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vcllichors · 8 years ago

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tujhko bhool jaun kaise || aaranya

general notes; this dumb idea spawned from something else entirely, and i just had to write it. i haven’t written anything this long in a while so i sincerely hope it doesn’t suck.

Tanya stood in her gallery, surveying the artwork before frowning. She thought she’d already asked the maintenance to fix the flickering lights in one corner of the display and they said that they had, so why was this light still flickering? She pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. The migraine medication remained in her bag untouched, despite having been prescribed it nearly a month ago. It didn’t matter that the doctor would be mad, would look at her with those pitiful eyes as she slid Tanya a name of a well-known psychiatrist. She exhaled, finally opening her eyes. There was work to be done.

The clicking of her heels echoed in the gallery, as she opened the blinds and flipping the sign on the door to OPEN. Most days she could rarely believe that she had her own gallery. It had been a dream that she had willingly let go of when she was due to be married to Aarav Roy – the only man she’d ever loved. Even now if she shut her eyes, the only face that appeared in front of Tanya was him. The ring he’d given her she still wore, maybe not on her finger anymore but in a slim silver chain as a pendant. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone but having the ring so close to her heart, constantly slamming against her chest made her feel as if she was still close to Aarav. Tanya’s hand reached up to clutch at the ring, a certain warmth seemed to spread through her – a warmth she only associated with Aarav. Her gaze fell to the window, to the rain pouring outside; its relentless pitter patter reverberated against the roof and even the windows.

Perhaps that was why she was clinging to the memory of Aarav today; days like this had always been his favorite. In fact, he’d asked her out on a day like this. Of course the rain in Delhi was much more torrential, with the ability of destroying everything in its path. A sardonic smile upturned the corner of her lips: no wonder Aarav liked the rain so much, he too was torrential, and he’d destroyed her. She remembered seeing him outside her uncle’s halwai shop, a windcheater over his head which did nothing to stop the rain considering he was drenched. She’d been working a shift, ladling various sweets and delicacies into boxes for impatient customers. There were beads of sweat forming at her forehead, which she used her forearm to wipe away. Her dupatta had been knotted across her body, the tiny red bindi determinedly stuck to her forehead. There was a wild look in her eyes as she tried to balance tasks that were clearly meant for multiple people. When she saw Aarav however, she smiled and looked back at her masi, eyes asking for permission to go see the boy.

The smile only grew when the woman nodded with a roll of her eyes and Tanya undid the dupatta, tossing it carelessly on her side. She reached into the display, grabbing a plate of moong dal pakoras with the famed pudina chutney that her uncle’s shop was known for. Her eyebrows furrowed when he nodded to one of the few tables that were covered by an umbrella. Tanya could see him mouthing something to her and so covering the plate with her hand, Tanya rushed over to where he was.

“Yeh li jiye Aarav ji,” Tanya teased, handing him the plate. “Fresh, just for you.” What she wouldn’t tell him was that she’d made them this time and hidden underneath the full sleeve of her kameez was a nasty burn she’d gotten from the hot oil while frying the pakoras.

“I want something else from you today. Karogi? Mere liye?” There was a sort of vulnerable look in his eyes, one that Tanya had never seen before; one that made her heart race faster than she ever imagined it could. Her resting pulse probably sounded like a drum solo or the dhol that would play in the streets during Lohri.

“What happened?”

“Go out with me.”

Tanya nearly spit out the pakora she’d been eating, “What?”

“Go out with me. For dinner.”

She hesitated; her heart was urging her on, telling her to say yes. How many times had she dreamed that he would come by the shop, and instead of asking for pakoras – he would finally ask her these same words he was saying now? Of course, in her head he said I love you before any of that, but this was a close equivalent. “Yes.”

If only Tanya had known that he would burst out into the biggest grin she’d ever seen: eyes all scrunched up and a crooked smile that had stolen her heart. She wouldn’t have hesitated for that millisecond. Of course if she knew then what she knew now, as she stood alone in an art gallery in Mumbai – Tanya wouldn’t have said yes either.

She heard footsteps echo around the gallery and turned; the force with which she was knocked out of her memory left her slightly breathless. A kind of breathlessness she only ever felt around Aarav. Of course Tanya had never imagined that she would come face to face with the same man who had plagued her thoughts, her memories ever since she’d left Delhi for Mumbai.

He looked much more different than she remembered; for starters there was the scruffy look he seemed to be pulling off with ease. Tanya had never really seen messy stubble on Aarav before, or even the floppy hair he was now sporting, strands falling constantly in his hair that he pushed back by tossing his head back. He was dressed differently too: a simple plaid shirt, scruffy, ripped jeans and a jacket bunched up in his hand. There was a large, oversized backpack she could spot peeking out from behind him, stuffed to the brim with god only knew what. His eyes were red, as if he hadn’t slept for hours and it didn’t slip Tanya that he was now wearing silver studs in his ear as opposed to the black ones he was always sporting when they had been together. And there was the hint of the tattoo on his forearm, peeking out from the rolled up sleeves.

“Hey stranger.” Aarav gave her a lopsided smile, one he knew she could never resist and gave a little wave.

God, it had taken her two words from him for her knees to go weak again and it took all the energy in Tanya to not smile back, to not fall back into their routine. “What are you doing here?” Her voice was harsh, choked even as she forced the words out of her mouth, her fists clenched. “Who even told you I was here?” Then the most important question, the one that was eating her away slowly. “Why are you here?”

Her pained voice pierced through the silence, through the distance between them as he stood at Point A in the gallery and she in Point B. All it would take to get to him would be a few steps, a few steps and another one of his smiles before she realized that he was the destination. He wasn’t just some point on the map, he had always ben the destination.

Aarav shrugged, his hands in his pockets as he walked around the gallery. There was an aura to him, one that had never been there before and one that someone could only acquire after spending so much time by themselves. Or if you were Aarav? Knowing how much of an effect he had on the girl in front of him. To Tanya of course, he struck her as a douchebag, or perhaps even too mellow. She wanted to scream at him, to force him to answer her question. And yet she didn’t.

He pulled out the newspaper from his bag, and Tanya detected that it seemed wrinkled, but at the same time perfect in its creasing. It was how she knew he’d picked it up at the airport. Aarav waved the paper in front of her, Tanya’s own picture glaring back up at her. “I thought you said you didn’t want this job? That you were happy to stay with me in Delhi?”

“Things change Aarav,” Tanya squeaked; her throat was already dry. She could focus on nothing but how close he was to her, how she could smell the hint of Fahrenheit wafting off him: a gift she’d got him on their second year anniversary.

In no time, Aarav had her pressed against the wall so tightly that he could hear her heart thumping in her chest; it beat so loudly, so clearly that he knew he already had his answer. She wouldn’t look at him however, her gaze on her floor instead. His fingers hooked under her chin as he forced her to look up at him. Another lopsided smile, a shake of his head. “Come on shona, who are you trying to fool? You know,” his voice lowered to a whisper, lips at her ear. “You know you’ll always be mine.”

She’d almost agreed, almost said yes and given in. “You’re insane,” Tanya let out, her voice ragged as she shoved him away. “Why now?” She let the words ring through the room before continuing, “Why do you suddenly remember that I exist? You seemed to have forgotten this fact when it was our wedding day!” Even mentioning it made Tanya feel as if she’d been punched in the gut, all the air forced out of her.

Aarav only frowned at that, hoping she’d forgotten, hoping that her anger had subsided over the two years since it had happened. He had obviously been wrong. “Shona I…” He broke off, unsure of what exactly he could tell her, what would mend her still broken heart. He obviously could not tell her that he had taken off to discover himself, that he had been fine up until the day of the wedding when the panic had suddenly kicked in. It gnawed at him, as did the insecurity – the insecurity that he wasn’t good enough for her. But things were different now, and he was here. He still loved her. That should have been enough.

Perhaps it was this reasoning that forced his hand as he surged forward, trapping the girl he loved against the wall once more. His one hand pressed against the wall next to her head as Aarav looked into Tanya’s eyes, searching for the love that he had always found, a weight lifting off his shoulders when it was still there. Of course the engagement ring glinting against her shirt should have given it off better than anything else. He heard her breath hitch, and leaned in – his lips against hers.

Tanya too kissed him back, already lost in him, already making excuses for him; he was back now. That was what mattered. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him even closer and only pulled away once they were pressed for air. She looked at him with that dazed look in her eyes, lips swollen and hair mussed.

“There’s your answer,” Aarav whispered, leaning in to kiss her again.

#otp: i only call you when its half past five #c; tanya sen #my writing*#opp: aarav roy #ranveersinghs

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gov-info · 6 years ago

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Roundup! Who’s Who at the State of the Union, 9p.m. ET (watch/listen/read: whitehouse.gov or c-span.org)

Speakers

President Donald Trump

Democratic Response (English): Stacey Abrams

Democratic Response (Spanish): Xavier Becerra

Attendees

Officials: Members of the House and Senate, the President’s Cabinet (with the exception of one planned absentee Cabinet member), Vice President, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, former Members of Congress, and members of the diplomatic corps.

Invited Guests (as of 2 p.m. ET)

President Trump/First Lady Melania Trump

Congress (via @RollCall) click below for list (as of 2p.m. ET):

Senate

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee: A.B. Culvahouse, Jr., Ambassador of the United States of America to the Commonwealth of Australia and a Tennessean.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin: Diane Whitcraft, a constituent with multiple sclerosis who stopped taking a drug after 23 years because she could not afford it.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey: Edward Douglas, who faced a lifetime sentence in 2003 for selling crack cocaine, but was released in January thanks to a criminal justice reform bill called the First Step Act passed by Congress in December.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois: Toby Hauck, an Aurora, Illinois, air traffic controller and Air Force veteran and one of the more than 8,000 Illinois federal employees impacted by the partial government shutdown.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York:Navy Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, a transgender service member and the president of SPART*A, an LGBT military advocacy organization focused on transgender military advocacy.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California: Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, an air traffic controller and a mother of three who lost her home in the Travis wildfire, and soon after went without a paycheck during the 35-day shutdown.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico: Former Pueblo of Acoma Governor Kurt Riley will attend to bring attention to how the shutdown adversely affected public safety, child welfare, and health care programs at Indian Health Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota: Bethlehem Gronneberg, founder and CEO of uCodeGirl.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine: Margo Walsh, the owner and founder of MaineWorks, a Portland employment agency, and co-founder of Maine Recovery Fund, which provides services for people in recovery for substance abuse.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota: Nicole Smith-Holt, a constituent whose son died because the family was unable to afford his insulin.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts: Varshini Prakash, executive director and co-founder of Sunrise, a movement of young people working to stop climate change.

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona: Isaiah Acosta, a 19-year-old rapper born without a jaw, who is an advocate for Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Networks Hospitals.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada: Dr. Michael Moradshahi, a second-generation American and licensed psychologist. Moradshahi served in the Department of Veteran Affairs and currently works in the Indian Health System (IHS) in Reno. He worked without pay during the partial government shutdown.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon: Albertina Contreras, a mother detained in solitary confinement and separated from her 11-year-old daughter Yakelin when she sought asylum from domestic violence in Guatemala.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio: Jamael Tito Brown, mayor of Youngstown, the beneficiary of a recent U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD grant.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada: Tanya Flanagan, a constituent and county employee who has survived breast cancer three times, who would be at risk of losing health care coverage without the Affordable Care Act’s protections for patients with preexisting conditions.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland: Lila Johnson, a grandmother and primary breadwinner, who has worked as a general cleaning services contractor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than two decades. As it stands, Johnson will not receive compensation for the 35 days the government was partially shuttered.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona: Maj. Bryan Bouchard, a retired Bronze Star recipient.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina: Pastor Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native who was imprisoned in Turkey, and his wife Norine Brunson. Brunson was arrested during a crackdown after a failed military coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He was released last year.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts: Sajid Shahriar, an employee of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development furloughed during the government shutdown. Executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3258, Shahriar organized rallies in Boston to urge an end to the shutdown.

House of Representatives

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona: Border Patrol Agent Art Del Cueto.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon: Blumenauer will not attend the State of the Union address, but has asked Nate Mook, executive director of the World Central Kitchen, to take his place. Word Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, provides food to people in need, and distributed meals to federal employees during the shutdown.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon: Alexandria Goddard, who helped organize Portland’s March for Our Lives while a student at Sunset High School. Goddard is currently a freshman at Portland State University.

Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Illinois:Tom Mueller, a soybean farmer whose income has taken a hit from trade policy under the Trump administration.

Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-California: Foodbank of Santa Barbara County CEO Erik Talkin, who distributed food to furloughed workers during the 35-day partial government shutdown.

Rep John Carter, R-Texas: Robert Chody, the Williamson County sheriff. Carter said in a statement that Chody was a U.S. Army veteran and served in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice before taking the helm in Williamson County.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-California: Ryan Hampton, an advocate who was able to receive treatment for opioid addiction only to see his friend die in a sober-living facility due to lack of training and resources. Hampton will argue Trump is ignoring the opioid crisis by obsessing over a non-solution.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island: Jamie Green, an air traffic controller at T.F. Green International Airport.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-New Jersey: Victorina Morales, an undocumented immigrant who worked as a housekeeper at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Virginia: Amer Al-Mudallal, a chemist and 22-year veteran of the chemical safety division of the Environmental Protection Agency. Both Amer and his wife, another EPA employee, were furloughed and missed their paychecks during the partial government shutdown.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minnesota: Katie Brenny, who Craig describes as a cattle farmer, businesswoman, and community advocate.

Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Florida: “Coast Guard family” Petty Officer Chris Gutierrez and Chelsey Gutierrez. Gutierrez is stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater.

Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-South Carolina: Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin, a Republican, who endorsed Cunningham over his GOP opponent Katie Arrington last year.

Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas: Laura Robeson, a mother and health care advocate from Prairie Village, whose 7-year-old son Danny was born prematurely and has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and cortical vision impairment.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Illinois: Taylorville Fire Chief Mike Crews, who was instrumental in the emergency notification and disaster recovery efforts when a tornado struck the congressman’s hometown on Dec. 1, 2018.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania: Jami Amo, a survivor of the 1999 Columbine school shooting. Amo became a gun safety activist after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year.

Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-New York: Michael Hickey, who exposed elevated levels of toxic PFOA chemicals in Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh after his father died of cancer.

Rep. Val Demings, D-Florida: Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Ralph Velez, a federal employee at Orlando International Airport who worked without a paycheck during the partial government shutdown.

Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Florida: Manny Oliver, who started the organization Change the Ref after losing his son Joaquin in the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, D-California: Charlene Downey, a retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas: Senaida Navar, a DACA recipient and an adjunct instructor at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York: Yeni Gonzalez Garcia, a Guatemalan mother separated from her three children at the Arizona border last year.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania: Justin Cangro, 16, whose 20-year-old brother Jared died of an overdose in July 2016.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tennessee: Gov. Bill Lee will join Fleischmann as his guest and meet with the entire Tennessee delegation.

Rep. Bill Foster, D-Illinois: Marilyn Weisner, executive director of the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry.

Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Florida: Kim Churches, CEO of the American Association of University Women, an organization that promotes education for women and girls.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida: Carlos Trujillo, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States. Gaetz tweeted Trujillo has been a “key advisor” to the Trump administration on Venezuela policy.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona: Beth Lewis, chair of Save Our Schools Arizona, an organization that advocates for strong public schools.

Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia, D-Texas: Devani Gonzalez, a DACA recipient who aspires to be in law enforcement but is hindered due to her immigration status.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine: Cynthia Phinney, president of the Maine AFL-CIO.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-California: Sandra Diaz, another former housekeeper who worked at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, as an undocumented immigrant. Diaz endured coercion, physical and verbal abuse, and threats of deportation from her supervisors there, Gomez said in a statement.Diaz, who emigrated from Costa Rica, is now a legal resident and does not have to worry her attendance will tip off U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-New Jersey: Annette Leo, the mother of two who have been diagnosed with Ataxia Telangiectasia, a rare, progressive neurological disorder.

Rep. Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico: Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Rep. Josh Harder, D-California: John Casazza, a Central Valley walnut farmer from Hughson and lifelong Republican. Recent Chinese tariffs are “significantly hurting his business due to the lowered demand,” according to a statement.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut: Lane Murdock, a junior at Ridgefield High School student and co-founder of National School Walkout, which organized a massive student protest in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia: Faye Smith, a member of 32BJ SEIU, a contracted Smithsonian security officer who was facing eviction because of the shutdown.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Maryland: Jacqueline Beale, Maryland state lead ambassador for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington: Lisa J. Graumlich, climate scientist and Dean of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington.

Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio: Chris Green, a police officer who nearly overdosed after being exposed to fentanyl during an arrest.

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Michigan: Cathy Wusterbarth, of Oscoda, who has advocated for all levels of government to more urgently address toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination that has been found in drinking water in her community.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa: Far-right Fox News personalities “Diamond and Silk.”

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois: Dixon High School Resource Officer Mark Dallas, who intervened when a former student started firing in the school auditorium last year.

Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pennsylvania: Darrin Kelly, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, firefighter and president of the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island: Stephen Cardi, the chief operating officer of the Cardi Corporation and president of Construction Industries of Rhode Island.

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nevada: Sergeant Isaac Saldivar, who served in the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq. Saldivar lost two years of G.I. Bill benefits when the for-profit college he was enrolled in closed.

Rep. Mike Levin, D-California: Lucero Sanchez, a DACA recipient, student in environmental science at UC San Diego, and former intern on Levin’s campaign.

Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Illinois: Chicago police officer Gino Garcia and advocate for the organization WINGS, which provides shelter and job training for victims of domestic violence.

Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa: Jeff Chapman, battalion chief of the Clinton Fire Department, who has served with the department since 1995.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California: Shaima Swileh, a Yemeni national, and Ali Hassan, a U.S. citizen, to spotlight the impact of the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban. Though their 2-year-old son is receiving treatment for a terminal genetic brain condition in the U.S., the couple struggled to obtain a visa for Swileh, his mother. After a public outcry, Swileh was able to visit the U.S. weeks before her son died. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., will also host the couple.

Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-New Jersey: Hing Foo Lee, brother of the late patient advocate John Lee, who was profiled in the Washington Post for his determination to vote in NJ-07 while dealing with stage IV cancer.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-New York: Sydney B. Ireland, a high school student who successfully lobbied to join the Boy Scout Troops and is now fighting to be officially recognized as a member with a rank of Eagle Scout.

Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah: McAdams will bring his brother-in-law Sam, who voted for Trump in 2016.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-California: Shaima Swileh, a Yemeni national, and Ali Hassan, a U.S. citizen, to spotlight the impact of the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., will also host the couple.

Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York: Jin Park of Flushing, Queens, the first Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient to be awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. Park is to study at the University of Oxford in England in the fall but fears he will not be permitted to re-enter the country.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Florida: A 15-year-old student, Uma Menon of Winter Park, the winner of the congresswoman’s State of the Union essay contest.

Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado: Elias, a DACA recipient and student in chemical and biological engineering, as well as biomedical engineering at Colorado State University. Elias emigrated from Mexico at a young age.

Rep. Donald Norcross, D-New Jersey: Robert Martinez Jr., who is the International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. Norcross has introduced a bill to grant federal contractors back pay for income lost during the shutdown.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York: Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy. Archila made national headlines last year when she confronted then-Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, in a Capitol elevator and challenged him to vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

Rep. Tom O’Halleran, D-Arizona: Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota: Linda Clark, who fled Liberia and found refuge in the U.S. two decades ago under Deferred Enforced Departure, but who faces deportation as soon as March because the Trump administration has shuttered the program.

Rep. Chris Pappas, D-New Hampshire: Pappas invited transgender veteran Tavion Dignard in order to call attention to the transgender military service ban.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California: The House Speaker’s guest list includes active duty transgender members of the military, Chef José Andrés, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and DNC Chair Tom Perez. The Leader’s other State of the Union guests are President Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO, President Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Mrs. Dorothy McAuliffe.

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine: Joel Clement, a former Department of the Interior policy expert and whistleblower, who alleged the Trump administration retaliated against him for speaking out about the threat climate change poses to Native communities in Alaska after department higher-ups moved the biologist into the accounting department.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin: Aissa Olivarez, staff attorney for the Community Immigration Law Center in Madison, a nonprofit resource center which helps low-income immigrants with legal services.

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-California: Kenia Yaritza Arredondo Ramos, a mother, DACA recipient and nursing student at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio: Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which represents General Motors workers at the Lordstown plant, one of five North American plants GM is closing.

Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Washington: Issaquah resident Jenell Payne Tamaela. Jenell was diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer in Summer, 2016. She has since become an advocate for better access to health care for people with pre-existing conditions, and lower costs of prescription drugs and health care coverage. Jenell and Rep. Schrier are two of an estimated 300,000 people with pre-existing conditions in the 8th District.

Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama: Tiphanie Carter, wife of Birmingham Police Sergeant Wytasha Carter, who was killed on duty last month.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan: Amanda Thomashow, a sexual assault survivor advocate. Thomashow, a former Michigan State University student, brought the first Title IX case against Larry Nassar at MSU in 2014, which led to an investigation and contributed to Nassar’s eventual firing from the university.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California: United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Logan Ireland, who served in Afghanistan and Qatar.

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida: Doug Lowe, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Federal Aviation Administration specialist at the Orlando International Airport.

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona: Ellie Perez, a DACA recipient, and the first undocumented City of Phoenix employee, the first undocumented member of the Democratic National Committee, and a former campaign aide.

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Michigan: Jean Buller, former teacher at Walled Lake Middle School, who recently retired after 30 years in the school district, and 2018 Michigan Science Teacher of the Year.

Rep. Norma J. Torres, D-California: Joe Rodgers, a Federal Aviation Administration Engineer Technician at Ontario International Airport.

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-New Mexico: Arlean Murillo, ambassador to the New Mexico Secretary of Education’s Family Cabinet and, as the wife of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, a volunteer with the Border Patrol Agent Family Network.

Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts: Lawrence Police Officer Ivan Soto, worked tirelessly during the gas explosions in his community last year, responding to fires even when his own house went up in flames.

Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan: Haley Petrowski, a cyberbullying prevention advocate and Adrian College student.

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Florida: Senior Chief Jeffery S. Graham, officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Ponce de Leon Inlet in New Smyrna Beach.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Virginia: Linda McCray, a constituent who works at the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center and was furloughed during the shutdown.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-New York: Commissioner Geraldine Hart, who previously led Long Island’s Federal Bureau of Investigations field office and gang task force.

#sotu #POTUS

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kemungkinan-blog · 7 years ago

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'Pelik! Bank tak terima duit syiling?' - Pengguna kesal 'disepak' seperti bola, alih-alih bank dan ASNB tak terima duit syilling

Beberapa hari lepas saya pergi ke C**B Bank untuk buka akaun ASB anak perempuan saya yang berumur 4 tahun. Cadangnya nak deposit sekali wang syiling yang dah penuh dalam tabung miliknya.

Saya tak ingat berapa lama dah dia simpan sikit demi sedikit duit syiling dalam tabung kesayangannya tu. Tapi boleh dikatakan, ada saja baki duit syiling lebihan saya atau isteri saya beli barang, sudah pasti dia akan mintak untuk diisi dalam tabung tersebut. Jadi bila saya bagi tahu yang saya akan simpan duit tabung dia yang dah penuh tu dalam bank, bukan main happy dan teruja nampaknya dia.

Jadi setelah nombor dipanggil, saya pun pergilah ke kaunter urusan di bank tersebut. Saya pun menyerahkan borang untuk buka akaun ASB dan borang deposit wang beserta tabung wang syiling milik anak saya tadi kepada kerani yang bertugas di kaunter.

"Mintak maaf encik. Kami tak terima duit syiling. Kalau encik nak masuk duit syiling, encik kena pergi ke pejabat ASNB sendiri" kata kerani tersebut sebaik sahaja nampak saya menghulurkan tabung wang syiling tersebut.

"Laa.. ye ke? Tak tahu pulak saya tak boleh. Sebab dulu-dulu saya masuk duit syiling tak ada masalah pulak," jawab saya sedikit hairan dengan polisi bank tersebut.

Memang saya hairan, kenapa pulak bank tak boleh terima wang syiling? Sedangkan wang syiling tu Bank Negara jugak yang keluarkan. Adakah wang syiling ni tak de nilai di sisi pihak bank sehingga mereka boleh tolak mentah-mentah begitu sahaja untuk deposit wang syiling. Memang saya betul-betul tak faham.

Agak sedikit kecewa juga ketika itu. Kalau ikutkan mahu saja saya bersoal jawab dengan kerani tersebut lebih panjang lagi. Tetapi disebabkan ketika itu saya ada hal lain yang agak urgent yang perlu diuruskan, saya pun keluarkan sahaja wang kertas daripada wallet saya dan berikan kepada kerani tersebut sebagai ganti kepada wang syiling yang tak berjaya didepositkan tadi. Terpaksalah saya "mengusung" balik tabung wang syiling anak saya tu. Rasanya ada dalam 3-4 kilo kot.

Sampai di rumah saya bagi tahu anak perempuan saya.

"Haifa, duit Haifa tak laku. Bank tak nak terima" niat saya saja nak menyakat dia.

Saya tengok air muka dia berubah. Mungkin sedih agaknya. Maklumlah dia punyalah teruja nak simpan duit dalam bank setelah sekian lama penat bersusah payah memenuhkan tabung kesayangannya itu, tiba-tiba hajatnya tak kesampaian sebab alasan bank tak boleh terima wang syiling.

Saya pun cepat-cepat pujuk dia dan kata "Tak, ayah dah simpan dah tapi ayah tukar guna duit ayah dulu," barulah dia nampak sedikit happy semula.

Saya ber "husnuzzan" mungkin bank tak boleh terima wang syiling tersebut sebab wang tersebut tak diasingkan. Jadi saya pun keluarkan wang syiling tersebut daripada tabung dan asing-asingkannya mengikut nilai masing masing di dalam plastik yang berlainan. Selepas tu saya kira dan catat jumlah setiap nilai wang syiling tersebut pada plastik.

Petang semalam saya cuba pula pergi ke pejabat ASNB sebagaimana yang diberitahu untuk masukkan wang syiling yang telah diasing-asingkan tersebut. Tetapi malangnya apabila sahaja sampai di kaunter urusan di pejabat ASNB, saya sekali lagi diberitahu oleh pegawai di kaunter tersebut yang mereka juga tak terima wang syiling. Ahh, sudah. Biar betul?

"Maaf encik. Kami tak boleh terima wang syiling. Kalau encik nak masuk wang syiling encik kena pergi ke bank" jelas pegawai yang jaga kaunter di pejabat ASNB tersebut.

"Encik, saya dah pergi ke C**B Bank, mereka suruh datang sini sebab mereka kata tak boleh terima wang syiling. Sekarang encik nak suruh saya pergi ke bank pula. Macam mana ni?" tanya saya tak puas hati.

Yelah, mesti semua orang akan rasa bengang bila kena 'sepak' seperti bola macam tu kan. Kita pergi sana dia suruh datang sini. Bila kita datang sini dia suruh pergai sana pula.

"Kenapa tak boleh terima duit syiling ye? Duit syiling ini dah tak laku ke? Kalau tak boleh simpan duit syiling, habis tu duit syiling ni nak letak mana?" tanya saya dan kali ini memang saya ingat nak bersoal jawab panjang sikit, maklumlah dah kena reject dua kali.

"Sebenarnya bukan kita tak terima duit syiling, tapi kita tak boleh process on the spot. Jadi, kalau customer nak, kita ambil masa 3 hari proses. Memang polisi kita macam tu" jawab pegawai tersebut memberi penjelasan.

"Kenapa lama sangat prosesnya sampai 3 hari tu? Bukan nak kira pakai tangan kot? Letak sajalah dalam mesin kira duit syiling tu. Lagipun saya dah asing-asingkan duit syiling ni," jawab saya masih tak puas hati dengan jawapan yang tak masuk dek akal yang diberikan oleh pegawai tersebut.

"Minta maaf encik. Memang polisi kita macam tu. Saya hanya menjalankan tugas sahaja" jawab pegawai tersebut ringkas. Mungkin sebab dia dah malas nak layan saya bercakap kot.

"Susahnya polisi sekarang bila melibatkan orang miskin dan golongan bawahan macam saya ni ye? Nak simpan duit sendiri pun susah. Yelah, duit sikit kot, syiling pulak tu.

"Cuba kalau orang kaya dan yang ada kuasa tu, juta-juta pun senang-senang je lesap. Senang pula nak bawa keluar dari bank. Tapi kalau melibatkan rakyat miskin, orang kampung dan golongan bawahan macam saya ni, macam macam polisi. Ini tak boleh, itu tak boleh.." bebel saya dengan sedikit perasaan geram. Macam jadi ceramah kempen pilihanraya pulak saya depan kaunter tersebut. Hehe.. saya tengok orang sebelah duk perhati saja.

"Cuba encik bayangkan, kalau orang yang datang jauh dari kampung, bawa tabung buluh penuh dengan duit syiling. Punyalah excited nak menyimpan di ASB sebab nak menyahut seruan kerajaan supaya menabung.

"Tiba-tiba sampai sini diberitahu tak dapat simpan sebab tak terima wang syiling, macam mana perasaan mereka? Atau anak kecil yang baru nak belajar menabung kan, penat-penat mereka simpan dalam tabung, tiba-tiba tak boleh simpan di bank sebab tak terima wang syiling. Macam mana perasaan mereka?" tanya saya masih tak puas hati dengan polisi yang pelik sebegitu.

"Macam inilah encik. Jika encik nak, kami boleh uruskan, tapi ambil masa 3 hari lah. Dan sebelum tu encik kena isi borang ni. Kemudian kena pergi mati setem hasil RM10. Kemudian datang balik sini." jelas pegawai tersebut.

"Pulak? Saya nak simpan duit saya sendiri, tapi saya pulak yang kena keluar duit extra untuk pergi mati setem. Lepas tu nak bawak lagi duit syiling ni usung sana sini. Kenapa nak disusahkan benda yang mudah macam ni?" tanya saya masih sedikit panas.

"Tak apalah. Saya ingat saya tak jadi lah nak simpan dan saya ingat nak buat aduan tentang polisi yang menyusahkan ni"

"Ok. Tak pe. Encik boleh buat aduan. Sila isi borang aduan ni. Nanti saya akan majukan kepada ibu pejabat untuk tindakan selanjutnya. Maaflah encik, saya hanya menjalankan tugas sahaja" kata pegawai tersebut dengan penuh sopan santun walaupun saya tahu telinga dia agak panas juga dengar "ceramah" daripada saya.

Selepas isi borang aduan tersebut dan diberikan kepada pegawai tadi, saya pun bawak balik semula duit syiling anak saya tadi. Dalam hati kata, mungkin tak ada rezeki nak simpan duit ni kot.

Jadi melalui perkongsian saya ini, saya mintalah pihak ASNB atau pihak BANK NEGARA ambil perhatian serius tentang perkara ni.

Permudahkanlah polisi untuk simpanan wang syiling ni. Jika rasa susah untuk terima wang syiling sebab terpaksa ambil masa yang lama untuk kira, atau terpaksa guna mesin pengira dan sebagainya hapuskanlah sahaja wang syiling ni atau gantikan sahaja dengan wang kertas. Misalnya wang 20, 50 sen kertas dan sebagainya.

Dan jangan ingat semua orang mampu simpan wang kertas sahaja. Orang yang berpendapatan rendah atau kanak-kanak mungkin hanya mampu simpan wang syiling sahaja. Jangan di matikan semangat mereka untuk menabung dengan polisi yang remeh-temeh ni. Sedangkan kita sekarang sudah berada di zaman teknologi maklumat yang sangat canggih. Takkan nak handle isu duit syiling ni pun jadi masalah.

Dan permudahkanlah urusan rakyat terutamanya bagi golongan bawahan. Jangan bila melibatkan golongan marhean makin ketat protokol dan polisinya. Tetapi bila melibatkan golongan atasan mudah sahaja urusannya.

Saya bukan mahu bercakap soal politik, tetapi perkara kecil sebegini lah yang menyebabkan rakyat kadang-kadang semakin muak dengan polisi-polisi pihak pentadbiran yang tidak "mesra alam" ni.

Akhir kata, saya telah buat aduan rasmi. Harap pihak berwajib dapat ambil tindakan segera untuk perbaiki mana-mana polisi yang tidak kena. Maaf juga sekiranya coretan ini tidak disenangi. Moga ianya menjadi iktibar bagi kita bersama. Wallahuaklam.

SALKUKHAIRI ABD SUKOR

Peguam Marhean

Kuantan, Pahang

18.4.2018

**Minta tolong kawan-kawan saya bos-bos besar di ASNB dan Bank Negara dapat bantu dan tengok-tengokkan perkara ni. Terima kasih.

from The Reporter https://ift.tt/2J7PiCx via IFTTT from Cerita Terkini Sensasi Dan Tepat https://ift.tt/2qFwG68 via IFTTT

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ebenpink · 6 years ago

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- January 22, 2019 (Evening Edition) http://bit.ly/2FSdMRP

Ahmad Murid Partaw, National Interest: The Aftermath of the Afghan War A hasty U.S. withdrawal with impetuous decisions could lead to more instability in Afghanistan and the wider region. After eighteen years of war in Afghanistan, the country remains a key security challenge for the United States with various counterterrorism implications in a chaotic region. The Afghan conflict now continuing for nearly two decades, has been enormously costly to the people and government of Afghanistan as well as its coalition partners. The United States has been actively involved in the country since its intervention to topple the Taliban regime in 2001. When President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, there were still hopes in Washington that with adopting a new strategy and sending more troops , it would be possible to turn the tide of the Taliban-led insurgency. The assumption was that increased military pressure might open the door for meaningful peace negotiations with reconcilable factions of the Taliban. But since last year the unanimous consensus within domestic and international circles is that there is virtually no possibility of a military victory over the Taliban. Read more ....

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- January 22, 2019 (Evening Edition)

Cambodia's Hun Sen’s populism hangs by a thread -- David Hutt, Asia Times Xi Jinping has issued a rallying cry, but what is China on alert for? -- Jane Cai and Sidney Leng, SCMP How oil has shaped Xinjiang -- Judd C. Kinzley, China Dialogue The U.S.-China rivalry and Japan -- Glen S. Fukushima, Japan Times Get Ready for North Korea's Next Summit Showdown -- Doug Bandow, National Interest Will Kim face protests if he visits Seoul? No one’s saying -- Andrew Salmon, Asia Times Middle East Mayhem Will Skyrocket Following the Departure of the Americans -- Tanya Goudsouzian, National Interest Iran’s looming Instagram ban shows hardliner disconnect -- Kourosh Ziabari, Asia Times Terrorists, cultists – or champions of Iranian democracy? The wild wild story of the MEK -- Arron Merat, The Guardian Al-Shabaab Wants You To Know It’s Alive and Well -- Amanda Sperber, Foreign Policy Putin can't afford to ditch the dollar -- Steven E. Halliwell, Reuters Bombs and Bullets: Fear and Loathing in North Kosovo -- Andjela Milivojevic and Mitrovica, Zvecan, Balkan Insight France Is First to Face Our Century's Defining Policy Conundrum -- Fabio Rafael Fiallo, RCW Shunned as illegitimate and catastrophically incompetent, the future looks bleak for Nicolas Maduro -- Sholto Byrnes, The National George H. W. Bush Changed the World—But Not for the Better -- R. Jordan Prescott, National Interest from War News Updates http://bit.ly/2S73xj0 via IFTTT

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harrythegreekblr · 5 years ago

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Sham Sentencing for two Uranium One defendants starts Weds.

Tim Caine (left) and Mark Warner, Senators from Virginia are shaking hands. Others are unidentified. Caine and Warner have top secret clearance. They were directly involved in covering up what really happened in the four Uranium One cases. Two of them, the Lambert and Condrey cases, are covered in this story.

https://twitter.com/markwarner/status/1080938653600399360

Mark T. Lambert will be sentenced Wednesday for receiving $1.154,079 in bribes.

From 2007 to 2014.

In one of four Uranium One cases.

The amount of the bribes were disclosed March 11th.

Four months after Lambert’s trial ended on Nov. 22nd.

During the three week trial, Prosecutors never told the jury the amount of the bribes.

They never had to.

The jury returned nine guilty verdicts without them.

They included:

four counts of corruption

two counts of fraud

one count of conspiracy

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-president-transportation-company-found-guilty-violating-foreign-corrupt-practices-act

What jury would convict without the Prosecutor proving the paper trail and bribe amounts?

Lambert’s did.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-president-transportation-company-found-guilty-violating-foreign-corrupt-practices-act

How did Prosecutors come up with $1,157,192 in bribes for Lambert?

Who there an expert opinion?

A report from a CPA specializing in money laundering and forensic accounting?

Or did it come out of thin air?

FBI Special Agent Charles Butcher admitted in a March 11th court filing that the figures came from an unidentified person named Michael J. Petron.

No other explanation for given.

Thin air.

The court documents are in this link:

https://www.scribd.com/document/452722952/Mark-T-Lambert-s-bribes-as-invented-by-the-Prosecution-dated-March-11th-2020-two-pagesailed-Two-Pages-March-17th-2020

https://www.scribd.com/document/452727322/FBI-Agent-Charles-Butcher-and-Michael-Petrone-s-filing-in-Mark-T-Lambert-case-dated-March-11th-2020-six-pages

Petrone’s bribery calculations went unchallenged by the defense.

Source:

A two-page court filing dated March 11th by Prosecutors linked here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/452722952/Mark-T-Lambert-s-bribes-as-invented-by-the-Prosecution-dated-March-11th-2020-two-pagesailed-Two-Pages-March-17th-2020

The official Justice Department press release dated Nov. 22nd failed to identify an amount either.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-president-transportation-company-found-guilty-violating-foreign-corrupt-practices-act

In fact, Lambert’s attorneys have demanded a new trial for a host of reasons including the Prosecution’s failure to cite a single dollar of bribe money.

Lambert, however, only had to pay back:

$33,799.46 in cash

a Cartier Santos Quartz stainless steel watch worth $6,413

a Cartier Ballon Bleu stainless steel and rose gold watch worth $10,070

No attempt was made to collect the rest from:

Daher-TLI, Lambert’s employer

http://tliusa.com/index.php/87-uncategorised/46-homepage

Dragon Distillery, a business owned by Lambert

https://brassballs.blog/home/five-day-trial-whistleblower-uranium-one-cases-starts-june-18th-maryland-new-charges-added-thursday-has-been-on-federal-probation-1999-mark-tutt-lambert-frederick-greenbelt-maryland-rod-rosenstein-judge-theodore-chuang-obama-classmate-harvard

Tenex, the Russian company who received the uranium in the Uranium One sale to Russia

https://brassballs.blog/home/judge-tonya-chutkan-covered-up-maria-mariia-butina-role-in-uranium-one-as-money-launderer-fbi-informant-william-campbell-vadim-mikerin-tenex-transport-logistics

Mariia Butina who cooked the books to generate false invoices as part of one $2 million bribery scheme

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/transport-logistics-international-inc-agrees-pay-2-million-penalty-resolve-foreign-bribery

https://www.scribd.com/document/411948886/Mariia-Butina-works-for-Russian-uranium-company-Tenex

the Russian Federation who ended up with the uranium

https://brassballs.blog/home/maria-mariia-butina-russian-spy-worked-for-putin-and-dnc-since-2011-said-fbi-in-59-pages-of-public-evidence-exhibits-ratted-out-george-d-oneill-jr-reduced-sentence-six-months-rockefeller-heir-great-grand-son-gtmo-dhs-bop-truesdale

Prosecutors have never disclosed the terms Lambert’s jail sentence.

It is up to the Judge Theodore Chuang.

He is a Federal District Judge in Maryland.

Lambert anticipates hearing Chuang’s sentence on Wednesday.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1043221/download

A week later, Judge Chuang will sentence Daren Condrey.

Condrey is a co-conspirator and defendant in a second related Uranium One case.

Condrey was an FBI informant who ratted out Lambert.

William D. Campbell, another FBI informant, was barred from testifying on Lambert’s behalf.

Condrey pled guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud on June 17th, 2015.

Condrey has never:

been sentenced

posted bail, or

served a day in jail.

Neither has Lambert.

https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/fcpa/cases/daren-condrey

Judge Chuang’s name is pronounced Swong.

Rhymes with King Kong.

Guess who filed the original charges in the four Uranium One cases?

Rod Rosenstein, former Assistant Attorney General.

And Andy McCabe, former Assistant Director of the FBI.

Source:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/russian-nuclear-energy-official-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy-involving

Lambert and Condrey worked together for Transport Logistics Inc. (TLI).

They ran the company for five years..

TLI received a 20-year no-bid contract to import and export uranium and other rare metals to:

Russia

China Nuclear Energy Industry Corp., Beijing, China

Canada

Namibia (Africa)

Australia

Kazakhstan

Denver, Colorado

It was never limited to Russia.

Details were approved by the Atomic Energy Commission.

And Congress.

Here is an example:

During Lambert’s trial, the Prosecution admitted bribes started in 1993 before Lambert and Condrey started running the company in 2010.

Transport Logistics bought and sold 20,000 nuclear warheads from Russia.

Where they ended up has never been disclosed.

How much were they sold for?

That has never been disclosed either.

According to Prosecutors, one of the persons responsible for cooking the books was never prosecuted.

Mariia Butina.

Yep, the same person who admitted she was a Russian spy.

Instead, Butina was deported to Russia.

She returned a heroine who duped the U.S.

Butina served 18-months .

The evidence in Butina’s case was destroyed by Judge Tonya Chutkan.

https://brassballs.blog/home/mariia-maria-valery-butina-case-is-judge-tanya-chutkan-third-d-c-scandal-case-in-a-year-glenn-simpson-fusion-gps-imran-awan-susan-rice-american-university-professor-james-goldgeier-robert-driscoll-a-j-kramer-public-defender-mcglinchey-com-fox-news

According to court evidence, Butina worked for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a Russian company called Tenex.

https://brassballs.blog/home/judge-chuang-accepted-two-guilty-pleas-in-his-four-uranium-one-cases-without-a-grand-jury-hearing-indictment-or-warrant-daren-condrey-carol-mark-t-lambert-vadim-mikerin-mariia-maria-butina-trump-doe-oig-department-energy-office-inspector-general

Virginia Senators Tim Caine and Mark Warner, helped celebrate TLI’s new Virginia manufacturing plant in on .

http://tliusa.com/index.php/about/news/94-virginia-officials-welcome-new-manufacturing-shop

What did the Senators have to do by knocking down a $28,500,000 corporate fine to $221,940.70?

Details are on Pages Eight and Nine in this link:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1043221/download

Sen. Caine is the Senate’s number one backer of NATO in Congress.

https://brassballs.blog/home/nato-plot-coup-trump-canada-ukraine-david-j-kramer-halifax-international-forum-mccain-fiona-hill-russian-dossier-cia-hillary-clinton-tulsi-gabbard-adam-schiff-dnc-mike-rogers-nsa-fisa-weapons-convention-diversion

Sen. Warner is Vice-Chairman of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence.

Neither were charged in the Uranium One fiasco.

Nor in the coups to take out President Donald J. Trump.

https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/fcpa/cases/daren-condrey

To become a Patron, please click:

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=17659083

For daily news items, please click:

https://twitter.com/BrassBallsBlog

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voaamericanow · 8 years ago

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Mengapa “Equal Pay Day” Diperingati di Amerika?

Bagi perempuan, topik tentang uang, berapa besar penghasilannya, berapa besar tabungannya atau berapa sewa rumahnya, tabu untuk dibicarakan didepan umum. Untungnya di Amerika Serikat ada satu hari yang bisa dipakai untuk mengikis keengganan perempuan untuk berbicara soal uang, terutama tentang upah yang setara dengan kaum lelaki.

“Equal Pay Day” memang bukan hari besar resmi tapi hanya hari simbolis menandai seberapa jauh ke tahun ini kaum perempuan harus bekerja untuk mendapatkan upah yang sama dengan kaum lelaki dalam satu tahun sebelumnya.

Sebagai perempuan yang tidak merasakan perbedaan gaji dengan kolega laki-laki saya di kantor VOA, saya menjadi bertanya-tanya mengapa Equal Pay Day masih keras gaungnya mengingat kesetaraan upah atau Equal Pay Act sudah berlaku selama 54 tahun di Amerika?

Apalagi UU itu juga sudah diperkuat oleh Presiden Obama dengan The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, pada 29 Januari, 2009, legislasi pertama yang dia tanda tangani ketika memasuki Gedung Putih. Peraturan ini mempermudah seorang perempuan untuk menggugat majikannya jika terbukti dia mendapat gaji yang lebih kecil dibanding laki-laki dalam pekerjaan yang sama.

Presiden Barack Obama menandatangani keppres yang bertujuan untuk menutup kesenjangan kompensasi antar, Selasa, April 8, 2014, di Ruang Timur Gedung Putih di Washington, dalam sebuah acara Equal Pay Day. Lilly Ledbetter, berbaju hijau, berdiri di sebelah presiden. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Equal Pay Day tahun ini diperingati pada tanggal 4 April lalu, yang berarti perempuan harus bekerja tiga bulan lagi ke tahun 2017 untuk menyamai pendapatan laki-laki pada tahun 2016.

Equal Pay Day memang datang lebih cepat tahun ini (Equal Pay Day tahun 2016 jatuh pada tanggal 12 April) tapi para advokat tidak melihatnya sebagai perubahan yang signifikan karena perbedaan upah masih tetap besar.

National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) mencatat bahwa kesenjangan rata-sata hanya berubah satu sen, dari 79 menjadi 80 sen dari satu dolar yang diperoleh laki-laki dalam setahun ini.

Perbedaan itu sangat besar mengingat kira-kira setengah tenaga kerja di Amerika adalah perempuan. Secara keseluruhan, perempuan Amerika kehilangan sekitar $ 840 miliar per tahun karena kesenjangan itu, dan pada tingkat individu artinya perempuan bisa kehilangan dana untuk membeli kebutuhan dapur selama satu tahun lebih.

Bayangkan dampaknya jika perempuan ini adalah pencari nafkah tunggal atau orang tua tunggal. Keluarga ini bisa hidup dalam kondisi yang buruk dan kekurangan gizi.

(AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Tapi ternyata banyak juga orang Amerika tidak percaya bahwa kesenjangan gaji ada, meskipun ekonom telah sepenuhnya menolak kesalahpahaman itu.

Tujuh dari 10 pekerja yang disurvei oleh situs tenaga kerja Glassdoor.com pada 2016 menunjukkan mereka percaya lelaki dan perempuan dibayar setara oleh perusahaan mereka. Laki-laki jauh lebih banyak yang mengatakan hal tersebut, di mana hampir 8 dari 10 setuju, dibandingkan dengan 6 dari 10 perempuan yang setuju.

Dan kalaupun mereka mengakui ada perbedaan upah antar gender, seberapa besar kesenjangan itu masih terus diperdebatkan.

Biro Sensus mengatakan perempuan mendapatkan 79 sen untuk setiap dolar yang mendapatkan laki-laki, berdasarkan gaji rata-rata pekerja penuh waktu. Tapi kalau berbicara soal upah mingguan dan per jam, kesenjangan tidak begitu besar, menurut Biro Statistik Tenaga Kerja.

Orang-orang yang mengatakan kesenjangan upah antar gender hanya mitos mengemukakan bahwa perbedaan gaji antara perempuan dan laki-laki jelas dipengaruhi sejumlah faktor, termasuk pendidikan formal dan keterampilan yang dipelajari pada pekerjaan melalui pengalaman kerja.

Menurut mereka, rata-rata perempuan memiliki pengalaman kerja lebih sedikit, perempuan mengambil waktu untuk membesarkan anak-anak dan mereka memilih karier yang cenderung memiliki jam kerja yang lebih fleksibel dan potensi penghasilan lebih rendah.

Selain itu, dibandingkan dengan perempuan, kaum lelaki cenderung tertarik ke arah jurusan kuliah dengan nilai pasar yang lebih besar. Misalnya, sekitar 80% laki-laki memilih jurusan teknik dan ilmu komputer jurusan sementara 66% perempuan memilih jurusan ilmu-ilmu sosial, drama, tari, pendidikan dan jurusan seni rupa.

Penelitian Warwick Economics pada tahun 2016 menemukan bahwa bagi pekerja di bawah 40 tahun, tampaknya tidak ada perbedaan dalam situasi di mana perempuan dan laki-laki itu memiliki pekerjaan di mana gaji bisa dinegosiasikan; di mana kedua gender berhasil memperoleh kenaikan gaji jika mereka memintanya. Jadi, jika para perempuan berusia 40 tahun ke bawah ini menegosiasikan kenaikan gaji sesering laki-laki, mereka akan mendapatkannya.

Linda Babcock, profesor ekonomi di Carnegie Mellon University dan salah seorang pendiri organisasi “Women Don’t Ask,” mencatat bahwa perempuan kadang-kadang dibayar lebih kecil karena mereka tidak bernegosiasi sesering dan sepintar rekan lelaki mereka ketika membahas gaji awal atau pun kenaikan gaji.

Kalau bisa saya simpulkan perempuan umumnya mendapat gaji yang lebih kecil untuk pekerjaan dan jabatan yang serupa karena tiga faktor signifikan, yaitu penalti yang dihadapi perempuan karena menjadi seorang ibu, kurangnya kemampuan perempuan untuk menegosiasikan gaji, dan bias atau prasangka majikan yang secara sengaja atau tidak masih meremehkan kemampuan perempuan.

(AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Stereotip bahwa perempuan mempunyai nilai yang lebih rendah bagi perusahaan memang sulit diperbaiki karena sudah mengakar di masyarakat tapi perempuan bisa melatih strategi menegosiasikan gaji atau promosi jabatan setelah meyakinkan diri bahwa dia layak mendapatkannya.

Menurut Joan C. Williams, seorang profesor hukum dan penulis buku “What Works for Women at Work” perempuan yang meminta kenaikan gaji cenderung tidak disukai karena pandangan bahwa perempuan seharusnya sederhana dan tidak segan berkorban. Dan, tambah Williams, ketika lelaki meminta kenaikan gaji mereka sering dianggap bernegosiasi demi keluarga mereka, sehingga mungkin tampak tidak pamrih, sedangkan seorang perempuan akan dilihat sebagai sombong dan mementingkan diri sendiri.

Sementara untuk mengatasi kurangnya pendapatan karena menunaikan tugas sebagai ibu, pemerintah bisa membantu dengan membuat UU yang mengharuskan perusahaan memberi cuti melahirkan tanpa potongan gaji atau pergeseran posisi dan memberi subsidi untuk penitipan anak seperti yang dilakukan pemerintah Swedia.

Sejumlah negara bagian di Amerika telah memberlakukan UU Kesetraan Upah. California, misalnya, menerapkan salah satu UU yang menuntut agar perusahaan membuktikan bahwa mereka membayar perempuan dan laki-laki dengan upah yang sama untuk pekerjaan yang sama. Tapi proposal undang-undang itu di tingkat federal, yang disebut Paycheck Fairness Act, telah berulang kali terhenti di Kongres.

Sementara menunggu Kongres bertindak, Sarah Fleisch Fink dari National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) menyarankan agar perusahaan turun tangan dengan mengaudit diri sendiri dan melihat apakah ada diskriminasi gaji yang mungkin tidak mereka sadari keberadaannya.

Adriana Sembiring

Washington D.C. 10 April 2017

#Equal Pay Day #the lilly ledbetter fair pay act #equal pay act

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