Tag Archives: ~ my 2cents …

Call President Obama and tell him to stand up and fight for our families!

To say that my life changed two years ago would be a complete understatement. I came to the US with my family 15 years ago when I was just nine years old, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2012 that I finally felt like I was home. That was the year I got DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and I finally felt like I belonged. It’s amazing what happens when you have a piece of paper that says you will be here for a while, that you won’t be deported. Now I know that as long as I continue to do things right, I will have the opportunity to fulfill my dreams. Will you take action to ensure that millions of others like me also have the chance to fulfill their dreams?

Make a call to President Obama and tell him to take administrative action to provide relief from deportations to millions in our community.

DACA did change my life, but I am one of the lucky ones. There are millions of others–including my parents–who live in constant fear of being deported and separated from their families. DACA hasn’t given me the relief of knowing that my parents won’t be needlessly deported. I worry that if my parents don’t get relief from deportation soon, they will get to be of retirement age, and who knows what future awaits them when they get older? They have done so much for the well-being of our community. This is their home, too.

Help my parents and other immigrants like them stay in their communities by calling on the President to take action.

President Obama has said that he is working to find a solution for our families, but he hasn’t committed to what that will look like. What that solution could look like is up to us. We have a narrow window of opportunity to speak up for our community and push the President to go as big as possible on administrative relief.

Will you take action by making a call to President Obama and tell him to provide relief to ALL of our families?

Carmen, you are not alone. Today thousands of others across the country are also standing up to speak up for what’s right. In hundreds of towns from coast to coast, including my community in the San Fernando Valley, we are standing up to demand action from the President and relief for our families. With your help, President Obama will hear us and give relief to families like mine.

Can we count on you to make a call?

In solidarity,

Hassan Zuniga
College Student

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What a shutdown means for veterans

10/02/2013 Nativegrl77

VoteVets.org

Add your name to VoteVets’ petition calling
for an end to the government shutdown

The Republican-sponsored government shutdown promises to have a drastic, and immediate, impact on veterans and military family members.

Starting today, the Department of Veterans Affairs may be forced to furlough up to 20,000 claims processors — wiping out all of the recent progress made reducing the backlog.

We could also begin to see immediate lapses in care. During the 1995 shutdown, some military hospitals canceled appointments and even some surgeries.

From there, things only get worse…

The VA believes that after two or three weeks “benefit checks it issues, including disability claims and pension payments will be disrupted.”

Worse still, the toll sequester has already taken on military readiness will be multiplied with each passing day.

But nothing ends this shutdown faster than the voices of veterans and military family members, particularly those personally impacted.

Add your name to mine on VoteVets’ petition calling for an end to the government shutdown, and let them know if you expect it to impact your family.

http://action.votevets.org/shutdown

In their zeal to deny coverage to the one million-plus uninsured veterans who will qualify for health care under the Affordable Care Act, Ted Cruz and his Tea Party allies are disproportionately placing the burden of a shutdown on military families.

We have an extraordinarily unique voice in this fight. It’s critical that you make yours heard today.

All the best,

General (Ret.) Wesley Clark

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Mars, Inc. to set an example for the Snack Food 20

10/02/2013 Nativegrl77

by RAN

Today I visited the corporate headquarters of Mars, Inc. with Strawberry, an orphaned orangutan from Indonesia, to let the company know that consumers all across the world want Mars to stop using Conflict Palm Oil in its products.

Tell Mars and the rest of the Snack Food 20 to cut Conflict Palm Oil!

Mars and all of the Snack Food 20 companies need to hear from you too!

Unlike some of its fellow Snack Food 20 companies, like Kraft and Smucker’s, Mars is on the move. We have a chance to push Mars, the maker of wildly popular brands like M&Ms, Snickers, and Combos, to become an industry leader in sourcing responsible palm oil.

After RAN put the snack food sector on notice last April, Mars, Inc. responded by strengthening its palm oil commitment. The company has committed to working towards sourcing 100% of its palm oil from traceable sources that are not associated with deforestation, expansion on carbon-rich peatlands and the violation of human and labor rights.

Mars needs to hear from you right now—the power is in your palm! Tell Mars to turn its new commitments into a global palm oil policy and take action to cut Conflict Palm Oil from its products immediately.

At the Mars HQ, Strawberry and I gave representatives of the company a copy of the RAN report Conflict Palm Oil: How US Snack Food Brands are Contributing to Orangutan Extinction, Climate Change and Human Rights Violations and outlined RAN’s demand to cut Conflict Palm Oil. We’re confident the company is getting the message.

But Mars won’t change unless it hears from enough of us that we expect it to cut Conflict Palm Oil from its products. Tell Mars and the rest of the Snack Food 20 to cut Conflict Palm Oil from their products!