 24 states have also passed laws banning yard waste from landfills. Keeping food scraps, leaves, tree limbs, and grass clippings out of the municipal waste facilities preserves limited space, and it saves money. Why don't more cities and states make it easier for us to compost? The answer: Big Trash.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Fracking: Good for the environment?

Is increased production of natural gas from shale deposits good for the environment? At first glance, yes: natural gas releases less CO₂ into the atmosphere than coal, so replacing coal-fired electrical plants with gas-fired plants is a win for global warming. And since fracking makes natural gas cheaper, it helps stimulate a switch from coal to gas.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

San Fran weighs green energy alternative

After eight years, San Francisco is on the threshold of taking a major step into the public power realm.

The Board of Supervisors is set to consider legislation Tuesday that would allocate $19.5 million to secure a contract with Shell Energy North America to provide 100 percent renewable power to San Franciscans who want to pay a premium for it, with $2 million of that total allocated to studying local power-generation options.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Asian Championships League plays against Hunger

17 September 2012 – Asian football clubs competing in this year’s top continental competition will not only be scoring goals for glory but also against hunger, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today.

In a repeat of last year’s successful campaign, which saw the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) team up with FAO to raise over $400,000, the two organizations are once again joining forces for the 2012 “Asian Football against Hunger” initiative to generate funds for FAO-led projects targeting poor rural communities across Asia.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

UN and Mastercard Partner to improve worldwide food delivery

13 September 2012 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced a new global partnership with the banking and financial services corporation MasterCard, aimed at improving food delivery to poor communities around the world and facilitating online donations to the agency.

“Our partnership with MasterCard is a great example of how transformative private sector partnerships innovate against hunger,” said WFP’s Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships, Nancy Roman, said in a news release.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Bangladesh's discriminatory laws in marriage, separation, and divorce harm women

This 109-page report documents how the country’s discriminatory and archaic personal laws impoverish many women at separation or divorce, and trap some women in violent marriages because they fear destitution. Current laws deprive women of an equal right to marital property.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Julian Assange recieves Aboriginal Passport

It is with a sense of pride and complete social justice that this Association has worked with the Sydney Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition to have the privilege of successfully arranging for Julian Assange to be able to be issued with an Aboriginal Nations Passport that his father, John Shipton, will accept on his behalf at the Welcome to Aboriginal Land Passport Ceremony to be held at The Settlement, 17 Edward Street, Darlington from 11am to 4pm on Saturday September 15, 2012.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

U.N. Chief calls for Thailand to make reconcilliation

18 September 2012 – The United Nations human rights chief today welcomed the report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) and called on the South-east Asian country to implement its recommendations to advance accountability and understanding among different segments of its society.

“In spite of its limited mandate and initial difficulties, the TRCT has conducted an important investigation into political violence and human rights violations in Thailand,” said High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. “The Royal Thai Government now has the responsibility to act on the TRCT’s recommendations, both in holding State officials to account and addressing the institutional weaknesses identified in the report.”

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Human rights begin at home: Start with Occupy

The police crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street movement, since its beginning one- year ago today on Sept. 17, 2011, undermines core American values of freedom in the eyes of the world.

Particularly now, when extremist religious rhetoric is being used (and abused) to spark anti-American demonstrations around the world, this is an especially important time for the practice of respect for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, freedoms that are indispensable to the freedom of religion and the practice of democracy, to be on display in the United States.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Why repeal of DADT will bolster marriage equality

The perfect success in repealing the U.S. military’s DADT (“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”) policy one year ago now is helping promote marriage equality, as the successful end of DADT has exposed many other ways in which federal law penalizes same-gender couples.

Prior to DADT repeal, a few people claimed that open service would reduce enlistment, ruin military culture, cause assaults and murders among service personnel, and leave the country defenseless. Today, one year after DADT repeal, experience has proven that all those threats were false figments of bigoted imaginations.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Slight decline in hispanic poverty rate

A U.S. Census report released on Wednesday showed a slight decrease for some subgroups living below the poverty line, including Hispanics. Household income showed a slight dip, whereas the number of medically insured slightly rose among a sample of 100,000 respondents from all over the United States.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Asylum Children live in extreme poverty in Ireland

A damning report on the plight of children in the State’s asylum process suggests many families are living in circumstances of extreme poverty in overcrowded accommodation with inadequate food.

The report, published today by the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), paints a grim picture of the State’s system for accommodating asylum seekers, known as direct provision.

It documented frequent instances of malnutrition among children and expectant mothers as well as illnesses related to diet among babies and young children.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

'Occupy' celebrates first anniversary today

"I would say that Occupy today is a brand that represents movements for social and economic justice," said Jason Amadi, a 28-year-old protester who now lives in Philadelphia. "And that many people are using this brand for the quest of bettering this world."

Today, protesters will converge near the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate Occupy's anniversary, marking the day they began camping out in Zuccotti Park. Marches and rallies in more than 30 cities around the world will commemorate the day.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Slow Food International to showcase presentation by Oakland Food Policy Council and Acta Non Verba

Starting on October 25, 2012, local food advocates and food justice activists will gather in Bra for Terra Madre & Salone Del Gusto. Esperanza Pallana, who coordinates the 21-member board of the Oakland Food Policy Council, together with Kelly Carlisle, executive director of Acta Non Verba have been chosen to co-lead a workshop,"Innovative Food System Change: Policy and Practice". The Oakland Food Policy Council is a project of Food First.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Reasons to buy Organic

Many people wonder whether or not they should pay the price for organic food. Is it worth the extra dollar? Most people know that organic produce is grown without pesticides, but it means much more than that. The term organic also means there are no synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. It takes three years to convert a farm to organic. Produce cannot be listed as organic until the three years have passed as the soil is free of substances that are not deemed organic. Animal products, such as meat/poultry, eggs, dairy products are antibiotic and hormone free.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

California Advocates seeking to introduce Homeless Bill of Rights

Rhode Island blazed the trail in the fight to treat homeless people justly and now one Northern California town is following suit

Back in June, the country’s smallest state passed the first-ever Homeless Bill of Rights, which ensures that people living on the streets aren’t discriminated against. Just last week, the town council in Fairfax unanimously decided to push California to adopt similar legislation, Healdsburg Patch reports.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Baltimore Ravens Linebacker, Brendon Ayanbadejo, talks gay rights

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is going “full steam ahead” after his battle with Maryland legislator C. Emmett Burns Jr., who last week wrote a letter calling on the team’s owner to silence Ayanbadejo regarding his public advocacy of gay marriage, only to back down amid a national uproar. (Listen to the full interview below)

“The Ravens reached out to me,” Ayanbadejo said. “[Ravens president] Dick Cass and [Ravens] owner Steve Bisciotti said, ‘Brendon, you’re a great person. Keep doing your thing. We believe in you. This is not a team that believes in discrimination in any way, shape, or form. You have this tremendous platform here. Use it. And go ahead and continue to be you, and grow and shape and change the world while you have the ability to do it.’”

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Ukranian Journalists protest censorship at World Newspaper Congress in Kyiv.

A dozen Ukrainian journalists stood up and raised anti-censorship banners when President Viktor Yanukovich hailed his country's march to media freedom at the World Newspaper Congress in Kyiv on Monday, Sept. 3.

"Ukraine has made its way, without exaggeration, from total censorship to an open society," Yanukovich told the conference as his security guards ripped banners saying "Stop censorship" from protesters' hands.

Yanukovich did not react to the silent protest.

Ukrainian opposition and Western rights watchdogs have accused Yanukovich of cracking down on media freedom after coming to power in the former Soviet republic in early 2010.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

AFL's new anti-racism campaign: Racism - It stops with me

The AFL today joined the Human Rights Commission and the Australian Government in endorsing a new national anti-racism strategy - Racism. It Stops With Me.

Represented by North Melbourne players Andrew Swallow and Majak Daw, the AFL is one of a number of organisations across business, sport and Government who are supporting the campaign on the basis of their long-standing work on combating racism.

The players joined Federal Human Rights Commissioner Dr Helen Szoke, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Sport, Senator Kate Lundy and other business and community leaders in Federation Square, Melbourne as the AFL officially signed up to the campaign.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Public Education in America: Or what the Chicago Public Schools Strikes is really about

What Chicago Public School teachers are striking for are things that are affecting public school kids all over the U.S., not just in Chicago. They’re striking for their city’s schools, but honestly, they’re striking for my city’s schools, too.

In These Times picked up a post over on Occupied Chicago Tribune, which lists four reasons the teachers are striking — not specific bargaining points, but broad areas of difference, which, if ignored in this contract, sets this district on a course that will be difficult to reverse.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org