Whales & Dolphins In Atlantic

Tell President Obama to protect the Atlantic

Thousands of whales and dolphins in the Atlantic could soon be subjected to loud seismic airgun blasts, shot over and over again for months on end. We’ll need YOUR HELP to stop it.

Right now, we are gathering signatures from members of Congress on a letter to the president asking him to stop these deadly plans. We want to make sure he hears the message, so we’re asking YOU to sign on as well to let him know how important it is that these plans are stopped.

Sign our People’s Sign-on Letter to President Obama to reject seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic »

Seismic airgun testing for oil may begin in just a few months in parts of the U.S. Atlantic coast. Animals close to the blasts could be killed or injured, and others will be forced to flee their habitats.

These tests consist of sending airgun blasts, louder than a jet engine, straight into the ocean floor, every ten seconds for weeks on end. Not only will the blasts kill or injure beloved animals like the endangered North Atlantic right whale, but it also could drive away the fish that East Coast fishermen depend on. About 222,000 jobs in the coastal fishing and seafood industries could be disrupted, affecting communities that are already struggling from the effects of Hurricane Sandy and the recession.

Furthermore, seismic testing is the first step to offshore oil drilling. Once offshore drilling starts on the East Coast, it’s only a matter of time until there is an oil spill like the one we saw in the Gulf three years ago.

Protect dolphins and whales from deadly airgun blasts. Sign the letter to President Obama today »

Your voice can make a difference in this important fight. Thank you for standing with us.

Thank you,
Rachael Prokop
Oceana

Nobel Prize for Malala

Gabriel –

One month ago, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman. Malala’s crime? She wanted to go to school, and ran a campaign in Pakistan to help girls gain access to education.

Malala has been an activist for years — when she was 11, she worked as an anonymous blogger for the BBC to expose information about her Taliban-ruled area of Pakistan. Now, even as she recovers from being shot in the head, Malala says, “All I want is an education. And I’m afraid of no one.”

In response to Malala’s extraordinary courage, people all over the world are calling for her to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Bonnie Lloyd, a professor of sociology in Rochester, New York, started a petition on Change.org asking Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice to nominate Malala for the Nobel Peace Prize. Click here to sign Bonnie’s petition.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been used for decades to bring global attention to important issues, from landmines to apartheid to the US civil rights movement. Bonnie believes the time is right to focus on girls being denied the right to go to school, and honoring Malala’s bravery is a great way to do that.

“The hopes and dreams of girls throughout the world are no longer hidden – yet there is much to do, as Malala’s wounds attest,” Bonnie says about her petition. “By nominating Malala Yousafzai, these global leaders will send a clear message: We stand with Malala and with girls everywhere in their fight for the right to equal opportunity through education.”

As two of the highest ranking women in the history of US government, a nomination for Malala from Secretaries Clinton and Rice would be a strong signal to the global community that Malala’s fight is important to people in the US.

Secretary Clinton has responded to petitions on Change.org before — last year, she publicly declared support for Saudi women’s right to drive for the first time and credited a Change.org petition. Bonnie believes that if enough people sign her petition, Secretaries Clinton and Rice will take a stand to support Malala and girls all over the world who just want to go to school.

Click here to sign Bonnie’s petition calling on Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice to nominate Malala Yousafzai for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Rachel and the Change.org team

Make Malala’s Dream Reality

Dear Friends,

Malala has dedicated her childhood to championing education for girls like her in Pakistan. As she lies in a hospital bed, a tragic victim of Taliban gunmen, let’s help make her dream come true.

One part of Pakistan has already started a successful programme of paying families which send their girls to school regularly. But in Malala’s province the government is dragging its feet. Senior politicians have offered Malala help, and if we act now we can get them to commit to rolling this out nationwide.

Before the media spotlight moves on, let’s raise our voices to demand that the government announces funding for all Pakistani girls who attend school. In days the UN Education Envoy will meet Pakistan’s President Zardari and he says hand delivering 1 million signatures will strengthen his case. Sign and forward this email, and let’s help make Malala’s dream come true:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/malalahopenew/?bMPbqab&v=18774

North-west Pakistan has been in the grip of the Taliban since 2007 when they systematically started burning and destroying girls’ schools. The Taliban destroyed 401 schools in Swat between 2001 and 2009 — 70% of them were girls’ schools. Malala drew the world’s attention to the Taliban’s reign of terror, when she started writing a blog in Urdu for the BBC. Her writing is a crucial record of the devastating consequences of extremism on the lives of ordinary Pakistanis.

Pakistan’s constitution says girls should be educated alongside boys, and the government has the resources to make it happen. But politicians have ignored that for years, influenced by extremist religious groups, and now, only 29% of girls attend secondary school. Study after study has shown the positive impact on personal and national income when girls are educated.

Let’s turn this shock and horror at the Taliban’s attack on a young girl into a wave of international pressure that forces Pakistan to address girls’ education. Click below to stand with Malala and support a massive girls’ education campaign in Pakistan, backed by resources, security, and most importantly, the will to fight the extremists who tear down Pakistan:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/malalahopenew/?bMPbqab&v=18774

Let’s come together and stand in solidarity with a brave, young activist, who is showing the world how one little schoolgirl can stand up to armed and dangerous extremists.

With hope and determination,

Emma, Alaphia, Alex, Ricken, Ari, Michelle, Wissam, Rewan and the rest of the Avaaz team

Shot for Being a Girl

Dear Gabriel,

On Tuesday, the Taliban deliberately shot a 14-year-old Pakistani girl on her way home from school because she promoted education for girls.

Education is not just a human right – it’s also a crucial safeguard against violence and discrimination.

The bullets that struck Malala Yousufzai’s skull have left the young activist in critical condition. Taliban militants said that if she survives, they would target her again.

Living free from violence and discrimination is a human right, yet millions of women and girls like Malala suffer from gender-based violence in their homes, in their communities, even at the hands of the state.

Your contribution is needed to help Amnesty hold accountable both state and non-state actors and stop the cycle of violence against women.

Girls and women everywhere deserve a better future.

Today is the first ever International Day of the Girl – a day to shine a light on gender discrimination and advocate for girls’ rights everywhere.

One in three women has been affected by sexual violence. Women are beaten, raped, mutilated and killed with impunity.

Gender-based violence is a violation of the dignity and human rights of women and girls that also undermines the fabric of societies and stability of countries.

Can you donate to Amnesty International today, to make sure our human rights campaigners have the resources they need to fight for women and girls like Malala?

Together, we will press forward until no government, no community, no people permit or promote violence against girls and women.

Thank you for all you do to defend human rights.

Sincerely,

Cristina M. Finch
Program Director
Women’s Human Rights
Amnesty International USA

Breaking News: Syria

Dear Gabriel,

Breaking: What I saw in Syria

I recently returned from a months-long fact-finding mission to Syria where I witnessed first-hand the extent of the atrocities being committed by government forces and militias working alongside the military.

In Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, I saw people — including a 16-year-old schoolboy — being shot dead and injured by security forces and militias during peaceful demonstrations. Elsewhere in every town and village I saw homes burned down to the ground and spoke to families of young men who had been dragged from their homes and murdered by soldiers. The abuses were systematic and massive in scale. More recently opposition fighters have also been committing abuses and the situation is likely to deteriorate further the longer this conflict goes on.

People who care — like you — must speak out against this senseless violence. Your donation today will help support Amnesty International’s actions to uncover the truth, demand accountability, and prevent human rights abuses in the future.

As you read this, intense fighting between government forces and opposition fighters is taking place in Syria, where residential neighborhoods have been turned into battlefields and civilians are more at risk than ever. Tens of thousands have fled their homes just in recent days, joining the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced in the past year.

Despite the escalating violence, the international community has tragically failed to take effective action — essentially standing by as children, women and men are slaughtered.

That is why it is imperative that Amnesty International continues its efforts speaking out on behalf of Syrian civilians and taking critical steps to hold accountable those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Your donation will help us:

Send other researchers like myself into the field to document atrocities and share them with influencers and leaders around the world.

Put pressure on the United Nations Security Council to take concrete action to protect the civilian population and to hold the perpetrators of these terrible crimes accountable.

When atrocities like what I’ve seen in Syria are committed, we must not turn our heads or despair that there is nothing we can do. We must keep global attention on Syria. Your donation can make a difference.

Sincerely,

Donatella Rovera
Senior Crisis Response Adviser
Amnesty International

P.S. Want to learn more? Watch a first-hand account of my fact-finding mission.

Only 400 Left In the World

Dear Gabriel,

Only 400 Sumatran tigers are left in the world.

Just 80 years ago, there were three unique subspecies of tigers found in Indonesia. Today, two of them are extinct — and now the last one is in serious trouble.

At these horrifically low numbers, every day counts for the Sumatran tiger.

They need our help now. Please make an urgent donation to help save them.

The Sumatran tiger is classified as “critically endangered” — on the brink of extinction and barely hanging on.

They’ve lost 93% of their habitat because companies like Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) are destroying their forest homes. Tigers are left to roam landscapes where they are easily slaughtered by poachers for their body parts or shot by the people moving in.

How many more acres of destruction can the Sumatran tiger survive before its status moves from “critically endangered” to “extinct”? We have to act, and fast.

To fight back, we need your help to expose the massacre, pressure corporations like KFC to cut ties with APP and fight on the ground in Indonesia to save these last remaining Sumatran tigers.

We can’t wait another day. Not when we’re dealing with a population of only 400 tigers. If we don’t act now, these beautiful animals will be pushed to extinction — gone forever.

Since Greenpeace takes absolutely no money from corporations or governments, we depend entirely on you to power our independent and hard-hitting campaigns. Will you help save these 400 Sumatran tigers?

Please help us raise $60,000 in the next 9 days to make it possible. We need just 360 people from California to reach our goal.

Without you, these 400 tigers don’t stand a chance. APP will continue lining its pockets with profits, poachers will continue shooting these tigers and reselling their body parts in places like China, and these last Sumatran tigers will just be collateral damage.

Together, we can stop them.

With the financial help of supporters like you, we’ve already put the squeeze on APP, convincing major companies like Nestle, Kraft and Mattel to stop buying products linked to rainforest destruction. And other companies have followed suit as well.

Over the past few weeks we’ve turned up the pressure on KFC to end their relationship with APP and to stop using rainforest fiber in its throw-away paper products. We’ve hit them in the press, at their corporate headquarters, on the web, over the phone lines and at stores around the world. We have plans to do even more — but we need your support to keep this work going and save the Sumatran tiger.

Please give a gift today to help give these last Sumatran tigers a future — before it’s too late.

Together we’ve rallied to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems and won victories to protect the planet — and I know we can do it again to save the Sumatran tiger.

Together we are powerful, together we make a difference.

For the forests,

Rolf Skar
Greenpeace Forest Campaign Director

Fear and Justice

From Change.org.

Dear Gabriel,

Heartbreaking tragedy: 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was visiting a relative’s house in a Florida gated community when he walked to the store to get Skittles and iced tea for his little brother. He never made it home. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a self-styled neighborhood watch leader, who told police he thought Trayvon was “suspicious” in the mostly-white community.

Unbelievable twist: A man named George Zimmerman allegedly admitted to police that he shot Trayvon Martin in the chest. Zimmerman claims he acted in self defense, even though police allegedly told him not to do anything until they arrived — and despite the fact that Trayvon was unarmed, carrying only a bag of Skittles when he died. In the two weeks since Zimmerman allegedly killed Trayvon, police have refused to arrest the confessed killer.

Hope for justice: Sybrina Fulton is Trayvon’s mother, and she’s leading a campaign on Change.org to get justice for her son. Tracy knows that if enough people raise an outcry, Sanford, Florida authorities will be forced to investigate Zimmerman the same way they would investigate any confessed killer.

Sign Sybrina’s petition calling on the authorities in Florida to charge George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin and try him before a jury of his peers.

———

Here’s a lot more info about Sybrina’s campaign, in her own words:

On February 26, my son Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked back from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy. He was only 17 years old.

Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, the community’s self appointed “neighborhood watch leader,” called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Trayvon, a young black man, walking from the store. But Zimmerman, who is white, still hasn’t been charged for killing my son.

Trayvon was my hero. At the age of 9, Trayvon pulled his father from a burning kitchen, saving his life. He loved sports and horseback riding. At only 17 he had a bright future ahead of him with dreams of attending college and becoming an aviation mechanic. Now that’s all gone.

When Zimmerman reported Trayvon to the police, they told him not to confront him. But he did anyway. All I know about what happened next is that my 17 year-old son, who was completely unarmed, was shot and killed.

I don’t know if my family will ever receive justice for this terrible tragedy. It’s been nearly two weeks and the Sanford Police have refused to arrest George Zimmerman. In their public statements, they even go so far as to stand up for the killer – saying he’s “a college grad” who took a class in criminal justice.

Please join me in calling on the the Sanford Police Department and Florida State’s Attorney Norman Wolfinger to investigate my son’s death and prosecute George Zimmerman for the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin.

———

Click here to sign Sybrina’s petition for Florida State’s Attorney Norman Wolfinger to prosecute Trayvon Martin’s killier.