The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given airlines the ability to expand the use of personal electronic devices for passengers on board. That means you could soon be able to listen to your music or read books on an e-reader from gate-to-gate on your flight.
Individual airlines will have the ability to determine when it is safe for passengers to use their electronic devices.
Learn more about the decision.
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| “My mother died from your cancer. You killed my mother.” His voice didn’t waver as he fought back bitter tears standing face-to-face with Chevron CEO John Watson, somehow all the while maintaining a tenacity and grace rarely seen.
Meet Servio Curipoma, a cacao farmer from the oil-ravaged town of San Carlos, Ecuador. I’ll never forget when I met him. From the banks of a slickened black pit on his property that skirts the thick jungle, he humbly shared with me his story.
Or perhaps you’ve been with us for a while and remember one of multiple occasions when Servio bravely traveled north to the US, bringing us to the edge of our seats with his deeply personal story of how Chevron devastated his rainforest homelands and caused a public health crisis that continues today. Servio lost both his parents and a sister to cancer, which doctors have attributed to drinking water contaminated by toxic crude waste. Rather than wallow in anger, he has risen to become a relentless voice for his community, demanding that Chevron take responsibility for the contamination that wreaked havoc on his family. Servio’s story – and the stories of the 30,000 other people affected by Chevron’s atrocities – literally stopped me short while living in Ecuador and on a different life-trajectory. It’s why I do this work, and very real stories like this from across the Amazon basin are why Amazon Watch exists. Servio shines among the people Amazon Watch joins forces with daily – some of the most dignified and wise beings I’ve ever met – and he’s just one of the many courageous warriors fighting for what most of us take for granted every day: clean water and the health of our families. Over coming weeks we’ll bring you in-depth features of some of our most committed champions – we hope you’ll take the time to get to know them too. It’s just one way that you can glimpse a little deeper the lives of true heroes fighting for the rainforest, the reality of what’s happening in the Amazon, and how Amazon Watch is working to make a real difference with your support. For the Amazon,
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While a growing number of states are moving forward with marriage equality (Hawaii and Illinois could become the next two very soon), “there are no state laws in 29 states that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and in 33 states that do so based on gender identity.”
(You can check out real stories of LGBT people impacted by workplace discriminationHERE.)
Thankfully, on Monday the Senate will take up the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to make such discrimination illegal from coast to coast. This will help protect the nation’s 8 million LGBT workers from employment discrimination, whether they live in Manhattan or Manhattan, Kansas.
The bill has the support of all 55 Senate Democrats and is co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Mark Kirk (IL). Two other Republican Senators, Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Orrin Hatch (UT), voted for ENDA in committee, leaving it just one vote shy of the necessary 60 votes. Supporters are optimistic that at least one more Republican will support the bill when it comes to a vote next week.
As the infographic below demonstrates, Americans overwhelmingly support ENDA, including majorities of voters in every U.S. state, as well as majorities of Republicans, independents, and Democrats nationwide.
Chip in $5 today and help us fight for a living wage
This summer, fast food workers across the country demanded higher wages. This fall, a small city in South King County is in the national spotlight in the battle for a living wage. 1
SeaTac Proposition 1, the Good Jobs Initiative, deals with fair labor practices and the minimum wage. It will raise the minimum wage for more than 6,000 transportation and hospitality workers and give them common sense benefits, like paid sick leave.
Dozens of Democratic officeholders have endorsed SeaTac Proposition 1, including Rep. Adam Smith, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Speaker Frank Chopp. 2
Providing a living wage shouldn’t be such a radical idea. The problem is… we haven’t kept our bargain with wage earners.
Earlier this year Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) shared this information during a Labor and Pensions hearing:
“If we started in 1960 and we said that as productivity goes up, that is as workers are producing more, then the minimum wage is going to go up the same. And if that were the case then the minimum wage today would be about $22 an hour.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren
Large corporations located in the SeaTac area are fighting tooth and nail to defeat Proposition 1. If Democratic voters in the area turn out, we will succeed in requiring corporations to pay a fair, equitable living wage.
Many thanks,
Dwight Pelz Washington State Democrats Chair
1 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/us/in-washington-state-home-of-highest-minimum-wage-a-city-aims-higher.html?_r=0 2 http://yesforseatac.com/twenty-leading-democrats-endorse-seatac-proposition-1/
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| Dear Friend, Two weeks before Election Day, Texas implemented a voter ID law so radical a district judge was barred from voting early because she had her maiden name on her driver’s license. If a well-connected judge has trouble voting, can you imagine how hard it will be for the low-income women, minorities and seniors the law was designed to reject? We have to act NOWto stop these abuses. The threat is not limited to Texas. In Virginia, Republicans just purged 38,000 voters to boost Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s chances to claim the governor’s mansion. This is not democracy we believe in. ThinkProgress has been a leader in exposing voter suppression, but we need your support now. We need $15,000 by midnight Saturday so we can get into Virginia and Texas to expose voter suppression tactics. Your help can make it possible. We have 3 days. The story of election night can’t be voter theft. Donate $5 or more to help us ramp up our efforts to expose attacks on voting rights. We’re the last line of defense standing against these shady dealings. The Right’s hardly even hiding their strategy anymore – just the other day, a North Carolina Republican resigned after saying voter ID laws were made to suppress “lazy blacks.” But wherever they have power and know they are losing the battle of ideas, they are using all means necessary—unafraid of the consequences. We need to make them feel the consequences, by making sure the public knows what’s happening and why. As aggressive as attacks on voters have been, we need to be even more aggressive in protecting everyone’s right to vote. Can we count on you to help us raise $15,000 right away? In 6 days, all eyes will be on Virginia. Help us make sure the election’s decided fairly. Donate as much as you can before midnight Saturday to help stop the right from stealing elections and silencing anyone who doesn’t agree with them. The battle over voting rights has a long history that has been written by those willing to stand up over and over again. Thanks for all you do, John Podesta Chair, Center for American Progress Action Fund |
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