D.C. Gay Marriage Measure Set for Mayor's Signature

This an important first step for DC, and for a Federal protection of same-sex marriage. This isn't about defining marriage, this is about civil and human rights.

Washington Post:

An overwhelming majority on the D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, sending the District deeper into the national debate and galvanizing supporters on both sides of the issue.

The measure, approved by a vote 12 to 1, now goes to Mayor Arian M. Fenty (D), a supporter of gay marriage.

If Fenty signs it, the District will put the same-sex marriage issue directly before the Congress. Under Home Rule, the District's laws are subject to a 30-day congressional review period.

After the vote, a large crowd of opponents, led by local ministers, began yelling "Get them off the council!" referring to the members who supported the measure. After the vote, a large crowd of opponents, led by local ministers, began yelling "Get them off the council!" referring to the members who supported the measure. The crowd caused such a ruckus that security guards and D.C. police officers had to be called in to restore order.

"We need a new Council. They are destroying our youth," shouted Paul Trantham, who lives in Southeast. "Every minister who fears God should be here. This is disrespectful to the nation's Capitol. There is nothing equal about same-sex marriage."

Another protester, C.T. Riley, added: "This is not over. We are going to the hill with this issue." Continues......

Causes 2: An Album to Aid Darfur

The war in Darfur is an ongoing crisis in Sudan (Northeastern Africa) that seems to be a popular talking point for those attempting to sound up to date in current events, but a forgotten issue when it comes time to help. No civil injustice anywhere in the world should be swept under the rug. Here is your chance to not only support a good cause, but get some great music as well. Causes 2 is the second album from Waxploitation’s ongoing benefit series for Darfur. 100% of the profits from the album go to Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, and Oxfam America. Making this purchase is basically making a $10 donation and getting a free CD featuring exclusive music form Gnarls Barkley, Diplo, RJD2, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, The Decemberists, Richard Swift, and more. Click here for more info on the album and other merchandise.

ChevronToxico

www.chevrontoxico.com

I met with the attorneys from this case yesterday, and it is shocking that this was allowed to go on. Beyond the emissions, this is the cost of driving your car, flying, buying things that aren't locally produced. This is capitalism at its best. HOOOORAY! This goes way beyond just an environmental issue. This is also a fundamental human rights issue.

From the WashingtonPost: Deep in the northern Ecuadoran rain forest, next to pits filled with noxious sludge, a lawyer on his very first case argued that a U.S. oil company had deliberately fouled a swath of jungle nearly the size of Delaware during two decades of production.

Wearing a straw hat for the recent outdoor hearing, Pablo Fajardo was delivering the final arguments in a lawsuit that began in New York in 1993 against Texaco but is wrapping up here against Chevron, which bought Texaco in 2001. The stakes are high -- and so tinged with nationalism that Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has openly sided with the plaintiffs, 48 individuals representing tens of thousands of people in the region.

If the judge rules against Chevron, the company could face the largest damages award ever handed down in an environmental case, dwarfing the $3.9 billion awarded against ExxonMobil for the 1989 spill in Alaska.

A report by a court-appointed team last year concluded that pollution caused mainly by Texaco's Ecuadoran affiliate, Texaco Petroleum, had led to 1,401 cancer deaths in this stretch of Amazonian jungle. The team's leader, Ecuadoran geologist Richard Cabrera, reported finding high levels of toxins in soil and water samples near Texaco's production sites and assessed damages at up to $27.3 billion....(continues)