Adoption 911

Posted on October 15, 2010 by abby

EXAMINER– Adoption 911 is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal rescue devoted to helping all animals in their time of need. It started when one Los Angeles woman found the need to save horses from slaughter and grew into a foundation dedicated to keeping all creatures from a life of despair, torture, starvation, solitude and slaughter.

It all started one Saturday afternoon late in January when Animal Communicator Candi Cane Cooper had just finished working at the Santa Anita Race Track.

“I knew that this day could quite possibly be the hardest day of my life,” Cooper says. “I had plans to go under cover for a documentary, visiting a feed lot where hundreds of horses were being held for slaughter.”

Cooper pulled up to the feed lot where a starved and pregnant Mare immediately starting calling out for help. Hundreds of horses were there, all kinds, just waiting for slaughter. But before Cooper could even comprehend the gravity of what she was witnessing, this Mare grabbed her attention.

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Photo by Candi Cooper

Lesbian Candidate for Oakland Mayor Gains Surprise Allies

Posted on October 13, 2010 by abby

NY TIMES– In 2008, church leaders from Oakland were on the front lines of the campaign to ban same-sex marriage. Two years later, some of those same leaders are surprisingly backing Rebecca Kaplan, a City Council member who would become the first openly gay mayor of a major Bay Area city.

A former rabbinical student, Ms. Kaplan makes campaign stops with her well-thumbed, gold-trimmed bible, as she did Wednesday at the mayoral debate at Allen Temple Baptist Church, one of the largest black churches in the city.

Dressed in a dark suit and an open-collared shirt, Ms. Kaplan, who enunciates with the clarity and precision of a preacher, used part of Psalm 118 to make a campaign point: “The rock that the builder rejected shall become the topmost cornerstone, and Oakland will become the most desirable place to live.” The audience applauded. “You have got a Jewish lesbian white woman who comes to black churches and sings with the choir and quotes Scripture better than the members — I just love her,” said Pastor Ray Williams of First Morning Star Baptist Church, who spoke at rallies in favor of Proposition 8, the bar to same-sex marriage.

He is now endorsing Ms. Kaplan. Ms. Kaplan, 40, was elected to the Council in 2008 after serving on the AC Transit board, and political consultants said her broad challenge will be to woo older voters who are familiar with the two front-runners in the race —Don Perata, 65, a former state senator, and Jean Quan, 60, a longtime councilwoman. Ms. Kaplan appeals to the younger, hipper demographic in the city.

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Pam Moore interviews Rebecca Kaplan about public safety, economic development, and being a relative political newcomer with substantial support.

Oakland Mayoral candidate Rebecca Kaplan lists her top three priorities for Oakland at the Mayoral Forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

Learn more at KaplanForMayor.org

Family to Receive $1.5M+ in Vaccine-Autism Court Award

Posted on September 22, 2010 by abby

CBS NEWS– The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffering for the first year alone.

In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah’s care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child’s lifetime.

Hannah was described as normal, happy and precocious in her first 18 months.

Then, in July 2000, she was vaccinated against nine diseases in one doctor’s visit: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae.

Afterward, her health declined rapidly. She developed high fevers, stopped eating, didn’t respond when spoken to, began showing signs of autism, and began having screaming fits. In 2002, Hannah’s parents filed an autism claim in federal vaccine court. Five years later, the government settled the case before trial and had it sealed. It’s taken more than two years for both sides to agree on how much Hannah will be compensated for her injuries.

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Photo by flick user @alviseni

Lakota Indians Establish Their Own Country Within the US

Posted on August 31, 2010 by abby

NATURAL NEWS– During the week of December 17 – 19, 2007, Lakota Indian leaders traveled to Washington DC and withdrew from the constitutionally mandated treaties to become a free and independent country. They did so in a fully honest, legal, and ethical manner.

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,” long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy.

All were gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference. In other words, the Republic of Lakota is now inviting everyone within their country borders to join them and to live free and create a new government based on the laws of brotherhood.

Lakota leaders delivered a message to the United States State Department in December of 2007, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States.

The Lakota activists rightly describe treaties Native American’s signed with the United States as “worthless words on worthless paper,” because the United States never holds up their end of the treaty.

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Photo by flickr user Grand Canyon NPS

Mexico City Bans Free Plastic Bags

Posted on August 29, 2010 by abby

BBC NEWS– A new law has come into effect in Mexico City giving the authorities the power to fine shops which give away free plastic bags to their customers.

In future, shops in the Mexican capital will have to charge for the bags, which must also be biodegradable.

As well as fines of up to $90,000 (£57,700), shop owners not complying can be given a 36-hour jail term.

A local official said the law was part of the city’s “Green Plan” and aimed to raise awareness of the environment.

“This won’t happen overnight,” Leticia Bonifaz Alfonso told the Efe news agency.

Officials estimate that people in Mexico City at present use more than 20 million plastic bags per day. They are blamed for many health and environmental hazards.

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Photo by flickr user taberandrew

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