There are no worker rights in Texas. There are lawsuits for those that can afford them, which in most cases is none.

Last Updated: 06/24/2013

Texas Partnership for Legal Access

www.texaslawhelp.org

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS (click here)

I.What employment rights do undocumented workers have?

With only a few exceptions, all workers, including those who are undocumented, have the same basic employment rights as other workers, regardless of their immigration status. There

are several different laws which provide for these rights. This section will provide a general summary of some of these laws....

We know Texas is a human rights abuser. The rights undocumented workers have in Texas is provided by federal laws. There are no Texas state laws that protect people from work injuries or abuses of any kind, documented or undocumented. And forget about health insurance.

There is a reason for that. What poor and low income people have money for lawyers? The answer, none. So, why pass laws that hack away at profits when those dependent on work have no power in the first place. 

One of the laws mentioned by the list of so called rights of undocumented workers above are the laws that protect or at least seek to protect migrant workers. There is no surprise there either, it is a federal statue.

The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) (click here)

That is the place where our 43rd President called home. He was even governor there. When he sent the troops into battle in Iraq they didn't even have armor sufficient to protect them. 

If you want the USA to be a shining example of human rights and stewardship of higher values, it's leaders have to reflect that as well. 

And what is Florida doing to be proud of?

Published time: November 08, 2013 22:29
Edited time: November 08, 2013 23:06 

A panel of Florida lawmakers (click here) heartily defeated Thursday a measure to repeal the state’s Stand Your Ground law, though it did approve legislation to expand the law’s protection to those who fire a warning shot.

The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee killed the bill by a vote of 11-2 after a five-hour hearing attended by around 300 people, according to The Miami Herald.
 
Many in attendance signed up to opine on the controversial law that cast a long shadow on the recent case against George Zimmerman, the community patrol volunteer who was eventually acquitted for the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin....

Kindly excuse the indelicate words, but, Florida's Stand Your Ground Law has turned the state into Baghdad, except the shooter gets to fire a shot into the air while yelling, "Run, N*g$r, Run!

I guess homelessness is such a diffuse reality there is inconsistency in reporting it.

This is a report by PBS.

Week of 6.26.09
  
...How is the recession affecting homelessness? (click here)
The recession will force 1.5 million more people into homelessness over the next two years, according to estimates by The National Alliance to End Homelessness. In a 2008 report, the U.S. Conference of Mayors cited a major increase in the number of homeless in 19 out of the 25 cities surveyed. On average, cities reported a 12 percent increase of homelessness since 2007.
Although homelessness is a difficult number to measure definitively, it appears that more people—especially families—are sleeping in shelters, living in their cars, and taking up residence in tent communities....

Yet, this is a chart from USA Today siting improvement in homelessness. (click here) This chart is interesting, but, everyone remembers the effects on homelessness with the 2008 global economic collapse; tent cities. The chart does not reflect an increase in 2008 and 2009, it shows a continued decrease. Odd.
 

And the description of the homeless in this July 2009 report is hardly accurate. There are many families living out of a car or worse. So, while these circumstances are dealt with on a city by city basis, the overall understanding of homeless and the way to decrease it and/or eliminate it is not consistent. 

Published by the National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009 (click here)

...On an average night in the 23 cities surveyed, 94 percent of people living on the streets were single adults, 4 percent were part of families and 2 percent were unaccompanied minors.  Seventy percent of those in emergency shelters were single adults, 29 percent were part of families and 1 percent were unaccompanied minors.  Of those in transitional housing, 43 percent were single adults, 56 percent were part of families, and 1 percent were unaccompanied minors.  Those who occupied permanent supportive housing were 60 percent single adults, 39.5 percent were part of families, and .5 percent were unaccompanied minors (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2008)....

This report is out of a conference of mayors in the USA. Is the reporting more political or more the case of denial?

Would the world exist today without the Non-Proliferation Treaty?

The New York Times has a graphic that is basically Iran Enrichment 101. (click here)
Iran needs to be serious about oversight, because, if they violate the agreement it will be the straw that broke the camel's back. No insult intended.

Iran today has enough enriched uranium and centrifuges to produce fuel for a weapon — a nuclear breakout — in between one and two months, according to a study by the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based group that has been skeptical of Iran’s peaceful claims. Despite Iran’s ability to produce fuel quickly, according to the study, it would take additional time to make a reliable warhead for a missile.

I am not familiar with the ISIS, (click here) so I can't sincerely accept their assessment. The IAEA is the authority most countries recognize in relation to compliance by any nation in regard to their nuclear capacity in energy and otherwise. I see no reason to escalate tensions. As example is Syria and the willingness of it's government to disarm from chemical weapons. It was a very pleasant surprise and that is how this works. It is how diplomacy achieves it's goals. The invasion into Iraq is not diplomacy, nor prudent foreign policy. Diplomacy is suppose to work. War is the result of failed diplomacy. So, if those involved with Iran are coming to an agreement, that is a very pleasant surprise and is what is suppose to happen. It is also a great of hope that will change the relationships of nations in the Mideast as well as The West.

I don't expect Israel to embrace any of this, simply because they have been the focus of sincere threat by an Iranian President. I realize the new President is more than anxious to stop any hostilities, but, that still doesn't erase what has happened in less than a year ago. It is up to Iran's Foreign Minister and President Rouhani to begin talks with Israel to normalize relations. It won't happen overnight, but, it should happen. There should be movement toward that mutual respect and recognition in the future. I am sure Palestine is on the lips of President Rouhani, but, he also needs to realize the sooner there is a healthy relationship with Israel, the sooner those words regarding Palestine can be part of a dialogue. 

I do expect Israel to respect the decisions of the global community. I don't expect Israel to act without reason, either. 

There are documents established July 1, 1968. They mean something. 

AGREEMENT BETWEEN IRAN (click here) AND THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY FOR THE APPLICATION OF SAFEGUARDS IN CONNECTION WITH THE TREATY ON THE NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

When one considers this has been going on since 1968 and Iran doesn't have nuclear weapon capacity, the previous documents seemed to have sustained their importance to date. I know the Iranian Revolution occurred in 1979, but, that doesn't mean it dissolves Iran's sovereign authority, including treaties and debt.

Iran is in the situation it is in because of extremist actions and words. The overthrow of the Shah set the country into a definition of rouge nation. Yet is was The West imposing the Shah on this Shi'ite nation as the true authority, a monarchy in the face of their own democracy. President Ahmadinejad never made peace easier and Bush practically declared war on them. It is now a matter of trustworthiness. It is up to Iran to prove it's peaceful intentions realizing the five nuclear nations would rather reverse the trend in nuclear arms stockpiling. 

It was the damn oil that set everything in motion so long ago, but, every nation bought into it. It sincerely makes no difference, the nuclear power is a blight on this Earth. It is that which is most dangerous and requires adherence to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty is clear. Nuclear weapons are only permitted among the five nuclear nations outlining the balance of power in the world. All other nations were entitled to peaceful use of the technology. The reason the non-proliferation treaty was initiated was because of the strongly encroaching reality of human annihilation.

The Middle East must be nuclear free and Iran has to adhere by the treaty. The tensions between the nations of ethnic and religious bias has to be settled between those nations, but, the determination of nuclear capacity is dictated by a larger global community. 

Iran has to resign itself to conventional weapons and seeking to be a neutral nation that is a homeland to it's people. This will be a good beginning for Iran to redefine it's right to exist and it's desire for quality of life for all it's people.

...“There are important gaps that have to be closed,” Mr. Kerry said upon arrival in Geneva, seeking to temper rising expectations that a deal was close.

“I want to emphasize: there is not an agreement at this point in time,” Mr. Kerry told reporters at his hotel. “There are still some important issues on the table that are unresolved.” 

But the mere fact of Mr. Kerry’s presence here suggested that the United States believed that a deal was within reach, and that it required higher-level participation to resolve the remaining issues.

Mr. Kerry was meeting on Friday evening with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who oversees the multiparty negotiations.... 

There are talks ongoing between Saudi Arabia and Iran to share technology and eliminate fossil fuel energy production. There is every indication Iran has plans for peace and not mutual annihilation.

 Updated September 2013) (click here)

• Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years at a cost of more than $80 billion, with the first reactor on line in 2022.
• It projects 17 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2032 to provide 15% of the power then, along with over 40 GWe of solar capacity.

In December 2006 the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Oman – announced that the Council was commissioning a study on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. France agreed to work with them on this, and Iran pledged assistance with nuclear technology.
Together they produce 416 billion kWh per year (2009), all from fossil fuels and with 5-7% annual demand growth. They have total installed capacity of about 90 GWe, with a common grid apart from Saudi Arabia. There is also a large demand for desalination, currently fuelled by oil and gas....
In February 2007 the six states agreed with the IAEA to cooperate on a feasibility study for a regional nuclear power and desalination program. Saudi Arabia was leading the investigation and thought that a program might emerge about 2009....

To complete the picture of peace's potential is to realize Israel and Palestine have to come to terms with each other and allow the Palestines to have a homeland no different than Israel.

The actions by Iran to be a part of a larger picture in a way that is benevolence adds brevity to the agreement regarding it's commitment to Non-Proliferation. 

The Red States need the website as the other states have their own website.

The Republicans have no right to complain. They gave that up when they refused Medicaid expansion and refused to provide their own state exchanges and websites. They have no moral authority to complain about any aspect of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is the people that need their health care insurance. It is them that is important.

Nov. 6, 2013 at 9:39 AM ET
Maggie Fox, NBC News 

The Chief Information Officer (click here) for the agency running the troubled health insurance website has resigned, officials confirmed on Wednesday -- but they wouldn't say whether he was a casualty of the messy rollout.
Tony Trenkle, the CIO for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "made a decision that he was going to move to the private sector," CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille told reporters.
Members of Congress have been calling for someone to be fired to take responsibility for the embarrassing debut of the centerpiece of health reform -- many even calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to resign. Bataille would not say whether Trenkle had been asked to resign....

HealthCare.gov (click here)

I still don't understand what Sebilius was thinking. She hired someone who had been fired by Canada. I just shake my head. She had like no clue how ruthless this industry has been? Not the computer industry, although there is plenty of that, but, the healthcare insurance industry. She is disconnected, or at least she was, from the reality of why this law was passed in the first place. I would have never provided waivers for anyone. She states she has served as an insurance commissioner. It seem to prepare her so much as oriented her to why pandering to insurance companies are necessary.

I have doubts about ENDA's effectiveness.

November 5, 2013

Posted by Richard Socarides
On Monday, (click here) the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill which would prohibit discrimination in employment based upon sexual orientation or gender identity, successfully passed its last procedural hurdle on route to final consideration in the Senate. Its passage, later this week, is now all but certain. Seven Republicans have joined fifty-four Democrats in supporting the bill. But, hours before the Senate vote, House Speaker John Boehner signalled that Republicans in the House would block it....

With Democrats throughout the House and Senate, President Obama signed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (click here). It is hard to believe this legislation was necessary in the USA, but, it is even more starkly alarming it took the first African American President to see it through to law. It says something about the deep seated hate in the USA regarding minorities.

There are two specific reasons I see ENDA falling short of expectations. If ENDA is passed into law it will receive challenges to the Supreme Court as a contradiction to EEOC and the Right to Work Laws. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) (click here)
This law makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate applicants' and employees' sincerely held religious practices, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business....

This is going to be hard to write as well as hard to read by some, but, I do believe this is the course of the legislation.

This is The Equal Rights Amendment (click here) in it's entirety.

Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1921 by suffragist Alice Paul. It has been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in the above form in 1972, but was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. It was ratified by thirty-five states.

No different than the repeated Amendments to the USA Constitution to bring African Americans their rightful place and equity in this society, the Amendments have always fallen short of their promises. It is the politics of hate that have kept the minority and/or women's population disadvantaged to their potential.

Women and minorities are still second class citizens in the USA. The word sex is interesting as manipulated in the legislation of the USA. It is a word the Right Wing hangs on to in order to defeat equality. The EEOC has always been a target of the Right Wing, so let's finish this.

When Speaker Boner states he believes there is already legislation that states all the obvious need for ENDA he is referring to the word sex in the laws of the EEOC. When average Americans think about the word 'sex' it is usually in reference to gender as in boy and girl, "What is the sex of the child?" or the act of making love, "We had some of the best sex in our lives."

But, when the Right Wing thinks of the word sex is takes on a different character. I am pleased Boner actually showed 'the truth' of his political biases and that of his party. 

The word sex when 'interpreted' by the Right Wing is a code word for homosexual. One of the reasons the EEOC is disdained by the Right Wing is because it is believed the law can actually uphold the rights of the LGBT community. It was a known bias used against the ERA. The fear mongering that existed when the ERA was making the rounds as an amendment to be passed by two-thirds of the states is that the word sex would allow 'the homosexual' the rights of 'normal people' and there would be no protection from them teaching in the public schools.

There are people in the country that have a great deal of success by hating 'the career woman' and 'the homosexual' and 'the black. ' It works. It is a very successful strategy to drive those fearful of these 'ghosts of the American soul' to the ballot box. 

There is nothing that is going to stop the south from 'dealing with people' on it's own terms. There are those hate groups and individuals that believe the USA is a White/Caucasian Christian Male Dominated culture and that should never change. Therefore, when a Gay Man was to invoke his rights under ENDA it wouldn't work, because, in the south an employer regardless of the size of the company, if they don't like you for any reason you lose your job. It is a paradigm that maintains 'social order' in the south and oppresses the average person, be they man or woman, white or black, gay or straight.

The USA's economy is based in capitalism. The Right Wing would like it to be pure capitalism that even runs any government structure while collecting legislated taxes to pay the private sector to perform the functions of government. In the south, the economy is that of the impoverished dependent on federal monies. That has been the case for a long time. The only rights more southerns have are federal laws, therefore, the stronger the federal legislation to provide human rights, yet alone citizen rights is a threat to the social order and would result in the fall of the financial political base of the Right Wing.

ENDA was backed by the Late Senator Kennedy, a white guy from Massachusetts with a big heart that had no desire to understand any of the hate of those inclined to invoke it. The legislation is exceptionally noble, as was his style. But, to believe ENDA would perform to it's written potential in states where hate means political success is unrealistic. It would fail the LGBT community in the same way as all the constitutional amendments have failed the African American community and suffrage has failed women. The vote for African Americans and women have not carried out it's promise of sincere equity.

You don't have to take my word for it. Here it is again. Fear mongering for the purpose of political success in Texas.

November 7, 2013

The Lone Star State(click here) is suing the Obama administration in Lubbock, Texas, federal court over what is considered a law that compromises public safety and workplace security, according to a statement on Thursday by a public-interest law group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and out-and-out criminal allegations... 

So, Texas not only uses illegal substances to kill their death row inmates, enjoys the status as the state with the most death row inmates dead; now is seeking to oppress those that have served their sentences and are seeking to make themselves whole to regain a life that will see them to economic viability. 

The reason the US House believes ENDA is not necessary is because it is just sex after all. No different than man and women are opposite sexes, the homosexual is it's own sex, right?