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~ Culture & History, ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Destroying a sacred city for a shopping mall?


Help stop the destruction of my home, Lhasa, Tibet

By Ngawang S.

Boston, Massachusetts

www.Change.org

My name is Ngawang Sangdrol and I am a Tibetan born in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. Today I live in exile, unable to return to my beloved homeland as a free person. I share my story with you now as my home, Lhasa, is under severe threat.

This magnificent city has stood on the top of the world for 1,500 years.  It stands not only as the physical capital but also as the spiritual capital for Tibetan Buddhists.  The old city of Lhasa has been the site of many freedom protests and is a symbol of the Tibetan resilience against China’s occupation. When I was 13 years old, I joined a peaceful protest in Lhasa calling for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for Tibetan independence. As a result, I served 11-years in prison for my political actions.

But right now, I am afraid this sacred city faces destruction, environmental risks, and forced evictions to make way for a shopping mall and parking garage.

Please help me defend my home. We must not let Lhasa, a city of immense cultural and historical importance, be destroyed.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee can help prevent China’s wilful destruction of the old city of Lhasa by designating the site as “World Heritage in Danger”.  Lhasa’s status as a World Heritage Site is a huge source of pride for China. If Lhasa is listed as being in danger, China must either stop the construction or face losing a World Heritage Site, which would be a major embarrassment.

Don’t let the beauty and historic significance of Lhasa be destroyed!
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

This Again?


By  ThinkProgress War Room

GOP War on Women Heats Up

It never really ended, but the GOP’s war on women is definitely back and more misogynistic than ever. Let’s go through a few things that have happened just in the past week:

BOTTOM LINE: Republicans didn’t learn a single lesson from their string of outrageous attacks on women last year and instead appear to be doubling down on their extreme views and offensive legislative proposals.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

More progress on Facebook’s content policy.

Connecticut passes homeless person’s bill of rights.

Key senator seeks to make immigration bill more LGBT friendly.

Greece is no longer considered a developed country thanks to austerity.

DREAMers fenced off from reuniting with mothers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Obstructionist senator upset at 60-vote threshold for amendments to the immigration bill despite his party requiring it for everything else.

Federal judge being sued over racist comments removed from death penalty case.

NFL commissioner defends racist Redskins nickname as standing for “strength, courage, pride, and respect.

Virginia senator gives first-ever Senate floor speech entirely in Spanish.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

84 Votes


By  ThinkProgress War Room

Senate Makes Major Move on Immigration Reform

Immigration reform including a pathway to earned citizenship moved one step closer to reality today as the Senate voted overwhelmingly, 84-15, to began debating and amending the bipartisan bill that passed the Judiciary Committee last month. Unsurprisingly, all of today’s no votes came from Republicans, including those leading the opposition to the bill: Sens. Jeff Sessions (AL), Mike Lee (UT), and Ted Cruz (TX).

While many of those who voted to take up the bill today are expected to oppose it in the end, today’s vote is the latest sign of strong momentum. By contrast, the vote to take up the 2007 immigration reform effort, which ultimately failed, was a much narrower 64-35.

Good news also came from the other side of the Capitol today, with Speaker Boehner (R-OH) predicting that the bill will become law before the end of the year. In another positive sign, Boehner also refused to rule out passing a bill through the House with mostly Democratic votes.

Finally, the president also held an event today with DREAMers and a bipartisan group of others who support reform with a pathway to earned citizenship.

The only unfortunate news on the immigration front today came from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who appears to want to have it both ways once again. Rubio was reportedly asking his Republican colleagues to refrain from coming out in support of the bill so he could use the appearance of a lack support among Republicans as an excuse to drag the bill to the right. Discouraging fellow senators from supporting one’s own legislation is a relatively unheard of move.

A new poll out today shows that 81 percent of Latinos polled reject the notion of the “border-security first” approach that Rubio is inching toward. That includes 76 percent of Latinos who have voted for a GOP candidate in the past. Instead, Latinos want to see the pathway to citizenship and border security implemented concurrently, just as it is in the Gang of 8 bill Rubio himself helped author.

BOTTOM LINE: We are closer than we’ve been in a generation toward achieving real reform to our broken immigration system. Reforming our broken system will allow 11 MILLION undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, something that will boost our economy by a cumulative $832 BILLION over the next ten years.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

Google asks the government to let them reveal how many national security data requests they receive.

Bipartisan group of senators introduces legislation adding transparency to surveillance programs.

The other massive online surveillance program that no one is talking about.

Obama administration ends effort to restrict Plan B.

Nike now has a line of pro-LGBT shoes and sports fashions.

House Republicans launch new battle in war on women: unconstitutional 20-week abortion ban.

Overdraft protection actually hurts consumers, study finds.

Elizabeth Warren already has regulators considering tougher actions against the banks.

Another day, another false and misleading Republican attack on Obamacare.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

How thirty 11 year-olds changed the world

1 Comment

                                Dear friends,


Thirty 11 year-olds in Hamburg just saved their classmate — all it took was a petition and a few thousand signatures. It all started with a simple step that took 2 minutes. Click below to start the next great campaign to change someone’s life or the world:

A 5th grade class in Hamburg just saved their classmate Gleb from deportation — all it took was a petition and a few thousand signatures.
Gleb fled to Germany to get treatment for Leukaemia. He got an operation that saved his life, started to attend school and quickly became top of his class, but then the government tried to send him back to Russia. His classmates started a petition on the community petition site to their local government officials to stop the deportation.
When the petition took off, their council member started paying attention. And in weeks, Gleb was saved, able to continue the treatment he so desperately needed. His friends saved his future, and it all started with a simple step — click below to start a campaign on an issue you care about or send this email to a friend. You never know who might start the next great campaign to change someone’s life or change the world!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?cl=2929208333&v=25689
With just a few focused minutes, Gleb’s classmates kick-started an amazing campaign that led to an impressive victory. Imagine if all of us committed a little time to start a campaign – there’s no limit to what we can achieve!
Starting a campaign only takes a few minutes, but the impact of success can last for years. Plus, if the petition gets enough support on its own, the staff at Avaaz could pick up the campaign, add strategic advice, media help, and even send it to a wider list of members. We’ve got tonnes of tips and advice to help you along the way — all it takes is to get started, share your passion and you can be on your way to winning on any issue – local, national or global.
Send this email to the people you know who have great ideas about how to make the world a better place or click on the link to be a part of it:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?cl=2929208333&v=25689
Many Avaaz campaigns have been started by Avaaz members, from bringing hundreds of workers in Bahrain safely home to India, to allowing partners stay in touch with imprisoned love ones in New Mexico. All these took just a few minutes to get started. Let’s become world-changers together and multiply our impact by the thousands.
With hope and excitement for all we can achieve together,
Emma, Oli, Dalia, Patri, Laura, Ricken, Luis, Chris and all of the Avaaz team