Why you need to vote for Heather Arnet for PA State Senate (37th District)

The Reasons to Vote for Heather Arnet
On the Issues:
First of all, Heather has an actual issues page--Guy doesn't! You can see her positions on issues related to the workplace, education, taxes, healthcare & services, the environment, rights & representation, and more. She's particularly committed to fighting to:

- Attract high quality jobs to our district;
- Strengthen retirement security for seniors;
- Ensure we provide property tax relief for the middle class and seniors;
- Fully fund our school system and make high-quality pre-k available to all;
- Provide safe, affordable healthcare for our families that includes women making their own healthcare decisions.

Bio:
Professionally, she's worked to increase rights and opportunities for working families as the CEO of the Women and Girls Foundation, as well as serving on the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Education. She's also won numerous awards and has frequently appeared in both the local and national media.

Bonus Points:
A piddly 18 percent of the 253-member PA General Assembly are women. That earns PA the ignoble distinction of ranking 39th in the nation for the percentage of women in our state Legislature. We are grossly under-represented! (Also where the clever "We don't need another guy in Harrisburg" line comes from in her above ad.)

Additionally, knowing Heather personally, I can certainly vouch for her as a passionate and genuine person and fighter for rights for all.

The Reasons Not to Vote for Guy Reschenthaler
On the Issues:
As mentioned above, Guy has no issues page or, hell, even a paragraph on his website. You are meant to vote for Guy because he's a great American! He touts being "a son of western Pennsylvania" and "born here and raised in the values and traditions that make our region great"!

But you can get to where he stands on some issues by looking at his endorsements which include an anti-choice group and, not one, but two separate pro gun groups (just in case you didn't already know he was a Republican).

Bio:
Reschenthaler is running primarily on his bio. The headline of which is "Iraq War Veteran | Former District Magistrate | Former Navy Prosecutor" and then the repeat about the whole "son of western Pennsylvania" thing, tradition, values, etc.

Penalty Points:
Oh, my, where to start? While Guy and the Republican Party have labeled Heather as an "extreme liberal," Guy's actual extremist values would make the Tea Party stand up and cheer, while going so far as to possibly embarrass the more enlightened members.

It seems that Guy used to host a conservative podcast in 2013 called "The Sound of Freedom with Hig and Resch," along with his co-host, Carl Higbie. They discussed topics like taxes, immigration and gun control and had on Tea Party members and Oath Keepers as guests.

It's worse than you may imagine. While his co-host made the most disgusting comments (“You cross my border, I will shoot you in the face” and “The black race is lazier than the white race” and "I don't like Muslim people"), he made them with Guy's name on the show and in some cases with little push-back. Guy himself said that people on government assistance are "abusing the trust the government." Guy calls Social Security and Medicare “scary,” because “we can’t cut them if we wanted to.” He says that they “turn our government into an entitlement generating machine."

If you can stomach it, you can hear and read more clips at http://guyreschenthalerpa.com as well as this from Keystone Progress:


Guy Reschenthaler: The Dark Side of Technology from Keystone Progress PAC on Vimeo.

So now ask yourself, not just "Do we need another guy in Harrisburg?" but "Do we need this extremist Guy in Harrisburg?"

And then, go vote for Heather Arnet. And, even if you don't live in her district, go sign up to help now through election day. And, throw some $$ her way.

You have just 24 hours left (Madame Presidentá: Why Not U.S.? Vamos Meninas!)

Last week the U.S. celebrated the birth of our country. It took 144 years after that birth for women to gain the right to vote. And 237 years after that first July 4th, we have yet to have a woman president. Meanwhile, right now there are four women presidents in the rest of the Americas (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Costa Rica).

Pittsburgh's Women and Girls Foundation (WGF) and ELAS Women’s Social Investment Fund in Rio de Janeiro are currently in the production stage of creating a documentary about women presidents. WGF CEO Heather Arnet is the writer and producer. But, they need your help NOW to bring it to completion:

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

This is getting exciting - we are really close to meeting our Madame Presidenta Kickstarter goal. For three years, WGF has been working with partners across the globe to create a film about female presidents that will debut on Pittsburgh's own WQED this fall, tour college campuses, and inspire girls for generations to come! 

Now, we need your help to take this project over the finish line. If we can raise $25K by 5:00pm this Saturday, July 13th - we will receive all the funds and be able to complete the film! But, if we are short by even $1 - we won't recieve ANY of the money! Not even the funds pledged by the 90 people to date. Kickstarter is all or nothing. 

Click here to watch the trailer, be inspired, and MAKE YOUR PLEDGE TODAY. 

P.S. If you need an extra dose of inspiration, click here to watch what two ten year old girls are doing this week to help the campaign too!

If you'd rather make your pledge offline or via check, call (412) 320-6334 today.

Let's make this happen!

7th Annual Equal Pay Day Rally TODAY!

 

Via Facebook:

 

7th Annual Equal Pay Day Rally 2013

Public · By The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania
 

TODAY! Tuesday, April 9, 2013, Noon

Market Square, Pittsburgh

210 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
 

Equal Pay Day 2013  

The time has come, Equal Pay Day!!! The Women & Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania (WGF) will hold a rally in Market Square on Tuesday April, 9 2013 at 12noon. Equal Pay Day is the annual day when groups organize nationally to raise awareness of the gender wage gap throughout the country. Tuesday April 9, 2013 symbolizes how long it takes for women to catch up to men’s wages from the previous year. While men earn their wages in 365 days, on average it takes women 483 days. Nationally, women make an average of 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. In Southwest Pennsylvania women make an average of 75 cents on the dollar The goal of this day is to raise awareness around wage discrimination against women and people of color, to bring together a community of like-minded individuals, and to inform the community of upcoming events.  

Join us at lunch time in Market Square for our Resource Fair, Inspirational Speakers and much more……

Ps. Don’t Forget to Wear RED on Equal Pay Day to symbolize how far women and minorities are "in the red" with their pay!

Equal Pay Day Rally 2012: Economic Justice for All (Today!)

From Women And Girls Foundation:

"WGF will host Equal Pay Day Rally 2012: Economic Justice for All in Market Square on April 13th with organizing partners, New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice (NVP) and the American Association of University Women Pennsylvania (AAUWPA) to raise public awareness about equal pay, and the need for economic justice for all to reduce poverty."

Equal Pay Day Rally 2012: Economic Justice for All
When: Friday, April 13th from 12:00 – 1:00pm
Where: Market Square, Downtown Pittsburgh

Equal Pay Day Rally!

Via the Women and Girls Foundation:

When the Women and Girls Foundation first began efforts to raise awareness of the wage gap and remedy this issue in Southwest PA, women were making less than 70 cents for every dollar a man was making. Since then, WGF has worked with city and county leaders throughout the region to pass wage equity legislation and to support the issue of fair pay for women. Now, in 2011, women are making 75 cents to a man's dollar. We have made change happen in our region, but there is still significant work to be done in Southwest PA and throughout the state to close the gap for women in Pennsylvania.

Equal Pay Day is commemorated annually, when groups organize nationally to raise awareness of the gender wage gap throughout the country. This day, each April, symbolizes how long it takes for women to catch up to men's wages from the previous year. While men earn their wages in 365 days, on average it takes women 483 days. Nationally, women make an average of 80 cents for every dollar a man makes and in Pennsylvania, women make 75 cents per dollar.

Hundreds of women and men have attended previous Equal Pay Day rallies. This year WGF is partnering with local organizations to bring you Equal Pay Day activities in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties!

See listings below to learn more about the activities being planned for your community, and plan to join us as we rally for Equal Pay in Southwest Pennsylvania.

Allegheny County
Partner: YWCA Greater Pittsburgh Center for Race and Gender Equity

Tuesday, April 12 from 12:00 to 1:00pm Market Square Park, Downtown Pittsburgh

Rally Featuring local corporate, nonprofit and business leaders, and representitives from the Allegheny County Regional Change Agents

Equal Pay Bake Sale* (hosted by the Allegheny County Regional Change Agents) Baked goods will be available for purchase. To help illustrate the wage gap, men will be charged $1 per item, and women will be charged 75 cents

A Second Equal Pay Bake Sale* will be held at Alderdice High School (hosted by the Allegheny County Regional Change Agents)

Rallies and Protests and Press Conferences, Oh My!

Looks like folks are awakening to the assault on, well, everyone (who isn't super rich)! Women, children, union members, the middle class, the working class and the working poor, public transit riders -- unless you're Donald Trump -- the Republicans have some plan to screw you.

We're not "special interests" when we are the majority!

Please attend any of these that you can:

THURSDAY, 2/24/11
Impacts of Proposed U.S. Budget Cuts on Pittsburgh Jobs & Families Press Conference (This is for the media)
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: WGF Office, Landmarks Building, 100 W. Station Square Drive, Suite 315
WHAT: Via press release [edited]: "Women and Girls Foundation hosts. Southwest PA organizations, their local workers and service recipients, would be directly impacted by the drastic cuts included in H.R. 1 which slashes billions of dollars of funding resulting in the elimination of millions of jobs and services for working families in our region. Federal programs impacted range from early childhood education and college financial aid to nutritional assistance for infants, veterans housing, public broadcasting, and reproductive healthcare. It eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and it defunds the implementation of health care reform and EPA pollution enforcement. It now moves to the Senate for vote later this month. Representatives from the following organizations will speak: Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, Fair Housing Partnership, Just Harvest, WQED Multimedia, Women’s Center & Shelter, PennFuture, Planned Parenthood, Adagio Health, The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Community Services, Action United, ACLU Pittsburgh, SEIU, Women’s Law Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, and Health Care for America Now. (Members of the media are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend.)"

MoveOn / Democracy for Pittsburgh: Invest in America!
TIME: 11:30 AM;11:45 AM
WHERE: Gather @ Aldo Coffee Shop, 675 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), PA 15228; Proceed to Office of Rep. Murphy, which is at 504 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), Pa 15228
WHAT: "We are going to go to Rep. Murphy and let him know that cutting billions from funding health care, education, and science will do nothing to turn our economy around, but it will hurt the other 98% of us that are barely getting through the worst recession since the Great Depression. We will go to the office of Rep. Murphy with our Invest in America message, and share our personal stories of why we need support for our broken economy and communities." Please RSVP for the event by clicking on the link below: http://pol.moveon.org/event/invest2011/112639

“Fighting For the American Dream” Rally
Stand in Solidarity with the Wisconsin Workers
TIME: Noon (lunch provided)
WHERE: USW International HQ, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5 Gateway Center, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: "Our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states are in a fight for the very survival of their jobs and their union. This is our moment to stand and show solidarity with them and let their Governor and the extremist organizations financing these attacks know: WE STAND TOGETHER! "


FRIDAY, 2/25/11
People's Rally For Public Transportation
TIME: 8:30 - 11:30 AM
WHERE: Mellon Square Park, 6th & Smithfiled, Downtown Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: Protest the drastic cutbacks in public transit.


SATURDAY, 2/26/11
Rally to Save the American Dream, Harrisburg, PA
TIME: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Steps, 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA 17101
WHAT: "Americans who believe in the right to organize are standing up on Saturday. It's time to stop the dismantling of organizations opposed to the right wing agenda."
RSVP: http://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=112822&is_manage=1

Honors for Women in Media

Photo by @eileenss; event hashtag: #wgf
As I first blogged about here, the Women and Girls Foundation held a celebration on Saturday honoring Women in Media.

From the Post-Gazette:

Each year the foundation recognizes local women in a different sector of society who are making strides as innovators in their fields. The philanthropic group, founded in 2002 and dedicated to achieving gender equity in the region, in the past has honored women in science, sports, law and other areas.

I was very honored to be a member of the host committee.

The P-G article, naturally enough, focuses on honoree Post-Gazette columnist Sally Kalson. At the event, I went up to Ms. Kalson and shared a story with her. Back when the late Fred Honsberger had a TV show on PCNC, I was a frequent caller (as you might imagine, I took the opposing view on nearly everything). During one program, Fred was ranting about liberals and at one point he said, "It's liberals like Lynn and Sally and Maria..." (meaning Lynn Cullen, Sally Kalson and me). Along with feeling proud to be in such good company, I also thought that if Ms. Cullen or Ms. Kalson had heard that, they must be thinking, "Who the hell is Maria?"

The evening was lovely. Girls from the Women and Girls Foundation introduced each honoree by explaining how the person had inspired them (you can see the full list here).

The keynote address was given by Abigail Disney (award winning filmmaker and grandniece of Walt Disney). Disney's film Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which documents a peace movement called Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace who became a political force against violence and against their government, was screened that night. Disney will be producing a series about the effects of war on women and children for PBS.

It was also great that the Women and Girls Foundation made a real effort to include new media in both the honorees (Cynthia Closkey, president of Big Big Design, co-founder of PodCamp Pittsburgh and developer of iTwixie.com) and the host committee (I heart PGH, Ms. Mon's Salon, CivicsLab and The Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society). They also ran a slide show on a loop of the history of women in blogging put together by The Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society on flat screens and laptops scattered around the party site and in the main screening room.

And, most notably, they awarded a Special Award of Distinction to Virginia Montanez "for her innovative use of social media to raise awareness of the need for local political reform, and her critical role in rallying public support to save the orphans of the BRESMA orphanage earlier this year in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti."

It needs to be said that this event also serves as a fundraiser for the foundation, so if you didn't get a chance to attend, you can still donate to all the good work that they do here.
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Women and Girls Foundation Honors Women in Media

And, that would include new media.


The Women and Girls Foundation is celebrating Women in Media on Saturday, November 6th at the August Wilson Center (more info/RSVP here).

2010 Honorees:

Cynthia Closkey, President, Big Big Design, Co-Founder, PodCamp Pittsburgh, and Developer, iTwixie.com

Elaine Effort, Radio Newscaster, KQV Radio

Heather Starr Fiedler, Creator, PittsburghMom.com, New Media Professor, Point Park University

Vanessa German, Multi-media artist, writer, sculptor, performer and photographer

Lauren Lawley Head, Editor, Pittsburgh Business Times

Mary Robb Jackson, News Anchor, KDKA-TV

Sally Kalson, Columnist, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Beverly Morrow-Jones, Executive Director of Marketing, VisitPittsburgh

Debbie Norrell, Lifestyles Columnist, New Pittsburgh Courier

Cindy Skryzcki, Journalism Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Heide Waldbaum, Technical Production Manager for the film AVATAR, Visiting Professor, Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute

Shaina Wallace, Hip Hop Artist, High School Student at Winchester Thurston

Carolyn Wean, Retired Media Executive

Rosemary Welsch, Radio DJ, WYEP

Special Award of Distinction:

Virginia Montanez, Blogger and Writer @ That's Church and Pittsburgh Magazine

If you notice from the graphic above, quite a few members of the host committee are bloggers -- including me.
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April 20th: Equal Pay Day Rally in Pittsburgh

Via the Women and Girls Foundation:

April 20th is National Equal Pay Day. This day symbolizes how much longer a woman has to work to earn the same amount of money that a man has earned the previous year. Nationally, women earn about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns but in Pennsylvania women earn only 75 cents while in Pittsburgh they earn even less: 74 cents.

Every year the Women and Girls Foundation organizes a rally downtown to mobilize the community on the issue of gender wage gap. Here is the information for this year's WGF Equal Pay DayRally:

2010 Equal Pay Day Rally

WHEN: April 20, 2010, 12 noon to 1pm

WHERE: Mellon Square Park (the park between the Regional Enterprise Towers and the Omni William Penn Hotel)

To learn more about WGF: http://www.wgfpa.org/ Questions? info@wgfpa.org

You can RSVP here.

More Vigils and Some Remarks From Last Night's

There are two more vigils scheduled for the women who were killed or injured at the Collier shootings. The Post-Gazette has the details here.

They also covered yesterday's vigil in downtown Pittsburgh. In that article they featured some quotes from Heather Arnet, the executive director of The Women and Girls Foundation. I believe her remarks last night bear repeating in full:

Good Evening. My name is Heather Arnet and I am the Executive Director of The Women and Girls Foundation.

We have come together today to lend our prayers and supportive words of strength and sympathy to the families and victims of the Collier gym shooting.

We are here to honor the passing of three incredible women, to share our sympathies with their families, and to pray for the full and speedy recovery of the nine other women whose physical wounds are still being treated, and whose emotional scars will be felt for many more years to come.

We have come together as a community to provide each other the space and support to begin the grieving and healing process. But we also come together to speak out against this hate crime perpetrated against women in our community.

This tragedy should be a wake up call to this community – and to our nation - that we need to engage in a robust and courageous conversation about how women are treated and portrayed in our communities, in the media, online, and in our homes.

From the limited information we know about the shooter, we know that this was not a random act – this was an intentional premeditated act of violence, a hate crime whose perpetrator targeted his victims for the sole fact that they were women.

Tonight, we are heartbroken, we are angry, we are terrified, we are desperately sad, and we are committed to work together as a community to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Several weeks ago, a Harvard University Professor was arrested in his home and that single act inspired a national conversation about race in America.

Nearly every day we open our newspapers and read that a woman has been killed by her domestic partner. While the Collier shooter did not know any of his victims, this gender motivated crime, should inspire all of us to speak courageously about how we as a society respond to violence against women, how we can invest in more preventative efforts, early intervention strategies, and how we can develop strong sensitive men out of our boys and how we can create a world where none of our daughters need to feel afraid.

We will hear from others now, who will lead us in prayers and remembrances...

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Candlelight Vigil on Thursday for Victims of Collier Shooting

WHAT: Candlelight Vigil for Victims of Collier Shooting
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 6th 5:30-6:30 pm
WHERE: City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (map)

From the Women and Girls Foundation:

Candlelight Vigil to be Held Thursday, Aug. 6th 5:30-6:30pm
at City-County building for Victims of Collier Shooting
Community Groups and Public Officials will gather to offer prayers to families.
PITTSBURGH- The Women and Girls Foundation is organizing a community candlelight vigil to be held in the portico of the City-County Building in Downtown, Pittsburgh, Thursday August 6th at 5:30pm to offer support and non-denominational prayers to the victims and families of the Collier Shooting.

“We are organizing this vigil so that we can join together as a community to send collective prayers to the families of the women who were killed and the women who are still in critical condition, as a result of this horrific and violent act against women,” said Executive Director Heather Arnet. “From the murderer’s own blog and note, it is more than evident that the focus of his rage and violence was women. This vigil is intended to send strength and prayers to the families who are grieving and for those women and their families who are hoping to heal from this horrific event.”

All members of the community are encouraged and welcome to attend. Participating in the vigil will be representatives from the Foundation, local elected officials, the National Organization of Women, National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburghers Against Domestic Violence, local victims service agencies, and many other community organizations. All are welcome.

Also participating in the vigil will be members of Women and Girls Foundation’s Regional Change Agents, a diverse group of 15 teen girls and 15 adult women from Allegheny, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, who have come together to engage in civic advocacy in their communities to support women. The tragic events of Tuesday night have moved the Allegheny County team of Regional Change Agents to call attention to the inexcusable acts of violence against women within our community and beyond it.

More information about the Women and Girls Foundation can be found at http://www.wgfpa.org/

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Equal Pay Day Rally

WHAT: The 2009 Equal Pay Day Rally
WHEN: TODAY! Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at Noon
WHERE: Mellon Square Park in Downtown Pittsburgh map
SPONSOR: The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania
RSVP: info@wgfpa.org


County to study gender wage gap:

Studies have consistently shown that women make about 20 percent less than their male peers in the workplace nationally, Ms. Arnet said, and in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, they make about 30 percent less.

[snip]

This afternoon's rally will be an important reminder for both proponents of equal pay and for regional elected leaders, said Elizabeth Waickman of the Women & Girls Foundation.

"Ensuring fair wages means ensuring women and girls are equally valued in the work force and our region," said Ms. Waickman, an organizer of the rally. She added that Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and County Council and City Council Presidents Rich Fitzgerald and Doug Shields will be the key speakers, among others.

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EQUAL PAY RALLY

From the Women and Girls Foundation:

Did you know that southwestern Pennsylvania has one of the most dramatic wage gaps in the country?

Nationally, women make 80 cents for every dollar that a man earns.

In Pennsylvania, women earn 73 cents per dollar.

In southwestern Pennsylvania, women only earn 69 cents for every dollar that a man makes.

We will work for equality...will you?
Join us for an Equal Pay Rally and make your voice heard!

April 25 - Noon - Market Square

Women and Girls Foundation
http://www.wgfpa.org/

This year's speakers (in order of appearance) are:
Cecile Springer Board Member, Women & Girls Foundation
Ayana Ledford Exec. Dir. of PROGRESS @ CMU Heinz School
Tiona Jones Ellis student, PROGRESS intern, Teen Council leader/Reign of Aquaria game
Monica Shaw High School Student, Teen Council leader/Reign of Aquaria game
Rich Fitzgerald Pres., Allegheny County Council
Vivien Luk Gtr Pgh Non-Profit Partnership
Magdeline E. Jensen Executive Director, YWCA
Susan Nitzberg Incoming Pres., Nat'l. Council of Jewish Women
Esther Bush Exec. Dir., Urban League
Heide Tappe Representative for State Rep. Chelsa Wagner
Sen. Jim Ferlo State Senator
Jeanne Clark Representative of NOW
La'Tasha Mayes Representative, New Voices Pittsburgh
Betsy Magley Chair, PA Commission For Women
Karen Myres Representative, Executive Women's Council
Ed Gainey Representative for Mayor Ravenstahl
Doug Shields President, Pgh. City Council
Bill Peduto Pittsburgh City Council member
Rose Bonesso Working America
Frances M. Wright Pres., SWPA Coalition of Labor Union Women
Kim Ellis Activist
Sara Radelet Executive Director, New Hazlett Theater
Vanessa German Poet, artist, activist
Sala Udin Executive Director CORO
Deborah Lyles Student representative, Chatham University
Liz Rincon Executive Director, PA League of Young Voters
Celeste Taylor Rep. Black Political Empowerment Project
Joanne Quinn Smith President Nat'l Assn. Bus. Women (NAWBO)
Heather Arnet Executive Director, Women & Girls Foundation

ALSO:
The Women and Girls Foundation invites you to join them today through Thursday, (April 24th), in Market Square, from Noon to 1:00 PM. They will be raising awareness about the need to wipe out the wage gap once and for all.

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