Tag Archives: London

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

In Memory of Renisha McBride …


EqualityToday,  … a guest post

A Message from Britain on the Death of Renisha McBride

I am a middle-aged White British man who lives in Harlow, a town approximately 22 miles Northeast of the centre of London. I am a writer (so far without any commercial success).

I read about the tragic case of Renisha McBride last Friday in a British newspaper called The Guardian, and wrote the following verses in response. Anyone who feels that my composition may be useful is free to use it in any form they see fit. I ask only that my authorship is acknowledged.

The following verses are also attached to this email in the form of a Word document, to facilitate their use.

I hope that justice can be served in this case, those responsible punished, and the law changed.

Regards and Best Wishes

Paul T Kegan

== The Dear Folk of Dearborn Heights

There’s a suburb of Detroit City Goes by the name of Dearborn Heights Where householders stand their ground Where they know their Goddamn rights

Their idea of assistance Is a bullet in your head If you’re young and Black and female They’ll probably shoot you dead

The highway of compassion It bypasses Dearborn Heights On blistering August days And cold November nights

Renisha McBride crashed her car At the tender age of nineteen Early one Saturday morning On streets unfriendly and mean

She knocked on his door and asked him for help He picked up his gun and he fired As from his house she turned away And on his front porch she expired

“The local police aren’t racist!” I imagine the outraged cries How then do we explain Their filthy racist lies?

Renisha she was dumped That was what they said On the porch of an innocent man She was already dead

The Prosecutor vetoed arrest In Wayne County it wasn’t a crime To shoot in the back of her head A woman, unarmed, in her prime

Because killing Blacks is legal It’s written in Michigan law They’re free to gun you down If you knock upon their door

Black folk can expect no sympathy In good ol’ Dearborn Heights Where householders stand their ground Where they know their Goddamn rights ■ Paul T Kegan 10 November 2013

In memory of Renisha McBride.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

McDonald’s buys another luxury jet but won’t pay workers a decentwage


Campaign for America's Future

McDonald’s just bought another $35-million-dollar luxury jet.  Yet their employees make so little they rely on public assistance just to get by.

This costs taxpayers $1.2 billion a year!

It’s not right to impoverish your employees while sailing above them at a rate of $2,500 an hour. It’s immoral to do it with a taxpayer subsidy.

Sign the petition telling Donald Thompson, CEO of McDonald’s to cancel his order for another corporate jet until he pays all his employees a decent wage.

Marketing materials claim the jet, a luxurious Bombardier 605, “makes listening to Beethoven on the dual Blu-Ray Disc player, or watching a movie on either of the two 22″ HD monitors, a real pleasure.”

Sign the PetitionThanks for all you do,

Robert L. Borosage
Co-Director, Campaign for America’s Future
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

We have lost 80% of the Artic sea ice

5 Comments

We made it!
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)
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Official Google


GOOGLe

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

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

BREAKING: we’re climbing a skyscraper to save the Arctic



Hi

If you’re reading this email it means I’m clinging to the side of London’s Shard – attempting something that’s never been done before: scaling Europe’s tallest skyscraper.

If we make it to the top, we plan to install a giant piece of art in direct view of Shell‘s three London headquarters down around me. We can see them, so I know they can see us.

WATCH LIVE and share this page to show the whole world that we don’t want Arctic drilling.

I’ve been climbing for years, but this is the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on.

Am I scared? Hell yeah. But I know that fear is only what you make of it. For me this is a personal act of bravery, and I hope that beyond all else it can encourage anyone hesitating over taking action – no matter what scale – to take that step today.

There are only six of us up here, 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 news. This is not a niche subject. This affects every single person on our shared planet.

Everyone should know that we’ve lost 80% of the Arctic sea ice in the last 30 years, and that should make people want to protect it. Not to drill for more oil, one of the fossil fuels causing the melting in the first place.

Follow our progress on LIVE TV and please share this page with everyone you know on Facebook, Twitter and over email. Let’s make this as big as we can.

Shell doesn’t want us talking about their dangerous Arctic oil drilling plans. Together we can shout about them from the rooftops 😉

Wish us luck,

Victo (and Sandra, Sabine, Liesbeth, Wiola and Ali)