Words when written with deep commitment and conviction, with a call in every letter etch in our hearts the will to respond.
Words when written with deep commitment and conviction, with a call in every letter etch in our hearts the will to respond.
School shootings | The Zur Institute
The recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (California) finding a ban on the sale and rental of violent video games to minors unconstitutional is unsettling. This is especially true when taking into consideration the rise of bullying and violence among our youth spreading beyond “the Hood” and urban centers.
Comfortably affluent or dirt poor, black, white or brown; bullying and violence among our youth thrives.
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Speaking of petitions and the power of our united voice, it’s about time for Congress to dump DOMA. My friends at PFAW has a petition to do just that:
The victory in New York DOUBLES the number of Americans living in states with full marriage equality, and 35% of Americans now live in states that grant the basic rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples. But DOMA prevents the federal government from recognizing any of these relationships! Please take action to Dump DOMA now.
On Friday, the state of New York took a huge step toward making a fundamental American ideal — equality under the law — a reality for all its citizens when the State Senate, after several previous attempts, successfully passed a marriage equality law for same-sex couples.
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There’s hardly a week that goes by that I don’t post a message about a petition and a cause from my friends at Change.org. Sometimes, the odds seem insurmountable. Sometimes the cause is a fight taking place on the other side of the globe. So what’s my name or anyone name on a sheet of paper demanding justice going to do? Move a mountain. It’s a powerful, sweet thing! Here’s what my friends at Change.org had to say today:
Best. Week. Ever. Here’s what happened in the last seven days, because Change.org members took action:
1) Ai Weiwei released! A petition started by more than 20 directors of the world’s most famous art museums turned into an international movement. 140,000 of us joined the campaign, and on Wednesday the Chinese dissident artist was freed. Weiwei’s manager says Change.org members were “amazing” and personally thanked you for the support that helped to lead to his release.
2) Women in Saudi Arabia are driving! Saudi women activists won 3 campaigns on Change.org this week: With your help, they got charges dropped against Manal al-Sharif, who was arrested for driving a car in a country where it’s illegal for women to do so. After two more petitions targeting Hillary Clinton and Europe’s top ambassador Catharine Ashton, both spoke out forcefully in favor of giving women the right to drive (and Hillary says she only took a public stand because of this campaign!).
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Justice Clarence Thomas
Back in February 2011, Common Cause publicly questioned Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s ruling in Citizens United alleging Thomas had an appearance of conflict of interest and should have recused himself from the case. In summary:
“In a 5-4 decision, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions have the same political speech rights as individuals under the First Amendment. It found no compelling government interest for prohibiting corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make election-related independent expenditures. Thus, it struck down a federal law banning this practice and also overruled two of its prior decisions. Additionally, in an 8-1 decision, the Court ruled that the disclaimer and disclosure requirements associated with electioneering communications are constitutional.” [....]
The impact of the Citizens United ruling prompted the President to weigh in on it saying, “With all due deference to the separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the flood gates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections. I don’t think America’s elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests.”
It should have come as no surprise that Common Cause (or even similar groups) would raise questions of whether Thomas had an appearance of conflict in the Citizens United ruling. Common Cause posted a petition on their web site calling for Thomas’ removal from the Court. As noted in the clip below, Common Cause took issue with benefits Thomas’ wife received and Thomas’ attendance at a political strategy and fundraising, closed-door event sponsored by Koch Industries, for starters.
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The Toledo Blade reports today that like 29 other states, primarily with a Republican-lean in their legislatures, Ohio is considering requiring voters to have a photo ID to be ready for the next election. What’s missing here is that there is no evidence to substantiate a claim of voter fraud.
Add to that scenario the costs to create and run a program for a non-existent problem at a time when state and local budgets are in the red.
Carrying out the requirement in Ohio would force the state to spend a lot of money to set up a system of free photo identification documents, and could encourage lawsuits, at a time when Republican lawmakers are preaching about the need to reduce the cost of government.
The mandate would affect, and could disenfranchise, thousands of registered voters who lack driver’s licenses or other forms of official ID such as a passport or military document. These largely include minorities, poor people, and students. [....]
So why are Ohioans considering spending money to fix what ain’t broke and leave the real problem to fester? Most often than not, “minorities, poor people and students” vote Democrat. I’d also include seniors in the mix. This program could readily create obstacles for people to vote. No doubt, such a program would be administered by local government offices that for the most part aren’t open after normal business hours or on weekends. This could mean voters have to take a day off from work to get a free, official state photo ID. I can easily see how this can discourage average workers and even cause some to skip voting.
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I was about to power down my computer when I noticed a new video posted by Immigrants for Sale about a young man who was detained and shouldn’t have been. The private prison that detained him made about $72,000 by doing so.
“On any given day, ICE detains over 33,000 immigrants …” Now multiply that by $90 — the average daily cost of a single detainee — and that’s about $2,970,000 a day that the government pays private prisons for immigrant detention. Now multiply that by six months to a year of detention — also another “average” — and that’s about $5.4 to $10.8 million a year. Now watch this video and ask yourself whatever happened to our humanity, our sense of value. This video brought tears to my eyes; and that’s hard to do.
Related Articles
The Influence of the Private Prison Industry in Immigration | Detention Watch Network
A Boom Behind Bars | Bloomberg Businessweek
Wait before you deport. Immigrants are a valuable commodity | GroundUp
State GOP Immigration Bills. Follow the Money. | GroundUp
Jim Crowe has a new taste to chase — brown instead of black | GroundUp
From my friends at Change.org.
Amazing! Last week, a group of Saudi women activists started a Change.org petition calling on Saudi authorities to drop charges against Manal al-Sharif, a woman arrested for driving her own car. Days later, the charges were dropped! Then, they launched a second petition calling on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to speak out publicly for Saudi women’s right to drive. Clinton initially resisted, but after 20,000 Change.org members joined the call, she declared, “What these women are doing is brave, and what they are seeking is right,” at a major press conference. Now, the same Saudi women are launching their biggest campaign yet: calling on car company Subaru to pull out of Saudi Arabia until women have the right to drive. Please click here to sign their petition, then send this email to everyone you know. Subaru markets heavily to women, especially in the U.S. and Europe — and has built up a progressive brand for itself. Yet the company still sells cars in Saudi Arabia, the only country on earth where women are prohibited from driving or even riding a bike. (The ban is a huge impediment for women who are forbidden to drive to work, stores, or even a hospital. Many women can’t afford male drivers, and those that can are often harassed by them.)
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Okay. I’m finding it hard to let this one go. But this is a great conversation hosted by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hard Ball with Rev. Al Sharpton and Josh Marshall. And this is real news and not a circus. I had my say on an out-of-control media but were Democratic leaders also “out there?” Did they take a vote on this before demanding Weiner Resign? Did they take into consideration the voice of Weiner’s constituents? And what message or precedent does this set because we know someone else, party doesn’t matter, will do something equally stupid.
Rep. Anthony Weiner Rips Fox News, while on Fox News
I’m sad over the loss of Rep. Anthony Weiner and the choices he made. Weiner is a fighter and despite some who may not have appreciated or even supported his stance on various issues, he will be sorely missed. There’s something to be said for someone who stands up against the odds of the new Republican Party.
What he did personally was wrong, including how he handled it. While there’s discussion over his district being a “solid” Democratic one and the potential of losing that seat through redistricting is plausible, we cannot replace his fearlessness when faced with great adversity from a reckless far right.
It’s unfortunate that he could not have weathered this storm. Were it not for his mishandling of the situation, perhaps he could have. But worse than his conduct and worse than his attempt at cover up what he did — especially with Congressional leadership — is the conduct of some of the media, turning a bad situation into a circus with them in the center rink.
Whatever happened to the concept of decorum? Yelling out irrelevant, base comments has no place in a press conference. If someone has something to say, say it by writing a column. Go on Fox News; they’ll gladly air any angst and the nastier the better. And useless questions repeatedly asked for the sole purpose of seeking a “wow” factor are equally bad form.
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CNN reports today that the cost of shipping and the ability to have better quality control inspires a bowling ball manufacturer to begin manufacturing bowling pins in its US plant instead of continuing to outsource the pins to a plant in Mexico.
Bowling Pins Now Being Made in America, Again
In Louisville, “a closed General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) appliance plant is being renovated to begin producing refrigerators and water heaters now being made overseas. Hiring of about 1,300 union-represented workers is due to begin this fall.”
Calls to many company’s “customer service” and “billing”departments have long been outsourced. A company in Maine, however, will add 250 new jobs over the next two years by taking calls locally.
And, “NCR (NCR, Fortune 500) has already hired about 500 workers to build ATM machines and self-service checkout systems at a Columbus, Ga., plant, and it plans to add another 370 jobs by 2014, building products that were formerly produced at plants in China, Hungary and Brazil.”
What’s spurring companies to bring their manufacturing back to the states varies. In some instances, its shipping and rising costs of labor outside of our borders. While some are skeptical saying this is just a trickle and it won’t solve our slow job growth problems, I’m hopeful that the trickle will turn into a steady stream.
