Author: Shet Quaker

Stop the “GI Tax”

The American people have a strong tradition of honoring our war veterans.  And Democrats have always led the fight to give our veterans what they deserve for their brave service to our country.

We all may not agree with the causes of this current war in Iraq, but we all agree that the brave men and women fighting it, and their families, deserve more than we can ever give them.

Now we must focus attention on our veterans and military retirees who have seen the government cut medical benefits, close VA hospitals, double tax disability payments, and more than double prescription drug co-payments, while requiring veterans to pay an annual enrollment fee of $250 to use government health services in the 2006 budget.
All of these costs add up to a “GI Tax” on our soldiers and veterans.  And it’s time to end that “GI Tax” — once and for all.

I was proud to join House Leaders Nancy Pelosi, Ike Skelton, Lane Evans, and John Salazar on Capitol Hill to unveil the new GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century.  From the original GI Bill, signed by Franklin Roosevelt, it’s always been up to a grateful nation to stand up for veterans and their families.  Now it’s our turn — so please help.

Tell your Members of Congress to end the “GI Tax” and support the new GI Bill today!

http://ga4.org/campaign/gi_tax/

Tell Your Senators to Oppose John Bolton’s Nomination as U.N. Ambassador

President Bush has nominated John R. Bolton to be the new U.S. representative to the United Nations.  This is a highly visible and vital diplomatic position, carrying the rank of ambassador and U.S. representative to the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly.

Mr. Bolton has been consistently hostile to international agreements concerning global environmental issues.  He has attacked the Kyoto climate change treaty and the Law of the Sea Convention as “illegitimate,” and has opposed U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that would prohibit explosive testing of nuclear weapons.

Recent scientific studies indicate that we are putting extraordinary pressures on the Earth’s natural systems and may be undermining their ability to support future generations.  We need someone at the United Nations who recognizes that more — rather than less — international cooperation is needed to protect the global environment.

A Senate committee is holding hearings on Mr. Bolton’s nomination the week of April 11th, and a floor vote is expected soon thereafter.  NRDC is joining foreign affairs and nuclear non-proliferation groups in opposing this nomination.

Urge your senators to vote against this nomination.

http://www.nrdcaction.org/

Protect Our Pacific Seafloor!

Deep at the bottom of the Pacific ocean lie a true natural wonder — deep-sea corals.

Corals, sponges, and other living seafloor animals provide oases of life on the seafloor, supporting ecological diversity crucial for healthy sustainable oceans.

However, these ancient animals are under threat.  Bottom trawling — the practice of fishing by dragging heavy weighted nets across the seafloor — destroys deep sea corals and sponges that are important to fish and other ocean creatures.

The government agency responsible for managing fishing in the Pacific is determining right now whether or not to include protections for deep sea corals and sponges in their plans.  We need your help to ensure they do!

http://takeaction.oceana.org/

Michigan – Support Privacy Rights for Workers

In January a Michigan company fired its employees who smoked – even if they never touched a cigarette at work.  Since then, we have submitted a petition signed by 2,000 people from around the country to tell the CEO he had no right to dictate his employees’ behavior when they were not at work.

Now you as a Michigander can take an important step to protect the privacy of workers outside the workplace in your state.  Senator Bernero (D-Lansing) has introduced a bill called the Employee Protection Privacy Act, which would make it illegal for employers to invade their employees’ privacy when they are not at work.  This would help to rein in employers who might be tempted to fire their employees for smoking or any other behaviors that could be health risks – such as eating junk food, riding a motorcycle, or sunbathing.

Passing this bill would put Michigan in the company of 21 other states with lifestyle discrimination statutes, but in order to make that happen legislators need to know that their constituents support privacy rights for workers.  You can tell your legislator to support this bill by taking action here:

http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/

End the Slaughter of America’s Horses

Horses are our trusted companions and have never been raised for human consumption in America.  However, American horses are being killed for foreign markets in Italy, France, Belgium, and Japan.

Representatives John Sweeney (R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) have introduced the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act to ban the transport, possession, purchase or sale of horses to be slaughtered for human consumption.

Wild horses are facing a serious threat from an amendment to last Congress’s omnibus appropriations bill that gutted more than three decades of protections for America’s wild horses against sale for slaughter.  As a result, it is legal for the government to sell wild horses and burros and allow them to go to slaughter.

Thankfully, Representatives Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) have introduced H.R. 297 and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) has introduced S. 576–the Wild Horse Act–to reverse the damage done and outlaw commercial sale of our wild horses and burros.

Please ask your federal legislators to end the slaughter of horses for human consumption and to restore the federal protections for wild horses.

http://hsus.ga4.org/

Protect the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay!

The Susquehanna River begins near Cooperstown, New York and flows 444 miles through Pennsylvania before broadening out into a vast tidal estuary at Havre de Grace, Maryland.  The river drains 27,510 square miles more than any other American river on the Atlantic coast.  The Susquehanna contributes half the freshwater flows to Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America.  The Chesapeake was once the most productive estuary in the world, but today excessive nutrients in polluted runoff and poorly treated sewage cloud the water, suffocate fish, kill underwater grasses, and devastate oyster and crab harvests.

Throughout the Susquehanna River watershed, aging sewer systems discharge enormous volumes of raw or poorly treated sewage, which eventually flow into the Chesapeake Bay.  For example, more than one hundred sewage outfalls pollute the river’s mainstem.  To add insult to injury, a new proposed inflatable dam across the Susquehanna at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania would pool this sewage and turn this stretch of the river into a cesspool, blocking migratory fish, drowning wetlands and threatening human health.

Without action, these problems will only grow worse.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will increase from about 15 million today to 18 million by 2020.  If elected officials aren’t willing to invest the resources necessary to clean up the Susquehanna River and restore the Bay, an irreplaceable piece of America’s natural and cultural heritage will be lost.

Take action today.  Congress has an opportunity this spring to reject hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed cuts to clean water funding in the 2006 federal budget.  Contact your Congressperson today and tell them to support funding for sewage treatment.

https:/secure2.convio.net/amr

Help Farmworkers

The future for immigrant farm workers is at a key crossroads.

It took three years for the United Farm Workers and national grower groups to negotiate the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act (S. 359/H.R. 884) allowing undocumented farm workers to earn the legal right to permanently stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture.

The bill, also referred to as “AgJOBS”, has broad support with 63 co-sponsors in the Senate last year.  It was reintroduced last month, and already has 45+ Senate co-sponsors.  Over 500 Latino, immigrant rights, agricultural and religious organizations have endorsed AgJOBS.

The people who put the food on our table are often faced with fear and intimidation because many employers use the threat of deportation to ensure their silence.

Undocumented farm workers share the values that many of you do–they want to provide for their families and to live without fear.  They could earn the opportunity over time through AgJOBS.  Send the message that we will not let the AgJOBS vote be denied this year!

The entire U.S. Senate may cast a crucial vote on the historic AgJobs Bill as early as this week!  Help farmworkers by urging your congressmembers to cosponsor and vote for the bill when it comes to the floor.

http://www.workingforchange.com/

Help Pass Global Warming Legislation

U.S. activists, as the world celebrates the launch of the Kyoto Protocol — the first international agreement to protect our living planet from global warming — the United States remains paralyzed by inaction and is still not among the 140 nations that have ratified the treaty.  Urge Congress to pass the bi-partisan Climate Stewardship Act and protect the polar bears, coral reef species, and other wildlife already feeling the effects of our warming planet.

http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/

Oppose H.R. 800:  Protect the Rights of Gun Violence Victims

Last week, we said Congress and the NRA were cooking up bad things in Washington and we weren’t kidding.  A dangerous bill backed by the NRA and gun corporations has reared its ugly head in the House.  Help us stop it.

Soon, a House Committee is going to vote on giving sweeping legal immunity to reckless gun dealers.  Click here to tell them not to.

The bill (H.R. 800) would destroy one of this country’s best deterrents against gun dealers who put murder weapons in the hands of criminals.  And this is while shooting after shooting is taking place across our country.  Make sense?  No.  (Well, unless you care more about profits than people.)

So to get the House of Representatives to wake up and see just how terrible this bill is for our country, we must make a lot of noise.

Why is the House even contemplating this dangerous bill?  Because the NRA and gun corporations stand to profit if it’s passed.

Our elected leaders should take meaningful action to save lives, NOT put more money into the pockets of special interests and gun corporations.  They should take action to find sensible solutions to gun violence, NOT pass a bill that gives a free “pass” to the worst gun dealers in America.

http://www.stopthenra.com/

Help Stop KFC Cruelty

Since January of 2003 PETA has been on a campaign to end the cruelty that chickens suffer in KFC’s factory farms.  Chickens are naturally inquisitive, friendly animals who build nests, have a social hierarchy and care for their young.  Their natural lifespan is 10 years, but the chickens that KFC use are slaughtered before they are 2 months old.

Although KFC states that it only uses chickens from cruelty free farms, extensive investigations reveal otherwise.  A few of the numerous accounts of cruelty are listed below.

Parent birds beaks are removed with a hot blade causing some to die of starvation and others to die from shock caused from the pain.

Millions of chickens die from horrible conditions, then sent to rendering plants to be fed back to KFC chickens or made into cat food.

After their throats are slit, it could take up to four minutes for them to die and they may even regain consciousness forcing them to be completely aware of the pain.

They are dumped into scalding hot water to remove their feathers regardless of if they are still conscious or have regained consciousness.

Please help put an end to this suffering and ask KFC to adopt more humane steps to improve animals’ lives.  Together we can end the unethical treatment of chickens within KFC’s factory farms.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

These and over 425 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Don’t Repeal the Estate Tax

Back in 2001, Congress voted to slowly eliminate the estate tax over a number of years, but did not have the votes to permanently eliminate it.  With funding by some of American’s wealthiest families (think Walmart, Gallo, Mars candy bars), representatives of the nation’s plutocrats think they might have the votes this year to repeal the tax rather than waiting until later when the public mood might change.  It’s crucial that we let our elected officials know that we don’t support these efforts and urge them to save the estate tax instead.

Within the complicated, regressive American tax system, the estate tax is a simple and fair tax that only affects the richest 2% of all Americans, individuals with estates larger than $1.5 million and couples with estates larger than $3 million.  The Bush administration has already drastically cut taxes for wealthy Americans.  Pushing for the permanent elimination of a tax that affects a few thousand of the wealthiest Americans while in a time of war and increasing deficits is unfair, immoral and simply un-American.

The estate tax was established to ensure that those who had the greatest ability and obligation to pay taxes would do so.  More than half of the value of large estates is made up of capital gains, which would go untaxed if the estate tax were repealed.  In addition, because the estate tax encourages charitable giving by making donations exempt, repeal of the estate tax could cut charitable giving by more than $10 billion per year.  It’s estimated that eliminating the estate tax would reduce federal revenue by more than $980 billion over the next 20 years.  At a time when social security and Medicaid are projected to be in a serious financial crisis and America is unable to balance its budget, it’s ridiculous to be talking about cutting taxes for millionaires.

Especially during a time of war, taxing the wealthiest Americans who are most able to pay is the most fair and moral thing to do.

Urge your senators to vote to maintain the estate tax.

http://www.workingforchange.com/

Support the Salmon Planning Act today!

This month, a group of volunteers is heading to Washington DC to meet with members of Congress to discuss salmon recovery policy.  Please help us deliver a strong grassroots push at the same time.  Bush Administration policies continue to push Pacific Northwest wild salmon – and the communities that rely on them – towards extinction.  Please help encourage Congress to stop wasting our taxpayer dollars on failed recovery efforts.  Please urge your Representative to sign onto the Salmon Planning Act today!

http://ga0.org/campaign/support_salmon_today

Stop the Flow of Security Assistance to Nepal

Nepal’s human rights crisis has deepened since King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency and suspended fundamental rights on February 1.  Hundreds of politicians, student leaders, journalists, and human rights defenders have been arrested.  This is occurring against a backdrop of thousands of grave human rights violations.  Please join Amnesty International in urging Secretary of State Rice to immediately suspend all U.S. security assistance to Nepal.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/

Tell your Senator to Oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment

This week the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, will be holding a hearing on the issue of same-sex marriage.  The hearing is focused on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and, for all practical purposes, on the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) as well.  Contact your Senators today and let them know that discrimination has no place in the Constitution.

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/

Help Defeat Bill Granting Unlimited Powers to Homeland Security Secretary

There is a common thread running through recent abuses of power by Congress’s Radical Right leadership:  contempt for independent courts and judges.

It is this extreme arrogance that has led to the REAL ID Act, a bill whose sponsors are so intent on attacking immigrants that they are actually willing to grant the Secretary of Homeland Security unlimited powers that could not be challenged in any court.

Knowing that this proposal is unpopular and goes against our democracy’s principle of checks and balances, House sponsors attached the REAL ID Act to the Iraq war supplemental appropriations bill.  Because senators are unlikely to vote against the final version of that bill, whatever it contains, we must pressure senators now to strip the REAL ID Act during a House-Senate conference committee, which could start meeting as early as April 12.

Contact both of your U.S. Senators today and tell them to make sure that the REAL ID Act is not included in the final Iraq war supplemental appropriations bill.

http://www.pfaw.org/

Protect Nature Around the Globe

U.S. activists, help prevent a steep drop in funding for a key global environmental program that has supported hundreds of projects worldwide, including the conservation of barrier reefs in Belize, tropical rain forests in the Philippines, and important bird habitat in Africa.  You’ll also be pushing for more funding for the biodiversity activities of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/

Senate Debates U.S. Military Spending in Iraq

Right now, the Senate is considering amendments to the Bush administration’s $82 billion spending request for tsunami relief and U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Regardless of whether you believe U.S. forces should leave today, next year, or the moment Iraq is able to provide for its own security, one problem remains clear:  the Bush administration is not doing enough to create a responsible way out of Iraq.

While reports of progress in equipping and training Iraq’s new security forces are encouraging, U.S. assistance has fallen short in helping Iraq build the civilian institutions that underpin democracy.

Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s national ministries, directorates, and governing institutions lack the capacity to effectively direct resources or make decisions based on the needs of the Iraqi people.

Join the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) in asking the Senate to amend the emergency appropriations bill.  Urge them to require that the Bush administration provide a detailed plan for supporting Iraq’s transition to a fully independent and stable democracy, including a clear timetable for the reduction and full withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Click the link below to send a letter today:

http://dev.epic-usa.org/

Tell the Park Service Not to Allow Damaging Jetski Use at Gulf Islands National Seashore!

Gulf Islands National Seashore spans the coastal islands of Mississippi and Florida.  While more than 80 percent of the park is underwater, white sand beaches, clear blue water, coastal marshes and dense forests can all be found within the boundaries of Gulf Islands.  The park provides habitat for an abundance of life, including bottlenose dolphins, manatees, four species of sea turtles, and 280 species of birds.

Thanks to a Bluewater Network lawsuit, jetski operation at Gulf Islands has been prohibited since April of 2002.  Unfortunately, the National Park Service has released an environmental assessment of jetski use in the park, and the preferred alternative would permit operation of the thrillcraft on most park waters.  The Park Service is opting to allow personal watercraft despite the fact that their own research shows that the best way to protect park resources and wildlife is to ban the machines.

Please send an email to Jerry Eubanks, Superintendent at Gulf Islands National Seashore, and tell him that you support protecting the irreplaceable resources and wildlife of Gulf Islands from jetski and two-stroke engine damage.

The comment period ends May 16, 2005.

http://www.bluewaternetwork.org/

Stop Bank Lawsuits Against Privacy Rights Laws

Consumers won a big victory in late June when a U.S. District Court rejected a banking industry lawsuit challenging California’s new groundbreaking financial privacy law. But the banks have filed an appeal — they’re determined to block key provisions of the law and to prevent other states from enacting similar protections. Federal law gives consumers very few rights to control how our financial information is shared or sold to others.

The new law requires banks to get permission before sharing customers’ sensitive financial information with most outside companies, and gives consumers a say in how information is shared with affiliates. Though banks like to promote privacy protection in their ads, this lawsuit shows their true colors.

It’s time for the banks to get out of the courts and start providing these financial privacy protections to consumers in all fifty states. Act Now! Tell the banks to stop fighting privacy rights for consumers.

https:/secure2.convio.net/cu

Help West African Farmers and Their Families Work

The policy of the United States to continue dumping cotton on the world market is having devastating effects on cotton farmers in West Africa.  More than 10 million people in this region rely on cotton to survive.  The WTO has ruled against the US government’s system of subsidizing the dumping of US cotton on world market.

E-mail George Bush and demand he implements the recent legally binding WTO ruling, which will help West African farmers and their families work their way out of poverty.

http://www.maketradefair.com/

These and over 425 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Urge U.S. House to Defeat Bankruptcy Bill

Every year, some 1.6 million Americans file for personal bankruptcy protection.  The process, which in many respects mirrors corporate bankruptcy, allows them to come up with a creditor-reviewed and court-approved plan to write off some of their debts, pay off others, and reorganize their personal finances so they can make a fresh start.

For almost a decade, the credit card industry has been promoting bankruptcy reform (sic) that will neither prevent bankruptcy nor protect the consumer.  Rather, the industry that passes out 2 billion solicitations for credit cards to people – including children and animals – like candy now wants to insure that it gets paid first before other debts are partially paid, such as child support.  They have perpetrated a smear campaign against people filing for bankruptcy, accusing them of cheating or being lazy money managers.
The real truth is that most of the people filing for bankruptcy are in economic straits due to illness and large medical bills.  Many of these people are middle class but have lost their job and health insurance due to illness.

NOW Action Vice President Olga Vives says, “The federal bankruptcy bill is a gift to the U.S credit card industry at the expense of women and their families.  Unless we defeat this bill, Congress will simply become the policy arm of Visa and Mastercard – who will soon want their logos on the Capitol Dome for all the money they have spent on Congress.”

Women are the fastest growing group of bankruptcy filers due to lower lifetime incomes (caused in part by the wage gap and caregiving responsibilities), divorce and lack of child support, escaping domestic violence and lack of health insurance coverage.

More than one out of every six mothers will be bankrupt by the end of the decade, yet these millions of women now face a possible law which will eliminate their ability to start over.  For parents who are owed child support, this bill will remove the existing payment priority in favor of past dues support and would put child support and alimony on equal footing with all other debts — and when the mother owed support has to compete head-to-head with the credit card collection agencies . . . well, you know who will end up with the dough. It won’t be the kids.

Please contact your Representative today and urge a vote against H.R 685, the bankruptcy bill that is a boon to credit card companies and a disaster for individuals and families facing economic and health care crises.

http://www.capwiz.com/now/

Help Break America’s Oil Dependence

We need to make America safer and more secure by using existing technology to raise the fuel economy of our vehicles.  The technology exists today to make all cars, SUVs, and other light trucks average 40 miles per gallon within ten years.  Taking this step would save more oil than we currently import from the entire Persian Gulf, or could ever take out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, combined.  But instead of moving forward, the Bush administration is renewing its call to hand over our energy policy and public lands to the oil companies.  We can not drill our way to energy independence.  It is time to break America’s dangerous dependence on oil.

America’s cars, trucks, and SUVs consume 8 million barrels of oil per day.  Our oil dependence comes at too steep a cost.  Instead of putting our troops at risk and pumping more global warming pollution into the atmosphere, we need to require automakers to build vehicles that go farther on a gallon of gas to cut our oil dependence.  The energy bill before you does not make America safe.  A real energy policy would cut America’s oil dependence while preserving our national treasures like the Arctic Refuge.

http://whistler.sierraclub.org/

Help Stop Violence Against Women in Colombia

U.S. security assistance is feeding an internal armed conflict that has resulted in approximately 70,000 civlian deaths, and widespread violence against women by all armed actors.  Write to your Members of Congress and urge them to oppose United States security assistance to Colombia.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/

Reject John Bolton’s nomination as UN Ambassador

Other than the Secretary of State and the President himself, the UN Ambassador is our country’s chief diplomat.  But at a time when the United States is working to repair relationships with our allies and rebuild our image around the world, John Bolton is absolutely the wrong choice for this critical job.  

After all, John Bolton has shown nothing but contempt for the United Nations throughout his entire career.  Further, Bolton has demonstrated a disturbing propensity to politicize the intelligence-gathering process and twist intelligence to suit his needs.  

Please email your Senators and urge them to reject John Bolton’s nomination — before the Foreign Relations Committee votes on Thursday.

http://ga4.org/campaign/bolton/

Urge Your Senators to Support Funding for Sudan and Other Emergencies

On April 11, the full Senate began consideration of the Emergency Supplemental bill.  A series of amendments that address emergency food needs, disaster assistance and how to mitigate the conflict in Darfur are expected to be offered.

Now is the time to contact your senators and urge them to vote in favor of amendments that can make a difference in Sudan and other disaster areas around the world.

Let them know you support more funding to address the crisis in Sudan and other emergency spots around the world.

http://my.care.org/

Stop the Anti-United Nations UN Nominee

If ever there were a time for America to support the United Nations and bring the world’s nations together, it’s now.

So all we can do is shake our heads in total disbelief at President Bush’s nomination of John Bolton — a man who’s dedicated his career to undermining the UN — as our nation’s UN Ambassador.

John Bolton argued against the U.S. 1) paying its back dues to the UN, 2) joining the International Criminal Court, and 3) strengthening disarmament treaties.  His overall philosophy is encapsulated in this startling quotation from the New Yorker:

“It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law,” said Bolton, “even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so — because over the long term, the goal of those who think international law really means anything are those who want to constrict the United States.”

Anyone who believes this should stay as far away from the United Nations as possible.

http://www.truemajorityaction.org/

Michigan – Protect Your Privacy at Home

New legislation was introduced on Wednesday, April 13 that is known as the “employee protection privacy act.”  This act would prohibit employers from invading the privacy of their employees outside of the work environment.  Senator Virg Bernero (D-Lansing) is sponsoring the bill and we are asking for your help to get other legislators to join as co-sponsors.

You may be familiar with the case of four women who were fired from Weyco Industries in Okemos when they refused to submit to a tobacco test under a no-smoking-anywhere policy that became effective on January 1, 2005.  Since then, other employers have instituted similar restrictions.  This is not a smokers’ rights issue; rather, this bill is important because employers should not be able to punish their employees for their legal, at-home behaviors.

While it is acceptable that an employer has a right to regulate an employee’s behavior while at work, an employer should not have the right to control what employees do in their own time – outside of the sphere of their employment.  Any attempt to control off-duty behavior poses a threat to personal privacy and autonomy.  Neither state law, Title VII, nor the Americans With Disabilities Act offer any protection from this threat, especially in the private sector.

The ACLU does not oppose smoking bans in public buildings, in the workplace, or in other locations where non-smokers may be subjected to second-hand smoke.  We do oppose bans on smoking (or beer or junk food) in a person’s own home.

http://aclumi.convio.net/

Urge Congress to Keep Arctic Drilling out of Conference Report

House and Senate Conferees will begin meeting soon to negotiate different versions of the budget resolution and then bring their negotiated final to both floors for a vote.  

Members of Congress who have voted to protect the Arctic Wildlife Refuge in the past are under tremendous pressure from the White House and others to vote to pass the final budget resolution.  However, they should bear in mind that voting for any resolution that includes arctic drilling would be seen by their constituents – you — as reversing their stance on drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

No matter how often you’ve taken action on this issue in the past, please help us deliver this latest message to your members of Congress.  

http://ga1.org/campaign/ArctBudgetConf2/

Call for Debt Justice!

The progressive faith community is on the threshold of a desperately needed victory for Africa’s poorest nations.  The G8 has agreed to require the IMF and the World Bank to cancel up to 100% of the debt of a number of impoverished countries.  While this is a sign of hope, it will take the voices and actions of the faithful to move these global leaders from words to action.

Jubilee USA and Africa Action have written a letter to President George Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow, asking them to work at the upcoming IMF, World Bank, and G-8 meetings to ensure 100% cancellation of all African debts to these institutions without imposing harmful economic conditions.  This letter has already been signed by hundreds of religious leaders.

Please join Sojourners in urging that President Bush and Secretary Snow use the power of the United States to urge 100% debt cancellation for Africa’s poorest countries.

http://go.sojo.net/

Preserve the Heart of the Boreal Forest

In Canada’s Manitoba province, clearcut logging, roadbuilding and industrial hydropower development have devastated the old-growth boreal forest habitat of the woodland caribou, cutting the provincial population of this majestic species in half in the span of just a few decades.  Now numbering roughly 2,000 animals, Manitoba’s last remaining woodland caribou survive hard winters by feeding on abundant lichens in our Heart of the Boreal Forest BioGem and other boreal woodlands.

According to scientists, a dwindling caribou population serves as an alert that the health of other forest wildlife is in jeopardy as well.  But despite warnings from federal and provincial endangered species committees about the impacts of habitat loss on woodland caribou, the Manitoba government still refuses to list woodland caribou as threatened under its Endangered Species Act.  Please take action now to ensure the protection of this sensitive boreal species in Manitoba.

Urge Manitoba officials to protect the threatened woodland caribou.

http://www.savebiogems.org/

These and over 400 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Stop Tom DeLay’s Payback to His Credit Card Donors

Soon the U.S. House will debate bankruptcy “reform” legislation that will make it harder for low- and moderate-income individuals to get out of debt even when blindsided by sickness, divorce, or job loss.  These are the very times when people are most vulnerable to credit card companies’ pitches to rack up debt.

With this bill, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and the banking, finance and credit card industries’ friends in Congress are rewarding their donors.

According to a recent analysis we’ve conducted, the big banks and credit card companies have contributed nearly $43 million since 1989 to current members of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1989.  Of that, about one-third went to Democrats and nearly two-thirds went to Republicans.  Tom DeLay ranks near the top of that list; when contributions to his leadership PAC are added, he has received more than $620,000 from the industry.

http://ga3.org/campaign/houseindebt/
Help Restore the Everglades!

In 2000, Congress authorized the largest environmental restoration program in our nation’s history, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).  A blueprint for restoration, CERP is comprised of more than 40 individual construction projects that will route freshwater back to the Everglades.  Each project is designed by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and must then be approved by Congress before federal money is designated for construction.  Right now, two important CERP projects are awaiting Army Corps approval and Congressional authorization, the Indian River Lagoon project and the Picayune Strand project.  Unfortunately, the civilian head of the Corps, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, has held up action on these projects, we need your help to ensure the Secretary, and ultimately, the US Congress fulfill their promise to restore the everglades and move these projects forward!  

Please write Acting Assistant Secretary J.P. Woodley, today and urge him to approve both projects so that Congress and authorize these two vital projects, ensuring the Everglades are a healthy and vibrant home for wildlife, birds and people in the years to come.

http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/

Urge Senators to Oppose the So-Called, “REAL ID” Act of 2005

On Thursday, Feb. 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed (261-161) the so-called, REAL ID Act of 2005 (HR 418).  The Senate will soon decide whether to consider the REAL ID Act via amendment or free-standing bill.    

If enacted, this radical proposal would undermine the rule of law, have a profound negative impact on immigrants and asylum seekers, and do little to protect American lives.

Urge senators to oppose the “REAL ID” Act because it would:

Place the Secretary of Homeland Security above the law by giving him/her the unprecedented authority to waive all laws including environmental protections, civil rights laws, immigration laws, labor laws or even criminal laws deemed an interference with the ability to quickly construct barriers at US borders.  The “REAL ID” Act would also eliminate the ability of any court to review a decision to waive such a law.

Prevent legitimate asylum-seekers from obtaining safe haven in the United States by arbitrarily requiring any form of “corroborating evidence” to support an asylum claim, with little regard to whether the evidence can realistically be obtained.  Further, asylum seekers would have to prove their persecutor’s “central” motive for engaging in persecution, which could essentially make the outcome of asylum petitions depend on the unlikely cooperation of the persecutors themselves.

Force state motor vehicle departments to enforce immigration laws, undermining public safety and driving millions of undocumented immigrants even further underground.  If enacted, undocumented immigrants could not receive licenses even in states that wish to provide them in the interest of public safety.  It would also create a separate temporary license for visitors on temporary visas, and would require motor vehicle agencies to verify each piece of identification used to support an application for a drivers’ license with the agency, domestic or foreign, that issued it.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) urges senators to oppose the so-called, “REAL ID” Act of 2005 because these provisions are being used to attack basic civil rights most notably, the right to due process and equal protection under the law.  

http://lccr.convio.net/

Stop the `Nuclear Option’

Senate Republicans are expected to invoke the “nuclear option”–an attempt to end the right to filibuster extremist judicial nominees.  This unprecedented power grab would hand the White House and its Senate allies the unchecked ability to pack federal courts with out-of-the-mainstream judges.  It’s an undemocratic effort to seat anti-worker, anti-rights judges in our highest courts–and we have to stop it now.

Please send your senators the message at the link below–it will take only a moment.  If we fail to act, here’s how the “nuclear option” will happen:

To provoke a filibuster, Republicans would move to confirm one of President Bush’s most controversial nominees–maybe Janice Rogers Brown, nominee for the District of Columbia Circuit, who calls Social Security “cannibalization” by senior citizens.  Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist then would ask the chair–most likely Vice President Dick Cheney–to rule that filibusters cannot be used for judicial nominations.  Democrats would try to overturn Cheney’s ruling, but they are in the minority in the Senate and would need a majority–51 votes–to prevail.  Then, we could kiss our right to fight for a balanced judiciary goodbye.

http://www.unionvoice.org/

Invest in Minority and Low-Income Communities

The CRA has been instrumental in helping to increase home, small business, and community development lending in underserved and lower income communities.

Now the CRA is under a new attack.  Once again we need your quick action to block this most recent attempt to further weaken the CRA.  The FDIC has joined the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in proposing changes to the CRA.  While an improvement from the fall FDIC proposal, serious issues remain.  The regulators must change their proposal in significant ways to prevent reductions in lending and investing in our communities.

In order to make sure that banks do not decrease their level of lending, investing and branches in minority and low- and moderate-income communities, we need you to comment to the agencies.

http://www.ncrc.org/

Tell Congress: Protect Social Security!

The President’s Social Security proposal will hurt children, people with disabilities, and widows.

When the President’s Social Security Commission designed its plan to create private accounts, it assumed that all Social Security benefits — including those for children, disabled workers, survivors and retirees who do not choose to have a private account — will be reduced.

Under the proposal, benefits would eventually be 46 percent lower than benefits scheduled under the program as it currently exists.

To see just how devastating these cuts can be in your state, see the report issued by the National Women’s Law Center illustrating how such benefit cuts would affect survivors and people with disabilities in each state.

http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/sswomen&states2005.pdf.

Tell your Representative and Senators to protect Social Security for children, women and people with disabilities.

http://hq.demaction.org/dia/organizations/chn/

Tell President Bush & Congress: Torture is NOT an American Value

We, the undersigned, urge President Bush and our senators and representatives in Congress to stop the torture that threatens the safety of our troops should they fall into enemy hands and that has critically damaged the reputation of the United States around the world.  We call for the following:

A full investigation and independent prosecutor to look into the roles of high-ranking officials including Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales in torture at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and other U.S.-run facilities around the world.

The Bush Administration’s adherence to the Supreme Court’s 2004 decisions allowing detainees in U.S. custody access to attorneys and the chance to hear the charges against them and to challenge their detentions in a court of law.

An end to the practice of hiding thousands of ghost detainees from the International Committee of the Red Cross and beyond the reach of law.

An end to the unlawful practice of extraordinary rendition whereby torture is outsourced to other countries.

http://bordc.igc.org/petition/

Stir It Up!

The global coffee crisis continues to deepen, with no immediate end in sight, and still Kraft has ignored peoples’ demands for fairness for coffee farmers.  

Kraft has failed to ensure a decent price was paid to farmers by buying Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee without also complementing it with buying Fair Trade Certified coffee.  Overall, you’ve failed to take real steps to address the global coffee crisis in a comprehensive and serious way.

Kraft makes enormous profits while coffee farmers are receiving the lowest prices in 100 years.

E-mail Kraft and demand they follow Procter & Gamble’s lead by offering Fair Trade coffee.  Tell them to give coffee farmers a break by paying a decent price for their coffee.

http://www.maketradefair.com/

Support Election Reform in Congress

Congress will soon be taking another look at election reform.  Audit the Vote believes that election reform is essential.  In spite of Congress’ intervention with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the system remains broken.  Please use this form to urge your representative and senators to support real change that will make elections a real expression of the will of America’s voters.

http://www.auditthevote.org/

Support the Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2005

Common Cause has been working on the issue of electronic voting machines as part of our campaign to promote electoral integrity.  The most basic of all democratic principles is that all eligible votes are counted.  Yet there is much controversy around electronic voting machines.

The nation still has not fixed the machinery of voting.  In the November 2004 election, about one-third of voters used electronic voting machines that have been shown to be unreliable and insecure.  Elections officials need to step back and take another look at what is the best technology for voting.  Any voting system must ensure that disabled voters can vote privately and independently.

Electronic voting machines are based on software that is, by its nature complex and essentially invisible to those overseeing it.  Further, the machines, especially if not carefully tested and safeguarded, are vulnerable to malicious and nearly undetectable changes in the software.  That is why it is important to have the assurance of a voter-verified paper ballot – a paper audit trail.

What is a “voter verified paper trail” (VVPT)?  This phrase, or variations of it, describes a voting system that allows voters to confirm that their votes are recorded as they intended and that elections officials have a clear confirmation of the voters’ intent for counts, audits, and recounts.  Such systems include electronic voting machines with the capacity for printing out a ballot and precinct-based optical scan systems, which allow a voter to mark a paper ballot and then scan it into a counter.

Please email your senators and ask them to support the Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2005.

This bill is waiting to be introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator John Ensign (R-NV).  In a truly a bi-partisan effort, Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Assistant Minority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), will co-sponsor the bill.

http://www.commoncause.org/

These and over 400 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Global Ecosystems Again Shown to Be Perilously Imperiled

The Global Millennium Assessment – the most comprehensive scientific assessment of global ecosystems ever, carried out over four years by 1,400 leading scientists – was recently released (http://www.millenniumassessment.org/).  The assessment found that two-thirds of the world’s ecosystems that support life on Earth – such as fresh water, fisheries, forests and climate – are being degraded or used unsustainably.  These trends are projected to worsen if policy responses are not forthcoming – threatening the continuation of conditions necessary for advanced human societies.  The Assessment caps some thirty years of studies indicating humans are significantly altering and outright destroying large-scale ecosystems upon which they depend for their habitat.
It is up to the World’s leaders to lead on this matter – establishing economic, political, social and ecological conditions that are sustainable, equitable and just.  Somehow world governments must be made to understand that what is at stake is life itself – for humanity, every Earthly species, and the Earth as a whole.  The Assessment’s over-riding conclusion did hold out hope, noting that humans have the power to protect and conserve the Earth’s ecological services, while using them to bring better living standards to all.

Please join Ecological Internet’s immense global network in calling upon World leaders to vigorously pursue an expanded program of policies sufficient to achieve global ecological sustainability and equitable development.

http://forests.org/

Keep Invasive Species Provisions in the Transportation Bill!

Invasive species that choke out, devour, and destroy native wildlife and their habitat have infested more than 100 million acres of the American landscape.  An additional three million acres are lost each year to invasive weeds – an area equal to a strip of land two miles wide stretching from coast to coast.  Invasive species are one of the most critical threats to America’s natural diversity and pose clear risks to the nation’s waters, forests, farmlands, rangelands, wetlands, natural areas, and public and private property values.  Experts estimate that these fast moving invaders are already causing $130 billion of damage to the economy.

It is likely that an amendment will be offered in the Senate to strip the invasive species provision from the transportation bill.  We need your help to alert your Senators to the importance of invasive species control and to urge them to reject the amendment.  Hit the TAKE ACTION NOW key below to send a note to your lawmakers.

http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/

No Whale Meat Factory in Korea!

Korea’s whales and dolphins are in trouble.

Greenpeace and KFEM (Korean Federation for Environmental Movement) have recently uncovered evidence that Korea is planning to build a whale meat factory in the city of Ulsan, South Korea.  This is the city where the International Whaling Commission will meet in June.

Whaling is currently illegal in Korea, but trade is permitted if whales are “accidentally” caught.  However, Korea has “accidental” catches up to 100 times higher than that of countries which don’t eat whale meat.

We are currently occupying the site of this proposed whale meat factory, in an industrial area surrounded by whale meat restaurants.  The Korean government is redeveloping the area into a “city for whales” for the IWC, but the evidence points to a “city for whaling”.

Help us by telling your local Korean embassy that the international community, and many Koreans, oppose the resumption of whaling in any form.  Ask them to not build this whale meat factory, and to say no to whaling at the IWC.

http://act.greenpeace.org/

Stop Illegal Bad Faith Bargaining and Sweatshop Uniforms at the University of California!

On Thursday April 14th, Service workers at UC’s 9 campuses and 5 medical centers will walk off the job to protest the University’s illegal unfair labor practices.  Services workers, who are mostly immigrants and people of color, are the lowest paid workers at UC and have not received a raise in over two years.  Many live in poverty.  Students at all of the UC’s have passed resolutions and held teach-ins, marches, sit-ins to support workers.  Now it’s your chance to show one of the premier public universities in the country that it can no longer disrespect low-wage service workers.

http://www.unionvoice.org/

Protect the Right to Vote

In 2004, hundreds of thousands of people had problems voting or couldn’t vote at all.  In some neighborhoods, there weren’t enough voting machines; in other areas the machines malfunctioned.  Forty years after Congress reaffirmed the right of every eligible citizen to vote, this is unacceptable.  Forty years later, some barriers remain.

March 7th marks the 40th anniversary of the march on Selma, Ala., a historic moment that paved the way for the final passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Voting Rights Act removed barriers that systematically kept African Americans and other minorities away from the polls.

The Voting Rights Act is coming up for reauthorization in Congress.  Sign our petition today and tell President Bush and Washington Republicans to demand real election reform so that the election problems of 2000 and 2004 are never repeated.  Ask them to publicly support the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

http://www.democrats.org/

Planned Parenthood Supports Rights, Respect, and Responsibility for all Michiganders

By signing Planned Parenthood’s Rights, Respect and Responsibility petition, you’ll help educate our legislators about the importance of accessible family planning, contraceptives and other basic health care.  Planned Parenthood will present these petitions to the Michigan Legislature, so your voice is critical.

As health care providers, we know the best way to reduce abortion is to prevent unintended pregnancy through access to information and high-quality, affordable health care.

That’s why Planned Parenthood supports funding for family planning services, equal insurance coverage for contraception, and better access to emergency contraception, which is the best way to prevent unintended pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, or contraceptive failure.

But anti-choice hardliners in the Michigan legislature are working to limit women’s access to reproductive health care.  That’s just not on our to-do list.

You can make a difference, by signing Planned Parenthood’s Rights, Respect and Responsibility petition.

http://www.ppaction.org/

Help the Los Angeles Zoo Elephants

We, the undersigned, support Last Chance for Animals (LCA) in its call to action for all three elephants currently housed at the Los Angeles Zoo– Ruby, Gita, and Billy– to be relocated to sanctuaries and the elephant exhibit at the zoo to be closed down permanently.

We respectfully urge you to do what is best for these elephants and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in a sanctuary that can provide the environment and care they need.

Elephants in zoos suffer from the following:

Lack of adequate space: Even after renovation, the L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit will only be one acre.  Sanctuaries, such as the PAWS sanctuary in Northern California, have hundreds of acres

Shortened life spans: Elephants in captivity live 40-45 years, elephants in the wild live 50-70 years

Health problems: Elephants in captivity regularly suffer from chronic arthritis and foot abscesses (the two main causes of death in captive elephants) due to lack of proper exercise and standing on hard surfaces.  Tuberculosis is also common among elephants in captivity

Lack of proper socialization: Elephants are highly social creatures who in the wild travel in family units of 10-12. In captivity, “herds” can be as small as one

Lives of abuse and neglect: It is common practice for elephants to be beaten, shocked, and chained for long periods of time

Ruby and Gita have already been diagnosed with arthritis and foot abscesses.  Their condition is sure to worsen if they remain at the zoo.

Sanctuaries offer a peaceful retirement for elephants that have spent their lives “entertaining” humans.  The PAWS sanctuary in Northern California has agreed to accept all three elephants and boasts over 100 acres of vegetation and lakes similar to the natural habitats of wild elephants.  These majestic animals deserve more than being on display for human curiosity and should be allowed to live as the social, intelligent animals they were born to be.

Please follow the lead of other national zoos that have closed down their elephant exhibits due to the dangers zoo environments pose to these magnificent animals.

http://www.petitiononline.com/

These and over 375 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Urge the Senate to Censure Senator John Cornyn

Proving that certain politicians can define new lows in outrageous behavior, Senator John Cornyn of Texas demonstrated his sympathetic understanding that violence against judges might be expected against judges that defend the Constitution in carrying out their duties.  Senator Cornyn, himself a former judge, sought to link his outrage against the courageous judges who refused to intervene in the tragic Terri Schiavo matter with recent violent attacks against judges and their families.  Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator Cornyn, while speaking out against the recent Supreme Court decision making minors ineligible for the death penalty, made a startling and patently offensive argument, stating:
“It causes a lot of people, including me, great distress to see judges use the authority that they have been given to make raw political or ideological decisions … I don’t know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country.  Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that’s been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in – engage in violence.”

The two recent national cases of violence against judges, (Judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago, whose mother and husband were brutally murdered in her own home by a man who had been ruled against in a medical malpractice suit and Judge Rowland Barnes, who was gunned down in his court room by an accused rapist who went on to murder three other people in an attempt to escape) had nothing to do with judges being unaccountable to the public or making political decisions.  They were the acts of deranged, dangerous criminals, and nothing can justify the terrible crimes that were committed.  To try to tie these incidents back to a clearly political agenda is disgusting.

Senator Cornyn’s remarks were dangerous and offensive, and pander to the most base instincts of a lunatic fringe.  They could easily lead to violence.  Mr. Cornyn should be censured by the Senate.

http://www.workingforchange.com/

Stop the REAL ID Act!

Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives passed the REAL ID Act, bringing us a giant step closer to a “national ID.”  The REAL ID Act would establish a vast national database of ID holders, where even a small percentage of errors would cause major social disruption.  The ID would essentially be an internal passport that would be shown before accessing planes, trains, national parks, and court houses – an irresistible target for forgers and identity thieves.  It would also divert resources from security measures that could actually work.  And in calling for the use of “common machine-readable technology,” the REAL ID Act paves the way for the federal government to force every state to put radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips into their ID cards.

The Senate needs to be reminded that such proposals have always been rejected for good reason:  our privacy and civil liberties are at the core of what it means to be an American citizen, and they shouldn’t be traded for what amounts to security theater.  Tell your senators to reject the REAL ID Act!

http://action.eff.org/

Tell Congress: Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, H.R. 1059 – the measure that seeks to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – has been introduced in the US House of Representatives.  This measure would remove the ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual troops and allow them to serve openly in the military.  An Associated Press article dated April 8, 2005 profiles an openly gay solider who wants to remain on active duty – highlighting the urgent need for Congress to pass MREA.

Ask your Representative to co-sponsor the measure today.  Personalized letters to Congress are even more effective, so please take a few minutes to add your thoughts to the letter below.  If you are a veteran, military personnel, or a family member of military personnel, share your story.

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/

Urge Congress to Enforce Sunset Provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act

Some provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act are set to “sunset,” or expire by the end of 2005, while other provisions will remain in place if not removed or amended by Congress.  Write your Senators, Representatives and the White House and urge them to enforce the sunsets currently in the USA PATRIOT Act, co-sponsor and pass the SAFE Act and amend the over broad definition of “domestic terrorism.”

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/

Stop the Partisan Power Grab of Our Federal Courts!

In their drive to install President Bush’s most radical, out-of-the-mainstream nominees in the federal judiciary – and even the Supreme Court – the Republican leadership in the Senate is considering using the so-called “nuclear option”:  eliminating the filibuster through a rule change so that Democrats would have no way to block unacceptable nominations, which could then be approved by a simple majority on a strict party-line vote.

Such an arrogant misuse of majority power to stack the federal courts is a grave threat to our very form of government and the Constitutional system of checks and balances.  If the majority party will change the rules to force through extremist Supreme Court judges, what else might they change the rules for?  Where will they stop?

This battle will come to a head soon, as several of these judges will be brought back before the Senate in the coming week.  Please take a moment TODAY to help block this partisan power grab.

http://action.citizen.org/

Michigan – Protect Abortion Access

House Bill 4446 and Senate Bill 307 amend the 24-hour waiting period requirement of the “Public health code” to require an ultrasound, allow patients the opportunity to view the active ultrasound image of, and to provide the woman a picture of the ultrasound image of, the fetus prior to performing an abortion.  

These bills are just one more attempt by anti-choice hardliners to limit access to medically, safe, legal abortions.  This legislation does not seek to provide women with more information to make informed decisions.  Instead it is redundant and politically driven, and does not have the best interest of women in mind.  

Contact members of the Michigan House and Senate to oppose passage of HB 4446 and SB 307.  Urge your legislators to support increased funding for family planning services, expanded contraceptive coverage for all women, and comprehensive abstinence-plus education as methods for reducing the number of abortions in Michigan.  

http://www.ppaction.org/

Iraq War Funding Vote Imminent – Contact Your Senators Today

The full Senate will begin debate Monday on the president’s request for additional funding for the war in Iraq and a final vote is expected on this legislation early next week.  This is a critical opportunity for your senators to make a simple declaration that the U.S. does intend to withdraw all military troops and bases from Iraq.  No deadlines, no timetables, just a simple declaration of intent that would be important for people in Iraq, in the Middle East, and in the United States to hear.

Key Senate aides are telling FCNL that your pressure and the pressure of thousands of others has opened up a little space for a debate about U.S. policy toward Iraq.  Several senators have already said they intend to sharply question U.S. policy toward Iraq during the debate next week on the floor of the Senate about the request for supplemental funding for the war in Iraq.  Several senators are also considering introducing a resolution along the lines that FCNL has been proposing.  But many senators from both parties, even if they are supportive in private, are still reluctant to speak out in public on this issue.

http://capwiz.com/fconl/

Thank Senators Boxer and Snowe: U.S. Senate Overturns Global Gag Rule!

In a victory for women’s health activists and an important first step toward a pro-woman foreign policy, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), led the Senate in repealing the Global Gag rule on Tuesday, April 5, by a vote of 52-46.

President Bush had reinstated the global gag rule on his first day in office in 2001, thus denying U.S. financial assistance to any international organizations that counsel women on access to abortion, advocate for abortion rights, or provide abortions, even if they do so with their own privately-raised funds.

What the gag rule does is silence those groups on the front lines that provide critical health services to the poorest women and children around the world.  The $34 million denied to United Nations Population Fund last year alone could have prevented 2 million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 induced abortions, and 4700 maternal deaths, as well as 77,000 infant and child deaths each year.

Send your thanks to Senators Boxer and Snowe, and let them know how much we value them as strong advocates for women’s health in the Senate!

http://www.care2.com/

Top Ten Ways To Protect Wetlands

America’s wetlands provide shelter to a wide array of wildlife species, filter our drinking water and protect urban areas from flooding, yet these important natural resources are being increasingly drained, polluted and developed.  Recent efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act and remove protections for certain types of wetlands threaten to further degrade the nation’s waters.  Without a commitment to maintaining and restoring a diverse and abundant number of wetlands, these vital natural resources run the risk of being severely depleted.  You can help fight for America’s wetlands by signing the petition at the link below asking members of Congress to support the ten wetlands conservation measures also listed at the link.

http://action.nwf.org/

If Maryland Can Do It, Why Can’t We?

On April 5, 2005, Maryland passed historic legislation that will require large, profitable corporations to pay their fair share of their employees’ health care.  This is an important step towards ensuring that all Americans are able to access the health care they need.

We can’t stop now!  Please send a message to your elected officials that if they can do it in Maryland, they should do it in your state.  When large corporations like Wal-Mart don’t pay for their employees’ health care, guess who does?  We all do.  We pay when those without coverage show up in emergency rooms, just like we pay when they receive their coverage through government programs like Medicaid.  Your state needs to follow Maryland’s lead and hold corporations accountable for their employees’ health care.

The longer we wait to fix the health care crisis, the worse it’s going to get.

http://www.healthsecurityaction.com/

Tell Senators Levin and Stabenow to Say “NO” to the Asbestos Trust Fund

Senator Specter is soon going to introduce an asbestos trust fund bill. This is the latest of an ongoing effort to kick asbestos victims out of the courts and into a new federal bureaucracy that would immediately limit corporate accountability and liability while delaying or preventing fair compensation for victims.

Sign our petition TODAY to let Senators Levin and Stabenow know that they should NOT support Sen. Specter’s asbestos reform bill.

http://www.capwiz.com/asbestostruth/

These and over 375 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Don’t Give the U.N. the Finger

Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton is a poor choice to serve as the US Ambassador to the United Nations.  From his post at the State Department, he oversaw the administration’s failed non-proliferation policy, was an outspoken proponent of the principle of pre-emptive war and was a major opponent of the International Criminal Court, which many in the UN see as the only realistic solution to the ongoing genocide in Sudan.  Moreover, Bolton is an inexperienced diplomat with a history of belligerent opposition to the United Nations itself.
In her speech announcing the nomination, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed the “United States is committed to the success of the United Nations.”  She added:  “We view the UN as an important component of our diplomacy.”  Let’s hope Bolton was listening carefully and took the hint:  as recently as 1994, he claimed there was “no such thing as the United Nations,” and maintained that “if the UN Secretariat building in New York lost ten stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference” in world affairs.

United Press International recently reported Bolton’s involvement in spreading the Bush administraion’s claim that Saddam Hussein tried to acquire enriched uranium from Niger.  The State Department maintained as recently as 2003 that Bolton was not involved in promoting this dubious intelligence.  Questions about this scandal will likely be raised when confirmation hearings begin on April 7.

Please urge your Senators to oppose Bolton’s nomination.  Many Senate Democrats are beginning to take a stand, including Minority Leader Harry Reid, who called the nomination “a disappointing choice and one that sends all the wrong signals.”  You can help push the rest of them in the right direction.

http://www.capwiz.com

Urge Your Representatives to Reject Budget Cuts

The Senate and House passed very different FY 2006 Budget Resolutions in mid-March and each are very problematic to the disability community.  The Resolutions would make large cuts to entitlement programs and limit total spending for human services discretionary programs to one percent below the current levels.  They would also provide for extensive tax cuts that limit federal revenues, thus adversely affecting the federal deficit and forcing legislators to make cuts in human services.  

Now, the Senate and House must hold conference committee meetings to try to resolve the differences between the bills and refer a final resolution back to their respective houses for a final vote.  If successful in adopting a final Budget Resolution, Congressional Appropriations Committees will then make FY 2006 spending decisions on the discretionary programs based on the targets outline in the Budget Resolution.  Other committees of jurisdiction (e.g. the Senate Finance and House Energy and Commerce (Medicaid) and Ways and Means) will also need to develop their own bills to adjust the tax cuts and the entitlement spending.

A top concern for people with disabilities is the conference committee’s deliberations over Medicaid.  So far, the House Budget Resolution calls for $20 billion cuts to Medicaid.  The Senate resolution contains no cuts to Medicaid, instead establishing a commission to study the Medicaid program.  Aside from Medicaid, both Resolutions call for large cuts to other entitlement programs (House-$49 billion – Senate-$23 billion) that may result in drastic reductions to SSI, TANF, Title XX Social Services, Foster Care and Adoption Assistance and other entitlements.  The Senate and House also call for more than $20 billion cuts to non-defense discretionary programs.  Numerous human services programs are slated to be eliminated (e.g. Supported Employment State Grants), others are expected to be frozen at current levels and only a few high priority programs may get small increases.  The combination of entitlement and domestic discretionary cuts would devastate services, supports and benefits for people with disabilities.  The proposed cuts in federal government programs are massive and, as a result, the costs for providing these services is being shifted to the states, a burden that would overwhelm state budgets already experiencing significant shortfalls.

Given the vital role Medicaid plays in the provision of health care and long-term community-based supports for The Arc’s and United Cerebral Palsy’s constituents, exempting Medicaid from any cuts or caps is a top priority.  It is also critical that SSI recipients not lose eligibility or have their meager cash benefits reduced.  Key disability discretionary programs such as special education, vocational rehabilitation, developmental disabilities, and HUD housing must be spared from cuts as well.  To accomplish this, we must ensure that the tax cuts proposed in the Budget Resolutions be limited so that balancing the federal budget does not fall solely on the backs of people with disabilities and the much needed human services programs.

http://ga4.org

Write a Letter to the Editor: Stop the Republican Power Grab

Senate Republicans are going the ultimate power grab.  They’re planning to give themselves absolute power, silencing Senate Democrats (and the millions of Americans they represent) by changing the rules and traditions of the Senate and eliminating the filibuster, a two-century Senate tradition that has preserved the voice of the minority.

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and help Democrats stop this unprecedented power grab.

democrats.org

Urge your Representative: Vote “No” on Oppressive Bankruptcy Overhaul

The House will vote next week to dramatically expand the power of banks and other lenders to force millions of Americans to pay off 100 percent of their debts even after they have filed for protection from their creditors.  Since 1997, credit card companies and banks have pushed for legislation requiring debtors to pay back every penny they owe — even if they file bankruptcy.  Representatives need to know their constituents vehemently oppose this legislation.

A recent Harvard study found that about half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are caused by the exploding costs of medical care — with approximately two million Americans affected each year.  What’s more, most people who file for bankruptcy due to medical problems have health insurance to start with, but lose their jobs and then their health coverage as a result of their long-term health problems.

The proposed bankruptcy legislation would require people making over the median income to repay the debt regardless of the circumstances that led to their bankruptcy.  The cover story for those pushing these draconian changes is that most people file bankruptcy simply to avoid paying for frivolous excessive spending.  But the truth is, most people file bankruptcy because of a medical or economic catastrophe.  The proposed bill would line the pockets of a few credit card companies while denying millions of hardworking Americans the chance for a fresh start.

Urge your representative to stand up to the credit card companies and vote no on the proposed bankruptcy overhaul.

http://www.workingforchange.com

Tell Your Representatives to Strengthen Social Security

Social Security can meet 100 percent of its obligations until 2042–at the very least.  That’s not to say we shouldn’t take measures to strengthen the most successful U.S. program in history.  But President Bush’s proposal to establish private accounts would be a disaster for working families.

Instead of making Social Security more secure, Bush’s privatization scheme would slash guaranteed retirement benefits by 40 percent, greatly increase the federal deficit by nearly $5 trillion and allow Wall Street to make billions of dollars while opening up the system to corruption.  

We can strengthen Social Security by:

Ending the “wealthy wage exemption” so CEOs pay the same Social Security taxes on their salaries as average workers pay.

Rolling back Bush’s tax giveaways to the wealthiest one percent of Americans.

Making sure Congress lives up to its obligation that borrowed Social Security funds being held in U.S. Treasury bonds are returned to the Social

Security trust fund.

Strengthening negotiated union pensions, since Social Security was never meant to be the sole retirement benefit Social Security deserves to be strengthened–not privatized–because working families deserve the peace of mind that retirement benefits they have paid for and earned will be there when they need them.  

Contact your Representatives now and urge them to strengthen Social Security–not weaken it with private accounts!

http://www.unionvoice.org

Restore the Balance at Point Reyes

One of the greatest threats facing our national parks today remains one of the most difficult to address:  invasive species.  Also known as “aliens” and “non-natives,” these exotic plants and animals were transported as a result of human activity — both deliberate and accidental — smuggling themselves aboard cargo ships, airplanes, the bottoms of park visitors’ shoes; or even transplanted for commercial purposes.  And they are spreading across the country at an alarming rate.

Once an invasive species is introduced to a new environment, it will rapidly take hold and spread throughout its new home with no natural predators to deter its population growth.  Invasives will eat or pollute native food supplies, take over shelter and breeding areas, and crowd out habitat — eventually wiping out native populations and disrupting native ecosystems and species that have evolved in harmony for thousands of years.

America’s economy takes a hit too.  Nationwide, the impacts of invasive species cost approximately $140 billion a year.

Among the more notorious invaders include the northern snakehead fish (also referred to as “Frankenfish”), which walks on land to find and spread to nearby waterways; and zebra mussels, which have spread uncontrollably throughout the Great Lakes.  Snakeheads have voracious appetites and decimate native fish populations before seeking out new waterways.  Zebra mussels have nearly eliminated the native clam population, caused severe problems at power plants, and clogged community water supplies.

Right now, Point Reyes National Seashore is facing a serious problem from two invasive species:  non-native axis and fallow deer, imported from India and Asia Minor, respectively.  The deer were originally introduced to enhance game hunting before Point Reyes was established as a park.  When Point Reyes became a national seashore, public hunting came to a halt and the deer populations began to grow rapidly.  Today, these non-native deer pose a serious threat to the Seashore’s ecosystem and will continue to destroy the health and balance of the area without a better plan in place to manage them.

The park has drafted a non-native deer management plan, currently open for public comment.  When it is approved, it will guide non-native deer management actions for the next 15 years.  We need your support to put this plan into action.

The Park Service mandate to protect and restore native ecosystems has guided the creation of Point Reyes’ non-native deer management plan, which includes five alternatives.  NPCA encourages the park to choose Alternative D, which would proactively address the need to remove invasive, non-native species–a feasible plan, considering the financial and human resources of the park.  Supporting Alternative D will not only assist Point Reyes in protecting the health and biodiversity of its ecosystem for the future, but will also allow park managers to better attend to other resource management projects, as staff and financial burdens from eradicating invasive deer will be alleviated afterwards.  The comment period ends this Friday, April 8, so it’s URGENT that you weigh in now.

http://www.npca.org

Save Phil A. Buster – Protect Checks and Balanz

For over 200 years, the Senate filibuster has been an essential part of the system of checks and balances that protects our democracy.  When the same party controls the presidency and both houses of Congress, the filibuster is the only check that prevents an abuse of power and ensures the voice of the minority party is heard.

By eliminating the Senate’s long-standing tradition of the filibuster:

A key element of our checks and balances will disappear;

The minority party – whether Republican or Democrat – would be disenfranchised;

A new era of one party rule would be ushered in;

The role of Congress will be fundamentally changed, allowing President Bush – or any future President – to push through any judicial nominee, no matter how radical, partisan or unfit to serve.

We must not allow our country’s history to be rewritten for temporary, partisan, political gain.

Please preserve our democracy, protect our system of checks and balances, and ensure the voices of all Americans, by maintaining the longstanding right of senators to filibuster.

http://www.savephil.com

Check Out Fair Trade…Coffee

Fair Trade Certified<sup>TM</sup&gt coffee guarantees a minimum price to small-scale coffee farmers.  Over 300 US companies already carry Fair Trade Certified<sup>TM</sup&gt coffee, but greater access to these products would allow more consumers to support struggling coffee growers.

Click on your local supermarket chain at the link below to send a message to its parent company.

Ask them to carry more Fair Trade Certified<sup>TM</sup&gt products in their main coffee aisles.

http://www.oxfamamerica.org

Kurdish Women’s Rights Activist Summoned to Revolutionary Court in Iran

When the Iranian government refused to register the Association of Kurdish Women for the Defense of Peace and Human Rights, Dr. Roya Toloui, one of its founding members, spoke out.  In what appears to be retaliation, Dr. Toloui was summoned to appear before a revolutionary court in Sanandaj on April 5, for interrogation.

Dr. Toloui is a leading Kurdish women’s rights and human rights activist and a champion of the rights of Iran’s Kurdish minority and women’s rights in Iran.

Dr. Toloui is an outspoken nonviolent critic of the policies of the Iranian government.  The revolutionary prosecutor in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kordestan province, has claimed that her public comments jeopardize national security.  She has also been criticized for being photographed not wearing a headscarf that all women in Iran are required to wear in public.  

Join Human Rights First in supporting Dr. Toloui’s right to freedom of expression.  Urge the Iranian government to cease its harassment and intimidation of human rights advocates.

http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/toloui/

Tell Credit Suisse to Dump Shell’s Sakhalin Oil Project!

Shell is currently seeking to build a massive oil extraction facility in the pristine waters off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.  These waters are the primary fishing grounds for communities on the island, and are also home to the world’s last population of critically endangered Western Gray Whales.  Credit Suisse First Boston is serving as financial advisor to this Shell Oil project even though it violates the terms of the Equator Principles, to which it is a signatory.  Take action today to tell CSFB to withdraw funding for this egregious project and to adopt comprehensive environmental standards immediately to prevent this from happening again.  

http://action.ran.org

These and over 375 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/

Help Fire Tom DeLay

This morning, the Washington Post and the New York Times each broke new scandals involving Republican Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay.  According to the Times, DeLay paid his wife and daughter more than $500,000 of his political donors’ money over the last four years.  And the Post article highlights a seedy 1997 trip DeLay took, underwritten by “a mysterious company located in the Bahamas” that was tied to Russian business interests.

And that’s not the only legal or ethical scandal DeLay is involved in.  DeLay illegally used corporate funds in support of his plan to re-district Texas, and he went on golf trips with gambling lobbyist Jack Abramoff–two months before DeLay helped kill legislation opposed by the gambling companies.
DeLay’s grandstanding on the Terri Schiavo tragedy–which a great majority of the country feels is political opportunism–was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Now, some Republicans in Congress are speaking out against DeLay, but most are still too scared of his powerful network of corporate donors.  We need to show all of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, that if they stand up to Tom DeLay we’ve got their back.

It is time to fire Tom DeLay as House Majority Leader.  Please sign our petition urging Congress to remove DeLay from his leader post at the link below.

http://www.moveonpac.org/delay/

Oppose the “Nuclear Option”

Nuclear winter could come as early as this spring if Republicans follow through on their threats to launch the nuclear option.  Republicans angered that Senate Democrats have rejected 10 of the President’s 214 judicial nominees and desiring absolute power want to end a 200 year-old Senate right to engage in unlimited debate.

They want to go “nuclear” and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for President Bush.  They want to silence Senate Democrats – the one remaining check on President Bush’s power.  If they can do away with debate in the Senate, they can get whatever they want – right-wing Supreme Court Justices, Social Security privatization and tax breaks for the wealthy that will plunge us deeper in debt.

But Senate Democrats are going to fight them every step of the way.  And this fight will be different than any other fight in the history of the Senate – because it will include you.  Imagine all of us standing together in the Senate Chamber during this debate.  YOU can make it happen.

Stand with Senate Democrats against this Republican abuse of power:

http://democrats.senate.gov/filibuster-form.cfm

Toxic Selenium Needs Strong Protections

Last year, the EPA proposed weakening existing Clean Water Act protections for selenium.  Selenium is a toxin that, in high doses, is known to cause severe reproductive impairment in fish, birds, and other wildlife.  The new proposal means that polluters could dump more selenium into our waters.  There is strong evidence that the proposed selenium criterion was developed with flawed science.  In addition, the proposal has drawn criticism from wildlife scientists who believe that the number chosen will not be protective of fish or wildlife.

Tell the EPA not to weaken our protections from toxic selenium.

http://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/tamain?alid=383

Put Science First at the FDA

Next week an FDA Advisory Committee will once again consider approval of silicone breast implants for general use.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied the breast implant manufacturers’ applications in 2004 because they failed to provide important safety evidence, including more information about breakage and the long-term health risks of leaking silicone into the human body.  As long as there still is no adequate proof that silicone implants are safe for long-term use, the manufacturers’ applications must again be denied to protect women’s health.

But the breast implant makers are relentless and the FDA may cave in this time.

In early March, breast implant makers distributed a memo through FDA staff with the clear intention of persuading senior FDA officials, including Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford, to approve breast implants for general use.  Not surprisingly, the industry memo distorts the facts in the name of promoting women’s “choice.”

The fact is THERE IS NO CHOICE WITHOUT A SAFE CHOICE.

What we do know about Silicone implants:

Mammograms will miss about 67% more breast cancer tumors in women who have silicone breast implants than in women without, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association article.

All implants will rupture eventually and have to be removed or replaced, most within 10 to 12 years.

Women who have silicone breast implants for at least seven years are twice as likely to die from brain cancer, three times as likely to die from lung cancer, and four times as likely to commit suicide compared to other plastic surgery patients, according to the National Cancer Institute.

LET’S FACE IT– FDA POLITICS STINK!

MAKE SURE THAT THE FDA IS GUIDED BY SCIENCE, NOT POLITICS.  Millions of women depend on the FDA’s approval as an accurate and reliable standard of safety.  For the public, the FDA stamp of approval implies that there is no danger.  Without long-term research on these new implants it is not possible to draw such a conclusion.

TELL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, FDA SENIOR OFFICIALS, AND THE WHITE HOUSE TO PUT SCIENCE AHEAD OF POLITICS AND REJECT APPROVAL OF SILICONE IMPLANTS FOR GENERAL USE UNTIL ADEQUATE RESEARCH AND LONG-TERM DATA ARE AVAILABLE.

http://www.capwiz.com/now/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7358606

Ask the President to Sign a Verifiable Treaty Banning the Production of Bomb-Grade Materials

President Reagan always said, “Trust but verify.”  This is good advice for the Bush administration.

In July 2004, the Bush administration announced that it will now support a treaty to end the production of fissile materials – plutonium and highly enriched uranium – that are fundamental ingredients for all nuclear weapons.  While the change in position is welcome, unfortunately, the Bush administration also stated that it will not support a verifiable Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty (FMCT).  By not supporting a way to verify whether or not states are abiding by the treaty, the Bush administration is essentially defeating the purpose of the treaty – a ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices that would effectively put a limit on the size of nuclear arsenals.

In order to further strengthen the non-proliferation regime, a verifiable ban on the production of fissile materials must be negotiated and enforced.  The FMCT is an essential tool to keep nuclear materials off the black market and out of the hands of terrorists.  It would also ensure that no country secretly produces bomb-grade uranium and plutonium for weapons by requiring all states, including the nuclear weapons states, to open up their nuclear facilities to international inspections and dispose of the fissile materials from dismantled nuclear weapons under international safeguards.  The negotiation of a verifiable FMCT would make reductions in nuclear arsenals more transparent, accountable and irreversible.

The five declared nuclear-weapon states – China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US – have all said they are no longer producing fissile material for weapons.  On the other hand, India and Pakistan have active production programs for both HEU and plutonium, and it is likely that their stocks of weapon-grade material are increasing.  It is not clear whether Israel is continuing to produce fissile material for weapons purposes.  Under the guise of civilian nuclear energy research, other states, including Iran, have built facilities capable of producing fissile material for weapons.

In the final document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), all of the state parties to the treaty, including the US, agreed to completing a verifiable FMCT in five years.

Ask President Bush to support a verifiable Fissile Materials Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT).  

http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6243081

Take Action Against Heterosexism in Jamaica

Take action to protect LGBT people in Jamaica.  Call for a debate on the repeal of sodomy laws, and for legal reform to protect LGBT people from violence and discrimination.  LGBT people have been subject to vigilante action by members of the community and ill-treatment or torture by police.  This occurs in a climate where popular Jamaican singing artists commonly urge their audiences to kill gay men.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=11183

Defend Hope: Protect Refugees Fleeing Persecution

The United States’ long-standing history as a beacon of hope to people around the world fleeing political, religious and other forms of persecution is under assault in Congress.

The bill, known as the REAL ID Act, will make it much harder for refugees to prove that they qualify for asylum and remove safeguards that protect refugees from being sent back into the arms of their persecutors.

Under the bill, insignificant inaccuracies – like a woman’s failure to recall her date of high school graduation – could be used to deny her asylum, even though she has fled from horrendous persecution like genocide, rape, forced abortion, severe domestic violence, or the threat of honor killing.

Urge your Senators to preserve our nation’s commitment to protecting refugees:  Ask them to stop the REAL ID Act.

http://www.care2.com/go/z/22889

Break the Silence on Darfur!

This week is the 11th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide in Rwanda.  Eleven years ago today, April 6th, 1994, Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Ntaryamira of Burundi were killed when their plane was shot out of the air.  This action crippled the emerging peace between the Hutu government and Tutsi rebels in Rwanda and sparked what became the fastest and most efficient killing spree in the 20th century.  The world watched, virtually silent, as 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu supporters were killed in 100 days.

Today, there is another ongoing genocide in Darfur that has claimed up to 400,000 lives.  We now ask you to raise your voices in defense of the people in Darfur who are victims in the on-going government-sponsored genocide in Western Sudan.  Please consider sending a letter to the editors of your local papers drawing attention to the crisis in Darfur.

It has been almost seven months since the Bush administration declared the crisis in Darfur to be genocide, yet since that time, the U.S. has failed to take the necessary action to stop the genocide.  While the United States has supported targeted individual sanctions and allowed a UN resolution to pass (with a U.S. abstention) that calls for those accused of crimes against humanity in Sudan to be tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC), what is urgently needed is a multinational humanitarian intervention with a mandate to protect civilians.  The U.S. has done nothing in the UN or other arenas to support or propose an urgently needed intervention in support of the African Union.

The African Union (AU) only has 2,000 troops on the ground in Darfur, a region the size of France.  The AU troops are also restricted by a mandate that allows them to mostly observe the escalating genocidal violence but not to intervene to protect civilians.  If we are to have any hope of stopping the violence and protecting the people in Darfur, we must act on the urgent need for more troops on the ground with a stronger mandate.

When remembering Rwanda, U.S. officials claim that one of the reasons that the U.S. did not intervene was that they were not hearing Americans calling for action on the genocide.  We cannot allow for President Bush to use that excuse for inaction.  One of the most powerful ways to send a message to President Bush and the leadership at the United Nations is through the media.

We expect articles to appear over the next couple of days about the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.  Please take a moment to send a letter to the editor calling for an immediate multinational humanitarian intervention in Darfur in support of the African Union.

http://capwiz.com/africaaction/issues/alert/?alertid=7355121&type=ME

Make a Difference for America’s Wildlife

Many of our nation’s wildlife species are in trouble.  The number of species on the federal Threatened and Endangered Species list has doubled in the last ten years, with over 1000 species listed and many more in the pipeline.  We must do more to address problems early on to prevent species from becoming endangered in the first place.

The State Wildlife Grants program is the nation’s core program for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered in every state.  The program leverages federal funds to assist state fish and wildlife agencies in conserving wildlife and habitat.

Please urge your members of Congress support the State Wildlife Grants program.

http://capwiz.com/wcs/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5430736

Bill J. Benefiel Jr.

The state of Indiana is scheduled to execute Bill J. Benefiel, Jr., a white man, April 21, 2005 for the Feb. 7, 1987 murder of Delores Wells, 18, of Vigo County.  Wells was kept in Benefiel’s home for several days.  She was sexually abused and tortured before Benefiel killed her.  Benefiel also kept another victim in his home who survived and testified against him.

Court-appointed experts testified during the guilt phase of the trial that Benefiel suffered from schizophrenic personality disorder, and from a mental disease or defect.  As a baby, Benefiel’s birth mother gave him to an unfit mother in exchange for having a place to live.  Benefiel endured a traumatic childhood including abandonment and sexual abuse by his adoptive mother’s boyfriend.  During trial, Benefiel was reluctant to disclose the details of abuse he suffered and also reluctant to discuss the crimes he had committed.

He suffered an emotional breakdown during the trial, refusing to go back into the courtroom after a recess.  The trial court, however, ruled that Benefiel was not mentally ill due to the fact that he “showed the ability to monitor police, commit numerous burglaries, conceal and destroy evidence, and his manner of carrying out various crimes.”  In 1991, the Supreme Court of Indiana stated that Benefiel’s “impairment suffered as a result of mental disease is entitled to substantial mitigating weight.”  However, the court maintained that this mental illness issue as mitigation was diminished because Benefiel exhibited both periods of non-violent behavior and control and because of the way in which the crimes were carried out.

There is strong evidence to support the argument that Benefiel suffers from mental illness.  The execution of persons with mental illness is a clear violation of international human rights standards as violating the 1964 and 1989 U.N. Economic and Social Council Resolution and the U.N. Human Rights Commission Resolution.

Please take a moment to write the state of Indiana protesting the execution of Bill Benefiel.  This cycle of violence must not be further perpetuated by the state.

http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=528

These and over 375 other action alerts are archived at http://shetquaker.blog-city.com/