The sale of homeless-inspired bedding (pavement and cardboard boxes) is supposed to raise money for a British organization that works with homeless youth.
The company that sells the bedding says that will amount to 30 percent of their profits, which is a good thing and I’m sure it’s a real boost in these tough economic times to an organization that’s doing good things. But this just feels so very wrong.
And thanks, Huffington Post, for the link.
Posted in A short whine
Well, you can’t, actually. They is or they aint, but the people who want to repeal Maine’s law that legalizes same-sex marriage are telling everyone that keeping the law on the books will allow schools to “teach gay marriage.”
It wont, but there you are. One of the biggest opponents to same-sex marriage, Brian Brown, used to rattle around here in Connecticut. He is a sincere fellow, though he is sincerely wrong on this. And bless his heart.
Posted in Modern life-as-we-know-it
And I just don’t get it. Why tart up a perfectly good holiday like Halloween?
Don’t be a slut! Go green, says Vanessa Richmond, at The Tyee, linked here at AlterNet.
Posted in Environment
(Language alert, but we’re all grownups here…)
Some prominent musicians want to know why and how the Bush administration used music to torture prisoners there.
The musicians are part of a bigger push, National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, which includes retired generals, a former congressman, and others. A statement from The Roots, a group that’s part of the campaign:
“When we found out that music was being used as part of the torture going on at Guantanamo, shackling and beating people — we were angry. Just as we wouldn’t be caught dead allowing Dick Cheney to use our music for his campaigns, you can be damn sure, we wouldn’t allow him to use it to torture other human beings. Congress needs to shut Guantanamo down.”
There’s more:
Hoping to cast further light on the potential illegalities that took place at the detention facility, the group is also working to obtain records about why and how music was used (under laws authorized by the Bush administration) to effectively torture suspected terrorists. The musicians have officially endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request for the declassification of all secret government records pertaining to music utilized during interrogations. At least two members of the coalition, [Trent] Reznor [of Nine Inch Nails] and [Tom] Morello [of Rage Against the Machine], have had their music linked to interrogations.
Here’s the national campaign’s first ad:
Posted in Balm in Gilead
The gospel according to St. Woody. And thanks, Bro. Tod, for the tune.
Posted in Uncategorized
Learn more about Dawn Smith and her fight with our broken health care system here.
And thanks, Sister Cynical, for the link.
Ol’ Barb and I have a conflicted relationship, so this news, that Mattel has come out with a black Barbie whose features more accurantely represent African American women, doesn’t thrill or disgust me.
I grew up playing with Barbie. We were born in the same year, and I can’t say that dressing (and undressing) her (and, yes, taking down her pony tail only to find that style could never be recreated by my unprofessional hands) made me think I should be shaped a certain way. But I do find it a little disheartening that girls are still playing with what, to me, is a throwback. I am not anti-Barbie, but she makes me feel…uneasy?
You? Did you grow up playing with Barbie? Did she scar you?
Posted in Girl stuff
I’m sorry. I just love that headline and believe I shall use it every chance I get.
But it kind of fits here. The U.S. Treasury is supposed to announce soon that companies that received big government bailouts will have to slash the compensation for their executives.
Here’s more, from the New York Times:
The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, the American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and the financing arms of the two automakers.
At the financial products division of A.I.G., the locus of problems that plagued the large insurer and forced its rescue with more than $180 billion in taxpayer assistance, no top executive will receive more than $200,000 in total compensation, a stunning decline from previous years in which the unit produced many wealthy executives and traders.
In contrast to previous years, an official said, executives in the financial products division will receive no other compensation, like stocks or stock options. And at all of the companies, any executive seeking more than $25,000 in special perks — like country club memberships, private planes, limousines or company issued cars — will have to apply to the government for permission. The administration will also warn A.I.G. that it must fulfill a commitment it made to significantly reduce the $198 million in bonuses promised to employees in the financial products division.
Well, it’s a start. And thanks, Slate, for the link.
Posted in Economy
