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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 what might be the back story for why Tillerson
reportedly called Trump a “moron”, it has been revealed that Trump wanted to
increase our nuclear arsenal ten-fold: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/354855-trump-wanted-a-massive-expansion-of-the-us-nuclear-arsenal-report This
news is coming as Trump dials-up his engagement in demanding that NFL players
stand for the national anthem:http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/354853-trump-it-is-about-time-goodell-demanded-players-stand-for-anthem An
authoritarian leader with a liking for nuclear weapons is a perfect storm.
Let’s be in touch with our MoC to ask what their plans are for removing our
unfit president from office.
2.
Kansas Republicans are trying to warn the nation away
from the mistakes made there with tax cuts: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/tax-trump-kansas/542532/ Let’s
let our MoC know that the proposed reform ideas are bad for America. We just
need to look at what happened to Kansas.
3.
We need to be doing a LOT better in Puerto Rico:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/11/puerto-rico-food-shortage-hurricane-maria Let’s
contact FEMA to express our deep concern: Federal Emergency Management
Agency, 500 C Street S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20472 or Administrator Brock Long on Twitter @FEMA_Brock
4.
We’ve all been hearing about the ways our personal data
get misappropriated, abused, and outright stolen (looking at you, Equifax), and
there’s a growing awareness of our need to take back control of our data, as a
matter of personal privacy https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/03/data-tech-giants-trail-digital-age Let’s inform our federal representatives that
we want comprehensive control over the use and distribution of our personal
information, along the lines of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (http://www.eugdpr.org/). If
those citizens can be protected, why can’t we?
5.
From one of our own:
Doctors have spoken out! They know that the rollback of ACA protections
for contraceptive coverage is not only an infringement on women’s rights but
it’s detrimental to their health. In a joint statement,
the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Congress of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Psychiatric Association, the
American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, and
the American Osteopathic Association said, “Contraception is an
integral part of preventive care and a medical necessity for women during
approximately 30 years of their lives. Access to no-copay contraception leads
to healthier women and families. Any move to decrease access to these vital
services would have damaging effects on public health.” http://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/advocacy/coverage/aca/LT-Group6-President-ContraceptionIFRs-100617.pdf
Call
your leaders in Congress and tell them to listen to physicians and speak out
against this latest attack on women by the Trump administration.
6.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is
targeting immigrants for intensified monitoring of their social media
accounts… and that’s all immigrants, including green card holders and even
American citizens https://gizmodo.com/us-homeland-security-will-start-collecting-social-media-1818777094
DHS's new rule on
recording — and sharing the social media activities of all immigrants
and anyone who interacts with them online — with other federal
agencies, seeks to further criminalize and frighten our friends and
neighbors. Let’s join Presente Action in submitting a public comment to DHS
telling them this policy needs to be changed ASAP at this link:
7.
The Republicans, having already stolen a Supreme Court
seat, are continuing to politicize the judiciary by undermining a long-time
tradition that allows senators to stop extremist nominees from getting
confirmed http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/354955-senators-battle-over-trumps-court-nominees
They’re laying the groundwork for
abandoning blue slips and allowing Trump to stack the courts with reactionary
judges. Let’s contact our senators and tell them this tradition is in place for
a reason, and we do not want to see it changed.
8.
It's time for the U.S.'s involvement in the war in
Yemen to come to an end:
http://bit.ly/2ycYmSm For those of us who have not yet
called our MoC, Just Foreign Policy has a simple call script that we can use to
urge our representatives to cosponsor and support H.Con.Res.
81, which would withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from Yemen
9.
Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Joe Manchin (D-WV),
and Marco Rubio (R-FL)introduced legislation to "enhance the transparency,
improve the coordination, and intensify the impact of assistance to support
access to primary and secondary education for displaced children and persons,
including women and girls, and for other purposes," http://bit.ly/2zesPQ1 This
bill, S.
1580, would help ensure that children around the world get the schooling
that they need. Let's contact our senators and ask that they support S. 1580: Protecting
Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. We can also edit and
send Save the Children's form letter: http://bit.ly/2wOt0Qk
10. An
Economic Census was due to start last January, but it was delayed by six months
because of a lack of funding. With the current administration cutting back on
so much government spending right now (except, apparently, the use of golf
carts and jets), it’s easy to lose sight of government agencies in charge of
collecting statistics, especially with children’s healthcare (CHIP) and the
Puerto Rican recovery effort at stake. But we need to be concerned about these
agencies, because their data provides the hard numbers used to justify government
spending. Without this data, we are forced to “trust” government leaders that
they’re telling the truth about where the money’s needed and that it’s really
doing what it’s supposed to be doing.
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/10/11/federal-data-collection-in-crisis-000537 and
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/11/us-census-bureau-budget-cuts-democracy Let’s
contact our MoC to ask them to make sure that statistics-gathering agencies
continue to receive the funding it needs to do their job so that the public can
be confident that their tax dollars are going to the right places.
11. The
situation on the ground in Puerto Rico more than two weeks after the hurricane
is still dire, for example: http://www.npr.org/2017/10/10/556837364/weeks-after-hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-struggles-to-turn-on-the-lights. At
least there's a disaster relief bill in the House that our Reps will vote on
this week. But while we're glad there's finally a bill, the way it apportions
funding to Puerto Rico is problematic. "In a bill intended to give relief
to Puerto Rico, the island gets a thin amount of guaranteed aid and a vague
level of other funding, along with $5 billion in loans."
https://theintercept.com/2017/10/11/puerto-rico-relief-bill-cancels-16-billion-in-debt-but-not-for-puerto-rico/ The
island is already deeply in debt. Why pile on more loans when Congress could
offer grants? Let's call our reps in the House today to let them know the bill
needs work.
12. Foreign
Policy this week obtained a 12-page FBI intelligence assessment, dated 5
days after white nationalists marched in Charlottesville, targeting “Black
Identity Extremists,” describing them as “very likely” to perpetrate violence
against the police:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/06/fbi-black-identity-extremists-racial-profiling Remember COINTELPRO, the FBI’s attempt to
discredit civil rights activists in the fifties and sixties. We have seen
this kind of racist suppression of black political activity before—and seen its
results. We must all do everything we can to stop this attempt to silence
or intimidate any of us. At the very least, we need to make our outrage
known to our MoCs and to Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe at 202-324-3000 or
FBI Headquarters, 935 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, DC 20535-0001.
13. “As
President Donald Trump promotes a tax plan that critics say mainly would help
corporations and the rich, about three-quarters of Americans say they believe the
wealthiest people should pay more in taxes, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-poll/three-quarters-of-americans-favor-higher-taxes-for-wealthy-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN1CG17R Let’s make sure that our legislators know
that we are part of this 75% group and are counting on them to make this happen
during the budget/tax talks.
State Actions
1.
AR: On November 9, 2017, Arkansas plans to
execute Jack Greene even though he suffers from a psychotic disorder and began
showing signs of mental illness almost a decade before the crimes which led to
his death sentence. We can read more about this case and sign a petition
to stay Greene's execution at Change.org
2.
UT: The Utah attorney general’s office continues
fighting to keep out of the public eye a written legal opinion it prepared for
the Legislature — then withheld citing ethical concerns — on Gov. Gary
Herbert’s unilateral action setting rules for the special election to replace former Rep. Jason Chaffetz. The
matter is set for a hearing Thursday [Oct. 12] before the State
Records Committee. Let's read the whole story at the Salt Lake Tribune. We don't have time to send
letters. If we are Utahns, let's contact the Attorney General Sean Reyes (R)
using this contact form or by calling 800-244-4636. Let's
demand transparency.
3.
MD: Huge budget
cuts crippled outreach that lets people know when, how and where to sign
up for the ACA, so Indivisible ACA Signup Project is spreading the word through
social media. They have only 8 days to get 70 more supporters.
Help them reach their goal by October 19 to set off a Thunderclap, a
social media flash mob message blast. Please click, add your social media
support on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. THEN cut, paste and share -
thanks! https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/62427-aca-signup-reminder
4.
MO: Huge budget
cuts crippled outreach that lets people know when, how and where to sign
up for the ACA, so Indivisible ACA Signup Project is spreading the word through
social media. They have only days 7 to get 88 more supporters. Help them
reach their goal by October 18 to set off a Thunderclap, a social
media flash mob message blast. Please click, add your social media support
on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. THEN cut, paste and share -
thanks! https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/63031-aca-signup-reminder
5.
NE: Huge budget
cuts crippled outreach that lets people know when, how and where to sign
up for the ACA, so Indivisible ACA Signup Project is spreading the word through
social media. They have only 10 days to get 82 more
supporters. Help them reach their goal by October 21 to
set off a Thunderclap, a social media flash mob message blast. Please
click, add your social media support on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.
THEN cut, paste and share - thanks! https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/63166-aca-signup-reminder
6.
OH: Huge budget
cuts crippled outreach that lets people know when, how and where to sign
up for the ACA, so Indivisible ACA Signup Project is spreading the word through
social media. They have only 8 days to get 82 more supporters.
Help them reach their goal by October 19 to set off a Thunderclap,
a social media flash mob message blast. Please click, add your social
media support on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. THEN cut, paste and share –
thanks! https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/63081-aca-sign-up-reminder
Other Actions
1.
The Free Press Action Fund is collecting stories about
why net neutrality is significant in our lives. Stories will be sent to policy
makers, in the hopes that seeing how net neutrality affects us as individuals and
businesses will encourage our MoC to draft and support legislation that
protects net neutrality. Let's take a moment and speak out: http://act.freepress.net/sign/internet_nn_story/
2.
Now that the hard deadline to renew DACA status has
passed (it was on October 5), those of us who are, or know, DACA recipients may
have a lot of questions on what happens next. This FAQ page, offered by United
We Dream, offers a lot of helpful and practical legal information: http://weareheretostay.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions-on-daca-termination/
3.
What has the Trump regime accomplished? The New
York Times has identified 52 environmental rules that are on their way
out to provide access to fossil fuel companies and other development
endeavors. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/05/climate/trump-environment-rules-reversed.html If we don't have a NYT subscription, we
may want to include this article as one of the free articles we read this
month. Let's continue to follow the changes being made by the administration
and let's continue to let our MoCs know we are not happy about them. Let's
continue to find ways we can support local environmental issues.
4.
From journalist and activist Shaun King: "We
are increasing our reward to $50,000 for the identification of these two
violent white supremacists who viciously attacked DeAndre Harris in
Charlottesville. What are their names? All sources will remain anonymous.”
Let's check out the photos to see if we can help and share
this information with our friends (use the arrow ">" to scroll
through the photos. ) There is now a
warrant out for Harris’ arrest. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-warrant-deandre-harris-man-beaten-at-charlottesville-rally/ Let's help bring these perpetrators to
justice! We can email leads here: news@shaunking.org
5.
Let’s make a federal case out of our voting rights.
Protect Democracy is seeking an order from the federal district court for the
District of Columbia to stop Trump’s Orwellian “Election Integrity” Commission
from collecting sensitive voter information, and to destroy any data the
Commission does have, until it complies with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This
law “imposes a framework for ensuring that the government explains its need for
the requested data, minimizes unnecessary burdens, establishes adequate
structures for maintaining data securely, protects privacy interests, and gives
the public a meaningful opportunity to comment in advance of the government’s
data collection.” https://protectdemocracy.org/update/protect-democracy-files-preliminary-injunction-trump-voter-commission-immediately-halt-activities/ Needless
to say, the Commission has ignored the statute. Protect Democracy is asking for
our help: Let’s spread the word about their lawsuit and sign up here https://protectdemocracy.org/ so
we’re ready to apply grassroots pressure when we’re needed.
6.
With social media playing such a large role in politics
these days, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the fight over vaccinations has
spilled over here. But this is one area where we can’t the trolls win: our
children’s lives are on the line. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/anti-vax-message-gets-meaner-social-media-n809166 Let’s
check out these tips for talking to friends and family who are suspicious of
vaccinations: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2016/03/01/want-to-change-someones-mind-about-vaccines-heres-a-start/#7d1e1eb05cc3.
As uncomfortable as the conversations may be, our children are worth it!
7.
From Postcards for
America: Deandre Harris was severely
beaten during the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on
August 12th, 2017. Now, one of the supremacists who beat him is filing charges
against him – because he fought back. [ [https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/11/16458694/deandre-harris-charlottesville-video] Postcards
to the magistrate's and Commonwealth attorney and let them know we are
watching: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13rQEQRLlgmRLX2QhcQrVum8-u479ikvx4SQkRyPBjG0/edit
8.
Latinos Unite
is working with Puerto Rico to match up families for "adoption"
purposes: If we want to help in this way and are looking to ADOPT a family,
please fill out this form: (http://bit.ly/WeWantToAdoptAFamily …)
Likewise, if we know someone in Puerto Rico who needs help, please fill out
this form: (http://bit.ly/AdoptThisFamily )
.
9.
Save EPA is a “volunteer
organization made up of retired and former employees of the Environmental
Protection Agency. We have expertise in environmental science, law and policy.
We are based in Colorado, have members from across the USA, and
collaborate with like-minded groups all over the country. We are using
our collective expertise to educate and advocate about environmental
science, environmental protections and the current Administration’s assault
on EPA and our public health. We work together to create tools and talking
points to support others’ advocacy about public health and environmental
protections.” Let’s see how we can use
the info on their site to help their cause, and ours.
10. White
nationalist Richard Spencer, no doubt one of Trump’s “very fine people,” is
scheduled to speak at the University of Florida on Oct. 19th. The
University Police Department is attempting to restrict protest by issuing a
“Richard Spencer Speaking Engagement Prohibited Items List” that includes items
like bicycles, bike locks, cigarettes, umbrellas, purses, backpacks and water
bottles or anything else the police “deem inappropriate.” Florida Legal
Services is has filed an objection: http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/justiceonline/mailings/117/attachments/original/FloridaLegalServicesUFLSpencerLetter101017.pdf
Given that AG Jeff Sessions has involved the DOJ in “free speech” conflicts on
campus: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/27/attorney-general-sessions-blasts-colleges-issues-free-speech)
and Republicans in 18 states have proposed legislation restricting protest: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/politics/states-anti-protest-legislation/index.html,
it’s time we, too, object: President W. Kent Fuchs, 226 Tigert Hall, P.O.
Box 113150, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 or (352) 392-1311 or president@ufl.edu
11. During
the month of October, Moms Demand
Action for Gun Sense in America, is organizing local events nationwide
where people can come together and reject the current gun culture and work
towards commonsense gun laws. Let’s find
an event near us and participate: http://act.everytown.org/event/moms-demand-action-event/search/
12. Ways
we can help Napa fire victims: https://www.fastcompany.com/40479325/how-to-help-napa-fire-victims-8-things-you-can-do-for-californias-wine-country-right-now
Petitions
1. “DeAndre Harris, a young Black man, 20 years
old, was brutally beaten by six white supremacists during the
Charlottesville attacks in August. He is now being charged with felony
charges of "unlawful wounding" by an accuser …who is believed to be a
member of a white supremacist group, is using this charge as a form of
retaliation against DeAndre Harris.”
Let’s sign this petition to the Commonwealth Attorney from Color of Change: https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/drop-charges-against-DeAndre-Harris/
2. “This October, over ninety of the world’s
largest banks will meet in Brazil to discuss their commitments under the
Equator Principles, a collectively agreed set of rules for financing big
infrastructure projects.” Let’s sign
this petition by asking the “Equator Banks commit to a new set of Principles
that stops the financing of climate disasters and fully respects Indigenous
Peoples’ rights and territories.” https://www.equatorbanksact.org/
Marches/events/teleconferences
to attend/organize
1. Resistance School resumes tonight! Join
veteran activist and organizer Marshall Ganz as he talks about the importance
of Public Narrative. Oct 12, 6PM EST. Sign up here:
2. “How can your passion for science and your
local newspaper help influence your members of Congress? With the right letter
to the editor on the latest attacks on science, you can make your words go
further. Please join the Union of Concerned Scientists for a Science Champions training
on how to write an effective letter to the editor and get it printed in your
local paper. On Wednesday, October 25 at
7:30–8:15 p.m. EDT (4:30–5:15 p.m. PDT)” RSVP here: https://secure.ucsusa.org/onlineactions/ybyFD5q9IkyRIqeatc1VmQ2
Reading/Watching
1. With the rapid turns in the news cycle, it is
easy to lose track of the follow-up to stories that held the headlines not long
ago. The police officer in Salt Lake City who assaulted a nurse for following
protocol has been fired: https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/10/utah-nurse-arrested-not-drawing-blood-police-officer-fired
2. Amy Siskind’s weekly list of things that
change: https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-47-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-4d2a98d43d18
3. Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire who is
one of President Trump’s oldest friends and whose name is in play for chief of
staff, wonders why his longtime friend spends so much of his time
appealing to the fringes of American politics. "He thinks he has to be
loyal to his base,” Barrack said. “I keep on saying, ‘But who is your base? You
don’t have a natural base. Your base now is the world and America, so you have
all these constituencies; show them who you really are.’ In my opinion, he’s
better than this.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hes-better-than-this-says-thomas-barrack-trumps-loyal-whisperer/2017/10/10/067fc776-a215-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html?utm_term=.ce808269ccb9
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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