WASHINGTON - David and Inez Davis of Abilene, Texas, are a team in life and in community service.
''For 58 years we have been a team,'' said David Davis, 86. ''Whatever one does, the other does.
It's that teamwork that earned the Davises recognition at the 33rd National Jefferson Awards ceremony Tuesday honoring community leaders on the national and local level.The Davises joined 73 other local and ''unsung heroes'' nominated for the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service. This award was presented to five individuals who ''are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward.''
The Jefferson Awards, given by the American Institute for Public Service, are divided into five categories honoring people in various areas of service. The Onassis award is one of the categories honoring people at the local level.The local Jefferson Awards for Community Service are sponsored by news organizations around the country, including the Abilene Reporter-News and KTXS-TV in conjunction with the Nonprofit Management Center at Abilene Christian University.
Although the Davises did not win the national Onassis award, their story will not go unnoticed.
For more than 40 years, David Davis, who was on the front line as a medic on D-Day, and his wife, Inez, 86, have volunteered at Abilene's West Texas Rehabilitation Center. Throughout the years, they visited the center's patients and manned phones at the annual telethon, calling donors all over the United States.
Originally called the Taylor County Society for Crippled Children, its name was changed in 1956 to better define its services. The center now has branches in San Angelo and Ozona, Texas.
“You see people in need, and if you can help them, you try. The rehab center helps about 21,000 people a year and it is funded strictly by contributions, and those are just the things we try to collect,” David Davis said.
The Davises, who once ran their own general insurance company called Davis Insurance, have no children of their own, but David said, “Everybody else’s children belong to us.”
However, even with national recognition, Inez Davis remained humble.''It's influencing other people's lives by the attention this award is getting. We are both honored,'' she said.
The awards dinner, hosted by actress Ellen Burstyn, also recognized Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning for creating the PeyBack Foundation, which donates money to help children through educational and athletic programs.
Other national award winners were Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., for public service by an elected or appointed official; I. King Jordan, president of Gallaudet University, for his public service benefiting the disadvantaged; and Michael Feinberg and David Levin for service by private citizens.
The Davises, visiting Washington for the first time, met with Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas. Tuesday evening, the couple had their picture taken with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
''They've dedicated their lives to providing for others,'' Cornyn said.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Black ministers group conducts post-Katrina discussion
WASHINGTON - With the onset of this year’s hurricane season and with questions still unanswered from last year, the Katrina National Justice Commission, a coalition of black ministers and leaders, met Thursday and Friday to assess the government’s preparedness and response to Hurricane Katrina.
The commission is an independent undertaking of interdenominational black churches and activists, sponsored by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. Rev. Susan K. Smith, a conference trustee and pastor of Advent United Church in Columbus, Ohio, said the commission’s hearings are to document firsthand accounts and shape an agenda for legislators on preventing disasters. The leaders met in a Lutheran church two blocks from the Capitol.
They heard from a U.S. senator, Katrina evacuees and one official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“This was organized to hear, honor and memorialize those hurricane stories, and to identify the responses, both those that were inadequate and sufficient,” said Iva E. Carruthers, general secretary of the conference.
Carruthers, seated alongside 13 other black ministers and leaders, said all hurricane responses should be heard and studied and the meeting should be a “catalyst to ensure awareness.” She said she hoped to reach those with governmental authority so they would protect everyone.
Chris Rebstock, executive director of America’s Second Harvest, said the organization faced many challenges post-Katrina. The organization does not directly feed people, but networks to supply food and assistance to 200 U.S. food banks.
“Some of the biggest challenges were the loss of viable agencies, damage to agencies, the infrastructure and working with programs to identify potential distribution sites,” Rebstock said.
He said that because of the demand for food and water and the loss of many food pantries after the hurricane, standard requirements were waived so volunteers and makeshift food pantries could distribute resources. He admitted the volunteers were quickly educated, often within hours, about food safety, distribution security and product quality.
“You can’t just unload it from the truck and leave it for distribution. We are concerned with product and food safety,” he said.
However, when questioned by the Rev. Barbara Reynolds, a commission member, he acknowledged a void between emergency operations of the government and non-governmental organizations. He also admitted he didn’t visit the area until several weeks after the hurricane hit.
The Rev. Tony Lee, pastor of the Community of Hope Church in Temple Hills, Md., testified about how he and his community have become involved. He described how the Saving Our Selves Coalition, which includes 117 groups, helps Katrina survivors receive food, shelter and health care through mobile medical centers. Lee said that the needs of many black Katrina survivors were not being met due to structural and attitudinal reasons.
“There seems to be disorganization, but it had a pattern to it, an organized structure to it. I believe this organized disorganization connected to issues around how we deal with the least of these in this nation and on the intersection of race and class,” Lee said.
Lee said many of the Red Cross sites he saw were in white neighborhoods and many blacks did not have transportation to reach water and ice, which was often miles away.
Before ducking out to vote Thursday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gave a short speech about shortcomings in the government’s emergency response. She said that oftentimes it is difficult to understand the devastation left after Katrina.
“It is very easy for those of us in Washington to see disasters in the form of numbers, statistics, abstractions, and not the faces and the stories that need help,” Clinton said.
Dissatisfaction filled the air as Robert Shea, FEMA’s acting director of operations, said Friday that the agency is in better shape now than it was last year. Shea has been with the agency for almost 29 years.
Asked about lessons learned from last year, he said that there is a team of 60 people working with the state and local parish governments of Louisiana if a quick evacuation is necessary. But he admitted that FEMA is understaffed and overworked, with one-fifth of its jobs unfilled.
He said he walks the halls and sees people working too late, every day and on weekends.
But, in response to Reynolds, who said FEMA was in “shambles,” Shea replied, “To abolish FEMA would be to deny all the people who work there and those who receive aid from FEMA on a daily basis.”
“We are talking about the one of the largest reorganizations of government in 50 years and those things just don’t gel overnight,” he said, referring to FEMA and other agencies being made part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The next meetings of the Katrina National Justice Commission will take place June 29-30 in New Orleans and July 27-28 in Houston.
The commission is an independent undertaking of interdenominational black churches and activists, sponsored by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. Rev. Susan K. Smith, a conference trustee and pastor of Advent United Church in Columbus, Ohio, said the commission’s hearings are to document firsthand accounts and shape an agenda for legislators on preventing disasters. The leaders met in a Lutheran church two blocks from the Capitol.
They heard from a U.S. senator, Katrina evacuees and one official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“This was organized to hear, honor and memorialize those hurricane stories, and to identify the responses, both those that were inadequate and sufficient,” said Iva E. Carruthers, general secretary of the conference.
Carruthers, seated alongside 13 other black ministers and leaders, said all hurricane responses should be heard and studied and the meeting should be a “catalyst to ensure awareness.” She said she hoped to reach those with governmental authority so they would protect everyone.
Chris Rebstock, executive director of America’s Second Harvest, said the organization faced many challenges post-Katrina. The organization does not directly feed people, but networks to supply food and assistance to 200 U.S. food banks.
“Some of the biggest challenges were the loss of viable agencies, damage to agencies, the infrastructure and working with programs to identify potential distribution sites,” Rebstock said.
He said that because of the demand for food and water and the loss of many food pantries after the hurricane, standard requirements were waived so volunteers and makeshift food pantries could distribute resources. He admitted the volunteers were quickly educated, often within hours, about food safety, distribution security and product quality.
“You can’t just unload it from the truck and leave it for distribution. We are concerned with product and food safety,” he said.
However, when questioned by the Rev. Barbara Reynolds, a commission member, he acknowledged a void between emergency operations of the government and non-governmental organizations. He also admitted he didn’t visit the area until several weeks after the hurricane hit.
The Rev. Tony Lee, pastor of the Community of Hope Church in Temple Hills, Md., testified about how he and his community have become involved. He described how the Saving Our Selves Coalition, which includes 117 groups, helps Katrina survivors receive food, shelter and health care through mobile medical centers. Lee said that the needs of many black Katrina survivors were not being met due to structural and attitudinal reasons.
“There seems to be disorganization, but it had a pattern to it, an organized structure to it. I believe this organized disorganization connected to issues around how we deal with the least of these in this nation and on the intersection of race and class,” Lee said.
Lee said many of the Red Cross sites he saw were in white neighborhoods and many blacks did not have transportation to reach water and ice, which was often miles away.
Before ducking out to vote Thursday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gave a short speech about shortcomings in the government’s emergency response. She said that oftentimes it is difficult to understand the devastation left after Katrina.
“It is very easy for those of us in Washington to see disasters in the form of numbers, statistics, abstractions, and not the faces and the stories that need help,” Clinton said.
Dissatisfaction filled the air as Robert Shea, FEMA’s acting director of operations, said Friday that the agency is in better shape now than it was last year. Shea has been with the agency for almost 29 years.
Asked about lessons learned from last year, he said that there is a team of 60 people working with the state and local parish governments of Louisiana if a quick evacuation is necessary. But he admitted that FEMA is understaffed and overworked, with one-fifth of its jobs unfilled.
He said he walks the halls and sees people working too late, every day and on weekends.
But, in response to Reynolds, who said FEMA was in “shambles,” Shea replied, “To abolish FEMA would be to deny all the people who work there and those who receive aid from FEMA on a daily basis.”
“We are talking about the one of the largest reorganizations of government in 50 years and those things just don’t gel overnight,” he said, referring to FEMA and other agencies being made part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The next meetings of the Katrina National Justice Commission will take place June 29-30 in New Orleans and July 27-28 in Houston.
Latino leaders discuss health care disparities
WASHINGTON - Experts on Latino issues agreed Wednesday that health care for U.S. Latinos is not what it should be.
“Latino families, just like all other American families across the United States and Puerto Rico, are facing an unprecedented assault on their health care,” Texas State Sen. Leticia Van De Putte said.
Nearly a third of the U.S. Latino population was without health insurance in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and this shortcoming, fueled by recent immigration reforms, has many Latino leaders talking. The Census also said the uninsured rate for blacks was about 20 percent, and for Asians, the rate was 17 percent. The country’s overall rate was 16 percent.
Van De Putte, in Washington for the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series, participated in a panel discussion about the subject. The luncheon series is a quarterly event developed by Mickey Ibarra and Associates Inc. in 2004 to promote discussions about prominent issues in the Latino community. Ibarra is a former Clinton administration official.
Van De Putte said that in her more than 26 years as a pharmacist on the west side of San Antonio, Texas, she has seen gaps in health care firsthand.
“We don’t know why, exactly, or how disparities do exist within the Latino community or other populations at large. We do know that Latinos are at risk for more chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some forms of cancer,” she said.
Charles Kamasaki, senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza, said the group works to promote healthy living to combat health problems such as diabetes and obesity. The group also teaches methods to avoid HIV/AIDS and the avian flu.
However, he said addressing the Latino health care disparity is not simple. Kamasaki explained that a person’s level of education, immigration status and health insurance status are barriers to health care.
“If you are uninsured and you don’t regularly see a doctor or any other health practitioner, you are less likely to get information that is going to inform you about your lifestyle,” he said.
Kamasaki said the presence of more Latinos in the health field, not only as doctors but also as nurses and technicians, may bridge the gap. He said cultural differences in health care here and abroad is an issue. He said many recent Latino immigrants don’t think they are getting high-quality care with a doctor who schedules many patients, ducking in for a few minutes here and there.
“Frequently, even if the language of communication is there, the signals that they are being sent is that this physician doesn’t care about me very much. It reduces the credibility and esteem of that source and inhibits effective communication to inform patients about what they should and should not be doing,” he said.
National Latina Health Network President Elena Alvarado agreed with Kamasaki on the need for cultural competency. She said what many health care providers don’t understand is the Latino culture’s emphasis on family and on mothers’ roles. If health information reaches the Latina mother, she said, it will reach the family.
“Latinas are the gatekeepers of the family – this is nothing new,” Alvarado said.
“Latino families, just like all other American families across the United States and Puerto Rico, are facing an unprecedented assault on their health care,” Texas State Sen. Leticia Van De Putte said.
Nearly a third of the U.S. Latino population was without health insurance in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and this shortcoming, fueled by recent immigration reforms, has many Latino leaders talking. The Census also said the uninsured rate for blacks was about 20 percent, and for Asians, the rate was 17 percent. The country’s overall rate was 16 percent.
Van De Putte, in Washington for the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series, participated in a panel discussion about the subject. The luncheon series is a quarterly event developed by Mickey Ibarra and Associates Inc. in 2004 to promote discussions about prominent issues in the Latino community. Ibarra is a former Clinton administration official.
Van De Putte said that in her more than 26 years as a pharmacist on the west side of San Antonio, Texas, she has seen gaps in health care firsthand.
“We don’t know why, exactly, or how disparities do exist within the Latino community or other populations at large. We do know that Latinos are at risk for more chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some forms of cancer,” she said.
Charles Kamasaki, senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza, said the group works to promote healthy living to combat health problems such as diabetes and obesity. The group also teaches methods to avoid HIV/AIDS and the avian flu.
However, he said addressing the Latino health care disparity is not simple. Kamasaki explained that a person’s level of education, immigration status and health insurance status are barriers to health care.
“If you are uninsured and you don’t regularly see a doctor or any other health practitioner, you are less likely to get information that is going to inform you about your lifestyle,” he said.
Kamasaki said the presence of more Latinos in the health field, not only as doctors but also as nurses and technicians, may bridge the gap. He said cultural differences in health care here and abroad is an issue. He said many recent Latino immigrants don’t think they are getting high-quality care with a doctor who schedules many patients, ducking in for a few minutes here and there.
“Frequently, even if the language of communication is there, the signals that they are being sent is that this physician doesn’t care about me very much. It reduces the credibility and esteem of that source and inhibits effective communication to inform patients about what they should and should not be doing,” he said.
National Latina Health Network President Elena Alvarado agreed with Kamasaki on the need for cultural competency. She said what many health care providers don’t understand is the Latino culture’s emphasis on family and on mothers’ roles. If health information reaches the Latina mother, she said, it will reach the family.
“Latinas are the gatekeepers of the family – this is nothing new,” Alvarado said.
Music, laughs and cheap beer: an intern's guide to Manhattan
NEW YORK – To some, the word “intern” is interchangeable with “broke.” That’s fine. I am an intern determined to sightsee, drink and be merry in Manhattan for cheap. Because I dislike trips with strict agendas, I set out to explore the underground culture of the East Village.
Rule #1: Paying more for a roundtrip bus ride is worth it when they drop you where you need to be.
Yes, the Chinatown buses from Washington are a novel experience. But, they drop you in Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, and I needed to get to Midtown, where my friend lives. So, a $40 roundtrip ticket on an air-conditioned bus that took me straight to Hell’s Kitchen, was worth it the extra $5 (http://www.vamoosebus.com). They even screened “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
Keep your eyes open – you can see New York’s staggering skyline from the highway near Newark Airport.
Cheap Traveler Tip: Make reservations because the buses fill up fast. Also, if you leave on a Friday, be ready for traffic. My holiday weekend trip took almost seven hours from D.C. to New York, but the return was a little over the scheduled four hours.
Rule #2: Sleeping on the floor or squished on a couch isn’t always a bad thing.
This time, sleeping on the floor in a friend’s small apartment, was different.
Instead of waking up with a sore back in Texas, I woke up with a sore back in New York. And a sore back was nothing, when, from an open window in the living room-dining room-study that also housed my friend’s roommate, New York City, in all her glory, was roaring outside.
Cheap Traveler Tip: If you aren’t used to city sounds, bring earplugs.
Cheap Traveler Tip No. 2: Hostels go for between $30 and $40 per night. Two possibilities are Jazz on the Park near Columbia University (http://www.jazzonthepark.com) and Big Apple Hostel near Times Square (http://www.bigapplehostel.com).
Rule #3: Hot dogs are an easy score when you’re broke and hungry as a beast.
After sightseeing, hunger hits hard. When it does, keep your eyes peeled for the word “papaya.”
Whether it is Papaya King, Papaya Dog or Gray’s Papaya, be ready for a quick and filling meal. You may have to eat standing up.
If you want a dog and a movie and a seat, try Crif Dogs, at 113 St. Marks Place. Crif Dogs offers inventive hot dog combinations and movie screenings at no extra charge. Try the Tsunami, a bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with teriyaki sauce, pineapple and onion, for $3.50. They have veggie dogs.
Cheap Traveler Tip: Papaya Dog sells two hot dogs and a drink for $2.75.
Rule #4: Punk-rock, comedy and cheap beer thrive in the East Village.
Tattoo shops and punk-rock boutiques, like the legendary Trash and Vaudeville at 4 St Mark's Place, are everywhere.
After buying an Iggy Pop shirt at Trash and Vaudeville for $20, I stepped down into the dimly lighted Grassroots Tavern at 20 St. Marks Place, where pitchers of beer go for $10 each.
For a night of laughter, I went to Under St. Marks, a performance space at 94 St. Marks Place. Improvisation groups book the venue, set a cheap entrance fee and perform. During my visit, I saw three improvisation troupes for $6. And it was BYOB night with free shots, making it even cheaper.
For future listings, visit http://www.nytheatre.com.
The neighborhood of Chelsea isn’t bad, either. At the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at 307 W. 26th Street, comedians like Horatio Sanz and Amy Poehler of “Saturday Night Live” hone their skills. A 7:30 p.m. show wasn’t free, so I window shopped until the free 9:30 p.m. show. Even better, Pabst Blue Ribbon was $2.
Cheap Traveler Tip: For your walk through the East Village, bring small bills and don’t be afraid to haggle. Vendors line the streets selling books, records and jewelry.
Rule #5: Pace yourself. You can’t see everything, so don’t try.
Visiting New York City on an intern’s budget is hard, but there are touristy things available for free.
The Washington Square Arch, located in Washington Square Park, was built in the late 1800s to celebrate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. In the park’s outer edges, groups of men played chess and bohemians sat or danced. In the center, a street magician traded magic tricks for money. Beware: I was informed that the park has a reputation as a drug-selling hotspot.
Later, I took the free Staten Island ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty. Afterward, my friend and I picnicked in Battery Park.
And, finally, no trip to New York would be complete without a picture in Times Square.
Cheap Traveler Tip: Don’t be afraid to explore. By walking, instead of taking a taxi or the subway, we stumbled on interesting places and saved a few dollars.
Rule #1: Paying more for a roundtrip bus ride is worth it when they drop you where you need to be.
Yes, the Chinatown buses from Washington are a novel experience. But, they drop you in Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, and I needed to get to Midtown, where my friend lives. So, a $40 roundtrip ticket on an air-conditioned bus that took me straight to Hell’s Kitchen, was worth it the extra $5 (http://www.vamoosebus.com). They even screened “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
Keep your eyes open – you can see New York’s staggering skyline from the highway near Newark Airport.
Cheap Traveler Tip: Make reservations because the buses fill up fast. Also, if you leave on a Friday, be ready for traffic. My holiday weekend trip took almost seven hours from D.C. to New York, but the return was a little over the scheduled four hours.
Rule #2: Sleeping on the floor or squished on a couch isn’t always a bad thing.
This time, sleeping on the floor in a friend’s small apartment, was different.
Instead of waking up with a sore back in Texas, I woke up with a sore back in New York. And a sore back was nothing, when, from an open window in the living room-dining room-study that also housed my friend’s roommate, New York City, in all her glory, was roaring outside.
Cheap Traveler Tip: If you aren’t used to city sounds, bring earplugs.
Cheap Traveler Tip No. 2: Hostels go for between $30 and $40 per night. Two possibilities are Jazz on the Park near Columbia University (http://www.jazzonthepark.com) and Big Apple Hostel near Times Square (http://www.bigapplehostel.com).
Rule #3: Hot dogs are an easy score when you’re broke and hungry as a beast.
After sightseeing, hunger hits hard. When it does, keep your eyes peeled for the word “papaya.”
Whether it is Papaya King, Papaya Dog or Gray’s Papaya, be ready for a quick and filling meal. You may have to eat standing up.
If you want a dog and a movie and a seat, try Crif Dogs, at 113 St. Marks Place. Crif Dogs offers inventive hot dog combinations and movie screenings at no extra charge. Try the Tsunami, a bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with teriyaki sauce, pineapple and onion, for $3.50. They have veggie dogs.
Cheap Traveler Tip: Papaya Dog sells two hot dogs and a drink for $2.75.
Rule #4: Punk-rock, comedy and cheap beer thrive in the East Village.
Tattoo shops and punk-rock boutiques, like the legendary Trash and Vaudeville at 4 St Mark's Place, are everywhere.
After buying an Iggy Pop shirt at Trash and Vaudeville for $20, I stepped down into the dimly lighted Grassroots Tavern at 20 St. Marks Place, where pitchers of beer go for $10 each.
For a night of laughter, I went to Under St. Marks, a performance space at 94 St. Marks Place. Improvisation groups book the venue, set a cheap entrance fee and perform. During my visit, I saw three improvisation troupes for $6. And it was BYOB night with free shots, making it even cheaper.
For future listings, visit http://www.nytheatre.com.
The neighborhood of Chelsea isn’t bad, either. At the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at 307 W. 26th Street, comedians like Horatio Sanz and Amy Poehler of “Saturday Night Live” hone their skills. A 7:30 p.m. show wasn’t free, so I window shopped until the free 9:30 p.m. show. Even better, Pabst Blue Ribbon was $2.
Cheap Traveler Tip: For your walk through the East Village, bring small bills and don’t be afraid to haggle. Vendors line the streets selling books, records and jewelry.
Rule #5: Pace yourself. You can’t see everything, so don’t try.
Visiting New York City on an intern’s budget is hard, but there are touristy things available for free.
The Washington Square Arch, located in Washington Square Park, was built in the late 1800s to celebrate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. In the park’s outer edges, groups of men played chess and bohemians sat or danced. In the center, a street magician traded magic tricks for money. Beware: I was informed that the park has a reputation as a drug-selling hotspot.
Later, I took the free Staten Island ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty. Afterward, my friend and I picnicked in Battery Park.
And, finally, no trip to New York would be complete without a picture in Times Square.
Cheap Traveler Tip: Don’t be afraid to explore. By walking, instead of taking a taxi or the subway, we stumbled on interesting places and saved a few dollars.
Group fasts for peace outside White House
WASHINGTON – It’s been four days since Ann Wright, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former U.S. diplomat, had her last meal. For the first day and a half she subsisted on water, then she switched to water mixed with Gatorade and some fruit juice.
Wright, 59 of Honolulu, said Friday that she feels OK and is determined to go two weeks without food. She is fasting to honor the troops who have lost their lives in Iraq and to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
Wright joined a group of protesters outside the White House as part of a nationwide fasting effort that began on Independence Day, called Troops Home Fast, that they hope will end with the Bush administration pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.
“We who are trying to stop the war are in no way endangering the troops. It’s the policies that got them there that are the big problems,” Wright said.
Wright said she spent 29 years in the Army and Army Reserves, reaching the rank of colonel. Wright was also a U.S. diplomat for 16 years. In 2003, she was one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Now, she is a full-time activist and member of CodePink.
CodePink is a grassroots, mostly female organization that calls for the end of U.S. presence in Iraq and for the U.S. to fund a massive reconstruction effort there with the jobs going to Iraqi contractors.
Meredith Dearborn, a spokeswoman for CodePink, said the group began in 2002 as a response to oncoming war in Iraq. She said the women chose the color pink as a “strike for peace” in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded terror alerts.
“We encouraged the fasting to begin on July 4, because it was symbolic, “ Dearborn said. “Hopefully, people will fast for as long as they can, and then they can do a rolling fast, where the fast gets passed from person to person in the community, for at least one day, or two or three days each, so that so it continues until Sept. 21, International Peace Day.”
On Wednesday, more than 50 protesters, most dressed in pink and some carrying placards, met on the lawn of Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Facing them, on the sidewalk in front of the White House, a smaller group of pro-war advocates met, also holding placards.
At times, the groups shouted obscenities at each other, and at other times, they ignored each other. Both groups engaged in conversations with tourists and passersby. One woman on the pro-war side who identified herself as “Just A. Nobody” and another man refused to be quoted by name. “Nobody,” who said she is from southern Virginia, said she supports U.S. troops in Iraq.
CodePink plans to maintain a daily vigil from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. outside the White House through Aug. 14. After that, the group plan to demonstrate outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, while he is on vacation.
Although each individual is encouraged to fast only as long as his or her body allows, some, including environmental activist Diane Wilson, who is in her mid-50s, of Seadrift, Texas, and social activist and comedian Dick Gregory, who activists said had been at the White House protest, are fasting with no specific ending date.
Wilson said she plans to live off water for as long as she can. A fourth-generation commercial fisher and shrimper from Texas, Wilson said this is her seventh hunger strike. However, this one will be different. Wilson said she plans to take this fast to her death and has already written her will.
“I think in order to create peace, we have to be as serious as those who create war,” Wilson said. “And you have to be that serious. When we get out there with our banners that say ‘troops home now,’ I think they hope that’s all we do. But, a hunger strike comes from a different place, a soul-place, and it creates things.”
Wright, 59 of Honolulu, said Friday that she feels OK and is determined to go two weeks without food. She is fasting to honor the troops who have lost their lives in Iraq and to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
Wright joined a group of protesters outside the White House as part of a nationwide fasting effort that began on Independence Day, called Troops Home Fast, that they hope will end with the Bush administration pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.
“We who are trying to stop the war are in no way endangering the troops. It’s the policies that got them there that are the big problems,” Wright said.
Wright said she spent 29 years in the Army and Army Reserves, reaching the rank of colonel. Wright was also a U.S. diplomat for 16 years. In 2003, she was one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Now, she is a full-time activist and member of CodePink.
CodePink is a grassroots, mostly female organization that calls for the end of U.S. presence in Iraq and for the U.S. to fund a massive reconstruction effort there with the jobs going to Iraqi contractors.
Meredith Dearborn, a spokeswoman for CodePink, said the group began in 2002 as a response to oncoming war in Iraq. She said the women chose the color pink as a “strike for peace” in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded terror alerts.
“We encouraged the fasting to begin on July 4, because it was symbolic, “ Dearborn said. “Hopefully, people will fast for as long as they can, and then they can do a rolling fast, where the fast gets passed from person to person in the community, for at least one day, or two or three days each, so that so it continues until Sept. 21, International Peace Day.”
On Wednesday, more than 50 protesters, most dressed in pink and some carrying placards, met on the lawn of Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Facing them, on the sidewalk in front of the White House, a smaller group of pro-war advocates met, also holding placards.
At times, the groups shouted obscenities at each other, and at other times, they ignored each other. Both groups engaged in conversations with tourists and passersby. One woman on the pro-war side who identified herself as “Just A. Nobody” and another man refused to be quoted by name. “Nobody,” who said she is from southern Virginia, said she supports U.S. troops in Iraq.
CodePink plans to maintain a daily vigil from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. outside the White House through Aug. 14. After that, the group plan to demonstrate outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, while he is on vacation.
Although each individual is encouraged to fast only as long as his or her body allows, some, including environmental activist Diane Wilson, who is in her mid-50s, of Seadrift, Texas, and social activist and comedian Dick Gregory, who activists said had been at the White House protest, are fasting with no specific ending date.
Wilson said she plans to live off water for as long as she can. A fourth-generation commercial fisher and shrimper from Texas, Wilson said this is her seventh hunger strike. However, this one will be different. Wilson said she plans to take this fast to her death and has already written her will.
“I think in order to create peace, we have to be as serious as those who create war,” Wilson said. “And you have to be that serious. When we get out there with our banners that say ‘troops home now,’ I think they hope that’s all we do. But, a hunger strike comes from a different place, a soul-place, and it creates things.”
Young scientists, artists winners at NAACP contest
WASHINGTON – Pride filled the air of the Washington Convention Center ballroom Sunday as the NAACP’s Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, or ACT-SO, came to a close.
Thousands of spectators watched as high school students filed in, carrying their ACT-SO branch’s banner. Eventually, all 900 students sat, anxiously waiting for the announcement of the 75 national gold, silver or bronze medalists. Medalists received wireless laptop computers and scholarships.
“These students are a testament to the talent and abilities that exist in every community across the nation,” said Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s National Board of Directors.
ACT-SO is a yearlong enrichment program designed to encourage academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. The 25 competition categories are in the sciences, humanities, visual and performing arts.
Danielle S. Gibbons, 18, of Yorba Linda, Calif., won the gold medal in drawing for her color pencil illustration of her younger sister Michelle, 12.
“I didn’t think I was going to win compared to the other students’ amazing work, but I did and it was all exciting,” she said.
Gibbons will be a freshman at California State University in Fullerton in the fall with a major in studio art. She said she worked hard to capture her sister’s innocence with the use of black, blue and honey brown, which Gibbons said is the color of her sister’s skin.
“I have a lot of contrast and colors in my picture, with a lot of texture because of my sister’s really curly hair,” Gibbons said.
Joi Hayes, 18, won a gold medal for her biology research into cartilage repair. To avoid ethical questions surrounding stem cell research, Hayes used mesenchymal stem cells, or bone marrow cells from goats.
She said her project is aimed at people who have osteoarthritis, sports-related injuries or normal wear and tear on their joints.
“If we can actually find a method to take your stem cells and grow cartilage for you so your body doesn’t reject it, that’s a wonderful thing, because a lot of times the surgeries are very, very painful and sometimes it doesn’t work,” she said.
Hayes graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a high school. She plans to major in mechanical engineering at the University of Virginia.
Justus Roberts II, 18, won the bronze medal for his biology submission. For four years, he has studied the possible benefits of human umbilical cord blood on stroke victims. He injected the white umbilical blood cells into rats, after inducing strokes, and then dissected the rats.
“I found that, once the cord blood cells are injected into the stroke rats, that inflammation decreases and that apoptosis, or cell death, decreases, therefore benefiting the stroke victim,” he said.
Roberts is a recent graduate of Wharton High School in Tampa, Fla., and has appeared on “Oprah,” “Good Morning America” and “Inside Edition,” with his 13-year-old sister, Jasmine, to discuss their research projects.
Roberts, who wears a bow tie, said he hopes “people will remember who I am, as someone who can be himself and be silly and classy, and I take that fun into science and learning as well.”
Britni Lonesome, 18, won the bronze medal in the chemistry competition with an analysis of the benefits of polymer implants for people with tuberculosis.
“The problem with tuberculosis treatment now is that patients have to take four pills every day for 6 ½ months, and that’s a high dosage,” she explained. “People in third-world developing countries, where tuberculosis has been, they can’t do that because resources are limited.”
She found that a dime-size polymer implant can provide the most consistent and safe delivery of medicine for tuberculosis patients for more than three months, which for many patients could be the full treatment.
Lonesome also graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. During her senior year, she spent three hours a day at Johns Hopkins University doing research. She has accepted a full-tuition scholarship at the Baltimore university and plans to major in chemical engineering and play basketball.
Past ACT-SO participants include rapper Kanye West, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, filmmaker John Singleton and comedian Anthony Anderson. The ACT-SO competitions preceded the NAACP’s 97th Annual Convention in Washington, which runs through Thursday.
Thousands of spectators watched as high school students filed in, carrying their ACT-SO branch’s banner. Eventually, all 900 students sat, anxiously waiting for the announcement of the 75 national gold, silver or bronze medalists. Medalists received wireless laptop computers and scholarships.
“These students are a testament to the talent and abilities that exist in every community across the nation,” said Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s National Board of Directors.
ACT-SO is a yearlong enrichment program designed to encourage academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. The 25 competition categories are in the sciences, humanities, visual and performing arts.
Danielle S. Gibbons, 18, of Yorba Linda, Calif., won the gold medal in drawing for her color pencil illustration of her younger sister Michelle, 12.
“I didn’t think I was going to win compared to the other students’ amazing work, but I did and it was all exciting,” she said.
Gibbons will be a freshman at California State University in Fullerton in the fall with a major in studio art. She said she worked hard to capture her sister’s innocence with the use of black, blue and honey brown, which Gibbons said is the color of her sister’s skin.
“I have a lot of contrast and colors in my picture, with a lot of texture because of my sister’s really curly hair,” Gibbons said.
Joi Hayes, 18, won a gold medal for her biology research into cartilage repair. To avoid ethical questions surrounding stem cell research, Hayes used mesenchymal stem cells, or bone marrow cells from goats.
She said her project is aimed at people who have osteoarthritis, sports-related injuries or normal wear and tear on their joints.
“If we can actually find a method to take your stem cells and grow cartilage for you so your body doesn’t reject it, that’s a wonderful thing, because a lot of times the surgeries are very, very painful and sometimes it doesn’t work,” she said.
Hayes graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a high school. She plans to major in mechanical engineering at the University of Virginia.
Justus Roberts II, 18, won the bronze medal for his biology submission. For four years, he has studied the possible benefits of human umbilical cord blood on stroke victims. He injected the white umbilical blood cells into rats, after inducing strokes, and then dissected the rats.
“I found that, once the cord blood cells are injected into the stroke rats, that inflammation decreases and that apoptosis, or cell death, decreases, therefore benefiting the stroke victim,” he said.
Roberts is a recent graduate of Wharton High School in Tampa, Fla., and has appeared on “Oprah,” “Good Morning America” and “Inside Edition,” with his 13-year-old sister, Jasmine, to discuss their research projects.
Roberts, who wears a bow tie, said he hopes “people will remember who I am, as someone who can be himself and be silly and classy, and I take that fun into science and learning as well.”
Britni Lonesome, 18, won the bronze medal in the chemistry competition with an analysis of the benefits of polymer implants for people with tuberculosis.
“The problem with tuberculosis treatment now is that patients have to take four pills every day for 6 ½ months, and that’s a high dosage,” she explained. “People in third-world developing countries, where tuberculosis has been, they can’t do that because resources are limited.”
She found that a dime-size polymer implant can provide the most consistent and safe delivery of medicine for tuberculosis patients for more than three months, which for many patients could be the full treatment.
Lonesome also graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. During her senior year, she spent three hours a day at Johns Hopkins University doing research. She has accepted a full-tuition scholarship at the Baltimore university and plans to major in chemical engineering and play basketball.
Past ACT-SO participants include rapper Kanye West, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, filmmaker John Singleton and comedian Anthony Anderson. The ACT-SO competitions preceded the NAACP’s 97th Annual Convention in Washington, which runs through Thursday.
Global health experts push HIV protection for women
WASHINGTON – The quest continues for a simple way to reduce HIV transmission using topical gels, creams, suppositories or films that women could use with or without their partner knowing about it.
The products, called microbicides, could be particularly useful in countries with high infection rates, even among married women.
“The face of HIV globally is increasingly female,” said Zeda F. Rosenberg, chief executive officer of the International Partnership for Microbicides.
She spoke at a briefing Tuesday sponsored by the Alliance for Microbicide Development, Global Alliance for Microbicides, International Partnership for Microbicides and Women’s Policy Inc.
Rosenberg said “women are bearing the brunt” of the HIV epidemic. She said 66 percent of women surveyed in Zimbabwe and South Africa reported one lifetime partner, yet 40 percent were HIV positive.
In this country, women make 26 percent of AIDS cases, but girls make up 57 percent of new cases among teenagers.
Although drug trials continue across the globe, it is likely to be five to seven years until a substance is accessible to women in developing countries.
“We are so close at this point that the question is no longer if, but rather when, these products are actually going to be available to the women who need them, but it will not come a moment too soon,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Last year, Obama, along with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and former senator Jon Corzine, D-N.J., introduced the Microbicide Development Act. The bill has been referred to a committee.
The act would expand and coordinate microbicide research and development by creating a microbicide research and development unit at the National Institutes of Health. It would also authorize more money for microbicidal development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Obama said that in developing countries there is often an “uneven power in the sexes” and that marriage is no longer a refuge from the virus. He said that HIV prevention methods initiated by women are “long overdue” in the U.S. and in developing countries and urged the federal government “to step up to the plate.”
Rosenberg said “microbicides would not be a magic bullet” but could restore a woman’s “right to self-protection.” Condoms, used correctly, provide better protection, but not everyone can or will use them.
Researchers predict that, even if a small number of women use a microbicide that is 60 percent effective, it would prevent 2.5 million infections over three years.
A women’s susceptibility to HIV infection is a combination of biological, social and cultural factors, Rosenberg said.
“Marriage and a woman’s fidelity are not sufficient to protect themselves from HIV infection,” she said. “Many women were infected despite staying faithful to one partner.”
Susan F. Wood, former Food and Drug Administration assistant commissioner for women's health, was in the audience. She resigned last year when the FDA delayed a final ruling on whether to make the “morning after pill” more accessible to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
“Microbicide development is so critical,” she said. “It’s been an issue in women’s health for decades.”
The products, called microbicides, could be particularly useful in countries with high infection rates, even among married women.
“The face of HIV globally is increasingly female,” said Zeda F. Rosenberg, chief executive officer of the International Partnership for Microbicides.
She spoke at a briefing Tuesday sponsored by the Alliance for Microbicide Development, Global Alliance for Microbicides, International Partnership for Microbicides and Women’s Policy Inc.
Rosenberg said “women are bearing the brunt” of the HIV epidemic. She said 66 percent of women surveyed in Zimbabwe and South Africa reported one lifetime partner, yet 40 percent were HIV positive.
In this country, women make 26 percent of AIDS cases, but girls make up 57 percent of new cases among teenagers.
Although drug trials continue across the globe, it is likely to be five to seven years until a substance is accessible to women in developing countries.
“We are so close at this point that the question is no longer if, but rather when, these products are actually going to be available to the women who need them, but it will not come a moment too soon,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Last year, Obama, along with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and former senator Jon Corzine, D-N.J., introduced the Microbicide Development Act. The bill has been referred to a committee.
The act would expand and coordinate microbicide research and development by creating a microbicide research and development unit at the National Institutes of Health. It would also authorize more money for microbicidal development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Obama said that in developing countries there is often an “uneven power in the sexes” and that marriage is no longer a refuge from the virus. He said that HIV prevention methods initiated by women are “long overdue” in the U.S. and in developing countries and urged the federal government “to step up to the plate.”
Rosenberg said “microbicides would not be a magic bullet” but could restore a woman’s “right to self-protection.” Condoms, used correctly, provide better protection, but not everyone can or will use them.
Researchers predict that, even if a small number of women use a microbicide that is 60 percent effective, it would prevent 2.5 million infections over three years.
A women’s susceptibility to HIV infection is a combination of biological, social and cultural factors, Rosenberg said.
“Marriage and a woman’s fidelity are not sufficient to protect themselves from HIV infection,” she said. “Many women were infected despite staying faithful to one partner.”
Susan F. Wood, former Food and Drug Administration assistant commissioner for women's health, was in the audience. She resigned last year when the FDA delayed a final ruling on whether to make the “morning after pill” more accessible to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
“Microbicide development is so critical,” she said. “It’s been an issue in women’s health for decades.”
Bush endorses Voting Rights Act in first NAACP speech
WASHINGTON – President Bush urged the Senate to pass the Voting Rights Act in the first speech of his presidency to the NAACP on Thursday. He said he would sign the act without any amendments.
The Senate later approved the bill 98-0. The House passed it last week.
Bush’s speech came on the last day of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s national convention. Bush addressed the sometimes rocky relationship he has had with the organization, calling for a new beginning of “common purpose” committed to civil rights.
“I understand that racism still lingers in America. It’s a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart,” he said.
Bush was joined by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and chief political adviser Karl Rove.Bush touched on his administration’s work to ensure education, property ownership and health care to all Americans.
In an anecdote about unity, Bush recalled a sermon he heard in Houston that compared a fragmented society to a crack on a wall that keeps reappearing after numerous attempts to patch it up.
“In order to solve the cracks on the wall, you have to fix the foundation,” Bush recalled. “What I want to do is work with the NAACP to help fix the foundations of our society. We want strong families. We want to help people who need help.”
Bush spoke about HIV in the U.S. He cited its prominence among black women and urged reauthorization of the Ryan White Act, which provides medications and other health care for those living with HIV/AIDS.
“And when we see the scourge of HIV/AIDS ravaging communities at home and abroad, we must not avert our eyes,” he said.
Bush acknowledged tensions between the Republican Party and black voters.
“I understand a lot of African Americans distrust my political party,” he said. “I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historical ties with the African-American community. For too long my party wrote off the African-American vote, and many African-Americans wrote off my party.”
Bush said he hoped the two groups could work together, seeing things “bigger than politics” for the nation’s betterment.
Throughout the speech the president received applause. The audience was loud with support when he spoke about renewing the Voting Rights Act and about his administration’s 30 percent funding increase for historically black colleges. He was met with boos and catcalls when he spoke about the new Medicare drug program, but thanked the NAACP for its effort in signing people up for the program.
Toward the end of his speech, two protesters shouted remarks about Dick Cheney and were escorted out by ushers.
Shirley Doris Belle, one of several thousand spectators, enjoyed his speech.
“It hit all the points that truly interested us. It’s wonderful that he will sign the Voting Rights Act with no amendments, which is exactly what we were hoping for,” said Belle, president of the Bayonne Branch of the NAACP in New Jersey.
Reggie Whitehead, president of the NAACP Santa Fe branch in New Mexico, said the speech was successful, but lacked some details.
“I believe he dodged the issue of immigration. We needed to hear more about how he plans to deal with it,” Whitehead said.
After years of declining to address the convention, Bush said he and new NAACP President Bruce Gordon have “a good working relationship.”
“Bruce is a polite guy,” Bush said. “I thought what he was going to say, ‘It’s about time you showed up.’ And, I’m glad I did.”
The Senate later approved the bill 98-0. The House passed it last week.
Bush’s speech came on the last day of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s national convention. Bush addressed the sometimes rocky relationship he has had with the organization, calling for a new beginning of “common purpose” committed to civil rights.
“I understand that racism still lingers in America. It’s a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart,” he said.
Bush was joined by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and chief political adviser Karl Rove.Bush touched on his administration’s work to ensure education, property ownership and health care to all Americans.
In an anecdote about unity, Bush recalled a sermon he heard in Houston that compared a fragmented society to a crack on a wall that keeps reappearing after numerous attempts to patch it up.
“In order to solve the cracks on the wall, you have to fix the foundation,” Bush recalled. “What I want to do is work with the NAACP to help fix the foundations of our society. We want strong families. We want to help people who need help.”
Bush spoke about HIV in the U.S. He cited its prominence among black women and urged reauthorization of the Ryan White Act, which provides medications and other health care for those living with HIV/AIDS.
“And when we see the scourge of HIV/AIDS ravaging communities at home and abroad, we must not avert our eyes,” he said.
Bush acknowledged tensions between the Republican Party and black voters.
“I understand a lot of African Americans distrust my political party,” he said. “I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historical ties with the African-American community. For too long my party wrote off the African-American vote, and many African-Americans wrote off my party.”
Bush said he hoped the two groups could work together, seeing things “bigger than politics” for the nation’s betterment.
Throughout the speech the president received applause. The audience was loud with support when he spoke about renewing the Voting Rights Act and about his administration’s 30 percent funding increase for historically black colleges. He was met with boos and catcalls when he spoke about the new Medicare drug program, but thanked the NAACP for its effort in signing people up for the program.
Toward the end of his speech, two protesters shouted remarks about Dick Cheney and were escorted out by ushers.
Shirley Doris Belle, one of several thousand spectators, enjoyed his speech.
“It hit all the points that truly interested us. It’s wonderful that he will sign the Voting Rights Act with no amendments, which is exactly what we were hoping for,” said Belle, president of the Bayonne Branch of the NAACP in New Jersey.
Reggie Whitehead, president of the NAACP Santa Fe branch in New Mexico, said the speech was successful, but lacked some details.
“I believe he dodged the issue of immigration. We needed to hear more about how he plans to deal with it,” Whitehead said.
After years of declining to address the convention, Bush said he and new NAACP President Bruce Gordon have “a good working relationship.”
“Bruce is a polite guy,” Bush said. “I thought what he was going to say, ‘It’s about time you showed up.’ And, I’m glad I did.”
Bill promotes low-cost safety gear to prevent childhood drownings
WASHINGTON – Requiring drain covers that cost as little as $30 and other simple swimming pool and spa safety measures are part of new legislation that could cut childhood drownings, its bipartisan sponsors said Monday. Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 14.
“Childhood drowning is an entirely preventable tragedy that we can and must take action to prevent. We cannot stand by as young victims tragically lose their lives in pool and spa drownings through no fault of their own,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said.
The drain covers can prevent children and adults from being sucked underwater and killed.
“Supervision is imperative when a child is near water,” Wasserman Schultz said. “But, we all know that supervision lapses, when someone answers the phone for that quick second or switches the clothes from the washer to the dryer. When supervision lapses, we must have that obstacle in the path of a child to prevent drownings.”
She said the legislation pushes for other safety devices around pools, including four-sided fences with self-latching gates. The bill calls for either drain covers that comply with Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines or safety vacuum release systems that shut off immediately if they sense blockage.
Wasserman Schultz isn’t new to pool safety law. She introduced state pool safety legislation that became law when she was in the Florida legislature. She was joined Monday by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Sen. George Allen, R-Va., to announce the introduction of National Pool and Spa Safety legislation at a press conference at the William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center a few blocks from the Capitol. Children splashed about as the members of Congress talked.
Wasserman Schultz said the bill would provide federal grants to states that mandate “layers of protection through pool and safety devices” to prevent drowning, drain entrapment and hair and body entanglements.The legislation would also provide participating states with funds for education programs.
“A key part of this legislation is public awareness,” Allen said.
Allen said that, at $30, the drain covers are part of a “very logical, reasonable and common sense approach” to ensure spa and pool safety.
Alternatives include pools with no drains or pools with two or more drains to evenly distribute suction power, Allen said. In pools without multiple drains, one drain can exert the equivalent of 400 pounds of suction and could easily suck in a child, making it almost impossible for someone to pull them out.
Allen said that more and more pools are being built in Virginia without drains. Owners are opting instead for skimmers that graze the bottom of the pool, cleaning it.
Dr. Martin Eichelberger, president of Safe Kids Worldwide, which tries to prevent childhood accidents, applauded the effort.
Nancy Baker, who lost her 7-year-old daughter, Graeme, to a suction entrapment drowning in a spa four years ago read a typed statement by her father-in-law, former Secretary of State James Baker, who was unable to be at the event.
“This legislation,” she said, “in a sense, is a memorial to our children.”
“Childhood drowning is an entirely preventable tragedy that we can and must take action to prevent. We cannot stand by as young victims tragically lose their lives in pool and spa drownings through no fault of their own,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said.
The drain covers can prevent children and adults from being sucked underwater and killed.
“Supervision is imperative when a child is near water,” Wasserman Schultz said. “But, we all know that supervision lapses, when someone answers the phone for that quick second or switches the clothes from the washer to the dryer. When supervision lapses, we must have that obstacle in the path of a child to prevent drownings.”
She said the legislation pushes for other safety devices around pools, including four-sided fences with self-latching gates. The bill calls for either drain covers that comply with Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines or safety vacuum release systems that shut off immediately if they sense blockage.
Wasserman Schultz isn’t new to pool safety law. She introduced state pool safety legislation that became law when she was in the Florida legislature. She was joined Monday by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Sen. George Allen, R-Va., to announce the introduction of National Pool and Spa Safety legislation at a press conference at the William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center a few blocks from the Capitol. Children splashed about as the members of Congress talked.
Wasserman Schultz said the bill would provide federal grants to states that mandate “layers of protection through pool and safety devices” to prevent drowning, drain entrapment and hair and body entanglements.The legislation would also provide participating states with funds for education programs.
“A key part of this legislation is public awareness,” Allen said.
Allen said that, at $30, the drain covers are part of a “very logical, reasonable and common sense approach” to ensure spa and pool safety.
Alternatives include pools with no drains or pools with two or more drains to evenly distribute suction power, Allen said. In pools without multiple drains, one drain can exert the equivalent of 400 pounds of suction and could easily suck in a child, making it almost impossible for someone to pull them out.
Allen said that more and more pools are being built in Virginia without drains. Owners are opting instead for skimmers that graze the bottom of the pool, cleaning it.
Dr. Martin Eichelberger, president of Safe Kids Worldwide, which tries to prevent childhood accidents, applauded the effort.
Nancy Baker, who lost her 7-year-old daughter, Graeme, to a suction entrapment drowning in a spa four years ago read a typed statement by her father-in-law, former Secretary of State James Baker, who was unable to be at the event.
“This legislation,” she said, “in a sense, is a memorial to our children.”
Cross-country tour to educate youth on HIV, promote testing
WASHINGTON – Kahlo Benavidez, 20, refuses to regret his past.
Some would say that’s a tough stand to take when choices left him HIV positive. Rather than wallowing in regret, he is using his life to inspire healthy living in his peers.
He was the first speaker chosen to participate in a nationwide tour called Operation: Get Tested, which is aimed at reducing HIV transmission in young Americans.
“I think this tour will make young people realize HIV is still very real,” Benavidez said. “It’s not something remote and removed from them.”
A sophomore at New Mexico State University, Benavidez is in summer school so he will not fall behind while on the 48-day tour. The tour will take six young HIV-positive Americans cross-country, making 35 stops at universities and high schools.
A Pennsylvania-based organization, Who’s Positive, tailored the tour to appeal to young people, with the hopes of preventing or reducing HIV transmission, while empowering and providing the opportunity for HIV testing.
“I think by humanizing HIV and putting a face to the story of HIV, we provide an opportunity for our peers. It’s not just statistics about HIV. It’s, ‘This is what I have gone through,’” said Tom Donohue, 27, of State College, Pa., Who’s Positive’s founder and executive director.
Half of all new HIV infections are believed to occur in people under the age of 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2004 Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS, found that 42 percent of people ages 18 to 29 have never been tested.
Operation: Get Tested hopes to change that.
“I think there’s stigma associated with HIV and with getting tested. And if people can see college-aged kids on tour, maybe it will normalize HIV testing in that age group,” said Wesley Tahsir-Rodriguez, director of health policy at the Latino Commission on AIDS in New York.
Tahsir-Rodriguez is also the national director for Annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, Oct. 15, the first day of the tour.
He said the peer-teaching approach will show that HIV is not a death sentence for those who have it, but that more and more young HIV-positive adults can live long, full lives if they get proper medication. He said the tour will make a “safe space where conversation can happen.”
“I don’t know of another tour made specifically of college-aged people who are HIV positive for other people their age. A lot of times people in this age group are the hardest people to reach,” Tahsir-Rodriguez said.
Donohue said the process for selecting tour speakers began with each applicant submitting a one-page biography and a picture. Each applicant had to complete a questionnaire that asked personal questions about mentors, diagnosis, treatment, dating and why he or she wanted to join the tour.
Donohue said he and his staff have interviewed prospective speakers, and despite being willing to discuss their experiences, not all of them made the cut.
“Remember, this tour is about humanizing HIV, being able to share feelings and emotions about their story. Some we have interviewed were unable to express themselves in the way we had hoped,” Donohue said.
The tour will begin in New York and weave through Virginia, Georgia, Florida and other states, ending in Los Angeles on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day. Donohue said HIV testing will be available at each location, as well as on-site counseling should a test return positive.
“From being HIV positive myself, I reflect back three years ago when I found out I was positive, and I understand that for the last three years I could have potentially been putting people at risk if I wasn’t tested,” Donohue said.
Not all tour stops are firm yet, but they will be posted, along with other information available now, at http://www.whospositive.org
Some would say that’s a tough stand to take when choices left him HIV positive. Rather than wallowing in regret, he is using his life to inspire healthy living in his peers.
He was the first speaker chosen to participate in a nationwide tour called Operation: Get Tested, which is aimed at reducing HIV transmission in young Americans.
“I think this tour will make young people realize HIV is still very real,” Benavidez said. “It’s not something remote and removed from them.”
A sophomore at New Mexico State University, Benavidez is in summer school so he will not fall behind while on the 48-day tour. The tour will take six young HIV-positive Americans cross-country, making 35 stops at universities and high schools.
A Pennsylvania-based organization, Who’s Positive, tailored the tour to appeal to young people, with the hopes of preventing or reducing HIV transmission, while empowering and providing the opportunity for HIV testing.
“I think by humanizing HIV and putting a face to the story of HIV, we provide an opportunity for our peers. It’s not just statistics about HIV. It’s, ‘This is what I have gone through,’” said Tom Donohue, 27, of State College, Pa., Who’s Positive’s founder and executive director.
Half of all new HIV infections are believed to occur in people under the age of 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2004 Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS, found that 42 percent of people ages 18 to 29 have never been tested.
Operation: Get Tested hopes to change that.
“I think there’s stigma associated with HIV and with getting tested. And if people can see college-aged kids on tour, maybe it will normalize HIV testing in that age group,” said Wesley Tahsir-Rodriguez, director of health policy at the Latino Commission on AIDS in New York.
Tahsir-Rodriguez is also the national director for Annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, Oct. 15, the first day of the tour.
He said the peer-teaching approach will show that HIV is not a death sentence for those who have it, but that more and more young HIV-positive adults can live long, full lives if they get proper medication. He said the tour will make a “safe space where conversation can happen.”
“I don’t know of another tour made specifically of college-aged people who are HIV positive for other people their age. A lot of times people in this age group are the hardest people to reach,” Tahsir-Rodriguez said.
Donohue said the process for selecting tour speakers began with each applicant submitting a one-page biography and a picture. Each applicant had to complete a questionnaire that asked personal questions about mentors, diagnosis, treatment, dating and why he or she wanted to join the tour.
Donohue said he and his staff have interviewed prospective speakers, and despite being willing to discuss their experiences, not all of them made the cut.
“Remember, this tour is about humanizing HIV, being able to share feelings and emotions about their story. Some we have interviewed were unable to express themselves in the way we had hoped,” Donohue said.
The tour will begin in New York and weave through Virginia, Georgia, Florida and other states, ending in Los Angeles on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day. Donohue said HIV testing will be available at each location, as well as on-site counseling should a test return positive.
“From being HIV positive myself, I reflect back three years ago when I found out I was positive, and I understand that for the last three years I could have potentially been putting people at risk if I wasn’t tested,” Donohue said.
Not all tour stops are firm yet, but they will be posted, along with other information available now, at http://www.whospositive.org
Lawmakers debate English as official language
WASHINGTON – House members and witnesses agreed English literacy programs for immigrants are important but engaged in a heated debate Wednesday over whether English should be declared the country’s official language.
The House subcommittee on education reform heard from a panel of experts and representatives on both sides of the English-only debate. The same day a report released by the Government Accountability Office showed that students of limited English proficiency are not doing as well as their peers in reading, math and science.
“English as the official language has been a code for official discrimination,” Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, said.
Hinojosa told the subcommittee that as a child he witnessed children being beaten for speaking Spanish in school.
“Instead of focusing on an issue that divides us, the subcommittee should be looking at how to help our children learn English,” Hinojosa said.
Rep. Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey, D-Calif., the committee’s senior Democrat, disagreed with the legislation.
“Not only are English-only policies unnecessary, they truly can be harmful. First, they do nothing to help immigrants learn English. They also jeopardize public safety, as in the case of natural disaster or health crisis,” Woolsey said.
Rep. Michael N. Castle, R-Del., the subcommittee chair, said the subject was “revived” by the Senate’s recent inclusion of two amendments in its immigration bill.
The amendments would make English the national “common and unifying language.” They would require those applying for citizenship to be proficient in English and learn American history but also guarantee immigrants’ rights to communicate with the federal government in any language at taxpayers’ expense.
By contrast, the House bill deals with expelling illegal immigrants and does not provide a path to citizenship, as the Senate bill does.
Rep. Mark E. Souder, R-Ind., supports legislation making English the official language. He said his hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind., has many immigrants and many city departments cannot deal with the different languages. He said English-only would strengthen the nation’s identity.
“We have many refugees coming in. We have people with legal status who are there, who are going through the transition. But if we don’t have an organized, official language we are going to descend into chaos,” he said.
He said he was “astounded at the resistance” to making English the official language.
State Sen. Paul McKinley, R-Iowa, discussed his English Language Reaffirmation Act, which became law in 2002. It requires all state and local official government business to be conducted in English, with eight exceptions. He said opponents claimed it would be viewed as unwelcoming to legal immigrants.
“This is absolutely false. The best way to welcome legal immigrants and help them through their naturalization process is to help them learn English,” he said. “Common language is the glue that binds a society and an economy.”
Raul Gonzalez, legislative director at the National Council of La Raza, told the subcommittee that English-only policies are “counterproductive” and “extremist.”
He said they would weaken education, health care services and public safety. He dismissed the idea that immigrants don’t want to learn the language. The National Council of La Raza provides English literacy programs.
“The statement that our nation is in danger of losing its identity of its character because of limited English proficient persons is unfounded,” Gonzalez said.
The committee heard also testimony about the importance of English-literacy programs from Art Ellison, policy chair of the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education.
“It is difficult to see how children can succeed in school, when so many adults, almost half of the adult populations, have basic skill needs,” Ellison said. “The issue is even more critical when parents do not speak English or have limited English proficiency.”
Ellison said literacy skills are critical for strong family structure. He said more funding is needed to allow increased access to English as a second language classes, as millions are unable to participate. Ellison named 13 states where adults are waiting for literacy programs.
The hearing was the second in a series being held by the House Education and the Workforce Committee and its subcommittees to discuss U.S. immigration policies and their potential impact on American students and workers.
The House subcommittee on education reform heard from a panel of experts and representatives on both sides of the English-only debate. The same day a report released by the Government Accountability Office showed that students of limited English proficiency are not doing as well as their peers in reading, math and science.
“English as the official language has been a code for official discrimination,” Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, said.
Hinojosa told the subcommittee that as a child he witnessed children being beaten for speaking Spanish in school.
“Instead of focusing on an issue that divides us, the subcommittee should be looking at how to help our children learn English,” Hinojosa said.
Rep. Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey, D-Calif., the committee’s senior Democrat, disagreed with the legislation.
“Not only are English-only policies unnecessary, they truly can be harmful. First, they do nothing to help immigrants learn English. They also jeopardize public safety, as in the case of natural disaster or health crisis,” Woolsey said.
Rep. Michael N. Castle, R-Del., the subcommittee chair, said the subject was “revived” by the Senate’s recent inclusion of two amendments in its immigration bill.
The amendments would make English the national “common and unifying language.” They would require those applying for citizenship to be proficient in English and learn American history but also guarantee immigrants’ rights to communicate with the federal government in any language at taxpayers’ expense.
By contrast, the House bill deals with expelling illegal immigrants and does not provide a path to citizenship, as the Senate bill does.
Rep. Mark E. Souder, R-Ind., supports legislation making English the official language. He said his hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind., has many immigrants and many city departments cannot deal with the different languages. He said English-only would strengthen the nation’s identity.
“We have many refugees coming in. We have people with legal status who are there, who are going through the transition. But if we don’t have an organized, official language we are going to descend into chaos,” he said.
He said he was “astounded at the resistance” to making English the official language.
State Sen. Paul McKinley, R-Iowa, discussed his English Language Reaffirmation Act, which became law in 2002. It requires all state and local official government business to be conducted in English, with eight exceptions. He said opponents claimed it would be viewed as unwelcoming to legal immigrants.
“This is absolutely false. The best way to welcome legal immigrants and help them through their naturalization process is to help them learn English,” he said. “Common language is the glue that binds a society and an economy.”
Raul Gonzalez, legislative director at the National Council of La Raza, told the subcommittee that English-only policies are “counterproductive” and “extremist.”
He said they would weaken education, health care services and public safety. He dismissed the idea that immigrants don’t want to learn the language. The National Council of La Raza provides English literacy programs.
“The statement that our nation is in danger of losing its identity of its character because of limited English proficient persons is unfounded,” Gonzalez said.
The committee heard also testimony about the importance of English-literacy programs from Art Ellison, policy chair of the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education.
“It is difficult to see how children can succeed in school, when so many adults, almost half of the adult populations, have basic skill needs,” Ellison said. “The issue is even more critical when parents do not speak English or have limited English proficiency.”
Ellison said literacy skills are critical for strong family structure. He said more funding is needed to allow increased access to English as a second language classes, as millions are unable to participate. Ellison named 13 states where adults are waiting for literacy programs.
The hearing was the second in a series being held by the House Education and the Workforce Committee and its subcommittees to discuss U.S. immigration policies and their potential impact on American students and workers.
Families applaud ‘Adam Walsh’ child protection law
WASHINGTON – More than 100 relatives and friends of missing, exploited or murdered children gathered at the White House Thursday to watch President Bush sign the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
The law was named after Adam Walsh, 6, who was abducted from a shopping mall in Hollywood, Fla., 25 years ago to the day. He was found murdered 16 days later.
Adam’s father, John Walsh, the host of “America’s Most Wanted,” was wearing a white rose on his left lapel and described the day as “bittersweet.”
“We’ve tried to make sure Adam did not die in vain,” Walsh said in an interview after the ceremony. “People use the word ‘closure.’ It’s not about closure, it’s more about justice.”
The law creates what is being called the “S.W.A.T team for kids.”
“Our nation grieves with every family that’s suffered the unbearable pain of a child who’s been abducted or abused. This law makes an important step forward in this country’s efforts to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Bush said.
Bush said the law integrates all state sex offender registries into a uniform National Sex Offender Registry and increases federal penalties for crimes against children. It creates regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces to fund and train local law enforcement about sexual exploitation of minors on the Internet. It also creates a National Child Abuse Registry and requires background checks on adoptive and foster parents before they gain custody of a child.
“By enacting this law, we’re sending a clear message across the country: Those who prey on our children will be caught, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Bush said.
Elizabeth Smart, 18, and her father, Ed Smart, were in the audience at the Rose Garden ceremony.
In 2002, Smart was abducted at knife-point from her bedroom in Salt Lake City. At a press conference after the ceremony held by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Smart said she supports the legislation.
“Anyone who hurts a child, in my opinion, doesn’t deserve to be here,” said Smart, who will be a freshman at Brigham Young University in the fall.
She said the law will keep track of sex offenders who just “don’t want to check in” with their probation or parole officers.
The Smarts greeted Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, who was raped and murdered in 2005 at age 9. Lunsford, 42, still lives in Homosassa Springs Fla., near where the crime took place.
Wearing a tie with Jessica’s picture on it, he said he thinks about his daughter daily. He has worn the tie each of the six times he has lobbied in Washington.
In June, Lunsford was one of five people to win a national Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting Local Communities for his work.
“I never really got any closure. I had a lot of anger. I probably could’ve done a lot of things, but I chose to use all that emotion this way,” Lunsford said.
In all, Lunsford has traveled to 14 states lobbying for sex offender and child protection legislation. He said the Adam Walsh law is a gift.
“It’s a memorial to her and to all children that says they do matter and we do notice them. It’s a way to protect them,” he said. “We can’t stop these kinds of crimes, but we can try to contain them."
The law was named after Adam Walsh, 6, who was abducted from a shopping mall in Hollywood, Fla., 25 years ago to the day. He was found murdered 16 days later.
Adam’s father, John Walsh, the host of “America’s Most Wanted,” was wearing a white rose on his left lapel and described the day as “bittersweet.”
“We’ve tried to make sure Adam did not die in vain,” Walsh said in an interview after the ceremony. “People use the word ‘closure.’ It’s not about closure, it’s more about justice.”
The law creates what is being called the “S.W.A.T team for kids.”
“Our nation grieves with every family that’s suffered the unbearable pain of a child who’s been abducted or abused. This law makes an important step forward in this country’s efforts to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Bush said.
Bush said the law integrates all state sex offender registries into a uniform National Sex Offender Registry and increases federal penalties for crimes against children. It creates regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces to fund and train local law enforcement about sexual exploitation of minors on the Internet. It also creates a National Child Abuse Registry and requires background checks on adoptive and foster parents before they gain custody of a child.
“By enacting this law, we’re sending a clear message across the country: Those who prey on our children will be caught, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Bush said.
Elizabeth Smart, 18, and her father, Ed Smart, were in the audience at the Rose Garden ceremony.
In 2002, Smart was abducted at knife-point from her bedroom in Salt Lake City. At a press conference after the ceremony held by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Smart said she supports the legislation.
“Anyone who hurts a child, in my opinion, doesn’t deserve to be here,” said Smart, who will be a freshman at Brigham Young University in the fall.
She said the law will keep track of sex offenders who just “don’t want to check in” with their probation or parole officers.
The Smarts greeted Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, who was raped and murdered in 2005 at age 9. Lunsford, 42, still lives in Homosassa Springs Fla., near where the crime took place.
Wearing a tie with Jessica’s picture on it, he said he thinks about his daughter daily. He has worn the tie each of the six times he has lobbied in Washington.
In June, Lunsford was one of five people to win a national Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting Local Communities for his work.
“I never really got any closure. I had a lot of anger. I probably could’ve done a lot of things, but I chose to use all that emotion this way,” Lunsford said.
In all, Lunsford has traveled to 14 states lobbying for sex offender and child protection legislation. He said the Adam Walsh law is a gift.
“It’s a memorial to her and to all children that says they do matter and we do notice them. It’s a way to protect them,” he said. “We can’t stop these kinds of crimes, but we can try to contain them."
Anti-war group to break hunger strike on Jordan trip
WASHINGTON – Diane Wilson, on her 28th day of a hunger strike, lugs three bags slowly through the center of Lafayette Park across the street from the White House.
“Any type of walking just gets your heart beating fast, and your breathing is more like panting. Your mouth just gets really dry, and any type of exertion, especially in the sun, will just drain you,” Wilson, 58, said Monday as she sat under the shade of a large oak tree.
The city was under a heat advisory, with afternoon temperatures in the mid-90s.Wilson, of Seadrift, Texas, is an environmental activist and co-founder of CodePink, a women’s anti-war group.
The group arranged the Troops Home Fast, which began July 4. The fasters are calling for the Bush administration to pull troops out of Iraq. Every day, a group of CodePink fasters meets in the park. Some participants have done one-day fasts, others fast for as long as they can last.
While some drink juice, Wilson subsists on water. She said she’s lost about 20 pounds from her 5- foot-7 frame, but maintains she is not hungry.
“I don’t experience hunger. People seem to think it’s very painful, maybe in its last stages, but I feel all right,” Wilson said. “It’s just the weakness.”
Wilson originally planned to fast as long as her body allowed. She even has a will ready. Others planned to fast until Sept. 21, International Peace Day. Now, Wilson, and a few fellow CodePink fasters, plan to break their fast this week when they meet with Iraqi parliament members in Amman, Jordan. They leave Wednesday.
They plan to meet with five Iraqi parliament members, religious leaders and political analysts.Wilson, former U.S. diplomat Ann Wright and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin will be among those visiting Jordan to discuss a 24-point Iraqi reconciliation plan, unveiled July 23 by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“This is a good goal the fast accomplished, to be recognized by people all over the world and by members of the Iraqi parliament,” Wright said. “I am humbled.”
Wright, 60, is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former U.S. diplomat. She is also on her 28th day without food. She is not adhering to a water-only fast – she drinks carrot and apple juice in addition to water.
After 29 years of military service, Wright served as a U.S. diplomat for 16 years in many countries, ending in Mongolia. In 2003, she was one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned to protest the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. Now, she is a full-time activist and member of CodePink.
She said she is not worried about her safety when she travels to Jordan. Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have been fighting since July 12.
Since the fast began outside the White House, several CodePink members have been arrested.
On Friday, five anti-war protesters, four of whom were involved with the CodePink fast, were arrested for demonstrating without a permit. CodePink spokeswoman Meredith Dearborn said the group lost its permit to demonstrate when CodePink members blocked an entrance to the White House during British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visit. Park police asked them to move, and when they refused their permit was revoked. They were arrested and received citations.The group was granted new permits Monday to demonstrate on the sidewalk in front of the White House and to gather in Lafayette Park.Wilson said her arrest was worth it.
“I don’t know how or when it’s going to happen, but we’re going to be a catalyst for something, we’re going to bring the troops home,” she said.
Earlier in the week, Medea Benjamin was arrested by U.S. Capitol police for disrupting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s speech to Congress. She was cited for disrupting Congress.
“Any type of walking just gets your heart beating fast, and your breathing is more like panting. Your mouth just gets really dry, and any type of exertion, especially in the sun, will just drain you,” Wilson, 58, said Monday as she sat under the shade of a large oak tree.
The city was under a heat advisory, with afternoon temperatures in the mid-90s.Wilson, of Seadrift, Texas, is an environmental activist and co-founder of CodePink, a women’s anti-war group.
The group arranged the Troops Home Fast, which began July 4. The fasters are calling for the Bush administration to pull troops out of Iraq. Every day, a group of CodePink fasters meets in the park. Some participants have done one-day fasts, others fast for as long as they can last.
While some drink juice, Wilson subsists on water. She said she’s lost about 20 pounds from her 5- foot-7 frame, but maintains she is not hungry.
“I don’t experience hunger. People seem to think it’s very painful, maybe in its last stages, but I feel all right,” Wilson said. “It’s just the weakness.”
Wilson originally planned to fast as long as her body allowed. She even has a will ready. Others planned to fast until Sept. 21, International Peace Day. Now, Wilson, and a few fellow CodePink fasters, plan to break their fast this week when they meet with Iraqi parliament members in Amman, Jordan. They leave Wednesday.
They plan to meet with five Iraqi parliament members, religious leaders and political analysts.Wilson, former U.S. diplomat Ann Wright and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin will be among those visiting Jordan to discuss a 24-point Iraqi reconciliation plan, unveiled July 23 by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“This is a good goal the fast accomplished, to be recognized by people all over the world and by members of the Iraqi parliament,” Wright said. “I am humbled.”
Wright, 60, is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former U.S. diplomat. She is also on her 28th day without food. She is not adhering to a water-only fast – she drinks carrot and apple juice in addition to water.
After 29 years of military service, Wright served as a U.S. diplomat for 16 years in many countries, ending in Mongolia. In 2003, she was one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned to protest the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. Now, she is a full-time activist and member of CodePink.
She said she is not worried about her safety when she travels to Jordan. Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have been fighting since July 12.
Since the fast began outside the White House, several CodePink members have been arrested.
On Friday, five anti-war protesters, four of whom were involved with the CodePink fast, were arrested for demonstrating without a permit. CodePink spokeswoman Meredith Dearborn said the group lost its permit to demonstrate when CodePink members blocked an entrance to the White House during British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visit. Park police asked them to move, and when they refused their permit was revoked. They were arrested and received citations.The group was granted new permits Monday to demonstrate on the sidewalk in front of the White House and to gather in Lafayette Park.Wilson said her arrest was worth it.
“I don’t know how or when it’s going to happen, but we’re going to be a catalyst for something, we’re going to bring the troops home,” she said.
Earlier in the week, Medea Benjamin was arrested by U.S. Capitol police for disrupting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s speech to Congress. She was cited for disrupting Congress.
House members urge Bush to send envoy to Sudan
WASHINGTON – The U.S. needs to make a “renewed effort” to calm the civil wars and genocide in Sudan, two House members said Tuesday.
They called for the Bush administration to create the post of special U.S. envoy to Sudan and to appoint someone to fill the job. The House members also urged the administration to use $250,000 included in the Emergency Supplemental Act to establish the U.S. envoy to Sudan post and to support staffing and travel for the envoy.
“The supplemental’s been signed, and still we have absolutely no activity by the State Department,” Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said. “The deployment of a special envoy would send a clear message to Khartoum that the United States is committed to trying everything possible to bring peace.”
He said that since 2004 there has been a bipartisan effort to get an envoy to Sudan.
“Men are still being killed, women are still being raped, children are growing up in refugee camps and the world has been paralyzed to stop it,” he said. “Today we call on the administration for the immediate appointment of a special envoy for Sudan.”
Wolf has visited Sudan five times and said there is an “immediate” need for an envoy “to focus like a laser beam on this issue.”
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chair of the House subcommittee on Africa, global human rights and international operations, has also visited Darfur and called the situation “a matter of utmost urgency.”
The genocide in Darfur began in 2003 and has left as many as 400,000 people dead and more than 2 million displaced. The United Nations reported Tuesday that 25,000 North Darfur civilians were displaced over the last three weeks due to clashes between Sudanese government forces, allied militias and rebel groups.
Two landmark peace agreements in the region were signed earlier this year, but progress in enforcing them has slowed.The Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in January by the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The other, the Darfur Peace Agreement, was signed in May by the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Army, only one of three major groups involved in the civil war.
Wolf said “key provisions” in both acts were being ignored, and Smith said a U.S. envoy would “shepherd, promote and ensure” the implementation of the two agreements.
Wolf said the resignations of Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Roger P. Winter, who was named special representative of the deputy secretary of state for Sudan just before his resignation, means no one person is “focusing on Sudan.”
“Who would you call today?” Wolf asked. “Who would anyone call?”
Wolf and Smith agreed that Tony P. Hall, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome, would be a good Sudan envoy.
Hall, a Democrat, represented Ohio in the House of Representative for more than 20 years.Wolf and three other House members, all co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Sudan, wrote Bush in late June urging that he appoint the envoy. More than 160 House members signed the letter, according to Wolf’s office.
Last week, Wolf and Smith met with Salva Kiir Mayardit, Sudan's first vice president and president of Southern Sudan, and had what Smith called “candid” talks about international relations.
“He is concerned that there is a lack of intention on the part of the international community, including the United States,” Smith said. “Whether it be the problems in the Middle East or the problems with North Korea, there’s always something clamoring for attention, but in Darfur, every day men women and children die needless deaths.”
The State Department declined to comment.
They called for the Bush administration to create the post of special U.S. envoy to Sudan and to appoint someone to fill the job. The House members also urged the administration to use $250,000 included in the Emergency Supplemental Act to establish the U.S. envoy to Sudan post and to support staffing and travel for the envoy.
“The supplemental’s been signed, and still we have absolutely no activity by the State Department,” Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said. “The deployment of a special envoy would send a clear message to Khartoum that the United States is committed to trying everything possible to bring peace.”
He said that since 2004 there has been a bipartisan effort to get an envoy to Sudan.
“Men are still being killed, women are still being raped, children are growing up in refugee camps and the world has been paralyzed to stop it,” he said. “Today we call on the administration for the immediate appointment of a special envoy for Sudan.”
Wolf has visited Sudan five times and said there is an “immediate” need for an envoy “to focus like a laser beam on this issue.”
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chair of the House subcommittee on Africa, global human rights and international operations, has also visited Darfur and called the situation “a matter of utmost urgency.”
The genocide in Darfur began in 2003 and has left as many as 400,000 people dead and more than 2 million displaced. The United Nations reported Tuesday that 25,000 North Darfur civilians were displaced over the last three weeks due to clashes between Sudanese government forces, allied militias and rebel groups.
Two landmark peace agreements in the region were signed earlier this year, but progress in enforcing them has slowed.The Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in January by the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The other, the Darfur Peace Agreement, was signed in May by the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Army, only one of three major groups involved in the civil war.
Wolf said “key provisions” in both acts were being ignored, and Smith said a U.S. envoy would “shepherd, promote and ensure” the implementation of the two agreements.
Wolf said the resignations of Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Roger P. Winter, who was named special representative of the deputy secretary of state for Sudan just before his resignation, means no one person is “focusing on Sudan.”
“Who would you call today?” Wolf asked. “Who would anyone call?”
Wolf and Smith agreed that Tony P. Hall, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome, would be a good Sudan envoy.
Hall, a Democrat, represented Ohio in the House of Representative for more than 20 years.Wolf and three other House members, all co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Sudan, wrote Bush in late June urging that he appoint the envoy. More than 160 House members signed the letter, according to Wolf’s office.
Last week, Wolf and Smith met with Salva Kiir Mayardit, Sudan's first vice president and president of Southern Sudan, and had what Smith called “candid” talks about international relations.
“He is concerned that there is a lack of intention on the part of the international community, including the United States,” Smith said. “Whether it be the problems in the Middle East or the problems with North Korea, there’s always something clamoring for attention, but in Darfur, every day men women and children die needless deaths.”
The State Department declined to comment.
Tales from the capital – DC ghosts have their own tour
WASHINGTON – Kim Lepore, 51, a contracting officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, jumped in fear.
As dusk fell on Wednesday, Lepore and 11 others were standing outside the Octagon Museum, peering into its windows, when a figure inside began to move.
The Octagon Museum has a ghostly history. One Octagon ghost is believed to be a male killed by Col. John Tayloe III, the man who purchased the site and had the house built at the turn of the 19th century.
“I saw him, I saw him. He is there,” Lepore exclaimed as a male figure dressed in black came down the Octagon Museum’s servant staircase.
Others in the small group nodded in agreement that they had seen the figure, too.Even though Carolyn Crouch, Washington Walks tour guide, was leading a walking tour of the Most Haunted Houses Tour in the capital, she punctured this ghostly tale.She identified the man as a staff member of the American Architectural Foundation, the organization that now owns the Octagon.
The small group strained to refocus their attention on Crouch’s tales of regional ghost lore, in the midst of Washington’s summertime heat. This was their last stop.
All sites are close to the White House, which has its own ghost stories about Abraham Lincoln and Abigail Adams. The group met at 6:30 p.m. outside the 17th Street exit of the Farragut West Metro stop.
They crowded around Farragut Square where Crouch, in a loud voice, spoke about the area’s history. Cars and pedestrians made a commotion nearby as she relayed the ghost story of a “tailor’s slain bride.”
Farragut Square was named after Union Admiral David G. Farragut, a Civil War hero famous for uttering the phrase, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” She said the Square was at one time a “high-end enclave” where people lived in mansions. Now it’s surrounded by office buildings.
Ghost lore says that one mansion was home to a tailor and his bride in the late 19th century. Every day, the tailor was seen leaving for work and returning in the evening. Neighbors began to realize that they had seen the young wife move into the house, but never saw her leave.
Crouch said when neighbors would come to call on her, “her husband would come to the door and say, ‘Oh, she doesn’t feel quite so well today.’”
This continued for weeks, and gossipy types in town said the young bride left to live with relatives. Others with more “sinister thoughts said ‘Maybe she’s died, maybe he’s killed her,’” Crouch said.
Finally, as the story goes, the tailor moved, and later tenants heard ominous scratching in the walls and high-pitched female moans.
Eventually, a man bought the home and began restoring it.Crouch said he removed a plaster wall and found the “skeleton of a woman, with one bony finger, wearing a gold ring.” Crouch told listeners that “still lodged in the ribs of skeleton was a blood-stained dagger.”The house no longer exists.
Sana Keith, visiting from Queens, N.Y., said he was unsure about the presence of ghosts and spirits. He went on a similar haunted house tour in San Francisco.
“I don’t not believe, but then again, I can’t say I believe for sure. I just like to keep an open mind,” Keith, 24, a counselor, said.
He was in Washington for a three-day jaunt. Keith said he enjoyed the tour, but the heat was a bit much.
“I figured it just sounded like something fun to do during the summer, like something all-American,” Keith said.
The tour also stopped outside the Decatur House, said to be home to the ghost of naval hero Stephen Decatur. Decatur died from gunshot wounds received in a duel that took place at Bladensburg Dueling Field in nearby Maryland.
The tour was hosted by Washington Walks, which offers a variety of themed walking and bus tours every week. Tours of Georgetown, U Street and Arlington Cemetery are also available. Prices are $10 to $30.For more information go to http://www.washingtonwalks.com
As dusk fell on Wednesday, Lepore and 11 others were standing outside the Octagon Museum, peering into its windows, when a figure inside began to move.
The Octagon Museum has a ghostly history. One Octagon ghost is believed to be a male killed by Col. John Tayloe III, the man who purchased the site and had the house built at the turn of the 19th century.
“I saw him, I saw him. He is there,” Lepore exclaimed as a male figure dressed in black came down the Octagon Museum’s servant staircase.
Others in the small group nodded in agreement that they had seen the figure, too.Even though Carolyn Crouch, Washington Walks tour guide, was leading a walking tour of the Most Haunted Houses Tour in the capital, she punctured this ghostly tale.She identified the man as a staff member of the American Architectural Foundation, the organization that now owns the Octagon.
The small group strained to refocus their attention on Crouch’s tales of regional ghost lore, in the midst of Washington’s summertime heat. This was their last stop.
All sites are close to the White House, which has its own ghost stories about Abraham Lincoln and Abigail Adams. The group met at 6:30 p.m. outside the 17th Street exit of the Farragut West Metro stop.
They crowded around Farragut Square where Crouch, in a loud voice, spoke about the area’s history. Cars and pedestrians made a commotion nearby as she relayed the ghost story of a “tailor’s slain bride.”
Farragut Square was named after Union Admiral David G. Farragut, a Civil War hero famous for uttering the phrase, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” She said the Square was at one time a “high-end enclave” where people lived in mansions. Now it’s surrounded by office buildings.
Ghost lore says that one mansion was home to a tailor and his bride in the late 19th century. Every day, the tailor was seen leaving for work and returning in the evening. Neighbors began to realize that they had seen the young wife move into the house, but never saw her leave.
Crouch said when neighbors would come to call on her, “her husband would come to the door and say, ‘Oh, she doesn’t feel quite so well today.’”
This continued for weeks, and gossipy types in town said the young bride left to live with relatives. Others with more “sinister thoughts said ‘Maybe she’s died, maybe he’s killed her,’” Crouch said.
Finally, as the story goes, the tailor moved, and later tenants heard ominous scratching in the walls and high-pitched female moans.
Eventually, a man bought the home and began restoring it.Crouch said he removed a plaster wall and found the “skeleton of a woman, with one bony finger, wearing a gold ring.” Crouch told listeners that “still lodged in the ribs of skeleton was a blood-stained dagger.”The house no longer exists.
Sana Keith, visiting from Queens, N.Y., said he was unsure about the presence of ghosts and spirits. He went on a similar haunted house tour in San Francisco.
“I don’t not believe, but then again, I can’t say I believe for sure. I just like to keep an open mind,” Keith, 24, a counselor, said.
He was in Washington for a three-day jaunt. Keith said he enjoyed the tour, but the heat was a bit much.
“I figured it just sounded like something fun to do during the summer, like something all-American,” Keith said.
The tour also stopped outside the Decatur House, said to be home to the ghost of naval hero Stephen Decatur. Decatur died from gunshot wounds received in a duel that took place at Bladensburg Dueling Field in nearby Maryland.
The tour was hosted by Washington Walks, which offers a variety of themed walking and bus tours every week. Tours of Georgetown, U Street and Arlington Cemetery are also available. Prices are $10 to $30.For more information go to http://www.washingtonwalks.com
Kahlo Benavidez, 20, represents a handful of U.S. minority populations.
He is young. He is gay. He is Hispanic. He is HIV positive.
He is also unashamed of his past and wants to be something few people would be willing to be – a face for HIV.
“I thought maybe by explaining my story and making it seem more real to people, there would be some reason behind me being HIV positive, and I could turn this experience into something constructive,” he said.
Benavidez was the first speaker chosen to participate in a nationwide tour called “Operation: Get Tested,” which is aimed at reducing the transmission of HIV in young people.
“I think my problem was that HIV was never a human condition for me, it was a scientific fact. It was like electrons, protons and neutrons – I knew they existed but at the same time there was still something very remote about them,” said Benavidez. “I felt the same about HIV.”
That’s why he says he became infected, and it’s the attitude he wants to change in his peers.
The 48-day tour, sponsored by a Pennsylvania-based organization, will take Benavidez and five other HIV-positive people, ages 18 to 26, across the country. They will stop at 35 universities and high schools to speak about their life experiences and teach about HIV prevention. At each site, HIV testing will be available.
Although Benavidez is unsure about the exact sexual encounter that infected him with HIV, he does know it happened in high school. When he was 14, Benavidez told his family he was gay. And, while attending Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, N.M., he lived a double life.
He secretly engaged in unprotected sex. And, although he has never been an IV drug user, he had sex with men who were. Meanwhile, he worked with a program to prevent HIV among homosexual youth and educate teenage mothers about sexually transmitted diseases.
Benavidez admits that, although he was in frequent contact with safe-sex information in high school, he felt the messages were aimed at heterosexuals and he couldn’t identify with them.
“I guess I am proof that you can have all of the knowledge you need to protect yourself from being protected and just not listen. I mean, the info is out there,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that young “men who have sex with men,” or MSM, are at high risk for HIV infection and face many barriers to HIV prevention. One of those is that many of them identify themselves as heterosexual, and as a result, may not relate to prevention messages crafted for gay men.
Allison Subasic, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Student Resource Center at Pennsylvania State University, said particular groups of men, such as those on the “downlow,” those who engage in sex with both men and women, “sometimes do not identify as being gay or bisexual.”
To prevent HIV among men who have sex with men, the prevention message must be tailored to their culture, Rafael M. Díaz, 55, said. Diaz is the author of “Latino Gay Men and HIV: Culture, Sexuality, and Risk Behavior” and a professor of ethnic studies at San Francisco State University.
“The term ‘MSM’ may be productive for the CDC, but it doesn’t talk about reality of people I work with. It doesn’t talk about the exile and pain they are sometimes forced by society to live under,” Diaz said.
Meanwhile, Benavidez hopes his tour this fall will teach HIV prevention in a more personal and life-changing way for peers regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.“I think this tour will make young people realize HIV is still very real. It’s not something remote and removed from them,” Benavidez said.
He is young. He is gay. He is Hispanic. He is HIV positive.
He is also unashamed of his past and wants to be something few people would be willing to be – a face for HIV.
“I thought maybe by explaining my story and making it seem more real to people, there would be some reason behind me being HIV positive, and I could turn this experience into something constructive,” he said.
Benavidez was the first speaker chosen to participate in a nationwide tour called “Operation: Get Tested,” which is aimed at reducing the transmission of HIV in young people.
“I think my problem was that HIV was never a human condition for me, it was a scientific fact. It was like electrons, protons and neutrons – I knew they existed but at the same time there was still something very remote about them,” said Benavidez. “I felt the same about HIV.”
That’s why he says he became infected, and it’s the attitude he wants to change in his peers.
The 48-day tour, sponsored by a Pennsylvania-based organization, will take Benavidez and five other HIV-positive people, ages 18 to 26, across the country. They will stop at 35 universities and high schools to speak about their life experiences and teach about HIV prevention. At each site, HIV testing will be available.
Although Benavidez is unsure about the exact sexual encounter that infected him with HIV, he does know it happened in high school. When he was 14, Benavidez told his family he was gay. And, while attending Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, N.M., he lived a double life.
He secretly engaged in unprotected sex. And, although he has never been an IV drug user, he had sex with men who were. Meanwhile, he worked with a program to prevent HIV among homosexual youth and educate teenage mothers about sexually transmitted diseases.
Benavidez admits that, although he was in frequent contact with safe-sex information in high school, he felt the messages were aimed at heterosexuals and he couldn’t identify with them.
“I guess I am proof that you can have all of the knowledge you need to protect yourself from being protected and just not listen. I mean, the info is out there,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that young “men who have sex with men,” or MSM, are at high risk for HIV infection and face many barriers to HIV prevention. One of those is that many of them identify themselves as heterosexual, and as a result, may not relate to prevention messages crafted for gay men.
Allison Subasic, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Student Resource Center at Pennsylvania State University, said particular groups of men, such as those on the “downlow,” those who engage in sex with both men and women, “sometimes do not identify as being gay or bisexual.”
To prevent HIV among men who have sex with men, the prevention message must be tailored to their culture, Rafael M. Díaz, 55, said. Diaz is the author of “Latino Gay Men and HIV: Culture, Sexuality, and Risk Behavior” and a professor of ethnic studies at San Francisco State University.
“The term ‘MSM’ may be productive for the CDC, but it doesn’t talk about reality of people I work with. It doesn’t talk about the exile and pain they are sometimes forced by society to live under,” Diaz said.
Meanwhile, Benavidez hopes his tour this fall will teach HIV prevention in a more personal and life-changing way for peers regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.“I think this tour will make young people realize HIV is still very real. It’s not something remote and removed from them,” Benavidez said.
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