Who Is My Congressperson?

I want to put together a simple, user friendly tool to get the information constituents (you, citizens of the United States) need to contact and influence the people (politicians) who are suppose to be representing the needs, desires, and welfare of the people. People seem to be resigned to politicians being corrupt and only fulfilling the desires of the rich. Money is not what gives them power, it is knowledge and others refusal to use their own. It is important that we think…all the time. Just because something is legal, does not make it right and just because something is illegal, does not make it wrong. Think for yourself and say what you think, even if it seems preposterous. The more we do that, the more we see the truth and the stronger we get. One person saying no to all this does make a difference, even if everyone around you is still saying yes. Do what is right, no matter what the media shows you. The majority of people given the chance to do the  right thing, do what’s right.  Power to the People!

First off, to find out who your Congresspeople are you usually need your nine digit, super zip code (5 + 4). If you do not know yours off the top of your head you can go to the USPS Zip Code Lookup page and find out.

To find out who your US Senators are (there are two Senators per state), see the Senators-by-State list (of the Senators of the 111th Congress at the time I wrote this) at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm. You can also look this information up at the Project Vote-Smart Elected Official Biographical Information Database at http://www.votesmart.org.

To find out who your US Representative (Congressperson) is in the US House of Representatives (you have just one – there is one Representative per Congressional district) visit WriteRep at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml, which will allow you to look up your legislator by ZIP code (5+4 zip) and send them a message.

There is also the site Congress Merge, http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm, which is the all encompassing online congressional directory.

State Representatives can be located here, http://www.votesmart.org/official_state.php and last but not least, your Local Representative can be found here, http://www.votesmart.org/official_local.php.

Tell them what you think, what you would like to see change, happen, etc. I think this is a good start.

Now go make a difference.

-Cara

Bank of America Caught Stealing?

Taxpayers have given Bank of America $25 billion in bailout funds to help jumpstart our economy, but instead the bank has misspent on executive salaries and corporate jets. Then Bank of America took even more money from cash-strapped states by not paying for workers healthcare. Its time for Bank of America to use its taxpayer-funded windfall to support a real economic recovery and provide health care for its 247,000 workers—or give the money back.

http://seiu.org/bofa

Hey that’s my old bank…

-Cara

Weather Time

This might not seem like a green issue to some, but I think it is, and since I am the master of my domain…

I dread having to go to these weather web sites, for instance, The Weather Channel’s site or any of the multitudes of corporate and news media’s fugly sites. Not only are they far from being aesthetically pleasing, they’re saturated with millions of dollars worth of unsustainable product advertising.

I might not trust the government on much, but in the case of weather, I have a feeling they are telling the truth, at least to the best of their abilities.

For people who want to know the weather free of blinking, annoying, unsustainable advertising, may the American Government and I present to you the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s  National Weather Service’s web site. It might not be fancy, but you’ll get what you came for.

See you can find good in everything.

: ]

-Cara

Looking For A Job…

 

I am on the hunt for a job right now. The last job I was at outsourced jobs to Argentina, mine being one of them. Luckily, we received a package that has given me the time to find a job without worrying about money. This has been a great opportunity for me, due to the fact that at the time we were let go, I was not so happy at this company. I mean, I loved the people and such, but I was not really giving anything good back to the world or humanity, just taking.

Enough of all that; this is not what this entry is about, I was on Grist today looking through their jobs and found one for The Innocence Project. What are these guys all about you may ask? Well, according to their mission statement…

The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. To date, 215 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 16 who served time on death row. These people served an average of 12 years in prison before exoneration and release.

The Innocence Project’s full-time staff attorneys and Cardozo clinic students provided direct representation or critical assistance in most of these cases. The Innocence Project’s groundbreaking use of DNA technology to free innocent people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events but instead arise from systemic defects. Now an independent nonprofit organization closely affiliated with Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the Innocence Project’s mission is nothing less than to free the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated and to bring substantive reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.

I think this is awesome service that we need and am really glad they exist [even if they don’t hire me!!! :)]. I remember a few years back, I think it was on Oprah, there was this episode about the death penalty in America, something she is passionately opposed to. Oprah was discussing the controversy of judges in Texas NWP (napping while presiding) during death penalty hearings. Can you imagine falling asleep when someone’s life is on the line? That’s crazy! The lawyer [I think it was a lawyer, don’t quote me, as it was years ago that I saw this episode. I tried to find information on the internet about this particular show with no luck. I will email Harpo Studios and ask them for a transcript and permission to publish certain parts in this blog. It really was insane.] said that this occurrence is so common in Texas courthouses that they have a nickname for it [I do not remember the nickname but something like NWP.]! That is outrageous! You might be asking yourself, but what can I do about it? Well…I’m glad you asked. If you click on the link below you will be taken to The Innocence Project’s web site where you will find…

10 Things Anyone Can Do To Help Exonerate Innocent People and Prevent Wrongful Convictions

I just completed number 1 two minutes ago and invited my friends to join as well. I think a society that feels they are allowed to kill some people and not others is an ignorant one. No one has the right to take another’s life, period. Sorry, I had to say it.

Keep it real people and never forget to think, just because society and the government say it is OK, doesn’t mean it is!

Revolt against ignorance!

-Cara

 

 

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Reason 40 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Many Americans are not getting enough magnesium. Deficiencies can cause irritability, seizures, delirium, depression, abnormal heart rhythms, spasms of the coronary arteries, anemia, blood clots, abnormal blood pressure, and even death. Where do you get this vital nutrient?–whole grains, fruits, dark-green leafy vegetables, nuts, and, best, raw cacao

Stop Big Media Dot Com

A topic I have left alone so far is big media. It is such an enormous issue to discuss, much less conquer, that I am brought down just thinking about it. I was doing research today on who own what media firms. Who has their little dirty fingers where and in the process I found this site StopBigMedia.com.

What’s So Bad about Big Media you may ask, well according to StopBigMedia.com,

• Big Media fail local communities. Big Media companies get a sweet deal from the government. They get to use the public airwaves — for free — to make billions in profits. In exchange for this government handout, broadcasters are supposed to serve the public by offering quality programs that meet the needs of local communities. Instead, Big Media companies gut local newsrooms and ignore local issues.
• Big Media ignore diversity. Big Media have limited ownership opportunities for women and people of color, pushing them off the public airwaves and stifling vital voices. Coverage of issues that matter to people of color, women, the middle and working class, and rural communities has disappeared. The result? Media that fail to represent our nation’s diversity.
• Big Media are bad for democracy. Democracy can’t exist without an informed public. We rely on unbiased news from independent sources to stay informed and to hold our government accountable. But media consolidation means fewer sources of news, opinion and information. Instead of hard-hitting critical journalism, Big Media give us a junk diet of celebrity gossip and sensationalism.

I like what I have seen so far, but I haven’t spent hours on it. I think is cool and their site is not saturated with ads for crap pens and free credit reports like most media companies’ sites.

Turn off the news, stay off their web sites. They are perpetuating the belief that the world is much worse than it is, but wouldn’t you feel better if you bought something…anything…

I would prefer a hug.

Turn off your TV!

-Cara

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Reason 26 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Birds are cheap and cages are expensive, so battery hens live out their dreary days in space just about the size of their own bodies. No hen gets to run, build a nest, enjoy a cleansing dust bath, protect a chick, forage in the sun, perch, fly, or even lift a wing. Instead, this creature will crouch and suffer and fend off the feather pulling of cage mates. And every egg that is laid will roll away down the slope of a wire floor, which will also cripple her legs and feet.