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Inevitable: Limbaugh Finally Says N-Word On Air

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77

This week, Rush Limbaugh claimed that it’s OK for him to say “‘nigga’ with an ‘A’ on the end,” because “it’s not racist” when Travyon Martin’s friend Rachel Jeantel uses it. [1]In an interview today, Jeantel responded to Limbaugh, noting that it’s “disrespectful” and “racist for an adult” to say it. [2]

It’s no surprise that Limbaugh gleefully seized what he saw as an opportunity to say the slur on air. For years, he has used racially-charged rhetoric and other dog whistle tactics to attack minorities on his radio show.

Limbaugh makes his case in this short video:

After a career of tiptoeing to the edge, Limbaugh thought he could finally use this slur with impunity. When a caller followed his example and also said the word “nigga” on air, Limbaugh didn’t advise against it or inquire as to why he’d want to use it in the first place. Instead, he merely warned the caller “not to try it on the street.”

Watch Limbaugh tiptoe his way to the n-word: http://youtu.be/K-Gfb3cwHIw

We’d advise Limbaugh not to try it with his remaining advertisers, either—his reckless slurs have already gotten him into trouble. Last year, after Limbaugh smeared Sandra Fluke as a “slut” and a “prostitute” for advocating that health insurance cover contraception, an effort emerged to educate his advertisers about the content they sponsor.

It’s working—Limbaugh’s advertising sales are way down, and his distribution deal with one major radio station operator, Cumulus Media, may collapse at the end of the year. [3]

You can help keep the pressure on by signing up for our Stop Rush updates. You’ll receive, on average, one email per month with news and ways to take action to hold Rush Limbaugh accountable.

Sign up to stop Rush today: http://action.mediamatters.org/stop_rush_join

Cynthia Padera Campaigns Manager Media Matters for America

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[1] Limbaugh: After Jeantel’s Interview, “I Can Now” Say “‘Nigga’ With An A” Because “It’s Not Racist” http://mm4a.org/13gGfXg

[2] Rachel Jeantel Responds To Limbaugh’s Use Of The N-Word http://mm4a.org/11WS6eM

[3] On Limbaugh’s Advertiser Losses, Cumulus CEO says: “The Facts Are Indisputable” http://mm4a.org/12aWZ0q

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We have lost 80% of the Artic sea ice

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77 5 Comments

Last week, along with five other women, I scaled Europe’s tallest skyscraper to show our leaders and Shell that we don’t want Arctic drilling. Now we need you to take the reins and make sure the whole world knows why we need to protect the Arctic.
This feat took us 15 hours of climbing. Despite our exhaustion, the outpouring of support from tens of thousands of people all over the world kept our spirits high. When we reached the top, we waved a flag for the Arctic in direct view of Shell’s three London headquarters.
There were only six of us up there, but there are millions of us in every corner of the world who want the Arctic protected. The most effective action we can do now is to make everyone else care for the Arctic as we do, and to do that we need to make it big news. This is not a niche subject. This affects every single person on our planet.
Everyone should know that we’ve lost 80% of the Arctic sea ice in the last 30 years, the sea ice that cools our planet and provides a home to unique species like the polar bear. That should make people want to protect it — not to drill for more oil, one of the fossil fuels that caused the melting in the first place.
Shell doesn’t want us talking about their dangerous Arctic oil drilling plans. Together we can shout about them from the rooftops 😉
Thanks for everything,
Victo (and Sandra, Sabine, Liesbeth, Wiola and Ali)

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Official Google

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77

Campus for Moms: Helping women entrepreneurs in Israel

Posted: 17 Jul 2013 09:35 AM PDT

Since opening our Campus Tel Aviv last December, we’ve hosted thousands of promising entrepreneurs and developers at events, workshops, lectures and hackathons. Many of these entrepreneurs refer to their start-ups as their “baby,” and it’s easy to understand why. Like having a newborn, a start-up is super-exciting, yet the days are hectic and the nights are… sleepless.
What’s really inspiring (and just a little bit crazy) is that some people do both at the same time. Take, for example, Israeli entrepreneur Hilla Brenner, who raised $5 million for her first start-up when she was nine months pregnant. Earlier this year, I had the chance to meet Hilla and we began talking about how juggling work and kids doesn’t leave much time to invest in learning and developing new skills. We also discussed how maternity leave can be one of the few times when women can stop and think about their career. We asked ourselves: what could we do to help women with young children get access to self-development and career support and, in doing so, to help more women become tech entrepreneurs?
Campus for Moms is a baby-friendly start-up school for new moms, run by Google in partnership with Yazamiyot, a networking group for Israeli women entrepreneurs. The first course, which ended this week, included nine sessions led by successful entrepreneurs, investors, technology experts and others. The sessions covered personal success stories, finance, legal and presentation skills, and tech knowledge, like cloud computing. We arranged mattresses, bean bags and diaper-changing facilities so that the moms could take care of their young ones during the sessions. Four babies were born during the course and one new mum returned to the program less than a week after giving birth!
At the end of the course, participants presented their initiatives to venture capital funds and the course speakers. Their ideas are exciting—including a platform for teachers to create apps for their students, a fashion-tech meet up to encourage cooperation between local fashion-related start-ups, a 2G mobile ecommerce gateway for emerging markets and a bunch of other great initiatives.
The participants are continuing to develop their skills: two of the start-ups have joined the Campus Tel Aviv “Launch Pad” program, an intensive week-long bootcamp for entrepreneurs, and another will be visiting Campus London to meet with U.K.-based entrepreneurs.

The first course of “Campus for Moms” is over, but we’re gearing up for another course in October. We’re also looking forward to sharing the tools and best practices we’ve developed at Campus for Moms with others, so they can help entrepreneurial moms in their communities. After all, whether they’re moms or not, entrepreneurs can always do with a helping hand with their “baby.”
Posted by Tal Sarig-Avraham, Product Marketing Manager

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What happened to Kelli

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77

We all have a health care story to tell. Just stand next to the office water cooler and you’ll hear the stories flow.
My co-worker Kelli shared this one with me:
“My older sister was diagnosed with lupus as a child. She spent much of her life in and out of hospitals and taking handfuls of expensive medications. Once diagnosed, no insurance plan would take her on. My family was stuck with our ‘major medical’ insurance, which only covered a percentage of hospitalizations but nothing else — none of her numerous prescription drugs or doctors’ visits were covered. This affected our whole family. It made it impossible for my parents to save money for our educations, their retirement, or anything else. We were always one illness away from financial disaster. If we’d had the health care law then, my family could’ve gotten better health insurance — because, under the new law, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to children who have pre-existing conditions.”
Kelli told us her story. Will you share yours?
Maybe you have private insurance that fails to cover the services you need such as mental health care, maternity care, or prescription drug coverage. Maybe high co-payments and deductibles keep you from getting the health care you need. Maybe you’re uninsured simply because you can’t afford it or you’ve been turned down for health coverage after you got sick. Whatever your story may be, it matters.
Thanks to the health care law, change is on the way. Under the law, you won’t be denied health coverage because of a pre-existing condition. You won’t lose your health insurance when you get sick. You’ll soon have affordable insurance options through a new health care marketplace.
But right now, many women and their families are still struggling to pay for health coverage and get the care they need. Sadly, there are still families like Kelli’s. Please share your story today.
I love hearing from you. Thank you for fighting with us to advance the rights of women and their families.
Sincerely,

Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National

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These Folks Have Real-Life Superpowers

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77

The White House, Washington

These Folks Have Real-Life Superpowers

This week, as thousands of sci-fi and superhero enthusiasts gather in San Diego for Comic-Con, here at the White House we’ll be gathering some of the Nation’s top innovators who are designing materials to enable real-life superpowers—including invisibility and super-strength.

Join us tomorrow, July 19th at 12:00 pm ET for a “We the Geeks” Google+ Hangout on “The Stuff Superheroes Are Made Of” – where we’ll be talking about some of the most exciting new developments in materials science and how they can change our world for the better.

Click here to learn more about tomorrow’s Google+ Hangout

President Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man’s web as he greets Nicholas Tamarin, 3, just outside the Oval Office. Nicholas was trick-or-treating with his father, White House aide Nate Tamarin in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Senate Confirms Richard Cordray as Consumer Watchdog

Yesterday, President Obama thanked lawmakers from both parties for coming together to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Dive In To Ocean Exploration

This summer, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research invites you to get involved in ocean exploration through two unique opportunities.

This week, President Obama welcomed the man who launched the modern service movement, President George H. W. Bush, back to the White House to honor the recipients of the 5,000th Daily Point of Light award.

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