otohara
otohara's Journal$23,000 Earrings Made Out of AK47's Seized in Africa
Great cause, or just a clever way to cater to the 1%?
We have plenty of guns here, doing plenty of damage.
No need to fly to Africa.
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-fashion/fonderie-47-jewelry-recycled-rifles.html
Nutella to Pay $3 Million - Deceptive Ad
I sent an e-mail to the SEC over a year ago to investigate this ad too.
It's a candy bar in a jar...delicious, but not healthy - Justin's is a healthier choice.
Remember that California mom who sued Nutella maker Ferrero over misleading advertising that made the addictive and gooey chocolate-hazelnut spread seem healthy?
Well, her lawsuit was awarded class action status, and the New York Daily News reports that Ferrero has agreed to settle for $3 million. That works out to be about $4 a jar or less, if you're thinking of making a claim.
Quick recap: as we reported on the Shots blog last year, the trouble began when Athena Hohenberg realized that the Nutella she'd been feeding her 4-year-old daughter was "the next best thing to a candy bar," according to court documents. Hohenberg says she was taken in by ads and product labels that claimed Nutella was "healthy" and "part of a balanced meal." When friends eventually pointed out Nutella's high sugar and fat content, she sued Ferrero for deceptive advertising.http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/26/151454929/nutella-maker-may-settle-deceptive-ad-lawsuit-for-3-million
Hashtag Per POTUS : #DontDoubleMyRate
Tweet away for those who have several more years of student debt to pay off.
To get students involved online, The White House is launching a related social media campaign with the hashtag #DontDoubleMyRate.
A press release from the White House argues that the interest rate increase would affect over 7.4 million students around the country and add an average of $1,000 to their education debt.
According to the Denver Post, there are 166,693 students with Stafford loans in Colorado and the extension of the interest cuts would save borrowers about $961 a year.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/president-barack-obama-to_n_1446487.html?ref=elections-2012
Complaint filed with IRS over homily by Peoria bishop -POTUS = Hitler/Stalin
A prominent advocate for the separation of church and state filed a formal complaint with the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, accusing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria of violating federal law by intervening in a political campaign.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, alleges that a fiery homily by Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky last Sunday effectively urged Catholics to vote against Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
Jenky’s homily criticized policies proposed by the Obama administration that would require all employers, including religious groups, to provide free birth control coverage in their health care plans. The bishop included Obama's policies in a litany of government challenges the Catholic Church has overcome in previous centuries, including actions by Hitler and Stalin.
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“Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services and health care,” Jenky said. “In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama — with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda — now seems intent on following a similar path.”
http://www.wgnradio.com/news/local/breaking/chi-group-blasts-peoria-bishops-comparison-of-obama-policies-to-hitler-stalin-20120418,0,4186903.story
Demand Clear Channel Ban Ted Nugent Like They Did The Dixie Chicks
Clear Channel has many heavy metal stations.
Here's their public relations e-mail for the radio division:
publicrelations@clearchannel.com
Lady At Mitt For Prez. Says Ted Nugent Didn't Mean It
Me, Did Ted Nugent endorse Mitt Romney?
Nice lady, Yes he did.
Nice lady, Oh, I don' think he meant he would do harm to the president.
I replied, Hillary Rosen didn't slam stay at home moms either, but that didn't stop your candidate from blowing it out of proportion.
I also mentioned the Secret Service is taking it seriously enough to follow up.
Thank you for your input, click!
801.900.3149
Colorado Democratic Party Endorses Pot Legalization
Colorado Democratic Party Endorses Pot Legalization
Delegates at the Colorado Democratic Party state convention in Pueblo Saturday formally endorsed Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. Because support for the initiative was so strong at the convention, the endorsement becomes part of the party's "essential" platform.
The initiative had already won the support of Democrats in 15 counties, including eight of the 10 most populous. Those counties are Boulder, Delta, Denver, Douglas, Eagle, Elbert, El Paso, Garfield, Jefferson, La Plata, Larimer, Pitkin, Pueblo, Routt, and Weld.
"This is a mainstream issue," said Cindy Lowery-Graber, chair of the Denver Democratic Party. "Polls show that more than 60% of Democrats and a solid majority of independents believe marijuana should be treated like alcohol. A broad coalition is forming in support of Amendment 64 and I am proud to say that it now includes the Colorado Democratic Party."
It's not just Democrats and independents who are supporting the notion of marijuana regulation. Last month, the Denver County Republican Assembly approved a resolution calling for just that, although they did not explicitly endorse Amendment 64. That resolution got 56% of the vote.http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/897270/colorado_democratic_party_endorses_pot_legalization/
Romney Thinks It Is Dignified Work To Marry A Wealthy Man
Ann Romney seems – and I feel certain Sherwood Schwartz would agree – to be a very lovely lady. She has been nothing but gracious throughout her husband’s campaign thus far, she has raised a thriving family despite her health problems, and she has all kinds of great granola recipes up on Pinterest. Who doesn’t love granola recipes? Democrats.
Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen claimed:
“[Mitt Romney’s] wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing. There’s something much more fundamental about Mitt Romney. He seems so old-fashioned when it comes to women, and I think that comes across, and I think that that’s going to hurt him over the long term. He just doesn’t really see us as equal.”
It’s not surprising that her assertion was seen as insulting to stay-at-home moms everywhere. If Republicans are up in arms about this quote – if they’re calling it a war on motherhood – then they are perfectly within their rights. Being a mother is a very, very hard job (please, stay-at-home moms, continue reading TheGloss, pinning us, etc).
Ann Romney replied that
“It was my early birthday present for someone to be critical of me as a mother, and that was really a defining moment, and I loved it.” Ann Romney is clearly someone who would deal super well when you regifted her last year’s scented candles.http://thegloss.com/beauty/mitt-romney-dignity-of-work-674/
The Lies of Wayne LaPierre
Every time I write about this country's strange infatuation with its shootin' 'arns, I get at least one response from someone claiming to represent the thousands/millions of "responsible gun-owners" who never would think, say, of popping some black kid for the crime of carrying snack food in a neighborhood where your fears tell you the kid doesn't belong. Okay, fine. I even buy that. But when are the "responsible gun-owners" in the NRA going rise up as one and point out that the public face of their national organization is a lunatic?
Snip
This is a great big old plate of paranoid crackers, bananas, and nuts. There is no case in which either Justice Sotomayor or Justice Kagan can rule. The UN is not coming for your guns, either. Whatever its original intent, wasn't the whole problem with Fast And Furious that too many people got guns? Shouldn't the NRA be celebrating the free market implications of that? And executive orders? What? No FEMA camps?
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/wayne-lapierre-obama-speech-7865856#ixzz1ryJ50EEW
ALEC ~ Just Another Billionaire Conservative Power Group Manipulating America
Like the Council for National Policy, the CATO Institute, the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, American Crossroads and so many, many more – this week’s article by Susan Cardoza is about the American Legislative Council or ALEC. A group that wields great power, wealth and consequent influence in shaping and molding legislation seemingly from behind the scenes that directly impact our lives while driving an uber-conservative agenda that advances theocratic and plutocratic goals.
ALEC 101
If you were to go to the website Alec.org, you would find a benign site that tells you how the group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was founded to “advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty”. They will tell you they do this through a “nonpartisan public-private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector, the federal government, and general public”. Then they further tell you they are doing this for us by “developing policies that ensure the powers of government are derived from, and assigned to, first the People, then the States, and finally, the Federal Government”. Further they will do this by “enlisting state legislators from all parties and members of the private sector who share ALEC’s mission”.
But wait, I thought this was for we the people but now they tell us only “we the people” who agree with their mission? I wonder what else they are going to do for we the people? Well, they tell us in a further statement: They will “conduct a policy making program that unites members of the public and private sectors in a dynamic partnership to support research, policy development, and dissemination activities”. And according to them, if we trust them, “they will prepare the next generation of political leadership through educational programs that promote the principles of Jeffersonian democracy, which are necessary for a free society”.
Well that sure sounds like a great organization and I am sure that little part about agreeing with their mission is just an oversight, right? I suppose if you were to peruse their site and not dig any further, you could walk away with that impression. The problem comes into play if you do dig further because what you will find out is that ultimately ALEC is looking after Corporations and not we the people, in any respect. They dress it up to lull the public while in the background they work to ensure legislation is geared toward the benefit of Corporations alone. We may realize some crumbs they deign to throw at us, but make no mistake they are in it to win it for themselves and their corporate masters alone.http://godsownparty.com/blog/2012/03/alec-just-another-billionaire-conservative-power-group-manipulating-america/
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