Project Economic Refugee

1st: Check out Heal the Bay’s fun and interactive “Trash Your Friends” Campaign:

Here’s how it works:

1. You log into http://trashed.healthebay.org/

2. Click on “trash your friends”

3. Enter the website address you want to “trash”; it can be any web page.

4. Enter the e-mail address of the person you want to notify that you “trashed” that particular website.

5. Enter your e-mail address so the person knows it comes from you.

6. Click Next

7. You then choose the trash character you want to use (click on the character)

8. Personalize your note

9. Click Send

The campaign is to raise awareness in a fun, interactive way about the problem of disposable plastic bags polluting our ocean.

2nd: Check out this article on how veterans are pushing for a Climate Bill to fight global warming and defend our national security.


3rd: Learn about the experience of Latinos in California’s water crisis by checking out this previous post of mine here.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Check out these videos of dogs welcoming back their owners that had been on deployment.  They are absolutely amazing; if you are a dog person, they are bound to make you a little teary-eyed:

You can view more videos of dogs welcoming back their “daddy” soldiers here.  It’s always amazed me how dogs really do remember their owners.  I remember that as a kid, my Dad would come to work to the United States for an entire year so he could send money back to Mexico so my family could survive and have a better life.  My Dad would come back to Mexico every December, and our dog would remember him and would just go absolutely crazy with happiness, very similar to how the dogs reacted on these videos above.  Watching these videos brought back memories to me and so I can definitely attest to the fact that dogs do remember their owners and do miss them just as much as human beings miss their loved ones.

Today is Veterans Day, so please remember our troops by either donating to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America or checking out the USO or VoteVets to find out what you can to do to promote issues and campaigns that benefit veterans. For Latinos, Veterans Day has become very much a personal experience, being that they now make up a very large percentage of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps (in addition, their numbers are also growing in the Navy and the Air Force).  The Latino presence in the military is nothing new, and yet the corporate in-English media continues to virtually ignore it.  Thanks to in-Spanish language outlets, Latinos are getting some recognition, though.  Vme is showing this week a great series of programs that highlights the presence of Latinos in the U.S. military; to view the segments online, click here.  I’d only wished more pieces like these were featured in English on other more prominent networks.  But hey, maybe things will eventually turn around.  CNN just got rid of its hate monger Lou Dobbs, so maybe it’s a sign that things are starting to change and will get better.

That’s what racist healthcare protesters are shouting now. No, I’m not making it up. See for yourselves:

I have been blogging for the last couple of days about this-how protesters of healthcare reform are falsely claiming that providing health care to the uninsured would cover “40 million illegals“, aka economic refugees.

Besides the fact that their angry violent shouts are pretty disturbing onto themselves, their claims are actually based on pure lies.

Sadly, in the meantime the real culprits for our healthcare crisis are not being called out: the insurance companies. Instead of scapegoating Latinos for the healthcare crisis, the American public would do itself a favor and go after the REAL bad guys.

Ed Schultz & Robert Greenwald explain best who the real evil guys are:

We can NOT and must NOT let these extremist displays of disrespect and hatred go unanswered. It is time to go to these townhalls and tell these bigots to stop scapegoating immigrants and instead focus on the REAL evil doers: the greedy insurance companies’ top executives … people like Rick Scott, former CEO of a hospital company that defrauded the government:

So let’s go and let people know we will NOT allow for the scapegoating to continue any longer! 

Click here to see a list of upcoming townhalls.

SEIU & Organizing for America also offer ways you can sing up online to stay involved.

IMPORTANT: Don’t forget to bring your signs demanding that protesters stop scapegoating immigrants while the greedy insurance companies’ CEO’s are being given a pass!

Be safe and be strong!

Update 08/14/09: I am telling you guys, the right-wing protesters’ shouts and signs are getting more radical, evil, and disturbing. Check this report out:

Hagerstown, Maryland – The Secret Service is investigating a man who authorities said held a sign reading “Death to Obama” outside a town hall meeting on health-care reform in western Maryland.

The sign also read, “Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids,” referring to the first name of President Barack Obama’s wife, said Washington County Sheriff’s Capt. Peter Lazich.

Looks like the demons out there are showing up and exposing themselves in all their gory glory :-/  To read the rest of the report, go here.