Daily Archives: 12/30/2010

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

RepowerAmerica.org


Pledge to call your Senator

This year was an important year for the climate movement.

This year we proved that when we work together, we can be a powerful force for change in this country. Although we did not achieve what we needed to at the federal level, cities and states across the country continue to take important actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. When this progress was threatened in California with the Prop 23 ballot initiative, we stepped forward and said no. And together we succeeded.

This year people, businesses and institutions all over the United States stood up and demonstrated their commitment to a clean energy future. For some people this was as simple as making one everyday decision that was more climate-friendly. Other people stepped forward and became climate leaders in their communities and their businesses and their governments. All of this together has an important impact that should never be underestimated.

We must carry this momentum forward into 2011, and your support today can help us do this.

http://acp.repoweramerica.org/2011shirt-d1

Make no mistake: We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us. Solving the climate crisis is not something we will do easily or overnight. But we have to do it. And we are doing it.

Whether its corporate action to adopt sustainable models of doing business, or a community initiative to make an elementary school more energy efficient, the change we need is happening all around us already. But we need to accelerate this change and bring it to scale.

At the end of the day, global-scale solutions will require us to change our laws and policies. But we should not lose sight of these small victories that create the roadmap to action at a much broader level.

Support Repower America with a donation of $25 or more before midnight on December 31 and help lay the foundation for continued successes in 2011.

Next year, each one of us needs to be a leader of the climate movement. Each one of us needs to demonstrate the courage and the commitment that it’s going to take to get this done.

And if we make this choice to do this work together, I have no doubt that we can and will succeed.

Best wishes in the New Year,

Al Gore
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Bankrate.com


Here are stories published today …
Infographic: Top 100 personal finance tips for 2011 | 2010-12-28
Any new year can bring change to your life. Be on top of your personal finances with these tips.
Top 10 investing tips for 2011 | 2010-12-28
With the economy still recovering, this strategy will help you manage risk and optimize your return.
10 sweet saving tips for 2011 | 2010-12-28
Dedicate yourself to saving more and investing wisely. Here’s our financial road map.
10 tips to snag a mortgage loan in 2011 | 2010-12-28
It won’t be easy getting a mortgage in 2011, but these tips will help you get the best terms.
10 canny credit card tips for 2011 | 2010-12-28
Navigate the new credit card environment. Here’s a guide to rules going into effect in 2011.
10 moves to make in bankruptcy in 2011 | 2010-12-28
As the economy sags, bankruptcy may be an option for you. Here’s how to take advantage of filing.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

a message from Speaker Pelosi …


Happy New Year! And as we prepare to ring in the new year, I wanted to reach out and thank you for your commitment to our country and your dedication to making change a reality for millions of our fellow Americans.

But our work is far from done.

Shadowy special interest front groups are already up on radio and television with shameful attack ads aimed at reversing the progress we’ve made, and they’re hoping grassroots Democrats like you will stay on the sidelines until New Year’s. If Democrats fall behind in these final critical days, we’ll have to spend months playing catch-up while the opponents of progress ring in 2011 with a big head start on their repeal agenda.

December 31st marks the final FEC deadline of the year. That means my friends at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) have just 5 days to show the media, the pundits, and our opponents that Democrats are ready to stand up to the powerful special interests intent on rolling back the progress we’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Carmen, can you chip in $10 to help House Democrats raise the $250,000 they need before the year-end FEC deadline on December 31st? This deadline is so important that your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a group of generous Democrats.

Because of the hard work of grassroots Democrats like you, we passed historic health care reform, restored common sense regulation to Wall Street, helped ensure equal pay for equal work, and made a college education affordable for millions of young Americans.

Now, the same special interests that fought us every step of the way are intent on rolling back the progress we’ve made. Your action before Friday’s deadline can help ensure that Democrats have what it takes to fight back and stand strong for the interests of hardworking American families.

Contribute to the DCCC before the critical FEC fundraising deadline at midnight on December 31st. Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a group of generous Democrats.

In the year ahead, we will make critical decisions about the challenges we face that will shape the lives of our children and grandchildren for decades to come. I will not stop fighting to protect the progress we have made.

I hope I can count on you to support the DCCC with a generous contribution and to fulfill our responsibility to make tomorrow better than today and guarantee the American dream is alive and well in this country we love.

Together we’re going to make this happen.

Best Wishes,
Nancy
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker Nancy Pelosi

P.S. It’s your unshakable commitment to our shared vision for America’s future that is the lifeblood of our people-powered movement. Please stand with me and support our congressional colleagues at this decisive moment. Thank you. Contribute before the midnight December 31st FEC deadline and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

~ Recent Post

VICTORY: Greenpeace Whaling Victory in Japan


Japanese official bows to assembled media after apologizing for accepting gifts of whale meat. Help us continue to keep the pressure up by donating today. 

Japanese Offical Apologizes

Please donate

Greenpeace

After more than two and half years of pressure by Greenpeace and the famous “Tokyo Two” trials, officials with the Japanese Fishing Agency publicly admitted last week that they received whale meat as “gifts” from private companies contracted by the government to slaughter whales.

One of the officials, who according to press reports was one of several who received gifts of whale meat with an estimated value of $180 to $840, even went so far as to bow in apology to the assembled media.

Junichi Sato, one of the defendants of the “Tokyo Two” trial and now Executive and Program Director of Greenpeace Japan said of the victory that, “Greenpeace welcomes the Fisheries Agency of Japan’s decision to discipline its officials who had been receiving free whale meat from the whaling operating company. However, FAJ only punished 5 officials while the corruption in the whaling program is much bigger and institutionalized. Greenpeace demands a third-party investigation on the whale meat scandal to reveal the true face of the whaling program.”

“…the recognition of the corruption in the whaling program by FAJ itself will strike the credibility of the program significantly,” Sato added.

This is a great victory for Greenpeace and people like you who support the work we’re doing to pressure the Japanese government to end its annual slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean.

We can make change happen.

If we continue to call out the Japanese government and demand that world leaders speak out against Japan’s cruel whale slaughter, we can end this brutal practice once and for all.

But while we‘re celebrating right now, the Japanese whaling fleet is making its way down to the Southern Ocean with plans to kill nearly 1000 whales.

That’s why here in the United States we’ll be launching a campaign very early in January to urge President Obama to step up pressure on the Japanese government. We know the American people are behind us (83% in a recent poll). And the President himself has said that allowing Japan to continue its whaling program is “unacceptable.”

Together, we can convince President Obama to use all available diplomatic tools to stop Japan’s senseless slaughter of thousands of whales.

Please rush Greenpeace your most generous gift today to help us continue to urge President Obama to tell Japan that commercial whaling is unacceptable.

For the whales,
John
John Hocevar
Ocean Campaigns Director

P.S.  Greenpeace cannot save the whales — or continue our campaigns to defend the oceans, stop global warming or save the forests — without your support and the support of people like you. Please make your most generous contribution today on our secure website or call 1-800-722-6995.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Crunch time: Four weeks only


Human Rights Campaign


Help touch hearts, change minds, fight the right wing, and defend marriage equality.

Join

As a thank you, we’ll send you a handy USB car charger for your phone or iPod.

USB charger

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may no longer be the law of the land, but the bigotry behind it is alive and well – in our schools, in our workplaces, and, perhaps most unfortunately, in the halls of Congress.

January will bring anti-gay leadership to the helm of the House of Representatives. The right-wing political machine – committed to destroying marriage equality everywhere – will be emboldened and aggressive.

We need your help to keep fighting back in 2011 and to protect our gains. The resources and political muscle we’ll need in 2011 can only come from HRC members. That’s why we’re launching a major campaign to get 2,011 supporters like you to become first-time HRC members this month – that’s just 62 from Washington.

85 percent of our funding comes from people like you – not from grants and foundations.

So it’s no exaggeration to say that people like you won the debate on DADT. But the battle over this law revealed some shocking truths about the kinds of people who will be our next leaders in Congress.

On the day of the vote, John McCain launched into a ridiculous tirade against “liberal bastions” who supported repeal and declared, “Today is a very sad day.” He was so angry that he stormed out of the Senate.

And after we won, Sen. Jon Kyl said that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would literally “cost lives.”

Rep. Louie Gohmert suggested during the House debate that repealing DADT would move us “toward the end of [our] existence as a great nation.”

Carmen – we’ve got only four weeks to prepare for the next twelve months of attacks from right-wing groups and lawmakers alike. Extremists are emboldened across the country – and now there will be even more of them in Washington. They’re likely to go after marriage equality in multiple states, to introduce new bans on adoption rights, and to fight tooth and nail to roll back the anti-discrimination laws we’ve already passed.

Your membership gift will serve as a clear response to the urgent threats we face. With your support, we’ll go right to work in Congress and around the country, defending our progress and fighting for marriage equality. We’ll be keeping our foot on the gas as we take on opponents of equality like the National Organization for Marriage. Our NOM Exposed campaign has upended the marriage debate by uncovering the dirty secrets of this radical anti-LGBT group.

We’ve got a lot of work to do and very little time to do it. We can make 2011 a year of even more progress for the LGBT rights movement. Carmen, we need 62 members from Washington in 2011. Be one of them.

Everything we’ve achieved and everything we will achieve is because of you.

On to 2011,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

P.S. Please accept my deepest gratitude if you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC by some other means. If you haven’t yet contributed, I hope you’ll consider making a gift now so that we can keep making progress toward a more equal nation.