Petitions to Sign for July 16, 2017

1) Save the Emperor Penguin From Extinction 
https://animalpetitions.org/325613/

2) It's ACLU v. Trump on #votingrights - which side are you on? Demand accountability from sham commission: 
https://www.aclu.org/ShamElectionCommissionTW

3)  via @CREDOMobile No warrant, no spying: tell Congress to fix Section 702 or let it die 
http://share.credoaction.com/318709926t

4) Nobody voted to make America dirty again! @POTUS's budget is a naked attempt to put power in the hands of polluters. 
http://bit.ly/2rPbRTW

5) Congress: Don’t Let Trump Stamp Out Benefits for Food Stamp Recipients #care2 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/39307545

#AlienReport

Shut Down Orange Cheetos' Racist Hotline:

1-855-48-VOICE 

http://www.commondefensepac.org/alienreport

Petitions to Sign for Feb 04, 2017

1)  via @PETA A lion was found dead, hung from cables in his cage. Urge Indonesia to close Surabaya's ''zoo of death'': 
http://peta.vg/1dyt

2) Airport Security Forced Woman to Squeeze Milk From Breast to ‘Prove Lactation’ – Demand Justice 
https://forcechange.com/165209/justice-for-mother-allegedly-made-to-expose-herself-to-prove-lactation-at-airport-security/

3) Support ACLU Fight Against Trump Refugee Ban 
https://forcechange.com/165165/support-aclu-fight-against-trump-refugee-ban/

4) Stop Allowing Animal Abusers to Go Unpunished 
https://forcechange.com/165176/stop-allowing-animal-abusers-to-go-unpunished/

5) Support Starbucks in its Pledge to Hire Refugees 
https://forcechange.com/165171/support-starbucks-in-its-pledge-to-hire-refugees/

March 19, 2011 ACLU: Do You Want (Internet) Big Brother Watching YOU?

** ACLU **

Take Action: Do You Want Big Brother Watching YOU on the Internet?!? Ask Congress to pass Do Not Track protections. http://bit.ly/eA6B7x

Save Funding for Title X, National Family Planning Program!

** ACLU **

This week, the anti-choice majority in the House could vote to eliminate all funding for Title X, the National Family Planning Program. This extraordinary step would jeopardize the health of millions of women, men and teens who rely on this program and are otherwise unable to afford basic healthcare services.

TAKE ACTION: Stop the Assault on Family Planning and Planned Parenthood! http://bit.ly/eD433o

Aug 11, 2008 -- Your Fight the Right-Wing Activists Links of the Day.

** ACLU **
Planning a vacation? Thinking about traveling outside the country?

If you travel outside the United States, you can kiss your right to privacy, and perhaps your laptop, digital camera and cell phone, goodbye.

With no suspicion and no explanation, the U.S. government can seize your laptop, cell phone, or PDA as you enter the United States and download all your private information -- including your personal and business documents, emails, phone calls, and web history. The Department of Homeland Security confirms that this is the official policy.

Tell Congress: it’s time to rein in travel abuses by the Department of Homeland Security.
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** United Farm Workers **
Back in April more than 13,000 UFW supporters signed a petition asking Whole Foods to help the Beef Northwest feedlot workers. Beef Northwest worker Fortunato Diaz went to Austin, Texas to lead a delegation which turned the petitions into the Whole Foods representative. Whole Foods said they were moved by Fortunado’s story. They said they would contact Beef Northwest and urge that the company to meet with the UFW to resolve the issue of union representation.

Instead Whole Foods has done nothing to help the workers and is trying to distance themselves from the situation. Even worse, Fortunato is being made an example of by Beef Northwest for asking for Whole Foods’ help.

On Tuesday, when weather.com put the high at 99 degrees, Fortunato told us how Beef Northwest supervisors sent him walking to remote areas of the ranch around a mile away from all the other workers and did not even provide him with drinking water in the searing heat! Not only is this retaliatory action morally wrong, but by failing to provide him with drinking water in the searing heat Fortunato’s life was put at risk.

Whole Foods sells approximately 60% of all Country Natural Beef produced at Beef Northwest.

Tell Whole Foods that their lack of response is not acceptable.
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** Center for Biological Diversity **
One More Chance for Higher Gas-mileage Standards

Faced with melting sea ice, drowning polar bears, and a world at risk from global warming, the Bush administration is still blocking one of the single-most important solutions: higher gas-mileage standards for U.S. automobiles. Despite an existing law that requires the Department of Transportation to set gas-mileage standards at the "maximum feasible level," the administration is likely to push through a new set of inadequate standards for model years 2011-2015 before leaving office.

Please sign our petition to Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters demanding fuel-economy standards that spur automakers away from "business as usual" and toward deployment of new technologies, increased fuel economy, and decreased greenhouse gas emissions, as required by law.
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** Avaaz.org **
The World in Action

The conflict in Georgia is spinning out of control. Russian troops have moved deep inside the country in what looks not far short of full-scale invasion, and tens of thousands of civilians are in danger, with many becoming refugees overnight.

Diplomats are scrambling to find a solution, and the European Union has proposed a ceasefire and withdrawal of all forces to their previous positions. China has also called for an "Olympic Truce", an ancient tradition that asks all countries to cease hostilities during the Olympic Games.

A humbled Georgia has agreed to the ceasefire, now French and Finnish foreign ministers are bringing the proposal to Moscow. In the next 48 hours, a massive global public outcry would show Russian and Georgian leaders that the world wants a ceasefire, and continuing the invasion would seriously damage Russia's international reputation. Click below to sign our emergency petition and then forward this email to your friends and family. We'll publicize the petition in the media and deliver it to the UN Security Council and Russian government:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/georgia_ceasefire_now

Your Fight The Right-Wing Wackos Links for July 22, 2008

** UFW **
Deadly pesticide endosulfan banned in the European Union and 20 nations, but in the United States the EPA allows its continued use.

The UFW and a broad coalition of farm worker, public health, and environmental groups just filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop the continued use of the hazardous pesticide endosulfan. Science clearly shows that the use of this chemical puts the health of exposed farm workers and children in agricultural communities at risk.

There’s plenty of evidence and no need for more studies. Join us in demanding that the EPA take action. Send your e-mail today.
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** ACLU **
Here they go again. The Monkey King Bush’s Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, called on Congress to take dramatic steps to subvert the Constitution.

Mukasey is demanding that Congress issue a new declaration of war that would make the entire globe -- including the United States itself -- a “battlefield” where the president decides who will be locked up forever.

Instead of ending the Bush system of injustice, he wants Congress to make it permanent.

Tell Congress to reject the Bush/Mukasey plan to subvert the Constitution.

June 23, 2008 -- Your Fight the Right-Wing Wacko Links of the Day.

** American Civil Liberties Union **
( 1 ) At the prison at Guantánamo Bay, convictions can be based on evidence derived from torture, hearsay and secret evidence. Many of the accused have been held in secret prisons, denied access to lawyers for years and even tortured.

The Guantánamo military commissions are a serious mistake. It's time to shut down Guantánamo Bay, and move proceedings to a civilian court of law or a traditional military court operating in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice where constitutional guarantees apply.

We must also end indefinite detention without charge. Detainees who are not charged or convicted must be sent to countries where they will not be tortured or abused.

Sign the petition: Close Guantánamo
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** American Civil Liberties Union **
( 2 ) In the ongoing fight over FISA, privacy and the rule of law are again on the line. That was the case yesterday when the House of Representatives caved and overwhelmingly passed a bill that creates loopholes for Bush to engage in unchecked spying on Americans and cuts off lawsuits against telecom companies that broke the law.

There's a deeply disturbing premise behind this dangerous FISA legislation: The president simply has to claim his request was legal for immunity to be granted to telecom companies that illegally handed over personal information to the government.

No matter how illegal, offensive or intrusive a company's invasion of your privacy has been, it won't make a difference if this legislation passes because if the president gave the company a note claiming their behavior was legal, they're completely off the hook.

The Senate is expected to be vote on the bill early next week. Don't let your senators cave in now.
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** National Parks Conservation Association **
( 3 ) For the past few years Congress and the Administration have steadily reduced the amount of money available for national parks from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is one key way the National Park Service acts to protect our national parks from private development—by acquiring land within park boundaries from willing private sellers.

Did you know more than 50 of our national parks are incomplete and have private land within park boundaries?

If we don't acquire these lands soon, there is very little we citizens will be able to do to prevent homes or commercial development from being built—right in the middle of our national parks!

Please sign this petition to Congress now — to tell them to step up and fund these critical land purchases!
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** Human Rights First **
( 4 ) On June 4, 2008, famous Burmese comedian and renowned human rights activist Zarganar was detained by ten officials from Burma's State Peace and Development Council at his Rangoon home. Zarganar's arrest came just hours after he appeared in a BBC report about public anger over the military junta's handling of humanitarian aid to cyclone victims.

In the month since Cyclone Nargis brought devastation to the Irrawaddy delta, Zarganar has mobilized hundreds of Burmese volunteers to bring aid to 42 devastated villages. Zarganar's continuing arbitrary detention by the Burmese junta is in violation of international law and directly threatens such relief efforts.

Demand that the Burmese government immediately release human rights defender Zarganar in conformity with both international and domestic law. Burma must also stop hindering the work of private citizens trying to bring relief to victims of the cyclone.
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** League of Conservation Voters **
( 5 ) In a misguided attempt to address rising gas prices, some Members of Congress beholden to Big Oil are adding amendments to bills that call for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, off our coasts, and other pristine areas. Instead of drilling for dirty energy we should be promoting efficiency and clean, renewable energy to address our nation's growing energy crisis.

Tell your Members of Congress to resist calls for drilling and instead promote efficiency and clean energy solutions!

Your Fight The Right-Wing Wackos for June 18, 2008

** Campaign Money Watch **
Lobbyists for foreign governments, politicians, and corporations can avoid disclosing who they work for and how much they're paid if they don't attend meetings about their clients in the U.S. This loophole allows lobbyists to hide their work for brutal regimes and interests working against our values.

Tell your Senators it's time to close the foreign lobbying loophole.
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** Greenpeace **
You can help save the oceans every time you go grocery shopping. Consumers buy half their seafood at supermarkets, yet most supermarkets don’t consider where the seafood they sell comes from or how it was caught. Destructive fishing practices and overfishing are two of the gravest threats facing our oceans, and experts predict if current trends continue, global fisheries will collapse in 40 years. Take action – Flex your power as a consumer.

Tell the largest U.S. supermarket retailers to adopt sustainable seafood policies, stop selling destructively fished seafood, and provide informative labeling so customers, like us, can choose the most sustainable seafood and avoid the most imperiled fish. Don’t delay, ocean protection starts with all of us.

Tell Supermarkets, No More Fishy Business!
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** ACLU **
A sham spying “compromise” similar to the one we warned you about last week could be rammed through both the Senate and House this week. It’s moving that fast.

In a proposal that makes a mockery of the rule of law, telecom companies that broke the law by supplying mountains of personal information to the government without a warrant will be let off the hook

There’s a deeply disturbing premise behind this dangerous FISA legislation: The president simply had to claim his request was legal for immunity to be granted to telecom companies that illegally handed over personal information.

No matter how illegal, offensive or intrusive a company’s invasion of your privacy has been, it won’t make a difference, because if the president gave the company a note claiming their behavior was legal, they’re completely off the hook.
Congress needs to reject this sham for what it is and

Tell your members of Congress to reject a sham immunity "compromise."
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** Center for Biological Diversity **
Last month the Bush administration was forced to recognize the serious threats to polar bear survival, listing the bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

But just as it made one step forward to protect the bear, the administration took two steps back -- refusing to address the effects of global warming on the rapidly melting sea ice and allowing environmentally damaging oil and gas development to continue in the Arctic.

To counter this massive loophole, representatives Jay Inslee and Maurice Hinchey have introduced a bill to halt oil and gas leases in the bears' Arctic habitat until scientists can fully assess the environmental impacts and designate protected critical habitat.

Support the "Polar Bear Seas Protection Act" and ensure that polar bears get the protection they need to survive.
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** Common Cause **
Congress is wheeling and dealing this week with the White House over whether to give a "get-out-of-jail-free" card to telecom companies that helped eavesdrop on Americans without legally-required warrants.

Just a few weeks ago, the House stood strong and refused to give immunity to the phone companies that engaged in illegal wiretapping. But now, Congress is considering a "compromise" bill that could make it impossible for us to find out the details of the domestic spying program and hold accountable anyone who broke the law.

Tell your members of Congress: No deal on telecom immunity.

Your Fight the Right Activist links for June 5, 2008

** True Majority **
You might have heard that the Supreme Court of California ruled that marriage is a fundamental civil right and must not be restricted on the basis of sexual orientation. Now, on June 17th, California is poised to become only the second state in America to practice full marriage equality. Over the past decade the public has rapidly been embracing equal rights and with this clear ruling we finally have an opportunity to put equality over the top.

Now we're coming out. We support full marriage equality.

We all have our own issues: budget priorities, labor rights, reproductive rights, election integrity, telecom immunity, anti-war, pro civil rights, this list goes on and on. But, this is bigger than that. Marriage equality comes down to human rights. That's why we're circulating this open letter for all progressives to take a second to step back from our respective corners and come out in support of same sex marriage.

Sign this open letter for equality today:
www.TrueMajority.org/Equality
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** Public Citizen **
When scientific research is altered or suppressed, government contractors waste millions of taxpayer dollars, or national security documents are falsified, witnesses need to know that they can blow the whistle without reprisals endangering their careers and their lives.

Last year, strong whistleblower protection bills were passed in both houses of Congress. Now it's time for Congress to finish the job by passing a final bill.

We will continue to push for strongest possible protections for government employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse -- and you can still make a difference.

TAKE ACTION: Demand that Congress pass the strongest possible bill for consumers!
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** VoteVets **
Yesterday, along with officials from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and two Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are battling the Department of Veterans Affairs for their disability claims, I attended a hearing and press conference with the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, on issues regarding PTSD diagnosis and claims.

All of this came about because of the work VoteVets.org and CREW did, to expose an email from a Temple, Texas VA administrator urging psychologists to diagnose veterans with "adjustment disorder" over PTSD, as a cost-cutting measure.

Now, we need the Inspector General to expand its investigation into VA procedure, specifically focusing on how we treat those with mental injuries, including how they are diagnosed, why so many are having claims issues, and a pay bonus program that rewards administrators who quickly move veterans from VA care. You cannot imagine the number of stories I have heard, and others have heard, about veterans not getting the proper diagnosis. Even when they do get it, they have far too many problems getting their just disability payment.

SIGN OUR PETITION TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE VA HERE.
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** Food and Water Watch **
The Chinese government and some big agribusiness players want to export processed chicken from China to the U.S. However, the Chinese food safety system doesn't have the best track record. In the past year alone, American consumers have been exposed to dangerous imports ranging from deadly pet food and blood thinners, to toxic toys and fish. Now is not the time to add chicken to the list of imported products from China.

Now is not the time to allow more food from China. Tell Congress to say "No thanks!"
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** ACLU **
At the prison at Guantánamo Bay, convictions can be based on evidence derived from torture, hearsay and secret evidence. Many of the accused have been held in secret prisons, denied access to lawyers for years and even tortured.

The Guantánamo military commissions are a serious mistake. It's time to shut down Guantánamo Bay, and move proceedings to a civilian court of law or a traditional military court operating in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice where constitutional guarantees apply.

We must also end indefinite detention without charge. Detainees who are not charged or convicted must be sent to countries where they will not be tortured or abused.
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Your Fight the Right Activist links for May 30, 2008

** The Wilderness Society **
The Bush Administration wants to cut essential funding for our National Forests and for nearby rural communities. Adding insult to injury, the Administration has even proposed the sell-off of National Forest lands to make money (H.R. 3058).

On June 3, the House of Representatives will vote on legislation to continue funding for National Forests and communities. Please use our letter below to tell your Representative to support H.R. 3058, the Public Land Communities Transition Act, so rural communities and National Forests will receive the funding they urgently need.
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** ACLU **
A recent compromise offered by Right-wing wacko Senator Kit Bond would create loopholes for Bush to engage in unchecked spying on Americans, and could cut off lawsuits against telecom companies that broke the law.

Tell your representative to demand accountability and reject bad spying compromises.
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** Stop Big Media **
We scored an amazing victory two weeks ago when the Senate voted overwhelmingly to reject the Federal Communications Commission's latest handout of local outlets to Big Media. Our senators heard the more than a quarter-million activists who contacted Washington.

Now, the fight has moved to the House, where we're building support for a similar resolution.
Tell Your Representative: Turn Up the Heat Against Big Media

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for May 5, 2008

** Public Citizen **
Legislation to protect us from defective and dangerous products is on the move.

With your help, we recently pushed the House and Senate to pass legislation that will make consumer products safer. Now we're heading to the finish line. Today, members of the House and Senate will begin negotiating differences in the legislation they passed and writing a final bill.

You can make a difference - by urging Congress to produce the strongest possible bill to protect consumers.
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** Center for Biological Diversity **
A February 2008 study funded by the National Park Service documented extensive chemical contamination in 20 western U.S. parks. Researchers found that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like the pesticide endosulfan are threatening park ecosystems and wildlife health. Alarming levels of these chemicals were found in some of America's most seemingly pristine areas, including Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks along with 18 other western parks from Texas to the far northern reaches of the Arctic.

POPs are among the most dangerous compounds ever produced. POPs persist in the environment, build up in body fat of animals (including humans), and travel the globe on air and water currents. Some of the human health effects now linked to POP exposure include cancer, learning disorders, impaired immune function, reproductive problems, and diabetes. Many POP pesticides, such as DDT and chlordane, have been banned for years in the United States.

Endosulfan is one dangerous POP pesticide still being used in this country, currently under review by EPA. Leaders in Congress should press for a ban of endosulfan and other POPs still in use that are contaminating national parks and threatening wildlife.

Add your name to the petition below to be delivered to the leaders of the committees in Congress charged with protecting our national parks and wildlife.
Tell Congress: Protect our Parks and Wildlife From Pesticides!
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** John Kerry **
Over a week ago, the New York Times published a major investigative article, detailing a secret Pentagon program the Times said was designed to recruit and cultivate the "military analysts" you see on the major news networks in an attempt to create coverage favorable to the Bush Administration's policy in Iraq.
The Times described an extensive program, with dozens of television analysts involved, some of whom had extensive business ties to the Defense Department -- in fact they called it "an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse -- an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks."

Since that story ran, there's been a virtual news blackout, and we haven't gotten any closer to finding out the real story.

You can change that. I sent a letter to the Government Accounting Organization requesting an investigation, and I'd like you to show your support by virtually "co-signing" the letter with me. Only with an overwhelming display of grassroots energy can we put this story in the spotlight and press for answers.
Click here to co-sign the letter with me:
http://www.johnkerry.com/pentagonpundits
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** ACLU **
In February, the House of Representatives heard the demands of voters like you and stood up to Bush administration demands for expanded surveillance powers and immunity for big phone companies that broke the law. But now, House leadership is on the precipice of caving in and handing over everything the President has demanded.

Your representative must hear that there will be a major backlash if he or she caves on FISA. Let your representative know you're watching.

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for May 1, 2008

** We Can Solve It **
As climate change causes the continued shrinkage of Arctic sea ice, polar bears are increasingly at risk. Leading American scientists say placing the polar bear on the federal Endangered Species list is key to its survival.

A federal court has given the Bush administration until May 15 to decide if it will list the polar bear as endangered. Click here to tell Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne that the polar bear, and its fragile Arctic habitat, requires protection from the effects of global warming.
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** American Jewish World Service **
Tonight marks the beginning of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, when we honor the memory of the six million Jews who were slaughtered while the world stood silently by. As Jews, we have a deep understanding of the danger of inaction in the face of genocide. And so Yom HaShoah also serves as a reminder that as global citizens and advocates for justice, there is much more that we can do - especially for the people of Darfur.

This Yom HaShoah, please join me and other members of the AJWS community by signing an open letter that calls on President Bush not to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. AJWS will deliver signatures to the White House on Monday, May 12.
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** Consumers Union **
Ever had food poisoning? Whew! It's not pretty. And for thousands every year, it's deadly.
The FDA inspects U.S. food processing plants only once every five to ten years, even less overseas. Yet more uninspected food is coming from China and elsewhere.

The recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef, after undercover video showed processors shoveling sick animals to slaughter, spurred an outcry about our failing food safety system. Now leaders in Congress vow to make real change. But it won't happen with out strong support from you.

Take a moment right now to support strong food safety bills in Congress.
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** ACLU **
So far, John Conyers has no takers.

The powerful and persistent Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has invited a number of the leading figures in the Bush torture scandals -- John Ashcroft, George Tenet, John Yoo, Douglas Feith and others -- to appear at a crucial hearing on May 6th.

As of yet, not a single one of them has agreed to show up. In fact, John Yoo and John Ashcroft -- central figures in the Bush strategy for defending torture -- have already refused.

The recent revelations about the Bush administration confirm our worst fears about subversion of the Constitution and betrayals of the rule of law by top government officials -- that they met regularly and approved the CIA’s use of “combined” “enhanced” interrogation techniques.

We must get to the bottom of these allegations, and now we need your help. We’re flooding Chairman Conyers and the whole House Judiciary Committee with “Citizens’ Subpoenas.”

Let Chairman Conyers and the Judiciary Committee know you want them to go all the way by issuing real subpoenas, legally compelling Bush’s torture team to show up.
Stop the Stonewalling: Send your own “Citizens’ Subpoena” now.

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for April 18, 2008

** Sierra Club **
Gas prices are skyrocketing -- and so are Big Oil's profits. In fact, the country's five largest oil companies made a record-breaking $123 billion just last year -- billions more than they were making just a year ago.

So what's old and senile Senator John McCain's solution?

Raise oil company profits by another 18 cents per gallon -- by eliminating the federal gas tax without guaranteeing that Big Oil won't just keep prices high and take the difference to grow their record profits even more.
Sign the petition to tell old and senile Senator McCain to end giveaways to Big Oil and invest in clean, renewable energy?

** Save the Internet **
Right now, Congress is considering a bill -- the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (H.R. 5353) -- which ensures that economic innovation, democratic participation and free speech will continue to flourish across the Internet.
Tell Congress to Listen to California: Take Action Now.

** ACLU **
If you found out today that your boss decided to pay you thousands of dollars less than your coworkers because of your gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age, or disability, there may be nothing you can do about it -- thanks to the Supreme Court.

In the case of Ledbetter vs. Goodyear, your right to sue for pay discrimination was virtually taken away. This decision basically eliminates your right to take action. Thankfully some in Congress are working to fix this outrage. The Senate is set to vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act next week, and we are critically close to the 60 votes we need to pass this bill.
Tell your senators: No one should be worth less!

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for April 15, 2008

** ACLU **
1) In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA's use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, "I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved." Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.

The ACLU is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.
Take Action: Demand that your members of Congress reject torture by holding to account those responsible for approving and implementing these un-American policies.


2) Last May, the Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that employees who have suffered years of pay discrimination cannot have their day in court if they don’t discover the discrimination within 180 days of their employer’s initial discriminatory pay decision.

The Ledbetter decision not only reversed years of employment law, it also ignored the realities of a workplace. Often employees don’t know what their co-workers are paid. Further, expecting that they learn that information within the first 180 days of a pay decision is unreasonable. Unless Congress intervenes, companies will be able to discriminate for years and unjustly profit from paying women, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as long as it keeps the discrimination secret for a few months.
The Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843), is now before the U.S. Senate. The time has come for the Senate to correct this wrong and let American workers keep their hard-earned dollars. Urge your Senators to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act!

** Democrats.com **
In the wake of the Monkey King's admission to knowledge of torture, we've come to a historic moment where every American - and every Member of Congress - must take a stand.

Either you're for torture or you're against it. And if you're against it, you must support the only Constitutional remedy for a President and Vice President who commit war crimes: impeachment.
Tell Congress to Impeach Bush and Cheney for Torture

** Humane Society **
The European Environment Commissioner has announced a plan to ban the trade in all seal products originating from inhumane hunts. This builds upon the historic declaration by the European parliament in 2006. If an EU-wide ban is enacted, the fashion houses serving the main markets for seal skins today -- China and Russia -- would be forced to stop, and millions of baby seals would be saved from cruel slaughter.

In the meantime, many nations have either banned seal product trade or announced their intentions to do so. They include: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Panama, Mexico, and the United States. Just the potential for an EU ban on seal products has saved thousands of seals already. Prices paid for seal skins this year have declined so much that most sealers have chosen to stay home.
Tell the EU that you strongly support a total ban on trade in seal products by signing the petition here.

** People for the American Way **
Repairing the damage to our Constitution and our standing in the world will take years, but RIGHT NOW certain senators can stop more of President Bush's dangerous judicial nominees from getting lifetime seats on the federal courts.
As the Republican tantrum over unconfirmed nominees continues, key Democratic senators are starting to echo what we've been saying: in these months leading up to a presidential election, controversial nominees need not and should not be considered for confirmation. Hundreds of Bush judges are already doing plenty of damage to your rights and legal protections.
Tell senators on the Judiciary Committee to stand up to Bush and his Senate allies by invoking the well-established Senate tradition of not considering controversial judicial nominees in the months leading up to a presidential election.


** Leahy for US Senate **
First the Bush-Cheney Administration tried to bully the House into accepting its own deeply flawed FISA legislation. Then White House officials and Congressional Republicans refused to meet with us to hammer out a better bill. And then the President and his allies blocked our attempts to temporarily extend existing surveillance legislation -- incredibly blaming Democrats for their own efforts to let the legislation expire.
Despite all of this bullying, cajoling, and foot-dragging, we're proud that our House Democratic colleagues stood firm, refusing to water down the strong, balanced FISA bill that passed the House and is now on its way to the Senate.
Urge the Senate to support the House's strong and balanced FISA bill -- forward an email to your Senators now!

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for April 14, 2008

** Environmental Defense **
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to build the world's largest hydraulic pumping plant in one of the most sparsely populated regions in the state of Mississippi.

In a throwback to another era and contrary to federal policy, the Corps would use the Yazoo Pumps to drain wetlands so agribusiness can intensify production to reap more farm subsidy payments.

The Yazoo Pumps project would waste $220 million in taxpayer money, drain and damage more than 200,000 acres of wetlands in the heart of the Mississippi River flyway and ruin some of the richest natural resources in the nation.

An EPA veto would put an end to this harmful plan. Send an email today! Help protect these precious Mississippi wetlands once and for all.

** Working Families **
Just about any way you look at it, runaway pay packages led CEOs to take on excessive risk and are one of the real causes of the mortgage crisis.

Too often, compensation programs encouraged top corporate executives to maximize short-term financial gains at the expense of long-term sustainability. In effect, boards of directors rewarded their CEOs for generating financial results that were often based on taking on irresponsible levels of subprime mortgage risk.

1) Click here to tell your representative and senators to help homeowners affected by the irresponsible corporate lending practices that led to the mortgage meltdown.



2) Click here to urge your senators to support giving shareholders a say on CEO pay.


** American Civil Liberties Union **
For the first time, George W. Bush acknowledged that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA’s use of torture. “I’m aware that our national security team met on this issue and I approved,” he said. He also defended the use of waterboarding -- simulated drowning where the victim feels like they are about to die.

Congress should long ago have gotten to the bottom of which top officials approved, condoned and authorized U.S. involvement in torture. But, now that the President has admitted to a policy of top-down torture, the ACLU is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations of the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act and federal assault laws.

Tell your members of Congress: Don’t look the other way on torture.


** Vote Vets **
Take a moment today to use our website to write a letter to your own senators and representative, urging them to back a new GI Bill. We've drafted some text for you, so all you need to do is enter your name and information, and click.

TELL CONGRESS TO RESTORE AMERICA'S PROMISE TO ITS TROOPS

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for March 30, 2008

** American Civil Liberties Union **
Ongoing efforts by the ACLU and its members helped get the House of Representatives to do the right thing and stand up to the administration's fear mongering, including rejecting the Monkey King Bush's unconstitutional spying bill, and, just before Spring recess, passing the FISA Amendments Act -- a far cry from the blank check that the Monkey King Bush demanded so strenuously.
Tell your representative and Speaker Pelosi to stand strong against a spying bill that harms the Constitution.


** National Parks Conservation Association **
Any day now, the Senate could vote on a package of public lands bills that will greatly benefit our national parks and public lands. Some of NPCA's top priorities-- reauthorization of the Park Service's Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, the Cesar Chavez Study Act, and the Acadia National Park Improvement Act to name a few--are all in the mix. These bills have strong bi-partisan support, and yet they’ve been held up for more than a year.
Write your Senators and urge them to vote in favor of S. 2739.

** Jobs with Justice **
In the tomato fields of south Florida, modern-day slavery still thrives. As part of the week of action, students across the country are demanding that Burger King and food industry leaders work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve the wages and conditions for the workers who pick tomatoes and join an industry-wide effort to eliminate human rights abuses from Florida’s fields.
Click here to sign the National Petition to End Sweatshops & Slavery in the Fields.

** Working Families **
Another petition to eliminate modern-day servitude in America produce fields.

** Sierra Club **
The good news is that thanks to the support of our Sierra Club members and supporters we were able to block a staggering 5,000-acre timber sale in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
But the bad news is our fight to protect the majestic Giant Sequoias is not over. More than half of the remaining groves — located in Giant Sequoia National Monument — are in jeopardy because, despite being rebuked by the federal courts, the Monkey King Bush Administration is refusing to back off its plan to log this irreplaceable ancient forest. That’s why we are asking you to act now and sign our petition to Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell, asking her to implement the strongest possible protections for Giant Sequoia National Monument.

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for March 2, 2008

** American Rights at Work **
Workers at Atria Senior Living are being threatened and intimidated for trying to form a union. Tell Corporate ghouls at Altria and Lazard CEO Bruce Wasserstein to stop being a$$holes and stop unionbusting!

** ACLU **
Tell Congress to stand firm against the Monkey King Bush and his fear mongering.

** Public Citizen **
Tell your Senators to support renewable energy by cutting off OIL INDUSTRY HANDOUTS!

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for Feb 15, 2008

** ACLU **
Send a "Thank you" to House leaders for finally standing up to King Bush on his unconstitutional spying bill and rejecting his fear-mondering.

** Earthworks **
Tell Panasonic, Sharp Electronics and Philips to take responsibility for their electronic waste.

** Defenders of Wildlife **
Stop another Bush proposal to weaken protections in our National Forests in Colorado!

** National Parks Conservation Association **
Tell your Senators to vote NO on Senator Coburn's (S.2619) bill and keep Loaded Guns OUT of our National Parks!

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for Feb 7, 2008

** ACLU **
Tell your Representatives to Oppose Telecom Immunity.

** The People's Email Network **
Another email to send to your Reps. to Oppose Telecom Immunity!

** True Majority Action **
Tell the FDA that CLONED ANIMAL products should be clearly labeled as such!

** Amnesty International **
Tell your Senator to Vote Against Torture!

** Wilderness Society **
Tell the Bureau of Land Management to protect Utah's Red Rock Wilderness.

** United Farm Workers **
Tell the EPA to ban toxic pesticide called endosulfan.

Your 5 Minute Activist Links for Feb 3, 2008

** ACLU **
Join with the American Civil Liberties Union and tell your Senators to say NO to Telecom Immunity or illegal spying on Americans!

Don't forget to check out the ACLU's action center.

** People for the American Way **
Protect your right to vote. Super Tuesday is coming. Are you a citizen in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachuses, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia?? Check out PFAW's vote flyer

Be the eyes and ears to protect this election. Do you see your rights being violated? Do you feel something if wrong and that it might be a violation of others right to vote? Call the PFAW Election Protection toll-free line: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)

Other actions to take at the PFAW's action center.