Wed. 4/17: Take the quiz below. Then decide if this is business as usual. 3 actions

Last Friday, President Donald Trump tweeted out a doctored clip of Omar speaking at a Council on American-Islamic Relations charity dinner, where she said, “some people did something,” in reference to the Sept. 11 tragedy. The clip was deliberately taken out of context and has since sparked not only media controversy but, since last Saturday, has incited literally hundreds of death threats from unpaid but willing amateur assassins eager to do the president’s bidding against a sitting congressperson and her family.

Action #1 – Take the quiz!

Reading comprehension – Who are we’re talking about here?

Continue reading “Wed. 4/17: Take the quiz below. Then decide if this is business as usual. 3 actions” →

Wed 4/17: Stop the fake “cost/benefits” attack on the Mercury & Air Toxics Rule. Deadline TONIGHT, 11:59 pm EST.

Action – Comment now! Even most utilities think this is a bad idea!

The EPA wants to weaken the Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) Rule by insisting that it is no longer “appropriate and necessary” to regulate hazardous air pollution from coal and oil-fired power plants because the costs outweigh the benefits.

(Let’s take a moment to clarify that…)

(There, fixed!)

This is just the beginning. The Trump EPA is trying out this new weaponized cost/benefit strategy. If it works, they’ll use it to dismantle all our long-standing environmental regulations protecting our air and water from the toxic by-products of fossil fuel generation. Please speak up against this latest attack on our environment.

The deadline is TONIGHT, Wed. 4/17, 11:59 pm EST. Don’t miss this chance!

Read their nonsense here. BE OUTRAGED!
COMMENT HERE.
Copy your comment and send it to your rep. and senators too! – contact info. here
Check out other comments here.
Information: Writing tips, sample comments, talking points, history of the EPA and reference below, in that order.

Continue reading “Wed 4/17: Stop the fake “cost/benefits” attack on the Mercury & Air Toxics Rule. Deadline TONIGHT, 11:59 pm EST.” →

Tues – 4/16: Indivisible against hate – support #IStandWithIlhan, #NoBanAct and the 9/11 Victims Fund.

Watch this video. Be impressed. Then let’s help her “make good trouble.”

Action #1 – We are Indivisible Against Hate. #IStandWithIlhan, and make sure your legislators have got her back too.

It’s not just about Rep. Omar and it’s not about 9/11. Trump, GOP members and their minions are trying to tear the Democratic House majority apart- by attacking its diverse new legislators, inciting hatred and death threats, and religious dog whistling. They want to herd scared voters towards racism, facism and Islamophobia at the next election, and to incite us into wasting our time and opportunities squabbling amongst ourselves. Right now, we and our legislators need to join hands and clearly share our vision for a better and more just world. #IStandWithIlhan, #StandWithIlhan

Video: Make your own #IStandWithIlhan video here like Leah and Ezra’s above with the help of Indivisible and share it with your social media.
Cards: We’re writing support cards for Rep. Omar at our Third Thursday Pizza lunch. Info here.
Call: Make sure your legislators are publicly on-board too.

Continue reading “Tues – 4/16: Indivisible against hate – support #IStandWithIlhan, #NoBanAct and the 9/11 Victims Fund.” →

Mon 4/15: Those who would destroy our clean water protections are so close, they can taste it. So will we. “Waters of the U.S.”, Comment by tonight at 11:59 EST.

Action – The administration would like to redefine “water”. You know that this isn’t good. Save the current version of “Water of the United States” (WOTUS)

Clean water is not just a problem for Flint Michigan…
The Clean Water Act (CWA) has been regulating water in the United States since 1972 with bipartisan support under multiple administrations. In 2015, Obama’s EPA created the Waters of the United States (WOTUS), which added science-based protections and clarified terms, using the best input from reputable scientists, the Army Corps of Engineers, the public, agriculture, environmentalists, and more. Even with those protections in place, in any given year from 1982 to 2015, between 9 million and 45 million Americans got their drinking water from a source that was in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Most at risk: people who live in rural, low-income areas.

Utilities, fossil fuel, mining, and farming interests are now expecting their return on investment in Trump, their lobbyists arguing that WOTUS defined federally regulated waters too broadly and that the scope should be limited per Supreme Court Justice (and noted NON-SCIENTIST) Scalia’s opinion to “only relatively permanent, standing or flowing bodies of water.” Then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt issued a proposal in June 2017 to roll back the expanded definition, and our protections to having clean water. In January 2018, the EPA formally suspended the rule for two years, and in December, the administration unveiled a new plan to replace the rule. The deadline to make comments is TONIGHT (4/15), 11:59 pm EST.

Proposed rule here. Comment here.
Read other comments for inspiration here.

Comment examples:

Continue reading “Mon 4/15: Those who would destroy our clean water protections are so close, they can taste it. So will we. “Waters of the U.S.”, Comment by tonight at 11:59 EST.” →

Third Thursdays – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards on April 18th! 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: April 18th, 11:30am – 1:30pm.
RSVP: None. Just come – you provide your own stationary and envelopes (bring an extra for a new friend!), we provide the pizza and postcards and stamps!
Questions? Email indivisibleventura@gmail.org

On April 18th, we’ll focus on:

The Pennsylvania Congressional District 12 Special Election – we’ll be sending postcards to voters in the district to remind them to vote for Marc Friedenberg – his website is here – in the newly vacated seat most recently held by a Republican. Let’s keep the House Blue! We’ll provide the postcards.

Medicare for All support from Senator Feinstein – the Medicare for All bill has dropped in the Senate! Senator Harris has signed on as a co-sponsor, and we will urge Ms. Feinstein to do the same. Bring your own stationary if you want to participate in this issue. More info here

No Gun Shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds support from Governor Newsom – Gavin Newsom, in his campaign for governor, told the fair board he is against gun shows on state property. Let’s hold him to his word. Bring your own stationary if you want to participate in this issue. More info here

Words of comfort to Continue reading “Third Thursdays – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards on April 18th! That’s TODAY!” →

4/13-14: This weekend – join in and celebrate with our Native American neighbors at Oxnard’s first Intertribal Powwow!

Thurs 4/11: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. New Senate action! Update on CA action! Learning to pronounce it -ongoing…

The colored parts of the image above, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this pesticide.

Announcement: The guy who protected chlorpyrifos is now Secretary of the Interior…

bernhardt2
David Bernhardt, the man who intervened to suppress the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) report on the lethal effects of chlorpyrifos on endangered species, was confirmed today (Thursday) as Secretary of the Interior (and boss of the FWS) in a 56-41 vote with three Democrats and one Independent voting for him. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.(?)), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.(?)) and Angus King (I-Maine) voted in favor of his confirmation. (Note: Both Maine Sens. Susan Collins (R) and King voted for Bernhardt because he promised that their state would not be open to his evil offshore drilling plan – apparently Maine’s ocean is separated by an invisible force field from the ocean off other northeastern states!)

Action #1 – CA isn’t waiting for the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos.

Continue reading “Thurs 4/11: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. New Senate action! Update on CA action! Learning to pronounce it -ongoing…” →

Wed 4/10: Medicare-For-All is now in the Senate! Remind your legislators to sign on to the House version, & that “Medicare Advantage” is an HMO, not a safety net!

Action #1: Call your senators if they aren’t a “YES”. Thank them if they are.

“At least in my view, the current debate over Medicare for All really has nothing to do with health care. It has everything to do with greed and profiteering,” he told a room full of supporters in a Senate office building. – Bernie Sanders

Bernie has finally introduced S.1129 the reworking of his 2017 bill, with improvements in long-term care and disabilities that mirror Pramila Jayapal’s H.R 1384. The bill is still unnumbered.

Explainer: Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-for-all plan, explained. (vox)

Minimal script for senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [____] to know that I voted for [him/her] to put “Medicare For All” on the map, just like Social Security in 1935, and Medicare in 1965.

Minimal script for supporting senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Senator [____] for supporting “Medicare For All”.

Sen-check here. (Harris is a cosponsor, Feinstein is not! CALL her!)

Continue reading “Wed 4/10: Medicare-For-All is now in the Senate! Remind your legislators to sign on to the House version, & that “Medicare Advantage” is an HMO, not a safety net!” →

Tues 4/9: Food Stamp-SNAP Chat is back until Wed, 4/10. Tell our Ministry of Misery what you think.

Graphic depiction of the percentage of all food stamp costs (not just workers without children) compared to our entire federal budget.

Tell Trump, Ben Carson, Seema Verma, Mick Mulvaney, Sonny Perdue and all of the other millionaire profiteers in his administration that we are watching them, not the $150 to $192/month in food aid a person needs for basic health.

Action – Stop this back-door attack of the 2018 Farm bill. Comments due by 4/10 Wednesday night, 11:59 pm EST.

We asked our legislators to pass the 2018 Farm Bill with the food stamp aid for millions of SNAP/CalFresh recipients intact. They did! But, now the Administration of Millionaires is using the Dept. of Agriculture to use a back door regulation process to impose work requirements on unemployed and underemployed people without dependent children, limiting their food aid benefits to three months. The proposal takes away states’ ability to waive SNAP’s time limits in areas that don’t have enough jobs and it could potentially disqualify 755,000 beneficiaries. There are a lot of reasons that people can’t get work that satisfies the government’s requirements, but there is one clear result of removing people from a cost-effective food supplement program – increased health care costs in our nation’s clinics and emergency rooms, costs that will dwarf any possible SNAP savings.

So tell the USDA to butt out. There were almost 50,000 comments on the Federal Register website in opposition to the proposed ~~cruelty~~ rules on work requirements (original set) (new set) the first time out. Already, another 4,000 new comments have been made on this extension. Let’s get this to 100,000, people!

For the first time, or for the tenth, comment here

Deadline now due Wed., April 10th (WED.), 11:59 pm. EST.

Talking points for SNAP

Continue reading “Tues 4/9: Food Stamp-SNAP Chat is back until Wed, 4/10. Tell our Ministry of Misery what you think.” →

Mon 4/8: Free the Internet! Call your legislators.

Action – Call your legislators TUESDAY MORNING and make sure they’re voting “YES” on HR 1644 and S.682 – the “Save the Internet Act”.

Despite more than 20 million public comments against the rollback, Trump’s FCC chair and misguided youtuber, Ajit Pai, a former Verizon attorney, rammed a repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order through the FCC in December 2017. He lied that net-neutrality rules discouraged investment, leaving consumers with fewer options. Hahahaha! At the time of the FCC repeal, 83% of Americans including 75% of Republicans supported net neutrality rules. On Tuesday, April 9th, the US House of Representatives will vote on HR 1644 – “the Save the Internet Act” and then the Senate needs to pass S.682. If passed, this bill will enshrine net neutrality into law and we can see a lot less of Pai. First, do your part.

Minimal script for us lucky 4-for-4 people: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep./Sen. [___] for his/her support of HR 1644 (Rep)/ S.682 (Sen) “Save the Internet” Act, and please reject any amendments or motions to recommit that would weaken it!