Jeremy Adam Smith, Op-Ed: “Instead of being kicked out for fighting, stealing, talking back, or other disruptive behavior, public school students in San Francisco are being asked to listen to each other, write letters of apology, work out solutions with the help of parents and educators, or engage in community service. All these practices fall under the umbrella of ‘restorative justice’—asking wrongdoers to make amends before resorting to punishment.”
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Can Restorative Justice Stop the Schoolhouse-to-Jailhouse Pipeline?
April 10, 2012 by admin
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Last Three Years Were Worst on Record for Public Sector Job Losses
April 9, 2012 by admin
Travis Waldron, News Report: The loss of government jobs has had dire effects on the recovery. In 2011, government job losses pushed total layoffs past the 2010 total, despite better job growth in the private sector. “If public-sector employment had grown since June 2009 by the average amount it grew in the three previous recoveries (2.8 percent) instead of shrinking by 2.5 percent, there would be 1.2 million more public-sector jobs in the U.S. economy today,” the Economic Policy Institute found in a recent report.
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Koch-Funded ALEC Behind State Attempts To ‘Reclaim’ Your Public Lands
April 7, 2012 by admin
Public Lands Team, News Analysis: “State legislators are introducing bills that demand Congress to turn over millions of acres of public lands to the states or face a lawsuit. Utah has taken this idea the furthest, where two weeks ago Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed a bill into law demanding that Congress give 30 million acres of federal land located in Utah to the state by 2015 or it will sue.”
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Dean Baker | The Supreme Scream: Obamacare After the Court Ruling
by admin
Dean Baker, Op-Ed: “The conventional wisdom following the oral arguments before the Supreme Court last week is that, at the least, the health insurance mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act is going down. Many observers thought it likely that the Republican-controlled court would strike down the entire bill. Either way, it will be necessary to do some serious rethinking of health care policy.
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Pawn: The Real George Zimmerman Story
April 3, 2012 by admin
Pawn: The Real George Zimmerman Story
Richard (RJ) Eskow, Op-Ed: As it turns out, the ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws used to protect shooters like Zimmerman were written and promoted by ALEC – the American Legislative Exchange Council. As the Center for Media and Democracy notes, the corporate-funded right wing group behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on worker rights is the same group that has promoted ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws all around the country. You could put a thousand people on Neighborhood Watch and they’d never see the real threats to Zimmerman’s community.Category Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments
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Political Candidates for NC Offices
April 2, 2012 by admin
Listening to the candidates for NC Statewide Office; you soon realize the major tasks ahead for each of these candidates. The current majority in the North Carolina House and Senate have torn the State down, and purposely lead anti-worker legislation! 1000′s of jobs have been lost, but even worse; 1000′s of jobs were not created! The House and Senate Leaders let politic’s, greed, power, and control lead them in their decision making, and not the needs of North Carolina Workers!
Subjects brought up during this meeting showed the great potential of jobs in North Carolina!
Light Rail/ Solar/ Wind
Public Transportation
Green Jobs
Adjusting legislation so that companies have to have in their portfolio a portion dedicated to alternative energy.
Collective Bargaining for State Employees
Helping our Tobacco Workers
Troop deployment out of Wilmington vs. Charleston
Enlarging the Wilminton Port for additional trade traffic.
Textiles- Made in America- Bring Jobs Back
Government set policies through new technology
Education- Keeping NC educated for the new job markets of the future.
The 2012 election must be focused on job creation in North Carolina! Not just any jobs, but good paying jobs, living wage jobs. North Carolina workers must have the ability to feed their families, cloth their families, educate their families, and have access to affordable insurance to keep them alive and well. These are the important issues that we must keep our members focused on during this election. Workers must keep away from wedge issues that keep them from supporting a candidate that will give them the ability to do the afore mentioned! We are all different, and we are all never going to see all things in the same light; but without a job, none of us have any ability other than constant debt and dispare! Folks, keep the focus on candidates that support working men and women! Go to the polls with only this in mind, and go to the polls with AFL-CIO endorsed candidates list in your hand.
Lets get North Carolinians back to work, lets get our educators back in the classroom, lets support all working men and women, and lets support the Unions and the freedoms and rights that it gives to a workforce- The ability to have a voice on the job and to play a major part in their futures!
Mark V. Case
WNC-CLC, AFL-CIOCategory Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments
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THE NEXT MEETING OF THE ALLIANCE FOR RETIRED AMERICANS
March 24, 2012 by admin
THE NEXT MEETING OF THE ALLIANCE FOR RETIRED AMERICANS will be 10 AM April 12, at the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church ,123 Kenilworth Rd., ASHEVILLE, NC ,28803. The meeting will be held in the Church Fellowship hall behind the Church. There is a large parking lot behind the Church, just turn left at the Church . The Church is 1 1/4 miles off Tunnel Rd.
We are a 501 -3c group and will take on issues ,but will not endorse Candidates from either party. We currently have over 3,00,000 members and we just started three years ago. Our goal is to develop positive relations and to improve legislation for Seniors ,including protecting Social Security and other programs for Seniors.We have only been organized two months in Western North Carolina and we really want more Seniors to attend.
PLEASE TRY TO MAKE COME AND BRING A FRIEND!
WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US. THIS WILL BE A GREAT CHANCE TO TALK AND ENJOY FELLOWSHIP.
LARRY R. SORRELLS
PRES. WNC ARA
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The Affordable Care Act !
March 20, 2012 by admin
The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of America’s families secure health care for their kids, saved 5.1 million Medicare recipients $3.2 billion in drug costs and so far has generated about $323 million in health insurance premium rebates. But Republicans want to kill the law and next week the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on its constitutionality.
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Excerpts: Time Magazine 3/26/2012
by admin
Average life expectancy in U.S. is 78 (Italy is 82)
10% of adults in U.S. have diabetes compared to 4% in U.K.
Angiogram in U.S. costs an average of $798. compared to $35. in Canada
17% of our GDP is spent on health care
No other nation spends more than 12% of GDP on health care
Most benefits of Obamacare haven’t yet been implemented
26 states have filed legal challenges because of the requirement that everyone buy health care insurance.
Obamacare was in general copied from Switzerland’s health care system
11% of Switzerland’s GDP is spent on health care – it is a free market economy
7% of Taiwan’s GDP is spent on health care – it is a free market economy
Economist Kenneth Arrow (Nobel Prize Winner) says markets don’t work well in health care.
Reasons are that unlike most goods and services:
People don’t know when they’ll need health care services.
When they are needed cost is usually huge and prohibitive.
We want everyone to have equal access to basic health care.Category Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments
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Erosion of Women,s Rights
March 19, 2012 by admin
Last week I attended a local monthly women’s meeting. Three congressional candidates had been invited to speak. We were to submit written questions to the candidates. So I asked their positions on government involvement in women’s reproductive choices. To my shock my question was screened out; “over the top” was the phrase used.
So having been denied my question by a women’s group, I write this letter reluctantly. I don’t wish to be offensive. It is my intention to draw attention to reproductive rights for women. I have many very dear friends who may disagree with my comments. To them I say I support their right to make decisions for their own lives and I know first hand how very good hearted they are. I too am a Christian. However, as a retired counselor I have had the privilege of knowing the private griefs of many people, which has taught me to be compassionate and perhaps a little less judgmental.
In our country we have historically been accepting of others’ beliefs. Not that we feel it is necessary to agree with them, but that they have a right to their opinions. Certainly some Christians choose to have their reproductive choices dictated by their Christian beliefs. This is understandable. What is not understandable is that such Christians would force their belief on everyone else.
These days there are powerful Christians who are using our government to erode the reproductive rights of women and to gradually weaken the power of medical doctors to make such decisions with their patients. Most recently they have expanded their efforts and aim to use government programs to deny women contraceptives.
It should be pointed out that such government intrusion into women’s reproductive decisions will not affect women who have money. They will simply pay, or travel to countries where limitations do not exist. Only poor women will be deprived of reproductive choices. They are the least able to handle the unexpected health problems caused by lack of contraceptives. I ask you Women, in the name of fairness, isn’t it time to get the government out of reproduction ?
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