Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

must see Whitehouse vids


President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Spectrum Report Release

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology releases a report on realizing the potential of government-held spectrum to spur economic growth. July 20, 2012.More
In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control issued its first warning about a new disease. We had trouble naming this disease, understanding and caring for the people who were infected, and facing down our own fears. But people would not be silent. Communities mobilized to fight HIV/AIDS. We gained the knowledge to create stronger medications, and found new tools to prevent HIV transmission. Instead of helping people die, we turned to helping people live. Now, together, we are saving lives and scaling up. We can see an AIDS-Free Generation. We can turn the tide on this epidemic.More
The White House honors ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things across the country to ensure safety, dignity, and equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, as demonstrated by their inspiring video entries in the LGBT Pride Month Video Challenge. July 19, 2012.More
The Obama Administration brings together sports league and team leaders, stadium operators and supply chain companies to celebrate success stories in making our sports facilities more energy efficient and raising the profile of the importance of going green. July 19, 2012.More
The Obama Administration brings together sports league and team leaders, stadium operators and supply chain companies to celebrate success stories in making our sports facilities more energy efficient and raising the profile of the importance of going green. July 19, 2012.More
The Obama Administration brings together sports league and team leaders, stadium operators and supply chain companies to celebrate success stories in making our sports facilities more energy efficient and raising the profile of the importance of going green. July 19, 2012.More
Vice President Biden speaks to community leaders representing seniors organizations from across the country. July 16, 2012.More
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

End the Boy Scouts of America ban on gays.


                          The Boy Scouts of America shouldn’t allow an anonymous “secret committee” to uphold a ban against openly gay Scouts.                       
      Sign Zach’s Petition

Boy Scouts: Stop the secrecy! Allow your Board to VOTE to end the ban on gay scouts and leaders

Started by: Zach, Iowa City, Iowa

I am a proud Eagle Scout. I’m also the proud son of two lesbian moms. It’s time for those two things to stop being contradictory.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have announced that a “secret committee” has confirmed the Scouts’ long-standing policy barring openly LGBT individuals from involvement in its organization, either as youth participants or adult leaders. This shocking “announcement” comes on the heels of a three-month campaign against that policy by various groups — including Scouts for Equality, of which I am a co-founder — and people like Jennifer Tyrrell, a gay den mother ousted from the Boy Scouts in April.

Secret committees do not speak for three million Scouts.

Last month, I delivered nearly 300,000 petition signatures to the Boy Scouts’ annual convention, and days later, a resolution was introduced that could allow openly gay scouts and leaders for the first time in the history of the BSA. But instead of allowing that resolution to be voted on by the executive board, the BSA instead decided to maintain their anti-gay ban without a vote. Because a secret committee said so.

Above all, what’s most disappointing is the secretive nature surrounding how this “decision” was reached. The very first value of the Scout Law is that a Scout is trustworthy. There is absolutely nothing trustworthy about unelected and unnamed committee members who are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.

In June, an Associated Press story said that BSA spokesperson Deron Smith indicated that “the process would likely be completed by May 2013” at the next annual BSA convention. But that was before two prominent BSA executive board members — Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson — announced that they would oppose the ban and work to overturn it.

Something here doesn’t add up.

We need transparency. We need accountability. More than 3 million individuals deserve more than the one-off musings of a subcommittee that has supposedly existed for more than two years but has not published a single report, has published no minutes and has, as far as anyone can tell, no official documentation.

That’s why I’ve started this petition demanding that the Boy Scouts of America allow the resolution to allow openly gay scouts and leaders to come to a vote at the next BSA convention, in May of 2013.

A secret committee should not silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Let the BSA Executive Committee decide–let the resolution come to a vote in May 2013.

 

Click here to sign Zach’s petition, “Boy Scouts: Stop the secrecy! Allow your Board to VOTE to end the ban on gay scouts and leaders”.

You can also check out other popular petitions on Change.org by clicking here.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

This Week’s Top 3 On ThinkProgr​ess


It’s been a busy week. Here are three big stories from ThinkProgress you might have missed:

1. Alyssa’s take on The Shootings at ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in Colorado

2. A Guide To Consumer Brands Helping Bankroll Right-Wing Attack Ads

3. 20 Prominent Republicans Who Want Romney To Release More Tax Returns Right Now

Best,

Igor Volsky Deputy Editor, ThinkProgress

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

a message from Alan Grayson


 


Safe From Me.

One of my opponents has a new ad, claiming that I will shut down all children’s lemonade stands.

Seriously.

He says that I won’t be acting alone, of course. I will do it in concert with my “progressive cronies” – the actual term in the ad. Presumably in return for corporate PAC contributions from Big Lemon.

My opponent also claims that my “progressive cronies” and I will make gasoline so expensive (specifically, $10 a gallon) that people will “stop traveling to Florida” – again, an actual quote from his ad. So Disney World will have to change its name to Ghost Town, I guess.

And, finally, my opponent says that people will no longer go hunting – the horror!! – because my “progressive cronies” and I will “outlaw guns and ammunition.” I have to concede the logic of the latter part of that. What would be the point of outlawing guns, but not ammunition? Wouldn’t it be really frustrating, having all that ammunition around, and not being able to shoot at anything?

Remarkably, my opponent says that I will accomplish all of this during 2013. Clearly, it will be a busy year.

I would like to assure my opponent, and all other right-wing paranoid crackpots, that I will neither eliminate children’s lemonade stands, nor triple the price of gasoline, nor outlaw guns and ammunition. If I have a secret plan to do any of those things, it’s so secret that even I don’t know about it. It’s like I’m the Manchurian Candidate, or something.

And while we’re on the subject, I would like to inform my opponent that there are a few more things that neither I nor my “progressive cronies” intend to do:

(1) Make abortions mandatory.
(2) Socialize the means of production.
(3) Outlaw heterosexual intercourse.
(4) Tax breathing, or urination.
(5) Take away his velvet painting of dogs playing poker.
(6) Nationalize his underwear.
(7) Fill the sky with black helicopters.
(8) Remove the tin foil from his skull.

One more thing that I promise we won’t do: we won’t prevent imbeciles from throwing their hats into the ring. So my opponent can run for President in 2016, when Barack Obama is finishing his second term.

Are we clear on that? Good. Now let’s get back to discussing the things that my opponent is so desperate not to talk about: Jobs, healthcare, homes and education. What’s that? He has nothing to say? That’s what I thought.

If you are sick and tired of wretched right-wingers hijacking public discourse with their stupid nonsense, raise your hand. Then lower your hand, and click on that “CONTRIBUTE” button below.

Courage,

Alan Grayson