Post Your Online Petitions Here!

[Vlasta]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

http://www.change.org/petitions/mayo...ment-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/dema...e=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...=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."

[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.

Yes, I can call their national headquarters.

[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.

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

[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

[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/ca.../?rc=fb_share1

[SoNotHer]

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

Over 600,000 Say No to KXL



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.

[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:



Thanks!

–Eric Schlosser and Gary Hirshberg