peace: [mpen-dayton4] FW: "The way to tame Wall Street that no one wants to talk about" & "TPP - A Threat To Global Health" & "RUSS FEINGOLD'S BACK!" and more

FYI. Best, Munsup

P.S. "He who dares not offend cannot be honest" - Thomas Paine
P.P.S. Please reply back to me with 'unsubscribe' on the subject line if you no longer want to receive my e-Newsletters. The convenient link to unsubscribe is no longer available due to security reasons.

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・ FW: McNay Addresses Senate Higher Ed Subcommittee; Contact Your State Senator

・ FW: The way to tame Wall Street that no one wants to talk about

・ FW: Will you let big polluters undermine climate talks?

・ FW: TPP - A Threat To Global Health

・ FW: Information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership: it would eliminate review of export facilities for liquid natural gas obtained by fracking

・ FW: "Pope Francis does the impossible: Gets Republicans to want religion out of politics"

・ FW: Signature needed: Stop insurers from dumping coverage for women

・ FW: RUSS FEINGOLD'S BACK!

・ FW: Vietnam in the Battlefield of Memory

・ FW: Qian Xuesen by abagond

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From: AAUP - Ohio Conference
Subject: McNay Addresses Senate Higher Ed Subcommittee; Contact Your State Senator

McNay Addresses Senate Higher Education Subcommittee

On Wednesday, May 20, OCAAUP President John McNay delivered testimony to the Senate Finance Higher Education Subcommittee.

McNay expressed that faculty have grown weary of being scapegoated for driving up costs at Ohio's public colleges and universities.

He told legislators that less than 24 percent of institutional operating budgets is spent on professors' salary and benefits, also known as "instructional compensation," and that instructional compensation actually has declined by over 4 percent over the last 10 years when adjusted for inflation.

Student from Kent State

"As college costs have continued to rise, faculty compensation has dipped below inflationary levels. Clearly, other factors need to be examined," he stated.

McNay went on to discuss how administrative bloat, athletics, and never-ending building projects are driving up costs for students. He also pointed to the direct relationship between state support and tuition costs, noting that tuition has risen as state support has declined.

In addition, he urged the committee to investigate the effects of the new funding formula, to examine the College Credit Plus program critically, and to reinvest in the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG).

Chairman Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green) thanked President McNay for his testimony and said that the Legislature is trying to take positive steps to reinvest in higher education.

Various students testified at the hearing, including several members of the Ohio Student Association.
They wore swim floats and goggles as a sign that they are "drowning in debt." They gave compelling accounts of their personal struggles to afford college and now pay back their loans.

We will continue to monitor House Bill 64 as it moves to the full Senate Finance Committee.

E-mail Your State Senator

Ohio Statehouse

Ohio Statehouse

We successfully beat back the language House members inserted into HB 64 that would have reclassified faculty as managers and thus denied us of collective bargaining rights.

Nevertheless, we want to make sure that our State Senators know why such provisions are misguided and focus their attention on the real problems plaguing Ohio's institutions of higher education.

Click here to be taken to an Action Network page where you can easily send an e-mail to your State Senator.

Additionally, there still are anti-labor provisions remaining in HB 64, and we want to show our labor allies the same support that they showed to us. You can find more information about these provisions and send a message to your Senator through this Ohio AFL-CIO action page.

From: Robert Reich via MoveOn.org Civic Action
Subject: The way to tame Wall Street that no one wants to talk about

There is only one way to truly tame Wall Street, so that everyday Americans like you and me don't end up losing our jobs or our savings or our homes.

You won't see this solution on mainstream TV. Please watch and share it now.

This is the fourth idea in our series, "The Big Picture: Ten Ideas to Save the Economy." And while it may seem like a big, crazy idea to the Washington beltway crowd, it's actually totally reasonable―and we've done it before.

If you want to make it real, I encourage you to watch and share the video today―because MoveOn will be launching campaigns on the ideas in this series that win the most shares from members like you.

In case you missed them, once you've watched Tame Wall Street, be sure to check out the timely Fight for $15, Help Families Work, and Expand Social Security videos, which you can access through the website.

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 8 million members―no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Start a monthly donation here or chip in a one-time donation here.

From: Ben Betz; Online Engagement Director, People For the American Way
Subject: Will you let big polluters undermine climate talks?

KICK BIG POLLUTERS OUT OF CLIMATE POLICY
Add your name now: Big polluters are not legitimate "stakeholders" in climate policymaking>>

ADD YOUR NAME>>

We do a lot of work fighting against the outsized influence of powerful corporate special interests in politics and policymaking, and often, those same interests are among the worst polluters and science-deniers.

Because we acknowledge the urgency of environmental issues like climate change, as well as the threat of rapacious corporate interests on a global scale, PFAW has agreed to join a special collaboration of organizations working in a variety of issue areas to stop the fossil fuel industry from undermining United Nation climate talks.

Will you add your name to our mass petition now to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change urging parties to exclude fossil fuel interests from the talks?

Our friends at Corporate Accountability International will deliver this message and the list of signatures at the climate talks in Bonn, Germany, the first week of June.

More than a dozen organizations, representing millions of members, have joined this effort and we want you on board, Munsup.

Corporate interests that have a vested short-term interest in stopping solutions to climate change continue to delay, weaken, and block effective climate policy at every level. We can't let important upcoming international climate policy negotiations, like the major COP21 climate change conference in Paris at the end of this year, be attacked from within.

The petition to the UNFCCC reads:

We call on you to take immediate action to protect COP21 and all future negotiations from the influence of big polluters. Given the fossil fuel industry's years of interference intended to block progress, push false solutions, and continue the disastrous status quo, the time has come to stop treating big polluters as legitimate "stakeholders" and to remove them from climate policymaking.

Find out more and add your name here>>

We hope you'll take advantage of this great opportunity to really amplify your online activism and make your voice heard.

From: albert baca
Subject: Fw: TPP - A Threat To Global Health

Sandy,

I am not a fan of Credo Action but I did go in and read:
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/tpp_medicare?sp_ref=121917745.4.13907.e.56048.2&referring_akid=.6121486.Jjc1ml&source=mailto_sp
I also signed the petition.
Those of us trying to get Single Payer have been aware of these types of shenanigans for a long time.
Recommend you read this article paying particular attention to Dr. McCanne's comments at the end of the article.
- Old Al
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2015/may/doctors-without-borders-tpp-a-threat-to-global-health

Posted on: Monday, May 11, 2015
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: TPP A THREAT TO GLOBAL HEALTH
The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Threat To Global Health?

By Deane Marchbein; President of the Doctors Without Borders USA Board of Directors
Health Affairs Blog, May 8, 2015

Lost in the political discussions over the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)―a trade agreement currently being negotiated in secret between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific-Rim nations―is the very real negative impact it would have on global health.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works in over 60 countries, and our medical teams rely on access to affordable medicines and vaccines.   We are deeply concerned that the TPP, in its current form, will lock-in high, unsustainable drug prices, block or delay the availability of affordable generic medicines, and price millions of people out of much-needed medical care.

The public health repercussions of this deal could be massive.   The negotiating countries represent at least 700 million people, and U.S. negotiators refer to the TPP as a "blueprint" for future trade deals.   The TPP attempts to rewrite existing global trade rules and would dismantle legal flexibilities and protections afforded for public health.

PROBLEMATIC PROVISIONS

We have concerns with several U.S. government demands in the TPP.   For example, the TPP would lower the standard for patentability of medicines.   It would force TPP governments to grant pharmaceutical companies additional patents for changes to existing medicines, even when the changes provide no therapeutic benefit to patients.   These provisions would facilitate "evergreening" and other forms of abuse of the patent system by lengthening monopolies and delaying access to generic competition.

Another concerning provision in the TPP involves so-called "data exclusivity" for biologics, a new class of medicines that includes vaccines and drugs used for cancer and multiple sclerosis treatment.   Data exclusivity blocks competing firms from using previously generated clinical trial data to gain approval for generic versions of these drugs and vaccines.   If pharmaceutical companies have their way, the TPP will block generic producers of biologics from entering the market for at least 12 years, during which patients would be forced to endure astronomical prices.

Twelve years of data exclusivity is not only unprecedented in any trade agreement, it is not the law in any of the TPP negotiating countries outside of the U.S., and it would keep lifesaving medicines out of reach of millions of people.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

As an organization caring for patients worldwide, Doctors Without Borders understands that there should be incentives to recover research and development investments and to promote innovation.   Unfortunately, the public is in the dark on what this research and development truly costs.   We are told that it costs billions to research and develop a new medicine, although a significant amount of early research and development actually happens at publicly funded centers and universities.

We are told that the only way to ensure that people receive the medicines they need is by increasing intellectual property provisions, such as those encapsulated in the TPP.   In reality, the existing monopoly-based innovation system that the TPP is attempting to standardize has left us with more patents and fewer medical breakthroughs.

As TPP countries aim to conclude negotiations in the next few months, it is essential that the United States and other negotiating countries work to protect existing access to medicines' safeguards and to promote a public-health driven biomedical innovation system.

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/05/08/the-trans-pacific-partnership-a...

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières website, "TPP: A Bad Deal for Medicine":

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/help-us-fix-tpp

Coalition letter to President Obama:

http://www.msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/IP/Docs/TPP-Join...

****

Comment: By Don McCanne, MD

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, are warning us of an imminent threat to global health.

The U.S. Senate is expected to act as soon as tomorrow on granting President Obama fast track authority to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) - an international trade agreement.   Fast track approval would prevent the agreement from being modified by Congress, as it would limit their role to an up-or-down vote.

Although the TPP agreement is still secret, it is known that there are many provisions that should be modified or removed.   Amongst the more important are the provisions that would allow the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries to lock in high prices for their products, which would price millions of people out of much needed medical care.   Blanket approval of TPP would precipitate a series of expensive and unnecessary global medical crises.

This issue should be of direct concern for advocates of single payer reform.   A state or national program would have to comply with international agreements, even if that meant perpetuating the outrageous pricing policies of the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries - policies that would impair access to much needed treatments.

President Obama is currently campaigning heavily for fast track authority on behalf of the industries that would profit, while criticizing advocates of social justice for their opposition.   Sorry, but we have to work with those who place the people first, including Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

The most urgent task: Contact your Senators today and tell them to REJECT fast track authority that would allow the President to unilaterally set the terms for TPP.

NOTE: The issues are complex.   Sen. Elizabeth Warren was specifically cited by Pres. Obama as being "absolutely wrong" in her opposition to fast track authority.   Today she fired back at the President.

END

From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: This is something everyone needs to know about the TPP:

Information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership: it would eliminate review of export facilities for liquid natural gas obtained by fracking.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is so bad, it's hard to believe -- but this stunning part of the deal has been independently confirmed:

The TPP would eliminate environmental reviews of fracked liquid natural gas export facilities, which could be used to move half of the gas drilled in the US overseas. These massive, multibillion dollar fossil fuel projects would make fracking companies a fortune -- and be completely exempt from federal environmental review.

Fracked gas is difficult and expensive to export. The TPP would rubber stamp facilities that make it easier for Big Oil to ship gas to places where they can sell it at higher prices.

People need to know about this. Can you share this image on Facebook to help expose the TPP's pro-fracking language?

If this sounds like something straight from the wildest fantasies of Big Oil, that's because it basically is -- the TPP has been written and championed by fossil fuel lobbyists from the very beginning.

The deal faces an uphill battle in Congress for a simple reason: the more people find out about it, the less they like it.

We're gearing up to deliver this petition opposing the TPP to Congress in the coming weeks. The more we can expose the deal between now and then, the better.

Sources:
"What a Secretly-Negotiated Free Trade Agreement Could Mean for Fracking in the U.S." DeSmog Blog, Sept. 25th 2013.
"How an international trade deal will impact Western states" High Country News, April 25, 2015.

From: Judy Burnette
Subject: FW: Pope Francis does the impossible: Gets Republicans to want religion out of politics

"Pope Francis does the impossible:
Gets Republicans to want religion out of politics"

What does it take to make Republicans want to keep religious leaders out of politics? A pope who disagrees with them, apparently. Pope Francis' recognition of a Palestinian state is just the latest of the pontiff's positions that have Republican politicians trying to put him in his place. "It's interesting how the Vatican has gotten so political when ultimately the Vatican ought to be working...
Read More | Print & PDF

From: AlterNet on behalf of Heidi Hess; Campaign Manager, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Subject: Signature needed: Stop insurers from dumping coverage for women

The following sponsored message was sent to you by AlterNet on behalf of CREDO Action:

Insurance companies violating ACA's requirements
for women's health care coverage

Tell insurance companies: "Stop denying women access to the full range of health care coverage guaranteed to them under the Affordable Care Act. It's illegal and it's wrong."

Add your name:

The Affordable Care Act made historic advances in coverage of women's health care. But insurance companies are keeping many women from accessing the coverage they deserve.

The National Women's Law Center just released two reports that show how insurance companies across the country are failing to cover the range of women's health care mandated by the ACA.^{1, 2} It's not just wrong, it's against the law.

Women deserve access to the coverage to which they are entitled. Tell insurance companies to give it to them.

Insurance company violations of the Affordable Care Act take far too many health care options off the table for women. The National Women's Law Center looked at plans offered by 100 insurance companies in 15 states and found that more than half of them were violating the ACA. Such a widespread pattern of noncompliance makes it more than likely that the problems are systemic and nationwide.

Here are some of the ways that women are being left out:

Birth control: Companies are either not covering all FDA-approved methods of birth control; demanding out-of-pocket costs for them; or limiting coverage to generic birth control. Companies are also charging co-payments for, or limiting access to, the counseling and follow-up visits that are a normal part of birth control use.

Maternity and postnatal coverage: Some companies arbitrarily limit maternity benefits, including only covering a single ultrasound during the pregnancy. They also exclude maternity coverage for dependents and restrict it outside of the plan's service area. After birth, they limit breastfeeding education or access to breast pumps.

Preventive and well-woman services: Companies are requiring co-pays for preventive care and limiting the frequency of well-woman visits. They are also limiting the scope of gynecological exams.

In addition, insurers are failing to provide non-discriminatory coverage by denying or restricting coverage for pregnancy, restricting coverage based on a woman's age, and excluding coverage related to gender transition.

When the National Women's Law Center worked with local activists to confront insurers in several states, the insurers made changes to bring their plans into compliance with the ACA. But we know that they would never have made the changes on their own.

The more of us who speak out, the more pressure insurance companies will feel to stop breaking the law and provide real, equitable coverage to women. Click the link below to sign the petition:

http:// act.credoaction.com/sign/Insurers_ACA_alt/

Thanks for standing up for women's health.

Add your name:

1. "State of Women's Coverage: Health Plan Violations of the Affordable Care Act," National Women's Law Center, April 2015.

2. "State of Birth Control Coverage: Health Plan Violations of the Affordable Care Act," National Women's Law Center, April 2015.

From: Ben W., Jadzia, Ilya, Matt, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Political Action,
Subject: RUSS FEINGOLD'S BACK!

Great news: Russ Feingold is running for the Senate again!

If you already know about him, click here to donate to his campaign now.

Here's who he is―and why this race is very, very important.

Russ Feingold was the only U.S. Senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001.
He was one of the first and most outspoken opponents of the Iraq war.
He's one of the greatest champions against money in politics in American history.

That last point earned him some very powerful enemies: the Koch brothers. In 2010, they poured millions into the campaign of a Republican plastics magnate, Ron Johnson, and managed to narrowly defeat Feingold in the midst of that year's Tea Party landslide.

Now, Russ is back.

It's a rematch. Russ Feingold against Ron Johnson. And it's not just about a Senate seat, or even control of the Senate majority. This might be the year's single most crucial battle in the most fundamental political fight of our time: democracy versus plutocracy. People power versus Citizens United-style corruption.

Everyone in Washington will be watching with eagle eyes to see how much money Feingold raises on the first days after his announcement, and he's depending on regular Americans to contribute what we can. Can you pitch in for Russ Feingold's campaign now?

Yes, I'll chip in.

This race is a national bellwether, a key test for whether the progressive movement has what it takes to go up against the Koch brothers and their secretive network of mega-donors.

But for me, it's also personal.

In the summer of 2001, I was lucky enough to serve as an intern for Russ Feingold in his Senate office in D.C. A lot of Congressional interns end their summers disillusioned. For me, it was the opposite: I left brimming with idealism.

There was one detail I'll never forget.

On our first day, Russ sat down with all of us interns and told us that we were there to serve the people of Wisconsin―not ourselves. From that moment forward, we had to follow the same rule he set for his staff, and for himself: we couldn't accept any gifts that were given to us because we worked for him.

No exceptions. No free t-shirts. No free drinks. If we attended an interest group's briefing for Hill staffers that offered free lunch, and we wolfed down a sandwich, then we had to write a check for the sandwich's value to the U.S. Treasury, where it would pay down the federal deficit.

I'll be honest―it was kind of a pain. Most D.C. interns basically live on free food. But Russ's point was crystal clear: he couldn't be bought. If we wanted to work for him, neither could we. And that point of pride was worth a hell of a lot more than a few turkey sandwiches.

On election night 2010, as I watched Russ give his concession speech, I cried. But yesterday, he stepped forward to say that the fight isn't over. And it's our time to step forward with him.

Will you chip in today to help send Russ Feingold back to the U.S. Senate?

Yes, I'll chip in.

Getting elected takes money. To raise money, most candidates have to make a lot of promises.

Russ makes only one promise: he'll do what he thinks is right.

Today, let's prove that, even in this day and age, there's no promise more valuable than integrity.

Thanks for all you do.

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 8 million members―no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Start a monthly donation here or chip in a one-time donation here.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

From: James Lucas
Subject: Vietnam in the Battlefield of Memory

Vietnam in the Battlefield of Memory

On the war's 50th anniversary, peace activists will be challenging the Pentagon's whitewashed history.
By Jon Wiener

This article appeared in the May 4, 2015 edition of The Nation.
http://www.thenation.com/article/204465/vietnam-battlefield-memory

From: khalfani718
Subject: Qian Xuesen by abagond

Qian Xuesen
Tue 19 May 2015 by abagond

Qián Xuésēn (1911-2009), also known as Tsien Hsue-shen or H.S. Tsien or 钱学森, was a top rocket scientist in the US in the 1940s and then, after the US deported him in 1955, a top rocket scientist in China. He helped to found the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in the US and China's aerospace industry.

That decision to deport him has affected the balance of power between China and the US ever since.

Roger Tsien, the American Nobel Prize winner for chemistry in 2008, is his cousin once removed.

In China he is credited with the country's:

・ 1964: first successful atom bomb test

・ 1966: first missile to carry an atom bomb

・ 1970: first satellite

・ 1980: first transcontinental ballistic missile

・ 2003: first manned spacecraft

He retired at age 80 in 1991 but kept working. He promised his wife they would travel after he retired � they never did.

In 1935, he came to the US on a Boxer Rebellion scholarship. He studied at MIT and Caltech. He became one of the country's top rocket scientists. After the fall of Hitler he helped to bring Werner von Braun to the US.

In 1949, Mao overthrew Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese communist revolution. Chiang was a US ally. Qian was married to the daughter of one of his top military advisors. That year Qian applied for US citizenship and became a professor at JPL.

In 1950, the US government accused him of being a communist � because back in the 1930s he went to parties where there were leftists. They blocked him from working on secret projects.

Qian found this unforgivable considering all he had done for the US military. He took a leave of absence from JPL to go to China with his family. The government arrested him. The Los Angeles newspapers ran headlines like:

"SECRET DATA SEIZED IN CHINA SHIPMENT"

The "secret data" they found Qian with were books of � logarithm tables, a common thing for engineers to have back then. The newspapers never printed a correction, but he was let out of jail after two weeks.

The US government did not know what to do with him:

・ The immigration service wanted to deport him to China as a communist � yet could never produce any solid proof.

・ The US defence department was completely against that � Qian knew too much. Militarily they said he was worth five army divisions (at least 50,000 soldiers).

It took the government five years to come to a decision. Qian was not allowed to leave Los Angeles. The FBI listened to his telephone calls, read his mail, followed his family.

In the end, the government deported him in exchange for 11 prisoners of warthat China had from the Korean War.

On September 17th 1955 he boarded the Grover Cleveland in San Francisco, bound for Hong Kong.

He never returned.

He crossed from Hong Kong into China with a guitar in one hand and holding his son's hand in the other. He was not allowed to bring any papers � just what was in his head. With that he brought China into the space age.

� Abagond, 2015.

See also: