By Cindy Carcamo

A ballot initiative — thought to be the nation’s first such municipal measure — would bar the procedure at 20 weeks. Such a ban would have statewide impact.

Philippine city overwhelmed by task of burying typhoon victims

In Tacloban, the Philippine city hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan, hundreds of bodies are hastily buried in a long trench. More corpses lie in the streets or still covered by rubble.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Pass a budget that ends sequestration!

11/15/2013 Nativegrl77

It’s been a month since Congress came to its senses and ended the unnecessary federal government shutdown that turned families’ lives upside down and cost our economy millions of lost days of work.

Now it’s time for our lawmakers to – finally – get down to business, and we can make them do it.

As part of the October budget deal that re-opened the federal government, Congress established a joint House-Senate budget committee to find a path forward. The committee is meeting now, and their report is due to the House and Senate by December 13. That gives lawmakers just one month to consider the recommendations of the committee and pass a budget before the short-term continuing resolution expires on January 15, 2014.

December and January might sound far away, but the committee is meeting now and making decisions about the programs we care about now. One decision they should make is to get rid of the misguided across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration, which began in March. The effects of sequestration have been painful so far, and they will only get worse over time. Congress must support a transparent appropriations process that ends sequestration once and for all.

Want to make sure low-income women, infants, and children have access to the food they need?

Want to protect access to services for domestic violence survivors?

Want to stand up for quality public education and safe school climates
free from bullying and harassment?

Then we need to contact our senators today and urge them to pass a budget that ends sequestration once and for all.

Congress should resist calls to enact “flexibility” or exempt defense spending when it comes to sequestration. Congress must end sequestration, period.

The AAUW Action Fund Lobby Corps delivered this message to senators this morning, and now it’s time for you to drive it home. Please, take two minutes to urge your senators to support a transparent appropriations process that ends sequestration!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

the War on Holidays …

11/15/2013 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Which Companies Are Ruining Thanksgiving For Their Workers?

It’s that time of the year: conservatives are once again decrying the non-existent War on Christmas.

Meanwhile, retailers across the country are engaged in a very real War on Thanksgiving by forcing their low-wage workers to come in and work on Thanksgiving Day so the rest of us can start shopping a few hours earlier.

Here’s the ThinkProgress guide to the War on Thanksgiving.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Two really important lines crossed last month:

11/15/2013 Nativegrl77

For the first time in nearly two decades, we're importing less foreign oil than we're producing domestically, and we're using less overall. That's a really big deal. Get the facts below, and pass them on.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The world’s poorest communities need trees.

11/15/2013 Nativegrl77

Every time we do a tree-planting, I hear back from local residents, who tell us how the trees we’ve planted have helped them provide for their families and have allowed them to live happier and healthier lives.

They’re really thanking YOU, our generous supporters. But our work is not done yet.

For every dollar you donate, we’ll plant one more tree.

Trees provide food, energy and income, helping communities to achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Trees also filter the air and help stave off the effects of climate change.

With your generous donation, you can improve the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable citizens.

Last year, Earth Day Network made an important commitment to the Global Poverty Project to plant 10 million trees in impoverished areas around the world over the next five years.

We need your help to meet our goal. Please consider contributing to this critical effort today.