Tag Archives: Democratic Party

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Stop the massacres


                                Dear friends in the Avaaz Community,


Up to 15,000 dolphins are being killed every year in Peru’s waters — for bait to catch endangered sharks. A new report has forced the government to respond but they’re not taking enough action yet and meanwhile the dolphins and the sharks are being killed. We can stop the massacre by threatening Peru’s international reputation as a tourism destination. Sign now and share: 
SIGN THE PETITION

I just saw a report on the news in Peru showing how fishermen are slaughtering up to 15,000 dolphins every year — for bait to catch endangered sharks. The entire story made me sick — and now I’m fighting to end this nightmare. Will you join me?
My government is starting to react, but they’re not taking enough action yet. Dolphin hunting is already illegal and punishable with several years in prison, but authorities are turning a blind eye — allowing thousands of dolphins and sharks to be butchered. The government cares a lot about Peru’s international reputation, especially for tourism, and if we can make them feel embarrassed with a massive global campaign, I’m sure they’ll start taking action to end the massacre.
Once I deliver a million signatures from all over the world to the government of Peru, Avaaz will place ads in tourism magazines in countries where most of our tourists come from and the government won’t be able to ignore us! Help me stop the brutal slaughter by signing now:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/dolphin_hunt_peru/?biEWLbb&v=33625
When I saw this horrific hunt I realised I needed to do something about it before our dolphins and sharks are gone forever. So I decided to set up a petition and shared it with my friends and in less than 24 hours over 10,000 people had signed it!
Our oceans are under attack. Sharks and dolphins already face threats from pollution, climate change and entanglement in fishing gear. They play an important role as ocean predators and need to be protected — not butchered. Many marine ecosystems are on the verge of collapse from which they won’t recover and they will not wait while our politicians dither around making empty statements.
Tourism is Peru’s third largest industry, growing faster than any other South American country. Visitors are coming to see our pristine wilderness and eco-tourism is very important. We can create a serious threat by taking out hard-hitting ads in key countries where most visitors are coming from. Our government will realise people not only love our country because of the Machu Picchu and local gastronomy but also because they love our oceans and wildlife. Sign now and share this with everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/dolphin_hunt_peru/?biEWLbb&v=33625
As an Avaaz member I’ve been truly amazed at our ability to help protect our oceans. At first, I wanted to get 15,000 signatures to represent the 15,000 dolphins that are killed every year but together we can represent all the dolphins and the sharks that can be saved in Peru’s waters!
With hope and excitement,
Zoe — together with the Avaaz Community Petitions Team
This petition was started on the Avaaz Community Petitions Site. It’s quick and easy to start a petition on any issue you care about, click here: http://avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?30311
MORE INFORMATION:
Dolphins killed for shark bait in Peru (CNN) http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/22/world/americas/dolphins-killed-peru/
Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade (National Geographic) http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/24/dolphin-slaughter-fueled-by-illegal-shark-trade/
Revealed: brutal reality of world’s ‘biggest dolphin hunt’ (The Ecologist)  http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2122747/revealed_brutal_reality_of_worlds_biggest_dolphin_hunt

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

blocked


By 

Going Nuclear on GOP Obstruction

On three recent occasions — January 2011, January 2013, and July 2013 — Senate Democrats threatened to make changes to the Senate filibuster rules in order to stop Republicans from obstructing even the most routine business of the Senate and slow-walking or simply blocking the president’s nominees. Each time, Democrats agreed to very modest changes to the rules or even simply a gentleman’s agreement with Republicans and each time Republicans broke their word and went back to their same old obstructionist ways.

In the past few weeks, things have gotten even worse than usual. Senate Republicans have embarked on an unprecedented campaign of obstruction:

  • Republicans blocked the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He is the first African-American nominated to head the agency and the first sitting Member of Congress denied confirmation since the Reconstruction Era.
  • Leading Republicans have already announced their plans to block two more top Obama nominees: Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve (the first woman in the world ever selected to lead a central bank) and Jeh Johnson, the first African-American nominated to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans have reveled in this disturbing pattern of partisan obstruction, daring Democrats to change the Senate rules in order to eliminate the filibuster on nominations.

Well, it appears Republicans have made their bed and now they may have to lie in it.

A parade of Democrats, including some who have previously expressed strong opposition to the idea, have come forward in recent days to support changing the Senate rules:

  • Sen. Barbara Boxer ((D-CA): “I am very open to changing the rules for nominees. … I was not before, because I felt we could work with them. But it’s gotten to an extreme situation where really qualified people can’t get an up-or-down vote.”
  • Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA): “If ever there’s evidence for [a rules change], it is now.” Feinstein said she changed her position after a compromise deal reached last year to push through nominees did not stop obstruction from leaving crucial seats vacant. She told the Huffington Post it is “unconscionable” that Senate Republicans are now allowing a vote on Obama’s cabinet and judicial nominees.
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): “So far they have shut down the government, they have filibustered people [President Obama] has nominated to fill out his administration and they are now filibustering judges to block him from filling any of the vacancies with highly qualified people: We need to call out these filibusters for what they are: Naked attempts to nullify the results of the last election.” She added, “If Republicans continue to filibuster these highly qualified nominees for no reason other than to nullify the president’s constitutional authority, then senators not only have the right to change the filibuster, senators have a duty to change the filibuster rules. We cannot turn our backs on the Constitution. We cannot abdicate our oath of office.”
  • Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), one of the original proponents of filibuster reform, said recently: “The Senate rules must change … This is a war on the other two branches of government and their ability to do the jobs the American people need them to do.”
  • Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is another longtime supporter of filibuster reform. He said last month: “We keep getting up to the edge of it, and then we make some, quote, gentleman’s agreement … and then you find out the gentleman’s agreement doesn’t hold. … I’ve been so frustrated by it.”
  • Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): The Senate majority leader holds the ultimate authority on whether Democrats invoke the nuclear option. He said Tuesday he is actively weighing a rules change, and won’t accept a deal to avert the nuclear option that includes anything less than confirmation of all three D.C. Circuit nominees stalled over the past few weeks. In July, Democrats scored a short-term victory with a deal to confirm seven executive branch nominees in exchange for dropping filibuster reform. But just a few months later, they ended up facing the same sort of Republican obstruction.

Sen. Reid reportedly may move to end the GOP’s partisan obstructionism as soon as this week. We’ll be sure and bring you the latest updates.

BOTTOM LINE: We simply cannot allow a minority in Congress to retroactively veto laws and the results of elections. This is unfair, makes a mockery of our constitutional system, and represents the worst kind of partisan gridlock that the American people are sick and tired of. It’s time for the GOP’s unprecedented campaign of obstruction to end.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Can your community handle 44 million tons of coal?


Speak Out Against the Proposed Longview Coal Export Terminal

Right now the agencies involved in issuing permits are deciding which impacts to consider in their decision-making process. They need to hear from you about why you are concerned about this proposed coal export facility in Longview.

ACTION ALERT

Fight Dirty Energy for a Better, Cleaner Energy Future

WASHINGTON STATE !!!
Two major coal companies want to build the largest coal export terminal in the United States on the Columbia River in Washington. This proposed coal export facility in Longview, WA, would export 44 million tons of coal annually—that’s more than nine times the amount of coal burned each year at the Centralia coal plant.
Right now the agencies involved in issuing permits are deciding which impacts to consider in their decision-making process. They need to hear from you about why you are concerned about this proposed coal export facility in Longview.
Make your voice heard and send an email today.
Moving all that coal from where it’s mined in Montana and Wyoming to the West Coast would cause significant environmental and public health impacts all along the way, including increased coal dust and air pollution, damage to local waterways, increased train and shipping traffic, and more.
Furthermore, the global warming pollution generated from the transport and burning of 44 million tons of coal is equivalent to the annual emissions of 23 typical coal-fired power plants. We are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change and, nationally, we are making progress toward a clean energy future. But like the name says, global warming is a global problem—it makes no sense to encourage more coal burning abroad as we are cutting our coal use at home.
The coal companies proposing this project don’t want the effects on our climate or on those communities stretching across the hundreds of miles of the train route included in the permitting decision. Your voice counts.
Send a message today and tell decision makers that a supersized coal export terminal isn’t the energy future we need in the Northwest.
The proposed Longview coal terminal is a step in the wrong direction, and one that has real consequences for communities across the West. Let’s stand up against these dirty plans and demand a better, cleaner energy future.
Take Action Today!

Sincerely, Jason Barbose Jason Barbose Western States Campaign Manager Union of Concerned Scientists
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

CBS News needs to fix faulty reporting


Media Matters for America
On last week’s 60 Minutes, CBS News presented an account from a British security contractor who claimed to be an eyewitness to the attack against U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya. But the contractor’s own incident report revealed that he was nowhere near the facilities and was instead at a beachside villa. [1]Journalistic malpractice? Tell CBS News to fix this faulty reporting.

The 60 Minutes report largely hinged on revelations from “Morgan Jones,” who CBS News claimed “witnessed the attack.” In an interview with correspondent Lara Logan that sounded like the script for an action movie, “Jones” described scaling the wall at the burning compound, fighting off terrorists inside, and gaining access to the hospital to view the remains of Ambassador Chris Stevens.

The CBS News report quickly fueled the ongoing right-wing politicization of the terror attack and provided renewed vigor to accusations of a “Benghazi cover-up.” [2]

The problem? “Jones,” whose real name is Dylan Davies, previously wrote that he “could not get anywhere near” the diplomatic compound that night. In the incident report submitted to his employer, Davies stated that, due to roadblocks, he spent most of the night of the attack at his Benghazi beachside villa, only learning of the Ambassador’s death from a Libyan colleague’s cellphone picture. Davies later claimed that he lied in the employer report, not the story he gave to the media. Either way, the discrepancy is troubling. [3]

Veteran journalists agree that the new details raise questions about whether 60 Minutes properly reviewed Davies’ story before it aired. “Other sources, even if those were off the record sources, they could have done something to address this discrepancy,” said Kelly McBride, ethics instructor at The Poynter Institute and co- author of the new book the New Ethics of Journalism. Dave Cuillier, Society of Professional Journalists president, agreed: “Accuracy’s number one and we’ve got to get it right and if we don’t, which is going to happen inevitably, then we need to correct it. That applies in every situation, whether it’s an obit in the Green Valley News or 60 Minutes.” [4]

What’s more, CBS Corporation owns Simon & Schuster, which published Davies’ “eyewitness” memoir about the attack. The ties between 60 Minutes and the publisher of Davies’ book were not disclosed when 60 Minutes was promoting Davies’ story. Given the financial relationships involved, it’s especially concerning that CBS News did not properly address the discrepancy between Davies’ stories. [5]

Whether due to negligence or a deliberate lack of disclosure, CBS News failed to properly verify its source in pursuit of a scoop.

Will you join the call for CBS News to explain the discrepancies or retract its report?

In 2004, when questions were raised about 60 Minutes reporting on documents involving President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News appointed an independent panel “to help determine what errors occurred in the preparation of the report and what actions need to be taken.” [6] Following the investigation, CBS News fired four producers connected to the story and chose not to renew correspondent Dan Rather’s contract.

To maintain its reputation as a respected news organization, CBS News needs to respond to this instance of questionable journalism with the same professionalism it has displayed in the past. Can you help us remind CBS News that journalism and the facts matter?

Sign the letter to CBS News: http://action.mediamatters.org/cbs_benghazi

We’ll send the letter next week, so sign on by Monday to ask CBS News to take responsibility for the problems in its report.  Your participation makes a difference.

Cynthia Padera Campaigns Manager Media Matters for America

—–

[1] 60 Minutes Benghazi Report Takes A Huge Credibility Hit http://mm4a.org/1aZgivt  [2] Conservative Media Praise CBS’ 60 Minutes Report On Benghazi http://mm4a.org/16h0mpS [3] CBS “Eyewitness” Admits He Lied About Benghazi Attack While Bashing Critics http://mm4a.org/1aUykCt [4] Veteran Journalists Criticize 60 Minutes For “Serious Problem” With Benghazi “Witness” http://mm4a.org/1h6tur2 [5] 60 Minutes’ Benghazi Eyewitness Asked Fox News For Money http://mm4a.org/17sky9b [6] David Brock Calls On CBS To Retract Faulty Benghazi Story http://mm4a.org/1iAIgBK
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The True Cost of Chevron


Amazon Watch
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Servio CuripomaLast week we introduced you to a brave advocate for his community and the Amazon – Servio Curipoma. For Servio and the other 30,000 inhabitants of Chevron’s toxic wasteland, the struggle for basic necessities like clean water is a daily one.You may remember when in 2011 Servio first left his rainforest home to come to the US to share his story with members of Congress and influencers in Washington; the media and human rights groups in New York; and directly with Chevron shareholders, board members, and CEO John Watson right at Chevron’s headquarters in San Ramon, CA. Servio appealed to every person he met – including the cold Chevron CEO himself – to put aside the decades-long legal battle and help those who had suffered for too long. He asked that Chevron finally do the right thing and clean up what it had admitted to – leaving billions of gallons of toxic foundation waters polluting his Amazonian backyard.The truth about the daily reality faced by so many in Ecuador resonated with the American people, with socially-responsible investors and with the media. Support continued to grow and the pressure on Chevron increased. But with no sign of a clean-up coming, Servio returned last May with the help of Amazon Watch to confront Chevron at its Annual General Meeting. This time he brought a different message delivered on a massive pink slip – FIRE CEO John Watson! Watson, who was a key player in the Texaco merger, has led Chevron down a dark and dirty path of corporate crimes and environmental destruction around the globe. Servio and his supporters made it clear in front of Watson’s peers that Chevron’s attacks against victims in Ecuador, sympathetic shareholders, human rights and environmental groups and concerned citizens must end.

And what has Chevron done? Turned the finger on Servio and affected communities in Ecuador in a malicious and cowardly move to call them criminals after all that they have suffered. A week after Servio’s second visit, a perturbed Watson found himself being deposed as a witness due to legal attacks on Servio and his community.

Chevron has made it clear that it will continue to fight dirty. For Servio, for the 30,000 victims of Chevron’s atrocities, for corporate accountability around the globe – we cannot let up. Your support ensures that Amazon Watch can continue to help Servio and other Amazon heroes to confront CEOs like Watson in person and to hold corporations accountable.

For the Amazon,

Paul Paz y Miño
Paul Paz y Miño
Online & Operations Director