Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Should you be paid less?


We don’t think so, but some apparently do — women STILL earn 23 cents less for every dollar earned by men.

www.nwlc.org

Let’s make one thing clear: last week’s Supreme Court decision against Betty Dukes and the women of Wal-Mart may have been deeply disappointing, but it’s NOT the end of the road for their pay discrimination case. And it’s absolutely not the end of the road for our fight for fair pay. Will you be with us?

Please support the Center’s work for fair pay for women at this urgent time.

In the last Congress, we fell only two votes short of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act in the U.S. Senate after it passed in the House. This key piece of legislation is now back in Congress, and with your help we can make sure that our elected representatives provide the women of Wal-Mart — and women everywhere — a true chance at equal pay and a fairer workplace.

We are committed to seeing this important bill pass, but we can’t do it without generous donations from supporters like you.

www.nwlc.org

Thank you so much for your help today and for the powerful support you’ve given the Center in the past. Together, we’ll see the day when everyone agrees with us that Women Are Not WorthLess™.

Sincerely,

Fatima Goss Graves
Vice President for Education and Employment
National Women’s Law Center

Thursday in Congress … oh wait the Republican led House is gone! – the Senate


  • Senate Convenes at  9:30amET June 30, 2011
  • Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning
    business until 12:00pm with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes
    each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or
    their designees, with the Majority controlling the first hour and the
    Republicans controlling the second hour.
  • Following morning business, the Senate will be in Executive Session to
    consider Calendar # 197, the nomination of David H. Petraeus, of New Hampshire,
    to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, with two hours for debate
    equally divided in the usual form.
  • Upon the use or yielding back of time (at approximately 2pm), the Senate
    will conduct a roll call voteon confirmation of the Petraeus nomination.At approximately 2:00pm today, the Senate will conduct a roll call vote on
    confirmation of Executive Calendar #197, the nomination of David H. Petraeus, of
    New Hampshire, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

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The next meeting in the House is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on July 1, 2011.

State appeals order to restore Planned Parenthood funds


Indiana’s attorney general on Tuesday appealed a judge’s ruling that blocked key aspects of a new state law that cut some public funding for Planned Parenthood because the organization provides abortions.

I am an outlaw


Just one week ago, I published an expose in the New York Times. It was my life story. I am an undocumented immigrant, an outlaw in my own country.

In the days since, I have been drowning in media requests, tearful letters, and powerful Facebook messages. I want to thank all of the individuals who have both challenged and supported me, and ask those who have not yet done so to join me.

I’ve left my job as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and come out about my immigration status because it’s long past time to strike up a more civil, inclusive debate about immigration in America. It’s a risk, but I have a unique story to tell, and I was tired of staying silent.

Now, I’m launching the project “Define American.”     http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_INmaVodArs

We may not all agree on how to fix it, but one thing we can all agree on is that our immigration debate is out of control and our immigration system is badly broken. I believe not only that we can do better, but that we must.

Will you sign the pledge to stand with me, Jose Antonio Vargas, in calling for a new national conversation on immigration? http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_INmaVodArs

Some would say my story is the tale of a hard-working immigrant who defines the American dream: achieving success against great odds, working hard, and even earning a Pulitzer Prize for my reporting. Still, despite everything I’ve achieved, the law still says I am not technically an American. I am undocumented.

I want to ask my fellow Americans: What would you do, if you found out at age 16 that you didn’t have the right papers? As a journalist, my job is to ask questions that spark conversation. Now I am asking you to join in that conversation.

Sign the pledge to “Define American,” share it with everyone you know, and then leave us a comment about what you would do if you found out you were undocumented. I will bring your comments and stories with me as I head to the next round of media interviews.   http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_INmaVodArs

We all have a story to tell, so let’s talk. Let’s debate. Most importantly, let’s listen.

All the best,

– Jose

Corporate crackdown .. Rebecca Tarbotton, Rainforest Action Network


As corporations amass more and more power over our government and all of our lives, how do we stop them from trampling our rights and polluting the air and water we need to survive?

We must be unrelenting, we must be strategic and we must be more brave than we’ve ever imagined we could be. Now is the time for action.

Last month, four RAN activists chained themselves to Disney‘s headquarters to shine a light on its forest destruction. Just a week later, six more were arrested bringing attention to the struggle of 30,000 Ecuadoreans living with Chevron‘s oil disaster in the Amazon.

Why would these courageous men and women risk so much? Because sometimes it takes rappelling off a bridge and unfurling a 50-foot banner to get a corporation to put people’s health and the environment first.

RAN’s next big action is going to be absolutely awe-inspiring…Do you want to be in on it?

We need you there with us. We need your direct support now to start planning.

You can feed an activist a meal that will fuel them through the grueling physical challenge of a banner action. It only takes $10.

Precision communication is key to pulling off direct actions. Put a mobile phone into the hands of our next action coordinator for $25.

Direct action climbers dangle hundreds of feet over land or water, which means safety comes first. Protect the most vital tool a climber has, their head. Give $50 to buy a safety helmet for a RAN activist during our next big banner hang.

Now if you’ve got the means and the passion to push Corporate America hard, I’m asking you to go big. Like 80-feet wide kind of big.

Be the funder behind RAN’s next massive banner. $500 will get the job done.

When corporate polluters refuse to stop decimating precious rainforests or blowing up historic mountain ranges, we’ve got to take action.

YOU can make it happen. Donate today.

For a just and thriving planet,

Rebecca Tarbotton
Executive Director