The National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC) Launches First-Ever Campaign Focused on Women and PTSD: #HealMeToo

Image via the #HealMeToo video (HealMeToo.com)

At a time when so many sexual assaults survivors are coming forward to be heard with #MeToo, the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC) wants to ensure they have the resources to be healed.

The #HealMeToo campaign is intended to raise awareness about the alarming fact that women who are raped or assaulted have a 94% chance of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, according to RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization.

To highlight the fact that a high percentage of sexual violence survivors experience PTSD symptoms, NOW's campaign will launch on the opening day of Thank You for Your Service, a Dreamworks feature length film which features the story of a soldier's journey struggling with PTSD upon his return home from the war in Iraq.

The #HealMeToo video will air in 7,000 theaters nationwide this Friday, October 27th and will tell a "war story" unlike any that we're used to hearing.

"The aftermath of what sexual assault survivors experience is not well enough understood by the public. Survivors, women and men, often suffer in silence and shame," said Sonia Ossorio, president of NOW-NYC. "The purpose of this campaign is to make the connection that PTSD goes unrecognized and untreated for far too many sexual violence survivors."

• As part of the campaign, NOW is launching www.healmetoo.com, a microsite with information and resources for sexual assault survivors and members of their support network who may be suffering from PTSD.

Jodi Omear, Vice President of Communications for RAINN, underscores the importance of this campaign; "Each year thousands of survivors are faced with PTSD as a result of sexual violence. The effects of these crimes are long lasting, and it's important that we all support survivors at all stages of recovery."

"We hope that by educating the public about the long-term effects of sexual violence on individuals, their families and communities, we as a society will see the urgency in addressing and preventing sexual assault and healing its victims," Ossorio said.

Image via HealMeToo.com

About NOW-NYC:

NOW-NYC works to promote reproductive rights, secure women's economic empowerment, and end discrimination and violence against women. Through our Take Rape Seriously NOW Initiative, we work to help survivors of drug-facilitated sexual assault, to strengthen policy that impacts survivors, to defend the Violence Against Women Act, and to challenge rape culture.

The Video:

SOURCE: National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC)

Long Out-Of-Print Collection "All Day Thumbsucker Revisited", Documenting The History Of Blue Thumb Records, Revived On Eve Of Legendary Label's 50th Anniversary Next Year

Long out-of-print collection "All Day Thumbsucker Revisited," documenting the history of Tommy LiPuma and Bob Krasnow's legendary Blue Thumb Records, is now available as a 2CD set

From 1968 to 1978, Blue Thumb Records was one of music's most adventurous and imaginative record labels, with a far-ranging roster of cutting-edge acts and an unconventional visual sensibility. Nurturing an eclectic assortment of artists from a wide variety of genres, Blue Thumb embodied the restless creative spirit of the era in which it was born, reflecting the emerging attitude that albums were worthy of being taken seriously as artistic statements.

Blue Thumb's expansive musical vision was anthologized on the 1995 label retrospective All Day Thumbsucker Revisited. Today, October 27, Verve Records/UMe is releasing the long-out-of-print collection, originally compiled by Gary Katz, known for his work with Steely Dan, in an updated two-CD edition on the eve of next year's 50th anniversary of Blue Thumb's founding. The first in a projected series of releases to celebrate the revered label, the CD set offers 32 vintage tracks spread across two discs, while the digital edition, due November 10, marks the first time this collection will be available as a digital download and for streaming. In showcasing Blue Thumb's influential artist roster, the album also honors the iconoclastic musical vision of late label founders Bob Krasnow, who died on December 11, 2016, and Tommy LiPuma, who passed away on March 13, 2017. 

• The album is available for purchase here

Danny Bennett, President & CEO of Verve Label Group comments, "With the release of All Day Thumbsucker Revisited, we are so proud to honor Tommy LiPuma and Bob Krasnow by celebrating their Blue Thumb Records legacy and the incredible music they curated, all of which is well represented on this must-have collection."

Blue Thumb Records' diverse artist roster included avant-garde hero Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band (whose rejected band name provided Blue Thumb's handle), Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex, soul icons Ike and Tina Turner, hitmakers the Pointer Sisters, retro-swing hipsters Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, venerable rockers Dave Mason and Leon Russell, psychedelic savants Love, boundary-pushing future star Sylvester, avant-jazz icon Sun Ra, rap progenitors the Last Poets, Gypsy jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó, spoken-word innovator Ken Nordine, British imports Mark-Almond and the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, jazz greats the Crusaders, Luis Gasca and Philip Upchurch, and blues legends Albert Collins, John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Junior Mance—all of whom are featured on All Day Thumbsucker Revisited.

Along with 30 tracks from the original album, the 2017 edition of All Day Thumbsucker Revisited features two additional tracks by Buddy Guy and the Pointer Sisters. In addition to the above-mentioned artists, the album also includes a track by veteran pianist-journalist Ben Sidran, who also provided the original album's liner notes, which are reproduced here in their entirety.

The first Blue Thumb label was black with white print. The Blue Thumb logo was in blue inside an arched window above the center hole. (Via bsnpubs.com)

Bob Krasnow had already been president of the King and Buddah/Kama Sutra labels when he formed Blue Thumb Records in 1968. Recruiting like-minded A&M Records producer Tommy LiPuma and A&M marketing executive Don Graham, Krasnow set out to build a record label that would reflect his own freewheeling sensibility as well as the increasing influence of album-oriented radio.

As Joe Sample of the Crusaders observed, "LiPuma and Krasnow were young and vibrant men with a tremendous love of music. And they also had the expertise to back up that love. And they started signing all kinds of bands. It was the new image in music, and I think it was the best kind of image that we ever had in the music business.

There was a sense in the air of a lot of adventure," Sample notes. "The music business was making big, major changes; the newfound FM airwaves meant there was suddenly a whole new branch of radio stations that played music that would never be played on an AM station. Blue Thumb was one of the first companies that realized this new set of airwaves was important for music."

Commenting on Blue Thumb's early days, Sidran recalled, "They were running it, literally, out of three rooms. And they were making records that were consciously counter to what was going on. And nobody had done that... Krasnow was going out of his way to do something different."

That "something different" can be heard throughout All Day Thumbsucker Revisited, whose vintage grooves affirm the timeless brilliance of Blue Thumb's enduring musical vision.

Blue Thumb Records Logo

ALL DAY THUMBSUCKER REVISITED TRACK LISTING
Disc One
1. Only You Know and I Know - Dave Mason
2. The City - Mark-Almond
3. Put It Where You Want It - The Crusaders
4. A Song For You - Leon Russell
5. Stimela (Coaltrain) - Hugh Masekela
6. By The Light Of Magical Moon - Tyrannosaurus Rex
7. Yes We Can Can - The Pointer Sisters
8. Darkness Darkness - Philip Upchurch
9. Son Of Mirror Man – Mere Man - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
10. Sugar on the Line - The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation
11. Little Mama - Luis Gasca
12. Canned Music - Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks
13. Riffin' (A.K.A. A Motif Is Just A Riff) – Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Junior Mance
14. I've Been Loving You Too Long - Ike & Tina Turner
15. Fat Jam - Ben Sidran
16. Southern Man - Sylvester and the Hot Band

Disc Two
1. Delta Lady - Leon Russell
2. Shiver 'n Shake - Albert Collins
3. Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave - Dave Mason
4. Blackbird - Bossa Rio
5. Ride A White Swan - Tyrannosaurus Rex
6. I Scare Myself - Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks
7. The Everlasting First - Love
8. The Frog - Joao Donato
9. Safe As Milk - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
10. Breezin' - Gabor Szabo
11. Sitting on the Outside - John Mayall
12. Images - Sun Ra
13. Bird's Word - The Last Poets
14. Roger - Ken Nordine
15. How Long (Betcha' Got A Chick On The Side) – The Pointer Sisters
16. So Far Away - The Crusaders

SOURCE: Verve/UMe

NewPCgadgets Introduces The 2017 Trump Tweety Bird Christmas Tree Ornament

Trump Tweety Bird Christmas Ornament 2017

NewPCgadgets introduces the 2017 Trump Tweety Bird Christmas Tree Ornament, just in time for the Holidays.

With the combined silhouettes of a Bluebird and the current President, NewPCgadgets has created a one-of-a-kind Christmas tree ornament sure to be a conversation starter this Holiday season.

The new Trump Tweety Bird Ornament is designed to appeal to the disgruntled Democrats, demoralized Republicans and frustrated Liberals. Or, as NewPCgadgets says "About 85% of the population."

Priced at $7.95 each, the laser cut acrylic shape is made from 3/16" clear acrylic and stands 4 ½" high. NewPCgadgets also includes a red, white and blue ribbon to prominently hang the new ornament on the Christmas tree.

As an impulse, under $10 Holiday gift item, the Trump Tweety Bird Ornament provides a little levity in a highly charged political climate. 

• In addition to the Trump Christmas Tree Ornament, NewPCgadgets also offers the Trump Mousepad and the Trump Commander-in-Tweet Smartphone Stand, all for under $10.

Political statement and convenience stand all-in-one

• For ordering details and additional information visit NewPCgadgets today.

SOURCE: NewPCgadgets

Bonus Pictures:
(via NewPCgadgets)

Make America Great Again - Impeach Trump smartphone stand

Donald Trump Mousepad

Bonus Videos:

Life Among the Anishinabek of Northern Ontario

Mile Post 104 and Beyond (CNW Group/Robert Wells)

In this heartwarming memoir, retired non-Indigenous hunter, trapper and provincial conservation officer Bob Wells relives his early years learning about nature, hunting, fishing and life from his Anishinabek neighbours. 

Bob spent his youth at his parents' fishing lodge. At the age of eleven he successfully hunted an eleven-point buck. As instructed, by his dear friend Moochum Joe, he Honoured the deer with a traditional tobacco offering. Moochum presented 'Bobby' his first Honour Feather for the achievement and for community sharing. 

• He pursued hunting and fishing until just last year at the tender age of 80.

Through the staff who worked at the lodge, and throughout Bob's life, he saw first-hand how his Indigenous friends were treated differently by the church, schools, government and society at large. 

His father protected his Indigenous friends from the travelling priest who was charged with ensuring all Indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to Indian Residential Schools.

Moochum Joe told Bob to, when old, "draw words on paper to tell his kind about the mistreatment of 'Indians.'" Over six decades later, Wawahte was published and is one of only two books on the Assembly of First Nations' online "It's Our Time" curriculum package.

The book and a professional film documentary tell the stories of three Elders and their experience of residential schools. The book was endorsed by Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, Ambassador, Reconciliation Canada who travelled to Kingston to speak at the Documentary's launch.

Mile Post 104 and Beyond is Bob's first non-fiction title. This second edition has been revised and updated in light of the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

It also includes a new final chapter written by the author's grandson about the impact of a suicide within their family. It sends a message to all young people to seek help and support to deal with their mental health issues and life challenges.

Bob Wells

Bob Wells was recently awarded the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers by the Mayor of Kingston on behalf of the Governor General. The medal – one of Canada's highest civilian awards – honours a lifetime of civic involvement and dedication to the advancement of Canadian society. Mile Post 104 and Beyond is a special part of that legacy.

• For more information, visit wawahte.com.

SOURCE: Robert Wells

More Residential Schools Related Videos:

Indigenous-Produced Docu-Drama Series "1491" Reveals Untold History Of The Americas Before Columbus

1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus

The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) will present the world premiere of the docu-drama series 1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus starting November 8th on APTN East and HD at 7:00 p.m. ET, APTN West at 7:00 p.m. MT and APTN North at 7:00 p.m. CT. The series is also slated to air on ZDFE (Germany) and SBS (Australia).

Based on Charles C. Mann's best selling book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the eight hour miniseries, produced by Animiki See Digital Production of Winnipeg and Aarrow Productions of Victoria, takes its audience on a journey dating as far back as 20,000 years ago through to 1491. 

The series focuses on the origins and history of ancient civilizations and groundbreaking achievements in North and South America in the areas of agriculture, astronomy, architecture, environment, governance, medicine, technology, science, trade and art.

The series is produced, directed and written by Indigenous Canadians and most of the 35 historians, archaeologists and cultural experts interviewed have Indigenous ancestry. The series features 20 drama scenes and an Indigenous cast of actors that provide context on Indigenous history in the Americas.

Mann's critically acclaimed book dispels long-held theories that prior to European contact, Indigenous Peoples were largely nomadic, did not alter the natural landscape, and were not as advanced as other civilizations in the world at the time.

1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus

• Award-winning filmmakers, Barbara Hager (Cree/Métis) and Lisa Jackson (Anishinaabe), directed the series in locations throughout North and South America. 

• The series was written by Barbara Hager and Marie Clements (Métis). 

1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus docu-drama series logo
(CNW Group/1491 Productions Inc.)

• Other key creatives include composer Russell Wallace (Lil'wat), production designer Teresa Weston, costume designer Carmen Thompson (Nuu-chah-nulth), director of photography Bob Aschmann and narrator Dr. Evan Adams (Tla'amin).

SOURCE: 1491 Productions Inc.

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