Fwd: Citizens

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Date: Mon, May 20, 2013 at 10:01 AM
Subject: Citizens

Hello #Rootstriker, At the beginning of April, TED posted the talk I gave at their annual conference. In the six weeks since, more than 800,000 people have viewed it across the TED platform and YouTube. I've been doing this for a long time, but nothing I've ever done has spread like this. So two weeks ago, I spoke at the TEDxYouth event in Chicago. I began that talk in a similar way, with the same argument about the corruption our government suffers. But then I ended that talk by giving the talk away — to them. Each of the 500 students in the audience got a thumb drive with the slides and the background information of the talk. Each thumb drive had a copy of the TED video, and the book I produced for that video. And I challenged those students to take that material, and remix it to tell this story in a way that would be compelling to them and their peers. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. This movement won't have a single leader. There are no MLK Jr.'s, or Gandhi's among us. So instead this needs to be a movement with hundreds of thousands taking the lead to spread this message, and push for change.  In their own words, in whatever way they think this message spreads best. Because this is the fundamental fact that almost no one in DC gets: That reform will not come from the top down. We must feed it and support it from the bottom up. I need your help to do this. We're not asking for money (have you noticed how infrequently we do that?). We're just asking that you do as many of the following four things as you can: First, help us get to a million views, so we'll have something to celebrate, and something the pundits might notice. Watch the talk and spread it as broadly as you can, either tweeting it, or posting it to Facebook, or simply emailing the link to friends. Second, if you've watched the video, head over to Rap Genius and help annotate and explain it. Third, help us connect to other youth groups that might also be willing to spread this message. I'm happy to pay personally for as many thumb drives as it will take to get this message out there (way beyond the budget of Rootstrikers!), but we need your help to identify those groups, and get them engaged. Finally, help us if you can by doing a remix yourself. You can sign up here, and get the resources you need. Your video can be 30 seconds long, or a minute, or an hour. Do something that you think will grab others. Do something that you know will help make corruption issue number one. Someday the idea of a grassroots movement of citizens — not politician wanna-be's, but citizens — changing government will seem obvious. But only if you help us make it real. Spreading this message is one step. There will be many more to come. I am grateful for your help to make this bit a success. - Lessig

Rootstrikers is a new generation of activists taking a stand against corruption, founded by Lawrence Lessig and housed in the 501(c)(3) organization Fund for the Republic.

Fwd: Law follows culture

The National Campaign to End Corporate Personhood and Demand Real Democracy! About | Donate | Take Action Ali, When it comes to constitutions, the application of law, and common sense, the Supreme Court of the United States could learn a thing or two from President Judge Debbie O'Dell-Seneca of the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. O'Dell-Seneca overruled a previous decision that sealed a settlement between a Mount Pleasant Township family and large energy corporations, which caused the family harm because of fracking on an adjacent property to their own. The Observer-Reporter and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pressed the suit, which ultimately decided the public's right to be informed outstripped the corporation's right to privacy. In fact, O'Dell-Seneca went much further than that. The judge asserted corporations have no constitutional rights: "...the constitution vests in business entities no special rights that the laws of this Commonwealth cannot extinguish. In sum, [corporations] cannot assert [constitutional privacy] protections because they are not mentioned in its text." "...it is axiomatic that corporations, companies, and partnerships have no 'spiritual nature,' 'feelings,' 'intellect,' 'beliefs,' 'thoughts,' 'emotions,' or 'sensations,' because they do not exist in the manner that humankind exists… They cannot be 'let alone' by government, because businesses are but grapes, ripe upon the vine of the law, that the people of this Commonwealth raise, tend, and prune at their pleasure and need." Our friends at the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), provide a great analysis of this case (pdf), and the Observer-Reporter details the facts of the case in this article. Despite the mainstream media's blackout on any reporting that calls into question corporate personhood, this recent decision is an important victory for our movement. CELDF Executive Director Thomas Linzey writes: "The ruling represents the first crack in the judicial armor that has been so meticulously welded together by major corporations. And it affirms what many communities already know -- that change only occurs when people begin to openly question and challenge legal doctrines that have been treated as sacred by most lawyers and judges." Laws follow culture and the legal system adjusts as society's views shift. This case illustrates that we are collectively beginning to change hearts and minds about the appropriate role of the corporation in society, even amongst those who are entrenched in the current system. Keep it up! Ashley Sanders, Daniel Lee, David Cobb, Egberto Willies, George Friday, Jerome Scott, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, Laura Bonham, Maria Agosto, Nancy Price, Pam Brown Move to Amend National Leadership Team P.S.  In a recent episode of Move to Amend Reports, Shannon Biggs of Global Exchange talked about community rights, rights of nature, and fracking. Listen here! And tune in this week when Egberto and Laura interview Carl Gibson from Operation Green Jobs, a march to the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters in DC all the way from Philadelphia between May 18th and 24th. Move to Amend Reports is every Thursday at 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern and can be heard live or recorded at http://blogtalkradio.com/movetoamend. MOVE TO AMEND PO Box 610, Eureka CA 95502 | (707) 269-0984 | www.MoveToAmend.org We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

Fwd: New COK investigation prompts USDA action, makes national headlines

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Date: Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 1:47 PM
Subject: New COK investigation prompts USDA action, makes national headlines

The E-Newsletter of Compassion Over Killing August 22, 2012 Last night, ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer aired an exclusive story on COK's new undercover investigation inside a California slaughterhouse that reveals rampant abuses endured by "spent" dairy cows. This facility, Central Valley Meat, is a major supplier to the USDA's National School Lunch Program and other federal food initiatives. As ABC reports, COK's investigation prompted the USDA to shut down the facility, citing "egregious inhumane handling and treatment of livestock," and In-N-Out Burger immediately severed ties with this facility, too. In addition to ABC's national coverage, media outlets across the country - including the Associated Press, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, and more, are reporting the story, sharing the horrors forced upon farm animals with millions of Americans. Sadly, such abuses are not isolated incidents. Numerous undercover investigations inside slaughterhouses throughout the U.S. reveal that animal cruelty is standard practice in the meat industry. Nine billion land animals - birds, pigs, and cows - are raised and killed for food each year in the U.S. The most effective way each of us can help end these abuses is to simply leave animals off our plates. Working to end animal abuse since 1995. P.O. Box 9773, Washington, DC 20016 ⋅ 301-891-2458 ⋅ info@cok.net

Fwd: How you can stop the voter assault

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Date: Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 11:14 AM
Subject: How you can stop the voter assault

Dear Ali,

Robo calls telling voters in Wisconsin that if they signed the recall petition, they did not need to vote in the election... Election Day emails falsely informing Virginia college students that voting was postponed 24 hours… Text messages alerting Florida students that Tuesday voting was for Republicans only… 100,000 robocalls telling Maryland Democrats their candidate would win without their votes…

These are all real-life voter suppression case studies exposed in a shocking new Common Cause report [1]. And they're just a taste of the onslaught of bullying, misinformation and sabotage voters may face in 2012.

Common Cause has a plan to fight back -- and protect the fundamental right to cast a ballot for hundreds of thousands of voters across the country -- but your involvement is essential.

Will you join Common Cause at the polls in your state and help us ensure that no deceitful Election Day tactics go uncaught?

You can sign up as a poll worker or a poll monitor, and volunteer anywhere from two hours to 14 hours. Once you do, we'll direct you to all the support, information and training you'll need.

Then, on Election Day, we'll connect you with other passionate Common Cause volunteers in your community. Together, your presence on the frontlines will help diffuse efforts to disenfranchise countless legitimate voters.

These aren't just "dirty tricks," they're crimes that should have severe consequences -- not just for individual voters, but for our democracy itself. We can help stop them.

Please join our team of election protection volunteers in your state.

The 2012 election will be one of the most hotly contested, and critically important, of this decade. And in most states, political vandals will get away with sabotaging it -- if we don't fight back.

Let's get to it,

Bob Edgar
and the rest of the team at Common Cause


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[1] "Deceptive Election Practices and Voter Intimidation: The Need for Voter Protection" [PDF], July 9, 2012, Common Cause and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Fwd: Florida 2000 all over again??

This paid advertising message  from  People For The American Way has been sent to you via The American Prospect. Don't let what happened in Florida in 2000 happen again 2012! Stop the Right's efforts to steal the election in a critical swing state -- Tell FL Gov. Rick Scott to stop the voter purge! Dear Activist, Do you remember the Florida debacle in the 2000 presidential race? At the time, news focused on the recount and the spectacle of the infamous "hanging chad." But when the dust settled, America learned that the real affront to democracy was the flawed purge of eligible voters from the voting rolls in advance of the election. The state that ultimately decided the election for George W. Bush by a mere 537 votes hired a firm to purge ex-felons -- who had lost their right to vote according to state law -- from the voter file. But the data match was so sloppy that countless eligible voters, mostly African American, were scrubbed from the file and turned away from the polls on Election Day. Now, under Florida's Tea Party governor, Rick Scott, it's happening all over again! Don't let the Right steal this one! Florida has begun a purge of "non-citizens" from the voting rolls and reports are saying that hundreds of eligible voters have already been struck from the rolls. Members of Congress from Florida and PFAW members called on Gov. Scott to STOP THE PURGE. Now, the Department of Justice, which had previously warned Florida that its purge was illegal, is suing the state after Scott and his Secretary of State said they would defy the DOJ's warning. Sign our petition right now to Gov. Rick Scott telling him to stop the purge and stop disenfranchising eligible voters. Florida has already put out an initial list of more than 2,600 people identified as non-U.S. citizens and has indicated it could aim to purge up to 180,000 supposed non-citizens from the rolls ... but from all the inaccuracies we've seen so far, that could mean a staggering number of eligible voters being wrongfully purged and denied their right to vote. This process is going forward with no oversight, and is all too reminiscent of the scrub orchestrated in 2000 by Secretary of State Katherine Harris under then-Gov. Jeb Bush. Under Gov. Scott, Florida has already erected barriers to voter registration that hurt minority and low-income voters... now, the state's right-wing leaders seem to be dredging up ugly tactics from the past in what looks like naked, politically motivated voter suppression. Please add your name to our petition now to stop the purge and call attention to the issue. Hundreds of eligible voters have already been scrubbed from the rolls and many more have not replied to a letter that informs them they will lose their right to vote if they don't reply with proof of citizenship. Despite the clear inaccuracy of the purge, the burden is on registered voters to prove that they are eligible, not on the state to prove that they are not. This is wrong. You know it, I know it and if we can focus more attention on this disaster in the making, more Americans will know it. And we'll be able to stop it. Thank you for standing up for the right to vote and the American Way. -- Ben Betz, Online Strategy Manager     pfaw.org  |  privacy policy  |  subscribe   |    |  contact us | Facebook  |  Twitter  |  YouTube   Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use pfaw@pfaw.org. 1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005-5002, 202-467-4999 The American Prospect does not endorse any political candidate, political organization, commercial product, process, or service, and the views expressed in this communication do not constitute an endorsement or  recommendation by the American Prospect. The American Prospect 1710 Rhode Island Ave, NW 12th Floor Washington, D.C. 20036

Fwd: Money and Democracy Update

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Date: Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 08:27
Subject: Money and Democracy Update

an e-newsletter about the movement to curb corporate influence in politics and restore our democracy Issue #99 • March 4, 2012 "Money and Democracy Update" is Public Citizen's weekly e-newsletter about the intersection of money and politics. It is part of our ongoing campaign to track the results of — and ultimately overturn — the U.S. Supreme Court's reckless decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allows for-profit corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to support or attack political candidates. We'll update you regularly with select news stories and blog posts, legislative developments and ways to get involved. Stunning Statistics of the Week: $9.4 million: Amount the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) gave to nonprofit groups in 2010, including some that bought ads to influence the midterm elections $4.5 million: Amount PhRMA gave in 2010 to American Action Network, a conservative group $26 million: Amount American Action spent on ads in the midterms Super PAC Tuesday coming Voters in early primary states have already been flooded with negative ads, much of them paid for with corporate money. With Super Tuesday coming up early next week, voters in 10 more states are being exposed to the torrent of corporate-funded negativity. To promote long-term solutions, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign is joining forces with our allies and concerned citizens like you. We're re-branding next week's contests with the sadly accurate hashtag #SuperPACTuesday. In the long-term, we'll be using the hash #Democracy4Sale. Learn more. Follow @RuleByUs on Twitter and lend your creativity to the effort! More than 46,000 urge Congress to strengthen, pass STOCK Act More than 46,000 people this week called on Congress to reinstate the transparency requirement for political intelligence activities in the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act, and to pass it. The 46,000-plus people signed a Public Citizen petition, which we delivered to top congressional leaders. Shareholder resolutions on political spending on the rise Shareholder resolutions about corporate money in politics are on the rise, a new report shows. Political spending proposals now make up nearly a third of the 349 social and environmental proposals, up from a quarter of the 360 proposals filed this time last year, according to the Proxy Preview 2012 report, issued by As You Sow. If it walks like a duck and coordinates like a duck ... Campaign finance law says that candidates cannot coordinate with independent groups working on their behalf. But candidates and super PACs share consultants in what The New York Times discovered is a tangled web of interconnections that raise questions about how separate the candidates' operations really are. Chambers war over ads Local chambers of commerce in Montana and Virginia are distancing themselves from ads being run by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The national group is pouring millions of dollars into ads to sway results of 20 congressional races. But not everyone thinks that's a good idea. The Missoula, Mont., chamber says one ad is counterproductive, while the Virginia chamber issued a statement emphasizing that it is a nonpartisan group. Constitutional amendment advances in Massachusetts, Vermont Massachusetts state lawmakers, advocates and activists gathered this week before a state legislative committee to show support for a state resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling. Meanwhile, next week, people in approximately 50 towns in Vermont will vote on resolutions supporting an amendment. Super PAC humor Brian Williams and Jimmy Fallon "slow-jam" the news of Obama changing his stance on Super PACs. It's worth a look. Dollars and Cents (even more news bites): ... Arizona lawmakers are trying to eliminate that state's clean elections program ... ... ProPublica has put together a list of the 10 super donors to Super PACs ... ... GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum claims to be a Washington, D.C., outsider. But the work he did after he left Congress would indicate otherwise ... ... More Montana news: Montana Common Cause is proposing a ballot initiative that would establish that corporations are not people with constitutional rights ... ... The Campaign Legal Center is asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate an ad run by a Mitt Romney-supporting super PAC — an ad originally aired in 2008 by Romney's campaign ... Visit DemocracyIsForPeople.org to learn more!

Break up Bank of America

There's no way around it. In its current form, Bank of America, poses a grave threat to our economy.

It is massive, complex and unstable – too big to manage and too big to regulate. And its assets are equal to roughly one-seventh of the U.S. gross domestic product.

If Bank of America goes down, it will take a sizeable chunk of our economy down with it.

Please join me in telling the financial regulators to break up Bank of America.

Go to http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9386