Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Just in: the new food revolution starts NOW


 {UCS
Tell President Obama it’s time for a National Food Policy.

Mr. President, we want a food revolution.

Our food and agriculture system is broken. A National Food Policy would transform our food system to ensure healthy, sustainably grown food for all.

ACTION ALERT
Tell President Obama: It’s Time for a National Food Policy

 

Have you heard? In this weekend’s Washington Post, UCS joined prominent food leaders Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, and Olivier de Schutter in a call to President Obama. It urges the president to do something bold and necessary: issue an executive order establishing a National Food Policy.

We all know our food and agriculture system is broken. For decades, UCS has demonstrated the costs of diet-related disease, the environmental toll of industrial agriculture practices, and the iron grip corporate giants have on information about what we eat. Government policies have contributed to this mess, and legislative attempts to fix it have been disjointed, lacked a clear direction, and often just made the problems worse.

A national policy for food, health, and well-being would, for the first time, define a comprehensive vision for our health, the sustainability of agricultural lands, and social and economic justice. It’s the first step toward the massive overhaul that we need to transform our food system to ensure healthy, sustainably grown food for all.

This won’t happen overnight. But right now, the real work begins—with you.

Sign the petition today to tell President Obama that you want a National Food Policy.

Take Action

Sincerely,
Ashley Elles
Ashley Elles
National Field Organizer
Food & Environment Program
Union of Concerned Scientists
Twitter: @acelles
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The 114th


VoteVets.org

This afternoon, members of the 114th Congress of the United States will swear to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies … an oath that begins with the same words the Oath of Enlistment begins with for most military men and women.

But this is a different Congress — a wave swept in a number of new Tea Party Representatives and Senators hell-bent on rolling back progress on veterans’ issues at home and escalating our military involvement in wars abroad.

Before the new Congress is sworn in, we want to know what are the issues you’re most passionate about in 2015. Let us know here.

Out of 535 members of the new Congress, only 25 have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and only 100 have served at any time. That’s down from a time not too long ago when a majority of Representatives wore the uniform at some point in their lives.

With more Tea Partiers and fewer members who have served, that makes protecting veterans’ health care more difficult, preventing further escalation in Iraq and Syria more challenging, and enacting programs to help veterans to transition at home after returning from abroad so much more important.

Your priorities are our priorities — let us know the issues you’re most concerned about here:

http://action.votevets.org/priorities

Of course, we’ll continue working towards electing more veterans in 2016. There are a number of veteran leaders consider Senate and House runs that we’ll be following closely.

Thanks for standing with us.

Jon Soltz
 Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
 VoteVets.org

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Supporting Millennial Entrepreneurs
Calvin W. Goings

Regional Administrator Calvin Goings

Supporting Millennial Entrepreneurs

Millennials, born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, are the largest generation in the United States, representing one-third of the total U.S. population in 2013. Millennials are a technologically connected and diverse generation. Their unprecedented enthusiasm for technology has the potential to spark change in traditional economic institutions and the labor market.

The priority that millennials place on creativity and innovation make them an important economic engine for the U.S. economy.  Millennials were born to be entrepreneurs.

In Region 10 we’re making millennial entrepreneurship interest a reality. With the help of Small Business Development Center (SBDC) counseling, millennial entrepreneur Nathan Graham Sleadd, was able to jumpstart his business, Sleaddadventures, LLC.  Starting with annual sales of $100,000 in 2008, Sleaddadventures employs 7 full-time and 2 part-time employees and generates over $300,000 of payroll that cycles through the local economy.

Research shows that more than half of millennials are interested in starting their own business.  That’s why the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), recently announced the My Brother’s Keeper initiative for millennial entrepreneurs. It’s a new federal outreach and education campaign to help America’s millennials become what SBA calls “enterprise-ready”.

The My Brother’s Keeper initiative was launched to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by young people of color. The President’s new economic opportunity agenda for millennials creates new policies to support this generation, to ensure that all young people can overcome challenges and achieve their potential.

At the SBA, our message to millennials is clear. It’s a message of inclusion and possibility to help jumpstart their small business potential, wherever their talents and interests lie. Overall, we want to help millennials start, grow, and succeed as small business owners.

Entrepreneurship can be the answer if your question is “What’s next for me?” If you’re a potential millennial entrepreneur or know someone who is, visit www.sba.gov/young to learn more.

I hope you have found this information useful.  Please feel free to forward this to your friends and colleagues. If you have comments or questions for me, please contact Connie Marshall in my office at connie.marshall@sba.gov. To visit our regional website click this link.
Sincerely,
Calvin
CALVIN W. GOINGS

U.S. Small Business Administration
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Affordable Care Act 101 Webinars


Free Affordable Care Act 101 webinar covering healthcare reform and your small business hosted by SBA and Small Business Majority. Click to RSVP today

SBA and Small Business Majority will host free Affordable Care Act 101 webinars so small business owners can learn the basics of the Affordable Care Act and how they can enroll in health insurance marketplaces.

In addition, Spanish-speaking small employers throughout the country can join representatives from SBA, HHS and Small Business Majority for ACA 101 webinars in Spanish.