That Rotten Secret Smell

So, we will have a secret “trade” deal – despite the fact that most of us “joe and jane lunch buckets” whether Republican, Democrat or Libertarian don’t want it. 

Why don’t we want it? The answer is simple: We don’t know what it is. It is secret. We have been forbidden to review it prior, and now, even for four years after the thing metastasizes into a “law”.

Is it just me? Or, do you, too, smell something rotten?

As for me, I’d rather keep our Republic and our Constitution rather than let our own elected representatives, now blatantly the handmaidens of the global banks and corporations, run the clock backwards and remake us all into medieval surfs.

Just like all of us who served or are serving in the military, our elected representatives did swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Is that oath now just another piece of trash kicked to the curb?

What will we do now?

Oath of Office, U.S. Senate

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

App to Help Organize Workplace

O.K. Millennials and Boomers it is about time you got together. Millennials, known for speaking up for their rights in the workplace, and Boomers, known for correcting workplace imperfections —  such as equal pay for equal work, will soon be able to join forces using an App on their smartphones to help organize their workplaces.

"With digital journalists planning to gather in Louisville, Ky. to discuss unionizing (and attend bluegrass concerts) in October, the Century Foundation is seizing what seems to be a heated moment of virtual labor activism. The liberal think tank released a report today on new opportunities for online union-building — and called on app developers to get in on the action."

"Gathering support among colleagues has long been the basic building block of labor organizers, and seems ideally suited to be done over social networks and mobile devices. One organizing platform, Coworker.org, has already seen success in mobilizing workers via mobile, and is raising funds to build a dedicated app for the task."

“'If you can plan a party with an app, you should be able to organize a union,' wrote Moshe Marvit, a fellow at The Century Foundation and one of the report’s authors, in an email to BuzzFeed News."

"Given the methods some employers have used to delay union drives — harassment, threats, increased scrutiny, delaying tactics and retaliatory firings — the study’s authors argue an app could make the process considerably smoother. Union organizers wouldn’t have to come directly to a workplace, and an app would help counter what the report calls “the standard anti-union message that unions are ‘interlopers’ or ‘outsiders.’”

"Online communication gives workers privacy, so that they can get started quickly, Mark Zuckerman, president of The Century Foundation, told BuzzFeed News. That would be of particular advantage in signing up the critical mass of workers needed for the formal unionization process to begin."

“'With an app, workers could get 30% of the cards signed before the employers know what’s happening,' he said."

Please go here for the rest of the story.

World Medical Relief, Detroit’s Unsung Hero

Anyone who has lost a family member understands that along with the five stages of loss and grief come totally unsought worldly tasks, among them: clearing out clothing, home furnishing, medical equipment and supplies.

While there are lots of ways to dispose of clothing and furnishings, medical equipment offers a real challenge. Goodwill and Purple Heart will not accept wheelchairs, bathtub benches, etc. let alone valuable sealed and unopened supplies such as pads, dressings, tube feeding bags and cans of tube feeding formula. So a lot of valuable stuff ends up in the landfill.

I was a failure at sorting through and clearing out my mom and dad’s personal belongings. At the time, the task was just too great for me. Fast forward 21 years since my father’s passing and 12 years since mom passed, we were again faced with a loved one’s passing – Colleen’s mom.

After months of sorting and trips to Goodwill we were down to confronting the medical equipment. We had a room nearly stacked to the ceiling with equipment and supplies which no one would take. Still, we refused to toss all the stuff into the landfill because it was too valuable and very difficult to come by.

Then we discovered World Medical Relief (WMR).

World Medical Relief, a private not-for-profit organization, was born in 1953 in Detroit and… “operate(s) exclusively for charitable purposes, helping the poor, sick, and elderly on a local, national, and international basis.” The mission of World Medical Relief is to, “turn the sins of waste into the miracles of mercy by collecting and distributing medical supplies, medicines, and recycled medical equipment for the betterment of mankind”.

WMR's founder, a Detroit housewife, Irene M. Auberlin, mobilized her friends and family to collect food, baby clothing, cribs, and medicines to ship overseas to help a Korean War orphan. Her original goal, helping one little boy, “turned into a much larger mission: relieving the pain and suffering of an entire orphanage filled with 400 hurting children”. Later, Mrs. Auberlin and her husband Lester expanded WMR and “began collecting and distributing recycled medical and dental equipment, medical supplies, and medicines to aid thousands of sick and poor people around the globe.”

Today World Medical Relief is an approximately $36 million, 501(c)3 nonprofit, (calendar year 2013) operating several local and international programs, including: the Affordable Prescription Program, the Medical Supply Program, the Durable Medical Equipment Program, the Local Shipping Program and the Blanket Relief Program. WMR collaborates with and coordinates with a host of churches, service groups, medical missionaries, hospitals, doctors, medical labs.

From the WMR 2013 Form 990:
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS SHIPPED MEDICAL SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT, AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF INDIGENT PERSONS. ACTIVITY FOR THE YEAR CONSISTED OF 85 SHIPMENTS TO 20 COUNTRIES. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE HELP OF OVER 2,200 VOLUNTEERS PROVIDING MORE THAN 17,800 HOURS OF SERVICE.

LOCAL MEDICAL RELIEF PROGRAMS PROVIDED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO NEEDY AREA CITIZENS. DURING 2013, THESE PROGRAMS FILLED 22,104 PRESCRIPTIONS, LOANED 439 PIECES OF EQUIPMENT, AND FILLED 399 MEDICAL SUPPLY ORDERS FOR THE BENEFIT OF APPROXIMATELY 25,000 INDIVIDUALS. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE HELP OF OVER 2,200 VOLUNTEERS PROVIDING MORE THAN 17,800 HOURS OF SERVICE.

This August, World Medical Relief will move into new quarters in Southfield. Please take a look at World Medical Relief – one outstanding organization which is serving to help others in Metro Detroit and throughout the world. Please go here for more information: http://www.worldmedicalrelief.org/