Some important things to note at the top, successes and all that jazz...

1. From Fair Illinois:

"The Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) decided today that it will not certify the IFI's unfair anti-gay referendum for November's ballot. Based on their sample of 10% of the petitions, the Board found inadequate support to place the referendum on the ballot and the IFI was unable to counter that finding.

It's important to note that the process is not yet finished - the IFI has sued the ISBE, challenging Illinois elections law in federal court. Their case is currently on expedited appeal before the 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals."

It looks like our efforts to keep this off the ballot have been a success! I don't want to say we're 100% positive yet, but things look pretty good. Thanks for Fair Illinois and PFAW and all the efforts of all the volunteers for keeping this off the ballot! Hopefully this will help some of the wingnuts just stay home on election day!

2. From ilona's diary "We Did It! 2-Week Extension for Suicide Hotline!!!!!!!" The good news is that the actions we (and others) have taken got a 2 week extension, but we're not done yet. Here are the other actions that ilona provided us with (I hope she doesn't mind my repeating them here...)

1. Tell the government to keep their commitment to 1-800-SUICIDE and send the $266,000 that was already allocated.

2. Help Fund 1.800.SUICIDE. We need to raise $266,000 for our bills with AT&T to keep the Suicide Prevention Hotline running privately. Once we pay off AT&T for our old phone agreement We have to pay roughly $30,000 per month for the next 6 months in order to come out of debt.

3. Keep Suicide Prevention Private and Confidential Petition. Our Government should not duplicate the efforts of the  Hopeline - but help with training of social works, education and awareness of the issues of mental health.

4. E-mail your friends.

3. Agathena's "OIL SPILL rivalling Exxon-Valdez, 30K tons est. so far" got me thinking that we should take some action on this issue. So, here is an email address for the Israeli Embassy in D.C. - info@israelemb.org. Also, you can read more about the oil spill on the UN's Environment Programme's website, here.

Here is a list of contact info for the UN Ambassadors:

Israel- israel-un@newyork.mfa.gov.il
United States- You can email the State Dept. using this form. I tried to find an email address for Bolton, but apparently I'm not as good at googling as I thought. OR...Bolton doesn't want to be contacted....or both :-)

4. Also, check out Jeffrey Feldman's "Frameshop: `Action' or 'What Got Me To CT To Help Out'". Jeffrey's got some very useful tips on how to get more volunteers for those of you who are working with campaigns. Use his advice and I'm betting you're likely to get more help!

5. Visit the 100 Actions website and get started! This site gives you one action per day as we count down to election day in November!!

6. Visit OrangeClouds115's diary from today, "Vegetables of Mass Destruction - A Weekend With Dairy Farmers"! If you care about what you and others eat, you should read this series every Sunday. No joke. There's some SCARY stuff out there in your food. Just reading OrangeClouds115's diaries has completely changed the way I eat and shop for food in the last year...and I feel healthier today as a result!

Now, onto all the other action items for today!

Health Care Issues:

From Americans for Health Care:
A CHALK IT UP! video about the National Health Care Day of Action on August 22 has just been posted on YouTube! The toolkit makes organizing your own action easy! Of course, you can also search here to see if there's already an action planned in your neighborhood.

From PIRG:

"A recent PIRG report, "Paying the Price" found uninsured Americans pay twice as much for drugs at their local pharmacy as they would pay if they purchased the same drugs at a Canadian pharmacy.

The good news is we can legalize low-cost, safe prescription drug importation from countries such as Canada. Please take a moment to urge Senate Majority Leader Frist to honor his promises to hold a full senate vote on a stand-alone prescription drug importation bill."

Mad about the Stem Cell veto?? What better way to get back at the Repugs than to make sure they lose in November! Click here to donate to one of StemPAC's "Stem Cell Candidates"!

The FDA announced they would again review the application to allow emergency contraception to be available over-the-counter--but only to women 18 years and older. Tell the FDA that you want immediate approval of EC over the counter, with no further delays!! You can also thank the 5 Senators who had some tough questions for Andrew von Eschenbach, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

I'm not thrilled that it would only be allowed for those 18 or older, but then again, cigarettes were supposed to be sold to people 18 or older too and I started smoking at 13 and had virtually no trouble buying them most of the time.

National Security Issues:

Chances are, unless you've been under a rock this week, you've read about how Republicans have been politicizing the latest attempted terrorist attack. Well, here's your chance to tell Dick and the Republicans to stop politicizing terror!

From the ACLU:

"This August you can help generate a public outcry that will make Congress think twice before they hand over even more power to the Bush administration. Call your member of Congress today, and get the word out in your local community with a letter to the editor."

Supporting Democratic Candidates:

Contribute to Ned Lamont!!! He'll need all the help he can get if the next three months are anything like this past week! Of course...you should contribute to other candidates too...if you can. And if you can't contribute money, consider volunteering to help your local (or at least nearby) Dems!

Sign NOW's petition to "Just Say No to Joe!"

Human Rights Issues:

Help Stop the Killing in Darfur: Lead an Amnesty International Congressional Delegation!

From Amnesty International:

"According to the New York Times, the United States is considering a rush delivery of cluster bombs to Israel to be used in their ground offensive in Lebanon.

We urge you to call your U.S. Senators (202-224-3121) to oppose the transfer of cluster bombs and to ask him/her to call on President Bush and Secretary Rice to halt the transfer of this indiscriminate weapon to Israel.

Given Israel's past record with cluster munitions, which scatter scores of bomblets over a wide area, Amnesty International is concerned that Israel will use these weapons in civilian populated areas, unnecessarily killing or injuring civilians."

From Human Rights First:

"The White House is proposing a military tribunal system that violates the most fundamental standards for fair trials. Fortunately, we have an opportunity right now to prevent the Bush administration from turning the clock back on human rights.

Tell your Senators to resist the President's proposal and demand a system that is fair, consistent with our values, and adheres to U.S. and international law."

Protect Pets and Wildlife:

From the ASPCA:

"Every year in October, dolphin drive hunts are conducted by small groups of Japanese fishermen. During the hunts, hundreds--sometimes thousands--of dolphins and other small cetaceans are herded into shallow bays, corralled into nets and brutally slaughtered.

More than 250 marine scientists and zoo and aquarium professionals have signed a statement saying that the hunts are an astonishingly cruel violation of any reasonable welfare standards, and should end immediately. Delegates from the group aim to meet with the Prime Minister of Japan to make him aware of the scientific and ethical basis for ending the hunts--and they need your support to do it.  

The group has started a petition to gather one million signatures calling for the end of the dolphin drive hunts. Sign the petition to help save Dolphins!!"

The deadline for the comment period was August 7th, but it's been extended to Sept. 6th!  Sign this petition to save animals!! Here are the details:

"The U.S. Forest Service wants to make it easier to kill wolves, bears, cougars and other carnivores in federally designated wilderness areas -- America's most wild and remote places. Worse, the proposal would relax restrictions on using aerial gunning, motorized vehicles and cyanide guns to kill these magnificent creatures."

 

From the Bluewater Network:

"Collisions with ships are the number one cause of death among North Atlantic right whales. Please help end the right whale's slide toward extinction. Collisions can be prevented by slowing down cargo ships that crisscross whale feeding and breeding grounds along the East Coast. Researchers have discovered that right whales can avoid a collision if a ship is not going faster than 10 knots (about 11 mph).

Finally, after years of delay, the National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing a new requirement that all ships over 65-feet long slow down to 10 knots in right whale habitat.

We need your help to make sure that the whales get this new protection as soon as possible - and that the shipping industry does not squelch it with demands for faster movement of ships in and out of ports." Take action to help save the last North Atlantic right whales today!

Tell the Forest Service to protect grizzly habitat in Montana's Kootenai National Forest.

Labor Issues:

From CWA (Communications Workers of America):

"The McGraw-Hill Companies drives the financial services, education and business information markets through brands such as Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek, McGraw-Hill Education and McGraw-Hill Broadcasting. Sales in 2005 reached $6 billion.

McGraw-Hill pledges to treat all employees with dignity and respect, except for the NABET-CWA-represented workforce at KGTV Channel 10 in San Diego, California. After a 53-year history of mutual success, McGraw-Hill Broadcasting now wants to eliminate jobs, convert union jobs to non-union jobs and refuses to negotiate over the issue.

Click here to tell McGraw-Hill to get back to the bargaining table."

Write your Senators about the Minimum Wage!

From CWA & IBEW

"Verizon has announced their desire to sell off nearly 3.4 million telephone lines in the Midwest. Verizon is ready to abandon thousands of local telephone consumers in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. The proposed sale would be a disaster for workers and consumers.

Ask your state legislators to speak out against this plan and in favor of quality service and good jobs. Add your own comments to our sample letter below, then provide your name and address information to send the message."

From the AFL-CIO:

"A recent investigative report shows that mutual funds rubber stamp excessive CEO pay. For years, mutual fund boards have been run by insiders motivated by generating expensive fees and cozying up to companies that buy their lucrative pension products. These mutual funds don't challenge CEO pay because they don't want to alienate a business opportunity--no matter what it costs their shareholders."

Tell the SEC: We Need Independent Mutual Fund Boards!

From the SEIU:

"The hard-working janitors employed by Professional Janitorial Service (PJS) in Houston are trying to reach the American Dream by standing up for the good jobs with health care all families need--but their employer is standing in the way."

Tell PJS to obey the law!

Protect the Environment & Energy Issues:

From No Dirty Gold: Apparently Gold mines can be really nasty business.

"For five years, local communities have led a growing opposition to the proposed Rosia Montana gold mine in the Apuseni mountains of west central Romania. Very soon, the Romanian government will decide whether to grant a permit to Gabriel Resources, the company proposing the mine.

Opposition to the mine is strong in both Romania and in neighboring Hungary, which faces the risk of pollution stemming from the mine.

If built, Rosia Montana would become Europe's largest open-pit gold mine. It would destroy numerous mountains, churches, farms, and unique archeological sites. Even worse, local residents could be forcibly removed from their homes and farms in order to make way for the mine.

Responsible mining should not force communities off their lands. This is one of the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules". Let the Romanian Government Know: Communities Have the Right to Say No!

Two action items from the NRDC: Tell the EPA to protect beachgoers from pollution and disease.

Demand that the EPA control pollution from factory farms!

Also, visit the NRDC's action page and take the other actions found there! These don't take long at all, and the NRDC has a fairly good history of winning. In fact, they just won a case that would prevent oil and mining lease sales in Southern Utah...and that win in court could help change some of the questionably legal sales that have taken place in Colorado as well!

Media Issues:

I can't seem to let up on Net Neutrality... this is from a diary I did about 2 weeks ago:

Here are some action items:

Here's the link to the diary which has all the phone numbers.

1. Of course, there's calling. The phone numbers are listed above. I'm originally from Chicago, so I've got this motto: Call Early, Call Often. I mean really...it can't hurt ;-)

2. If you haven't yet, sign the petition.
   
3. Visit the Action Center at Free Press, and the Action Center at Save the Internet.
   
4. Write a Letter to the Editor of as many local papers as you can. The link takes you to an LTE tool that is REALLY helpful. It not only has all the papers in your state, it also has talking points for you to include in your letters. Seriously, check this one out and do it...if we don't get the word out to people, the telcos will.
   
5. Click here to download a Flier and get to work passing these out and posting them around town!!
   
6. Email your friends and family. Sign the petition above and then send that link to EVERYONE in your inbox. Pass this info around work as well...especially if you work at a small business and so on.
   
7. Here are some interesting articles. I'm not exactly clear on the legality of these so I'll just leave you to read them for yourselves and decide from there. There's this article which Matt Stoller linked to the other day. It details the efforts of a conservative group to target shareholder meetings of those companies who support Net Neutrality. If they can target shareholder meetings...why can't we? There's also this article. Read on for ideas...

So, obviously there's a LOT you can do to fight the telcos. Let's continue the fight! Please pledge to do at least ONE of those actions above! We can stop the telcos, but we have to work hard to do so.

Here's the link to the list of all the Telecom front groups that are fighting Net Neutrality. And here's yet another email you can send to your Senators to prevent Stevens' Bill from getting a vote!

This is Crossposted at Daily Kos, Street Prophets, and at Action Alerts! I should also note that all the linked diaries are to diaries at Daily Kos.