Needle Exchange could be severely restricted

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Saturday October 10, 2009 · 8:18 AM PDT

2009/10/10 · 08:18

http://www.npr.org/...

The NPR article at the link describes a back-door attempt to gut needle exchange programs under the guise of a) lifting a federal ban on funding and b) "protecting" school children from seeing the reality of where drug use leads.

Summary:

Congress banned the use of any federal funding for needle exchanges back in 1988.
Obama made a campaign promise to lift that ban
Obama hasn't yet acted to lift the ban
House and Senate both passed bills this year that would end the ban BUT forbid federal funding of needle exchanges within 1000 ft of schools, parks, recreation centers, etc
Rep. Jack Kingston separately "added an amendment to next year's appropriations bill that would completely ban any needle exchanges within that thousand-foot limit"
Program stakeholders claim the 1000-ft limit will effectively shut down their operations by giving them nowhere they can legally operate.

I think the premise behind the 1000-ft limit is bunk and therefore it should not be used to restrict needle exchange operations. Discussion after the flip.

MH in PA

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Monday October 01, 2007 · 9:02 AM PDT

2007/10/01 · 09:02

Good morning from Faneuil Hall in Boston!

Today at noon, Senator John Kerry will be delivering a policy speech at historic Faneuil Hall. The topic is officially "A 21st Century Economic Strategy for America's Middle Class" - the advance press release subtitles it: "Plan would reverse Bushonomics and strengthen America's Middle Class."

This is the fifth in a series of speeches that began in April 2006 with a rousing statement of the importance of Dissent to a free society, and continued with the topics of Energy / Environment, Health Care, and National Security.

Every speech has been excellent, demonstrating John Kerry's broad and deep understanding of the critical issues of the day. I had the good fortune to attend the first speech, Dissent, and am looking forward to today'a which be the finale of the series. Follow me below as we live blog the event!

What a long great trip it's been! - Wrapping up the THK blog tour

MH in PA

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Tuesday May 01, 2007 · 5:15 PM PDT

2007/05/01 · 17:15

When Meredith Efken approached me in March with the suggestion that we do a "blog tour" to promote Teresa Heinz Kerry's upcoming Pittsburgh conference on Women's Health and the Environment, I had no idea what a blog tour was. To make it more intriguing, I learned from Meredith that a "blog tour" is something more and more book authors are doing to promote their newly released books - but Meredith was suggesting to adapt the technique to promoting the conference. Hmmm. Why not? So with the approval of the good folks at the Heinz Family Philanthropies and Teresa herself, we embarked.

Since 4/14 Teresa has visited 15 blogs, with great answers to interesting and challenging questions at each. In between, she prepared for and delivered (with of course the help of the other wonderful sponsors) the main event, an absolutely great conference on April 20th.

More...and LOTS of links...after the flip!

MH in PA

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Thursday September 28, 2006 · 6:50 PM PDT

2006/09/28 · 18:50

I know a lot of folks - including myself - are really upset with what transpired today. I see comments about not supporting this or that Democrat who voted for the torture bill, and comments about not voting at all. Looks like Rove's plan worked just splendidly, huh? Not only do they get their get-out-of-jail-free bill plus (maybe) license to continue doing all the vindictive brutal (and reportedly ineffective) crap they were already doing, they also seem to have succeeded in demoralizing a chunk of the Democratic base. Well, a chunk of the Democratic base that frequents dailykos and some other sites, anyway.

Well, I'm not here to pass judgment on anyone's anger. Mine has pretty much run the spectrum today. But I do want to propose an outlet, an idea of how to shrug off that demoralization once you recover from the hangover of all the booze you're going to down tonight to numb the ache of witnessing the rape of your country's soul.

Details below... Read More

On Floor NOW: Amendment mandating 100% VOTER ID - Call Senators!

MH in PA

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Wednesday May 24, 2006 · 6:27 AM PDT

2006/05/24 · 06:27

Update: I have received email that says this amendment was ruled non-germane. That means it is dead for now. Whew!

Apologies for the quick and short post.

Please contact your Senators about this amendment that I am told here is being debated now:

SA 4085. Mr. McCONNELL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2611, to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
(snip)
``SEC. 304. IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS AT THE POLLS.
``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding the requirements of section 303(b), each State shall require individuals casting ballots in an election for Federal office in person to present before voting a current valid photo identification which is issued by a governmental entity and which meets the requirements of subsection (b) of section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (49 U.S.C. 30301 note).

Full text of amendment below the fold.

You can find contact info for your Senators at www.senate.gov .
Read More

35 years, and what have we learned?

MH in PA

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Friday April 21, 2006 · 7:48 PM PDT

2006/04/21 · 19:48

I am writing this as I ride a train from Philadelphia to Boston, on my way to witness what, to me, is a momentous anniversary in our national history, even if it will be barely noticed in our national media, let alone by the circus-captivated American public.

35 years ago this Saturday, April 22nd, a young former Naval officer appeared before the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, to tell the truth as he had seen it in the American War - known to Americans, of course, as the Vietnam War.

On this 35th anniversary that young man, now a Senator himself, will reach out once more to cast forth the truth, as he sees it, for another generation, of another war that America wages for dubious goals as it wreaks havoc and bloodshed in the lives of brown-skinned people in a distant land, at a terrible cost of American lives and credibility.

35 years - why are we back at the same point again?

35 years and what did we learn?
Read More

Joe Sestak (PA-07) radio interview TODAY at 1:30 EDT.

MH in PA

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Friday April 14, 2006 · 8:52 AM PDT

2006/04/14 · 08:52

Bob Rovner will be interviewing Joe Sestak between 1:30 to 2 pm Eastern time.

WNWR home page:
http://www.wnwr.com/...

Listen Live link is on the right of the page.

If you are in the broadcast area (metropolitan Philadelphia area and some Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware) it is AM 1540.

(I couldn't get the stream to work :( but hopefully that is because of the firewall here at my company. Hopefully they'll make the show available as an archive later.)

I only just got word Joe was going to be on...wanted to let anyone know who is interested in this race!

Joe Sestak is facing "Moonie" Curt Weldon for the PA-07 house seat. ... (see below the fold for the rest of this paragraph...scoop says I am too wordy, sigh.)

Learn more about Joe at http://www.sestakforcongress.com . Read More

Time Online highlights Fighting Dem Joe Sestak

MH in PA

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Wednesday April 12, 2006 · 8:24 PM PDT

2006/04/12 · 20:24

Looks like the Admiral has made the political grade fast.

Admiral Joe Sestak that is.

He only announced in January that he was running against Curt Weldon (PA-07), because he had to first retire from his 30-year Navy career.

Already he's been profiled at dailykos, had excellent write-ups by Atrios, Chris Bowers, and Booman (just to mention a few). He's been added to the Netroots ActBlue page, John Kerry has endorsed and fund-raised for him, and by the last FEC close he'd raised over $420,000.

We've seen some excellent local press, and now the national MSM has joined in.

Link and quotes from the Time piece below the fold.
Read More

Kerry wants filibuster - CALL SENATORS to Support him!

MH in PA

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Thursday January 26, 2006 · 9:37 AM PST

2006/01/26 · 09:37

Just saw this at Democratic Undeground:

Will Pitt: Source tells me Kerry is now openly in favor of a filibuster

and corroborated here.

* [new] CALL NOW! (4.00 / 5)
Just got off the phone with Kerry's office in DC. They're working on other senators to filibuster on Alito. They said to tell you all to CALL YOUR SENATORS AND ASK THEM TO FILIBUSTER!!!
http://www.congress.org/....
PLEASE DO IT NOW!
Posted by: madame defarge at January 26, 2006 11:10 AM
at the Democracy Cell Project
The Democracy Cell Project
by dwahzon on Thu Jan 26, 2006 at 11:48:07 AM EST

I'll post more text soon - wanted to get this up fast.

CALL SENATORS AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT A FILIBUSTER
Switchboard number: 888-355-3588
Ask for Senator by name...start with your own (even if it seems hopeless) and work your way down the list...see below.

UPDATE: FAX 100 Senators at once - good diary here tells how! Read More

Stop Alito: YOUR name in the Congressional Record (Kerry petition)

MH in PA

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Monday January 23, 2006 · 12:23 PM PST

2006/01/23 · 12:23

I just received this email from John Kerry, asking for signatures on a petition to Senators. He promises to enter the names of signers in the Congressional Record, as a formal record of opposition to Alito's placement on the Supreme Court.

Petition link:
http://www.johnkerry.com/...

Full text of email below the fold.

As WildEyedLiberal at Democratic Underground noted:

The more names on this petition, the better: Kerry will enter the petition and say "Look - one MILLION AMERICANS want us to stop Alito using any means necessary." This can be your chance to help make a filibuster likely, [dailykos] - sign the petition!
....

MH in PA

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Sunday January 22, 2006 · 7:11 AM PST

2006/01/22 · 07:11

Here's a diary to continue discussion on John Kerry's This Week appearance this morning.

I'm doing this in an attempt at public service - John Kerry himself (or staff) posted a diary earlier for this purpose but it already has almost 800 comments.

Here goes...fire away...I have a half hour delay (TW starts at 10:30 for me) so I can't even contribute transcription for ya.

Related Diaries:

TV ALERT: Kerry speech on CSPAN, 9-ish

MH in PA

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Wednesday October 26, 2005 · 3:48 PM PDT

2005/10/26 · 15:48

UPDATE: CSPAN is now showing the start time for Kerry speech to be at 10:23 PM EDT.

I know the speech itself was diaried at least 3 times today (links below the fold, for any who managed to miss it).

But from all accounts this was quite a speech. So I thought it worth posting for those who are interested: it will be on CSPAN1 tonight, starting approximately 9:23 EDT tonight and then again at 1:10 AM.

Please watch out for the dreaded CSPAN "estimated" start times - set your TIVO or VCR a little early for this one.

Also, Kerry will be interviewed on Hannity & Colmes tonight on Faux News. That one should be interesting. 9 pm EDT. Yeah, I know, gotta unblock that channel first.

And one more. Kerry was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered this evening. You should be able to stream the audio from here:
Kerry Urges Troop Withdrawals Post-Iraq Elections Read More

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Needle Exchange could be severely restricted

Live Blog: John Kerry @ Faneuil Hall: Reversing Bushonomics

What a long great trip it's been! - Wrapping up the THK blog tour

Heartbroken? Send your love to anti-torture candidates.

On Floor NOW: Amendment mandating 100% VOTER ID - Call Senators!

35 years, and what have we learned?

Joe Sestak (PA-07) radio interview TODAY at 1:30 EDT.

Time Online highlights Fighting Dem Joe Sestak

Kerry wants filibuster - CALL SENATORS to Support him!

Stop Alito: YOUR name in the Congressional Record (Kerry petition)

John Kerry on This Week (UPDATED w/Links)

TV ALERT: Kerry speech on CSPAN, 9-ish