Thursday Blog

Thursday blog

You know, I never used to consider myself a radical.  But lately and increasingly there seems to be So Much to Object to!  I don't like always being political, there Should be and Is more to life.  But What am I to do?

The stock market has gone higher than before the crash, big banks are Still sitting pretty,BP Still made a profit even after "settling" with the people whose lives they may have destroyed,  college loans are set to possibly legally be allowed to Double their interest rates, if Congress doesn't act, disabled people are either losing or in danger of losing medical care, many Hard Working Americans Have No Medical Care, GMO foods Japan won't import and Europe marks so that consumers have a Choice of whether or not to eat them, but nothing like that happens here, and now This!  I thought large multi-national corporations ran the Government, and I seem to be finding More and More evidence of it each day. 

So many people are afraid because the life they Used to know is gone.  Sure, I'm scared too, but this isn't a reason to trash our only home, Earth, and one another!  It Could be an opportunity for us to Help one another With our fears.

I thought those on Neighborhood Watch duty were supposed to carry Radios, not guns.  Shouldn't the Police have been called if Treyvon Martin was doing something perceived as unlawful? 

Who is it ok to beat, rape, and kill in the U.S.?  Is it fine to kill or abuse someone for their sexual orientation?  How about Native American women, like the first U.S. soldier  to die in Iraq?  Is it ok to kill or beat her sisters here at home?  How about immigrant women or women who are here without documentation?  None of them?  I agree.  Then Why the Blazes is This about to happen?

Congress may actually fail to renew the Violence Against Women Act.

Can you sign the petition demanding that Congress reauthorize it right away?

click here Click Here

Dear Friend,

True story: Congress may actually fail to renew the Violence Against Women Act because

right-wing politicians are concerned that it protects too many people.

Really. Senator Grassley (R-IA) told reporters that he opposed the legislation because

it "creates so many new programs for underserved populations."

1

The reauthorization bill pending before Congress right now includes expanded provisions

that protect victims of abuse across the LGBTQ, undocumented and Native American

communities. Reporting of domestic violence has increased by more than 51% since

the Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1994.

2

Yet domestic violence still kills 3 women each and every day.

3 Let's be clear:

Victims of violence and abuse deserve protection--regardless of their ethnicity,

immigration status or sexual orientation.

Congress is getting away with this shameful attempt to water down the Violence Against

Women Act because hardly anyone is talking about it and most of their constituents

don't know this is happening. But the media is starting to pick up on this story

and if we speak out together loudly we can make it crystal clear: Voters are not

going to stand for politicians who play politics with women's lives.

Can you sign this petition telling Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act

right away?

 We're joining with allies across the progressive movement to wage a major campaign

and make sure they hear from hundreds of thousands of outraged voters.

http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/vawa

The Washington Post

 editorial board put it best: "A comprehensive committee report convincingly details

gaps in current programs as identified by law enforcement officers, victim-service

providers, judges and health-care professions. No one—gay or straight, man or woman,

legal or undocumented—should be denied protections against domestic abuse or sexual

violence. The proposed changes are by no means radical."

Here are some key facts about the Violence Against Women Act:

5

Before its passage in 1994, not all states had stalking laws, and many states had

weak laws against sex crimes.

Today every state makes stalking a crime. Every state has also strengthened its spousal

and date rape crime definitions.

The Violence Against Women Act has provided billions in funding to help training

and collaboration between law enforcement, shelters, and medical professionals. In

fact, funding from the bill trains more than 500,000 of these professionals every

year.

Rates of homicide resulting from domestic violence for both women and men have dropped

dramatically. And incidents of domestic abuse have declined by as much as 67% over

the years.

The Violence Against Women Act has never been controversial before. In 2000 the reauthorization

passed the House 371-1, and the Senate 95-0. The last reauthorization was in 2005,

where it passed the Senate unanimously and the House vote was 415-4.

6

But now, because the bill is updated (and it gets updated and expanded at every reauthorization)

to protect immigrants, Native American communities and LGBTQ people, the right-wing

is opposed.

This is a matter of life and death. Congress needs to hear from you that you want

them to quit playing politics with people's lives and pass the updated Violence Against

Women Act right away.

http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/vawa

Thanks!

--Nita and Shaunna, UltraViolet

Sources:

1.

Women Figure Anew in Senate’s Latest Battle,

 New York Times, March 15, 2012

2.

The coming fight over violence against women,

 Salon.com, March 20, 2012

3.

Strengthening the Violence Against Women Act,

 The White House, April 25, 2012

4.

Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act,

 The Washington Post, April 23, 2012

5.

Factsheet: The Violence Against Women Act,

 WhiteHouse.gov

The coming fight over violence against women,

 Salon.com, March 20, 2012

6.

Violence Against Women Act faces unprecedented opposition, little support from Texas lawmakers,

 American Independent, April 19, 2012

I Still want my Webstore, so, for what will hopefully be a bit of fun, I have a doll ID. Question.  This doll is a natural looking blonde, and just where a "tramp stamp"  would be is written "1987 Hasbro China H-22".  She has blue eyes and a healthy looking complexion.  Thanks for any help you can offer.

Labels:  multi-national corporations do well, violence against women act Not renewed?  Interest rates on student loans could Double this Summer?  Doll ID. question

Many Subjects for Blogger

Many Subjects for Blogger

First, Blogger has stopped working altogether with my version of Internet Explorer!  Thanks one Hell of a lot!  Facts:  1.  most people with disabilities are poor,  2. services are being cut for us, including those who work or are starting businesses every day, 3.  NO accessible technology, not speech for those with learning disabilities who cannot process visual info., or blind people, or deaf-blind people with enough hearing to use it; not Braille for those who use it:  not most programs to enlarge print Very large, (often supplemented with speech: and not voice command technology where the computer user may not be able to type so  tells the cursor what to do; I repeat, NONE of these works with Internet Explorer Nine, 9!

I don't even get speech feedback on what version of IE I have.  So tomorrow I will ask a friend to help me find this out.  If it is IE 8 which I already have, I'm Screwed from using Blogger!  If I have IE 8, maybe I should start a petition to Microsoft on "Some of us.org" or one of those sites, which ARE accessible,to Get With the ADA (which has only been law for 21 years) and Stop setting us up in conjunction with Other companies like Google.

The deal is:  Microsoft comes out with product NOT accessible to disabled computer users for Years.  Then Google and it's pets like Blogger stop using old technology, software, so they can force you to choose or BUY the newest version.  Only 1.  you can't Afford it.  And 2.  It isn't Accessible Anyway, so Why would you Want it?

I will either have to stop blogging (which helps keep me as sane as I am) or wait until a sighted person comes over to copy and paste my blog into blogger.  That makes me feel Very independent, don't you think?  What a Great stride toward writing what I want, When I have the time!

Wonder if I can still get comments people leave on Blogger for me?  Don't know.

New Subject:  Good News for Blind of Mo.  With a Two vote majority, we got our Medicaid benefits restored!  THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HELPED, Including some Compassionate People who honor me by reading this blog!  All Right!!

As a cancer survivor I must find out if Hospice, wheelchairs, and other necessities Were cut.  Immoral, Especially cutting hospice!

Will let you know!

New subject:  I find myself developing two writing styles.  One is for deaf-blind and leaves out unnecessary English words.  Sometimes I forget and use it when writing to hearing people.  It just takes common sense to figure out most of the time, but it is definitely different and no English teacher would pass it.  An example given by my ASL instructor is:  instead of saying "I'm playing with my cat."  ASL is:  "me play with cat" or "me play with my cat." 

One of the things I couldn't figure out was why so Many signs started around the face.  Some of them Feel very close together, too.  When I mentioned this to a sighted friend she reminded me that for a sighted deaf person this would be very Helpful, as added to the sign would be the facial expression.  There would be raised eyebrows to ask a question, a look conveying expression, a frown or smile, etc.  I have facial expressions, but not nearly so strongly or as many as a sighted person. 

I used to teach Braille to a man who was losing his sight.  He had worked for years at a school for the deaf and knew ASL.  I never quite got it until today, but he used to tell me Braille was terribly confusing.    Each letter in contracted Braille, in which all books are written, stands for an entire word.  Mostly the words begin with the letter representing them.  First five letters of alphabet:  a but can do every.  This what a single a-e stands for in Braille.  The letter X stands for "it" because I is just i.  So when this man learned X stands for "it" he would sometimes get mixed up and use X in ASL which doesn't stand for anything I know of at the moment except the letter X.

Today I had to stop myself from doing Braille ASL.  I will contract the sentence above as it would Be in Braille.  Letters which can be represented by a single sign will be put in quotation marks.    Lrs "wh sign for WHICH c be repress"en"t"ed" "by"a s"ing"le sign w be put "in" quot"ation (is two signs)" m"ar"ks.  Today I found myself wanting to sign TD for "today" because that is what is written in Braille, which is Brl.  Tomorrow is tm.

The reason for this contraction in Braille is that a thing must be much larger to be read by touch than by sight.  You can see smaller things than I can feel.  A Braille Bible takes up between 20 and 25 books and five feet of shelf space.

The signs I'm learning are ASL, but in a much smaller field of space than is normally used.  Remember the piece on deaf-blind bullying?  One problem was that other deaf people with sight would not shrink their signs (language) into a small enough space to be understood by a deaf-blind man.  Most deaf-blind people have Usher's Syndrome, a combination of deafness and an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, which gradually shrinks one's field of vision down to nearly nothing or in some cases nothing.

I often feel afraid at awkward moments when I don't know what is happening.  My ASL instructor has limited vision and must experience many more of these moments than I do.  My instructor   cannot hear at all, so far as I can tell.

I think ASL may be strengthening muscles to compensate for serious tendonitis in my right wrist.  Today I able to use one hand all time, not switch off from pain.  See, you understand this writing.

Every lesson something which makes each of us laugh happens.  Today I was signing "door" to tell my instructor someone at door.  She sign "who".  But when I try explain she sign "no no no" mean I have the word wrong.  We confused.  Then I understand she want Me sign "who".  I give sign and answer is "yes".

Deaf-blind people who use both print and Braille  have mastered two written languages, print and Braille.  They have also mastered a visual language and some master verbal language also.  I am Impressed!

I will be Very glad to get my Braille display up and working so I Won't have to type out each letter of a word!  You will still see it in print.  Yeah!

New subject:  My dog is Better!  I took him to a different vet for second opinion yesterday morning.  The vet cleaned out his ears So well his head around them was wet for half a day.  There was still wax, with ear med. On top of it.  He says the tests recommended by another vet will be needed If my dog gets worse, but he's Better instead!  GRATEFUL!  He isn't where he was before I used the med., but second vet said he could improve throughout the week.  I Hope so!

New subject:  Due to encouragement of friends, have decided to go ahead with  small online store, featuring visual art by disabled artist I know, and my dolls, mostly for adults, small kid's corner, some Fair Trade, as much from people with disabilities as possible.  I am on shakier ground, selling mostly to adults, but it seems CPSIA has frightened so many Fair Trade small importers that this is the Only safe way to go.Still waiting on specific answer about selling older fashion dolls to kids, do they meet current phthalate regulations or not?  CPSC hasn't answered.  Does anyone know anything about this?

Labels:  Blogger and unusable technology trap for disabled,many languages confusion and mastery by deaf-blind,  dog is better YEAH, Mo. Medicaid restored for blind, by TWO votes, what about Other Medicaid cuts?  CPSIA and online store will do.

Deaf Hearing Dog? Scary!

I have a dog whom Ann and I adopted. Since she died I have trained him to bark at anyone knocking on the door, ringing the door bell, and he comes to get me. He also hates and fears the sound of a smoke detector going off, so wakes me up if it happens at night. No fires here, just low battery warnings. A couple of weeks ago he was having dreadful allergy problems and his ear was very red, according to a friend. I took him to the vet. I was given some steroid medication, told to use a lot of it each day, (one time per day) and that I couldn't hurt the dog by putting the long part of the tube to be inserted into his ear all the way in. Since a dog's ear is shaped like an L, I did this, turning tubed of med. upside down, then masaged ear and underneath ear. My dog has lost hearing. I am scared! He doesn't hear knocks at the door, doesn't hear me getting his food ready, unless I bang Very hard and for some time on bottom of his stainless steel pan. Doesn't hear smoke detector at all. When I called animal clinic I talked to a different vet who said the steroids can damage auditory nerve. What the hell? Then vet who prescribed med. with instructions for its use wants to do tests, after all, he is an older dog, might have a disease process (diabetes, Kushing Syndrome) happening to cause deafness. Tests will cost Another $100, Plus office visit, don't Think so! This dog was Badly abused before we got him. If he's sleeping and I trip over him, he thinks I'm Punishing him, I want to cry. When he could hear I didn't trip over him. He is scared of other dogs, uncertain. I try to make sure there is plenty of light in a room where I am, so he can see me. Glad I trained him to Seeing Eye Dog hand signals, adding some for "sit" and "up," meaning it's time to go up the step into the house and stop nosing for now. I have tried speaking and he ignores me. But when I use hand signals, he does what I'm asking. He can't hear verbal praise, so I pat him more and give more bits of treats. I have a vibrating pager, and if I remember to place a sound monitor by the doorbell, it signals me. But I feel grief and a lot of fear at this change. Did online research and if his hearing loss is caused by steroids, hearing doesn't recover after med.s are stopped. I stopped med.s and called vet when I realized my friend-dog was losing hearing. Will try to take him to different vet tomorrow and have ears examined, he was Fine until steroid use. I am no DVM. and can't say if he has some other problem. But he Still seems Fine, only he can barely hear the Loudest of sounds. On the more pleasant feeling side, my sister gave me a long leash and I can either keep my dog with me or at least lead him into the room where I am, so he will know where to find me if he needs to go outside, etc. I have to go looking for him to feed him. Wonder if stomping on kitchen floor at food time would help, he might come to feel the vibrations, if I do this and bang on pan. Another moore pleasant thing is that I may have discovered some legal exceptions to CPSIA, for small batch importers of Fair Trade, who have Gross revenues of Less than a million dollars per year. They may not sell items to kids containing "black jacquard dye" but all other fabrics which are dyed Before being used for dolls, and all embroidery thread and yarn Seems to be ok. The problem may come with Painted fabrics, yarns, etc. Bright paint often contains lead. Metal such as snaps, zippers, hooks and eyes or metal buttons may be painted and so contain lead. A small batch importer Must comply with CPSIA, (please check Government CPSC website for ways to comply) but Does Not have to do Testing. A good resource is also: sandlertrade.com One way to test for paint on metal or children's jewelry is to scrape it and see if paint comes off. If it does, you may be dealing with lead paint, Not Allowed. Hope this info. helps someone. Been practicing signs I've learned each day, hope my instructor will be pleasantly surprised Tuesday."

Thanks, but Not to Facebook

First, as one of the "newbies" who reads the posts of a certain Phily Collector, I'd like to say Thank You for your post about selling Barbies. Also, thanks to all of you who left comments, which I read.

I will look for doll club, don't know if there is one now in this area. Only Barbie resale shop takes Just White dolls, can you Believe this? Or at least that was true last time I called. Most of my dolls are ethnic or mixed race. I grew up at blind school in large city. And I love studying faces. If you have to study faces by feel, better use dolls. Also the more diverse and realistic the faces, the more I learn. The variety fascinates me! Always has.

I have "white" dolls of course, but even the ones of them I chose have differing faces, Joey Benetardi, Blossom and Six, Club Seven or 7, Holly from a group called "Dream" Becky (in the lousy wheelchair) Very Velvet Barbie, Raquelle, these all have differing faces and or hair.

I agree with interviewee (sorry about spelling) in Phily Collector earlier post, would like to see some Asian guys. I wish I had bought more than one General Li Shang when he was around. He's pretty cool with modern clothing and hairstyle.

New subject: My dog bell, (dog I have trained to find me and take me to door while barking) is sick and not working. Worried and scared about what I will do when I lose him. He''s probably about 11, and hac very hard .life before going to "no kill" shelter, then coming to Ann and me. I've worked out substitute which relies on me remembering to move a sound monitor from alarm clock to doorbell, so it will trigger pager I wear. Rather have a dogbell.

New subject: Facebook. I don't like this, though what I write would bore military, unless they disliked some action figure I liked. But this is Too Much, I think.


Facebook supports gov't spying -- turn on images
It seems like Facebook will do everything they can to sacrifice your online privacy
-- even going so far as to publicly support a bill pending in the US Congress that
would allow Facebook to hand over your data -- and the data of Facebook users around
the world -- to other corporations or the US military, without a warrant.
Can you sign our urgent petition telling Facebook to drop its support of US government spying on its members?
If the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) passes, companies could
intercept your text messages and emails to share with each other and the government
-- giving the US military the power to track, control, and share almost all of your
online information without the use of a warrant. They could even block access to
websites, or cut off your internet connection altogether. Like SOPA (which Facebook
opposed),
CISPA is a major threat to internet freedom
and gives the government broad power to protect big media companies at your expense.
Facebook’s opposition was instrumental in shutting down SOPA, but
now Facebook is fighting FOR CISPA
. That's why we're teaming up with our friends at Demand Progress to get Facebook
to side with its users instead of military spy agencies, and in the process start
a powerful, organized opposition to this dangerous bill.
Sign our joint petition to Facebook now, telling it to stand up against government intrusion into our online privacy rights.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has said “We can’t let poorly thought out
laws get in the way of the Internet’s development.” Yet with CISPA, he is supporting
a far-reaching law that could dramatically limit our freedom on the internet.
CISPA strips away previous privacy laws, and by creating a broad immunity for companies
against both civil and criminal liability, it robs citizens of any means of fighting
back.
Today vast amounts of our information is routed through the internet -- our shopping
history, our Google searches, our love letters and personal communications, and much
of our activism -- and all of it would become a fair target for the US military under
a definition of “cybercrime” so broad that anyone could be a suspect.
Tell Facebook to get serious about protecting our privacy from US military and government intrusion.
Thank you for all you do.
- Taren, Claiborne, Emma, Becky, Kaytee and the rest of us
-------------------------------
More Information:
"
Cyber Intelligence Bill Threatens Privacy and Civilian Control
", The Center for Democracy & Technology, December 2011
"
Cybersecurity Bill FAQ: The Disturbing Privacy Dangers in CISPA and How To Stop It
", The Electronic Frontier Foundation, April 2012
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Business Down the Tubes? What now?

Unless I hear differently from the USPSC (U.S. Product Safety Commission) it looks like my dream business is down the tubes. I could open an online store for adult doll collectors, no porn intended, but there are easier ways of selling fashion dolls to grownups. My interest in sewing beautiful modest original clothes has taken a nose dive. And I Want very much to buy from Fair Trade businesses. Originally, I wanted to sell dolls and doll clothing. But CPSIA has got them removing dolls from their online catalogs, as they can't afford to test each component of a doll to prove its level of lead and phthalates comply with CPSIA. So now what?

I feel so Angry or Frustrated! It wouldn't surprise me if a number of safe and unique dolls and doll clothing sets are going to be removed even though they Are safe for kids, (and great educational toys besides) Because neither the artisans who make them nor the small businesses which import them can afford the cost of testing.

Almost always I avoid the "if onlys". But I have been dreaming this dream for years and If Only I had Ignored Everyone who told me I would fail, I'd have been Doing what I Wanted to do for several years now.

When Ann was alive, I saw part of my purpose in life as helping her and taking care of physical chores about house and garden which she couldn't do.

When she died last year, after all of the shock and misery began to clear a bit I decided that if I failed, I'd be the only one to suffer and I was Going for it! I sewed furiously and delighted in the variety of fair trade products I had to choose from. I bought dolls I Would not have purchased, if I had known what was coming. The CPSIA was Never mentioned by any online Fair Trade Business, I never heard about it on NPR, though I may have just missed the report. I cannot read news papers and Rehab. people had not heard of this law Either.

I find myself in a painful and deep search for something Meaningful, to Me. Of course, there are always things to do and I have some kind friends. But without anything Personally Meaningful to My heart, what's the point?

I find myself missing Ann very badly, missing a friend who died of ovarian cancer in 2008, missing my old neighborhood and the house Ann and I rented, and missing a friend who has withdrawn, with whom I shared many interests and had many meaningful conversations.

Something new has come along, but I do not know where it will lead, if anywhere. Still, when an opportunity presents itself to teach me something, who am I to Waste it?

With long, strong flexible hands she speaks to me. They move fast as a bird's wing, but with many parts.

I have Finally found an instructor for ASL. My instructor is deaf-blind. A friend works here in town, from a more rural community, and drops off my teacher at 6:30 Am., then goes to work. I am in Immersion ASL until my instructor is picked up at about 3:45 P.M.

Now I can stay Up until 5:00 A.M., (with a nap for an hour in the afternoon) but Getting Up at 5:00 A.M., That is Hard. I don't usually fall asleep early, Even if I go to bed early.

After my first "class" this week I ached all over. My head ached from trying to remember so much, my neck and back ached from sitting up stilll and perfectly straight for so many hours, my eyes hurt from being Open so long, BUT, I Learned! I now have a vocabulary of about 60 words and numbers, practiced each day. My instructor is excelent! And a slave driver! She has more energy than me.

Since my first language is spoken English I am learning ASL signs but am using them in English word order. ASL IS a different language, with its own syntax and world view.

In the past I have encountered deaf people who refused to converse with me because I didn't know Their language. I already leave out many unnecessary words when signing, "the" in "Close the door" etc. But I have to wonder, with most deaf-blind people being deaf first and their first language being ASL, how many people will communicate with me?

I can understand the problem, like when most political candidates butcher Spanish in their attempts to speak it.

But I did Not choose the order in which my disabilities would occur. I don't know how refined my ASL will become, or how long I can run on this treadmill, one day a week for ASL means other activities, especially those using my hands (everything, I don't have a dish washer, gardener, electric can opener, etc.) must be pushed onto another day. My hands hurt most of the time now. But it is something which might be helpful both for me and to others if I learn to communicate well enough.

I hope to get at least to the stage of using what the founder of the National Theater of the Deaf, in Washington D.C. called meslish, a mix of ASL signs, some English word order, and some fingerspelling. But right now, even though I am Dedicated to doing this, it just seems hard and physically painful, when combined with the loss of both Ann, others, and the thing I want most to do.

But working with someone deaf makes me Very thankful for the hearing I have! I can still use audio books, turned up loud and with headphones,still hear music, birds if they're close, and conversation with one person at a time, if they are willing to repeat a few things.

We worked out our communication ok, my instructor knows some Braille and I know fingerspelling, though the way each person makes the letters is a bit different, depending upon length and shape of hand and fingers. Also, there are some regional variations in ASL, just as there are with any language. When either of us got too frustrated we'd grab the Braille writer and write a short phrase, "don't understand" or "When is lunch?" So that's what I am doing right now. I just Hope someone will talk with me when I have learned more.

You who are kind enough to read these posts know some of my objections to Facebook. I feel like Facebook invades my privacy, My next post will contain another reason Not to like it. But if I had been able, or will be able to begin an online store, I will have to set up a Facebook page, Bummer!

Would You Eat Half of an Agent Orange?

The article below may seem to have a misleading title. Of course it is meant to grab your attention.

But I don't want to eat and drink this stuff, on Top of Round Up! In Europe all foods containing genetically modified ingredients are Marked, so I don't have to buy them if I choose not to. This is Not the case here or in Canada. In Japan they are waiting to see what Americans Look like after about ten to fifteen years of eating genetically modified crops, which require Specific pesticides and herbicides.

I have been asked, "Haven't crops Always been genetically modified to increase yield?" It's a good question and here is the difference.

Throughout history women and men have noticed what plants produced the most food or the best tasting food. They did cross polinate the best Plants to get the best harvests. Animals were and are bred because they produce the richest milk, the most meat, etc.

But genetically engineered crops or Organisms, (GMO's) are genetically manipulated plants into which the geens of a bacteria not normally found in that plant may be added. They may contain genetic material from a plant which will Not naturally cross polinate (breed) with them, or genes from a fungus or virus not normally found in the plant or its normal soil. These plants may yield more corn, but sometimes experiments withsome plants, (such as potato for example) turn out plants toxic to humans in the third or later generations. Such plants have to be withdrawn from the market before being sold.

GMO's are also often fragile, requiring specific chemicals (made by the same companies which engineer the plants) to protect them from weeds or common garden and farm pests.

Another problem with GMO's is that when protected with large quantities of such chemicals, they Will cross polinated with Non-genetically Modified crops. Some farmers have been taken to court by these same chemical companies and accused of "stealing" their GMO crops, infringing on GMO Patent Rights. Sometimes these farmers Never Wanted anything to Do with genetically modified grain or soy.

For these reasons and those in the article below I respectfully ask you to consider signing the petition. I have had cancer twice, we had a dioxin (sorry about spelling) superfund clean up here in Southwest Mo. (it was the Whole of Agent Orange) which made farmers and animals sick, and who can say Which chemicals in Agent Orange took the health of our veterans from the Vietnam War?

Next week, the USDA will decide whether to allow Monsanto and Dow to introduce one
half of the chemical mixture Agent Orange into our food supply.
Widescale use of Roundup has led to a new generation of resistant weeds, and the
next step in the pesticide arms race is
2,4-D -- a chemical linked to cancer, Parkinson's and reproductive problems.
Farmers that sign up to use genetically-engineered 2,4-D-resistant corn will be required
to spray down their fields with both 2,4-D
and
Roundup, double-dosing our food, our soil and our waterways with the toxins. Some
experts estimate this will increase the use of 2,4-D 50-fold, even though
the EPA says the chemical is already our seventh-largest source of dioxins -- nasty,
highly toxic chemicals
that bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain and cause cancer, developmental
damage, and birth defects.
We can stop this
. The use of 2,4-D is banned entirely in parts of Canada and Europe, and right now
the US Department of Agriculture is accepting public comments on 2,4-D to decide
whether or not to approve the widespread industrial use of the toxin.
Add your name to our letter to the USDA urging them to deny approval for Dow's 2,4-D-resistant GMO corn.
This is part of a growing problem, an escalating herbicide war going on across America’s
heartland. From 1996 to 2008, herbicide usage increased by 383 million pounds. Nearly
half of this took place between 2007 and 2008 after the introduction of another strain
of herbicide-resistant plant pushed by Dow.
Like Roundup before it, 2,4-D is only a temporary solution
that will require more and more tons of toxins and more and more potent chemicals
leaching into our food supply.
2,4-D is nasty stuff and has been linked to a number of health problems, such as
tripling the rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Nebraska farmworkers
exposed to it and causing reproductive problems -- birth defects and high rates of
miscarriage -- in both mice and men exposed to it in the lab and field.
Tell the USDA - we don’t want Monsanto’s toxic pesticide.
-Kaytee, Claiborne Taren and the rest of the team
------------------------------------------------------
Citations and further reading:
Overview of the toxic effects of 2,4-D
, Sierra Club, January 2005.
A Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the Herbicide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2, 4-D) in Eastern Nebraska
, Epidemiology, 1990.
Reregistration Eligibility Decision for 2,4-D
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CPSIA, What to Do?

What I want: not to make children sick, to make some money and supplement my disability check, to give others, especially those with disabilities who are very marginalized a chance to Earn some money with Dignity; to use up cloth otherwise consigned to the dumpster or the land fill, to offer mothers who care what their kids play with an option for buying reasonably priced dolls which aren't dressed like sex workers, to educate others about the variety and beauty of dolls and clothing for dolls from around the world, to help just a bit to end suffering for people who are hungry, homeless, abused, don't have adquate clothing, need medical care, through Fair Trade. I also want to create and sell my own designed one of a kind doll outfits.

But there is CPSIA. Each time I ask a question, about phthalates in older dolls, about using cloth which Might have been sprayed with fire retardant chemicals Including phthalates, I feel like I'm damning myself to failure. It is very Depressing.

I am threatened with the loss of Medicaid, don't know if my landlord will raise the rent, am sometimes the butt of "welfare bum" jokes, but Cannot conduct a ligitimate business! I have an inventory Ready to sell, dolls of all ethnicities, with clothing which I have designed, some with Ann's help, and sewn and beaded. Sure, the beaded stuff goes to adults, no problem.

But the Fair Trade business people with whom I was looking So forward to orking with are all in a tailspin too. They can't afford ten thousand dollars per test to prove that one product line is safe. I can't either, obviously!

Sometimes I think I should just shut up, "don't ask, don't tell". But then I may be checked to see if I have certificates from each of my Fair Trade Suppliers, (at ten thousand bucks a pop) showing that a particular Batch of a product line is compliant with CPSIA.

It is to the advantage of huge multi-national toy companies like Mattel to drive smaller competitors Out of business. If we Avoid completely, lead based paint and opt for less bright colors, and if we work with Cloth and rubber for children's products, shouldn't That be Enough? Some Fair Trade businesses have ignored my letters of inquiry about CPSIA compliance, while others have panicked and are Trying, like me, to sort out What to do!

I was ready to purchase my small business license and get a Federal tax ID. when I heard about CPSIA. Now I ddon't know What to do. I don't think the adult doll collector's market will be large enough to sell to.

I have read, but Not on a Government website, that yarn, and cloth are exempt from CPSIA. If the yarn or cloth are Not Painted in any way, does Anyone know if this is true?

What I know logically is that I must comply with an unworkable law, or not run a tiny business at all. How I feel emotionally is "Thanks for trashing my dream of making enough money to not consider a purchase of laundry soap very carefully Before making it, and thanks for trashing my dream of being a deaf-blind person who has Done something she loves, and taken other people with disabilities up the ladder of hope with her!"