That is the claim from Congressman Trent Franks, that African Americans are worse off today than they were during slavery. Hat-tip to the great work of our friend Mike Stark at Stark Reports for this one:
(Beginning around 6:10)
I am sure Rep. Franks will receive a few less-than-bubbly phone calls and emails about this one!
Saddly, I was far from surprised to hear this. I have spent a good amount of time volunteering as a clinic escort as part of a documentary we are working on, Best When Boring, and this is far from the craziest stuff I have heard from the rabidly anti-choice. When we have a new escort who happens to be of color, you can guarantee that he or she will hear about this on the first day or two. It is one piece in a growing pattern amongst the anti-choice activists, and the greater conservative movement in general, to use any argument that might further their point regardless of facts, reality, or logic.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Live Tweeting Abortion
If you spend a decent amount of time on twitter, as I do, then you have likely heard of #livetweetingabortion. The story begins with Angie the Anti-Theist. When birth control failed Angie, she was faced with a decision that many women come to face but few share in such glaring detail. For several days, Angie shared some of the most personal details of her medication-abortion.
Aside from my general interest in the reproductive justice movement, I also became fascinated by the strategic political characteristics of Angie's actions. One of the major hurdles that has hampered the power of pro-choice activists has been the secrecy and privacy surrounding reproductive health care. It is understandable. As a man, my reproductive health care has always been incredibly personal and private, so it is hard for me to call on women to share their story.
Yet as a former community organizer, I know there is no more powerful tool than that of storytelling. Storytelling creates a sense of empathy. Storytelling helped President Barack Obama demonstrate that as unique as his story was, it was uniquely American and something that all of us, regardless of race, age, or social status could relate to. Storytelling made it possible for progressive activists to build a formidable army able to stand up in the face of enormous money and resources from insurance company lobbyists.
The question is, will #livetweetingabortion catch on? If so, will it have the same effect on the reproductive justice movement as it has had on a variety of other issues? If so, it was a remarkably genius use of online technology and new media to foster a greater sense of community.
For more on #livetweetingabortion check out The Abortioneers story on it.
Aside from my general interest in the reproductive justice movement, I also became fascinated by the strategic political characteristics of Angie's actions. One of the major hurdles that has hampered the power of pro-choice activists has been the secrecy and privacy surrounding reproductive health care. It is understandable. As a man, my reproductive health care has always been incredibly personal and private, so it is hard for me to call on women to share their story.
Yet as a former community organizer, I know there is no more powerful tool than that of storytelling. Storytelling creates a sense of empathy. Storytelling helped President Barack Obama demonstrate that as unique as his story was, it was uniquely American and something that all of us, regardless of race, age, or social status could relate to. Storytelling made it possible for progressive activists to build a formidable army able to stand up in the face of enormous money and resources from insurance company lobbyists.
The question is, will #livetweetingabortion catch on? If so, will it have the same effect on the reproductive justice movement as it has had on a variety of other issues? If so, it was a remarkably genius use of online technology and new media to foster a greater sense of community.
For more on #livetweetingabortion check out The Abortioneers story on it.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Senator Donald McEachin at Virginia Organizing Project Rally
Last week we caught up with the good folks at the Virginia Organizing Project in Richmond for a rally against potential state budget cuts to the health care system and in favor of reform on the national level. One of the folks who joined us was Senator Donald McEachin, representing Virginia's 9th District:
We've got more coverage from this rally coming very shortly!
We've got more coverage from this rally coming very shortly!
We Are Apparently "Abusive"
That is the word from Facebook. Well, that is what they are telling folks behind our back.
I got home last night to find an old friend, someone who got me my first community organizing job, had tried unsuccessfully to post our video of Chris Hayes speaking at our fundraiser this past Sunday. Facebook prevented him from posting the video to his wall and informed him that:
We have reached out to Facebook on this, which is near impossible to do, with no response. They left my friend no further information or links to click to challenge the reports of abusive content. They never informed us, the sole owners of the copyrighted material in question. There appears to be no process for determining that one's material has been banned. There appears to be no process for challenging this ban. The only phone number or email address we could find was to set up a press interview, and that number went straight to answering machine.
So who knows what will happen with our video? Likely they will remove the ban sometime over the next few weeks, but if this were a campaign video, weeks could likely be the difference between facebook users having the ability to post a video before election day. Facebook encourages businesses and organizations to focus online organizing efforts their way, some notice when you are informing our audience that we are "abusive" would be appreciated.
I got home last night to find an old friend, someone who got me my first community organizing job, had tried unsuccessfully to post our video of Chris Hayes speaking at our fundraiser this past Sunday. Facebook prevented him from posting the video to his wall and informed him that:
"Some content in this message has been reported as abusive by Facebook users."What on earth could be abusive about this video? I mean, it was a fairly innocuous speech about health care reform, grassroots video, and us. Who could take offense to that?
We have reached out to Facebook on this, which is near impossible to do, with no response. They left my friend no further information or links to click to challenge the reports of abusive content. They never informed us, the sole owners of the copyrighted material in question. There appears to be no process for determining that one's material has been banned. There appears to be no process for challenging this ban. The only phone number or email address we could find was to set up a press interview, and that number went straight to answering machine.
So who knows what will happen with our video? Likely they will remove the ban sometime over the next few weeks, but if this were a campaign video, weeks could likely be the difference between facebook users having the ability to post a video before election day. Facebook encourages businesses and organizations to focus online organizing efforts their way, some notice when you are informing our audience that we are "abusive" would be appreciated.
"...people who are ALLEGEDLY wronged by our health care system..."
Harken back to 2008 and the debates between then Senator, now President Barack Obama and then Senator, still Senator John McCain.
Remember this moment:
If you will remember, women voters across the country reacted quite badly to that one. I believe "Condescending" is the nicest word you could use to describe it.
Well, Congressman Eric Cantor just landed himself one of those moments, and thanks to indiemcemopants over at Daily Kos it will not go unnoticed:
If anything proves that they're not coming to this summit in good faith, it's what Eric Cantor (R-Oblivious) just said. He claims that we can all "read letters by constituents who are allegedly wronged by our health care system."Allegedly, Congressman? Our health care system leaves people uninsured and dying every day of every week of every month of every year. That is a fact. The stories of folks dying because they do not have basic coverage, or because their insurance company denies them treatment and flips them off on the way out (literally) are not "allegations." These are facts.
And these are facts that the Republicans have demonstrated over and over again that they have no intention of addressing. Therefore, there are only two things I take out of this summit: 1) The President is pretty good at handling tough questioning and 2) The only viable path forward if you desire any real reform of our current health care system is to pass it without Republican help.
Radical Right and White Supremacists Line Up Behind Terrorism
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which specializes in monitoring the most dangerous of the radical right in this country, has put out a report detailing the support that terrorist Joseph Stack is receiving amongst radicals on the right, and white supremacists specifically.
Let us be clear about what this is. This is radicals supporting suicide bombings on American buildings. This is Americans cheering for, and calling for more of, the violent murder of innocent American civilians. This is the "American Taliban" you keep hearing about over at Daily Kos.
Which, of course, is entirely different from this kind of "sympathy":
(from Think Progress)
(from Talking Points Memo)
And that is Republican's justifying, or making lighthearted jokes, about the violent, suicide-bombing murder of innocent American civilians.
Frankly, the conservative base of the Republican party would not have to answer for all the sympathizers of this degenerate terrorists were it not for their own sympathy for this degenerate terrorist.
“The Guy is a true HERO!!!”
snip
“This was quite heroic. There is a gradual awakening underway. I wonder how racially conscious he was.”
snip
“This is just the beginning. Prepare for battle!”
snip
“This man won’t be the last to do something like this.”
snip
“Only bad I see about this is that he didn’t kill enough.”
Let us be clear about what this is. This is radicals supporting suicide bombings on American buildings. This is Americans cheering for, and calling for more of, the violent murder of innocent American civilians. This is the "American Taliban" you keep hearing about over at Daily Kos.
Which, of course, is entirely different from this kind of "sympathy":
(from Think Progress)
(from Talking Points Memo)
And that is Republican's justifying, or making lighthearted jokes, about the violent, suicide-bombing murder of innocent American civilians.
Frankly, the conservative base of the Republican party would not have to answer for all the sympathizers of this degenerate terrorists were it not for their own sympathy for this degenerate terrorist.
Green Thursday: Your Basement Band Joists
As we have discussed in our earlier Green Thoughts posts, sealing you home's building shell and air ducts is vitally important for making sure that you and your family living and breathing in clean & conditioned air and not wasting in your good air and energy dollars to inefficiency or leaks. We have worked from the top down, first demonstrating ways to seal your attic and then showing how to seal the duct system throughout your house. Now, we are going to focus on correcting a major trouble spot for leaky basements- the band joists (also called rim joists).
In basements where the interior walls are the foundation walls (or are right up against them), Edge Energy, our Green Energy Experts, often finds major air leaks along the band joist, which is located at the basement ceiling. The band joist is the joist that surrounds all the rest of the joists in the floor above the basement. The floor sits on top of the foundation wall and, because the band joist is on the outside, this joist is the part of the floor that comes in direct contact with the foundation wall itself.
This seam along the band joist above the foundation wall is often left unsealed by builders and thus allows air to stream into your home. There is no really simple way to fix this and since the gap is usually a long seam and not just a small hole, retrofitters (like Edge) have to cut holes in the ceiling along this seam to sprayfoam and seal the gaps. They then close up all the holes, re-paint the ceiling and leave your basement looking just like it did before they started, but with a lot less of a draft.
--Band Joist Sealing
To see more Green Thoughts on Thursday posts, please go to www.SumofChange.com/greenthoughts
Full Disclosure: EDGE Energy hired us, as Sum of Change not individuals, to produce several videos for them including the ones in this post. We have not been hired to distribute, recommend, or advertise for EDGE Energy, rather we are using these videos to explain a vital service and we appreciate them letting us do so.
To learn more about the energy audit from Edge and see more of our videos, please go to www.edge-gogreen.com and see Edge's youtube page
In basements where the interior walls are the foundation walls (or are right up against them), Edge Energy, our Green Energy Experts, often finds major air leaks along the band joist, which is located at the basement ceiling. The band joist is the joist that surrounds all the rest of the joists in the floor above the basement. The floor sits on top of the foundation wall and, because the band joist is on the outside, this joist is the part of the floor that comes in direct contact with the foundation wall itself.
This seam along the band joist above the foundation wall is often left unsealed by builders and thus allows air to stream into your home. There is no really simple way to fix this and since the gap is usually a long seam and not just a small hole, retrofitters (like Edge) have to cut holes in the ceiling along this seam to sprayfoam and seal the gaps. They then close up all the holes, re-paint the ceiling and leave your basement looking just like it did before they started, but with a lot less of a draft.
--Band Joist Sealing
To see more Green Thoughts on Thursday posts, please go to www.SumofChange.com/greenthoughts
Full Disclosure: EDGE Energy hired us, as Sum of Change not individuals, to produce several videos for them including the ones in this post. We have not been hired to distribute, recommend, or advertise for EDGE Energy, rather we are using these videos to explain a vital service and we appreciate them letting us do so.
To learn more about the energy audit from Edge and see more of our videos, please go to www.edge-gogreen.com and see Edge's youtube page
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