Rogan's List

4/3/17 To-do List   

Contact Government Officials

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If your senators and reps aren't saved in your phone yet, text your US postal address to (520) 200-2223 and get a text back with your

STATE & FEDERAL legislative rep phone numbers.

1. The Senate Judiciary Committee will probably positively vote on Gorsuch today, with a full Senate vote coming later in the week. The National Education Association (NEA) “strongly opposes confirming Judge Gorsuch because he has repeatedly ruled against students with disabilities who seek a public education, consistently sided with big business at the expense of working people, and embraced extreme views that could endanger workers' rights on issues like employment discrimination, worker safety, and wages.”  Let’s call or use this link to urge our senators to vote NO.  http://cqrcengage.com/nea/app/write-a-letter?9&engagementId=301253

2. Legislators who live near the Great Lakes understand the importance of the lakes.  A growing number of representatives have banded together advocating for full funding of the Great Lakes clean up.  http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/house_glri_support_letter.html Ask your rep to sign on as well.

3. The Senate Intelligence Committee begins its hearings this week on the Trump/Russia situation in the spirit of bipartisanship.  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN1702UI  The draft testimony of some participants should cause us all pause:  https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-cwatts-033017.pdf    Let’s let our senators know that we support this approach, but would still prefer an independent investigation.

4. “Here's Why the EPA was Created”:  http://time.com/4696104/environmental-protection-agency-1970-history/  Nonetheless, even deeper cuts than originally thought are in store:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/03/31/new-epa-documents-reveal-even-deeper-proposed-cuts-to-staff-and-programs/?utm_term=.6c601c1b2552 We need to let all our legislators know that it is not okay to backtrack on ANY progress that we have made over the years. 

5. Along the same lines, Sen. Bennet (D-CO) has led more than 30 U.S. Senators in the introduction of legislation to rescind President Trump's Executive Order to reverse several landmark U.S. initiatives to combat climate change. https://www.bennet.senate.gov/?p=release&id=3856  If your senators are not included here, make those contacts and urge that they join their voices, too.

6. In yet another troubling move, the Trump administration has quietly stopped reporting deployments to Iraq and Syria:  http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-trump-deployment-20170330-story.html  Let’s tell our legislators that we deserve more transparency than this. 

7. Rep. Nunes cannot remain the chair of the House Intelligence Committee.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/us/politics/devin-nunes-intelligence-reports.html We all need to call our to ask to support the removal of Rep. Nunes as Chairman of the Committee AND to contact Rep. Paul Ryan with the same request.  If Nunes does not recuse himself, the only person who can remove him is Paul Ryan. 

Other Actions

1. Indivisible Guide has created a Campus Toolkit for those wanting to start an Indivisible group at their college or university:  https://www.indivisibleguide.com/campus-toolkit

2. Even as immigrants attempt to get Green Cards, they are being arrested and detained:  http://wbur.fm/2oxzBey  Let's join ACLU's People Power to help fight back against these attacks on civil rights: https://peoplepower.org/

3. More than fifty activist groups are joining together to form a new coalition: Majority. Their first campaign, Beyond the Moment, launches on April 4th,and will focus on intersectionality and educating ourselves on how we can join together to effect change. Read more about the Majority: http://bit.ly/2oq2fRM and here:  https://www.thenation.com/article/black-lives-matter-just-launched-a-major-campaign-for-the-age-of-trump/  Stay up to date on the movement: https://beyondthemoment.org/

4. Some of us just aren’t the stand up loud and proud type of people, but there are still actions we can take and be a significant part of the resistance.  Here are some ideas for activism for introverts and highly-sensitive people:  https://thousandshadesofgray.com/2017/03/26/activism-for-introverts-and-highly-sensitive-people/

5. Here is yet another idea for creative resisting from our friends:  the We Object event for April 1, 2017. Baker Park Frederick, MD  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ19fbk2DTU&feature=youtu.be

6. School of choice sounds good to many people and for lots of reasons, but as this mother found out, all is not what it appears to be:
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/01/the-masquerade-of-school-choice-a-parents-story/?utm_term=.bc9b80c384db  Let’s keep after our politicians that a quality public school system should be the goal. 

7. From one of our own: Wall of Us is trying to compile complete data on calls for an independent investigation re: Russian ties in the House, to help with future activism on this issue. They already have more than half of the House Members' positions recorded, but since we have called so often on this issue, and since we are 2700 strong, I bet we can help them out with some more. This will take two minutes, if that:  1) Go to https://ragtag.org/wall-of-us, 2) Scroll down/search the page for your rep's name (control-F is a quick way), 3) If s/he's not included, fill out the form at the bottom of the page telling them what you know.  

8. If you have a Twitter account, tweet this: Tell @NCAA to hold its line - the fake #HB2 repeal is still discrimination against #trans & #LGBT people -https://www.aclu.org/NCAA-HB2TW .  You can also call NCAA and tell them the same:  317-917-6222   

9. If we are interested in numbers, we can go through the financial disclosure statements of White House staff and if we find anything problematic, report it to one of the three news outlets that posted them:  https://www.propublica.org/article/white-house-wouldnt-post-trump-staffers-financial-disclosures

Petitions to Sign

 

1. It looks like Monsanto has had a powerful influence over the EPA. Let's let the office of the Inspector General of the EPA know that we will not stand for collusion: investigate ties between Monsanto and the EPA. Sign CREDO Action's petition here: http://bit.ly/2nLjXw9

2. Because a drug used in executions is set to expire at the end of April, Arkansas' governor is planning on executing eight prisoners in ten days. The drug, midazolam, has caused botched executions in other states, and is no longer used in at least two states. ACLU Action is asking that we sign their petition, asking Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson to halt the executions: http://bit.ly/2ojbcfV

Learning

1. While hard to swallow, we often see this bias in how votes happen in state and federal legislatures:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/03/31/the-gap-between-republicans-and-democrats-views-of-african-americans-just-hit-a-new-high/?utm_term=.b9c2e3eddbbb

2. Words matter, no matter who you are, even if you are the President: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/326884-judge-says-trump-incited-violence-at-rally-in-2016

3. Sunday’s Los Angeles Times editorial really lays it on the line. “…. Nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, or that the people around him in the White House would act as a check on his worst instincts, or that he would be sobered and transformed by the awesome responsibilities of office.’  http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/

4. Link to the newest Revel, Reflect, Recharge:                                               http://tinyletter.com/revel-reflect-recharge/letters/a-great-way-to-increase-emotional-resilience

Rogan’s List is a participant in and strategic partner of the Action Alliance,

a federation of more than 70 #resistance sites located throughout the nation,

each with its own methods and approach.  Other member sites are listed here: https://www.actionalliance.co/  --scroll down and click through and you'll find many more opportunities to make a difference.

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Rogan’s List is also part of RISE Stronger’s United States of Resistance

https://risestronger.org/resist