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Walmart: Provide all employees a clothing allowance or reimbursement for your new dress code. |
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Tag Archives: health care
Cory Gardner and Personhood ?
FWD: a message from … Zach Silk, Yes on 594
I saw this gun posted for sale online yesterday in Mill Creek.
And, I know you’re not a convicted felon or anything … but if you were, you could just hand over $550 in cash and buy this .45 caliber pistol with no background check at all. He’ll get back to you within an hour.
Really — that’s how huge the loopholes are in our gun laws here in Washington.
If you’ve read this far, you’ll be horrified to know that recent research suggests that 4,400 people each year WHO LEGALLY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BUY GUNS buy them online in Washington.
4,400 EACH YEAR.
Click here right now to do something about it.
Thanks,
Zach Silk
Campaign Manager
Yes on 594
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Ten years in prison
Eight Greenpeace activists are each facing almost ten years in prison for participating in a peaceful protest to protect Indonesian rainforest. Sign our statement of support today for the action they took and the right to peaceful protest.
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In just a few weeks, eight Greenpeace activists, who last March participated in a peaceful protest at Procter & Gamble’s Cincinnati headquarters to protect Indonesian rainforest1, will be going on trial. 
They’re each facing two separate felony charges — burglary and vandalism — and if convicted, they could spend almost ten years in prison.
These are crimes they did not commit. The charges in this case are an attempt to intimidate us and prevent more people from taking action — especially when it relates to large corporations like Procter & Gamble. The eight individuals on trial in Cincinnati are prepared to accept the consequences of their actions for a cause they believe in. But they aren’t burglars. And they aren’t vandals. That’s why they’re going to trial.
I’ll be there in person in Cincinnati during the trial doing everything I can to support the eight individuals and their case. You have a role to play too.
When I took the job of Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, I didn’t think that this would be how I’d introduce myself to you. But this is a very serious moment, and we need your help.
I’m Annie Leonard. You might know me from my most recent project, the Story of Stuff, but I actually got my start in the environmental movement at Greenpeace over 20 years ago. And I’ve seen firsthand the power that peaceful protest can have.
I’ll be delivering your messages of support personally to the activists. It’s important that they know they’re not alone and that the there is broad support for the action they took. And it’s important that we work together to protect the right to freedom of speech which allowed this action to take place, and which will continue to allow other activists to take direct action in the future.
The right to peaceful protest is one of the single most important tools at our disposal, not only to protect the environment, but to bring about positive social change in a democracy. It should be allowed to be exercised without the fear of unjust legal consequences.
Carmen, I can’t tell you how excited I am to have come home to Greenpeace as its Executive Director. Or how excited I am to work with you in the days, months and years to come to make our world a greener and more peaceful place.
Thanks for all you do. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as we get closer to the trial and the proceedings begin.
Sincerely,
Annie Leonard
Greenpeace USA Executive Director
1. For more information on the protest and why these activists did what they did, check out this blog post.
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Jindal Versus Louisiana Schoolchildren … a repost
Another Republican chooses to sue the Administration
Bobby Jindal, the Republican Governor of Louisiana, filed suit against the Obama administration on Wednesday. He argues that the Department of Education has exceeded its constitutional authority by offering states grants if they choose to opt-in to the Common Core standards.
Jindal’s Complaint claims the Common Core is “an attempt by the executive branch to implement national education reform far beyond the intentions of Congress; in fact, in contradiction to 50 years of Congressional policy forbidding federal direction or control of curriculum, the cornerstone of education policy.”
While this lawsuit makes little sense for a variety of reasons, perhaps the strangest is the complete about-face Jindal made. Not only did he sign the legislation implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), his administration actively pushed the legislature to enact them. Back in 2012, Stafford Palmieri, Jindal’s top education policy adviser, wrote: “I frankly don’t foresee a controversy over this and if there is one and we come out swinging about how impt [sic] this is that helps not hurts our case. We stand very firmly behind CCSS as you know,” according to emails obtained The Times-Picayune.
However, in Louisiana, Bobby Jindal is one of only a few politicians to choose politics over kids.
Back in May, a bill to repeal the Common Core didn’t even make it out of the Louisiana Senate Education Committee. And in April, the corresponding House committee shot down two Jindal-backed repeal bills. While a fraction of the state legislature tried to stop implementation by suing Education Superintendent John White, their request was denied. White, too, remains an ardent supporter of the standards.
Jindal marks the far-right on Common Core: only a handful of states are not participating in the voluntary program. If Jindal gets his way, he will join a select group of flip-floppers:
- Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, who once supported their implementation, signed a bill this June to repeal them.
- South Carolina first adopted the standards in 2010, but also had them repealed this summer.
- Indiana led the way with its repeal in March, though its new state standards are remarkably similar.
By choosing to sue the Obama administration, Bobby Jindal enters a league of his own on the Common Core. He himself has protested unnecessary lawsuits, once remarking: “This bill will help stop frivolous lawsuits and create a more fair and predictable legal environment, and I am proud to sign it into law.” Unfortunately, he and other Republicans are gumming up the legal system instead of helping ordinary Americans.
BOTTOM LINE: When your duly elected state legislature and elected members of your Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Superintendent of education that you appointed all believe that the Common Core is good for Louisiana’s students, you should listen. Choosing politics – and a possible 2016 presidential run – over schoolchildren is wrong.
Be a Seed for Change 
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