Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons
Trolling Trump with Trees: Three dudes from New Zealand are helping the planet while taking the piss out of Trump's climate change denial. In case you missed it, Trump signed an executive order that rolled back environmental protections from the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. Since Trump enjoys branding just about everything with his name, the New Zealand group named their initiative "Trump Forest." They're calling on people from across the globe to pledge a donation for planting trees. So far there have been over 1,000 trees planted on five continents in the name of Trump Forest and the number keeps growing. Interested in pledging a tree? Take action here now.Step in the right direction: There's been an increase in gender confirmation surgeries in the US. According to a report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, numbers rose 19 percent in 2016. This is great news for the transgender community because it means now there is better access to healthcare for trans patients. However, keep in mind that not all transgender people have to or even want to get gender confirmation surgery. While it's progress that more trans people are able to transition medically, there's no single path to realizing one's gender identity.This does not compute: It doesn't take a genius to realize Trump's budget doesn't add up. The president's proposal for next year's federal spending will cut more than 1 trillion dollars in programs that rural and low-income communities to use, which means many of his own supporters are taking the hardest hits. Programs like Medicaid, food stamps and Social Security disability insurance would be shredded. On the flipside, defense programs are getting a huge boost. As usual, Trump's actions have left his party with mixed emotions, and elected officials from swing districts will be feeling the heat from their constituents.
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Yikes: The Attorney General Jeff Sessions is tightening the chokehold on sanctuary cities. Earlier this year, Trump released an executive order that threatened to withhold federal funding from locales that refused to cooperate with federal policies on undocumented immigrants. A federal judge from California blocked the order saying it was unconstitutional—booyah! But now Sessions is narrowing the language of the order for less legal wiggle room and more penalties for sanctuary cities.These laws put law enforcement and immigrants between a rock in a hard place. Immigrants will be less likely to call the police to report crimes or testify at trials if they believe that they could be deported or detained. It also means that law enforcement could legally racially profile people by asking to see papers if they assumed someone was undocumented.Pride is a virtue: On May 20, LGBTQ Russian immigrants held Brighton Beach Pride on the southern nook of Brooklyn, New York's shores. The location holds a special spot in the hearts of Russian immigrants due to its long history as a settling ground for former Soviet migrants dating back to the 70s. The event highlighted the homophobic atrocities happening in Chechnya, a Russian Republic, where gay men are being hunted and put into camps. Overall, the day was a rainbow-coated celebration of Russian culture, activism and civil rights.Closer to 100! Cities across the nation continue to invest in 100 percent clean energy, which means a better quality of life in both health and work. Atlanta, Georgia and Abita Springs, Louisiana are giving each other double high fives for committing to 100 percent renewable energy. The Sierra Club's Ready for 100 environmental campaign is encouraging mayors to lead the charge on clean energy policy. The feds have made it quite clear that climate change and environmental protections are not a concern so it's up to local officials to take the lead. So far there are 27 cities, now including Atlanta and Abita Spring, from all over the US that are completely running on renewables. Here's how you can add your city to the list of clean energy trailblazers.
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Check out some more video from VICE:
Yikes: The Attorney General Jeff Sessions is tightening the chokehold on sanctuary cities. Earlier this year, Trump released an executive order that threatened to withhold federal funding from locales that refused to cooperate with federal policies on undocumented immigrants. A federal judge from California blocked the order saying it was unconstitutional—booyah! But now Sessions is narrowing the language of the order for less legal wiggle room and more penalties for sanctuary cities.These laws put law enforcement and immigrants between a rock in a hard place. Immigrants will be less likely to call the police to report crimes or testify at trials if they believe that they could be deported or detained. It also means that law enforcement could legally racially profile people by asking to see papers if they assumed someone was undocumented.Pride is a virtue: On May 20, LGBTQ Russian immigrants held Brighton Beach Pride on the southern nook of Brooklyn, New York's shores. The location holds a special spot in the hearts of Russian immigrants due to its long history as a settling ground for former Soviet migrants dating back to the 70s. The event highlighted the homophobic atrocities happening in Chechnya, a Russian Republic, where gay men are being hunted and put into camps. Overall, the day was a rainbow-coated celebration of Russian culture, activism and civil rights.Closer to 100! Cities across the nation continue to invest in 100 percent clean energy, which means a better quality of life in both health and work. Atlanta, Georgia and Abita Springs, Louisiana are giving each other double high fives for committing to 100 percent renewable energy. The Sierra Club's Ready for 100 environmental campaign is encouraging mayors to lead the charge on clean energy policy. The feds have made it quite clear that climate change and environmental protections are not a concern so it's up to local officials to take the lead. So far there are 27 cities, now including Atlanta and Abita Spring, from all over the US that are completely running on renewables. Here's how you can add your city to the list of clean energy trailblazers.