Can an online petition save a house from foreclosure? It did in Seattle.

Vera Johnson is a single mom from Seattle who was on the brink of foreclosure — despite the fact that she qualified for a loan modification under federal law. But Bank of America reps gave Vera the run-around, making her resubmit endless forms, claiming time and again to have lost paperwork Vera had sent in multiple times.

After 18 months, Vera was fed up. So she started a petition on Change.org asking Bank of America to grant her loan modification.

More than 16,000 people — mostly Washingtonians — signed Vera’s petition. And Bank of America representatives just told Vera they would grant her a permanent loan modification.

http://www.change.org/start-a-petition?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=PtmFtDmZny_BImiguPOnn

“I’m overjoyed, and thankful to the thousands who took action on Change.org to help me keep my home and business,” Vera said. “The success of my campaign shows that homeowners can take power back from banks if we work together.”

Making change happen in your community is easy. Start a petition on WWW.Change.org — step-by-step instructions are right here.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Michael and the Change.org team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Help UCS tell Rush Limbaugh that thermometers don’t lie

09/16/2011 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

It’s a critical time in the fight against global warming. The attacks on science are intensifying, more shrill and blatant than ever.

The heat index in Washington, D.C. hit 116 degrees this summer. But, instead of addressing why it’s been so hot, Rush Limbaugh charged that this scientific scale was “manufactured by the government.”

Let’s end the disinformation on climate change.

Help UCS expose and challenge attacks on science.

That’s why I’m asking you to become a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and help us stand up for science—and fight back against disinformation about global warming. www.ucsusa.org

Cynical media pundits like Rush Limbaugh can try to distract the public with empty charges against an accepted scientific measurement scale developed more than three decades ago to help protect public health. But global warming is happening and the time to act is now.

It isn’t just a question of one hot summer. Consider that:
Fifteen of the past sixteen years have ranked as the warmest ever.
The world’s major scientific research teams have all independently determined that 2001-2010 was the hottest decade on record.

So, while climate deniers try to mislead the public, UCS is stepping up our efforts to get out the facts and propose real-world practical solutions to the problems that climate change is causing.

And you are a key partner in all our work.

So, don’t let cynical pundits, corporations, or politicians get away with lies or try to change the subject about global warming. You know that in this age of massive corporate donations to political campaigns, clear, independent analysis is harder and harder to come by.

That’s why I’m counting on you to become a member today. www.ucsusa.org

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for all your help and support.

Sincerely,

Kevin Knobloch
President

~ Recent Post

Congress: the Republican led House takes another Friday off – the Senate:plenty of bills on the table but …

09/16/2011 Nativegrl77

the Senate Convenes at 10:00am September 16, 2011

Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning
business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
There will be no roll call votes on Friday. The next roll call vote will be
on Monday, September 19^th at 5:30pm.

During Friday’s session of the Senate, Senator Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar #166, H.R.2832, the Generalized System of Preferences Act, which will be the vehicle for Trade Adjustment Assistance.

By unanimous consent, the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R.2832 will be at 5:30pm on Monday, September 19th.

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

SHAME ON the Republican led House of Representatives … 9% unemployment, Housing, Economy issues &Speaker Boehner, Cantor, McConnell take FRIDAY OFF ?

The next meeting is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on September 19, 2011.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

2 Facebook pages that shouldn’t exist …Shelby Knox, Change.org

09/15/2011 Nativegrl77

Facebook says that hate speech and incitements to violence are banned and will be removed from their site. So why are they maintaining a page called “Riding Your Girlfriend Softly Cause You Don’t Want to Wake Her Up”? And another page about “throwing bricks at sluts” that includes a photo gallery of portraits asking “Bang or Brick”?

There has even been an organized effort to use Facebook’s own reporting system to flag these and other pages that encourage rape and violence against women so they’ll be taken down. But Facebook hasn’t done a thing.

Now, Change.org member John Raines is going straight to the top. He started a petition on Change.org telling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take down these pages and take a stronger stand against violence against women.

Will you sign John’s petition to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg? Sign on, and tell Facebook to remove pages promoting rape and violence against women now.

When 1 in 3 American women will be sexually abused and/or assaulted in her lifetime, pages like these — and the reactions they elicit — are downright scary. Tens of thousands of people have “liked” these pages. Some people even use them as platforms to share rape fantasies and receive explicit tactics for how to carry them out.

John has seen the devastating impact of sexual violence and rape firsthand, on his own family. That’s why he created this petition on Change.org to get Facebook to enforce its existing policies and to make it clear that content promoting rape and violence against women violates Facebook’s Terms of Service and won’t be tolerated.

Please sign John’s petition. Tell Facebook to stop providing a platform to promote rape and violence against women.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Shelby and the Change.org team

P.S. The Troy Davis petition that we emailed you about earlier this week is being delivered to the Parole Board today with more than 230,000 signatures from Change.org members, in advance of Troy’s final hearing on Monday. We’ll keep you updated.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stopped and Frisked : NYC Councilman on NYPD

09/15/2011 Nativegrl77

In May of 2010 New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams spoke out against the NYPD‘s”Stop and Frisk” policy and highlighted the prejudices of the system.

“If you have more melanin in your skin you are more likely to be stopped…we should be allowed to walk freely.” Councilman Williams

At this year’s Labor Day Parade in Brooklyn Jumaane Williams was inappropriately profiled and detained by the NYPD. Councilman Williams has written a special guest blog for us here at The Black Institute about the situation.

Read it and tell us what you think about how we can move forward towards change!

The BlackInstitute
http://www.theblackinstitute.org/