Tag Archives: Bahrain

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

How thirty 11 year-olds changed the world

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                                Dear friends,


Thirty 11 year-olds in Hamburg just saved their classmate — all it took was a petition and a few thousand signatures. It all started with a simple step that took 2 minutes. Click below to start the next great campaign to change someone’s life or the world:

A 5th grade class in Hamburg just saved their classmate Gleb from deportation — all it took was a petition and a few thousand signatures.
Gleb fled to Germany to get treatment for Leukaemia. He got an operation that saved his life, started to attend school and quickly became top of his class, but then the government tried to send him back to Russia. His classmates started a petition on the community petition site to their local government officials to stop the deportation.
When the petition took off, their council member started paying attention. And in weeks, Gleb was saved, able to continue the treatment he so desperately needed. His friends saved his future, and it all started with a simple step — click below to start a campaign on an issue you care about or send this email to a friend. You never know who might start the next great campaign to change someone’s life or change the world!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?cl=2929208333&v=25689
With just a few focused minutes, Gleb’s classmates kick-started an amazing campaign that led to an impressive victory. Imagine if all of us committed a little time to start a campaign – there’s no limit to what we can achieve!
Starting a campaign only takes a few minutes, but the impact of success can last for years. Plus, if the petition gets enough support on its own, the staff at Avaaz could pick up the campaign, add strategic advice, media help, and even send it to a wider list of members. We’ve got tonnes of tips and advice to help you along the way — all it takes is to get started, share your passion and you can be on your way to winning on any issue – local, national or global.
Send this email to the people you know who have great ideas about how to make the world a better place or click on the link to be a part of it:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?cl=2929208333&v=25689
Many Avaaz campaigns have been started by Avaaz members, from bringing hundreds of workers in Bahrain safely home to India, to allowing partners stay in touch with imprisoned love ones in New Mexico. All these took just a few minutes to get started. Let’s become world-changers together and multiply our impact by the thousands.
With hope and excitement for all we can achieve together,
Emma, Oli, Dalia, Patri, Laura, Ricken, Luis, Chris and all of the Avaaz team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Why I’m in Ames, Iowa …Judd Legum


As you may know, ThinkProgress has been hitting the road to ask tough questions and bring you the unvarnished truth from around the country.

For example, when Paul Ryan was booed by his constituents in Milton, Wisconsin, for defending his plan to privatize Medicare, the traditional media was nowhere to be found. But ThinkProgress was there to capture it all on tape. The clip was played dozens of times on national TV, and hundreds of thousands of people watched the video online.

Overall, our reporters have traveled to 20 states, interviewing nine presidential candidates and 56 members of Congress. We are making an impact and shaping the debate.

But this kind of on-the-ground reporting isn’t cheap. We need to raise $20,000 in the next week to keep our efforts going strong.

Can you pitch in $4 right now?    www.thinkprogress.org

This week, I’m in Iowa to cover the Tea Party Bus Tour — organized by a radical group advocating a return to the gold standard. Several GOP presidential candidates are scheduled to participate.

We’ll be visiting Ames, Iowa Falls, Webster City, Oskaloosa, Creston, and Council Bluffs. With your support, we’ll be able to keep this show on the road and keep holding the right wing accountable.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any comments or questions.

Best,
Judd Legum
Founder, ThinkProgress.org

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Seeing Red …Alex Wilks – Avaaz.org


Dear Friends,

Red Bull must decide whether to lend its name to clean the image of the blood-soaked Bahraini government, or pull out of the Formula 1 race that’s due to be held there. Let’s stand with the students, nurses and other innocent protesters who’ve been killed and tortured and call on Red Bull and the other teams to stay away from Bahrain. We’ll use hard-hitting ads to turbo charge our message. The decision is in 48 hours —

Red Bull has built a reputation as a sporty, fun drink — but by this Friday, it and other leading F1 teams may become better known for endorsing government torture and murder. Formula One has 48 hours to decide whether to hold its already-delayed race in Bahrain, site of one of the most brutal crackdowns in the Middle East.

If Red Bull refuses to race in Bahrain, other teams will pull back as well — and the Formula One race could be taken off the schedule, sending shock waves through Bahrain’s brutal government and sending an unmistakeable message that the world will not ignore state brutality. Sports boycotts have piled pressure on other regimes such as apartheid South Africa — we can do it again.

Red Bull will only act if enough of us join together to make clear that its brand, its very reputation, is on the line. Let’s raise a cry that Bahrain’s government thugs can’t silence, and call on Red Bull to pull out of the Formula One race slated for Bahrain. If 300,000 of us sign the petition, Avaaz will run hard-hitting adverts carrying our messages to Red Bull executives. Just two days remain — sign now and pass this message along:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_f1_in_brutal_bahrain/?vl

The Bahraini government has booted out the world’s media —  even torturing a female journalist working for a French TV channel. Under cover of this blackout it is claiming that all is calm and orderly. That’s a blatant lie. Early one morning last week teargas bombs were shot through a window  of a leading human rights activist. He only just rescued his brother, wife and daughter who were close to suffocation. He now appeals to Avaaz “to do whatever you can to stop the government from attacking me and my family”.

Bahrain has even sacked and abused a quarter of the workers at its F1 race track. One badly bruised track worker says that policeman “put my head between his legs, flipped me on to the floor – and then the beatings really began”. Many people are still missing — such as a student who was injured during attack on university of Bahrain. Doctors, journalists and others have given harrowing accounts of torture and abuse at the hands of the police.

Earlier this year – before other uprisings pushed Bahrain off our front pages  – the Bahrain race was postponed. But now Formula 1’s boss wants to go ahead with it. He says it isn’t his business to play politics, but knows that racing in Bahrain in front of the world’s cameras would play into the the bload-soaked government’s hands. Let’s stand up for the Bahraini nurses, students and others who’ve been felled and injured by telling Red Bull, which prides itself on a young, fun image, to say no to F1 in brutal Bahrain.  Sign the petition now and send to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_f1_in_brutal_bahrain/?vl

The sports we play and watch can uplift us, but can also be used as pawns in political games. Together we can show that people standing for human rights everywhere, trump money and brutality anywhere.

With hope and determination,

Alex, Sam, Ricken, Mia, Pascal and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Bahrain doctors to be tried for helping protesters
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article380678.ece

F1

boss hopes to reinstate Bahrain
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/26052011/66/ecclestone-hopes-fia-reinstates-bahrain.html

Bahraini

female doctors recount detention ‘horror’
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jojcZ8GM-0J_0gTLt5KsY12IiiJQ?docId=CNG.ccc3b0204b5da8e7cce5b8854b144bdf.611

France

24 correspondent tortured for covering pro-democracy demonstrations
http://en.rsf.org/bahrain-france-24-correspondent-tortured-30-05-2011,40374.html

Letter

to Federation Internationale de l’Automobile and Formula One Teams Association Regarding Bahrain Event
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/05/26/letter-federation-internationale-de-lautomobile-and-formula-one-teams-association-re

Citizens’

videos of Bahrain clampdown
http://revolutionreports.avaaz.org/tagged/bahrain

Bahrain

races to restore normality
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad623440-856e-11e0-ae32-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1NRshjj3t

~ my 2cents ...

warpy Wednesday &some News


Winter continues even though that groundhog said we would have an early spring. i guess that depends on what part of the U.S. you are in. It is windy,cold and  snowing here so let the bad driving commence.  Today is a good day to take a deep breath through the nose reach up to the sky and slowly release your breath slowly through your mouth and lower your arms …repeat as needed. It is also a day to mourn, definitely a moment to see what is going on in America right now and a time to fight.

Next week Congress will be back in session hopefully willing to act on behalf of all Americans and not just for their own agendas, good luck with that right. It is time for the Democratic Party to unite in solidarity on the floor of Congress for “We the People, challenge Republicans and call their bluffs to vote against their fellow Americans which they have been succeeding at until the recent uprisings in various states by Working Families. It is obvious Republican constituents fall into a few categories, some are complicit supporters of exclusion and discrimination, a few are too busy looking at that shiny thing the Republican Tea Party is waving while others are oblivious to reality. The reality being that life as we all know it as Americans is about to change with the worst impact being on women, kids and minorities with some belonging to public or private unions while all are apart of working families.  The fight to keep democracy intact is on and those of us that are on the side of families must not give up. In Solidarity

the Democratic Party is definitely trying to get Americans back on track and the Republicans who want more of the Bush era which if you were paying attention allowed Corporations to bet against us with all the Profits being hoarded by them and our 401K being stripped, stolen and or lost completely.

The question is will Republican constituents continue to prefer the status quo or see the opportunity to move into the 21st Century

Other News …

 **U.S. decades behind other countries in parental leave report says …for complete article by David Crary-Assoc Press

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker his words condemning the unions have no rights

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnSv3a6Nh4    

Part 2  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3a2pYGr7-k

**Pro-Union website blocked in Wisconsin Capitol

**www.buffalobeast.com  

**Democratic legislators have gone to Illinois to avoid a vote to shut down the rights of pub and private union workers to bargain…give people a chance to understand what republicans are asking them to vote on and for

**Stocks are poised for higher open afer sell-off

**Illinois seeks to borrow $3.7 billion to shore up pension shortfall

 **Gov.Walker refuses to negotiate with public and private unions

**Rahm Emanuel takes the oath to the office of Mayor on May 16th

*Ghadafi vows to die a “martyr”? — Interior minster resigns than kill his own people

**Bahrain releases prisoners as king leaves country

**Dems dare GOP to shutdown the Federal Government

**Texas Rep. says he will turn illegal immigrants to members of Congress

**

CSPAN …

Bank Industry Profits $21.7B in 4Q

http://c-span.com/Events/Bank-Industry-Profits-217B-in-4Q/10737419756/

Experts Examine Unrest in the Middle East

http://c-span.com/Events/Experts-Examine-Unrest-in-the-Middle-East/10737419757/

State briefing: c‑span.org at Noon ET

WH briefing: C‑SPAN at 12:30pm ET

3:30pm ET: Carnegie Discussion on Economic Impact of Unrest in the Arab World

Libya unrest rattles markets; oil prices jump http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LHUKEG0.htm

President Obama’s economic strategy is examined today in a number of Washington events highlighting financial reform, the President’s spending plans and the Presidential Debt Commission. http://c-span.com/Events/Challenges-Facing-President-Obama39s-Budget-Financial-Reforms/10737419740/

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States is focused on getting American citizens out of Libya. There are about thirty-five nonessential U.S. embassy employees and family members who were ordered out because of the violence in that country. Other topics at this daily briefing include the four American hostages killed by Somali pirates and an American diplomat jailed in Pakistan.

http://c-span.com/Events/State-Department-Press-Briefing/10737419770/

Jason Furman, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council spoke at an event hosted by the New Democratic Council (NDN) about President Obama’s “Winning the Future” initiative. http://c-span.com/Events/New-Democratic-Network-NDN-Discussion-on-quotWinning-the-Futurequot/10737419774/