Tag Archives: reviews

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

One bank to wreck a world wonder?!


 Avaazpix
DearAvaazers across the world,

India’s coal king Adani wants to turn the delicate Great Barrier Reef into a major shipping lane. But if we act fast we can sink his dirty coal complex by getting the State Bank of India to turn down his billion dollar lifeline:

SIGN THE PETITION

India’s coal king is bidding for a $1 billion bank loan to turn one of the world’s ecological treasures into a major shipping lane. But if we act fast we can block his billion and keep the Great Barrier Reef home for whales and dolphins, not hulking coal ships.

UNESCO says the project puts the Reef in danger and eight leading international banks have backed away. Now it’s up to the State Bank of India to make or break it. The Bank’s Chairwoman has staked her reputation on cracking down on “bad loans” — and a massive global campaign can persuade her to scrutinise and stop this crazy coal project.

Public pressure has already changed other banks’ minds, so add your name now to say no to the world’s worst loan. When we hit a million, we’ll prep a definitive dossier showing its financial and environmental problems, then deliver it to Chairwoman Bhattacharya with legal letters and a media blitz:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/india_great_barrier_reef_loc/?biEWLbb&v=49294

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living organism on Earth and home to thousands of protected species. In the past three decades it’s lost around half its coral, due to pollution from mines, climate change and other factors. German magazine Der Spiegel reported that “if current trends continue, the unthinkable could happen: the Great Barrier Reef could die.”

This wild coal rush is toxic for the planet. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, and to get the coal to India, Adani would need to expand a shipping lane right through the Reef. Some argue that India needs coal to pull people out of poverty, but India’s own coal minister just announced that India should be able to phase out coal imports in the next three years, long before the Australian mine is ever completed!

Campaigns by Avaaz and others, plus doubts over the project’s viability, have persuaded banks like Citigroup and Deutsche to say no to Adani’s planned Carmichael coal mine and infrastructure complex. Now the State Bank of India is under fire from India’s press and political opposition. 

69% of Indians polled said they were against this project. As the head of India’s largest state-backed bank the Chairwoman will have to listen to public opinion and our million-strong petition, a flood of messages, ads, and reports can encourage the Board to turn Adani down. Add your voice now to hit a million against the reef-wrecking coalmine:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/india_great_barrier_reef_loc/?biEWLbb&v=49294

Time and again this year our community has shown it can rise to the challenge of making our climate safe for future generations. We’ve been fighting for the Great Barrier Reef for a long time so let’s ensure we unite again to save it from this catastrophic coal complex.

With hope and determination,

Danny, Nick, David, Alex, Oli, Alaphia, Nic, Ravi and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Adani’s Australian project gets $1 billion SBI loan (The Times of India)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Adanis-Australian-project-gets-1-billion-…

Adani group’s Great Barrier Reef project in troubled waters (Forbes)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghabahree/2014/05/29/adani-groups-great-barrier-reef-project-in-troubl…

India could bankroll Adani group’s delayed Australian coal mine (IB Times)
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-could-bank-roll-adani-groups-delayed-australian-coal-mine-1475143

National Stock Exchange of India quizzes Adani on loan for Galilee Basin coal project (Sydney Morning Herald)
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/national-stock-exchange-of-india-quizzes-adani-o…

SBI’s $1 billion loan to Adani makes no sense, here’s why (firstbiz)
http://firstbiz.firstpost.com/economy/sbis-1-billion-loan-to-adani-makes-no-sense-heres-why-108668.h…

India rejects Galilee Basin Coal (Market Forces)
http://www.marketforces.org.au/indiacoalpolling 

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org … What happened yesterday


 To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email.
If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.ColorOfChange IMageWe can’t afford to stop fighting. Sustain racial justice organizing with a $3 monthly pledge to ColorOfChange.

Contribute

 

To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email. With Republicans now in control of the Senate, we will see a change in Congress that signals deep challenges for our families and communities.

Over the coming weeks and months, analysts will have much to say about the role that Black voters played in this election. Already we know that across the country, Black voters defied expectations and turned out at rates higher than in 2010 despite continued attempts by the right wing to suppress our votes.

And, unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t enough for Kay Hagan (D-NC) who lost a must-win Senate seat to Thom Tillis (R-NC) by a razor thin margin — while our communities faced the most aggressive voter suppression laws passed in the country since the Voting Rights Act. It wasn’t enough in Georgia, either, as we watched Michelle Nunn (D-GA) concede while thousands of voter registration forms remained unprocessed. And it certainly wasn’t enough in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Democratic challenger wouldn’t even admit to voting for President Obama.

As a movement, we’ve got a lot to figure out; a lot more work to do to hold the people in power accountable.

I know this much: an America in which candidates are afraid or unwilling to speak directly to Black voters about the issues that matter to us is an unacceptable, insufferable status quo; an America where politicians ignore police violence and support a broken criminal justice system, prioritize corporate interests over community values and fight to make it harder for us to vote is intolerable.

If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.

Will you help sustain this movement with a $3 monthly contribution?

Obscured by the larger national picture, yesterday had some meaningful victories which demonstrate the strength of our movement. Californians passed Proposition 47 which will force the state to change course from four-decades of misguided, incarceration-only policies which have destabilized Black families and drained resources from Black communities.

Massachusetts passed a bill providing for earned sick time that will relieve working folks of having to choose between their job and the health of their families. Additionally, voters in South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alaska passing ballot measures to increase the minimum wage shows that there is a groundswell of popular support for issues of economic equality but candidates must exhibit political courage to move this agenda forward.

And despite the Republican takeover, the 114th Congress will have more Black members than at any time in history.

With announcements coming soon about the indictments of the officers responsible for murdering Mike Brown and Eric Garner our movement has never been more important. We can’t afford to stop fighting.

Yes — I will make a $3 monthly pledge to stand with ColorOfChange and continue holding politicians accountable.

Thanks and peace,

Rashad

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

GOP Senate Majority To Raise Retirement Age, Cut Medicare


campaignForAmericaLgo

The Republicans have made big promises to their ultra-wealthy financial backers: Should they take the Senate, they promise to cut ‘entitlements’ and pass the savings on with more tax cuts for the 1%.

 

This isn’t fear mongering. This is taking them at their word. Republicans have promised to raise Medicare age and cut Social Security benefits.

 

  • Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who would become chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposed legislation to raise the retirement age to 70 and supported President Bush’s plans to privatize the system.

 

  • Representative Bill Cassidy, who hopes to replace Mary Landrieu as senator from Louisiana, has pledged to raise the retirement age to 70 and turn Medicare into a voucher program.

 

  • Senators Ron Johnson and Ted Cruz both refer to Social Security as a “Giant Ponzi Scheme.” Cruz went further, going on the record with the Texas Tribune for privatization. As Texas solicitor general, he even sued the federal government to strike down Medicare’s prescription benefit.

 

  • Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona said he’d prefer “savings in entitlement programs rather than defense spending.”

 

 

 

Campaign for America’s Future has defeated similar bad ideas before. We’ve done it when Democrats are in charge, and we’ve done it when Republicans held all three branches of government.

 

Can you make a donation of $15 today to help us in this fight? We are now pushing to EXPAND, not cut Social Security. And we are gearing up the alliances, and strategies needed to meet the coming attacks. We will not accept any cuts to benefits older Americans have earned.

.

In 2010, Representative Paul Ryan and House Republicans tried to use their new majority in the House to raise the retirement age and cut benefits. We fought back and prevented a “Grand Bargain.” Right-wing GOPers wore their folly around their necks in the 2012 election and it helped re-elect Barack Obama.

In 2015, the assault is likely to be a retirement age of 70 and yet another attempt to replace Medicare with vouchers.

We will not let them savage Americans who are vulnerable because of retirement or disability.

To do this, we need your help. Can you contribute $15 to help us gird for the fight we face? Join us as we work for a country that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and privileged.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stand with Peggy


NWLCbanner No one should ever have to choose between her job and the health of her pregnancy.Unfortunately, that’s exactly what many women find themselves facing. When employers refuse to accommodate pregnant workers with medical needs, women can end up without a paycheck at the moment they need it most.Stand with pregnant workers.When Peggy Young, a delivery driver for UPS, found out she was pregnant, her doctor recommended that she avoid lifting more than 20 pounds. But UPS refused her request for “light duty” — even though the company provided accommodations to people with disabilities or on-the-job injuries, and even though it gave breaks to delivery drivers who had lost their drivers’ licenses as a result of DUI convictions.Peggywas pushedonto unpaid leave forthe duration of her pregnancy, and lost her UPS-provided health benefits.

Stand with Peggy Young and Pregnant WorkersSend a message of support to Peggy Young — because no woman should have to choose between her job and her pregnancy.Take Action

In a few weeks the Supreme Court will hear Peggy Young’s case, Young v. UPS, to decide whether UPS violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act by refusing to offer her the same accommodations it made available to non-pregnant workers with similar limitations.

How the court rules in Young v. UPS will impact working women across the country. And because many families rely on mothers’ earnings, when pregnant women are forced off the job and lose their paychecks and health care, their families suffer as well.

Send your message of support for Peggy Young and all pregnant workers today. We’ll collect your messages and present them to Peggy Young on the day of the Supreme Court hearing, Dec. 3.

Thank you for all you do for women and their families.

Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin
Vice President and General Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Progressiv​e Breakfast: We Can’t Breathe


MORNING MESSAGE

Isaiah J. Poole

We Can’t BreatheThere is more to this chant – the haunting last words of Eric Garner before he died at the hands of New York City police that were echoed in demonstrations around the country Wednesday night – than a protest against the epidemic of police brutality against black men. We need to recognize the smog of a heritage of racial discrimination that permeates our institutions and inhibits the ability of all of us to breathe.

Democrats split over bill to keep government open. The Hill:“Some Democrats are signaling support for the Republican proposal, viewing it as the best chance to secure long-term funding for most government functions while the Democrats still control the Senate. Others are calling for a united Democratic opposition … to highlight Republican divisions and to protest spending levels they deem too low. And still others are warning that a core element of the GOP’s spending strategy — a short-term funding extension for the Homeland Security Department (DHS) — threatens national security in an era of heightened terrorist threats.”

But Boehner may need Democratic votes. Bloomberg:“…Boehner needs Democratic votes because at least 20 members of his party are ready to reject a plan to keep most of the government operating through September 2015 … House leaders are considering a revision that would move up a fight over immigration funding to shortly after Congress reconvenes in January, said a Republican aide familiar with the plan. Democrats want to cut from the spending bill at least 70 Republican-sponsored provisions that would poke holes in President Barack Obama’s policies on the environment, health care and other matters, said Representative Jim Moran, a Virginia Democrat.”

House will vote separately on negating Obama’s immigration action. The Hill:“[White House spokesperson] Josh Earnest said the legislation would ‘exacerbate flaws in our broken immigration system’ and distract ‘limited enforcement resources’ from targeting criminals for deportation. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he would allow a vote on the bill Thursday, which bars the president from exempting ‘categories of persons unlawfully present in the United States’ from deportation.”

“Meaningless show vote”grumbles Sen. Ted Cruz.

Obama talks trade and tax reform with corporate leaders. NYT:“…Obama said he believed there was a narrow path to overhaul the tax code in the next Congress. But he said the effort faced significant obstacles because the White House wanted to focus just on corporate taxes, while Republicans insisted on overhauling both corporate and individual taxes … Mr. Obama also stressed his determination to complete negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership … Selling the pact at home, he said, will be just as important as negotiating it, and he was clearly seeking allies among the business executives.”

Also talks infrastructure needs. Bloomberg:“…Obama recalled the gleaming new infrastructure he saw when he traveled to China last month for a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders. ‘One thing I will say is if they need to build some stuff, they can build it,’ Obama told the CEOs today. ‘And over time, that wears away our advantage competitively. It’s embarrassing.’”

But Obama’s congressional outreach mainly focusing on Democrats. W. Post:“…White House officials are looking to Hill Democrats as a defense against Republican efforts to undo key elements of Obama’s legislative legacy … The president’s ability to sustain the vetoes he is likely to issue will depend on whether he is able to mend relations with congressional Democrats…”

Rep. Paul Ryan prepares tax package. Politico:“…the Wisconsin Republican said he’s going to use his new perch in the House to pursue what he calls ‘phase one’ of tax reform — focusing only on the business Tax Code — while understanding that he’s not going to get it all while President Barack Obama is in office. But that doesn’t mean he’s giving up on the big ideas he’s pitching to shape the Republican Party’s agenda for 2016.”

House approves narrow tax break extension. USA Today:“The Senate and White House have signaled they will not oppose the plan … The one-year, retroactive fix will allow millions of businesses and individuals to claim the breaks on their 2014 tax returns, but the fate of the package next year, known as tax extenders, is uncertain after President Obama cut short bipartisan negotiations for a long-term deal with a veto threat … The short-term fix mainly benefits businesses, but it also includes a mix of tax breaks benefiting a number of special interests including teachers, commuters and Puerto Rican rum producers … Some Democrats are unhappy the package leaves out two provisions: a tax credit that helps some laid-off workers pay for health insurance and a tax credit for buying electric motorcycles.”

WH summit today to tackle college affordability. McClatchy:“College presidents and school district leaders from around the country will attend it and announce 600 new commitments to help more students prepare to get into college and graduate. The new commitments fall into four areas: greater promotion of college completion, efforts by elementary and secondary schools to prepare students for college, more money for 5,000 additional high school counselors in districts that need help getting more students to college; and increasing the number of college graduates in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.”

GOP may target NLRB. Roll Call:“Among the targets: a potential NLRB ruling that says college athletes are school employees, union elections should happen more quickly and national franchise companies should be responsible when franchisees violate labor laws … Democratic member Nancy J. Schiffer’s term expires on Dec. 16, and if her replacement isn’t confirmed by then, observers expect the board to make several controversial rulings … Failing to get these decisions out by mid-December could leave the board deadlocked for months with two Democratic members and two Republicans … epublican Harry Johnson’s term expires in August, so Hill GOP leaders could wait to confirm a Republican and Democrat simultaneously. But delaying that vote pushes the issue closer to the 2016 presidential campaign…”

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America’s Future. more »