Two urgent Ventura County actions…

ACTION #1: Send a letter to our Ventura County Board of Supervisors to support the recommendation of indoor mask wearing.

ACTION #2: ZOOM – Call in to the Ventura County Fairground Board regarding gun shows- Tuesday, July 27 (9:00 am)

ACTION #1: Send a letter to our Ventura County board of supervisors to support the recommendation of indoor mask wearing.

(VC Star) “Citing rising COVID-19 infections and the spread of the delta variant, Ventura County public health officials are urging residents to wear masks indoors in public places whether they are vaccinated or not.

“While vaccines remain our best tool against COVID-19, masking in indoor and crowded outdoor settings will help us curb the spread of this latest wave of infection,” said Dr. Robert Levin, Ventura County’s health officer, in an advisory released Monday.

COVID-19 case rates have increased across California since the state’s full economic reopening on June 15. Ventura County’s COVID case rate grew to 4.5 infections a day per 100,000 people for the week ending July 10 — nearly four times the rate a month earlier. Levin said county data shows unvaccinated people are 22 times more likely to become infected and hospitalized than vaccinated residents.“

Please send a letter to our Ventura County Board of Supervisors to support the recommendation of indoor mask wearing given the impact of the delta variant – Meeting is Tuesday, July 27.

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Clearcut some outdated logging solutions out of the Conservation Corps Act (HR 1162/S487)

Forest fires don’t work like we think they do…

(Video the “New California Wildfire Report Co-Authored by ForestWatch Staff”)

We, along with the good people at Los Padres ForestWatch, are very excited about a reboot of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which contains grant programs for planting trees in urban areas, support for outdoor recreation, and funding focused on creating jobs for youth. What we are not excited about are billions of taxpayer dollars tucked into HR 1162/ S 487 which go towards outdated solutions for wildfires that were developed by the original CCC almost 90 years ago, actions which we now know will increase threats to communities and worsen climate change.

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“Hello, I’d like to speak to the man behind the curtain.” Let’s talk to Rupert Murdoch.

Action #1 – Continue to de-FOX-ify your life.

We have, like many groups, advised people to cut off their unwitting financial support of FOX News, a right-wing propaganda machine masquerading as a media empire. And as there’s more than one way to attack this issue, so we offered a variety of options here.

Meanwhile, the poison continues. Tucker Carlson, who promotes white nationalist viewpoints on his widely watched show, gave a sympathetic and unquestioning platform to Charles Murray, a social scientist who uses racist pseudoscience and misleading statistics to argue that social inequality is caused by the genetic inferiority of the black and Latino communities, women and the poor. Meanwhile, a report released last Friday by the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters showed that the majority of vaccine-related segments that Fox News aired over the past two weeks “repeatedly fearmongered about and downplayed the need for continued vaccination campaigns.”

So what do we do now?

In 2019, the Intercept published an article: “The Problem at Fox News Is Not Just Tucker Carlson — It’s the Murdoch Family Who Owns and Controls the Network: It’s not enough to criticize the racist anchors on Fox News. The Murdoch family is responsible for what happens there. Let’s talk about them…

…It’s absolutely correct to direct our anger at the terrible people we see on Fox and the terrible things they say, but they are not the worst culprits or the most powerful ones. Remember the Watergate-era saying, “follow the money”? Do that with Fox News and you’ll quickly realize that the people responsible for its hateful programming — the people who can shut it off in an instant but don’t because they approve of it or are too cowardly to take a stand against it — are Rupert Murdoch and his heirs, who founded and own a controlling stake in the network’s parent company.“

In fact, let’s talk to Rupert...

Action #2 – Write an email, a letter or a postcard to Rupert Murdoch. Copy his son.

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It’s not just a drought. It’s “aridification.” “YES” on H.R. 4099. Now.

Megadrought. Aridification. We are officially in serious trouble.

(Esquire) “Not long ago, we mentioned that Lake Mead, the water source for 40 million people (1 in 10 Americans) and for massive tracts of American farmland, and a big part of the existence of the states of California, Nevada, and Arizona, was reaching record lows...the problem is getting worse, and quickly, too.

But after years of an unrelenting drought that has quickly accelerated amid record temperatures and lower snowpack melt, the lake is set to mark another, more dire turning point. Next month, the federal government expects to declare its first-ever shortage on the lake, triggering cuts to water delivered to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico on Jan. 1. If the lake, currently at 1,068 feet, drops 28 more feet by next year, the spigot of water to California will start to tighten in 2023.
The crisis, said Eric Kuhn, former general manager of the Colorado River Conservation District, can no longer be ignored. “According to Merriam-Webster, a drought is a temporary condition,” he said. What is happening, he suggested, is something more permanent and troubling. “This is aridification.”

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TX Dem. legislators are facing arrest for trying to protect voting rights. Our job is easy – just to pick up our phones!

“Democratic lawmakers in Texas staged a dramatic walkout to prevent the Republican-controlled Legislature from passing a sweeping bill to rewrite election laws in the state. Critics say the bill will lead to mass voter suppression, especially of Black and Latinx voters, by eliminating drive-thru and 24-hour voting, as well as ballot drop boxes. The Republican bill would also make it easier for elections to be overturned even if there is no evidence of fraud.“

Joe did his part. Watch his speech, or read it here.

This is the task for the rest of us…

OK, call your senators over and over. Make it as much a part of your everyday life as coffee in the morning and it will take less than a minute of your time. Phone calls and in-person meetings are the most effective ways to influence your senator, and since we need to pass this bill before August recess, calling daily now is truly crucial. We know it might feel odd to call over and over, but please know that your second and third calls are just as important as the first one.

You can go to Indivisible’s autodialer here or DIY it.

Minimal script: Hello, I’m calling from [zip code] and I’m very concerned about Senate Republicans’ use of the filibuster to block the For the People Act from passage. We cannot let Republicans hold our democracy hostage. It’s time to eliminate the filibuster to save our democracy.

Will Sen. [___] eliminate the filibuster and pass the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and all the other essential Democratic priorities? Republicans cannot be allowed to continue obstructing our government and standing in the way of progress. There’s no time to waste.

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Becoming a citizen shouldn’t be this hard. Let’s break the DACA logjam for this guy.

Ju Hong’s issue strikes close to home…

Every month, we join immigrant advocates, immigration lawyers, and community volunteers at Swap Meet Justice to help people fill out government forms for citizenship, DACA and green cards renewals, voter registration and selective service.

We are always impressed by our DACA applicants – this group of 800,000 hardworking and well-educated young people brought here as children are estimated to add $460.3 billion in national gross domestic product to the U.S. over the next decade and over 200,000 were essential workers during the worst of the COVID pandemic. These are exactly the people we want as citizens, but our politicians can’t seem to summon the political will to give them a pathway to that status. To continue their life in the only country they call home, they must reapply every two years, for a fee of $495, or face deportation.

Therefore, it makes us sick to learn that even when our DACA applicants do everything right, they are still vulnerable to being taken from their families, due to nothing more that a paperwork backlog at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). “As of March 31, USCIS had a backlog of more than 55,000 pending first-time DACA applications,” in addition to over 44,000 renewal requests. As of March 2021: Less than 800 — or roughly 1.5% of applicants in that period — of 50,000 received between January and March 2021 have been approved.”

So we’re asking everyone to join in and help this one person – Ju Hong, and hope that the strength of our combined voices clears a path for all the others.

(Video of him here from (2012))

“My name is Ju Hong. I serve on Immigrants Rising’s Leadership Council, and I am now facing a major crisis. I need your help.

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“Flea markets for firearms” don’t belong at our fairgrounds. Call your assemblymember today!

Call your assemblymember and ask that they support Sen. Dave Min’s bill SB-264 – “Firearms: state property,” to prevent our state-owned fairgrounds from being rented out as a gun marketplace. This bill passed the Senate (29-9) and is heading into Assembly public safety committee on July 13.

Our own fairgrounds’ Board of Directors reduced the number of shows in 2019 in response to strong community activism, but seems unable to do what some other former host cities have done, such as Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas. They ultimately helped push through AB 893, with permanently prevents Del Mar Fairgrounds from leasing their property to gun shows.

Ventura’s next Crossroads of the West gun show will be in October and there are other gun shows scheduled at fairgrounds and venues throughout the state. Beyond straw sales and theft from vendors, every show is a dispersion point for ghost gun and and precursor parts into our communities. Even Bob Templeton, the head of the family that own Crossroads of the West “has concerns about ghost gun parts being sold at his shows, but he said he’s been threatened with litigation if he didn’t allow those vendors – and he noted there’s another pending state bill that would ban the sale of precursor parts at gun shows.“

We agree, Bob, and the best way we can help you with your legal issues is to stop your shows from coming here in the first place.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___] to know that I strongly support Sen. Min’s SB264. Our state, and my tax dollars, should not in any way be associated with the selling and promotion of firearms, ammunition and untraceable gun parts. Please ask Asm. [___] to encourage his/her colleagues on the Public Safety Committee to vote “YES” on this bill.

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On July 23, 5 banks have to decide whether to renew three major loans to Enbridge for Line 3, or walk away. Help them decide.

Don’t make grandmothers do all the heavy lifting here!

Action #1: Call Wall Street Banks to Defund Line 3
Action #2: Email Wall Street Banks to Defund Line 3
Action #3: Grandmother letter-writing campaign to Dr. Jill Biden
Related action: Call to legislators and email to Biden here.

Action #1: Call Wall Street Banks to Defund Line 3

There is an actual deadline. On July 23, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America & Royal Bank of Canada have a major decision to make: renew $4.6 billion in loans to Enbridge, or walk away from Line 3.

Join in “Stop the Money Pipeline’s” well-designed campaign to contact any or all of their CEOs here. You can fill out their form and they’ll even dial the numbers for you automatically.

They’ve helpfully included tips for making your calls more effective and a short script to get you started.

Action #2: Email Wall Street Banks to Defund Line 3

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WTH, Olympics? Four issues we want to talk to the manager about…

Action #1: “Natural form of the head.” Whose head are we talking about exactly? #BlackGirls~~Don’t~~Swim
Action #2: Ask the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to find their heart for Sha’Carri Richardson
Action #3: Ask the President of the International Olympic Committee to do better for Brianna McNeal.
Action #4: Have Gwen Berry’s back.
Action #4a: New petition to IOC sponsors from Color of Change – Companies must denounce IOC Rule 50

Not all the actions below target our usual suspects of state and federal legislators. But, like the actions of our politicians, international events like the Olympics can have profound effects that empower or disaffect Americans. So, being “indivisible,” when something bad, or really dumb occurs, we try to figure out what we can do about it.

Action #1: “Natural form of the head.” Whose head are we talking about exactly? #BlackGirlsDon’tSwim

We are pretty sure that the International Swimming Federation (FINA), which casually declined to certify a swim cap that accommodated Black hair, is now searching desperately for a face-saving exit strategy. In fact, by the time you read this, they may have already done so, as they just issued a statement: “FINA is committed to ensuring that all aquatics athletes have access to appropriate swimwear for competition where this swimwear does not confer a competitive advantage. FINA is currently reviewing the situation with regards to ‘Soul Cap’ and similar products, understanding the importance of inclusivity and representation.”

Although FINA will allow these caps for recreational and teaching purposes, not seeing Black athletes wearing this inclusive accommodation in competition and on the medal podiums, continues the disenfranchisement of Black children and adults from swimming pools, and the literally life-saving benefits that learning to swim conveys.

Contact: If they don’t figure out how to reel this back in soon, write FINA here: sportsdep@fina.org

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We’re on fire and fossil fuel companies are fanning the flames. Now that this “darkness has been exposed to light,” this is our chance. Demand change now!

(Image from video here.)

This post is dedicated to Lytton, a tiny town in British Columbia, Canada, whose 250 residents experienced temperatures equal to Death Valley’s, before it was consumed by fire. It’s also dedicated to the hundreds of people in normally temperate places who died from a “heat dome” this week and to those who won’t survive this weekend as the heat moves eastward. (great article here)