Welcome to this week's fabulous installment of my Sunday Afternoon Action Diary!! This isn't the place for meta-bickering, or circular firing squads,
this is the place where we can come together and make Daily Kos an effective tool for taking action to make the world and our Country a better place!
I won't keep you with fluff up here...but we've got LOTS of important items today...we've got action items on Voting Issues, Health Care, the Media (those bastards!), Torture (those bastards!), Civil Rights (NSA illegal spying), Equal Rights (that damn Federal Marriage Protection Amendment), and lots of other stuff! You don't have to take action all at once by the way, but it would be helpful of you to recommend so that many people have the opportunity to read this. For those of you short on time, or who would like to take just a few actions each day, you can find any comment by me on this site and the link in my sig will bring you to my latest and most fabulous action diary!
So, without further ado, happy action!!
Illegal NSA Wiretapping:
People for the American Way has a list of talking points for your about the illegal wiretapping. Click here for the talking points...and here for your contact info for your Senators. Please contact them about this immediately!! They also have a petition you can sign to call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the White House's many illegal actions. Click here to sign that petition!
The ACLU wants you to sign a petition to Demand the Truth about the illegal wiretapping program.
Torture:
Some new torture photos were released this week from Abu Ghraib prison, and the U.N. recommended that the U.S. shut down Gitmo. Faithful America has a letter that you should all sign onto, written by the National Council of Churches' General Secretary Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar and directed to Secretary of State Conoleezza Rice urging her to comply with the United Nations recommendations. Please sign this letter...and you should also write to your Senators and pressure them to request the shut down of Gitmo as well.
Click here to see a video by Amnesty International that shows how we're connected to torture. You can also take action there and pressure Congress to outlaw the outsourcing of torture!
Voting Issues:
Everyone here knows how important voting is, but even more important is making sure your vote actually says what you want it to say, and that it counts! Vote Trust USA has an Action Alerts page. There are federal action items for everyone, as well as a number of specific state items! If you're concerned about voting in this country, you should be taking action and getting updates from Vote Trust USA.
Health Care Issues:
On March 7, be a part of NARAL Pro-Choice America's "Prevention First" national Day of Action that calls on state and federal leaders to support women's access to birth control. Click here to help NARAL prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion once and for all.
As some of you may recall, the FDA has been holding back on voting on whether or not Plan B should become an over-the-counter drug, available without a prescription. Well, there's a plan out there to get the FDA moving on this issue, or to sidestep the FDA altogether in their attempts to block this drug. Click here to tell Congress to support the "Plan B for Plan B", which
"would give the FDA 30 days to approve or deny the application for the "morning-after pill" Plan B. If the agency continues to drag its feet, the application is assumed to be approved - and women will finally have easier access to this important means of preventing unintended pregnancy."
Earthjustice has a health care item!
Last December, EPA announced a proposed rule that requires no mercury reductions (and inadequate reductions of other air toxics) from coal-fired cement plants, even though cement plants across the country released at least 12,000 pounds of mercury into the air in 2003. Send EPA a message: Stop mercury pollution from cement plants now!
Please add your own personal reasons for wanting a reduction in mercury pollution, the more personal the letters, the better! When you're done with your letter, check out the other action alert items they've got!
Click here to join the DSCC and help tell Republicans to clean up their Medicare mess!
Click here to use St. Joseph's Health System Advocacy to email your Congresspeople about Bush's proposed budget cuts to Medicare. You can use their talking points to create your very own letter:)
Join NARAL and WalmartWatch in telling Wal-Mart to stock Plan B in ALL their stores!
The following items in the box are items that appeared in the action diary 2 weeks ago, but they are seriously relevant and important...so please take action if you haven't already:
Want to help stop Bush's Health Savings Accounts?? Communications Workers of America (CWA) has a letter you can send to your Representatives! Click here to read the letter and enter your quick info to send it! You can add your own personal stories to make it even MORE persuading if you have time, but if not, at least take 30 seconds to enter your info and send off the form letter. Please.
The AFL-CIO has another letter you can send to your Reps to prevent Health Savings Accounts. Here's the link.
Americans for Health Care also has an action item for you to send to the President regarding health care. So, click here to tell Bush we need real health care reform!
Are you concerned about the lack of health care coverage for children in America? Click here to tell Bush you want a Federal Budget that makes Children's health a priority!
Protect the Environment:
From Earthjustice:
For more than 30 years, the Clean Water Act has provided critical protections for our streams, lakes, wetlands, beaches, and other waters we depend on for safe drinking water, habitat for fish and wildlife, and recreational opportunities. But long-standing federal protections for these waters are now in jeopardy. Developers, the oil industry, and other polluters are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to radically restrict the types of waters subject to the Clean Water Act. While we await the court's decision, there is already a bill in Congress that could restore protections for any waters placed at risk of pollution or destruction. Please ask your Senators and Representative to protect our waters for future generations by co-sponsoring the "Clean Water Authority Restoration Act" today!
Defenders of Wildlife is raising money to battle the man who has become enemy #1 to wildlife and the environment, Richard Pombo. Defenders wants to open a field office in Pombo's district. Click here to help them open their office and help them help us to defeat Pombo! (and if you didn't understand any of that...just click and give some money if you can...Pombo sucks.)
The NRDC needs us to send letters to tell the Bush administration not to allow the expansion of the Smoky Canyon Mine. The mine is already putting Yellowstone's ecosystem in danger...expanding the mine will definitely increase the likelihood of pollution and harm to the park. So, please send this letter! By the way, speaking of the NRDC, they recently won big when British Columbia officials and logging companies signed a groundbreaking accord with Canadian First Nations and environmental groups in which they committed to negotiating formal protections for the Great Bear Rainforest, one of NRDC's first BioGems and the home of the Spirit Bear, a rare white-colored black bear. It's nice to have a victory to report!! The NRDC has also filed a lawsuit in order to stop the Bush Admin's plan to drill in ANWR.
The NRDC has some other issues related to Global Warming! Click here to tell Senators to support a tough Global Warming Bill, Prevent attempts to drill in ANWR, and to Sign the Pledge to Move America Beyond Oil!!
Concerned about Global Warming?! You should be! Click here to check out the latest Greentips from the Union of Concerned Scientists! Lots of good info here, and you can sign up to receive the tips in emails too!
Join the Virtual March to Stop Global Warming by clicking here and also check to find out if your Mayor is participating in the efforts to stop global warming.
Tell your members of Congress to oppose the sale of public lands! This one is through The Wilderness Society.
Center for Biological Diversity also has an action item related to the Bush Administration's desire to sell off public lands in the Western States. Click here to send another letter!
Protect Pets and Wildlife:
The ASPCA has a letter you can send to ask your Representatives to vote to Stop Internet Hunting Now! If you don't know what Internet Hunting is, click here to read a bit more about the bill AND to send a letter. Click here to urge your Representative to protect and save pets in an emergency!
Here is a petition you can sign to help put a stop to aerial killing of wolves in Alaska. The details about the program:
Alaska's wolves won a temporary reprieve when a state court recently ruled against the state's aerial gunning program. But Alaska's Board of Game has already taken emergency action to reverse the court's decision, and as of January 26th, the state was once again able to issue aerial gunning permits for wolves.
Twenty-four wolves have been killed this season alone. More than 400 wolves have been killed over the past 3 winters and the new plans target approximately 400 more. Aerial gunning is a brutal practice.
Marksmen can gun down wolves from the air that are easy targets against the fallen snow. Or they can run the wolves to exhaustion, then land and shoot them at point blank range.
Help us put an end to Alaska's aerial gunning programs once and for all. Tell Interior Secretary Gale Norton to do her job and finally enforce the Federal Airborne Hunting Act.
In addition to killing wolves in Alaska, the Bush Administration has turned wolf management in Idaho over to Idahoans (I hope that's right) So, of course,
"Less than a week after the Bush administration turned over responsibility for wolf management to the State of Idaho, the Department of Fish and Game announced a proposal to kill three out of every four wolves in Clearwater National Forest's Lolo district."
I don't call that "wolf management", I call it systematic wolf slaughter!
Click here to send a letter and tell them to come up with a better plan! (This one is more complex than just saving wolves...part of the reason they have this plan is that Elk are dying as well. They think the wolves are killing the Elk, but it isn't quite that clear cut.)
The Endangered Species Act is under attack! Send this letter to your Rep and tell them to protect the ESA!!
The Grizzly Bear is about to be kicked off the Endangered Species List...even though it is still endangered. Click here to sign the Sierra Club's petition to prevent them from being delisted. This has to be done by February 15th!!
The World Wildlife Fund also has a letter you can send to Stop S 2110 and Save the Endangered Species Act. Once you take action on that, you can forward the action to friends and family and you can also use the links on the right hand side of the page to take action on several other items. The WWF also has a letter you can send asking your Reps to cosponsor the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act. Big pooties need our help!!
The Union of Concerned Scientists also has a letter you can send to Stop S 2110 and Save the Endangered Species Act. If you're a biologist, or working towards an advanced degree there's an additional step you can take to help save the ESA. Their home page has other action items as well.
Media Issues:
Internet Freedom is under fire! Free Press has a letter you can sign. Here's what they say:
The CEOs of the largest cable and telephone companies are hatching a scheme that would give them control over what content you can view and what services you can use on the Internet. Their plan would do away with the principle of "network neutrality" and shut down the open roadway we've come to expect on the Internet.
Sounds like a real money-maker for them! Anyway,
click here to send your letter to your Congresspeople and the CEO of your internet provider.
Common Cause also has a letter you can send to all the CEOs of the telecom corporations. Tell these CEOs to stop trying to privatize the internets!
To read more about the plans to privatize the internets, read this article from The Nation! Don't stop with just sending the above letters either. Send letters to your Congresspeople as well!!
From FreePress:
Giant record labels are paying off radio conglomerates to play their music. This practice is called payola and it's illegal. The airwaves belong to the public -- not the big media companies with the fattest wallets. Any broadcaster in violation of payola statutes should face severe FCC sanctions and even the loss of their broadcast licenses. But the FCC won't act unless they feel pressure from you.
Take action today!
Support Democrats!
And just in case you missed the message the first 1000 times, click here to donate to Ciro Rodriguez through DFA's donation page!
Click here to ask your Congresspeople to support Senate Bill 2259, introduced by my fabulous Senator, Barack Obama, which will set up a system of independent oversight for Congress. This bill is endorsed by Common Cause and for those of you who keep insisting that Democrats don't have a fucking plan...here's a part of the damn plan! Go support it so that the word gets out and the plan actually GOES somewhere!
Other Issues:
There are SO many reasons to ask for Dick Cheney's resignation...there's the fact that it looks like he illegally outed Valerie Plame (endangering homeland security and possibly screwing shit up with Iran), and then there's the fact that he shot his buddy while hunting and didn't report it for almost 24 hours, and then there's the Halliburton connection and the no-bid contracts, and the secret energy meetings...etc. etc. The list is long, you get the idea. Anyway, click here to ask President Bush for Cheney's resignation!
Human Rights Campaign wants you to sign the Million for Marriage petition. It doesn't matter whether you're gay or straight, if you support marriage for all people, click here
The Federal Marriage Protection Amendment is back. Frist plans on bringing it up for a vote in June! Click here to send a letter through HRC and tell your Senators that you want them to oppose this amendment which would literally write discrimination into our Constitution!