Saturday, February 18th

(Adapted from freepress.net & Rogan's List - please share widely)

“George Washington” by Gilbert Stuart (American, North Kingston, Rhode Island 1755–1828 Boston, Massachusetts) via The Metropolitan Museum of Art is licensed under CC0 1.0

The Trump administration has introduced a budget that would cut all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities: organizations that promote innovative and creative expression, cultural and artistic understanding, and scholarly research as a basis for an informed democracy. Join with PEN America, Daily Kos and other allies to help protect the arts and humanities. Urge Congress to reject any budget that defunds the NEA and NEH: Sign the petition. Call your members of Congress. If your senators and representative aren't saved in your phone yet, text your zip code to 520-200-2223. You'll immediately get a text back with everyone's contact info, INCLUDING your STATE senator and assembly member.  We need an informed democracy now more than ever, as well as access to artistic outlets to help us get through these tough times. To cope with the administration’s hate, we need art’s power to communicate — and foster cultural understanding and empathy.

Defunding the NEA and NEH would essentially kill these organizations.  Meanwhile, Trump is spending the third weekend in a row vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — and each of these trips is costing taxpayers approximately $3 million. Some perspective: The combined budget for the NEA and NEH is $148 million.1  Trump's hypocrisy is nauseating.

Supported by these organizations and many more like them:

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Thursday, February 16

(Adapted from Daily Acts of Resistance and emails by Bill Moyers)

We truly need an independent press right now.  

Action You Can Take Today: Please consider subscribing to print and online news, and donating to organizations that support independent journalism.

Here are a few active subscription options, you could pick one, two, three or more, or you can always find others you prefer.

• The Washington Post, which played a big role in uncovering information leading to Michael Flynn's resignation.
• The New York Times, which is continuing to vigorously investigate 45's ties to Russia.
• The Guardian, which is always ahead of the rest with breaking news.
• The New Yorker, making us laugh every day thanks to the fearless Andy Borowitz.

 Also consider donating to non-profit organizations that support real news:

• ProPublica — Founded 10 years ago by a former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, ProPublica is a nonprofit investigative news site based in New York City. In 2010 ProPublica was the first online publication to win a Pulitzer Prize and has earned two more since, as well as a long list of other prestigious awards.
• The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) — An early player in the nonprofit investigative space, CPI has been around for close to 30 years. Its reporters have won dozens of journalism awards, including a Pulitzer in 2014, for its investigations of money in politics, national security, health care reform, business and the environment.
• The Center For Investigative Reporting (CIR) — Founded 40 years ago in the San Francisco Bay Area, CIR is a nonprofit that has partnered for years with other outlets to reach a wide audience in print, on television, on radio and online. It collaborates with PRX Radio to produce Reveal, the investigative radio program and podcast. The Reveal website is now home to all of CIRs investigative content.
• Frontline — Launched more than 30 years ago, Frontline is television’s most consistent and respected investigative documentary program. Its documentaries are broadcast on PBS and are available online, along with original reporting.
• Mother Jones — Mother Jones, founded in 1976, is a reader-supported, nonprofit news organization headquartered in San Francisco with bureaus in Washington, DC and New York City. The site includes investigative reporting as well as general reporting on topics including politics, climate change and education.
• Real Clear Investigations — Real Clear Investigations, which launched last fall, is the new nonprofit, investigative arm of Real Clear Politics. It is mostly an aggregator of investigative reporting, but has also begun conducting original investigations.
• The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) — ICIJ is a nonprofit offshoot of the Center for Public Integrity that began 20 years ago. It is a global network of more than 190 investigative journalists in more than 65 countries who work together to investigate cross-border issues including crime, corruption and abuse of power.
• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) — IRE is a grass-roots, nonprofit, membership organization that has been providing tips, training and conferences for investigative reporters since 1975. Its blog, Extra! Extra! showcases a wide variety of watchdog journalism.

Wednesday, February 15 at 6:30 pm

Attend the February Meeting of the Rules Committee
of the Putnam County Legislature

Meeting is in Room 318 of the Putnam County Office Building, located at the intersection of Routes 301 and 6, in Carmel, NY

Agenda: