Egypt Denies Gaza Freedom March Access to Border, Hundreds Protest in Cairo

DemocracyNow!
December 29, 2009

In Egypt, hundreds of solidarity activists from around the world are being prevented by the Egyptian government from entering Gaza. Dubbed the Gaza Freedom March, organizers were planning to cross the border last Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of Israel’s assault on Gaza that killed 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis. We get a report...

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Rich-Poor, North-South Divide Marks COP15’s Opening Week

DemocracyNow!
December 11, 2009

As debates between rich and poor nations over emission cuts and funding continue on this fifth day of the COP15 climate summit here in Copenhagen, we begin with an overview of the week’s developments. The rich countries have proposed a climate fund of $10 billion a year from 2010 to 2012 to help developing countries adapt to climate change. Poor countries say that is too little. We hear from the climate negotiators from India, China, and Association of Small Island States, and get analysis from Kate Horner of Friends of the Earth.

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On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests by US-Backed Salvadoran Forces, Thousands to Protest “School of the Assassins” at Ft. Benning

DemocracyNow!
November 20, 2009

Thousands are gathering at Fort Benning in Georgia this weekend for the annual protest to shut down the US Army training center dubbed by critics as the “School of the Assassins” for having trained some of the worst human rights violators in Latin America. This year’s protest will mark the twentieth anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador by the US-backed Salvadoran military. It comes days after the priests were posthumously bestowed El Salvador’s highest civilian award, marking the first time the Salvadoran government has honored the priests since their deaths. To talk about the priests and the overall state of Latin American affairs, we’re joined by Blase Bonpane, director of the Office of the Americas. A former Maryknoll priest, he has worked for more than four decades to promote human rights in Latin America...

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What Have We Done to Democracy?

by Arundhati Roy
Web Exclusive, October 2009
Utne Reader

Of Nearsighted Progress, Feral Howls, Consensus, Chaos, and a New Cold War in Kashmir...

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Tell Your Senators You Want Patriot Act Reform

American Civil Liberties Union
September 23, 2009

After eight years of the Patriot Act and the expansion of the government’s power to spy on Americans, we have an opportunity to bring the Patriot Act in line with the Constitution.

Our best chance of reforming the Patriot Act is making sure the Senate stongly supports the Feingold JUSTICE Act. Action on this critical issue could take place at any moment. Please contact your senator now and ask them to become a co-sponsor of the JUSTICE Act.

Click on Title above to take action!

Part II: Tim Robbins on Activism in Hollywood from the 1930s to the Present

DemocracyNow!
August 27, 2009

Tim Robbins is the artistic director of the Actor’s Gang and an Academy-award winning actor, director, producer, and writer.
He won an Oscar for his role in “Mystic River” and is well-known for his roles in numerous films over the past two decades including “The Shawshank Redemption”, “The Player”, “Bull Durham”, and “Bob Roberts.” His best known directorial ventures include the award-winning “Cradle Will Rock” and “Dead Man Walking.”

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Meet dogs and young men saved from dogfighting

Humane Society of the United States

There is so much that tears at our hearts in this bloody realm of dogfighting. But we must look forward and reach these kids before they step into the quicksand of street fighting. When we see the positive effects of our program, it is magical. A few of these moments are captured in our slideshow. None of us wanted to imagine that fate that awaited so many of these dogs. But then our experts and community organizers stepped in and ushered in a dramatically different outcome.

If you care about ending dogfighting, this is the program to get us there.

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Greenpeace: Getting in People’s Faces and Getting Results

by Keith Goetzman
August 6, 2009
Utne

The environmental group Greenpeace often publicly shames corporations for their environmentally destructive ways, but it also works with them to improve if they have a change of heart as it has done with Kleenex, Nike, and Timberland.

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True-life superheroes, now in comic books

Heather Wax | May 2009 issue
Ode Magazine

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it’s Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama... and Mahatma Gandhi, Anne Frank and Nelson Mandela. Read all about them in the Japanese comics promoting positive messages...

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Why is Tom Daschle undermining President Obama's health care plan on national television?

Credo Action

Tom Daschle was President Obama's pick to be Secretary of Health and Human Services - and with his extensive healh care background, many lauded this as an excellent choice. Who knew he'd sell public health care down the river a few months later?

Of course, the nomination went south after it came to light that Daschle had over $100,000 in unpaid taxes on such things as a private car and full-time driver. So Daschle went back to his gig as one of the founders and board members of the Bipartisan Policy Center - a DC think-tank that Daschle founded with Bob Dole and two other former senators. And guess what? The BPC has extensive funding ties to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

Click on Title above to sign Petition...

Protect Your Drinking Water From Toxic Chemicals

Earth Justice
June 13, 2009

Did you know that the oil and gas industry, thanks to Dick Cheney and his old friends at Halliburton, are exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act?

That's right: thanks to a provision slipped into the highly-controversial Energy Policy Act of 2005 at the request of Halliburton, Exxon and a handful of other corporations, the oil and gas industry was exempted from having to comply with critical provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act—a law that protects underground sources of drinking water for millions of Americans.

This exemption has allowed hydraulic fracturing—a process that increases oil and gas yields by shooting an oftentimes toxic brew of chemicals underground at high pressures—to go completely unregulated by federal law.

Hydraulic fracturing is already suspected of endangering drinking water in six states. However, due to the "Halliburton Loophole" exemption, EPA lacks the authority to investigate instances of contamination and cannot regulate this controversial practice.

Thankfully, concerned members of Congress in both the House and Senate have recently introduced legislation to close the "Halliburton Loophole" and ensure that Big Oil has to follow the same laws that every other industry does.

H.R. 2766, introduced by Diana DeGette (D-CO), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Jared Polis (D-CO); and S. 1215 introduced by Bob Casey (D-PA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would regulate hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Please contact your congressperson and senators and ask them to cosponsor these important pieces of legislation. Click on Title above...

Tell top shoe brands to protect the Amazon and the climate

GreenPeace
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. But destroying the rainforest for cattle products does more than destroy the ecosystem — it’s also a major source of global warming pollution.

Deforestation causes 20% of the world’s global warming emissions. That’s more climate pollution than all of the world’s cars, trucks, trains, planes, and ships combined. The Brazilian cattle industry is responsible for 80% of deforestation in the Amazon, making it the largest single driver of deforestation in the world — and therefore the largest single driver of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in the world.

Brazil’s cattle industry is producing leather that could end up in popular shoe brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Timberland.



Take action >> Urge Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Timberland, Clarks, and Geox to refuse to buy leather that's killing our future.

These popular brand names have the power to make a difference in the Amazon, and so do YOU. We can’t allow shoe producers to run the Amazon into the ground. Please take action now.
PLEASE CLICK TITLE ABOVE TO TAKE ACTION!

Grammy-Winning Soul Musician John Legend at UPenn Commencement: “A Commitment to Truth Requires a Commitment to Social Justice”

DemocracyNow.org
May 19, 2009

John Legend: “From the war in Iraq to credit-default swaps to the internet bubble to the real estate bubble, too often we got caught up in the hype and fail to see the real truth…Too often, we become apathetic. We see the lies, we see the obfuscation, the deception. And we fail to point it out. We’re afraid to rain on the parade, afraid to rock the boat, afraid to pursue the truth.”...

Spread the Philadelphia Miracle

ACORN

We've found a solution to the foreclosure crisis that will keep families in their homes. It's so simple and so powerful, we're calling it the Philadelphia Miracle.

The Philadelphia Foreclosure Diversion Program required lenders seeking foreclosures to sit down with homeowners and mediate a resolution. They succeeded in keeping 78% of families in their homes.

Click on the post title to inform your Senator of this way to help families!

Global Day of Action for Troy Davis

Amnesty International

What are your plans?
Troy Davis' stay of execution is set to expire on May 15. On May 19, groups and individuals all around the world will be organizing demonstrations, vigils, teach-ins or other public events to show the state of Georgia that the execution of Troy Davis would be an unacceptable travesty of justice. We need you to be as visible and as loud as possible!

» Get ideas for activities or events
» Download a flyer that you can use for your event
» Order "I am Troy Davis" shirts to wear at your event

Hold Bush and His Co-Conspirators Criminally Accountable!

The vital resources of the country have been drained in a criminal enterprise benefiting war profiteers. The people know of and are outraged by the billions of dollars in profit made by Dick Cheney's Halliburton and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Don’t buy Kimberly-Clark’s latest ruse

by Ginger Cassady
Grist
April 13, 2009

If a huge coal power plant goes next door and sets up a cute little boutique collection of five solar panels, have your basic feelings about that giant coal power plant changed? Probably not...
But what if said coal company releases advertisements announcing that they’ve “gone solar,” complete with misleading close-up pics of those cute solar panels? Enough people might fall for it to make the ads worthwhile.

Tell Congress to pass Chemical Security NOW!

The Bayer corporation is trying to conceal details of a deadly chemical plant accident at their factory in Institute, West Virginia. The accident killed two employees and forced a state of emergency where thousands of residents were advised to take shelter in their homes1.

Now Congress is considering a law -- once co-sponsored by Barack Obama -- that would require companies like Bayer to use safer procedures and tell the community about the risk their facility poses. But Bayer and their allies are trying to use the threat of terrorism to hide the truth from the public and oppose tighter rules.

Tell Congress not to listen to the chemical industry -- pass tough chemical security legislation.
http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/7002/bayercropscience

Believe it or not, the accident could have been a lot worse. Bayer's facility stores tons of a deadly chemical called methyl isocyanate. In 1984 a similar accident killed thousands of people in Bhopal, India when 42 tons of this chemical was released. Bayer's facility in West Virginia had more than 200 tons stored in tanks less than 100 feet from where the explosion happened2.

But there's no need for these kind of life-threatening accidents. Hundreds of chemical facilities have switched to safer and more secure chemicals or processes that eliminate risk to the community. But Bayer's plant isn't one of them, and now the company wants to hide information about what happened by claiming that if the public knows the truth, they will be more vulnerable to a terrorist attack3.

Letting Bayer get away with covering up a near-catastrophic chemical accident isn't just wrong, it's a dangerous precedent. Bayer isn't the only plant in the country storing dangerous chemicals. Refineries, pesticide plants, and even water treatment plants are potential risks in every major city and town. And that's why we need chemical security legislation that puts all high-risk facilities on an even playing field, requires them to use safer procedures, and protects the public's right to know about hazards in their back yard.

Tell Congress to follow President Obama's lead and adopt tough chemical security regulations.

East Timorese Deserve Justice!

Statement by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) on the Anniversary of the Liquiça Massacre

On the tenth anniversary of the massacre at the Catholic Church in Liquiça, ETAN urges the international community to finally respond to the demand for justice of the victims of this and other horrific crimes committed during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (Timor-Leste).

Those responsible for the many crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide committed during Indonesia's illegal occupation of East Timor between 1975 and 1999 must be held accountable...

In Pakistan, A Government Official-Turned-Protester

by Philip Reeves
NPR Morning Edition, March 25, 2009

Many thousands of people took part in the campaign to restore Pakistan's Chief Justice after he was ousted by the country's military ruler more than two years ago. But one man stood out amid that noisy throng of black-suited lawyers, civil activists and party cadres, who are now celebrating the judge's return to the bench: 85-year-old Roedad Khan.

Earth Hour: Power down for 60 minutes on March 28

Seattle Times
Sunday, March 22, 2009

On March 28, if the lights go off in your Cape Town hotel or, close to home, a Seattle hotel restaurant switches to candles, do not be alarmed. It's not an electrical-grid meltdown but a global show of support.

During Earth Hour, citizens of the world are asked to turn off their power for one hour, starting at 8:30 p.m. local time, in a symbolic stance against global warming.

World Water Day March 22

Protect our right to water. If you don't speak out, our access to clean, safe, affordable water is at risk.

Many countries around the world already support the human right to water, which builds a framework of international law that provides for accessible, clean, drinking water for all. But thanks to holdover staff from the Bush Administration, the United States has recently and appallingly removed language that references the human right to water from the ministerial declaration of the 5th World Water Forum underway in Istanbul, Turkey.


This is a step backward for all those who have worked to establish the legal precedent in international law to affirm the human right to water. It is time to declare water a human right and a public good.

Global water statistics are heartbreaking:

* 1.4 billion people live without clean drinking water.
* Two-fifths of the world’s population lack access to proper sanitation.
* Every eight seconds a child dies from drinking dirty water. * Half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by people with an easily preventable waterborne disease.
* 80 percent of all sickness and disease worldwide is related to contaminated water, according to the World Health Organization.
* Dirty water kills more children than war, malaria, HIV/AIDS and traffic accidents combined.

Your voice is needed immediately. Write to Congress now.

http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26890

AT+T Accused of Discriminating Against Local Public Access Channels, Deadline for Public Comment Expires Tonight

Community media groups are accusing the telecom giant AT&T of discriminating against local public access channels across the nation, and the deadline for public comment is midnight tonight. The dispute centers around how AT&T delivers public television stations to customers. Instead of putting the stations on individual channels, AT&T has bundled community stations onto a generic channel that can only be navigated through a complex and lengthy process. Public television advocates say AT&T is imposing unfair restrictions that will severely restrict audiences.

Hershey, Mars & Nestle: Stop Child Labor!

Since 2001, chocolate consumers around the world have voiced their concern about child labor and trafficking on cocoa farms in West Africa. Despite millions of dollars and tons of public relations campaigns over the years, the worst forms of child labor and trafficking continue to occur in the cocoa supply chains of major US chocolate companies like Hershey, M&M/Mars and Nestle. We've heard the same talking points from these companies for years about how they are working together as an industry to stop child labor, but their lack of progress to date is unacceptable. For more information about industry initiatives to date, please see ILRF's most recent cocoa report.



Please join us today in getting beyond the talking points and asking Hershey, M&M/Mars and Nestle what each company is doing specifically to ensure they are respecting internationally recognized labor rights in their cocoa sourcing.


http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/chocolate

TAKE ACTION: Ensure human needs are met in the final recovery plan!

The Senate and House have passed different versions of President Obama’s economic recovery package. While the total cost is similar, there are significant differences in how the House and Senate would allocate the funds. Now Congress must resolve these differences in a conference committee made up of key members of both houses.

Your help is needed to ensure that the final bill retains the highest funding for programs that provides the great benefit to people most in need.

Call your U.S. senators and representative toll-free* today at 1-800-473-6711.
Tell them to make sure the conference negotiators:

*Retain the highest funding for programs that have the greatest benefit for the lowest- income people, including aid to states and housing programs.
*Remove the flawed “E-Verify” requirement.
*Remove $1 billion in funding for nuclear weapons.

American Friends Service Committee
http://www.afsc.org/EconomicJustice/US/ht/d/sp/i/70722/pid/70722

Tell Florida Governor Crist to Take a Stand Against Slavery!

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is calling on Florida Governor Charlie Crist to commit the full power of his office to address the plague of modern-day slavery in Florida's fields. Add your voice to this call and send an email or fax to the governor today!
Background: Just this past December, federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice wrapped up yet another farm labor slavery case in Florida, a case the Chief Assistant US Attorney called one of Southwest Florida's biggest, ugliest slavery cases ever. This became the seventh such slavery case in ten years, involving a total of well over 1,000 workers.

Yet, when a reporter called Governor Crist's office about this most recent case, the governor declined to comment and instead passed the call off to the spokesperson for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Terrence McElroy, who -- not once, but twice -- gave the impression that one slavery case per year is somehow no cause for alarm.

For decades, the silence of Florida's governors in the face of the brutal exploitation of the state's farmworkers has allowed that exploitation -- up to and including modern-day slavery -- to persist.

Join farmworkers and consumers from across Florida and the US in telling Governor Crist that now is the time to break the silence and ensure that this latest slavery case is the last slavery case ever in Florida's fields.

The letter not only calls on Governor Crist to publicly condemn the continuing existence of modern-day slavery, but also to demand that the Florida Tomato Growers' Exchange end its efforts to nullify the agreements reached between the CIW and leading fast-food and supermarket purchasers of Florida tomatoes to improve farmworker wages and working conditions, the conditions that provide the fertile soil in which modern-day slavery takes root.

We will be collecting signatures, both here in Immokalee and across the country, during the month of February. If there is no response, we plan to deliver the signatures with a creative action in Tallahassee in the month of March. Stay tuned for more details on the petition in the weeks ahead, and in the meantime you can help us gather more signatures among your friends and co-workers, at your school or place of worship!



http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/Governor_Crist_stand_against_slavery/

Roses Are Red, Lipstick (Still!) Has Lead

This Valentine’s Day, you may want to pass on the ruby red lips: The FDA still hasn’t done anything about lead in lipstick.

It has been more than a year since the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported that the urban legend was true: popular brands of lipstick do contain lead. The FDA said it would conduct an independent investigation. Despite repeated calls from the Campaign, our allies and our supporters (that's you), as well as pressure from U.S. Senators, the FDA still has not released any data on its own lipstick tests or taken any action to protect people from dangerous ingredients in cosmetic products.

After the Campaign released "A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipstick," dozens of news outlets across the country covered the story, and inquiries from individuals came flooding in. It is clear that Americans do not want potent neurotoxins like lead in their lipstick, or any other consumer product.

Unlike the United States, the European Union and Canada actually regulate cosmetics. Large cosmetics companies are now selling safer products in other countries – but because they are not mandated to remove lead and other harmful substances from U.S. products, we doubt they will. This is not only bad for public health; it also leaves the U.S. behind while our peers drive innovation of safer products.

The FDA should require cosmetics to be safe for long-term use. Tell the agency that we deserve lipstick without lead by filling out the form on this page. Your letter will be sent to Dr. Linda Katz, Director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, and Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Frank Torti.

With your help, we can kiss lead and other harmful chemicals in cosmetics goodbye!

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5500/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1052

Tell Congress to Fix Our Broken Food Safety System!

The current Salmonella contamination in peanut butter products is the most recent failure of FDA's ability to inspect and regulate our food system. The Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that is supposed to create a safety net to protect consumers from unsafe food, can't handle the job. Now is the time to reorganize and create a better agency that can actually deal with food safety. We have a new Congress and a new President who can make real change and overhaul our broken food safety system.

Can you tell Congress to take action now and fix the FDA and our broken food safety system?

Commend President Obama and Call for Accountability

Amnesty International commends President Barack Obama’s signing of executive orders on Guantanamo, detention policy, interrogation and transparency, along with his decision to halt military commissions at Guantanamo, as important steps forward in committing the United States government to human rights, international law, the U.S. Constitution, and the values and ideals central to a just, free and secure society. As President Obama said at the signing ceremony, the United States does not have "to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals." Please take a moment to commend him for his initial first positive steps and ask him to finish the job he started.

Tim DeChristopher Reinvents the Greenbuck in Utah

by Jerry CopeDesigner, Filmmaker, Eco Activist
Huffington Post
January 11, 2009

...Al Gore, James Hansen, Pat Shea, and numerous others have all issued the call for vastly increased peaceful civil disobedience to force real change in government and corporate environmental policy. Mr. DeChristopher is the most recent to answer the call and has inspired people across the globe by his courage and tenacity. To voice your support for Tim DeChristopher or assist with his legal defense go to Bidder70.org .

URGENT: Petition to Urge President-elect Obama not to appoint former Adm. Dennis Blair

Sign the petition now! http://www.petitiononline.com/blair01/petition.html

Urge President-elect Obama not to appoint former Adm. Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence. As Commander in the Pacific, he cozied up to the Indonesian military and downplayed human rights concerns in the lead up and aftermath of East Timor's independence referendum. According to news reports, Obama will appoint his intelligence chief this week.

For background go see these ETAN media releases:

Adm. Blair Poor Choice as Director of National Intelligence, Says Rights Group; Blair’s History with Indonesia and East Timor Raises Questions about Likely Nominee

ETAN Urges President-elect Obama Not to Appoint Adm. Blair Director of National Intelligence; ETAN Menolak Adm. Blair sebagai Kepala Intelijen Nasional
In addition to signing the petition, you can also cut, paste and modify the text below and post it to President-elect Obama's transition website. Just go here: http://change.gov/page/s/seattable and send a comment.

Thank you and spread the word! ETAN

President-elect Obama -

We urge you not to appoint Adm. Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence. During his years as Pacific Commander, Blair actively worked to reinstate military assistance and deepen ties to Indonesia's military, despite its ongoing human rights violations in East Timor and its consistent record of impunity. In 1999, he undermined the U.S. efforts to support human rights and self-determination in the Indonesian-occupied territory and opposed congressional efforts to limit assistance.

In April 1999, just days after Indonesian security forces and their militias carried out a brutal, churchyard massacre, Adm. Blair delivered a message of 'business-as-usual' to Indonesian General Wiranto, then Commander of the Indonesian armed forces. Following East Timor's pro-independence vote, Blair sought the quickest possible restoration of military assistance, despite Indonesia's highly destructive exit and the failure, which continues to this day, to prosecute the senior officials who oversaw the violence.
This lack of concern for human rights shows that he is unlikely to be a champion of reform. I don't believe that this is the kind of change people are expecting.

Power Past Coal

100 Days of Action to Expose the True Cost of Coal, Plug into New Power
Join dozens of groups across the United States between January 21st to April 30th for 100 Days of Action to Power Past Coal! From Appalachia to Arizona, from the Dakotas to Washington DC, we’re united to share the stories from communities impacted by coal, and to begin working on a truly clean and just energy future.

Take action. Tell your story. Join the movement.
Starting on January 20th, the new president and congress will have a unique opportunity to tackle one of the biggest justice issues in the United States today: Coal.
The whole life cycle of coal is costly, dirty and deadly, from mining, to dumping coal waste to global warming. The communities that coal impacts are some of the poorest places in the US; we need new green jobs in these communities and new energy options for America.
Each day, from January 21st to April 30th, one or more communities will make a call for us to power past coal – from its destructive mining practices to its dangerous waste disposal. Citizens across the US will gather with each other and organizations, small and large, to work for clean energy, to tell their truth about coal, to keep false solutions that include coal out of climate change legislation, and stand in solidarity with communities impacted by coal.
Our actions will tell the story of the new power we are building — the power of the grassroots joining together to Power Past Coal.

http://powerpastcoal.org/