Tag Archives: councilman

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

PROGRESSIVE VICTORY!

What an amazing night for progressives!

In Pennsylvania, progressive challenger Joe Sestak defeated Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter in the primary!

In Arkansas, progressive challenger Bill Halter advances to a run-off election against corporate Democrat Blanche Lincoln. Lincoln only has 43% so far in a Democratic primary — giving Halter a great chance to win the run-off.

Thousands of PCCC members contributed time and money to these campaigns — and tonight, we shocked the political world.

Can you chip in $10 to help Halter and other progressives continue the momentum in upcoming primaries? Click here!

Here are the top 3 progressive candidates on our radar:

Bill Halter (D-AR) — is campaigning for the public option and cracking down on big Wall Street banks. Senator Blanche Lincoln helped Joe Lieberman kill the public option and has taken millions from Wall Street. Last week, she proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare while giving more tax cuts to the rich.
Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH) — is the progressive running for Congress in a primary against Joe Lieberman’s 2004 presidential campaign co-chair, Katrina Swett. Annie supports the public option and is a longtime advocate for health care and women’s rights in New Hampshire. She’s running an amazing people-powered campaign.
David Segal (D-RI) — is a progressive hero running in the primary for Patrick Kennedy’s open House seat. He’s both a state legislator and activist — and forged grassroots coalitions to pass laws cracking down on big banks, which he’s promised to continue in Congress. He’s also running a fantastic grassroots campaign.

Tonight, we proved that our support can truly help good candidates win!

Can you chip in $10 to help Halter and other progressives continue the momentum in upcoming primaries? Click here!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

American Superconductor Signs $445 Million Contract (Update1)

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

By Mark Scott

May 17 (Bloomberg) — American Superconductor Corp. signed a $445 million contract to supply components to Chinese wind- turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co., helping cement the U.S. company’s position in the fastest-growing wind energy market.

The supplier, based in Devens, Massachusetts, will sell electrical devices for Sinovel’s 1.5-megawatt windmills for 30 months starting in early 2011, according to Greg Yurek, American Superconductor’s founder and chief executive officer.

“This contract will help us to continue to grow aggressively in China,” Yurek said in a phone interview. “If you want to be in wind, you have to be in China.” The U.S. company’s shares rose as much as 6.5 percent in Nasdaq trading.

Buoyed by $47 billion in stimulus spending for clean-energy projects, China installed more than twice the number of turbines in 2009 than in the previous year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated. The country will add 18 gigawatts of capacity in 2010, equal to 15 new nuclear power plants, or double the wind turbines planned in the U.S., the second-largest market.

The contract extends an existing $450 million supply accord with Beijing-based Sinovel that will finish in the first half of 2011. The U.S. company made 70 percent of its 2009 revenue from the Chinese manufacturer, Barclays Capital has estimated.

Beijing-based Sinovel is China’s largest wind-turbine maker and ranks third worldwide behind Vestas Wind Systems A/S and General Electric Co. of the U.S., according to a 2009 report by Danish research firm Make Consulting.

Shares Climb

Shares in American Superconductor climbed as much as $2 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock traded at $32.43, up $1.47, or 4.8 percent, as of 10:10 a.m. local time.

To branch out, American Superconductor has signed several deals with other mainland firms since the fourth quarter of 2009. They include a $70 million contract with China’s Shenyang Blower Works on Jan. 2 and a $10 million agreement with Zhuzhou City-based CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co. Ltd. on March 3.

Even with the diversification, Sinovel remains the main customer for American Superconductor, Barclays Capital said.

“Sinovel continues to make up the majority of the company’s 12-month backlog,” Barclays Capital analysts said in a May 14 research note to investors.

–With assistance by Jeremy van Loon in Berlin; Editors: Todd White, Reed Landberg

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A border-only immigration bill?

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

TAKE ACTION

Tell your Senator:
We need real reform, not more grandstanding about the border. Vote “NO!” on the McCain-Kyl “Border-Only Bill” and get to work fixing our immigration system.

For months, Republican obstruction has slowed work on immigration reform in the Senate. And now we know why. Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl have been working on a bill that ignores real immigration reform so they can continue to use immigrants as a political punching bag.

The Senators from Arizona have concocted a bill that does nothing to fix our broken immigration system. Their “border-only” bill focuses merely on enforcement and security – it doesn’t help our families, our communities, or our economy. It’s what you’d expect from senators who agree with their state’s decision to legalize racial profiling.

Tell Senator Maria Cantwell:

We need real reform, not more grandstanding about the border. Vote “NO!” on the McCain-Kyl “Border-Only Bill” and get to work fixing our immigration system.

Click here to sign your name and send a fax

The border-only bill does nothing to move the debate forward. All it does is provide political cover for people trying to stop real comprehensive immigration reform. We need a real debate on the floor of the Senate, not partisan posturing.

Send a message to your Senator: we need debate, not false solutions.

Thank you,
Marissa Graciosa
Reform Immigration FOR America

p.s. We need to get 5,000 faxes to Senators today to show them how strong the opposition to this bill is – click here to send your fax, then forward this email to a friend!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ThinkProgress.org

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

IMMIGRATION — TEXAS TEACHER SINGLES OUT LATINO STUDENT DURING SB-1070 DISCUSSION, SAYS MEXICANS ‘EXPECT HANDOUTS’: A high school English teacher in San Antonio, TX has been “removed from the classroom” after she reportedly singled out a Latino student wearing a Mexican soccer jersey and publicly insulted him with racist remarks. According to the student, Augustine Ortiz, what began as a discussion about Arizona’s new immigration law (SB-1070) escalated to an anti-Latino, racist attack. Ortiz said the teacher — whose name is being withheld pending an investigation — told him to sit in the front row, “proceeded to single him out repeatedly,” and made racist remarks about how Mexicans always “expect handouts.” The teacher also told the class that “soon it’s going to be the United States of Mexico,” according to Ortiz, and said Mexicans are “the racist ones.” The San Antonio Express-News reports that two students defended the teacher, saying Ortiz “was late to class and missed crucial aspects of her lecture.” They didn’t dispute the bulk of Ortiz’s account. However, another student in the class that day, Reina Mondragon, corroborated Ortiz’s story.” Mondragon said the teacher also “questioned why documents in the United States frequently are translated into Spanish and whether Mexicans should be allowed to own land in this country.” She said the teacher’s lecture “felt more like an attack, and like she was judging people from Mexico,” than a balanced discussion. According to Ortiz, when he went to complain about the incident, the vice principal “brushed him off.” However, once the school’s principal learned of the episode, administrators removed the teacher and launched an investigation. Ortiz also noted that the English teacher had been his favorite instructor. “She actually said we need to stand up for what we believe in,” he said. “And now I’m standing up for what I believe in.” About 93 percent of the students at the school are Hispanic.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Important vote

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

Congress is about to vote on important legislation to create and protect jobs. If the House fails to act now, states will be forced to cut even more services — as well as hundreds of thousands of public employees.

The Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes bill includes additional help for unemployed Americans who still can’t find work in this economy — and would result in $26 billion in badly needed funding for state and local governments, known as FMAP. Without this assistance, states will slash hundreds of thousands of jobs and gut education, health care and public safety services even more.

Click here to call your Congress member. Tell your Representative to vote YES on the Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes bill.