Tag Archives: United States Supreme Court

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Rape … in India

06/08/2014 Nativegrl77

Two young girls were hanged from a tree after being gang raped in the fields outside their home in India and a high ranking government official just responded by saying that rape “is a social crime … sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong.” Let’s make sure India’s leader knows that this is unacceptable and demand he acts now to stop the rape epidemic. Sign now:

That is the government’s response! It’s disgusting and we can change it.

India’s new leader was just elected on a pro-business platform with increased tourism as one of his top economic growth goals. If two million of us, right now, pledge not go to India until something is done about the rape epidemic across the country, we could get his attention and force him to prioritise urgent action.

Sign now and at two million signers, Avaaz will bring our call to the major Indian tourist companies that have Prime Minister Modi’s ear and lobby for travel advisories until something is done to protect this generation of girls and women:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/womanifesto_modi_21/?biEWLbb&v=40655

When the 14 and 15 year old girls went missing, one girl’s dad went to the police and fell in front of them on his hands and knees pleading for them to do something. They laughed at him and told him to go home. This appalling inaction happens to countless families across India that face this horror. The police, the judiciary, and even ministers are failing them! It’s a culture of acceptance of rape!

Before the elections there was a massive movement building to get urgent action to stop violence against women. Experts drafted a Womanifesto — a common sense plan for urgently needed reforms to stop the rape epidemic. It covers law, policing, medical and psychological support, and crucially — public education. Other major parties signed up to it, but Modi ignored it focusing on economics, and it is still languishing on his desk.

Even Modi’s staff agree with the plan. Now we just need Modi to put it into action.

If millions pledge to not visit India now until action is taken, and that call is bolstered by targeted calls to the mega travel businesses that support Modi and calls to our own governments to issue travel warnings, we could force Modi to act to save his political future. Click below to sign now:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/womanifesto_modi_21/?biEWLbb&v=40655

The shock and horror of opening the newspaper and reading this story can sit with us, or it can spur us into action. This is our chance to come together as a global community and use our power and our hope to help and entire nation set out on the journey towards equality and safety for all.

With hope,

Alice, Alaphia, Dalia, Laura, Shreya, Ricken and the rest of the Avaaz team

More Information:

India State Minister on rape: ‘Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong’
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/05/india-state-minister-rape-crimes-comment

Another girl found hanging in Uttar Pradesh. Rape attempt on judge
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-another-girl-found-hanging-in-uttar-pradesh-rape-attempt-on-judge-1993315

Modi unveils ‘Five Ts’: BJP’s PM candidate says Talent, Tourism, Tech, Trade and Tradition are the watchwords for India’s future
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2542285/Modi-unveils-Five-Ts-BJPs-PM-candidate-says-Talent-Tourism-Tech-Trade-Tradition-watchwords-Indias-future.html

Horrified at reports of violence against women in India: US on Badaun Rape case
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/horrified-at-reports-of-violence-against-women-in-india-us-on-badaun-rape-case-535671

UN condemns gang rape and murder of teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh and calls for justice
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_73685.html

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Keystone XL: Where Things Stand

06/07/2014 Nativegrl77

It’s been four weeks since the climate movement won a significant delay on the Keystone XL pipeline. Since then, the oil industry and their political and media backers have gotten increasingly desperate:

Oil companies tried to ram a vote on Keystone through the U.S. Senate. This week, that effort collapsed in disarray and finger-pointing among the fossil fuel industry’s biggest political boosters.
TransCanada, the Canadian company behind Keystone, even resorted to threats to sue the U.S. government under NAFTA. Early this month, they were forced to disavow that outrageous tactic.
Pro-Keystone commentators are truly grasping at straws, including claiming that President Obama is delaying a decision to pave the way for a government takeover of the energy sector,¹ and arguing that it’s the poor, under-resourced oil industry—and not the environmental movement—that’s the real underdog in the fight over the pipeline.²

These bottom-of-the-barrel tactics signal that fossil fuel corporations will do anything to avoid facing up to the view that one prominent analyst voiced last week: “We have been of the opinion for nearly a year now that Keystone XL is dead.”³

This delay means another year that tar sands oil stays in the ground, instead of flowing through the pipeline. This delay is another nail in the coffin of this disastrous project. And you—the incredible grassroots tide of resolve and determination—are the ones who made this happen.

Keystone would have been just another routine dirty energy infrastructure project if not for public pressure—like the unprecedented 2.5 million public comments submitted into the approvals process. People all along the pipeline route, from Alberta to the Gulf Coast—especially Indigenous communities and farming communities—mobilized against the project.

Another key factor has been the threat of massive civil disobedience if President Obama approves the pipeline—one veteran environmental campaigner called it the “sharpest arrow in the quiver” of the Keystone opposition movement. Almost 100,000 people signed Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance, committing to take direct action if the administration lights the fuse of the continent’s biggest carbon bomb.

So while we’re proud that the movement won a major delay, the struggle is far from over. Here at Rainforest Action Network, we’re staying vigilant on Keystone. We’re continuing to hone the cutting edge of the climate movement by training committed activists. And we’re taking fast, strategic action to block dirty energy deals.

Thank you for all you’ve done.

		For a healthy climate,
		Amanda Starbuck Energy and Finance Program Director

P.S. Alongside our work on Keystone, RAN is engaged in a range of dirty energy fights. We’ve successfully pressured banks like JPMorgan Chase to move away from mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, and we’re approaching a tipping point with Barclays, the world’s biggest financier of MTR. Add your voice!

Sources:

1. “Obama Blocks Keystone To Start Energy Takeover,” Investor’s Business Daily, May 13, 2014 (http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/051314-700702-obama-wants-energy-markets-fossil-fuels-under-government-heel.htm)
2. “Mainstream media don’t know Big Green has deeper pockets than Big Oil,” Washington Examiner, May 13, 2014 (http://washingtonexaminer.com/mainstream-media-dont-know-big-green-has-deeper-pockets-than-big-oil/article/2548405)
3. “The Keystone Pipeline is Quickly Becoming Obsolete,” Business Insider, May 7, 2014 (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-keystone-pipeline-is-quickly-becoming-obsolete-2014-5)

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

24 states are blocking millions from access to affordable care

06/05/2014 Nativegrl77

If you care about health care reform, this is a big one.

One of the ways the Affordable Care Act provides access to health coverage is by expanding Medicaid to millions more Americans.

However, 24 states — thanks to leaders playing political games with Obamacare — are still blocking this expansion, and 5.7 million Americans have been locked out from affordable access to health care.

That’s wrong, and we’re going to make sure folks know about it.

Today, OFA supporters across the country are joining in to expose the states with stubborn officials that are blocking access to affordable health care for millions of Americans — share this map on Facebook and Twitter today.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Donate Today: Stand up to outrageous propaganda

05/29/2014 Nativegrl77

Donate Now →

The dirty energy lobby is resorting to desperate scare tactics—spreading misinformation and threatening the public with higher energy prices—all so they can keep dumping unlimited pollution into our air.

Make a donation to our Climate Action Fund today to make sure they don’t succeed.

Outrageous new radio ads, running in 6 key states, claim that EPA’s proposal to limit carbon pollution from power plants—currently subject to NO limits—will nearly double consumers’ electric bill and do little to affect greenhouse gas emissions.

You know better. You know that Americans are already paying the hidden costs of coal pollution while the coal plants get a free ride.

You also know that power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change—and capping carbon pollution from American’s dirtiest power plants is the most significant step we can take to forestall the climate crisis.

The dirty coal industry is resorting to manipulative scare-tactics to pressure vulnerable legislators in tough re-election campaigns to oppose this critical step forward.

Your urgent donation to our Climate Action Fund will send your legislators a different message: Our clean energy future is near, and voters like you are watching to make sure they to stand up for climate action.

A fight this big demands us to go all-in. Are you with us?

Thank you for all your support,
Sam’s signature
Sam Parry
Director, Membership