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["Lynda" <lurine AT com-pair.net>]

Alert Update of the Week:
Stop Vilsack
http://www.organicconsumers.org/images/bytes/vilsack3.jpg Over the past 
month, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has been alerting our 
nationwide network about Obama's proposed appointment of Monsanto ally and 
former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to the position of Secretary of 
Agriculture. Far from representing the "Change" which Obama has promised, 
Vilsack has a disappointing record of promoting controversial genetically 
engineered foods, biopharm crops, and animal cloning, as well as 
cheerleading for unsustainable biofuels derived from corn and soybeans. In 
addition Vilsack has come under fire for aiding and abetting chemical and 
energy-intensive industrial agriculture, including Iowa's infamous 
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). 
http://www.organicconsumers.org/images/bytes/vilsack2.jpg

Thanks to all of you who have taken part in OCA's "Stop Vilsack" campaign. 
So far, we have collected over 60,000 online petition signatures, generating 
coverage from major media outlets and websites including the New York Times, 
Washington Post, National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio, Air America, 
Democracy Now, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, The Nation, and Huffington Post, 
as well as a number of major daily newspapers. Similar petitions circulated 
on the internet by OCA's allies, including http://www.fooddemocracynow.org 
fooddemocracynow.org, Pesticide Action Network, and the Center for Food 
Safety have generated an additional 60,000+ supporters, making Vilsack 
perhaps the most controversial and unpopular Obama cabinet appointment. 
OCA's petition is being delivered to Obama's Transition Team, as well as 
Congress.
http://www.stopvilsack.org

If you haven't yet signed the petition, please do so now.

If you've already signed the petition, here's another way to make positive 
change: The Obama Transition Team has set up a website soliciting input from 
citizens about various hot-button issues. One area of the website invites 
people to post questions and concerns and vote on them. Supposedly, those 
questions with the most votes will be directly responded to by 
President-Elect Obama.
http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions20081229/ Please follow this 
link and vote for questions asking Obama to support policies promoting 
health, justice, peace, and sustainability.