We hope you’ll watch at 1pm ET Today and 10am Pacific TimeYesterday, President Obama spoke in Phoenix about his plan to build a better foundation for homeownership.Today he’s taking your questions online about that plan and what it means for homeowners, and those who want a home of their own. It’s part of an online chat with Zillow — the online real-estate marketplace — and Yahoo!.So at 1 p.m. ET, click here to watch President Obama answer your questions.

Watch live: President Obama holds a conversation on housing

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

DOJ’s Zimmerman investigation calling for public comment

08/06/2013 Nativegrl77 6 Comments

More than 71,500 ColorOfChange members have demanded that the U.S. Department of Justice‘s criminal civil-rights section bring federal charges against George Zimmerman, who has yet to face any legal consequences for profiling and killing Trayvon Martin. The DOJ’s civil rights investigation, launched after Trayvon’s death last spring, remains open,¹ and the Department is now actively seeking public input on how it should proceed.²

This week, we’re planning to deliver tens of thousands of powerful comments from ColorOfChange members like you urging the DOJ to do what’s right — so we only have a few days left to get the word out about the Department’s call for public comment. Can you take a moment to sign the petition to the DOJ, and to include a personalized comment when you do?

Thanks,

Rashad Robinson Executive Director, ColorOfChange.org

References

1. “Eric Holder says he shares concerns about Trayvon Martin case,” Washington Post, 07-15-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2841?t=2&akid=3091.1174326.KVoDw6

2. “Justice Dept. collecting public feedback on Zimmerman case,” Washington Post, 07-17-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2847?t=4&akid=3091.1174326.KVoDw6

*************************************************************************************************

Today, admitted killer George Zimmerman is a free man.

media outside Zimmerman pretrial hearing

Join the movement to end the senseless violence perpetrated by unaccountable vigilantes and police due to racial profiling: demand federal civil rights charges be brought against Zimmerman.

Dear Friends

George Zimmerman stalked and killed Trayvon Martin in late February of last year. It took 45 days for Sanford, Florida police to arrest 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s admitted killer — and only 16 hours for jurors to acquit him of second-degree murder and manslaughter last night.¹

We are angry. We are sad. And we are in pain.

We send our love and support to Trayvon’s parents — Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin — and we grieve with them and the countless other families of Black children who have been killed just for being Black.²

In this time of national sorrow, let’s turn our rightful frustration into action and grow a movement to hold the criminal justice system that fails Black Americans every day³ accountable.

Since the beginning, the Department of Justice has closely monitored the state’s case against George Zimmerman, and the DOJ can still bring charges against Trayvon’s killer. Please join us in calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to bring federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, and help us strengthen our efforts to end racial profiling and the violence it creates.

What does it say about our society when a civilian can shoot and kill a Black child who is just walking home from the store, and what can it mean when the killer is set free? What does this say about the value our society places on the lives of young Black children? It tells us that a Black life has little worth. It tells us that Black youth are seen as nothing more than violent criminals.⁴ And it tells us how much more work we must do to achieve a just society.

The police department in Sanford botched the investigation from start to finish.⁵ But we did not stay silent. Had it not been for the dedicated activism and work of Trayvon’s family, ColorOfChange members and countless others, Zimmerman may have never been arrested — let alone gone to trial. Our collective commitment to fight for justice for Trayvon was overwhelming. We responded. We organized. We forced authorities to make an arrest in a case that easily could have been forgotten, just like so many before. The US Department of Justice was forced to intervene, and although it took 45 days, Zimmerman was eventually arrested and charged with murder.⁶

Thousands of ColorOfChange members spoke out against Florida’s “Shoot First” law, which initially shielded George Zimmerman from arrest and prosecution.⁷ The shadowy lobbying organization the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — and its deep-pocketed supporters at the National Rifle Association (NRA) — proliferated these laws around the country. Since ColorOfChange began drawing attention to ALEC’s role in crafting these deadly Shoot First laws, 52 corporations and nonprofits and at least 70 state legislators have publicly disavowed any relationship with the group.⁸

Working together, our movement is a powerful force for change. Please join us in calling for an end to impunity. Demand that the Department of Justice file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. And when you take action, please ask your family and friends to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Jamar, Aimée and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team August 5th, 2013

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Her worst fear

08/06/2013 Nativegrl77

by Emily J. Martin, National Women’s Law Center

When Svetlana Arizanovska found out she was pregnant, she was very excited. A mother of three daughters, Svetlana worked two jobs to support her family. By day, she worked for a medical supply company. At night, she worked at Wal-Mart.
At Wal-Mart, Svetlana often lifted heavy merchandise to stock the store’s shelves. Due to her pregnancy, her doctor told her not to lift more than 20 pounds — but Wal-Mart refused to comply. In fact, Wal-Mart has a policy saying pregnant employees are not eligible for reassignments to another position, even though reassignments are available when employees need them because of a disability. One day, while she was lifting heavy merchandise for Wal-Mart, Svetlana started bleeding. She told her boss, but he ignored her.
The next morning, Svetlana went to the emergency room and realized her worst fears were true — she had miscarried.
No one should have to choose between her pregnancy, her health, and her job. But that’s exactly what happens to many women like Svetlana.
Please help us fight for women facing challenges in the workplace and beyond. We need to raise $10,000 by midnight on Thursday. Click here to chip in $10 or more to help us reach our goal.

Employers typically accommodate workers with limitations due to a temporary disability and often accommodate workers with injuries — but when pregnant women need a temporary change in their job, many bosses refuse to make even the smallest adjustments. They may not know they’re breaking the law when they deny women like Svetlana the ability to work without compromising their health or the health of their pregnancies.
Too many pregnant women have been faced with a choice no one should have to make: Keep working and risk the health of their pregnancy — or lose their job. It’s time for employers to stop breaking the law by using pregnancy as an excuse to push women out of work.
It’s up to us to take a stand against policies that punish women.
Your donation will help us fight back. We depend on your support for our work on behalf of women and families.
Thank you, as always, for everything you do.
Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin Vice President and General Counsel National Women’s Law Center
P.S. We depend on your support to help us fight for women and their families. Please help us reach our $10,000 goal before midnight on Thursday.

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

The EWG 2013 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Shoppers Guide

08/06/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

The 2013 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Shoppers Guide

Can’t download it? You need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the guide. Get a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

by Melissa Breyer

from Living / Green Food

June 20, 2012

Health and environment watchdog, Environmental Working Group (EWG), has released the eighth edition of its Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce with updated data on 45 commonly-consumed fruits and vegetables and their total pesticide loads. The results are based on analysis of pesticide residue testing data from the US Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration

Every year EWG takes to task the worst offenders with its Dirty Dozen list, while giving a shout-out to produce with the lowest pesticide levels with the list of the Clean Fifteen. It’s such a brilliant and helpful approach, giving shoppers the power to avoid the most contaminated food while still being able to purchase conventional produce when and if circumstances require it.

This year they also added a new category to the Dirty Dozen — the Plus category includes green beans and leafy greens (kale and collard greens) that haven’t met traditional Dirty Dozen criteria, but are found to be routinely tainted with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides. According to EWG, these insecticides are toxic to the nervous system and have been largely removed from agriculture over the past decade, but they are not banned and still show up on some food crops. Sigh.

Dirty Dozen: The 12 to buy organic (in order of pesticide load, apples being the worst offenders).

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Sweet bell peppers

4. Peaches

5. Strawberries

6. Imported nectarines

7. Grapes

8. Spinach

9. Lettuce

10. Cucumbers

11. Domestic blueberries

12. Potatoes

Clean Fifteen: Buying organic is more sound environmentally, but if you can’t, these options are less contaminated and don’t pose as much of a health threat as do the dozen above.

1. Onions

2. Sweet corn

3. Pineapples

4. Avocado

5. Cabbage

6. Sweet peas

7. Asparagus

8. Mangoes

9. Eggplant

10. Kiwi

11. Domestic cantaloupe

12. Sweet potatoes

13. Grapefruit

14. Watermelon

15. Mushrooms

Other disheartening data from the report includes:

Some 98 percent of conventional apples have detectable levels of pesticides.Domestic blueberries tested positive for 42 different pesticide residues.Seventy-eight different pesticides were found on lettuce samples.Every single nectarine USDA tested had measurable pesticide residues.As a category, grapes have more types of pesticides than any other fruit, with 64 different chemicals.Thirteen different pesticides were measured on a single sample each of celery and strawberries.