How You Can Help Animals in Oklahoma; ASPCA on the Ground

As many across the country prepare to spend time with friends and family this Memorial Day weekend, our thoughts turn to the good people and pets of Moore, Oklahoma, where many lost everything earlier this week when a tornado devastated the community.

The ASPCA is currently on the ground to support partner shelter Central Oklahoma Humane Society (OK Humane) with staffing needs as the facility experiences an influx of animals affected by the disaster. We’ll continue to offer our assistance as needed and will keep you updated as the long road to recovery begins for Moore and its neighbors.

For more information about how you can help the pets and people of Oklahoma, please visitOK Humane. Moore-area pet parents who are searching for a lost cat or dog, please checkhttp://www.okclostpets.com. The site was set up specifically for this disaster, and OK Humane will update its listings with any incoming animals.

This recent tragedy is the latest in a series of unforgiving weather events. We want to remind folks that the best thing you can do for yourself and your pets is to be prepared. Here are a few easy steps you can take to keep your family safe in an emergency:

• Have a Plan. Your “all-family” plan should include how you will transport your animals in an evacuation, possible routes you will take and your destination/sheltering options.
• Build a Kit. Don’t forget a photo of your pet, medical records, vaccination records, and any special food or prescriptions.
• Stay Informed. Keep an eye on the weather, learn which shelters house both people and pets, and monitor possible road closures.
• Vaccinate and Microchip. If you’re ever required to shelter your pets, you’ll want them protected against disease. Microchipping your pets can be their ticket home.

Tell us: Are you prepared for an unexpected emergency or disaster? Are you on the ground helping the good folks of Moore? Tweet us your answers to @ASPCA using the hashtag #Oklahoma.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• PETS: Lost and found after tornadoes (kfor.com)
• Wednesday Woofs of Wisdom: How You Can Help Animals in Oklahoma (bionicdogblog.wordpress.com)
• Pet Owners Urged To Be Prepared in Light of Oklahoma Disaster (wilx.com)
• Leave no pet behind: tips for pet evacuation in an emergency (mysafetysign.com)
• Awesome: Home Depot in Moore, Okla., opens doors to lost and injured pets [Vine videos] (twitchy.com)
• Prayers for Oklahoma (mollygjames.wordpress.com)
• This May Be the Least Useful Oklahoma Fundraiser (patheos.com)
• Moore: How To Volunteer In Moore, Oklahoma Right Now (jaunted.com)
• Photography Grad Up for Humanitarian Award for His Work with Animals (academyart.edu)
• Oklahoma Animal Fund (wanderingpawtails.wordpress.com)

Demand that the Wenling Zoo in China Stop Abusing Animals

This video shows a tiger being abused during China’s May Day Holiday (May 1st) at a city zoo in eastern China.  No animal deserves to be treated this way.  In the video, two uniformed men repeatedly slap the tiger and jump on its back for the tourist “show”.  Please sign the petition today and ask that the zoo leaders to offer a public apology and commit to improving their treatment of animals.

To: President, Wenling Zoo, Zhejiang province, China

We demand that you apologize for the treatment that you let happen at your zoo and that you incorporate the following actions to ensure that it doesn’t happen again:

1) Public apology for the treatment of this tiger
2) Plan which clearly states how you will improve animal treatment at your zoo
3) Education plan for young visitons that teaches them to respect wild animals

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Want to get involved? See this petition on Causes 

Related articles

• 5 Haunted Zoos in the United States (ghostsnghouls.com)
• 12-year-old red panda dies at Atlanta’s zoo (onlineathens.com)
• Images of tiger abuse at China zoos upset public (nst.com.my)
• Horror of China’s zoos: Moment bear attacks a monkey after being forced into circus tricks (express.co.uk)
• An Event was Created for the Tigers(Animals) of the Wenling zoo in China. (greatcatsoftheworld.wordpress.com)
• Lions and Tigers and Bears: The Pittsburgh Zoo (local.answers.com)
• Z for Zoo (tuesdaytheory.wordpress.com)
• Video of tiger abuse at a China zoo upsets public (straitstimes.com)
• animal rights abuse in chinese zoos (thesun.co.uk)
• LHC admits petition on PML-N rare tiger’s death (dawn.com)

Close Guantanamo?!?

President Obama could finally move to close Guantanamo — the most notorious prison camp on earth.

In 24 hours, President Obama could end more than a decade of injustice by finally closing Guantanamo — the world’s most notorious prison camp. While he preps for a major speech to respond to hunger-striking detainees, let’s send him a massive message: no more excuses — it’s time he shuts down this international disgrace to our country. Sign now:

With inmates on a 100-day hunger strike and massive calls for Obama to act, our president has been pushed to respond with a major speech about the prison. If enough of us demand a plan — he could free the prisoners already cleared for release, and appoint a White House official with one mission: close Guantanamo down!

We’re at a tipping point. Sign up to demand Obama close this shameful gulag down, and share the shocking facts below so others join this urgent call:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_shut_down_gitmo_us/?basAyeb&v=25082

The facts speak for themselves:

• Detainees in Guantanamo now: 166
• Detainees facing active charges: 6
• Detainees cleared for immediate release, but stuck in the camp: 86
• Guantanamo inmates on hunger strike: 103
• Hunger strikers strapped down and force fed: 30
• Prisoners who have died in custody: 9
• Children the US has held at Guantanamo: 21
• Detainees tried in civilian court: 1
• “Unreleasable” detainees who can’t be tried for lack of evidence or torture: 50
• Prisoners released by the Bush administration: 500+
• Prisoners released by the Obama administration: 72
• Current annual cost to US taxpayers: $150 million
• Days since Obama first pledged to close Gitmo: 1579
• Days since first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo: 11 years, 4 months, 11 days

For years, Obama has blamed the US Congress for the failure to close Guantanamo. But since Congress granted the Defense Department waiver authority that allows prisoners who have been cleared to be transferred out, Obama himself can free these 86 men. And while he will need Congressional cooperation to close the prison completely, if he truly wants to shut it down, he can task someone at the White House right now to show it is a priority and make it happen.

Sign now to demand Obama announce a plan to close Guantanamo, and then let’s up the pressure by flooding the White House with calls in these final hours — it’s time we end this shame!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_shut_down_gitmo_us/?basAyeb&v=25082

When he first campaigned to become US president, Obama promised to close Guantanamo down. This illegal and repulsive prison has led to far too much suffering and fuelled great divisions and hate in our world. Enough is enough. Let’s get Obama to act and close this painful scar on humanity.

With hope and determination,

Dalia, Joseph, Allison, Bissan, Nick, Alice, Ricken and the whole Avaaz team

PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community! Start yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=25040

MORE INFORMATION

Obama to address Guantánamo and drones in major defence speech (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/19/obama-guantanamo-drones-defence-speech

Guantanamo by the numbers (ACLU)
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/guantanamo-numbers

Gitmo is killing me (The New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html

How Gitmo imprisoned Obama (Newsweek)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/05/15/how-gitmo-imprisoned-obama.html

Stop force-feeding inmates and close Gitmo (CNN. Op-Ed)
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/09/opinion/warren-gitmo-hunger-strike/index.html

Guantanamo hunger strike enters 100th day (Aljazeera English)
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2013/05/201351719348602566.html

Three Guantanamo Bay prisoners who’ve been on hunger strike for 100 days (VICE)
http://www.vice.com/read/prisoners-in-guantanamo-bay-are-on-hunger-strike

Yemen wants it’s detainees out of Guantanamo (UPI)
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/05/17/Yemen-wants-its-detainees-out-of-Guantanamo/UPI-58651368823800

Let’s up the pressure by flooding the White House with calls in the final hours before President Obama’s speech!

Make your call: +1 202 456-1111

Here are some points you can make during your call:

• Guantanamo needs to be closed immediately.
• I would like President Obama to announce a plan to shut it down during his speech on Thursday.
• When he first ran for president, President Obama pledged to close Guantanamo — 5 years later, we need him to honor that promise.
• The power to move this issue is in President Obama’s hands. To start with, he can transfer the 86 men cleared for release and task someone at the White House with coming up with a “Close Guantanamo Plan”.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Guantanamo (poet4justicedotwordpressdotcom.wordpress.com)
• Guantanamo hunger strike enters 100th day (aljazeera.com)
• ‘Political football’: Gitmo detainees ‘abandoned’ by US government (guantanamobayinfo.wordpress.com)
• Gitmo hunger strike passes 100-day mark (guantanamobayinfo.wordpress.com)
• Most Notorious Prison Camp (gabrielconstans.wordpress.com)
• Barack Obama under pressure as Guantanamo hunger strike passes 100th day (abc.net.au)
• 100 Days of Guantanamo Hunger Strike: Special Coverage (counterinformation.wordpress.com)
• Obama to begin process of closing Guantanamo Bay: report (rawstory.com)
• American Gulag: Guantanamo hunger strike enters 100th day (sott.net)
• Guantanamo hunger strike enters 100th day (worldbulletin.net)

Yummy: “No more Foie Gras!” Not only did we reach our goal of 50,000 signatures, but we’re continuing to surpass it!

Stop Abusing Ducks and Geese – No more Foie Gras!

We are currently getting the box ready to send off to the USDA. Your signatures will let the USDA know that more than 50,000 individuals believe foie gras is both cruel to ducks and geese and unhealthy for humans.  

Thank you again for being a voice for the animals!

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

 

Related articles

• TED Talks: Dan Barber’s foie gras parable (diningwithfoodies.wordpress.com)
• Stop Abusing Ducks and Geese – No more Foie Gras! (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Stop Amendment to Farm Bill that would Increase Animal Suffering (forcechange.com)
• New York Steakhouse Review: STK (local.answers.com)
• Chrissie Hynde: Don’t Get Me Wrong: I Won’t Stand For Cruelty to Geese (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
• Yummmmmy….Fatty Duck liver….Geese Liver…..mmmmmmm….. (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Peta Bosses Urge Gordon Ramsay To Pull Foie Gras From New York Restaurant (contactmusic.com)
• Morrissey Joins Fight To Ban Foie Gras In U.k. Store (contactmusic.com)
• California’s foie gras ban must be enforced (napavalleyregister.com)
• Lead Singer for The Pretenders Really Hates Foie Gras (news.softpedia.com)

Stop Brutal Turtle Trapping

 

With threats like habitat loss, toxic runoff and global warming, freshwater turtles already face an uphill battle to survive. But New York officials could make that struggle even harder: Bills that would dramatically increase the number of turtles killed each year are speeding through the state’s legislature.

Assembly Bill 2490 and its counterpart in the state Senate would allow trapping and other cruel methods like spears and clubs to kill common snapping turtles. This destructive legislation has already passed in the Senate — so please, take action fast to stop the bill.

Scientists warn that freshwater turtles, and snapping turtles in particular, will suffer population crashes when faced with significant trapping and killing.

Take action now to save New York’s turtles: Tell the Assembly to vote no on A.B. 2490.

 

Click here to take action and get more information. Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Windsor pilot flies injured turtle to trauma centre (With video) (blogs.windsorstar.com)
• Return of the snapping turtles (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
• Water dinosaur- a.k.a The Snapping turtle (wildlifeinontario.wordpress.com)
• Mating snapping turtles (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
• Candy Turtles (spoonful.com)
• Beauty is not what it seems (jamiedrakephoto.com)
• The Most Endangered Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises (science.time.com)
• Snapping Turtle (pattywryle.wordpress.com)
• Turtle Race (spoonful.com)

Sign your name to defeat Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann is having a terrible start to her week (and that’s just fine by us!). So far this week:

• The FBI just joined the multi-agency ethics investigation of Michele Bachmann’s 2012 Presidential Campaign.
• A brand new PPP poll shows Bachmann two points BEHIND her Democratic Opponent, Jim Graves, in Minnesota’s 6th District.

Let’s make sure that this is Bachmann’s last go in Congress.

Add your name right now if you want to defeat the Tea Party mouthpiece in 2014:

Sign your name: Tell Michele Bachmann it’s time to take a hike >>

From threatening to investigate political opponents for being anti-American to plain old extremism, Bachmann is among the most radical members of Congress. But the polls show we’ve got a real chance to beat her.

If you think it’s time for Bachmann to take a hike, sign your name and help us make it happen.

http://dccc.org/Defeat-Bachmann

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Michele Bachmann Faces Tight Race Months Out (huffingtonpost.com)
• Michele Bachmann’s Scandal Could Be Turning Criminal As The FBI Is Now Investigating (politicususa.com)
• Graves touts poll showing tight race with Bachmann (minnesota.publicradio.org)
• Poll shows Franken with big leads over potential opponents (minnesota.publicradio.org)
• Jim Graves Seeks Rematch Against Rep. Bachmann (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
• Democrat gearing up to oust Bachmann from Congress (tv.msnbc.com)
• Tell Boehner: Remove Michele Bachmann from the House Intelligence Committee (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• New Poll: Michele Bachmann Already Losing Her House Race (wonkette.com)
• Graves will run against Michele Bachmann (sago.com)
• Bachmann Slips Behind in House Race (newser.com)

Governor John Hickenlooper signed a new elections bill into law that will make it easier for Coloradans to vote

– and takes some of the most proactive steps to do it that we’ve ever seen.

Under the new law, every registered voter in the state will be mailed a ballot, while keeping the option to vote in person. They’re creating convenience centers for in-person early voting, and making it easier for people to register to vote.

Colorado is modernizing their voting process to make it consistent with how we are living our lives these days — something that every state should be trying to do.

Agree? If you do, join me in thanking Gov. Hickenlooper for taking such an important step to improve the voting process in his state — and for creating a model for other states to follow.

Republicans across the country have carried out an assault on voting rights over the past several years — and we’ve been fighting them at every turn. But this new law in Colorado reminds us that it isn’t enough just to fight efforts to restrict voting rights — we have to find innovative ways of making it easier for Americans to participate in our democracy.

This past November, thousands of Americans stood in line for hours and hours to cast a ballot. That’s not right — and we should be taking every step we can to make the voting process easier for people to participate in.

Colorado just took a great big step in that direction. Join me and thank Gov. Hickenlooper — let’s make sure that Colorado isn’t the last state to pass a law like this:

http://my.democrats.org/Colorado-Voting

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

 

Elizabeth Warren: Break up the big banks

Watch Elizabeth Warren grill the Treasury Secretary Join her in urging President Obama and Congress to end “too big to fail.” Sign our petition supporting the Brown-Vitter bill.

Elizabeth Warren did it again.

In another moment sure to go viral on YouTube, she grilled Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on the Obama administration’s opposition to breaking up the big Wall Street banks that are “too big to fail.”

Warren endorsed the bipartisan bill by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and David Vitter (R-Louisiana) to break up the big banks and prevent future bailouts.

Watch Elizabeth Warren in action — and join her in urging President Obama and Congress to end “too big to fail.” Sign our petition supporting the Brown-Vitter bill.

Warren pointed out that the largest financial institutions are getting bigger and bigger — 30% larger than they were when they wrecked our economy.

She asked Treasure Secretary Lew, “How big do the biggest banks have to get before we consider breaking them up?” He had no answer.

The media and political insiders need to see the public quickly rallying around Warren in order for her grilling yesterday to make a lasting impact.

Watch Warren in action and sign our petition in support of breaking up the big banks.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Warren asks bullseye questions of Treasury Secretary Lew. Can we have 50 more like her, please? (dailykos.com)
• Elizabeth Warren Interrogates Jack Lew On The Growing Size Of Too Big To Fail Banks (thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com)
• Elizabeth Warren Wants To Know If The New Treasury Secretary Will Be As Bad As The Old One (huffingtonpost.com)
• VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren Challenges Treasury Secretary Lew On “Too Big To Fail” (boldprogressives.org)
• VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren Grills Treasury Secretary On Too Big To Fail (motherjones.com)
• Elizabeth Warren is Right: Let Students Borrow at the Same Low Rate Big Banks Get (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Despite scandals, Elizabeth Warren, others say they’re still keeping the faith – Boston Herald (bostonherald.com)
• ‘Too big to fail’ legislation catches the attention of Wall Street (thehill.com)
• Bank Regulation That Makes Sense (erikhare.wordpress.com)
• Publisher: Sen. Warren book coming out in 2014 (kansascity.com)

Memorial Day Grillin’ Recipes!

Red-Hot Grilling Recipes

Grilling season is here! Grilling is one of our favorite cooking methods. In addition to providing the smoky flavor that emanates from the coals, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in the vegetables and makes them taste extra sweet. Just about anything that sprouts from the ground or grows on a tree can be suspended over coals, including corn on the cob, zucchini, potatoes, onions, pineapples, mangoes, and mushrooms. Meat alternatives, such as veggie burgers, veggie dogs, and soy chicken, as well as seitan and tofu are other delicious grilling options.

We’ve assembled a collection of our favorite recipes that are bursting with flame-grilled goodness for you to try:

ENTRÉES

• Tropical Veggie Burgers
• Baby-Get-Back Veggie Ribs
• BBQ Tofu Salad
• Fire-Up-the-Grill Fajitas
• Grilled Tofu With Tamarind Glaze
• Grilled Seitan With Crisp Apple Salsa
• The ‘Mad Cowboy’ With Rodeo Ranch Dressing
• Tandoori ‘Chicken’ Kebabs
• Grilled Vegan Chicken With ‘Honey’ Lime and Chipotle Sauce
• Grilled Portobello Mushrooms With Red Wine Reduction

SIDES

• Grilled Garlic-Herb Corn
• Spring Into Summer Pasta Salad
• Bowtie Surprise With Grilled Garden Veggies
• ‘Mad About Macaroni’ Salad
• Creamy Dill Potato Salad
• Chipotle Sweet Potato Skins
• Baked Onion Rings
• Fruit Salsa
• Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
• German Potato Salad
• Blueberry and Wild Rice Salad
• Bean Salad
• Black Bean and Corn Salad
• Creole Slaw
• Breaded Zucchini Strips
• Grilled Red Potatoes
• Creamy Baked Artichoke Dip
• Vegetarian Chili With Mixed Beans

DESSERTS

• Creamy Raspberry Orange Popsicles
• Key Lime ‘Cheesecake’
• Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
• Grilled Pineapple
• Coconut Cake
• Fresh Apricot Crisp
• Fruit Salad With Papaya-Mint Purée
• Grilled Peaches à la Mode
• Mini Vegan S’Mores Pies
• Chocolate Pudding Cake
• Cookies and Cream Cheesecake

DRINKS

• Mint Watermelonade
• Watermelon Mojito Frozen Daiquiris
• Strawberry-Lime Freeze
• Iced Mint Tea
• Ginger Lemon Fizz
• ‘Georgia Peach’ Sweet Tea
• Mango-Lime Cooler

TIPS

• Try experimenting with tofu, seitan, and meat alternatives for your next cookout. Check out ourlist of favorite products!
• Add some spice to your veggies with dry rubs and marinades. A dry rub is just a mixture of dry spices that you can rub onto tofu, portobellos, eggplant, or meat alternatives. Once you’ve rubbed in the spice mixture, cover the food tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to penetrate.
• Marinades are usually made up of oil, some sort of acid (such as vinegar, wine, or juice from a citrus fruit), and fresh or dried herbs and spices. There is a wide variety of pre-made vegetarian marinades available in stores, but making your own is easy and fun. Try adding spicy dried chilies or chipotle peppers for a smoky flavor, or sweeten things up a bit with maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or agave nectar (available in most health-food stores).
• Allow food to marinate for at least three hours but up to 24 hours for denser protein foods, such as mock meats. Using a sealable plastic container or bag will allow you to shake food as it marinates without making a mess. Marinades can also be basted on the food as it grills.
• What would a barbecue be without the traditional side dishes? Baked beans (sans the pork), coleslaw, and potato salad can be healthy additions to your meatless feast. The latter two can be made vegan by using a creamy, eggless mayonnaise such as Vegenaise or Nayonaise.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Black Bean Veggie Burger (kimcharnutrition.wordpress.com)
• Grilled Pesto Pizza (spoonful.com)
• 10 Vegan Memorial Day Recipes: Let’s Grill! (eatdrinkbetter.com)
• Grilling Tips and How To Make Dessert on a Grill (gigglesgobblesandgulps.com)
• Beyond Burgers: What to Grill for Memorial Day (familyfocusblog.com)
• Veggie Burger, Veggie Burgers Everywhere (georgefebish.wordpress.com)
• Omaha Eats: Ingredient (cleaneatingveggiegirl.com)
• My Burger Bible (mamasgottabake.wordpress.com)
• Grilling Ideas (spoonful.com)

Members of Congress took trips abroad costing more than $1.5 million in 2012

A special report and interactive map created by the Herald Tribune shows the trips, many at taxpayer expense, members of Congress took during the 2012 calendar year. There were limited explanations for the trips, which cost more than $1.5 million in 2012, and among the top destinations were France, Ireland and Spain.

Check it out for yourself by following the link below.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130511/ARTICLE/130519944/2416/NEWS?tc=ar

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Barack Obama administration confirms 4 US nationals abroad were deliberately killed. (sott.net)
• Brits studying abroad ‘should obtain year abroad insurance’ (uia.co.uk)
• British holidaymakers not hanging around for Olympics (rentmycottage.com)
• Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson’s trips abroad cost Northern Ireland taxpayer £350,000 (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
• Comelec eyes Internet voting for Filipino voters abroad (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Fred Grimm: At least Jay-Z paid his own way to Cuba (miamiherald.com)
• Overseas trips by U.S. House members raise questions (newsherald.com)
• Most Irish holidayed at home in 2011 (irishtimes.com)
• GSP Helps American Manufacturers Compete (renewgsptoday.com)
• How to Manage Homesickness While Studying Abroad (isepstudyabroad.wordpress.com)

Share this:

Save Wolves Now.

Michigan‘s governor just signed a bill that clears the way for the state’s first-ever gray wolf hunt, making it the sixth state to authorize the killing of wolves since they lost federal protections.

This could be the grim future for wolves across the country unless we do something right now to stop it.

The Obama administration is planning to strip Endangered Species Act protections for nearly all wolves in the lower 48 states. The proposal would clear the way for more wolves to be shot or die in painful leghold traps.

Don’t let America‘s wolves be killed off. Make a generous gift right now to our Wolf Defense Fund and help us save these magnificent, important animals from losing the lifesaving protection of the Endangered Species Act.

Your gift by May 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a concerned Center for Biological Diversity member.

We know what happens when wolves lose the federal protections of the Act: State wildlife managers quickly open up killing seasons. More than 1,100 wolves have already been killed in the northern Rockies alone.

Yet the Obama administration wants to cut all protections for most of America’s wolves.

We don’t have much time to stop this ugly proposal in its tracks. Fight back now with a generous gift and double your impact to help keep wolves protected.

The Center’s been at the head of the pack for more than two decades to defend wolves — and we’re the only group that’s filed a nationwide petition to protect all wolves in America.

Please make a generous gift right now, and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar. We can’t let that happen.

No one’s done more to save wolves across the country than the Center, but we’ve got to act quickly now — both in the streets and in the courts — if we’re going to stop this wolf disaster.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Help Deliver Expanded Background Checks Petition Signatures to Rep. Jon Runyan

A week and a half ago, Organizing for Action delivered 1.4 million petitions to House and Senate leadership on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Our message to our leaders in Congress was clear: We’re not backing down on preventing gun violence. To that end, we’re taking this fight back to the states and focusing on several key members of the House of Representatives, asking them to support expanded background checks, and demonstrating the broad support for this measure in their own Congressional district. Anyone who can act on preventing future gun violence must.

Please join with Organizing for Action South Jersey this (Thursday) afternoon, May 23rd as we meet up at Jon Runyan‘s Mt. Laurel office and deliver the thousands of petition signatures from his constituents demanding expanded background checks for gun sales.

Thus far, all the focus has been on the Senate, their failed vote on the GVP legislation and a push to re-introduce this bill sometime in the near future. What we now also need to focus on the House and a new bill that has been introduced there that mirrors the Senate bill. It’s important for Congressman Runyan to hear his constituents. He needs to realize that they and roughly 90% of our country support universal background checks. Please add your voice and your presence to this effort and join us for this exciting event. It’s important for you, it’s important for the country, and it is most important for the most vulnerable among us – our children.

Time:

Today, Thursday, May 23, 2013    3:30 PM – 4:45 PM

Location:

Rep. Runyan’s Mt. Laurel District Office (Mount Laurel, NJ)
4167 Church Road
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054

RSVP/Sign Up Link: http://bit.ly/12ssGRr

Directions:

Near the Sage Diner. Park in the office lot or the lot next door.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Paws Farm- Mt. Laurel, New Jersey (southjerseyexplorer.com)
• Mt. Laurel PD Investigating Theft of 30 Shoprite Shopping Carts Valued at $9,000 | cnbnews.net (gloucestercitynews.net)
• Criminal background checks don’t predict college crime (upi.com)
• GOP Senator Misleads Constituents On Gun Control Vote (tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com)
• Mount Laurel PD Investigating a MVA involving a Bicyclist | cnbnews.net (gloucestercitynews.net)
• Organizing for Action, Fundraising Off Gun Control Again (nationalreview.com)
• Another GOP Senator Tries To Trick Constituents Into Thinking He Supports Background Checks (thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com)
• Mitchell Davis of Davis Enterprises honored as Volunteer of the Year (gloucestercitynews.net)
• Marty Levine, former electronics technician (philly.com)
• Media Advisory: ProgressOhio To Bring Together Gun Violence Survivors And Dayton Community Leaders To Ask Senator Portman To Rethink His Vote Against Background Checks (sacbee.com)

Help Protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay From Pebble Mine

Imagine an open pit mine in the remote wild lands of Alaska that covers an area 50 percent larger than Manhattan, with dams the height of Hoover Dam, and the potential to hold more than 7 billion tons of waste.

That is exactly what could happen if foreign-owned companies are allowed to build the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed. This pristine system of rivers and lakes is home to the largest runs of sockeye salmon in the world. These salmon support recreational sport fishing and allow Native Alaskans to maintain their centuries-old way of life.

The future of these remarkably productive and irreplaceable Alaska lands could be changed forever by the prospective Pebble Mine or other large-scale mining activities, unless the Obama administration decides to protect the rivers and wetlands of the region. That decision will rest on the results of a Clean Water Act assessment that the Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting.

We need your help.

Please ask President Obama to save one of America’s last great wild places and protect Bristol Bay from Pebble Mine and other industrial operations.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Help us get 500,000 messages to EPA to stop the Pebble Mine (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Stand up for salmon (thecordovatimes.com)
• Alaska mine would damage streams and wetlands: EPA report (reuters.com)
• Academy Alumni Captures the Promise of Wilderness Adventure (academyart.edu)
• Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery worth $1.5 billion (thecordovatimes.com)
• EPA’s Revised Watershed Assessment Shows Clear Need for protecting Bristol Bay (yubanet.com)
• Something’s fishy about this mine plan (thefutureamerican.wordpress.com)
• Protect Wild Salmon in Alaska’s Bristol Bay! (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Stop the Pebble Mine! : Thank You – Take Action!: NRDC’s Save BioGems (ramyabdeljabbar.wordpress.com)

The Democratic Governors Association is being influenced by the oil & gas industry Tell governors on the committee: Don’t take any more money from fossil fuel players!

What will $3.5 million buy?

We already know that the oil and gas industry has used their affluence to influence political campaigns; aspiring politicians are required to report it. But we didn’t know that companies and individuals involved in the dirty business of fossil fuels are writing big checks to political organizations like the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). Can you send an email to key members of the DGA Committee to urge them to stop taking dirty money?

Our researchers recently dug up information on financial contributions made to the DGA from 2008 to 2012. During that time, the DGA accepted at least $3.5 million from the oil and gas industry, with over $1 million in 2012 alone. Check out the infograph below and then send an email to the DGA.

Tell Key Governors of the DGA Committee: Stop Taking Secret Money From Dirty Oil & Gas Industry Players

You can see from the infograph above that these hefty contributions — which do not need to be reported in election campaigns — were made by players in the oil and gas industry at all levels:

• Major oil and gas companies
• Companies who build pipelines or export facilities for natural gas
• Industry trade associations
• Individuals invested in oil and gas operations such as the CEO of Hess who voluntarily identified his position in the oil and gas industry.

Key Democratic Governors across the country — Governors Brown (CA), Cuomo (NY), Hickenlooper (CO), O’Malley (MD) and Quinn (IL) — are making critical decisions about fracking in their states. Fracking threatens the air we breathe, the water we drink, the communities we love and the climate on which we all depend. We can’t let these governors be influenced by this dirty energy money. That’s why we are calling on the DGA to stop taking money from the fossil fuel industry.

Follow this link to tell the Democratic Governors Association Committee not to accept “secret” donations from oil and gas moguls:
http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=745&autologin=true

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Gov. Dayton Headed to Kentucky Derby (kstp.com)
• Gov. Hickenlooper a bad example on oil-and-gas issues (thehill.com)
• Hickenlooper gets Dems to flip, kills two bills to regulate oil and gas (kdvr.com)
• Democrats unsure where Hickenlooper stands on oil and gas oversight bills (kdvr.com)
• Watered down oil and gas fines bill gets initial OK from Senate (kdvr.com)
• Colorado bill to raise oil-and-gas fines dies (denverpost.com)
• Colorado Democrats Push Fracking Rules After Towns Bar Drilling – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Invention Could Revolutionize Oil & Gas Industry (krextv.com)
• Tips to Succeed in Oil & GasCareers (expertscolumn.com)
• Breaking: Interior Department Bows to Pressure from Oil and Gas Industry, Weakens Fracking Rules (ecowatch.com)

The Rest Of Everest: Throwing Rocks (Episode 188) (Brand New Today!)

The Climb Begins! Brian Block and several members of his large group have arrived at Broad Peak base camp and begin the initial stage of the long climb to the 8051m/26,414′ summit.

Episode 188: Throwing Rocks

Related articles

• Will Doritos Do It Again? The Chip King’s Top Super Bowl Ads (rr.com)
• Tatry – Maj 2012/ Tatras – Maj 2012 (flightexperiencefilmfest.wordpress.com)
• Afternoon TV Rewind: Ellen and Catherine Zeta-Jones Hula-Hoop (rr.com)
• May 16, 2013 Doves Eyes – Misty Edwards (matthew24prophecy.wordpress.com)
• What’s New In Photoshop CC? (clixto7.com)
• May 12, 2013 Odd Sea Creature Washes Upon Shore (newjerusalemcoming.wordpress.com)
• Words of Advice from William S. Burroughs (disinfo.com)
• Short Flight (flightexperiencefilmfest.wordpress.com)
• Pandemic (BBC Documentary) (thesurvivalistblog.net)
• #28. Sing and dance to cheesy songs. (1000waystolovehim.wordpress.com)

They Can’T Do It Alone!

The largest canyons in the world are at serious risk. Tell the NPFMC to protect the Bering sea from commercial fishing!

Greenpeace is headed back to Alaska in two weeks to testify at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) where I’ll be asking them to protect the Bering Sea canyons. But if my voice is going to be heard over the interests of the commercial fishing industry, I can’t go alone. So I am asking you and 35,000 others to join me before May 25.

Add your voice to Bering Sea protection now.

Often referred to as the ‘Grand Canyons of the Sea’, the Bering Sea is home to one of the most productive global fisheries teeming with fish, crab, fur seals, endangered sea lions, orcas and humpback whales. It’s a truly remarkable ecosystem that begins with fragile corals and sponges on the seafloor. Unlike the Grand Canyon, however, these canyons are in serious danger.

And that’s exactly how the commercial fishing industry would like to keep it.

If I go to this meeting alone, I don’t stand a chance of being heard over this powerful industry. So I am asking you and 35,000 others to join me before May 25 by signing on to support the creation of a marine reserve in the Bering Sea.

What a difference a year makes. After receiving new science confirming vulnerable coral and sponge habitat in the Bering Sea canyons, and a renewed request to protect the canyons signed by a broad coalition of organizations, Alaska tribal groups, 30,000 supporters, and even Safeway, SuperValue and Trader Joe’s, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council put the issue back on their agenda. I can thank you for that.

Now I need your help again.

There’s no room on my plane to take all of you with me, but I can take your voice to the council. Don, join me and 35,000 others just like you in delivering the message to the council that we want to protect the Bering Sea from destructive fishing practices.

The NPFMC has a responsibility to protect this vital habitat and ensure sustainable fisheries. But for more than a decade, they have refused repeated requests to protect these magnificent canyons.

We still know very little about these canyons. They are so remote that scientists haven’t been able to fully explore them. What we do know is that it would be a shame to lose them before we get a chance to find out what’s there.

Take a minute and sign on to our letter and help protect the Bering Sea.

Thanks for your help,

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

IRS is not the real issue.

Watch and share this great  3-minute video.

The IRS scandal that’s getting so much attention isn’t the whole story.

Chris Hayes of MSNBC explains why, in this great video. Watch it now, then share it.

Everyone agrees that the IRS screwed up. But, as Hayes makes clear, the real, underlying problem is that the Citizens United decision took our system of fair-play rules that kept tax-exempt groups out of our elections and “blew it out of the water.”

Citizens United is the core problem we need to fix, and we can only do that by amending the U.S. Constitution.

Click here to watch this excellent, short video, and to demand that Congress deal with the real problem.

Then, please spread this important video around.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Pelosi: IRS Scandal ‘Opportunity’ to Overturn Citizens United (breitbart.com)
• Blame Citizens United for the IRS scandal (salon.com)
• Another GOP Obama Scandal Falls Apart as It Is Revealed the IRS also Targeted Liberals (politicususa.com)
• The Latest Lie: IRS Targeted Conservatives (ourfuture.org)
• The other IRS scandal (cjr.org)
• How Citizens United Sparked IRS Scandal (huffingtonpost.com)
• Dave Johnson: The Latest Lie: IRS Targeted Conservatives (huffingtonpost.com)
• Chris Hayes explains why Citizens United is the real scandal behind the IRS scandal (kstreet607.com)
• “‘It was pretty much a proctology exam through your earlobe,’ said Karen L. Kenney, the coordinator for the San Fernando Valley Patriots…” (althouse.blogspot.com)
• Chris Hayes explains why Citizens United is the real scandal behind the IRS scandal (rawstory.com)

I think (Darryl) Issa woke up on the center side of the isle….

And so I thought you cant say anything when you plead the 5th…This woman is doing a speech…She gets to say all of this and then NOT answer any q’s? is that really pleading the 5th? And, gets to leave after one q? Thats amazing….Because to me, thats someone stating your opinion and not allowing anyone to question it…when oli north did it (plead the 5th)..he just kept saying it over and over and over to everything he was asked that morning…he never did any speech….I dont think he did..maybe he did…Maybe I tuned in late that day back in college….OMG…they are saying what i am saying now….and wow…is that daryll issa saying that today? nice…i gained respect for him again…for the first time in three years…but I have to say this again, I did not know you get to say your peace before pleading the 5th of you will…and no mater what Darryl (Issa) and whatshisname cummings (from md) said this this am, and actually, throughout these hearings in Cummings case, is that someone today already related this to Benghazi…I dont know how he did it but he did say that about the obama admin…He related this IRS hearing to benghazi somehow, let alone to it being Obama’s fault….but aside from that guy already exploiting it that way…this hearing today,  is surpising me…

Approaching 150,000 signatures; PLEASE SIGN the Boston Marathon National Condolence Card

Friends, we are approaching 150,000 signatures, and will be formally presenting the Condolence Card to the Office of the Mayor in Boston in early June. Please share with your friends and urge them to sign! If you haven’t yet signed, please do.
Help put us over the top. We are so close.

To: The Victims of the Boston Marathon Terrorism Attack, Their Families and the Community of Boston

We the undersigned wish to express our heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of those who were killed in the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon, and we pray for the well-being and recovery of the many others who were injured in this despicable, cowardly attack.  We applaud…

Police Responding Immediately to Bombing

Please sign this national message of support for the community of Boston, for the injured, and for the families of those killed in the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon. Among those lost was an eight-year-old boy. More than 176+ people also were seriously injured. Let’s send a message to terrorists that no matter what they do, as a nation we remain strong, unafraid and more determined than ever to fight evil and hate wherever it may be.

Issues: disaster relief, human rights, boston marathon

Location: Boston, MA

1. 
   

   Update #3

   Posted on Apr 20

   We’ve surpassed 100,000 signatures and are now making plans to deliver the Condolence Card to the Mayor of Boston. More details to come. We will keep the card open for signatures for the next week or two. Thanks for your support.

2. 
   

   Update #2

   Posted on Apr 16

   We’ve passed 20,000 signatures!  Thanks so much. We also learned today that the 9/11 Memorial will proceed with its plans for this Sunday’s 5K run/walk in NYC, to be held on the fourth anniversary of 9/11 becoming a national day of service. 9/11 Memorial organizers said they planned to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon attack during the event. Our “I will” team will be at the 5K event, standing with the participants and all Americans in our defiance of terror.

3. 
   

   Update #1

   Posted on Apr 16

   We passed 5,000 signatures in less than two hours….thank you! Please continue to share with friends. Also, here’s a good commentary on the Boston tragedy, posted today by one of my most favorite writers, Lisa Belkin: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/grieving-boston-we-cant-do-this-again_n_3091401.html

   Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• CNN follows Fox News, calls Boston Marathon explosions ‘terrorist attack’ (theblaze.com)
• Boston Marathon, Best-Worst Day Ever (besthomesecuritycompanys.com)
• Boston Marathon Explosions the Work of Amateur Terrorists, Says Expert (theepochtimes.com)
• Boston Marathon Bombing Reflection (tylatimes.com)
• Right-wing terror attack most likely to blame for Boston outrage, says counter-terrorism expert (independent.co.uk)
• Boston Marathon Explosions: Police Cite Possible Terrorist Attack (hollywoodlife.com)
• Boston Marathon Bombing false flag attack by Jewish Government (jewishterrorism.com)
• Boston Marathon: Running for Life (besthomesecuritycompanys.com)
• Terror Strikes Boston Marathon! (americanliberaltimes.com)
• Syrian Expatriates Organization (SEO) Shocked by Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack, Offers Condolences to Victims (prweb.com)

Protect People And Big Cats!

Tigers, lions and other wild predators are being kept as backyard pets or in roadside zoos. The Zanesville, Ohio tragedy proved how our irresponsible neighbors are putting us and our families at risk.

It’s Time We Acknowledged That Big Cats Are NOT Pets!

In the last two decades, 22 people have died (including five children) and nearly 200 have been mauled or otherwise injured by big cats. These injuries and deaths were all a result of these wild animals being kept as pets or for public display in roadside zoos. And yet private ownership of big cats remains legal in many states!

Tell Congress that even one more death is unacceptable, and lions, tigers, and other predators are NOT pets!

Big cat ownership and breeding is increasing in epidemic proportions in the U.S. It is estimated that there are at least 10,000 big cats in private possession, but the number and location are not certain. The animals are often kept in squalid conditions and dangerously close to residential areas.

The Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act will prohibit people from keeping big cats as pets and breeding them for commercial exploitation, while requiring current “owners” to register their big cats. We must urge Congress to pass this legislation to protect us from our irresponsible neighbors.

Please sign the petition urging Congress to pass the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• US lawmakers try to ban captive big cats (bigpondnews.com)
• US lawmakers seek to ban captive big cats (news.com.au)
• US lawmakers try to ban captive big cats (skynews.com.au)
• Big Cats Like Cardboard Boxes Too (mentalfloss.com)
• Researchers Rediscover “Big Cat” that Roamed British Countryside (natureworldnews.com)
• World’s Rarest Big Cats Caught on Camera in Indonesia (news.softpedia.com)
• Final Big Cats Rescued from Mountainburg Tiger Sanctuary (arkansasmatters.com)
• Show Announcement – Electric Children, Big Cats!, Villa Rosa, Klassik Sirens Remix Celebration (alexmbassberger.wordpress.com)
• Beast proves big cat did roam Britain – but it’s the stuff of legend now (independent.co.uk)
• Big-cat sightings: is Britain suffering from mass hysteria? (guardian.co.uk)

 

Causes: Join The Oklahoma Tornado Relief!

“The people of Oklahoma need our help today. Please join this important grassroots effort — donate just $10 if you can! All donations go to the Red Cross relief efforts, and we’ll add your name to the Oklahoma Tornado Sympathy Card Thanks! David ”

Join the Oklahoma Tornado Relief Effort Today!

Every donation counts

Donate To The Fundraiser

We wish to express our deepest sympathies to all the families of the children and other individuals who were lost and injured as a result of the devastating tornadoes that struck the Oklahoma City area, and we express our heartfelt sorrow for the many others whose homes and business were damaged or destroyed during these storms. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this very difficult time. We offer our strong support to you as fellow Americans, and pledge to donate what we can to aid in your recovery. Our hearts go out to you today!

Sustainable Action Network

Oklahoma; How to help: Oklahoma tornado victims, Morning Joe and all Morning Shows (Tom Roberts and Jansing & Co.) are in Moore Today, and in Oklahoma This Week!

We’re all still stunned and saddened by the destructive tornadoes that hit Oklahoma yesterday. As the people of Moore and Newcastle grieve and begin the long path to recovery, our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Thank you to all the first responders, teachers, and community members who’ve selflessly helped their friends and neighbors in this moment of hardship.

President Obama promised to make sure that in the weeks and months to come, the communities affected will get everything they need.

If you’d like to help with the relief efforts, please consider supporting the Red Cross today:

http://my.barackobama.com/Oklahoma

Also:

Contributions are vital to the recovery effort in Oklahoma after a deadly tornado cut through the state Monday afternoon and killed at least 24 people.

Initial reports suggested there were more than 50 fatalities, but that number was revised down to 24 Tuesday morning. The toll is expected to rise as the day goes on.

“Honestly, your contributions are the best way to help because it gets us the material we need for right here,” Dan Halyburton, a Red Cross volunteer, said Tuesday on Morning Joe.

Contributions will assist with the logistical effort to buy supplies, materials, diesel for emergency vehicles, and food for responders helping victims of the tornado that had winds of 166 to 200 mph.

American Red Cross

Donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here or give blood at a local hospital or blood bank.

Send $10 to the Disaster Relief fund by texting “REDCROSS” to 90999 or by visiting the website at RedCross.org.

Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767); for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575; for TDD, 1-800-220-4095

AmeriCares

AmeriCares delivers medicines, medical supplies, and aid to people in need across the United States and around the world. Their emergency response team is in Oklahoma coordinating deliveries of emergency aid and assessing the needs of survivors and health care organizations in the disaster area.

You can help by donating through the organization’s website, calling 1-800-486-HELP, or texting “LIVE” to 25383 to make a $10 donation.

Please mail your check or money order to: AmeriCares, 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT 06902

Feeding America

For every dollar donated, Feeding America provides eight meals to families facing hunger.

Donate here to help the organization deliver truckloads of food and water supplies to the affected Oklahoma communities.

Phone: 1-800-771-2303

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief

Monetary donations are the best way to help, according to its website. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution to aid in the Disaster Relief efforts by donating online or by mailing a check to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

They are currently not taking clothing donations.

Operation USA

Operation USA is an international relief agency that helps communities at home and abroad overcome the effects of disasters, disease, and endemic poverty by providing privately-funded relief, reconstruction, and development aid.

Donate here or give a $10 donation by texting the word “AID” to 50555.

Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, CA 90036.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma asks that the public support all rescue, recovery, and disaster relief efforts with donations of cash to your favorite responding charity.

Click here to make a donation online or text “FOOD” to 32333. Each text is $10 charged to your phone bill.

Donations of items such as clothing and supplies are strongly discouraged.

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is currently organizing disaster response units to serve the hard-hit areas in Oklahoma. Supporters are encouraged to give online or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

You can also text the word “STORM” to 80888 to make a $10 donation through your mobile phone; to confirm your gift, respond with the word “Yes.”

Donate to the Oklahoma Tornado Relief by mailing a check to: The Salvation Army, PO Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK 73157.

United Way of Central Oklahoma

The organization advises that monetary donations are the best way to help. Fund dollars will be distributed without administrative fees to United Way Partner Agencies working on the tornado relief efforts.

Donations may be made online at http://www.unitedwayokc.org or by mail to: United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK  73101 with notation for May Tornado Relief.

Samaritan’s Purse

The international Christian relief organization will provide emergency assistance as well as cleaning and repairing damaged homes.

Donations to help victims can be made at samaritanspurse.org.

Related articles

• Watch: President Obama: Tornado Victims ‘Will Have Support’ (abcnews.go.com)
• Kevin Durant Gives $1 Million To The Red Cross For Oklahoma Tornado Relief (businessinsider.com)
• Obama to Oklahoma: ‘You will not travel that path alone’ (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
• President Obama’s Remarks on the Tornadoes in Oklahoma (Transcript) (swampland.time.com)
• President Obama On Oklahoma Tornado Recovery: ‘You Will Not Travel That Path Alone’ (mediaite.com)
• Oklahoma tornado: Recovery effort under way (abclocal.go.com)
• Obama: Help for tornado-ravaged Oklahoma will be there ‘as long as it takes’ (nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com)
• Prayers and Assistance for Oklahoma Tornado Victims (heritage.org)
• The Red Cross And University Of Oklahoma Quickly Reach Out To Help Tornado Victims (sooner4ou.com)
• Devastating Oklahoma Tornado Leaves Massive Path Of Destruction (hastywords.wordpress.com)

No new fracking on federal lands

No new fracking on public lands

BREAKING: Just when you thought it couldn’t, fracking in the U.S. is about to get worse — and with government approval. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management just released new rules for fracking on our public lands that would give gas companies the right to drill without much-needed protections for public health. The BLM’s new rules fail to require full public disclosure of toxic chemicals, baseline water testing or setback requirements of wells from homes and schools.

Fracking our public lands will affect millions of people who live, work and go to school near (or even above) the areas where leases will take place. It is unconscionable for the government to pass new regulations that are fundamentally inadequate to protect our health and safety.

Fracking is a dirty and dangerous process. The proposed BLM rules fail to take obvious steps to provide even minimal protections.

Tell the Deptartment of Interior’s Secretary Sally Jewell that you support no new leasing on our public lands.

President Obama pledged to do more to combat climate change for the sake of our children and our future in his 2013 State of the Union speech, but the new rules will allow gas companies to place wells dangerously close to children and use toxic chemicals without disclosing them to the public. The Department of Interior’s data on potential federal oil and gas leases in six western states shows that more than 1,400 public schools lie within one mile of potential drilling activity.

Help us send 45,000 messages to Secretary Jewell to show her that Americans don’t want any new fracking on federal lands.

These rules are a gift to the gas companies, who met repeatedly with high-ranking officials before this rule was released.^¹ The provisions help the gas corporations profit, while falling short in employing the most basic recommendations of the president’s own shale gas advisory committee, which advocated for transparency, environmental safeguards and pollution monitoring for fracking. Without clear safeguards for public health, no new areas should be opened up to new drilling permits.

We cannot give the treasure of our federal lands — which belong to all of us — to the gas companies and allow them to continue expanding fracking. Tell Secretary Jewell and the Department of the Interior to put a moratorium on all new gas leases on federal lands.

Thanks for all you do for the environment.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network.

Related articles

• Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Ban fracking on federal lands (humboldtdems.wordpress.com)
• Breaking: Interior Department Bows to Pressure from Oil and Gas Industry, Weakens Fracking Rules (ecowatch.com)
• Fracking Gets Nod from Bureau of Land Management (247wallst.com)
• U.S. Interior issues new draft fracking rules for federal lands (reuters.com)
• New Fracking Rules Spark Controversy Among State Officials (huffingtonpost.com)
• Wyoming officials eye just-released federal fracking rules (trib.com)
• Interior Issues New Fracking Rule On Public Land (washington.cbslocal.com)
• Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Ban fracking on federal lands (nvrdc.wordpress.com)
• Interior Issues New Fracking Rule (huffingtonpost.com)
• Federal fracking proposal draws fire from all sides (mysanantonio.com)

End Taxpayer Funded Wildlife Killing

The sequester: A series of Federal budget cuts that went into effect in March 2013 in an effort to balance the federal deficit.

The good news: an effort to control excessive federal spending with taxpayer dollars.  

The bad news: Congress is targeting the wrong programs to cut. Instead of focusing cuts on meals for seniors, school lunch programs for children, food safety in light of massive recalls, disaster prediction equipment, and national parks, the Feds should be focusing on programs Americans really don’t want, like massive wildlife killing programs carried out by the USDA‘s Wildlife Services.
Not only does the program receive nearly $100 million dollars a year in Federal tax assistance, but the agency itself doles out huge salaries to many in management, a further slap in the face for the 7.5 % of unemployed American citizens.

We agree with budget cuts to regain the health and stability of the U.S., but don’t agree with the current cuts.  We think it would be prudent and fiscally responsible for leadership in Washington to focus on programs that are in excess or no longer relevant to the current environment and times.

Please join us and add your name to our letter targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner to cut the budget of Wildlife Services—a program that America doesn’t want or need.

Have something to say? Discuss this update along with the rest of the campaign.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• End Taxpayer Funded Wildlife Killing (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Stop Killing Wildlife (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Wildlife Services tightens dog policy (sacbee.com)
• Wildlife Services Employee Investigated Over Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Death (earthfirstnews.wordpress.com)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Stop Killing Wildlife FINAL DAY Petition needs less than 4K (56,090 of the 60K goal) people to sign…Thanks for help today! (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Investigation into the unauthorized killing of an endangered Mexican gray wolf by Wildlife Services employee (thewildlifenews.com)
• North Hempstead OKs plan to have geese killed (newsday.com)
• Fish and Wildlife Service reopens comment period on lesser prairie-chicken listing (mywesttexas.com)
• Deeper Cuts Seen as Congress Returns to Farms, Food Stamps (bloomberg.com)
• Tax Cuts and The Federal Budget (creditloan.com)

Help us get 500,000 messages to EPA to stop the Pebble Mine

The time for studying the Pebble Mine is over. The EPA has once again confirmed that the Pebble Mine would be a disaster for Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Tell the agency to act on its findings and reject the Pebble Mine!

Enough study. It’s time for action!

The EPA has just released its latest scientific findings. And once again it has determined that the Pebble Mine would be devastating for the spectacular wilderness, wildlife and people of Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

The time for study is over! Tell the EPA to finalize its assessment and stop the Pebble Mine.

The agency is inviting the public to send comments until May 31 – so we’re aiming to flood them with 500,000 anti-Pebble messages by month’s end. Please do your part today!

There are 10 billion reasons for EPA to stop this mega-mine. That’s how many tons of contaminated mining waste the Pebble Mine would produce, endangering one of America’s great natural treasures.

I’m sure you agree: We can’t stand by and allow a toxic mega-mine to destroy a world-class salmon fishery that provides 14,000 jobs and generates $1.5 billion per year just to fill the pockets of a few global mining companies.

The EPA has produced all the scientific evidence it needs to stop this mine. What’s more, it has the clear authority under the Clean Water Act to do so.

But the agency and the White House are under enormous pressure from the mining industry to give the Pebble Mine the green light. That’s why it’s so crucial that they hear from 500,000 outraged Americans right away.

Please tell EPA you will not tolerate the destruction of one of our planet’s last and greatest wild places. Tell them to turn their latest findings into action by rejecting the Pebble Mine.

Thank you for standing with NRDC and our local partners in defense of Bristol Bay.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• Stop the Pebble Mine! : Thank You – Take Action!: NRDC’s Save BioGems (ramyabdeljabbar.wordpress.com)
• Letter from the Editor – Time to stand up for salmon (thecordovatimes.com)
• Stand up for salmon (thecordovatimes.com)
• Alaska mine would damage streams and wetlands: EPA report (reuters.com)
• EPA continues pre-emptive assault on Alaska’s Pebble Mine (watchdog.org)
• Chrysler and EPA develop hydraulic drive for minivan (reviews.cnet.com)
• EPA Says Mining Project Could Wipe Out Salmon Streams (huffingtonpost.com)
• Chrysler and EPA develop hydraulic drive for minivan (reviews.cnet.com)
• EPA: Pebble mine project could hurt salmon streams (juneauempire.com)
• EPA: Alaska Mine Project Could Hurt Salmon Streams (abcnews.go.com)
• EPA’s Revised Watershed Assessment Shows Clear Need for protecting Bristol Bay (yubanet.com)
• EPA: Alaska Mine Project Could Hurt Salmon Streams (abcnews.go.com)

De-Fund the CIA

Share this action on Facebook

Share this action on Twitter

A message to RootsAction members from Douglas Valentine, author of The Phoenix Program:

Lies about Iraq.  Cash to corrupt Afghanistan. Drone wars waged in secret.  Blowback endangering us all.¹

If you’ve had enough of funding the CIA, click here.

We’ve now learned that Benghazi was a CIA disaster. The Washington Post reported days ago: “Although the ambassador was killed, the Benghazi ‘consulate’ was not a consulate at all but basically a secret CIA operation which included an effort to round up shoulder-launched missiles. In fact, only seven of the 30 Americans evacuated from Benghazi had any connection to the State Department; the rest were affiliated with the CIA.”²

The CIA does not exist to defend our freedoms. Wrapped in government secrecy, it exists to assure the political security of rich political elites.³

CIA operations — engaging in secret, legally protected wars, sabotage, subversion, murders and tortures — create enemies that Americans fear. And the agency is an instrument of psychological warfare aimed at you and me.⁴

It’s time we stop funding this out-of-control agency.

Through its bottomless black bag of unaccounted-for money, much of it generated by off-the-books proprietary companies and illegal activities like drug smuggling, the CIA spreads corruption around the world. This corruption undermines our own government and public officials. And the drone killings of innocent men, women, and children generate fierce resentment.

“Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it’s an act of terror,” said President Obama recently, unintentionally joining RootsAction in opposition to the CIA’s continued existence.

Tell your representative and senators right now that the CIA is the antithesis of democracy and needs to be abolished.

Please forward this email widely to like-minded friends.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Footnotes:
1. The Atlantic: Drone War Has More Victims Than the Bush-Era CIA Scandals
2. Washington Post: An Alternative Explanation for Benghazi
3. CNN: Karzai: CIA Promises to Continue Cash Payments
4. Douglas Valentine: The Phoenix Program

Related articles

• CIA: An Idea That’s Time Has Gone (my.firedoglake.com)
• It’s Time To Discuss The Secret CIA Operation At The Heart Of The Benghazi Scandal (businessinsider.com)
• CIA: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone (alethonews.wordpress.com)
• The Real Benghazi Scandal (counterpunch.org)
• CIA: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone – OpEd (albanytribune.com)
• What We Now Know About the CIA’s Benghazi Turf War (motherjones.com)
• CIA: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone (warisacrime.org)
• Benghazi Talking Points: “A Bureaucratic Knife Fight Pitting State vs. CIA” (motherjones.com)
• Benghazi Emails Reveal Rift between State Dept. and CIA (hngn.com)
• Woodward: On Benghazi, some ‘acted as if they want to be Nixonian’ (politico.com)

The way a real liberal thinks BTW, is that no matter who voted against sandy relief for the NJ’ean’s…I would have no problem getting them funds right away and actually, I’d be there already if I had the ways and means…….u see that difference in how people think and how they vote for the people?

Regardless, here is that list from Gawker (I’m pretty sure they broke the Legit rape story) : Here Are the Republicans Who Voted ‘No’ on Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds

Friday, Congress finally approved a $9.7 billion package to pay flood insurance claims from Hurricane Sandy. The measure was supposed to come to a vote earlier in the week, but was tabled by House Speaker John Boehner, drawing much criticism from both Democrats andhis fellow Republicans alike.

The measure passed unanimously through the Senate, but 67 members of the House of Representatives voted “no” to assisting people who were left, at best, powerless or homeless by a hurricane in November. All 67 are Republicans:

• Justin Amash (R-MI)
• Andy Barr (R-KY)
• Dan Benishek (R-MI)
• Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI)
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Jim Bridenstine (R-OK)
• Mo Brooks (R-AL)
• Paul Broun (R-GA)
• Steve Chabot (R-OH)
• Doug Collins (R-GA)
• Mike Conaway (R-TX)
• Tom Cotton (R-AR)
• Steve Daines (R-MT)
• Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
• Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)
• Sean Duffy (R-WI)
• Jeff Duncan (R-SC)
• Jimmy Duncan (R-TN)
• Stephen Fincher (R-TN)
• John Fleming (R-LA)
• Bill Flores (R-TX)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
• Trent Franks (R-AZ)
• Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
• Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
• Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
• Trey Gowdy (R-SC)
• Tom Graves (R-GA)
• Sam Graves (R-MO)
• Andrew Harris (R-MD)
• George Holding (R-NC)
• Richard Hudson (R-NC)
• Tim Huelskamp (R-KS)
• Randy Hultgren (R-IL)
• Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)
• Jim Jordan (R-OH)
• Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
• Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
• Thomas Massie (R-KY)
• Tom McClintock (R-CA)
• Mark Meadows (R-NC)
• Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
• Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)
• Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
• Steven Palazzo (R-MS)
• Steve Pearce (R-NM)
• Scott Perry (R-PA)
• Tom Petri (R-WI)
• Mike Pompeo (R-KS)
• Tom Price (R-GA)
• Phil Roe (R-TN)
• Todd Rokita (R-IN)
• Keith Rothfus (R-PA)
• Ed Royce (R-CA)
• Paul Ryan (R-WI)
• Matt Salmon (R-AZ)
• David Schweikert (R-AZ)
• Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
• Marlin Stutzman (R-IN)
• Mac Thornberry (R-TX)
• Randy Weber (R-TX)
• Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)
• Roger Williams (R-TX)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC)
• Rob Woodall (R-GA)
• Kevin Yoder (R-KS)
• Ted Yoho (R-FL)

The most high-profile Congressman on the list is Paul Ryan, failed vice presidential nominee. It also includes Mo Brooks, Ted Yoho, Ron DeSantis, Steven Palazzo and John Fleming from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, all of which are states that received much-needed federal aid following Hurricane Katrina, the only hurricane in American history that was more costly than Sandy. Speaker Boehner did not vote.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• New Reps. Ron DeSantis, Ted Yoho vote against Hurricane Sandy aid (tampabay.com)
• Mark Sanford Wins South Carolina Special Election (huffingtonpost.com)
• Reps. Massie, DeSantis, and Daines Stand for Consumers and Oppose the Internet Sales Tax (heritageaction.com)
• Elizabeth Colbert Busch Loses South Carolina Special Election (huffingtonpost.com)
• House Dems Set Fundraising Record (huffingtonpost.com)
• PC Local: Best Computer Repair Companies in Killeen, TX (pc.answers.com)
• For Freshmen, Vote on Repealing Obamacare a Chance to Make Mark (usnews.com)
• Are You Ready for a Summer Sales Tax Vacation? (turbotax.intuit.com)
• Karma, again: Liberals already tying Oklahoma relief efforts to Superstorm Sandy aid vote (twitchy.com)
• Republicans Who Voted Against Sandy Aid Ask For Aid To West, Texas After Explosion (thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com)

 

Elephant In The Room: Everything that the Rep’s of the GOP say every day, and every talking point they are fed to say by the brass or people at the helm, is EXACTLY NOT ONLY HOW THEY ACT(ED) SINCE BUSH SCAMMED HIS WAY INTO OFFICE, THEY WERE ALSO THE ONES THAT PLACED THESE BILLS INTO LAWS!

Political Science (journal) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is the problem with progressing any time soon and it goes direct to what Joy Ann Ried (The Grio) said over the weekend. That gave me my latest revelation about what happens in political science. Because honestly, they teach everything we are going through today in real life or with our politicians, back in college or some school (maybe HS). I just never saw it in action like I do today. You would hear some the terms used today, almost as jokes between us. Regardless, these laws in place today, were all set up by the GOP. And, like Joy (Reid) says ever so brilliantly teaching me more things every day…..is that they loved these laws when they enacted them and when they governed them for however many years. Think about it with every last thing they freak about or lets just talk about the latest three controversy’s….They created this so called big government. That happened over the Bush years. They created these anti privacy laws. That was enacted in the middle of the nigh so no one could rebut or vote against against with the Patriot act…..They created the budget restraints that held back from having more safety in certain hot spots. Its got to be so frustrating to be in place today, and watch these people lie and I mean lie…..Because again, they set up the laws and like Joy said over the weekend is that loved it when they were the ones doing it. Now, that someone else is dealing with it, they hate those same laws that they set up in the first places. Like I said today, they do teach this is in Poli Sci 101. I just forgot. They taught me about gerrymandering which is another vicious cycle to make things NOT normal for normal people. They taught me about filibuster’s but it never happened like it did since President Blackenstein’s been placed into office…again…..And, I get that the people that need to gain control by controlling things, rather than base them on their platforms, and that’s why they lie or freak out when that does not work. I guess that’s implied that is why would you would have to scam people out of their votes. But what happens is that you have these simple minded fucks in place. You have these people that just whatever to keep that seat. But, this running up against brick walls political science wise is created perfectly by the same people that are complaining about it, in hearings and on TV shows. And, you…are the dumb asses that vote them into their office. You are the ones that allow them to act this way. And, then what goes down is that you weirdo’s create more corrupt laws than the first ones and btw you GOPers…you kinda shot yourself in the foot so to speak….by yelling about this IRS debacle…..now, the IRS has no choice but to clamp down in the very same thing you profited on for years…And PS: is there a memo that the GOP sends out every day and to everyone because some guy on Chucky T’s show is saying the same exact sentences that I heard 6 times yesterday…I mean the exact wording…nothing is different,…not one word…I thought it was a replay but its live today….OI…..these people are so weird or actually…what I am feeding into here….this is all calculated but antiquated…..its that Rove thing where if you keep lying by saying whatever over and over and over and over and over, etc…it will stick…which it may…but only with clueless wonders that are morons…I think I have said it many times but that is indeed, the new GOP base? They are Dumb asses that just get told what to do and they do it….Which lets be real now…. how many people are there like that today? I thought hat went out in like 80s or 90s…..isn’t that what that new term for youth is known as…I forget the term but it was on the cover of time last week…..the me generation….anyway, I guess I’ll go back into my own bubble where I think people are not tools…..PSS: Todays admin has seen its numbers go up to 53% approval since the scandals broke…maybe allowing him tim to show his chops is also shooting yourselves in the feet….maybe you should do some REAL work….

Related articles

• The Top 5 Ways to Avoid an Online Scam (cashnetusa.com)
• every Sunni Citizens of the 50 million GCC populations of TWO TRILLION DOLLARS economy is an illegible citizen of Bahrain and has the right for Bahraini Passport at sight and vote. Let see how Iran can Democratize Bahrain. (alakhtal.wordpress.com)
• quit apologetic language. Iranian politician ain’t polite. Iran ain’t neighbor no mo it’s an enemy. Iran killing tens of thousands of Sunni elders, women & children in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, Baluchistan and Afghanistan. (alakhtal.wordpress.com)
• Joe Walsh for IL GOP Chairman (illinoisreview.typepad.com)
• Dems Never Learn: 2014 Season Underway (globalrev.wordpress.com)
• (what-ch-ya talkin about here willis?) Seriously, what the fuck is she (and Paul Ryan) talking about now? I fall asleep for three hours this afternoon and now….She (I think (Paul) Ryan did too) has made this IRS scam…about obamacare…Michele Bachmann: Obam (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• USC Professor Calls GOP Stupid, Racist in Video Rant (ktla.com)
• Attacking The Sheriff (briangerlach.wordpress.com)
• Wonkbook: House Republicans hate Obamacare. But they also kind of need it. (washingtonpost.com)
• GOP Yawns at AP Story Because ‘You Don’t Have Any Civil Liberties If You’re Dead’ (crooksandliars.com)

Mitch McConnell: “Culture Of Intimidation” Throughout Administration in the same breathe and in the same sentence that he contradicts that claim, by saying that those facts are not in yet….Heeeelllo….mcfly…mcfly….who votes these people into office? You people that do it…are dumb asses that are fucking everyone else up…..

White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer says that although actions that need to be taken on the IRS scandal plaguing the Obama administration, the wave of recent controversies won’t adversely affect the Obama administration.

Republicans appeared on the Sunday talk show circuit with hopes of sustaining their political momentum generated during this past week, one of the toughest weeks of Obama’s presidency. A series of controversies — that the IRS had targeted conservative groups, new questions about the administration’s response to last

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): There is a culture of intimidation throughout the administration. The I.R.S. is just the most recent example. Let me just recount a few for your audience. Over at HHS, back during the Obama-Kerry debates, Secretary Sebelius sent out a directive to health insurance companies telling them they couldn’t inform their policy holders of what they thought the impact of Obama Care would be on them. Now she’s trying to shake them down for contributions, in effect, to a group to go out and try to convince the public that they should love Obama Care.

Over at the FCC, there’ve been efforts by Obama appointees to shut down or make difficult the people who are seeking to buy advertising to criticize the administration. Over at the SEC, Obama appointees have been engaged in an effort to make it difficult for corporations to make it difficult to exercise their First Amendment political rights.

The I.R.S., coming back to the I.R.S., the head of the union at the I.R.S. gives 99% of her campaign money to Democrats. She openly criticizes the Republican House for trying to reduce government spending, and has specifically targeted Tea Party groups in her public comments. It’s no wonder that the agents in the I.R.S. sort of get the message. The president demonizes his opponents. (Meet the Press, May 19, 2013)

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• The Caucus: White House Aide Calls Criticism of Obama ‘Offensive’ (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Mitch McConnell Crashes and Burns When Pressed for Evidence of Obama Scandal (politicususa.com)
• McConnell: IRS scandal shows ‘culture of intimidation’ in WH (firstread.nbcnews.com)
• The I.R.S. and the Tea Party: Where Is the Scandal? (newyorker.com)
• White House defends IRS handling, McConnell asserts ‘culture of intimidation’ (firstread.nbcnews.com)
• David Gregory Calls Out Sen. McConnell Over Admin’s ‘Culture Of Intimidation’: No ‘Fact To Back It Up’ (mediaite.com)
• McConnell: ‘There is a culture of intimidation throughout the administration’ (news.yahoo.com)
• The Big Question: Is the White House Linked to IRS Abuses? (whitehousedossier.com)
• The Emerging Scandal Narrative: To Make Obama Pay, GOP Blasts ‘Culture of Intimidation’ (nationalreview.com)
• McConnell: No Evidence Tying IRS Scandal To Obama (huffingtonpost.com)

(what-ch-ya talkin about here willis?) Seriously, what the fuck is she (and Paul Ryan) talking about now? I fall asleep for three hours this afternoon and now….She (I think (Paul) Ryan did too) has made this IRS scam…about obamacare…Michele Bachmann: Obamacare Will ‘Literally’ Kill People; This woman is a fucking kook! You people that voted her in…(gerrymandered or not) are the biggest morons on this planet! U people that vote her into that office…are stupid people…she is LYING…again!

As the country prepares to celebrate the third anniversary of health care reform, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) insisted on Thursday that the Affordable Care Act will “kill” vulnerable women and children during a speech on the floor of the House.

In a long diatribe against the law, Bachmann predicted that the American people will “pay more” and get less, before suggesting that the provisions of Obamacare will “literally” kill people:

BACHMANN: That’s why we’re here because we’re saying let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let’s not do that. Let’s love people, let’s care about people. Let’s repeal it now while we can.

Watch it:

While the main coverage expansion provisions will go into effect in 2014, the ACA has so far saved seniors over $6 billion on prescription drugs, reduced administrative overhead, deterred private insurers from requesting double digit premium increases, kept millions of young people on their parents’ health care plans, and provided 34.1 million people with Medicare preventive services without additional cost-sharing.

Moments after calling for the complete repeal of a law that will extend health care coverage to 30 million Americans, Bachmann claimed that her belief in Christ inspires her to care “for the least of those who are in our midst.” After she completed her remarks, fellow Republican Rep. Michael Burgess (TX) observed that the Minnesota Congresswoman “has a way of stating these things that none of us are capable of.”

UPDATE

Bachmann later came back to the floor and described Medicaid — a health care program for lower-income Americans — as a “ghetto.” “Here’s the one that no American wants to be in. It’s the Medicaid ghetto,” she said. “And that’s where the lowest possible care, where very few doctors will be available available to offer this kind of care.” While the program is not without problems, a study by the Government Accountability Office showed Medicaid beneficiaries were just as happy with their health care as those with private insurance.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• GOP hopes IRS scandal will snag health care law (news.yahoo.com)
• Bachmann Pushes Lie That IRS Will Kill People as ‘Enforcer of Obamacare’ (crooksandliars.com)
• It’s National Women’s Health Week! (politicspowersex.wordpress.com)
• GOP hopes IRS scandal will snag health care law (sfgate.com)
• PoliGraph: Bachmann health premium claim leaves out key details (minnesota.publicradio.org)
• Cancer patient: ‘I’m the model case for why Obamacare’ is needed (tv.msnbc.com)
• Michele Bachmann: The IRS Will Kill People Through Obamacare (thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com)
• Again, House Votes 229-195 To Repeal Obamacare (crooksandliars.com)
• Michele Bachmann Uses IRS Scandal To Discredit Obamacare At Washington Tea Party Rally (mediaite.com)
• Minn.’s Bachmann sprints to TV with health care ad (sfgate.com)

Sustainable Sundays with Think Progress: Look at what media outlet became REAL again for the first time time since the Gulf war; because as much as i want to back this guy, his lying is so bad that I canNOt (his lies change every two hour some days and I am NOT joking by saying that sentence) but anyway, Rand Paul Struggles To Tie Obama To IRS Scandal (on CNN if you did not guess it yet)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) went on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday to use the IRS scandal to attack the Obama administraiton, but flubbed a key part of his case: he couldn’t defend the claim that IRS was targeting conservative groups as part of a political strategy to help the White House.

Paul, like most Republicans, has been spinning the scandal as an Obama Administration attack on dissenters. “What the IRS did is how the KGB used to target dissidents,” he wrote in a CNN op-ed. “It is how they deal with troublemakers in China.”

Some have argued the extra IRS scrutiny was part of a failed attempt to implement election law, as opposed to a political crackdown. Host Candy Crowley asked Paul why this interpretation was wrong. He couldn’t give her a reason:

CROWLEY: We do know this one place processes 70,000 applications. Can you see in your mind’s eye a way this might not have been political, that this was a misguided stupid way to sort but that they didn’t intend it to be some kind of political attempt to harass the Tea Party?

PAUL: I would think if there’s any chance that this was a mistake, the Investigator General wouldn’t be coming out and saying otherwise, and the IRS themselves wouldn’t be saying –

CROWLEY: They say it’s a mistake. I think the question is whether it’s political.

PAUL: Well, I think we’re going to have to see the memorandum. Apparently there is a policy, and I think we’re going to find there’s a written policy that says we were targeting people who were opposed to the President. And when that comes forward, we need to know who wrote the policy and who approved the policy…now there’s rumors who wrote the policy is the person running Obamacare, which doesn’t give us a lot of confidence about Obamacare.

CROWLEY: Senator, I have to run. I’m way over on this, but I have to just go back to something you said. Are you telling me you think there’s a memo somewhere in which someone said in the memo we’re targeting people going after the president? Is that what I heard you say?

PAUL: Well, we keep hearing the reports and we have several specifically worded items saying who was being targeted. In fact, one of the bullet points says those who are critical of the President. So I don’t know if that comes from a policy, but that’s what’s being reported in the press.

It’s unclear what Paul’s source for that last claim is, but the Investigator General’s report Paul references found no evidence that conservative groups were targeted as part of a political strategy to weaken the president’s political opponents. The report blamed independent IRS management for allowing the practice to go on in the lower-level Cincinnati office.

Republicans, by contrast, have tended to portray this as part of a concerted Obama Administration strategy to attack conservatives. They have also used the controversy to attack Obamacare.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• IRS scandal: West Michigan Tea Party leader contends group was targeted (mlive.com)
• Sen. Rand Paul condemns IRS in new resolution (redalertpolitics.com)
• Rand Paul: Obama is “Drunk on Power” Amid Growing List of Scandals (thedailysheeple.com)
• Sen. Paul slams White House response to IRS incident (thehill.com)
• Conservatives link IRS to Obamacare (politico.com)
• Lyin’ Paul Ryan Tells A Fact Free Tale About Obama and The IRS Scandal (politicususa.com)
• Dem: Ex-IRS chief lied to Congress (thehill.com)
• Tea Partiers worried IRS will deny Obamacare coverage (tv.msnbc.com)
• Candy Crowley: Is it Possible This Isn’t Political and IRS Didn’t Intend to Harass the Tea Party? (newsbusters.org)
• IRS Pounded Conservative prof (educationviews.org)

The Rest of Everest: Concordia; Brand New Episode Now Viewing at S2e TV!

Episode 187: Concordia

There She Is. The team is nearly finished with the approach trek to Broad Peak and K2 and finally reach the camp at Concordia. Concordia is a hub of sorts in the region as it sits at the confluence of the Baltoro Glacier and Godwin-Austen Glacier, between the base camps of several 8000m and 7000m peaks including K2 (8611m), Gasherbrum I (8080m), Broad Peak (8051) and Gasherbrum II (8034m). That’s right, from Concordia you can gaze upon four 8000m peaks in the immediate vicinity while stradelling two of the world’s largest glaciers! Speaking of viewing peaks, from their brief visit at Concordia, the team is able to get a rare, cloudless and unobstructed view of their objectives, K2 and Broad Peak. It’s an amazing sight and the weather is so astonishingly perfect, they wish they were up on K2′s summit ridge NOW! Jon Miller Total Running Time: 23:59

The Rest of Everest

An Almost Unabridged Expedition Experience. The Rest of Everest is a video podcast created by documentary filmmaker Jon Miller of TreeLine Productions in Colorado. It is “the rest” of the footage from the groundbreaking expedition documentary “Everest: The Other Side” which engrossed thousands of viewers when it premiered on Dish Network™ Pay-Per-View in May of 2005. The film documents the 2003 expedition to the Northeast Ridge route in Tibet, and coincides with the 50th anniversary climbing season. The story revolves around 23-year old climber Ben Clark and the fulfillment of his dream to become one of the youngest climbers to ever summit Everest. Although the film was very well received, there was so much of the story left to be told. Miller returned from Everest with over 80 hours of tape from the 60 day expedition. The final cut of the film totaled just 84 minutes. Average that out and it appears that only one minute of every hour filmed made it into the finished version In September 2007, the final episode from the 2003 expedition was released. The podcast began as a way to expand upon the story told in the film but has grown into an entity all it’s own. Since launching the podcast in 2006, Jon has returned to Everest three times to film more content specifically for the show and has recently returned from filming the East Face of Everest in April and May of 2010. Jon has now documented all three sides of the World’s highest mountain on video including special stereoscopic 3D material that will be released in the future with Season 5. Many episodes of the show also cover an entire expedition to Annapurna IV which Ben Clark and his climbing partners Josh Butson and Tim Clarke attempted in 2008. That “Beyond Everest” series brought the podcast back to its mountaineering roots. The Rest of Everest is far more than a look into the alien world of high-altitude mountaineering. It is a look at the places, cultures, people, travelers and mountaineers that call the Everest region and the Himalayas home. Watch a few episodes and you’ll discover that the world portrayed in this series is hardly alien at all. You’ve probably seen some of what it’s like to visit and climb Mount Everest. Well, this is the rest. This is The Rest of Everest.

Related articles

• New Episode today on The Rest of Everest show at S2e TV! (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• eta-Lyrids peak 2013 (shmeteorshowers.wordpress.com)
• Judge fines Costa 1M euro for Concordia wreck (kansascity.com)
• Malavalle Glacier Retreat,Italy (glacierchange.wordpress.com)
• Everest Through My Eyes: Why The Mountain Still Matters (mikeoffthemap.com)
• Suit says coach coerced college player into sexual acts (upi.com)
• Everest 2012: Simone Moro on Traversing Everest, Winter Ascents, and Women’s Education in Pakistan (adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com)
• Suit: Concordia coach coerced student to perform sexual acts (tribunetvpreprod.wordpress.com)
• Suit: Concordia coach coerced student to perform sexual acts (wgntv.com)
• Everest’s Ice Is Disappearing – OpEd (albanytribune.com)

Your Weekly Round Up: Democracy Now!

Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour

Democracy Now! Friday, May 17, 2013

Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour

Democracy Now! Thursday, May 16, 2013

Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour

Democracy Now! Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour

Democracy Now! Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour

Democracy Now! Monday, May 13, 2013

Related articles

• Your Week in Review: Democracy Now! (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• S2e TV Presents: In The Fight Episode 73, Vinyl Rewind presents Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Team Spirit is Unplugged and Unrehearsed Austin, Texas, Night Moves and This Is Hell: Death Of The World Class are Live At The Show on AltarTV and of cou (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Your Weekly Democracy Now! Wrap Up at S2e TV! (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Gang Stalking is COINTELPRO which is STASI Decomposition (lissakr11humane.com)
• Chris Hedges: The ‘Terrifying’ State Assault on Press Freedom (truthdig.com)
• How the Pentagon used video games to spy on users worldwide [Mark Mazzetti @ DemocracyNow!] (disclose.tv)
• Guatamala’s Montt guilty of Atrocity; but what about Ronald Reagan? (Democracy Now!) (juancole.com)
• Chris Hedges: From WikiLeaks to AP Scandal, U.S. Nears “Totalitarian Security & Surveillance State” ~ Democracy NOW! (theminutewithkirknoland.com)
• Democracy Now! Obama Worse Than Nixon? Obama spies on AP reporters (bsnorrell.blogspot.com)
• How the Pentagon Used Video Games to Spy on Users Worldwide [VIDEO] (secretsofthefed.com)

 

Sustainable Sundays: Animal Fighting Measure Clears House Vote, Rescued from Greyhound Racing: Lewis’ Story, Victory! Shelter Animals Now Colorado’s Official State Pet, TN Defeats Ag-Gag, & the ASPCA Happy Tail: Clever Canine & Pet of the Week: Gracie

Rescued from Greyhound Racing: Lewis’ Story Every year, thousands of young and healthy Greyhounds are euthanized because they are no longer deemed worthy racers. Some of the lucky ones, like Lewis, make it to rescue groups across the country. Read about Lewis’ heartwarming journey from racer to beloved family pet… Visit The Sustainable Action Network ASPCA Happy Tail: Clever Canine When Kelley first met Amber at the ASPCA, she was struck by the dog’s tentative curiosity. Now the two are fast friends. Meet the happy family and see photos of Amber lounging confidently in her new home. Visit The Sustainable Action Network Animal Fighting Measure Clears House Vote Great news! Late Wednesday night, the House Agriculture Committee approved an amendment to the Farm Bill that would make attending an organized animal fight a federal offense. Find out where the bill goes next. Visit The Sustainable Action Network Shelter Animals Now Colorado’s Official State Pet You know we love shelter pets. And Colorado does, too! This week, Colorado’s Governor named shelter dogs and cats as the state’s official pets. Tell us what you think your state pet should be. Visit The Sustainable Action Network Victory! TN Defeats Ag-Gag Huge news out of Tennessee this week: Governor Haslam vetoed a dangerous ag-gag bill, a major victory for animal welfare and consumer safety. See how you can help stop similar legislation in your state. ASPCA Pet of the Week: Gracie Little lap dog Gracie is a perfect first dog, though she’d also enjoy living with another small pup. She’s easy to care for and easy to fall for—and she’d love to meet you today at the ASPCA in NYC. Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• End Deadly Injuries to Greyhounds (forcechange.com)
• Pet of the Week: Sweeper is fast and sweet (westseattleherald.com)
• Action News investigation uncovers greyhound injuries, deaths at W.Va. racetrack (wtae.com)
• Cruelty at the Track (expertscolumn.com)
• Humans racing greyhounds a close battle (espn.go.com)
• ASPCA Arrests Bronx Man for Shooting, Killing Neighbor’s Maltese (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Put an end to greyhound racing (animalsdeservetolive.com)
• Race (constantgeography.com)
• Greyhound Trust still backs winners (berwick-advertiser.co.uk)
• Conversations with my pets #2 – Walking me? Seriously… Outside with animals and things? (cherylandrews.wordpress.com)

Sustainable Sundays: In Defense of Animals, NBC’s ‘Today Show’ Reveals Video Evidence of Cruel Wild Horse and Burro Roundups, Speak Out Against Animal Mistreatment at UCSF Labs, Victory in Texas as Gas Chambers are Banned!, Victory – Tennessee Governor Vetoes Ag Gag Bill!

NBC’s ‘Today Show’ Reveals Video Evidence of Cruel Wild Horse and Burro Roundups

Please Ask Secretary Jewell to Reform the BLM Program

NBC’s Today Show recently aired a segment titled “Wild But Not Free,” exposing the failure of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to effectively and humanely manage America’s wild horse and burro populations. In the coverage, music legend Carole King speaks out on behalf of wild horses, as does a former BLM employee who managed wild horses for 30 years.  A rancher who uses public lands is also interviewed and questions the value of horses stockpiled in BLM holding pens, saying “Let ‘em go to slaughterhouses.”

Footage provided by IDA’s coalition partner, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign and other coalition members, captures the brutality of helicopter roundups conducted by the BLM. During these “gathers,” horses are stampeded and chased until they’re too exhausted to run, resulting in many horrific injuries and deaths. Family bands are heartlessly torn apart, never to see each other again.

Click here to watch NBC’s coverage. (We warn you that some of the footage is disturbing)

Please urge Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to take immediate and proactive action to reform the BLM program to humanely manage wild horses and burros by clicking here and also Tweet @Secretary Jewell to let her know how important this issue is to you.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

---

Speak Out Against Animal Mistreatment at UCSF Labs

The University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) has a long-standing and shameful record of animal neglect and mistreatment at its animal labs.  Despite the $92,500 they were fined in 2005 by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to settle violations of the Animal Welfare Act, more than 100 additional violations of federal animal welfare laws and guidelines have recently been exposed.

These involved the agonizing fate of a female monkey who, apart from her multiple invasive brain surgeries in a Parkinson’s study, suffered further extreme distress due to painful complications from a piece of plastic acrylic left in her head for two years.  Another monkey was subjected to multiple invasive brain surgeries and was deliberately deprived of food so that he would perform tasks while locked in a restraint chair. He lost 25 percent of his body weight. In another horrific incident, experimenters placed live newborn mice inside a freezer meant for dead animals.

UCSF’s animal abuse must not go ignored and they must be held accountable.

Click here to take action now by contacting the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) to revoke UCSF’s accreditation under AAALAC.

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

---

Victory in Texas as Gas Chambers are Banned!

Join IDA in Working to Ban Gas Chambers Nationwide

Last Friday, Governor Rick Perry made history in Texas by signing SB 360, a law prohibiting the use of gas chambers to kill animal companions abandoned in shelters throughout the state.  We thank our many supporters in Texas who responded to our alerts and made calls on behalf of animals in shelters as well as the dedicated support of other groups and individuals who worked together to make this critical victory possible for them.

Please join IDA as we work to ensure all animals in shelters across the United States never see the walls of gas chambers by clicking here and taking action now to urge your U.S. representatives to co-sponsor HR 208.

 

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

---

Victory – Tennessee Governor Vetoes Ag Gag Bill!

IDA teamed up with animal advocates like you, other animal protection groups, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to convince Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to veto the state’s proposed “ag gag” bill. Ag Gag bills seek to criminalize individuals who document animal abuse in slaughterhouses and on factory farms. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are our constitutional rights as Americans. Without the evidence that undercover video provides, the worst abuses committed by the factory farming industry would go unseen and unpunished. Ag Gag bills are a clear attempt by animal agriculture interests to suppress exposure of severe animal abuse. If the animal agriculture industry is not responsible for any wrongdoings and has nothing to hide, it should not be concerned about undercover investigations.  Thank you for speaking up and making a positive difference for animals!

Visit The Sustainable Action Network

Related articles

• ALEC protecting animal abuse (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Former wild-roaming horses, burros coming up for adoption (azstarnet.com)
• Reward of €5,000 offered after horse disemboweled (irishtimes.com)
• Award of €5000 offered after horse disemboweled (irishtimes.com)
• Animal Abusers Registry–an idea whose time has come (thepoodleanddogblog.typepad.com)
• Support Animal Abuser Registry in Michigan (forcechange.com)
• 40 horses and burros up for adoption in Oakdale (modbee.com)
• Wild-horse advocates rally vs. roundups, slaughter (mysanantonio.com)
• Report Finds Little Progress On Animal Abuse (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• New Interior Secretary Sally Jewell waiting for study on wild horses (denverpost.com)