Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A major announcement


Jack Conway and 200 Dems -- Social Security champs

Rand Paul, the Tea Party leader running against me for Senate in Kentucky, thinks Social Security is unconstitutional. Other Republicans across the nation are also campaigning on privatization and Social Security cuts.

With a Tea Party deep on the fringe, the way for Democrats to win in 2010 is to have a spine — and go on offense.

That’s why today, I am proud to announce with my friends at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee that over 200 congressional candidates and members of Congress are promising to oppose any cuts to Social Security.

We’re saying no privatization, no raising the retirement age, no messing with the best program for seniors and workers in American history — and no mincing words about it.

Can you show your support for Democrats who stand on principle and go “on offense” by signing a statement of support for today’s big move by 200 candidates? Click here.

We’ll make sure the political insiders and the media take notice of where the grassroots want Democratic leaders to be.

The PCCC has done a great job working with me and other Democratic candidates to go on offense on Social Security — and I’ve been taking the Social Security fight directly to Rand Paul in debates, speeches, and media events.

The 200 others include:

  • Senate candidates Scott McAdams (AK), Roxanne Conlin (IA), Lee Fisher (OH), Alexi Giannoulias (IL), Kendrick Meek (FL), Paul Hodes (NH), Elaine Marshall (NC), and others
  • House candidates Ann McLane Kuster (NH), Joe Garcia (FL), Bill Hedrick (CA), Rob Miller (SC), Julia Lassa (WI), Manan Trivedi (PA), Ed Potosnak (NJ), Michael Oliverio (WV), and others
  • Members of Congress Raul Grijalva (AZ), Mary Jo Kilroy (OH), Alan Grayson (FL), Michael Acuri (NY), Carol Shea-Porter (NH), Ed Potosnak (NJ), Bill Owens (NY), John Boccieri (OH), and others
  • The full list is at SocialSecurityProtectors.com

As Rachel Maddow would say, “This is what it looks like when Democrats go on offense.”

Can you support Democrats who stand on principle and go “on offense” by signing a statement of support for today’s big move by 200 candidates? Click here.

Then, please pass this email to your friends who want bold Democrats. Thanks for being a bold progressive.

Jack Conway

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

RE: Russ Feingold
Donate now to keep Russ Feingold in the Senate
Donate NOW to keep Russ Feingold in the Senate

Russ Feingold’s opponent is Ron Johnson, a millionaire who’s spent $5.2 million of his own money trying to buy Russ’s Senate seat.

Ron Johnson supports NAFTA. He likes the Patriot Act. He thinks speaking out against the war is “extremely harmful to our nation.”

Lucky for us, Russ got Johnson to agree to three debates. Now Ron Johnson going to have to stand next to Russ and defend his extreme positions to Wisconsin voters.

FDL activists stepped up for Russ big time two weeks ago, raising more than $38,000 for his campaign. We want to show Russ and Wisconsin voters that ordinary people want to see Senator Feingold return to the Senate next year, not a self-funded millionaire.

The first debate is TONIGHT. Can you help us reach $50,000 for Russ? It’s critical we make a strong push for Russ right now. Click here to donate:

http://action.firedoglake.com/feingold

Russ stood alone and opposed the Patriot Act. He opposed FISA. He opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he’s done the same thing no matter who controls Congress or the White House. He always put principles before party.

Russ is locked in a tough battle, but he’s fighting hard. He’s got 22 field offices across Wisconsin, more than any campaign in country, and his supporters are working hard to turn out voters.

But a lot is riding on these debates. We want Russ to know going into them that we’ve got his back, so we set a goal of $50,000. We’re almost there – can you please chip in to make sure Russ Feingold can continue to fight for what’s right?

Russ was there for us when it was hard. Let’s be there for him. Click here to donate and help us get to $50,000 for Russ.

With your help, we’ll show Wisconsin voters that principle counts over party; that people power will prevail over a self-funded millionaire who wants to buy his way to the Senate.

Thanks for supporting Russ, and for all you do.

Jane Hamsher
FDL Action PAC

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Temper tantrum -repost-


Last month, Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller said that Republicans must have the “courage to shut down the government.” Republican Congressman Steve King recently demanded a “blood oath” from House Minority Leader John Boehner to ensure the full repeal of health care reform — even if it means shutting the government down.

And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, mastermind of the disastrous government shutdowns of the 1990s, has been crowing about a potential shutdown for months.

For Republicans, what once seemed radical is now wholly in the mainstream.

Even worse, they are pulling in huge donations from special interests who are comfortable with a shutdown that hurts the American people — so long as it gets them what they want.

We won’t stand by and watch this happen — and that’s why we’re growing the By the People Fund.

Grassroots Democrats have given 2.9 million donations to show that our voices won’t be drowned out by special-interest donations to fuel a special-interests agenda. Now we need to keep up the pace to reach our goal of 3 million individual donations — we need 20,000 contributors this week to hit the mark.

Can you donate $5 to help us keep growing the By the People Fund today?

All around the country this fall, Republicans are trying to convince voters to hire them for a job. But they keep saying that one of the first items on their agenda would be to go on strike.

A government shutdown would cut off the programs, benefits, and services relied upon by millions of seniors, veterans, and families around the country. Veterans’ hospitals would be closed; Social Security checks would not go out.

This is the political equivalent of a temper tantrum — and it hurts those who need help the most.

With just more than 40 days until the election, it’s time for us to step up.

We’ve got organizers on the ground in all 50 states, and we’re doubling down on efforts to register new voters and turn out the supporters who’ve helped us win all across the country.

The meaningful changes we’ve fought for and won have always been built on the energy and support of people like you.

So if you’ve been wondering when might be the best time to pitch in where you’re able, the time is now. And if you’re sick and tired of the notion that simply because Republicans are yelling louder, we are willing to go quietly — then it’s time for you to raise your voice.

I know that we can win this fall — but it’s going to take all of us.

Please donate $5 or more to the By the People Fund today:

http://my.democrats.org/Shutdown

Thanks,

Governor Tim Kaine
Chairman

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Google


Official Google Blog

 

–Posted: 16 Oct 2010 11:37 AM PDT–

**This is one of a regular series of posts on search experience updates. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. – Ed.

Search is always evolving, and we’re excited to share the latest this week—from Google Auto complete to our fun homepage doodles—as well as a glimpse at what the U.S. is searching for. Here’s this week’s round up of updates:

A birthday surprise
Because doodles are such a fun part of the search experience, we thought we’d share a fun little way Google will help celebrate your birthday. When you include your date of birth on your Google profile, you may notice a special treat on the Google homepage on your birthday (be sure to sign in). Click on the doodle for another birthday surprise!

Renaming Google Suggest
We first launched Google Suggest in 2004 in Labs to help people enter their searches faster. Suggest has been a very popular feature, and some people have been asking what happened to it. Never fear, it hasn’t gone anywhere—we just renamed it to “Google Autocomplete.” As part of our launch of Google Instant, we thought “Autocomplete” fit better with the new functionality—automatic queries and automatic results.

Google Instant in new countries across Asia
We’ve been rapidly expanding Google Instant around the globe. Last week we launched Instant in Australia, India, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. Now that it’s been a few weeks since our initial release, we’ve been finding that people are really learning how to get the most out of Instant. For example, in just two weeks, we saw an increase in the fraction of searches performed without hitting enter or clicking search. This is a very demanding launch for our infrastructure and we’re expanding around the globe as soon as we can.

Eurostat data in search
We’ve also rolled out some improvements our public data search features. We’ve been working closely with Eurostat to surface some really useful and interesting data about unemployment rates, government debt, minimum wage and broadband penetration across Europe. Try searching for [arbeitslosenstatistik deutschland], [smic france] or [deuda publica españa] to see examples of this data visualisation in action. The data is available across 34 languages. We’ve also internationalized data from the World Bank. You can learn more on our European policy blog.

The week in searches
Curious to know what Google Searches skyrocketed in the U.S. this week? Check out the Google Beat, where you’ll find an inside look into what people are clicking on Google. This week, we cover everything from Columbus Day to Brett Favre and the buzz around “Cigar Guy.”

We hope you find these updates useful. Stay tuned for more next week.

Posted by Johanna Wright, Director, Search Product Management

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FORECAST: Right-wing money to rain on Mass – severe flooding expected

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Barney Frank for Congress 2010

Today, the Washington Post reported that “the final two weeks of the campaign will not be for the faint of heart.  A torrent of money, much of it from outside groups whose donors are not disclosed, will rain down on states and congressional districts, disproportionately for Republican candidates. The money will underwrite a barrage of ads, almost all of them wholly negative and highly personal.”

The congressional district I represent will not escape this gloomy forecast of right-wing “rain.”  Yesterday, a shadowy political organization based in Nevada announced that it will spend approximately $200,000 to defeat me and one of my Democratic colleagues in Massachusetts.  Last week, the Tea Party Express announced that I would be one of their top targets in the entire country.  Can outside right-wing organizations rain enough money on Massachusetts to alter the outcome of an election?  Sadly, they can.

You can help me fight this dark, threatening storm which threatens free elections.

The right is not only trying to defeat me personally; it wants to undermine many of the things I have spent my career fighting for.  It would like to roll back a new law to prevent abusive practices by credit card companies, eliminate safeguards against predatory lending, revoke new regulations on risky practices by large financial firms, block new rules on executive compensation, privatize Social Security, prevent reductions in excessive military spending, and restrict a woman’s right to choose.

Please help me ride out this storm so I can continue to fight for the things we care about most.  I will be grateful for your help.
Barney Frank

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