EPA May Approve Use of More Bee-toxic Pesticides

Photo by http://scienceforthekids.files.wordpress.com

 

Just received this in an email from the Center for Food Safety:

Advertisement

“Social Security and Marriage Equality Act (S.A.M.E. Act)” Proposed

 

Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

 

I received this info in my email last night from CredoMobilize.com. Click on the link to find out more about the organization and ways to support their progressive activist work.

Here’s what’s being proposed:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Proposes Refinancing Student Loan Interest Rates

Photo from action.workingfamiliesparty.org

 

I received info and a petition asking to support Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new proposal to help college students pay back their loans. Other than what the petition says, and information from Warren’s own website, I haven’t found much else about it. From Warren’s senate website:

Fox News Dismisses National Climate Assessment As “Untrue, Unrelenting Doom & Gloom”

A NASA picture of large wildfires burning across sections of northern Baja and southern California.
PHOTO BY NASA VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

“What’s Behind Early Season Winds Fueling Southern California Wildfires?” is the title of a news article on NationalGeographic.com about the forest fires currently raging through the state. Though the precise cause is as yet unclear, what is clear is that the weather system which brings strong winds that intensify forest fires in Southern California, called the Santa Ana winds, usually doesn’t occur until between September or October.

Massive, Global May 15th Strike Planned: Fast Food Workers For Fair Wages

Photo courtesy of http://www.capitalbay.com

 

I received some news in my email today from the activist group SumOfUs.org saying that the fast food industry is still paying their workers only minimum wage, despite outcry from workers and those who support them. Any fast food worker will tell you that in most cities, minimum wage is barely enough for rent/mortgage, food, clothing, and the day-to-day expenses that come up for all of us. As I’ve discussed in previous posts about this issue, many of these workers need welfare assistance to survive, which is a crying shame in a nation of plenty.

If The Gap Can Raise Wages, So Can Walmart! (petition)

Photo courtesy of lawyersandsettlements.com

 

From Credo Mobilize:

Walmart cannot be neutral when, despite its $17 billion in profits last year, it chooses to pay its employees so little that many are forced to rely on tax-payer programs. Pay your workers a minimum of $25,000 per year so they are not forced to rely on government assistance.

To Pres. Obama: Cut Carbon Pollution From Power Plants (petition)

Photo courtesy of ecopolitology.org

 

From CredoAction.com:

A strong rule to limit carbon pollution from power plants is one of the most important things that President Obama can do to fight climate change.

To Pres. Obama: Don’t Approve the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline (petition)

From SumOfUs.org:

We have one last chance to officially tell President Obama not to approve the dirty Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

West Virginia’s Chemical Spill

Elk River, West Virginia; site of chemical spill. (Photo by kanawhavalleyparent.com)

 

A West Virginia public health official on whether the state’s tap water is safe to drink after last month’s chemical spill said:

Everybody has a different definition of ‘safe.’

(Sign this petition to help prevent spills from happening again!)

U.S. House of Representatives Introduces “Government By the People Act”

From pfaw.org

 

I was horrified when, through the “Citizens United” ruling, corporations were given the Supreme Court’s blessing to spend unlimited sums of money on the candidates of their choice. How, I wondered, can individuals like me have an equal say in elections? Can my vote still count?

Just a few nights ago, I got an email from an activist group I’m a member of called People For the American Way (PFAW). Now I have hope that, just maybe, important reforms can be made to America’s campaign finance laws. I always knew it was a long shot, so getting this email was a very pleasant and very encouraging surprise: