Tag: Indivisible Ventura

Thurs 8/15: 3rd Thursday is going to be busy – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards.

Action  – Meet at Santino’s for pizza, camaraderie, and social justice – every Third Thursday starting at 11:30 am

Action #1: North Carolina: We’re going to send 500 postcards to the good folks in Beaumont, NC to remind them of a special election on Sept. 10th!

A postcard stamp is $0.35. (500) postcards equals $175. Donations to help fund this or rolls of stamps are gratefully accepted! We provide pizza, and properly marked postcards.

Action #2: Kindness for kids: Scour your drawers for fun cards, postcards and kid-friendly stickers and bring them! We’ll batch-mail them.

EL PASO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: From one of our own: “Hello. We are teachers in El Paso. We would like to know if anyone is interested in sending us postcards to help our students know there is plenty of good in our world. As teachers, we may only be able to say so much. We think concrete messages of support would help us calm some fears. Any thoughts? You can send them here: 1) E. Flores, Hillside Elementary, 4500 Clifton Ave., El Paso, TX 79903, and 2) Teresa Garrett, Tom Lea Elementary, 4851 Marcus Uribe Dr., El Paso, TX. 79934.”

Action #3: Letters to legislators: Depending on time and how many people show up, we have a number of issues we can address, including:

Continue reading “Thurs 8/15: 3rd Thursday is going to be busy – Pizza, Camaraderie, & Postcards.” →

Tues 8/13: Comments on rule to allow religious prejudice to rule our healthcare system – comments due tonight.

Action – Write for our rights…Tonight by (Tuesday 11:59 pm EST)

Send your thoughts on this horrible rule here.

The Trump-Pence Administration is quietly erasing our rights, one by one. (planned parenthood) The proposed rule, which closes tonight affects the Health Care Rights Law, aka Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibited discrimination by certain entities against patients on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability status. The Obama administration ensured that the law: Continue reading “Tues 8/13: Comments on rule to allow religious prejudice to rule our healthcare system – comments due tonight.” →

Tues 8/13: Call your CA legislators! Two actions and an update on our favorite bills!

The California legislature’s legislative session resumed yesterday! Here’s our latest list of bills we’re following and what you can expect in the next month:

  • August 12: Legislature reconvened after summer break!
  • August 30: Bills must pass out of Appropriations
  • September 13: Final deadline for bills to be passed

Action #1 – “One word: Plastics. There’s a great future in plastics.”

We know a lot more about plastics than we did when “The Graduate” was being filmed in 1967. The future we’re envisioning now would phase out non-recyclable single-use plastic, drive massive reductions in California’s plastic footprint, and push companies to redesign packaging, creating a blueprint for the zero-waste future we need. If you haven’t heard about CA’s bills AB-1080/SB-54 – “California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act”, you can read about them here.

The plastics industry is ramping up efforts to kill the bill, so we need to pull out all the stops and remind legislators who they represent ahead of a crunch vote in the Assembly and Senate, as well as to send a strong message to Governor Newsom. 

Minimal Script for assemblymembers: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___] to vote “YES” on SB-54 California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.

Minimal Script for state senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to vote “YES” on AB-1080 – California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.image.png

Extra credit: For those who can make it to Sacramento on Wednesday, 8/21, you can sign up to become part of a day of action regarding these bills. RSVP here. Join a show of strength at a press conference outside the State Capitol and then help deliver messages by calling on legislators to support SB 54 and AB 1080! More details on their Facebook page here.

(Contact information for legislators after Action #2 below)

Action #2 – Question for today – “Why are some things “toxic” in Europe but “OK” for Americans?”

Continue reading “Tues 8/13: Call your CA legislators! Two actions and an update on our favorite bills!” →

Sat. 8/10: Join us and other community groups at Deputy Mayor Rubalcava’s birthday bash at Kellogg Park TODAY!

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Join us in Celebrating Sofia’s Birthday at Kellogg Park! There will be music, food, and community resources! Facebook notice here
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¡Ven a la fiesta de cumpleaños de Sofía en el parque Kellogg! Habrá música, comida y recursos comunitarios.

Tacos El Nene

 

Thur 8/8: The Trump administration is handing over our national forests to industry & “right-sizing” our ability to comment. Deadline 8/26.

image.png(Guest column from Rebecca August of Los Padres ForestWatch with a new comment generator!) Good morning! The Trump administration is launching a bold move to undercut environmental regulations in national forests as a gift to timber companies and other special interests.

The proposed regulatory changes will effectively gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as it relates to national forests by not requiring thorough environmental analysis or consideration of public input prior to approving commercial logging, mining, oil drilling, and other projects in places like the Los Padres National Forest.

“By going to such great lengths to obstruct public input, the administration shows its hand, and how much power there is in our collective voice.” Rebecca August, Public Lands Advocate, Los Padres ForestWatch.

The administration’s proposed rule was recently published in the Federal Register and at regulations.gov. Deadline is now August 26th, 11:59 pm EST.

Comment with LPFW great new “original comment” generator here!

Or, go old school and comment here.
(Lots of source material below under “Deeper dive for “right-size” comments!“) Continue reading “Thur 8/8: The Trump administration is handing over our national forests to industry & “right-sizing” our ability to comment. Deadline 8/26.” →

Wed 8/7: Walmart is America’s largest gun merchant. It’s time for them to flex that power for good.

So far, our actions on gun control measures have centered on legislation. On Monday, we  asked our senators to return to D.C. to push through universal background check measures. But Sen. McConnell may continue to stall legislation while he stacks the judiciary branch with enough far-right Federal Society sycophants to stop or destroy sensible gun laws for decades. It’s time to reach out to our nation’s largest gun seller, Walmart, and ask them to take steps to protect us, their golden geese. (The basic points of the letter model below is based on this NY Times article.)

Action – Write a letter or email to Walmart executives and tell them to step up to stop the violence!

Dear Mr./Ms. _________________, (address one to each person on the contact list below.)

(Mix it up a little and use your own words if you can. If you’ve been a loyal customer of Walmart, put that in somewhere. Edit the bullet points to those you agree with and add ideas of your own. If you believe their only acceptable course is the complete cessation of gun sales, say that.)

The massacre at your store in El Paso over the weekend was a tragedy. So were the shooting deaths, days earlier, of two Walmart employees, at a Walmart store in Mississippi. So, too, was the mass shooting early Sunday in Dayton, Ohio, as well as the multitude of others in recent years.

Continue reading “Wed 8/7: Walmart is America’s largest gun merchant. It’s time for them to flex that power for good.” →

Mon 8/5: Senators, get back to D.C. and vote on these gun bills!

“Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We must act. Mitch McConnell – please call the Senate back to work tomorrow and let us vote on gun-safety laws.” Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) August 4, 2019

Meanwhile, after notification of the massacre in El Paso, our president continued on with his busy day of golfing and crashing weddings at his club. He has, in the last few hours, finally gotten down to business with his inimitable mix of laziness, lies and misdirection…

So, no help there, as usual. It’s up to us to get our legislators moving…

Action #1 – Call your senators and ask them to return to Washington D.C. and finish the job of passing background check bills. 

Minimal Script for Senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to Sen. [___] to return to D.C. and press for the passage of background check bills S.42 and HR 1112.

Action #2 – Call your legislators and ask them, while they’re at it, to push through assault weapon and large capacity ammo bans. 

Minimal Script for Representatives: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to Rep. [___] to return to D.C. and press for the passage of assault weapon and large capacity ammunition feeding device bans HR 1296 and HR 1186

Minimal Script for Senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to Sen. [___] to return to D.C. and press for the passage of assault weapon and large capacity ammunition feeding device bans S.66 and S.447. Continue reading “Mon 8/5: Senators, get back to D.C. and vote on these gun bills!” →

Sat 7/27: Kids take a stand! – kids raise awareness and funds for KIND and the Rio Grande Valley Rapid Response.

What are your kids doing this weekend?

The Lawyer Moms Foundation is organizing Kids Take a Stand—lemonade stands set up all over the country on Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28, to raise awareness of the plight of migrant families and to raise funds to support the Rio Grande Valley Rapid Response and KIND (Kids in Need of Defense).  

Last year, kids and families in 91 cities, across 38 states, hosted over 112 lemonade stands as part of Kids Take a Stand. These lemonade stands raised OVER $35,000!

Does your kid want to help? Go here to sign up your stand! Here is the link to the tool kit. Continue reading “Sat 7/27: Kids take a stand! – kids raise awareness and funds for KIND and the Rio Grande Valley Rapid Response.” →

This weekend, 7/27 – 7/28, there are going to be TWO (2) citizenship fairs! Volunteer and spread the news! Let’s help make some new Americans!

Someday, someone you’ve helped will be in a video like this…

…which they will proudly show their kids and grandkids and retell their origin story of how they became an American. As completely 100% an American as anybody else.

Ronald Reagan, in his surprising last speech as president, (watch it here) reminded his listeners that immigration is “the great life force of each generation of new Americans…”  (Quick timeline of the history of immigration here.)

Share this information with people who need it!

Citizenship: If you know someone who’s had their permanent residency card (green card) for 5 years, or for 3 years if they’re married to a U.S. citizen, tell them to get their citizenship application done for free, with trained volunteers and volunteer lawyers at either fair on the flyer below. Saturday 7/27 and Sunday 7/28.

Citizenship, DACA and Green Card Renewals: Tell them to get their citizenship, DACA and green card renewal applications done for free, with trained volunteers and volunteer lawyers at Swap Meet Justice on Sunday 7/28. (See flyer below for details)

Citizenship for those who can’t speak English well: An applicant can apply for citizenship in their own language if:

  • If the applicant is 50 or older, and has had their green card for 20 years or more.
  • If the applicant is 55 or older, and has had their green card for 15 years or more.
  • If the applicant is 65 or older, and has had their green card for 20 years or more.

Get trained to help!

We love to have bilingual people but English-only volunteers are also most welcome. Volunteers do not need to be citizens, nor adults. Interested teens make great volunteers! Continue reading “This weekend, 7/27 – 7/28, there are going to be TWO (2) citizenship fairs! Volunteer and spread the news! Let’s help make some new Americans!” →