Rogan's List

5/1/17 To-do List   

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Contact Government Officials

1. Trump thought the job of being POTUS would be easier and misses his old life: http://reuters.com/article/idUSKBN17U0CA Let’s encourage him to resign and return to that life: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 20500

2. An interesting and in-depth piece about the people and institutions lining up against Trump: https://redux.slate.com/cover-stories/2017/04/who-has-kept-trump-from-destroying-american-democracy-so-far.html  Please pick one person or institution mentioned and send a thank you note (might want to skip the Freedom Caucus!)

3. In 2015 the internet was classified as a protected utility under the aegis of the FCC; internet providers could no longer block content, slow down traffic, or create “fast lanes” to prioritize websites whose owners pay more. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/12/technology/net-neutrality-rules-explained.html Recently, news reports revealed that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to undo the “utility” classification and end the FCC’s role in protecting internet users; companies would instead be asked to voluntarily police themselves (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/technology/net-neutrality.html).  Looks like it’s time to weigh in again on net neutrality: Ajit Pai and the FCC can be reached at 1-888-225-5322 and you can file a comment here:  https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/browse-popular-proceedings.

4. The Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1180) , which is not nearly as helpful as it sounds, has passed out of committee, and is headed to the House floor this Tuesday. http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/labor/327391-comp-time-bill-is-back-and-still-hurts-workers Let's call our Representatives and urge them to oppose this harmful legislation. We can also call the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to ensure that the Senate version of this bill (S. 801) does not pass. 5Calls has a script available: https://5calls.org/issue/recFlMoKlkl8pX6Jg

5. Let's tell our MoC that we care about our environment, and will not stand for its protections being stripped away. Sierra Club is offering downloadable Climate Action postcards to help get the point across: http://bit.ly/2oYlaQp

6. Bernie Sanders and the Democrats have introduced a $15 minimum wage bill. http://thehill.com/regulation/labor/330541-sanders-dems-introduce-15-minimum-wage-bill While this bill has little chance of passing right now, we need to keep the conversation moving forward. Send postcards to all your MoC's letting them know you support a $15 per hour minimum wage.

7. “Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and 16 members of Florida's congressional delegation, including Republicans and Democrats, are urging the Trump administration to keep the eastern Gulf of Mexico off limits to oil and gas drilling.” http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/03/nelson-congressional-members-urge-against-oil-drilling-off-florida-110676 Let's ask both of our Senators to support Florida's environment and to say "no" to offshore drilling. Then, let’s encourage legislators from other coastal states to do the same.

8. Trump’s penchant for ingratiating himself with authoritarian world leaders—Turkey’s Erdogan, Egypt’s el-Sisi, China’s Xi, Russia’s Putin—continues apace with his just-announced White House invitation to the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, a man widely accused of ordering the extrajudicial killings of thousands of reputed drug suspects: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/us/politics/trump-invites-rodrigo-duterte-to-the-white-house.html  While Trump has apparently expressed his “understanding and appreciation” of the “challenges” Duterte faces, we can let Trump know what we think of his embrace of Duterte by calling the White House comment line at 202-456-1111.

9. Martha McSally (R-AR) introduced a measure on 4/27/17 to prevent the members of Congress from getting an exemption from the AHCA. Her bill will repeal the exemption from certain provisions for congress including preconditions. “Representatives should have to abide by the very same options for coverage as their constituents, and anything short of that is simply hypocrisy. Congress must live by the rules it creates.”
10. https://mcsally.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-rep-mcsally-introduces-bill-eliminate-healthcare-exemption-members  Let’s call and thank her for the bill, and let's call our reps and SAY NO to the exemption for members of Congress.  That's an entitlement that they don't deserve over the needs of the American people.    

11. In another example of his lack of knowledge in the area, “Trump blamed the constitutional checks and balances built in to US governance. “It’s a very rough system,” he said. “It’s an archaic system … It’s really a bad thing for the country.””  The Bannon influence continues to raise havoc.  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/29/trump-blames-constitution-for-first-100-days-chaos-presidency  It is time for us to up our calls for getting Bannon out of the White House. 

Other Actions

1. Despite this past week’s protests by DivestHarvard Harvard University has, as the Harvard Crimson reports, only “paused” some of its unprofitable investments in the fossil fuel industry.  We can bring pressure for full divestment by the world’s most prestigious (and enormously wealthy) university by contacting President Drew Gilpin Faust. http://www.harvard.edu/president/contact

2. Fellow sufferers of "Way-Too-Many-Tabs-of-Articles-Open-To-Read-At-Some-Point-In-The-Future"-itis, on the advice of a friend, I've been using Pocket for the last few weeks, and I strongly recommend it. It lets you save tabs from browsers and apps to a central storage location where they're easily searchable and accessible from multiple devices. Makes your Internet life a lot easier to keep organized.  Try it:  https://getpocket.com/

3. May Day (May 1) internationally has traditionally been a celebration of workers: http://www.iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday The USA has had May Day workers’ marches for years and immigrants have been a part of those marches, particularly in the past ten years..  Given recent circumstances, it is expected that the immigrant participation will be bigger than it has in years:  https://www.thenation.com/article/mondays-may-day-marches-could-be-the-biggest-in-years/  Beyond The Moment is sponsoring actions in support of immigrant and workers rights—marches, protests, strikes—are planned all across the country for May Day, this coming Monday, May 1st.  To find one near you, check out  https://beyondthemoment.org/may-day/

4. TransCanada needs to get approval before they can route Keystone XL through Nebraska. The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) has a great write up by Anthony Swift, which explores how the risks of this pipeline greatly outweigh the benefits: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/anthony-swift/keystone-xl-tar-sands-pipeline-still-bad-idea The Nebraska Public Service Commission is currently taking public comment. Let's urge them to reject TransCanada's permit application. Nebraska PSC online resources, including the public comment form: http://www.psc.nebraska.gov/natgas/Keystone_Pipeline.html

5. Sierra Club's Student Coalition has launched the "Seize the Grid" campaign, focusing on clean energy. Student leaders can sign up to bring the campaign to their local high schools, colleges and universities: http://www.sierraclub.org/youth/seize-the-grid/launch
   
   
6. Indiana University will no longer allow prospective student athletes with a history of sexual or domestic violence to compete.  http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/22/525201070/indiana-university-bars-applicants-with-sexual-violence-history-from-competition Let’s write to our alma maters, in-state universities, and/or schools of which we are fans to ask when they will be adopting a similar policy.  Let’s also thank Indiana University: 107 S. Indiana Ave, Bloomington IN 47405-7000, Attn: Lauren Robel, Provost

7. The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank known for its attacks on climate science has been trying to influence the teaching of climate science in U.S. public schools and colleges: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/opinion/sowing-climate-doubt-among-schoolteachers.html  Heartland has already sent 200,000 unsolicited copies of its “Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming” to science teachers and hopes to reach every science teacher in the country before they're done: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/03/29/a-political-organization-that-doubts-climate-science-is-sending-this-book-to-200000-teachers/  The National Science Teachers Association has alerted its members to the dubious claims Heartland is disseminating-- http://static.nsta.org/pdfs/HeartlandLetter.pdf --but we, as parents and educators, need to keep our eyes on this and similar efforts. Let’s make sure our local schools are not using this to develop curriculum

8. It is customary for the president to welcome the winners of the Teachers of America to the White House for a family-filled celebration; it did not go well this year. Perhaps again, Trump was either not briefed on protocol or chose to ignore it.  Our teachers deserve better. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/27/trumps-unusual-meeting-with-2017-teachers-of-the-year/?utm_term=.e8dbb552573c Let’s send postcards congratulating the teachers and let them know that WE appreciate them.  More info here: http://www.ccsso.org/ntoy/State_Teachers.html?year=2017

9. The Trump budget will create a $75 million funding gap in the United Nations Population Fund.  This funding is critical to ensuring that women around the world are able to receive critical health care, including safe childbirth."The removal of support, a loss of US$75 million for UNFPA, is a blow to an agency that ensures access to contraception and maternal and child health services, and fights against gender violence, child marriage, and female genital mutilation in more than 150 countries worldwide."  However, the US is falsely presenting it as a coercive abortion agency.  http://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)30995-9/fulltext  Let’s tell our legislators that we want this funding to continue.  Let’s also show the world that even if our government does not value the work of the UNPF, we do.  We can donate here:   https://www.friendsofunfpa.org/netcommunity/sslpage.aspx?pid=767

 

Petitions to Sign

1. Just imagine if your cable company could decide to slow down a competitor’s streaming service while supercharging their own mediocre offering!  Or if certain political speech couldn’t be viewed without taking 10 minutes to load because they don’t have deep pockets? This can’t happen. And we won’t let it. Tell the FCC: Protect the Free & Open Internet! Here's a link to Oregon Senator Ron Wyden's petition: https://www.standtallforamerica.com/petition/fcc-netneutrality/e/ 

2. No tax legislation until Trump releases all his taxes:  https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_tax_legislation

Learning

1. Changing Net Neutrality could limit the ability of activists to organize and protest:  http://www.cio.com/article/3193120/broadband/what-happens-when-net-neutrality-becomes-pay-to-play.html

2. 100 days of Resisting and Recharging:  http://tinyletter.com/revel-reflect-recharge/letters/100-days-of-resisting-and-recharging

3. We’ve made calls about this and will continue to do so, but here is a visual of the national parks that Trump wants the Dept. of the Interior reconsider for possible drilling and development: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/28/525883061/photos-see-the-sweeping-american-landscapes-under-review-by-trump

4. The day before the Climate March, the Trump Administration removed all reference to climate science from the EPA website:  http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/04/29/epa_scrubs_climate_change_sections_from_website_hours_before_climate_march.html

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