Tag Archives: democrats

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

mash-up Monday &some News


While the airwaves were able to force us into seeing what beck was doing at the National Mall and seemingly held back the coverage when Rev. Sharpton or Ben Jealous or Rev. Jackson were at the podium and though we did see President Obama speak eloquently by the way; the coverage on beck was more than it deserved.   It was sad and eye opening to know that channel 24 would cover the entire beck rally then I realized it might have been CSPAN and quite honestly made me think it might be time to reassess my support for CSPAN having watched people from the Heritage foundation spew nasty rhetoric about what President Obama and his administration has done over the last 20months. I was quite offended by what I felt was a whole lot of miss-information coming from a group of people knowing no one was there to rebut this stuff they were selling and in a book too. It was disturbing.

A Cnn article offered up a video of what you missed -the glenn beck rally … I am quite sure our family missed absolutely nothing as we spent the day watching the Sharpton, Jealous plus gatherings on when available  and remembering Katrina while getting informed about the progress and definite misses by the Bush admin …sadden that so much more needs to be done for neighborhoods of families in certain parks of the Gulf Coast mostly folks of colour and wonder if the rumors of deliberate avoidance is true?

Sarah Palin and her code talk made me laugh -The whole thing was a joke.
The beckthorn was not anything my family related to… and one day of so-called sane behavior does not make up for a history of racist vitriol … the only thing that i did want to mention is Alveda is not MLK jr. and her association as a niece does not give any…any substance to the beckathon rally …she used the day to rile against a woman’s right to choose and homosexuality -she clearly does not represent her Uncle or the intent of the “I have a dream” speech. I would go as far to say she doesn’t understand what the speech was about.

Other News …

“I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,” President Obama told NBC’s Brian Williams last night when asked about the growth of the fringe “birther” movement. “There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly,” Obama explained.

“I’m making decisions that are not necessarily good for the nightly news and not good for the next election, but for the next generations,” Obama told NBC last night.

Government anti-poverty programs now “serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.” Upwards of 50 million Americans on Medicaid and more than 40 million Americans are now receiving food stamps.

The “consensus among economists” is that the Recovery Act “worked in staving off a rerun of the 1930s,” but other emergency measures implemented by the Obama and Bush administrations played a larger role. The stimulus “was important for confidence,” said Harvard’s Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist of the IMF, adding, “But fiscal stimulus was the least important of the three planks of the government’s strategy.”

**VPresident visits Iraq to mark formal end to Combat

**Primaries in WVA  -Democrat  Joe Manchin in WVA -Democrat Charlie Melancon in LA


CSPAN …

Weekly Addresses Weekly Addresses

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AFP placing ads attacking the Democratic Party


AFP Ad

I just got word that the so-called “Americans for Prosperity” swift boat group is up on the air with new ads attacking Democrats that stood up for health insurance reform.

We can’t let these attacks go unanswered. We’ve got rapid response TV ads ready to go, but we must raise $121,772 more before our August FEC deadline at midnight Tuesday to get them on the air. Can you chip in?

Contribute $5 or more today and your gift will be matched by a group of committed Democrats. I’ll also make sure we dial you in for Tuesday’s strategy call with Paul Begala and top Democratic strategists.

Thanks.

Jon Vogel

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Extreme Weather: Face the facts


The facts are devastatingly clear.

Around the globe, we are on track to see the hottest year yet in 2010. From the flooding in Pakistan to droughts in Russia and landslides in China, the effects of this year’s extreme weather are catastrophic and undeniable.

The recent pattern of extreme weather events is consistent with what scientists have projected to result from climate change: temperature shifts, severe rainfall and snow in some parts of the world, and major droughts in others.

Check out Repower America’s fact sheet on extreme weather and share it with your friends.

Get the Facts: Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Despite the overwhelming facts, skeptics — like the now infamous Koch brothers1, Massey coal2 and Lord Monckton3 — will no doubt continue to spend big bucks to keep spreading misinformation about global warming.

But if we want to fight the skeptics, we’ll need a growing number of people to get informed. As the evidence mounts, leaders like Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are finally speaking out about climate change. President Medvedev spoke out at a United Nations Security Council meeting and said,

“What is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past. This means that we need to change the way we work, change the methods that we used in the past.”4

In Pakistan, nearly 1,600 people have died this summer from the worst monsoon-related floods in living memory. And around the world, 2000-2009 was the warmest decade on record5, and 2010 is on track to be the warmest year the world has seen in 131 years.

Extreme weather events are putting lives in danger all around the world. Make sure you get the facts and spread the word.

Learn more about the link between extreme weather and climate change today.

Thanks for getting involved,

Dave Boundy
Campaign Manager
Repower America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

This is not about Ground Zero …This is about America

2 Comments

Over the last week we’ve heard a lot from DFA members around the country asking for action to protect the rights of religious freedom for all Americans and I couldn’t agree more.

I don’t get upset much. I mean, I get ticked off at Republicans and Democrats (and at really bad customer service!), but that’s why I work with you at DFA. Because when we get upset, we don’t stew in it and hope it goes away. We do something about it.

The controversy around the building of a Muslim Community Center at 51 Park in New York City should upset all of us. It definitely upsets me. Shortly after the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks, much of this country came together. But there were a number of other, smaller tragedies occurring all over the country as a result of the attacks. People who “looked like terrorists” were victims of harassment, intimidation, and outright violence.

That includes me, and every member of my immediate family in different instances. My response was to protest the coming wars. My family did something different, though. They started going to Mosque. It did more than renew their faith — it provided a sense of community and safety during a very dark time for us. But for the last nine years, at least, people have been trying to block the construction of mosques all over the country.

Now, let’s be clear, the subject of the highest profile Muslim structure, 51 Park in New York City, will have a basketball court and a culinary school. Two floors will have a prayer room. The other eleven will host movie nights, performances, group dinners, etc — it’s basically a Muslim YMCA, open to everyone. These moderate Muslims are doing everything we could ask of them. They’re trying to build a bridge in the communities they live in, trying to show the world that Muslims are cool and interesting and diverse, and proving that being a Muslim does not equal being a terrorist.

But they’re being thrown under the bus by our elected leaders, egged on by some of the ugliest elements of the right-wing. Well-intentioned leaders of the Democratic Party are getting caught up in the fray as well, some of them seeking to find common ground with an implacable opposition. It’s not helping.

This isn’t just a Manhattan problem. Right now, there is opposition to mosques in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Southern California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois, and dozens of other locations across our nation. Where would they move? If public pressure can be brought to bear to take down the most high-profile Muslim community center in liberal NYC, then these other places don’t even have a chance, Ground Zero connection or not.

Frankly, this isn’t about Ground Zero. This is about America. This is about freedom. This is about people and there seems to be no place that Muslim people can go without being harassed.

The harassment has to stop, and that starts with you and me.

I think most people agree that Muslims have the right to worship. But these efforts to harass Muslims are based in fear, prejudice, and ignorance. Removing a community center doesn’t solve these problems. But talking about religious freedom — really engaging people — can open people’s minds, and blunt the prejudice.

I pledge to do it myself.

I pledge today to stand up for religious freedom right now. We cannot wait another day to defend the rights of all Americans to worship if they want, where they want, and when they want. I will not wait for the conversation to come to me; I will start the conversation now. Please join me in making the pledge to fight for our universal American values of acceptance and respect for religious freedom.

I need you, in your community, to have those challenging conversations with people you know.

Take the pledge right now.

It’s time to be pro-active in support of the values that define what we stand for and who we are as Americans. After you take the pledge, please follow up and share the conversations you’ve had. I think we’ll all find them inspiring to share.

-Arshad

Arshad Hasan, Executive Director

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Congress: Let students earn citizenship


TAKE ACTION

Tell Congress:

Our broken immigration system needs reform now. Pass the DREAM Act as a step towards comprehensive immigration reform.

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Today, thousands of young immigrants who were brought here at a young age are waiting for the DREAM Act to have a chance to go to college. Sign this petition to Congress to give them the opportunity they deserve:

Our broken immigration system needs reform now. Pass the DREAM Act as a step towards comprehensive immigration reform.

Click here to add your name to this petition and send it to your Representative and Senators.

The DREAM Act would allow students who are undocumented to earn their citizenship. These students have worked hard for years in the hopes of going to college, furthering their educations, and making a difference in the world. But our broken immigration system makes that impossible.

The DREAM Act is one step toward a fair and just immigration policy, and an important one. Congress should pass it immediately. Please join me in taking action today.

Thank you,
Marissa Graciosa
Reform Immigration FOR America