Act By April 15 to Protect Bull Trout Critical Habitat: Support a plan to recover this native fish and give it the protection it deserves:

Cold, Clear Water for Bull Trout   

Home to bull trout, Harvey Creek 

cascades down through roadless forests 

north of Spokane, Washington

Bull trout are a beautiful native char found in rivers and streams throughout Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada, including in the Columbia Highlands of northeastern Washington. To survive, they need cool, clear water; large wood, stable stream banks, and deep pools; and stream connections between spawning and rearing sites.

In the late 1990s, bull trout were listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened with extinction, and they currently occupy only half of their historic range. A new proposal would designate "critical" habitat—those areas necessary to ensure survival and recovery—for bull trout in the greater Northwest. Please comment by April 5, 2010. Urge the US Fish and Wildlife Service to extend the best possible protections to bull trout.
TAKE ACTION NOW

OBAMA HEARTS BIG OIL? Tell me it aint so! Where is my Democratic leader?

You may have seen the news that President Obama has just come out with a proposal to open vast swaths of our coastline to offshore oil drilling.

I think this is a bad idea, because offshore drilling threatens marine environments and coastal communities, and it will just deepen our dependence on oil. Instead of doubling down on oil, the President could more aggressively invest in clean energy sources, like wind and solar power, that can meet our nation's energy needs.

I just signed a Friends of the Earth petition asking President Obama to reconsider. Would you be willing to do the same? PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION.

DUNESBURY ON TEA PARTY:

DUNESBURY GETS IT PERFECT!

YES WE CAN - NO YOU CAN'T!

No You Can't 

(Featuring John Boehner's republiccccant's)

LIVE IN S.W. WASHINGTON STATE? YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB McKENNA IS SUING TO STOP HEALTH CARE INSURANCE REFORM:

Don't Sacrifice Washington’s Health for Partisan Politics

Just hours after Congress adopted the most sweeping health insurance reform legislation in decades, Washington's Attorney General Rob McKenna announced that he will join a lawsuit against the bill. Rather than supporting legislation that will extend health insurance to 32 million Americans, McKenna joined 11 other Republican AGs who are pledging to take it to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Go to McKenna's webform site and tell McKenna not to sacrifice Washington’s health for partisan politics.

Tell Rob McKenna he doesn't represent you! Full petition text: Attorney General McKenna, We are disappointed to hear that you have joined a partisan group of Attorneys General planning to sue the United States of America to block health care reform. At a time when hundreds of thousands of people in Washington cannot afford health care or face discrimination because of pre-existing medical conditions, it is inappropriate that you would use the resources of your office to pursue a political agenda that traps all of us in a broken health care system. We urge you not to sacrifice Washington's health for partisan politics. Drop this lawsuit.

President Obama signed health care reform into law yesterday, and Attorney General Rob McKenna filed a lawsuit to block it 30 minutes later.

10,000 people have signed our petition urging him to drop the lawsuit. Our goal is to double that by Thursday night, so we can send a powerful message to McKenna and the state that he should drop the suit - and that he doesn't represent the people of Washington in this matter - when we deliver the signatures on Friday.

Rob McKenna is abusing the resources and authority of his elected office to pursue a partisan political agenda that traps all of us in a broken health care system. Please click on the link below to sign the petition now, or read the email below for more information. Full petition text is to the right.

Just hours after Congress passed health insurance reform, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna signed onto a lawsuit to block it. He joined 10 other Republican A.G.s who are pledging to take it to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Rob McKenna is using our tax dollars to sue the United States in an effort to block health care reforms that offer huge benefits to the people of our state. Who in Washington is he representing?

We know McKenna isn't representing the 105,000 Washington residents with pre-existing conditions who will be guaranteed coverage, or the 163,000 small businesses who will receive tax credits and other assistance to help them afford coverage, or the 910,000 people who will receive improved Medicare benefits, or the 4,186,000 residents with health insurance who are now protected from arbitrary premium hikes and insurance cancellations if they get sick.¹

Does Rob McKenna represent you?

If you don't want the AG to file this suit in your name, now is the time to speak out! We need Rob McKenna to hear from thousands of people across the state: don't sacrifice Washington's health for partisan politics. Please click on the link below to sign our petition. Then forward this email to your friends and ask them to sign as well.

http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/mckenna

This reform will benefit nearly every family in Washington. A congressional analysis found that this bill will:

* Protect 4,186,000 residents with health insurance from arbitrary premium hikes and insurance cancellations if they get sick.
* Provide tax credits and other assistance to up to 1,455,000 families and 163,000 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
* Improve Medicare for 910,000 people.
* Extend insurance coverage to 442,500 uninsured residents.
* Guarantee that 105,200 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
* Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 229 community health centers to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.
* Reduce the national debt by over $1 trillion over the next 20 years.²

Despite these benefits for the people of Washington, Rob McKenna is putting partisan politics above good policy by trying to maintain the status quo of our broken health care system. We need him to hear from thousands of people across the state: don't sacrifice Washington's health for partisan politics.

Help us make sure Rob McKenna understands that he does not represent the people of Washington if he continues to pursue this suit. Please click on the link below to sign our petition, and then forward it to your friends.

http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/mckenna

Thanks for all that you do,

Aaron and the entire team at Fuse

3 BD, 2 BA, Big Double Lot, Big Shop, Walk To Beach

Don't forget to have a look at our advertisement in CRAIGSLIST SEATTLE for our great home here at the beach for sale. I am offering my ROCKET BRAND RAY GUN to anyone who sends a buyer, and if YOU are the buyer, I have lots of goodies as bonus to entice you to pay full price!

3 BD, 2 BA, Big Double Lot, Big Shop, Walk To Beach

Republican John Boener promised armageddon if the health insufance reform bill passed - it didn't happen (notice that he did NOT head for his survival outfit in the hills?) so HERE is some real info ABOUT that new bill:

For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes

It Will Save Republican Lives, Too (An Open Letter to Republicans from Michael Moore)

A message from the President of the United States of America

republicans and republican party, tools of rich insurance and hospital owners feed paranoia, hate and fear as health care for all nears reality:

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," causing the surrounding crowd to erupt in laughter. A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said a protester spat on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a leader of the civil rights movement, was called a "ni**er." Although Frank shrugged off the incident, Clyburn was shocked and told reporters that he hadn't experienced such treatment since leading protests in South Carolina in the 1960s. "It was absolutely shocking to me," Clyburn told the Huffington Post. "Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday... I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins... And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day."

What a horrid, narrow, nasty place the republicans are turning the country that I once cherished enough to risk my life for into...I actually KNOW people who use those terms to describe people in government including our president and others. Sad, sad days indeed.
LINK

IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT THE PUBLIC OPTION:

HERE is important news about the public option:

 

If the health care bill passes the House, is signed by the President and returns to the Senate for tweaks and fixes, all it takes is one Senator to introduce a public option amendment.  But so far, no one's stepping up to the plate. 

Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado led the effort to show that a majority in the Senate supports the public option. Was it all for show? Did Michael Bennet only champion the public option when he thought it didn't matter?

Because his Democratic primary challenger, Andrew Romanoff, has a few things to say about that:

"I am deeply disappointed to learn that no member of the U.S. Senate is willing to offer an amendment to restore the public option to the health care bill."

Well, that makes two of us.  What member do you suppose he has in mind?  Can you think of one?

Sign our petition to Michael Bennet: show your commitment to the public option. Introduce the public option for  a vote during next week's Senate debate.

Click here to sign: http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/bennetPO

First we couldn't have a vote in the Senate because there weren't 60 votes. Then we needed 50 votes. But once there were 50 Senators publicly willing to support one, Senate leadership began whipping against anyone who wanted to introduce a public option amendment at all.

But if Bennet introduces the public option during next week's debate, according to its own rules the Senate has to hold a vote.

Bennet's recent efforts led to 51 Senators saying they would like to vote for a public option. We don't know if all 51 will  follow through and vote yes, however. We do know that, after months of being told that everyone supports a public option but "the votes just aren't there," we need to see who can keep that commitment.

This is our only chance if we want to have a vote on a public option.

Will Michael Bennet show his leadership and force a vote for a public option? Or is his opponent, Andrew Romanoff, someone who is more likely to stand up to leadership and stick to his guns in the Senate?

Tell Senator Michael Bennet to introduce the public option for a vote in the Senate.  We'll deliver your signatures to him on Tuesday.  Sign here:

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/bennetPO

Thanks for your support throughout the health care fight.

Michael Whitney

Firedoglake.com

P.S. Please forward this to all of your friends and family - Michael Bennet needs all the encouragement he can get.

WORST INTERVIEWER EVER with PRESIDENT OBAMA:

followed by the GREAT HUBRIS of faux 'news' excuses and explanations"



What a horrible little man this Bret Baier is!
WHAT SPEW!

Gosh, but I get tired of being angry and let down by my politicians and my country.  Too bad for me that I quit the rum drinking!  When I feel this way, sometimes some nice jazz is good therapy.  For instance, here is vintage WES MONTGOMERY playing 'ROUND MIDNITE:
ENJOY.

It’s the worst possible nightmare for Alaska’s wilderness, and I need your help to stop it. A foreign-owned mining company called Anglo American is planning to dig one of the world’s largest open-pit mines -- the Pebble Mine -- in the heart of Alaska’s irreplaceable Bristol Bay watershed. You couldn’t pick a worse place to dig this dirty 2,000-foot-deep, two-mile-long gold and copper mega-mine.

It’s the worst possible nightmare for Alaska’s wilderness, and I need your help to stop it.

A foreign-owned mining company called Anglo American is planning to dig one of the world’s largest open-pit mines -- the Pebble Mine -- in the heart of Alaska’s irreplaceable Bristol Bay watershed.

You couldn’t pick a worse place to dig this dirty 2,000-foot-deep, two-mile-long gold and copper mega-mine.

That’s why we need you to sign our Petition of Protest now so that we can send your signature along with hundreds of thousands of others to Anglo American’s Annual Shareholders Meeting, which ironically enough is being held on April 22: Earth Day!

Please take action immediately to help save this Alaskan paradise. The planet’s largest sockeye salmon streams run through it, with tens of millions of salmon not just supporting an abundance of bears, whales, seals, and eagles but also sustaining Native communities that have thrived here for thousands of years.

Sited in a known earthquake zone, Pebble Mine’s colossal earthen dams -- which are supposed to hold back some 9 billion tons of mining waste mixed with toxic chemicals -- could release vast quantities of contaminants into the surrounding ecosystem in the event of a quake.

But it wouldn’t even take such a massive release to irreparably damage this unspoiled place. That’s because Anglo American’s plan for Pebble Mine also includes the permanent destruction of over 60 miles of salmon habitat.

If Bristol Bay’s world-famous salmon runs collapse, it could take down the entire ecosystem, not to mention the communities that depend on the salmon for their livelihood.

Anglo American’s reported record of environmental contamination is shocking. The company’s history is littered with one toxic disaster after another … from Zimbabwe to Ireland … from South Africa to even Nevada.

It’s no wonder that so many Alaskan Natives -- led by Nunamta Aulukestai (“Caretakers of the Land”) along with Alaskan fishermen, sportsmen, and conservationists, are organizing to prevent this apocalyptic outcome.

Here’s what Bobby Andrew, spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai, says about the mine: "Some of these mining companies have wreaked environmental devastation all over the world. How can we allow them to invade and industrialize our sacred land and pollute our waters? How can we let these foreign corporations deprive our people of the salmon and other subsistence foods that we rely on for our very survival?"

That’s why NRDC has joined the local opposition and is now preparing to help take their fight to the national and international stage to stop Anglo American.

But we need you to stand with us. Please do your part to stop Pebble Mine by signing our Petition of Protest now.
We must seize this chance to send Anglo American a message loud and clear at its Shareholder Meeting: American citizens will NOT stand for the contamination and destruction of Alaska’s Bristol Bay wilderness. Not on Earth Day. Not on any day.

The first step to stopping this corporate goliath is letting them know that Americans fervently support the people of Bristol Bay in opposing this scheme -- and that the company is in for a long and expensive fight if it moves forward.

Please act now to help defeat Anglo American’s disastrous plan. Pebble Mine would be an unimaginable disaster for wildlife, local communities and our Alaskan wilderness. I’m counting on you to help us stop it.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

P.S. With Earth Day so close at hand, there isn’t much time for you to sign our Petition. We only have weeks to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures on our Petition and get it delivered to mining giant Anglo American in London.

Updated 02.05.10, The Decline: The Geography of a Recession by LaToya Egwuekwe (OFFICIAL)

VIA

SOME NEWS:

• Challenging Obama's Bush-Alike War Policies

• MARJAH: THE NON-EXISTENT CITY THE MILITARY SAID WE CONQUERED IN AFGHANISTAN

• CONGRESS HOLDS HISTORIC DEBATE ON AFGHAN WAR, BUT MEDIA IS MIA

• Jon Stewart: Iraqi Elections Are a Success Because Only a Few Candidates Were Assassinated

DEAR REPRESENTATIVE STUPAK:

CALL REPRESENTATIVE BART STUPAK AT:
202-225-4735

DEAR NO BALLS AT ALL DEMOCRATS:

Dear Democratic Congress: I want to thank you for NOT re-regulating the banking/investing/thieving industry. By letting the big bankers and rich-fucks keep on ripping us off, you have given me the opportunity to tear down old trailers out in my yard in order to make my pittance of disability income pay some of our bills.

A few years ago, with my income alone, we could take off in our vintage motorhome (not pictured) for a week or two every year.  We could do FUN stuff like hanging out at a blues festival for 3 days, or driving down the coast for an overnighter to enjoy our beautiful West coast.

THANKS SO MUCH for making the opportunity for me to inhale crappy old mold and bits of fiberglas insulation in order to stockpile a few hundred pounds of scrap aluminum to take in when the price is up (if ever again, no thanks to YOU assholes!)

LIVE IN S.W. WASHINGTON STATE? NEED TO GET BRIAN BAIRD TO VOTE FOR HEALTH CARE INSURANCE REFORM RIGHT NOW:

  

Health insurance companies are among the big money interests funding a multi-million dollar ad campaign against health reform that launches today. Rep. Baird --a lawmaker who voted NO last year but could well change to YES--may be a target as those ads roll out across the country later this week. Call toll free 1-877-445-1317 to counter their ads with your voice.  Tell Rep. Baird to vote for you, not the insurance companies. Vote YES! Unless Rep. Brian Baird  gets a phone call from you this week, we could lose what we’ve fought so hard for this past year. Why is your call so important this week? The health insurance companies--the same ones that deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and leave insured people bankrupted by medical bills--are helping to fund a multi-million dollar ad campaign against reform that launches TODAY! The House of Representatives is getting ready to vote one last time on giving you – not the giant insurance companies – control over your health care. And opponents are counting on your Representative to vote against reform once again. We think Rep. Baird  can be convinced to change to a YES vote if enough people in your Washington district call in support. The latest reform proposal is expected to address some lawmakers’ earlier concerns, including removing ‘sweetheart’ deals, making the legislation cost less and increasing efforts to reduce medical fraud and frivolous lawsuits. Call our toll-free number now and you’ll be directly connected with your Representative’s office. Tell them you are a constituent, and that you want them to seriously reconsider health reform in this new light – and vote YES! 1 (877) 445-1317 Your phone call encouraging your Representative to vote YES is the most important thing you can do right now. With election season around the corner, opponents know that negative ads can intimidate Rep. Baird  into killing these and other benefits for you: Health insurance that can never be denied to you, even if you have a pre-existing condition. Your choice of the same coverage members of Congress get. Real insurance industry oversight, including a rebate if your insurance company uses too much of your premium on their profits and overhead. Tax credits to help local small businesses cover their workers. And after you call, please forward this to everyone you know in your Congressional district so they can lend their voice, too. Your Representative needs to hear that constituents want the health benefits and insurance industry oversight promised in reform. THANK YOU!

the return of quetzalcoatl 

via

Depleted Uranium Munitions - America Uses Them - Babies Born Deformed - IT'S TRUE

IN FALLUJAH

IN AMERICA

AFGHANISTAN

WHO WILL PROSECUTE BUSH?



"...the UN banned the use of DU in the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Resolution 1996/16 August 29. The use of DU was banned because its safety is in question, therefore the use of DU by US and UK forces should be halted, and existing contaminated sites cleaned-up, until we can be clear on the long term health and environmental consequences of this substance.
A study done by the Pentagon's GAO itself stated, "Ingested DU dust can pose both a radioactive and a toxicity risk."LINK

 

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) explains how health care bill will be passed on Rachel Maddow show:

VIDEO STARTS AFTER A SHORT ADVERTISEMENT

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

March 4 Environmental Roundup from FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

Environmental Roundup: March 4, 2010 The Dirty Truth of Canada's Tar Sands In Canada's tar sands, giant oil corporations are turning huge tracts of the pristine Boreal Forest into a wasteland of open pit mines, smoke stacks and toxic ponds -- and indigenous communities living downstream are being poisoned in the process. We used the attention trained on Canada's Olympics to expose Big Oil's dirty track record in the tar sands and launch our campaign to stop a new pipeline, the Keystone XL, which would pump more tar sands oil into the United States. President Obama has the power to deny the permit for this new pipeline. And Friends of the Earth activists have already sent nearly 10,000 letters calling on the president to do just that. You can help us reach 15,000 messages by taking action now! (You can also join our campaign on Facebook.) New Attack on the Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act -- the most potent existing tool to cut climate-warming pollution -- is again under attack. Last month Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a resolution aimed at prohibiting the Clean Air Act from being used to fight global warming. Today, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) is sponsoring similar legislation because he is under the misguided impression that helping the dirty coal industry is good for his state (where mountaintops are regularly blown to pieces). Sen. Rockefeller's bill would prevent the EPA from enforcing the Clean Air Act for two years. We've seen this show before. Once "temporary" rollbacks are put in place, they often become permanent. Click here to send your senators a message asking them to OPPOSE the Rockefeller bill. Stopping President Obama's Nuclear Bailout On February 16, President Obama moved forward with a pre-emptive bailout of the nuclear industry, announcing an $8 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantee to build two new reactors in Georgia. Our policy experts have been hard at work highlighting how these risky new loan guarantees are a bad deal for taxpayers and a step backwards from the clean energy future we need. And we've gotten this message out in top media outlets and with new TV ads. Today, the South Carolina Supreme Court will hear Friends of the Earth's potentially precedent-setting challenge against a new reactor project in that state that is a prime candidate for the next bailout award. Our appeal could overturn a law that forces the state's citizens to pay up front for nuclear reactors, even if construction is abandoned. Read more about our nuclear campaign. Who Owns Your Genes? Did you know that around 20 percent of the human genome has been patented? It's shocking, but corporations can patent -- and get the sole rights to study and test -- the very genetic material that shapes our personality, our appearance and the diseases we are more prone to develop. This corporate control over our genes has serious public health consequences: it suppresses scientific innovation and limits patients' access to potentially life-saving screenings. Read more about gene patenting and how we're fighting back.

CLEAN AMERICAN POWER - WE CAN DO THIS!

          
    

8 Months.

That's how long legislation to limit global warming pollution has been sitting idle in the Senate. After the House of Representatives passed the bill last June, Senators have spent months just figuring out if it's something they should consider. The Senate is more likely to vote on weakening the Clean Air Act in the next month than on passing a clean energy and green jobs law.

We think a wake up call is in order. That's why Climate Solutions is joining with dozens of organizations representing millions of people and participating in "72 Hours for Clean American Power" call-in to U.S. Senators today through Thursday. The goal is to flood the Senate with calls for real immediate progress on global warming.

And your call couldn’t come at a better time.  Just last Thursday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid demanded a climate bill ASAP.  That’s a step in the right direction.  But we need you to demonstrate public support for getting this done, and getting it done NOW.

Be part of this nationwide call to action for our senators so they know they have a mandate from their constituents!

Please take a minute right now to call your senators and tell them “work to stop Senator Lisa Murkowski's efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act, and ensure we pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation immediately.”

WA - Senator Cantwell: (202) 224-3441 and Senator Murray: (202) 224-2621

OR - Senator Merkely: (202) 224-3753 and Senator Wyden: (202) 224-5244

MT - Senator Baucus: (202) 224-2651 and Senator Tester: (202) 224-2644

ID - Senator Crapo: (202) 224-6142 and Senator Risch: (202) 224-2752

Other states - Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121

 

And please tell us you called

 

TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS!

Beth Doglio, Climate Solutions Campaign Director

P.S. Please forward to your friends across the country and urge them to call their respective senators with the same message.

 

WOW, HAVE A LOOK

AT MY WAY GROOVY

STUFF ON EBAY THIS WEEK!

Double fuck republicans. Blocking ALL legislation is not a PLAN...

DEAR REPUBLICANS:  YOU EVIDENTLY DO NOT KNOW OR CARE, BUT THINGS ARE GETTING ROUGH OUT HERE IN AMERICA.  BLOCKING ALL LEGISLATION FROM HAPPENING IS BACKFIRING ON YOU AND KILLING US.

IF I KNOW SOMEONE IS A REPUBLICAN, I DO WILL LET THEM ON MY PROPERTY.  IF SOMEONE IS HERE AND I FIND OUT, I RUN EM OFF.