Okay, my workload has diminished for the day, my boss and his wife both have their airline tickets now, and I'm slowly but surely getting through both my blog subscriptions and my in-box, so time to see what's in the old mailbag...
Marie swears she's not spamming me about her daughter Megan needing treatment "abroad from a Neurologist and the Human Dolphin Therapy Centre" but I've forwarded the Hope for Megan e-mail on to Snopes just in case. I hope it's legit, she's a cute kid and deserves health and happiness.
Kai Heller from the Women's Edge Coalition says, "we’ve been reading your blog with great interest." (I'll bet you say that to all the blogs!) She continues,
With the upcoming elections gearing up, I thought you might be interested in writing about a citizen’s action campaign recently-launched by Women’s Edge Coalition that is challenging one million American women to urge U.S. elected officials and candidates in the upcoming elections to make women's issues a priority in national and international policies. The campaign is highlighting issues ranging from women’s role in rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq to girls’ education.
In making the case for the Afghan war, for example, President Bush promised to make women a centerpiece of U.S. actions in the country after the ouster of the Taliban. He pledged to get girls into schools and to bolster the health of Afghan women, who have the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. He also promised to return rights and dignity to Afghan women.
The truth today is that Afghan women are in danger of slipping into a sink-hole being created by ongoing violence and lack of funding. We've seen a surge in sexual violence against Afghan women and have received reportsthat women and girls are being subjected to rapes, beatings, kidnappings and other forms of intimidation.
In just a few days, on October 9, Afghan women and men will head to the polls to vote - most for the first time in their lives. October 7 is the third anniversary of when U.S. forces first dropped bombs in Afghanistan. President Bush is touting the great strides of Afghan women and girls. He continues to talk about America's commitment to Afghan women, when in reality less than 3 percent of U.S. assistance to the country has been spent on women's programs. While we have seen some gains, Afghan women are not doing as well as many want to believe. Women in states across the country are writing letters and meeting with candidates and policymakers to urge them to fulfill America’s promises to Afghan women and to hear their plans to ensure women are fully tapped in the reconstruction efforts in their country.
The Washington-based Women's Edge Coalition is a coalition of 40 nongovernmental organizations and 15,000 individuals that advocates for international policies and human rights that support women worldwide inending poverty. Our broad range of members includes Amnesty International, Save the Children, CARE, Bread for the World and United Methodist Women.
Thanks for your consideration. Since Americans are focusing more and more on foreign policy, we think it’s important to keep international women's issues in the forefront of these discussions and debates. More info on the campaign can be found at our website.
Speaking of Iraq, Jo Fish writes, "I found this video on Buzzflash and posted this on DemVet. I think its worth some pretty wide dissemination, it's disturbing and certainly the other side of the happy face that the 1600 Crew has put on the War on Terra. Here's the vide link: I had never seen it before today, and it upset me greatly...as you can tell if you look at my post." I think of the video as "Dude, Where's My Humanity?"
Lastly, Mitch Arnowitz says,
Vote Kids, a progressive organization that I am working with, has a mission that makes children's needs a political priority. This past week, Vote Kids introduced several leading pediatricians in a Washington DC press conference to make a joint statement about children's health care in America and where thecandidates for President stand. Prominent pediatricians from across the country, including T. Berry Brazelton and six past presidents of the American Academy of Pediatrics, support John Kerry's effort to provide every child in America with affordable health care coverage.
HHS Secretary Thompson responded to this week's activity by calling America's leading pediatricians "demagogues" and said: "It is absurd and despicable that doctors are playing politics with children's lives". As you probably know, 8 million children and youth don't have health insurance. We think that the present administration does not have a plan to provide health coverage to America's children, and that their current tax and budget priorities are eroding hard won health care gains for children.
As part of the pediatricians effort, Vote Kids is working hard to put this important statement by America's leading pediatricians in front of parents, community leaders, and voters in several important states.Unfortunately, free speech is anything but free and to get-the-word-out is remarkably expensive. Our goal is to reach 200,000 individual voters and to purchase ads in 9 influential newspapers, reaching small and mid-sized cities in 4 states... full-page ads in even the smallest of these papers costs in excess of $5,000.
We're asking leading bloggers to help us get the word out. Can you lend a hand by letting Pen-Elayne on the Web readers know about the Vote Kids Pediatricians Campaign? It would be great if we can raise enough money to buy even one newspaper ad! A special page has been set up for supporters to donate and spread the word.
And that does it for today's mail bag! Now back to blog reading...
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