February 10, 2009
U.S. Law and Policy
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The Associated Press.
By DAVID CRARY – 1 hour ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Snap, crackle … pot?
Bursting with indignation, legions of marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe.
The leader of one of the biggest legalize-pot organizations, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg’s action “hypocritical and disgusting,” and said he’d never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition.
“Kellogg’s had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone,” said Rob Kampia, the group’s executive director. “To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people.”
Also urging a boycott were the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance. They encouraged their members to contact Kellogg to vent their views.
In one sign of the campaign’s impact, the Phelps saga took precedence over the tainted peanut butter outbreak in the recorded reply on Kellogg’s consumer hot line Tuesday.
“If you would like to share your comments regarding our relationship with Michael Phelps, please press one to speak to a representative,” said the recording. “If you’re calling about the recent peanut butter recall, please press two now.”
From Kellogg’s media office, there was no immediate reply to a request for an assessment of the boycott campaign. A Kellogg spokeswoman, Kris Charles, said by e-mail, “Our contract with Michael Phelps was set to expire at the end of February and we made a business decision not to extend that contract.”
Last week, the company announced his contract would end and described Phelps’ conduct as “not consistent with the image of Kellogg.” Kellogg has been placing images of Phelps on the fronts of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes boxes since September, after the swimmer’s record-shattering haul of eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
The groups calling for the boycott were angry at Kellogg, but also eager to use the opportunity to restate long-standing calls for decriminalization of pot.
“It’s not just that Michael Phelps did what millions of other twenty-somethings do,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It’s that he did what over one hundred million Americans have done at least once in their lives, including the president, former presidents, members of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court.”
Similar commentary sounded even in mainstream media — including columns in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and National Review Online questioning the rationale and effectiveness of U.S. marijuana laws.
Of Phelps’ numerous big-name sponsors, Kellogg was the only one to publicly cut ties after the pot photo emerged. While it received some support, the giant food company has also been singled out for mockery by a host of comedians, bloggers and others.
On Saturday Night Live, Seth Myers questioned whether marijuana use was in fact at odds with Kellogg’s image.
“Every one of your mascots is a wild-eyed cartoon character with uncontrollable munchies,” Myers said. “Every one of your products sounds like a wish a genie granted at a Phish concert.”
On the Huffington Post, blogger Lee Stranahan pursued that theme in a proposed petition to the company that said in part, “We believe that most people over the age of 12 would not eat Kellogg’s products were they not wicked high.”
Stranahan’s petition concluded with this call-to-arms:
“Given all these facts and the total disregard for your customer base … we the undersigned plan to BOYCOTT your products. And we’re serious. Even though the Pop Tarts thing will be HARD.”
January 24, 2009
Finance, Obama's Staff, U.S. Law and Policy
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During the frenzied events of the fall, Henry Paulson rewrote a piece of the tax code to expedite mergers. The quiet alteration amounts to an estimated $140 billion windfall for big banks. Some critics say Paulson’s move was too autocratic, others argue that it was much more than that-that it was downright illegal. Will Tim Geithner and the Democrats attempt to correct the wrong?
Comments from Registered Members
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georgeb.martin 2009-01-24
What a surprise! Who would have thought it. And, the Dems are not going to do anything, what a shocker that is. Chuck Shumer, who has taken millions from the banks and financial institutions is pictured here and he was part of the bailout that His Holiness Obama was pushing. So, maybe corruption and greed are not just Repubocrat problems, the Demoplicans are addicted too. Wow!!!
The Real News
January 16, 2009
Presidents, U.S. Law and Policy, US Foreign Policy
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Pepe Escobar reporting in this video:
This is amazing. The out going US administration is admitting to water boarding, the incoming Obama administration, and even Obama himself states” Water Boarding is Torture.” So what will happen?
In any normal court for the average Joe with a court appointed attorney this is an open and shut case.
This case will, I feel, not be handled like it should. I have Hope Obama. So show the world that hoping is not all we got coming, but action!
December 14, 2008
Politics, U.S. Law and Policy
No Comments
Since the end of the 2008 Presidential election there was new website formed to keep people more enganged with government called November5.org
Just received the first contact since the confirmation email.. It is below and it is About HEALTH CARE!
December 12, 2008
Thanks for signing up to find out more about November5!
Several
of us from the Nader for President 2008 campaign had decided to channel
our efforts toward one big goal, but we lacked a major focus. Recently,
results of a survey done by the campaign came back. Top issue? Adopt
single payer health care. It’s not the only issue people care about,
obviously. But, to turn this country around it’s clear that we need to
address our own pain now.
Our big goal for the next Congress
will be to drive for national health insurance to cover
privately-delivered healthcare for all Americans.
We’re far from
alone in this. The array and scope of the groups and their allies
supporting national health insurance is impressive. But we are not
reinventing the wheel, either. As long as you want to build a lasting
organization that will get Congress to focus on people’s needs — not
those of big business — November5 can be the place to do it.
Here
in the United States, we have excellent private health care. So why are
nearly 100 million of our citizens uninsured or underinsured? You
already know why: profit-driven private insurance companies. Taken
together, they make the Pentagon look streamlined.
Not
only that, but consider over 18,000 dead and hundreds of thousands
getting sicker every year specifically because their health insurance
is inadequate — or non-existent.
The way to fix health care is
to cut private insurance companies out of the basic health care
picture, while keeping our system of private delivery. This is how
Medicare came into being in the 1960s. It now covers all Americans over
65.
If we succeed in creating a system of “Medicare for All,” we
will help businesses and other organizations, independent contractors,
veterans, people with pre-existing conditions, students — all of us.
If we get this done, it will revolutionize all of our lives for the
better. We’ll be able to focus on everything else that we want to
accomplish for our communities, and our nation.
Passing national health insurance will be difficult, but it is achievable.
General Plan
- Huge
amounts of leg work have been done on this issue. H.R. 676, the
legislation that supporters of national health insurance have
introduced, had 93 original co-sponsors in the House. That number will
probably increase as the new Congress comes into session. The first
task now facing all supporters of the bill will be to make a new tally
of co-sponsors and supporters in the next Congress.
- We
will be up against alternatives to “reform” health care, such as the
plan promoted by Senator Max Baucus. They simply extend the status quo
– and the damage. They would expand the profits of the private
insurance companies, and therefore cannot check the spiraling inflation
generated by these companies, and the broken system they inhabit. So,
right away, we have to draw a sharp line between what we want, and bad
compromises.
- Remember, to pass the House, we will
need roughly another 120 votes. That means that we will have to go for
a margin, to have around 140 votes in addition to the co-sponsors. Here
is where our district-level organizations will have to go to work to
pick up votes.
- We will need sponsors of the
legislation in the Senate. Those do not yet exist. This is a critical
early step that we hope to help other groups active on H.R. 676 to take.
- November5
is non-partisan. We cannot be bound by the notion that Republicans will
not buy into national health insurance. It maintains private delivery
of health care and will expand choice of doctor, creating conditions
for greater innovation and competition — not less.
- We
will need to build fast. This effort will work only if it moves deeply
into communities, where members of Congress get their votes. We are
currently designing a structure that will allow people to begin
organizing independently, district by district, around our current goal
– without having to wait for plans from above.
Specific Steps
- Inform yourself and others by reading:
- H.R. 676
- and these three articles:
- and
by watching these excellent videos on H.R. 676. Pass them along in
emails, on blogs, facebook and myspace pages. If you create videos on
youtube, do one on national health care yourself:
- Write
a letter — not an email — in your own words to your member of
Congress stating that you’d like their commitment to vote for H.R. 676.
If your member of Congress is a co-sponsor of the bill, express your
support for that stand. Email a copy to us, if you would, with the
words “Letter to My Congressperson” in the subject line.
- President-elect
Obama has asked for volunteers around the country to host discussion
groups on the health care issue during the last half of December.
Attend a discussion in your area and make the argument for single
payer. Click here for more information.
Soon,
we’ll be raising money online to build the November5 movement.
November5.org will not be a passive website, it will be a place where
each Congressional district will be represented by the people of that
district. You’ll be able to login and see the latest on your
Congressional representative, plan with others events that make sense
to you for promoting H.R. 676, and organize for meeting with your
member of Congress.
If the model works, we’ll be able to tackle
other issues. For now, let’s focus in, and get November5 built. The
bell has rung — and we are in a struggle that we can win, if we all
dig deep.
The politicians who want to nibble around the edges of
the rolling disaster that is our health care system may have industry
on their side, but we have the best plan. Many highly-qualified
doctors, economists, and legislators have put enormous work into it, we
just have to stand up, be counted and gather others with us to do the
same.
We look forward to the rewarding work ahead.
The November5 Team
November 19, 2008
Dick Cheney, Politics, U.S. Law and Policy
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A grand jury in Texas indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Source
Feed.TheHungryHead.com
