While Black Friday looms, the disconnect between our military and the American public is at its most palpable since I came home from Iraq in 2004. Back then, Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction was front-page news and dinnertime discussion. Today, it’s Prince William’s engagement, Eva Longoria’s divorce and Skating with the Stars.  Instead of preparing for the surge of new veterans arriving home, or following the developments on the Korean Peninsula where nearly 30,000 American troops are stationed, the country is hysterical over Oprah’s new Favorite Things for the holidays. And something’s gotta give.

As a country, we need a dose of reality this Thanksgiving – and I don’t mean reality TV. One real-life hero who should be the topic of conversation at every dinner table across the country today is Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta.

Last week, Giunta became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.  He was recognized for his actions rescuing his squad members during an October 2007 ambush in Afghanistan’s deadly Korengal Valley.  You might have seen him lately on 60 Minutes or The Colbert Report. And his is a story worth talking about.

Just a handful of years ago, Giunta was working as a “sandwich artist” at Subway.  He joined the military out of a sense of duty to his country and is now the only living Iraq or Afghanistan veteran decorated with our nation’s highest military honor. Giunta shies from this new hero status, but he is the embodiment of our country’s Next Greatest Generation. Smart, strong and selfless. Without regard for his own life, he ran into enemy-fire to overtake Taliban soldiers dragging away his wounded friend, Sgt. Joshua Brennan. The powerful story of this real American hero should command everyone’s attention:

On Monday, November 29th, instead of watching Skating with the Stars, tune in to watch Giunta in some authentic reality-TV with your family. National Geographic will premiere Restrepo, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s brave and brilliant war documentary chronicling Giunta and the men of B Company during their yearlong deployment in the Korengal Valley. If you were moved by Band of Brothers, Restrepo will take your concept of war to the next level. It’s a stark reminder of what this newest generation of veterans has sacrificed on the front lines while the rest of the country has been engrossed in celebrity gossip. It’s also a reminder that no one comes home from war unchanged. As one soldier says to Junger at the end of the film: “How [am I] going to go back to the civilian world? I have no idea.”

But, like at dinner tables at less than one percent of homes across America, he and his family are figuring it out together. Along with SSG Giunta and the rest of B Company, nearly 2.2 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will give thanks today for making it home to their families alive.  We’ll pause to remember the ultimate sacrifice of the 5,801 Americans like Sgt. Brennan who did not.  And we’ll rally around the 150,000 military families who must wait out this holiday separated from their fathers, sisters and sons serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and across the globe. From Camp David to Des Moines, the entire country can show we’ve got their backs by paying attention and having an honest conversation about the wars and veterans coming home.

If you can do that, we will be very thankful.

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GOT A TIP FOR US? Is there a story or campaign in your area that we’d want to know about? E-mail us at humanrightstips@change.org. Please also follow Change.org’s Human Rights page on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit:The US Army

This Thanksgiving, Be Thankful for Real Heroes

On November 8, Gallup released their annual death penalty poll followed by the release of a similar poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion the next day, both of which sparked headlines across the country about how much Americans seemingly support capital punishment: Gallup says 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty, while Angus Reid cranks that number all the way up to 83 percent.

But support for the death penalty drops when respondents are asked to consider alternatives – and it drops a lot depending on which one is presented. Gallup asks about the death penalty every year, but occasionally they also ask if people prefer the death penalty over “life imprisonment, with absolutely no possibility of parole.” This year, when given the alternative of life without parole, support for the death penalty falls from 64 percent to 49 percent – just 3 percent higher than those who prefer the alternative, within the margin of error. The last time Gallup asked about the alternative of life without parole was 2006, and at that time support for permanent imprisonment was actually higher than support for the death penalty, again within the margin of error.

In California, the alternative is life without parole accompanied by work, with one’s pay contributing to a Victims’ Compensation Fund. Of course, work and restitution have never been mentioned in the Gallup poll asking about alternatives.  Only one poll asking about restitution was conducted in 2001 by Peter Hart Associates, which found preference for the death penalty at 38 percent, well below support for the alternative. I don’t know of any polls that mention that this alternative is already state law in California.

In the Angus Reid poll, respondents were never presented with alternatives to the death penalty. A stunning 81 percent of respondents, however, believe that innocent people have been executed, and only 39 percent agreed that the death penalty deters murder.

The truth is that despite the “hang ‘em high” headlines, these polls reveal a deep ambivalence toward the death penalty. Though some people believe in execution, many also recognize that the system is broken, that innocents can be put to death, that death doesn’t deter crime, and that other forms of punishment restore the balance of justice much more effectively by providing victims with restitution instead of retribution.

And not once do these polls mention that the death penalty is vastly more expensive than alternatives that would allow for more resources to be spent on restitution, unsolved murder investigations and crime prevention.

Nonetheless, we can expect prosecutors who pursue the death penalty (most don’t, by the way) to continue to rely on misleading headlines and a light reading of polls to bolster their position. Shallow analysis conveniently helps to perpetuate the myth that Americans want the death penalty despite its cost, its risks and the available alternatives. Elected officials like America’s top advocate for death sentencing, District Attorney Steve Cooley from Los Angeles, for example, often claim that they have broad community support for their expensive and reckless pursuit of the death penalty. But the ultimate punishment always deserves careful consideration and polls that tackle this weighty topic call for a second look.

Take action now and tell Steve Cooley to stop death sentencing in LA County and curb this reckless trend in America’s capital punishment capital.

Photo Credit: kevinzhengli

Do Americans Really Support the Death Penalty?

Paws for Hunger Provides Pet Food for Needy Families

Each winter, members of Yellowstone bison herd stray from the park in search of food. And each year, these animals are hazed back into the park (where food is scarce in the winter) or slaughtered…all out of an exaggerated fear that they’ll transmit disease to the area’s livestock.

Over 900 bison were slaughtered in 2005, and over 1600 in 2008! Whenever the Yellowstone bison herd gets larger than 3000, state and federal agencies kill them back in a twisted form of population control.

Help stop the slaughter. Tell Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that America’s last true, wild bison should be protected.
Stop the Yellowstone Bison Slaughter

The only shocking thing about Lou Dobbs indirectly hiring undocumented workers is the way it flies in the face of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that made him his millions in the first place. Lou Dobbs who proclaimed on his show that it was “ridiculous” to think employers who hired sub-contractors weren’t responsible if it was discovered that the workers were undocumented. Well, it appears Lou Dobbs is quite ridiculous indeed, though not for the reasons he might think. After departing from what was certainly the most virulently anti-immigrant, influential hate-mongering cable news show around, Lou Dobbs has been suddenly declaring himself a force of compromise that is against deportation and seeking “humane immigration reform.” Maybe it’s just an effort to re-fashion his image in anticipation of future political goals. Or maybe he really has seen the light. Either way, it’s obvious that the more people like Lou Dobbs demonize immigrants, the more chances there will be to expose our greatest collective hypocrisies.

What opponents to comprehensive immigration reform (of which Lou Dobbs used to be champion leader) are essentially saying is that they are fine with the status quo of millions of undocumented workers behind the scenes. We already operate under an enforcement-only policy, with tighter border security than ever before and deportation through the roof. It has done nothing to change the open secret that undocumented workers are picking America’s food, building America’s houses, and caring for (wealthy) America’s kids. And it will continue to do nothing to change that reality. All it does is drive these workers further into a fearful existence, alienated and segregated from society at large. We want everything cheap, but don’t want to know where it came from when in reality we do know. Anytime someone takes a bite out of a tomato grown on a commercial farm in the United States while announcing their disapproval of undocumented immigrants they are, essentially, no better or worse than a Meg Whitman or Lou Dobbs. There is nothing about their actions that is shocking, other than the way it flies in the face of their empty rhetoric — we are all indirect employers of undocumented immigrants. The question that remains is, are we going to keep denying this reality, or change things for the better for all parties involved?

Photo Credit: Joe Flood

Lou “Hired Undocumented Immigrants” Dobbs: Another Example of Immigration Hypocrisy?

And since the TRICARE health care program that covers these military families is tied directly to Medicare, these cuts will also harm access to health care for them as well as for millions of America’s senior citizens.

The 23 percent Medicare physician payment cuts will impact the doctors who treat Medicare and TRICARE patients, many of whom will find that payments no longer cover the costs for the care they provide. Seniors and military families will pay the price, with fewer doctors and less access to the care they have earned.

Short-term actions are the wrong answer to this long-term problem. These Band-Aid fixes have only served to increase the size of the cuts and the cost of reform. The longer Congress delays, the higher the cost to the American taxpayer, and doctors and their patients are left in limbo.
Enough is Enough!

Unfortunately, Republicans aren’t charmed by a winning name any more than they are by strong qualifications. So Prof. Goodwin Liu, President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has been blocked for months from being confirmed for an office he is eminently qualified for. After Congress decided to go on vacation without reaching a decision on Liu, Obama had to renominate the good professor to be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee yet again and then face the full Senate. This time, let’s get it done, shall we?

Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, points out that the Berkeley law professor has been unanimously deemed “well-qualified” by the American Bar Association. There’s no reason why Liu shouldn’t be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow and then go on to win full Senate confirmation. Yet the dude couldn’t even get a floor vote scheduled last go-round without Republicans breaking out the delaying tactics (although he’s won a few of them over and thus enjoys bipartisan support). What gives?

Certainly nobody could take issue with his awesome name or equally awesome qualifications. So can you say “ideology”? Prof. Liu supports a woman’s right to privacy. In other words: if she doesn’t wanted to incubate a fetus, she doesn’t have to. Support for the dreaded A-word is hardly going to win him fast friend amongst right-wingers. (Chris Santiago also raises questions on Race in America about the blocking of a confirmation that could set Liu on the path to being the first Asian-American Supreme Court Justice.)

Republicans have been going all out to leave the benches of our federal courts bare. It’s time to put a stop to this, and get Prof. Goodwin Liu good and confirmed.

Photo credit: bloomsberries

Tell the Senate to Confirm Federal Court Nominee Goodwin Liu

? All of these videos share a common theme: the animals are incrementally crushed by a woman in high heels. Most people view these materials for sexual gratification, but these videos are becoming increasingly popular just for their shock value alone. The crush fetish can be also linked to paraphernalia, which is an atypical sexual arousal to nonhuman objects and humans alike being caused physical distress.

? Crush videos are becoming increasingly popular across America, and will escalate to epidemic proportions due to the Supreme Courts recent ruling to legalize them.
It’s not hard to find such sites on the Internet with any search engine-keep in mind it’s now perfectly legal to download and watch. Minors can access these materials with a click of a button. If The Supreme Court says,”Okay fine, It’s free speech,” please first examine the damage it causes both human and nonhuman lives, and society as a whole.

? Freedom of speech has its limits when it places a society in danger, such as the ban on child pornography as it leads to violence of children. Films that exploit, torture, and kill animals for entertainment purposes also puts society in danger, for it is destructive by inciting violent and antisocial behavior, thereby endangering our citizens. Adults showing their own children these videos can cause emotional damage and lead to Antisocial Personality Disorders. This is not only considered child abuse, but is one of the leading disorders found in serial killers. While there are many factors that contribute to someone becoming a serial killer, the one constant they share is animal abuse.

? In short, there is nothing socially redeeming about? crush videos and animal torture videos when used for entertainment and financial purposes. However, relating to educational or for political and sociological purposes, this should be the exception? such as speaking against, or educating the public about the realities of dog fighting or other issues and how it affects a society, such as the making of a violent criminal or serial killer.
International Petition: Ban Crush Videos in America

At least 128 national organizations concerned with the health and welfare of children are joining together to call on Congress to pass a strong child nutrition bill (S. 3307/H.R. 5504). This

legislation would strengthen programs like school meals, WIC (supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children), and summer and after-school feeding programs.

If a Child Nutrition Bill is not passed this summer, millions of children will miss out on improved access to the nutritious food they need to learn and grow. Tell Congress that America’s children can’t wait — pass stronger nutrition legislation now.

America’s Children Can’t Wait — Strengthen the Child Nutrition Act

Honey, of course, comes from bees. Though not the cuddliest members of the animal kingdom, they’re still animals (although the vegan community is divided on the question of eating honey). Whether you’re an omnivore or on the anti-honey side of the vegan debate, unless you eat a strictly local diet, commercial beekeeping plays a role in your life.

The “liquid gold” only accounts for a small percentage of the bee economy; in the U.S., honeybees are primarily used to cultivate plant production, including fruit, vegetables and nuts. You may imagine bees freely coming and going from hives, pollinating nearby crops and keeping ecosystems healthy. On a local level, that’s true. But in a world of concentrated animal feeding operations and genetically modified crops, Big Ag has managed to make the poor little honeybee just another cog in the factory farm system.

Beekeepers who want to squeeze as much profit as possible from their colonies don’t want to share the sweet stuff, but if they take all the honey, what will their bees eat to keep producing more? So, they pull a bait-and-switch, taking the honey and replacing it with sugar water or high fructose corn syrup.

If you thought high fructose corn syrup was bad for humans, there’s evidence that it’s just as bad (or worse) for bees. Last year, a study found that, in warm temperatures, high fructose corn syrup can form a substance that’s deadly to bees. Some researchers believe this contributes to Colony Collapse Disorder, the mystery disease that’s killed off at least one-third of America’s honeybee population. But it’s cheap. And like any other factory farm, the opportunity to cut corners gets commercial beekeepers buzzing.

In addition to the health issues, it’s pretty unethical to hog the honey and replace it with an unnatural food. In an interview with Grace Pundyk, author of the The Honey Trail, NPR’s Diane Rehm summed up the practice as going in after the insects have done the hard work, and “taking all the honey from the nest and then force-feeding these bees something else so they’ll continue to produce for us.” It would be like swooping in on a small farm at harvest time, stealing all their veggies and leaving them to subsist on a basket of potato chips.

Besides the honey theft, bees are rarely left in peace. They spend a good half the year on truck beds, being shipped around the country to pollinate whatever is in season. You know the issues surrounding livestock trucks, like the stress of travel and deadly highway traffic accidents? Same goes for bees. Earlier this year, a truck carrying about 17 million bees crashed, causing chaos on the interstate in Minnesota.

Like any other factory farmed animal, bees are pumped full of antibiotics and pesticides to minimize nature’s ability to get in the way of agriculture. When honey is harvested, it’s not exactly a scene from Winnie the Pooh. Bees are typically gassed so they (and their stingers) are incapacitated during collection. When the colony has run its course, the hives are often left out in the cold.

Since there’s no viable large-scale alternative to bee pollination, what can you do to take the sting out of agriculture? Buy local. Smaller family farms are less likely to hire hives trucked in from the other side of the country (and you can always visit your local farmers market and ask). If you eat honey, find a local beekeeper who keeps high fructose corn syrup out of his colonies. There are environmental and health benefits to supporting local honey.

So make a resolution to help bees and have a sweet year.

Photo credit: BotheredbyBees

The Not-So-Sweet Side of Honey