Tag Archives: king of pop

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Support NMAAHC

05/06/2014 Nativegrl77

Help us ensure that we meet our goal and stay on schedule.

You’ll be surprised to see all that’s been done since we broke ground for the National Museum of African American History and Culture on February 22, 2012.

The concrete has been poured. We’ve begun building some of the exhibition galleries. We installed two signature objects: a Southern Railway railroad car (segregated) and a 1930s guard tower from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. And we have acquired more than 25,000 items.

But there’s much more to do. And to accomplish this work, we need your support to ensure that we open in late 2015.

To make this museum a reality, we were charged with raising $250 million from individuals and private resources. To date, we have raised approximately $160 million and need to raise an additional $90 million to meet our goal.

That’s why we urgently need your help to build this important cultural addition to the American landscape.

None of this is possible without support from friends like you. Your tax-deductible gift today will ensure that we keep our construction timetable on schedule and ensure that other elements of this grand project stay on track, too.

Together, you and I are creating a center of learning and inspiration that will attract millions of visitors from across the country and around the world. It is here they will come to understand the African American story in full — the moments of great pain and the moments of soaring triumph.

We’re moving closer to reality with each passing day!

Thank you for your support.

All the best,
Signature

Lonnie G. Bunch
Founding Director

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Washington: Tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides

05/06/2014 Nativegrl77

Honeybees, native bees, and other pollinators are responsible for 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat. Many fruits and vegetables, including apples, blueberries, strawberries, carrots, and broccoli, as well as almonds and coffee, rely on bees. These beneficial insects are critical in maintaining our diverse food supply.

U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100% of their hives. Widespread use of a new class of toxic pesticides, neonicotinoids, is a significant contributing factor. In addition to killing bees outright, research has shown, even low levels of these dangerous pesticides impair bees’ ability to learn, to find their way back to the hive, to collect food, to produce new queens, and to mount an effective immune response.

Already, 15 countries have imposed a two-year restriction on the use of several of these chemicals. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists—even those employed by the EPA—and has delayed action until 2018.

We request an immediate moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Bees can’t wait five more years—they are dying now. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the power and responsibility to protect our pollinators. Our nation’s food system depends on it.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn!

Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops, and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists—even those employed by the EPA—and has delayed action until 2018.

But the bees can’t wait—and neither can we!

U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100% of their hives, and are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die-offs.

We can’t let the EPA wait another five years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Peter Stocker

This petition was created on MoveOn’s online petition site, where anyone can start their own online petitions. Friends of the Earth didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Doing Nothing is Just Not an Option

05/02/2014 Nativegrl77

Take Action →

Reading the hundreds of Climate Confessions sent in by EDF members & activists across the country, one simple phrase instantly caught my attention:

“Doing nothing is not a prescription for change.” —Nita K., Carol Stream, IL.

Nita is right—and we need you to follow her lead. We’ve made it easy: Take every action alert we’ve got with just one click.

There’s no denying the fact that we’re up against some extremely well-funded, well-organized opposition. But all their money can’t buy our best weapon: you.

Beating them isn’t impossible—we’ve done it before.

In 1990, as bipartisan support rose for a cap-and-trade plan to harness markets and solve the acid rain disaster, the Koch Brothers poured their money into a front group—the “Concerned Citizens for the Environment”—with the goal of derailing this much-needed solution.

The group—without any citizen membership—produced studies insisting that acid rain was a myth (sound familiar?). They lobbied for deregulation of corporations, insisting that was the true way to protect the environment.

They lost. Our plan to reduce acid rain was put into action, affecting even the Kochs’ heavy-emitting refineries and factories. And it was a massive success.

We cut sulfur dioxide emissions in half, at a fraction of the expected costs. By 2000, scientists were documenting decreased sulfates in Adirondack lakes, improved visibility in national parks and widespread benefits to human health. The Economist called it “the greatest green success story of the past decade.”

Beating back their endless attacks may seem impossible—but we’ve done it before. Help do it again.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

May Is National High Blood Pressure Education Month

05/02/2014 Nativegrl77

Medications for High Blood Pressure

05/01/2014 11:30 AM EDT

May Is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, and nearly one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, also called hypertension. High blood pressure is dangerous because it increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, death.

High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because it has no symptoms until it causes major damage. A number of FDA-approved drugs, along with lifestyle changes, can help treat this condition.

Read the Consumer Update to get tips for controlling blood pressure and to learn more about approved medications.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Broken promises, broken families

05/02/2014 Nativegrl77

Our movement has real power, and it is on display right now in Washington, DC. As you read this, nearly 1,000 of our allies are marching to the White House to demand action to end the scourge of senseless deportations and family separation. For years, President Obama has stood by while rampant deportations have broken apart immigrant families. These demonstrators are committed to seeing an end to the deportation policies that are tearing our families apart — some will not move until the police carry them away.

While activists are standing outside the front door of the White House calling for action, we must lift up their voices by flooding the phone lines of the White House with calls for an end to deportations. Call on the President now to stop the senseless deportations!

Since the new year, there’s been a lot of talk and little action on passing reform or stopping deportations. Members of Congress and the President have hidden from our calls for action behind the walls of the Capitol and the White House. That is why we have been increasing our efforts: this week, our movement is not giving them a place hide.

A young activist from Nevada is arrested by police yesterday outside the US Capitol building.Yesterday, seven brave young activists sent a bold message to Republican leaders in the House that they would not tolerate Congressional inaction by getting arrested in an act of civil disobedience outside the US Capitol Building. Today, activists are sending a message just as boldly to the President: we want an end the senseless deportations hurting our community!