Wed. 5/22: “YES” on AB 32 – End Private Prisons now!

Action – “YES” on AB 32. CA needs to cut taxpayers’ ties to the corrupt, cruel and incompetent private prison system.

“There is no place in our country for corporations that profit from incarcerating folks, tearing apart families or putting children in cages….” – Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego)

“Private prisons are a practice that should have never been permitted in California, and it’s time we end their presence, “For-profit prisons do not serve the best interests of Californians nor are they in line with our values. No one should profit off human incarceration, especially after we have refocused our corrections system away from incarceration and towards rehabilitation.” – Assemblymember Todd Gloria.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I’m calling (optional: “as a member of Indivisible”) to ask Assemblymember [___] to support AB -32 to prohibit for-profit prisons in California.

More script if you want it: No one should profit from human incarceration, especially as our state has refocused our corrections system towards rehabilitation.

Contact -Call the number in the title graphic OR use the info. below.
State Assemblymember Monique Limón: (CA-37): SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700 email
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Co-sponsors: Bonta, Chiu, Gloria, Gonzalez, Kamlager-Dove, Santiago

Background

Continue reading “Wed. 5/22: “YES” on AB 32 – End Private Prisons now!” →

Tues 5/21: AB-392 – Act to Save Lives. Call your assemblymember now!

Image used by permission of Darrin Bell, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. The death of Trayvon Martin was one of driving motivations behind his amazing work.

ALL of the members of the CA Indivisible coalition are working together to drive calls to our legislators to push important bills through their house. Today, we’re asking for a flood of support for AB-392 “Peace officers: deadly force“. This bill, backed by the ACLU, civil-liberties groups, labor unions, and families, CHANGES the standards about when police are allowed to use deadly force from “reasonable” to “only as a LAST resort” and mandates de-escalation.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I’m calling (optional: “as a member of Indivisible”) to ask Assemblymember [___] to support AB 392 to change California’s policy for police use of deadly force.

More script if you want it: Too many people, mostly young men of color, are killed at the hands of police every year with no justice due to our weak standard for use of force. This needs to end.

Continue reading “Tues 5/21: AB-392 – Act to Save Lives. Call your assemblymember now!” →

Mon 5/20: Urgent – Remind your senators that Daniel P. Collins should not be a judge.

Action – Trump really wants to destroy OUR court, the Ninth Circuit. Thank our senators for their dissent and get people with other senators to call!

The Senate is in at 3 PM with a 5:30 PM vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Daniel P. Collins to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.

Collins’ bio on the Munger, Tolles & Olson website highlights his history representing Big Oil in climate cases: “Mr. Collins also successfully argued two major cases in the Fifth and Ninth Circuits that effectively brought an end (for the time being) to efforts to hold the energy industry liable in tort for injuries allegedly caused by global warming.”

Daniel P. Collins, a former associate deputy U.S. attorney general specializes in defending the oil industry in high-profile climate and environmental cases, including the current crop of climate liability lawsuits. One of his clients Royal Dutch Shell, is among the companies being sued by a group of California communities trying to hold oil companies accountable for climate change-related damages. Certain aspects of those lawsuits are already being appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which covers California, the Pacific Northwest as well as Alaska and Hawaii.

We think we’ve already bagged our limit on corporate shills. Continue reading “Mon 5/20: Urgent – Remind your senators that Daniel P. Collins should not be a judge.” →

Tues – 5/21: #Stop the Bans – Rally in Ventura – 12pm-1pm. VC Government Center.

Sponsor: Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund.
Location: Ventura County Government Center, corner of Victoria and Telephone Rd.
Facebook event here.
#StopTheBans Day of Action site here.
Bring signs and flags. We stand side-by-side with Planned Parenthood and others to protest the extreme & unconstitutional abortion bans being passed across the country.

Mon – 5/20: CA Indivisible week begins! We’re starting with AB-4/SB-29 – #Health4All!

Help create a wave at the CA legislature to push the best bills through!

ALL of our legislators will be voting on these bills soon. To pack the biggest punch, ALL of the CA Indivisible coalition are working together to drive calls to our legislators to push these bills through their house. We’re focusing on a different bill every day.

Monday – AB 4/ SB 29 – #Health4All

As we push for health care for everybody, we’re leaving no one behind!
Read more about AB-4/SB-29 here and here.

Indivisible Ventura, along with 60 other Indivisible groups across the state of CA support AB-4/SB-29 – “to expand Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants of all ages”. This commonsense bill that will cut our uninsured rate in half. Read our group letter here.

Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask [Assemblymember Limón /Senator Jackson] to support [(Assembly) AB-4/(Senate) SB-29] to expand Medi-Cal access to undocumented immigrants. California is stronger when everyone has access to healthcare. Continue reading “Mon – 5/20: CA Indivisible week begins! We’re starting with AB-4/SB-29 – #Health4All!” →

Mon 5/20: Skin in the Game for Everyone! – Part 2 of 2 – How to help – Actions!

#Stop the Bans – Rally tomorrow – Tuesday May 21st! 12pm-1pm.

Sponsor: Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund.
Location: Ventura County Government Center, corner of Victoria and Telephone Rd.
Facebook event here.

Make some signs! Bring flags! Download your own “flipoffian tube” symbol here or here to use wherever, compliments of the artist, Jim Cooke

Action #1 – Watch these movies – Share with family and friends.

Continue reading “Mon 5/20: Skin in the Game for Everyone! – Part 2 of 2 – How to help – Actions!” →

Sun 5/19: Men who barely understand women’s bodies want to ban abortion. A reflection on the cruelest game… – Part 1 of 2

This post is not an action but a “thought experiment” on the banning of abortion. (easy-to-read PDF here). It includes, in pink, a primer for forced-birther legislators on the serious risks women face. We also have parts for the men who cause unwanted pregnancies and walk away (in blue), and the states who currently restrict abortion while providing little or no pre-natal care (in yellow). And in the lower right-hand corner, we provide a role for the legislators themselves.

Continue reading “Sun 5/19: Men who barely understand women’s bodies want to ban abortion. A reflection on the cruelest game… – Part 1 of 2” →

Fri 5/17: Thank our legislators for supporting H.R.5 – the Equality Act. They do George proud!

Action #1 – Thank our legislators for supporting HR. 5 – the Equality Act!

We are so lucky! Please take a moment to thank all of our elected officials (Brownly, Carbajal, Feinstein and Harris) for being cosponsors of the Equality Act [H.R. 5/S. 788], a bill that would clarify existing civil rights legislation to specifically ban discrimination against our LGBTQ citizens in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs, adoption programs and credit. It would also provide additional protection for women and POC from common forms of discrimination. This measure has unprecedented support from nearly 70 percent of Americans, more than 280 members of Congress, 165 major businesses and 288 statewide and national organizations. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has made passing the Equality Act a top priority for the new Congress, and it’s in the House today.

Minimal email script: I want to thank you for standing up for our LGBTQ friends, family and neighbors and supporting [Rep. = H.R. 5/Sen. = S. 788] the Equality Act.

Contact Information

Rep. Julia Brownley: email
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: email.
Senator Feinstein: email,
and Senator Harris: email,
Who’s my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com

Action #2 – Petition for all people of faith to endorse equality for all.

Sign the Faith in Public Life “We are all Equal” Petition here. Continue reading “Fri 5/17: Thank our legislators for supporting H.R.5 – the Equality Act. They do George proud!” →

Third Thursdays – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards on May 16th! That’s TODAY!

Let’s meet at Santino’s for pizza, camaraderie, and social justice – every Third Thursday.

Where: Santino’s Pizza. It’s at 4231 Telegraph Rd., Ventura, 93003
When: May 16th, 11:30am – 1:30pm.
RSVP: None. Just come – we provide the pizza and postcards and stamps! If you prefer, you may bring your own stationary.
Questions? Email indivisibleventura@gmail.org

On May 16, we’ll focus on:

“Get Well” cards to former president Jimmy Carter.

“Thank you” cards to Rep. Barbara Lee. Last week, the Trump-Pence administration finalized a refusal of care rule that would allow virtually any health care entity, provider or worker to use their personal beliefs to dictate patient care. Congresswoman Lee successfully offered an amendment to attack this dangerous and discriminatory rule, now the FY20 LHHS bill that will prohibit funding for the implementation of the rule.

Senator Feinstein, Please Support S.546 – the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund
“Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.” It didn’t pass last year and now the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is running out of money before its 2020 expiration date, cutting payments between 50-70% at the same time cancer rates among first responders are going up. Brownley, Carbajal, and Harris are all on board; Feinstein is the odd man out! More info here.

Continue reading “Third Thursdays – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards on May 16th! That’s TODAY!” →

Wed 5/15: Urgent! Now is the time to prepare our electrical grid for climate change. Go and comment at the CA Public Utilities Commission meetings tomorrow, Thurs, May 16th.

(This is a guest action from Jan Dietrick, Coordinating Team Member, 350 VC Climate Hub) FB event page

Action – Public Comment to the California Public Utilities Commission Thurs, May 16, at 9:30 am Oxnard City Council Chamber & at 7 pm at OPAC.

Atmospheric CO2 Just Exceeded 415 ppm For The First Time in Human History!

Ventura County residents have two rare opportunities to speak for 2-3 minutes in front of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) about the type of energy we want to use in our homes and how we want to increase the safety and resiliency of our power grid. The damage from the Thomas fire and the ever-increasing menace of climate change make it clear that new solutions are necessary. These appointed officials are not influenced by letters or phone calls, but speaking to them can be very impactful. They can be moved when we show up and demonstrate our interest in how they regulate our utilities.

The CPUC doesn’t normally come to Oxnard, but because we are a wildfire-prone area, they are holding a Public Participatory Hearing at 7-8 pm on Thursday, May 16 (tomorrow!) on how SoCal Edison will prevent future wildfires. While they are here, they are holding their regular 9:30 business meeting in the morning at the Oxnard City Council Chamber. Public comments are welcome at both meetings! Get there early to sign in to make comments and read this for more info.

CPUC Morning business meeting: May 16, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM, Oxnard City Council Chambers, 305 W. Third St., Oxnard, CA 93030; also available via listen-only phone line at 1-800-857-1917, passcode 92105.
CPUC Evening presentation: May 16, 7 p.m.: Oxnard Performing Arts Center, Ventura Room, 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030

Here are some talking points… Choose what makes sense to you.

Continue reading “Wed 5/15: Urgent! Now is the time to prepare our electrical grid for climate change. Go and comment at the CA Public Utilities Commission meetings tomorrow, Thurs, May 16th.” →