RESOURCES

November 15, 2020

◉The care that people who work with ballots at any stage demonstrate is evident in the New York Times Magazine’s photo essay this week; it is packed with “who knew” information and stunning photographs.

◉Keep reading Heather Cox Richardson for insights into the present moment and how we got here.

◉See the Americans of Conscience checklist for quick, focused actions you can take to ensure the smooth transfer of power, insist on the factual accuracy of the election results, and engage in the Georgia run-off elections.

November 8, 2020

◉ The Americans of Conscience checklist provides ways to make sure your ballot was counted and ways to help Georgia residents vote on the upcoming runoffs.

◉ Week after week since the 2016 election, Rogan’s List has provided clear, comprehensive analyses of the problems that beset us and quick, focused actions we can take. For the moment, Susan Rogan has ceased publishing but may revive the List in a somewhat different form. This week’s edition recommends other activist lists to follow. News You May Have Missed is very grateful to Susan for her consistent inspiration and concrete suggestions.

August 23, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist has bracing messages and easy actions you can take.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list is mostly incorporated above, but if you want to work through it with a pile of postcards, here is the link.
  • In her list , Martha points out that the opportunity to comment on proposals to shift liquified natural gas by rail, a practice hat Mother Jones calls “bomb trains,” closes soon. There is a new proposal that lets the FDA not review coronavirus tests, and the USPS Board of Governors will post a notice tomorrow under the Sunshine Act that says they met last week, public not allowed–and no info on agenda, discussion, or decisions has been revealed. And note that you can comment on the usual environmental assaults -reminding us that the administration wants to redefine critical habitat in a way that is deadly for endangered species.
  • Rogan’s list is back, reinvigorated, from hiatus. She suggests a series of actions to address the issues surrounding the Post Office.
  • Heather Cox Richardson this week reflects on the presence of QAnon believers in the Republican party, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, an opponent of Putin, the arrest of Steve Bannon, the Democratic convention, and more.

August 9, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist not only provides clear, focused actions you can take, but tracks what they get done and where they succeed.
  • Sarah-Hope’s action items are woven in above, but if you want the whole list in one place for postcarding, here it is.
  • Martha’s list identifies ways to comment for the public record. She notes that the window for commenting on the transport of liquified natural gas by rail is closing (see our write-up of this last week) and reminds us to comment on the closure of shelters to transgender people.
  • Rogan’s list is on hiatus.

Scroll to the bottom of this list, or jump ahead, for a list of evergreen opportunities to make a difference.

July 19, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience checklist is tracking good news this week–on the national, state and local level; there are dozens of items.
  • Rogan’s list warns us about an upcoming PPE shortage (again), upcoming evictions and homelessness,  McConnell’s plan to provide federal immunity from lawsuits for owners of nursing homes, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s intention to release a human rights report (?).
  • Amy Siskind’s weekly list of not-normal events has 268 items on it.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list is mostly integrated above, but she has some additional California-specific items.
  • Martha’s list: See item number 4. The Trump administration is trying to demonstrate that it is following the Administrative Procedures Act (not following it is why they lost the Supreme Court decision). This invitation to comment is very weird, in that they are requesting to seek information on eligibility when they have no intention of considering new applications. Is this the first step in following the APA – with the ultimate aim of a rule rescinding DACA? You can comment that people brought here as children are eligible for DACA and that DACA is a legitimate program. You can also comment on a number of the environmental regulation rollbacks described above. You can also comment on DeVos’ efforts to permit CARES act funding for religious schools, efforts to prevent ICE violence against women in detention centers and more.

July 12, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is focusing on voter registration this week.
  • Sarah-Hope’s postcarding list is here and itemized above.
  • Martha’s list identifies a series of challenges to asylum and opportunities to comment on them.
  • See Rogan’s list for ways to advocate for DACA recipients, international students, children in detention and others.

July 5, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist tracks the impact of their suggested actions–quick, clear things you can do.
  • Martha’s list offers ways to comment for the public record on many crucial items, in particular a new rule closing homeless shelters to trans youth. She notes that the whole regulatory process is in chaos, as Trump will issue executive orders while the process is still underway: this is why the Supreme Court struck down the ban on LGBTQ+ employment rights.
  • Rogan’s list explains how to speak up for public health officials, seek justice for Breonna Taylor, challenge policing in schools, push for the election of people who will advocate for racial justice–and more.
  • Most of Sarah-Hope’s list is woven into the stories above, but if you would like to see all of it in one place, click the link above.
  • Chrysostom has interesting news from the Oklahoma, Utah, and Colorado primaries.

June 28, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist has a list of quick, effective things you can do if you are troubled by how things are.
  • Sarah-Hope’s full list includes some items particular to California. Everything else follows the stories above.
  • Martha’s list has news about the executive orders all but banning immigraton altogether – legal and undocumented, with the new visa ban and credible-fear asylum restrictions. She also calls our attention to the proposal from the Bureau of Land Management to drill 2/3 of Arctic reserve and an excellent article from Bloomberg Law on why BLM is anything but transparent with regard to proposals or posting comments .
  • Rogan’s list reminds us that we only have until July 15 to comment on Trump’s proposal to end asylum entirely and tells us how we can support public health officials who are being harassed out of their jobs. She also gives us a list of things we can do in the 131 days until the November election.
  • The FDA has found methanol in some hand sanitizers. You want to avoid these.
  • Several safety apps are worth considering if you plan to attend a protest.

June 21, 2000

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist has a number of easy actions you can take to support voter empowerment and other important issues.
  • If you’re part of a group that send postcards to people who need to hear from you, you can work through Sarah-Hope’s whole list here.
  • In her list of items available for comment on the Federal Register, Martha sees evidence of the Trump administration’s rush to use the pandemic emergency to codify and solidify anti-environment regulatory actions and make them harder to undo. Read through them–pick a few to write comments on.
  • If you didn’t have a chance to look at Chrysostom’s elections roundup last week, it’s worth reviewing some key races.

June 14, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist suggests ways you can plan your actions–and offers quick, straightforward actions you can take.
  • Sarah-Hope’s whole list has some California-specific items you won’t want to miss.
  • Rogan’s list suggests ways to stand up against militarized policing, advocate for an investigation of the New York police’s violence against legal observers, speak up against voter suppression in Georgia, and more.
  • Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record on various proposals, which reduce protections for wildlife refuges, national forests, and undercut environmental regulations.

June 7, 2020

Recent events suggest there is a great deal about history and the present that we might have missed. Hence, we offer a resource list for those wanting to learn to be anti-racist allies. We also suggest you look at activist and filmmaker Sarah Sophie Flicker and writer Alyssa Klein’s list as well. In addition, the Smithsonian offers 158 resources to learn about racism in America.

Heather Cox Richardson, who makes sense of current events in her nightly letters, now has a YouTube channel. She is also moving to a subscription model for comments, so that while the letters will continue to be free, she says she hopes to have a discussion forum which is less vulnerable to incessant trolling. The fee will allow her to pay her moderator.

Chrysostom, who keeps meticulous track of federal and state elections, reports that there is some good news. We surely do need it.

  • See the Americans of Conscience Checklist for a series of clear, quick, efficacious actions you can take now.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list is great for people who want to work through a series of carefully chosen issues and write letters or postcards to address them.
  • Martha’s list of regulatory actions/notices/proposed rules and Executive Orders highlights two Trump Executive Actions – one an order, one a proclamation. The Executive Order uses the current emergency to order relaxation of environmental rules to speed up infrastructure projects, involving multiple agencies. The Presidential Proclamation removes protections for undersea monuments. She also alerts us to Skoposlabs, which tracks federal legislative responses to the coronavirus.
  • See Rogan’s list for ways to speak up for reforms in policing, for the demilitarization of police, and in defense of Black lives.

May 31, 2020

  • Don’t miss the Americans of Conscience Checklist for quick, effective actions you can take. Take a look at their inspiring inpact report as well.
  • See Sarah-Hope’s full list for additional post-carding opportunities.
  • Rogan’s list suggests ways to respond the George Floyd’s killing, thank Twitter for fact-checking Trump, and to engage productively with various other issues, such as the education gap during the pandemic.
  • Of particular importance this week, Martha calls particular attention to the EPA proposed guidance regulation that would govern all EPA guidance documents and petitions henceforth. It’s number 4 on her list: “Comments due 6/20/2020. EPA Proposed Rule. Guidance: Administrative Procedures for Issuance and Public Petitions.” It has major implications for how the EPA listens to, or doesn’t regard, public input on policy. See her whole list here.
  • If you missed Chrysostom’s extraordinarily comprehensive election coverage, his May 21 column is available here.

MAY 24, 2020

  • See the Americas of Conscience Checklist for quick, clear, effective actions you can take.
  • Do you postcard? Start with Sarah-Hope’s list.
  • If you want to advocate for the HEROES act, the Postal Service, nurses, the Navajo nation, and much more, see Rogan’s list.
  • Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record. She says that regulations are still a moving target as some are extended or suspended, supposedly temporarily. Ending soon are two items related to the National Environmental Policy Act – one from EPA, the other from Dept of Energy. The entire act was recently up for comment, you will remember. Rodenticide review is back, and there is a new item about endangered Mexican wolves. Look at USDA food policy relating to aid to farmers – will this round go to Ag-business again? And note work requirements for food-stamp recipients, and more.
  • For daily updates of coronavirus cases and deaths, in country by country reports, see Our World in Data.
  • Check out Chrysostom’s incredibly comprehensive election coverage–House, Senate, state, local.
  • Heather Cox Richardson has commentary on the NY Times front page, above, along with the Inspectors General firings and much more.

May 17, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist reports that their subscribers have doubled the number of actions they have taken. See the list for many quick, direct ways to intervene politically.
  • See Sarah-Hope’s list if you want to work through her recommendations for actions.
  • Martha’s list offers weekly opportunities to comment on policy changes for the public record. Closing this week are: the misnamed “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science”; new policy on coal ash disposal; biometric data collection on undocumented immigrants; FEMA management of medical resources; and small but significant: redefining the word “healthy” on food labels to include more fat. You can also sign up for the Consumer Product Safety Commission meeting on setting priorities for fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
  • Rogan’s list this week is chock-full of information and action items–everything from the movement for justice for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, to re-opening guidelines, to the strategy behind ICE’s refusal to release migrant children.

May 3, 2020

  • With 26 weeks to go before the presidential election, the Americans of Conscience Checklist prioritizes what we need to do–starting with taking care of ourself.
  • See Sarah-Hope’s whole list for more opporunities to intervene.
  • Martha’s list this week has the news that 10,000 Federal employees tested positive for coronavirus. She also notes the EPA’s refusal to regulate particulate matter as well as to regulate neurotoxin methyl bromide Proposed Rule on HHS OIG . And under closing soon, you’ll want to see that the”Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” comment period was extended, enough time for their own Science Advisory Board to criticize the proposal.
  • See Rogan’s list for ways to object to the treatment of prisoners, asylum-seekers, the Navajo nation, and more.

April 26, 2020

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist is tracking its impact. See their site to note what they have accomplished and to find quick, straightforward actions you can take.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list has a number of action items not listed above, including for some stories run previously on deportations and farmworker wages.
  • Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record and has news you won’t find elsewhere, including National Science Foundation involvement in the Arctic, a plan to replace the words “foreign national” with the word “alien” in Citizen and Immigration Policy manuals, rollbacks of EPA regulations–read through the list. You’ll be astonished.
  • Rogan’s list suggests ways to object to how big companies absconded with the money intended for small businesses, to insist that more funding go to support essential workers and to make it possible for everyone to vote by mail in November, among other actions you can take.

April 19, 2020

  • See the Americas of Conscience Checklist for an update on the primaries and to advocate for safe ways for Native Americans to vote.
  • Martha offers ways to comment for the public record. About this week’s list, she says to look for more border wall land grabs, more ways the Trump administration is using COVID-19 as cover to waive rules, including EPA waiving pesticide regulations. There are some urgent deadlines for commenting–including tomorrow.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list for postcarding has some of the above action items–and more.
  • Rogan’s list offers clear, concrete actions you can take.

April 12, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is posting every other week. See the site for easy actions you can take.
  • Sarah-Hope’s action items for postcarding are in her full list.
  • Rogan’s list has opportunities to advocate for front-line workers, address the disparities in diagnosis and treatment of communities of color, support the needs of people with disabilities in the pandemic, and much more.
  • Martha’s list this week tries to keep track of the moving target of regulations, some suspended or rolled back. HUD-faith-based initiatives, EPA rollbacks, the EPA’s so-called “strengthening transparency in regulatory science” (which would in fact block some scientific data from being used ) are closing to comments soon.

April 5, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has ways to advocate for people coping with gun violence at home during shelter-in-place orders, speak up for Indigenous communities, urge protection for immigrant healthcare workers–and more.
  • If you postcard, you can work through Sarah-Hope’s list. Most of the items are with the pertinent news summaries above.
  • Martha has identified various important items on which to register a public comment. If you can comment on April 6, there is a proposal to dredge San Francisco Bay. In addition, there is a chance to comment on the Trump administration’s proposal to grow GMO crops in wildlife refugees. Also take a look at the Community Reinvestment Act.
  • Rogan’s list has ways to object to the rollback of environmental protections, donate for food relief, find solutions to Zoom attacks, along with many good news links.

March 29, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is tracking its impact. See what your calls and letters have accomplished!
  • Sarah-Hope’s action items follow the news summaries above, but if you want the whole group of summaries and items for postcarding, it is here.
  • Martha tells us that regulations.gov, which receives public comment, is a moving target because of the coronavirus emergency. She sees echoed the issue we raise above about what is being done in the name of COVID. In the “recent” section at the following link, there are numerous changes across agencies enacted/proclaimed because of the pandemic. Here are the opportunities to comment through all this that she has collected.
  • Rogan’s list has a link to surgical mask-making instructions, a site where you can donate undocumented workers, a way to advocate against water-shutoffs–and more.

March 15, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist advises us on how to avoid fear and take action.
  • If you want to work through Sarah-Hope’s entire list and write comments, you can find it all in one place here.
  • Martha’s list this week provides opportunities to comment on the Community Reinvestment Act and the alleged Fair Housing initiative, as well as on the Migratory Bird Act which allows for an increased “take” of migratory birds. You can also review a number of attempts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic–and much more.
  • Rogan’s list tells doctors how they can get coronavirus test kits from the University of Washington and has a number of very useful links around the coronavirus.

March 8, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has quick, straightforward explanations and ways to act on key issues, among them the reduction of draconian sentences, the need to revoke a pipeline carrying fracked fuel through low-income communities, the importance of restoring voting rights for Native Americans–and more.
  • Amy Siskind’s weekly list documents item by item the out-of-whack events since a certain inauguration day. Year one is out in book form; you can order it at her site.
  • See Sarah-Hope’s list for action items for some of our stories last week, including those on the Remain in Mexico program, the use of denaturalization procedures to undercut immigrations, the use of extreme tactics in sanctuary cities–and more.
  • Rogan’s list gives you ways to speak up about ICE on Peter Pan buses, surprise charges for coronavirus testing, anti-racist voting–and more.
  • Martha advises us that three key issues on her list have deadlines this week: plans to revise NEPA revisions (National Environmental Policy Act), undercut the Community Reinvestment Act, and gut Fair Housing provisions.

March 1, 2020

RESOURCES

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist offers ways to weigh in about housing discrimination, reducing the sentences of non-violent prisoners in federal facilities for 10 years or more, voter suppression of Native Americans–and more.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list has some action items for issues we addressed last week, including the “Remain in Mexico” policy, the use of therapy notes in deportation proceedings, and the catastrophe in Syria.
  • On Mondays, Rogan’s list provides a listing of proposed rule and regulation changes that are currently accepting public comment. As Martha explains (see below), “Our comments also become part of a record that will be reviewed by courts if and when a regulation change is contested. Courts use comments to judge whether an agency is acting arbitrarily and capriciously. “
  • Martha’s list will tell you how to speak up for the Clean Water Act, address the destruction of records in the National Archives, object to Trump’s proposal to exempt Federal agencies from having to take climate change into account in their planning, and much more.

February 23, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is on hiatus this week, but we recommend that you look at their new “We Make an Impact” feature, which charts the many victories people working for justice have had.
  • Sarah-Hope is away this week but there are lots of actions you can still take if you haven’t worked through last week’s list.
  • Rogan’s list has any excellent ideas for ways you can comment on and intervene in things as they are: on Trump’s “pardonapalooza,” disabled asylum-seeking children waiting in Mexico, Native American voting rights, and much more.
  • Martha’s list this week offers numerous opportunities to comment for the public record, along with important news on Gulf of Mexico region-wide oil and gas lease sales on all federal holdings (with some named exceptions) and the waiver of laws for the border wall across several states. There is no formal opportunity to comment so she recommends writing your legislators.

February 9, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist focuses on easy actions you can take in the areas of democracy, voting access, equality for all Americans, basic respect for aspiring Americans.
  • Rogan’s list this week focuses on Black Lives Matter at school, nominating Adam Schiff for a Profiles in Courage award, battleground seats in the Senate, and much more.
  • Sarah-Hope’s full list is here.
  • Martha’s list offers many opportunities to comment for the public record. She notes that the opportunity to comment on high fees for immigrants, asylum seekers, and citizenship petitions has been extended till tomorrow. She gives you links for commenting on the many proposed regulations in support of faith-based organizatios. And there’s a new posting asking for general comment on their regulations process.

February 2, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist not only has quick, clear-cut actions you can take but a long list of good news!
  • Our colleague Crysostom is back–with a comprehensive round-up of election news.
  • Sarah-Hope’s whole list has some California specific items, plus everything above.
  • If you get your health insurance through the ACA, you really need to look at the first item on Martha’s list.
  • Rogan’s list has great information on actions state-by-state, as well as ways to engage in upcoming primaries and an action you can take to restore asylum.

January 26, 2020

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has accessible, usable information on voter registration and the census, as well as quick actions you can take toward justice–e.g., advocating for workers, transpeople and indigenous people in ICE custody, and more.
  • Heather Cox Richardson has illuminating commentary on impeachment–and more.
  • Want to thank the National Archive for restoring the images of the Women’s march? Inclined to speak up about the manipulation of aid to Puerto Rico? Sarah-Hope’s list has additional items that may interest you.
  • Martha’s list this week has numerous ways you can comment for the public record–on school lunches (2 measures), the Endangered Species Act review, DeVos’s “guidance” on school prayer, and most immediate, changes to SSI and SSDI disability reviews (see our December 23 issues for the full story).
  • Rogan’s list has an excellent roundup of actions you can take vis a vis impeachment, elections, and other issues.
  • Crysostom’s election news site is on hiatus this week, but here’s the January 7 column to hold you over.

January 19, 2020

  • Vice provides a comprehensive guide to avoid getting hacked.
  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has quick, easy actions you can take and an announcement about its 2020 strategy.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list includes some items above and others from last week that you might want to revisit, including the ERA, the machinations of Cambridge Analytica, and the issue of the changes to disability.
  • Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record on issues such as the additional barriers to asylum (see last week’s issue where we explain this), coal plant waste (also explained last week), farmworker protections, and much more.
  • Rogan’s list recommends that we call key senators to demand witnesses at the impeachment trial and suggests that we pressure the Senate on the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. See the list for other straightforward actions you can take.
  • As the impeachment trial proceeds, Heather Cox Richardson’s nightly columns will be an essential resource.

January 12, 2020

RESOURCES

  • Got five minutes? The Americans of Conscience checklist gives you quick, focused actions you can take–objecting to the “Remain in Mexico” policy, supporting the census, pausing judicial confirmations during the impeachment process.
  • Emma Marris, writing in the New York Times, provides a clear, direct plan for how to live while engaging the climate crisis.
  • If you have a postcarding group, consider Sarah-Hope’s list–it has all the options to speak up that you see here–and more.
  • Don’t forget Rogan’s list, which explains how to call on Congress to restrain Trump from war-mongering, has election information, suggests launch parties for a Green New Deal–and much more.
  • In her list, Martha reminds us that the deadline to speak up about tariffs, drinking water (de)regulations and the “Remain in Mexico” policy is January 13, while the deadline to comment on new nursing home (de)regulations is January 17.
  • See why Crysostom hopes Pompeo tries out for Hamlet after all of this, and more in his most recent election round-up–he covers news and gossip around House, Senate and state races.

January 5, 2020

  • Amy Siskind, who has been posting a weekly list of not-normal actions since the beginning of the Trump administration, has a round-up of particularly egregious behavior.
  • Martha’s list focuses on SSI and SDI proposed rules that would result in massive cuts to disability, the “remain in Mexico” comment deadline, and more.
  • For regular access to clear, well-defined actions, follow the Americans of Conscience checklist.

December 22, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has clear, easy actions you can take.
  • Most of Sarah-Hope’s list is included above, but there are a few additional items.
  • Rogan’s list is on holiday, but the December 19 edition has numerous, quick opportunities to speak up.
  • Chrysostom has an excellent roundup of election news and gossip

December 15, 2019

  • Heather Cox Richardson had a chilling piece December 14 on how the Republican party became what it is today. Don’t miss it!
  • Rogan’s list this week is a special impeachment edition. On the site are many opportunities to support voters, challenge corruption, and show up at a pre-impeachment rally.
  • Plots are afoot to cut back SSI and SSDI–the two federal disability programs. Hundreds of thousands of people could be affected. Comments on this proposal are due January 31–see Martha’s list for how to respond to this and other critical policy changes.
  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist offer quick, easy ways to advocate for free lunches for children who need them, fair treatment for asylum-seekers, legalization for farmworkers, and much more.
  • Incredibly, it’s week 161 since the world turned upside down. To keep track of everything that has happened, take a look at The Weekly List of not-normal actions.
  • Many of Sarah-Hope’s action items are included above, but if you’d like to work from the whole list, you can find it here.
  • See Chrysostom’s comprehensive collection of election news here.

December 8, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has a list of organizations to support and clear. focused actions to take.
  • If you’re in a postcard writing mood, see Sarah-Hope’s entire list for actions and addresses.
  • Martha’s list has many opportunities to comment for the public record. And as we noted last week, stunningly few people comment, so your comment will have proportionately more weight than you might think.
  • Rogan’s list has numerous recommended action on climate, immigration, healthcare and more.
  • Our colleague Chrysostom has a full election round-up, weekly and then some. This time he remarks on how the first people to have endorsed Trump seem to have been indcted, points out some scary news on election security, and provides important state-level information.
  • Don’t forget to read Heather Cox Richardson this week. Her nightly commentary on events in Washington make sense out of the chaos.

December 1, 2019

  • Chrysostom has a comprehensive round-up of elections news, interwoven with some oblique Bloom County references.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list includes ProPublica’s list of thirty-one examples of the ways the current administration is systematically undoing guarantees of rights for LGBTQ Americans, as well as some California-specific items.
  • Martha’s list offers further opportunities to comment–including on proposed changes to Medicare and Medicaid, plus an extension of time to comment on student workers ability to unionize–and much more.
  • Rogan’s list has further opportunities to comment, in addition to other actions you can take to promote the ACA, work against conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth, protect abortion rights, and much more.
  • Heather Cox Richardson’s analysis for December 1 posits a reason why Trump does not want to be impeached. It’s not obvious.

November 24, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist always has clear, pointed suggestions for action.
  • Chrysostom posts election updates and analyses at this site.
  • Sarah-Hope’s whole list is here, including those you could consider thanking for testifying.
  • Martha’s list has numerous opportunities to comment–including on regulations involving the “migrant protection protocols” — of which “remain in Mexico” is one part. The anti-LGBT adoption/foster care proposal was published, along with a proposal to relax standards on coal ash in streams and rivers.
  • In addition to opportunities to comment (some of which we include above), Rogan’s list updates us on upcoming climate strikes, including one November 29. See the Fridays for Future map for Canadian events.

November 17, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist offers a number of positive advocacy opportunities.
  • If you want to systematically work through some opportunities to comment on pending rules, Sarah-Hope’s entire list is here.
  • Martha’s list provides opportunities to comment on Keystone XL, the reduction in food stamps, cuts to food stamps, fast-tracked nuclear reactors, restrictions on LGBTQ adoptions, and much more.
  • Rogan’s list also has a number of ways to speak up–about detained children, voter suppression, Stephen Miller’s white nationalism–and more.
  • Chrysostom has a comprehensive round-up of election news.

November 10, 2019

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist has clear information about quick actions you can take to make a difference.
  • If you want to use Sarah-Hope’s list for postcarding, here are all the action items together.
  • Martha’s list, which lists opportunities to comment for the public record, has some critical items this week: Several proposals on drilling in Alaska, diverting the Sacramento River, relaxing standards for dumping coal waste into rivers, and the final nail in the coffin for the Clean Water Act–along with a proposal to charge fees to immigrants/asylum-seekers.
  • Rogan’s list has a way to add your voice to that of the 11,000 scientists who declared a climate emergency this week. She also tells us how to insist that elections are secure, suggests that we advocate for impeachment, and reminds us that enrollment has opened for the Affordable Care Act. It’s important to pass the word on the ACA as open enrollment has not been advertised at all.

November 3, 2019

  • Sarah-Hope’s list has the action items above along with others, including ways to address the issue we covered last week on the racism inherent in health-care algorithms.
  • Martha’s list provides opportunities to comment for the public record; the policy changes pending would undo agricultural worker, food and environmental protections, implement anti-LGBTQ foster care and adoption measures, permit border officials to delay action on asylum-seekers–and much more.
  • Rogan’s list has resources on Indigenous issues, uninsured children, voter purges and much more.
  • See Chrysostom’s comprehensive election round-up here.

October 27, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist offers clear, well-defined actions you can take.
  • Amy Siskind’s list is paradoxically helpful in identifying how surreal things have become.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list has an additional important story for Californians as well as cohesive opportunities for action.
  • Martha’s list has some urgent items on it requiring comments right away: the reduction of energy efficiency standards, land policy in Alaska, EPA policy re: clean air, ominous-sounding policy changes re: Venezuela.
  • As Martha notes, on Mondays, Rogan’s list features a listing of proposed rule and regulation changes that arecurrently accepting public comment. Commenting is the way to show government agencies howwe feel about these proposed changes. Our comments also become part of a record that will bereviewed by courts if and when a reg change is contested. Courts use comments to judge whether an agency is acting arbitrarily and capriciously.

October 13, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has a number of well-focused action suggestions for voter empowerment and election security.
  • Amy Siskind’s list of not-normal events for week 151 is particularly illuminating this week.
  • Sarah-Hope’s complete list is at this site, though her action items follow the stories above.
  • On her list, Martha calls our attention to item 7 under “NEW”; SEC is massively undoing Dodd-Frank in ways which would de-regulate banks. There are numerous other opportunities to weigh in on proposals to open wilderness areas to roads, lower environmental standards, much more.
  • Rogan’s list for Monday has a number of good opportunities to comment.
  • Our colleague Chrysostom’s column on elections is on hiatus this week; check it out in a few days.

October 6, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has many clear, positive actions that you can take this week.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list is always worth reviewing, as there are usually a few items that haven’t made it into our summaries.
  • Rogan’s list has a series of excellent action items and resources.
  • Martha’s list this week is a compenium of policy changes and proposed changes that affect the environment, public safety, individual rights–and more. Read through it for an education into the fine print of all that is going on. She offers opportunities to comment for the public record as well.

September 29, 2019

  • Sarah-Hope’s list is partly incorporated above, but she has additional material especially for Californians.
  • In addition to a variety of other actions you can take, Rogan’s list suggests some ways your voice can be heard on the Ukraine/impeachment issue.
  • In Martha’s list, note particularly the issue of water quality in Washington State.

Rogan’s list suggests some ways your voice can be heard on the Ukraine/impeachment issue.In Martha’s list, note particularly the issue of water quality in Washington State.

September 22, 2019

  • Chrysostom’s comprehensive election roundup.
  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist offers some clear-cut actions you can take to support voter turnout.
  • Some of Sarah-Hope’s action items follow the stories above; see others on her list.
  • Rogan’s list suggests actions you can take on impeachment, human rights, gun reform, border wall construction, fees charged to immigrants, and much more.
  • Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record on a myriad of topics: cuts to food stamps, regulations linked to the USCIS public charge rule, expedited removal of immigrants, exploitation of the Alaskan wilderness and national forests, the California auto-emission waiver, immigration court changes, Medicaid work requirement, safe drinking water, nuclear weapons, pesticide residues allowed, the right of federal employees to unionize, miners exposed to diesel exhaust, and the ACA.

September 15, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist emphasizes election security preparation and Temporary Protected Status for Bahamians. They also offer some good news.
  • Martha’s list alerts us to how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to modify nursing home regulations yet again – all but eliminating the ombudsman program and other protections. The proposed requirements would rollback numerous resident protections by eliminating or easing up on specific nursing home responsibilities. The result for residents? Reduced standards for safety, quality care and rights. Comment by the end of the day on the 16th. If you miss it, look at all the other issues in play.
  • See Martha’s list as well for opportunities to comment for the public record on cuts to food stamps, regulations linked to USCIS public charge rule, expedited removal of immigrants, immigration court changes, the Medicaid work requirement, and more.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list this week focuses on California. Because the legislature had to pass bills by September 13, a pile of crucial laws are now on Governor Newsom’s desk.
  • Rogan’s list also has some crucial items–on stopping adoptee deportation, stopping open carry in stores, forgiving student loans, and much more, including a list of where companies make political donations.

September 8, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is still on summer break, but you can sign up for their checklist now.
  • In addition to proposing various action items, Sarah-Hope recommends that we send well-wishes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. See Sarah-Hope’s list here.
  • Most important on Martha’s list are the USCIS tip form and cuts to food stamps (SNAP). She also identifies opportunities for public comment on proposed changes Medicare Part B, impending exploitation Alaskan wilderness and national forests, the Medicaid work requirement, Drinking water, Nuclear weapons, allowable residues of pesticides residuesm the right of federal employees to unionize, and more.
  • If you want to help victims of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, plant trees to address the climate crisis, work against the deportation of immigrants in medical need, or engage in some other way, see Rogan’s List, now with new items.

September 1, 2019

  • See the Americas of Conscience Checklist for lists of issues and easy actions you can take.
  • Many items on Sarah-Hope’s list follow the stories above, but if you want to see other items, the entire list is here.
  • Martha’s list, which addresses ways to respond for the public record, includes information on plans to restructure immigration courts, a proposed USCIS tip line on immigrants suspected of using public benefits, a rule which would prevent the FDA from labeling Round-Up as a carcinogen, a proposal to open Alaska national forests to roads.
  • Rogan’s list is taking a break till after Labor Day, but it still has many timely items on it.

August 25, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist has reliable and engaging information. See their site for an explanation and easy actions you can take.
  • Most of Sarah-Hope’s recommendations for action items follow the relevant stories, but there are a few from last week that you might want to revisit.
  • About her list, Martha says that the most important item is the first one in the “Closing Soon” section about the “National Environmental Policy Act Compliance” which applies to all National Forests.and would leave the public with no role in more than 90 percent of the decisions made for our national forests. This is a clear violation of the public trust and of major laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, and it’s designed to ramp up clearcutting and bulldozing of millions of acres in national forests, Also extremely important is the Final Rule allowing unlimited detention of immigrant children, “Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children” – there is no opportunity to comment as it’s final. But you can write your legislators.
  • Rogan’s list is on hiatus until after Labor Day, but the items on her site are still pertinent.

August 18, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is an excellent source of action items.
  • Americans of Conscience also  recommends this list of actions you can take to support those imprisoned at the border.
  • Sarah-Hope’s action items follow the stories above, but here’s her whole list if you’d like to have it.
  • Martha tells us that there are two particularly alarming items on her list this week: The DOJ “Privacy ACT” on creating a new court database for immigrants to be used by ICE and DHS and the “Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption.” She lists many more policies and rules in process to be aware of.
  • Rogan’s list is on hiatus until after Labor Day, but there are still many useful and topical suggestions on it.
  • Margaret Atwood recommends that you follow @projectdrawdown on Twitter, and indeed it is a great source for the many evidence-based reports that have emerged recently.

August 11, 2019

  • Americans with Conscience recommends this list of actions you can take to support those imprisoned at the border.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list of actions to take is mostly integrated into the stories above, but the link has the whole list.
  • Martha’s list offers dozens of ways to comment for the public record on issues ranging from environmental policy changes limiting comment and environmental review on national forests logging; a policy change which would not permit California to require a toxic warning on RoundUp; cuts to food stamps; Trump’s Asylum Ban and expedited removal of aliens, the Medicaid work requirement and much more.
  • Rogan’s list suggests offers numerous opportunities for public comment.

August 4, 2019

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist recommends that you take some time to re-inspire yourself. Americans with Conscience also recommends this list of actions you can take to support those imprisoned at the border.
  • Many of Sarah-Hope’s action items follow the news summaries above–but there are more! See her list.
  • Martha’s list for this week includes ways to comment for the public record on cuts to food stamps, Trump’s asylum ban, expedited removal of aliens, drinking water, nuclear weapons, defense installations, pesticides residues allowed, RoundUp, right of federal employees to unionize, exposing miners to diesel exhaust, the ACA and more!
  • Rogan’s list suggests ways to comment on the fact that 911 more children have been separated from their parents since a judge prohibited the practice. She recommends ways to address gun laws, strategies for supporting immigrants, and much more.

July 28, 2019

July 21, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist recommends this list of actions you can take to address issues at the border.
  • Sarah-Hope’s recommendations for action are linked to the stories above; to see the whole list–including her brilliant riff on impeachment–look here.
  • Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment for the public record on a multitude of issues, including changes to long-term care, natural gas drilling in Alaska, increased plutonium production, and much more.

July 14, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist recommends this list of actions you can take to address issues at the border.
  • Some recommendations from Sarah-Hope’s list follow relevant stories; here are other opportunities to be heard.
  •  Martha’s list provides numerous opportunities to comment for the public record–on issues including privacy, the migratory bird hunting on Tribal lands, Alaska drilling, multiple state-by-state changing ozone standards, reducing energy efficiency standards for appliances – heaters and furnaces, and much more. 
    Rogan’s list has many useful items, that ActBlue Charities has a fund supporting a group of organizations working at the border; a toolkit from Never Again, the Jews organizing against the detention camps; a locator from United We Dream that indicates how many people are being held where; and ways to take action on nearly any issue that concerns you.

July 7, 2019

  • Some recommendations from Sarah-Hope’s list follow relevant stories; here are others.
  • Martha’s list provides numerous opportunities to comment for the public record–on issues ranging from the dangers of diesel exhaust for miners to Trump’s plan to increase surveillance of travellers to the government’s proposal to open 80 new plutonium pits.
  • Rogan’s list has many useful items, including a toolkit from Never Again, the Jews organizing against the detention camps; a locator from United We Dream that indicates how many people are being held where; talking points for calling your congressperson about the camps, and much more.

June 30, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is focusing on voter empowerment for the month of June. See their site for an explanation and easy actions you can take.
  • Some of the items from Sarah-Hope’s list are integrated with the stories above; see the full list for more opportunities to be heard.
  • Martha’s list  provides opportunities to comment for the public record. This week she covers natural gas drilling in Alaska, toxins in drinking water, relaxed requirements for transporting nuclear weapons, protections for LGBTQ health, and many other issues–in particular proposals to redefine how the government measures things – poverty rates, pollution.
  • Rogan’s list has ways to speak up about the need to investigate Kavanaugh for perjury, multiple options for addressing the crisis of children in detention, the importance of pressing Democratic presidential candidates on climate change–and more.

June 9, 2019

  • The Americans of Conscience Checklist is focusing on voter empowerment for the month of June. See their site for an explanation and easy actions you can take.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list suggests whom you might write to about election security, disaster relief, penalties for those protesting pipelines–and much more.
  • Martha’s list provides numerous ways to comment on the record. Crucial this week
    is the sage grouse habitat; opportunities to comment closes in two days. Trump wants to open up the entire habitat to oil and gas drilling, threatening more than sage grouse but the entire ecosystem. Also, they’ve moved to remove regulatory restrictions on automated driving for cars, trucks, trains. Planes will be next. The 737 Max problem was in part automation.

June 2, 2019

  • The Americas of Conscience Checklist is focusing on voter empowerment for the month of June. See their site for an explanation and easy actions you can take.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list also has some actions you can take around elections, as well as a way to pressure Justice Kavanaugh to rescue himself on the abortion issue, ways to address gun violence and more.
  • Martha’s list focuses on the attacks on LGBTQ+ civil rights; she says the big news is how the Trump administration is changing how it measures things – pollution deaths, poverty and a new standard called “natural law,” likely a further challenge to LGBTQ+ rights. See her list for ways to engage with these issues.

May 26, 2019

  • See Martha’s whole list for other issues affecting trans people, along with many opportunities to comment on the record, including proposals to loosen restrictions on RoundUp, frack California, tighten asylum rules and make eagle feathers available to non-indigenous people for non-indigenous religious observances.
  • If you want challenge locking up asylum-seekers or requiring them to wait in Mexico while their cases are being heard, if you want to advocate for preserving NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System or for keeping the EPA’s system for monitoring the health of children, see Sarah-Hope’s full list.

May 19, 2019

  • If you want to speak up about gun violence, pregnancy-related deaths among Black women, the “conscience” rule permitting health care providers to refuse to care for LGBTQ+ patients and others–and much more, see Sarah-Hope’s list.
  • The Americans of Conscience list has a list of actions you can take, along with some good news.
  • Martha also has good news: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reversed the Medicare Part D rule which would have permitted plans to exclude protected classes including people with HIV or cancer. Comments can make a difference! To comment on other issues, among them RoundUp, HUD targeting undocumented residents (see our story last week), exposing miners to diesel exhaust, the ACA, elections and voting systems, municipal sewer run-off, and more, see her list.

May 12, 2019

  • Do you have something to say about fracking in California? The destruction of grey wolves? The requirement that asylum seekers pay fees to apply?  If so, Martha can tell you how to weigh in. Here is her list.
  • Sarah-Hope has identified even more action items than we have listed in the news summaries, from ways to speak up about the dismantling of safeguards around off-shore drilling to subsidies of fossil fuels to Anita Hill’s call for federal protections against sexual harassment. See her list here.

May 5, 2019

  • Lawfare has a page with just the executive summaries of the Mueller report.
  • Martha has a particularly comprehensive list this week, addressing threats to the ACA, a massive fracking plan in California, changes to groundwater contamination, and much more. She tells you where to submit a federal comment on these and other issues.
  • Sarah-Hope’s full list suggests other issues you may want to address–the House climate change bill, the Trump administration’s resistance to considering rape a weapon of war, gun control, and more.
  • Jen Hofmann’s Americans of Conscience checklist also offers clear, managable actions to take.

April 28, 2019

​If you’d ​like to take an important action but not drown in an issue or a project, take a look at Martha and Sarah-Hope’s lists. Martha vets the opportunities for public comments and highlights the most pressing. Among the issues this week that would warrant your attention is a proposal around election security and another that would permit Hilcorp Alaska to allow marine mammals to be harmed in its search for oil and gas. Still others would weaken groundwater standards and allow importing “trophies” of endangered species, a​s well as ​allowing private donors to contribute to gov’t employees legal expenses​: who benefits, would you guess? ​ 


​Sarah-Hope suggests that you take a stand against the “icebox” detention centers which are so crowded that detainees can neither sit nor lie down. She also thinks you might have something to say about the Trump administrations’s plan to open the California Coast to oil and gas drilling or about mass executions in Saudi Arabia. She offers summaries of numerous issues and people to write to.​

Postcards to Voters is writing for a Congressional special election: Marc Friedenberg in PA.

Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior have posted free access to their Gaslit Nation podcast Mueller Report Special, Part 1 as well as a Gaslit Nation Action Guide.

April 21, 2019

Opportunities to comment:

Martha points out that April 25 is the last day to comment on opening up US waters off the Continental Shelf to oil and gas drilling. In addition, see proposed changes to lawyer representation in immigration courts, and new proposed regulations from HUD targeting undocumented immigrants and their families. Also see a 4/15 notice allowing donors to contribute to federal employees’ legal expenses – think about that one and why now?

Sarah-Hope recommends that you look at the bill to preserve Social Security, challenge the ban on transgender service members, address the disenfranchisement of Native American voters, ask your legislators to address vulnerabilities in the election system, and more!

April 7, 2019

If you think that the Trump administration’s plan to cut aid to Latin American countries (thus intensifying the hardship that leads to conditions that drive people to leave) is a bad idea, Sarah-Hope can tell you whom to write. She also thinks you might want to comment on the Privacy for All act, the refusal of the Education Department to support student loan relief, the withholding and redacting of the Mueller report—and more! Her list is on this google doc.

Martha notes this week that the SNAP work requirement comment deadline was extended to April 10. Glyphosate, the ingredient for Roundup, is now open for comment on inclusion in toxics registry.  She suggests that you look closely at the ICE Tip form – it’s really asking neighbors to inform on neighbors, she says. And look carefully at the Waters of the United States proposal, which seeks to redefine all inland waters. Her list has various options for responding on the record.

Resources from March 31, 2019

  • “So far in April, there are 29 elections scheduled. If one of these is in your district, make sure you vote! For everyone else, please share this with your network to spread the word in order to increase awareness and turnout!”
  • Americans of Conscience Checklist for March 31, 2019.
  • Postcards to Voters is currently writing for a City Council race in Frisco, TX. Text JOIN to 484-275-2229 to sign up; you can write as few as 4 postcards at a time, or as many as you like, so this is a very flexible commitment.
  • 5 Calls has scripts for various issues.
  • Write a letter through the Episcopal Church to defend access to asylum.
  • Rogan’s List has a long list of actions, including on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, fighting the deportation of unaccompanied migrant children, protecting the integrity of voting machines, and a lot more.
  • Martha points out that the SNAP proposal comment period ends this week. Something big on 39Ghz networks, auctions, bandwidth is coming up–watch for a webinar April 4th, she says. See her list.
  • Martha also wants to call our attention to the assault on coastal zones and inland waters.
  • Sarah-Hope has also identified seventeen issues you could comment on–from new draconian proposals that will affect migrant children and families to election integrity to pesticides that are neurotoxins, and much more.

Evergreen opportunities to get involved:

Actions:

Donate:

We don’t have the resources to thoroughly vet every charity we recommend here, but have limited our recommendations to those who have an A- or better from CharityWatch, or a 95/100 or better from Charity Navigator.

Bear in mind that many charities allow you to donate in somebody else’s name and send them a thank-you or gift note. It can be fun to “thank” politicians for terrible statements by donating to an organization they’d hate in their name. One of our volunteers donates to Planned Parenthood regularly in the name of pro-forced-birth politicians, for example.

Keeping Track:

Roundups: