Tag Archives: Chicago

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$1.658 million National Science Foundation grant to bring STEM education to Fuller Park

A repost

Are you interested in creating a climate-friendly garden? These videos can help get you started. Follow UCS analyst Karen Perry Stillerman on her visit to Eden Place Nature Center in Chicago to see how the same practices used to create this urban oasis can transform the American agricultural landscape.

Composting

Use yard waste and table scraps to turn your garden into a global warming mitigation machine.

Urban Trees

They provide shade, lower air conditioning use, and store carbon.

Today the Backyard, Tomorrow the World

What we do in our gardens, farmers can do in their fields.

Last Revised: 02/04/11

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Help the Philippines with one signature

12/21/2013 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

U.S. Congress: Save lives by exempting Typhoon Haiyan victims from outdated food aid regulations

By Juanita Salvador-Burris

Chicago, Illinois

As a Filipino-American in Chicago, I have reeled in shock and helplessness as thousands of Filipinos in Haiyan-decimated Tacloban city, were shown hungry everyday sitting, crying, walking, with nowhere to go, without food, water, shelter, and medical care. After six days and reports of no aid arriving yet, I wrote seventeen friends in Manila seeking comfort as to why more aid has not reached those devastated by this natural disaster. They felt the same despair I did…“not enough aid reached the people in a timely manner.”

Like many others I am thankful for the generosity of my fellow Americans, many of whom have already donated millions to the relief effort. But I could never imagine that red-tape and outdated rules written by the US Congress could delay urgently needed relief from reaching the millions of people who desperately need humanitarian assistance.

So far, the UN has said $301 million is needed immediately to help victims of the typhoon. President Obama has already promised an initial pledge of $20 million to provide food, water and urgent medical care. But regulations, which require the vast majority of US food aid to be shipped from preferred growers in the US on preferred ships, could delay most US food aid from arriving for weeks or months.

These regulations, written in the 1950’s, require food to be shipped more than 11,000 nautical miles across the ocean even though there is ample food available much closer to the crisis in unaffected areas of the Philippines and countries like Thailand and Vietnam, usually at a lower price for taxpayers. The rules prevent aid agencies like the World Food Program from purchasing food from the closest and most cost effective sellers. Delays in delivering food could cost lives and red-tape costs tax dollars.

But Congress has the power to waive these regulations. In this urgent crisis in the Philippines please join me in calling on Congress to save lives now by exempting the Philippines emergency response from these outdated rules so humanitarian aid can reach suffering people when they need it most.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

RainForest Action Network

08/07/2013 Nativegrl77

In June, we teamed up in Chicago with CREDO and the Other 98% to hold our first #NoKXL civil disobedience action against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. We earned national press coverage and helped push President Obama’s stance on climate change forward.

But we need to keep pushing until the pipeline is canceled.

This August, we’re taking our message straight to the State Department Building in DC as they consider whether or not to keep up their thoroughly bogus pro-KXL whitewashing — and we need your help to let the world know we’re coming.

Let’s tell the world ASAP: sign up for our Thunderclap campaign here to let all your friends know when it happens.

Hundreds will be taking action in DC but those who can’t be there are crucial to making our message heard. Let’s coordinate our voices so that they echo through the halls of power.

Thank you for all you do to make this movement real.

In Solidarity,

Scott Parkin, Rainforest Action Network

P.S. Have you signed the Keystone XL pledge of resistance yet? It might be the most important thing you do all year. Sign now!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

First Lady Michelle Obama Speaks Meeting to Address Youth Violence

04/11/2013 Nativegrl77

The First Lady addresses a joint luncheon meeting in Chicago hosted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that included members of Chicago’s leading civic organizations. Mrs. Obama urges Chicago¹s business leaders to invest in expanded opportunities for youth across Chicago¹s neighborhoods.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Weekly Women’s Update: Averting the Sequester and Reducing the Deficit

02/24/2013 Nativegrl77

Greetings All-

We hope this message finds you well.

Just 7 days from now, Congress might permit a series of severe and automatic budget cuts, called the “sequester,” to go into effect. Read the President’s proposal to resolve the sequester and reduce our deficit by over $4 trillion dollars in a balanced way. You can also view the President’s remarks on the importance of Congress finding a balanced approach to deficit reduction that doesn’t harm our economy or the middle class.

Join us for a call about the sequester on Tuesday, February 26 at 10:30am. RSVP details are below.

President Obama was in Chicago last Friday to talk about the importance of making sure every child in America has every chance in life to succeed. The President laid out a plan to rebuild ladders of opportunity for every American who is willing to work hard and climb them.

The White House Champions of Change program highlights the stories and examples of citizens who are moving their communities forward. This March’s event will focus on Women Veterans’ contributions within the veterans’ community. Nominate a woman veteran as a Champion of Change by midnight on Tuesday, February 26.

Best wishes,

The White House Council on Women & Girls

Engage With The White House About The Sequester

You are invited to join a call with senior White House officials on Tuesday, February 26 at 10:30am EDT to discuss the President’s call for Congress to replace harmful cuts with a balanced approach to deficit reduction.

Participants must preregister for this teleconference at http://ems6.intellor.com?p=600025&do=register&t=1. Once the participant registers, a confirmation page will display dial-in numbers and a unique PIN, and the participant will also receive an email confirmation of this information. This call is off the record and not for press purposes.

President Obama: Automatic Budget Cuts Will Hurt Economy, Slow Recovery, and Put People Out of Work.

Just 7 days from now, Congress might permit a series of severe and automatic budget cuts, called the “sequester,” that will hurt our economic growth, add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls, and threaten military readiness. President Obama said Tuesday morning:

“Now, if Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness; it will eviscerate job-creating investments in education and energy and medical research. It won’t consider whether we’re cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness, or a vital service that Americans depend on every single day. It doesn’t make those distinctions.”

But, these cuts don’t have to happen — Congress has the power to stop them. The President has called on Congress to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines tax reform with additional spending reforms – an approach that doesn’t harm our economy or the middle class.

View the President’s complete remarks on the sequester here:

A Balanced Plan to Avert the Sequester and Reduce the Deficit

The President and Congressional Democrats have put forward solutions to avoid the sequester’s severe cuts and allow time for both sides to work on a long-term, balanced solution to our deficit challenges.

The President is serious about cutting spending, reforming entitlements and the tax code to reduce the deficit in a balanced way. The question is, will Congressional Republicans come to the table to get something done?

The President’s proposal resolves the sequester and reduces our deficit by over $4 trillion dollars in a balanced way- by cutting spending, finding savings in entitlement programs and asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share. As a result the deficit would be cut below its historic average and the debt would fall as a share of the economy over the next decade. View the President’s plan here.

We can’t just cut our way to prosperity. Even as we look for ways to reduce deficits over the long term, we must grow the economy in a way that strengthens the middle class and everyone willing to work hard to get into it.

We hope that Congressional Republicans come to the table for the sake of middle class families, our national security and our future today.

Deficits as a share of GDP

Giving Every Child a Chance in Life

President Obama was in Chicago on Friday to talk about the importance of making sure every child in America has every chance in life to succeed. Speaking at the Hyde Park Career Academy, which is less than a mile from the Obama’s home in that city, the President laid out a plan to rebuild ladders of opportunity for every American who is willing to work hard and climb them. This includes making sure every child in America has access to high-quality pre-K, and raising the minimum wage so that no family that works hard and relies on a minimum wage is living in poverty. But creating a path into the middle class also means transforming high-poverty communities into places of opportunity that can attract private investment, improve education, and create jobs.

Read the President’s remarks on his plan to make that happen.

Champions of Change: Women Veterans

The White House Champions of Change program highlights the stories and examples of citizens across the country who are “Winning the Future” with projects and initiatives that move their communities forward.

This March, the White House Office of Public Engagement will host a Champions of Change event for Women Veterans to highlight their contributions within the veterans’ community, especially female veterans who served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. We know many Women Veterans continue to role model leadership and a dedication to service, often continuing engagement within the veterans’ and military families’ community.

We are asking for your help to identify women veterans that may be “Champions of Change.”

For example, a champion’s work may entail: