Mark your calendars! Next weekend, 7/27-28, there are going to be TWO (2) citizenship fairs! Volunteer to help your neighbors become our newest Americans

Detail from antique engraved Victorian illustration of Statue of Liberty at night, 1878.

Someday, someone you’ve helped will be in a video like this…

…which they will proudly show their kids and grandkids and retell the story of how they became an American. As completely 100% an American as anybody else.

Ronald Reagan, in his surprising last speech as president, (watch it here) reminded his listeners that immigration is “the great life force of each generation of new Americans…”  (Quick timeline of the history of immigration here.)

Get trained to help!

We love to have bilingual people but English-only volunteers are also most welcome. Volunteers do not need to be citizens, nor adults. Interested teens make great volunteers! Continue reading “Mark your calendars! Next weekend, 7/27-28, there are going to be TWO (2) citizenship fairs! Volunteer to help your neighbors become our newest Americans” →

Fri 7/19: Thanks to everyone who wrote a comment in defense of wolves! You helped set a record.

Video from the Center for Biological Diversity. Their members wrote over 650,000 comments.

1.8 million people spoke up for wolves!

(From the Animal Welfare Institute) “Nearly 2 million Americans, joined by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and a broad coalition of animal welfare and environmental organizations, have registered their opposition to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposal to gut Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves across the contiguous United States.

The USFWS received more than 1.8 million public comments opposing the wolf delisting plan by its deadline yesterday. The total number of comments ranks among the highest ever submitted on a federal decision involving an endangered species. In addition, 86 members of Congress, 100 scientists, 230 businesses, and 367 veterinary professionals all submitted letters rebuking the administration’s plan to cede management of the species to state agencies.

Upon reviewing the submitted comments, the USFWS will prepare and publish a final rule in the Federal Register.”

This isn’t over yet…

Continue reading “Fri 7/19: Thanks to everyone who wrote a comment in defense of wolves! You helped set a record.” →

Thurs 7/18: TODAY – 3rd Thursday is going to be busy – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards.

Action  – Meet at Santino’s for pizza, camaraderie, and social justice – every Third Thursday starting at 11:30 am

Where: Santino’s Pizza. It’s at 4231 Telegraph Rd., Ventura, 93003

When: Thursday, JULY 18th, 11:30am – 1:30pm.

RSVP: Nope. Just come. Invite your friends.

What to bring: We provide the pizza, postcards, stationary and stamps! If you prefer, you may bring your own stationary. Donations of stamps are always gratefully accepted.

Questions? Email indivisibleventura@gmail.org

We eat, we write, we talk, we plot, we share. Come and join in the fun!

Today’s agenda: Postcards to voters in Florida and North Carolina who’ve fallen off the rolls!

Wed. 7/17: Stop socialism for the rich! H.R. 582 – “Raise the Wage Act” is up for a vote tomorrow!

Action #1 – Call and thank your member if they’re one of the 205 current cosponsors of this bill HR. 582/S.150 “Raise the Wage Act”.

“There is no excuse for any company in America to pay their workers so little that they need food stamps, and Medicaid and rent assistance. This is bulls***.” “That’s not capitalism. That’s socialism for the rich.” – Nick Hanauer

“After nearly 10 years with no increase in the federal minimum wage, minimum-wage workers have suffered a 17 percent pay cut due to inflation,” said House Labor Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va., who had introduced the Raise the Wage Act. “The result is that there is no place in America where a full-time worker who is paid the current federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.”

Minimum script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep./Sen. [____] for their support of {Rep. – H.R.582/Sen. – S.150} – Raise the Wage Act. Continue reading “Wed. 7/17: Stop socialism for the rich! H.R. 582 – “Raise the Wage Act” is up for a vote tomorrow!” →

Wed 7/17: Help Register Voters at Ventura College!

Empowering younger voters is important in this political climate. We will be visiting local colleges to make sure that students are aware of the importance of their vote in the upcoming elections.

If you have never joined in on a voter registration event, this YOUR opportunity to make a difference and – don’t worry – there will be experienced folks on hand to teach you the ropes!

July 17th at Ventura College, 10-2PM
4667 Telegraph Rd, Ventura, CA 93003
At the MCE/MCW Quad on the east side of campus past El Camino High School (see map here)
Look for our tent!

Questions? Go here.

Tues 7/16: “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.” – Theodore Roosevelt

House Res. 489 passed nearly along party lines, 240-187, with four GOP ( Brooks – IN, Fitzpatrick – PA, Hurd – TX, Upton – MI) and the one newly minted independent Amash – MI, crossing the aisle. Nine GOP sat it out.

Action – Contact your friends and relatives who have GOP legislators and ask them to rattle their offices.

Minimal script: Hi, I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to ask how and when Congressperson/Senator [___] is planning to publicly condemn Trump’s racist and anti-American remarks from last weekend. FDR stated (with a couple of exceptions) “that all of us… are descended from immigrants and revolutionists”. Why does the [representative/senator] stay silent when [his/her] colleagues are demonized as un-American for raising legitimate concerns where we has fallen short of our potential?

More script if you want it: If [Representative/Senator] is too fearful to take a stand as part of a co-equal branch of government against a wayward president, then we will need to replace [him/her] with someone with a spine and moral fiber.

If your legislator’s phone person tells you that their boss doesn’t think that the president’s words were racist, remind them that neither their boss nor Trump gets to define what’s racist. Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, who was nearly beaten to death in Alabama in 1965, gets to say and he’s all over it.

CONTACT: Relatives not sure who their representative is? Go here: tinyurl.com/CALL-THEM-ON-IT

Update: Racists in the wild…America is so much better than this.

 

 

 

Mon – 7/15: Monday actions. (2) calls for immigration.

Maybe Trump, Pence, Lindsey Graham and the rest of the silent GOP are waiting to get their very own medallions mocking the care of migrant children…

(Don’t forget to write for wolves here.)

Action #1 – Call your congressperson’s office this morning and tell them to vote “YES” on  HR 2615 – “U.S. Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act”.

In June, our president cut millions of dollars in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to spank them for the thousands of migrants seeking asylum at our border. Rational lawmakers on both sides opposed this, stating that it’s counterproductive to cut off aid to countries grappling with hunger, crime and climate change and would lead to more people trying to leave.

“As feared, a presidential tantrum will limit our nation’s ability to actually help address the challenges forcing people to flee to the U.S.,” Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said on Twitter. UnicefUSA endorses HR 2615, a bi-partisan bill that authorizes$577 million in foreign assistance to Central America and prioritizes efforts to fix the root causes that force people from their homes. The bill would also require annual progress reports on economic development and the underlying causes of poverty and food insecurity in each Northern Triangle country.

HR 2615   – Neither Brownley, nor Carbajal are cosponsors.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep [___] to cosponsor and support HR 2615 – “U.S. Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act”.

Action #2 – Call your legislators offices this morning and tell them to vote “YES” on  two  bills against the child prison camps.

As Warsaw ghetto historian Emanuel Ringelblum wrote in 1942, “Even in the most barbaric times, a human spark glowed in the rudest heart, and children were spared. But the Hitlerian beast is quite different. It would devour the dearest of us, those who arouse the greatest compassion—our innocent children.” Continue reading “Mon – 7/15: Monday actions. (2) calls for immigration.” →

Sun 7/14 – Mon 7/15: We’re up to over 600,000 comments to protect the wolves!!! But there are a lot of copies…Let’s pile on some new ones. Deadline – Monday 7/15, 11:59 pm EST

Action – If you think your comment might be considered a copy, please submit it again with more personal add-ons. Or try writing one for the first time. 

Way back in April, we asked everyone to write comments to prevent the Trump Administration from removing Endangered Species Act protections from wolves and declaring open season of an animal that is still functionally extinct in much of its former range. (Why? See “Background” below) We asked that people read other people’s comments here for inspiration if they needed it but to channel their 7th grade creative writing class and mix it up. The government will throw out DUPLICATE/OR NEAR DUPLICATE COMMENTS.  However…There are still a lot of exact duplicates!
If you feel that maybe your comment will be considered a copy, or just have some writing-zen going, please submit again.  (These are the starts for what look like the most popular copies)

  • “(David Bernhardt) I am alarmed that the Trump Administration is ..”
  • “I am appalled by the Department of the Interiors decision to strip …”
  • “ Scientists estimate that hundreds of thousands of wolves once inhabited …”

The proposed regulation to wipe out wolves is here

Howl back/comment here

Deadline this Monday (tomorrow- 7/15 ) at 11:59 PM EST.

Walk through these quick questions to spice up your comment with personal insights… Be passionate, be concerned, be snarky, be you!

Sat. 7/13: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

― Quote by Benjamin Franklin

Action – Allies: arm yourself with information and be ready to step in and help.

Tomorrow, Sunday, July 14th, our president will start terrorizing peaceful people living amongst us in order to crank up his base and dislodge a string of embarassments from the news. These may include: his 4th of July event bankrupting DC’s security fund, retroactively creating a Revolutionary War airforce, the government’s own lawyers trying to jump off the census question ship, he and Jeff Epstein having to pay 28 women to give them the time of day, or former President Jimmy Carter saying that “He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”

What we do know is that allies who stood together with those who may be affected at yesterday’s  700 800(!) Lights for Liberty vigils have more work to do. We’ll be asking you to make calls and write to legislators, but we’ll also ask that you use your “superpowers” when you can. Those of us who are cloaked in the invincibility of citizenship and knowledge of our laws have a responsibility to monitor the actions of our increasingly out-of-control government.

Being confronted by law enforcement in any circumstance is a stressful experience. The potential trauma of family separation or being placed in an inhumane detention camp can make it even harder for someone to think clearly. Or even breathe. Although allies can’t physically interfere with arrests, we can give people time to regain composure, document law enforcement actions, and help protect their rights. Continue reading “Sat. 7/13: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”” →

Fri – 7/12: Some inspiration for the over 700 Lights For Liberty protests being held across the nation tonight…

As of this morning, the protest count has reached over 700!!! Find your closest event here. Or come to ours here. Additional information and actions you can take here and here.

President Reagan bequeathed us a complicated legacy, including the origination of some of the worst problems we’re facing today through the same kind of lies that Trump uses every day. He did, however leave behind one true gift – this great speech on the importance of immigrants to America.

Our own Congresswoman Julia Brownley steps up, as you can see in the video below. Let’s do her proud this evening. (Call and thank her in DC (202) 225-5811 or email her.)

Continue reading “Fri – 7/12: Some inspiration for the over 700 Lights For Liberty protests being held across the nation tonight…” →