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Many newspapers, including New
York Times and Washington Post require
subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles each month. We can also check with our local libraries to
find out how to get online access through them.
1) In
desperation, the Republicans are now trying to buy support for the Graham-Cassidy
ACA repeal: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/new-version-graham-cassidy-health-bill-adds-sweeteners-alaska-n804391 At
this point, McCain, Paul, and Collins are reported no votes. We must let the
other Republican senators, especially undecided/swing senators, know this would
be deadly for so many in our country.
Let’s use this contact info: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0k1qCMVpKZpZkwybXEtUXExVGc
2) On
Sunday night, the Trump administration announced a new travel ban that
seems designed to not be able to bear up under the moniker of “Muslim ban”
because of the addition of North Korea and some smaller carve-outs in
Venezuela: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/352179-trump-imposes-new-travel-restrictions-on-8-countries However,
it remains a chaotic wolf in wolf clothing. Please express your concerns to
your MoC about this Travel Ban 3.0.
3) Here's
some good environmental news for us: "Fossil fuel projects nationwide
could be on notice after an appeals court ordered the federal government to
rethink the climate change impacts of two giant coal mines, environmental
lawyers and energy consultants tell Bloomberg
BNA...The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit only
directly affects Arch Coal and Peabody Energy, which operate the Wyoming mines
in question, and only applies to five Western states...But the Sept. 14
decision establishes an argument that could be tested nationwide in other
courts to challenge any fossil fuel-related project that might have climate
change effects..." This decision gives us hope going forward. Let's
keep up the pressure on environmental issues.
4) The
Air Force top enlisted pledges transgender airmen will be treated with respect
per the Air Force Times. “Right now, our transgender airmen
are still just that: They are our airmen,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air
Force Kaleth Wright said ... “And until otherwise, we take care of them just
like any other airmen.” Let's send thank you's and notes of support to: Chief
Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright, 1670 Air Force
Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1670.
5) Thomas
Farr was blocked twice by the Senate when G.W. Bush nominated him to a judicial
post. “Based on his outspoken history and aggressive litigious style
of opposing African Americans and the rights of the vulnerable, African
Americans have no trust or faith that Thomas Farr can be independent, fair, and
impartial in serving as a member of the esteemed federal judiciary.” Let's let
the Senate Judiciary Committee know that we want Farr blocked
again: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members
6) For
those of us who have already called our senators about the Graham-Cassidy bill,
our work is not done! There are more people out there who have not yet made
those phone calls, but who know that this bill is wrong. We can use the
Indivisible Guide's peer-to-peer dialing tool to help connect these
constituents to their senators. Let's sign up and encourage others to speak
out: https://www.trumpcareten.org/calls-to-kill-trumpcare/
7) The
Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act (H.R.
3668) was passed out of committee and now heads to the House floor
for a vote. The NRA-supported measure would allow hunting and sports
shooting on federal lands, such as water developments, national monuments and
wilderness areas, would require national parks to allow “volunteer” shooters to
assist in wildlife management, and would have manufacturers, rather than the
Attorney General, decide exactly what Armor Piercing Bullets are. In
addition to these alarming provisions that weaken federal gun laws, the SHARE
Act includes one of the NRA’s top legislative priorities, the Hearing
Protection Act, which would exempt silencers from current firearms restrictions
and require the government to destroy all records on silencer owners.
According to Americans for Responsible Solutions, silencers disguise the sound
of gunfire, hide the shooter’s location, threaten the safety of law
enforcement, diminish the effectiveness of gunshot detection technology, and
make it difficult for people to know whether to drop down or run.
Everytown for Gun Safety says, “The gun silencers provision of the SHARE Act
would make it easier for felons, domestic abusers and people with dangerous
mental illnesses to buy gun silencers.” http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/13/gun-silencers-congress-republicans-242673
Let's contact our representative to oppose this bill.
8) Innocuous
as it appears, the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 620) would, like
the contraction of Medicaid, particularly target disabled people. As of now
under the ADA, if a disabled individual cannot access a business open to the
public, they can immediately file a complaint with the Justice Department
(though no entity is currently charged with making sure that businesses
comply). This “reform” requires the DOJ
to come up with a plan that would prohibit civil suits arising out of failure
to provide adequate access unless the plaintiff provides offending property
owners with written notice specifying the deficiency. Owners would have 60 days
to respond with a written plan for improvement and 120 days to correct the
deficiency, or show progress towards a correction: https://qz.com/994853/republicans-in-congress-think-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-is-too-easy-to-game-so-they-want-to-make-it-harder-to-enforce/
We need to ask our MoCs to oppose this bill and make it clear to Jeff Sessions
that we do not want the ADA decimated: 202-353-1555 or DOJ, 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, DC
20530-0001
9) In
a letter to the NYT about Ken Burns’ “Vietnam War" on Sunday, Donald
P. Gregg—one of Burns’ interviewees and once CIA station chief in Seoul, then
ambassador to South Korea—says “I fear that we are headed down an 2017 version
of ‘ignorance alley” in our dealing with Pyongyang; we do not know what North
Korea wants . . . because we have not asked. . . .” As the US sends
bombers over the Korean Peninsula in the latest escalation of tensions (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles/u-s-flies-bombers-over-korean-peninsula-after-north-korea-missile-test-idUSKBN1AF02K ),
we must join South Korean president Moon Jae-in in reminding Trump that
accusing South Korea of “appeasement” and insisting that “talking is not the
answer” will only worsen what Moon has characterized as a “vicious cycle” of
provocations and sanctions. We know where ignorance alley led us in Vietnam.
White House, 202-456-1111
10) Time
is running out to make our voices heard on the SHARE Act, which would make it
easier for dangerous people to buy gun silencers over the objections of law
enforcement (http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/13/gun-silencers-congress-republicans-242673).
The Brady Campaign has put together background information, a sample script and
a call tool to make it easier for us to contact our members of Congress and
tell them to vote on when this bill comes up for a floor vote. Let’s be sure to
use it at this link: https://www.bradycampaign.org/tell-congress-to-stop-this-dangerous-bill-now.
11) Treasury
Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, who seems to be angling for the “let them eat cake”
award this year, has asserted that NFL players can “do free speech on their own
time”: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/24/nfl-players-mnuchin-trump-free-speech-243065 Let’s
encourage Secretary Mnuchin to spend some quality time reading the Constitution
and remind him that NFL players are private citizens: https://www.treasury.gov/connect/Pages/contact-us.aspx
12) The
USNS
Comfort is the world’s largest hospital ship. It is used in all kinds of national crises
and could easily be called to aid Puerto Rico, but it has not. Several people, including Hillary Clinton
have asked for the Navy to help our fellow citizens:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/352175-clinton-trump-should-send-us-forces-to-help-puerto-rico Since neither Mattis nor Trump have seen this as a need, let try asking the Chief of Naval Operations to do so: Contact: Admiral John M. Richardson, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 2000 Navy Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20350-2000 or use the option at the bottom of this page: http://www.navy.mil/submit/contacts.asp
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/352175-clinton-trump-should-send-us-forces-to-help-puerto-rico Since neither Mattis nor Trump have seen this as a need, let try asking the Chief of Naval Operations to do so: Contact: Admiral John M. Richardson, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 2000 Navy Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20350-2000 or use the option at the bottom of this page: http://www.navy.mil/submit/contacts.asp
13) "U.S.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) filed legislation (S1834) to create a national advisory
committee to look for ways to better prepare and care for our nation’s seniors
during a disaster, such as Hurricane Irma, which led to the deaths of eight
seniors in a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida. The bipartisan bill –
cosponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bob Casey
(D-PA) – would require the secretary of Health and Human Services to establish
a National Advisory Committee on Seniors and Disasters." Read the full
story and Nelson's press release at the Tampa Bay Times. Let's tell our own Senators we want
them to co-sponsor S1834.
Let's protect our vulnerable senior citizens.
14) The
Republican Senate is calling for "changes in the Senate Judiciary
Committee's "blue slip" practice to both help clear the way for
President Donald Trump to nominate more circuit court judges freely — and so
his existing nominees can sail through confirmation. The blue slip is a
Senate tradition in which senators can give or withhold their blessing for a
judicial nominee from their state. The process provides the party that does not
control the White House with leverage over a good number of the president's
nominations." Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) has been using this procedure to
block "Trump's nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Judge David Stras for
a vacancy on the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Franken said he could
not support Stras, nominated by Trump in March, after studying his
record." Read the full story on Business Insider and Franken's statement on Stras. We have two (2) actions
to take: 1) Let's tell our Senators that we value and want to keep the blue slip
process. 2) Let's tell our Senators that we join Senator Franken in
opposing David Stras for 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
15) "House
Democratic investigators are launching a congressional probe of Jared Kushner's
use of a private email for work purposes, a development that threatens to
escalate the Russia-related controversies already surrounding President Donald
Trump's son in-law. Top House Oversight and Government Reforming
Committee Democrat Elijah Cummings sent a letter to Kushner, a White House
senior adviser, asking him to preserve all his personal emails. The Maryland
Democrat also suggested he will eventually request all copies of work
correspondence that passed through Kushner's personal account." http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/25/jared-kushner-private-email-investigation-243117 Let's keep an eye on this issue to be sure
that Kushner complies.
16) “A
[Boston Globe] Spotlight Team investigation has found that lax oversight by the
Federal Aviation Administration, over decades, has made it easy for drug
dealers, corrupt politicians, and even people with links to terrorism to
register private planes and conceal their identities.” http://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/secrets-in-the-sky/series/part-one/ and
http://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/secrets-in-the-sky/series/part-two/ .
Let’s do the following:
a) Tell our MoCs that we want them to pass
legislation that will force the FAA to clean up its act.
b) Tell
staffers for the US House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to fix
this problem. Matt Sturges, Staff Director, 202-225-9446 and Aviation Staff Director Holly
Woodruff Lyons, 202-226-3220https://transportation.house.gov/contact/staff-contact-list.htm
c) Call
the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation and demand
the same. 202-224-1251(Majority), 202-224-0411 (Minority)
State Actions
Other Actions
1) Our
five (5) living former presidents have launched a fundraiser to help Puerto
Rico and other US locations impacted by the recent hurricanes. The
campaign, titled “One America Appeal,” will allow donors to contribute funds to
United for Puerto Rico and The Fund for the Virgin Islands. Both are 501(c)(3)
organizations. Read the full story at The Hill. We can donate if we wish to One America Appeal and
specify from which storm's recovery (Harvey, Irma, Maria) that we want our
donation to go.
2) Today,
like all other fourth Tuesdays in September, is National Voter Registration
Day. Let’s check out and use the
resources here to get the word out and help make people aware of the day and
the need to get registered to vote: https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/
3) Many NFL
players are beginning stand with Kaepernick (#takeaknee) and against
Trump. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/why-the-nfl-is-protesting/540927/
Let's ask the NFL Players Association to also speak out against NFL owners
who are blackballing him.
4) Resistance
School resumes in October! Organized by progressive grad students at Harvard,
Resistance School offers free online sessions where we can learn about
communicating our values, mobilizing our communities, and building structures
for action. To see last year’s sessions, and to sign up so we don’t miss this
year’s, let’s visit https://www.resistanceschool.com/
5) Let's
also thank Colin Kaepernick himself for standing up for what he believes in and
donating to causes that support his values. Let's also thank his mom,
Teresa Kaepernick, for her tweet back to Trump. http://www.businessinsider.com/colin-kaepernick-mom-responds-to-trump-2017-9
We can write to both of them here: c/o Jeff Nalley, Select
Sports Group, 2700 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 1450, Houston, TX 77056
6) "NASCAR
driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Monday quoted John F. Kennedy on "violent
revolution" after President Trump attacked National Football League
(NFL) players who kneel during the national anthem. "All Americans R
granted rights 2 peaceful protests," he tweeted Monday. "Those who
make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution
inevitable-JFK." Several NASCAR team owners said Sunday they wouldn't
condone drivers protesting during the national anthem.," Petty, a NASCAR
team owner said he'd fire anyone who protested. http://thehill.com/homenews/news/352202-dale-earnhardt-jr-quotes-jfk-on-violent-revolution-after-trump-attacks-on-nfl
Let's send a thank you tweet to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for his free right to
protest tweet. Contact: @DaleJr on Twitter, comment on his Facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/DaleJr, or
email him in care of his booking agent: contact@athletespeakers.com
Petitions
1) “The
Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act 1920, 46 U.S.C. § 883) prevents foreign
ships from carrying cargo between the US mainland and noncontiguous parts of
the US like Puerto Rico. Foreign ships can't stop in Puerto Rico to offload
goods. Instead, goods are dropped off on the mainland and brought to the island
on US flag ships. This makes everything more expensive, and in the aftermath of
Hurricane Maria, could actually cost lives. The Department of Homeland Security
extended a waiver of the Jones Act to relieve PR, but the waiver expired … on
September 22, 2017.” Let’s sign this
petition to Homeland Security and Trump to extend the waiver during this time
of need: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-homeland-security-waive-the-jones-act-for-all-cargo-at-ports-in-puerto-rico-to-aid-hurricane-maria-relief
2) “ACT for America is the country’s largest anti-Muslim
hate group, and they work tirelessly to undermine Muslim communities and our
allies. They support a broad racist, anti-Muslim, and White
Nationalist agenda—not just the Muslim Ban, but a wall on the US-Mexico border,
and the ending of DACA, too. At their last national event back in June,
ACT for America was joined by members of Identity Evropa and Vanguard
America—the same groups involved in the deadly neo-Nazi riot in
Charlottesville.1 Now, ACT is planning their annual conference
next weekend (October 2nd and 3rd)—at the Marriott in Arlington, VA.” Let’s
ask Marriot hotels not to host this hate group for meetings of any kind: https://act.mpowerchange.org/sign/marriott-act-petition
Marches/events/teleconferences
to attend/organize
1) This
Saturday, Sept. 30 in Washington, D.C., there will be two simultaneous
marches. Let’s check their websites to
see how we can participate and/or support:
1) March for Black Women: https://www.mamablack.org/march-for-black-women,
and 2) March for Racial Justice: https://www.m4rj.com
2) #NoMuslimBanEver
has called for a large demonstration in Washington DC on October 10.
On that day, the Supreme Court is booked to hear two cases about the Muslim and
refugee bans, Trump v. Int'l Refugee Assistance Project and Trump v. Hawaii.
The court may drop these cases, since they arise from the previous ban and now
we have a brand new one, which, some say, will be harder to oppose in the
courts: https://www.reuters.com/article/legal-us-usa-immigration-trump-legal/trumps-new-travel-ban-could-be-harder-to-fight-in-court-experts-idUSKCN1C01SB In
view of possible changes, we should keep track of the plans are
for October 10 and lend our support: http://act.mpowerchange.org/signup/nomuslimbanever-scotus/
Reading/Watching
1)
Excellent
op-ed in The Globe and Mail by Sarah Kendzior about patriotism: “If Mr.
Kaepernick can live his values, destroying his popularity and football career
in the process, why can’t we all? If we have freedom of speech, who will we
speak up for?” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/real-patriotism-mr-trump-isnt-how-you-treat-a-flag-its-how-you-treat-americans/article36375796
2)
Henry
Giroux, a widely respected educator and author, most recently, of The Public in Peril: Trump and the Menace of
American Authoritarianism, has contributed an essay to Bill Moyers’
website. An important insight for this frightening moment: http://billmoyers.com/story/donald-trumps-addiction-to-violence/
3)
Atul
Gawande, the author of the best-seller Being
Mortal, has this to say about the Republican approach to health
care: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/if-the-us-adopts-the-gops-health-care-bill-it-would-be-an-act-of-mass-suicide
Rogan’s
List is a participant in and strategic part ner of the Action Alliance,
a loosely-federated group of organizations that, in
the wake of the
2016 election, are sharing daily or weekly calls to
action.
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.
******
Rogan’s List is also part of RISE Stronger’s United States of
Resistance
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