Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The key to saving the Amazon


 Dalia Hashad – Avaaz

Every 60 seconds, Amazon forest the size of 3 football fields disappears — thousand-year-old trees logged or burnt to the ground. Scientists warn that we must make a choice now: take action to save the Amazon or lose the fight in a generation. One untapped resource is the key to saving the Amazon: indigenous people who have called it their home for centuries. Like the jaguar or the giant kapok tree, these communities are not simply inhabitants of the forest, but rather part of the Amazon itself. Guardians of the forest’s hidden treasures, they are front-line experts on the plunder that threatens it and what preservation requires. But the 400 tribes don’t have resources to convert their knowledge into the political power necessary to save the Amazon.That’s where we come in.If we back indigenous communities with funds and a top-notch team of campaigners from around the world, we can make theirs the voice that saves the Amazon. We’ll train indigenous leaders in advocacy, campaigning, civil disobedience and provide them with the resources they need from media access to funded lobbying trips. Then we will set them up with satellite phones that can alert rapid response teams around the world to launch into action.

To save the Amazon, instead of leading, what we really need to do is join with indigenous communities and follow. With enough pledges now, we can combine the power of our massive global movement with the true guardians of the Amazon to do what we need to save us all.

Click to pledge now — Avaaz will only process your donation if we raise enough to ignite a global campaign
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon are Stronger with Our Support! ~ repost
Português | Español | Deutsch | [+]The indigenous peoples of the Amazon have long known this simple truth: what we do to the planet we do to ourselves. That is why Amazon Watch directly supports communities challenging massive industrial expansion like the Belo Monte Dam Complex and the proposed dams on the Tapajos River in Brazil. And why we supported indigenous women at the COP20 Climate Conference last week in Peru – generating media and grassroots support to make their fight central to the climate change debate. Your donations made that work possible.Scientists have shown empirically that empowering indigenous peoples with the rights to their ancestral territories is the most effective way to preserve the Amazon rainforest. In fact, if indigenous communities successfully assert their land rights, over 200 million hectares of the Amazon could be protected.

The race to exploit the Amazon has already led to mass deforestation, sickness, death, the extinction of previously “uncontacted” communities, cultural disintegration, prostitution, and more. This is unacceptable. We need everyone to invest in the fight to end these abuses.

Amazon Watch will continue to advance the rights of our indigenous partners – the stewards of our planetary life-support systems. And you can directly help tip the balance in their favor for everyone’s benefit. Please support Amazon Watch today.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Indigenous Rights Vs the World Cup :::::::::: things to remember … the peoples


Amazon Watch

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Chief Raoni
 repost

In just two weeks, Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and a massive influx of people from around the world who are planning to visit the world of soccer and samba.

What most Brazilians and global soccer lovers don’t know, however, is that the new stadiums and infrastructure costing upwards of $10 billion come at the expense of basic social needs, human rights and the environment. In response, civil society in Brazil is rising up and taking action.

500 people from over 100 distinct cultures are in Brazil’s capital
this week for the National Indigenous Mobilization and
they need your support!

They have come to Brasilia to defend their rights and their territories from a massive attack, waged by the agribusiness lobby and “ruralist” caucus of Congress. These business interests and their representatives in Congress have stopped the demarcation of indigenous lands and are working to limit indigenous rights that are guaranteed in the 1988 Constitution.

Yesterday, indigenous leaders delivered declarations against these attacks to the Supreme Court and Congress. They then joined public workers protesting the World Cup. Signs read, “WORLD CUP FOR WHOM?” and “FIFA NO. DEMARCATION YES.” The peaceful demonstration was met by a violent response by the national police force. Legendary Kayapo Chief Cacique Raoni and hundreds of men, women and children were tear gassed in a harbinger of what’s to come in a couple of weeks as the World Cup begins in this Amazonian country.

Can there be indigenous rights and the World Cup? We think it’s possible, but there’s a long way to go if that’s to be. For that to happen we need to add our fullest support to this fight against entrenched businesses and corruption and for the rights of indigenous forest peoples of the Amazon.

Please show your support for the National Indigenous Mobilization today.
Your support will help protect and ensure that these indigenous representatives in Brasilia this week are heard today, during the World Cup and beyond.

For Indigenous Rights and the Amazon,

Leila Salazar-Lopez

Leila Salazar-Lopez
Prog
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A New York Times/CBS News poll


By

Americans Of Both Parties Agree Money Has Too Much Influence On Politics

Regardless of political party, gender, and socio-economic status, Americans can agree on one thing: there is too much money in politics. A New York Times/CBS News poll released today found overwhelming bipartisan support for limiting the influence of money in American politics. While a large majority of voters voiced opposition to the unrestricted money in elections since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, most Americans also feel pessimistic about the potential to solve the problem. But that shouldn’t be the case.

Here are a few key findings from the poll:

  • More than 8 in 10 of Americans believe that there is too much money in American political campaigns. According to the poll, 84 percent of adults—including 90 percent of Democrats and 80 percent of Republicans—think that money has too much influence in American political campaigns. Even the richest Americans agreed: 85 percent of adults making $100,000 or more believe money has too much influence in the election process.
  • More than three-fourths of people support limiting individual campaign contributions. The poll found that 77 percent of adults favor limiting the amount of money individuals can contribute to political campaigns. Eighty percent of Democrats, 71 percent of Republicans, and 76 percent of Independents favor contribution limits.
  • Two-thirds of Americans think the wealthy have more influence than everyone else. According to the poll, 66 percent of adults—including 73 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of Republicans—believe that wealthy Americans have more of a chance to influence the elections process than other Americans.
  • Almost 8 in 10 of Americans think campaign spending by outside groups should be limited. The poll found that 78 percent of adults—including 85 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Republicans—think that spending by groups not affiliated with a candidate should be limited by law.
  • Three quarters of people think outside groups should be required to publicly disclose their contributors. According to the poll 75 percent of adults believe that groups not affiliated with a candidate that spend money during political campaigns should be required to publicly disclose their contributors. Democrats and Republicans agree on this issue—76 percent of adults from each party believe that contributors to outside groups should be required to publicly disclose their contributors.
  • More than half of Americans are pessimistic that campaign finance laws will be improved. Nearly six in ten (58 percent) adults said they are pessimistic that changes will be made to improve the way political campaigns are funded.

Though campaign finance itself only ranks as a top issue facing our country for less than one percent of Americans, the reality that most see it is unattainable is only part of the story. Campaign finance reform is part of the solution for the broader issue of unlimited money in our politics and the reality of politicians serving only the needs of the wealthy few instead of all of us. Many reporters used today’s poll to argue voters don’t make decisions based on campaign finance, but with trust in government dropping it is very likely that fewer people choose to engage with the political process because of this imbalance. That is bad for our democracy and only serves to widen the gap, meaning more Americans must make their voices heard.

There are meaningful steps we can take. Most immediately, President Obama can take executive action to address money in politics by, for example, mandating further disclosure of political spending by federal contractors. And as Adam Smith at the campaign finance reform group Every Voice points out, Maine, Montana, Seattle, and Montgomery County are all examples of places where politicians and citizens are already making positive change to our campaign finance laws. Others are organizing to overturn the Citizens United decision. As Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin notes, Americans have used the amendment process to overturn the Supreme Court six times before.

BOTTOM LINE: Americans of all political persuasions, genders, and income levels agree that our campaign finance system is broken. But in order to make progress, rather than concentrating on the negative impact money has on our political process, we need to focus on meaningful solutions to the problem.