Global
As most of you have read, heard and likely seen evidence of, 14-time Olympic Gold Medal-winning swimmer, Michael Phelps, has gotten himself into some hot water. He was allegedly photographed “smoking marijuana” with a bong while attending a party at the University of South Carolina. The enterprising photographer then sold the image to “News of the World,” a publication in the UK.
Since the photo has surfaced Phelps has been dropped from Kellogg’s marketing campaign, a move that will hit his wallet. Next, seven people who were allegedly tokin’ up with the Marylander were rounded up and arrested. An eighth (and enterprising) lad was nabbed for attempting to sell the bong on Ebay for $100,000. Now Phelps is facing a tsunami of pressure to apologize as if he were the worst example of sportsmanship since Mike Tyson threatened to “eat” Lennox Lewis’ children. (Tyson also once said, “he called me a rapist and a recluse, I’m not a recluse,” which is true, since he is – in fact – a convicted rapist. )
The summer heat is posing serious dangers for the farmworkers who’ve helped
make California the nation’s leading supplier of fruits and vegetables.
The state has rules designed to protect workers from the devastating temperatures in the vineyards and fields that can hover near or above 100 degrees throughout much of the summer. The rules require mainly that workers have easy access to water and regular shade breaks.
But the rules are inadequate and, in any case, are routinely violated by growers and the labor contractors who hire crews for them, says the United Farm Workers union.
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez is certain “the state does not have the capacity to protect farmworkers … They are not being protected from the extreme heat they labor under to pick the food we have on our table.”
Overall statistics on deaths and illness caused by the heat are difficult – if not impossible – to come by. But the UFW and others cite individual cases that make the danger faced by farmworkers alarmingly clear.
The state has rules designed to protect workers from the devastating temperatures in the vineyards and fields that can hover near or above 100 degrees throughout much of the summer. The rules require mainly that workers have easy access to water and regular shade breaks.
But the rules are inadequate and, in any case, are routinely violated by growers and the labor contractors who hire crews for them, says the United Farm Workers union.
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez is certain “the state does not have the capacity to protect farmworkers … They are not being protected from the extreme heat they labor under to pick the food we have on our table.”
Overall statistics on deaths and illness caused by the heat are difficult – if not impossible – to come by. But the UFW and others cite individual cases that make the danger faced by farmworkers alarmingly clear.
The moral center of humanity slowly asserts itself. Only the most powerful are too afraid to join.
You may have missed the news: At the end of May, 111 nations, including, at the last minute, Great Britain, showing the world the power of an unleashed conscience, agreed to an international ban on cluster bombs, surely one of the cruelest and, given the nature of war today, most unnecessary weapons in modern arsenals.
Among those not endorsing the treaty and MIA at the conference in Dublin where it was debated were Russia, China, Israel and, to the surprise of no one, the United States of George Bush, that increasingly isolated moral rump state of which so many are so ashamed. Indeed, the treaty is widely seen as a “diplomatic defeat” for the U.S., so identified is the Bush administration with the sanctity of its WMD.
You may have missed the news: At the end of May, 111 nations, including, at the last minute, Great Britain, showing the world the power of an unleashed conscience, agreed to an international ban on cluster bombs, surely one of the cruelest and, given the nature of war today, most unnecessary weapons in modern arsenals.
Among those not endorsing the treaty and MIA at the conference in Dublin where it was debated were Russia, China, Israel and, to the surprise of no one, the United States of George Bush, that increasingly isolated moral rump state of which so many are so ashamed. Indeed, the treaty is widely seen as a “diplomatic defeat” for the U.S., so identified is the Bush administration with the sanctity of its WMD.
Bit by bit, Al Gore seems to be inching toward a Solartopian view of a future that must be completely sustainable in green energy. This week he advocated getting to an electric power system that is "carbon free" within ten years.
This is an important step toward the mainstream for the decades-long social movement for a totally green-powered Earth. It comes alongside the equally telling move by oil baron T. Boone Pickens to invest $2 billion in wind power.
Gore has reportedly raised some $300 million (that's not a typo) to spend on moving pubic opinion to support the transition to a totally "carbon-free" electric supply system.
That idea has been around at least thirty years, and is a sub-set of the Solartopian demand that our entire energy economy become free of all fossil and nuclear fuels.
This is an important step toward the mainstream for the decades-long social movement for a totally green-powered Earth. It comes alongside the equally telling move by oil baron T. Boone Pickens to invest $2 billion in wind power.
Gore has reportedly raised some $300 million (that's not a typo) to spend on moving pubic opinion to support the transition to a totally "carbon-free" electric supply system.
That idea has been around at least thirty years, and is a sub-set of the Solartopian demand that our entire energy economy become free of all fossil and nuclear fuels.
OK, we’ve had a few days to debate and get over it. The current issue of the New Yorker has that astonishing cover featuring Barack Obama as a Muslim etc. etc. In the fireplace, the American flag burns. On the wall, a portrait of Osama bin Laden.
In short, every major Rovian stereotype aimed at the presumptive Democratic nominee and his wife now announces one of America’s oldest liberal magazines. The cartoon evokes stereotypes reminiscent of Jim Crow and Willie Horton. Whether it lampoons or promotes them is being debated.
But the New Yorker has clearly produced and distributed an indelible image based on race, religion, patriotism and an outspoken spouse---all factors that could tip the balance on the Obama candidacy.
Given the magazine’s historic commitment to balance, shouldn’t the New Yorker now give equal time to the factors that could likewise define the McCain campaign---his "McBush" one-ness with the incumbent, his age, his unbalanced temper, his misogyny?
Along those lines, we list ten suggestions that have come our way to send the New Yorker for a “fair and balanced” follow-up cover.
In short, every major Rovian stereotype aimed at the presumptive Democratic nominee and his wife now announces one of America’s oldest liberal magazines. The cartoon evokes stereotypes reminiscent of Jim Crow and Willie Horton. Whether it lampoons or promotes them is being debated.
But the New Yorker has clearly produced and distributed an indelible image based on race, religion, patriotism and an outspoken spouse---all factors that could tip the balance on the Obama candidacy.
Given the magazine’s historic commitment to balance, shouldn’t the New Yorker now give equal time to the factors that could likewise define the McCain campaign---his "McBush" one-ness with the incumbent, his age, his unbalanced temper, his misogyny?
Along those lines, we list ten suggestions that have come our way to send the New Yorker for a “fair and balanced” follow-up cover.
Senator Obama, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President, delivered a profound speech today at the NAACP Convention.
He deftly connected his campaign to the historic civil rights journey, and the leaders that paved the way for historic race for the presidency in 2008. He coupled personal responsibility with government intervention, which triggers private sector investment, and addressed structural inequalities head on. To me that is a sound and full gospel for change and a basis for hope. This comprehensive “big tent” message is good for the healing of our nation.
He deftly connected his campaign to the historic civil rights journey, and the leaders that paved the way for historic race for the presidency in 2008. He coupled personal responsibility with government intervention, which triggers private sector investment, and addressed structural inequalities head on. To me that is a sound and full gospel for change and a basis for hope. This comprehensive “big tent” message is good for the healing of our nation.
The Warming of the Earth
Rising temperatures are altering the earth’s climate in fundamental ways and threatening life as we know it. The preeminent climate expert in the U.S. government, and perhaps in the world, is James Hansen, who is NASA’s director of Goddard Institute of Space Studies. Hansen testified twenty years ago, in 1988, before a congressional committee on the first hard evidence that human activities were responsible for global warming, raising the concentration of carbon, a major greenhouse gas, to a level above the concentration existing prior to industrialization. Since his original testimony, many hundreds of scientifically peer-reviewed studies have confirmed and buttressed his earlier findings, and further established that fossil fuels (along with deforestation) are central factors in the steadily rising temperature of the earth, and that the consequences are destabilizing or destroying eco-systems around the globe. Hansen commented just a few weeks ago that the relevant scientific community is now over 99% confident in confirming the reality of increasingly harmful and catastrophic global warming.
Rising temperatures are altering the earth’s climate in fundamental ways and threatening life as we know it. The preeminent climate expert in the U.S. government, and perhaps in the world, is James Hansen, who is NASA’s director of Goddard Institute of Space Studies. Hansen testified twenty years ago, in 1988, before a congressional committee on the first hard evidence that human activities were responsible for global warming, raising the concentration of carbon, a major greenhouse gas, to a level above the concentration existing prior to industrialization. Since his original testimony, many hundreds of scientifically peer-reviewed studies have confirmed and buttressed his earlier findings, and further established that fossil fuels (along with deforestation) are central factors in the steadily rising temperature of the earth, and that the consequences are destabilizing or destroying eco-systems around the globe. Hansen commented just a few weeks ago that the relevant scientific community is now over 99% confident in confirming the reality of increasingly harmful and catastrophic global warming.
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, issued the following statement today after Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, told the New York Times he remains opposed to adoption by same-sex couples implying that he is opposed to single-parent adoption as well. In the interview, published Sunday, July 13, McCain said, “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.”
Tikkun magazine today announced that Rabbi Michael Lerner has accepted the invitation extended to him by the King of Saudi Arabia to attend an international conference of Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders that will begin Wed. July 16 in Madrid, Spain. The conference seeks to foster interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding.