s'up?: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

help carly fleischmann get on larry king on CNN

"My name is Carly Fleischmann and as long as I can remember I’ve been diagnosed with autism.
I am not able to talk out of my mouth,
however I have found another way to communicate by spelling on my computer.
I used to think I was the only kid with autism who communicates by spelling but last year I met a group of kids that communicate the same way. In fact some are even faster at typing then I am.

Last year a story about my life was shown on ABC news, CNN and CTV here in Canada.
After my story was played I kept on getting lots of emails from moms, dads, kids and people from different countries asking me all sorts of questions about autism. I think people get a lot of their information from so-called experts but I think what happens is that experts can’t give an explanation to certain questions. How can you explain something you have not lived or if you don’t know what it’s like to have it? If a horse is sick, you don’t ask a fish what’s wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse’s mouth.

That is why I want to go on Larry King’s show on CNN, to be able to tell the truth and secrets of living with autism. But I need your help. My goal is to get five thousand signatures in two weeks for my petition to be on CNN with Larry King.

I know what you are thinking, probably the same thing my mom and dad are……it’s impossible. But if I have learnt one thing over the years of having autism, it is that anything is possible if you just believe. It’s just when you don’t believe, that’s when you don’t succeed.
So I need you to believe and sign my petition page and go into your email and tell all your friends you believe and get them to sign my petition and maybe, just maybe they’ll do the same thing and before you know it we will have all five thousand signatures.

My aunt’s friend set me up with a twitter page so you can follow my journey to sit and talk to Larry King. Thank you for believing in me as I believe in all of you.

Your optimistic and excited friend,
Carly Fleischmann"

siiiiiiign the petition here

Monday, March 30, 2009

save canada's public broadcasting

avaaz.org

Canada’s media networks have all been slammed by the recession. But the government is reportedly considering bailouts for its friends at private companies CTV and CanWest, while forcing the CBC to drastically cut 800 staff and programming.

Our CBC is a national treasure, and a pillar of public-interest journalism in a country whose media is owned by a few large firms. We won’t hear an outcry from their media outlets, and the CBC is too principled to use its megaphone to make the case for itself. We are the only voice the CBC has.

We urgently need a massive public outcry to Save the CBC, click below to sign the petition and forward this email to everyone who might care about this:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_cbc/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

The petition will be delivered directly to the government, through Parliament, ads, and stunts such as an airplane pulling a giant Save the CBC banner over Ottawa. In each case the number of signatures on the petition will be crucial to the effectiveness of the campaign, so let’s get as many people as possible to sign.

The CBC is facing a budget shortfall that amounts to just $6 per Canadian, but its request to the government for a bridging loan to cover this was denied. The deep cuts the CBC is making will damage the organization across the board, and they will not be the last. If we don’t stand up for the CBC now, it stands to die a death by a thousand cuts. Harper’s minority government is politically vulnerable – public outrage could turn the government around on this, but it has to happen now. Let's move quickly.

With hope,

Ricken, Lisa-Marie, Laryn and the whole Avaaz Canada team.