This is an ad-free post.

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Friday — November 17, 2023

Hello friends!

Monday (November 20th) is my 54th birthday!

It’s not a particularly remarkable birthday (as far as numbers go), but for me the remarkable thing about it is that it marks yet another year of my ongoing Federal civil rights legal battle (in which I am suing the State of Oregon in Federal court for multiple counts of civil rights violations against me [violations of my rights, which started in 2016 and the impact of which — on my life, my work and my family — is ever-present]).

If you are not familiar with this legal battle — in which the actions of bad actors with the The State of Oregon attempted to thoroughly discredit me and destroy my work — you can read about it at this link.

The good news is that Lead Safe Mama, LLC — the “new” company I founded, officially established in January of 2018 — (after agents at the Oregon DOJ destroyed my multi-federal-award-winning nonprofit organization) is stronger than ever, with readership, reach and impact of our work helping hundreds of thousands of families (millions now, in fact!) around the world each year. This is something I am very proud of. I am proud of the international “Lead Safe Mama” community we (you and I) have created, and proud of the impact we are making together in the areas of childhood Lead-poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.

The events of the past 7 (nearly 8, now!) years since these major attacks on my advocacy work were initiated have solidly-reinforced my perspective that this movement needs to be driven by regular citizens (mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sons, daughters, friends — all of us) and NOT by legislation. The fact that the United States’ legislative/ regulatory process is truly, profoundly broken is today more clear than it ever has been (note the current Lead-in-baby-food concern as just one example).

We cannot trust government initiatives, regulatory legislation, (and presumed corporate compliance, or agency oversight and enforcement) alone to protect our families from Lead exposure — not in 2023, and not in 2024 or beyond.

It is for these reasons, the critical importance of citizen advocacy, and the right to free speech, especially as it relates to fighting for public health — as well as the right to health and well-being for all people — and the need to overturn any and all “Qualified Immunity” rulings in our country (for the benefit of all people) that I continue to fight this civil rights battle rather than “just give up.”

Our next hearing (in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco) is coming up on December 5, 2023 — so the inquiry of “why I have been fighting so hard and so long, in spite of ongoing hardship for myself and my family” has been in the forefront of my mind this month.

For my birthday this year, the gift I am giving to you (readers, friends, and supporters here at Lead Safe Mama dot com) is the removal of ads from most of the more popular (more frequently read) articles on this website (TamaraRubin.com/LeadSafeMama.com). To see many of our ad-free articles (this list is growing daily), click here. My hypothesis was that if I were to remove ads from many of the more important posts and articles, readership might increase — as more people would have access to the information we provide in a format that is easier to read, focus on, and understand (very important factors when communicating sometimes complicated scientific concepts).

To this end, every day this month I have been reviewing which Lead Safe Mama articles people are reading and then carefully (when relevant) updating them and removing ads to make them easier to read. The “proof is in the pudding”: November readership is up over previous Novembers — and based on the current numbers, we anticipate that November 2023 will be the best November ever for reach and readership here on the website (with over 100,000 more page views than in 2022)!

These are our readership stats right now,
with more than 13 days still left in the month!
Please continue reading below the image.

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Even though things are going really well, we (Lead Safe Mama, LLC) still need help, and this month (November, my birthday month) seemed like a good time to ask for your help, given all that is going on in the world.

While I have been working VERY HARD to pay off all the enormous (initially seemingly-“insurmountable”) debt related to the #LeadSafeMama legal battles of the past 7+ (nearly 8) years, and while I have paid down a significant amount in the past two years, this debt is currently hovering in the range of $273,000. (This number has gone up and down over the past year a bit — as some debts have been paid off, and more related costs were incurred.) I am happy to share that the remaining debt related to the legal battle is significantly lower than it was initially — down from a total of nearly $350,000 — but I would love to make faster progress in restoring the financial health and sustainability of Lead Safe Mama, LLC if at all possible. 

For my birthday this year, I would very much like to pay down another $20,000 of this debt.

Raising $20,000 (through earned income, advertising income and contributions from supporters like you!) before the end of November 2023 may seem impossible (and perhaps unlikely) — but I am (as always) optimistic.

Over the course of this fight, Lead Safe Mama friends, readers, and community members have helped in so many ways (big and small) including a couple of dozen people who loaned money in support of the costs of the legal case (all of whom have been so patient in waiting to be paid back). Raising any amount at this time (toward repaying even just some of this remaining debt) would represent a step forward as we approach the upcoming December 5th hearing.

And so, my birthday request: If this work has impacted your life in any way (big or small), today I am asking people to contribute to the Lead Safe Mama GoFundMe if they are in a position to do so (or to contribute via PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle — details below). Any contribution (in any amount) makes a difference in helping to pay down this debt — debt incurred because we are working to see justice served, and working toward (hopefully) getting at least one unjust “Qualified Immunity” ruling overturned! If you are not in a position to help financially, check out the other ways you can help, below.