Post Your Online Petitions Here!

[DapperButch]

Hi, folks. I thought it would be helpful to have a place where we could post online petitions for various causes that are important to us. People could come and check them out and then sign if interested.

Here's one for asking ebay to stop selling live animals in their classifieds.

Please consider signing the petition.

http://www.change.org/petitions/ebay-classifieds-stop-selling-live-animals

[DapperButch]

http://www.change.org/petitions/let-nikki-peet-start-a-gay-straight-alliance-in-corpus-christi-texas#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=f

They are trying to get to 50,000 signatures before today's rally.

[Soon]

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/i_do

Lawmakers Introduce DOMA Repeal Bill

By Josh Bell
Mar 16, 2011 at 10:31 am

UPDTATE 2:20 PM: The Senate announcement introducing a DOMA-repeal bill is now underway. Here are some comments by lawmakers at this morning's House announcement:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY): "The time for dumping DOMA is long overdue, and rather than prolonging litigation in the courts, Congress should act to repeal this ugly law… When Congress passed DOMA in 1996, it was not possible for a gay or lesbian couple to marry anywhere in the world. Today, tens of thousands of gay and lesbian couples are married. Far from harming the institution of marriage, these couples have embraced this time-honored tradition and the serious legal duties of civil marriage. The Respect for Marriage Act will send this shameful law into the history books where it belongs."

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): "Years of experience with same-sex marriage in several states has conclusively refuted the arguments of DOMA that were never valid in the first place. It stands now only as a symbol of bigotry and should be repealed."

Rep. Tammie Baldwin (D-WI): "The administration's decision not to defend DOMA intensifies the urgent need to repeal this discriminatory law... Anything less than full equality is most likely unconstitutional, and most certainly un-American."

Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI): "Discrimination of any kind against a person based on their sexual orientation is just wrong and it should be prohibited by law."

ORIGINAL POST:

Today is a major day in the fight for winning marriage nationwide: lawmakers in the House and Senate are introducing a pair of bills to repeal the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" – and momentum is on our side, with a new poll showing that a majority of Americans oppose the law. Freedom to Marry Founder and President Evan Wolfson joined legislators on Capitol Hill for the official announcement on the Respect for Marriage Act.

The House bill already has more than 100 co-sponsors. The lead sponsors are Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Tammie Baldwin (D-WI), Jared Polis (D-CO), David Cicilline (D-RI), and John Conyers (D-MI). Rep. Nadler introduced a repeal bill in 2009, but there was not a Senate version to go along with it. This time, a Senate bill is being introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)

"Today Freedom to Marry is ramping up the campaign needed to overturn DOMA and return the federal government to its longstanding practice of honoring marriages celebrated in the states – without a 'gay exception,'" Wolfson said.

Every day that DOMA remains in effect, real families are hurt, whether it's a widowed spouse who could lose his or her home because of an unfair inheritance tax, or a binational couple facing being torn apart because of one partner's immigration status.

Also on Capitol Hill today is our new Federal Director, Jo Deutsch, who is opening a Washington office for us and will guide the bills through congress and end federal marriage discrimination once and for all.

"This is a superb choice for Freedom to Marry," added Congresswoman Baldwin. "I've worked closely with Jo for many years, and know how effective she is at building coalitions and making the most persuasive case in Washington. I am thrilled to have the chance to work with her in our efforts to ensure that everyone’s marriage is fully respected at the federal level."

We're far from alone in this fight. A poll released yesterday found that a majority of American voters oppose DOMA, as well as efforts by the House Republican leadership to defend the law in court. Only 34% are in favor of DOMA. Significant majorities also favor granting the same federal benefits to married same-sex couples that straight couples get, like the ability to file a joint tax return or add a spouse to federal employee health insurance. DOMA blocks these benefits, even for gay couples legally married in the states.

President Obama has called repeatedly for DOMA to be repealed. But he has not yet publicly voiced his support for the freedom to marry itself. Freedom to Marry has joined with major figures from entertainment, sports, and business to urge the in an open letter President Obama to say, "I do" to marriage for all. You can join them and nearly 30,000 other marriage supporters by adding your name to the letter here:

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/i_do
--------------------------------------------

P.S. According to a recent poll by the Human Rights Campaign, only 34% of Americans support DOMA.

[Corkey]

http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/s/DontHuntHumans

Kansas rep. wants to hunt undocumented people from helicopters.

[DapperButch]

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/taxday?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=FTM&utm_campaign=20110415taxdayemail&source=20110415taxdayemail

[DapperButch]

http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-that-the-employees-on-duty-at-mcdonalds-be-held-responsible-in-the-beating-of-a-trans-woman

Please be aware that video is disturbing.

More info. on the case in trans forum

[Linus]

http://www.petitiononline.com/20CV11/petition.html Petition to allow Canadians living outside the country to vote, as per the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If one has been out of the country for more than 5 years, then one loses that right (as per Elections Canada) but the Charter has not been changed so this is a violation of the Charter.

[MsDemeanor]

http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/s/DontHuntHumans

Kansas rep. wants to hunt undocumented people from helicopters.
Sarah Palin must be jealous as all get out...she only gets to hunt critters from helicopters.

[weatherboi]

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-web-hosts-sites-that-promote-spreading-hiv-are-not-acceptable

this petition is trying to stop websites that promote "gift giving" and "bug chasing" and methamphetamine use within our community. bare backing and drug use when hiv positive is not ok...in fact it is criminal!!! please sign and help stop this disastrous trend from growing!!!!

[weatherboi]

Please please please!!!
Go and check out this petition and sign it if you agree! Thanks!!!


http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-web-hosts-sites-that-promote-spreading-hiv-are-not-acceptable

this petition is trying to stop websites that promote "gift giving" and "bug chasing" and methamphetamine use within our community. bare backing and drug use when hiv positive is not ok...in fact it is criminal!!! please sign and help stop this disastrous trend from growing!!!!

[EnderD_503]

In 24 hours, the Ugandan Parliament may vote on a brutal new law that carries the death penalty for homosexuality. Thousands of Ugandans could face execution -- just for being gay.

We've helped stop this bill before, and we can do it again. After a massive global outcry last year, Ugandan President Museveni blocked the bill's progress. But political unrest is mounting in Uganda, and religious extremists in Parliament are hoping confusion and violence in the streets will distract the international community from a second push to pass this hate-filled law. We can show them that the world is still watching. If we block the vote for two more days until Parliament closes, the bill will expire forever.

We have no time to lose. Let’s get to one million voices against Uganda's gay death penalty in the next 24 hours -- sign now then spread the word about this campaign!

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homophobia_petition/

[EnderD_503]

Update: May 11 2011 - The Pressure is Working -- the bill did not come to a vote today! But the anti-gay movement is fighting to bring it back in an emergency session on Friday. Our signatures are being delivered directly to Uganda's Parliament and media across the world are reporting on our campaign. Let's ramp up the pressure - if we can stop a vote on the bill this week -- we'll win this!

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homophobia_petition/

[EnderD_503]

Just to follow up on the result of the petition against the proposed Ugandan anti-gay law that would result in the death penalty for homosexuals who were caught "engaging in homosexuality" more than once, and how signing petitions can really make a difference in the world:


Dear friends,

Uganda's anti-gay law has failed! It looked sure to pass last week, but after 1.6 million petition signatures delivered to Parliament, tens of thousands of phone calls to our own governments, hundreds of media stories about our campaign and a massive global outcry, Ugandan politicians dropped the bill!

It was down to the wire - religious extremists tried to push the bill through on Wednesday, and then convened an unprecedented emergency session of Parliament on Friday. But each time, within hours, we reacted. A huge congratulations to everyone who signed, called, forwarded and donated to this campaign - with our help, thousands of innocent people in Uganda's gay community do not wake up this morning facing execution for whom they chose to love.

Frank Mugisha, a courageous leader of the gay community in Uganda sent us this message:

"Brave Ugandan LGBT activists and millions of people around the world have stood together and faced down this horrendous anti-homosexuality bill.The support from the Avaaz global community has tipped the scales to prevent this Bill going forward. Global solidarity has made a huge difference"

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs' Office also wrote to Avaaz:

"Many thanks. As you know, thanks to a very large extent to the intensive lobbying and combined effort of you, other civil society representatives, EU and other governments, plus our delegation and embassies on the ground the Bill was not presented to the Parliament this morning."

This fight is not over. The extremists behind this bill could try again within just 18 months. But this is the second time we've helped defeat this bill, and we'll keep going until the hate-mongers give up.

Transforming the deeper causes of ignorance and hatred behind homophobia is an historic, long term struggle, one of the great causes of our generation. But Uganda has become a front line in that struggle, and a powerful symbol. The victory there echoes across many other places where hope is desperately needed, showing that kindness, love, tolerance and respect can defeat hatred and ignorance. Again, a huge thanks to all who made it happen.

With enormous gratitude and admiration for this amazing community,

Ricken, Emma, Iain, Alice, Giulia, Saloni and the whole Avaaz team.


Anti-gay Bill Shelved: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13392723

[EnderD_503]

Petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/let-alvaro-stay-in-canada#updates

Background story:

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Alvaro_Orozco_behind_the_glass-10192.aspx

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Orozco_denied_bail_could_be_deported_immediately-10177.aspx

[EnderD_503]

In days, we could finally see the beginning of the end of the ‘war on drugs’. This expensive war has completely failed to curb the plague of drug addiction, while costing countless lives, devastating communities, and funneling trillions of dollars into violent organized crime networks.

Experts all agree that the most sensible policy is to regulate, but politicians are afraid to touch the issue. In days, a global commission including former heads of state and foreign policy chiefs of the UN, EU, US, Brazil, Mexico and more will break the taboo and publicly call for new approaches including decriminalization and regulation of drugs.

This could be a once-in-a-generation tipping-point moment -- if enough of us call for an end to this madness. Politicians say they understand that the war on drugs has failed, but claim the public isn't ready for an alternative. Let's show them we not only accept a sane and humane policy -- we demand it. Sign the petition and share with everyone --if we reach 1 million voices, it will be personally delivered to world leaders by the global commission.

For 50 years current drug policies have failed everyone, everywhere but public debate is stuck in the mud of fear and misinformation. Everyone, even the UN Office on Drugs and Crime which is responsible for enforcing this approach agrees -- deploying militaries and police to burn drug farms, hunting down traffickers, and imprisoning dealers and addicts – is an expensive mistake. And with massive human cost -- from Afghanistan, to Mexico, to the USA the illegal drug trade is destroying countries around the world, while addiction, overdose deaths, and HIV/AIDS infections continue to rise.

Meanwhile, countries with less-harsh enforcement -- like Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Australia -- have not seen the explosion in drug use that proponents of the drug war have darkly predicted. Instead, they have seen significant reductions in drug-related crime, addiction and deaths, and are able to focus squarely on dismantling criminal empires.

Powerful lobbies still stand in the way of change, including military, law enforcement, and prison departments whose budgets are at stake. And politicians fear that voters will throw them out of office if they support alternative approaches, as they will appear weak on law and order. But many former drug Ministers and Heads of State have come out in favour of reform since leaving office, and polls show that citizens across the world know the current approach is a catastrophe. Momentum is gathering towards new improved policies, particularly in regions that are ravaged by the drug trade.

If we can create a worldwide outcry in the next few days to support the bold calls of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, we can overpower the stale excuses for the status quo. Our voices hold the key to change -- Sign the petition and spread the word.

We have a chance to enter the closing chapter of this brutal 'war' that has destroyed millions of lives. Global public opinion will determine if this catastrophic policy is stopped or if politicians shy away from reform. Let's rally urgently to push our hesitating leaders from doubt and fear, over the edge, and into reason.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs/

[DapperButch]

I would very much appreciate some signatures on this petition. I have a personal investment in this one.

Thanks!

http://www.change.org/petitions/philadelphia-phillies-please-make-an-it-gets-better-video?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=hqceHZNEEe_gTOPviGmaj

[DapperButch]

Bump :sock:

[DapperButch]

https://secure3.convio.net/leahy/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=182

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bachmann_clinic/

According to what I have read, they don't actually do "conversion therapy", in the truest definition of the practice, but they do indicate to clients that prayer, etc., could "convert" them to being straight.

Oh, and the Phillies did make a "It gets better" video, so thank you for everyone who signed that petition. :-)

[DapperButch]

http://www.change.org/petitions/thomas-gathen-superintendent-give-the-valedictorian-title-to-the-student-with-the-highest-gpa

Teen mother had to share valedictorian status.

[DapperButch]

I do love how it seems pretty damn often that the petitions at change.org make a difference.

Here Starbucks CEO decided to skip speaking at a megachurch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/starbucks-ceo-cancels-meg_n_925039.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl8%7Csec3_lnk1%7C85976

[DapperButch]

http://www.change.org/petitions/mcintosh-county-georgia-schools-allow-my-transgender-son-to-use-a-safe-restroom-at-school

[Andrea]

Please consider signing this petition to abolish the TSA, as it is now. I know not everyone has the same issues with the TSA and rights that I do but I would be surprised if most of you believe the take off your shoes rule (at a minimum) helps keep the skies safe.

Let's find a system that works and makes sense.

Abolish the TSA (https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/abolish-tsa-and-use-its-monstrous-budget-fund-more-sophisticated-less-intrusive-counter-terrorism/c7L94bFB)

This is a new program on the White House website for people to set up petitions. I think it is a great idea.

[Andrea]

Bumping for those who may not have notice my above post.

[SoNotHer]

http://action.naacp.org/page/s/troy-davis-pledge?utm_medium=email&utm_source=NAACP&utm_campaign=20110926troydavispledge&source=20110926troydavispledge

[DapperButch]

http://www.change.org/petitions/petland-usa-stop-selling-pets-fire-puppy-mills-petland-canada-has

PLEASE consider signing. Jack's Pets (26 stores) stopped selling pets in their pet stores due to a petition like the one above. It was be awesome to get Petland in the U.S. to do so, as well.

Please post to your FB accounts.

[DapperButch]

Bump :firetruck:

[SoNotHer]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/microsoft_koch/?r=231903&id=30179-2059182-ET6C9Xx

IaKm89eVhoE

Tell Microsoft: Stop sponsoring the Koch's climate lies

Microsoft's corporate policy says that climate change requires "a comprehensive and global response" and "dramatic innovations to transition the world to a sustainable low-carbon economy."

So why was Microsoft a "gold" level sponsor at the Koch brother's Tea Party Conference in Washington, DC last weekend? It is thoroughly irresponsible for a corporation as mainstream as Microsoft to be backing the radical climate denial lies at the heart of the Koch's conference and fossil fuel agenda. And to do it in clear violation of the company's policy is sheer hypocrisy.

We need to make sure Microsoft is held publicly accountable.

Tell Microsoft: Stop sponsoring the Koch's climate denial lies.

The "Defending the American Dream" conference was attended by prominent Republican climate deniers including leading Republican Presidential Candidates Mitt Romney and Herman Cain. A photo captured by a reporter for Salon.com lists Microsoft as a "Gold Sponsor" -- a $25,000 contribution that includes being a title sponsor of a conference breakout room, having their name on dinner tables for "grassroots" tea party attendees, and "special recognition" in all conference materials, including on stage.

Yet despite the prominent positioning in the conference, Microsoft isn't trying to advertise their sponsorship. Microsoft's name is one of many sponsors not listed on the conference website (along with Conservative newspaper the Washington Times and major Tobacco company Altria), and Microsoft's PR firm has declined to provide us a comment on their sponsorship.

Microsoft claims to support the fight to end global warming, including "research efforts on this topic being conducted by leading environmental groups, scientists, and governments around the world." Further, Microsoft says "We see an important role for governments to provide the frameworks that spur the transition to a low-carbon economy." Yet those goals are obstructed every day by the work of conference hosts Americans for Prosperity, and Microsoft's fellow conference sponsors.

The climate denial agenda also actively undermines the important work of the Gates Foundation, established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, which has made meaningful gains in the areas of global health and development. Rapidly escalating climate change poses tremendous threats to global health, so you would think that Microsoft, which is still chaired by Gates, wouldn't want to support the efforts of the Koch brothers and or the Chamber of Commerce to deny the science of climate change and maintain our national and global reliance on devastating fossil fuels.

Microsoft's support of this conference is not OK. The company needs to stop undermining its principles, renounce climate denial, and stop sponsoring events that promote dangerous lies and dangerous policies.

Tell Microsoft: Stop sponsoring the Koch's climate denial lies.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/microsoft_koch/?r=231903&id=30179-2059182-ET6C9Xx

[SoNotHer]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/ecuador_torture/?r=231870&id=30107-4534885-tLqhq9x

t's shocking that this is happening in 2011: At 207 "clinics" across Ecuador, lesbians are held captive, raped, tortured, starved and beaten in an attempt to make them straight.1 But far from being clandestine, this systematic brutalization of women happens in plain sight, with the tacit approval of the government of Ecuador. Speak out to stop this unconscionable treatment of innocent women.

http://act.credoaction.com/images/campaigns/1206/180.gif

The government of Ecuador has made some important progressive gains in recent years -- in fact, the country recently adopted a new constitution that includes explicit protections for people based on sexual orientation. With such a progressive constitution when it comes to protections for its gay and lesbian citizens, international pressure could help prioritize this issue for the government of Ecuador and help shut down these so-called "clinics."

The Ecuadoran government already knows that these clinics exist and is sensitive to international public pressure -- it already shut down a small handful of clinics and invited survivors to come forward in response to public outrage when the international press first learned of the existence of these clinics.

But there are still over 200 clinics actively brutalizing lesbians in Ecuador. And we have to keep the pressure on the Ecuadoran government until it closes every single clinic that continues to facilitate the torture and rape of women.

Tell Ecuadoran Minister of Public Health Dr. David Chiriboga that the torture and rape of lesbians cannot continue. Demand that he investigate and shut down all remaining 207 ex-lesbian "clinics."

Paola Ziritti was one of the many women who were placed in one of the ex-lesbian programs. After learning Paola was raped and starved, her mother attempted to remove her from the program--but Paola's "doctors" wouldn't release her for over a year following her mother's appeal to bring her home.

The barbaric practice of holding women against their will and torturing them because of their sexual orientation has to stop. Put simply, there is no moral or medical justification for clinics that employ horrendous tactics in order to "cure" these women and turn them "back to normal."

The Ecuadoran Minister of Public Health has the ability to investigate and shut down the remaining 207 clinics.

He needs to know that the eyes of the international community are on Ecuador, and that we won't stop pressuring him until the government upholds the protections guaranteed in the Constitution and shuts down every one of the remaining clinics.

Tell Ecuadoran Minister of Public Health Dr. David Chiriboga that the torture and rape of lesbians cannot continue. Demand that he investigate and shut down all remaining 207 ex-lesbian "clinics."

1. Survivors of many of these clinics all report the same "treatment program" that includes rape, starvation, and handcuffing.
"Lesbians Escape From Ecuador's 'Ex-Gay' Torture Centers," The Advocate, 10-7-2011.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/ecuador_torture/?r=231870&id=30107-4534885-tLqhq9x

[Soon]

Ecuador Minister of Health: Close fake "clinics" that torture LGBT in order to "cure" them
(http://www.change.org/petitions/fiscal-general-del-estado-close-fake-clinics-that-torture-lgbt-in-order-to-cure-them)

http://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/1/no/jb/gbnOJBeOzImZdfM-236x236-cropped.jpg?1319740185

Although over 30 “ex- gay clinics” have been closed this year, hundreds still remain open. These clinics which claim to “cure” homosexuality have decreased in popularity in recent years yet still remain a horrific reality for many. Escaping patients report cases of physical and psychological abuse including verbal threats, shackling, days without food, sexual abuse, and physical torture. Paula Ziritti, 24, spent two years in one such facility and for three months was shackled in handcuffs while guards threw water and urine on her. She describes numerous accounts of physical and sexual abuse. Ziritti says, “The closure of the first clinics by the government is good, but not good enough. Why is the clinic where I suffered still open?”

Since Zirittu’s public disclosure, many others have been inspired to step forward and file formal complaints against these treatment centers. Please join Fundacion Causana and a coalition of other Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender groups in calling on Ecuador’s Minister of Health to immediately investigate and close the 200 “ex- gay clinics” that still remain open despite public support for their closing and reported accounts of torture and abuse.

[persiphone]

http://vimeo.com/31100268


cross posted from Politics and Law.....this is a bill to restrict access to the internet under the guise of copyrights.

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/drbc_fracking/?r=231931&id=30483-2655363-JCZO9ix

Please help protect the water supplies of those of us in DE, NJ, PA, and NY.

Please post to your Facebooks.

[SoNotHer]

Done like dinner. :-) Thank you for posting.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/drbc_fracking/?r=231931&id=30483-2655363-JCZO9ix

Please help protect the water supplies of those of us in DE, NJ, PA, and NY.

Please post to your Facebooks.

[SoNotHer]

Hartmann did a great piece on this. This is a critical mass moment in the health and life of the river:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/drbc_fracking/?r=231931&id=30483-2655363-JCZO9ix

NYo34KyPucw&feature=feedu

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/drbc_fracking/?r=231931&id=30483-2655363-JCZO9ix

Please help protect the water supplies of those of us in DE, NJ, PA, and NY.

Please post to your Facebooks.

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/drbc_fracking/?r=231931&id=30483-2655363-JCZO9ix

Please help protect the water supplies of those of us in DE, NJ, PA, and NY.

Please post to your Facebooks.

Hartmann did a great piece on this. This is a critical mass moment in the health and life of the river:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/drbc_fracking/?r=231931&id=30483-2655363-JCZO9ix

NYo34KyPucw&feature=feedu

See below for additional info. than what was posted yesterday. DE Governor Markell stated in the News Journal (DE newspaper) this morning that he would vote no if it got to that point.

https://act.credoaction.com/pages/drbc_fracking/?r=232037&id=30751-2655363-PeOCeOx

[atomiczombie]

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
(1)Transparency of Congress campaign donors (2)abolish 501c4 secrecy (3)repeal Corporate Personhood

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/1transparency-congress-campaign-donors-2abolish-501c4-secrecy-3repeal-corporate-personhood/8317VfVq

[SoNotHer]

and knowing the myth, symbolism and importance of these creatures, Wyoming's plan would all but eliminate wolves, who are most often blamed for livestock kills they do not make:

http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6421.0

"When Congress delisted the Northern Rockies wolves from the Endangered Species Act last spring, it excluded Wyoming for failing to produce a viable management plan. No state has been more antagonistic to wolves than the “Cowboy State.” The Wyoming wolf plan would allow wolves to be killed without a license for most of the year throughout most of the state.

There are more than 4,000 wolves in the Great Lakes region, compared to 343 in Wyoming. Is it surprising that Garrison Keillor-listening, lutefisk-loving liberals have learned to live with wolves better than tough, self-sufficient, courageous cow-punchers out West?"


http://i.usatoday.net/news/_photos/2007/11/24/wolf-topper.jpg

[Vlasta]

TO: WORLD LEADERS
The party led by Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin is pushing discriminatory legislation against lesbian, bi, gay and trans people that could eliminate their freedom to speak publicly and assemble.

Russia is a signatory to numerous international human rights treaties - including the European Convention on Human Rights. We call on you to urgently speak out and hold Russia accountable to its treaty obligations - and stand with LGBT Russians whose ability to speak for themselves is under attack.

http://allout.org/russia_silenced


Political leaders in St. Petersburg are about to vote on law that will make it illegal for any person to write a book, publish an article or speak in public about being gay, lesbian or transgender. The ruling party led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could make millions of people invisible with the stroke of a pen.

Human rights defenders around the country are doing everything they can to stop it. They are risking their freedom to organize flashmobs and protests, but they are afraid that it won't be enough.

Right now, the world needs to speak up and tell Russian authorities to drop the bill. Join this call to leaders around the world to reach out to their counterparts in the Russian government - and ask them to reject this discriminatory and anti-democratic law.

[SoNotHer]

Political leaders in St. Petersburg are about to vote on law that will make it illegal for any person to write a book, publish an article or speak in public about being gay, lesbian or transgender. The ruling party led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could make millions of people invisible with the stroke of a pen.

http://www.allout.org/en/actions/russia_silenced

TO: WORLD LEADERS
The party led by Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin is pushing discriminatory legislation against lesbian, bi, gay and trans people that could eliminate their freedom to speak publicly and assemble.

Russia is a signatory to numerous international human rights treaties - including the European Convention on Human Rights. We call on you to urgently speak out and hold Russia accountable to its treaty obligations - and stand with LGBT Russians whose ability to speak for themselves is under attack.

http://allout.org/russia_silenced


Political leaders in St. Petersburg are about to vote on law that will make it illegal for any person to write a book, publish an article or speak in public about being gay, lesbian or transgender. The ruling party led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could make millions of people invisible with the stroke of a pen.

Human rights defenders around the country are doing everything they can to stop it. They are risking their freedom to organize flashmobs and protests, but they are afraid that it won't be enough.

Right now, the world needs to speak up and tell Russian authorities to drop the bill. Join this call to leaders around the world to reach out to their counterparts in the Russian government - and ask them to reject this discriminatory and anti-democratic law.

[Soon]

http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-of-troy-michigan-apologize-for-homophobic-statement-or-resign



Why This Is Important

Mayor Janice Daniels of Troy, Michigan recently made bigot homophobic statements on her personal Facebook wall in which she suggest she would get rid of her "I love New York" memorabilia since that state allows queers to marry. Mayor Daniels an elected official needs to understand that bigotry is never acceptable especially from an elected official.

[Vlasta]

http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-of-troy-michigan-apologize-for-homophobic-statement-or-resign



Why This Is Important

Mayor Janice Daniels of Troy, Michigan recently made bigot homophobic statements on her personal Facebook wall in which she suggest she would get rid of her "I love New York" memorabilia since that state allows queers to marry. Mayor Daniels an elected official needs to understand that bigotry is never acceptable especially from an elected official.

sign it , but there are only 7,750 signatures we need more !

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bush_tax_cuts_2011/

[DapperButch]

http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-the-resignation-of-sheriff-joe-arpaio?utm_medium=email&alert_id=BEcEjhhpyU_lJyvweQVAm&utm_source=action_alert

[Soon]

MSNBC, STOP LETTING ANTI-GAY BIGOTS REPRESENT PEOPLE OF FAITH!

The Family Research Council is so extreme that they've been officially listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, in part because they've repeatedly accused gays and lesbians of child molestation. But MSNBC has continued to invite their president, Tony Perkins, and other organizational spokespeople on air to comment on behalf of the religious community. In fact, they've appeared on MSNBC almost as often as on FOX News.

MSNBC has built its business on progressive viewers, and they need to hear that we find it unacceptable to provide an unquestioning platform for the religious right's hatred and fear-mongering. Sign the petition:

The Family Research Council is a hate group, and journalists ought to treat it as such. MSNBC must stop inviting Family Research Council spokespeople on the air to represent the views of Christians and other people of faith.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9130&tag=blog

[SoNotHer]

Petition is available here -

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/tjs-tomatoes/

You know Trader Joe’s – the grocery chain that bills itself as an ethical alternative to the big-name stores? Well, it turns out they’re not so friendly to the workers who pick the tomatoes they sell to us.

Trader Joe’s CEO is refusing to sign the Fair Food Agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a group of farm workers in Florida who have successfully pressured corporate giants like Taco Bell and McDonald’s to agree to ensure that farm workers in their supply chains get treated humanely and get paid at least one penny more per pound of tomatoes they pick.

That’s right, we’re talking about just a couple of pennies more per pound of tomatoes – an insignificant cost increase for Trader Joe’s and its customers – could help thousands of farm workers get paid a fair wage. But Trader Joe’s is digging in its heels.

You can use the form at the right to send a message to TJ’s CEO yourself.

The people who pick the tomatoes we eat make as little as $50 for a 12-hour workday, picking ton after ton of tomatoes. According to the Immokalee Workers:

“Like textile workers at the turn of the last century, Florida tomato harvesters are still paid by the piece. The average piece rate today is 50 cents for every 32-lbs of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has remained virtually unchanged since 1980. As a result of that stagnation, a worker today must pick more than 2.25 tons of tomatoes to earn minimum wage in a typical 10-hour workday — nearly twice the amount a worker had to pick to earn minimum wage thirty years ago. Most farmworkers today earn less than $12,000 a year.”

Use the form at the right to tell TJ’s to pay the workers who pick their tomatoes at least one more penny per pound, and to ensure that those workers are treated fairly. CIW members will deliver our messages directly to Trader Joe’s when they march to Trader Joe’s new store near Immokalee, FL.

More Information:

What is the Fair Food Agreement?

According to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers who are negotiating Fair Food Agreements with various corporations, “the agreements require those companies to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers (including a zero tolerance policy for slavery), to pay a price premium for more fairly produced tomatoes, and to shift purchases to growers who meet those higher standards. Several Florida tomato growers have shown their early support for this effort by agreeing to pass along the pay premium to their tomato harvesters, and to abide by a code of conduct under which workers have a voice and slavery is not tolerated.”

Is slavery a reality for some tomato workers?

Farm labor bosses have repeatedly been brought to court for their treatment of workers, including most recently in 2008 for beating their workers who refused to work or tried to leave, holding their workers in debt, and chaining and locking workers inside U-Haul trucks as punishment. The U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the 2008 case called the situation “slavery, plain and simple.” If Trader Joe’s signed the Fair Food Agreement, they would be guaranteeing that none of their tomatoes come from growers who treat their workers as modern-day slaves, as well as pay a fair price for the tomatoes they sell.

Who else signed the Agreement?

Fair Food Agreements have been reached between CIW and McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Yum Brands, as well as foodservice providers Compass Group, Aramark, Sodexo, and Bon Appetit Management Company, and grocery store chain Whole Foods.

Why hasn’t Trader Joe’s signed?

On October 21, 2011, Trader Joe’s released a statement saying that they would not sign the Agreement, even though they agreed with it in principle and had implemented the basic requirements already. They said, essentially, “trust us, we’re doing it right”, but this is unverifiable. Without signing the agreement, Trader Joe’s has no way of knowing if the growers they’re purchasing from meet CIW’s standards; TJ’s would have to rely on the grower’s word alone, and what grower is going to volunteer the fact that they don’t treat their workers fairly or pay their workers a reasonable wage?

Why does this matter for Immokalee farm workers?

The Immokalee farm workers, a coalition of people who work on farms in the Immokalee region of Florida (where most of the tomatoes are grown in the US) are organizing because they are some of the lowest paid workers in the country, often making less than $12,000 a year. They work ten-hour days picking tomatoes in order to pick enough (2.25 tons) to make minimum wage. They have no rights to collective bargaining or overtime pay. Each penny a pound increase that they have won brings more people out of poverty, and each buyer requiring workplace protections ensures more people are treated fairly in their jobs and fewer farm workers are brought to this country as slave labor.

[DapperButch]

Response to Trader Joe petition:

I am surprised at this, based on what I know of Trader Joe's. Thanks for posting, SoNotHer. I like that on the petition there is a place to check off that you are a customer. Hopefully, that will make TJ's pay a bit more attention to the petition!

As an aside, I like TJ's a great deal b/c in most cases you can assume that they do not use GMO's in their own products. That makes things a bit easier if that is important to you as a shopper.

[Hollylane]

Susan G. Komen for the Cure just cut all its funding to Planned Parenthood for breast health screenings, bowing to anti-choice pressure and making breast health care suddenly inaccessible to many women.1

Planned Parenthood health centers are often the main source of health care for women in underserved communities, and they provide 830,000 breast exams every year.2 170,000 of these were funded through Komen, along with 6,400 mammogram referrals.3 Without Komen's funding, many of these women could be unable to get the screenings and early detection of breast cancer that save lives.

It's incredibly disappointing for an organization founded to protect women's health to play politics with real women's lives.

Tell Susan G. Komen for the Cure, "Don't bow to anti-choice pressure. Reestablish breast health funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates." (http://pol.moveon.org/komen/?id=35312-20080986-8oF72Fx&t=2)

[Hollylane]

Thousands of workers sweat in the Florida heat to harvest tomatoes for Trader Joe’s, and earn just a few dollars a day to do it.

Over 62,000 messages have been directly sent to Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane calling on him to sign the Fair Food Agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers - a group of farm workers fighting for a living wage and humane work conditions.

Mr. Bane is stalling on signing the agreement.

As a Trader Joe’s customer, you can affect him directly and powerfully. We know from past pressure campaigns that CEOs listen to stores managers and customers above nearly anyone else.

Picking tomatoes is gruelling work. Customers being heard by Trader Joe’s is easy. Can you take take the next step and contact your local Trader Joe’s or call their headquarters? It will only take a second and you’ll be changing workers' lives.


Yes, I can drop off a pre-written letter to the manager of my local Trader Joe's, and/or talk to the manager directly. (http://sumofus.org/post/near-tjs/?akid=90.180255.gRBMi8&rd=1&t=1)

Yes, I can call their national headquarters. (http://sumofus.org/post/not-near-tjs/?akid=90.180255.gRBMi8&rd=1&t=2)

[Soon]

http://www.glaad.org/standupforellen

[Hollylane]

A new Chase website honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and declares: "the values he espoused are the values that JPMorgan Chase also tries to stand for around the world."

But as the bank wraps itself in the King brand, Chase is planning to kick Helen Bailey (a 78-year-old grandmother who marched for civil rights and spent her life working with disabled children) out of her house on February 15th -- right in the middle of Black History Month.

Occupy Nashville is fighting back. And they know that enough publicity on Chase's hypocrisy will embarrass the bank into letting Ms. Bailey keep her home.

Click here to sign the petition demanding that Chase stop foreclosing on civil rights activist Helen Bailey. (http://www.change.org/petitions/chase-bank-dont-foreclose-on-helen-bailey?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

Helen and her attorney have struggled to find any solution that would stop Chase's drive to foreclose. When Helen asked to modify her high-interest loan, Chase refused. When Helen found another lender who'd buy the home for just $9,000 less than what Chase said the home was worth, letting her live there for free, Chase refused. When Helen found someone else who'd buy her home and let Helen rent it, Chase refused again.

This isn't an isolated incident. A former Chase banker — James Theckston — told Nick Kristof of the New York Times that his bank repeatedly pushed dangerous subprime mortgage loans on minority borrowers, then tried to cover up the racial disparity. Now, 25% of all minority borrowers are in foreclosure or deeply behind on payments. It's a crisis.

But it's one of our best opportunities to fight back. You can help Occupy Nashville keep Ms. Bailey in her home, and highlight the growing movement of communities standing up to foreclosures.


Thanks for being a change-maker,

Jess and the Change.org team

[SoNotHer]

Apple: Make the iPhone 5 Safely

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/ethical-iphone/?sub=fb

Every day, tens of millions of people will swipe the screens of their iPhones to unlock them.

On the other side of the world, a young girl is also swiping those screens. In fact, every day, during her 12+ hour shifts, six days a week, she repetitively swipes tens of thousands of them. She spends those hours inhaling n-hexane, a potent neurotoxin used to clean iPhone glass, because it dries a few seconds faster than a safe alternative. After just a few years on the line, she will be fired because the neurological damage from the n-hexane and the repetitive stress injuries to her wrists and hands make her unable to continue performing up to standard.

Right now we have a huge opportunity as ethical consumers: The launch of the iPhone 5 later this year will be new Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first big product rollout, and he can’t afford for anything to go wrong — including negative publicity around how Apple’s suppliers treat their workers. That’s why we’re launching a campaign this week to get Apple to overhaul the way its suppliers treat their workers in time for the launch of the iPhone 5.

In many cases, people literally are dying while making Apple products. Reporters have documented cases of deadly explosions at iPad factories, and repeated instances of employees dying of exhaustion after working thirty to sixty hour shifts. In some of the factories Apple contracts with, so many employees have attempted suicide that management installed nets to prevent employees from dying while jumping off building ledges.

Can Apple do this? Absolutely. Apple is the richest company in the world, posting a profit margin for the last quarter of 42.4% yesterday. They’re sitting on $100 billion in the bank. According to an anonymous Apple executive quoted in the New York Times, all Apple has to do is demand it, and it’ll happen – “Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

Use the form to the right to sign the petition to Apple telling them to make the iPhone 5 ethically

[SoNotHer]

I was about to post this petition that I signed this weekend. I'm happy to post the end result instead:

2/6/2012 UPDATE: On behalf of our family, and our beloved dog Heidi, we would like to thank the local media outlets, and ALL of our friends and advocates online, who have devoted their time and voices to our cause.

We have reached an agreement with the City of Royal Oak which includes Heidi staying with our family.

http://www.saveheidi.com/

Save Heidi Home
Help Save Heidi: Stop Her Destruction by Royal Oak

Heidi is our 5 year old rescued Doberman Pincher. Because of her excited reaction to a stranger who tried to pet her, Royal Oak is now requiring her destruction or removal from our family. This is heartbreaking and totally unnecessary.

We beg you to read Heidi’s story and sign our on-line petition to the City of Royal Oak. This asks the city to dismiss the charges & this unreasonably harsh penalty. PLEASE SIGN AND FORWARD THIS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY. Your own dog may be at risk for this same unreasonable treatment in the future.

Her Story:

We adopted Heidi almost 4 years ago from a well-established and reputable rescue organization specializing in the Doberman breed. Like most Doberman, Heidi is a very intelligent and energetic dog. She is a loving & loyal member of our family.

In October, while out for a leashed walk to a local market, a stranger approached suddenly wanting to pet her. Startled and in her excitement, Heidi popped up at the same time that the stranger bent over to pet her. She collided with his face. He has claimed this resulted in a broken nose and reported the accident to Royal Oak Police.

Royal Oak is now prosecuting this as a dog bite/attack! The Assistant Deputy City Attorney has offered to dismiss the criminal charges only if Heidi is destroyed or removed from her loving family in Royal Oak. This is happening to our family with a 30+ year history as law abiding Royal Oak residents. Heidi has no previous incidents of aggressive behavior and is a well trained, obedient, loving success story of a Doberman rescue.

All dog owners must be aware of the risks of criminal prosecution under the antiquated Michigan statutes written in 1919 and the paranoid overreaction by local city officials who are prosecuting dog breeds, not dog attack cases.

Time is of the essence to save Heidi’s life. A final decision on Heidi’s fate will be made on February 9th, 2012.

Please help us to save our sweet girl, Heidi by signing our petition to the City of Royal Oak.

[Hollylane]

To the Members of the Democratic Party Platform Drafting Committee:

The Democratic Party has a noble history of fighting for the human and civil rights of all Americans.

We, the undersigned, believe it is time for the Party to hold true to this record and add to the legacy by taking a stand in support of the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples.

We urge you to affirm the freedom to marry in the Democratic Party by including this plank in the platform discussion of families:

The Democratic Party supports the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibility, and protection under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.

Numerous national polls have shown that a majority of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples. And Democrats overwhelmingly support the freedom to marry, with polls showing as much as 70% support. You are uniquely positioned to stand with the majority of Americans, and the super-majority of the party, and help make a real difference for families across the country.

We hope the Drafting Committee will fulfill its responsibility to uphold the Party's proud commitment to liberty, equality, and justice for all.

Thank you for helping to put an end to marriage discrimination in this country.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned


http://freedomtomarry.org/page/-/FTM_emailbtn_democrats_js1.jpg (http://www.freedomtomarry.org/page/s/democrats-say-i-do?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FTM&utm_content=20120210DemsIDo&source=20120210DemsIDo)

[DapperButch]

Double decker horse transport was to be banned (horses cannot stand straight up in these, subsequently, they trip, fall and injure themselves), as part of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, but there is a last minute amendment put on the table to remove this part from the bill (a Republican, of course). Please act quickly.

http://capwiz.com/aspca/issues/alert/?alertid=60942061

[Hollylane]

I can hardly believe this: Republican Senators are pushing legislation that will allow any employer to deny women coverage for birth control! Yes, you read that right. Birth control.

What is wrong with these people? More than 98% of American women use or have used contraception. It saves money, and it saves lives, which is why President Obama wants to make sure every woman has access to this critically important part of health care. The Republicans have proved yet again that they are only interested in defeating President Obama and waging war on women.

This ridiculous legislation will probably come up for a vote this week. I need your help. Will you fight back by joining the One Million Strong for Women campaign?

Add your name to One Million Strong For Women, and help fight back against the War on Women!

Who could have imagined that in 2012 we’d be fighting over access to something as fundamental as birth control? It just shows exactly how extreme these Republicans are – and just how crucial it is that we defeat them.

Sen. Patty Murray

https://secure.democratsenators.org/o/4/images/callout-1m-wh4.png (http://www.democratsenators.org/o/44/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=369&track=OMFW_DSCC_201202&tag=OMFW_DSCC_201202)

[Softhearted]

"To make up for the fact that rapid tar sands oil mining is threatening caribou herds by destroying vast swaths of rainforest habitat in Alberta, the Canadian government has called for strychnine poisoning and aerial shooting of thousands of wolves in areas of tar sands mining.

Tell Prime Minister Harper: Stop Canada's planned wolf killings!

If Alberta Canada's tar sands oil fields are fully developed, an area of boreal rainforest the size of Florida will be eviscerated, leaving in its wake only giant ponds of toxic wastewater.2

It's obvious why this would pose a massive threat to all wildlife species who reside there, including birds, caribou and the iconic spirit bear."

http://http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/tar_sands_wolves/?rc=fb_share1

[SoNotHer]

http://priceofoil.org/2012/02/14/over-600000-say-no-to-kxl/

Over 600,000 Say No to KXL

http://priceofoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/no-kxl-24hrs.jpg

Andy Rowell

Once again it is the many versus the money. Starting at noon yesterday, a coalition of thirty or so environmental organisations, including Oil Change International (OCI) and 350.org set out to gather at least 500,000 signatures with 24 hours to stop the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The initiative came as a response to moves within the Senate to vote as early as today on a deal that would give the green light to the construction of the pipeline.

As Steve Kretzmann, the director of OCI said yesterday “After President Obama rejected Keystone XL last month, many Senators are rushing to resurrect it in order to protect their friends: Big Oil. As you read this, the oil industry is tightening the screws on the remaining senators they need to get this thing passed.” The Washington Post reports that the bill currently has the backing of 44 Republicans and one Democrat, although Senate Democratic leaders oppose it.

The Post argues that “the amendment indicates the debate over TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline — which would transport heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries — will continue to help define the two parties this election.” In an amazing show of strength against the KXL, the goal of 500,000 signatures was reached just before 7 pm last night. It currently stands at over 600,000 signatures.

These will be delivered later today to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Gene Karpinsky, who heads the League of Conservation Voters, told ENS Newswire that handing over 50 giant boxes each holding 10,000 signatures would be a “unified show of our power: our voices against the dollars of Big Oil.”

“Anyone who thought environmentalists were graying into irrelevance was wrong,” added Bill McKibben, the co-founder of 350.org, and one of the leading opponents of the pipeline. McKibben continued: “The arguments by now are clear. This pipeline won’t create jobs (that’s why the biggest labor unions in the country support the President). It puts the heartland of the country at risk from spills – the kind of leaks that devastated the Yellowstone and Kalamazoo Rivers in the year past. And after the year with the most weather disasters in the nation’s history, and amidst this weird and out-of-kilter winter, the fight against climate change must start here.”

So if you haven’t already go here and sign the petition that says: “Senators: Block any efforts to revive the dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.” So why take the time to do it? As Steve Kretzmann says the petition “will be a unified show of our power: our voices against the dollars of the fossil fuel industry.”

So please add your voice..

[Softhearted]

It seems the link that I gave about the tar sand oils of Alberta and saving the wolves is not working properly, so this is the original address:

www.credoaction.com
and the petition is under the "Stop the Canadian government's plan to kill wolves for tar sands oil" campaign


Sorry about this!

[Hollylane]

President Obama has a piece of paper on his desk that could protect millions of LGBT Americans from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. He doesn’t need congressional approval. All he has to do is sign his name.

That piece of paper is an executive order that would require all federal contractors to provide non-discrimination protections for their LGBT employees. Federal contractors employ tens of millions of Americans, though currently only about 60% of them are protected from sexual orientation discrimination, and only 40% of them are protected from gender identity discrimination. With one stroke of his pen, President Obama could offer anti-discrimination protections to about 16 million more Americans.

As an employment rights attorney, Tico Almeida knows all too well how badly this order is needed -- in fact, according to a recent UCLA study, nearly 30% of LGBT Americans report having been harassed or fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

So Tico started a petition on Change.org asking President Obama to sign the executive order that would extend non-discrimination protections to all LGBT employees of federal contractors. Click here to sign Tico’s petition.

Through his job, Tico has seen the terrible things that can happen without non-discrimination protections -- like the former employee at defense contractor DynCorp who recently received a six-figure settlement because he was called “f*ggot” and other slurs at work.

But Tico also knows that online petitions can be the catalyst for meaningful change. A few weeks ago, Tico started a petition asking DynCorp to adopt non-discrimination protections for LGBT employees, and after more than 50,000 folks signed, DynCorp came through.

The executive order on President Obama’s desk has already cleared key hurdles at the Departments of Justice and Labor -- the decision is now with the White House. When Barack Obama was running for president, he promised to be a “fierce advocate” for LGBT rights. If thousands of people sign Tico’s petition, President Obama will see that Americans are counting on him to keep his promise.

Click here to sign Tico’s petition asking President Obama to sign the executive order that would require federal contractors to protect their LGBT employees from discrimination and harassment.



http://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/email/Templates/ObamaHelp.png?alert_id=XsXfSMGPZQ_lHrfBnnbuK&utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&me=aa (http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-sign-the-executive-order-adding-lgbt-workplace-protections-to-millions-of-american-jobs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

[Hollylane]

The FDA is on the brink of approving genetically engineered salmon for human consumption. This would be the first genetically engineered animal on supermarket shelves in the United States.

The salmon is engineered to produce growth hormones year-round that cause the fish to grow at twice the normal rate. The government already requires labels to tell us if fish is wild-caught or farm-raised—don't we also have a right to know if our salmon is genetically engineered? Without labels, we'll never know.

More than forty countries, including Russia and China, already require labels on genetically engineered foods. As Americans, we firmly believe that we deserve the same right to know what we are eating.

That's why I created a petition to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on SignOn.org, which says:

Commissioner Hamburg, we urge the FDA to require the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. We have a right to know about the food we eat and what we feed our families, but under current FDA regulations, we don't have that ability when it comes to genetically engineered foods.

Polls show that more than 90% of Americans support mandatory labeling. Such near-unanimity in public opinion is rare. Please listen to the American public and mandate labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends: (http://signon.org/sign/tell-the-fda-that-we?source=mo&id=35802-20080986-ftnbFPx)



Thanks!

–Eric Schlosser and Gary Hirshberg

[SoNotHer]

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/ethical-iphone/

New Goal! Can we get to 80,000 (currently 75K) signatures before Apple’s stockholder meeting on February 23rd?

Every day, tens of millions of people will swipe the screens of their iPhones to unlock them. On the other side of the world, a young girl is also swiping those screens. In fact, every day, during her 12+ hour shifts, six days a week, she repetitively swipes tens of thousands of them. She spends those hours inhaling isopropanol, a toxin used to clean iPhone glass. After just a few years on the line, she will be fired because the repetitive stress injuries to her wrists and hands have made them useless.

Right now we have a huge opportunity as ethical consumers: The launch of the iPhone 5 later this year will be new Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first big product rollout, and he can’t afford for anything to go wrong — including negative publicity around how Apple’s suppliers treat their workers. That’s why we’re launching a campaign this week to get Apple to overhaul the way its suppliers treat their workers in time for the launch of the iPhone 5.

In many cases, people literally are dying while making Apple products. Reporters have documented cases of deadly explosions at iPad factories, and repeated instances of employees dying of exhaustion after working thirty to sixty hour shifts. In some of the factories Apple contracts with, so many employees have attempted suicide that management installed nets to prevent employees from dying while jumping off building ledges.

Can Apple do this? Absolutely. Apple is the richest company in the world, posting a profit margin for the last quarter of 44.1% yesterday. They’re sitting on $100 billion in the bank. According to an anonymous Apple executive quoted in the New York Times, all Apple has to do is demand it, and it’ll happen – “Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

Use the form to the right to sign the petition to Apple telling them to make the iPhone 5 ethically.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/ethical-iphone/

[Hollylane]

We almost couldn’t believe it. Today, at a House Oversight Committee hearing, House Republicans convened a panel on denying access to birth control converge with five men and no women. As my colleague Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney asked, where are the women?

Join me in our call to Speaker Boehner, Eric Cantor, Chairman Issa and all House Republicans to demand that women be brought to the table when discussing women’s health issues. Help us gather 50,000 signatures before Congress heads home tomorrow.

<< Sign the petition >> (http://www.dccc.org/pages/wherearethewomen)

Thank you for standing up for what’s right and joining our fight.

Best,
Nancy Pelosi

[Corkey]

https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s1467

Everyone needs to vote in this poll.

[SoNotHer]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bees/

Tell the E.P.A.: Ban the pesticide that's killing honey bees

https://act.credoaction.com/images/campaigns/save-the-bees200.jpg

Since 2006, U.S. honey bee populations have been in precipitous decline, with some estimates suggesting losses as high as 30% per year.1 While that's terrible, the problem is far greater than just the destruction of a species. Without bees, a big piece of our food supply is in serious danger. Pollination by honey bees is key in cultivating the crops that produce a full one-third of our food.

Scientists have been scrambling to understand the crisis -- termed Colony Collapse Disorder -- but have yet to find a single, definitive cause. There are likely multiple interacting causes, and mounting evidence suggests that one widely used class of pesticides may be a critical factor. One such chemical, called clothianidin, is produced by the German corporation Bayer CropScience. It is used as a treatment on crop seeds, including corn and canola, and works by expressing itself in the plants' pollen and nectar. Not coincidentally, these are some of honey bees' favorite sources of food.

Shockingly, no major independent study has verified the safety of this pesticide. While clothianidin has been used on corn -- the largest crop in the U.S. -- since 2003, it was officially approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last year on the basis of a single study, conducted by Bayer. However, recently leaked documents show that the study was actually debunked by the agency's own scientists, so the pesticide was effectively approved with no scientific backing.2

It is outrageous that the E.P.A. is putting a vital species, the livelihoods of farmers and beekeepers, and our very food supply at risk just so Bayer can peddle its pesticide. When clothianidin first came to market, there was little or no scientific review of its effect on the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowed "conditional registration" in 2003 but requested additional study to establish the safety of the chemical. Bayer, the producer of the chemical, conducted one such study, and without public notice, the E.P.A. granted unconditional use in early 2010.

But E.P.A. documents3 leaked at the end of last year expose a more sordid story. Agency scientists who reviewed Bayer's study determined that the evidence was by no means sound, and even downgraded the study to a level at which it should not have been allowed as the basis for an unconditional approval of the pesticide. Additional independent studies have shown that neonicotinoid pesticides like clothianidin are highly toxic to honey bees, providing compelling evidence that they should be immediately taken off the market until the E.P.A. can conduct a full and valid scientific review.

This appears to be a case of the E.P.A. catering to the needs of a large chemical corporation at the expense of a lynchpin species in our ecosystem. France, Italy, Slovenia, and Germany -- the home of Bayer -- have already banned clothianidin. The stakes are simply too high to continue the use of this chemical in the absence of any scientifically verified evidence that it is safe to use. Tell the E.P.A. to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bees/

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/walmart_no_gmo/index2.html?r=5535404&id=35435-2655363-Fy2Gzmx

[SoNotHer]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/corporations/?r=745043&id=35426-2059182-NhkJuWx

Tell Congress: Only people are people.

We deserve a country where our elected officials are not bought and paid for by big corporations. But the Citizens United vs. FEC Supreme Court decision overturned over a century of precedent and opened the floodgates for unlimited amounts of corporate money to flow into our political system.

Shockingly, the court came to this decision based on the notion that a corporation is legally a "person" entitled to First Amendment rights, and by equating a corporation's right to spend unlimited amounts of money influencing an election with our right to free speech.

Tell your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood. Even before the Citizens United decision, we too often saw the interests of Main Street subverted in favor of the interests of Wall Street.

But with the Citizens United decision now the law of the land, large corporations have the power to spend unlimited amounts of money from their general treasuries to buy elections. To put things in perspective, the roughly $745 million Barack Obama raised to run for President in the 2008 election cycle (which was the most money raised by any candidate ever to run for office in the U.S.) is dwarfed by the $45 billion in profits a single company (ExxonMobil) made in 2008.

What's more, Citizen United opened loopholes that allow corporations to hide their campaign expenditures by laundering the money through non-profit advocacy organizations. Tell your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood.

The Supreme Court recently indicated that it would hear a challenge to Montana's campaign finance law. While it's possible the Court could narrow the scope of Citizens United, it's very unlikely that the Supreme Court will fix the issue any time soon. And because Congress cannot pass a law that supersedes a Supreme Court ruling, it may take a constitutional amendment to undo the worst aspects of the Citizens United decision and end corporate personhood.

Clearly, the bar to successfully amending the Constitution is very high. But with 85% of the public opposed to the Citizens United decision, there is a potential for a broad coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who all want to restore our democracy. And let's remember, the stakes are too high to allow inaction on this issue. It's no exaggeration to say that the Citizens United decision fundamentally threatens the integrity of our democracy.

We need a government of, for and by the people. And sadly, we might need to work really hard to re-establish the common sense and democratic view that only people are people, not corporations. Your senators and member of Congress need to hear from you, regardless of where they stand on this issue. We need to show them that their constituents are part of a broad movement demanding action -- not only to convince them that overturning Citizens United is the right thing to do, but also that it's possible.

Today, take a step to be part of that movement.

Tell your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/corporations/?r=745043&id=35426-2059182-NhkJuWx

[Andrea]

Give Bully a PG-13 rating....

http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-dont-let-the-bullies-win-give-bully-a-pg-13-instead-of-an-r-rating?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert (http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-dont-let-the-bullies-win-give-bully-a-pg-13-instead-of-an-r-rating?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

[Cin]

“Robocalls” made were apparently designed to stop non-Conservative voters from casting ballots in key ridings during the 2011 elections in Canada.

We demand a full and independent public inquiry to expose the facts about the robocall scandal and ensure that the penalty for this election fraud matches the consequences of the crime - including possible by-elections in the affected ridings.
http://leadnow.ca/robocall-fraud

[Andrea]

A legal petition (Docket # FDA-2011-P-0723-0001/CP) has been filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling on the FDA to label genetically engineered (GE) foods.

http://justlabelit.org/takeaction (http://justlabelit.org/takeaction)

[SoNotHer]

An historic victory for activism and the fight to end dirty coal pollution in Chicago communities

http://act.credoaction.com/images/campaigns/coal/chicago_clean_air_victory_180b.jpg

http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/emanuel_fisk_crawford/?rc=homepage

The long history of two of the oldest and dirtiest coal plants in the nation is finally about to come to an end. After polluting Chicago's air and making residents sick for more than 100 years, Midwest Generation announced a deal late Tuesday evening to retire the Fisk and Crawford coal plants.1

This victory took years of campaigning by the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, national groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, and heroic activism by the communities who were most effected by the pollution from Fisk and Crawford, including groups like the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) and the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO).

CREDO was proud to support their efforts by putting pressure on Mayor Emanuel to finally take action, and I want to thank the thousands of activists who helped make this possible.

Last spring, more than 3,500 CREDO activists in the Chicago area called and wrote to Mayor Emanuel, telling him to do everything in his power to protect local residents from pollution from these two filthy coal plants. And on the Mayor's very first day in office last May, our friends at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and Greenpeace delivered our petition signatures in person to Mayor Emanuel's office.2

Since that time, Mayor Emanuel has been negotiating with Midwest Generation to reach a deal on retiring the plants. Finally, after months of negotiations and an ultimatum from Mayor Emanuel, a final agreement has been reached. Under the terms of the deal, the Fisk plant will be retired this year, and the Crawford plant will be shut down by 2014.

This is a huge victory for the power of local activism, which would not have happened if Mayor Emanuel hadn't heard our voices and taken action on this issue. Going forward, Mayor Emanuel's continued attention to this issue will help ensure that the agreement is enforced, and that the plants are retired in the agreed upon timeline.

Tell Mayor Emanuel: Thank you for working to shut down the dirty Fisk and Crawford coal plants. Please ensure that Midwest Generation fully complies with the agreement. Today, we celebrate this historic announcement. Thank you for your activism, and our thanks and heartfelt congratulations go to the local groups and residents who worked so hard to make this happen, and will soon live in the cleaner, safer communities they deserve.

1. Emanuel brokers deal to shut two polluting coal fire plants, Chicago Sun-Times, 2/29/12
2. Here's a photo of Ian from the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization delivering CREDO activists' petition signatures on Mayor Emanuel's first day in office last May.

http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/emanuel_fisk_crawford/?rc=homepage

[weatherboi]

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Fire-Racist-Teacher-Who-Told-Student-Go-Back-To-Mexico/?cid=Facebook_Fire-Racist-Teacher-Who-Told-Student-Go-Back-To-Mexico




Target: Arlington Independent School District
Sponsored by: Concerned Citizens
Shirley Bunn, a teacher from Arlington, Texas, has been on paid leave since she told her student to "go back to Mexico" after he asked for a Spanish language version of the Title 1 forms she was distributing to the class. She will soon be reinstated.

Bunn says that she didn't mean to say what she did -- that she had just been having a bad day. But Bunn has been a teacher for 24 years. It is reasonable to expect her to be able to control saying inappropriate remarks to students. Also, this isn't the only time she has said racist remarks. She referred to a group of male Mexican students as the "Mexican Mafia".

The examiner for the case said he didn't think it was meant to be racist, but if this isn't racist, what is?

Please tell the Arlington Independent School District to fire Shirley Bunn, not reinstate her. Racism is not acceptable anywhere, but especially not by a teacher who is supposed to support her students, regardless of their race.

[DapperButch]

I do think that it is especially powerful when we sign our names to petitions, rather than remaining anonymous. I think it gives the petition that extra umph to those who receive them.

[Corkey]

http://signon.org/sign/have-the-fcc-remove-rush.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=418161

Tell the FCC to can Rush.

[SoNotHer]

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/aol-limbaugh/

Rush Limbaugh is calling women who use birth control sluts.

UPDATE: We got 50,000 messages sent in the first day. Can we get to 75,000?

And that’s not all. If the women in your life want to have birth control covered in their medical plan, then Rush “wants something for it” — he wants them to record themselves having sex and then “post the videos online so we can all watch.” The only reason this bigot is on the air is because of the millions of dollars companies pay each year for advertising on his show. Among them is internet giant AOL, which has even been offering discounts to Limbaugh’s listeners.

Use the form at right to ask AOL to stand up for women and pull their ads from Rush’s show. Limbaugh’s disgusting, hateful words specifically targeted Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. Fluke has fought for coverage for birth control publicly on behalf of a friend at school with a medical issue that resulted in the loss of one of her ovaries — a condition that would have been entirely preventable if she had been given access to hormonal contraception.

Companies have a responsibility not to support hate speech like Limbaugh’s – and consumers like us are demanding that they stand up to him. Rush clearly recognizes the danger he’s in — yesterday he issued a mealy-mouthed “apology” excusing his behavior by saying that he has always “illustrated the absurd with absurdity.” But those half-hearted, uninspiring words are only feeding the huge momentum that’s building to get Rush off the air. Two of his biggest advertisers, Carbonite and ProFlowers, dropped Rush after his so-called “apology” yesterday. Carbonite’s CEO said, “No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady.”

Meanwhile, AOL continues to advertise a 75% discount on its “Quick Check Diagnostic” service “exclusively for Rush Limbaugh listeners.” That’s simply unacceptable.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/aol-limbaugh/

[DapperButch]

...say no to unlimited cephalosporins (a class of antibiotics) in your food. Deadline for signature tomorrow.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/antibiotic_comments/?r=5538059&id=36085-2655363-Us2Hrvx

[weatherboi]

http://www.vday.org/onebillionrising-signup.html

2-14-2013
Global strike to end violence against women!

[LaneyDoll]

Tell USDA to STOP Using Pink Slime in School Food!

Why This Is Important
"Pink slime" is the term used for a mixture of beef scraps and connective tissue (formerly used only for pet food and rendering) that is treated with ammonia hydroxide to remove pathogens like salmonella and E coli. These so-called "Lean Beef Trimmings," are produced by Beef Products, Inc.

Two former government microbiologists claim that, for political reasons, pink slime was approved for human consumption by USDA over serious safety concerns. (http://bit.ly/waMMni)

Government and industry records obtained by The New York Times in 2009 showed that "in testing for the school lunch program, E. coli and salmonella pathogens have been found dozens of times in Beef Products meat, challenging claims by the company and the U.S.D.A. about the effectiveness of the treatment. Since 2005, E. coli has been found 3 times and salmonella 48 times, including back-to-back incidents in August in which two 27,000-pound batches were found to be contaminated. The meat was caught before reaching lunch-rooms trays."

Even apart from safety concerns, it is simply wrong to feed our children connective tissues and beef scraps that were, in the past, destined for use in pet food and rendering and were not considered fit for human consumption.

Due to public outcry, fast food giants like McDonald's and Burger King have stopped using pink slime in their food. But the federal government continues to allow its use in school food and has just authorized the purchase of ground beef which collectively contains an additional 7 million pounds of pink slime for consumption by our nation's children.

Tell the USDA to STOP the use of ground beef containing pink slime in the National School Lunch Program!

[You can follow the progress of this petition, including the latest media coverage and more information on pink slime, on my daily blog -- The Lunch Tray (www.thelunchtray.com)]

Note from Laney-the UK has banned use of this is food destined for human consumption. Many less fortunate kids in the US get their only decent meals from school breakfasts and lunches. Some get their only meals this way.


http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-usda-to-stop-using-pink-slime-in-school-food

[DapperButch]

Glad to hear McDonald's stopped using pink slime. I saw a picture once of this long, light pink, 3 inches round sausage looking thing that was going to be shaped into nuggets. Nasty. I had stopped eating McDonalds by then, but if I hadn't, I certainly wouldn't have had the chicken nuggets there again!

Thanks for the petition.

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/walmart_no_gmo/index2.html?r=5535404&id=35435-2655363-Fy2Gzmx

Follow up to above post. Walmart is considering, yet hedging on whether or not they will carry the sweet corn. Please read the petition. My guess is that you will want to sign.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/walmart-monsanto/?sub=taf

[Corkey]

Follow up to above post. Walmart is considering, yet hedging on whether or not they will carry the sweet corn. Please read the petition. My guess is that you will want to sign.

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/walmart-monsanto/?sub=taf

Signed it, and we don't shop wally world for food.

[Hollylane]

https://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/7/zm/ur/yLzMurApwJZgonV-236x236-cropped.jpg?1331640359



Prosecute the killer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin (https://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin)


Heartbreaking tragedy: 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was visiting a relative's house in a Florida gated community when he walked to the store to get Skittles and iced tea for his little brother. He never made it home. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a self-styled neighborhood watch leader, who told police he thought Trayvon was "suspicious" in the mostly-white community.

Unbelievable twist: A man named George Zimmerman allegedly admitted to police that he shot Trayvon Martin in the chest. Zimmerman claims he acted in self defense, even though police allegedly told him not to do anything until they arrived -- and despite the fact that Trayvon was unarmed, carrying only a bag of Skittles when he died. In the two weeks since Zimmerman allegedly killed Trayvon, police have refused to arrest the confessed killer.

Hope for justice: Sybrina Fulton is Trayvon's mother, and she's leading a campaign on Change.org to get justice for her son. Tracy knows that if enough people raise an outcry, Sanford, Florida authorities will be forced to investigate Zimmerman the same way they would investigate any confessed killer.

Sign Sybrina's petition calling on the authorities in Florida to charge George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin and try him before a jury of his peers.
(https://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-trayvon-martin)
---------

Here's a lot more info about Sybrina's campaign, in her own words:

On February 26, my son Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked back from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy. He was only 17 years old.

Trayvon's killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, the community's self appointed "neighborhood watch leader," called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Trayvon, a young black man, walking from the store. But Zimmerman, who is white, still hasn't been charged for killing my son.

Trayvon was my hero. At the age of 9, Trayvon pulled his father from a burning kitchen, saving his life. He loved sports and horseback riding. At only 17 he had a bright future ahead of him with dreams of attending college and becoming an aviation mechanic. Now that's all gone.

When Zimmerman reported Trayvon to the police, they told him not to confront him. But he did anyway. All I know about what happened next is that my 17 year-old son, who was completely unarmed, was shot and killed.

I don't know if my family will ever receive justice for this terrible tragedy. It's been nearly two weeks and the Sanford Police have refused to arrest George Zimmerman. In their public statements, they even go so far as to stand up for the killer - saying he's "a college grad" who took a class in criminal justice.

Please join me in calling on the the Sanford Police Department and Florida State's Attorney Norman Wolfinger to investigate my son's death and prosecute George Zimmerman for the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin.

[Hollylane]

BREAKING: "Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that."— Mitt Romney

Think Mitt Romney is the GOP’s “moderate” choice? Think again. If elected, Romney will shut down Planned Parenthood. Yes, you read that quote right.

The GOP’s war on women has reached the danger zone, and I need your urgent help. Will you join me in standing with Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood gives needed medical care to almost 5 million people each year. If Republicans win, women won’t get the care they need, and women will die. Period.

Click here to join with me in supporting Planned Parenthood. In the face of continued assaults, Planned Parenthood needs to know that 50,000 activists have got their backs. (https://dscc.org/act4?action_KEY=433)

Thanks for standing with Planned Parenthood, and fighting to end the Republican war on women.

Sen. Patty Murray

[Hollylane]

https://secure.humanesociety.org/images/content/pagebuilder/gestation_crate_pig.jpg

Pigs Deserve Better


Dear Friend,

Tyson Foods allows pigs in its supply chain to be locked inside tiny "gestation crates," barely larger than the pigs own bodies, for nearly their whole lives. The animals are caged like this during their four-month-long pregnancy, taken from the gestation crate and put into another crate to give birth, re-impregnated, and then put back into a gestation crate so the cycle can repeat. It's hard to imagine a worse existence.

Several other leading pork companies are actively moving toward more humane systems, but Tyson is lagging far behind. Tyson Foods is one of the nation's leading pork companies, and we need your help to move the company to do the right thing.

Take action today -- tell Tyson that these pigs deserve better. (https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5403&autologin=true&s_src=motherjones031212&JServSessionIdr004=rm7utur8h2.app334b)

[EnderD_503]

BREAKING: "Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that."— Mitt Romney

Think Mitt Romney is the GOP’s “moderate” choice? Think again. If elected, Romney will shut down Planned Parenthood. Yes, you read that quote right.

The GOP’s war on women has reached the danger zone, and I need your urgent help. Will you join me in standing with Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood gives needed medical care to almost 5 million people each year. If Republicans win, women won’t get the care they need, and women will die. Period.

Click here to join with me in supporting Planned Parenthood. In the face of continued assaults, Planned Parenthood needs to know that 50,000 activists have got their backs. (https://dscc.org/act4?action_KEY=433)

Thanks for standing with Planned Parenthood, and fighting to end the Republican war on women.

Sen. Patty Murray

Heh, the Conservative gov't here tried to do something similar (though sneakier than the Republicans, they were threatening to defund Planned Parenthood...as with a lot of orgs "it can still exist, we just don't fund any of it" which essentially fucks the orgs over anyways), but due to public outcry it never happened. Good luck and hopefully no one over there is stupid enough to vote for your version of our wonderful fundy Conservatives.

[DapperButch]

https://secure.humanesociety.org/images/content/pagebuilder/gestation_crate_pig.jpg

Pigs Deserve Better


Dear Friend,

Tyson Foods allows pigs in its supply chain to be locked inside tiny "gestation crates," barely larger than the pigs own bodies, for nearly their whole lives. The animals are caged like this during their four-month-long pregnancy, taken from the gestation crate and put into another crate to give birth, re-impregnated, and then put back into a gestation crate so the cycle can repeat. It's hard to imagine a worse existence.

Several other leading pork companies are actively moving toward more humane systems, but Tyson is lagging far behind. Tyson Foods is one of the nation's leading pork companies, and we need your help to move the company to do the right thing.

Take action today -- tell Tyson that these pigs deserve better. (https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5403&autologin=true&s_src=motherjones031212&JServSessionIdr004=rm7utur8h2.app334b)

I am trying to remember....is Tyson the one that McDonalds stopped using after pressure to do so, or was that a different company?

[always2late]

Just when I thought the human race couldn't possibly sink any lower...here is a new low. This is one of the most disgusting things I have heard in a very long time. When I first saw the petition, I was convinced that it was a hoax, that this couldn't possibly be real. But, I did research, and yes, it is real. Please sign!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/841/068/757/stop-using-orangutans-as-prostitutes/

[Hollylane]

I may or may not have just yelled out loud when I read that. :| GRRRRRrrrrr

[DapperButch]

Just when I thought the human race couldn't possibly sink any lower...here is a new low. This is one of the most disgusting things I have heard in a very long time. When I first saw the petition, I was convinced that it was a hoax, that this couldn't possibly be real. But, I did research, and yes, it is real. Please sign!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/841/068/757/stop-using-orangutans-as-prostitutes/


Honestly, I saw the title and just couldn't and didn't want to read the article. I just signed my name and clicked off the page.

[SoNotHer]

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/thank-starbucks/

Starbucks stuck its neck out to publicly support the right of all people to marry, regardless of the gender of their partner.Now it is under attack by the ironically-named, ultra-conservative American “National Organization for Marriage”. Already over 4,000 NOM members have pledged to boycott Starbucks.

Let’s blow the right wing out of the water by getting more than ten times as many consumers from around the world to thank Starbucks for standing up for gay marriage. Join us in showing our support for Starbucks by signing our giant Thank You card. If 40,000 of us sign it, we’ll deliver it to Starbucks executives to give them moral support to keep standing up for equality.

NOM is targeting Starbucks because the company recently stood up publicly to support gay marriage legislation in their home state of Washington in the United States. When it passed, the bill’s lead sponsor said that support from business convinced moderate legislators to vote for it. Without support from companies like Starbucks, the gay marriage law might have failed.

Now, if Starbucks backtracks because of opposition, then it will set the gay rights struggle back to a time when big corporations couldn’t come out and support gay people for fear of public backlash. Even worse, it will embolden anti-gay activists around the world to target other companies that support gay rights, and serve as a lesson to other companies to stay out of the fight for equal rights entirely.

Starbucks isn’t perfect — and in the future we’ll probably be asking it to improve its policies on other issues. But it’s a big deal when a giant multinational corporation with no particular connection to the gay community realizes that there are real business benefits — from better employees to happier customers — to standing up for progressive ideals. As SumOfUs members and ethical consumers, we can’t just criticize corporations when they do bad. We also want to encourage them when they do good.

Let’s show that supporting equal rights is good business: Add your name to our thank you card.

[SoNotHer]

http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/bpa_packaging/?rc=homepage

Tell the FDA: No BPA in food packaging!

On March 31st, the FDA will decide whether or not to continue allowing bisphenol A (BPA) to be used in food packaging. While the toxic chemical was recently banned in California from being used in baby bottles and sippy cups, thanks to the lobbying of the American Chemistry Council and other chemical manufacturers BPA continues to be used in food and beverage packaging, including the lining in most canned food and soup.

The FDA has the power to finally put a stop to BPA in our food. It needs to stand up to industry pressure and protect us from this dangerous chemical.

Tell the FDA: No BPA in food packaging!

BPA is a hormone disruptor that has been linked to a long list of serious health issues, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, early puberty, miscarriages and brain and heart disorders.1

It's so ubiquitous, it's even used in things like store receipts and plastic bags, and it is estimated that BPA can be found in 90% of our bodies.2

FDA's deadline comes in response to a formal petition filed in 2008 by the Natural Resources Defence Council. FDA failed to respond, and finally in December, a federal judge said it must make a final decision on BPA in food packaging by March 31st.3

Early last year, FDA admitted that BPA use raised "some concern," reversing a long maintained position that BPA was safe in low doses, as evidence mounted rapidly of BPA's health risks, which in addition to increased propensity for some diseases, include infertility and behavioral problems in children.

The science on BPA is clear, and it's health impacts are far reaching, and deeply concerning. BPA isn't safe to be used in food packaging and the FDA needs to take action to protect us from BPA.

Tell the FDA: No BPA in food packaging!

1. "A Survey of Bisphenol A in U.S. Canned Foods," Environmental Working Group, March 2007
2. "High BPA levels found in at least 90% of moms-to-be," USA Today, October 11, 2010
3. "FDA agrees to determine safety of BPA," Washington Post, December 7, 2011

[The_Lady_Snow]

http://action.ufw.org/page/s/chavezholidaypetition

[Hollylane]

http://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/8/ga/tn/nvgatnZSkQWLnAd-236x236-cropped.jpg?1333138958 (http://www.change.org/petitions/epa-save-our-bees-and-the-food-we-eat-ban-bayer-s-chemicals-now?utm_campaign=aZQlDgyMtF&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

Here's the buzz: American honey bees are disappearing at an alarming rate and the government knows why.

Scientists say a pesticide called clothianidin, made by chemical giant Bayer, is strongly linked to the rapid decline in bee populations. When exposed to the chemical, bees get lost: they are literally unable to find their way home back to the hive and drop dead from exhaustion.

Susan Mariner uses her backyard garden to grow extra fruits and veggies for her family and teach her children where their food comes from -- and in the past few years, she's seen the decline in bees firsthand.

When Susan heard about the recent studies linking this specific chemical to the widespread death of the bees who pollinate our food, she started a petition on Change.org to get the chemical banned. Click here to sign Susan’s petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to ban these bee-killing pesticides ASAP. (http://www.change.org/petitions/epa-save-our-bees-and-the-food-we-eat-ban-bayer-s-chemicals-now?utm_campaign=aZQlDgyMtF&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

One-third of the U.S. food supply relies on honey bees. Without bees to pollinate crops, many essential (and favorite) foods are at risk, including apples, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, almonds, and even chocolate.

Several countries, including Germany and France, have already banned clothianidin. And after the bans, bee populations began to rise again.

But in the U.S., clothianidin is used on millions of acres of crops and American beekeepers report losses of up to 90% of their bees. Many worry that their hives won't survive another season. Sign Susan's petition urging the EPA to save the bees and immediately end the harmful pesticide's use.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Corinne and the Change.org team

[Truly Scrumptious]

(Not exactly a petition, but the best place I could think of to put this.)


How We're Paying For Putting Ourselves Down (And Why We'll Pay For You To Say Something Nice!) by Anya Strzemien

"I have a very strange allergy. Some people are allergic to wheat, others are allergic to cats. I'm allergic to hearing women put down their appearance. I use the word allergy because something truly visceral happens to me: my toes curl, my hair stands on end, and I stumble over my words as I try to come up with the appropriate, scripted-yet-sincere response.

It's a common dance between women. One says "I feel so fat" and her friend responds "Please! I am so fat" and then the first one says "Whatever, you didn't just eat a burrito" and on and on they go.

I went to an all-girls high school, an all-women's college and have worked in media for the last 10 years, so I've overheard --or been baited into-- this conversation a lot. But not until I started working with one foot in the fashion world have I heard it so much. In an industry where designers have to be reminded to distinguish between a sample size and an eating disorder, and encouraged to keep snacks for runway models (though judging by some of the physiques at last February's Fashion Week, these efforts were in vain), it's not particularly surprising.

So, here at Stylelist, I've long joked that I need to implement a tip jar to fine anyone who says something negative about their appearance. And one night, over a snack of mac & cheese and martinis with the very supportive Bobbie Thomas of the "Today Show," I realized it needed to be a reality. So the next day, with some paper, scissors, glue and a Sharpie, the very literally named "I Promise To Not Say Negative Things About My Body Jar" was born. The fine is $1 for every negative comment someone makes, with proceeds going to Girls Inc, an organization that promotes self-esteem and leadership skills for young girls. Within two minutes I had $2 in that jar. Was one of them mine? Sure. I never said I don't have moments of hypocrisy!

I am, however, trying hard to curb this nasty habit, and I hope you'll join me. A recent study shows that when a woman engages in "fat talk," she may feel the effects of depression for several weeks afterward. Talk about a lose-lose scenario.

So even though I'm not normally one for saccharine self-affirmations and cheesy platitudes, I want to use the comments section of this post to flip the script and ask you all to say something positive about yourselves. In return, the Huffington Post Media Group will donate $1 for every kind comment to Girls Inc. We're hoping to reach our cap of $5,000 for 5,000 comments by April 10th, so please go ahead and say something nice."


Post your comments on the article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anya-strzemien/self-esteem-stylelist-tip-jar_b_1386305.html


More about Girls Inc: http://www.girlsinc.org

[Andrea]

Take a stand against corporate funding of voter suppression.

For years, the right wing has been trying to stop people of color, young people, and seniors from voting in order to help Republicans get elected -- and now some of America's biggest companies are helping them do it.


http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/alec_id/ (http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/alec_id/)

[DapperButch]

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/#!/petition/support-mandatory-labeling-genetically-engineered-foods-gmos/nkWHZ2Vm

[Hollylane]

http://sou.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/crop-duster.jpg

Next week, the USDA will decide whether to allow Monsanto and Dow to introduce one half of the chemical mixture Agent Orange into our food supply. Widescale use of Roundup has led to a new generation of resistant weeds, and the next step in the pesticide arms race is 2,4-D -- a chemical linked to cancer, Parkinson's and reproductive problems.

Farmers that sign up to use genetically-engineered 2,4-D-resistant corn will be required to spray down their fields with both 2,4-D and Roundup, double-dosing our food, our soil and our waterways with the toxins. Some experts estimate this will increase the use of 2,4-D 50-fold, even though the EPA says the chemical is already our seventh-largest source of dioxins -- nasty, highly toxic chemicals that bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain and cause cancer, developmental damage, and birth defects.

We can stop this. The use of 2,4-D is banned entirely in parts of Canada and Europe, and right now the US Department of Agriculture is accepting public comments on 2,4-D to decide whether or not to approve the widespread industrial use of the toxin.

Add your name to our letter to the USDA urging them to deny approval for Dow's 2,4-D-resistant GMO corn. (http://sumofus.org/campaigns/24-d/?rd=1&sub=fwd&t=3&referring_akid=374.180255.it5oaG)

This is part of a growing problem, an escalating herbicide war going on across America’s heartland. From 1996 to 2008, herbicide usage increased by 383 million pounds. Nearly half of this took place between 2007 and 2008 after the introduction of another strain of herbicide-resistant plant pushed by Dow. Like Roundup before it, 2,4-D is only a temporary solution that will require more and more tons of toxins and more and more potent chemicals leaching into our food supply.

2,4-D is nasty stuff and has been linked to a number of health problems, such as tripling the rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Nebraska farmworkers exposed to it and causing reproductive problems -- birth defects and high rates of miscarriage -- in both mice and men exposed to it in the lab and field.

Tell the USDA - we don’t want Monsanto’s toxic pesticide.
(http://sumofus.org/campaigns/24-d/?rd=1&sub=fwd&t=3&referring_akid=374.180255.it5oaG)
-Kaytee, Claiborne Taren and the rest of the team

[Hollylane]

ssc8mUqUEqE

In 2002, a special needs student named Andre McCollins was allegedly strapped down and electrocuted for hours, leaving him with permanent brain damage, all because he refused to take off his jacket. The people torturing Andre were officials at his school. You can watch what happened on video.

The video was shot at a Massachusetts school for special needs kids called the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC). Gregory Miller used to be a teacher there, and he says electrocuting kids as punishment is extremely common -- even for minor offenses like raising your hand to go to the bathroom.

"A non-verbal, nearly blind girl with cerebral palsy was shocked for attempts to hold a staff member's hand -- her attempts to communicate and to be loved," Gregory says.

Gregory desperately wants to help the kids at the JRC --that's why he started a petition on Change.org demanding that the JRC stop using electroshock to punish kids. Click here to add your name. (http://www.change.org/petitions/judge-rotenberg-educational-center-please-stop-painful-electric-shocks-on-your-students?utm_campaign=GdShhVWWee&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

Gregory says the JRC's founder created electroshock devices which are even stronger than police stun guns to punish students for bad behavior. An official at the United Nations said that using these devices on children is considered torture.

According to the Boston Globe, the JRC’s founder resigned after being charged with misleading a grand jury by destroying video footage of other students being shocked.

Gregory believes that if thousands of people sign his petition, his former bosses will capitulate in the intense pressure generated by a national spotlight.

Click here to sign Gregory's petition demanding that the JRC immediately cease its practice of punishing special needs kids with electroshock devices. (http://www.change.org/petitions/judge-rotenberg-educational-center-please-stop-painful-electric-shocks-on-your-students?utm_campaign=GdShhVWWee&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Jon and the Change.org team

[Andrea]

Greyhound: Stop Racial Profiling on your buses

http://www.change.org/petitions/greyhound-stop-racial-profiling-on-your-buses?utm_campaign=KICOlrkBiT&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert (http://www.change.org/petitions/greyhound-stop-racial-profiling-on-your-buses?utm_campaign=KICOlrkBiT&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert)

[Soon]

Include Marriage Equality on the DNC Platform (http://www.change.org/petitions/democratic-national-committee-include-marriage-equality-in-the-2012-party-platform)

[DapperButch]

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/usda_poultry/?r=6888744&id=40316-2655363-EUfOfPx

Thank you!

[Hollylane]

http://action.humanesociety.org/images/content/pagebuilder/humane_action_inset_pmill_dachsunds.jpg
(https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5493&s_src=em_ha071012)

Who Will Take a Stand for Dogs?


The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a landmark rule to require that all large-scale dog breeders be subject to federal inspection to ensure their dogs are humanely treated. But the American Kennel Club, which says it's the "dogs' champion," is working to stall and stop this critical advance for the welfare of dogs.

A new report issued by The Humane Society of the United States shows that the AKC has opposed more than 80 laws and ordinances designed to crack down on puppy mills over the last five years. This includes the landmark USDA rule that would regulate puppy mills that sell dogs direct to the public through the Internet.

Take action now and tell the USDA that, unlike the AKC, you support stronger oversight of Internet puppy mills. Please hurry -- this is the last week to submit comments! (https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5493&s_src=em_ha071012)
http://action.humanesociety.org/images/content/pagebuilder/17463.jpg
Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO

[Soon]

GOAL: 100,000 STRONG TELLING MITT ROMNEY TO RELEASE HIS FULL TAX RETURNS
(http://www.dccc.org/pages/mitttaxes)
BREAKING NEWS: Mitt Romney says he'll only release his 2010 and 2011 tax records.

Two years isn't enough. President Obama has released his tax returns going back to the year 2000. In fact, Mitt’s own father, George Romney, started the tradition of Presidential candidates releasing their tax returns in 1968, releasing 12 years of returns.

Something doesn’t add up. Americans deserve to know whether Romney is taking advantage of the tax system.

Sign our petition calling on Mitt Romney to release his full tax returns now >>

[DapperButch]

Sign petition for a female moderator at a Presidential Debate!

http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/womendebates/?akid=136.127674.k-p6ej&rd=1&t=1

[Soon]

New Jersey's Whitebriar Bed And Breakfast Slammed For Alleged Anti-Gay Facebook Post To Lesbian Mom (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/new-jersey-whitebriar-bed-and-breakfast-gay-facebook-post_n_1724358.html)

/snip/

Resident Joianne Fraschilla took to Facebook to express her frustration with a sign displayed on the lawn of the Whitebriar Bed and Breakfast in Edgewater Park, which promoted "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," designated by former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as Aug. 1.

"This is somewhere my son loves to pass by and we have been excited to visit," Fraschilla, who is openly gay, wrote. "I'm sad to see a local business anti LGBT marriage."

She likely wasn't prepared for the vicious, long-winded response her post received from Whitebriar Bed and Breakfast (called "Camp Whitebriar -- animals, organic gardens, Cooking from scratch & swimming" on Facebook). The B&B, which is owned by Carole and Bill Moore, reportedly fired back at Fraschilla:

"Isn’t it wonderful Joanne (sic) Fraschilla, that you and your son can enjoy the animals here because I have a traditional marriage with a husband who works with me 90 hours a week to take care of these animals, and the summer camp….we’re 66-68 years old….there were no gays or queers in our time…..if two old ladies chose to live together..so be it, let them deal with God when they get there…but to have the 'face sucking' thrown in my face of two gay lesbians who are totally destroying the 'normal balance in a child’s life' as you claim your son…"
The post continues:

"Where is the role model that your son needs to know how to act like a man? or will he only see the 'one sided selfishness' of a 'single parent'…and end up an out cast in society by being 'gay' himself because he didn’t have a father as a role model. I’ll pray for you….remember what the bible says: 'Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas'…..guess that’s why God invented aids….
THIS LOCAL BUSINESS WILL BE ONE MAN ONE WOMAN ONE GOD MAKES MARRIAGE….AND PROUD TO DO SO….YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS"


Petition:Whitebriar Bed and Breakfast, Green Cafe, Farm and Camp: Apologize for their discriminatory public statement (http://www.change.org/petitions/whitebriar-bed-and-breakfast-green-cafe-farm-and-camp-apologize-for-their-discriminatory-public-statement)

[Soon]

http://whitebriarbedandbreakfast.com/contact-us

New Jersey's Whitebriar Bed And Breakfast Slammed For Alleged Anti-Gay Facebook Post To Lesbian Mom (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/new-jersey-whitebriar-bed-and-breakfast-gay-facebook-post_n_1724358.html)

/snip/

Resident Joianne Fraschilla took to Facebook to express her frustration with a sign displayed on the lawn of the Whitebriar Bed and Breakfast in Edgewater Park, which promoted "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," designated by former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as Aug. 1.

"This is somewhere my son loves to pass by and we have been excited to visit," Fraschilla, who is openly gay, wrote. "I'm sad to see a local business anti LGBT marriage."

She likely wasn't prepared for the vicious, long-winded response her post received from Whitebriar Bed and Breakfast (called "Camp Whitebriar -- animals, organic gardens, Cooking from scratch & swimming" on Facebook). The B&B, which is owned by Carole and Bill Moore, reportedly fired back at Fraschilla:

"Isn’t it wonderful Joanne (sic) Fraschilla, that you and your son can enjoy the animals here because I have a traditional marriage with a husband who works with me 90 hours a week to take care of these animals, and the summer camp….we’re 66-68 years old….there were no gays or queers in our time…..if two old ladies chose to live together..so be it, let them deal with God when they get there…but to have the 'face sucking' thrown in my face of two gay lesbians who are totally destroying the 'normal balance in a child’s life' as you claim your son…"
The post continues:

"Where is the role model that your son needs to know how to act like a man? or will he only see the 'one sided selfishness' of a 'single parent'…and end up an out cast in society by being 'gay' himself because he didn’t have a father as a role model. I’ll pray for you….remember what the bible says: 'Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas'…..guess that’s why God invented aids….
THIS LOCAL BUSINESS WILL BE ONE MAN ONE WOMAN ONE GOD MAKES MARRIAGE….AND PROUD TO DO SO….YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS"


Petition:Whitebriar Bed and Breakfast, Green Cafe, Farm and Camp: Apologize for their discriminatory public statement (http://www.change.org/petitions/whitebriar-bed-and-breakfast-green-cafe-farm-and-camp-apologize-for-their-discriminatory-public-statement)

[Hollylane]

The Salvation Army fired me for being bisexual. I can barely afford to feed my child because I lost my job. I need your help so this never happens to anyone else ever again.

When most Americans think of the Salvation Army, they think of the group’s ubiquitous holiday red kettles and bell ringers. But there’s a dark side behind the smiles: the Salvation Army has a long history of attacking the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Just last month, for example, the Salvation Army in Australia was forced to apologize after an official said that the belief that gays must die is part of the group’s “Christian doctrine.”

And now, this: the Salvation Army fired me from my job – the sole means of support for my husband and and my three-year-old daughter -- because of of my sexual orientation.

For the first two months that I worked for the Salvation Army, everything went well. I doubled the number of clients the Salvation Army was able to serve on a daily and weekly basis, and I streamlined the group’s social services programs. My supervisors gave every indication that my work was exemplary.

But last Friday July 20, I raised concerns about sections in the Salvation Army employee handbook relating to sexual orientation and employment discrimination, and came out as bisexual in the process. On Monday, the Salvation Army fired me and ordered me escorted off the premises.

In my exit interview papers they claimed the reason for my termination was because my "personal beliefs and position do not 100% align with the values of the Salvation Army."

My sexual orientation had absolutely no bearing on the job I did or the quality of my work, yet for the Salvation Army, it was reason enough to fire me. The Salvation Army – an organization that claims to be “Doing the Most Good” – chose to harm me and my family simply because I had the courage to be honest.

Firing someone for their sexual orientation is not “good,” it’s wrong. This needs to stop. Join me by signing this petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/salvation-army-you-fired-me-for-my-sexual-orientation-stop-discriminating-against-people-for-who-they-are?alert_id=AnpLsBMhVA_MisXDiUhYP&utm_campaign=8617&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert) asking the Salvation Army to end employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people now!

After you sign my petition, please read more about my story at Truth Wins Out (http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2012/07/27374/).

[Andrea]

Begin hearings on the use of full body scanners by the TSA, per the finding in EPIC v. DHS, No. 10-1157

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/begin-hearings-use-full-body-scanners-tsa-finding-epic-v-dhs-no-10-1157/7YpJKlKl (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/begin-hearings-use-full-body-scanners-tsa-finding-epic-v-dhs-no-10-1157/7YpJKlKl)

If you already signed this, please consider signing again. Somehow the petition was taken down on the site and we are starting at zero.

[Hollylane]

In Selma, Alabama, a monument to the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan is under construction on public land.

The statue of Confederate General Nathan Forrest -- infamous as the first Grand WIzard of the Klan and for massacring black Union soldiers at the Civil War battle of Fort Pillow -- even has the blessing of the Selma City Council.

Selma is home to some of the most important events of the Civil Rights Movement -- including "Bloody Sunday," when 600 activists fighting for African-American voting rights were attacked by state and local police.

Unless the city council stops it, a "bigger and better than ever" monument will be constructed to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest. A group called Friends of Forrest built the original monument, and now the group is planning to lay concrete for a new foundation, add a new bust of the KKK founder, enclose the monument in a wrought iron gate, and add night lighting.

Malika Sanders-Fortier is a community leader in Selma, and when she heard about the plan for the monument she was outraged. Malika is proud of her city's place in history, and she thinks that monuments celebrating violent racism and intolerance have no place in this country, let alone in a city like Selma, where the families of those attacked by the Klan still live.

Malika started a petition on Change.org demanding that the Selma City Council remove the monument to a founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Click here to add your name. (http://www.change.org/petitions/selma-city-council-no-more-monuments-to-kkk-hate?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9735&alert_id=pKAYxFWCsP_KdFqclWkaF)

Thanks,

William


Malika interviewed by Roland Martin on The Tom Joyner Morning Show!
by William Winters
Senior Campaigner

Malika Sanders-Fortier got to tell a national audience about what's happening in Selma today on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Listen to her interview and ask your friends to sign the petition!

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/content/roland-martin-talks-malika-sanders-fortier

[DapperButch]

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50202/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=11884

ETA: Ok, so not a petition, but please share with your friends and families! Get the support out!

[Hollylane]

Urge Macy's To Dump Donald Trump (http://signon.org/sign/urge-macys-to-dump-donald?rc=homepage)

[Hollylane]

On May 26th, 2012, my husband and I lost our lovable border collie Lily when she was shot and killed on our front porch by a police officer responding to a call at the wrong address. My husband told the approaching officer to wait while he put our dogs inside -- but instead the officer shot "the dog closest to him." After she was killed, our lives changed forever.

Lily's needless killing is unfortunately one of many dog shootings by untrained police officers across the country this year.

We started a petition on Change.org (http://www.change.org/) when Lily was shot -- and our city's police department enacted an eight-hour mandatory animal training for its officers. But we don't want other dog owners in Texas to go through the same horrifying experience of seeing their beloved animal shot and killed in front of them, so we're asking for the entire state of Texas to make animal training mandatory for all police officers. Click here to sign our petition.

When an officer shoots an animal, they're killing members of a family. Lily was more than just our dog, and she can never be replaced. Police officers should never resort to killing pets because they are not better trained to deal with animals in different circumstances.

These shootings are not only tragic for the owners, but often happen in front of other people, putting bystanders at risk. If Fort Worth, the town we live in, can make animal training mandatory for officers, the entire state can do the same.

Join my husband and I in calling on the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education to make officer training for animal encounters mandatory.
(http://www.change.org/petitions/texas-police-stop-using-deadly-force-on-family-pets?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=14413&alert_id=OncHHTFWxR_olRrimmaBR)
Thank you.

Cindy Boling
Fort Worth, Texas

[Hollylane]

Tell President Obama to veto the Monsanto Protection Act!

We regret to inform you, but late last week Congress succeeded in passing Section 735, aka the Monsanto Protection Act, in the Continuing Resolution spending bill - HR 933. Once again, Monsanto and the biotech industry have used their lobbying power to undermine your basic rights.

We need you to sign a petition (http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_the_monsanto_protection_act_seize_congress/) to President Obama and tell him to veto HR 933 and the Monsanto Protection Act. With the Senate passage of the Monsanto Protection Act, biotech lobbyists are one step closer to making sure that their new GMO crops can evade any serious scientific or regulatory review.

This dangerous provision, the Monsanto Protection Act, strips judges of their constitutional mandate to protect consumer and farmer rights and the environment, while opening up the floodgates for the planting of new untested genetically engineered crops, endangering farmers, citizens and the environment.

We are asking that you sign the petition here (http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_the_monsanto_protection_act_seize_congress/) and then call President Obama and demand that he veto HR 933. Join us in putting a stop to the Monsanto Protection Act!

[Hollylane]

This Earth Day the stakes couldn’t be higher, Obama has a choice: climate redemption or permanent climate chaos.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, the day that millions of Americans pause to celebrate the wonders and natural beauty of our planet and the movement that has grown in the past 40 plus years to protect it.

Ironically, April 22, 2013, is also the final day of a final public comment period on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, the proposed massive 1,700 mile long experiment in pumping dirty oil from the Tar Sands in Canada to the Gulf Coast in Texas.

Along the way, the proposed Keystone pipeline will crisscross some of the most productive farmland and on the planet, putting the livelihoods of America’s farmers and ranchers and our food supply at risk.

James Hansen, America’s leading climate scientist has already called Keystone “game over for the climate” if approved.

Don’t let President Obama make this tragic mistake of bowing to corporate special interests once again. Stand with America’s family farmers in protecting our farmland and the environment. Every voice counts.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/828?t=7&akid=829.803705.l5sks9

According to the Sierra Club, the Keystone XL pipeline “would be a disaster, from start to finish. Tar sands oil is toxic for our climate, and mining the tar sands destroys pristine forests and threatens First Nation peoples.”

But despite all common sense assessments by America’s leading environmental and climate scientists, the U.S. government has continued to try to find ways to promote building the pipeline over realistic concerns that this pipeline will be a pending disaster for farmers, their farmland and our climate.

A recent State Department review of the Keystone XL pipeline was found to have been written by firms with deep ties to the oil industry and goes out of its way to ignore the catastrophic impacts to our climate, ignoring the clear consensus among financial analysts and oil executives who agree that the approval of Keystone will be the determining factor over the continued development of the toxic Canadian tar sands. Once again, corporate America is attempting to right the rules and regulations behind the scenes that put their profits over the health and safety of the public.

Tell President Obama it’s time to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline and put America’s farmers, their land and our children’s future above short-term profits for dirty oil. Remember, comments are due at COB tomorrow – Earth Day 41! Every voice counts!
(http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/save_the_planet_stop_keystone/?akid=829.803705.l5sks9&rd=1&t=8)
This past week, more than 1,000 citizens travelled to Grand Island, Nebraska to tell the U.S. State Department to stop the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to keep the oil industry from ruining their land and destroying the environment.

More than a hundred farmers from across the Midwest traveled to express their concerns about how Keystone XL would negatively impact their family’s farms and livelihoods.

According to the New York Times, one young rancher, Ben Gotschall made the case pretty clear for stopping the Keystone XL pipeline.

“The Keystone ‘Export’ pipeline is not in the national interest, and it is most certainly not in Nebraska’s interest,” said Gotschall. “Our landowners have been left to fend for themselves against an onslaught of dishonest land agents and corporate bullies.”

This Earth Day stand with America’s family farmers in telling President Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s time to put farmers and the environment over profits for dirty oil.

[Hollylane]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/Food_Democracy_Now/images/ban_gmo_salmon.jpg (http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_gmo_salmon_now/)

Right now the deadline for the comment period for GMO salmon is ending this Friday, April 26th, 2013. We need your help to get as many comments as possible, please make a comment and pass this on! Every voice counts!

Tell President Obama and the FDA you won't eat GMO salmon!

Right now President Obama and bureaucrats at the FDA are preparing to unleash genetically engineered salmon on the market. After years of controversial regulatory review, this past week, the Obama administration cleared a final hurdle for AquaBounty’s GMO salmon to be approved at any moment.

On Friday, December 21st, 2012, FDA bureaucrats declared that AquaBounty’s GMO salmon poses no “significant” risk to the environment. This recent FDA decision comes on top of the agency’s 2010 declaration that the GMO salmon were safe for humans to eat, despite no independent long-term studies. Once again, the FDA is putting corporate science over public health.

If approved, AquaBounty’s GMO salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal to be sold for human consumption and could appear in restaurants and supermarkets as early 2013.

We can't allow this to happen. Tell President Obama and the FDA that you won't eat GMO salmon! (http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_gmo_salmon_now/)

[Hollylane]

In this Labor Day message, Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor and subject of the upcoming documentary “Inequality for All,” breaks down what it’ll take for workers to get a fair share in this economy — including big, profitable corporations like McDonald’s and Walmart to pony up and finally pay fair wages.

Watch:


yl0NaFG2B_k

After you watch, as a first step toward making this vision a reality, sign Robert Reich’s petition calling on the CEOs of McDonald’s and Walmart to pay their workers fair wages. (http://front.moveon.org/how-workers-can-get-a-fair-shake-a-labor-day-message-from-robert-reich/#.UiSmjfIlIyB)

[Cin]

In this Labor Day message, Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor and subject of the upcoming documentary “Inequality for All,” breaks down what it’ll take for workers to get a fair share in this economy — including big, profitable corporations like McDonald’s and Walmart to pony up and finally pay fair wages.

Watch:


yl0NaFG2B_k

After you watch, as a first step toward making this vision a reality, sign Robert Reich’s petition calling on the CEOs of McDonald’s and Walmart to pay their workers fair wages. (http://front.moveon.org/how-workers-can-get-a-fair-shake-a-labor-day-message-from-robert-reich/#.UiSmjfIlIyB)

Signed it.

Thank you Hollylane!

[DapperButch]

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/tell-the-american-family-association-kids-are-off-limits/politics/2013/09/24/75620#.UkWIuee9KK1

Sign the petition that you get to through the article.

[Hollylane]

Lady Pamela drew attention to this in the Breaking News thread, and I wanted to post a link to it here, as well. Please sign the petition, and leave your comments. I have embedded the link to the petition in the image below.



https://allout-production-site.s3.amazonaws.com/allout_image_6064_full.jpg (https://allout.org/en/actions/kill-the-bill)

[DapperButch]

HELP A TRANS COLLEGE KID GET GENDER APPROPRIATE HOUSING.

https://www.change.org/petitions/george-fox-university-stop-denying-my-transgender-son-appropriate-on-campus-housing

Thank you!

[DapperButch]

HELP A TRANS COLLEGE KID GET GENDER APPROPRIATE HOUSING.

https://www.change.org/petitions/george-fox-university-stop-denying-my-transgender-son-appropriate-on-campus-housing

Thank you!

Although not directly stated, according to the time table suggested, this student will actually be legally male by the semester that he would move into a male dorm. The school is saying you can only live in a dorm of your "birth sex".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/07/transgender-dorm-george-fox-university_n_5106075.html?utm_hp_ref=transgender

[Jesse]

There are several other petitions as well.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/demand-trump-administration-add-lgbt-rights-climate-change-and-civil-rights-back-list-issues-whgov-site