‘American Wasteland’ Author
Talks Food Waste
Photo used in American Wasteland book cover, courtesy of Jonathan Bloom.
We all have a role to play in the food waste problem — and in the solution, according to American Wasteland author Jonathan Bloom. Read our Q&A with Bloom, and get his tips for reducing food waste.
The New Jerey legislature passed an important pregnancy discrimination bill (S2995/A4486) by an overwhelming majority earlier this year. This morning, Governor Christie signed the bill into law. According to Dina Bakst, Co-Founder and Co-President of A Better Balance, “This is a great day for the women of New Jersey–this path breaking law will allow women the ability to stay healthy and on the job while pregnant, ensuring economic security and fairness for them and their families.”
A huge thanks goes out to our New Jersey supporters, who called and e-mailed Governor Christie to encourage him to sign the bill. You made this happen!
The law will protect New Jersey women who are pregnant and need a simple accommodation in order to stay healthy and on the job. Unfortunately, despite the fact that pregnancy discrimination has been illegal in the United States for over thirty-five years, women are still forced off the job when they need a simple adjustment at work, such as temporary relief from heavy lifting, extra bathroom or water breaks, or time off to recover from childbirth. The law will put an end to this practice in New Jersey. A Better Balance was instrumental in getting the law passed, including testifying at both a Senate and Assembly hearing on the law and crafting bill language.
The law goes into effect immediately, so if you or someone you know has any problems at work while pregnant, please call our advice and counseling legal hotline at 212-430-5982.
This bill, which passed with vast bipartisan support, represents the latest victory in a growing movement for stronger pregnancy discrimination protections. Philadelphia and Wisconsin recently introduced pregnancy discrimination legislation and later this month, a similar law in New York City will go into effect. Finally, the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act currently has 117 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 20 cosponsors in the Senate.
Thank you for all your support,
Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha, & Rachel
P.S. Watch this video of NYC Mayor de Blasio at last week’s New York City Paid Sick Days press conference, where he thanks A Better Balance for our leadership (at the two minute mark).
Shut it, you long-haired hippie
An “anti-public service” message from Donny Rico
Donny Rico here to deliver a message to all you long-haired hippie activist types complaining about the environment and human rights. Be warned: things have changed in America and you need to keep your mouths shut. Corporations are the top of the food chain and you need to keep your place or you’ll be what’s for dinner. Got it?
See, me and Chevron are paving the way for corporate freedom in America. Freedom from accountability, freedom from watchdog punks and freedom from caring about how our actions affect the rest of yous. When those pesky Ecuadorians spouted off about the fact that Chevron did a piece of work and chose to dump billions of gallons of toxic waste in their rainforest, we decided to turn the tables and it worked like a real charm. Chevron’s tired of being the victim just because over a thousand people died of cancer in Ecuador and we wrecked the Amazon rainforest.
Now, I hear some of you babbos got it in your heads to call on the U.S. Senate to investigate or some such garbage and try to put a stop to this. That ain’t gonna work. But go ahead and try and see what Chevron has to say about you and your 36 environmental, human rights and corporate accountability groups getting involved. You’re just asking for us to label you as “co-conspirators” and sue your asses under RICO, too!
See, RICO ain’t just some law to go after the mob, it’s the wave of the future. Thanks to RICO, anyone, and I DO MEAN ANYONE who speaks up about Chevron’s… ahhh… problems in Ecuador is a “co-conspirator” in the RICO world. That means we can drag yous all to court, subpoena all your emails and documents, and force you to shell out boatloads of cash to lawyers just to defend yourselves. And your reputation? Fuggetaboutit! See we got enough cash to crush your reputations. We’ll just call all your friends and tell ‘em you’re extortionists. You guys already gotta ask people for money just to stay afloat, so who’s gonna give it to ya if we make you look like crooks?
So be smart. Keep quiet and let Chevron do its thing. Oh, and that goes for all of yous activist types and do-good lawyers. If you think big energy companies are gonna let you organize people who got a beef with fracking and new pipelines – think again. We got enough legal muscle and friendly judges out there to go after anyone who does anything to threaten our bottom line. So if you go tellin’ people not to buy our products and instead get some organic-vegan-cotton throw pillow or some such tree-hugging junk, well then you’re conspiring to cost us money. And THAT is a RICO crime, got it?
If you still don’t get the message, watch my little video and you’ll learn real fast. See, this ain’t gonna end with Chevron. Once we get away with charging our own victims in Ecuador as crooks, there’s no limit to who we can go after. Freedom of speech don’t mean you can say things we don’t like – you’ve been warned.
Donny Rico, out!
Immigration reform is fundamentally important not only to our families but to all New Yorkers, whose neighborhoods are filled with vibrant culture and diversity. We value your commitment to equality and your influence in your community and therefore request your participation at this important forum where we will discuss immigration policies, reform efforts, and impacting legislation in an effort to achieve equality for all.
During this Forum we will also launch the “G Project” (The Generation Project), which identifies 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation black immigrants.
Space is limited, so please RSVP right away: (212) 871-6899 or cminier@theblackinstitute.org
Christian Cultural Center please RSVP to Keith White at keith@freeintegrated.com
The Black Institute http://www.theblackinstitute.org/
Be a Seed for Change 
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