White Point的动态

In the next episode of the Council of Firsts, Amanda Arriaga, first Latina president of the Austin Bar, talks to with Aaron Moncibaiz, general counsel for Goodwill of Central Texas. For more information on how you can support Goodwill Central Texas, visit https://lnkd.in/gUFHDQ5R https://lnkd.in/g3PDj2br #goodwill #generalcounsel #inhousecounsel #nonprofit #austinlawyer

? Support Gold Star Families: A Call to Action ? Between 1980 and 2022, over 1,400 U.S. service members on active duty died each year on average. As we know, each loss brings profound grief to their families. Survivors of those who died due to service-related injuries or illnesses face equally painful realities. The Gold Star symbol, recognized since World War I, honors families who have lost a servicemember. Originally, blue stars represented active-duty members, which were changed to gold if the servicemember died. This symbol allows the nation to honor these families' sacrifices. However, there is no statutory definition of "Gold Star" families. The DoD provides a Gold Star Lapel Button to next of kin, but this excludes many survivors whose loved ones died outside combat – in training accidents, from service-connected illnesses, or by suicide due to invisible wounds. Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) in support of TAPS is urging Congress to define "Gold Star" in law, ensuring all families of service members who died in service or from related injuries are recognized. A recent letter to Congress, backed by over 50 organizations, highlights the need for this consistent definition to prevent excluding any survivors. A link to the letter is in the comments. An inclusive definition should recognize: - The Marine who drowns during training. - The sailor in Spain who dies in a vehicle accident. - The retired soldier who succumbs to cancer from toxic exposure. - The airman who died by suicide due to PTSD. These survivors endure unimaginable hardships, just like those whose loved ones died in combat. A legal definition of "Gold Star" is long overdue. Contact your lawmakers this summer and urge them to support this crucial change. Let’s honor all who have sacrificed for our country. If you want to know how to contact your representatives, let me know! Thank you Jennifer Goodale for this informative article. ??? #SupportGoldStarFamilies #HonorTheirSacrifice #ActNow

Taahir Osman, the man of the mountain, wants to make sure its restorative power continues and that crime is kept at bay. Learn more here. https://lnkd.in/djWFRHHs

SURVEY: 1) Do you believe we still have a genuinely Two-Party versus effective UniParty system? 2) Do you believe we still have a genuinely Constitutional Representative Republic? 3) Do you believe we still have a nation genuinely operating under many centuries of "Rule of Law" norms? With the initial standards for those norms in place across "western nations" since the Magna Carta and later informing "Common Law", then further refined under the concept of "God-given Rights"? That were formally memorialized in the founding documents of this (still or was or barely-still is?) Constitutional Representative Republic and notably NOT a "Democracy", technically speaking - and that there is a quite noteworthy, material difference? What does everyone think? Respectfully, of course and ideally with your sharing some supporting facts and/ or independently verifiable evidence underlying your opinions in answering the above SURVEY questions, please. #surveysays

The Blueprint for Democracy Q3 update is here! When you give through the Fund this quarter, your contribution will support long-term Democratic infrastructure building and sustainable organizing efforts in seven Swing Left Super States: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. https://lnkd.in/gxxN4-Fy

Check out Urban Institute's recent summary of all the "Early Life Wealth Building Across the US" - the amounts at the age of graduation (18 for most) for the various Baby Bond and CSA programs across the country range from $145 to $21,000. How can we get more clear and nuanced in the difference between these varying product designs? How can we clean up our language to not call them ALL "wealth-building" accounts? When I think we would all agree that $145 is not wealth. For many that's a dinner out for two on a Friday night. Check out page 3 of this report: https://lnkd.in/etHDbsNs

"The new?Brilliant Futures program?will give two cohorts?of Bradbury Heights?students?— from?the classes of 2037 and 2038 — $1,000 each year from?kindergarten through their senior year of high school if they remain in the Prince George’s school system. After the students graduate or earn an equivalent diploma, they can use their earnings to continue their?education, buy a home or start a business, or roll the money over?into a?retirement?fund. The savings account program is supported financially by the Greater Washington Community Foundation." A few thoughts: ?? How do we start to differentiate between programs that are providing $10,000+ in capital vs. child savings accounts that are only providing a one-time deposit of $100? When Will Hall and I were dreaming up a Philadelphia CSA program we were trying to push the conversation away from just providing hope through small deposits, but how do we provide a meaningful amount of money to young people. ?? This effort is completely funded by Private Philanthropy. So here to set a little reminder that there are over 1 Trillion in assets sitting in Private Philanthropy. ?? This program still falls into the neo-paternalistic view that something needs to be earned or deserved, when in the past capital and land were given to white people without such barriers. ?? Would love to see us move away from restricting the funds to be used for education, homeownership etc. given 13 years from now the state of our economy might be very different? AND the conditions need to be right for these assets to become wealth-building opportunities.

Excerpt: Project 2025, a scheme led by the Heritage Foundation to “take the reins of government” after former President Donald Trump or another?MAGA Republican becomes president, is backed by more than 100 right-wing organizations. The project’s harmful agenda and destructive operational plans have generated significant?critical?media?coverage, to which Heritage has responded with snarky commentary that confirms the organization’s identity as a propaganda arm for the MAGA movement. Project 2025 is a detailed policy agenda and action plan meant to advance two different long-term goals. One?is a libertarian-leaning effort to gut federal agencies from within and limit their ability to regulate corporate behavior and protect the climate. The other is an openly authoritarian plan to empower the president to dismantle checks and balances, impose his will on the executive branch, use federal agencies to punish his critics and enemies, and deploy the power of the government to enforce the religious right’s “traditional” views on?abortion, family, sexuality, and gender.

Governments provide the parameters for everyday behavior for citizens, protect them from outside interference, and often provide for their well-being and happiness. https://www.ushistory.org ? gov 1a. The Purposes of Government - USHistory.org

Branchform. With the recent revelations that the ludicrous (but very damaging) 'SNP stamps' story was a load of baloney, along with further revelations that the whole 'surprise-black-hole-in-finances'was ALSO a load of unsurprising balderdash, how long is this OTHER tremendouly expensive charade going to be allowed to spin-on for? As yet ANOTHER BBC 'celebrity' is discovered, but will escape justice, as parts of the UK Burn (and not because of the Heatwave) and as the true horror story of David Milliband's ex- girlfriend and Alex Salmond now gets laid bare, how long does Scotland have to endure this other prolonged Web of deflecting deceit for? Isn't it time to call a halt to insidious, bogus propaganda and claptrap like this and focus on the REAL stuff? Is it right to STILL keep on with this, when the Post Office and Covid Inquiries are clearly showing who the REAL Criminals are but they are simply allowed to walk free? It's gone beyond a bout of joshing and 'chippy Jock', 'whataboutery'. It's time to try and surmise, what the ACTUAL story is? The UK is an enabler of a morality-free zone. What's a 'criminal' now, in the UK?