Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Support Senator AL Franken


With so much at stake in 2012, I’m doing everything I can to help Democrats win across Minnesota and around the country. But every time someone asks me if Midwest Values PAC (MVP) can help out another great candidate, the answer is the same: “I’ll have to ask my team.” By which I mean you.

After all, it’s your support that has made it possible for MVP to get involved in some of 2012’s most important races, supporting progressive heroes like Sherrod Brown and Kirsten Gillibrand. And, of course, we’re standing with Minnesota’s own Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, and Tim Walz.

But I want MVP to be able to support even more great candidates in 2012 — which is why I’m asking you to help me help them by making a contribution of $5 or more today!

I’ll give you a perfect example: Elizabeth Warren. This progressive champion and consumer crusader is running for Senate in Massachusetts, and she’d be a powerful voice standing up to the special interests in Washington.

I’m proud to give her my endorsement — but I want to be able to do more. Your contribution to Midwest Values PAC will make it possible for me to stand with even more great candidates like Elizabeth when they need it most — so click here to donate today!

I wish I could help every single one of our party’s great candidates stand up for Medicare and Social Security, fight for good jobs and clean energy, and take on the right-wing special interests. And with the Senate majority at stake — and the House in play — there are lots of races to choose from.

I’ll keep fighting to support progressive candidates around the country no matter what. But MVP can only help if MVP members like you are there with me.

So, on behalf of all the progressives hoping MVP will be there for them: How about it? Can you contribute a few dollars to help me elect great Democrats in 2012?

Thanks for all you to do support me — and all the other great progressives out there.

Al

a message from Nancy Pelosi


If we continue to stand together, I believe this moment will mark the turning point on the road to a Democratic victory in 2012.

The American people are rejecting the Tea Party Republican agenda that puts tax breaks for the wealthiest people in our country ahead of creating jobs.

Now, it is up to us to seize this moment.

That’s why the looming October 31st FEC fundraising deadline is so critical. This is the last fundraising deadline before the one year out to Election Day marker and House Democrats must have a strong showing.

Please contribute $3 or more to our Million Dollar Match Campaign before October 31st and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a group of House Democrats.

The world will be watching to see if Democrats can maintain the momentum and exceed our million dollar goal. Our results will be closely scrutinized by the media and political pundits as an indication of our strength and determination to take the fight to the Republicans.

With just 25 seats standing between us and a new Democratic Majority, we can’t wait for tomorrow.

Contribute $3 or more to our Million Dollar Match Campaign before Midnight Monday >>

Let’s stand together for a new direction that places creating jobs over reckless tax breaks for billionaires and Big Oil.

Thank you for your support,

Nancy Pelosi

A small fish with a big problem


Menhaden. It’s a small fish that makes its home along the Atlantic coast and that other fish love to eat. Unfortunately, humans love it too.

Help us collect 40,000 comments before the Nov. 2nd deadline by taking action now.

We like to grind it up, put in pet food and stick it in fish oil supplements. So much so, that this once abundant fish is in serious trouble. If something isn’t done soon to stop the overfishing of menhaden, the entire Atlantic coastal ecosystem could be in danger.

That’s why right now the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is considering changing the way they manage menhaden. As part of the process, they have opened up public comments. They don’t often hear from the public on this issue. Which is why we are hoping to overwhelm them with support by generating 40,000 comments before the deadline.

This is our chance to show broad public support for ending the overfishing of menhaden and preserving the Atlantic ecosystem. But the comment period closes in just 48 hours.Greenpeace

 

Tell the ASMFC to protect the menhaden and protect the Atlantic ecosystem by taking action right now.  WWW.GREENPEACEUSA.ORG

Menhaden have been called “the most important fish in the sea.” They are critical to the Atlantic marine ecosystem as prey for other fish and wildlife such as striped bass and ospreys. Millions of recreational anglers depend on a healthy coastal ecosystem to support the populations of striped bass, bluefish, and other species recreational fishermen love to catch. Without menhaden the Atlantic fishing industry—and the 63,000 jobs it supports—could collapse.

Unfortunately, that’s a real possibility. Overfishing of Atlantic menhaden has been going on for over 25 years and the population is on the brink. Scientists estimate that only 8% of the original menhaden population exists today. We have to act now to protect the menhaden and the entire Atlantic ecosystem.

Don’t wait. There are just 48 hours left to submit a comment to the ASMFC and protect the Atlantic ecosystem.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace has been working on overfishing around the globe for twenty years, and we’ve been working on protecting the menhaden now for almost a decade. I attended a public hearing in Virginia this month, and delivered my comment in person. The hearings are stacked with industry insiders, so your voice is crucial for us to successfully reform menhaden management.

This is our chance to finally protect the species once and for all. If the menhaden population collapses, our entire Atlantic ecosystem and the fish and birds of prey that depend up on it will collapse as well. We can’t let that happen.

Submit your comments now before it is too late.

For the Oceans,

Phil Kline

Phil Kline
Greenpeace Senior Oceans Campaigner

P.S. Forward this email to anyone in your address book who cares about the fate of the world’s oceans. The more comments we can generate in the next 48 hours, the better the chance we can protect the menhaden and the entire Atlantic ecosystem.

Happy Halloween &some News


The weather, wicked as it is being reported for the mid-west and east coast has been life as per usual here in the NW- rain, with snow if it’s falling is in our mountains and will hopefully stay in the higher elevations for a while because some reports say Washington will get record amount of snow this year…ugh

The last few weeks of campaigning by Teapublicans have made me absolutely sick what with the loony tune behavior and racist comments by folks who are not qualified to be representing anyone let alone the people of America …

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” –George Orwell

i personally do not want to go back to colonial days  …it controlled  my grandparents past &the future of my parents and now a group on the hard right are  determined to repeal the 14th amendment the civil rights … we must move  forward stay in the present so discrimination fails …the past fails

A year ago yesterday Restore Sanity and or Fear Rally was held and though we have OWS now the cliché …same BS different day still applies just change the names/dates and we still have a whole lot of BS that needs to get kicked to the curb … #VOTE4BarackObama2012

10-30-10 Restore Sanity and or Fear was fun to me and while some seemed confused over what the point the message the obvious silliness of it all i for one felt it was a moment to gather at the National Mall either physically or online like me and apparently there were 4 million of us online while 250thousand were at the Mall to say to America look the rhetoric is getting crazy, people are not just engaging in silly fear mongering the engagement has become physical people are getting hurt and this bullying has got to either take a more moderate tone or nothing will get accomplished at all and i don’t exactly remember what Jon Stewart said …something like we are in the hard times but it is not the end of times.  If you listen to in my opinion the right they have led people to believe that the boogey man is out to take theirs away from them and they have to take back their country in whatever form that takes even if they have to use 2nd amendment remedies and to me that is just insane and stirs fear which gives people cause to become what paranoid which then makes them act out and believe me i am fearful each time i hear Palin, Beck, Limbaugh or even Breitbart make comments that seemingly cause folks to commit crimes,  possible death or at least caused a lot of people to be fired, lose business and lately death threats.  This rally was diverse had great music by the Roots, Ozzy osborn, Mavis Staples,Tony Bennett, Yusef, the OJays,Kid Rock plus cutie pie John Legend and I was totally impressed by the not so R&B instrument, the Tuba. It looked like they had enough potties though rumors were they did not and yes, there were many miscues. There were many people different from themselves standing together without violence, some may have even agreed to disagree but i saw no one being taken down because of it or stomped on or put in handcuffs, not too many offensive signs and actually, some were quite clever. The crowd definitely leaned left of center there were 250thousand people so we know they couldn’t have all been lefties though some in the media might have you believe that. By the end of the day, reports and or stories started being blasted and one in particular grabbed my attention because i question the reasons lady had for being at the rally or even her sanity a bit but hey, she was there expressing or doing their own thing though strange in my opinion. The AP interviewed and gave this lady major attention and while we all have the 1st amendment to fall back on she stated she and the 400 she brought there voted for Obama but will not again. This woman stated she not just wanted to wipe the slate clean she admitted to having dreams of Jon Stewart as a candidate but as she describes her dream, it became violent and well, something awful happened. I have to say all i could think of was insane in the membrane when i read it and boy it was definitely symbolic of what is going on today. When people are angry and in that anger if poked prodded and protesting just is not enough comes reactions by folks who need to take it down a notch … who knew it would take a comedian to say this is how i feel do you feel this way too! ok so let’s take it to our National Mall and show our Politicians and their cronies whoever that may be and tell them we want debates we want discussions but the crap that is going on right now is not acceptable …in my case the Republican Tea Party is at fault …done and period. The provocateurs know who they are and i don’t know about you but having some or quite possibly a lot of them are folks running for Public Office possibly getting paid by our tax dollars,  that is just not right or acceptable to me let alone having to hear what they plan to do if elected.

Student loan reform can’t wait


2012

James Kvaal is the Policy Director for Obama for America.

Friend —

President Obama just took two serious steps to make life a lot easier
for folks with student loans — and there’s a good chance you or someone
you know will benefit from these changes very soon.

Here’s how:

— Effective this January, if you’re someone who has different kinds
of loans — guaranteed and direct — you’ll be able to roll them both
into one direct loan and bring down your interest rate. You’ll only have
to write one check a month, and you’ll see a discount. This switch adds
no cost to taxpayers across the board.

— You might remember that, as part of last year’s student loan
reform, borrowers’ loan payments could be no higher than 10 percent of
their disposable income. This is a big deal — but it wasn’t going to
help anyone enrolling before 2014. Today, the President announced that
he’s speeding up this program so it will affect students next year —
helping over 1 million students. This will have huge consequences for
people struggling to make their student loan payments.

Sometimes, it can be hard to see how policy changes will actually affect your day-to-day life.

Not the case with this one. These changes will make a real difference in helping millions of Americans get by month to month.

We put together a video explaining how these changes will help Americans. Watch
it to learn a little more about what today’s steps would do, and then
make sure everyone you know who should hear about it does.

Learn how student loan reforms help you.

President Obama isn’t waiting on Congress to take action. He’s doing
everything in his power, right now, to help bolster our economy and get
folks back on their feet.

On Monday, he laid out new rules on federal mortgages to help make sure more families don’t lose their homes to foreclosure.

On Tuesday, the administration announced two new initiatives to help veterans find work.

Today, it means making changes that make student loans a lot easier to manage.

These are actions that can’t wait on the next vote or the next election.
So long as people are struggling, this President and this
administration will do everything in their power to help them when and
where they can. It’s just that simple.

Now, let’s make sure that the millions of people who stand to benefit from today’s steps know about it.

Watch the video to learn more about today’s student loan changes — and then help get the word out:

http://my.barackobama.com/Student-Loan-Reforms

Thanks,

James

James Kvaal

Policy Director

Obama for America