Saturday, May 16, 2015

Rally against planetary suicide, May 26

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Don't nibble at water waste - hit the big wasters: industrial animal ag

https://www.change.org/p/jerry-brown-stop-the-export-of-billions-of-gallons-of-california-s-water-to-asia
Hi, my name is Kip Andersen and I'm a filmmaker from San Francisco, CA.
California is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record and I do what I can to conserve water and educate my friends and neighbors about it.

When I learned that the fracking industry - despite the drought - used 70  million gallons of water last year alone, I was stunned. When I learned that the NestlĂ© bottled water corporation is taking hundreds of millions of gallons of California's water to sell it back to the population, I got angry. But, when I learned that animal agriculture in California is using a staggering amount of 4.8 trillion gallons per year, I was shocked! So shocked indeed, that I made a film about it.

I couldn't believe that the meat and dairy industry accounts for 47% of California's water footprint, yet no one is trying to regulate this thirsty industry!

But here is the most painful truth: California exports 100 billion gallons of water in the form of alfalfa every year to Asia for meat and dairy production!

Governor Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency for the state of California. California residents have been asked to be vigilant and cut back on household water use, but only about 5% of California’s water footprint is individual, personal use. This will not help solve the severe problem that we're all facing!

Join me in asking Governor Jerry Brown to hold the meat and dairy industry responsible for it's tremendous water usage and STOP THE EXPORT OF 100 BILLION GALLONS OF CALIFORNIA'S WATER TO ASIA.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

MAY 21 in Salem: Jilel (The Calling of the Shell), a Marshallese feature film

Loucks Auditorium -- a global warming fairy tale ...
http://www.microwavefilms.org/Jilel.html

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

A group good enough to get Sen. Liz Warren to let them use her name on a fundraising pitch

AFR New Email Banner Green

It's been six and a half years since Wall Street broke our economy, but the fight for accountability and a level playing field is far from over.  

Right now, the big banks and financial institutions – and their armies of lawyers and lobbyists in Washington – are systematically chipping away at the rules on Wall Street. And that's why Americans for Financial Reform is so important.

For years, I've worked hand-in-hand with AFR—first to get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other critical Dodd-Frank reforms passed into law, and then to protect those laws from being gutted by financial industry lobbyists. This is a David vs. Goliath fight, and if we're going to have any chance at fighting back, we need AFR more than ever.

Can you join me in supporting AFR's effort to stand up to Wall Street and to fight for tougher rules moving forward?  Your contribution of $25 can make a big difference.

If you need proof that Wall Street is working to weaken financial regulations, take a look at what happened in December. Citigroup lobbyists slipped a provision into the must-pass budget package to make it easier for the biggest banks to get bailed out again in the future. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon personally called up members of Congress to lobby for their votes.

We fought our hearts out to stop it, but we lost that battle. Even so, the hard work of AFR and its coalition of consumer, labor, civil rights, faith-based, and community organizations helped send a loud and clear message to Wall Street that ripped through Washington: If you try to bring back the sort of reckless gambling that caused the economic crisis, there's going to be a fight.

We've seen a real shift in Washington as a result of that fight.  The attacks continue, there is a lot at stake, and we still have a lot of work left to do -- but there is a little less bravado among the Wall Street lobbyists and a little less momentum behind further rollbacks.   
We fight for Wall Street accountability so that Congress puts in place strong laws and the government regulators enforce them. We fight to protect consumers from tricks and traps, to end reckless gambling by Wall Street, and to protect taxpayers from bailouts. We fight because it's the right thing to do. 
 
I hope you'll take a moment today and make a donation to AFR. Your support will help them make sure the big banks don't always get the last word in Washington on policies that make a difference to all of us.
I appreciate your support for AFR, and I hope you can contribute to its very important work.
  
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Warren
U.S. Senator

p.s.  Whatever happens or doesn't happen in Congress, there are a lot of important decisions being made all the time at the at the banking oversight agencies.  Many Dodd-Frank rules haven't been implemented or even written yet, and AFR is on the front lines pushing for strong, tough rules – and enforcement of the rules. I hope you can support their work with a $25 contribution.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Sent by Americans for Financial Reform
1629 K Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 - (202) 466-1885

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Why Bridgasaurus Boondogglus is just plundering to plan a scheme that will never happen

The era of the total paving moratorium is coming, like it or not.

The only question is whether we will accept it gracefully and use the diminishing (but currently still ample) amount of excess wealth around to plan and prepare for the day when none can deny that the Happy Motoring Era of mass automobility is over - or will we pretend that the laws of physics have exceptions for those who bury their heads in the sand forcefully enough and who chant the mantras of "growth" and electric self-driving cars on "smart" roads faithfully enough.

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-05-07/the-whisper-of-the-shutoff-valve

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

If we can't dream of tackling this for everyone, at least why don't we do this for all veterans?



"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

FED UP! Thursday, 5/14, 7 pm, a must-see at Salem Progressive Film Series


Please join us on

Thursday, May 14th at 7 PM

at the Grand Theatre 

for the screening of the documentary

 Fed Up!

 

We feel this documentary is so important for young people and families to see, we are lowering the entrance price to $3 for anyone under 18 years of age. Please share this email with parents, teachers, and teens..

 

The film focuses on the causes of obesity in the US, presenting evidence showing that the large quantities of sugar in processed foods are an overlooked root of the problem, and points to the monied lobbying power of "Big Sugar" in blocking attempts to enact policies to address the issue. 

 

 "Fed Up is poised to be the Inconvenient Truth of the health movement".  LA Weekly

 

See below for more information about the film and guest speakers.

 

 Upcoming Film

May 14th, 2015 * 7 PM 


 "Fed Up"

 

Fed Up shows how the first dietary guidelines issued by the U.S. government 30 years ago overlooked the role of dietary sugar in increasing risks of obesitydiabetes, and associated ill-health outcomes, particularly in children. Since these guidelines effectively condoned unlimited addition of sugar to foods consumed by children, sugar consumption has greatly increased, obesity has skyrocketed, and generations of children have grown up far fatter than their parents. These children face impaired health and shorter lifespans as a result. As the relationship between the high-sugar diet and poor health has emerged, entrenched sugar industry interests with almost unlimited financial lobbying resources have beaten back attempts by parents, schools, states, and in Congress to provide a healthier diet for children.

 

To view trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUbvOwwfWM

 

 

Guest Speakers: 
  

Dr. Jeanette Walker,

MDVIDA Integrative Medicine

 


Jessica Short,

RD, LD, CDESalem Hospital
 


"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Sneak Attack by Corporadoes on Local Laws Protecting Farmland

Disgusting sneak attack by corporations who want to win the ability to SUE local governments to demand ransom having to follow the law.

And even more revolting, the Democratic-majority Oregon House passed this offensive, Orwellian attack on democracy (letting corporations sue to make states pay for passing laws to protect the public that the corporations don't like):
Call your State Senator ASAP -- especially Salem folks living in Senate President Peter Courtney's district:

A year ago this month, voters in Jackson County – led by local family farmers trying to protect their crops from GMO contamination – voted overwhelmingly to ban genetically engineered crops from being cultivated within their borders. This landslide win was a victory for grassroots activists and a rebuke for Monsanto and other corporations that spent BIG money to defeat the measure.

But now, a sneaky new bill, HB 3212, is moving through the state legislature that would undermine Jackson County’s trailblazing legislation. It gives the same industrial farm interests that fought GMO labeling the right to sue counties, cities and the state for “compensation” due to important laws that protect the environment and the public.

Groups representing family farmers, such as Friends of Family Farmers and Our Family Farms Coalition, are opposing HB 3212 since it would also undermine laws meant to protect family farmers and organic farmers from being damaged by industrial agricultural practices. Laws protecting family farmers from GMO-contamination or pesticide over-spraying, for example, would be undermined by HB 3212.

The bill has already passed the Oregon House and could soon be considered by the State Senate.

John, we need all hands on deck to fight this damaging legislation. Click here to find the phone number and email of your State Senator. Then, ask them to OPPOSE HB 3212 since it doesn’t protect the public, family farmers, or the environment!

We only have a short time to stop this bill in its tracks. Tell your Senator to oppose HB 3212 today >>

Thank you,

Oregon GMO Right to Know