Rupert

Do They Know It's Halloween?

Before I post, let me just say someone please post a dangerous household item story related to a celebrity. This isn't just for your reading pleasure, okay. You have to participate.

Meanwhile, here's another Unicef item. Unicef and Halloween. What goes together better? Unicef will do anything to save children, including wiping out a village of hypothermic oompa-loompas, and I have fond memories of Casper the Friendly Ghost and Wendy comics and Bewitched episodes promoting Trick or Treat for Unicef.

So I'm glad to report that this year a CD single has been released in the tradition of Do They Know it's Christmas, except, being named Do They Know it's Halloween, it focuses on a much cooler holiday. And not to dis Bob Geldof and Bananarama, but it has a pretty great cast including Thurston Moore, Peaches, Beck, The Arcade Fire... okay fine, but wait for it... Geno Washington! Tagaq! NARDWAUR!!!!! Liane Balaban from New Waterford Girl! David Cross singing!

Hear the song at this link. There you can also read the lyrics and look at the full credits. You can also download it as a ringtone. Buy the single in a hipster store near you! Or donate about four dollars to Unicef by downloading the EP version on iTunes, featuring three other mixes of this new classic of well-intentioned and highly entertaining cheese...

You know what to do when disaster strikes. Visa, MC or Amex

Welcome to the site where there has yet to be a post about Cindy Sheehan, Pat Robertson, the Iraqi Constitution or Hurricane Katrina. I'm about to put a stop to that now, at least on one account...

DONATE NOW! I mean, come on, do you even need me to tell you? Considering that noone reads this blog, if you've been waiting for me to inform you that people need your help, you're living a very sheltered life. Also, you scare me. I didn't even post a link to the other sites Franny and/or myself maintain simply because anyone who'd consider helping should really know how by now. That Red Cross link comes in just a little too handy a little too often. Which is why you should bookmark it. And this one. And thus. And so on. And this one too. Oh and this one. I forgot this one. And how about here. (I should turn this into a typelist!)

And actually, although some may be angry at me for even caring, I was going to add North Shore Animal League to that list, and when I went to confirm their link, I found that they're collecting their own fund for animals affected by Katrina. Since this is important, you're instructed by me to not buy the stupid Kayne West album and instead help some real pets and not some guy dressed like a teddy bear. Donate to NSAL's Katrina fund here.

So, just to make myself clear, you one person who reads this page... since you hang on my every word anyway... bookmark the permanent link to this post, save all the links for future donations, and help the people (and pets) of the gulf coast now.

I feel so strongly about this that I'm not posting again until you donate, so you'll have to wait for my take on Cindy Sheehan. Okay, yeah, I like her. Oh... and Pat Robertson? Craaaaaaaaaaaaazy.

Pentagon recruitment database: opt your kid out of it!

Continuing today's tradition of pasting things directly out of email sent to me.
This is a follow-up to an earlier post about the provision in the No Child Left
Behind act that pressures educators to hand over children's names to military
recruiters:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Pentagon database
The Pentagon, in violation of the Privacy Act, has compiled and put into use a mega-database of private information on 30 million 16-25-year-olds.

Even if you have opted your child out of the lists public schools turn over to local military recruiters, you or your child must also contact the Pentagon directly to get off this new national military recruiting list. For more information go to: www.leavemychildalone.org/jamrs

Think that this is an illegal invasion of privacy? To send a letter to the Pentagon telling them to shut down this database go to:
www.leavemychildalone.org/act

Teachers Stand Up for Student Privacy
The National Education Assocation (NEA), an organization made up of 2.7 million teachers, has taken an official stand opposing No Child Left Behind's mandate that schools turn over private student information to military recruiters without explicit written permission from parents. To read more about the NEA's official position, go to: www.leavemychildalone.org/NEA

Please share the NEA official position with other teachers, school administrators, and any PTA groups you know, by forwarding them this link: www.leavemychildalone.org/NEA

Send us information on your next School Board Meeting
Help us put pressure on school boards to adopt optimum opt-out policies. There are over 12,500 school districts across the U.S. If you do a little research and find out the time and location of your community's upcoming school board meetings through September, we'll post them online at LeaveMyChildAlone.org.

Looking up your local school board meeting schedule should be easy. It's often found on your local school Web site. Once you have the info, you can post it online at www.partylaunch.com/workingassets/ or email your school district name, school board meeting time and location to jsonnenfeld@workingassets.com. Be sure to include your phone number in the email just in case we have questions and need to follow up.

O'Connor resigns: danger danger danger...

Progress for America has already raised $18 million to support a potential Bush nominee who may be the new swing vote toward overturning Roe v Wade.

If you disagree with their position, you may want to go here and make an emergency donation to Feminist Majority to help them lobby against a potential Bush appointee if he or she may push back years of progress on this issue.

Leave My Child Alone!

There's a clause buried in the Leave No Child Behind act that allows military recruiters to full access to the personal files of high school children... unless you choose to opt out.

So if you'd like to keep the recruiters away from your kids, opt out.

And if you'd like to get the word out, join the Leave My Child Alone campaign.

If you'd like recruiters knocking on your door and sidling up to your kids, or if you'd like your kids to go to Iraq, do nothing.

Say No To Drug Laws

If I had to choose one rule of thumb in which to judge American society in this era, I think it would be the following: When you look at the official name of a bill offered up in Congress, it will usually describe the polar opposite of the actual effect of the law, if passed, upon the public. So from the Orwellian folks on Capitol Hill, we get "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005" which of course is a national mandatory minimum guideline designed to take decisions out of the hands of those dang activist judges when it comes to considering the factors of sentencing in drug cases.

The details are numerous and ugly but one of the worst is the formation of a mandatory minimum good samaritan law - a three-year prison sentence for anyone, even an innocent bystander who doesn't turn in someone who's traficking drugs within a drug-free zone -- in other words three years offered up to threaten poor people to come forward at the potential risk of their own lives in order to keep up statistics on drug arrests.

Anyway here's the list of grievances through the Freedom Factor blog, and through Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

And if you think these laws are outdated and crazy, please let your congresspeople know.

Tell your congressperson to vote against the bankruptcy bill

With the profitability of credit card companies at an all-time high, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate got together in March to agree to subject consumers wishing to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy to a draconian means test - giving creditors more opportunity to seize the assets of millions of Americans.

No such means test will be necessary for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - allowing banks and creditors to avoid paying their own debts. Amendments to the bill asking to waive the means test for servicepeople serving in Iraq, or putting credit card companies solicitation practices under the microscope were rejected before the bill was voted for.

The beauty of the bill is that there's no hypocracy. Your representatives are choosing banks over constituents. There's no other way to argue it, especially since the banks aren't losing money. People hit by high medical overhead with no insurance are placed in a position to lose their homes. Those who equate supporting the war with supporting the troops are choosing the banks who financed their campaigns over the people getting shot at in Iraq.

The bill will probably come up for vote in the House this week. Call your Congressional Rep. and tell them to have a backbone and support their constituents over their financiers. Tell them that you're a constituent, that you hope they vote against the bill because it supports corporations over working families, and ask them for a letter explaining their position.

the story behind the moral's clause

To increase access to postsecondary education regardless of race, religion, or socio-economic status the federal government enacted a variety of programs via passage of the 1965 Higher Education Act (HEA). HEA provided a source of federal assistance to needy students and families hoping to advance their educational opportunities. Today, federal assistance programs are the single largest source of student aid throughout the nation, providing roughly $40 billion per year to approximately 17 million students.

In 1998 HEA was revised to include a new provision that denies federal assistance to any person convicted of any drug-related crime. Under the new provision students are required to answer Question #35 on the Free Application for Student Financial Assistance inquiring about past drug-related convictions - applications with Question #35 left blank are not processed and will not be evaluated.

There are a variety of unintended consequences associated with the 1998 amendments to the HEA. Denying access to education for those who want or need it the most slows economic growth, increases the propensity to engage in criminal activity, undermines our nation's values, and destroys the principles America was founded upon. Also, because communities of color are disproportionately impacted by drug law enforcement the HEA restrictions are likely to intensify racial disparities on college campuses across the nation.

This year Congress has a great opportunity to repeal the ban. In the House, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has introduced the Removing Impediments to Students’ Education (RISE) Act, a piece of legislation that would repeal the drug-related provision of the Higher Education Act. His legislation is strongly supported by a variety of groups including the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the NAACP, the United States Student Association, the Legal Action Center, the Coalition for Higher Education Reform, and 180 organizations, colleges and universities around the country. Members of the Senate will consider legislation that re-authorizes the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which contains provisions reforming the Higher Education ban. Finally, both the House and Senate will debate reauthorization of the whole education package, including Title IV which includes the 1998 amendments.

The Drug Policy Alliance opposes the 1998 amendments to the Higher Education Act. Denying the opportunity to acquire an education to those who want and/or need it most will not solve our nation's drug problems; instead, it adds fuel the fire. Repealing the law sends a clear message: increasing access to education is an effective way to help students overcome their addiction and lead productive lives.

Help students! Call both your Senators and your Representative and ask him or her to support access to higher education through the RISE Act and repeal the 1998 amendment which delays or denies access to students with a drug conviction.

Contact your local CVS pharmacy board

I was going to comment directly to Sydney's post below about the improper distribution of buprenorphine and nalaxone  but I thought this was important enough to warrant it's own post.

Here's a link to CVS's pharmacy board page - with addresses and phone numbers for every CVS pharmacy fullfilment department in the United States.

When you have a moment, you may want to write your local board a letter.

Keep Druggies on Campus

Take Action! Send a Message
http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=14997

for more info to send the letter
Restore Access to Higher Education

This year Congress has an opportunity to repeal the Higher Education Act provision that prohibits students with drug convictions from receiving financial aid by supporting the Removing Impediments to Students’ Education Act (RISE) Act. Contact your Senators and Representatives today and urge them to restore student aid and expand educational opportunities to those who need them most.

Step 1 Read the Letter
March 30, 2005

Your U.S. senators

Your U.S. representative

Dear Senators and Representative,

Sincerely,

Your signature will be added from the information you provide below.
Step 2 Sign the Letter

Already a supporter? All you need to enter is your email address and send the letter. If not, all fields are required.
Email
Prefix
First Name
Last Name
Address
City
State
Zip Code
Country
Join the Alliance Action Center.
Step 3 Send the Letter

Some recipients now require that correspondents include their prefix when contacting them online.
If you have questions about how we use your contact information, please review our privacy policy.
Comments on this page? Problems? Click here to send us feedback

Copyright ©2004 Drug Policy Alliance. All Rights Reserved Contact Webmaster | Privacy Policy