Wed 3/18: Tell your legislators that it’s now or never. Force through worker protections before corporations get a dime of bailout money!

Action #1 – Trump wants more corporate welfare while children go hungry. Call your legislators and give them some conditions.

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Trump has finally figured out that it’s time to pivot to “chicken-in-every-pot” politics if he wants to be re-elected. But a $1000 check is couch-cushion change compared to what he’ll hand to a rapidly growing list of companies, such as airlines, hotels, and cruise lines, casinos, retailers and more. He himself might even profit from a bailout.

On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), after reviewing the implementation of the 2008 bailout for banks and automakers (that was the one where banks and financial institutions paid their executives $32.6 billion in bonuses), released proposed conditions for any new industry bailouts—including guaranteeing workers a $15 minimum wage, banning corporate stock buybacks, and prohibiting federal funds from going to executive bonuses.

Continue reading “Wed 3/18: Tell your legislators that it’s now or never. Force through worker protections before corporations get a dime of bailout money!” →

Tues 3/17: In an emergency, the first lifeboat seats go to the wealthy…Call your legislators!

Image – Last Photo of RMS Titanic, Wikimedia Commons. Who survived, who didn’t.
Quote – Crisis and Terror in the Age of Anxiety: 9/11, the Global Financial Crisis …By Luke Howie, Perri Campbell

Action #1 – If you haven’t called on HR 6201 yet, do so now.

HR 6201 is the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act”, which has just passed the House. Click here for details and how to call your senators. 

Action #2 – Make sure recovery money goes into the right pockets.

Boss tweet
“Boss Tweet” comic, original by Thomas Nast 

Continue reading “Tues 3/17: In an emergency, the first lifeboat seats go to the wealthy…Call your legislators!” →

Mon 3/16: Tell your senators to not only support H.R. 6201, but to add two important improvements.

Action : Call your senators and tell them “YES” on H.R.6201 (the Families First Coronavirus Response Act with two improvements.

One thing that is sure about this administration: Corruption follows incompetence.

Continue reading “Mon 3/16: Tell your senators to not only support H.R. 6201, but to add two important improvements.” →

Mon 3/16: HUD is gutting fair-housing protections for profit. Comments due tonight 11:59pm EST.

Action: Comment now on HUD’s stepping back from their charge to “affirmatively further” fair housing.

This still happens…It will happen more often if this proposal is passed.

In the latest of the Trump administration’s attacks on fair housing, HUD has proposed a new rule that would effectively eliminate their basic mandate – “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” Act (AFFH), making housing discrimination easier and further entrenching housing segregation.”The administration’s new proposal ticks four boxes that are basic themes for our “Who profits?” Trump administration.

  1. “We must search out and destroy any program Obama touched.“
  2. “We hate poor people other than as convenient scapegoats for all America’s ills we can’t hang on immigrants.
  3. We do not “see” the results of racism.“
  4. “With a little tweaking, we can make money meant for the poor flow upwards to the wealthy.”
  • Comment here by tonight (Monday 3/16, 11:59pm EST)
  • Proposal here.
  • Other comments for inspiration here. Do not copy!

Points you can include in your comment! Mix them up. Use words that sound like you. Exact copies will be purged! Continue reading “Mon 3/16: HUD is gutting fair-housing protections for profit. Comments due tonight 11:59pm EST.” →

Keeping Safe in the Time of Coronavirus

Thurs. 6/18 – Governor Newsom declares ALL of CA a mask-wearing zone!

Governor Newsom has declared masks are required in most settings outside the home. Specific instructions here.

hr-6

  • DACA – What to do now/Qué hacer ahora.
    • Actions, Resources, Assistance
    • Acciones, Recursos, Asistencia
  • Monday smallKeep up with #Black Lives Matter protests, online actions, panel discussions and other antiracist actions here.
  • The County of Ventura has an Emergency Preparedness Guide that you can access to help you and your family create a plan in the event of a disaster
  • 103364013_2585941234961986_724882626163995710_nLatest stats/info: VCemergency.com
  • Coronavirus/information/reports/tracking websites: here.
  • Resources/recursos: Local, county, state, federal: info and contacts to get help are gathered together here. (English and Spanish)
  • Join in with Indivisible Ventura as we write postcards to Michigan voters. Information on this and more local activities here. image
  • Activism in a time of solitude: click here.
  • Masks for front line health-care workers: Go here for their approved instructions and drop-off information. mask header
  • Masks for you and your family: Go here for “no-sew” and sewn options.
  • NEW GOWN BRIGADE: Sign in. Instructions here.
  • Volunteer!/Donate! Skills, services, resources, time…Other opportunities – to get help or serve –  here. image
  • Safety first! – We gather the best resources for how-to keep healthy during a pandemic here.

Coronavirus Tips: We Love You and We Want You to be Safe!

If you haven’t yet visited Flatten the Curve – start here. Safety starts with not overwhelming our healthcare resources!

Mental health and wellness: 

  • How to maintain your wellbeing and calm: here.
  • 5 apps to help you cope: here.

Hygiene:

STAY SAFE WHILE GROCERY SHOPPING: From googling to find our stores least busy hours, staying at least 6 feet away from other people,  to cleaning up before, during and after, there are many ways we can protect ourselves from the Coronavirus while shopping for groceries. Check out this Consumer Reports article for steps to staying safe while grocery shopping

HOW TO WASH OUR HANDS: The World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins Medical School show us the best hand-washing technique to avoid spreading the COVID-19 virus. Watch and learn, and share with your networks:  

HOMEMADE HAND SANITIZER: The best way to clean our hands is with soap and water. But sometimes, soap and water is not available. If we can’t find hand sanitizer to buy, we can make it at home. Use the recipe reported here. 

CLEANING

While the bad news is that the Coronavirus can live on surfaces and packages, the good news is that it is fairly easy to kill with alcohol-based cleaners and diluted hydrogen peroxide.  MIT researchers tell us,  “In a February review of what’s already known about this type of virus, German researchers said that within a minute of cleaning a surface, a million viral particles can be reduced to 100, likely reducing the risk of infection.”

Cell phones:  Our cell phones are germ carriers.  Use your phone speaker when we can and keep our phones clean too – click here and here.

Our homes and objects:

  • From Wired here.
  • From CDC here.
  • CDC-approved cleaning products here.

Continue reading “Coronavirus Tips: We Love You and We Want You to be Safe!” →

Sat/Sun – 3/14-15: Activism in a time of solitude.

Our country may be on lockdown, but the resistance is flexible… 

We at Indivisible Ventura assessed our activity calendar to see what we could still accomplish during this quarantine period. The answer? A lot, just not the activities that require us to be in the same place. Keep calling your legislators, keep writing comments to the regulators, and participate in the peaceful democratic actions outlined below that connect us to writers, texters, callers and voters across America. 

  • We updated our “events” calendar here
  •  All activities located on college campuses have been cancelled until the quarantine is lifted. This includes all our voter registration and census education dates.
  • Both citizenship fairs this month have been cancelled. If you are a person or know a person needing immigration services, including citizenship forms, DACA and green card renewals, please contact our trusted partners for assistance:

POSTCARD ACTIVITIES:

Postcard Action #1 – UPDATE: The April 16th’s Postcard Party is CANCELLED – but that doesn’t mean 500 folks in Arizona won’t be getting hand-written postcards!

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We will be putting together kits of cards, scripts and addresses for Arizona – We’ll be sending 500 postcards to voters along with a short script from Center For Common Ground’s Reclaim our Vote Campaign, who is working with the NAACP, Black Voters Matter, Mi Familia Vota, VoteRiders and DemLabs. These voters may have been dropped from voting rolls. This reminder postcard could save voters being turned away, a horrible experience, after waiting hours in line. The dignity of very single vote matters.

For those who have already attended our postcard parties, here’s what we need from you to get your kit:

  • Email us at indivisibleventura@gmail.com
  • Subject line: Mail me some postcards! (This is important – so we can quickly see your email)
  • Give us the following information: Your name, address and how many postcards, in batches of (10) ten, you want. If you also need stamps, let us know.

Postcard Action #2 – Write postcards for Christy Smith! Keep CA-25 blue!

Continue reading “Sat/Sun – 3/14-15: Activism in a time of solitude.” →

Thurs 3/12: Tell your senators to support H.R. 6201, which puts average Americans before billionaires.

Quote by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Answer: Yes it is…

Action : Call your senators and tell them “YES” on H.R.6201 (the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and “NO” to any add-ons.

One thing that is sure about this administration: Corruption follows incompetence.

Hot off the press, the House has produced HR 6201 to quickly get basic health and income protections into the hands of America workers. It hasn’t even passed the House yet, and GOP senators are already slow-walking it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated “it appears at this hour that the Speaker and House Democrats instead chose to produce an ideological wish list that was not tailored closely to the circumstances.” President Trump is sad because it doesn’t include his Social Security-busting scam of a payroll tax cut and bailouts for fossil fuel companies and Trump-owned properties.

HR 6201 (summary here) DOES include:

  • Free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured;
  • Paid emergency leave with both 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave; (This is being fought by the US Chamber of Commerce. If you belong to a local branch, have a chat.)
  • Enhanced Unemployment Insurance, a first step that will extend protections to furloughed workers;
  • Strengthened food security initiatives, including SNAP, student meals, seniors nutrition and food banks;
  • Clear protections for frontline workers, including health care workers and other workers who are in contact with those who have been exposed or are responsible for cleaning at-risk places;
  • Increased federal funds for Medicaid, as states face increased costs.

Continue reading “Thurs 3/12: Tell your senators to support H.R. 6201, which puts average Americans before billionaires.” →

Wed. 3/11: #FlattenTheCurve – Apparently it’s all up to us!

We love that the wonderful volunteers who join us at voter registration tables, at census education events, at voter outreach efforts like postcard and letter writing, at citizenship fairs and at polling stations, become trusted messengers of factual information about civic matters for their friends and family. With that in mind, we’re sharing this report by Julie McMurry, MPH, an assistant professor of rare disease genetics at Oregon State University in the College of Public Health, because it covers every base we can think of. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Continue reading “Wed. 3/11: #FlattenTheCurve – Apparently it’s all up to us!” →