The Redskins’ Name – Catching Racism
Jason Jones speaks with Native American activists as well as devoted football fans about the Washington Redskins’ controversial team name.
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ALEC Exodus !
Major Tech Companies Cut Ties With The Secretive Conservative Lobbying Organization
Several tech giants announced this week that they are dropping out of ALEC, the conservative free-market lobbying group, partly over their spread of misinformation about climate change and lobbying against efforts to curb it.
ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, works by connecting corporations with conservative legislatures and drafts conservative model legislation on everything from health policy to education. It’s also been exposed as the designer of voter suppression laws used as models in various states.
The exodus started in August, when Microsoft announced that it would cease dealings with ALEC. This Monday, Google did the same, followed in quick succession by Facebook on Tuesday, Yelp on Wednesday, and Yahoo on Thursday. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt explicitly called out the group’s climate denialism as the motivating factor for the tech giant’s separation from ALEC: “Everyone understands climate change is occurring and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place,” he said. “They’re just literally lying.” ALEC has worked to kill renewable energy programs and teach climate denial in schools.
This isn’t the first time that high-profile companies have fled from ALEC en masse. In 2012, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Wal-Mart and others left suddenly after the revelation that ALEC supports so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws like the one used to justify Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida. How those laws relate to corporations’ business interests is anybody’s guess.
BOTTOM LINE: ALEC’s network is powerful and secretive. It’s bad business for companies to be associated with liars, and as more of ALEC’s distortions come to light, more companies will sever ties. They’re wrong on climate change, but once other businesses and the public realize how wrong they are on issues ranging from civil rights to economic inequality, other companies associated with ALEC will drop the organization too.
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Seattle Times endorses 594
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I know it’s almost the weekend, but I’ve got one more piece of business for you this Friday. I wanted to make sure you saw that The Seattle Times has endorsed 594! This is great news, and it’s a big deal for the campaign. But we have to make sure that our supporters hear the Times’ clear, decisive message: Yes on 594. Can you give us a hand spreading the news? Click here to share the news with your friends on Facebook!
Thanks for your help — when people hear news like this from people they know and trust, it’s even more powerful. OK — now you can start your weekend! Geoff Potter |
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An Update on the Economy, Iraq, and Ukraine
At the White House yesterday afternoon, President Obama made a statement on a number of important issues ahead of his attendance at the NATO Summit in the United Kingdom next week.
The President first talked about the American economy, noting that it’s growing “at a stronger clip” than predicted, and that we have more work to do to continue this momentum. He then discussed the current U.S. operations in Iraq, reiterating his commitment as Commander-in-Chief to “always do what is necessary to protect the American people and defend against evolving threats to our homeland.”
President Obama concluded his statement addressing the situation in Ukraine, noting that the evidence is clear: “Russia is responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine.”
See more from the President’s remarks here:
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Sign the petition to Ecuador’s president: Save the Amazon from another Big Oil disaster!
“As concerned global citizens, we stand in solidarity with these indigenous nations and urge you to immediately stop plans for new oil drilling in Ecuador’s rainforests!”Add your name: |
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Jaime Vargas, an Ecuadorian tribal leader, stood proudly in the howling wind and rain to send us this urgent plea: “Big Oil will stop at nothing to destroy our sacred rainforest home. But with your help we can save it!” [1]
Jaime and his Achuar people are guardians of a spectacular land teeming with one-of-a-kind plants and animals. But Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, is racing to sell off the Achuar’s rainforest home and the neighboring Yasuni National Park to greedy international oil companies.[2]
The president is determined to put profit ahead of his own people — even though they’re still suffering from Chevron’s decades-old oil disaster. [3]
More than 1 million people have stood up to save Ecuador’s threatened rainforests [4] — now it’s time for the SierraRise community to join the fight. Let’s stand with Jaime and all Ecuadorians and flood the president’s inbox with 50,000 messages!
Big Oil can’t be trusted to operate safely in the rainforest. For three decades, Texaco, now part of Chevron, dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into the beautiful Ecuadorian Amazon. [5]Thousands of people are still suffering a plague of deadly cancers and devastating birth defects. [6]
This land is not only crucial for wildlife, but also to the seven vibrant indigenous communities that call it home. Jaime says it best: “For us, the indigenous people, the rainforest is life. There we are in touch with everything.” [7]The Amazon can’t afford another deadly oil disaster like Chevron’s.
Last November, hundreds of everyday Ecuadorians protested the proposed oil drilling. President Correa and his government, feeling the pressure, shut down Pachamama, a local nonprofit fighting the oil drilling, stifling his people’s free speech. [8] It’s clear — President Correa is feeling the heat.
In it together,
Ashley Allison
SierraRise Senior Campaigner
P.S. Five signatures are even more powerful than one — after you take action, be sure to forward this alert to your friends, family, and colleagues!
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