Tag Archives: New York Times

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

In the past month, eight Buddhist monks and nuns have self-immolated to protest a growing Chinese crackdown in Tibet.


Days ago, Tenzin Wangmo walked out of her nunnery, covered herself in petrol and set herself on fire while pleading for a “free Tibet”. Minutes later she died — she was just 20 years old. In the past month, seven other monks have self-immolated to protest a growing Chinese crackdown on the peaceful Tibetan people.

These tragic acts are a desperate cry for help — machine gun toting Chinese security forces are beating and disappearing monks, laying siege to monasteries, and even killing elderly people defending them — all in an effort to suppress Tibetan rights. China severely restricts access to the region. But if we can get key governments to send diplomats in, break the blackout, and expose this growing brutality, we could save lives.

We have to act fast — this horrific situation is spiraling out of control behind a censorship curtain. Over and over we have seen that when diplomats themselves bear witness to atrocities, they are motivated to act, and increase political pressure. Let’s build a massive petition to the six leaders with the most influence in Beijing to send a mission to Tibet and speak out against the repression. Sign the urgent petition and send this to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_tibetan_lives/?vl

Tibetans are suffocating under China’s stranglehold. They are unable to practice their religion freely — just downloading a photograph of the Dalai Lama can land a Tibetan in prison. And it is getting worse: columns of Chinese troops have blockaded the largest monasteries and are abducting monks in “patriotic re-education” programmes. This horrific situation is spiraling out of control.

Just yesterday another monk, Dawa Tsering, was rushed to hospital after setting himself ablaze, and with every protest China tightens it’s grip. For Tibetans, self immolations are a very severe sacrifice and reveal their level of despair. They are deeply religious and believe that if you commit suicide it has a devastating impact on the cycle of re-incarnations and may even put you back 500 lifetimes. But their situation is so horrific that they are forfeiting their position in the cycle in exchange for the hope of international attention and freedom for their brothers and sisters.

The Chinese government won’t allow journalists and human rights monitors into the region — Sky news and AFP journalists were forced out last week. But diplomats can request access and get in and, as we have recently seen in Syria, they are the best way to get first hand reports, let China know that the world is watching and start high level political conversations on Tibetans’ human rights.

It’s up to us to raise the global alarm. If we can get the US, UK, Australia, India, France and the EU to send a delegation now, they could push China to action. We have no time to lose — sign the urgent petition and share this email:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_tibetan_lives/?vl

Avaaz members have supported projects that are piercing the blackout and defending Tibetan culture and religious practice. But China’s ruthless crackdown is escalating. It’s time for our whole community to take a stand together with these peaceful people sacrificing their own lives for basic rights. Let’s show them that the world has not forgotten them.

With hope and determination,

Emma, Iain, Dalia, Ricken, Diego, Shibayan, Giulia, and the whole Avaaz team

More information:

Tibetan Nun Who Set Herself On Fire Dies (Sky)
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16095074

Self-immolation ‘trend’ at restive Tibetan monastery (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15169007

Study points to heavy handed repression of Tibetan area in China (The New York Times) (including HRW report)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/world/asia/study-points-to-heavy-handed-repression-of-tibetan-area-in-china.html

China is fuelling the fires of Tibetan resistance (Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/17/china-tibetan-resistance-self-immolation?newsfeed=true

Graph showing China’s increased spending in Tibetan regions:http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/10/12/china-end-crackdown-tibetan-monasteries

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Working on Thanksgivi​ng …Change.org


While most of America will be sleeping off a belly full of turkey, stuffing, and pie next Thursday night, 29-year-old Anthony Hardwick will be waking up for a long night of work. That’s because Anthony has to report for his shift at a Target store in Omaha, Nebraska on Thanksgiving night.

For the first time on “Black Friday” — the biggest shopping day of the year — Target stores will be opening at midnight. That means retail employees like Anthony have to miss Thanksgiving celebrations with their families in order to work for big stores’ “Black Friday” midnight sales — or risk losing their jobs.

“All Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones on Thanksgiving,” Anthony says.

So Anthony decided to push back. He started a petition on Change.org asking Target to open stores at 5am instead of midnight on Black Friday. Click here to add your name to his petition.   http://www.change.org/petitions/target-corporation-push-back-the-opening-of-target-retail-stores-on-black-friday-to-5am?

The sad reality is that by starting a petition to his employer on Change.org, he is putting his livelihood at risk. Anthony knows that he could be fired for taking his demand of Target public — but that’s how important it is to him that he spend Thanksgiving with his fiancee and her family.

Anthony isn’t alone in thinking that midnight (or earlier) start times for retail stores on Black Friday is are bad ideas — customers hate it, too. In fact, according to an article in the New York Times that featured Anthony’s petition, more and more consumers are avoiding Black Friday sales that interrupt Thanksgiving meals. And by being the first to petition his employer about this issue, he hopes to inspire workers at other retail stores to also speak out.

Target is one of the most prominent companies forcing its employees to miss Thanksgiving with their families. Anthony hopes that by calling out Target, he can force his employer to push back opening times at Target stores across the country — which will pressure other retail chains to do the same.

Please add your name to Anthony’s petition asking Target to push back its Black Friday opening time so he and other Target employees can spend Thanksgiving with their families:

http://www.change.org/petitions/target-corporation-push-back-the-opening-of-target-retail-stores-on-black-friday-to-5am

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jess and the Change.org team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Demand DNA test for a Texas man scheduled to die next week… Change.org team


Hank Skinner is scheduled to die on November 9. But the state of Texas may execute him without even conducting DNA tests on all of the evidence from his trial, despite a decade of requests from Hank and his lawyers.

Hank has been on death row since 1995 for the murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons, and has steadfastly professed his innocence. Since his conviction, the star witness against Hank has recanted her testimony, and others have implicated another man as the killer.

Hank has just 8 days to live. His family created an organization called “Justice 4 Hank,” and they’re fighting for a DNA test for Hank. They started a petition on Change.org asking the Gray County District Attorney and the courts to order full DNA tests to determine if Hank is actually guilty — and to prevent Texas from possibly executing an innocent man. Click here to add your name to the petition.

At the time of his trial, the prosecution conducted DNA tests on the clothes Hank was wearing — but declined to test the rest of the physical evidence, including a rape kit, the murder weapons, several hairs clutched in the victim’s hand, and a bloody windbreaker that strongly resembles that of the man accused by others of being the true murderer.

Since the year 2000, Hank has been requesting that the office of the District Attorney that prosecuted him order DNA tests on the remaining evidence. But the DA’s office has continuously denied those requests, saying Hank should have requested the tests before his trial.

The Gray County District Attorney’s office has neglected to order these tests for more than a decade without consequences. By signing this petition, you can let members of that office know that their actions are being watched, and that it is unacceptable to send a potentially innocent man to his death without collecting all the relevant evidence.

Hank could die as soon as next week. Please sign the Change.org petition created by “Justice 4 Hank” and demand the Gray County District Attorney order a DNA test on the rest of the evidence before the execution. Click here to add your name:

http://www.change.org/petitions/in-the-interest-of-justice-grant-dna-testing-to-hank-skinner

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Michael and the Change.org team

P.S. Big news! The New York Times is reporting that Bank of America is dropping its $5 fee after a massive Change.org petition by Molly Katchpole against the banking giant. It’s an amazing moment that proves that together we’re mightier than even the biggest corporations

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Bank of America called …Jess Kutch, Change.org


Sign Molly’s petition telling Bank of America to cancel its $5 debit card fee

When Molly Katchpole found out that Bank of America would charge $5 a month to use a debit card, she was upset — so she started a petition on Change.org.

Since then, 225,000 Change.org members have signed her petition. And now Bank of America is under enormous pressure to cancel its new debit card fee. A Bank of America executive even called Molly and told her that while cancelling the fee would be “premature,” the bank was “closely monitoring customer feedback.”

More public pressure could be enough to push the bank to cancel its new $5 debit card fee. Can you sign Molly’s petition asking Bank of America to cancel its new debit card fee? Bank of America is listening to you — and other banks are, too.http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-bank-of-america-no-5-debit-card-fees?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=CHuXxznbBT_bKwoXhePWu

In less than three weeks, Bank of America went from announcing a new $5 monthly debit card fee, to reeling under huge pressure from the media, Congress, and Change.org members. Here’s a quick review of what happened:
September 29: Bank of America announces a new $5 monthly debit card fee.
September 30: Molly creates her petition on Change.org; more than 150,000 people sign in the next 5 days.
October 5: The petition becomes a major national story. ABC News interviews Molly, then tracks down Bank of America’s CEO Brian Moynihan and forces him to respond to it.
October 6: Molly delivers 153,000 petitions to Bank of America and closes her account. She appears on ABC World News again to discuss the petition. Local media in Charlotte (where Bank of America is based) openly speculate that the growing controversy could lead to the firing of Moynihan.
October 9: Molly is featured in a major article in the New York Times as an example of the public’s frustration with big banks.
October 10: Bank of America executive Andrew Pepler calls Molly Katchpole to discuss her petition.
October 13: Molly meets with Congressman Brad Miller to discuss a bill in Congress to make it easier to switch banks. The two later appear on CNN together.
October 18: Molly’s petition reaches 225,000, as Bank of America reports a $6 billion profit. The outrage continues to grow.

Other banks are paying attention to the public reaction to Bank of America’s new debit card fee. Citibank even said its “customers made it abundantly clear” that they wouldn’t like a debit card fee.

What’s next in this campaign to cancel Bank of America’s $5 debit card fees? It’s up to you.

Please sign the petition demanding Bank of America cancel its new $5 monthly debit card fee. Click here to add your name:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-bank-of-america-no-5-debit-card-fees

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jess and the Change.org team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Voter Suppression … Crystal King, DSCC Political Director


We told you last week about Republican efforts to suppress the vote nationwide that could prevent 5 MILLION Americans from voting. According to the New York Times, the voter fraud Republicans say they’re preventing simply isn’t an issue. “The only reason Republicans are passing these laws is to give themselves a political edge by suppressing Democratic votes.”

The scary thing is, it just might work. Enough votes could be lost to states like Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada and Virginia to hand the Senate – and the White House – to the GOP.

This news really struck a nerve with grassroots activists – we’re nearly halfway to our goal of 150,000 signatures. Are we missing your name – will you click here and sign?

WWW.DSCC.ORG

After you’ve signed, check out our brand new 2012 Election Protection Project website, where you can view maps of affected states, learn facts about the new laws, share information on Twitter and, most importantly, register to vote.    http://dscc.org/epp

We’re starting to put together our voter outreach plans based on these new GOP laws, and I sure could use your help. Thanks in advance for signing and sharing. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Crystal King
DSCC Political Director