Tag Archives: immigration

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Dan O’Neill, Mercy Corps


Mercy Corps

Get this limited edition first aid kit

Ernie Lynn knows one thing: she’s grateful to be alive — grateful that she, her husband and their one-month-old baby survived Typhoon Haiyan.
After the typhoon devastated her village, Ernie Lynn and her neighbors urgently needed food, clean water and shelter.
Mercy Corps responded immediately, providing food, clean water, blankets, shelter materials and hygiene kits to families who lost everything in the storm.
Now, families must begin the long and difficult process of rebuilding, and they need your help.  Will you stand with them, and with other families in the world’s toughest places, by making a monthly pledge to Mercy Corps today?
When the storm passed, Ernie Lynn learned that the fishing boat her husband works on was severely damaged — meaning they’d lost not only their home but also their income.
Imagine the conflicting emotions Ernie Lynn must be feeling — grateful to have her baby safe in her arms, but grieving her family’s many losses… and worried about the future.  Without a job, her husband won’t be able to earn enough money to repair their home.  Where will they go?  How do they move forward?  How can they give their baby what he needs to grow strong?
Partners In Mercy monthly donors help families like Ernie Lynn’s move forward every day.  They help parents get back to work, so that they can earn money to provide for their families — to prepare healthy food, get medical care, and rebuild their homes.
The ongoing monthly support of Partners In Mercy makes it possible for us to respond immediately when a crisis strikes — distributing clean water and emergency supplies to survivors of natural disasters like the typhoon, providing food to hungry children during a hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa, and giving warm clothing and blankets to Syrian refugees facing a cold winter.  But your monthly gift will do so much more.
Your monthly support will fund effective, efficient programs that help communities recover and rebuild for the long term, better and stronger than they were before.
Becoming a Partner in Mercy monthly donor is quick and easy. So please take a moment to sign up today.  You’ll feel good knowing that you’re providing life-changing assistance to people like Ernie Lynn and her family every day
Sincerely,
Dan O'Neill, Mercy Corps Founder
Dan O’Neill Mercy Corps Founder
P.S.  Please make a life-changing difference for families in need by becoming a Partner In Mercy monthly donor.  Sign up now, and you’ll receive a limited edition first aid kit — a reminder of the help you’re providing to survivors of the typhoon, and other families in the world’s toughest places.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Make sure Paul Ryan keeps his word on immigration reform ~~ OFA


Video: Watch and share

Everyone needs to remember this:This summer, Paul Ryan told constituents at a town hall that the House would vote on comprehensive immigration reform in the fall.
He showed he’s ready to take the lead — now, it’s up to us to make sure he sticks with it. We went to Wisconsin and talked to a few people who witnessed that town hall firsthand.
Watch the video we put together, and then share it on Twitter or Facebook to show Paul Ryan that OFA supporters are going to hold him to his word.Whatever you do, share this video in a way that Rep. Ryan and his staff
won’t be able to miss. They need to know that the Americans who want to
see comprehensive immigration reform passed into law are counting on him
to follow through on his promise.

Here’s why this is so important: The House has the votes right now to
fix our broken immigration system. Just last week, three more House
members came forward to support comprehensive reform.

There’s a reason it has such broad, bipartisan support — this is
something our country needs. Reform would create more than 3 million
jobs, reduce the deficit by more than $800 billion, and strengthen our
middle class.

Now, we need House leaders to step up and hold a vote. That’s why we
want to make sure no one forgets Paul Ryan’s commitment to doing just
that.

Watch our video — then share it far and wide to show Paul Ryan that we trust he’s a man of his word:

~ 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