Polls? What Polls?

Make no mistake about it, we are Moving America Forward!

Can Poor Student w/Parents who have no College Degree be Educated?

The following originally posted on E2010 WIRED.

Today’s Hartford Courant’s article, “Town-by-Town SAT Scores,” emphasizes once again the gross disparity in the achievement gap in our state. The article, however, draws a “correlation” between the wealthy and the poor in a way that is quite troublesome:

“HARTFORD — —Students in Connecticut’s wealthiest towns had the best overall scores on the 2010 SAT, while students in the poorest cities fared the worst, underscoring the correlation between wealth and student achievement. … It’s clear that students in the towns with high scores,

FDA Set to Approve GE Salmon Sale W/O Proper Labeling

Something’s fishy with GE salmon

The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may soon approve the sale of genetically engineered salmon, but something fishier is going on. It could put this salmon on the market without any special labeling.

That means you might not know the difference between a genetically enhanced salmon and one that grew up naturally, leaving you in the dark about exactly what it is you’re eating.

Tell the FDA to label all genetically altered food! Why take action? Read the articles listed below.

The Effects of Genetically Modified Foods

Genetically Engineered Foods: A Serious Health Risk

Genetically Engineered food

Walking the Mall

Walkers at Chapel Hill Mall NC

Almost daily, my husband and I get up early, have our coffee and then head to the mall to do an hour power walk. We used to walk outside. But on one cold and rainy day, we ventured to the mall and have been hooked ever since.

From 7:00 to 8:00 am, a lively crew of mostly seniors walk at least three to four laps (3 miles) on the upper level. A few of them in their late eighties, early nineties. This is no quite crew. Folks shout out greetings to each other; especially if you have not been around for a few days. There’s one elderly man who relishes in sharing his latest joke.  You can hear him from a distance calling out to the nearest person, “Hey! Did you hear the one about …?” Raucous laughter follows and everyone takes a moment to chat and rest before the next lap.

Recent Films on Education. Call to Action or Just Another film?

Scene from Davis Guggheim's "Waiting for Superman"

There are several films recently released that document the plight of the American public education system that focus on the achievement gap between the haves and the have nots, the era of the tests, soaring high school dropout rates, our fast track to establish charter schools and the seemingly end to free public schools as we know it.  The four films are Waiting for Superman, The Lottery, The Cartel, and Race To Nowhere.

Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at American Enterprise Institute, was quoted in an Education Week article about the film, “Waiting for Superman, stating that:

“I think it’s naive to imagine a single movie or book is going to change permanently what the public is concerned about or how it thinks about an issue,” Hess said.

John Stewart on Republicans’ Pledge for America

John Stewart compares Gingrich’s Contract for America to Boehner’s Pledge to America removing all doubt that Republicans’ answer is a return back to the Bush economic meltdown era.

Postcards From the Pledge, posted with vodpod

Dems Pass Bill to help Small Businesses. Reps Pass Out Pledge to Keep Bush Economic Meltdown Growing

This week’s scorecard may not be perfect, however, we can still celebrate.

Democrats achieved a significant win for small businesses, the backbone of our economy, by passing a bill that provides real assistance: Specifically, small businesses will get:

• $12 billion in tax breaks and a
• $30 billion fund to expand credit access to small businesses through community banks to get the lending process between banks and small businesses back on track.

Affordable Health Care Act. ITS WORKING!

Here’s the actual proof we’ve been waiting for. We are on the right track. We are on the road to recovery!

In the six months since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, we have been hard at work implementing the law and focusing on putting consumers ahead of insurance companies.

Already, millions of Americans are seeing the benefits:

• Nearly 4 million employees working for small businesses can benefit from small business tax credits to help employers cover their employees.
• Thousands of uninsured Americans who had been locked out of the market due to pre-existing conditions have signed up for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan.
• More than 2,000 businesses have been accepted into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, which provides them much needed financial support to continue coverage for retired Americans not yet eligible for Medicare.
• More than one million Medicare beneficiaries have received a $250 check to help them afford the cost of prescription drugs in the Part D “donut hole” coverage gap.  In addition, beneficiaries in the donut hole will see more money in their pockets, thanks to a 50-percent discount on brand name drugs in 2011.

Foley. Repeal Affordable Health Care Act.

Photo/CtMirror

Today, all across our nation, Americans are celebrating the sixth-month anniversary of the Affordable Health Care Act, glad to enjoy some significant changes that kicked in today. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley and the rest of the GOP are not celebrating. They want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, claiming that Americans do not want it. Really. Foley wants us to believe that:

• Parents want to go back to allowing insurance companies to cancel their children’s coverage based on “pre-existing conditions.”

Affordable Health Care Act | Substantial Benefits kick in 9/23/2010

Evidence that we are moving in the right direction!

Effective tomorrow – Thursday, September 23, 2010 – substantial protections for your family’s health insurance coverage become the law of the land.  Forget all the chatter out there – these are real improvements for our families.

Here are some significant new changes that may affect you*:

Gingrich: From Bigotry to Poster-Boy for Not Raising Retirement Age to 70

AP Photo/Richard Drew

Historically, Gingrich has made some highly contraversial remarks, displaying a propensity to sound like someone who has a lot of bigotry and lot of “issues” bottled up inside.

He has expressed offensive and alarming opinions about women in combat, mothers who need assistance, claiming a lack of wealth for African-Americans is caused by their own habits; assailing bilingual education as “the language of living in a ghetto,” and more.

GOP “Just Say No” Puts Americans at Risk and Silences Us all

Once again, the GOP in Washington has taken an unprecedented stance that negatively impacts the American people. This time, their “just say no” political maneuver is threatening our national security.

For months, we have heard the GOP rail against the President and everyone else in Washington who do not have the same political view as theirs for not doing something substantive about illegal immigration.

Let’s not have a Senior Moment about Social Security. We Pay It Forward, Remember?

I jumped on a conversation on Face Book today about raising the retirement age to 70. Instead of raising the age limit, we should leave it where it is and allow our seniors the freedom of giving back in a meaningful, productive manner; one that compliments age. Our seniors are a vital resource of sharing their knowledge and expertise for mentoring, volunteering, consulting.  And the hype about the system going bankrupt is nothing more than a scare tactic. Here’s James Roosevelt (FDR’s grandson) at the 75th anniversary of the Social Security Act.

No Child Born with HIV-AIDS by 2015 | You can Help

It’s heartbreaking to know that every day over 1,000 babies are born with HIV. It doesn’t need to be that way. We have the medicine and treatment to make sure that by 2015 no child will be born with HIV. But world leaders, including President Obama, are the key to meeting this goal.

You can help. Add your name to ONE’s No Child Born With HIV-AIDS by 2015 petition .