Action Alert

"A request from a student at Irmo High to form a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) club at the school has presented a difficult and complicated decision for the School Board. While this club is student-initiated and not school or district sponsored, if the school has permitted the formation of other non-curricular clubs, federal law requires that the school provide equal access to a Gay/Straight Allianc

The Senate is soon voting on H.R. 6304, the Hoyer/Bush FISA Deal that passed the House of Representatives yesterday. It is time to call your Senators and urge them to vote "NO." This so-called compromise grants retroactive telecom immunity and is a blow to our civil liberties.According to People for the American Way:By giving legal "immunity" to these companies, all lawsuits brought against them b

~Robert~Hat tip to: Michael A. Minton, author of "Mr. Right Opinion-Unplugged and Unashamed". Also listen to the BTR show 'Right Opinion' HERE.SEND A DRILL BIT TO YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND YOUR 2 SENATORS. Send the drill bits to their DC office.Not, Not, Not their local office!Tell Them; WE NEED TO DRILL OUR OWN OIL, NOW!!!If Bill Clinton had not vetoed the drilling of ANWAR in 1995 we would be reaping

"GLBT Americans pay federal taxes like everyone else, yet they don't qualify for the basic federal protections that married couples and their children can count on. It's blatantly unequal.GLBT people work hard to provide for their families. Tell Congress that the assets, health, jobs and rights of GLBT people deserve equal protection under the law.* The Domestic Partnership Benefits Obligations Ac

I received the following Action Alert today from the Metropolitan Community Churches. Please email your letter to each of the people on the links provided. This is a very crucial matter!A C T I O N A L E R TUrgent * Time Value * Urgent * Time ValueSafety, Lives of LGBT Moldovans Under Immediate Threat; Action Needed Now!A C T I O N A L E R T | Your Help Urgently NeededThe safety and human rights of LGBT people in the Eastern European nation of Moldova are under threat right now.The government of Moldova is threatening to arrest Rev. Elder Diane Fisher and Eastern European LGBT activist Florin Buhuceanu if they hold worship services for the LGBT community this weekend.And they are refusing to provide police protection, despite numerous death threats made against Dia

~Robert~Cross posted from Flag Gazer HERE.It's time for a new "Letters from Home" project. This time I will be collecting letters for the Navy. I'll be sending them off to the USS Russell - DDG-59. So, just like last time, please click- mailto:letters@thinking-right.com to compose an email, and I will make sure that they get to the men and women aboard the Russell. When you send your email, please be sure and put "Letters from Home" in the subject line. We're aiming for about 250 emails, so I'm hoping to have them collected and packed up by the end of the month. As with last time, anything you all can do to help spread the word would be greatly appreciated.By the way, they have their own blog there on the Russell right HERE. There's some great writing going on there! Their crew gives you a

via Newt OneA Newt One is asking all bloggers to take immediate action to express your outrage at the cruel and inhuman sentence handed down on a defenseless victim of rape.A 19 year old Saudi girl is facing 200 lashes and 6 months in prison because she was gang raped. Please take immediate action, via the links provided, to bring pressure to bear to prevent this horrific act of inhuman violence in the warped name of justice.Official Saudi Site: http://www.saudiembassy.net/Saudi Embassy in DC http://www.saudiembassy.net/Country/Country.asp Saudi DC Contact page  www.saudiembassy.net/Contact.asp                                            info@saudiembassy.netUS Embassy in Saudi http://riyadh.usembassy.gov/Contact page http://riyadh.usembassy.gov/contact.html                   

This is an alert that was forwarded to me and I thought was worth passing on. I know that many homeschooling families with young children have expressed concern over the Universal Preschool bill. ACTION ITEM! This Action Item from EdWatch was forwarded by Monica Boyer from Families United Against Government Mental Screening. It is in response to the Head Start Reauthorization bill H.R. 1429 that we’ve been discussing on the UniversalPreschool.com e-list this week. EdWatch has organized this ACTION — we need your help now to protect our young children… Tuesday November 13, 2007 Mental Screening & Federal Curriculum for Preschoolers H.R. 1429: Urge a NO Vote This Week Is social-emotional (mental health) screening of very young children the purpose of Head Start? Re-authorization of the federal Head Start program, H.R. 1429, includes ongoing assessments of children. Very young children will be continually screened and assessed based on the radical ideas of the Nat

~Snooper~ATTENTION TO ORDERS!The Following was received in an email message from Move America Forward (Mary Pearson).SHAME ON THIS WOMAN:FOR SHUTING DOWN THE BOY SCOUTS EFFORTS TO SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!Meet Marsha Weinerman, a city official from Cambridge, Massachusetts.She's made news recently because she decided to shut down the Boy Scouts care package collection boxes. You see, the Boy Scouts were sending care packages for our troops to enjoy at the holidays. But Marsha Weinerman said the Boy Scouts actions are 'too pro-war' and ordered law enforcement to remove the care package collection boxes.The Boy Scout's troop leader is outraged:"We have never seen anything like this decision in Cambridge before," Patterson wrote. The city is changing for the worse if decisions like this are allowed to be made."Contact Ms. Weinerman and let her know that it is our troops' service that protects the rights of all Americans-including our freedom to vote: mWeinerman@cambridgema.govOr call Ms.

~Snooper~Grassroots rallying point: Alec Rawls has contacted us here at A Newt One via email; message follows: Dear John and Snooper: Several bloggers are posting a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today, trying to bring him into the loop on the Islamic and terrorist memorializing features of the planned Flight 93 memorial. They are asking their readers to click an email script, paste the letter in, and send it to Kempthorne and Tancredo, but they are just posters. They aren’t set up for activism like you guys. Any chance you could ask your readers to send this along? Tancredo has been a great help, asking the Park Service last week to scrap the crescent design entirely. We have their attention now, and the letter to Kempthorne is to try to broaden the circle amongst people who can actually do something about this. It also lets Tancredo’s people know that we are on it an are backing him. My post is at: Error Theory I am pasting a copy of the post below, and the HTM

~Snooper~From The Gathering of Eagles, Chris Hill...Veterans' Votes VanishLast Tuesday, 6 November, 2007, was Election Day here in Philadelphia. On an average Election Day there are between 100 and 150 absentee ballots from active duty service members. This election there were 8. Maybe only 8 men and women voted. Maybe this is much ado about nothing, but it does seem suspicious. Special Forces officer David Oh was on the ballot for a City Council At-Large seat. It is a close election. Votes are still being tallied. Currently only about a dozen votes separate him and his challenger. We are actively soliciting anyone from Philadelphia, PA who has a relative serving overseas. If any of them voted we would like to know. Please contact us with their names so we can check them against the list of absentee ballots. If service men or women were denied their right to vote, while actively helping to preserve democracy, we will not stand idly by. Put out the word. Email your lists and call your

From the Secular Coalition for America:Help us stop federal funding earmarked for the Louisiana Family Forum (LFF), a group whose mission is to "persuasively present biblical principles in centers of influence" including public schools. The Senate Appropriations Committee is now considering a bill that would send your tax dollars to the LFF.Visit our Action Alert now to see if your Senator is on the Appropriations Committee. We are targeting those members today. But even s/he isn't, you'll want to be informed about this issue in case the earmark is allowed to reach the Senate floor. Once you take action, you'll have a chance to tell your friends about this important Action Alert.The proposed earmark gives federal money to the LFF to be used for suggesting "improvements" (i.e, biblical perspectives) to science education in Louisiana. It would also pay for the LFF to develop and distribute educational materials. Even if you are not a Louisiana resident, it is important to send Congres

Next week, the Defense Appropriations bill is going to be attacked with multiple amendments to try to increase H-1B guest worker Visas. These amendments are basically the SKIL act and or the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. Corporate lobbyist written, we are constantly bombarded with this special interest labor arbitrage agenda in every bill that is [...]

Now that President Bush has commuted Libby's sentence, it is time to pressure Congress to hold Cheney accountable for obstructing justice in the leak case and in the ongoing investigation of the illegal wiretapping program. This administration is not above the law and must be held accountable. Please join me in signing this petition asking Congress to force Vice President Cheney to respond to its subpoenas. If he continues to refuse, Congress has to begin impeachment proceedings against him.Tags: MoveOn.org, Cheney, Congress, politics, activism, petition, Libby, wiretapping

From Americans United for Separation of Church and State:Urgent!Call Your Representative Now to Oppose More Funding for DC VouchersSources on the Hill have just informed us that Rep. Tom Davis may offer an amendment on the House floor to the Financial Services Appropriations bill that would increase funding for the Washington, DC private school voucher program. Congress implemented this federally-funded voucher program in 2004, despite overwhelming opposition from DC residents. Just a year later, a Department of Education Study found that 43% of vouchers in the program went to students who were already attending private schools.Private schools should be funded with private funds. DC does not need more money for a private school voucher program.Please call your Representative right away and urge him/her to vote against the Davis Amendment to the Financial Services Appropriations bill.Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121Suggested Message:"I urge Representative _______ to VOTE NO on the Da

Religious Right Watch is encouraging all rational Americans to contact their Senators and ask them to support the Matthew Shepard Act. The Act is designed to extend federal hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Not surprisingly, it faces intense opposition from Christian extremists who probably do not think "gay bashing" should be illegal in the first place.I hope you will join me in promoting the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act.Tags: activism, Christian extremism, Matthew Shepard Act, gay, hate crime, politics

From the Secular Coalition for America:Urge President Bush to sign stem cell billThe U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S.5) this week. It may seem that we’ve already had numerous votes, but this one asks the House to accept the slightly changed Senate version. (It adds a statement that the National Institutes of Health can also continue doing research which is currently allowed. This would obviously be the case even if that language were not added.)Unfortunately, despite the changes brought about by last year’s election and the bipartisan support this bill is receiving, it looks extremely unlikely that we will get a veto-proof majority on this issue in the House, so we are now shifting our focus to the President. We hope that every American who cares about the ability of the NIH to use the best materials possible in their research will ask President Bush not to veto the bill.We recognize that the chances of changing the President

Action Expected on FY 2005 Funding Bills for Mental IllnessWith the 2004 elections now behind them, Congress will return to Washington the week of November 15 for a "lame duck" session to complete action on spending legislation for the current fiscal year. Among the bills that Congress will be taking up are spending measures regarding mental illness research and services, housing and veterans programs. Congress hopes to complete these measures quickly given that FY 2005 began back on October 1 and agencies are still operating under an extension of last year's budget.

I just received the following action alert from the Secular Coalition for America and e-mailed my representative about it. It took no more than 1 minute and couldn't have been easier. If you are equally appalled by the intrusion of Christian extremists into scientific research, I ask you to do the same.--Action Alert--On Thurs., Jan. 11 the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to act on the DeGette-Castle bill (HR 3), which would expand the number of stem cell lines eligible for federally-funded research. The stem cells to be used are generated from embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics.Current policy allows federal funds to be used for research only on those stem cell lines that existed when President Bush issued an executive order on August 9, 2001.Please take a stand today by contacting your Representative in the House and urging her/him to vote yes on HR 3 to expand stem cell research. A sample letter and other resources can be found on our Web site.W

The recent Department of Justice (DOJ) initiative called "First Freedom Project" sounds an awful lot like the First Freedom First campaign I have been supporting. Sadly, it turns out that this is far from the truth. While First Freedom First is about maintaining church-state separation, the DOJ's First Freedom Project is a typical Bush policy in that the title ends up mocking its true purpose, much like No Child Left Behind or the Patriot Act. Fortunately, there is something you can do.Bush's DOJ appears to have rolled out its misleading initiative right before the Supreme Court hears Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation next week. You are going to want to follow this case because our Christian extremist government will argue that we taxpayers should not have the legal right to challenge faith-based initiatives and other government spending that clearly favors religion. For more information, see here and here.So what can you do? Join the 100,000 and growing who have already signe