politics

A Public center for feeding cats can create a warm place for street cats in Haifa, a thing that doesn't exist in Arab Neighborhoods in Haifa, help the cats and the ones voluntarily feeding them.

In the background of the  Swiss Government’s official photo for 2018, a UFO is beaming light onto the Parliament Building. Was this a teaser? Do you want to know what happens next? Switzerland needs our help. It wants to talk about UFOs but doesn’t know the best way to go about it without alarming the world. Are you ready to hear what the Swiss government has to tell you about UFOs? Please consider signing this petition. Switzerland is a small, neutral country that has nothing to fear from being open with the world. It has been a pioneer in many spheres and, once again, has an opportunity to shine a light internationally. By signing this petition, you are letting Switzerland know that we, the people of the world, are ready to listen. The more of us there are, the louder our voice and the easier it will be to hear us! Please sign this petition and let others know about it. Let’s work together to build a “beaming” future. It might even be fun! Thank you.www.ofc.best P.S. The first ever world congress to prepare for Official First Contact with our "galactic neighbours" will take place in Geneva, Switzerland on 10th & 11th November 2018. Join in and get a front row seat!

New York residents, natives and all friends to adoption reform: HELP NY ADOPTEES REGAIN UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES! PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE! Since the 1930s, New York State adoption records have been sealed. Sealing adoption records includes the denial of original birth certificates which hinder adoptees from knowing their origins and having equal opportunity to choose to seek other background information such as complete health history.  We believe that adoptees should not be denied heritage or treated as though they have a pre-existing medical condition (simply for being adopted) that is not consistent with current national initiatives to extend healthcare to all.  New York adoptees are being left behind. Adoptees who appeal to NY courts with medical, or other, concerns are routinely denied, and some have died without the benefit of proper healthcare. This is a blatant violation of basic human rights and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For over 20 years, NY lawmakers have been considering legislation for adoption reform. The law must be changed in New York as soon as possible. As of 2016, and now in 2018, nine other U.S. states offer unrestricted access to original birth certificates for adult adoptees.  Seven of the nine states enacted unrestricted birth certificate access / “clean” reform (Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Rhode Island).  The other two states, Alaska and Kansas, never sealed adult adoptee birth certificates.   In Oregon, judicial precedent was set by upholding unrestricted birth certificate access / “clean” reform: o  Oregon citizens approved a ballot measure for unrestricted birth certificate access / “clean” reform (1998) o  Oregon state courts upheld the ballot measure  (1999) o  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor helped, refusing to delay Oregon reforms (2000) http://articles.latimes.com/2000/may/31/news/mn-35829   We are fighting to make New York the next unrestricted birth certificate access / “clean” reform state: From 2003 – 2015, the NY Bill of Adoptee Rights would have allowed adult adoptees (18+) the right to a copy of their original birth certificate to help them know their origins and have equal opportunity to seek other information (similar to the other nine unrestricted birth certificates access states).  Birth parents would have been able to complete non-binding “contact preference” forms at any time to designate openness to contact from adoptees.  Sadly, in June 2015, the NY Bill of Adoptee Rights was weakened by some of the 22 member Assembly Codes Committee.  The amendments replaced unrestricted birth certificate access / "clean" reform with a process that would have begun with a court petition, followed by a bureaucratic and costly four month state-run intermediary birth parent search procedure. It then would have left tremendous power in the hands of judges who apparently would have retained the unfair option (“discretion”) to withhold birth certificate information (actually redact an adoptee's own original birth certificate); even in cases where a birth parent couldn’t have been found, or might have desired contact and/or to at least share their name with the adoptee! They are the same NY judges who have denied adoptees’ health history petitions for years and who remain PUBLICLY OPPOSED to any adoption reform upon grounds that have been repeatedly “debunked” here and in other states!  That proposal's costly and slow bureaucracy ignored the task of honoring the human and civil rights of NY adoptees.  Rights cannot be compromised. Happily, on December 29, 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo heard our voices and vetoed that amended, regressive bill! He has indicated that he would “…support legislative proposals that allow adoptees greater access to birth records.”  A Department of Health workgroup report was issued on April 30, 2018. https://nyadopteerights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ny-doh-adoptee-workgroup-report-final.pdf Happily, on May 10, 2018, Assemblymember David I. Weprin and Senator Andrew Lanza introduced important amendments to a “CLEAN” bill (currently A9959-B / S7631-B as of May 31, 2018) we currently support for 2018!    A9959-B / S7631-B + FEATURES INCLUDE: ·      Support for the general health and well-being of adoptees! And, now, with the added amendments: ·      OBC access for direct line descendants, or legal representatives, if the adoptee is deceased ·      OBC access for legal representatives  ·      Clarifying terms “commissioner” and “department” to ensure all adult adoptees will be able to complete an OBC request Adoptees in New York deserve to get adoption reform right the first time! We believe your voice can help encourage NY lawmakers to ADVANCE “clean” legislation now. PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION:  ADVANCE THE “CLEAN” NY BILL OF ADOPTEE RIGHTS! This petition will ask the New York Assembly and New York Senate to advance a “CLEAN” NY Bill of Adoptee Rights proposal, especially in light of the December 2017 veto for the prior amended proposal (begun in June 2015). PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THIS PETITION WITH OTHERS!  THANK YOU!

Friends of the Public, Many women have been harmed and have died prematurely or unnecessarily because of a routine but avoidable gynecological practice known as MORCELLATION. This world-wide practice has devastated many families for well over two decades now. More than 600,000 hysterectomies are done in the US every year. By the age of 70, one out of every three American women will have had a hysterectomy. About 90% of these surgeries are done for what is presumed to be a benign condition called fibroids. More and more of these surgeries are done with minimally invasive techniques.  Usually, to get the uterus out of the body using the "minimally invasive" technique, it is cut into small pieces with a machine called a morcellator.  However, a devastating problem happens if in fact the woman did NOT have fibroids – but if she actually had cancer.  Unfortunately, the tests that are done before a hysterectomy do not identify these cancers well.  Many gynecologists don't even bother getting any tests. In fact, morcellating cancer spreads the cancer inside the woman’s body.   This is called ‘up staging’ the cancer.  It is important to understand: 1) The average life span following accidental morcellation of sarcoma is only 24-36 months. 2) Only 15% of woman who have leiomyosarcoma (LMS) that has spread (stage 4) will be alive after 5 years. 3) Women with sarcoma who are morcellated are about 4 times more likely to die from sarcoma than if they had not been morcellated.  This is an avoidable disaster. This problem has been recognized for more than two decades.  A review of the literature, by the Food and Drug Administration, revealed that 1 in 350 women who go for fibroid surgery actually have sarcoma.  This means that everyday 2-5 women in the US – and more around the world are susceptible to having a deadly cancer spread because of morcellation. This catastrophic problem has happened in my family and we are fighting to stop this dangerous activity called morcellation.  A chance of 1 in 350 for such a devastating outcome is much too high to accept.  Women should be told the truth and the practice should stop. Please help us bring an end to spreading cancer with morcellation.  This is a totally AVOIDABLE practice.  People need to understand their options, which include hysterectomy through a mini-lapartomy incision or trans-vaginally – but – up until recently, most women never heard anything about morcellation or about the possibility of cancer upstaging. And, if they do, this risk is down-played by most minimally invasive gynecologists. We can tell you based on our experience, when cancers are spread by morcellation, the outcomes can be devastating - because the cancer is upstaged. We need your help. Please sign our petition so we can get the word out.  We want the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to change this "standard of care" by ending the needless waste of life caused by spreading cancer with morcellation. For more information and original references see: http://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/blog/onlinefirst/pages/post.aspx?PostID=188 ) (also see:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23189178) (also see:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21565389). The attached video below shows an example of morcellation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPkKw0j-aXE The following companies manufacture and distribute uterine morcellator devices: 1) ETHICON: Gynecare morcellator 2) Storz: Rotocut Morcellator 3) Richard Wolf Medical Instrumentation Company 4) LiNA: LiNA Xcise Cordless Laparoscopic Morcellator 5) Blue Endo MOREsolution Tissue Morcellator 6) Pneumoliner Power Morcellation System by Olympus Corporation. Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci Robot deserves special mention, as the frequency of robotic hysterectomies performed by minimally invasive gynecologists is currently on the rise across the United States. Note that Intuitive Surgical builds and markets the DaVinci robot, which is not itself a "morcellator". However, use of the DaVinci robot almost invariably appears to require that the uterus be minced up, or morcellated, into smaller pieces inside the woman's belly cavity in order to extract from the abdomen. A clear example is shown in the following YouTube video of DaVinci being used to perform a robotic hysterectomy and manually morcellating the uterus using the endo-wrist component of the robot (morcellation is being performed at minute 5:30 of the video).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6luiX6UQmg  Without morcellation using equipment manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, robotic hysterectomies would, likely, not be possible using the DaVinci Robot. It is noteworthy that the DaVinci robot does not appear to have a readily available warning label advising against its use to morcellate tumors with malignant potential inside the body. The company's Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Myriam Curet, a surgeon herself, has been informed and advised of this severe hazard in the use of DaVinci for robotic hysterectomy and the absence of a readily available warning label.