Tag Archives: black

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

UNDER THE RADAR

JUSTICE — PRESIDENT OBAMA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO EXPAND LGBT RIGHTS, HIGHLIGHTS PROGRESS: During a White House reception yesterday celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, President Obama pledged “to push ahead with his gay rights agenda” and declared that “committed gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country.” Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the Obama administration’s commitment to the LGBT community, stating, “Human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights.” Both Obama and Clinton highlighted the administration’s progress thus far to end discrimination against gay and lesbians at home and abroad. In addition to the pending repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, the Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky notes that in April, “Obama issued a memorandum instructing the Department of Health and Human Services to develop regulations requiring all hospitals that receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding to end discrimination in hospital visitation.” Thereafter in June, the President released a memorandum directing agencies to “extend a host of benefits to their employees’ same-sex domestic partners as permitted by law.” The strides in other governmental agencies, while small, are important to note. In the State Department, it is now easier for transgender people to change their passports and the “agency’s ‘equal opportunity statement’ will include gender identity” for the first time. Additionally, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) now requires “grant applicants seeking HUD funding to comply with state and local anti-discrimination laws that protect lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.” While advocates for gay rights groups consider these steps to be “significant,” several emphasize the need for the administration to do more, particularly on “big-ticket items” like the “repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and laws barring discrimination in employment and easing the path toward gay adoption.” While Obama pledged last night to move forward on repealing DOMA, under orders from the White House, the Labor Department is set today to “expand the rights of gay workers by allowing them to take family and medical leave to care for sick or newborn children of same-sex partners.”

~ my 2cents ...

hump -day &some News


If not now -when

It is mid-week and while today is a big day for Americans… General McChrystal firing or not, US vs Algeria in soccer, financial regulation talks are drawing near an end and a bipartisan group will consider a comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation, the Senate will debate consider HR4213 with votes throughout the day. The question is will it be for We the People or for Corporations.

In addition, while talking heads stir up the public, stating the image of the President is at risk if he does not fire McChrystal. Some feel this President will need to weigh the odds against the needs for a good general in the war and or his image. The question is not how this President will look in the end it’s whether this general is that important to the mission of the war itself, though many feel this war is one we should be getting out of now.

The importance of the chain of command is definitely an element this guy forgot to consider and with all that being said the reporter stated something that was far more  important to hear – that McChrystal had plans to ask for more soldiers, quite possibly wanting to stay in Afghanistan, which was not on the agenda. The war in Afghanistan is not going well, the way forward should change because as stated by some soldiers they have been restrained to fight in a certain way and begs the question is it worth the deaths of so many civilians and soldiers in what seems like an unending war? With what progress and for an area that has posers at any given day. maybe the location should change maybe admit that it’s Pakistan and yes we have to keep the people who committed 9/11 under fire and out of the business of terrorizing but when it seems Americans are doing all the work the true efforts just seems fruitless.

The end result- The general will resign instead of being fired because a true soldier would accept his punishment and move on and if reports are correct the general left the White House for good, which seems appropriate given the circumstances, comments and the lack of confidence in him after what happened.

Other News …

**5 hardest hit states to get more housing aid/the Obama administration approved Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada will get help to bust the housing bust 1.5billion dollar effort.

**2 deaths have been reported -vessels of opportunity-

**Reports of strikes in China halt auto production in factories by parts suppliers

**Obama admin is making strides for gay rights though many feel it is too slow/progress is being made however slow &without violence

**Doctors are still refusing Medicare/Medicaid patients

C-SPAN …

watch Pres. Obama on Health Care

watch Vice Pres. Biden Remarks

watch Hearing on Iran Sanctions

watch COP Hearing: From Earlier visit COP Website

watch Admiral Allen Daily Oil Spill Update

watch Conf. Meeting: Part 1 watch Conf. Meeting: Part 2

watch Pres. Obama with Cabinet

watch White House Briefing

c-span Today

Lawmakers Discuss Minerals Management Service Reorganization

Earlier in the week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar swore in Michael Bromwich as the director of the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOE), formerly known as the Minerals Management Service. Secretary Salazar discusses the reorganization of the agency, the future of offshore oil drilling regulations and the impact on cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.

Yesterday, a federal judge overturned the ban on deep water drilling imposed by the Obama administration following the oil spill in the Gulf. The case was brought by several companies that provide support services to oil rigs. In the filing, Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC claimed the suspension on drilling will result in lost jobs and wages in Louisiana. The White House said it planned to appeal the decision.


Gen. McChrystal in Washington to meet with gates and the President

General Stanley McChrystal is in Washington to meet with Sec. of Defense Gates and President Obama to explain his comments from a recently published interview. In the July issue of Rolling Stone, the General and his aides made critical remarks on various Obama administration officials including Afghanistan-Pakistan Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and Vice President Joe Biden. On Monday, following a Cabinet meeting, President Obama said that Gen. McChrystal used “poor judgment” in his contributions to the article. “I also want to make sure that I talk to him directly before I make any final decisions,” added the President.

Conferees near end of conference as they vote on auto dealers exemption

The House and Senate conferees are moving ahead with financial regulation legislation introducing amendments to the base text under Title VI, which deals with rules for regulating institutions that hold consumer deposits and companies with ownership or controlling interest in banks. Conference Chairman Frank (D-MA) and Senator Dodd (D-CT), who are leading the talks, plan to wrap up debate on the consolidated bill by the end of the week. The leaders hope to have a bill approved by both chambers of Congress and signed into law by President Obama by July 4th.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell the President and Senate Leaders to Stand up for Clean Energy!


Hi —

On Wednesday, June 23, President Obama is meeting with a bipartisan group of Senate energy leaders to decide what kind of legislation to pursue in response to the Deepwater Oil Disaster. I just co-signed a letter to President Obama and Senate leaders, urging them to pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation.

Could you please join me?

http://cpaf.repoweramerica.org/obamaletter-thanks

Please help build public pressure for our leaders to do the right thing.

Thanks!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stand against unconstitutional attacks

Last September, in the midst of a stunning attack on an organization dedicated to organizing working people to act on their own behalf, the US Congress approved the Defund ACORN Act. It did this without investigating the charges leveled against us and in response to what was, above all, an enormous propaganda campaign. Congress’ move, singling out one organization for sanctions without investigation, is called a “bill of attainder” and it is expressly prohibited by the Constitution of the United States.

We have fought this miscarriage of justice from the beginning and from the beginning we’ve had success, including winning a preliminary injunction against it. Now our appeal is speeding through the courts, with the next hearing scheduled for this Thursday, June 24th. This fight is no longer about ACORN – as you know, we’ve ceased all field operations – it is about the Constitution itself. If this attack is allowed to stand, then any other organization that displeases those with power in the United States can be similarly attacked and, potentially, destroyed.

That’s why I’m asking you to stand up for justice, for the Constitution, and against Congress’ action by sending your members of Congress an email demanding they go on record opposing the defund ACORN act and the continuing efforts of the Administration to defend it in court.

ACORN has been investigated by four separate, independent, sources – former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, the California Attorney General, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) – and each of them has cleared ACORN of any wrongdoing. Three investigations reviewing the videos used to attack ACORN determined that they were “splice jobs” in which “the truth is on the cutting room floor”. The fourth, from the GAO, concluded that ACORN had not misused any of the Federal funds it had received. In other words, the entire set of attacks was a witch hunt driven using modern propaganda techniques and with millions of dollars in dedicated air time on a “news” channel and talk radio.

And you know why. We were simply too good at what we did – engaging low- and moderate-income families and families of color in America’s democratic system. If we hadn’t helped 860,000 new voters get on the voter rolls since 2004 (we believe this is the largest non-partisan voter registration effort ever carried out by a single non-profit organization), if we hadn’t helped raise the minimum wage in seven states, if we hadn’t blown the whistle about predatory lending in the sub-prime market back in 1999, and if we hadn’t brought in over $15 billion in direct benefits to America’s low- and moderate-income neighborhoods from 1994 – 2004, then we wouldn’t have been the targets of smears and attacks going back to the 2004 election. Smears that were exposed during the height of the scandal surrounding the firing of US Attorneys like David Iglesias in New Mexico, who refused to trump up phony voter fraud charges against ACORN.

You can stand up to these smears and for justice for working people by telling Congress to finally do the right thing. Frankly, if the attacks leveled against ACORN had really been about misusing taxpayer dollars, you can bet that defense contractors like Xe (formerly Blackwater), Halliburton, and Kaman Dayron, all of whom have been found guilty of either committing actual crimes or of collectively defrauding the American people of hundreds of millions of dollars, would have been the subject of their own Defund Corporate Criminals Act.

But, of course, they aren’t. Because, unlike ACORN’s low- and moderate-income membership, these corporations can buy influence in the highest levels of political power in the United States. So, our lawsuit against the unconstitutional Defund ACORN Act is not about ACORN and its past federal funding. It is about justice for all organizations that fight for the interests of regular folks against the most powerful interests in America. You can remind Congress that people expect them to tackle the difficult issues facing our country and its working families, not engage in political grandstanding at the expense of constitutional guarantees.

Thank you for all your past support and for taking a stand to make America a fairer and more equitable place for all of us.

In solidarity and strength,

Bertha Lewis
ACORN CEO and Chief Organizer

PS. For those of you living in New York City, we’re inviting you to attend the Thursday hearing with me and other allies. Click here for more information about the hearing and the entire ACORN v USA case prepared by the Center for Constitutional Rights.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Oil rig worker warned of BP danger


As Americans heard Judge Martin Feldman rule against the President’s moratorium today,  one has to wonder why people on the Gulf Coast cannot wait while safety checks are done, possibly demand relief wells be dug and or any 500thouand dollar safety feature be on all questionable wells… why wouldn’t a Judge want these wells checked and or adjusted before letting the lives of workers be at any more risk

the BP whistle blower talks about his experience  … we all need to ask ourselves is it possible that  Corporations like BP are willing to risk life and the environment against Profits; does this include Judge feldman