MARY MATZEK

REVISITING BEAUTIFUL INVADER.

By Mary Matzek on June 7, 2015 6:13 AM

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At a local nursery, I bought the beautiful plant, scotch broom.
I bought Scotch Broom and now have to spend the rest of my life trying to rid my property of it. If I had known it is a take-over horror that interferes with natural plants, animals, birds, sidewalks and parking lots; it gravitates and fills clear cuts and that the seeds last 100 years I wouldn’t have bought it.
I began to wonder why a pesty invader like scotch broom is allowed to be sold at nurseries? I learned that “Invasive plants are considered innocent until proven guilty.” By then, they are out of control and cost millions to eradicate-when possible. Why allow nurseries to sell invasive foreign species? At least labeling should be required. Simple testing first would save billions. I have scotch broom at my house in Murphys and also on my property in Oregon. That’s why I created a petition to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama, Governor Jerry Brown, The Oregon State House, The Oregon State Senate, Governor Kate Brown, which says:

My petition asks that we save the West from scotch broom. It has invaded Washington State beyond redemption. In Oregon there is still hope of controlling it. In California, it is making inroads And plants all over the united states have had a similar affect like kudzu, giant hogweed, Russian olive, Japanese Honeysuckle. In fact here is a list of plants to watch for. Don’t buy them.

Invasive Plants Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) Brazilian Peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolius) Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) Chinese Tallow (Triadica sebifera) Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica) Diffuse Knapweed (Centaurea diffusa) Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum) Fig Buttercup (Ficaria verna) Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) Golden Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) Hairy Whitetop (Lepidium appelianum) Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) Japanese Climbing Fern (Lygodium japonicum) Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) Japanese Spiraea (Spiraea japonica) Japanese Stilt Grass (Microstegium vimineum) Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula) Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) Mile-A-Minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum) Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) Purple Star Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) Quackgrass (Elymus repens) Russian Knapweed (Rhaponticum repens) Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) Sacred Bamboo (Nandina domestica) Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) Scotch Thistle (Onopordum acanthium) Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum) Whitetop (Lepidium draba) Witchweed (Striga asiatica) Yellow Star Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)

Will you sign this petition? I’ve repeated my blog because friends complained the link did not work. I believe I’ve fixed it and I believe the subject was worth revisiting.
Click here:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-the-west-from-scotch?source=c.em.cp&r_by=13097902

If it doesn't work, copy and paste it to your url.

THE NRA, PROMISES UNKEPT

 

(Yahoo News Photo Illustration/AP/Getty)
A leading national gun safety group, joined by members of Congress, is calling for investigations of the National Rifle Association’s fundraising practices and finances in response to a Yahoo News investigation published last week.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) has launched a nationwide petition campaign asking the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service to investigate “violations of federal law” by the National Rifle Association. The CSGV is made up of 48 organizations, among them religious, social justice, political and child welfare groups.
The Yahoo News report which disclosed that the NRA had violated multiple provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act, failed to report its political expenditures to the IRS for six consecutive years, and appears to have avoided paying federal taxes.

Yahoo News reported that the NRA misled prospective donors by telling them that money was being raised to support the tax-exempt operations of the organization when the money was, in fact, deposited to the account of its political action committee. Federal law — as well as multiple state laws — requires that fundraisers explicitly inform donors who the beneficiary of a contribution will be.

“Donations used to support candidates or causes with deception to the donors,  is a  violation of law,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a former Connecticut attorney general. “NRA donors deserve to know where their donations are going without any misinformation, and the solicitations described by Yahoo News merit scrutiny.”

Federal law also bars organizations like the NRA from raising funds for their political action committees (PACs) from the general public, and from using publicly accessible websites to finance their PACs. Tax-exempt corporations like the NRA are only allowed to solicit from their members. The NRA violated all of these provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act in soliciting contributions during the 2014 elections.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said, “Everyone needs to play by the same set of rules.  Thompson, the chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, said, “Many Second Amendment supporters and responsible gun owners contribute to the NRA because of the work it does to promote gun safety and support the hunting community. They have a right to know whether their money is going to these causes or to Beltway-NRA political efforts that undermine common-sense laws designed to keep criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill from getting guns.”

Thompson was referring indirectly to the NRA’s support for candidates who backed its successful 2013 campaign to thwart expanded background checks for gun purchases. The measure died in the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., whose district includes the Sandy Hook Elementary School where 26 children and adults were shot to death in 2012, said her office had heard from advocacy groups about the issues raised in the Yahoo News report.  She said. “The NRA is not above the law.”

The NRA has twice been challenged by the FEC for illegally moving corporate funds to its PAC. In 1983, again in 1991, and again in 2014. They signed a consent form not to violate campaign laws but continue to do so.

If you'd like to sign the petition, click on the link below.
http://csgv.org/action/tell-fec-irs-investigate-nra-violations-federal-law/