tagged w/ Petition
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There's finally a bill to stop private, for-profit companies like Blackwater from waging war in our name with little regard for anything beyond their bottom line.
More than 22,000 mercenaries are operating in Iraq and Afghanistan, and these unaccountable hired guns have shot civilians and participated in torture at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities.
The Stop Outsourcing Security Act, just introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, would prohibit hiring private mercenaries like Blackwater to perform tasks traditionally done by the military.
Sign the petition at this link.There's finally a bill to stop private, for-profit companies like Blackwater from... more
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Let's all get together on this and by the stike of the Clock at midnight December 31st 2010 they will be banned globally.Let's all get together on this and by the stike of the Clock at midnight December... more
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Last year the government's chief drugs adviser, Professor David Nutt, went public with his claims that ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol, and was asked to resign by Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
Over 7,000 people signed a petition on the Prime Minister's office official website asking for the Professor Nutt that stated:
“On 30 October 2009 the Home Secretary sacked the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Professor Nutt has expressed politically unpopular opinions such as - “Alcohol ranks as the fifth most harmful drug after heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and methadone. Tobacco is ranked ninth” and “Cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, while harmful, are ranked lower at 11, 14 and 18 respectively.” Drug policy should be based on science not hysteria. Scientists expressing their honestly held expert opinions should not find themselves in fear of losing their jobs. Professor Nutt should be re-instated immediately.”
For those interested, here's the government's response. For those short on time, here's a summary: "Yeah? Hmm, I see... no."
"Thank you for your e-petition which calls for the reinstatement of Professor David Nutt as Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
In his statement to the House of Commons on 2 November 2009, the Home Secretary informed the House that he asked Professor Nutt to resign as Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs because he had lost confidence in Professor Nutt’s ability to undertake this important role.
The Home Secretary recognises that the advice of independent scientific advisers is essential to the Government’s work. The role of such advisers is to provide independent advice to Government based on their professional, scientific expertise.
The role of Government is to consider that advice carefully, along with all other relevant factors, such as public perceptions, and it is for Parliament to endorse or reject the Government’s decisions where appropriate.
The Chair of the Council has to be able to accept those decisions and continue his work as an adviser to, rather than a critic of, government.
Members of the Council of course have the right as academics to express their views on drug risks. What they cannot do is lobby against the decisions taken by ministers in relation to drugs.
The Government accepts that its commitment to evidence-based policy making on the important issue of drug misuse and in many other areas can only continue with high quality scientific evidence underpinning it. Principles on scientific advice to Government to ensure effective engagement between the Government and those who provide independent scientific and engineering advice are currently out for consultation. A revised, agreed set of rules governing scientific advisory bodies will then be put into practice by the Government in its dealings with all such bodies.
In relation to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the Home Secretary has agreed specific ways of working, supported with mutual commitments. These are set out in a joint statement that was issued on 10 November 2009, following his meeting with the Council. They agreed that it is important to concentrate efforts on ensuring that the best advice is available to government on drug misuse with the common purpose of reducing drug-related harms in the UK.
Professor Les Iversen was appointed in January 2010 as interim chair for 12 months."
Last year the government's chief drugs adviser, Professor David Nutt,... more
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richjm
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2 years ago
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"The pipes that keep America’s drinking water circulating and the treatment facilities that keep it clean are falling apart.
Degrading water systems are now causing more than half of all waterborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. A common bacteria associated with leaking water pipes, fecal coliform bacteria, is not a merely unpleasant – it can be deadly for children and the elderly.
Sewage-contaminated water also sickens swimmers and poisons seafood, which when eaten by humans leads to more illnesses – as many as two million per year.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has given our water and wastewater infrastructure systems a D- grade, and the Environmental Protection Agency reports we are falling short on water infrastructure spending by $22 billion per year.
In short, we’re facing a looming crisis of clean water.
Fortunately there is a solution: the Water Protection and Reinvestment Trust Fund, currently before Congress. This bill would create a dedicated source of public funding so that communities across America can keep their water clean, safe and affordable."
Take action and sign the petition:
http://www.change.org/actions/view/tell_congress_to_keep_toxic_sewage_out_of_american_drinking_water
Join the Organic Revolution:
http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/"The pipes that keep America’s drinking water circulating and the treatment... more
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CBS has always had standards for what kind of advertisements it will show -- especially during the Superbowl. The network has rejected ads from MoveOn.org, PETA, and the United Church of Christ among others on the grounds that their content is "too controversial."
But there's something wrong with CBS's definition of "controversial." This year, the network approved an ad produced by the ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family attacking a woman's right to choose.
Demand that CBS pull this incredibly controversial and insensitive ad from the Superbowl line-up.
The Superbowl is the most-watched television program in the country, giving anti-choice voices an enormous audience to broadcast their idea that a woman doesn't have the right to make decisions about her own body. To top it off, CBS has no plans to run a pro-choice ad to balance the two sides of the issue.
Stand up for a woman's right to decide what she does with her own body. Tell CBS to axe the Superbowl ad from Focus on the Family.
Click the link above to sign the petition.
http://www.evangelicalright.com/prolife1.jpgCBS has always had standards for what kind of advertisements it will show --... more
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Corporate forces, long before the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, carried out a coup d’état in slow motion. The coup is over. We lost. The ruling is one more judicial effort to streamline mechanisms for corporate control. It exposes the myth of a functioning democracy and the triumph of corporate power. But it does not significantly alter the political landscape. The corporate state is firmly cemented in place.
The fiction of democracy remains useful, not only for corporations, but for our bankrupt liberal class. If the fiction is seriously challenged, liberals will be forced to consider actual resistance, which will be neither pleasant nor easy. As long as a democratic facade exists, liberals can engage in an empty moral posturing that requires little sacrifice or commitment. They can be the self-appointed scolds of the Democratic Party, acting as if they are part of the debate and feel vindicated by their cries of protest.
Much of the outrage expressed about the court’s ruling is the outrage of those who prefer this choreographed charade. As long as the charade is played, they do not have to consider how to combat what the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin calls our system of “inverted totalitarianism.”
Inverted totalitarianism represents “the political coming of age of corporate power and the political demobilization of the citizenry,” Wolin writes in “Democracy Incorporated.” Inverted totalitarianism differs from classical forms of totalitarianism, which revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader, and finds its expression in the anonymity of the corporate state. The corporate forces behind inverted totalitarianism do not, as classical totalitarian movements do, boast of replacing decaying structures with a new, revolutionary structure. They purport to honor electoral politics, freedom and the Constitution. But they so corrupt and manipulate the levers of power as to make democracy impossible.
Inverted totalitarianism is not conceptualized as an ideology or objectified in public policy. It is furthered by “power-holders and citizens who often seem unaware of the deeper consequences of their actions or inactions,” Wolin writes. But it is as dangerous as classical forms of totalitarianism. In a system of inverted totalitarianism, as this court ruling illustrates, it is not necessary to rewrite the Constitution, as fascist and communist regimes do. It is enough to exploit legitimate power by means of judicial and legislative interpretation. This exploitation ensures that huge corporate campaign contributions are protected speech under the First Amendment. It ensures that heavily financed and organized lobbying by large corporations is interpreted as an application of the people’s right to petition the government. The court again ratified the concept that corporations are persons, except in those cases where the “persons” agree to a “settlement.” Those within corporations who commit crimes can avoid going to prison by paying large sums of money to the government while, according to this twisted judicial reasoning, not “admitting any wrongdoing.” There is a word for this. It is called corruption.
Corporations have 35,000 lobbyists in Washington and thousands more in state capitals that dole out corporate money to shape and write legislation. They use their political action committees to solicit employees and shareholders for donations to fund pliable candidates. The financial sector, for example, spent more than $5 billion on political campaigns, influence peddling and lobbying during the past decade, which resulted in sweeping deregulation, the gouging of consumers, our global financial meltdown and the subsequent looting of the U.S. Treasury.
More at the link:Corporate forces, long before the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v.... more
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From: http://mashable.com/2010/01/27/facebook-war-protest/
"An organization called Rethink Afghanistan has executed a widespread war protest on the White House’s Facebook page.
It began with a drive for 20,000 signatures at Rethink Afghanistan’s website, but folks who added their signatures were also given instructions for participating in the Facebook (Facebook) protest.
Hundreds of people have posted the following message or something very close to it to the White House page:
'President Obama, I am one of more than 20,000 signers of this petition from Rethink Afghanistan: ‘In your State of the Union address on January 27, 2010, I want you to provide a concrete exit strategy for our troops in Afghanistan that begins no later than July 2011 and which completes a withdrawal of combat troops no later than July 1, 2012.’ Petition: http://bit.ly/7romlW'
Rethink Afghanistan has also set up a Ustream embed on its own Facebook page, where it will air the anti-war documentary Cost of War with an introduction by Robert Greenwald at 7:15 p.m. EST tonight. After the one-hour documentary, Greenwald will answer questions leading up to the president’s State of the Union, which will also stream on the Facebook page."From: http://mashable.com/2010/01/27/facebook-war-protest/
"An organization... more
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Next Wednesday, President Obama will give his first State of the Union address. It's a safe bet he'll discuss the Afghanistan war. You probably recall that the President recently committed to start drawing down troops in Afghanistan in July 2011.
Setting a target date for the start of a withdrawal is a good step, but if we are going to make the president's commitment into a reality, we need a concrete exit strategy.
Tell President Obama to lay out an exit strategy and timetable for the War in Afghanistan in his State of the Union address. Sign the petition at: http://rethinkafghanistan.com/Next Wednesday, President Obama will give his first State of the Union address.... more
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January 18, 2010
Congratulations to Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. They have reached the milestone number of 1000 A&Es!
Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth have now reached 1000 professional members, further legitimizing calls for a new investigation into the September 11th attacks based upon physical evidence and analysis that is completely inconsistent with the official story.
A&E911Truth also has 6173+ undersigned supporters that include academics, political activists and other members of the general public. The organization has grown exponentially, largely due to efforts by fellow architect and AE911truth founder Richard Gage, AIA, to confront professional architects and engineers with the unsettling evidence– demonstrated on video– that the official story is negated by the law of physics. (Kind of a big deal, if you haven’t confronted the official story lies…)
Similarly, Patriots Question 9/11 lists hundreds of other high-profile figures, established in government, professional service, the media, education as well as 9/11 Victim’s family members and survivors who have publicly questioned the events of 9/11 and/or called for a new investigation:
200+ Senior Military, Intelligence Service, Law Enforcement, and Government Officials
700+ Engineers and Architects* [NOW OFFICIALLY 1000+]
250+ Pilots and Aviation Professionals
400+ Professors Question 9/11
300+ 9/11 Survivors and Family Members
200+ Artists, Entertainers, and Media Professionals
1000 architectural and engineering professionals and 6170 other supporters including A&E students have signed the petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation.
The petition is open to everyone. Click here to read/sign petition [also below].
Everyone can sign the AE911Truth petition and call upon Congress for a truly independent investigation into the 3 WTC High-rise "collapses" on 9/11. Our voices will be louder and more resonant in the halls of Congress when joined together as one voice of hundreds of architects and engineers and others.
Despite the large public outcry, the media and government have refused to acknowledge the real 9/11 evidence and only worked to kill the messengers in order to spite the message. Messengers from actor Charlie Sheen to former BYU physics professor Steven Jones and beyond have had their careers and lives threatened for trying to bring the truth to light.
So what are ‘they’ hiding? Everything…January 18, 2010
Congratulations to Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. They... more
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To: Parole Court of NY
We the undersigned believe that Mark David Chapman should not be granted parole for the murder of John Lennon.
Chapman committed a heinous crime, unprovoked and without remorse. He shot to death John Lennon, a man who had signed an autograph for him only six hours earlier. He deserves to pay for this with life in prison.
It is also a matter of public safety that he not be released. He should not be free to harm anyone else. Please remember Mr. John Lennon, who believed in peace. Please remember that Mark David Chapman is forty-nine years old, and John Lennon never got to be older than forty.
Please do not let this man back on the streets.
R.I.P.
John Winston Ono Lennon
October 9th, 1940 - December 8th, 1980
Click on The Link Below To Sign The Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/rem128/petition.htmlTo: Parole Court of NY
We the undersigned believe that Mark David Chapman should... more
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While representatives from every major nation are converging on Copenhagen to discuss "cap and trade" ,"carbon tax" ,"carbon credits" and other equally abstract methods for securing a "prosperous energy future" in the scheme of 21st century global economics, the citizens of the world want a new bottom line.
Join this group and be one of many voices in a solidarity of sentiment for the immediate halt to environmentally damaging industrial practices, worldwide - the only real solution.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=195317300834While representatives from every major nation are converging on Copenhagen to discuss... more
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Eduardo lives in America. While heath care reform dominates the national debate, not everyone in this wealthy country will be helped. In Kansas City, KS, there is a 14 year-old boy named Eduardo Loredo who could die any day.
Eduardo is being denied a heart transplant because he does not have health insurance (or enough money) to pay for a heart transplant and follow up care. Eduardo was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy, and was hospitalized at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO beginning in July 2009. Eduardo was sent home from Children's Mercy Hospital on October 14, 2009 and told that he had the potential to live a few years or a few days.
Missouri's Medicaid program is generally available only to citizens and certain legal immigrants who meet a five year waiting period. These restrictive rules prevent Eduardo from qualifying for health insurance that would cover both the transplant procedure and the long-term follow up care required to ensure a successful transplant. Without this coverage, the total cost of the transplant would cost his family $500,000. Children's Mercy Hospital told Eduardo that without an up-front payment of $100,000, he would not even be able to get on the waiting list for a heart transplant. While Children's Hospital in St. Louis, MO originally offered to perform the transplant surgery for no cost, this offer was later retracted. His family is simply being told that his life is not a priority.
Here's what you can do to help:
Sign the petition to save Eduardo Loredo's life - http://www.petitiononline.com/Eduardo/petition.html
Help the Mobilization keep fighting for the right to health care. Since this campaign started, we've been able to support brave activists across the country stand up to the biggest corporations in the world, and say, "We demand the right to health care." Now we are taking the message to Congress that Medicare for All is the only way to end the needless suffering and death in the wealthiest country in the world. We are planning actions on Human Rights Day, December 10th, across the country at Senators offices. Please join those efforts.
But we need your support to keep this campaign going, click here to donate now. Give what you can and we will make sure that every Member of Congress hears about Eduardo's needless suffering and demand the right to health care for all people in this country.
Martin Luther King, Jr declared: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
Visit: http://outinthestreetfilms.comEduardo lives in America. While heath care reform dominates the national debate, not... more
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In most other industrialized nations education is a right. The governments pay or heavily subsidize college tuition for citizens, and they do the same for health care. In America we now see a growing upper upper class made up of 1% of the population who control more wealth than the lower 95% of the population. We see health care reform that has a first priority of making sure a criminal for-profit health insurance industry continues to get funded by mandated premiums on all Americans.
France
The higher education system is mainly public, which means that the tuition fees are almost fully funded by the state and students have to pay only a small fee.
Sweden
Higher education is free for all, tuition fees are not allowed, and university funding is met by the goverment. There is a system of student grants which meet roughly a third of living costs and then loans for the remainder of costs. Both loans and grants are subject to an income test of the student but not of their parents.
Australia
Introduced in 1989, the higher education contribution scheme (HECS) is a system where students contribute to the costs of their education with interest free deferred payment arrangements. You can repay in various ways, either upfront with a 25% discount, or paying part and deferring the rest, or deferring it all. You must start repaying when your income reaches the minimum threshold for compulsory repayment, which in 2001-02 was $23,242 (£8,576). Youth allowance provides income support based on a student's personal and/or family circumstances.
Countries like France, England, Germany, Spain, and Italy keep a strong check on their governments through healthy protests in the streets. Even with their successful socialized medicine and education programs they continue to protest to make things even better. The fight against greed, corruption and corporate crime is never ending. This is the true war we all must fight. It's a fight for the freedoms and rights all Americans were promised in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How can you live without basic health care? How can you have liberty and happiness when you can't afford to go to college to get even an entry level job in this country?
Bob Samuels, president UCAFT, describes the investment banking aspect of how the UC schools are run on a profit motive and not for education or recruitment of teachers, which they consider a monetary liability. Thus they hike tuition, layoff teachers and even entire departments, while, at the same time, increase huge bonuses and salaries to administrators who come from the corporate and banking sectors. They even lend money to the state because it returns them interest. What are our colleges, banks or institutions of higher learning? http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/20/students
FDR proposed that our Bill of Rights be amended with new rights as he stated in 1944 and as seen in Michael Moore's film, Capitalism: A Love Story.
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The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens.
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The people in the U.S. have the power if they have the kahunas to use it. It's time we pressure our elected officials to make changes in our country before it's too late. Without universal health care and without education for those who can't afford the outrageous tuition rates, we are already well on our way to becoming a third world nation, where only the very few and very rich have a quality of life while everyone else languishes in a struggle just to stay alive.
Sign this petition and demand that your elected officials write and pass legislation to fund our colleges without burdening students at the most vulnerable time in their lives. Tax the rich. Other countries have higher taxes to pay for these social goods. If that's what must happen then it must be done. The United States of America is no more a leader among nations in anything except war, crime, and imprisonment. Stand up now and be counted. Take back America.
(Write or edit your own statement when you sign.) http://www.change.org/actions/view/stop_tuition_hikesIn most other industrialized nations education is a right. The governments pay or... more
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FOX News has always been the propaganda arm of the Republican Party, willing to twist facts and even lie to promote the Republican agenda.
But the election of President Obama in 2008 pushed FOX News into outright hate-mongering and incitement of violence, which is intolerable in a democracy. Here are some examples:
6/30/09 Glenn Beck agreed with guest who urged bin Laden to attack U.S. with nuclear weapons: "The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it’s going to take a grassroots, bottom-up pressure, because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. Only — it’s an absurd situation. Again, only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary."
7/25/09 Neil Cavuto and guest said health care reform will impose universal euthanasia like "Soylent Green."
7/28/09 Glenn Beck called President Obama a racist: "The President has exposed himself as a guy ... over and over and over again ... who has a deep-seated hatred for white people ... or the white culture... This man is a racist."
8/6/09 Glenn Beck "joked" about giving Speaker Pelosi a glass of wine with poison.
please take some time to click the link and sign this petition we are very close to our goal of 100,000 petitioners, please sign and pass this on this to all your friends
http://www.democrats.com/boycott-fox-news-advertisers
http://www.democrats.com/boycott-fox-news-advertisers
http://www.democrats.com/boycott-fox-news-advertisersFOX News has always been the propaganda arm of the Republican Party, willing to twist... more
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