In just 10 days, the nation's largest political event will be held right in SAFER's backyard. We need your help to take advantage of it.
About 15,000 members of the media from around the world are expected to descend on Denver next week for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. As the international spotlight is being cast on the Mile High City, SAFER will be doing everything possible to draw attention to its message, the vast progress we have made in the convention's host city, and the growing support for marijuana policy reform around the country. 
Things got rolling last week with a column from SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert featured in the Denver Post, discussing the upcoming convention and the hypocrisy in how marijuana and alcohol are treated in this country. However, to implement the rest of our DNC plans...
We NEED Your Help!
Please click here or visit http://www.SAFERchoice.org/donate today and make a tax-deductible donation to help SAFER create the materials we need to get our message out during the DNC.
Would you give $5 to see a story in the New York Times that highlights how marijuana is SAFER than alcohol? An interview on MSNBC? A segment on the Daily Show?
For every $5 you donate, SAFER will be able to hand a member of the media a professional-appearing folder emblazoned with "How to Have a SAFER 2008 DNC." Each folder will include:
Tips on how to have a SAFER DNC, highlighting the host city's status as the first in the nation to remove all legal penalties for the private use and possession of marijuana by adults.An envelope addressed to the City of Denver for those media members who get cited by police for making the SAFER choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol to enhance their convention experience. We hope to draw attention to the recent change in city policy that made citations for marijuana possession a simple mail-in fine (much like a traffic ticket) rather than a mandatory court appearance. Of course we will mention that this this a good start, but does not go nearly far enough.
A time-line, fact sheet and news clippings, detailing the progress of efforts to reform marijuana laws in Denver, across Colorado, at the federal level, and in other cities and states around the country.Information regarding the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol, explaining why it makes absolutely no sense to punish adults for simply making the SAFER choice and push them toward using the more harmful of the two.
These folders will provide the media with everything they need to cover our issue during the convention, plus it will allow them to do so whenever is convenient for them, as there will be tons of other events and issues with whom we'll be competing for attention.
SAFER is powered by its supporters, and any amount you can donate will greatly increase our chances of generating some positive news coverage. So please visit our Web site today and make a tax-deductible donation of $5, $20, $50 or more, and be sure to forward this message on to others.
Volunteer in Denver During the DNC!
Along with needing help putting together the folders mentioned above, we need volunteers to represent SAFER at information booths at various demonstrations and events surrounding the DNC. If you can help us put together folders next week, or help distribute literature and Know-Your-Rights information and sign up new supporters during the convention, please contact SAFER Outreach Director Anne Catto at anne@saferchoice.org or 303-861-0033.
Other Marijuana Reform Events During the DNC
(These events are NOT sponsored by or affiliated with SAFER)
Thursday, Aug. 21 - THC National Convention
Conference: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Music/Comedy: 6 p.m.-Midnight
(Oriental Theater, Map)
Friday, Aug. 22 - March Against the Prohibition of Marijuana
Meet: 1:45 p.m. March Begins: 2 p.m.
(Meeting at Lincoln Park)
Thursday, Aug. 28 - Citizens for Safe Access Medical Marijuana Parade
Meet: 12:30 p.m. Parade Begins: 1:15 p.m.
(Staging at Lincoln Park, Map of parade route)
Yes Only Seven More Days Left!!! Until ....
Happy Barack Day
This is a one day event that will only occur once in this entire election. It is an event that each and every one of us can participate in in some way. I can't think of a better day for a donation than Barack Obama's birthday on August 4th.
Not only will it provide much needed help to him, but will be a direct honor to him on his birthday.
I really hope that together, we can make Barack's birthday on August 4th the single, biggest fundraising day in campaign history!
Read More »
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 21, 2008; 7:08 AM
BAGHDAD, July 21 --- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Iraq Monday morning on a fact-finding mission to discuss U.S.-Iraq strategy and American troop levels, issues that have become a cornerstone of debate in the presidential campaign.
Obama landed first in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where the Iraqi army, with support from British and U.S. troops, has recently wrested control from extremist militias. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee did not venture into the city proper, where about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers patrol the streets to keep insurgents at bay. Instead, he remained at the British military base outside town, near the airport, and met with top British, Iraqi and U.S. officials from the region.
Officials said Obama--part of a congressional delegation that also includes fellow senators and Iraq war critics Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.)--arrived in Basra at approximately 8 a.m. (The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad initially said the group had flown directly to the Iraqi capital from Kuwait, but later corrected that information.) The delegation remained at the Basra base for about three hours, receiving what British military spokesman Maj. Tom Holloway called a "situational update," then flew to Baghdad around midday.
In the capital, the delegation was scheduled to meet senior U.S. and Iraqi leaders, including Gen. David H. Petraeus, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Officials provided few other details of Obama's schedule, citing security concerns. The delegation began its trip with two days in Afghanistan, then flew to Kuwait, where the three senators met with Kuwait's emir, Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, and other senior officials, according to the official Kuwait News Agency. Obama, a first-term senator who is struggling to convince voters that he has enough foreign policy experience to succeed in the Oval Office, will also travel to Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain between now and the end of the week.
Read More »
Washington DC News.Net
Monday 21st July, 2008 (ANI)
Washington, July 21 : Website HealthMap has started to identify outbreaks of infectious diseases earlier than traditional methods, say reports.
It culls through new websites, public health list servs, the World Health Organizations' online pages, and other sites in six different languages to pinpoint outbreaks of disease that real-world doctors can then act on.
"We were originally thinking about how we could expand disease surveillance and pick up outbreaks earlier than traditional methods," Discovery News quoted John Brownstein of Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, who created HealthMap in September of 2006 with Clark Friefeld, a software developer at Harvard Medical School, as saying.
"It was a pilot project, a side gig for us," said Brownstein.
He has revealed that Google.org started to fund HealthMap about nine months ago, and then "all of a sudden, it just took off."
The website gathers information from the internet, and then filters it to remove duplicated or irrelevant information, he says.
Brownstein says that HealthMap can pinpoint an incident of bubonic plague in Siberia, for example, while ensuring that a "plague" of home foreclosures in northern California does not show up on the free access Google Maps.
JULY 19, 2008
Statement from Obama Campaign's Dr. Susan Rice in Response to PM Maliki's Support for Senator Obama's Iraq PlanBelow is a statement from Obama Campaign Senior National Security Advisor, Dr. Susan Rice, in response to Prime Minister Maliki's support for Senator Obama's Iraq plan... Senator Obama welcomes Prime Minister Maliki's support for a 16 month timeline for the redeployment of U.S combat brigades. This presents an important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility, while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in …CONTINUE READING
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