MONDAY 8/28/17 CALLS TO ACTION: The Weekend from Hell

Good morning, everyone. I’m sorry I missed a couple of installments last week. I have managed to overextend myself with certain obligations. So, for the foreseeable future, I will be, once again, paring the calls to action down. I am going to do my best to put together a good list of calls to action and send them out on Monday mornings. You know how the current occupant of the White House likes to whip up controversy and our craven cowardly Congress likes to let him get away with it so I will reserve the right to send emergency calls out as needed. Thank you for your patience with me. ❤️❤️❤️

 

There is so much going on right now and all of it is deeply troubling. First, though, the most important thing is the absolute devastation in Texas over the weekend from Hurricane Harvey.

It has been an awful weekend for people in southeast Texas. Forecasters are predicting a further 1-3 feet more rain before tomorrow (Tuesday). You can see by the short video below that the flooding is already a catastrophe. Thank goodness Donald Trump has kept in place the strong regulations on flood risk management standards….oh, wait….On August 15, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order revoking Executive Order 13690

 

Everyone wants to know what to do to help these folks, so here are some places you can donate to help with disaster relief.

 

Disaster Relief

Red Cross – or text 90999 to donate $10

Find a Blood Drive and Donate

Salvation Army

Catholic Charities USA – Donated funds go to support recovery efforts, including direct assistance, rebuilding and health care services.

GoFundMe’s Hurricane Harvey Page  – List of individual fundraisers for people in Harvey’s wake.

Global Giving Harvey Relief

Austin Disaster Relief Network – includes more than 175 Austin churches and thousands of trained volunteers, calls this “one of the largest responses in their history.”

 

Children’s Relief

Driscoll Children’s Hospital – cares for Corpus Christi’s youngest and most ill patients, is directly in the path of Harvey. The hospital transported many of its patients out of harm’s way, but will likely sustain damage during the storm and will need funds to repair.  Donations can be made online at www.driscollchildrens.org.

Texas Diaper BankDonate  “Diapers are not provided by disaster relief agencies,” the TDB posted on Facebook Friday. To alleviate that need, the TDB is requesting donations of cash and diapers to provide emergency diaper kits for families that are being displaced due to Hurricane Harvey. They provide diapers for both babies as well as for adults who require them.

 

Food Banks

Donate to the Houston Food Bank 

Donate to the Galveston County Food Bank

Donate to the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent

Donate to the Corpus Christi Food Bank

Donate to the Southeast Texas Food Bank

Donate to the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley

Donate to the Brazos Valley Food Bank

Donate to the Central Texas Food Bank

Donate to the San Antonio Food Bank

For Animals and Pets

SPCA of Texas

Austin Pets Alive!

Dallas Animal Services

San Antonio Humane Society

Other

Guide for Disaster Relief Donation – How to better evaluate organizations asking for your donations.

 

 

Washington DC:

Transgender Ban for the American Military

Trump officially bans transgender people from military

Call your members of Congress;

Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis

Rep. Mark Walker

SCRIPT: I am calling in reference to the ban on transgender people serving in our military. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that all Americans will receive equal protection under the law. To exclude one group of Americans from those protections is unconscionable. Ours is a volunteer military and as such the President should support all Americans who want to serve their country. What is Sen/Rep________ doing to ensure the rights of all Americans, including transpeople, are being protected to the fullest?

 

Joe Arpaio’s Pardon

Donald Trump has issued a Presidential pardon for disgraceful former Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is best known for his inhumane treatment of prisoners in his jails and for his practice of enthusiastic racial profiling of immigrants and other people of color.

Trump, being the completely ignorant and morally bankrupt hack that he is, has thrown the rule of law to the wind.

Why Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio isn’t like most presidential pardons

Trump’s Pardon of Joe Arpaio: What You Need to Know

The usual process, conducted through the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, requires that several thresholds be met: All “other forms of judicial or administrative relief” must have been exhausted, petitioners are supposed to wait at least five years after conviction or release before applying, they have to accept responsibility for their actions, and, usually, the FBI has to review the case too.

Call your members of Congress;

Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis

Rep. Mark Walker

SCRIPT: I am calling about the Presidential pardon of disgraced former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio engaged in illegal racial profiling during his tenure as Sheriff in Maricopa County, AZ. This pardon is a signal to neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and the so-called Alt-Right that their campaigns of racially motivated lawlessness will go unpunished or will be swept under the rug. When may I expect to see the Sen/Rep publicly censure the President for his subversion of the rule of law?

 

Trump Revokes Higher Flood Risk Mgt Standards 

As I mentioned above, in January 2015, President Obama issued an executive order requiring all federal investments involving floodplains to meet higher flood risk management standards.

Guess who revoked that order on August 15, 2017? And now Texas will be dealing with the fallout from the deregulation of flood risk standards. How soon until North Carolina is under that gun? We’ve been dodging the major hurricane bullets for too many years now.

Revocation of an executive order requiring all federal investments involving floodplains to meet higher flood risk management standards

Call your members of Congress;

Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis

Rep. Mark Walker

SCRIPT: I am calling to find out what the Sen/Rep is doing to help mitigate the damage that will most assuredly be done by the Executive Order revoking President Obama’s order requiring federal investments involving floodplains to meet higher flood risk management standards. It’s only a matter of time before NC will be needing the protections EO 13690 reinforced. Climate change is a real thing and personally, I am not happy to see my elected officials playing fast and loose with my children’s futures.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Lunch & Learn Voter Registration Workshop with Melissa Johnson, Director RCBoE – September 12, 2017 at Asheboro Library in the downstairs meeting room at 12PM.

The Democratic Women of North Carolina invite you to the 57th Annual State ConventionSeptember 22-24, 2017, in Winston-Salem at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center.

9th Annual Defending Democracy Blue Jean Gala – Saturday September 23, 2017, 6:00PM – The Exchange – 204 S Fayetteville St, Asheboro, NC  Special guest speakers will be Rep. Graig Meyer, NC House District 50 and NCDP Second Vice Chair Matt Hughes.