A shocking undercover video released on Friday reveals gruesome and scary conditions in the production of McDonald’s Egg McMuffins.

Tell McDonald’s to stop torturing chickens and switch to cage-free eggs

The video is hard to watch. Chicks’ beaks are seared off. Male chicks are tossed in plastic bags to suffocate. Hens live out their entire lives in wire battery cages, packed wing to wing. And dead chickens are left to rot in the cages that serve as living quarters for remaining chickens. Outside of these standard operations, staff members are shown swinging a bird around by its feet and crushing a chick alive.

Mercy For Animals is the group that carried out the undercover investigation. Now, it has started a petition on Change.org to get McDonald’s to abandon these kinds of cruel and inhumane practices altogether by going cage-free. Will you sign Mercy For Animals’ petition to get McDonald’s to commit to purchasing 100% cage-free eggs in the US?

Right after the video aired on Friday, McDonald’s cut ties with Sparboe Farms, whose facilities and staff in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado are documented in the investigation. But cutting ties with Sparboe Farms won’t end the torture of chickens for Egg McMuffins. The kind of abhorrent conditions at Sparboe are actually standard among battery cage egg suppliers. The only way McDonald’s can guarantee its eggs aren’t produced in the same conditions is to go 100% cage-free.

And McDonald’s has already done this for their locations in Europe, where McDonald’s eggs are already guaranteed to be 100% cage-free.

With the mega fast-food chain dropping Sparboe Farms, it’s clear that the public outcry generated by Mercy For Animals’ investigation is having a big impact. Now is the time to push McDonald’s to take real, meaningful action to distance itself from all battery cage eggs and not just move to another battery cage egg supplier. Tell McDonald’s to publicly commit to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs now:

http://www.change.org/petitions/urge-mcdonalds-to-stop-torturing-hens-for-egg-mcmuffins

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Stephanie and the Change.org team

P.S. People are taking action on important issues using Change.org everyday. Please check out these urgent petitions that need your support:

David Buscho was attacked with pepper-spray while protesting on his campus at University of California Davis. Now he’s leading a campaign to get Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign for attacking peaceful student protesters.
Paolo Ziritti survived 18 months of torture and abuse in a “clinic” in Ecuador trying to “cure” her of being a lesbian. A brave group of women called Fundacion Causana started a petition to shut down the 187 remaining “ex-gay clinics” like the one Paola was forcibly confined in.
Anthony Hardwick is leading a campaign to Save Thanksgiving for workers and consumers. Join more than 190,000 people calling on Target to not open at midnight on Thanksgiving for Black Friday sales.
The musical group Florence + the Machine is known for music videos that push the envelope, but Catherine Burks thinks their latest goes too far. Join Catherine in calling on the band to remove prevalent racist imagery from Florence + the Machine’s new video.
The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages started a petition to support legislation in the New York state Senate to shut down the New York City’s abusive horse-drawn carriage industry.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Obama: Keep clean car standards on track

11/23/2011 Nativegrl77

Obama: Keep Clean Car Standards on Track!

The Union of Concerned Scientists has long led the fight to break our country’s dangerous oil dependence and address global warming by strengthening fuel efficiency and pollution standards for vehicles. Thanks to supporters like you, today we stand on the verge of historic progress.

The Obama administration recently proposed clean car standards that would nearly double fuel efficiency to about 50 miles per gallon in 2025, saving consumers billions of dollars at the gas pump, preventing millions of tons of global warming emissions, and saving as much oil in 2030 alone as we currently import from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. As clean energy and public health protections face constant attack in Congress, these standards represent a tremendous victory in the fight against climate change.

Automakers have the technology to make all new cars and trucks cleaner. Just last week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, UCS engineers put a spotlight on the most fuel efficient vehicles already available at dealerships nationwide, and the advanced hybrid and electric vehicles that can lead us to an oil-free vehicle future. But just as opportunity knocks, automakers and their allies are working behind the scenes to weaken the standards with loopholes that could increase pollution and oil dependence.

For the next two months, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation will accept comments on the proposed standards. Please tell the Obama administration to move forward with strong clean car standards and oppose industry-backed loopholes.

Take Action Today!

Sincerely,

Rachel Cohen
National Field Organizer
UCS Clean Vehicles Program

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

from … Rainforest Action Network

11/23/2011 Nativegrl77

Wow, it’s been an incredible year and it’s time for us to say thank you.

It’s activists like you that got us to the negotiating table with Disney to get rainforest destruction out of their supply chain. It’s activists like you that pushed President Obama to make the decision to delay (and possibly kill) the Keystone XL pipeline.

Together, as Rainforest Action Network, we have amassed a lot of hard work, skill and passion to fight for thriving forests, the rights of Indigenous frontline communities and a stable climate. It is not easy work. Not even close. But the rewards of success are so great, it is worth every moment.

So to thank you for everything—the emails, phone calls, rally support, financial contributions, direct actions, and all the events you showed up for—we put together this little video.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

For the planet,

Your friends at Rainforest Action Network

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Enough is Enough … Nancy Pelosi

11/23/2011 Nativegrl77

Enough is enough.

The clock is ticking toward the Super Committee’s November 23rd deadline. Republicans are insisting on eliminating the Medicare guarantee while cutting taxes for millionaires and refusing to include a robust jobs plan. That’s not fair.

WWW.DCCC.ORG

Democrats remain hopeful that we’ll get a deal and will continue to advocate for a big, bold, and balanced plan to reduce the deficit and create jobs.

With just 25 seats standing between us and a new Democratic Majority, let’s seize this moment and show the world Democrats are strong and united.

That’s why we’ve set a goal of raising $500,000 from grassroots Democrats before the critical Federal Election Commission deadline on November 30th to hold these Tea Party Republicans accountable. Will you stand with us?

Please contribute $3 or more right now to ensure Democrats have a powerful showing in the first important deadline since the One Year Out to the election mark.

WWW.DCCC.ORG

Thank you,

Nancy Pelosi

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Let’s Talk Turkey about the Super-Committee …National Women’s Law Center

11/23/2011 Nativegrl77

Let’s talk turkey.

Politics might not be on the Thanksgiving menu, but when families and friends gather, it seems to be a side dish some of us are force fed.

We want to give you something to be thankful for by making sure you’re prepared to talk about what women and families have at stake in the economy and the truth about what happened with the super-committee. Remember that the super-committee was a special committee of Members of Congress created to come up with a plan to reduce the federal deficit over the next decade.

Last night, the super-committee announced that it did not reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan. To explain what this means for you — and Aunt Edith — below are a few key myths and facts.

MYTH: It would have been better if the super-committee reached a deal.FACT: No deal is better than a bad deal — and we were headed toward a bad deal. The fact that some members of the super-committee felt a strong enough obligation to protect the programs that women and families depend on is incredibly important. Had key safety net programs like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare been cut in a last-minute deal, the damage could have been irreparable. For more info, check out our latest blog post: Five Reasons Why No Deal is Better than a Bad Deal.

MYTH: I heard Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare will automatically be cut.FACT: The automatic cuts do not reach Social Security, Medicaid, or many other programs for low-income Americans. Any Medicare cuts would affect payments to providers, not beneficiaries. The automatic cuts that are scheduled would affect defense and non-defense programs equally. Unfortunately, discretionary programs that specifically serve low-income people are not exempt. However, the cuts won’t start to take effect until 2013, so Congress has time make changes through the regular legislative process.

MYTH: The super-committee didn’t reach a deal and important programs were protected — so our advocacy worked! We don’t need to worry anymore.FACT: We still have lots to do. We need to work to extend federal emergency unemployment benefit programs and pass job creation measures. We need to fund the government through the rest of this fiscal year, without strings attached that limit women’s rights. And the fight to make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share and to protect Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and other vital programs will continue. So enjoy, rest up — and join us next week.

This Thanksgiving, we could not be more grateful for the dedication of our network of activists like you, who took action to send emails and make phone calls throughout the super-committee’s deliberations.While the super-committee’s work has ended, our work for a fair economy continues. We couldn’t do it without you.National Women’s Law Center