Volume I, Issue 3 The Newsletter of Minuteman Indivisible Lexington March 20, 2017
Muster (verb) – assemble, especially for inspection or preparation for battle
Welcome to Minuteman Muster, the weekly e-newsletter of Minuteman Indivisible Lexington. Here you will find action steps that take as little as a few minutes to do, news from Minuteman Indivisible, upcoming events, links to articles of interests and more.
MI HAPPENINGS
Minuteman Indivisible and Indivisible MA5 joined forces at Katherine Clark's Advocacy Fair held at the Lexington High School over the weekend. Minuteman Indivisible had 28 people sign up at the event and many more take information. Thanks to all our organizers who volunteered at the event!
UPCOMING TEAM MEETINGS
Protest and Marches - Sign Making
Monday, March 20, 2017
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington
Arts and Crafts Room
The 1st of our four sign-making workshops is happening on Monday, March 20th 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.in the Arts and Crafts Room at the Lexington Community Center. We will have all of the materials for you on hand; cardboard, sharpies, stencils, rulers, so please join us with your slogans and come make a sign for whichever march or rally you are planning to join.
Climate and Environment Team Meeting
Monday, March 20, 2017
7:30 pm - 8:45 pm
Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington
Arts and Crafts room
The Climate and Environment Team is taking action on state and federal level legislation related to CO2 emissions, and monitoring state legislation related to other environment and climate for potential action. New members welcome, bring a keen interest in making a difference.
Healthcare Team Meeting
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
7:30pm-9:00pm
Bedford MA (email for address)
With the release of the AHCA in Congress, we will discuss the pros and cons of this bill intended to replace the ACA. The Republicans aim to have this bill fast-tracked out of the House and through the Senate before the Congressional Recess in April. To participate in this meeting, send your request to info@minutemanindivisible.org.
Elections Team Meeting
Thursday, March 23, 2017
7:15 pm - 8:45 pm
Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington
Room 242
Let's take back Congress! We can help elect Democrats in 3 special elections over the next 3 months in Montana, Georgia, and South Carolina. Then we'll turn our attention towards the 2018 elections.
Outreach Team Meeting
Thursday, March 23, 2017
7:30pm-9:00pm
3 Diehl Road, Lexington MA
We will mark our out-of-state friends’ locations on the USA map that we had at our MI kickoff meeting, so bring those names with you. We will have a demo of our MI Outreach tool for helping us link together relevant information based on the zip code or state of our out-of-state friends and take action to reach out to the local Indivisible Groups in those areas. Stop by at 7:30.
Constitutional Democracy Team Meeting
Wednesday, March 29th, 2017
7:15 pm - 8:45 pm
Lexington Community Center Dining Room, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington
New members welcome.
The first meeting of the Constitutional Democracy team was held on March 15th and was a big success - fifteen people attended and everybody left energized and with action ideas in hand. We discussed what ‘Constitutional Democracy” is, broke into five key subteams (Freedom of the press / Freedom of Speech, Voting Rights and Gerrymandering, Conflicts of Interest / Emoluments / Ethics, Election influence by Foreign Powers, and Immigration / Refugees), and started brainstorming about actions that could be done “right now” that would have a positive effect, and shared the ideas with the other teams.
JOIN A TEAM
If you haven't had had a chance to sign up for a team and would like to get involved, just fill out this form:
Do you live in or know people in CA, NY, CO, NJ, Ill? Here is a list of 27 Republicans who might vote against Trumpcare with good facts and social media tools to help you make sure that they do vote against this disaster.
Let Markey and Warren know You Oppose H.R. 998 SCRUB Act
It's one of those boring and dangerous bills you’ve never heard of, but you know who doesn’t think this is boring? Corporate lobbyists—and they’re hoping you don’t notice. The Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act (H.R. 998) would create an unelected board to make recommendations to Congress on cutting regulations. This may not sound like a big deal—but it is. It’s a quiet way to give big business a big gift: the end of regulations essential to protecting our environment, health, and workplace safety. This bill has already passed the House and is currently before the Senate: here’s our script for telling your Senator to vote NO on this dangerous legislation.
Keep up the Pressure on the Trump Tax Issue
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) has introduced a Resolution of Inquiry (H.Res. 186) directing the Treasury Secretary to provide to the House of Representatives Trump’s tax returns from 2006 through 2015, as well as other financial documentation. If you think that Trump’s tax returns need to be made public, tell your MoC to cosponsor H.Res. 186. Here’s some background and script for asking your Representative to cosponsor the resolution.
Support Jon Ossoff for the House in GA 6th
It's the special election in Georgia where we can help turn a red state blue. Jonathan Ossoff is a young, smart Dem who just might be able to win the Congressional seat in an area that Trump won by only 1%. The Carlisle Political Action/Elections working group has launched a campaign to get 100 donations made to his campaign in 10 days. In less than 24 hours, there have already been twelve donations made. Wouldn't it be a stunning message to send to the White House? Here is the ActBlue donation page to make a donation.
Elect a Democrat to the Congressional seat vacated by Mike Pompeo
Donate a half hour to phone banking for James Thompson any day from 11 AM to 9:30 PM. For more information on the calling, click here. For more background on the race, click here. (Submitted by the MI Elections Team
It's always nice to applaud good work.Send a note to thank the ACLU for finding a clever way to call out Attorney General Jeff Sessions for lying during his hearing.
Their address: 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Politics of Justice: Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform in Massachusetts.
March 25, 2017 12:45 pm– 5:00 pm
First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington, 630 Mass. Ave., Arlington, MA
Free, Registration Required
For details and to register: Click here (Submitted by MI member)
Never is Now: Rally for Jewish Solidarity and Action
Sunday, April 2, 2017 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Post Office Square, Boston, MA
The strength of the Jewish community of Greater Boston is shown through its commitment to diversity, compassion, and justice. The Rally for Jewish solidarity and Action aims to bring the community together, to stand against hate and anti-semitism in all its forms, and to take action by supporting local Jewish organizations and events, contacting government officials to denounce anti-semitism wherever it appears, and educating ourselves, our families, and our communities about the history of anti-Semitism and the threats we face today. We have cried Never Again. Never is Now. All are welcome. (Submitted by MI member)
Tax Day Protest
Saturday, April 15, 2017 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
City Hall Plaza, Boston
For more information, click here. (Submitted by MI Protests and Marches Team)
Tax Day Rally
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Lexington Center, (Location TBD) (Submitted by MI Protests and Marches Team)
March for Science
April 22, 2017 12 noon – 5:00 pm
Boston Common
The March for Science champions publicly-funded and publicly-communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, non-partisan group to call for science that upholds the common good, and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. This group is inclusive of all individuals and types of science! To register and for information, click here. (Submitted by MI Protests and Marches Team)
People's Climate March
Saturday, April 29, 2017 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Washington, DC
The Climate March in Washington DC is promising to be huge! A "sister" march in Boston on April 29 is still TBD; we hope to have confirmation in the upcoming week. For those that would like to march and must stay local, in absence of an organized sister climate march in Boston, we propose to march for climate concerns as part of the March for Science on April 22 (see above). For those that would like to march in Washington, there are buses available leaving from Alewife and other stops, leaving late Friday night April 28, going straight to the march, and then returning Saturday night to arrive back in the Boston area early Sunday Morning. Bus tickets are $85 + fee until March 24, then they go up to $130.
Click here for more information about the march. For Bus Information click here. (Submitted by MI Protests and Marches Team, and MI Climate and Environment Team)
GOOD READING AND VIEWING
Interesting background piece on Health Coverage in the US from Forbes Magazine
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Our Mission:
We the people of Minuteman Indivisible unite to uphold the rights and dignity of all people. Our mission is to exercise and defend our Constitutional rights and democratic institutions. Our principles are informed by our humanitarian values and respect for well-established scientific knowledge and governance expertise.
