Protect CA's Clean Air: Stop Valero & Prop 23!

Valero wants to abolish our "Clean Air Act", because they are unwilling to clean up their oil refineries in California....  They continually do not come up to CA's clean air standards and are one of the major polluters in our state.

The president of Valero (TX) recently stated in an e-mail that he is "running a business and making profits is more important than CA's clean air".

Amazing isn't it.....  Well I say it's time to stop the poisoning of our air and say "NO" to Valero & Prop 23 and "YES" to clean air.

Did you hear that Valero, a Texas oil company, just gave another $3 million to the campaign to repeal our anti-pollution and green jobs law?

I just joined the Courage Campaign and CREDO Action in pledging to stop Valero and vote "no" on Prop 23, their dirty energy proposition, on the November ballot. Will you join me?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/PledgeToVoteNOon23

Thanks!

Thoughts on Love, Life & Past Lives

I'm thinking really that we All just want to be loved....and how hard can that be?  For some of us being alone is a sad thing, but for others of us it is a good thing....for it's not about being lonely it's about being alone & in comfort with ourselves.

I am alone, for the most part I am more than comfortable being with myself, yet there are times I truly desire male companionship of one man in particular.  But it is plainly clear that "That Man" (as I refer to him to Creator) is "Just not into me", even though when we are together we have a smashingly good & loving time......  So this brings me to those thoughts that I have been mulling over the past several days:
 
What if, I'm here only to make amends for my actions in my past lives? How sad would that be?  I have had several less than happy relationships, which now roll off my back, like water on a duck...but during those moments within those relationships not all was happy.  When I sat in meditation of those relationships I have seen "movies" of past lives where I have purposely done damage to those men who were at present time less than loving towards me.  And I can honestly say that at times I laughed and said; "Oh that's why!"  I'm sure acting as Lucrezia Borgia was no laughing matter, but for some reason I find it a bit humorous....go figure.

So as I amble along in this life, I come to where I am now, with having had my soul make amends....and I'd say for the most part I'll call it being even, tit-for-tat...  Yet this most current relationship that has gone on & off for the past eight (8) years, but began with a gift of feathers almost fifteen (15) years ago, I don't want to call it even & forget about.   This is the one that has been intertwined with a few of the others and it is the one that has my heart dazed & confused.

So back log ago, in another time and in another place....back when they punished women of power, Jews, & heretics by torture & death, there I was a free & unencumbered by matrimony, a woman of power.  There are two distinct men I recall, but the one that hurt me the most is the one I am telling about now.  I only remember being tied to a stake surrounded by bundles of faggots (look it up) and watching as he sadly gazed at me while his "friends" lit the fire.  I remember the sadness and not comprehending why this should be happening when I could still feel the love between us..... As then another man in chain mail on a horse came to my rescue and took me away to safety....but that was another man with another story, maybe for another time.

In an other time, in an other place and an other life...maybe back in the 1700's (this is an estimation, for I only have a vision of this and a calendar that I am unable in this time to decipher)...in the time of Great Plumed Warriors, Serpents, Gods, Pyramids, & Temples.....we were there again with roles reversed.  Great Warrior woman was I, he my willing love, led into the temple, made love to upon the altar, conceiving twins and cutting his heart out as an offering to the Gods.....

Which brings us to current times.....where I once again have had a vision, one of Ptesan Win, an otter cannunpa & "That Man" & myself. Accepting the gift and being told that this would be the hardest thing that I would ever do in my life.....and now being at a loss as we are apart from his choosing.

No doubt, I pray, vision, seek answers, go out to that land and sit & offer up that tobacco..... In this time of the full-moon I once again ceremony, sit in that sacred circle,  requesting; answers, knowledge & the wisdom to know how to continue with that gift.....

I am not seeking matrimony, I am not seeking cohabitation, there are things I must complete here in this City....but the quality time we once spent together is what I am missing and making the sadness & heaviness of my heart.  No matter that I should continue to reach out, there is only my empty arms.

Truly I am at a loss.....

Mi Takuye Oyacin

An E-mail From the President: Yes, Virginia: There IS Hope

Dear Friend:

Thank you for writing to me about the BP oil 

spill. I will stand with the people of the 

Gulf Coast until they are made whole, 

and I appreciate your perspective as we

continue to do everything we can to 

address this crisis.

The Gulf is one of the richest and most 

beautiful ecosystems on the planet. For 

centuries, its residents have enjoyed 

and made a living off the fish that swim

in its waters and the wildlife that inhabit

its shores. The Gulf is also the heartbeat

of the region's economic life, and this oil

spill has upended whole communities.

My Administration will continue to 

leverage every resource at our disposal

to protect coastlines, to clean up the oil

, to hold BP and other companies 

accountable for damages, to begin 

to restore the bounty and beauty of

this region, and to aid the hardworking

people of the Gulf as they rebuild their

businesses and communities. For 

information about response efforts,

available assistance, or how to help, 

please visit: 

www.WhiteHouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill. 

Individuals affected by the BP oil spill 

can also find resources by calling the 

United States Coast Guard at 

1-800-280-7118, and small businesses

can find support by calling 1-800-659-2955.

Thank you again for contacting me. I 

encourage you to visit WhiteHouse.gov 

to learn more about my Administration 

or to contact me in the future.

  

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

  

For more information about our clean energy agenda, please visit www.WhiteHouse.gov/issues/energy-and-environment

A Win for the Endangered Sea Turtles

Dear Auntie Nanuuq,

Victory for Gulf Sea Turtles

I'm happy to report that there's finally a glimmer of good news for wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

Today, in response to heavy public criticism and facing a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity and our partners, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard backed down and agreed to stop letting endangered sea turtles be burned alive during surface-oil cleanup operations.

This is a major stride in protecting these important, rare animals, including the highly endangered Kemp's ridley -- already under assault from the millions of gallons of toxic oil gushing into its marine and coastal environment.

Today's big announcement came just moments before a court hearing in New Orleans on our lawsuit brought with Turtle Island Restoration Network, Animal Welfare Institute and Animal Legal Defense Team. We're being represented in the suit by Meyer Gliztenstein & Crystal of Washington, D.C. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order on oil-burning activities.

And it comes after your support earlier this week when we turned the public spotlight on BP by hand-delivering tens of thousands of petition signatures to the oil company, calling for an end to this gruesome practice. It means so much to be able to count on you when it's needed most for the imperiled plants, animals and wild spaces we work to protect. Thank you.

But it's not over yet. We'll need your continued help in supporting efforts to hold BP and the government accountable -- not only to safeguard sea turtles but to ensure that this mess is properly cleaned up and that a similar offshore drilling disaster never happens again.

Thanks again for your help in protecting endangered sea turtles in the Gulf, and I hope you share in this victory as you head into the holiday weekend.

Sincerely,

Kierán Suckling Executive Director Center for Biological Diversity

P.S. Here's more on this breaking news from The Washington Post.

Settlement Reached on Guarding Against Burning Deaths of Sea Turtles in Gulf
The Washington Post // July 2, 2010
by Juliet Eilperin

The Coast Guard and BP reached a settlement Friday with environmental groups over the issue of how best to guard against accidentally killing endangered sea turtles during controlled burns in the Gulf of Mexico aimed at curbing the oil spill's spread.

Three environmental groups -- the Center for Biological Diversity, the Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Animal Defense League -- had sued in federal court in New Orleans on Wednesday, charging that oil spill responders had taken inadequate precautions while conducting the controlled burns. While activists have not found charred remains of endangered Kemp's Ridley or other sea turtles in the region, they argued the animals are at risk because they tend to congregate in sargassum, seagrasses that burn crews frequently target.

Under the settlement, the two sides have agreed the Coast Guard will soon convene a group of scientists to determine how best to ensure that no endangered sea turtles die during controlled burns. The environmental groups will have input into assembling the group of experts, and the protocol scientists devise will be put on a fast track for public comment so it can be finalized quickly.

"Sea turtles are already suffering catastrophically from the oil spill and it would be outrageous to add insult to injury by burning them alive in the spill cleanup effort," said the Center for Biological Diversity's executive director Kieran Suckling in an interview. "It's a no-brainer to put sea turtle observers on the cleanup boasts and whisk the turtles out of the oil pools before they're set on fire."

No burning will take place in the gulf before Tuesday, because of poor weather conditions, and by then BP and the Coast Guard must inform the environmental groups whether they are prepared to put scientific observers on every burn boat to identify and remove all turtles before any burns resume.

If they can not make that assurance, Suckling said, the plaintiffs "will be back" in court challenging the controlled burns.

Neither the Coast Guard nor BP could be immediately reached for comment.

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Kemp's Ridley sea turtle photo courtesy NOAA.

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Center for Biological Diversity

P.O. Box 710

Tucson, AZ 85702

1-866-357-3349

www.BiologicalDiversity.org