Tom DeLay's Corruption Disqualifies Him from Leadership
DeLay's multiple ethics offenses make him unfit to lead in the U.S. Congress. Does your representative support Decency, or DeLay? Ask them to SPEAK UP NOW.
The U.S. Congress is perhaps the most potent image of representative democracy in the world. Yes, sometimes its members fail to act wisely, and sometimes they don't live up to our ideals. Still, those two chambers filled with delegates of the people are the heart of what our country is about.
House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay has dishonored the people's house. His pattern of unethical and illegal behavior is an offense to democracy itself, and he must step down from his leadership post.
Ask your Representative to stand up against Tom DeLay's abuses. Just fill out the form at the link below to send that message to your Representative.
Although he's a leader of the body that creates rules for the rest of us, Tom DeLay is so flagrantly unethical his own party members have condemned him three times.
He's taken illegal gifts from foreign lobbyists.
He's admitted to bribing another member for his vote.
He may yet be criminally indicted for using illegal corporate money for campaigns.
He even tried to have Congress' own rules changed so that, if indicted, he could hold on to his powerful leadership position. (Congress chose to stand up to him on that one.)
Is this the person who should lead the majority in the greatest democratic legislature in the world?
Let's challenge our representatives to ask Tom DeLay to step down as House Majority leader. The challenge boils down to this: Does your member of Congress stand with Decency, or DeLay?
http://truemajority.kintera.org/dumpdelay
Shame on Charles Schwab
While working families across America are protesting Charles Schwab's support for Social Security privatization, the investment firm doesn't seem to be listening. Unlike other finance companies, Schwab has not dropped its membership in lobbying groups ready to spend millions to privatize Social Security.
Schwab must be ashamed of its position--as it should be. Company executives are claiming Schwab hasn't taken a position on privatization. Shame on Schwab for trying to pass off that nonsense--Schwab belongs to, funds and even takes leadership roles in several of the business groups pouring money into the fight to privatize Social Security. According to published reports, Schwab's chief investment strategist, Liz Ann Sonders, and Charles Schwab, the CEO himself, have endorsed privatization.
Please take a minute to fax the message at the link below to a Schwab office near you.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/SchwabShame
Forest Service Must Protect Remaining Wildland on Allegheny NF in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest is home to some great wild country - prime hunting and fishing territory and a perfect place for hiking and family outings. Only a small fraction of the Forest is now permanently protected in the National Wilderness Preservation System. A new forest plan is being developed and the Forest Service is taking the first step toward identifying new potential wilderness areas by inventorying "roadless" areas on the National Forest.
We need your help to let the Forest Service know that they should be recognizing ALL the roadless areas on the National Forest at this early stage in the forest plan so they can be further studied for their wilderness character, and some of them, eventually recommended for Wilderness protection.
We know it takes more time, but we want to remind you that your letter will be more influential if you compose an original letter based on ours at the link below. You can make your additions to the letter and click on "Send this Message," to send it off.
http://ga1.org/campaign/alleghenyrdless/
Stop Union Busting in UNC Chapel Hill Dining Halls!
On Thursday, Vel Dowdy, a long time employee of UNC-Chapell Hill Dining Hall was suspended. This suspension took place in the midst of an organizing drive of Aramark workers at UNC-Chapel Hill. USAS considers this to be anti-union intimidation. Tell UNC-Chapel Hill to reinstate Vel Dowdy and to not allow Aramark union busting in the Dining Halls!!
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/chapelhillsws/
Freedom of Religion Means ANY Religion
The Salisbury Post, which is located in Salisbury, North Carolina refused a request to list a Pagan/Wiccan Study Group - Magickal Moon. The reason given for the request by the FAITH Copy Editor was both ignorant and discriminatory. "The Salisbury Post FAITH section is for people who believe in God" and "this is not the image that The Post wants to portray."
The Salisbury Post's mission statement says in part: "We are a marketing and customer driven company whose mission is to inform, educate and entertain. We strive to mirror the unique communities we serve and offer responsible public forum."
We fail to see how denying a Pagan/Wiccan study group an equal space with other congregations fulfills this mission statement. The decision was made with personal prejudices and not handled with a professional demeanor.
Regardless of whether or not Paganism is The Salisbury Post's religion, it is our religion. The Federal Government recognizes Paganism/Wicca, as an official religion. Military Courts of Justice in the U.S. have also found Wicca to be a valid religion, deserving of protection under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In the case United States v. Phillips, (42 M.J. 346) in 1995) the concurring opinion by Judge Wiss stated: "First, Wicca is a socially recognized religion. It is acknowledged as such by the Army. See `Dept. of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 165-13-1, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains' (April 1980), revising A Pamphlet 165-13, `Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains' (April 1978). Further, it is acknowledged as such in courts of law."
Pagans and Wiccans are a part of your community. We are your neighbors, your coworkers, your children's teachers; we are professionals, but most importantly we are your readers - your customers! As engraved on your building and imprinted on the Opinion/Editorial page of the paper "The truth shall make you free"; misconceptions about pagans, and being denied access to public forum makes it all the more difficult for the truth to make any of us free.
Due to the fact that this request was handled in an unprofessional manner and with personal bigotry, we, the undersigned, as well as members of our family and friends, who are both of the Christian and Pagan faith will not support The Salisbury Post. We will no longer be a part of your readership until this matter is reconciled with a formal apology and the list is made public in The Salisbury Post.
http://www.petitiononline.com/MMoon/petition-sign.html
Help Save the Exotic Deer of Point Reyes National Seashore
The National Park Service is planning to kill much of the deer population in Point Reyes National Seashore. The deer were originally purchased in 1948 from the San Francisco Zoo by a Point Reyes resident who released them into the wild to hunt. When Point Reyes became a national park in 1962, hunting was banned in the area and the remaining deer proliferated. At present, about 1,150 exotic deer live in the park.
The plan devised by the National Park Service
proposes a combination of lethal and non-lethal control methods (such as sterilization) to manage the deer.
The National Park Service is accepting public comments on their proposal between now and April 8, 2005. Please contact the Superintendent of Point Reyes and urge the use of non-lethal methods to control the deer. Let her know that humans caused the overpopulation problem, and any solution must take the interests of the deer into consideration.
http://ga0.org/campaign/reyesdeer
Our Children, Our Future: Earth Day 2005
The theme of Earth Day -April 22, 2005- is Our Children, Our Future. Here at Population Connection we have taken a look at how already scarce natural resources are stretched by our constantly increasing population. What sort of future does this leave for our children to give them a planet pushed beyond its carrying capacity? We urge you, our Earth friends, to take action on April 22nd and every day to protect the world for our children. Raise awareness and encourage others to act by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper.
http://capwiz.com/zpg/issues/alert/?alertid=7323441&type=ME
Dolphin Petition
Dolphins and porpoises (and other cetaceans) are dying in unacceptable numbers due to the bass pelagic trawl fishery in the English Channel. Many, have had their beaks ripped off, an injury which is typical of the animal having been trapped in a fishing net.
The dolphins are trapped and killed in nets dragged at high speed through the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay during the winter season from November - March. The bass trawl fishery has killed an estimated 39,000 common dolphins in the last 15 years.
The Wildlife Trusts believe that the only solution is to ban this form of fishing until possible solutions or alternative measures have been fully trialled and researched.
On July 1st 2004 The European Union brought in a new regulation to reduce the number of dolphins and porpoises being killed in fishing nets.
The Wildlife Trusts were extremly disappointed with the regulation and see it as a missed opportunity. The regulation will not prevent further dolphins being killed in the Bass fishery but merely seeks to gain more evidence.
Act now to ensure our dolphins are not lost forever. Sign the petition below and send to The Wildlife Trusts to helps stop dolphin deaths.
http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=environment:marine:dolphinpetition
Farm Worker Children Need to Read Too--Save Our Libraries!
Access to public libraries should be a priority, especially in poor communities where many don't have money to buy books, access to computers and their children don't even have a place to study. Libraries expose a new world to these children and offer them positive pursuits.
We need your help to "Save our Libraries" and give poor youth a future. Due to budget cuts, all three libraries in the city of Salinas, Calif., home of Grapes of Wrath author John Steinbeck, are due to close soon. If we don't address the crisis in Salinas, it will happen elsewhere.
Please make a difference by signing the "Save Our Libraries" online petition.
Make a difference for farm worker children. Ask officials why are the poorest children are losing access to books and computers? We don't see the library in Beverly Hills being shut down. Help us tell California public officials that libraries and education are not expendable.
Sign the petition TODAY and help us fight for our children's future!
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/libraries/
Richard Longworth
The state of South Carolina is set to execute Richard Longworth, 37, on April 15, 2005 for the 1991 murders of Alex Hopps and James Greene in Spartanburg County.
On January 7, 1991, Longworth and accomplice David Rocheville robbed a Spartanburg movie theatre, shooting and killing employees Hopps and Greene. Police arrested both men, who later confessed to the crimes. Longworth and Rocheville were both convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping, and two counts of murder in separate trials. Rocheville was executed in December of 1999.
Longworth's attorneys have raised several issues in his appeals, including evidence supporting claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Longworth's trial attorney represented both Longworth and his parents, resulting in a conflict of interest that allowed for the suppression of potentially important mitigating evidence. In interviews with her son's attorney, Longworth's mother mentioned a history of domestic violence and alcohol abuse while he was growing up. However, in the interest of saving the family from publicly admitting their problems, which may have resulted in the loss of her husband's job or her position as a foster parent, Mrs. Longworth requested that the information remain private. Longworth's attorney agreed, and this information was not brought up at trial in an effort to spare her son's life.
The ineffective assistance of counsel claim was expanded in Longworth's appeals to include his attorney's incompetence and inexperience through his failure to disclose Longworth's use of cocaine at the time of the crime and his full family and childhood background. Although the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals maintained that these claims have no merit, they refused to review them due to a procedural matter. Longworth's attorneys failed to raise these issues in his petition for certiorari to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Because the claims were not made at the state level before turning to the federal court system, the judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals found them to be procedurally barred from their review.
Longworth's case magnifies the problems with the United States criminal justice system, especially an outdated appeals process that places more emphasis on an abstract set of rules than to the idea of justice outlined in the Constitution. Longworth's arguments regarding ineffective assistance of counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment may have fallen on deaf ears in the U.S. Courts, but it is not too late to spare his life. Please contact Gov. Sanford of South Carolina and request that he stop the execution of Richard Longworth.
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=525
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