President Obama Presents the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts

At a ceremony at the White House yesterday afternoon, President Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts for his unwavering courage in one of the fiercest battles of the Afghanistan war.

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A New Executive Order to Protect LGBT Workers

In the East Room of the White House this morning, the President signed an Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

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The President Gives an Update on the Situation in Ukraine

Yesterday, President Obama made a statement on the current situation in Ukraine, in the wake of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 being shot down last week over territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine.

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Dear MoveOn member,

The Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision made me so angry. It’s just so wrong, and so disrespectful to women.

But recently I woke up with a different idea. It’s time to stop being mad. It’s time to get even.

Because the one good thing about this decision is that it shows for all the world that the Republican Party is flat-out, 100% against access to birth control. And that’s political suicide.

Consider this: 99% of women use contraception at some point in their lives.¹ Ninety-nine percent. Opposing birth control isn’t a fringe view. It’s the farthest fraying edge of the fringe.

So between now and November, we need to hold Republicans accountable by making sure that every female voter in every key state knows the Republican Party position on birth control. If they want to support legislation to overturn Hobby Lobby, great. But if not, we’ll make sure it costs them their seats in Congress. Will you chip in $3 to help make it happen?

Yes, I can contribute $3 to hold Republican politicians accountable for opposing access to birth control.

Remember 2012? Republicans lost the women’s vote by 12 points while talking about “legitimate rape”—the biggest gender gap in history.²

They thought they could fix it by coaching politicians on “messaging to women.”³ But here’s what the Republicans haven’t learned: It’s not just what they say—it’s their policies.

And no Republican position is more out of the mainstream than their opposition to access to contraception.

Republicans are on the verge of taking control of the Senate, and if they do, then they’ll have the power to block any Supreme Court nomination President Obama puts forward—locking in terrible decisions like Hobby Lobby for a generation or more.

But with your help, we can hang this decision like an albatross around the necks of Republican candidates all over the country. We’ll show up at public events and challenge candidates directly. We’ll run ads online. And any Republican who doesn’t support legislation to overturn Hobby Lobby will have to answer to voters.

I’m tired of being mad. Let’s fix this.

Click here to chip in $3 and help hold Republicans accountable for opposing access to birth control.

Thanks for all you do.

–Anna, Alejandro, Justin, Rosy, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Contraceptive Use in the United States,” Guttmacher Institute, June 2014

2. “Gender Gap in 2012 Vote Is Largest in Gallup’s History,” Gallup, November

Companies like Monsanto have taken over the world’s seeds, but now farmers want to build a Noah’s Ark to save them. Pledge what you can to launch the Ark:$2    $4    $8    $16    $32 Pledge another amount

The source of our planet’s food is under threat. Ten agro-chemical firms own 73% of the commercial seed market, and as many as 93% of seed varieties have gone extinct. In the US alone 85% of apple varieties have disappeared.

Monsanto and co. are privatising the genesis of nature. And this corporate takeover is decimating sustainable farming, destroying the diversity of our crops, and making them vulnerable to diseases that could threaten our food security.

But farmers are resisting, saving seeds in banks and barns across the world. Now they have devised a revolutionary project — the first ever, non-profit “eBay” of seed where any farmer, anywhere can source a wide variety of plants cheaper than the genetically modified seeds from chemical companies. This global online store could re-flood the market with all kinds of seeds and slowly break the monopoly that is putting our food future at risk!

This could be the most innovative agricultural idea in decades — a Noah’s Ark of seeds. But chemical companies often bully and sue those that get in their way, and farmers are calling on us to support them. If we raise enough now we can help them launch the online site, support seed storing in key countries, finance marketing and advertising, and fund the legal defence to fight back.

Pledge to help kick start the Noah’s Ark — Avaaz will only process donations if we raise enough to launch the whole initiative:

For thousands of years agriculture was driven by farmers selecting, replanting, and breeding seed varieties. Then the agro-chemical companies persuaded many governments to promote a corporate system of industrial, single-crop farming. Companies promise farmers higher yields and bigger earnings, and often lure them into multi-year contracts for GM (genetically modified) seeds and pesticides. Then they rely on patent laws and use agreements to strong-arm farmers to abandon their traditional practices of seed saving and innovation.

There is still no consensus on the long-term effects of GM crops, but experts say that the lack of independent scientific studies means there may be serious risks to our health from some GM foods. And there isn’t clear evidence that the introduction of GM seeds has improved farmers’ incomes or provided more food for the world’s people — in fact in many cases it has driven small independent farmers out of business and in extreme cases to suicide to avoid debt.

The dire consequences go way beyond the farmers. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation more than three-quarters of the genetic diversity of our crops has been lost due to seed consolidation and industrial practices. This matters because when we cover large swathes of land with just one cash crop — instead of rotating or diversifying them — our farms are more susceptible to diseases. While genetic modification may increase some crop yields, it’s clear that without seed diversity and locally-tailored sustainable practices to confront changing environmental conditions — our global food security could be at risk.

But this crisis isn’t insurmountable. The takeover is only decades old, farmers have saved seed everywhere, and if supported widely, this online seed market could help recover our food. A coalition of more than 20 groups and leaders in the field of sustainable agriculture like the Center for Food Safety and activist Vandana Shiva are standing by ready to launch the project. Here’s how our funds can help:

• directly support seed-saving initiatives in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
• create a world class website for the online store that connects farming communities everywhere, allowing them to legally sell seeds and share best practices globally.
• help fund legal defence of this non-profit seed market from legal attacks by Monsanto and others.
• market and advertise the exchange so that farmers all over the world join up.
• campaign for better protections for our existing seeds from corporate takeover and patents.

Monsanto’s been forcing their GM seeds and vision of mass industrial agriculture on farmers (and all of us) for years, but if we all pitch in we can build this Noah’s Ark for our remaining seed species! Chip in now and Avaaz will only process the pledge if we raise enough to make this plan work:

“To plant a seed is to activate the deepest mysteries of the Universe.” These seeds hold the origin and mystery of so much of life as we know it. Let’s support this movement to protect that mystery from complete corporate control and help bring back thousands of food plants we thought were already lost.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Maria Paz, Nick, Emma, Ricken, Antonia, Patricia, Mais, Emily, Diego and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION:

2013 Report: Wake Up Before It’s Too Late (UN Conference on Trade and Development)
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditcted2012d3_en.pdf

On India’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/asia/19india.html

How many farmers plant GM worldwide? (EuropaBio)
http://www.europabio.org/how-many-farmers-plant-gm-worldwide

Ministry blames Bt cotton for farmer suicides (Hindustan Times)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ministry-blames-bt-cotton-for-farmer-suicides/article1-830798.aspx

Monsanto Lawsuits Pile Up as American Farmers Demand Rights (Mother Earth News)
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/monsanto-lawsuits-from-family-farmers-zwfz1302zkin.aspx#axzz36IwTZWF7

Life in the Rural Police State of Monsanto (Truth Out)
http://truth-out.org/news/item/16985-life-in-the-rural-police-state-of-monsanto

From 1903 -1983 the world lost 93 percent of key seed varieties (National Geographic)
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/07/food-ark/food-variety-graphic

The pernicious characteristics of monocultures (PBS)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hackers/blame/threat.html

Norway invests $23.7 million in crop diversity to help farmers face climate change (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197662/icode/

World Food Day 2004 highlights the importance of biodiversity to global food security (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/NEWSROOM/EN/news/2004/51140/index.html

Political Power of the Agribusiness & Crop Insurance Lobbies (Taxpayers for Common Sense)
http://www.taxpayer.net/images/uploads/downloads/Political_Power_of_Farm_And_Crop_Insurance_Lobbies_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Putting the Cartel before the Horse (ETC)

Public Health – Seattle & King County is offering interested organizations an opportunity to apply for funds under Part A of the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. Funds will be used to support HIV-related care services located in the Seattle Transitional Grant Area (King, Snohomish and Island Counties) and made available to eligible residents of these counties. Funding may be used to provide services in categories defined by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the federal grantor of Ryan White funds, and prioritized by the Seattle Transitional Grant Area (TGA) HIV/AIDS Planning Council.

See details and links to all RFP documents at www.kingcounty.gov/health/rfp