Fri 7/20: 2nd action – Even scary animals need our protection. Also due today!

Snakes are just the start…

Check out the Advocates for Snake Preservation and help them submit as many comments as possible by JULY 20. Use their convenient form here.

Background
Two snake species, the narrow-headed gartersnake and northern Mexican gartersnakes, live in wetland areas alongside rivers, where they hunt for tadpoles and minnows. They’ve have suffered catastrophic population declines in recent decades as over 90 percent of their riverside habitats have disappeared due to overgrazing, water diversions, wildfires and drought.

Now, the Gila River, an area proposed for long-term protection under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, is under threat of diversion for agricultural use, threatening the habitat of these snakes, five other threatened or endangered species, one of the largest concentrations of breeding birds in North America and the most intact native fish community in the Colorado River Basin. Continue reading “Fri 7/20: 2nd action – Even scary animals need our protection. Also due today!” →

Fri – 7/20: Environmental action: 2 quick ones that are due TODAY.

#1 – Last day to comment to the EPA on water contamination from PFA’s.

Today – Friday, July 20, is the last day the EPA will accept public comment on how it should address widespread water contamination from PFAS. At least, we think it is. The regulations.gov site has an error, where the pdf of the action (EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0270-0001) contains the deadline date of July 20th, but the website’s comment action deadline is Sept. 28th. Sigh. However, this is important enough to do both, in case the earlier date rules.

You can start right on it here, or you can read the background material provided below.

Background

What are you talking about?: If you woke up this morning unsure of what PFA’s are, you are not alone. PFAS — (Poly- and PerFluoroAlkyl substances) are the toxic chemicals used, among other things, to make fire retardants, oil and water repellents, furniture, waterproof clothes, take out containers and non-stick cookware. The manufacture and use of these products has allowed them to enter our water supply.

Where is it?: In 2016, a study of 36,000 drinking water samples from 4,864 public water sources showed that 16 MILLION people across 33 states, three American territories and an Native American community were polluted with PFA’s. 13 states made up 75% of the findings, including CALIFORNIA with the highest frequency of detection, followed by New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

Continue reading “Fri – 7/20: Environmental action: 2 quick ones that are due TODAY.” →

Wed. 7/18: “The only power adequate to stop the Trump administration is civil society…”

…which is the great majority of us when we remember our power and come together.”  

(Read the rest of Rebecca Solnit’s great article on protest here.)

Ventura County residents came out yesterday, with ferocious signs and a lot of spirit, to say that we expect better of our president and the legislators that protect him.

And we were not alone.

People joined in nearly 200 Confront Corruption – Demand Democracy vigils and rallies nationwide yesterday in 39 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico with thousands if not tens of thousands participating. (Tweets, videos and articles relating to  other events the happened yesterday are attached below the photos of our own rally.)

We are not done.

  • Join us in our canvassing and voter registration efforts here. We are constantly updating the list.
  • You can reuse your signs on Sunday as we join with other Indivisible groups to give Mike Pompeo a big Ventura County Resistance greeting.
  • Indivisible Ventura has joined “The LAST WEEKEND”, along with Indivisible National, MoveOn, OFA, CPDAction, Nation Domestic Workers Alliance, Stand Up America, Democrats.com, United We Dream and others to commit a massive canvassing effort for the last four days before Election Day. (Saturday, Nov. 3rd-Tues, Nov. 6th). Clear your calendars! We’ll provide more details soon, as well as videos to help new canvassers.

“Helsinki was the last straw! – Ventura Confronts Corruption” – The photos!

If you have photos you’d be willing to share, we’d love to have them. Please send them to indivisibleventura@gmail.com.
KEYT coverage here.

trio.jpg

Continue reading “Wed. 7/18: “The only power adequate to stop the Trump administration is civil society…”” →

Help our Ailing Homeless – Urge our State Senators to support AB 1971 in its Original Form!

No fellow human being unable to make medical decisions for his or herself should die on our streets. Sadly, some people are so mentally ill that they do not know they’re sick. 

We need to change the definition of “gravely disabled” to include those who cannot care for themselves medically to ensure first responders and medical professionals have the authority to direct these people to treatment.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I am calling to urge the Senator [___] to support AB 1971 in the form unanimously voted for in the Assembly, NOT as amended by the Senate Judiciary committee.

Contact:
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson: (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940
Not your state senator?:findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Why this is so important:

Much of this text is from an exceptional op-ed in the Ventura County Star by Mary Haffner, an attorney and member of the Ventura Unified School District and Ventura County Behavioral Health Advisory boards. Read the full text here

On June 26, the California Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony regarding Assembly Bill 1971, which would expand the definition of “gravely disabled” to include medical necessity. Existing law does not recognize a person’s inability to provide for his or her basic personal needs for health as an element of grave disability. AB 1971 can change this.

Homelessness and homeless encampments have become a part of the permanent landscape of California, and approximately 33 percent of these people suffer from serious mental illness. A subset of the mentally ill lack the capacity to understand that without medical intervention, they will die. 

We need the tools to intervene. AB 1971 addresses this public health crisis and would give first responders and medical professionals the authority to direct these people to treatment.

AB 1971 passed with overwhelming support through two Assembly committees and the Senate Health Committee. On June 26, however, Continue reading “Help our Ailing Homeless – Urge our State Senators to support AB 1971 in its Original Form!” →

Thurs 7/19: Casual cruelty towards the young and defenseless is now a hallmark of the GOP. Stop this! Comments due July 23rd.

We originally published this on 5/31. Time is getting short. Comments due THIS MONDAY!

This is not hunting. This is the lazy and inhumane slaughter of key predator animals necessary to keep natural ecosystems in balance in areas where they should be safe.

The Interior Department is planning on easing regulations on “sport” hunting in Alaska national reserves. The new rule would allow bear cubs to be killed along with their mothers, caribou to be killed while swimming, and wolves and their pups to be killed in their dens. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, speaking next to a dead animal head, argues that this is merely a move to align federal regulations with Alaska state law, while others say that the rollback would allow for cruel and inhumane hunting practices. The proposed rule has a 60-day open comment period which IS COMING TO AN END THIS MONDAY, July 23rd.
Rule being discussed is here. There are fewer than 75,000 comments! Please add more! Let’s make this a 6-figure response!

Comment here.
Check out other comments here for inspiration.

Continue reading “Thurs 7/19: Casual cruelty towards the young and defenseless is now a hallmark of the GOP. Stop this! Comments due July 23rd.” →

Wed – 7/18: Come out today and roar!

If you haven’t watched Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s announcement of the indictments against the 12 Russian intelligence officers for interfering with the 2016 U.S. election, take a little time to do so now. Note that absolutely nothing is off the table in terms of future actions or discoveries. Read the indictment here.

All this information came out publicly on Friday, July 13, after Trump was personally informed by Rod Rosenstein.  Then Trump went to Helsinki and blew the whole thing off.

Putin wanted Trump to win. And so he did. And maybe that’s the deal between Putin and Mr. “No-Collusion”. Maybe it’s simply the threat of a documentable leak about which states had their votes altered, how it was done, and by how much. Maybe if Trump doesn’t behave, we will get to see how America would deal, not just with its first illegitimate presidency, but with all the damage caused by the grifters and extremists who rode in on his coattails.

Continue reading “Wed – 7/18: Come out today and roar!” →

Tues 7/17: Today’s pop quiz: “Conscious tool” or “Useful Idiot”? Pick one.

But look! That nice man is giving him a sparkling “we-call-it-soccer” ball.

Action #1 – Go to our vigil for democracy tomorrow.

Helsinki was the last straw… Join us here. Facebook event here.

confront corruption

Action #2 – Where do our GOP legislators stand? Yes, this is another pop quiz.

Continue reading “Tues 7/17: Today’s pop quiz: “Conscious tool” or “Useful Idiot”? Pick one.” →