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THIS WEEK on CHANGE.ORG Free Sex Trafficking Victim Sara KruzanPlus: Deporting Disabled Children • Police Threaten Rape Victim • Halliburton Fracking Controversy • Fighting Racist Mascots • Recovering from Wrongful Imprisonment At Change.org, we encounter a lot of stories of tragedy, injustice and triumph. None is more heart-wrenching than the story of Sara Kruzan. Sara, who was once her elementary school’s student body president, met the man who would become her pimp when she was just 11. After acting as the father figure she never had for two years, he raped Sara at age 13 and trafficked her into the commercial sex trade. For the next 3 years, from 6pm to 6am, strangers would pay Sara’s pimp to rape her and other adolescent girls he recruited and preyed upon. Finally, physically and psychologically traumatized, Sara snapped. She shot and killed her pimp. Her punishment? Life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence was handed down by a judge in 1994 against the recommendation of the California Youth Authority, and before there was much awareness about the violence of child trafficking or an appreciation for the trauma of adolescent sexual and physical abuse. The sentence was extreme and unjust. And it can now be overturned by one man: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Schwarzenegger is leaving office at the end of the year, and will soon be considering clemency petitions. In response, there is a grassroots movement building to call on Governor Schwarzenegger to commute Sara’s sentence to time served. Join the movement to ask Governor Schwarzenegger to free Sara Kruzan now. Tragically, the sexual exploitation Sara suffered is not unique. But what makes her case especially poignant is not just the injustice of her life sentence, but her response. Rather than descend in hopelessness, Sara has found redemption in jail and become an inspiration to all those around her. She has graduated from high school, is on her way to completing her college degree, and started the prison’s Committee for Youth to serve as a mentor to younger women. She was recently voted “Woman of the Year” at her prison. However, without intervention from Governor Schwarzenegger, Sara will likely die in prison. Don’t let this happen. Sara has more than paid her debt to society with 16 years of incarceration. It’s time to set her free. Call on Governor Schwarzenegger to free Sara Kruzan now. For more information on Sara’s case, click here. And for more news and opportunities for action from this week in change, see the summaries from your favorite causes below. |
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Deporting Disabled Children in IMMIGRANT RIGHTS Hee Chun Kang’s parents are legal permanent residents who came to the United States when their son was 10. But he and his brother face deportation to Korea because of the snail’s pace of the immigration system: by the time the Kang parents received green cards, their children had turned 21 and aged-out of the family petition. Hee Chun also has Down syndrome, so he needs the support of his family looking after him, something he can’t get in Korea. Taxpayer dollars should not be spent on tearing children in need from their parents. Read more » |
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Police Threaten Rape Victim in WOMEN’S RIGHTS A South Carolina woman who reported being raped by a Marion police officer was subject to another assault when the officers who responded to her call threatened to put her in jail if she didn’t recant her story. Instead, they forced her to write the following: “Though I didn’t agree or consent to it (it) was not rape.” Non-consensual sex is rape – there’s no getting around it. And while the accused rapist has thankfully been sent on leave, the two officers who threatened to throw the victim in jail are sitting pretty. These officers need to be suspended for gross police misconduct pending investigation before they harass any other victims. Read more » |
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Halliburton Fracking Controversy in ENVIRONMENT To help the EPA complete the first-ever federal health and safety study of the dangerous gas drilling practice called “fracking,” 8 of 9 gas companies have voluntarily complied with a request to disclose their chemical brews. These formulas are a secret in the first place because Dick Cheney pushed through a provision called the “Halliburton loophole” in 2005. Take a wild guess which of the nine companies now won’t pony up the data. Halliburton wants us to trust it with our health. Will we say yes? Read more » |
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Fighting Racist Mascots in EDUCATION The University of Illinois retired Chief Illiniwek, the college’s costumed, dancing Native American mascot, in 2007 after pressure from the NCAA. But more than three years later, his ghost remains on campus. The administration has not named a new mascot and students still stage unofficial “chief” rallies, resurrecting a caricature that Native American groups have found offensive, racist and misleading. A coalition of student and community groups is pushing for a new mascot, saying this will help heal racial tensions and allow the campus to move on. Read more » |
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Recovering from Wrongful Imprisonment in CRIMINAL JUSTICE Gloria Killian spent more than 16 years behind bars for a murder she didn’t commit, a victim of prosecutorial misconduct and admittedly false testimony from a man who had struck a deal with the state for a shorter sentence. Her conviction overturned in 2002, Killian has gone on to campaign on behalf of other women unjustly imprisoned. But her activism is not a choice, she tells Change.org. “I’m compelled to do it,” she says. “If I don’t use my experience to help the women that I left behind, then that means my life was destroyed for no reason, and I’m not about to let that happen.” Read more » |
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| Have a great week,
– The Change.org Team
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Tag Archives: California
Issa walks back comment calling Obama ‘corrupt’ (via Anderson Cooper 360)
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Welcome your freshman class of climate deniers
Last night an unprecedented number of climate contrarians were swept into office.
How did we get to such a place where attacking scientists and their work is not only acceptable, but helps win elections? And more importantly, what is UCS going to do about it?
First, we must acknowledge that these people didn’t get into office on their own. They are backed by big oil, the coal industry, and electric utilities—opponents who have deep pockets and a singular goal of protecting their own interests.
UCS is going to continue to expose these polluting industries and their cronies who knowingly mislead the public about climate science. And we’re going to challenge them to get their facts straight.
Because when it comes right down to it, the public’s confidence in science and scientists remains high. In fact, just last night in California we saw a tangible example of science trumping industry spin, when voters thwarted an aggressive attempt by out-of-state oil companies to kill the state’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act.
It’s examples like this that give me hope and remind me that we can—and will—still achieve concrete victories.
The truth of the matter is that it’s been difficult to move Congress for months. The people who are supposed to be representing our interests in the nation’s capitol have been too busy carrying water for narrow corporate interests rather than coming together to make real, positive change.
So we’re moving forward, with them or without them. As the victory in California yesterday reminds us, there are plenty of other ways to effect change on the issues you and I care about. In the coming months, UCS will:
- Defend the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to reduce power plant, transportation, industrial, and agricultural global warming emissions;
- Push state utility commissions to shut down the oldest and dirtiest coal power plants;
- Pressure the administration to further boost fuel economy for cars and trucks and decrease tailpipe pollution, and cut our nation’s oil use in half by 2030;
- Advocate for strong, science-based state and regional climate programs that can reduce heat-trapping emissions at the local level;
- Bring agricultural experts and scientists together with government officials to build support for scientifically sound, forward-thinking farming practices that can improve our air, water, and climate; and
- Reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security policy, further reduce their numbers, and prevent the development of new weapons.
No matter what changes happen in Washington, D.C., UCS will continue to do what we do best: develop and advance science-based solutions to major environmental and security issues.
I am deeply grateful for your support of our work and look forward to tackling the challenges we have ahead of us together!
| Our New Freshman Class In Their Own Words “With the possible exception of Tiger Woods, nothing has had a worse year than global warming. We have discovered that a good portion of the science used to justify “climate change” was a hoax perpetrated by leftist ideologues with an agenda.” —Todd Young, new congressperson from Indiana “I absolutely do not believe that the science of man-caused climate change is proven. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I think it’s far more likely that it’s just sunspot activity or something just in the geologic eons of time where we have changes in the climate.” —Ron Johnson, new senator from Wisconsin “I think we ought to take a look at whatever the group is that measures all this, the IPCC, they don’t even believe the crap.” —Steve Pearce, new congressperson from New Mexico “It’s a bigger issue, we need to watch ’em. Not only because it may or may not be true, but they’re making up their facts to fit their conclusions. They’ve already caught ’em doing this.” —Rand Paul, new senator from Kentucky “There isn’t any real science to say we are altering the climate path of the earth.” —Roy Blunt, new senator from Missouri |
Sincerely, Kevin Knobloch President
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FDL
Hey –
What do you think will happen this Election Day?
Will Democrats lose control of the house? Will Prop 19 pass in California?
As the polling numbers and pundits offer competing predictions for this year’s midterm elections, Firedoglake is helping our activists throw their own bets into the ring. That’s why we’re proud to announce FDL’s 2010 Election Projection Challenge — your chance to prove everyone else wrong!
Click here to place your bets!
To win, all you need to do is guess the following outcomes:
- How many House seats will Democrats hold in the 112th Congress?
- How many Senate seats will Democrats hold in the 112th Congress?
- Will Prop 19 pass?
- What will the final percentage be for “Yes” on Prop 19?
You can even vote multiple times, but your last vote will be the only one counted in the end. The contest will end before polls close on Tuesday, November 2nd.
First prize gets a DVD of the documentary film Emperor of Hemp and a $50 gift certificate to the Just Say Now store. Second and Third prizes can choose between an autographed copy of Matt Taibbi’s new book, Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America or an autographed copy of Arianna Huffington’s new book, Third World America.
Click here to get started: http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/electionchallenge
Hurry and enter your bets soon– time is running out! We will announce the winners next week.
Good luck!
Brian Sonenstein
Firedoglake
Be a Seed for Change 
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