Quickie: Action on Choice

Drunkenatheist compiled a list of things to do to support a woman's right to choose. Click here for the full list. Many of the ideas have links to organizations, action items, and research information. Good stuff. Some highlights:

8. Volunteer! Local clinics often have a variety of regular volunteering opportunities. They range from stuffing envelopes to administrative duties. Bonus: Volunteering for a clinic is a great way to get your foot in the door with non-profit employers!
9. Thank your local abortion providers! National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day is March 10th. Send out postcards to thank clinics, doctors and staff members for staying open despite the dangers they face every day.
21. Are you crafty? Artsy? Have a lot of junk lying around? eBay your stuff and donate a portion of the proceeds to a pro-choice group through eBay’s partnership with Missionfish.
22. Contact your local or preferred clinic/non-profit if they aren’t listed through Missionfish. They might not be aware that you can easily donate money via eBay & Missionfish’s partnership.
28. Get involved in pro-choice politicians’ campaigns. This can be as seemingly small as donating $10 to a campaign or as time-consuming as volunteering to canvas for him or her.
29. Find out how your money is being spent. Don’t support anti-choice companies unless it is unavoidable.

h/t WeNews

Prop 8 Protest

Tomorrow, Saturday the 15th, is the day to protest against Prop 8. Click here to find protest events near you. Click here to read about upcoming events. As Dana from Mombian writes,

Whether you protest in a group or simply by talking with your neighbors, may these stories infuriate and motivate you.

Two Weeks

What to do? Click on Adam B.'s post at Daily Kos to find out.

Obama/Biden 2008

Time is of the essence

Here's your list of things to do:

* Donate. And then donate again. And then email all your friends and family and ask them to donate too.
* Make calls from home. It's easy. I do it every day. And when you're done making calls from home. Make some more calls from home.
* Attend an event near you.
* Pissed off about smears? Join the Action Wire Team and fight the smears. Do it here, do it at work, flyer your grocery store or the Main street in your town, etc.
* Make sure you are registered to vote.
* Join MyBarackObama.com.
* Sign up to get information on campaign events.
* Explain Obama's policy stances and ideas. (And if you think this is useless - I can't tell you how many voters I have persuaded downloading this Blueprint for Change and explaining it.)
* Buy some Obama gear. Buy lots of it. Wear it everywhere. Give it to people as gifts.

I for one would love a t-shirt, yard sign, and sweatshirt...I already have a few bumperstickers, a pin, and some fabulous earrings. UPDATE: I just bought a Support Pack: for only $25 you get a yard sign, a bunch of pins, lapel and bumper stickers, and a blue rally sign. I also bought a very cool state lapel pin. I couldn't decide between it or a Women for Obama lapel pin. I went with state pride rather than identity politics. I would still love a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. Maybe next pay period...

Gas Pains

From Progress Ohio:

Gas prices have hit an all-time high. Our country is in the midst of a recession, thanks in part to our crippling dependence on oil. Here in Ohio, families are struggling with the impact of $4-per-gallon prices.

But maybe John McCain has been too busy fundraising with Texas oil billionaires lately to hear about it.

Click here to tell John McCain how much you're paying, and how gas prices are hurting your family.

McCain Voted Against Taxing Oil Companies to Finance a Tax Rebate For Consumers. McCain voted twice against a measure that would have provided an income tax rebate to Americans by temporarily taxing enormous oil company profits.

McCain Voted Against Reducing Dependence On Foreign Oil. He voted against legislation calling on the President to submit a plan to reduce foreign petroleum imports by 40 per cent.

Since launching his campaign in 2007, Senator McCain has skipped out on every key environmental vote the Senate has considered. In one instance, his absence killed the rollback of billions of dollars in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry to invest in renewable energy tax credits. McCain was the one senator not voting.

When Senator McCain swings through Ohio next week after his trip to Texas, we'll have a message for him. But we need your help.

Let us know how much you're paying at the pump, and the impact it's having on your family. We'll compile those responses and send them to McCain's Senate office.

(P.S. I'll be away until July 1st so this is the last post until then...)

PEPFAR

What the heck is PEPFAR? It's the Current Occupant's (President's - if I must for an acronym's sake) Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief which

channels United States' development assistance to support life-saving treatment, prevention and care for people suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world. PEPFAR was announced by President Bush in 2003 as a five-year, $15 billion initiative. Currently, a bipartisan bill to increase AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria funding to $50 billion over the next five years is working its way through Congress.

Trouble is, the bill is being held up by Republicans. Surprise, surprise!

Take action here to help re-authorize the bill before it's too late.


H/T to Daily Kos (of course).

Straight for Equality

PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) has a Straight for Equality program that looks really interesting. From their website:

This is a program about awareness and fairness. You don't need to march. You don't need to shout a slogan. But you may be surprised by how effective small changes can be...

If you're straight, you can take the pledge to be a straight ally, if you aren't and/or you don't want to you be put on yet another mailing list, you can learn 10 simple ways to help combat homophobia. Very easy, very cool.

Stop Genocide Now

Darfur is burning - rape and murder, displacement and disappearance. We all know it, yet it feels as if nothing is being done. How many times have politicians said, 'Not on my watch'? Well, Darfur continues to burn while W wages an unjust and ill-advised war in Iraq.

Obama urges Bush to do something, anything to stop the violence. He worked with Sam Brownback (R) to pass the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act and discusses on his website his intentions to end the atrocities in the region.

McCain issued a joint statement with Clinton and Obama on the Save Darfur site, but I was unable to find any discussion of Africa on his website. Border "Security", check. Human Dignity and Life, check. (Hmm, whose dignity? Whose life?) Second Amendment, check. Iraq and National Security, check and check. But, Africa? Nothing.

So, what can you do? Here are some links for ways in which you can help make a difference in Darfur:

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee: Drumbeat Campaign

Not on Our Watch

Eyes on Darfur

Alex's Lemonade Stand

This Saturday many hundreds of people will be holding lemonade stands to benefit pediatric cancer research.

From the Alex's Lemonade Stand website:

In 2000, a 4 year old cancer patient named Alexandra "Alex" Scott announced a seemingly simple idea -she was holding a lemonade stand to raise money to help "her doctors" find a cure for kids with cancer. The idea was put into action by Alex and her older brother, Patrick, when they set up the first "Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer" on their front lawn in July of 2000.

For the next four years, despite her deteriorating health, Alex held an annual lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research. Following her inspirational example, thousands of lemonade stands and other fundraising events have been held across the country by children, schools, businesses, and organizations, all to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for childhood cancer. On August 1st, 2004, Alex died peacefully at the age of 8 -- she had raised over $1 million for childhood cancer research in her short lifetime.

Alex's spirited determination to raise awareness and money for all childhood cancer while she bravely fought her own deadly battle with cancer has inspired thousands of people, from all walks of life to raise money and give to her cause. Alex's family and supporters are committed to continuing her inspiring legacy through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501c3 charity. As of June 2008, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised over $19 million for childhood cancer research. The result -- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has given millions of dollars for childhood cancer research across the country!

So, if you see someone selling lemonade, buy a cup, or 5, and help support kids with cancer. And/or, visit their website and donate/buy something from the gift shop. Better yet, hold your own Alex's Lemonade Stand...

Save the Whales

Today let's talk about Whales. My neighbor's daughter was just in Japan and went to a commercial fish market. She saw whale meat there along with big signs forbidding photographs. Very interesting. If Japan is indeed only conducting "scientific whale hunts" and then selling the surplus meat, why no photographs?

Below is a link to Greenpeace where you can sign a petition to urge the use of cameras, not harpoons, in conducting research. If the Japanese are serious about whaling research, there are many non-lethal ways they can go about it. However, b.s. statements like this confirm my long-standing belief that they are using "research" as a shield to kill whales:

" Whales eat more fish than humans do and full-scale hunting should resume to protect stocks."

Right.

Click here to send a message that research need not equal death.

Opening Day

So, I'm finally creating this blog. I have a mini-version on lilaguide.com (it's called Lazy Liberals), but want to expand it and play with it more here.

Anyway, this is the place to come for folks interested in supporting progressive causes but who don't have the time to do much. I'll post links for ways you can make a difference from the convenience of your very own computer.