Pay Equity Moves on to the Senate!

Thanks for supporting pay equity in the House. Now, please send a message to our senators. The House passed both the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act on Friday.

The Senate is expected to take up these bills as soon as next week, which means your action is needed now.

As you may remember, the Senate narrowly failed to pass a vote to move forward with Ledbetter bill last year. The good news is that it's a new Congress, and your message urging your senators to support these critical bills could change the outcome this time around. Even if you have written your senators about this legislation before, now is the time to contact your senators and urge them to vote yes on these critical pieces of legislation and oppose any attempts to weaken them. They need to hear from you now!

How big is the pay gap now?
According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007 the ratio of women's and men's median annual earnings reached almost 78 cents on the dollar for full-time year-round workers, up from just under 77 cents in 2006. This is the narrowest the wage gap has ever been, but it's only an additional one cent on the dollar.

One cent is chump change. It isn't real change.

While women have been hard at work to earn their extra penny, Congress has failed to pass legislation that would give women effective equal pay protections. In light of this, join AAUW in telling Congress that passing the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is an urgent priority. Tell Congress: "Keep the Change until Women Have Real Change."

Take Action Now!

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How would you fix health care?

President-elect Obama has made it clear that health care reform is one of his top priorities and the Obama-Biden Transition is asking people to contribute their own thoughts and ideas for how to fix the system at Health Care. They've asked people to organize Community Discussions all across the country.

Ruth Wahtera, a member of AAUW, Kingston Branch, signed up with the Transition Team to host a Community Discussion, and we thought you might want to come.

The Transition Team has put together a few questions they'd like us to discuss and then send them feedback. It will be low key - an exploration, not a debate.

DATE: This Saturday morning, December 20th

TIME: 10 - 11:30 am

LOCATION: The Muddy Cup

516 Broadway, Kingston, NY 12443

RSVP NOT REQUIRED but appreciated: wahtera.ruth@gmail.com

And here's a 2 1/2 minute video of Senator Daschle discussing the health care initiative.

P.S. If you can't make it Saturday but would like to host or moderate a discussion before December 31st, you'll find the details and sign-up at the Transition website here.

Friday Concert to Benefit Woodstock Food Pantry & Meals on Wheels

Ellen Osgood reports that the Woodstock Food Pantry and Meals on Wheels really need our support. Their big fundraiser/concert is Friday night, so do turn out, make an contribution of food or money.

Here are the details:

Overturn Proposition 8 with Laughter

Here's a humerous and on-target look at Proposition 8:

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

Tell the US Chamber of Commerce to Get Out of the Way of Fair Pay

AAUW Dialog recently noted that the Out of the Way of Fair Pay campaign points to a recent study that reports women lose $434,000 over a lifetime of work due to the gender wage gap. Watch their one-minute video featuring Batgirl, Batman, and Robin.




Click here to send a letter to the US Chamber of Commerce protesting their opposition to pay equity reform proposals in Congress -- the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

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• Make Real Progress on Pay Equity

How to Encourage Your Child's Philanthropy

Image via WikipediaBeth Kanter practices what she preaches. She blogs about how nonprofits can use social media, raising money for causes she cares about using social media, proving to the old-school skeptics that it can be done.

Today, she posted about Kids and Philanthropy: Teaching your child to be charitable. I encourage you to read the whole post and I've reproduced her parenting tips here:

Parenting Tips To Encourage Your Child's Philanthropy

1. Help Them Learn More About Nonprofits: YouthGive is a site that helps young peole and their families easily donate to charities while learning more about the organizations. The organizations listed are profiled by other young people.

2. Let Your Kids Choose: Kayta Andresen from Network for Good has fantastic idea last holiday season, "Give with your kids day" She suggests giving your child or someone else's child $25 to donate to a charity. "You can give them money to spend at Network for Good (which has every charity based in the US) or Global Giving (which has a bunch of international projects). Let them choose how to spend it, either by letting them pick the charity or by designating their donation to a special project. Spend it together online, checking out pictures and project descriptions."

3. Offer a Match: Blogger Marion Conway,whose children are now grown, recommended the book Raising Charitable Children by Carol Wiseman. With her children's fundraising projects, she and her husband offered to match what they raised because they both worked for companies that matching gift programs.

4. Set up a Spend, Give, and Save Allowance Policy: Celeste for the studio 501c3 blog suggests this piggy bank, with separate slots for investing, saving, spending, and donating is a great way to teach kids about devoting a portion of their income to
charity.

5. Encourage Them To Give Their Time: Laura Hecht shared a wonderful story about a class project where students made cards for some elderly residents of a group home. They had to work hard to spare the time for the effort, but when the residents wrote moving letters of thanks, the kids felt great. As Laura notes, "This prompted a sincere discussion about giving the most valuable thing we possess - ourselves."

How do (did) you teach your kids about philanthropy?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

So it's finally time to VOTE

Here's some information we hope you won't need tomorrow when you vote.

Know Your Rights
If you are an eligible voter, you have the following rights:

• If your name is not on the official voter list but you believe you are eligible to vote in that precinct, even if an election official challenges your vote, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot.
• If you are in line when the polls close, you are entitled to vote no matter how long it takes to get to the booth.
• In many states, employers must allow you time to vote at some point during the day. You can't be fired for being late due to long polling lines. Check your personnel policies with your employer.
• You have the right to vote without being intimidated by anyone.
• Visit the Election Protection website at 866OurVote.org for more information on your rights.

What if Something Goes Wrong?

First, document it. If there are specific individuals challenging your right to vote, intimidating voters, or interfering with the process, try to get their names. Write down exactly what happened, including the time of day, descriptions of the people involved, and any other details you can remember. A cell phone camera could be very useful in this process, if you have one.

Then, report it. There are many organizations that will be working to respond quickly to complaints of voter intimidation, suppression, and fraud. Here's who to call.

• 1-866-OUR-VOTE. This hotline has been set up by the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to participate in the political process. They have hundreds of lawyers standing by to immediately respond to problems at the polls. Call as soon as possible after you encounter problems.
• Share your experiences with others and ensure that the media and watchdog groups are aware of any problems by using the citizen-driven election monitoring platform Twitter Vote Report.
• Voters who believe they have been the victim of racial discrimination in voting should contact the U.S. Department of Justice at 1-800-253-3931 in addition to the 866-OUR-VOTE number.

Meet the Candidates - Ulster, Green, & Dutchess Counties, NY

The Kingston Branch of the American Association of University Women is sponsoring a "Meet the Candidates Night" featuring candidates from Green, Ulster, and Dutchess counties who are running for the New York State Legislature. The meeting is being held as a public service to permit candidates to state their positions on campaign finance reform, pay equity and comparable worth, health care, and other state issues, which will be followed by interaction with voters from each of the counties.

Join us at the Saugerties Senior Center, Friday, October 24, at 7 pm.

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Blog Action Day: Poverty in Ulster County

Image via WikipediaAll over the blogosphere today -- Blog Action Day -- people are posting about poverty -- we thought we'd share some facts about poverty in Ulster County.

First, let's put poverty in context:

The federal government puts the poverty threshold at $20,614 for a family of four. However, a 2000 poll revealed that a majority of Americans believe it takes at least $35,000 annually to provide adequately for a family of four. (Poverty Pulse, CCHD)

So, how many Ulster County residents live in poverty? (Source: US Census)

• 10.6% of individuals in Ulster County -- 7.5% of those over 65; 12.2% of children meet the Federal definition of living in poverty
  
• While only 6.8% of Ulster County families live in poverty, almost one in four single moms and their kids -- 25% of families with female head of household -- meet the poverty criteria. Single moms have a tough time making ends meet.
  

But, how many are trying to manage on less than $35,000/year?

• About 32% of households have less than $35,000 in income
• The mean retirement income is $23,272.

In fact, if you work full time at a job that pays NYS minimum wage ($7.15/hour) you will only earn $14,872 a year. Try to raise your children on that.

We share these figures with you, not to say how bad things are in Ulster County. We know many communities are much poorer. Rather, we want you to be aware that people all around us contend with poverty every day -- the person waiting on you in the corner store, the retiree who sees their savings shrinking, never to be replaced again, the mother who can't risk or afford time off from her job for parent-teacher meetings.

Today, take a minute to think about what you can do to help. Person to person, community-wide, politically, nationally, internationally. Poverty has many faces and needs many different strategies.

Supreme Court Hears Harassment Case « AAUW Dialog

Two important cases are on the Supreme Court docket this session. Like the Lilly Ledbetter case, they underscore how important the Supreme Court is when it comes to issues that are central to women's safety, economic security, and equity.

Supreme Court Hears Harassment Case « AAUW Dialog: "Vicky Crawford, an employee of the Nashville Metro School District, was asked by her employers to cooperate with an internal investigation of sexual harassment allegations made against her boss. Crawford was later fired and believes she was terminated in retaliation for substantiating the sexual harassment allegations under investigation. While Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 contains an anti-retaliation provision, two lower courts narrowly interpreted the law and found that an internal investigation is not protected by Title VII."

And, from Alexis A. Moore, President & Founder, Survivors In Action
Another important case coming up for cert with the US Supreme Court is Martin v. Howard University. Attorney Dawn V. Martin is seeking justice. While Martin was employed at Howard U as a law professor she became the target of a campus stalker and was later fired when she asked Howard U to implement there security measures.

As 'leciaimbery' points out in her AAUW Dialog post, so many recent cases have been decided by 5-4 rulings that we cannot underestimate the importance of each high court justice. Our elected officials nominate and appoint them.

The confirmation of extremist, activist judges to the federal bench undermines a fair and balanced judiciary and could turn back the clock on decades of progress for women and girls. You can read AAUW’s position paper on federal judicial nominations and visit AAUW’s Legal Advocacy Fund Resource Library for more information.

FactCheck.org: FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeFrom Ruth Wahtera:

The researchers tell us that people vote their emotions, not the facts, and I believe it. But, I still like to know the facts. When it comes to the presidential and vice presidential debates (actually, to any national election), I count on FactCheck.org to sort out truth from fiction. They research the claims, explain the issues, and provide their sources.

Here's the beginning of their analysis of the debate last night:

FactCheck.org: FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate: "FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate
October 3, 2008 The candidates were not 100 percent accurate. To say the least.

Summary
Biden and Palin debated, and both mangled some facts.

* Palin mistakenly claimed that troop levels in Iraq had returned to “pre-surge” levels. Levels are gradually coming down but current plans would have levels higher than pre-surge numbers through early next year, at least.

* Biden incorrectly said “John McCain voted the exact same way” as Obama on a controversial troop funding bill. The two were actually..."

You can subscribe by email, RSS, or visit their website. They also provide a quick video every week and after each debate, if you'd rather watch.

I encourage you to learn the facts. Check them out.

Watch PBS's New Documentary on the Uninsured

Image via WikipediaTonight, a documentary that should be required viewing for anyone interested in the great health care debate of our time will air on the Public Broadcasting System. Titled "Critical Condition," the film follows four average Americans suffering from a variety of ailments and struggling to get by without health insurance.

From the AAUW Public Policy Committee:
The NYS Health Foundation sent this email information about a new documentary being aired this month on PBS

Numbers alone provide ample evidence that we must reform our country's health insurance system: 47 million Americans are uninsured; uninsured cancer patients are 25% more likely to die than insured patients; and uninsured Americans cost employers $130 billion annually. The ill, uninsured Americans who filmmaker Roger Weisberg tracks for a number of months are heartbreaking examples of our system's failings.

No matter your position on top-of-mind health insurance topics such as universal coverage or market improvements, this film will serve as a valuable educational tool concerning the holes in the system and what can be done to remedy them.

"Critical Condition" premieres Tuesday, September 30 at 9 p.m. and will re-air on Wednesday, October 1 at 7 p.m.; Thursday, October 2 at midnight, 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.; and Sunday, October 5 at noon. Please click here for more details on the program.

How to avoid pregnancy by sleeping

Image via WikipediaFrom Ruth Wahtera:

Abstinence-only has never made any sense to me, but here's a real-world example of how ridiculous it is. Sarah Audelo, the new Youth Activist Network Manager at Advocates for Youth, shared the story of how she decided to return to Washington after two years in Teach for America in their e-newsletter. Here's a bit of it.

In Texas, an abstinence-only state that issued textbooks with no mention of contraception, and suggested getting enough sleep so one could make good decisions as a method of teen pregnancy prevention, I felt powerless to help youth protect themselves. This is why I felt the need to return to Advocates for Youth. As a teacher, I had the amazing opportunity to work one-on-one with my students to foster leadership and good decision-making. But I quickly realized it was the larger policies that needed to be tackled, and so I came back to Washington, DC.

Get good enough sleep to prevent pregnancy! Ha! One of the reasons I support Advocates for Youth and AAUW is their leadership in dealing with issues like this. I hope we'll see a change in the Federal policy of abstinence-only funding soon.

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Levers vs. Scanners: NY's Challenge

From Irene Miller:

Join the New York VOTERS who will be asking the state court for a ruling that "forcing us to vote on concealed, undetectably mutable optical scanners violates our constitutional right to a reliable, open, electoral process."

Our lever system is the only secure voting system left in America.

Here are two resources analyzing the voting machine issues.

1. To become informed about the lawsuit and how you can participate in saving our secure lever voting system, read

Re-Media Election Transparency Coalition: "Software-driven optical scanners and DRE voting systems have proven to be vulnerable to undetectable tampering. New York voters must fight to hold onto their theft-deterring lever voting system before they lose it. New York courts must defend our proud history of transparent, safeguarded, trustworthy elections and proclaim to the State's legislature and to the rest of the nation:" [Read more]

2. To see close up why we must preserve the only secure voting system left in America, see this documentary recounting what has happened in every other state with computer-counted votes:

STEALING AMERICA, Vote by Vote. Opening in NYC, August 1st through 7th --- a "must see" film. Watch an eight-minute trailer for STEALING AMERICA

Safe Roads: Help us get a traffic light installed

From Doris Goldberg:

Where? The intersection of Route 28 and Hurley Mountain Road

Take Action

We urge you to support the installation of a traffic light at the intersection of Route 28 and Hurley Mountain Road. The intersection has a history of fatalities, the most recent – AAUW member Richard Hlavsa in 2007. The speed and density of traffic on Route 28 has increased substantially over the past few years and will continue to grow with the development of Route 28 and Belleayre.

Without your intervention, this request will move very slowly. We understand that the process to install the last traffic light in Ulster County took twelve years to complete.

You can easily send an email to the appropriate legislators and the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation by completing your information here.

(This is a free service to help citizens speak out to their representatives.)

Lip Service From Albany

It's time for us to take action because Albany apparently won't.

It's the same thing every year -- the pay equity bill passes the House but never gets out of the Labor Committee in the Senate. For six years our elected representatives have been giving us nothing but lip service.

Bruno won't comment. Robach, Committee Chair, talks out of both sides of his mouth.

Steinem adds voice to pay-gap bill -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

A National Academy of Sciences report on pay inequity found that up to half of wage disparity between men and women was not explained by differences in factors such as education or experience.

"This is outrageous," said Craig Johnson, D-Port Washington, the bill's Senate sponsor. "It is tragic that we claim to be in a progressive state, yet we have not remedied this tremendous wrong."

The bill has passed the Assembly every year since 2002, but died in the Senate Labor Committee. This year, it passed the Assembly again and is in the committee.

Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Rochester, who heads the Labor Committee, also spoke at the event, expressing his commitment to providing good, equitable wages to all residents.

Robach's office did not respond when asked whether the bill will move out of committee this year.

Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Majority Joseph L. Bruno, wouldn't comment on why the bill hasn't reached the Senate floor for a vote previously. He said the bill would be reviewed "but right now we're focused on passing the state budget."

Johnson said he isn't interested in waiting any longer. "Time's up, put the bill onto the Senate floor," he said. "If not, let a new majority do it."

*****

CALL Senator Joseph Robach, Chair,Senate Labor Committee
518.455.2909 (preferable) and ask for his Chief of Staff

or write him at 902 LOB, Albany, NY 12247

or e-mail robach@senate.state.ny.us.

Tell him you want the NYS Fair Pay Bill (S3936) out of committee and on the floor of the Senate for debate. When will that happen?

Photo by Anyaka

For more information on the bill read this summary on the NYS AAUW blog.

Karpova v. Snow Brief Filed with Supreme Court

From Judith Karpova:

Today, the fifth anniversary of the 2003 US attack on Iraq, attorneys Michael Sussman and Stephen Bergstein filed a brief to the Supreme Court to defend me against the prosecution of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department: Judith Karpova v. John Snow, Secretary, Department of the Treasury, United States of America.

Five years ago, in February and March of 2003, I went to Iraq with an international movement called the Human Shields to defend the UN designated civilian infrastructure of that country, such as water treatment plants and power generating stations. Such sites had been bombed by the US in the 1991 Gulf War, with catastrophic results for the Iraqi civilian population. The Human Shields had the larger ambition of bringing enough Western people into Iraq to prevent the war from going forward. Though failing in this greater goal, the sites we lived on during the 2003 war were not bombed. We were hosted by an Iraqi tourism ministry which provided food, lodgings and transportation within the country.

The Treasury Department accuses me of supporting the pre-war Iraqi economy by allegedly buying food and thus breaking the economic embargo against Iraq. As if, had I spent a few dollars, I could have undermined the entire US effort, going on for twelve years, to impoverish and starve the Iraqi people. Over a million Iraqi people died as a direct result of these sanctions, from the lack of banned medication and from untreated water. The embargo had become an international scandal.

The war which did go forward in 2003 is beyond a scandal. The Bush administration has again destroyed the country's infrastructure, used cluster bombs and depleted uranium against it citizens, handed over Iraq's reconstruction money to political cronies, and economically looted the country. It is closing in on seizing its oil reserves. In the desperate scarcity it has created, the administration uses US taxpayer money to pay every Iraqi sect and militia to kill each other. It has killed at least another million Iraqi people through these policies and driven millions more from their homes. The US soldiers trying to contain the Iraqi insurgency are treated as throwaways, denied protective equipment in the field and care when they return. While the administration borrows trillions of dollars to pay for its oil war in Iraq, it attempts to punish me and other humanitarian travelers for witnessing pre-war Iraq and stating that Iraqi lives are no less important than our own.

This Administration has a policy of impunity. The war itself was based on unconfirmed assertions and actually forged documents. Mercenary contractors commit atrocities in Iraq and are immune from prosecution because they're neither part of the military nor subject to US civilian law. Iraq itself is not permitted to prosecute any foreign contractors and these contractors fail to rebuild, but get paid anyway. Paul Bremer, the administrator of Iraq in 2003, says he's not subject to law because the Coalition Provisional Authority was not an entity of the US government. In my case the courts mirror this culture of impunity. Without a hearing, without having to submit any evidence or proof to an impartial judge or jury, the Treasury Department has both accused and convicted me of supporting the Iraqi economy by my humanitarian travel there prior to the war. In his memorandum to the Southern District Court of New York State, the US Attorney notes that the (Federal) Second Circuit "has declined to attach talismanic significance to the availability of an oral hearing."[1] A talisman is an object thought to have magical powers. This is apparently what the government now thinks of due process -- as a kind of superstition. Thus far the state and Federal Courts have upheld this denial of due process. I have filed to the Supreme Court today to ask if the culture of impunity has engulfed them as well. Do they also find due process nothing more than a superstition, or is it instead part of our Constitution, which they need to uphold?

[1] US District Court Southern District of New York, Judith Karpova against John Snow, 05 Civ. 5812 (CM) ECF Case p. 11

Have you subscribed to FactCheck.org?

From Ruth Wahtera:

I recommend that everyone subscribe to FactCheck.org

Here's a video from them (they publish one a week) about spam.

If you're not familiar with them, they are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in US politics. They are sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Here's an update they sent today about the political chain emails we all receive. They also analyze all the speeches, ads, debates, etc. from every candidate in all parties. Recently they added coverage of important court elections.

That Chain E-mail Your Friend Sent to You Is (Likely) Bogus. Seriously.

March 18, 2008

by Lori Robertson

We’ve noticed that chain e-mails, particularly those about politics, have a lot of things in common: urgent and frightening messages; spelling errors; a tendency to blame mainstream media for not telling the real story; and false, misleading, utterly bogus, and completely off-base claims.

If there was ever a case where readers should apply a guilty-until-proven-innocent standard, this is it. We at FactCheck.org ask the public to be skeptical about politicians’ claims. With these e-mails, outright cynicism is justified. Assume all such messages are wrong, and you'll be right most of the time.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on our Web site:

Bambino Baseball Start-Up -- Spread the Word

Looking for mentally and physically challenged children who live in Ulster or Orange County to participate in the All-American sport of baseball by being a part of the Bambino Buddy Ball Division of Marlboro’s Babe Ruth League!

The Bambino Buddy Ball Division offers mentally and physically challenged boys and girls, ages 5 through 21, the opportunity to participate in an organized game of baseball. This program helps children enjoy the full benefits of participating in an athletic environment structured to their abilities.

The Bambino Buddy Ball Division employs the use of "buddies". The buddies assist the players on the field and, whenever possible, encourage the players to bat and make plays themselves. A buddy can be any age.

For a Bambino Buddy Ball Division to exist, there must be 30 or more players.

The division will be based out of Marlboro and open to Ulster and Orange County residents. If you know someone who might be interested in this program, please have them contact Heather Troncillito by March 21, 2008 . With enough interest, she will hold an informational meeting about this wonderful program.

Let Them Play Ball!!!

Photo by B Tal

Support Hope's Fund and the Domestic Violence Shelter - 2/29 & 3/1

Vivi Hlavsa and Ruth Wahtera encourage you to support the new Hope's Fund. If you can't attend the play, perhaps you'd consider making a donation. Here's the information we've received.

There will be two benefit performances of the acclaimed play The Vagina Monologues. Proceeds are benefiting two truly deserving programs:

Hope's Fund which a group of Ulster County women ( 100+) who are raising funds to start a program to benefit less fortunate women in Ulster County. Hope's Fund will offer adult mentoring as well as some financial assistance with emergencies ( e.g. a single mom whose car breaks down...the fund would pay for the necessary repairs so she can continue working to feed her children) So far the group has raised over $12,000.

The other benefactor of this event is Family of Woodstock's Domestic Violence shelter. It is the only place in Ulster County where a woman can go to leave a batterer and get the support services she needs to start a new life.

The evening promises to be memorable. Besides Hollywood actress Melissa Leo, we have some of our own home grown talent...Kimberly Kay of Star 93.3 radio; Susan Zimet an Ulster County legislator; Joan Crawford, VP of Family Services Inc; Bar Scott, a well known songwriter and singer; Stacey Rein, President of Ulster County's United Way; Ellen Pendegar, Executive Director of The Mental Health Association...and a host of other celebrities. It will be an evening worth remembering. And the venue...The Bearsville theatre. Great place and the perfect setting for something as special as this event.

	THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES BY EVE ENSLER DIRECTED BY EVA TENUTO FRIDAY FEB 29 + SATURDAY MARCH 1 | 8 PM BEARSVILLE THEATER | WOODSTOCK, NY TICKETS $50 | STANDING ROOM ONLY $25 | FOR TICKETS CALL UNITED WAY 845.331.4199