Our opponent, Josh Mandel, recently sat down for an interview with the Atlantic Monthly1. And he made a remark that really stood out.

Defending his habit of dodging questions about his positions, he said:

“We don’t pretend to cast votes on all these different pieces of legislation going through Washington. You know, we leave that to Sherrod Brown and the other career politicians.”
But here’s the thing. You don’t have to be an elected official to know that it’s wrong to call a woman a “slut” just because she disagrees with you. You don’t have to be an elected official to know that President Obama did the right thing when he saved the auto industry and hundreds of thousands of Ohio jobs.

Josh Mandel won’t say what he thinks about those — and many other — issues. Even worse, when the reporter asked whether Ohioans deserve to know where he stands, he said that “when I’m a U.S. Senator…they’ll know exactly what my position is.”

I know that you’re not an elected official — but I bet you have opinions on these issues. And if you want a Senator who isn’t afraid to tell you where he stands, it’s clear that there’s only one choice in this election. Stand with Sherrod by contributing $5 today!

Frankly, Josh has it backwards. After all, in his current elected position, he has skipped every single meeting of an important state panel he was supposed to chair. In Josh’s world, you don’t have to tell people what you think until you’re elected — and then you don’t have to show up for work.

That’s not how Sherrod treats his job. Sherrod’s always been proud to tell people where he stands — on the side of workers, on the side of women, on the side of Ohio’s manufacturers and small businesses. And whenever there’s a fight over the future of the middle class, Sherrod shows up to work hard for Ohio families.

I think Ohio can do better than Josh Mandel — someone who, according to the article, “quickly turns evasive or just blank on unfamiliar ground.” And if you agree, we need your support — will you give $5 or more now?

You don’t have to be a “career politician” to know where you stand. And you don’t have to read between the lines to know where Sherrod stands.

Thank you for helping us hold Josh Mandel accountable.

Sarah Benzing
Campaign Manager
Friends of Sherrod Brown

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

a message from Senator Al Franken

03/12/2012 Nativegrl77

I have an idea for how to stop the right-wing war on women: Elect more women and fewer right-wingers.

That’s why, in 2012, my Midwest Values PAC is standing with longtime champions like Dianne Feinstein, Claire McCaskill, Kirsten Gillibrand, and, of course, Minnesota’s own Amy Klobuchar. And it’s why we’re fighting to elect more women like Tammy Baldwin and Shelley Berkley and Elizabeth Warren to the Senate, and women like Christie Vilsack and Tammy Duckworth to the House.

And, just to be clear, by “standing with” and “supporting,” I mean “giving money to.” Kind of a lot of it, actually. But don’t thank me — thank your fellow MVP members. Your contributions — yes, even the little ones — are going straight to great candidates facing tough fights in 2012. Click here to make one of those contributions today!

Electing more women is a big part of what we need to do in 2012. But great progressives across the country — from Sheldon Whitehouse and Bernie Sanders to Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester — are on ballots this year, and MVP is right there with them.

The same goes for the terrific Democrats who represent Minnesota in the House — Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, and Betty McCollum. We’re there with them, too.

And I’m proud that MVP is fighting to take back the Minnesota legislature and defeat the anti-marriage equality ballot amendment in my home state.

That’s a lot of important causes. And MVP is giving out a lot of money to them. And that’s all because people like you clicked on links like this one and helped us build this organization into a powerful progressive force.

I want to do more — much more. I want to elect more women, support more progressive champions, win more races. But it all depends on you.

Will you make a contribution right now to help MVP do more in 2012?

Thanks for making me look good.

P.S.: I am also looking forward to employing more “extra asks” in the P.S. section of emails. But I need you to help me prove that it works. Won’t you click here to make a contribution today?

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

UCS Tell President Obama: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

03/12/2012 Nativegrl77

Protect Coffee from Climate Change
Post this video on the White House Facebook page today with a message about why YOU want climate actionnow.

Tell President Obama: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!

I’ve got some bad news and good news.

The bad news: Global warming is threatening premium coffee crops in places like Ethiopia, India, and Costa Rica. Higher temperatures, drought and intense rainfall, and more resilient pests and plant diseases—all associated with global warming—have contributed to dramatically reduced coffee supplies and played a role in increasing coffee prices.

The good news? The Obama administration has the opportunity to protect our coffee from the effects of climate change! The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on the verge of releasing draft standards that will limit global warming emissions from new power plants. These historic new standards will not only help save your cup of coffee, they will help us avoid the most dangerous consequences of climate change and move us toward a cleaner, more modern electricity system.

But the Obama administration is under enormous pressure from dirty energy companies to release weak standards that will do little to nothing to protect our health and environment. Fortunately, people are standing up to these tactics and calling for climate action. Activists like you sent us their “mug shots,” and we’ve compiled a video demonstrating that global warming is already affecting our everyday lives and people are demanding climate action.

Tell President Obama to protect coffee from the effects of climate change by posting this video on the White House Facebook page today, with a message about why YOU want climate action now.

The Obama administration needs to hear that dirty energy companies don’t represent your interests. By posting this video on the White House Facebook page, you’ll make a public statement to the White House and your friends and family that the president should ensure that the EPA finalizes strong global warming standards this year.

Take Action Now!

Sincerely,

Chrissy Elles
Outreach Associate
UCS Climate & Energy Program

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Kids need to see this movie … Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign

03/12/2012 Nativegrl77 3 Comments

Kids and teens need to see Bully.

A powerful new anti-bullying film has the potential to change lives, but by giving it an “R” rating, the MPAA will prevent most kids and teens from seeing it.

Tell the MPAA: Amend your ruling and give Bully a PG-13 rating.

trailer is below …

http://youtu.be/1permkYrPnE

For a bullied kid, school can be torment.

Daily taunts and physical abuse turn into feelings of hopelessness when teachers won’t help.

School bullying has already made too many young lives painful and frightening. It’s going to take a huge effort to put a stop to it – from schools, parents, politicians, and cultural icons.

That’s why I am extremely disappointed that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has decided to give a new documentary about bullying an “R” rating, making it nearly impossible for most schools to screen the film or for kids and teens to see it on their own.

Our partners and allies have already delivered over 200,000 signatures asking the MPAA to amend their decision – and now it’s up to us to keep the pressure on by flooding their inboxes.

Help us keep the momentum up with another 100,000 letters TODAY. Tell the MPAA: Amend your ruling and give Bully a PG-13 rating so that we can start putting an end to bullying. WWW.HRC.ORG

Ratings are there to help parents and families make the best decisions about what their children should see, but in this case, the “R” rating does the opposite – keeping a huge part of the target audience away from the film.

What’s more, Bully was only given an “R” rating due to profanity, and the MPAA has made exceptions for swearing in the past.

In fact, the MPAA gave a 2005 documentary about the military a PG-13 rating even though it had 36 more instances of the f-word than Bully simply because they thought it was important for young people to see the film.

We agree: bullying is far more harmful to kids than a little coarse language, and over 200,000 of our friends and allies have already spoken out asking the MPAA to change the ruling. Will you send a letter now to keep the pressure on?

Tell the MPAA: Kids need to see this film. Reverse the decision to give Bully an “R” rating. WWW.HRC.ORG

This documentary has the potential to change – or even save – lives. But we’ll never know its full impact if kids and teens are kept away.

With your help, we can make sure the MPAA does the right thing here. Thanks for standing up for our kids.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese
President

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture, ~ Recent Post

AFL – CIO new website

03/12/2012 Nativegrl77

The AFL-CIO’s new website showcases our commitment to reaching and engaging all working people. We hope you’ll take a look—and come back often.

Visit the AFL-CIO’s new website.

Since becoming secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, I have been committed to reaching and engaging the broadest range of working people inside and outside of unions.

I believe that—to be relevant and part of the conversation in this day and age—we need to do things differently.

It’s critical that we embrace constant innovation to build on what we do best. And we’ve got to commit to a culture of openness—building an inclusive movement that puts the voices of workers front and center and encourages all working families to get involved.

Innovation and openness are what we had in mind as we redesigned our website from the bottom up. We put the stories of working people front and center, and created a community space to share information, take action and showcase the work of the unions and the people we are proud to represent.

Please take a moment to visit the AFL-CIO’s new website and get more involved by visiting our blog and action center.

The AFL-CIO’s investment in cutting-edge communications and technologies isn’t just limited to a new website. In fact,our commitment to innovation starts at the top.

President Richard Trumka sent his first tweet last week. You can now follow President Trumka on Twitter (@RichardTrumka). And you can also follow me on Twitter here (@LizShuler).

We’ve also made a big commitment to building new tools and a new team that will empower our members and activists to leverage the power of the Internet to mobilize their friends, neighbors and families.

Over the coming months and beyond, we’ll take what the labor movement has always done well offline, bring it online and open up our movement in more ways to more people. We’ll be mobilizing harder and smarter than ever before.

Soon, we’ll ask you to use some of these new tools to do more of what the labor movement does best. Things like conversations in our workplaces, phone banking and reaching out to the people you know. We’ll invite everyone who cares about the future of working families to get involved.

Lots of exciting things are coming, and I can’t wait to tell you more soon. But today, the best way to see the new direction we’re headed in is to visit the AFL-CIO’s new website, blog and action center.

With your help, we’re building an increasingly innovative, active, open and effective movement for all working people—including young people, Latinos and working men and women who don’t have the benefits of a union voice on the job. Our new website reflects that. Thank you for being a part of it—and for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Liz Shuler
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO

P.S. Here are four things you can do this week that you couldn’t do last week:
1. Visit our redesigned website, then share it on Facebook and Twitter.
2. Check out the revamped AFL-CIO Now Blog.
3. Visit our new action center.
4. Follow President Trumka on Twitter. (You can also follow me.)