63,271 people and counting have added their name to stand with President Obama in support of Elizabeth Warren and John Tierney’s Student Loan Reform bill.
President Obama is right: we shouldn’t bury students under a mountain of college debt, while millionaires get special tax breaks — and thousands of our supporters agree.
We’ve smashed our signature goal in the few hours since the President spoke. Now we’re upping it to 100,000 strong today! To get there, we need everyone to step up.
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No Justice for Amazon Massacre in Peru Five years ago yesterday the Devil’s Curve earned its name. This wild stretch of highway outside the Peruvian town of Bagua was transformed from a peaceful protest site into a national tragedy now known as the Baguazo. Though the multi-week roadblock was due to disband that same day, militarized riot police entered by force in the early dawn and a deadly melee ensued. When the teargas and gunsmoke cleared, 34 people were dead and hundreds more wounded, including protesters and police officers. Today, 54 protesters and ostensible instigators are on trial for the infamous Baguazo. Government prosecutors have accused high-profile indigenous leaders of inciting their people to violence. Several indigenous representatives like Alberto Pizango, president of the Amazon-wide indigenous organization AIDESEP, face sentences of 35 years to life. |
 Two young girls were hanged from a tree after being gang raped in the fields outside their home in India and a high ranking government official just responded by saying that rape “is a social crime … sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong.” Let’s make sure India’s leader knows that this is unacceptable and demand he acts now to stop the rape epidemic. Sign now:
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Two young girls were hanged from a tree after being gang raped in the fields outside their home in India and a high ranking government official just responded by saying that rape “is a social crime … sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong.”
That is the government’s response! It’s disgusting and we can change it.
India’s new leader was just elected on a pro-business platform with increased tourism as one of his top economic growth goals. If two million of us, right now, pledge not go to India until something is done about the rape epidemic across the country, we could get his attention and force him to prioritise urgent action.
Sign now and at two million signers, Avaaz will bring our call to the major Indian tourist companies that have Prime Minister Modi’s ear and lobby for travel advisories until something is done to protect this generation of girls and women:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/womanifesto_modi_21/?biEWLbb&v=40655
When the 14 and 15 year old girls went missing, one girl’s dad went to the police and fell in front of them on his hands and knees pleading for them to do something. They laughed at him and told him to go home. This appalling inaction happens to countless families across India that face this horror. The police, the judiciary, and even ministers are failing them! It’s a culture of acceptance of rape!
Before the elections there was a massive movement building to get urgent action to stop violence against women. Experts drafted a Womanifesto — a common sense plan for urgently needed reforms to stop the rape epidemic. It covers law, policing, medical and psychological support, and crucially — public education. Other major parties signed up to it, but Modi ignored it focusing on economics, and it is still languishing on his desk.
Even Modi’s staff agree with the plan. Now we just need Modi to put it into action.
If millions pledge to not visit India now until action is taken, and that call is bolstered by targeted calls to the mega travel businesses that support Modi and calls to our own governments to issue travel warnings, we could force Modi to act to save his political future. Click below to sign now:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/womanifesto_modi_21/?biEWLbb&v=40655
The shock and horror of opening the newspaper and reading this story can sit with us, or it can spur us into action. This is our chance to come together as a global community and use our power and our hope to help and entire nation set out on the journey towards equality and safety for all.
With hope,
Alice, Alaphia, Dalia, Laura, Shreya, Ricken and the rest of the Avaaz team
More Information:
India State Minister on rape: ‘Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong’
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/05/india-state-minister-rape-crimes-comment
Another girl found hanging in Uttar Pradesh. Rape attempt on judge
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-another-girl-found-hanging-in-uttar-pradesh-rape-attempt-on-judge-1993315
Modi unveils ‘Five Ts’: BJP’s PM candidate says Talent, Tourism, Tech, Trade and Tradition are the watchwords for India’s future
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2542285/Modi-unveils-Five-Ts-BJPs-PM-candidate-says-Talent-Tourism-Tech-Trade-Tradition-watchwords-Indias-future.html
Horrified at reports of violence against women in India: US on Badaun Rape case
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/horrified-at-reports-of-violence-against-women-in-india-us-on-badaun-rape-case-535671
UN condemns gang rape and murder of teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh and calls for justice
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_73685.html
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| Tell the Banks to Stop Financing Mountain Destruction |
This could be the tipping point for the horrific practice of Mountaintop Removal coal mining.
Just this week, JPMorgan Chase updated its environmental policy, revealing that it will be ending financial relationships with Mountaintop Removal coal mining companies.
Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas/Bank of the West have recently taken similar steps. If the other major banks commit to stop financing mountaintop removal, fossil fuel companies will have no choice but to end the obliteration of mountains and poisoning of communities for coal.
tell Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to stop financing Mountaintop Removal coal mining!
Mountaintop Removal (MTR) is a mining practice that uses explosives to literally blow the tops off mountains for the coal inside. The rubble is then pushed into streams and poisons the water supply for thousands of people. This is morally unacceptable and why many, many local communities in Appalachia, along with activists around the world, are taking a stand against MTR.
For more than five years, Rainforest Action Network members like you have demanded JPMorgan Chase and other banks drop MTR financing. And while we’ll have to remain vigilant to ensure JPMorgan Chase stays on the path away from MTR, the bank’s new policy demonstrates that your activism is working.
JPMorgan Chase will no longer be doing business with companies like Alpha Natural Resources—the worst of the worst when it comes to MTR. Last month, the EPA issued Alpha the largest water pollution discharge penalty in the history of the Clean Water Act. The company also faces ten lawsuits over water pollution at its MTR mines.;
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, shows that the smart money is leaving companies like Alpha Natural Resources. Other major banks do not want to be singled out for continuing to support environmental destruction and poisoning communities.
Tell the banks to drop Alpha Natural Resources and adopt a policy to phase out MTR financing.
Our movement is truly turning the tide against MTR. Companies like Alpha Natural Resources need financing from big banks to continue the destruction. If we make sure the banks can’t hide their responsibility for keeping MTR alive, we can force them to act to protect their image.
JPMorgan Chase is acting to protect its image right now by moving out of MTR financing. Let’s use that momentum. Send the banks a message today and help end Mountaintop Removal coal mining once and for all.
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For healthy communities and a healthy ecosystem, |
Photo Credit: Kent Kessinger/Appalachian Voices
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