Tag Archives: Washington

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

unemployment ~ Sage, Working Washington


We are Working Washington

Check this out  — unemployment in Washington just hit a record low. In fact it’s the lowest it’s been in the history of state unemployment stats, going back more than 40 years.

WA unemployment hits record low

Do you think this record-low unemployment rate has anything to do with the fact that we just raised the minimum wage?

  • For sure!
    Higher wages lift up the whole economy — when more people have more money, it means more customers for more businesses.
  • Who cares?
    I’m no economist, but jobs are growing and wages are up, so it’s all good.
  • No way.
    Maybe unemployment would have been even lower than the lowest it’s ever been if the minimum wage had been voted down? 

Anyway, just wanted to make sure you heard the good news. And thanks for taking a moment to let us know what you think!

Cheers,
Sage, Working Washington

Source: Washington State Employment Security Department, 6/14/2017

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

UPDATE! Victory for Whales and Other Marine Mammals -2013- reminder the work is never done

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Take ActionWe just won another huge victory for whales and other marine mammals and we wanted to share in case you missed the news!

In response to an Earthjustice lawsuit, a federal court just ruled that the government must better protect endangered whales and other marine mammals from U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington by employing the best available science.

The sound level that whales and other marine mammals experience during the Navy’s mid-frequency sonar training can disrupt migration, breeding, nursing, breathing, and feeding, and in some cases, cause internal hemorrhaging and ruptured eardrums.

Earthjustice sued in court to protect whales and other marine mammals from these dangerous training exercises–andwe won!

According to Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda, who led the effort:

“This is a victory for dozens of protected species of marine mammals, including critically endangered southern resident orcas, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises.The National Marine Fisheries Service must now employ the best science and require the Navy to take reasonable and effective actions to avoid and minimize harm from its training activities.”

Earthjustice has been fighting for the protection of marine wildlife for years, butour work to safeguard our ocean ecosystems and the species that depend on them is far from over.
because helped us win a victory to protect northwest orcas earlier this year, I also wanted to encourage you to take action to protect other imperiled marine species–including Atlantic bluefin tuna, sharks, and sea turtles–from being unnecessarily slaughtered by longline fishing.
We couldn’t do our work, and win, without you!

Sincerely,

Steve Mashuda
Attorney, Earthjustice
P.S. Earthjustice has been working tirelessly to protect our oceans, but we need your help. Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to improve its management plan for fisheries that unnecessarily harm bluefin tuna and other imperiled species.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ClearWaterProject: Building a movement for clean water & cultural survival

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“Without clean water, we cannot survive,” Emergildo Criollo told me recently. See How We Work

You may have heard of Emergildo. An indigenous leader of the Cofan Nation in Ecuador’s northern Amazon, he has been a relentless advocate for his people, speaking out about oil giant Chevron’s toxic legacy in his territory. But today, even as he continues the fight to hold Chevron accountable, Emergildo isn’t waiting for a cleanup that seems always on the horizon.

Emergildo is taking matters into his own hands, helping to bring clean water to thousands of indigenous people who have suffered without for decades. And today, I want to ask you to support Emergildo, and the other indigenous leaders who are part of an effort that Amazon Watch is deeply proud to support:

It’s called The ClearWater Project.

ClearWater

Established in late 2011 by long-time Amazon Watch campaigner Mitch Anderson, ClearWater was a response to Emergildo’s clarion call for clean water, where access to this basic necessity can be a matter of life and death.

ClearWater began with a big goal: provide safe, sustainable access to clean water for every indigenous family in the region, whose ancestral waterways have been poisoned by oil production and ensuing industrialization.

In just two years, ClearWater has installed more than 500 family-sized rainwater harvesting and filtration systems that serve thousands of people in communities who have long suffered an epidemic of cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses that numerous health studies in the region blame on a lack of access to safe sources of water for drinking, bathing, and cooking.

And our efforts have been able to make this impact because from the beginning, ClearWater has been a collaborative partnership between the five indigenous nationalities here – the Cofan, Siona, Secoya, Kichwa, and Waorani – and international supporters, such as water engineers, humanitarians, activists, philanthropists, and people like you.

ClearWater believes in collaborative, integrative, community-led solutions, where someone like Emergildo is coordinating amongst the different indigenous nationalities to install new water systems, local youth are using GPS to map their biological and cultural resources, and frontline leaders are learning new media techniques to broadcast their concerns to the world.

Clean water, health, and dignity. From this foundation, Emergildo and the indigenous people of Ecuador’s northern Amazon, are building a movement for rainforest protection and cultural survival.

I’m proud that Amazon Watch is a founding partner in this project, and I hope you’ll join us too.

In solidarity,

Han Shan
Han Shan
Amazon Watch Advisory Board Member

P.S. Explore ClearWater’s impact by navigating around this cutting-edge interactive map designed by another Amazon Watch family member, Gregor MacLennan, now Digital Democracy’s Program Director.

~ my 2cents ...

If not now, When?

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mayorsagainstguns

just another rant …

and a question for Bernie Sanders and his supporters … at what point will you all say enough is enough?

The months wear on but most have NOT forgotten Newtown …

They say there are more deaths from hand guns, yet another massacre has taken place … can we just ban automatic weapons

Tell your Democratic or Republican member of Congress that the time has come for #GunSafety #GunReform #UniversalBackgroundChecks

People on the far left say they are progressive but i missed that enthusiasm for trying to do something progress like wanting to make folks accountable,change or reform the archaic laws on the books regarding guns which should be updated to meet our 21st Century lives … where are they?

I am against handguns … period.  The incidents my family, friends even some co-workers have experienced have molded my attitude over the years, and a narrow escape or two of my own. The thought of a teacher being responsible for having or being forced to keep a handgun or anything larger in the classroom just does not make sense.

As more Americans watch, wait and wonder when Congress will take a stand on gun control, more say there is absolutely no reason a civilian should own or have access to an assault weapon. The fact is assault weapons, the standard infantry combat choice for most modern armies has no place in a civil society.  Police already have trouble protecting and serving our communities against illegal guns, legislation that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners let alone automatic weapons solely made and meant to kill people quickly.

At what point will our members of Congress, the firearm industry and owners stand up speak up or out over the current stalemate to move gun laws into the 21st Century. The NRA has been a thorn in all our sides, spending millions lobbying for gun rights while controlling votes in Congress. The Second Amendment, states: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”   I have to say, who doesn’t believe this amendment is in dire need of revaluation for the lives of our citizens.

In 1994, Congress added a background check system to strengthen our existing laws to keep guns out of the hands of felons, drug abusers, and the mentally ill. In 2004, Congress let the assault weapons ban expire. It is time to recognize and change the flaws in the background check system that have enabled folks to arrange hits, commit heinous crimes, violent deaths or massacres like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Arizona, Michigan, Washington state Colorado, Chicago , Texas, Santa Monica,DC,Illinois,Ohio,NY,San Bernardino, Missouri,Baltimore,Minnesota

If not now, when is a good question.

written 4/2013

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Vote with Your Fork, Chem Free Pesticides & Acid Ocean … it’s now 2016


Vote with Your Fork

vote with your fork

Feel that crackle?

Okay, okay. Stand still. Right here in front of me. Close your eyes. Extend your arms out. You feel that? That light crackle across your fingertips?

Change is in the air.

American agriculture is not sustainable. Our food is overloaded with pesticides, growth agents and all the trappings of modern chemical warfare. As a result, the produce we put on our plates … is lacking. We don’t taste the robust flavors in the juices bursting from our salad tomatoes. We cannot grasp the complex fullness of authentic, fresh herbs over rich potatoes for a multilayered flavor the way we would experience in less agriculturally destroyed countries.
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1st posted in 2014