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!

Rep-check here. (Carbajal and Brownley are on board!)
Sen-check here. (Feinstein and Harris are cosponsors too!)

Here’s what you can do to make sure Congress knows everyone is watching:

Battleforthe net.com is making it easy for the whole Internet to watch the vote and hold our government accountable.

Continue reading “Mon 4/8: Free the Internet! Call your legislators.” →

Mon 4/8: In memory of 5 months since the Borderline mass shooting in T.O.: 3 actions against gun shows at our fairgrounds.

Quote by father of Veronika Weiss, who died in Isla Vista in 2014

Today’s action is in honor of the 12 people who died and the others who were injured at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, 5 months ago today.

Action – Help remove the state of CA from the sales of guns and ammunition.

A student asked the Del Mar fair board: “Is it normal to fear for my friends’, teachers’ and siblings’ safety on our campus? Is it right that young people have called out for a change to the culture we live in again and again, but that a person’s right to have a gun is still valued over a child’s right to feel safe in their classroom? It is nothing less than callous and apathetic to hold events like gun shows in our community that glorify these killing machines … if you want us to be safe, you will act. It is the least you can do.”

1) CALL California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office. Tell him to end gun shows at the state-owned Ventura County Fairgrounds. (916) 445-2841

2) EMAIL Gov. Newsom’s office. Tell him to end gun shows at the state-owned Ventura County Fairgrounds. Use this link: https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/

Continue reading “Mon 4/8: In memory of 5 months since the Borderline mass shooting in T.O.: 3 actions against gun shows at our fairgrounds.” →

CFROG ALERT! This Tuesday, 4/9, stand up for our right to clean water in Ventura.

County planning is currently processing a zoning clearance application for 79 new wells on the Oxnard Plain taking farmland to make new drill pads for wells that will extract dirty tar sands using cyclic steam.

CFROG Needs everyone who cares about clean water in Ventura to gather at the Country Government Center (800 S. Victoria) on Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm in the Board of Supervisors room to support an EMERGENCY BAN on TAR SAND WELLS until the source of current water contamination is explained.

Supervisor Steve Bennet will offer a motion for a temporary ban on new well or re-drilling existing wells that use an extreme steam injection process called “cyclic steam” near potable water. This is based on the discovery by the USGS that thermogenic gases have been detected in 3 water wells in the Fox Canyon aquifer in concentrations slightly below the flammable/explosive level.

“The…wells with the strongest signals lie above the cyclic steam activity and they are associated with that and not with the deep injection wells with high volumes at the deeper depths.”

The oil companies quickly tried to smear CFROG for publicizing the findings of USGS scientist Celia Rosecrans, claiming we “didn’t understand” the research, but obviously we do. And so does Supervisor Bennett, who prepared this motion independently.

(You can watch Rosecrans’ presentation here at 1:23 minute in.)

Continue reading “CFROG ALERT! This Tuesday, 4/9, stand up for our right to clean water in Ventura.” →

Sat. 4/6: Three activities to share! Recycling for animals! Art contest for EJS! Postcard design contest for Virginia!

Action #1 – Recycle your used mascara wands! Really!

Please do NOT throw away your mascara wands. These little wands are able to be upcycled to clean away oil, larvae, fly eggs, mites, infections, mud and other contaminants from wildlife and they work great for medical care and wound treatment. Instead, clean JUST THE WAND with soap (don’t send the other half!), place them in a ziploc bag, pick your wildlife refuge to mail to, fill out this donation form, and mail from your local post office so it’ll have the right postage:

Appalachian Wild, P.O. Box 1211. Skyland NC 28776 OR
Wildlife Wands, P.O. Box 1586 Southwick, MA 01077

(Please do not purchase new wands – the program is for recycling old ones. Instead, please donate food or supplies from the Wishlist or make a donation.)

They also have a great site for what to do if you find a wild animal (bird, mammal or reptile) that you think might need assistance. Find a wildlife rehabilitator here.

Action #2 – The Equal Justice Society is hosting the “Remembering 1619 – 400 years of Slavery” art competition. All CA art makers welcome. Deadline July 25th.

Continue reading “Sat. 4/6: Three activities to share! Recycling for animals! Art contest for EJS! Postcard design contest for Virginia!” →

Fri 4/5: “He’s got a little list…” Stop Bernhardt, because we have a sick desire to see who could possibly be worse.

This is the notecard Bernhardt had to carry around to remind him of all his ethics recusals, and their expiry dates. (Western Values Project). These companies assuredly had a similar one. The picture of him is from memory and may not be accurate.

Action – Flood your senators’ office with calls to investigate oil lobbyist David Bernhardt’s BEFORE he becomes Secretary of the Interior.

David Bernhardt, a walking monument to conflict of interest, passed Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and is awaiting a confirmation vote by the Senate. As deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior under Zinke, he helped open our public lands and coastlines to mining and drilling, and his corruption machine is just getting warmed up. Already, Bernhardt’s calendar as deputy Secretary includes more than 150 entries over the course of a year that failed to mention either a description of the meeting topic or who attended, against reporting regulations, similar to his former boss Zinke.

But wait…! There’s more!

Continue reading “Fri 4/5: “He’s got a little list…” Stop Bernhardt, because we have a sick desire to see who could possibly be worse.” →

Thurs 4/4: We are Immigrant America too. Help support these local, state and federal actions. (4 actions!)

A ship headed for Ellis Island in 1906. THE GRANGER COLLECTION / CORDON PRESS

LOCAL Action #1 – A Santa Paula Family needs our help.

The Santa Barbara County Immigrant Legal Defense Center is reaching out for donors to help a local family whose main breadwinner is currently detained in ICE custody. This Santa Paula family needs help with rent, food, etc. The Immigrant Legal Defense Center is representing the individual but he will remained detained for a minimum of one more month. Donate here online or send a check made out to Santa Barbara Count Immigrant Legal Defense Center and mail it to: ILDS, 120 E. Jones St. Suite 117, Santa Maria, CA 93454. #VenturaCountyStrong is filled with kind and generous people. Let’s help a neighbor’s family.

STATE Action #2 – Ask Assemblymember Limón to vote YES on AB-4

indivisibles

Continue reading “Thurs 4/4: We are Immigrant America too. Help support these local, state and federal actions. (4 actions!)” →

Thurs 4/4: Join us and the League of Women Voters TODAY at 11:30 am for H.S. voter- registration training!

Action: Come to Santino’s Pizza at 11:30 and get trained!

What: Join the League of Women Voters as they train us for participating in voter registration at our local high schools. – Today! Thursday April 4^th, from 11:30-1 PM.

Let’s up our game with younger voters!

Where: Santino’s Pizza at 4231 Telegraph Road in Ventura. Pizza will be provided for lunch!

Wed 4/3: Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and House GOP are playing games. Call now!

Quote from Washington Post article here. CNN here. BBC here.

Action – Ask our legislators to vote “NO” against any “motion to recommit” and vote “YES” on a clean H.R.Res.37.

1. Has Trump turned America into one never-ending civics class? Answer: “Yes.”

2. What the heck is a “motion to recommit” (MTR)? Short answer: It’s a last chance for the minority party, in this case, the GOP, to stop or amend a bill before it’s voted on. Longer answer here.

3. Why the heck are we STILL IN YEMEN?

First, the House voted “YES” on H.J.Res.37 but the House GOP’s (“We be all about the babies!) thought it would be fun to add an MTR with completely unrelated anti-Semitism language to the bill, hoping to split up Democratic votes and possibly kill the resolution, along with more Yemeni babies. The Dems should have voted together to reject the GOP’s bad faith MTR, but instead, they mostly stuck together and voted the whole thing through.
However, the MTR was a problem for the Senate to pass without getting McConnell’s approval, so they stripped it out. Then, miracle of miracles, the Senate voted “YES” on a clean S.J.Res.7!
So now the House and Senate versions don’t match, thanks to the malicious GOP members who deliberately tried to kill this bill, so the House needs to re-vote on the clean version they should have had in the first place. Thanks, GOP, for playing games with kids’ lives!

Minimal Script for representatives: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to vote in favor of the bipartisan resolution H.J.Res.37 to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led Yemen war, and to REJECT any “motion to recommit” when this bill moves to the floor.

Continue reading “Wed 4/3: Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and House GOP are playing games. Call now!” →

Tues 4/2: The “Violence against Women Act” makes the NRA mad. So? Tell your legislator to do the right thing.

Action – HR 1585 – Violence against Women Act (VAWA)

The delay on reauthorizing the VAWA was centered on a disagreement – the GOP just wanted to just roll over the existing law unchanged and the Democrats wanted to add some important updates, like closing the “boyfriend loophole“. Which means that a lot of women’s lives would be saved. Which means taking guns from dangerous men. Which means, of course, the NRA is stepping in. Which means that what is normally a bipartisan bill process will be facing a lot of GOP members worried about their “A” rating. Which means they’ve never gotten a call from a terrified daughter.

Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep. [__] for {his/her} support of HR 1585 – “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019”

Rep-check here: Both Brownley and Carbajal are supporters!

Minimal Script if your legislator is on this list: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to Rep. [__] to know that we expect {his/her} support of HR 1585 – “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.” I know that the NRA will be contacting you, as they’ve donated $________ to your 2018 campaign. However, you have more voters in your district like me who want to curb gun violence against women, and we expect you to do the right thing.

Continue reading “Tues 4/2: The “Violence against Women Act” makes the NRA mad. So? Tell your legislator to do the right thing.” →