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 …

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.)

Black History

Congress: the Republican led House – the Senate resumes S.1813,the Surface Transportation Act-several votes on Tuesday

03/12/2012 Nativegrl77

the Senate Convenes at 2:00pmET March 12, 2012

Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business until 4:00pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S.1813, the Surface Transportation Act. As previously announced, there will be no roll call votes on Monday. Senators should expect several votes beginning Tuesday morning in order to complete action on the Transportation bill.

Today Senator Reid filed cloture on the following 17 Judicial nominations. Under the rule, the first vote would occur 1 hour after the Senate convenes on Wednesday, March 14.

Cal.#408, Gina Marie Groh, of West Virginia;

Cal.#441, David Nuffer, of Utah;

Cal.#461, Michael Walter Fitzgerald, of California;

Cal.#462, Ronnie Abrams, of New York;

Cal.#463, Rudolph Contreras, of Virginia;

Cal.#464, Miranda Du, of Nevada;

Cal.#497, Susie Morgan, of Louisiana;

Cal.#509, Gregg Jeffrey Costa, of Texas;

Cal.#510, David Campos Guaderrama, of Texas;

Cal.#528, Brian C. Wimes, of Missouri;

Cal.#568, Kristine Gerhard Baker, of Arkansas;

Cal.#569, John Z. Lee, of Illinois;

Cal.#570, George Levi Russell, III, of Maryland;

Cal.#571, John J. Tharp, Jr., of Illinois;

Cal.#610, Jeffrey J. Helmick, of Ohio;

Cal.#612, Mary Geiger Lewis, of South Carolina; and

Cal.#613, Timothy S. Hillman, of Massachusetts

WRAP UP

No ROLL CALL VOTES

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Discharged the Judiciary committee from further consideration of and adopted S.Res.310, A resolution designating 2012 as the “Year of the Girl” and Congratulating Girl Scouts of the USA on its 100^th anniversary.

Adopted S.Res.394, commemorating the 150^th anniversary of Italian Unification and the beginning of warm and abiding relations between the people of the United States and Italy.

Began the Rule 14 process of H.R.3606, Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (Republican request)

Began the Rule 14 process of S.2186, to amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to prohibit the Attorney General from administering or enforcing certain accessibility regulations relating to pools at public accommodations or provided by public entities. (DeMint)

No EXECUTIVE ITEMS

There will be no roll call votes on Monday, March 12, 2012.

There will be no roll call votes on Monday, March 19. 2012

————————————————————————————————–

The next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on March 13, 2012.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Help Home Care Workers Get Basis Workplace Protections

03/09/2012 Nativegrl77


	Help Home Care Workers Get Basic Workplace Protections



	For decades, home care workers have been underpaid and undervalued. Tell the Department of Labor to extend minimum wage and overtime protections today!

	WWW.NWLC.ORG

We have labor laws for a reason — because fair workplace practices shouldn’t be options subject to the whims of an employer.

Most workers in America are entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). But one group of workers — home care workers — is still denied these basic labor rights.

Who are these workers? They are everywhere, in nearly all of our communities. They are overwhelmingly women (about 9 out of 10) and are disproportionately women of color. These workers take care of elderly and disabled Americans — perhaps your family members — who need extra help at home. Most are employed by the fast-growing home care industry. But this difficult, extremely important work has been deprived of FLSA protections for decades.

Today, we have an opportunity to extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. But we need your help!

The Department of Labor has proposed a regulation that would extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers, lifting many of them and their families out of poverty, and helping to close the wage gap for women.

For one more week, the Department is accepting comments on this regulation. The home care industry and other opponents of minimum wage and overtime protections are mobilizing in opposition. It’s vital for people who care about fair pay and economic security for women to take action and make their voices heard!

These workers have been denied these rights far too long. The clock is ticking — please, take two minutes to help the caregivers who work so hard to help our families in times of need. WWW.NWLC.ORG

The deadline for comments is next Monday, March 12. Please act now, before it’s too late!

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Please help us continue to advocate for policies that protect and improve economic security for women and their families by making a generous donation today.