~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

$10.10

02/13/2014 Nativegrl77

$10.10In his State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, and announced he would issue an Executive Order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contract workers. Today, the President will sign that Executive Order.

Learn more about the benefits of raising the minimum wage nationwide.

Inside the State Dinner

02/13/2014 Nativegrl77

Tonight, President Obama and the First Lady are hosting French President Hollande for a state dinner — concluding the first state visit by a French president in nearly 20 years.And ahead of this formal dinner, people across the White House are busy with preparation.Yesterday, White House Chef Cris Comerford and Pastry Chef Bill Yosses took over the White House Instagram to give you a look behind the scenes — and inside the kitchen.See the full gallery of images from inside the kitchen.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

I was assaulted in the Navy

02/13/2014 Nativegrl77

There’s a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it:

Justice for Military Sexual Trauma Victims: Pass the Military Justice Improvement Act S.967 #MJIA

By Teresa Youngs

Santa Clara,, California

Of the 26,000 sexual assaults in 2012, only 3,374 were reported and only 302 were brought to trial. I am a retired U.S. Navy Veteran and Military Sexual Trauma (MST) survivor. And like many other victims in the military, I was harassed, and humiliated by my Chain of Command after reporting my abuse. But a bipartisan bill before the U.S. Senate right now can completely change how sexual assaults in the military are handled – the Military Justice Improvement Act.

As it stands now, any U.S. Military personnel, male or female, who are sexually assaulted or harassed are at the mercy of their own Commanding Officers who have full jurisdiction and discretion in prosecuting these cases. In many of the cases the perpetrator is not prosecuted while the victim is treated as the criminal, ostracized and harassed by their own command and often their military service stands in jeopardy. This is why so many assaults go unreported.

Even though I was raped while in the Navy, my case it is a story of command harassment. During a 5 year period I was harassed, by my command because the Maintenance Officer didn’t want “women in his Navy”. Between being raped and continuously harassed I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2001. I was raped and it was traumatizing, but the most devastating thing was the Command Harassment.

The Military Justice Improvement Act (S. 967) changes this by taking the Commanding Officer out of the case and providing a specialized legal group in charge of investigating and prosecuting these cases. complete power over you night and day. This is a common sense step that our closest allies, including the UK, Canada, Australia and Israel, have made to their militaries.

The Military Justice Improvement Act has bipartisan support but needs more votes to pass and it will be voted on this week. Your Senator needs to hear from you about this important bill now!

I spent 20 years trying to run away from the hell the Navy put me though. I was told that all of my problems were between my ears. They tried to Court Marshal me, they harassed me on a daily basis, and when I was transferred the harassment continued because my perpetrator picked up the phone and had me labeled a troublemaker before I even checked in. If the Military Justice Improvement Act had been passed then, that wouldn’t have happened to me.

Help us get the word to Congress that the rape culture in the military is still prevalent. Tell them we will no longer allow our men and women in the military to be raped, tell them that we WILL hold them accountable.

I am taking a stand against the unjust persecution of my bother and sisters that are victims of MST and harassment. Please join me by asking your Senator to support the Military Justice Improvement Act.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Sign the petition to Google: Come clean about your lobbyist ties!

02/13/2014 Nativegrl77

SierraRise -- Why stand apart, when we can rise together?

ALEC isn’t the only climate denier getting Google’s cash.
Sign the petition to Google’s shareholders — if investors add their pressure to yours, Google will really feel the heat!

Black History

the Senate CONGRESS 2/14 the House

02/13/2014 Nativegrl77

The Senate will convene at 2:00pm on Monday, February 24, 2014.

The Senate will meet on the following days at the following times for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted:

– Friday, February 14th at 10:30am

– Tuesday, February 18th at 10:30am and

– Friday, February 21st at 10:30am.

Following the prayer and pledge, Senator King will be recognized to deliver Washington’s Farewell Address.

Upon conclusion of the reading, the Majority Leader will be recognized and then the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

On Wednesday, February 12^th, cloture was filed on the following items in the order listed:

– Executive Calendar #564 Jeffrey Alker Meyer -to be United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut

– Executive Calendar #564 #570 James Maxwell Moody, Jr. – to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas

– Executive Calendar #564 #566 James Donato – to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California

– Executive Calendar #564 #567 Beth Labson Freeman – to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California and

– Motion to proceed to S.1982, the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014.

At 5:00pm on Monday, February 24^th, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #564, the nomination of Jeffrey Alker Meyer to be US District Judge for the District of Connecticut with up to 30 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form. Upon the use or yielding back of time (at approximately 5:30pm), there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Meyer nomination.

If cloture is invoked on the Meyer nomination, there would be up to 2 hours for post-cloture debate. Upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate would proceed to a vote confirmation of the nomination, then proceed to the next cloture vote and repeat the process for the remaining nominations in the list above. Following disposition of the Freeman nomination, there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S.1982.

While up to 9 roll call votes (5 cloture votes and 4 confirmation votes) are possible Monday evening, we anticipate that after three votes, the remaining will resume sometime Tuesday morning.

Likely votes Monday at 5:30pm:

– Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #564 Jeffrey Alker Meyer -to be United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut

(up to 2 hours of equally divided debate, likely one hour)

– Confirmation of Meyer nomination

– Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #564 #570 James Maxwell Moody, Jr. – to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

===================================================

Last Floor Action:2/11
7:03:23 P.M. – The House adjourned.

The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on February 14, 2014.

2:00:20 P.M.		The House convened, starting a new legislative day.
2:00:37 P.M.		The Speaker designated the Honorable Fred Upton to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
2:00:59 P.M.		Today’s prayer was offered by Reverend William Gurnee, John Paul II Seminary, Washington, DC.
2:02:09 P.M.		The Chair announced that pursuant to section 2(a) of H. Res. 475, the Journal of the last day’s proceedings was approved.
2:02:13 P.M.		PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
2:03:03 P.M.		The House received a communication from Representative Andrews wherein he resigns as a member of the House of Representatives effective on February 18, 2014.
2:04:27 P.M.		The House received a message from the Clerk. Pursuant to the section 4(d) of H. Res. 5, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, and section 1(k)(2) of H. Res. 895, One Hundred Tenth Congress, the Clerk transmitted to the House a notification that Bryson Morgan has signed an agreement not to be a candidate for the office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress for the purpose of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 until at least three years after he is no longer a member of the board or staff of the Office of Congressional Ethics.
2:04:36 P.M.		The House received a message from the Clerk. Pursuant to the permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Clerk notified the House that she had received the following message from the Secretary of the Senate on February 12, 2014 at 4:03 p.m.: That the Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 540 and that the Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 25.
2:05:10 P.M.		The House received a message from the Clerk. Pursuant to the permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Clerk notified the House that she had received the following message from the Secretary of the Senate on February 14, 2014 at 9:56 a.m.: That the Senate agreed to H. Con. Res. 81 and H. Con. Res. 82. The message also stated that the Senate made appointments to the National Commission on Hunger.
2:05:34 P.M.		The House received a message from the Clerk. Pursuant to the permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Clerk notified the House that she had received the following message from the Secretary of the Senate on February 12, 2014 at 11:37 a.m.: That the Senate passed S. 1068. The message also stated that the Senate made appointments to the Board of Visitors of the United States Air Force Academy and the Board of Visitors of the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
2:07:50 P.M.		The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn pursuant to section 2(b) of H. Res. 475.The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on February 18, 2014.