The MOST important thing you can do today is visit
Rippe's diary, "ACTION: In 10 Seconds, Email Your Senator About Marriage Amendment" and fire off an email to tell your Senators to vote NO on adding discrimination to our Constitution (you can also call this number- 202-224-3121, and ask to speak to your Senators). You know...this makes me wonder again what ever happened to the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment)...maybe once they vote NO on the gay marriage ban we ought to get together and get them to vote FOR the ERA. I'd LOVE to hear the arguments against equal rights...talk about stupid politics. Oh, and
here's a petition you can sign from the DNC website!
Also, if you're in Illinois, we've only got until mid-June to prevent a gay marriage amendment from getting on the ballot this November!! Please volunteer to help...here's what I had to say about it last week...and all the volunteer info:
"Here in Illinois, the Illinois "Family" Institute submitted an estimated 345,199 signatures to the Illinois State Board of Elections to get an anti-gay marriage amendment referendum on the November ballot (they needed 283,111).
Equality Illinois has helped form the Fair Illinois campaign to defeat this hateful amendment and the best way to do that is to keep it off of the ballot. Equality Illinois, with other organizations committed to fairness, has opened a Volunteer Action Center in Chicago at 3342 North Halsted, Third Floor, to be the hub of the effort to invalidate as many signatures as possible and keep this hateful question from being on the ballot in November. What can you do? Well, you can go and volunteer to check out the signatures...hopefully invalidating as many as you can!
Sign up by emailing fairillinois@yahoo.com or call Equality Illinois at 773-477-7173 or 888-434-7888 You can also sign up here!
Related to this Illinois issue, of course, is the fact that the Repugs in the Senate are hoping to write discrimination into the Constitution... Click here to tell the Senate they should be working on issues that are REALLY important to Americans, not writing discrimination into our Constitution!
I was able to volunteer for a very short time last Friday when I was in town, but I couldn't stay for anywhere near as long as I wanted to. Matt Kuzma was really nice and he explained everything really thoroughly. I really urge you all to go volunteer your time. They'll be wrapping things up around June 17th, so I may actually be able to volunteer again after YearlyKos and before my sister's wedding! I hope to see many Kossacks and Kosovarians there:)"
Here's something I get in my email that you could pass along to some of those hateful people you know:
Daily Words of the Buddha
June 04, 2006
Hate brings great misfortune,
hate churns up and harms the mind;
this fearful danger deep within
most people do not understand.
Itivuttaka 84
I think that sums it up quite nicely...and although I'm not Buddhist...I like getting these emails because they are certainly thought-provoking...this one makes me think I should work to be a little less hateful myself when it comes to Republicans. They make it SO hard...but I'm going to try. Anyway, on to the other actions for today...this diary is a bit shorter than usual...I'm not quite sure why...
Protect the Environment & Energy Issues:
From Environmental Action:
"How deep is America's dependence on oil? In 2006, we will effectively rely only on foreign oil every day from May 31 until the end of the year. For seven months, we will fill up our cars and trucks only with foreign oil and send billions of dollars overseas. In 2006, Americans will spend $232 billion--nearly $450,000 every minute--to help fund foreign governments."
Tell Congress to end our Dependence on Oil!
From Rainforest Action Network: Sign the petition to support "A 12-Step Program to Break America's Oil Addiction"
Click here to pledge to see "An Inconvenient Truth"! or to find a theater near you that is playing the film! Please please PLEASE go see this film if you can...the more people who see it now, the faster it will come to our small towns and spread the word!!
Tell the Forest Service the Boise River is more precious than gold! Here are some details (which to be honest, sound a bit horrifying):
"Atlanta Gold, a Canadian mining company, wants to build an open-pit cyanide heap-leach gold mine sixty miles northeast of Boise, Idaho's capital city. The mine would be in the headwaters of the Boise River and threatens Boise's drinking water supply, as well as fish, wildlife, and public health and safety."
News from The Wilderness Society:
"In May, the House of Representatives voted 243-182 for a special-interest logging bill (H.R. 4200) that would cause serious harm to our country's National Forests. Not only would the bill completely waive the National Environmental Policy Act and leave roadless areas, old growth forests, and other special areas unprotected, it also ignores important scientific research, threatens protection of endangered species, and actually increases the risk of wildfire. The focus now turns to the Senate, where it's uncertain what form the bill will take or when it will come up for a vote."
Please call
or email your Senators and tell them to prevent this special-interest logging crap to even come to a vote. If we start calling now, perhaps they'll get the message early!
Click here to tell the Undersecretary of the USDA that America's National Forests: Not For Sale! Then please choose one of the "You can do more..." options:)
Budget Issues:
From Working Assets:
"Conservatives in the Senate are pushing to permanently repeal the estate tax in a vote next week -- an action that will cost the U.S. Treasury more than $1 trillion over the first ten years, and provide benefits only to the wealthiest of the wealthy in our society. Haven't they benefited enough from President Bush's previous tax giveaways for the rich?"
In order to read more, or take action, click the following link and
Tell the Senate: Stop the Trillion-Dollar Giveaway to the Rich
Women's and Health Care Issues:
Anyone going to be in New York between June 12th and 27th? I won't be able to get there, but there will be a VERY exciting festival that brings the issue of violence against women front and center! Check out this site which gives all the details... there are lots of events around the city and specific events for each borough!
Tell your Senators to support both the Unintended Pregnancy Reduction Act (S. 2916) and the Resolution in Support of Family Planning Access (S. Res. 485). And click here to send a letter on the same issue to your Rep. Once you've sent your letters, check out the other advocacy campaigns...there are links:)
Visit the Action page for Parents Action for Children... and take some action! I absolutely 100% disagree with the action item they provide as far as video games are concerned. I think it is the responsibility of a parent to know their children or to advise their children about what video games they should or can play. But, there are two very important health care items there. Please take action on those...I've used the video game action to actually tell my Reps that I DO NOT support censorship. Anyway, I'll leave it up to you what you do with it...
Demand action on Stem Cell research!!
Bring Our Troops Home:
From John Kerry:
"Last month, I introduced Senate Joint Resolution 36 which calls for the withdrawal of our combat troops from Iraq by the end of this year. In the next few weeks, I am urging the Senate to take a strong stand on Iraq and pass this Resolution. It's time to put the future of Iraq where it belongs - in the hands of the Iraqi people and their leaders. Our valiant soldiers have done their job."
Click here, call your Senators, and report back to the site!
Support Democrats!
Click here to contribute to the DSCC!
Click here to contribute to the DCCC!
and click here to get yourself a Democracy Bond!!
Other issues:
Excited about Impeachment?! Well, click here to get your very own "ImpeachBush BBQ kit" for the 4th of July!!
Click here to help Earthquake victims in East Timor through UNHCR!
From the ACLU:
"Government assaults on privacy are increasing all around us, even as the people's ability to speak without fear of reprisal is dwindling. Still, most of us have never found ourselves in a direct confrontation with the government over whether to remain silent or speak out for our beliefs.
Barbara Bailey, Peter Chase, George Christian and Janet Nocek -- four librarians who were gagged by the FBI -- have faced our government's abuses of power in a deeply personal way. You and I can only hope that we would respond with the courage and commitment to principle that they demonstrated."
Click here and Tell the Federal Communications Commission to Get the Spies Off the Line!
This is Crossposted at Street Prophets and at Action Alerts!